Friday, June 18, 2021
OUR WILLS MUST SURRENDER
OUR WILLS MUST SURRENDER
By A.W. Tozer
The Christian doctrine of obedience to God and to His will is now largely neglected in modern religious circles, and many in our own congregations seem to feel that our obligation to obey has been discharged by the act of believing on Jesus Christ at the beginning of our Christian lives.
We need to remember that "the will is the seat of true religion in the soul." Nothing genuine has been done in a man or woman's life until his or her will has been surrendered in active obedience.
It was disobedience that brought about the ruin of the race. It is the obedience of faith that brings us back again into the divine favor! It needs to be said that a world of confusion results from trying to believe without obeying!
A mere passive surrender may be no surrender at all. Any real submission to the will of God must include willingness to take orders from Him from that time on.
I keep wondering whether the Lord's ministers will again give to obedience the place of prominence it occupies in the Scriptures.
Stablished -- Strengthened -- Settled
By E.W. Bullinger
The God of all grace who hath called us unto His eternal glory, by Christ Jesus, after that we have suffered awhile, make you perfect. stablish, strengthen, settle you. To Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen" (I Peter 5:10,11).
These words contain a prayer for a very special blessing. But in order to obtain it we are cast upon the God of all grace -- God, who performeth all things for us. Thus we have in this verse four things:
(1) The God of all grace.
(2) His effectual calling.
(3) The necessary suffering.
(4) The certain blessing.
1. The God of all grace
We must not dwell on the first of these (if we are to consider the others), for it is a subject in itself -- a vast subject. For we are lost in wonder, love, and praise, the moment we enter upon the consideration of "the God of all grace," and survey His sovereign grace, His redeeming, grace, His saving grace, His justifying grace, His providing grace, His abounding grace, His exceeding grace: and all this uninfluenced grace, invincible grace, inexhaustible and immutable grace.
What grace! All treasured up in Jesus Christ who is "full of grace," and He alone. It can never be said of any mortal as it is said of Mary, "Hail, Mary, full of grace!" in perversion of Luke 1:28, in all the Romish versions. No! all grace is treasured up for us in Christ, and He holds it at His own disposal. Let us pass on to the second point.
2. His effectual calling
"Who hath called us unto His eternal glory," not, who is calling us, not, who may call us, but "who hath called us," a past, completed act, and that not to a temporal glory, nor to a fleeting transient glory, but to a glory which knew no beginning and can know no end. If He has called us, it is to His eternal glory. If He has called us, we shall have experienced our inability to obey. That is why it is here, "The God of all grace." When God commands, the first thing we do is to discover our inability to obey; it is this which fills us with anxiety to be saved.
When He calls, we immediately discover that we are like Mephibosheth in II Samuel 9. We are at Lo-Debar, a "place of no pasture." We have nothing really to sustain us, we are clothed in filthy garments, we are not worthy to come into the King's presence, not meet to sit at the King's table, and, moreover, "lame on both feet" (verse 13). When King David called Mephibosheth, how could he obey ? But David called him not for his own sake. He said, "Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake?" (verse 1). "Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy Father's sake" (verse 7). Still, how could he obey, being lame on his feet? We learn in verse 15, only by being sent for, fetched and carried. And so with us. The Lord Himself must be the carrier, the sender, the fetcher, or the appointer of those who shall do so.
Like the man sick of the palsy; he was carried to the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is written, "Jesus seeing their faith." Why is it that we immediately and universally think of the four and not of the five. Why do we exclude the man himself ? Had he no faith, no desire? How do we know but that it was he who urged his friends to carry him? It is only our own perversity that thus limits God's grace. Yes, and "When Jesus saw their faith" He saw the desire of His own heart, the work of His own hands. Where there is the Master's gracious call, there will also be His careful carrying.
