The Open Door — The Open Reward

But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." Matthew 6: 17-18.

" Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus." Acts 4:13.

" When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them.Afterward, all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the LORD had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. 33. And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face." Exodus 34: 29-33.

The transition from fellowship with God in the morning hour to oneness with our fellowmen is often difficult. If we have met God, we long to maintain the sense of His presence, and our surrender to Him. We go out to the breakfast table, where, perhaps in the bosom of our own family, the atmosphere is all at once changed, and as the presence of men and the visible asserts itself, we begin to lose what we had found. Many young Christians have been perplexed with the question how to keep their heart filled with that of which they do not feel at liberty, or has not the opportunity, to speak. Even in religious circles, it is not always easy to have free oneness, through lack of fervor or boldness, on that which would give the greatest profit and pleasure. Let us strive to learn how our oneness with men, may be, instead of a hindrance, a help to the maintenance of a life of continual fellowship with God.

The lessons which the story of Moses with the veil on his face teach, are very suggestive. Close and continued fellowship with God will in due time leave its mark and make itself manifest before men. Moses was not that his face shone: the light of God shining from us will be unconscious; it will but deepen the sense of our being an earthen vessel (1 Corinthians 2:3, 4 and 2 Corinthians 4). The sense of God’s presence in a man may often cause others to fear, or at least feel at ease in his company.When others observe what is to be seen in him, the true believer will know what it is to veil his face, and prove by humility and love that he is indeed a man of like passions with those around him.

And yet, through all, there will be the proof, too, that he is a man of God, who lives in, and has dealings with, an unseen world.

The same lessons are taught by what our Lord says about fasting.

Make no show of your fasting, so that you appear not unto men to fast; meet them in the joy and kindness of God’s gentleness, as the Father’s beloved and loving child. Count upon God, who has seen you in secret, to reward you openly, to give you grace in oneness with men, to maintain your communion with Him, and make them know that His grace and light are on you.

The story of Peter and John confirms the same truth: they had been with Jesus not only while He was on Earth, but as He entered into the Heavenlies, and had received His spirit. They simply acted out what the spirit of Christ taught them; even enemies could see by their boldness that they had been with Jesus.

The blessing of oneness with God may easily be lost by entering too deeply into oneness with men. The spirit of the inner chamber must be carried out in a holy watchfulness throughout the day. We know not at what hour the enemy may come. This continuance of the morning watch may be maintained by a quiet self-restraint, in not giving the reins to nature.

It has, in a religious home circle, often sought help, in each one repeating a text at the breakfast table on some fixed subject, giving easy occasion to the religious conversation. When once the abiding sense of God’s presence and of oneness with Him- “Continue in the fear of the LORD all the day.”- has become the aim of the morning hour, with the deepest humility and the most loving oneness with those around us, grace will have been sought and found to pass on into the day’s duties with the continuity of fellowship kept unbroken. It is a great thing to enter the inner chamber, shut the door, and meet the Father in secret. It is a greater thing to open the door again, and go out, in an enjoyment of that presence which nothing can disturb.

To some, such a life does not appear needful; the strain is too great; one can be a good Christian without it. To those who seek to be men of one thing, who feel that if they are to be true and mighty to influence the church and the world around them they must be full of God and His Presence, everything will be subordinate to the one question: How to bear in the earthen vessel the heavenly treasure, the power of Christ resting on us all the day.