The Work of the Holy Spirit # 2
The Instrument Employed by the Spirit in this great change, is the Holy Scripture, (James 1:18); 1 Peter 1:22, 23. There is much that is mysterious in this subject, as our Lord intimates to Nicodemus in John 3:8. But amid all this mystery we see much that is plain and intelligible. The truth reveals to the mind the objects to be loved and obeyed; the Spirit disposes the heart to embrace them. It is neither the Spirit without the truth, nor the truth without the Spirit - but the Spirit by the instrumentality of the truth, and the truth in the hands of the Spirit. It is not the Spirit in the word merely - but the Spirit with the word. Without the word there would be nothing to love; without the Spirit there would be no love. The word is the light which reveals the objects of spiritual affection; the Spirit gives the affection towards these objects. The Spirit's operating upon the heart, apart from the word, would be only to give an inclination, a disposition without an object as its end and purpose.
This view of the subject clears it of all difficulty and objection, on the ground of irrationality and enthusiasm, as if it meant the setting up of another rule, standard, and light within, and meant spontaneous blind impulses, without any appropriate object to produce them, or any fixed rule to guide them. It treats us as rational creatures, and yet as sinful and willfully blind ones. It does not extinguish our reason - but sanctifies and guides it. It calls us to exercise our faculties on their appropriate spiritual objects, as presented by revelation, and gives us Divine aid in so doing. It teaches us to unite diligence and dependence. It keeps us from the pride of self-sufficiency on the one hand, and from the despondency of unaided helplessness on the other. It preserves us from wild enthusiasm, and equally so from dead formalism. In short, it directs to the rule we are to go by, and furnishes the strength we need to follow it.
After all, we must allow, that much remains beyond our power to comprehend or explain. Can this be matter of surprise? How imperfectly do we understand what a finite spirit is, and how much less do we understand the Infinite Spirit? How, then, shall we be able entirely to comprehend the influence of the Divine Mind upon the human? The fact is evident, however mysterious is the mode. If a man is a creature fallen, and totally corrupt, how can he renew himself? Can darkness originate light? Corruption, purity? Evil, good? If holiness comes into our nature, it must come from without. To suppose that a heart totally depraved will reform itself, is not only to suppose an effect without a cause - but contrary to a cause. No! All evil is from ourselves - and all good is from God.
Search the Scriptures, and see how every part and exercise of true religion is ascribed to the Spirit of God. Illumination; Eph. 1:17, 18. Regeneration; John 1:12; 3:3-8. Sanctification; 1 Peter 1:2. Consolation; Acts 9:31. Help in all the weakness of the Christian life; Romans 8:26. Teaching in prayer; Romans 8:26. Habitual guidance; Romans 8:14. Witnessing to our adoption; Romans 8:16. Sealing to the day of redemption; Eph. 5:30. Constant walking; Gal. 5:22. Ministerial success; 1 Cor. 3:5-7. Is there a grace which is not formed in us by the Spirit? Is there a duty we perform, without being directed to His aid for assistance to discharge it? Are we not said to live in the Spirit, to have no spiritual existence, no actual being, apart from His gracious influence? He dwells in us, and we in Him, so that all the energies we exert, all the vital acts we perform, all the spiritual powers we put forth - are the result of His working in us.
Such, then, is the work of the Spirit, and it is moreover, of great consequence to remember that His work is carried on by a direct process on individual minds. it is not a power coming down upon a collective mass, which relates only to the mass - but not to its individual and component parts. We can form no idea of the Spirit's work - but as a direct work upon individual minds. The church is regenerated, sanctified, comforted, and preserved - only by the calling, sanctification, and consolation of its individual members!
