Behold, I Will Do A New Thing

Bro. Bakth Singh

I believe that the message in this fragment from God's Word is meant for all, both saved and unsaved. As far as the Lord is concerned, He is desirous of doing a new thing in your life. He desires to give you something new, or to show you something new. So you can take these words as a promise from the living God for yourself. Believe in your heart with simple faith that God is desirous of doing a new work in your life, and if you want that new work to be accomplished in you, seek the Lord earnestly for it in prayer.

I wish to draw your attention to the following portions of Scripture:

"And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands; they shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail" (Heb. 1:10-12).

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard" (Psa l9: 1-3).

If you look at the stars above, you cannot but admire and marvel at the work of the mighty God. There are many who have no real appreciation of nature; but all, including the atheist who says there is no God, have to admire the sun, the moon and the stars. Yet although so much glory is seen in the stars in the sky, God's Word says, "They all shall perish."

Some are attracted by the beauty of horses, others by the beauty of nature, and others by the beauty of fishes and animals in the sea. I remember in mine own experience, when I was spiritually blind and proud because of my knowledge of Science; I began to say that there was no God. One day, a friend of mine took me to an aquarium in London. When I saw all the sea animals and fishes in that large aquarium, I said to my friend that a man who says there is no God must be a fool. I was so filled with amazement at those wonderful small animals found in the sea. Yet even this beauty must perish.

My point is this, that it does not matter what kind of beauty it is that you admire and which has captivated your heart, one thing is sure, it will perish one day. Dear friend, are you running after something which you think is beautiful or great? God is saying to you today, "They shall all perish." All that you have seen, longed for or admired, shall perish. If God is going to destroy the works of His own hands, which speak of His glory, how much more shall the things of men perish?

Some people spend much money in buying new garments. There is a desire in every heart to have new garments, beautiful new sarees or nice new coats. But even though you spend many hours in the bazaar looking for the saree you want, and shed many tears in order to buy it, and although you may take great pains to keep it carefully, one day that very garment will be moth-eaten and thrown away. "As a vesture shalt thou fold them and they shall be changed." Why do you waste your time and energy on things which do not last very long?

You may have seen small children making sand houses, and after taking hours to build one, in a moment they destroy it and it becomes just a heap of sand. Two men may be great friends and spend much money over that friendship: then with one angry word that friendship is broken, and they try to hurt and destroy one another. This is human nature. From God's Word we can say, that whatsoever you now have, or want to have, or shall have, will perish one day.

There are some people who are very anxious to go to the moon. Even now many in America desire to go to the moon, or to some other planet. T hey would be delighted if they were able to jump from one star to another. But will that satisfy any one, and bring true joy and happiness? No, it will not! The Scripture says, "The heavens are the works of thine hands: they shall perish."

Is there anything in your heart, or your home, or your life, that will not perish? You dare not say, yes! You know, and your heart knows, that you are now empty.

But now there is a message from God for you. He wants to do a new thing in your life. So far you have wanted your life in things, which perish. You have longed for friends who have given you sorrow; you have longed for things, which cannot stay with you very long. But still you have refused the things, which abide forever. God in His mercy and grace offers you a new thing today "Behold, I will do a new thing." Accept His offer today. He will make you new. Every day He will do a new work in you. He will put within you new thoughts and new desires others will see it and glorify God.

From the day I was 'born again' everything became new to me: new friends, new surrounding, a new nature God desires to do a new thing in you also, for eternity. Everything will become new to you, for God will show you new things from His Word. It is a common desire in every man's heart to have new things. We get much joy, with new things, such as new shoes or new garments. But they cannot remain new long: they must become old sometime and perish. But the things, which God gives, can never become old. They are always new, and ever become increasingly new, this is the beauty of His promise, "Behold, I make all things new."

Again, the Lord's promise, "Thy youth is renewed like the eagle's" (Psa.103: 5); the eagle has this nature, that it becomes stronger and stronger as it grows older Human beings become older as the years pass. However careful you are with yourself, you must become old one day. That is human nature. But the Word of God says, that your youth will be renewed like the eagle's you may become weak physically. You may not be able to eat as you used to, when you were young, but spiritually you find your hunger increasing for the things of God. Your eyes may become dim in old age, and you may lose your sight" but spiritually you will see things more clearly as you grow older, That is why the Lord says to you now, "Behold, I make all things new."

