Praise the Lord. Good morning, dear ones.
Let us look unto the Lord, so that our hearts are prepared and the Lord will speak to us individually.
Thank You, Lord, for giving this wonderful time to come around the Lord’s table, Lord, and exalt and adore Thee. Thank You, Lord, for the privilege which Thou hast granted us to remember Thee.
Lord, thank You for this time You have given us. You have brought us here so that You would minister unto us individually. As we stand before Thee, Lord, we belong to You. We are Your sheep; You are our Shepherd.
Lord, You have planned for us, and You are dealing with each and every one individually, according to Thy will, to bring glory to Thee. Lord, whatever we meditate on here, let it be acceptable in Thy sight. Lord, protect the Word which is being sown today through the Holy Spirit. We give You all glory and honour. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Let us turn to Genesis 17:1–6.
And Abram was ninety years old and nine, when the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be thou perfect.
And I will make My covenant between Me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
As for Me, behold, My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of a multitude of nations.
Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for the father of a multitude of nations have I made thee.
And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
May the Lord bless this Word.
When I was reading this passage, we all know that in Genesis 17 the Lord met Abraham fourteen years after the birth of Ishmael. But when I read these verses further, God is asking Abraham to walk before Him and be perfect. I was thinking, what is the timing of the Lord?
Abraham left his parents’ home when the Lord called him to get out of his country. Abraham was walking with the Lord. He built an altar between Bethel and Ai. He was separated from Lot. Then he fought against the people who took Lot, and he was successful. He also offered tithes to Melchizedek.
So it seems that he was already walking with the Lord, right? He built an altar at Hebron. In Genesis 15, he believed in the Lord, and it was counted to him for righteousness.
After all these activities in his life, he was ninety-nine years old. I think he might have thought, “I am almost done, because I have a son now who is fourteen years old.”
If you look back over his history—as we can all look back over our own lives—he could have thought, “Man, I did good work with Lot. I had a good walk. I built a couple of altars, served in a couple of churches, and invested in people’s lives. Now I am old. I have a fourteen-year-old son. I am going to look at my son, enjoy him, and raise him in the obedience of the Lord.”
At that time, the Lord had a different plan. At the time when Abraham thought he was successful and walking well, the Lord met him.
What a timing of the Lord! When we think everything is done according to human knowledge, then the work of the Lord starts. That is what I felt from this passage.
Here it is precisely mentioned that he was ninety-nine years old. Everybody here is younger than him, so this is for all of us, including me.
He was old. I do not want to compare it to the one hundred and seventy-five years Abraham lived, or ask what ninety-nine would be in our day. But perhaps he was thinking, “I need to rest now.”
But at that time the Lord met him. Abraham was not weak, I do not want to say that, but he was settled. He had his son. He had his wife Sarah, and biologically they could not have any more children. He was at retirement age, I would say.
In India, retirement age was fifty-eight, but it moved to sixty-three now. Slowly it is moving. At retirement age, people think it is done, but it is a beginning.
The Lord introduced Himself:
I am God Almighty.
He is introducing Himself as exactly the opposite of Abraham’s condition. Abraham was weak; God is Almighty. God is all-powerful. He has strength. He controls nature, people, and everything.
“Almighty” is a big word, right? Nothing is more powerful than Him.
The Lord was making a point: “You are weak, but I am Almighty. You think you are done, but I have something for you.”
Then, after all of Abraham’s life journey, God says, “Walk before Me, and be thou perfect.” I was thinking, what is this walk? He was already walking. He had already done what a human being might think was enough.
I was looking at some Bible study tools and asking, “What is this walk?” This does not mean that Abraham did not walk with the Lord. We all know he walked. It does not mean that we discontinue our walk with the Lord.
But the Lord is saying, “Continue the walk, but walk in faith and dependence on Me for everything you need.”
Perhaps in the matter of Ishmael, Abraham listened to his wife but did not consult the Lord. I am not saying that is all, because the Lord knows more. The Lord’s eyes are different from human eyes.
God is asking him to walk in faith, in dependence upon Him for everything needed—for temporal things as well as spiritual things—and to walk in all the ordinances and commandments He has given or will give.