This influence of the Spirit comes upon the mind of man, through the channel of the truth, however that truth may be presented to the mind. It is the great object of the Romish policy to destroy as much as possible the Christian's personal relationship with Jesus! That presumptuous and dreadful system, with Puseyism, its own offspring, has raised up and thrust something between man and his God. It will not allow the fruits of the Saviour's mediation or the influence of the Spirit to come to the soul - but through this additional medium, the church. It claims for its priests the power of bestowing the Spirit in baptism, in the Eucharist, and in its other sacraments. How monstrous are its pretensions! How awfully presumptuous and arrogant its claims! God declares that it is by the truth, the work of sanctification is carried on. Wherever the truth is understood and believed, there is the work of His Spirit; no matter whether the truth be read or heard; meditated upon in the closet, or listened to in the sanctuary; presented in sermons, or in sacraments; by laymen or by ministers - God's Spirit accompanies His own truth, goes with it into barns or into cathedrals; into the pulpits of learned doctors, or of unlettered missionaries. But this is denied practically by many - they want to confine the communication of the Spirit to the ministrations of a certain class of "ordained men", and even to a certain kind of their ministrations; they would hold back the atonement - and put forward the sacraments; extinguish, or at any rate bedim, the truth - and light up candles; veil the Cross - and uncover the crucifix. They would have no other pipes connected with the fountain of grace - but their official hands. They would make the whole work of regeneration and sanctification a matter of priestly order, and clerical administration. They would shut up the Spirit within their pale, and claim to be the sole dispensers of Divine grace. The plain and simple truth that God will pour out His Spirit upon every one who devoutly prays for Him, and seeks it in reading the Word, and hearing sermons, and striving against sin, and longing to be holy - is mystified, obscured, and lost amid their ambitious talk about sacramental grace and apostolic succession, and other like matters.
Be not deceived, dear brethren; God's Spirit is not thus confined or communicated! The Holy Spirit comes down on every renewed and believing soul directly from God!
~John Angell James~
(continued with # 3)
A Proliferation of Christian Devotionals and Sermons
Saturday, June 30, 2018
Fear # 3
Fear # 3
But, of course, this is a very real thing, this fear, and although the Word of God may not use the phrase, we have reason to believe that among the hosts of evil spirits, there are definitely the spirits of fear. For very often this thing is something extra to ourselves; it comes upon us. It is something that happens to us at times. We find ourselves afraid. The enemy wants to make us afraid and his spirits of fear are sent forth to do that. There needs to be a very definite and strong attitude taken in spirit before the Lord to resist the devil in this form. When we say the devil, we mean all his hosts as well; however, he may come - to resist fear. It is a resolution - "I will trust and not be afraid - for the Lord...".
Well, that is all I am going to say for the moment about the evil of fear. I want you to take that word and keep it in your heart; dwell much upon it, because I am convinced that the enemy is pressing very much along this line. Do you notice what Nehemiah said? Oh, it was a significant thing! Nehemiah said something more than he knew he was saying, I am quite sure of that! He said a thing which embraces a great deal of the New Testament. He said, "For this purpose were they hired that they might make me afraid, and do so, and sin." Yes, but that is only half. And then what? "That they might have an evil report, a case, against me." What the enemy is after all the time is, first of all, to make afraid, and then to get us to take some step, to do something out of fear, and then to come right around on us and accuse us before God. How cruel, how subtle, how wicked! - but that is of no consequence to him. What he is after is to cast the saints down by accusation, and if he can only get them either to do or to refrain from doing through fear, he has got a case, and it will not be long before he comes back on that very ground and makes accusation, condemnation, and distress.
The Evil of NOT Fearing
Now we pass over to the other side - the evil of not fearing. But this is another kind of fear, fear of the Lord, walking in the fear of the Lord, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of the Lord. "Great fear came upon the church" - with what result? It lost heart, it became afraid, it was paralyzed? No! - the Name of the Lord Jesus was glorified and the Church multiplied. On, this then, must be another kind of fear. It operates in exactly the opposite way from that of which we have been speaking.