Dear friends, the Lord desires to do a new thing in your life. Even though you have wasted your life, money and energy all these years, yet today the living God desires to make you new. He desires to make you a new creature and give you a new heart. A new mind, and new wisdom. He desires to make in you all things' new. You may not see where it begins, but it will go on in you till the Lord is satisfied.

If you are 'born again' already, the promise is for you also. Whether you have known the Lord for many years, whether you are a preacher, whether you have been used by the Lord to save many souls, it does not matter. The Lord says, even to you, that H ' e wants to do a new thing in you today. Are you willing to enjoy this promise? Then forget whatever has happened in your life, and get ready for new things. You do well to praise God for the way He has led you so far. You should magnify Him for the way He has been using you hitherto. You have learnt much and you are happy that the Lord has done so much for you, all these many years. Yet the Lord says to you again, "Behold, I make all things new." So young man, young woman, old man, old woman, this is what God is saying to you, "I will do a new thing in your life."--something you have never seen or understood till now, Do not say I have learnt so much, now there is scarcely anything left; I have worked so hard and become old, and now I must retire. In spiritual things it is not like that. You cannot exhaust His riches. "But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."(1 Cor. 2:9). Learn how to receive these things.

Have reading the Bible, attending meetings, and the like, become mere habits to you? Are you seeing and receiving precious and new things day by day through His Word, through His people. And in worship on the Lord's Day? Is God showing you new things daily? Ask God to show you that new thing which He is desirous of doing to you. The life of God must flow through you; you must be renewed: "be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Rom. 12:2). Do not stick to the old ideas and rules: do not be a slave to Old customs and habits. God's word must come to you with freshness, and give you new tastes, "Call upon me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not" (Jer. 33:3). Your Worship should be new each Lord's Day. Your youth must be renewed in your prayer life also. The Lord will speak to you in a new way to bring rivers into your desert, and to make your desert to blossom like a rose (Isa. 43:19; 35:1). Then there will be no more barrenness and unfruitfulness in your life. Are you willing to be brought into God's plan; are you' willing to take up His new charge? Then offer yourself to Him without any reserve, and He will fulfill His promise, "Behold, I make all things new" (Rev. 21:5).

The Hidden Manna

What it means

We have mentioned already that the Lord has a message for us all from this small fragment of his word; "I will do a new thing." Whether He does this new thing in us now or later is up to Him, but it also depends upon our diligence. If with simple faith you believe these words are from, God and that they have bean brought to you by His Holy Spirit, then He will verify His promise to you. We would request you, please, not to treat these words lightly, but pray more about them upon your knees and ask the Lord to show you what they mean.

It may be the darkness in your heart is hindering you from hearing and understanding, but with the authority, which the Lord has given us, in His Name, we can bind and rebuke the power of darkness, for as the co-workers of the Lord Jesus, we have the privilege and honor to do so. If you become His co-worker, you also can share this privilege.

To whom it is spoken

First of all you may wonder why God should seek a man like you to be His co-worker. It is a wonder to me also. I cannot forget how I gave my first testimony after I was born again in Winnipeg, Canada. I was just among a small group of believers, who were giving the testimonies of their experience of salvation, how they had been saved one by one. They all had much to say as to how they had been saved. But when my turn came, I was so nervous that as I got out of my seat and stood my knees started to shake, and my hands began to tremble and I could only say these words, "The Lord Jesus saved even me. I was a man who was worthy to be burnt to ashes, because my hands had torn the Bible. I was a blasphemer against the Bible and the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and made fun of Christians and yet He saved even me."

Now why should this great God, this mighty God, stoop to save a miserable, defiled, filthy, wretched sinner likes me? The Bible says, and I believe what it says, that God is seeking to save sinners, to make them His co-workers and partners in His vineyard. You find this mentioned in many portions of the Scriptures (e.g. 1 Cor. 3:9) that we are laborers together with the living and mighty God. Let us see now who are the people who should become His co- workers, and find out for yourself which group you belong to from these "foolish things, weak things, things which are despised, things which are not." Now you are sure to be in any one of these groups. If you do not see yourself in the first group, then you will see yourself in the second group, or the third, or the fourth, and if you are a human being, you ought to fit in with any one of these groups. Now such like people who are foolish and weak, base, despised, things of nought, and who are like dry grass, have been called and chosen to become His co-Workers, and you will also see that God has been pleased to use these very vessels to confound the mighty people, wise people and great people. You hear in these days about atomic bombs, how they can melt even mountains into vapor. Now which is more wonderful, the atomic bomb or the dry grass? And if God can use the tiny and dry grass for the very same purpose as the atomic bomb, then this is most wonderful of all!