Walk as if you are in His presence. That means you are naked before Him. Walk under His watchful eye. There is nothing escaping His eyes in what you are doing.
Walk in such a way. That is the kind of walk the Lord expected from Abraham. Many times in human life, we think, “I am almost done. I have had a good run.” But God comes to us today and says, “Now walk before Me, and be thou perfect.”
The Lord is making a very clear point: walk before Me in dependence upon Me.
We know Hebrews 4. For the benefit of the young people, let us read Hebrews 4:12.
For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.
It knows the thoughts of your heart and the intents of your heart. It discerns your thoughts and the intents of your heart.
That is what God is saying: “I know you are walking, but you are naked before Me. I know your heart thoughts. I know your thoughts. I know your heart. Now be perfect.”
If we are walking but still making choices that move aside from the will of the Lord, then that is not perfection.
The next verse says:
And there is no creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do.
Look at the eyes of the Lord. It is such a powerful thought. Whatever we are doing and whatever we are thinking, nothing is hidden.
In this generation, children may think they are watching something on their phones and nobody is looking. Unfortunately, many people can see what you browse. Even companies can know what you are browsing.
When I tell my children not to watch the phone, they may go into the bedroom and watch, thinking nobody is watching. But it is so open to the world.
Likewise, sometimes we behave like those children. Our thoughts and intents are so open to the Lord. It is like they are coming onto a screen.
God is saying, “I know you have done great things in life. I know you have reached big milestones in life.” But He is speaking about more than milestones and more than what you have achieved. He is asking us to be perfect.
I am not saying that the Lord is demanding that you have no sin. Christ is our righteousness. I do not know whether sinless perfection is achievable in this life, but with the strength of the Lord, it is desirable. In Christ, it is attainable.
The Lord expects more and more—more and more perfection—which is possible in Him and through Him.
Whether it is the Lord Jesus Christ or the angel of the Lord speaking in Genesis 17, either way, in the Lord we can attain this—not through ourselves. The Lord has that desire, and He is saying, “You also have the desire, because I have a desire for you to walk and be perfect.”
I wrote down some notes: walk in His presence and under His watchful eye, which sees and observes all things, and before Whom all things are naked and open.
To be perfect means to be perfect in acts of faith and in duties, and to go on to perfection, which, though sinless perfection may not be attainable in this life, is desirable and is to be had in Christ.
What a hope we have. It should be desirable. I do not know whether it is attainable in ourselves, but in Christ it is attainable.
Again, I am not saying we are judged by works. Romans 4:1–3, when it speaks about Abraham, very clearly says it is not dependent upon works or deeds. But there is still a Christian walk. We all know that we should walk in the light.
The Lord expects us to be perfect, which brings much glory to Him. The Lord has work for you and me.
After this, we see how the Lord blessed Abraham and did many different things through him. Abraham could give his son as an offering. He was blessed with Isaac.
When Abraham thought it was done, the Lord said, “It is a start. It is a start to fulfil My promise in you. It is a start for you to be called the father of faith.”
It is the beginning of God’s eternal plan, which was laid before the foundation of the world. Abraham is called the father of faith. When Zacchaeus accepted the Lord, Jesus said that he too was a son of Abraham.
That is such a big plan the Lord had through Abraham.
For us, what does this mean? If today the Lord says to all people under ninety-nine years old—which I think is all of us—“Walk before Me, and be thou perfect,” that is a searching question for all of us.
But the Lord has a plan. The day we think we are done, the Lord has a plan, because He wants us to pursue more and more.
We all know that Christ is our righteousness, according to 1 Corinthians 1:30. Do not ever think you are unrighteous, because today we worship the Lord knowing that we are righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ. He has enabled us to come and worship.
But the Lord has more for you. The Lord has a plan for you individually, and the Lord has a plan for the body of Christ as a group, as a local church, and also as the universal church.
Let us turn to Colossians 3:3. Who are we? Most of the children here are born again and baptised. Who are we?
For ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Your beginning is from Christ now. You are hidden in Christ.
I think we are far better placed than Abraham because of the knowledge given to us. Christ has died for us. We live after Christ’s death. We know that we are hidden in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Your journey begins from Christ. Your journey does not begin somewhere else. From there, you are trying to walk and trying to be perfect.