"Who hath called us unto His eternal glory?" How does He call? By Jesus Christ, it says. Yes, it is all by Christ, with Christ, through Christ, in Christ. Called by Christ to the experience of identification with Him in the glory of God the Father, we are comforted with the fact that as the Head is, so are the members of the body of Christ. .As the Father sees Him, so He sees His members. They are glorified together in the purpose of God. But as Jehovah the Spirit brings them into the apprehension of what they are in Christ, it is then that they discover their corrupt and depraved condition. It is then they cry, "I am black," "I am vile," "I am undone." But the declaration of His grace-filled lips is, "Thou art all fair, my love, there is no spot in thee." That is glory! Can we believe it? Only as He brings this precious truth home to us by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is thus that we, as the members of His body, realize something of the glory we possess in and through Him.
Leadership and Ministry
By T. Austin-Sparks
"For that the leaders took the lead... bless the Lord" (Judges 5:2).
While there are few things fraught with more difficulties, perils, and involvements than leadership, there are few things more vital and necessary. The fact of leadership needs no argument. It is in the very nature of things. Every situation that arises of a serious and critical nature either finds its salvation by the spontaneous forthcoming of the spirit of leadership in someone, or becomes a disaster for want of it. When an emergency arises, people are either paralyzed and helpless because there is no one to give a lead, or are galvanized into action or confidence by the right kind of leadership.
In its right place, sphere, nature, and relationship it is a must; only chaos, confusion, and frustration can obtain where there is no spirit of leadership. Indeed, even where there may be a pretending to the contrary, it will be there somewhere if things are not completely stagnant or running to seed.
With all the desire and intention in the world to safeguard the unique and sole rights of Christ and the Holy Spirit in the Church, we still believe that there is an essential place for, and need of, subject and subordinate (to the Lord) leadership. Moreover, this we believe not to be out of order, but in the Divine order.
The place and function of the shepherd in the Bible is to "go before", and the sheep "follow after". The Lord is truly the Chief Shepherd, but there are shepherds in the churches, and they have to lead.
As is always the case, the positive is revealed in its importance by the opposition which it encounters. We have only to consider the leadership function of such as Adam, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Nehemiah, Paul, and a hundred others to understand the intense and many-sided antagonism levelled at them. Of course, the Lord Jesus as "the captain of our salvation" i.e., "the file-leader" is the supreme instance. Break, defeat, beguile, seduce the leader, and the battle is won - the forces are helpless. The focus of adverse attention upon leadership is its own testimony to its importance.
Then in approaching the question of what leadership is, we must say something of what it is not.
Saturday, June 5, 2021
Friday, June 4, 2021
"The government shall be upon His shoulder" (Isa. ix. 6).
Vision and Vocation by T. Austin-Sparks
Vision and Vocation The Importance and Value of God-given Vision "Come hither, I will shew thee..." Rev. 21:9. Once again in the course of its history the Church of God is found in a time of serious crisis as to its life and world-testimony. Not once, nor twice, has this occurred, but many times have conditions arisen which have raised the major questions as to its next phase or entire future. At such times there has always been one factor which has been decisive; that was, the presence or absence of God-given vision. Again and again, such vision has been, by its absence, the cause of calamity and disaster; or, by its presence, the turning point for good or ill, according to the attitude taken to it. God has many times reacted to either actual or threatening tragedy by the presentation of a new vision; new, so far as His people were concerned. We are now entering more and more deeply into a situation which threatens the life and testimony of the Church, and already in large areas of the world it is an actual and desperate reality. It is no hypothetical or imaginary situation, nor one of supposition, but there is a terrific drive from the unseen with a view to the engulfing of all that is of God and of His Christ. So the need of the hour is once again God-given vision. The value and importance of such vision is found in its various features. In the first place: God-given Vision is Something Concrete with God It is something which has existed with God in clear-cut definition in the eternal counsels from the beginning. It is not something abstract or nebulous, something that is what people term 'visionary' or mystical. It is quite definite, clear, and real in the mind and intention of God. God-given vision is not something subsequent to eventualities, an afterthought because of things having arisen unexpectedly; a kind of alternative to what God originally meant. It is not a substitute for His original plan. No, it is not