What is fear? Well, it is the fear of devotion to the Lord. It is that fear which, in the first place, has all questions of relationship with the Lord settled, has the whole matter of acceptance by the Lord settled, the sin question is got out of the way through the righteousness which is of faith. Then the fear of the Lord means recognition of His glory, recognition of His greatness, recognition of His holiness, His majesty, and a humble submission to Him in the fear that would not in any way work against Him and His honor. It is another kind of fear, the fear of devotion to the Lord, and the chief characteristic of this fear is meekness. And that is where the sin of not fearing is found in the Word of God.
If you go through the Word and you find those various instances where God came out in judgment because this fear was not there, you will find that it was that those instances represented something like this. In Numbers 16 you have Dathan and Abiram and their company. What are they doing? To Moses, the meekest of men, the anointed servant of the Lord, they say, "You take too much on your self. You are not the only one through whom the Lord speaks. We are as much the children of God as you are!" That is how they speak, and they fear not to put their hand upon that which is anointed. It is not that Moses is anything, but it is that which is anointed. It is something anointed of God and they were guilty of the sin of spiritual assumption; it was due to a lack of meekness. The Lord came out in terrible judgment, showing for all time that when the Lord anoints anyone or anything, that anointing is not something that constitutes that person a special office or officer. The anointing is the Lord, the Lord Himself. The Lord is on that, the Lord Himself is in that, the Lord is there, and when you touch that, you touch the Lord; you touch that in word, you touch the Lord, you touch that in deed, you touch the Lord. "He reproved kings for their sakes, saying "Touch not Mine anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm" (Psa. 105:14-15).
If you and I ever have the slightest reason to conclude that the Lord is anywhere or with any person or with anything or with any people, we touch that to our peril if it is touching it other than in the fear of the Lord. It is a tremendous check. We read that little bit from 1 Samuel. Yes, David was anointed, David was God's chosen one, but Saul had been anointed and Saul was not yet dead. Saul was not yet set aside finally, although potentially. David got an opportunity and cut off the skirt of Saul's garment and then it says, "David's heart smote him". David's heart smote him. We in New Testament times in whom the Spirit dwells would say, "The Lord rebuked me, smote me in my heart, in my spirit." Again and again this comes up - exactly what happens in the case of the bringing up of the ark. When Uzzah died before the Lord, what was the reason? It was a lack of the fear of the Lord of the right kind. It was assumption. It was a putting forth of a hand to touch holy things. That is terrible! The evil of not fearing, you see. It comes from an insufficient apprehension of the sacredness of what is of God.
But this fear is a holy fear. Let no one think for a moment that this fear of the Lord is death, bondage, stultification and repression. Not at all! Wherever you find this fear of the Lord you find joy, love, peace and liberty. People are not afraid of the Lord. But they are careful not to grieve the Lord. They do not take liberties with the Lord. They do not think of spiritual liberty as spiritual licence. They do not cast off restraint, they do not ride rough-shod over all sacred things, calling it liberty. No, there is holy fear which restrains and in restraining keeps things pure and keeps things clear and makes a straight way for the Lord. The true fear of the Lord is not dread. It is a very blessed and precious thing.
Now you notice these passages in the New Testament show us that it was at such times when this kind of fear came in a special way that there was something to the glory of God. You know, if you get into the book of Acts and you begin to see things happening, the expression and manifestation of divine power there is your peril. That was so in the case of Ananias and Sapphira. Things were happening. What a peril when the Lord is doing something, for the flesh to just step in and begin to sport itself in what God is doing, to take advantage, to exploit the situation for its improvement, and the Lord had to step in to save the situation. What did He do? Well, what he did in the issue was to recover a wholesome fear, a fear that would keep things pure and "fear fell upon all." That kept things pure. it did not arrest the Lord. It did not mean that things had got to come under bondage again. No, it just kept things pure, and so that was repeated from time to time. "Great fear came upon all...the Name of the Lord was glorified and the Church multiplied."