What a privilege the Lord has given this generation. There is so much confusion in the world about where to start a righteous life. Your righteous life starts in the Lord, from the Lord, because you have died and are hidden in the Lord.
What a joy it is.
When the Lord says, “Walk before Me, and be thou perfect,” He is speaking to those who are hidden in Him. When you are hidden in the Lord, He is protecting you so that you do not fall.
But do you have a desire to walk with the Lord? Do you have a desire to be perfect in the Lord? He knows the intent of your heart and your thoughts. Because you are naked before Him, nothing is hidden from Him. Do you have that intent?
Look at Colossians 2:6–7:
As therefore ye received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
rooted and builded up in Him, and stablished in your faith, even as ye were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
Here also it says, “Walk in Him”—in Whom you are hidden.
Your pattern is the Person Who is leading you. You need to walk with Him. When you walk with Him, your life pattern should be like Him. Your life pattern cannot be away from the Person in Whom you are.
If your life pattern, thought pattern, or intentional pattern is away from Christ, then you are not walking with Him. Thoughts are so important. Remember, when you are walking in Him, you are naked before Him. None of your thoughts are hidden from Him.
When you are walking with a person, your pattern should be the same. If a great soccer player takes you onto the field, you try to be like that player. You try to dress like him. You feel like him. When he dribbles the ball, you think, “Maybe I can also do that.”
The Lord is a better coach than any great coach. The Lord says, “You are hidden in Me. Now I am walking; walk with Me.”
Whatever we have done in the past—how many great things, how many altars we have built, how many offerings we have made, how much knowledge we have—we should have the pattern of the Lord.
This is not an intellectual thing. It is a spiritual life. It is living life. The Lord wants your pattern to be shown outwardly, so that people can see, “Yes, this person is hidden in Christ.” You can also say to yourself, “Yes, I am walking in the pattern of the Lord.”
Not only should we have the pattern; we should conduct our lives in the same way. When you conduct your life rightly, you influence others.
In 1 Thessalonians 4:1, the last part says:
Ye ought to walk and to please God, even as ye do walk, that ye abound more and more.
To please God is not merely to do actions. It is the desire to please God. Before His holiness and righteousness, all our actions and all our good things fall short. But He knows your intent.
Even in a murder trial, they examine the intent behind the act. In every matter, intent matters.
We should have that desire: “Yes, I want to please my Lord. I want to walk with Him Who died for me, Who has hidden me.”
I am not a person wandering around this world like a ball flying anywhere. I am hidden in the Lord. I have a desire to please the Lord. I want to do more and more.
That is the desire of the Lord, so that He would see you walking with Him and fulfil His purpose and desires in you and me.
If God called the great man Abraham to walk before Him after all his actions, perhaps God is saying to us every day, “Walk before Me, and be thou perfect.”
The next phrase is “rooted and built up in Him.” We have heard many messages about being rooted and built up in Him.
If we cannot walk, we cannot be built up and rooted in Him. If we cannot be rooted, we cannot be built up. It is as simple as that.
Once you are rooted and built up, you can do more and more. It is a continuous activity. I do not know much English grammar, but it is present and future tense. We just keep on going.
There is no end for the Christian life. A person does not end at ninety-nine years of life. There is no end for the Christian life.
Maybe through prayer, through a gift, through giving, through serving the Lord, or through living outreach—whatever purpose the Lord has for you—you are not done until the Lord says, “You are done. Come to Me.”
You are not done. We are not done.
We are all young in the sight of the Lord. We are all one generation. There is no senior generation and junior generation in this matter. We are all one generation. Nobody is done until the Lord says, “You are done.”
So there is much activity: walk, and walk before the Lord.
To be rooted and built up means that we reflect the fact that we are in union with Christ. We grow in our knowledge and application of the gospel as we own Him as Lord.
If we live in Him, we shall be rooted in Him more firmly. The more rooted we are in Him, the more intimately we shall live in Him. That intimacy is such an important thing.
Sometimes, when we hear the same message again and again, we as believers can say, “I know about it. I know about it.” That is one dangerous thing the enemy can use.
That attitude can make you not grow in the Lord and not walk with the Lord, because you think you already know. It makes you slow down. That is an enemy’s scheme.