an emergency expedient because of a situation unforeseen. God-given vision has its roots outside of time and circumstance, eventualities, contingencies, emergencies! All those things have been already taken account of, and have - so to speak - been swallowed up in the vision of God. To be brought into such vision is to be brought on to a ground of confidence and assurance when the sands seem to be sinking and everything giving way. This, surely, is of no little importance and value. Then again: God-given Vision Comprehends All Detail Things, whether they be good or whether they be evil, are not ends in themselves. They are either embodied in or overcome by the vision. Under the sovereign government of the Spirit of God all things are made to serve that purpose which is the substance of God's vision. That is just the significance of the words so familiar and so often used about all things working together for good (Rom. 8:28). But we so rarely see them in their setting, and stop short of the full import. We just say "All things work together for good..." and stop there. The context has two aspects. Lives wholly under the Holy Spirit's government are in view, and "his purpose" is governing. Unless these two things are implicit, all things do not work together for good! Given that being "called according to his purpose" we in response are lovers of God, then all things are the sphere of a sovereignty which makes them work together for good. Purpose governs all, and the purpose is the substance of God-given vision. It therefore requires a vision of God's purpose in greater fulness, not in part. The purpose comprehends all parts. No phase or part is an end in itself. One wheel of a machine has no adequate meaning in itself. There lacks a real motive if all the other parts are not in view. We must not be too obsessed or taken up with the part or phase. If we are, the whole becomes bound up with that phase, for us, and we see no more. This may put us completely out of commission if any one phase has served its purpose and God is moving on. Sufficient motive demands sufficient vision, and we must see much more than that which is immediately before our eyes. Then, further still: God-given Vision is Constantly Enlarging |
The Discerning of Spirits By Smith Wigglesworth
Ever Increasing Faith: Chapter 17: The Discerning of Spirits
"To another discerning of spirits" (1 Cor. 12:10). There is a vast difference between natural discernment and spiritual. When it comes to natural discernment you will find many people loaded with it, and they can see so many faults in others. To such the words of Christ in the sixth chapter of Luke surely apply, "Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" If you want to manifest natural discernment, focus the same on yourself for at least twelve months and you will see so many faults in yourself that you will never want to fuss about the faults of another. In the sixth of Isaiah we read of the prophet being in the presence of God and he found that even his lips were unclean and everything was unclean. But praise God, there is the same live coal for us today, the baptism of fire, the perfecting of the heart, the purifying of the mind, the regeneration of the spirit. How important it is that the fire of God shall touch our tongues.
In 1 John 4:1 we are told, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God." We are further told, "And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world." From time to time as I have seen a person under the power of evil, or having a fit, I have said to the power of evil, or Satanic force that is within the possessed person, "Did Jesus Christ come in the flesh?" and straightway they have answered, "No." They either say, "No," or hold their tongues, refusing altogether to acknowledge that the Lord Jesus Christ came in the flesh. It is then, remembering that further statement of John's, "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world," that you can in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ deal with the evil powers and command them to come out. We as Pentecostal people must know the tactics of the evil one and must be able to displace and dislodge him from his position.
I was preaching in Doncaster, England, at one time on the line of faith and a number of people were delivered. There was a man present who was greatly interested and moved by what he saw. He was suffering himself with a stiff knee and had yards and yards of flannel wound around it. After he got home he said to his wife, "I have taken in Wigglesworth's message and now I am going to act on it and get deliverance. Wife, I want you to be the audience." He took hold of his knee and said, "Come out, you devil, in the name of Jesus." Then he said, "It is all right, wife." He took the yards and yards of flannel off and found he was all right without the bandage. The next night he went to the little Primitive Methodist Church where he worshiped. There were a lot of young people who were in bad plight there and Jack had a tremendous business delivering his friends through the name of Jesus. He had been given to see that a great many ills to which flesh is heir are nothing else but the operation of the enemy, but his faith had risen and he saw that in the name of Jesus there was a power that was more than a match for the enemy.
