High Desert Perspective

And Jehovah said, Shall I hide from Abraham that which I do? (Gen. 18.17)

And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brethren . . . And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brethren. (Gen. 37.5,9)

And Jacob called unto his sons, and said: Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the latter days. (Gen. 49.1)

According to all that I show thee, the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the furniture thereof, even so shall ye make it. (Ex. 25.9)

The meek will he guide in  justice; and the meek will he teach his way. . . . The friendship of Jehovah is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant. (Ps. 25.9,14)

For I shrank not from declaring unto you the whole counsel of God. (Acts 20.27)

But I hold not my life of any account as dear unto myself, so that I may accomplish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20.24)

If so be that ye have heard of the dispensation of that grace of God which was given me to you-ward; how that by revelation was made known unto me the mystery, as I wrote before in few words . . . whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of his power. (Eph. 3.2,3,7)

The eternal purpose of God can never be understood or grasped by the mind. It has to come by revelation. All work for God begins with consecration or is based on surrender. But such consecration or surrender only comes through revelation. As a matter of fact, the work of God (not our work, but God’s work through us) begins only when revelation comes. Outwardly is the heavenly vision, inwardly is the revelation.

God does not want us to just do a kind of general, miscellaneous sort of work for Him. He desires us to know His whole plan and to be working with Him toward a clear purpose and plan. For we are not only His servants but also His friends.

All surrender and consecration is valuable, but when it comes right down to it, it is only after revelation that surrender and consecration can be of much value, because only then can it be complete. Our surrender before this revelation is only in view of salvation. He has bought me with His blood, His love toward me is unspeakable. Therefore, I ought to give myself to Him. I ought to give myself and all that I have to Him because of His saving grace and love. But after revelation it is a different matter. When we see God’s eternal purpose, it calls for a tremendous giving of ourselves to this purpose, with a surrender we have never dreamed of before—something deeper and more utter. Paul said, “I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision” (Acts 26.19). He could go through anything and bear anything because of the heavenly vision.

Joseph was a perfect type of God’s people, gathering up in himself all those who had gone before. But the crisis for him came when he dreamed his dreams. This was for him his revelation, in which he saw God’s purpose and his own part in it. This was the beginning of God’s work through him.

Moses had to go up to the mountain-top to receive the mountain-top pattern for the life of God’s people—the Ten Commandments and all the law of God. Later, he had to obtain the pattern of the tabernacle: “See . . . that thou make all things according to the pattern that was shown thee in the mount” (Heb. 8.5).

In the tiniest bit of work we do for God it must be done according to the pattern shown us in the mount; that is, according to the revelation God has given us of His eternal purpose and plan. But the revelation that Joseph and Moses and others had had was individual. This is not so today. Today the revelation is to the church. It is not a different revelation for each individual, but the same revelation is given for the entire church.

Spiritual Work Based on Revelation
All spiritual work for God comes out of revelation. Apart from revelation on God’s eternal purpose, there can be no truly spiritual work. There can be scattered, miscellaneous work for God which is blessed by Him, but it cannot be truly called spiritual work or co-working with Him unless it issues out of revelation as to God’s eternal purpose. It must be revelation and not just a mental grasp of it—not just an understanding it and seeing it intellectually, for this is useless. It needs to be a “seeing” in your spirit: a seeing what the sphere and limitation of God’s working are.

Now only revelation can deal with both work and worker. This light from heaven smashes us to bits. It shatters and slays us and our work. If it is mere doctrine or teaching it will leave us after a while. It goes, it evaporates as it were. But if it is light or revelation it is our life, and we cannot get away from it.

One day the Lord Jesus said, “He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. . . . He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father; so he that eateth me, he also shall live because of me.” Many were stumbled by this and left Him. But the disciples, when He asked if they also would leave Him, replied: “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” (John 6.54,56,57,68)

When we see the light it becomes our life, and there is no alternative. We have no other way, for it is our very life. If we cannot go that way, we die. But thank the Lord, it is not something we have to remember or try to recall. If we have seen, we have seen and always will see. It never leaves us. For we find that the body answers to everything: it is our very life. We cannot live outside the body.

To Whom Revealed?
Every spiritual thing we possess has come to us by revelation. It comes in this succession: (1) light, (2) revelation, (3) life, that is, God’s life, and (4) all His riches, all He is.

If God wants to do a new thing—a special thing—in Shanghai, in China, or anywhere in the world, will He disclose it to you or hide it from you? How many are there in Shanghai whom He will confide in if He is going to do something here? Let us see that it is only to His closest and dearest friends that He will disclose His secrets and His plans. This should be a sobering thought to all of us.