MEET AT THE TOWN CLOCK

                                                            Meet at the Town Clock

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    It is said that a stopped clock gives the correct time twice a day. But how do we know the correct time unless there is another clock to measure time by? If fallen man is the stopped clock, then God is the other clock. For God is the measure of all things. Try as hard as I could to remove and replace the battery on my own, in the end I had to take my stopped watch to a specialist. We need to come to God to remove and replace our stoney hearts.

Jesus said to His disciples, “When He, the Spirit truth has come, He will guide you into all truth…” (John 16:13a). And Jesus said to His Father, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17). Thus, as seen in this brief example, the Sanctifier, i.e., the Holy Spirit, works with God’s Word in the believer’s heart. God’s Spirit is the power and God’s Word is our measuring device, i.e., the truth that sets us free. “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).

God speaking in His Word is the “Greenwich Mean Time” by which all truth is measured and calibrated. You heart is giving a wrong reading if it has not been renewed by God. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Rom. 12:2).

I couldn’t even remove the back from of my watch never mind change its battery! A watch smith has special tools. God’s special tool in heart-renewal is His Spirit. The Spirit also has a specialist tool. He works with His Word. However, one of His special instruments is His Church, as in Christians. Indeed, the Spirit of God delights in using means such as Christians on buses and boats, trains and planes, in cafés and cocktail bars, yes, everywhere Christians find themselves. The idea is for Christians to spread the Word of God at home, at play, in school, at college, at university, at the domino club, etc., wherever a conversation can be struck up. This is how the Spirit works with the Word.

I was one of those who the Spirit converted while reading His Word. The Word is the instrument. However, God may use specialist tools to remove the back off the watch to access the batter as it were. The Christian Apologist does this by defending the Faith. The Christian Preachers and Teachers are also specialist tools in the hand of the Holy Spirit. These are used by the Spirit of Christ to set the new watch to its original factory setting. The truth, i.e., God’s Word, has set you free, including your so called “free will” which was dead to God by being in bondage to fallen self, i.e., sin and Satan. The Spirit working with His Word sets your will free and resets it. Christians “synchronize watches” each Lord’s Day where and when the Preacher expounds and applies God’s Word to them. Therefore, church attendance is imperative.

Under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Solomon says, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under the sun” (Eccl. 3:1). Peter, under inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, says, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19). Christian “Revival comes when and where the Spirit works with the Word. We have seen the Spirit delights in using human instruments, from those who are gifted at prising the backs off broken watches (people) to those who are gifted at resetting it to the correct time and to keep Christians accurately synchronised.

        I’m glad to be alive during one of those fruitful seasons in the sun, one of those “times of refreshing.” It can be somewhat depressing watching Western nations gong under on account of removing God from their homes, schools, lawcourts, sports, music, literature etc. However, what Christian does not glory in God when we see His Spirit at work with His Word in individual hearts, families, towns, and even whole nations, yes, including even backslidden Western nations?

Pray that God will pry the back off your broken watch, remove the old dead battery, and replace it with a new one fully charged by the Holy Spirit. Ask Him to synchronise you with the truth of His Word by helping you find a Bible-believing church to attend every Lord’s Day to recalibrate. Pray that your family will become a Christian family. Pray that your town will become a Christian town. And pray that your nation will become a Christian nation.

Let us all meet at the town clock. You already know where the town clock is. It is church on a Sunday morning. Let us synchronise our watches at Sunday worship. And who knows, maybe God, in His perfect timing, will be pleased to use even us as instruments for His glory!