THE REDEEMED IN THE WILDERNESS

George Müller gave this sermon at a Conference of Christians of various denominations, held at Clifton. England. on Wednesday, October 1, 1873.

Who is this coming up from the wilderness
    leaning on her beloved? (Song of Solomon 8:5, NIV) 

Our subject, beloved Christian friends, as you all know, is “The Redeemed in the Wilderness." Now, the first question to ask is, “Do we know that we are among the number of the redeemed in the wilderness?” Possibly, there may be some hearts here present this evening saying, “How can I find out that I belong to the redeemed in the wilderness?” It should be settled this way: If we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of our souls and trust in Him alone for salvation; if we turn away entirely from our own merit and worthiness and are convinced that we are sinners by nature, putting our trust alone in the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of our souls; if we look to Him alone as our Substitute, and find in His precious blood alone the power to cleanse away all our numberless transgressions, in action, word, thought, desire, feeling, and purpose, then our sins are forgiven, we are renewed—born again and regenerated through this faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have become children of God through this faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, having been delivered from the bondage of Satan, the world, and our own evil and corrupt natures. We are thus delivered out of our Egypt and are brought into the wilderness.

Now we have before God to answer this question: Do I trust alone in Jesus for the salvation of my soul? Do I look away from everything but Jesus as the ground of acceptance, and depend on and trust in Him? Then are my sins forgiven! And though I am but a poor, weak believer, and little instructed as of yet, nevertheless, if I am really and truly relying upon Christ for salvation, all is right before God—we are accepted by Him, we are dear to His heart. He looks upon us as clean and spotless ones for Christ’s sake, though we are vile, worthless, and sinful in ourselves. And then, having been, by the grace of God, delivered out of the world of Egypt and brought into the wilderness, what then? To answer this, we refer to one passage, and only one:

Who is this coming up from the wilderness
    leaning on her beloved?

As we saw last evening, “the Beloved” refers again and again to the Lord Jesus Christ. And the one leaning upon Him in her weakness, helplessness, and nothingness represents the Church—the believers in Christ. By the power of the Holy Spirit, they have come to see their own weakness and nothingness.

This is just what we have to do: by God’s grace, we have been redeemed out of the world, our spiritual “Egypt,” and brought into the wilderness. We must increasingly own our weaknesses, helplessness and ignorance—and with that awareness, turn to our Beloved One—the Lord Jesus Christ—and lean upon the arm that never tires, the arm that created, sustains and upholds the world. We must do this. Let me ask, beloved in Christ, what are you doing? Are you leaning on the Beloved? Be honest before God: What is the condition of your soul? Are you trusting in yourself—your intellect, strength, money, your professional skills, your everyday life experiences, or even the spiritual experiences you have had and your knowledge of His word? Do you trust in these things? If so, let me gently tell you that you are not leaning on the Beloved. Doing these things will only show your weaknesses and leave you unsatisfied, for you are not living as God intends you to.

When I walked about in my garden, an hour or two ago, and thought upon this passage, I said, “Lord Jesus, I am one of Your weak ones, and I desire to lean upon You. If I am asked to speak this evening, oh, what can Your poor servant do? But I look to You, I desire to lean upon You. Now, Lord Jesus, instruct me, Your poor servant. I know I cannot speak as I ought, or truly benefit those who listen, but in my weakness, I will lean upon You, looking to You. Please help Your servant."

Well, in the same way, we are to look to Him in everything—in raising our children, in carrying on our work, in times of trial and difficulty, when we are aware of our many failings, and in the daily temptations we face. We must look to the Lord Jesus Christ and draw out of the fullness which is treasured up in Him. He is a power of good to His Church. He has infinite wisdom, full of pity and compassion. By prayer and through faith, we can draw from His attributes the strength we are so in need of.

Of this weak one, it is said, “She comes up from the wilderness, leaning on her Beloved." This suggests to us at once that her destiny is not to remain in the wilderness—and this is just the blessed position of the Church of Christ. We have abundant reason to thank God that we are in the wilderness. I have been in the wilderness forty-eight years, and I well remember the time when I was not in the wilderness—when I was of the world, when I loved this world, as it was my delight and desire. Back then, I would have laughed at the very thought of leaving the world behind or hearing of this “Beloved One.” But now, by the grace of God, everything is different. It’s true of everyone here: though we are in the wilderness, we won’t remain there. The future is bright and blessed for all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ—not nominal Christians, but true believers, children of God, partakers of His divine nature, and though the manifestation of the sons of God has not yet taken place, it will. Wait for it, and as assuredly as we now trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, so assuredly every one of us, before the whole universe, will be revealed “in the day of Christ’s appearing” as His disciples and as the children of God. Oh, what a glorious hope—the manifestation of the sons of God! And as we begin to grasp that reality, the things of this world will lose their luster, with its lusts and vanities and pleasures and wealth and rank—we will let it all go, we will realize we are children of God, looking forward to the day His children are revealed in glory.