Oh, let us ask the Lord that there may be found in us that true holy fear which is LOVE, not the fear which is contrary to love,but the true holy fear which is love. The Lord will be able to go on and lead us into all His fullness if He has that quality in us, that in us which simply means that we honor Him, we recognize Him, we trust Him, we have perfect confidence in Him, and that we are very reticent either by word of criticism, or judgment, or by any other way, to put a hand upon what is sacred to the Lord, even a child of God. If it is a child of God, then the Lord is in that one and we must be very careful. That is what it means, and this matter of the blessing of the Lord which makes rich, this matter of the light of His countenance, is a very practical matter. It may all hand upon some matter of our attitude towards another child of God. The whole of the fullness of Christ may be held up and suspended for us because of some injurious way in which we talk about what is precious to God, if we criticize it, judge it, think that we can improve it. The Lord may stand back.
Let us ask the Lord to put into our hearts His fear while on the other hand He is seeking to root out of us that evil which is so much to His dishonor. I simply bring this to you and urge upon you further prayerful reflection. Ask the Lord about this. Do not forget the enemy's drive along the line of fear, but do not forget that freedom from the enemy's kind of fear does not make us those fire-eaters who care for nothing and simply trample all sacred things down under foot because we are very bold. No, there is a right boldness and a wrong boldness, a right fear and a wrong fear. The Lord teach us the meaning of that!
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(The End)
But, of course, this is a very real thing, this fear, and although the Word of God may not use the phrase, we have reason to believe that among the hosts of evil spirits, there are definitely the spirits of fear. For very often this thing is something extra to ourselves; it comes upon us. It is something that happens to us at times. We find ourselves afraid. The enemy wants to make us afraid and his spirits of fear are sent forth to do that. There needs to be a very definite and strong attitude taken in spirit before the Lord to resist the devil in this form. When we say the devil, we mean all his hosts as well; however, he may come - to resist fear. It is a resolution - "I will trust and not be afraid - for the Lord...".
Well, that is all I am going to say for the moment about the evil of fear. I want you to take that word and keep it in your heart; dwell much upon it, because I am convinced that the enemy is pressing very much along this line. Do you notice what Nehemiah said? Oh, it was a significant thing! Nehemiah said something more than he knew he was saying, I am quite sure of that! He said a thing which embraces a great deal of the New Testament. He said, "For this purpose were they hired that they might make me afraid, and do so, and sin." Yes, but that is only half. And then what? "That they might have an evil report, a case, against me." What the enemy is after all the time is, first of all, to make afraid, and then to get us to take some step, to do something out of fear, and then to come right around on us and accuse us before God. How cruel, how subtle, how wicked! - but that is of no consequence to him. What he is after is to cast the saints down by accusation, and if he can only get them either to do or to refrain from doing through fear, he has got a case, and it will not be long before he comes back on that very ground and makes accusation, condemnation, and distress.
The Evil of NOT Fearing
Now we pass over to the other side - the evil of not fearing. But this is another kind of fear, fear of the Lord, walking in the fear of the Lord, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of the Lord. "Great fear came upon the church" - with what result? It lost heart, it became afraid, it was paralyzed? No! - the Name of the Lord Jesus was glorified and the Church multiplied. On, this then, must be another kind of fear. It operates in exactly the opposite way from that of which we have been speaking.
What is fear? Well, it is the fear of devotion to the Lord. It is that fear which, in the first place, has all questions of relationship with the Lord settled, has the whole matter of acceptance by the Lord settled, the sin question is got out of the way through the righteousness which is of faith. Then the fear of the Lord means recognition of His glory, recognition of His greatness, recognition of His holiness, His majesty, and a humble submission to Him in the fear that would not in any way work against Him and His honor. It is another kind of fear, the fear of devotion to the Lord, and the chief characteristic of this fear is meekness. And that is where the sin of not fearing is found in the Word of God.