The preparation of vessel

We have mentioned before that God's final purpose will not be fulfilled until He has made ready His vessel or weapon necessary for that purpose. He can, no doubt do these things Himself' if He wants to, but because of the love which He has for us, He is preparing us for this ministry.

Now you must understand the real meaning of divine love. Human love has one dimension, but God's love has four dimensions: length, breadth, height, and depth. Human love has a span of only a few years. You love today and hate tomorrow. Today, you may be very thick friends, but after a few years you become almost strangers. But divine love is eternal. And you need to grow spiritually in order to come into the enjoyment of that love. God wants us to have that experience now. God wants us to have that experience now.

The new life imparted

Now note this verse, "Behold, I will do a new thing; I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert" (Isa.43: 19). This will be your experience if you learn the meaning of New Life. Maybe your life is now nothing but jungle and desert, in spite of your talents and ability, because you do not know the purpose and the meaning of your life on earth. If somebody were to ask you, "Why were you born in this world?" What would you say? Is it just to grow to manhood, get married and die afterward? Or will you say to earn money, waste money and die in shame? Or will you say just to have education, knowledge and get degrees like B. A or M. A. and die afterward, just the same way as a fool? Or will you say to become a great man of the world, or a Member of Parliament, to hold a high office, and to die afterward? If you are thinking in this way, it means that you are still in the wilderness. You do not yet know who you are, what you are, and where you are. Just like animals in the wilderness you are going about here and there. With all your boldness, your work and your wisdom, you are in the wilderness. But now the living God wants to do a new work, to make a way in the wilderness and a path in the rivers, and you will not then ever step out without being ordered, controlled and governed by the heavenly power, and at the same time every word uttered, everything you do, will bring forth some eternal fruit. This is the privilege of those who have been chosen and those who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their own savior. They are His forever, and they have received a new life here upon the earth.

The Lord’s provision for the development of the new life:

Now, even such who received new life have to learn much more, and God shows us in Rev 2:17, three new things which he desires to give you to enjoy your new life: they are the hidden manna, a white stone and a new name. These are not mere phrases, but the offer of the living and loving God to every child of His. God is not like a mother who promises to give many nice things to her children just to stop them from crying, and afterwards neglect to give them. Whatever God says, he means it, and what he offers to one He offers to all.

But there are divine laws to be observed if the promises are to be fulfilled to us individually. If man desires to eat of the ground, he has to follow the laws of nature, he has to till the ground, sow the seeds and irrigate. So also, the Scripture says, there are divine laws and principles, which we have to follow before we can enjoy the promises. Some people thing that by shedding a few tears they can obtain what they want from God. Such efforts may persuade men, but not God. Some wives obtain favor from their husbands by shedding a few tears, but divine laws cannot be changed by shedding tears. Some think that by shedding tears and shouting they can receive the Holy Spirit and certain kinds of gifts. But you can receive things of God by such human efforts so it is good for us to consider carefully the laws of God. It is true. He wants to give us the hidden manna, a white stone and new name: but note the words “to him that overcometh.” Though these are simple words, the obtaining of all these things depend upon our understanding of them. Let us consider what they mean.

The Lords provision suitable for our peculiar need.

In Rev 2:13" I know thy works and where thou dwellest even where Satan seat is”. You feel, perhaps, “my conditions are peculiarly difficult and different from anyone else’s. How can these promises be fulfilled in my life also? I have no doubt that my Lord Jesus has forgiven my sins but how can these wonderful promises be fulfilled to a poor sinful man like me” But the Lord says, “I know where you are living, and how the powers of darkness and evil are ever active there. But even in such a place, if you only listen to my voice and hear me and overcome the trials that come upon you, I will give you also these three things”.

First of all remember that the Lord will not allow in your life any temptation which you cannot overcome (1 Cor 10:30) Believe God’s Word with simple, child like faith. Now you may be young or old, man or woman, and you might have any temptation of any kind or from any person in any part of the world, but God’s word to you today is the He will make a way for you to escape from that temptation which is now before you. You have to learn how to find the way to escape. You have the right to find it out. At the same time, if you long for and seek these things - the hidden manna, a white stone, and a new name, you will be enabled to find out the way of escape from all the devils attacks.

