Deep Calls Unto Deep

Deep calls unto deep. Psalm 42:7 

A week ago a brother enquired from me about my availability to share the concluding word in an online seminar for Telugu speaking seekers on the topic "Deep Calls Unto Deep." My innate response within was, "O Lord, I am not qualified to speak this message. I know myself, I am not that deep to speak on the depth of the experiences of God." Nevertheless, whenever an opportunity comes, or rather an assignment is given, I reckon it as from the Lord and simply say "Amen," trusting in the speaking God.

The burden and the truths I am clear.  Even with the experience, I cannot deny that I have some. But to present this truth, I only fully depend on the Lord. My presentation of the truth should also match my experience of the truth. Therefore, this message is apt for me.  

Only a call from the depths can provoke a response from the depths. Nothing shallow can ever touch the depths, nor can anything superficial touch the inward parts. Only the deep will respond to the deep. 

We can minister to people only to the extent to which we ourselves have experienced. For this, we need to have deep roots in the Lord. 

What is a root? It is growth that occurs beneath the soil. What are the leaves? They are growth that occur above the soil. In other words, roots are the hidden life, whereas leaves are the manifest life.

Two seeming contrasting verses are presented in the gospel of Matthew:

"You are the light of the world. It is impossible for a city situated upon a mountain to be hidden" (Matt. 5:14). 

"When you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; ...when you pray, enter into your private room, and shut your door and pray to your Father who is in secret" (Matt. 6:3-4, 6). 

Yes, we are the light of the world. But the extent to which we can shine forth the light depends on the extent to which we have been rooted in Christ. The deeper our roots are, the better our leaves will be. There are two examples in the Bible of a superficial living and a deep experience of the Lord. 

Example of Hezekiah: Superficial and Shallow

"And Hezekiah was glad for them and showed them his treasury, the silver and the gold, and the spices and the precious oil, and his whole armory and everything which was found among his treasures" (Isaiah 39: 2). 

Hezekiah could not overcome the temptation to display everything after he had just been wonderfully healed of his sickness. In his selfish joy, he displayed all his treasures foolishly. Then what followed must serve as a warning to all. 

"Hear the word of Jehovah of hosts: Behold, the days are coming when everything which is in your house and which your fathers have laid up as a treasure unto this day will be carried away to Babylon; nothing will be left, says Jehovah" (39:5-6). 

This proves that the measure in which we display things to others will be the measure of our own loss. The measure in our life that we exhibit before others will be the measure we give up in ourselves.  This is a negative example we have to pay heed to.

Testimony of Paul: Spiritual Depth

Paul was the exact opposite of Hezekiah. Instead of boasting of his experiences, he tried his best to keep them secret. Yet because he was questioned of his apostleship, he was forced to testify of his spiritual experience. And that too, he did it only fourteen years after, not immediate at all. He told the Corinthians, "To boast is necessary, though indeed not expedient" (2 Cor. 12:1). He admitted that it was "not profitable" for himself to write what he wrote in 2 Corinthians 12. But for the sake of others, he had to do it; he was obliged to speak of "visions and revelations of the Lord." Even when he spoke about his experiences, he vaguely said, "I know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago (whether in the body I do not know, or outside the body I do not know; God knows) such a one was caught away to the third heaven" (v. 2). He did not divulge any detail of what he saw or what he heard; he simply mentioned it vaguely for the sake of the doubting and critical believers in Corinthians. He maintained his deep spiritual roots and did not expose them to be dried away.  That was Pauls's secret of spirituality.

O what a grief to see many fellow Christians openly testifying and making news of their petty little spiritual experiences of healings and miracles!  In fact, I fear for such ones, they exposed themselves to the enemy's attack. No depth, no roots, only shallow and empty vessels making much noise. No wonder, the state of Christian is in such a shamble today. No stability and is very vulnerable to the enemy's attack from all angles. May the Lord preserve us to preserve our roots in Him.

Brothers and sisters, this matter of root is a matter of extreme importance. If you want to have Paul's work, then you need to have Paul's "root"; if you want to have Paul's outward conduct, then you need to have Paul's inner life; if you want to have Paul's manifest power, then you need to have Paul's secret experience.

We must testify only for the glory of God according to His leading. There may have been many deeper spiritual experiences, but they must be hidden. This is vital for the Christian life. Many spiritual experiences need to be hidden as our secret treasure before the Lord. We must avoid too much exposure and drawing men's attention and stealing God's glory. Yes, there is an aspect of giving testimony. But at the Lord's command only.

"Go to your house, to your own people, and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you" (Mark 5:19).

Lest our roots are exposed and dried up to death, may we live a hidden life before the Lord, a deep root in Christ. To be without root is to be without any treasure; it is to be without any hidden life or hidden experiences. It is essential that some of our experiences remain covered; to uncover everything is to lose everything.

Death and exposure go together, and spiritual dryness and exposure also go together.  God covers those who cover their roots, and God does not protect those who disclose their roots; they will be exposed to attacks. 

Whatever secrets we have with the Lord must be preserved. We can only move according to God's instruction within us. Only if He moves within us to reveal something, dare we reveal it. If He wants us to share some experience with a brother, we dare not withhold it, for that would be violating a law of the members of the Body of Christ. One law of the members of the Body of Christ is fellowship. 

The Lord has indeed graced me to minister the word as the concluding and strengthening word. I have discharged my duty, and now I must pursue Christ to have a deeper root in the Lord. That what I had ministered must also be what was ministered to me. 

May the Lord grace me to have the depth of the riches of Christ stored secretly hidden within as my depth that I may be able to minister when the need so arises. Deep call s unto deep.