I arrived one night at Gottenberg in Sweden and was asked to hold a meeting there. In the midst of the meeting a man fell full length in the doorway. The evil spirit drew him down, manifesting itself and disturbing the whole meeting. I rushed to the door and laid hold of this man and cried out to the evil spirit within him, "Come out, you devil! In the name of Jesus we cast you out as an evil spirit." I lifted him up and said, "Stand on your feet and walk in the name of Jesus." I don't know whether anybody in the meeting understood me except the interpreter, but the devils knew what I said. I talked in English but these devils in Sweden cleared out. A similar thing happened in Christiania.
Thursday, June 3, 2021
The Ten Days Prior to Pentecost by T. Austin-Sparks
The Ten Days Prior to Pentecost
by T. Austin-Sparks
Edited and supplied by the Golden Candlestick Trust.
Reading: Acts 1:1-9.
I have been trying to get into that period between the ascension of the Lord and the descent of the Holy Spirit, between the ascension and Pentecost, andto enter into something of what was taking place in these apostles. For here we have a definitely defined period which undoubtedly had its place and its character in the whole course of the movements of God, these ten days from the fortieth to the fiftieth day, the day of Pentecost. Of course, there is a very great deal of teaching in the realm of type and symbol as to the fifty days and the firstfruits of the harvest, but I am not going to touch upon that at present. It is these ten days in particular which I feel hold something of very great value for us.
We know, of course, that forty days is the number of probation under testing all the way through the Old Testament and New Testament - a period of trial. When Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights, Israel were being sorely tried by his absence and they broke down under the trial. We know that the Lord Jesus was being put to it, in extreme severity, during the forty days and forty nights in the wilderness. We know of various other periods of that length; it was probation and testing under Divinely appointed conditions. But the ten days following upon the forty had their particular and peculiar meaning.
Ten the Number of Responsibility
Ten is the number of responsibility where those concerned have to take the weight of things themselves, in a sense. So these ten days after the ascension were a time in which, in a sense, things passed to the apostles. Up to that time, in the three and a half years of the Lord's earthly pre-crucifixion life, things were very largely almost entirely with Him. There was very little responsibility where they were concerned. In the forty days after His resurrection, again it was so much with Him, the initiative was with Him. He was appearing, He was going. Everything seemed to be entirely resting with Him. There was very little responsibility where they were concerned. But now, on His ascension and during these ten days, the responsibility passed to them. That is, they are called upon to face the situation, they are called upon to do something about it. They are left, and in a sense - not in the absolute sense that the Lord has forsaken them and that they have no longer any Lord - but in a sense now it is up to them, the matter rests with them.
The point is, what are they going to do about it? They could do one of two things. They could go back. He has gone, all that phase of things has passed. They are left, and they could just go back if they chose. Or they could go on. It is a strange situation; they have never had to face anything like this before. It is a position with which they had never before been confronted; altogether new. Are they going on? That is the challenge of the ten days - what would they do about it?
Now, it is at that point that we can ask some questions. They may, so far as these men were concerned, be imaginary questions, but so far as the Lord's people are concerned, they are not imaginary, they are questions which arise out of actual experience and spiritual history.
Our Attitude in the Face of the Inexplicable
First of all, these men might have been overwhelmed by the mystery of everything. The whole thing might have been to them a tremendous mystery. That does not need to be broken up and explained. You have only got to think a little of all that had gone before and then of all that eventuated in the Cross, and then of all this strange unearthly kind of thing during the forty days, and now this going up. It could constitute a tremendous mystery to entirely defeat all their powers of comprehension and understanding and definition, and in the presence of the mystery, the strangeness, the unearthliness, the exception - unheard of experiences - they could have said, "This is all beyond us, we cannot cope with this!" They could have been paralysed by the mystery of it all and done nothing; or, as I have said, they could have said, "Let us get back to our simple, practical, everyday life of boats and nets and so on". Whether that ever did happen in their case or not, I cannot prove, but I am perfectly certain that there will be one, or more than one, in this room who understands that, for these are realms into which the Lord launches us, depths beyond us into which He precipitates us, the things which are incapable of being explained and defined by human wit and ingenuity and wisdom, the experiences which are not natural.