At this point, allow me to express my heart to you as someone who has had some experience of these things. As you have revelation of these heavenly realities to look forward to this day, to the appearing of the Lord Jesus, when you are co-heirs with Jesus in His kingdom, when you will be forever separated from the world, received into the Father’s house and completely conformed into the image of God’s dear Son (not only in body, but in nature), then your heart will be lifted from earth to heaven. There is no better way to be separated from the world than to lift our hearts heavenward, considering what we have been redeemed from and who we now are in Christ, and the prospects of who we will become in eternity. Oh, the soul cannot help but rejoice in the Lord when it considers these things! It’s a blessedly bright future—but we aren’t to remain there. We are to come up from the wilderness!

Now, don’t misunderstand me, thinking I was altogether sick of the world that I wish to, at any moment, be taken out of it. That’s not the case. If the Lord gives me the grace, I am willing to serve Him fifty more years, and more if it’s His will. Yet with all this, because of the conflicts and difficulties faced on this journey, because of the fallen nature within me, and because Satan is not yet bound, there is a longing for the wilderness to end. But the Church and the world are not yet fully separated, and Jesus has not yet returned in His glory. The children of God rejoice at the thought that the wilderness state will come to an end. It will be the day of joy for the universal Church of Christ, and above all, the day of glory for our Lord Jesus Himself. And for that reason, we cannot help but rejoice in the hope that the wilderness will soon come to an end.

What does it imply, this weak one coming up out of the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? That she is taking one step further, getting nearer and nearer to the promised land. It’s so with us! As the sun sets, we are one day nearer. As the week comes to a close, we are one week nearer. As this yearly conference ends, we are one year nearer! Even now, we are one year nearer than we were last year when we met. Oh, what a blessedly bright future—and to whom are we getting nearer and nearer? It’s to Jesus. Does the idea of being with Him excite your heart?

I’m not talking about the excitement of parties, theaters, or social events, nor about becoming rich in this world or gaining fame in this world. It’s not about any of these things. It’s all about the blessed hope of being with Jesus. How many of you here truly long for this? If you don’t, let me share this with you: It reveals two things. Either you are dead in your trespasses and sins, walking on the broad road that leads to destruction, or it shows that your heart is dull to the things of God. If a spiritual thermometer were applied to your heart, it would reveal that you are all but lifeless. This should never be the case for disciples of Christ. Our hearts should be filled with love for the One who laid down His life for us, so that we rejoice when we hear that a day is coming when we will be with Him forever.

This then is our blessed hope: though we are glad, if necessary, to labor and suffer here for the Lord’s sake—though glad for a time to be, if necessary, separated from that blessed One, from “the spirits of the righteous made perfect,” with whom we will one day be forever united—yet we hold before us this promise: the wilderness will not last forever. We will one day come out of it. With each passing day, we draw nearer to our true and blessed home. And while we remain here, what are we to do? Each of us has our own work and calling—not all as preachers or evangelists, but every one of us, as disciples of Jesus Christ, has work to do. We all have some difficulty we’re facing, some trial we’re going through, some sorrow to endure. And on top of that, we all face temptation daily.

What should we do in these circumstances? We must lean upon our Beloved. We must go to Jesus, trust in Him, and acknowledge our weakness and helplessness. We must not rely on our own strength—for we have none. We also must not look to others, for they are as weak as we are. No, we must look to the Lord Jesus. There is treasured up in Him inexhaustible stores. And as we lay hold of His strength through prayer in faith, so shall we receive comfort according to our need, instruction in the hour of confusion, help in the hour of depression, deliverance in the hour of difficulty—whether it be with our family or work or elsewhere. No matter the circumstance, there are no trials we face where we can’t look to Him and say, “Jesus will meet me in all these trials. Jesus will help me. When He says, “Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it” (Psalm 81:10, ESV),” I will open wide my mouth and will see how the blessed One is both able and willing to sustain me.”

So lean upon the arm of that blessed One; you will find He never grows weary, but is always able to bear you. He will never fail. Oh, do try it and see! Remember, Jesus doesn’t simply “take” the arm. Sometimes tehre are cases where a frail husband may, in courtesy, offer his arm to his wife. She knows he is weak, but that he offers his arm out of politeness and love. In reality, her arm is ten times stronger than his, and he has no strength to support her. So while she takes his arm, she does not lean upon it. But this is not the way with the arm of our Lord Jesus. You may really, truly lean on and trust in Him; put His arm to the test to find how strong it is—you’ll find He is able to carry you through. If you have never tried it, let me urge you to try it now! You will find how strong that arm is, how able and ready He is to carry you through all things—and He will never, never tire. Oh, what a bright hope—to have such a Friend forever and ever! 

Looking forward to the coming year, I have every reason to believe we may not all meet again at another Conference. Our paths may be varied. We may have to face trials and difficulties. But, dear friends, with all this in mind, are we dismayed, anxious or overwhelmed at the thought of what the year ahead holds? We shouldn’t be because that arm will carry us through—the arm of our Friend “who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24, NIV). He never will get tired of us; He upholds the universe by His power and might, and He will carry us. And if the Lord allows us to see another year, and we are granted the joy of meeting again in fellowship, what reason shall we not have to bless and praise God for all His goodness? And we have another reason, too. We will be one year nearer to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ—one year nearer the day when the wilderness days will be over forever and ever. Amen!