When God shuts us up in prison we cannot come forth without breaking God's laws.

God had Abraham on a pinnacle concerning the birth of his heir. On the advice of Sarah, Abraham jumped off the pinnacle, so to speak. Ishmael was the result. "Ishmael," the enemy of God's people, always results from jumping off the pinnacle before the Lord's time.

How we die! What patience waiting on God requires! We are ground to powder as we wait up here on our futile perch. Will we remain here until Jesus comes? Yes we will unless the Spirit of God directs us to do otherwise.

We will be obedient even though the death is great. We must learn that God's work is done by the Lord Himself. He Himself must direct us in the use of our talents. The gift of the prophet is subject to the prophet. The prophet is subject to the Spirit of God.

Why, one may ask, would God waste time by giving someone great gifts and then moving him into a position of futility? It is because God is more interested in the spiritual maturity of His servants, in their obedience to Himself, than He is in their works. God is preparing kings and priests who will rule and serve God throughout eternity.

The means are more important than the ends at this time. God is developing sons who will walk in obedience, never being moved by personal ambition, by fear, or even by the obvious needs at hand.

We are not suggesting we should be impractical or insensitive to the human needs around us. If someone is hungry or cold, and we have the means to provide the food or warmth, we are to do so. The Book of James instructs us to be charitable and practical. Good works of all kinds are an important aspect of the Christian discipleship. Even in good works, however, we must pray carefully to know what to do because there are more needs around us then we can meet.

We are speaking, rather, of the saint whom God has brought into "prison."

Joseph is a scriptural example of such helplessness. While Joseph was in prison the Word of the Lord tested him. When his hour came he was released and placed in charge of the land of Egypt, the land of his imprisonment.

When Jesus' hour came He was released from the pinnacle and brought into His ministry in the fullness of the power of the Holy Spirit. Later He was released from another pinnacle—the cross. After paying the price of redemption for mankind He ascended to the Father and received all authority in Heaven and on the earth.

The throne of Christ and the glory and joy thereof can be reached only by way of the pinnacle—the cross. The cross is death to ourselves, to our way of doing, our impulses, our enthusiasms, our timing, our understanding, our eagerness to help God and people.

The world does not understand the cross. The cross is seen as weakness, defeat, shame, disgrace. To Christians, however, the cross is the power of God. Think of what Christ felt as He was hanging there! The cross is arrayed in light and glory until we ourselves are hanging there. Then the cross is seen as weakness, futility, shame, helplessness, pain, confusion, frustration.

To be continued.