The hidden manna

Now let us consider the first of these. Remember how the manna was given in the olden days to God’s people when they came out of Egypt (Ex. 16:15). Every morning before sunrise, God used to send his food from heaven, these small tiny grains, for which they never labored nor ever tilled the land, but which they got every morning, had the quality to give them strength for their daily work.

The Lord Jesus tells the Jews in John 6:49, of the manna which their fathers ate and which was given to them, every morning, that this manna had not, however, given them strength to live for ever. But the Lord himself can give the Living Bread, and if they would eat him as the living bread they would live forever. Multitudes came to Him in the beginning when they saw the miracles of the feeding of the five and four thousands. But when they were told of the Living Bread, which was better than manna, they were offended and went away. Yet they knew He was the Lord from heaven and, the He had power over death and darkness. How could such a Lord make a false statement? Yet they were offended. They were blind. They refused to understand.

The human nature refuses the hidden things and asks for outward signs

But in the same way, in our own experience, you can see that somehow or other you desire to see something abnormal and supernatural in you life. I remember how when I began my Christian service in Canada. I thought that just by my having some extra spiritual gift, God would be able to work through me in a deeper and stronger way. I longed to see miracles and signs performed. Accordingly, God in His sovereign grace led me to see many such miracles happening in several places. Afterwards, I myself saw that the very same people, who were the means of performing miracles, went back to sin and darkness. So I understood that God does work through outward signs as man would think or desire. He goes on in a very quite way, unknown to us; but He never slumbers or sleeps.

Naturally, we are dependent upon outward things like food and clothes: so also we might have a natural desire for outward signs. Even among believers, many depend too much upon outward things. They think that by going to meetings, hearing good sermons receiving good teaching, meeting good people, they can become spiritually strong. Yet they still remain poor spiritually because they have never learnt to eat the hidden manna.

The Hidden Manna is Christ Himself

The hidden manna is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. You can eat of Him when you wait on Him quietly and secretly. It is possible that you may read the Bible for hours at a time, you may even pray for hours and in different places, you may fast regularly for one or two days or even a week, yet you may feel that you are empty and defeated. It is because you have not learned the secret of feeding on the hidden manna quietly and secretly.

When you go to the Lord secretly, do you always go with petitions and requests? How much time do you spend in really praising and adoring Him? It is very easy to bring our petition for ourselves and others and to give very little time to worshipping and adoring Him which the real meaning of eating and drinking Him for yourself.

By eating and drinking Him we receive life into us. When you have learnt the secret of the hidden manna, you will be completely freed from all earthly and natural desires, and also freed from thinking that you have plenty of Bible knowledge. In my early Christian life, I thought that if I could learn the Bible by heart and memorize many verses, and fill myself with Bible knowledge, then I would become spiritually strong. So I began to read the Bible night and day and still I was spiritually hungry, unsatisfied. The hidden manna is not Bible knowledge. But when the Lord became my Living Bread, and I learnt to adore Him, my hunger was satisfied.

The Hidden Manna gives full satisfaction

It is only the hidden manna that can save you and protect you from the devil and his snares. The devil will continually try to deceive you and tempt you through men, women, things, position, and with longings, which all appear very nice and attractive. Today, you also may think they are very good. But when you have been fully satisfied with the hidden manna, then you will have no desire even to look at them. The Lord Himself has said in John 6:35 that if you come to Him, you will never hunger or thirst any more. These words are true.

It requires a state of need, tiredness, and hunger

Although you can eat Him as the Bread of Life, yet only your spirit can eat, not your soul nor your brain nor you bones nor your blood. It requires also a clean and purified spirit, and a poor and hungry spirit, to eat Him. When the Lord rose again from the dead, He appeared to the disciples near the sea of Tiberias. He saw them very tired and worn out, so He prepared food for them to eat. Our Lord did not go to a shop for bread, or to a hotel for fish. How and when it had come, they did not know. But there it was: real food-bread and fishready to be eaten. The Lord saw their hunger and tiredness, and provided food for them. So also, according to your service and your need, He will give you the hidden manna. But if you are lazy and idle and do not work for the Lord, hoe can you except God to give you the hidden manna? SO first learn to serve, follow and obey the Lord, and you will see for your self how He will feed you with hidden manna. When we begin our Christian life, Christ comes to live and abide in us for ever; and as we go on eating and drinking Him day by day, He comes to us in greater measure and shares all our burdens. We have seen many times when in the Lord’s service, we could hardly sleep in the night and did not have food to eat sufficient for the work we did still we felt God giving us strength and greater energy because of the divine charge given to us. He feeds us with hidden manna.