If you go through the Word and you find those various instances where God came out in judgment because this fear was not there, you will find that it was that those instances represented something like this. In Numbers 16 you have Dathan and Abiram and their company. What are they doing? To Moses, the meekest of men, the anointed servant of the Lord, they say, "You take too much on your self. You are not the only one through whom the Lord speaks. We are as much the children of God as you are!" That is how they speak, and they fear not to put their hand upon that which is anointed. It is not that Moses is anything, but it is that which is anointed. It is something anointed of God and they were guilty of the sin of spiritual assumption; it was due to a lack of meekness. The Lord came out in terrible judgment, showing for all time that when the Lord anoints anyone or anything, that anointing is not something that constitutes that person a special office or officer. The anointing is the Lord, the Lord Himself. The Lord is on that, the Lord Himself is in that, the Lord is there, and when you touch that, you touch the Lord; you touch that in word, you touch the Lord, you touch that in deed, you touch the Lord. "He reproved kings for their sakes, saying "Touch not Mine anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm" (Psa. 105:14-15).
If you and I ever have the slightest reason to conclude that the Lord is anywhere or with any person or with anything or with any people, we touch that to our peril if it is touching it other than in the fear of the Lord. It is a tremendous check. We read that little bit from 1 Samuel. Yes, David was anointed, David was God's chosen one, but Saul had been anointed and Saul was not yet dead. Saul was not yet set aside finally, although potentially. David got an opportunity and cut off the skirt of Saul's garment and then it says, "David's heart smote him". David's heart smote him. We in New Testament times in whom the Spirit dwells would say, "The Lord rebuked me, smote me in my heart, in my spirit." Again and again this comes up - exactly what happens in the case of the bringing up of the ark. When Uzzah died before the Lord, what was the reason? It was a lack of the fear of the Lord of the right kind. It was assumption. It was a putting forth of a hand to touch holy things. That is terrible! The evil of not fearing, you see. It comes from an insufficient apprehension of the sacredness of what is of God.
But this fear is a holy fear. Let no one think for a moment that this fear of the Lord is death, bondage, stultification and repression. Not at all! Wherever you find this fear of the Lord you find joy, love, peace and liberty. People are not afraid of the Lord. But they are careful not to grieve the Lord. They do not take liberties with the Lord. They do not think of spiritual liberty as spiritual licence. They do not cast off restraint, they do not ride rough-shod over all sacred things, calling it liberty. No, there is holy fear which restrains and in restraining keeps things pure and keeps things clear and makes a straight way for the Lord. The true fear of the Lord is not dread. It is a very blessed and precious thing.
Now you notice these passages in the New Testament show us that it was at such times when this kind of fear came in a special way that there was something to the glory of God. You know, if you get into the book of Acts and you begin to see things happening, the expression and manifestation of divine power there is your peril. That was so in the case of Ananias and Sapphira. Things were happening. What a peril when the Lord is doing something, for the flesh to just step in and begin to sport itself in what God is doing, to take advantage, to exploit the situation for its improvement, and the Lord had to step in to save the situation. What did He do? Well, what he did in the issue was to recover a wholesome fear, a fear that would keep things pure and "fear fell upon all." That kept things pure. it did not arrest the Lord. It did not mean that things had got to come under bondage again. No, it just kept things pure, and so that was repeated from time to time. "Great fear came upon all...the Name of the Lord was glorified and the Church multiplied."
Oh, let us ask the Lord that there may be found in us that true holy fear which is LOVE, not the fear which is contrary to love,but the true holy fear which is love. The Lord will be able to go on and lead us into all His fullness if He has that quality in us, that in us which simply means that we honor Him, we recognize Him, we trust Him, we have perfect confidence in Him, and that we are very reticent either by word of criticism, or judgment, or by any other way, to put a hand upon what is sacred to the Lord, even a child of God. If it is a child of God, then the Lord is in that one and we must be very careful. That is what it means, and this matter of the blessing of the Lord which makes rich, this matter of the light of His countenance, is a very practical matter. It may all hand upon some matter of our attitude towards another child of God. The whole of the fullness of Christ may be held up and suspended for us because of some injurious way in which we talk about what is precious to God, if we criticize it, judge it, think that we can improve it. The Lord may stand back.
