The LORD has revealed HIMSELF as the AUTHOR and FINISHER of our faith. (see Heb. 12:2) HE has also shown HIMSELF to be the ALPHA and the OMEGA, the BEGINNING and the END of all things. (see Rev.1:8; 22:13) Nothing can be taken from what HE has been pleased to do and nothing can be added to it. HIS ways and works are perfect. Not one jot or tittle of all HE has spoken shall ever fail (see Mat.5:18) nor can HIS purpose in any way fall short of being accomplished. As David of old rightly said, "But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased." (Psa 115:3)
In order to have any understanding of the unfolding of redemption it is first necessary to have a clear vision of who GOD is; then to view HIS unwavering purpose as the very basis upon which this redemption is built. If a man fails to see HIM as the absolute GOD described in the first paragraph whose unfailing purpose is the redemption of a people HE has called HIS own then the rest of his conclusions about redemption and its application to men must of necessity be faulty. Most of that which calls itself "Christianity" in our day clearly has no consideration of GOD as an absolute sovereign and most certainly disregards salvation as the outworking of HIS purpose in the earth. The whole fabric of "preaching" today is woven out of the threads of free will and man's benefit. This is a cloth which has a beautiful appearance to the natural man but shall be seen in time to be completely rotten and unable to support the weight of those that cling to it for salvation.
It would be an understatement to say that most "preaching" today focuses on trying to motivate men to do something in order to gain favor with GOD; whether it is "accepting CHRIST", "letting JESUS into their heart" or allowing HIM to be the "LORD of their lives' This concept arises out of the mindset that views GOD as able to do almost anything but change the wills of men. HE is stymied at this point according to today's "preachers". Therefore HE is reduced to just hoping somebody will let him save them and lamenting over all of those who would not listen and have now slipped out of HIS grasp into the pit of destruction. Such a god is unworthy of worship and is but the figment of the imagination of those who worship and serve the creature more than the CREATOR. Most assuredly this is not the GOD upon whom Jonah called saying, "I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me forever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.------Salvation is of the LORD." (Jonah 2:6-9) Nor is it that one whom John was enabled to see on the isle of Patmos, saying, "And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last." (Rev 1:17)
Usually, when we think of "wells" we envision a hole in the ground which is dug by men to get at the water which flows beneath the surface of the earth. This is the view that those who preach a man centered "gospel" preach. They say GOD has "provided" salvation but it is up to us to get hold of it or appropriate it for ourselves. They picture the blood of JESUS CHRIST as making salvation a possibility for everybody but actually saving no one. All that god can do (according to them) is sit idly by hoping that someone will "drill a well" and tap into the water supply. Others even go so far as to say that they believe that GOD has provided an "eternal salvation" for some but that it is up to men to gain the benefits of "time salvation" by drilling the same wells which are said to tap into god's blessings. Some describe this as "living according to the moral law" or working out their "sanctification". Any blessing which depends on the ability, free-will, or desire of men to lay hold of it is sure to go unenjoyed by those for whom it is intended. Any sanctification which depends upon the active participation of men is one which is yet tainted with sin and cannot be that to which the sons of GOD have been appointed. (see I Cor.1:30; II Thes.2:13; I Pet.1:2)
When the scripture describes the events which occurred in the earth to bring about the flood in Noah's day, it says "the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened." (Gen 7:11) The Hebrew word which is translated "fountains" in this passage is the same word translated as "wells" in our text taken from Isaiah. It is translated as springs in Psalm 87:7; "all my springs are in thee" and also Psalm 104;10, "He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills."
These "wells of salvation" from which the sons of GOD draw water with joy from are not those dug by the hands of men but are:
Provided by the ONE who is the LIVING WATER. "He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." (John 7:38) This belief is not a condition which men must meet in order to "get this water". Rather this belief is the evidence of those who have been given this water by HIM who said, "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." (John 4:14)
Flowing from an AQUIFER that shall never run dry. "And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not." (Isa. 58:11) The obedience of the sons of GOD is not the cause whereby this water continually flows. Rather it is the continual flow of this WATER that brings about obedience in the sons of GOD. Obedience is not the cause of GOD's blessings but it is the evidence of it. What greater joy do the sons of GOD have than walking before the LORD in the counsel of HIS word. "And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." (Psa 1:3)
The very source of JOY for the sons of GOD. "And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement." (Rom 5:11) The very foundation of all of the joy of GOD's elect children is in the substitutionary, vicarious, atonement of the LORD JESUS CHRIST. Without the imputation of our sin to HIM and HIS righteousness to us we would be most miserable and would have absolutely no foundation upon which to approach the LORD our GOD. Yet now as those whose sin debt is forever canceled and whose complete acceptance in CHRIST is secured for eternity, we can do nothing but rejoice regardless of any trial which may befall us in this world. "As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things." (2Co 6:10)
The strength of GOD's children. "Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength." (Neh 8:10) The enemy of the sons of GOD, would seek to rob them of that joy which the LORD has purchased for them. He would do all within his power to keep them in the dark concerning the grand truth that there is no condemnation to the sons of GOD. He labors to weigh them down with burdens that no man can bear. Be not discouraged O children of the most High GOD, "Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world." (1John 4:4)
mam