God knows where we live and in what surroundings. He knows our special difficulties so He asks us to come to Him Who are the Living bread. Try it, do not disobey; and see how it works the manna which fell from heaven is a type of the real bread, our Lord Jesus Christ. How it was made, how it came we do not know. But it came and they ate it and were strong, how much better indeed to have the living bread!

But to eat Him you must first be hungry for Him. It is possible you might be hungry only for Bible knowledge or miracles and signs and outward things but not for God. The hunger for the Lord may be very little. If that is so, that is the reason why you are deceived so easily by Satan. Do you desire to come out triumphantly as an over comer over Satan? Then this is the Lord’s provision for you-The Hidden Manna.

God wants to do a new work in new and for this purpose He will give you new and fresh food, morning, noon, and night, wherever you go. After my conversion, while I was in Canada, I had no money with me, so I had to work as a cook, and prepare food for four to five hundred people in a hotel. I had to pray every morning, how much of every ingredient to use for each dish. I found, the food had new taste every day and a new flavor. The people thought I was an excellent and experienced cook and even asked me for my recopies. If the Lord enabled me to prepare the food with new taste and flavor everyday, how much more will He not give you the Living Bread to satisfy your hunger and thirst? By eating that Living Bread, you will also receive new taste, new love, and new hunger for the Word of God.

Thus He will fulfill in you His promise: “Behold, I will do a new thing; I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert”.

A WHITE STONE

         

We have seen how the Lord desires to do a new thing in us, and for this purpose He has put within us a new life. Now it is true, that many how have received this new life still do not enjoy this blessing. We are told of a man who used to sit in a certain place and beg all the days of his life. After he died, someone dug the ground where he used to sit, and found much treasure hidden there. The man had buried the treasure and sat on it for many years instead of enjoying it. So also there are many who are ‘born again’ but they do not have any brightness on their faces. They may perhaps blame their circumstances for their spiritual poverty. But the Lord has made full provision for each one of us to be overcomers, whatever may be our circumstances. And in Rev 2:17 the Lord offers three things to the overcomers: The hidden manna, A white stone, A new name.

We have seen already, the first of these: the hidden manna; the secret of feeding on the Lord eating His flesh and drinking His blood; being occupied in adoration and worship for the one who is all together lovely. Many look for miracles and outward signs and Bible knowledge for their spiritual growth but none of these can fully satisfy us and bring us victory. Once the principal of a Bible college met me. He was a scholar in Hebrew and had a good knowledge of the Bible. He was a learned professor and knew much more than many people. Yet he confessed to me that although he had taught things concerning the Bible to many students, he himself did not have the experience of feeding on the hidden manna. That was why he had to face many difficulties and was often defeated. The enemy comes with much subtlety to spoil your experience and your life of overcoming. God knows how weak you are and how you try to face the devil wrongly. So to help you to overcome He has made this provision of feeding upon the Living Lord himself daily. You should receive the warning not to think that outward signs are greater. The simple test is to note how much time you can spend before the Lord in worship and adoration without any supplication Learn to wait on Him first, for the joy of it. You will find that for hours you will not be tired, and when duties call you away you will be sorry to go.

Have you learned to eat the hidden manna quietly and secretly? By faith we can eat Him as the Living Bread ad drink of Him also. But those who are not ‘born again’ cannot partake of Him. Suppose you have a dead body in your house and you try to give the corpse very good food, will that body enjoy it? In the same way, you who are not ‘born again’ cannot ever smell and much less can eat this, heavenly food. But if you are ‘born again’ have received the gift of eternal life, and are walking with Him, then He will go on giving you more and more hunger day by day.

Now we shall consider the next thing God wants to give us: A white stone. This is something beyond human understanding. It must have a spiritual meaning because God never gives us anything without meaning. However, first let us go back to the Old Testament and study the garments of the high priest.

The garments of the high priest are a type of the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Leviticus 8, we are shown how the high priest was prepared for his ministry. He is brought prominently forward and is washed before the whole congregation, from head to foot, he must be without a spot or blemish. Any ailment in any part of the body would disqualify him. Even if he had an extra finger, he could become the high priest. No one should be able to say; ‘I can see a blemish in the high priest.’