Let us ask the Lord to put into our hearts His fear while on the other hand He is seeking to root out of us that evil which is so much to His dishonor. I simply bring this to you and urge upon you further prayerful reflection. Ask the Lord about this. Do not forget the enemy's drive along the line of fear, but do not forget that freedom from the enemy's kind of fear does not make us those fire-eaters who care for nothing and simply trample all sacred things down under foot because we are very bold. No, there is a right boldness and a wrong boldness, a right fear and a wrong fear. The Lord teach us the meaning of that!
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(The End)
Saturday, June 23, 2018
Fear # 2
Fear # 2
The Evil of Fear
Not many of us need to be informed that one of satan's most successful and powerful weapons against the children of God is fear. He drives, he harasses, he torments, he worries; yes, he does many things for the undoing of God's people by means of this weapon of fear. How many of the Lord's people are found in a state of weakness, impotence, and paralysis, because of fear" The are afraid, they fear. How many are found in a state of indecision, incapable of taking any definite, deliberate, strong step, because of fear? They are all the time moving so cautiously, so uncertainly, because they are afraid, because of fear, and multitudes of the Lord's people are in a state of positive spiritual defeat because of fear working in some way - foreboding, dread, apprehension. Fear, John rightly says, has torment, and it is possible to get into such a state that you are almost afraid to leave your home for half an hour lest you might come back and find that something has gone wrong, to take a journey without all the time wanting to keep in touch with things. You are afraid. It is a terrible thing, this fear,and in countless ways the enemy lashes the children of God by this rod, this whip, of fear.
The Word of God is very strong about this matter. "God has not given us a spirit of fear", and let us once and for all get this kind of fear defined and disentangled from the other fear of which we have to speak, the right kind of fear. I think that failure to discriminate in this matter is perhaps at the root of a very great deal of the defeat. We, somewhere in the back of our minds, in an undefined way, have got muddled up and confused. Fear - yes, but we are commanded to fear, the fear of the Lord. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." We must fear lest we make mistakes, lest we go wrong, lest we grieve the Lord; we must fear this and that. Oh, but let us drive the wedge clean in between the devil's fear and the fear of the Lord!! They are two different things, and let us settle it once and for all that this kind of harassing, driving fear comes straight from the pit; it is born in hell, a weapon forged there by the devil himself against the children of God. Let it be settled in your heart forever that this kind of fear is NOT from God. This fear is from satan. Oh, I do feel that it is so important that the people of God should nail this matter of fear. When you find yourself in this state because of fear, you say, "This is not from God!" Fear is a master weapon of satan's and you have got to free yourself in the Name of the Lord from his awful drive by this means.
What is he after? It is always good to ask ourselves what is the effect of a thing in our lives. I can very well discover where it comes from if I recognize what the effect is. If a thing paralyzes me, if it takes all certainty and confidence and assurance out of my heart, if it takes the steady firmness out of my walk, my tread, if it holds me up in weakness and paralysis so that I am afraid to move, then that is not of God. God wants His people to go forward with assurance and confidence, with a firm and steady tread, not to have in their hearts everlastingly a paralyzing doubt. So what is the effect? Recognize that and you know what it comes from.
