It takes several things to make us think. You can only get a response from a mule after you have gotten his attention. We are all so wrapped up in ourselves and so intent on our own designs until we just do not think. Children learn at a very early age how to read the thoughts of those around them, especially of mother or father. Even before they know words they sense the mood of mother or of others. The simple moods are communicated by a sad or bright (joyous) countenance. One's pet dog learns as much also.

These simple principles we tend to forget after we become involved with words, though we never get away completely from the fact. I am bringing you to a reality which is most important.

Touching the Lives of Others
No one would question that God speaks to our hearts. This is taught in several ways in the Bible. David spoke often of this fact. The Fourth Psalm frankly describes a communication which he enjoyed with the Lord. Not only did God hear him pray but he could sense the Lord's favor in His mood. He said, in the verse we have chosen (v. 6), that there are those who question whether anything ever turns out all right. This moves him to ask the Lord to lift up the light of His countenance upon us.

What is this but a request that God would show His face in a way to bestow light (understanding) upon His people? A countenance of light would be one not angry but glad, one happy to answer prayer and bless. We know this business of showing our favor even without words, even without overt deeds. A smile is a winning communication. God smiles upon His people, even upon all His creation. By this we understand that there are evidences in that creation that He is wise, able, and willing to benefit. Yes, there is a frown now and then, just as a good and kind father sometimes frowns on his wayward children.

The God who created us in His image has instilled in us the capacity to read this light of His countenance and also to use it towards others o We can and we do touch the lives of others. It is a privilege we enjoy because God made us that way.

Any Skill Demands Responsibility In Its Use
One able to bless the lives of others has an obligation to use that ability for the benefit of others. This is an element of the image of God in us, still remaining in spite of man's fall into sin. This responsibility begins with those close to us and extends to the whole human race. It is small when we are young and unlearned but increases as we grow and become wise or strong.

Job illustrates this by his own life:
"If I laughed on them, they believed it not; and the light of my countenance they cast not down." Job 29:24

This whole chapter in Job is a continuation of his defense of His position before those who knew him. His words were heeded until this calamity which brought him low. God's candle shined upon him so that he could walk without stumbling (v. 3). He had the secret of God on his house. God was with him. He prospered and was useful. He was a respected king and a man of great influence. Job gives God credit for all of this favor which he enjoyed, but remembers with sadness that now men do not listen or respect him as formerly. Our lesson is that God gave him a testimony, a light of his countenance, which men did not cast down. Now all of this is gone.

None of us likely shall ever speak with the authority which Job had before his city and country. But the lesson for us is that God can give us such a testimony. Also, He may, for reasons best known to Him, take that testimony away. It may not be a fault in us which does it, but, as with Job, it was to teach him a lesson which he could not have learned
otherwise.

Men Are Not Masters of Their Own Fate
Satan takes advantage of this capacity which we humans have to rise above circumstances and make a name for ourselves. One of us has little ability, maybe none at all, in the way of advantage over other men. Yet some men loom large and heir place on the pages of history is large. Others get hardly a line or even a word. We all have the capacity of reaching out to other men with a good or a bad influence. It ought always to be good, but because we often are self-seekers we fail a this point. It is necessary for us to realize we are but men, creatures under God, and we may become the instruments for great good if we accept Hi gracious provisions. But we may become instruments for great, even eternal harm, if we allow ourselves to become the instruments of men or demons who would oppose God.

In making the surrender to God there are several steps. It is essential we see our fallen condition and then accept of God's provision for our redemption. It is then necessary that we learn just what He would have us do or be in the world. It may not meet with our human judgment of what is valuable, but we have His written Word to go by and must make sure that every step is a step of faith. If God seems to throw a hindrance in our way we must accept it as an evidence of His gracious love and be satisfied with our lot in life. By all means we must surrender under His hand because only so can we touch lives beneficially as He intends.

Spirit Touches Spirit
This touching of the lives of others is automatic. The degree of influence, however, may vary, depending on our own surrender to God and application to the means which enable us to wield great power, as did Job. Or a man may yield himself to Satan and sin and become a mighty wielder of evil influence in the lives of others.

These influences we wield may seem obvious or only on the surface. On the other hand, they may run much deeper, even, than we realize, rising in our spirits and extending spiritually into the lives of others. Do I sound unreal? Well, just remember you are a recipient of the influence of others, either for good or for evil. If it were a godly parent who nudged you toward a certain standard of righteousness, using words, example, even prayers and tears, you may now know that this was God's will that you be turned to righteousness.

At least the prayers touch heaven with an influence which you did not escape. Perhaps even the tears touched you in ways that logic of words would not have accomplished. I am calling this a spirit force with which you had to reckon. It came from God, to be sure, but it may have been routed through this godly parent, at least so far as you were able to tell. God is always pleased to accomplish His purposes through the instrumentality of human beings, specially of His own people.