Those who are washed in the blood of the Lamb are without spot and blemish, and even the angels in heaven can see no fault in them. What a wonderful salvation! What a wonderful savior! If you have really accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, the Spirit of God makes you His forever, and gives you the divine nature. Only the Grace of God does this, and never any man. Henceforth where ever you go you will shine in the glory of the Lord. Once a man took a piece of clay from under a rose tree, and found that it smelt very sweet, because of the fragrance of the rose was upon it. In the same way, every day in which you have spent more time at his feet, you will seek every part of your being radiates his glory and beauty and power. This is our heavenly calling upon the earth. Even though you may be of any profession upon the earth, still the fragrance of His holiness will be seen upon you.

The high priest had an embroidered coat of fine linen and on it a perfect blue rope, with an ephod on it. Upon the Ephod was the breastplate having the twelve stones which indicate the twelve tribes of Israel according to the divinely appointed order in which they were to march.

Judah, Issachar, Zebulun;

Reuben, Simeon, Gad;

Ephraim, Manasseh, Benajamin;

Dan, Asher, Napthali;

Beneath these twelve stones were the Urim and the Thummim. These were important. Everyone knew how the high priest received the white garments and the blue robe and the twelve precious stones. But no one knew how the Urim and Thummim came to be there, nor even what they were. They only knew that through them the high priest could know the mind of God; and for any nation or tribe or family or individual, difficulties could be solved by high priest through the Urim and Thummim, for God’s mind was revealed by this means. We do not know how it happened, but we know it did happen.

In 1 Samuel 30, we read how David forgot to consult the Urim and the Thummim, even though he knew fully well their value. Being a man of war, he went depending on his own wisdom and strength. He was thoroughly disappointed. His wives and children were captured and his goods spoiled or burnt. When you also depend upon your own wisdom and strength, you also will find your works will be burnt. Through one mistake, you will suffer much loss. David was a good man, a man after God’s own heart. He also enquired of the Lord before he did anything. He failed at this time and suffered for it. Remember that you are also liable to commit the same mistake. Sometimes all of us are carried away by our judgments and desires.

When David’s men saw there wives and children all taken away captive, they knew it was David’s mistake. He had not enquired of the Lord, hence the loss. They were able men of war and had faithfully followed David. But now they turned against him and were about to stone him. In the same manner, if you fail to find out God’s will, you and others with you will suffer much loss, and your dear friends also are likely to forsake you.

Then when the people wept, David remembered how he had not consulted the Urim and Thummim. He called for the priest and the Ephod and enquired of the Lord. Take warning from this story, how the devil tries to draw us away from the will of God by depending upon our own selves. However there is one encouraging thing, we notice. The Lord forgave David, restored to him his wives and children and goods also. “And David recovered all…”(v. 18) The Amalekites had not slain the captives David defeated them and also took all their spoil. In the same way, how often we go astray from the mind of God, yet he does not give us entirely over to the enemy.

It is possible that the White stone has a similar meaning, the Lord has promised to guide us continually (Isa. 58:11). This provision is meant for every believer. In the Old Testament, only the high priest was able to know the mind of God. But now every believer has the privilege of knowing His will (John 4:34; 6:38; 7:17; 8:28; 9:31). We can enjoy His love and affection if we know and do His will (Mat 12:50, Mark 3:35; Luke 8:21). He also offers to reveal to you the mind of God so that you know God’s will in every kind of individual, family or assembly need.

Once I thought the Lord would be pleased if I went traveling here and there to many countries, to preach the gospel. But the Lord said to me that I was in the wilderness, and in July 1941. He gave me this promise from Isaiah 43:19, “Behold I will do a new thing…I will even make a way in the wilderness.” Even though these words came to me then very forcibly in my quiet time, it has taken many years for me to see the deeper meaning in it, which I never knew before: “a new thing” and “a way in the wilderness.”

By the guidance of the Lord you will be victorious over every trial and the Lord will make for you “a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters.” (Isa 43:16). His guidance will take you safely through any darkness, or any valley, led by His loving and skilful hands. Even though you may know the opposition of Satan and be surrounded by darkness, by His guidance you will hear His void, “Fear not; there is a way here also.” This can be your daily and hourly experience.

In Rev 2:17 the Lord promises to give you the hidden manna, a white stone, and in the stone and in the stone, a new name written, that the darkness may be made light before you and the devil may be defeated. Wait till the Lord speaks to you and shows you the way. May the Lord grant you His provision and His guidance according to your need.