Friday, April 10, 2015

Wells Of Salvation

Isaiah 12:3:  “Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.”
Wonderful promise the Lord has given us His people – we can draw living water from the wells of salvation.  This world we live in is full of wells.  People draw deeply from them every day, but none of those waters satisfy the human soul.  Thankful to God for access to the wells of salvation whose waters do satisfy and will make life very complete and satisfying.
 
When the children of Israel were passing through the wilderness God gave promise and when they came to the promised land Moses went to the king of Edom and asked to pass through his country and made a promise which would have seemed foolish – Numbers 20:17: “…..we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells:  we will go by the king’s high way,….” He promised that they would not drink of the wells and there were 600 000 men together with women and children and herds and flocks ‘and you say you are going to pass through and not drink of the wells, how can that be?‘ And yet that is our story.  We are here and we journey through this world and we have no need to drink of the wells of this world that all around us are drinking from.  Why? God has made very special provision and gave His people water from the rock that followed them.  From a rock – I Cor. 10 “And did all drink the same spiritual drink:  for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them:  and that Rock was Christ.”  God has made the same wonderful provision for us.  We have access to living water that abundantly satisfies and your neighbors’, perhaps relatives, friends, co-workers, students look on your life and they often, I am sure, ask and wonder why you don’t join them and drink from the wells they drink from.  It is because we don’t need it.  We have living water that abundantly satisfies – living water that comes from Christ.
 
Where do we find these wells of salvation?  We find them in God’s word.  We have in the bible a wonderful well of living water.  I would say we have in the bible many wonderful wells of salvation and thankful for every one of them.  We have the privilege of partaking of all in this book.  How did salvation come to us in the beginning?  Paul wrote to the Ephesians reminding them how “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation:  in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.”  How did we receive salvation – we heard the word of the gospel, believed the word and because we believed, trusted in Christ and because we trusted in Him, God sealed them with His holy spirit.  That is how you and everyone received it.  It comes through the word of God and that is where we find these wonderful wells of salvation that we draw from that our need is met and our soul filled with joy.  We are grateful for this salvation that God has shared with us through the gospel.
 
Water is a very simple thing – 2 parts hydrogen and 1 part oxygen and it is the same today as when God created it.  It has never changed.  It is still exactly the same.  God’s word is still the same.  Ps 119:89:”Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.” We are thankful that it is so that we can have every confidence in it.  The wells of this world’s water are always changing.  The people always want something different.  The water changes.  Some wells dry up, some go bitter with time.  The things people have depended on and trusted, let them down in later days, and the waters go bitter and they don’t want them anymore.  Thankful for God’s wonderful word that is still the same and still meets the need of every heart that turns to it and draws from it and satisfies abundantly.
 
We read about wells in the scriptures.  Sometimes covered in part to protect them, keep them pure and clean – other times to hide them from the enemy, but I am aware that this wonderful book that we have, to many is closed up as it were.  There is a cover over the well and even if they have it they don’t get living water because God has hidden it.  “I thank thee that thou hast hidden it from the wise and prudent and revealed it to babes.”  We were hearing of the spirit of a child.  Babes – to them that God opens the wells of salvation and shares with them abundantly of the wonderful living water.
 
When Jesus came to the well in John 4 and the woman came and He asked her for a drink, He had a wonderful visit.  He told her about the living water that would meet the depth of the need in her.  She said the well is deep and you have nothing to draw with.  Jesus had what she needed to draw water from the wells of salvation.  I Cor. 2:9&10:  “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard... the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit…..”  It is that spirit that enables us to draw water from the wells in this book and without it there is no water.  We are thankful for this wonderful gift of His holy spirit that enables us to get living water to meet the need of our soul.
 
Another thing about wells – they have to be dug.  How do we dig a well?  First off when the children of Israel went to the promised land God made promises and told them when they got there they would drink of wells that had been dug.  Someone else had dug them.  We have the wonderful privilege of drinking from each other’s wells.  Every time we come together in a little meeting each one shares from their heart water God had shared with them, that God has given them.  We didn’t dig the well, but we get to drink from our brother or sister.  Thankful for that, but his water alone cannot sustain us.  We need to dig our own wells.
 
In Num. 21 they came to a place where there was no water.  Vs 18:”The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver…”  They dug it and dug it by the direction of the law.  Beautiful description of the holy spirit of God gives to His people.  So often we hardly understand the need in our heart and even if we understood, we hardly know where to find just the very drops of water that we need to meet our need, but the spirit knows and He can direct us where to dig in this wonderful book and find a well of living water that meets the need of our soul.  They found water that met their natural need and we are grateful for the direction of His spirit that leads us to just the very portion that we need when we need it, so that our soul can be satisfied.
 
Thinking about the wells – one of the first things I noticed is that a number of brides were found first at the well.  When Abraham sent his servant to find a bride for Isaac, he found a bride at the well.  He came there and he had prayed that the damsel that would give him a drink and water for the camels, she would be the one.  Rebekah was found and became the bride of Isaac.  Later Jacob, when he fled from his brother Esau, he lighted upon a well and the daughters of his uncle were there and he rolled away the stone and watered their flocks and they became his bride.  Moses, when he fled to the wilderness, came to a well and watered the flocks of Reuel and they returned home earlier because of it.  When their father asked them how it was, they explained that an Egyptian had helped them.  Where is he?  Bring him that we can feed him and care for him.  One of those daughters became his bride.
 