What is satan after? You say, to paralyze me, to destroy me, to hold up. Oh yes, but that is only secondary! He is after dishonoring God, and God is dishonored in His people.It has ever been that satan has aimed at the work of God's hands, aimed his blow to dishonor God, and God is dishonored when His people are, in the wrong sense, fearful. What is fear, after all? Well, it is mistrust, it is lack of faith. John says that it is the opposite of love. There is no fear in love. Perfect love casts out all fear, and he that fears is not made perfect in love. Fear is the opposite of love, and what is love if it is not trust? None of us would agree that we were loved if we were not trusted. We demand absolute confidence as the hallmark of professed love. It is only feigned love which has reservations about an object which it professes to love. It is mere empty sentiment and pretense which says, "I love you but I am not sure of you". Oh no! That is the only kind of love that we really, in our hearts, can accept and believe in. A lot of people tell me they love me, but I know all the time they have got big questions about me and they are suspicious. I say that kind of love is not much good, it does not help me very much. It does not get us anywhere just to keep that shadow all the time in between. But carry that into the divine realm. Can that be tolerated in relation to God? I love God, but I do not trust Him, I am not sure of Him. I am afraid to go out tomorrow lest something should go wrong, lest the Lord should let me down. You see, it is very practical. Perfect love casts out all fear. It is by this fear and fearfulness that satan is seeking to dishonor in us by keeping us in a state of uncertainty about God, a reservation of confidence and trust. Fear is the opposite of trust. If we trust, we are not afraid. It is put quite simply: "I will trust and not be afraid" (Is. 12:2). These two things cannot live together - trust and fear. "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?" (Ps. 27:1). Oh, the gain to the enemy against the Lord along the line of fear!
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 3)
The Evil of Fear
Not many of us need to be informed that one of satan's most successful and powerful weapons against the children of God is fear. He drives, he harasses, he torments, he worries; yes, he does many things for the undoing of God's people by means of this weapon of fear. How many of the Lord's people are found in a state of weakness, impotence, and paralysis, because of fear" The are afraid, they fear. How many are found in a state of indecision, incapable of taking any definite, deliberate, strong step, because of fear? They are all the time moving so cautiously, so uncertainly, because they are afraid, because of fear, and multitudes of the Lord's people are in a state of positive spiritual defeat because of fear working in some way - foreboding, dread, apprehension. Fear, John rightly says, has torment, and it is possible to get into such a state that you are almost afraid to leave your home for half an hour lest you might come back and find that something has gone wrong, to take a journey without all the time wanting to keep in touch with things. You are afraid. It is a terrible thing, this fear,and in countless ways the enemy lashes the children of God by this rod, this whip, of fear.
The Word of God is very strong about this matter. "God has not given us a spirit of fear", and let us once and for all get this kind of fear defined and disentangled from the other fear of which we have to speak, the right kind of fear. I think that failure to discriminate in this matter is perhaps at the root of a very great deal of the defeat. We, somewhere in the back of our minds, in an undefined way, have got muddled up and confused. Fear - yes, but we are commanded to fear, the fear of the Lord. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." We must fear lest we make mistakes, lest we go wrong, lest we grieve the Lord; we must fear this and that. Oh, but let us drive the wedge clean in between the devil's fear and the fear of the Lord!! They are two different things, and let us settle it once and for all that this kind of harassing, driving fear comes straight from the pit; it is born in hell, a weapon forged there by the devil himself against the children of God. Let it be settled in your heart forever that this kind of fear is NOT from God. This fear is from satan. Oh, I do feel that it is so important that the people of God should nail this matter of fear. When you find yourself in this state because of fear, you say, "This is not from God!" Fear is a master weapon of satan's and you have got to free yourself in the Name of the Lord from his awful drive by this means.
What is he after? It is always good to ask ourselves what is the effect of a thing in our lives. I can very well discover where it comes from if I recognize what the effect is. If a thing paralyzes me, if it takes all certainty and confidence and assurance out of my heart, if it takes the steady firmness out of my walk, my tread, if it holds me up in weakness and paralysis so that I am afraid to move, then that is not of God. God wants His people to go forward with assurance and confidence, with a firm and steady tread, not to have in their hearts everlastingly a paralyzing doubt. So what is the effect? Recognize that and you know what it comes from.