Yes, the mystery of a life off this earth with the Lord can bring us to a standstill, to bewilderment, where there could be a reaction of: "Let us get back to simple, practical realms of things where everything is straightforward, this is all too much beyond us!" Do you know anything about that? What are you going to do about it? That is the question of the ten days in the presence of complete defeat of all natural powers to cope with these heavenly things - proved defeat, defeat which has really brought to a standstill - for that is where they were. It presents a very real challenge as to what we are going to do about it. Are we going on, or are we going to say, "It is too much, too big, too inexplicable: let us come down to simplicities and practicalities."
Tuesday, June 1, 2021
The Curse of Meroz
Devotional Hours with the Bible, Volume 2: Chapter 16 - The Curse of Meroz
By J.R. Miller
Judges 5:1-23
It was in the days of the judges. The Israelites were suffering sore oppression under their ancient enemies, the Canaanites. Deborah was raised up as a deliverer. She called Barak, a brave general, to her aid, and an army of ten thousand men was gathered. With this army, Deborah and Barak went against the army of Sisera and were victorious. Sisera's horses and chariots were put to flight and his men slain in battle. Sisera himself, after playing a timid and unsoldierly part, was slain by a woman, who drove a nail through his head. Thus a great victory was achieved under Deborah's leadership of her people.
In this battle nearly all the people were loyal and enthusiastic. They "willingly offered themselves." But there were some that held back. One village, or hamlet, in particular, is mentioned which took no part in the effort to cast off the oppressor's yoke. When the call for men went forth over all the country, the call to patriots to arise and come to battle with the foe, Meroz did not respond. In Deborah's song of victory after the battle occurs this solemn anathema:
'Curse Meroz,' said the angel of the Lord. 'Curse its people bitterly, because they did not come to help the Lord, to help the Lord against the mighty.' Judges 5:23
What was the cause of this curse? What had the people of Meroz done? They had not joined with the enemies of the country. They had not harbored the foe within their gates. They had not spoken disloyal words when the nation was in danger. They had only not come to the battle when the call rang in their ears. Almost the whole land responded. From north, south, east and west they came--the patriot Israelites--to help drive out the enemy and bring deliverance. But amid this universal outpouring, there was one place from which no soldier came. The curse was for not doing.
The story is old--but the lesson is always timely. Every good cause is the cause of God. The battle is forever going on in this world, and the trumpet is evermore sounding, calling men to the help of the Lord against the mighty. It is not enough not to be against the right, the true and the good; God wants us to come to His help in every contest. Not to act for God--is to act against Him. "He who is not with Me," said the Master, "is against Me."
We are not told why the inhabitants of Meroz did not come to help in the battle that day. We may think of several possible reasons: It may have been from cowardice. Perhaps the men of Meroz feared to go to battle against such strong and cruel enemies. However it may have been that day--there is no doubt that the cause of the inaction of many men in the Lord's work in these times, is moral cowardice. No man wants to be called a coward. It is an insult to his manliness. Yet moral cowardice is a great deal more common than most of us would like to confess. Too many people are held back by it--from faithful service for Christ. Men are not brave enough to be peculiar, to stand out alone, to wear their colors where other people do not wear them. They do not take an active part in Christian work--because somebody would laugh or sneer.
Or the inhabitants of Meroz may have thought there were so few of them that they could be of little use, and that it was not worth while for them to go up to battle. "We cannot do anything to help. We are not warriors. We could not add to the force of the army. We may as well stay quietly at home."
That is the way many Christian people talk about the Lord's work. They have no talents. They would be no strength, to the good cause that lacks assistance. They are not talkers, or they have little money to give, or they cannot do any church work. So they stay in their tents and come not to the help of the Lord. Their conscious littleness is a burden to them. It is a large tribe--this tribe of Meroz. We find them everywhere. They are not of any use to God, because they think they could not do anything, and therefore fold their hands and sit still.
"I will put My Spirit within you" (Ez. xxxvi. 27).