John 4 – the woman of Samaria came and before He left that day she had become numbered with the bride of Christ.  She told others and they became part of it too.  No better place for the bride of Christ to be, for us than to be meeting Him at the wells of living water, wells of salvation.  Come to the wells of salvation; spend time with God’s word.  He can meet with us and refresh us in our journey.
 
II Sam 17:18 We read of a time when David was fleeing from his son Absalom.  David had sent two spies to keep an eye on where Absalom was and what he was up to, help him in his trying to keep track of things.  They came into the city and returned to a woman and sent a messenger to David.  One day a lad saw them and reported to Absalom and sent soldiers after them.  They came to a certain home and went down into the well.  The lady of the home spread a cloth over it and pretended to be grinding corn when they came.  The two young men found safety in the well.  It is not the first place you would think of hiding from the enemy, but a safe place.  Times when the enemy is on us, we feel he is about to overtake us, one safe place we can go to is the well of living water and the enemy won’t find us when in His presence and while we are there we can be helped and refreshed and strengthened for the next step of the journey.  Thankful for experiences the Lord allows us to drive us to the well for safety to escape the enemy of our soul.  While we are there we can receive the help we need.
 
Gen 21 we have the story of Ishmael and Hagar.  When Abraham sent them away according to God’s will, he sent her with a bottle of water.  When it ran out in a desert place, she placed him under a bush and moved a distance away anticipating his death and hers.  God, through an angel, showed her a well in the desert.  She took water and filled the bottle and gave to the lad and the angel told her about the future of that boy.  One of the things the Lord likes to do for us at the well is lift our eyes and help us to see just a little more clearly what He has planned for us down the road - maybe just a step or two more of what He has planned for us in the journey.
 
Abraham and Abimelech.  Abraham’s herdsmen were digging wells and Abimelech’s herdsmen were claiming them and drove them away.  Abraham met with Abimelech, brought lambs “as a witness that I have digged this well” and he made covenant of peace.  When problems arise amongst us, neighbor to neighbor and there is need to make a covenant of peace, there is no safer place to make it than at the well of living water - the well of His word - to make sure we do things according to His word and His will.  Thankful there can be peace.
 
Nehemiah 2:  His brother and men of Judah had come to Nehemiah and told him of Jerusalem.  It had affected his countenance and trembling he explained to the king.  The king allowed him to go to Jerusalem.  He went by night to three different places to overlook the city and see how things were.  One of the viewpoints was from the dragon well.  We read just enough to know they were in pretty dire straits.  There was rubble and he was seeing it in the darkness, but the next day came he assembled the people together and reminded them of the goodness of God toward him.  He said, and they responded, “Let us rise up and build.”  Basically all he could see with the natural eye was a heap of rubble from three vantage points.  One was the well.  As he looked over the rubble God lifted his eyes and he saw what could be as they were willing to work with God.  God wants to do that for us at the well.  Spend time in His presence and dig; He will lift our eyes.  In times of distress and difficulty and everything going against us and heap of rubble around us, He can lift our eye and show us what might be if we trust Him and let Him work and work with Him.  All things are possible with Him.  At the well He can refresh our vision and we can see more clearly the reality of that.
 
Ex 15:27:  They came to Elim where there were 12 wells of water.  You would understand a journey through the wilderness has to go from oasis to oasis or they would perish and the guide knows the route.  God led His people from place to place and brought them to the oasis. I noticed there would be a well for every tribe.  Abundant provision for them.  I am sure they arrived weary.  Some distressed by the journey, wondering if it was all worth it.  Responsibility of the guide through the wilderness is to bring them there to cleanse, refresh, to rest, maybe prepare food they had not had for some time.  Bring them together, remind them why it was they started the journey and what awaited them at the end of the journey.  God loves to do that for us.  When we are weary, He brings us to the well and when we get there, allowed us to cleanse and refresh ourselves and find rest and remind us why you started this journey – the salvation of your soul – and what awaits you at the end of the journey – the promise of eternity with Him and His people.  And we can be revived and strengthened to continue and finish the journey.
 
One more well:  When Jacob was about to die, he gathered his sons and shared what he saw in the future.  Gen 49:22:  “Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall.”  We know the story of Joseph and how fruitful he was because he was rooted at the well and drawing deeply of the waters that were in that well and because of that he was a fruitful bough – fruit on the branches, for those inside the wall, but some over the wall and fruit for the stranger.  Sometimes God’s people come and they ask us how can we be a help to a struggling brother or sister, a stranger, to come to know the way of God.  An elder brother told us there is only one answer to that question.  You enjoy the way of God to the fullest yourself.  You give your best, keep planting like Joseph and be faithful drawing from the wells of salvation so that your branches will be full of fruit.  It is the best way to be a help and best way to be a guide in the darkness and best way to be an example.  May God help us to be faithful in coming to the wells of salvation, dig our own wells, refresh our vision and be a guiding light and example to others.
 
R. Corfield – Wells of Salvation – Cape Town No 2 2015
 
 
 
 

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