Fear

Fear

by T. Austin-Sparks

Edited and supplied by the Golden Candlestick Trust.

"For this cause was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and that they might have matter for an evil report, that they might reproach me. Remember, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and also the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear" (Neh. 6:13-14).

"For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father" (Rom. 8:15).

"For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline" (2 Tim. 1:7).

"There is no fear in love: but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment; and he that fears is not made perfect in love" (1 John 4:18).

"The fearful... shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone" (Rev. 21:8).

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? ...Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, even then will I be confident" (Psa. 27:1,3).

***

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning (the chief part) of wisdom (knowledge)" (Prov. 1:7).

"There is no fear of God before their eyes" (Rom. 3:18).

"Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Cor. 7:1).

"Subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ" (Eph. 5:21).

"So then, my beloved, even as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12).

"And if ye call on Him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man's work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear" (1 Peter 1:17).

"And fear came upon every soul" (Acts 2:43)

"And Ananias hearing these words fell down and gave up the ghost: and great fear came upon all that heard it. And great fear came upon the whole church, and upon all that heard these things" (Acts 5:5,11).

"So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace, being edified; and, walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, was multiplied" (Acts 9:31).

"And this became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, that dwelt at Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified" (Acts 19:17).

"And it came to pass afterward, that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt. And he said unto his men, the Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my lord, the Lord's anointed, to put forth my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord's anointed" (1 Sam. 24:5-6).

The two series of Scriptures speak for themselves, and I think it would be good if we were all to sit down quietly with them. What I shall say now will not by any means cover the ground, but I trust will just be useful in the Lord's hand to bring us to something concerning which He would have further thought and consideration afterwards.

Among the major evils which are revealed in the Word of God there are two related to one thing, that one thing being fear. On the one side, there is the very great evil of fear; and, on the other side, there is the evil, and the very great evil, of not fearing. For both of these evils the Lord has had to deal with His people very seriously, and, if you look again, you will see that the strongest things in the Word of God are said by way of condemning both of these evils - fearing and not fearing.

"The Souls Desertion" (A13552) - Charles Spurgeon Sermons

After Obedience - What?

 

After Obedience - What?

By Oswald Chambers

      And straightway He constrained His disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side... ."   '
      Mark 6:45-52

      We are apt to imagine that if Jesus Christ constrains us, and we obey Him, He will lead us to great success. We must never put our dreams of success as God's purpose for us; His purpose may be exactly the opposite. We have an idea that God is leading us to a particular end, a desired goal; He is not. The question of getting to a particular end is a mere incident. What we call the process, God calls the end.

      What is my dream of God's purpose? His purpose is that I depend on Him and on His power now. If I can stay in the middle of the turmoil calm and unperplexed, that is the end of the purpose of God. God is not working towards a particular finish; His end is the process - that I see Him walking on the waves, no shore in sight, no success, no goal, just the absolute certainty that it is all right because I see Him walking on the sea. It is the process, not the end, which is glorifying to God.

      God's training is for now, not presently. His purpose is for this minute, not for something in the future. We have nothing to do with the afterwards of obedience; we get wrong when we think of the afterwards. What men call training and preparation, God calls the end.

      God's end is to enable me to see that He can walk on the chaos of my life just now. If we have a further end in view, we do not pay sufficient attention to the immediate present: if we realize that obedience is the end, then each moment as it comes is precious.

Resurrection: A Living Personal Reality by T. Austin-Sparks

Resurrection: A Living Personal Reality

by T. Austin-Sparks

First published in "A Witness and A Testimony" magazine, Sep-Oct 1959, Vol. 37-5.

"And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell before thee is too strait for us. Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go. So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, my master! for it was borrowed. And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither, and the iron did swim. And he said, Take it up to thee. So he put out his hand, and took it" (2 Kings 6:1-7).

I confess that I used to wonder why this story was included in the number which we have of these acts of Elisha. What is its lesson? What has it to say? In thinking about it, several things have become clear to me, and I would like to pass on just one or two of them.

The Portion of the Firstborn

Of course, this, with all the other things that are recorded about the acts of Elisha, is included in the great beginning of his life. You recall that his master, Elijah, as he was about to be taken up into Heaven, asked Elisha what he might give him. Elisha said: "A double portion of thy spirit". This was, of course, the portion of the firstborn (Deut. 21:17). Elijah said: 'You have asked a hard thing; nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken up, it shall be.' And as they went on the other side of the Jordan, the chariots of the Lord appeared and caught up Elijah; and Elisha cried: "My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof!" And the mantle fell from Elijah, and Elisha took it up. The sons of the prophets, who come into view in this chapter, and are mentioned so many times in this book, cried: "The spirit of Elijah doth rest upon Elisha", and they bowed themselves to the ground. (1 Kings 2:9-15).

Now that is where it all begins, for these various 'mighty works', or 'works of power', were the expression and outcome of that mighty anointing with the Spirit, that portion of the firstborn. So that what we have here in every one, and in this one of which we are thinking, is the real work of the anointing - that is, of the Holy Spirit operating in the power of resurrection. Every incident bears that stamp in one way or another.