These verses about being rooted and built up in Him have become very common in our lives. But for something to root, we know how deep it is. If somebody tells you to dig up and remove a large tree, you know how deep the roots go. It takes much time to become rooted.
So it is not something you hear once and then say, “I know.” Make sure that we have intimacy with the Lord and that we have this pattern of life.
In practice, how shall we walk? How shall we do it? We all know we want to do it. I do not have a formula, but you also want to do it, right?
Coming together and feeling holy is not enough. Feeling that we are all trying to do good is not enough. The Lord spoke about one thing called hunger.
Matthew 5:6 says:
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
This hunger should be in our lives. Children are hungry; we all are hungry. No one can say, “I do not know what hunger is.” We all know hunger.
But we should have hunger and thirst after righteousness. We should run toward it and thirst for it.
In India, they say that a man who loves money very much is “running behind money.” That kind of running and thirst we should have for righteousness.
Righteousness is the Lord Himself. The Lord Jesus Christ is our righteousness. We should have that hunger and thirst.
Many times we all feel low, but the Lord was telling me as I read the Word, “You lost the hunger. You lost the thirst. I do not see you running after it.”
Scripture speaks so clearly. The Lord is proclaiming that we should have hunger after righteousness. That hunger for righteousness will make us walk with the Lord.
That should be our cry: “Yes, Lord, I want that hunger. I desire that thirst to have Your righteousness. You are my righteousness. My beginning is from You. I am hidden in You. I am hidden in the righteous One. My hunger is to have more and more of Your righteousness—more and more of You.”
Maturity means becoming like Christ. It is not more knowledge or becoming more teachable merely so that you can teach more. It is not only what you are saying; it is what you have become.
It is not how much knowledge we have learned through the Word of God, but what we have become.
When I was a child, we had a competition called, “Who Knows More?” Ten people would stand in a line. One person would say a verse, then the next person would say a verse, and it would keep going. If someone could not say a verse, he was out.
We were so smart because we were raised in Hebron Main Branch, where hundreds of verses were hanging on the walls. Before the competition, we would read all the verses on the walls so we could bring someone down easily.
But the families have suffered because of this “who knows more” attitude. It is not about who knows more. It is about who you have become.
It is not about comparing what you are with what I am. It is about you and the Lord.
The problem in Christian life is often comparison: whether I am better than him or he is better than me, and then feeling comfortable because I am better than him.
It starts with money and possessions, but it ends up in spirituality too: “I am better than him.” That is not a good comparison. It is between you and the Lord—who you have become.
We all know Christ is our righteousness, but merely feeling that we are holy enough is not enough. It involves more than that. We should have a desire to grow.
If somebody loves money, he is always thinking about money. We say that he is running behind money. Paul speaks about another kind of running.
Let us turn to 1 Corinthians 9:24–27.
Know ye not that they that run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? Even so run; that ye may attain.
And every man that striveth in the games exerciseth self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
I therefore so run, as not uncertainly; so fight I, as not beating the air:
but I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.
Everybody runs in this world. Some children run after education. Some run after sports. Grown-ups run after families, businesses, and money. But there is a special running for believers.
Paul is speaking about running to win the crown—running to win the Lord. What is greater than the Lord?
This running shows that you are hidden in Christ. You are running with Him, running for Him, and running to win Him.
You are not hidden in Him while running for something else. You are hidden in Him; you are running with Him and for Him, and running to obtain the crown. This is the thirst we should have.
Paul is saying that we should have a desire to pursue more and more. The race does not end until you are done.
There is no competition with your neighbours who are running. Your eyes are on the Lord, not on your neighbour in the church, your friend, or anyone else. It does not matter who stops; you are running. Helping others to run is a different thing, but you are running.
The runner’s race ends only when the finish line comes. This is what God expects. Hunger for righteousness should not die. The hunger and desire to please the Lord should grow more and more.
The Lord will fulfil His purpose in that.
What hunger Abraham had, we do not know. But Abraham may have thought, “I am almost done,” while the Lord said, “You are not done. I have much unfinished work for you.”
Similarly, Paul says in Philippians 3:7–9:
Howbeit what things were gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ.
Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for Whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ,
and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of mine own, even that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.