May we consider this influence further. Suppose that godly parent has passed on to be with the Lord. Your yielding to the good influence may have come prior to that parent's death, or possibly even since it occurred. Still, it was that parent's influence which had as much or more to do with your change as anything. Or you have been brought back from waywardness while far from that parent, or after his passing. We call it your memory of mother or father which got hold of you. So it was. But this is a power greater than the persuasion of a stranger. It is a spiritual influence.

It follows you as long as you live and wields its good (or bad) influence upon you always. Thank God when it is good. Woe to that man whose home influence was bad and who allows it to continue to nudge him toward the sin which he has been conditioned to accept. Take a different example. Hear how Paul speaks of this influence he had upon the Corinthians:

Those Corinthians remembered Paul from his having been in their midst for some eighteen months. They had seen his love for their souls, witnessed his zeal to teach them the truth, observed his tears regarding their dullness, and they knew his stand. Perhaps they had given some semblance of heeding. Indeed, many of them had, else there would have been no church at Corinth.

Some doubtless had succumbed to the pressure of his testimony, whether in words, or tears, or in his compassion, and had come into the church. But now they are divided, carnal, proud and self-seeking. But Paul's influence has not left town when Paul left and went to Corinth. He writes to them upon hearing the reports of their waywardness. Is this only more words to add to those he had spoken before. No! He says, I have judged though absent in body but present in spirit. Will that man's pressuring us never cease? They recall his tenderness, his firmness, his zeal.

Then comes the instruction: "When you are gathered together, "and my spirit, with the power of the Lord Jesus Christ," deal with this matter. Will someone think they could just say, "Well, he is not here and we can do as we please"? But he was there, present in spirit. They could not escape him. Just as you could not escape the prayers and tears and words and countenance of that departed mother or father.

We are human beings, made in the image of God and bearing the stamp of a power upon us which God has indelibly placed there. "For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself" (Romans 14:7). For good or bad our lives touch the lives of others. God has fixed it that way.

Young person, you cannot say that your life is your own and you will live it your own way. It is God's. It is your parents'. And it has been joined with the life of countless others in your short years. It will touch and move many more if you live long.

The Implications of Judgment
Can you begin to see just why a judgment of every word and every deed is necessary? More, every proud look, every snide remark, every lie, every foul word, must be brought into judgment. Likewise, every tear of concern for others, every prayer, every smile, every embrace, every word fitly spoken, and more, shall wield an influence when the rewarding time comes. There is no wonder that God has a tear bottle and a record book (Psalm 56:8) in which are noted all of those words, deeds, and thoughts which make us what we are in His sight. Surely this language only says that God is taking note and remembering.

Perhaps someone is anxiously wondering if God will not forget all of those strayings and those contemptible deeds we have done, so that these will not have to come into judgment. Yes, He is merciful and gracious, forgiving iniquity and sin, hiding so many things behind His back.

This is true, but we must not be presumptuous and assume that because he is merciful and forgiving that it does not matter. It is only forgiven and hidden when we cast ourselves upon Him and repent. That doctrine which says that all of our sins, past, present and future, are already forgiven, already under the blood, is not Scriptural, but is contrary to the Scriptures.

God's Corporate People
Individually we each have a testimony; we are a testimony. It is for good or for evil. But God from the beginning has provided for the pooling of our resources, as it were, so that there would be strength in our testimony.

At the very beginning it was the home which God created for the mutual good of both the man and his wife. These, in turn, were to reflect to their children what they had been taught about God.

The home is still a mighty instrument, the first influence for good, in the world. Because of the breakdown of the home today we see the course of human events. That breakdown began early, brought on by the Fall of man. God raised up prophets whose testimony supplemented that of fathers and mothers and afforded men more of the evidence of God and His.

Still the trend was downward, away from God (cf. Genesis 6:5). This called for God's direct intervention in a radical way. (God has always intervened in the lives of men. He still does today. But this is not obvious to many, since they need an interpreter of God's providences to make them see what God's face is like.). Thus the flood came. That lesson could not be missed. But it was not well learned, so soon there was the rebellion we see at the Tower of Babel.

Next God chose a special man and gave him revelation of Himself and His purposes, making a covenant with him. This was Abraham. In this choice was provision made for a corporate people, the nation of Israel. It was not just to show Himself to Israel that God made the covenant. It was so that all the nations might have a visible testimony on God's behalf as they beheld His ways in His people. That story becomes melodramatic because of Israel's carnality. In time their usefulness for a testimony was so impaired until God determined to come in again with a judgment to cut off the sinners and scatter the people.

This was accomplished mercifully in that He sent a special prophet, John the Baptist, with a special message. It was a message of repentance in view of the prophesied kingdom which Israel was to have been. John prepared a people for the Lord Jesus whom God sent to make an ultimate appeal. It was received by a few but rejected by the many. How many ways has God shown His face so that men might know His mind in matters pertaining to His creation.

From a repentant remnant Jesus chose a number to be the perpetuators of a corporate people. That people we know today as the church. It appears in local bodies, each manifesting Christ to the eyes of men. It is a perpetuating of that testimony of God which He is pleased to bear in human instrumentality. He desires that men see his face, face being another word for countenance and that element of man's person which reflects his inward self. So is it with God.