It would be easy to show how this is but a foreshadowing of the ascension, or receiving up, of the Lord Jesus, whereupon the Holy Spirit descended on the Church; the 'mantle' of the firstborn, the portion of the firstborn, fell upon the Church. If we want to know what the 'portion of the firstborn' is, it is just this - the power of His resurrection.

'The Sons of the Prophets'

Let us then come to this story. The 'sons of the prophets' are again in view. Note what they represent: they represent the next generation, the generation succeeding, following on, to carry forward the prophetic testimony. They are the sons of the prophets. The heart of this whole thing, where they appear again and again in relation to these mighty acts of the Spirit through Elisha, is this: that these, called 'sons of the prophets', who were in the 'schools of the prophets', being educated and trained to carry on the work of the prophets, to fulfil their ministry in the next generation, were not just academic students; they were being brought, by these various ways, into closest touch with reality. You will at once see how true that was in the case of this man and the axe-head.

"Bring Us Not Over Jordan"

"Bring Us Not Over Jordan"

by T. Austin-Sparks

First published in "A Witness and A Testimony" magazine, July 1927, Vol. 5-7.

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• Langua"Bring Us Not Over JordaLby T. Austin-First published in "A Witness and A Testimony" magazine, July 1927, Vol. 5-7.

"Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan" (Numbers 32:5).

That is the request of two-and-a-half tribes, the tribes of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh. It takes you right to the heart of this extraordinary phase of Israel's history. It is quite impossible to study the whole subject of God's plan for Israel without seeing beyond a shadow of a doubt that God's purpose for Israel was that they should as a whole, in entirety go over Jordan and possess the land. That was His covenant with Abraham, confirmed to Isaac and Jacob. The whole programme of God for Israel lay inside of Canaan, over Jordan.

We have already seen in our previous studies in the book of Joshua and the letter to the Ephesians the spiritual significance of this history. Canaan, bounded by Jordan, clearly represents the life of fulness in Christ, and Jordan represents the Cross of Christ, as it invariably through the Bible marks that clear, distinct division between the old life, where self, the flesh, the world are still uncrucified and characterised by defeat; and the new life, where God Himself is supreme in the midst of His people, characterising their life by victory and enrichment.

Now, that being the historical event with its spiritual interpretation, we come up against this - that the two-and-a-half tribes decided not to go over Jordan into Canaan. "Bring us not over Jordan" is their request to Moses and the other leaders of the people. In effect they were saying, "We don't want absolute separation unto God. We don't want all that is involved in this aggressive programme. We are not prepared to risk all that is implied by going over into the land to subdue it for God. We are not prepared for that programme, that aggressive life, that life which you call fulness of life. We have found a certain satisfaction this side of Jordan, we have found here a good deal that is good, a great deal that satisfies us. We are quite content with the life we have this side of Jordan, without driving this distinct barrier of the Cross between. There are risks involved, possessions, children, etc.". So they would live their lives there and not risk the dangers and the sacrifice which seemed clearly to be involved in this aggressive programme.

What did it all amount to? Well, it amounted to this - they were prepared to go so far, but no further. They were prepared to be reckoned in with Israel, but they were not prepared to accept the entire programme. They had world desires, a limited salvation and experience. "Bring us not over." Moses used the words, "have not wholly followed the Lord." That is the point of the division; that is the mark which runs between the two-and-a-half tribes and the remainder; that is the line drawn between those who lived on the edge of the wilderness and those who had gone over Jordan, the question as to whether they would or would not wholly follow the Lord.

Now the meaning as regards the rest of Israel: the position was parallel with the position of a proceeding generation, when they rejected the report of Joshua and Caleb. Moses says, "This is rebellion against the purpose of God, a reservation in your acceptance of the divine programme. It is not only in yourselves, but see what it means to the rest. They will lose heart, they will say, 'Here is Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh having a good time without any fighting.'" If they had followed their example, Canaan would never have been conquered. Canaan would never have become the land by which the revelation of God would be given to the world. Moses saw the peril for all the people of God and all the purposes of God. "No man liveth unto himself and no man dieth unto himself." Bound up in your attitude to the revealed will of God is the life of another or many others.

Then there was a compromise made. It looks as if it was a perfectly satisfactory one, but you have got to read the story in the light of later history. "Well, we will leave our cattle, our flocks, our possessions, our wives and children here. We will arm ourselves and go over before Israel and help them, and help them into the land, and then we will go back again." You see the distinction between certain things. "We will help you, but we will not identify ourselves with you. We will recognise your programme, but we will not identify ourselves with it. Not that we would do it ourselves, but we will do it for you. Our hearts are not in this thing, we are not abandoned to it, but we are prepared to stand by, place our services at your disposal, but we are not with you." So they would do everything to help, but for the rest of their lives they were back there with their flocks and their children. Their heart was with their treasure, not in the real purpose of God.

There are plenty of people like that today, prepared to help in the work of God, associate themselves in the programme of the Kingdom. They come to God for their salvation, they have a share in the work, but they are not in it utterly, they are not in it because they cannot keep out of it. Their hearts are somewhere else, because their treasure is somewhere else. They are not prepared at all costs to risk all their possessions for the Kingdom. They cannot accept the Cross and all it demands, to live or to die, to sacrifice to the last degree, that the Cross may be vindicated utterly; they are not in it like that.