In His Steps, this is the heartbeat of every Christian
youth. What youth can afford not to thread therein? A youth must cross
the Rubicon of the way of multitudes to the side of no return, the side of the Saviour, come to
an inexplicable awareness of this great Lord, the incomparable model, Jesus
Christ. Thereafter he becomes a Christian who can be identified anywhere
many years after (read the article titled: "And
They Were Called Christians".)
This article before you is to launch
you into the secrets of His exploits if you must fulfill His injunction
and promise (Lk. 19:13; Jn. 14:12). The teaching is "On the Mountain
by Night, on the Plains by Day".
On The Mountain By Night: Explanation And
Examples
In the physical, a mountain is a land mass
that projects well above its surroundings. It takes great efforts and
determination to climb a mountain because of its rough sides and slope but at
the end the climber achieves his purposes. A mountain can be a place of
extraordinary experience where God and man meet. The people of Old Testament
including the children of Israel at different times had glorious visitations as
the Lord descending on the mount. On one of the mounts at Moriah, Abraham
experienced God as Jehovah Jireh (Gen. 22:11-14), at Mountain of God in Horeb,
Moses saw the bush that burned which was not consumed (Exo. 3:1-2), when God
came down in fire on Mount Sinai, there was smoke, quakes and the children of
Israel heard the voice of the Lord (Exo. 19:16-19; 20:18; Deut. 4:9-12); there
God gave Moses and Israelites the ten commandments and His statutes and
judgments (Deut. 4:13; Exo. 20:1-3). At mount Carmel, Elijah and the Israelites
saw the God that answers by fire (1Kgs. 18:36-39). When Jesus took some of His
apostles to the Mountain, they (the apostles) saw a scene that so made them
afraid that they temporarily forgot everything about themselves (Matt. 17:1-3).
The different experiences at these different mountains remained memorials for
generations after those that experienced them and for us today (Rom. 15:4;
2Pet. 1:16-18; Deut. 4:10-13; Heb. 12:18-19). They were glorious experiences
indeed.
Now one may wonder if these experiences
belonged to only those who have mountains in their areas to climb in order to
encounter God. The coming of the Messiah, Jesus, has given every one of us a
better privilege and we do not need a physical mountain to enjoy the mountain
experience (Jn. 4:19-24). The worship of God MUST be in spirit and in truth
which is what the conference has been addressing since we began. So, what then
is the mountain today? The mountain for a child of God is that place and time
when he separates himself and rises above his surroundings through prayers,
supplications, wrestling, studying and meditation of God’s word (Gen. 32:24-28;
cp. Ezra. 7:10; Neh. 8:1-3, 5-6, 8; Matt. 26:36).