When you are running for the Lord and running for His righteousness, you leave worldly things behind. When people run after money, sometimes they leave their families behind. Likewise, when you run for the Lord, worldly things are left behind.
Paul says, “I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ.”
All other things become dimmer and dimmer. They become negligible in our lives.
As I stand here and share this message, it is for me more and more. The things of the world should become dimmer and dimmer. If they are not becoming dimmer, then somehow our running is going in the wrong direction.
Whenever you run after something, you lose a few things. That is a pattern of life. When you run after a job, you lose a few things because you must leave them behind. You cannot carry everything and run.
Likewise, when you run for the Lord and learn to win the Lord, you automatically leave things behind.
That is walking. That is what it means to “be thou perfect,” because it is a continuous process. You are becoming more perfect. You are walking and becoming perfect.
Our running is with hope. We are not hopeless runners. We run with the hope that one day our Lord will say, “Well done, My beloved servant.”
It is not, “Well done, My beloved servant, better than others.” It is simply, “Well done, beloved servant.”
Abraham’s faith was not merely intellectual assent. It was life-changing action. Abraham demonstrated his faith in obedience. Galatians 3:6 speaks of Abraham’s faith, but faith is not an intellectual thing. It is life-changing action.
Abraham’s life changed when he left his country. Abraham’s life changed when he separated from Lot. Abraham changed when he won the war. His life changed when he built an altar. But the Lord wanted more from him.
I do not know what more the Lord wants from our lives, but we all know that the Lord wants more from us.
To walk before God means to be aware of God’s presence and to align with His will. In the Old Testament, God looked for kindness and justice. The Lord calls us to walk in a manner worthy of our calling, as Ephesians 4:1 says.
The Person in Whom you are hidden is calling you to walk according to Him.
To walk before God is to live with the knowledge that God is always with us, and that all we do is one hundred percent observed by Him. There is nothing you can think that He does not see. Everything you do is observed and accountable, whether good or bad, because nothing is hidden from Him.
When I was a child, I used to watch ants going in a line and carrying food. Those creatures did not know I was watching them. Surely the Lord has far better vision than we have. Yet we cannot even get into the ants’ houses.
Everything is observed. Young people may think something is not observed by the Lord—a friendship, a relationship, a talk, a joke, or music. I am not judging anyone. But everything is observed. Everything is accountable: what you listen to and what you say.
That is the pattern of life. A pattern of life is not something you live only here at church. A pattern of life is what you do every time.
It includes what you like, what music you hear, what actions you enjoy, and whom you like. This is the pattern of life. The Lord says, “I am holding you. Your pattern should be like Me, not like the enemy.”
So be very careful. Everything is observed. Parents may not observe, but the Lord observes. That will direct your steps. That will make you walk.
The call for Abraham to be perfect is about having integrity of heart toward God.
Jesus calls His disciples in Matthew 5:48:
Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
The Person Who is carrying you is telling you the same thing: “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Walk before Me, and be thou perfect.”
Philippians 2:15 says:
That ye may become blameless and harmless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye are seen as lights in the world.
We are to be blameless and innocent children of God—even those under ninety-nine years old. The same statement is for all of us: blameless and innocent children.
This is the Lord’s desire, that we would please the Lord Who died for us, please the Lord Who has hidden us, Who is carrying us, and Who is leading us.
May the Lord bless this Word and strengthen us to walk and be perfect in His sight.
Dear Heavenly Father, precious and Almighty Lord, thank You, Lord, for giving this opportunity to come into Thy presence and to seek Thy will.
Yes, Lord, whatever we are, You want us to be blameless children before Thee. Lord, You want us to walk before Thee and to be perfect.
Lord, Abraham had done much, and one day You called him. After being successful in life, and when he thought everything was going well, You wanted more from him. You wanted to fulfil more of Your desires in him, and You asked him to walk before Thee and be perfect.
Thank You, Lord, that Your desire for us will never end. You want us to run after You. As Paul said, “I run for that crown.”
Lord, one thing we are sure of: we are not running alone, because we are hidden in Christ Himself. Our journey starts from righteousness to righteousness.
Lord, strengthen us. Help us to walk worthily. We give You all glory and honour. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.