When Jesus came into the world He bore the fullness of God's image without any distraction. He was the brightness of God's glory, the express image of his person (Hebrews 1:1-3). Thus was He the fullness of godhood in the human body (Colossians 1:19; Colossians 2:9).

In that body He was not long with men, but it pleased Him to remain among men in another bodily form, that of the church which is one body with many members. Those members are not perfect reflectors of the Father, as was Jesus, but they are able to manifest much of His glory because God has shined into their heart the light of the knowledge of that glory just as shone in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6).

We who are members of the body have this treasure in earthen vessels (v. 7), these human bodies. This allows the excellency of the power, the power of Jesus Christ mentioned above in 1 Corinthians 5:4, to become evident in the corporate body, the church (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:7).

With all of their shortcomings this body still is able to manifest heaven's glory and heaven's power to a perishing world. Each member is entrusted with some portion of the testimony. It is the testimony of God's glory, the shining of His countenance, reflected in the faces of the body members, which the world is to see and heed.

Frequently those members find themselves delivered to death (sufferings, hardships, persecutions, trouble, all sorts of pain, 2 Corinthians 4:8-12) so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our dying bodies. This provides us with a "spirit of faith" (2 Corinthians 4:13) enabling us to manifest the spirit of Christ - that sweet essence of godhood - which the world needs to have as a rebuke for its sins and a mover to righteousness.

Does this sound like a strange system which God is pleased to use to accomplish His work? Well, He does move in mysterious ways. His ways are not like ours as the heavens are higher than the earth.

Thus does God use death and deathly things to make our hearts to pause and turn toward Him. Sorrow and pain we avoid as the plague, but in a world where there is sin God uses these things to make our hearts better. This explains the meaning of the language which says that God creates darkness and evil (Isaiah 45:7). This does not mean that He made sin or iniquity. He made those things which men judge to be hurtful or painful. He did it to make our hearts better.

The pain, including death, may not be our own, but its coming to one whom we love may be for an instruction to our own hearts. Having watched some very dear brethren suffer with cancer and pass on to be with the Lord, knowing that they were good Christians, apparently excellent witnesses, even good pastors, I have been made to think on how this sorrow of the countenance makes the heart better. Here are more of God's mysterious ways! We know that God makes no mistakes. All of His ways and works are good. They may not be for the immediate, physical good of the one suffering, but they are for the ultimate good of that sufferer and possibly the eternal good of someone else, maybe many others.

It seems that the good emotions do not impress us in moments of our rebellion as the painful emotions do. We enjoy the good and are not alarmed that something may be wrong. But when there is something which makes us sad we tend to stop and examine our motives and take note of our ways. In this way does the sadness of the countenance make our hearts better.

For it is only when we are mindful of our ways that we tend to make changes. This, no doubt, is because we associate our wrong actions with a relationship to God, while the good feelings which sin affords are seldom associated with Satan so as to give us a proper evaluation of those bad things.

An Unconscious Testimony
We think of purposely bearing witness or deliberately conveying certain impressions. The fact of the matter is that "actions speak louder than words" so that what we were saying may have been contradicted by our countenance. (Remember, countenance applies to the face but also involves all of that body language of our being.)

One speaks at all times. His life is a witness, for good or for evil, even when he is not talking. Others may not be intentionally examining us, but God makes our lives to bear a sweet testimony if we are yielded to Him. Satan, on the other hand, damages our image in every way possible so that the good which God intends will be lost upon others.

We surely ought to intend our lives to wield a good influence, but the value of our influence is not determined by our good intentions as such. Often our intentions are misguided. We make plans, perform in certain ways, set goals -- do all of the things which good judgment suggests make for success. It is better, however, if we set our hearts on the Lord, His kingdom and His righteousness, and He will work His plans out in our lives. In this way, all that we do takes on a new and pleasing taste or aroma, even to ourselves.

Work is no longer drudgery, duty turns to privilege, the difficult seems easy, and it is all a pleasure and a blessing. This all sounds entirely too idealistic, does it not. We do not forget that we are only saved sinners. We have a nature which flavors all of life with a sense of self. This makes work seem like toil, duty is boring. This is why God would have us learn the lesson of crucifixion. Christ's crucifixion deals with the sin nature of man. Our crucifixion, as we take up our cross daily, deals with our own conscience regarding that nature.

God's prescription is "Walk in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16). Such a walk is to walk according to one's new nature, according to the mind of Christ. With such a mind one does not fulfill the lust of the old nature.

Conclusion
A final word regarding the light of the countenance. God is dealing with a world in which every man is a victim of Adam's sin. This makes all men His enemies by nature. Since He desires to carry out His will through willing agents it is necessary for Him to recruit all of His agents from the ranks of the enemy. He has set up all sorts of landmarks, provided every sort of natural testimony, uses every single vessel which is willing to be used, and is long suffering and patient.

In the last extreme He gave His Son as a substitute for us sinners that we might comprehend His love and realize His authority. In the face of such grace are not men deserving of an eternal hell who ignore Him through a lifetime?