What is satan after? You say, to paralyze me, to destroy me, to hold up. Oh yes, but that is only secondary! He is after dishonoring God, and God is dishonored in His people.It has ever been that satan has aimed at the work of God's hands, aimed his blow to dishonor God, and God is dishonored when His people are, in the wrong sense, fearful. What is fear, after all? Well, it is mistrust, it is lack of faith. John says that it is the opposite of love. There is no fear in love. Perfect love casts out all fear, and he that fears is not made perfect in love. Fear is the opposite of love, and what is love if it is not trust? None of us would agree that we were loved if we were not trusted. We demand absolute confidence as the hallmark of professed love. It is only feigned love which has reservations about an object which it professes to love. It is mere empty sentiment and pretense which says, "I love you but I am not sure of you". Oh no! That is the only kind of love that we really, in our hearts, can accept and believe in. A lot of people tell me they love me, but I know all the time they have got big questions about me and they are suspicious. I say that kind of love is not much good, it does not help me very much. It does not get us anywhere just to keep that shadow all the time in between. But carry that into the divine realm. Can that be tolerated in relation to God? I love God, but I do not trust Him, I am not sure of Him. I am afraid to go out tomorrow lest something should go wrong, lest the Lord should let me down. You see, it is very practical. Perfect love casts out all fear. It is by this fear and fearfulness that satan is seeking to dishonor in us by keeping us in a state of uncertainty about God, a reservation of confidence and trust. Fear is the opposite of trust. If we trust, we are not afraid. It is put quite simply: "I will trust and not be afraid" (Is. 12:2). These two things cannot live together - trust and fear. "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?" (Ps. 27:1). Oh, the gain to the enemy against the Lord along the line of fear!
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 3)
The Religion Which I Want (and others)
The Religion Which I Want (and others)
I am sick of modern religion - it is such a mixture, such a medley, such a compromise. I find much, indeed, of this religion in my own heart, for it suits the flesh well - but I would not have it so, and grieve it should be so!
The religion which I want is that of the Holy Spirit.
I know nothing but what He teaches me. I feel nothing but what He works in me. I believe nothing but what He shows me. I only mourn when He smites my rocky heart. I only rejoice when He reveals my Lord and Saviour.
This religion I am seeking after, though miles and miles from it - but no other will satisfy or content me.
When the blessed Spirit is not at work in me, and with me, I fall back into all the darkness, unbelief, earthliness, idleness, carelessness, infidelity, and helplessness of my Adam nature.
True religion is a supernatural and mysterious thing.
~J. C. Philpot~
______________________________
He Puts Us In Our Right Place!
"When He comes, He will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment" (John 16:8).
All who have the Holy Spirit are convinced by Him of sin.
He alone can open a man's eyes to the real extent of his guilt and corruption before God. He always does this when He comes into the soul. He puts us in our right place! He shows us the vileness of our own hearts, and makes us cry with the publican, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" He pulls down those proud, self-righteous, self-justifying notions with which we are all born, and makes us feel as we ought to feel, "I am a sinful man and I deserve to be in hell!"
Sin is no more pleasant to those who are taught by the Holy Spirit. It is their sorrow when tempted by it. It is their shame when they are overtaken by it. Their desire is to be free from it altogether. Their happiest times are when they are enabled to walk most closely with God. Their saddest times are when they are furthest off from Him.
"When He comes, He will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment" (John 16:8).
~J. C. Ryle~
________________________________
What Does The Church Need?
"Our gospel came to you not simply with words - but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction" (1 Thess. 1:5).
"We have," said one pastor, "the gospel regularly preached, the prayer meetings are continued, the church is in peace - but very few souls are converted to God! "What does our church need?"
It needs the presence and power of the Holy Spirit! For unless the Holy Spirit works - your minister may preach, your church may meet - but no real good will be done! God's work is carried on, not by might nor power - but by the Spirit of the Lord Almighty. It is the Spirit who must open the heart, quicken the soul, and sanctify the person!
And if the Spirit works - then the feeblest ministry is efficient, and the smallest church prospers!
All the success that followed the preaching of Peter, and the labors of Paul - was from the Holy Spirit. Therefore Paul says, "God gave the increase." Then the church felt her need of the Spirit; she realized her dependence on that divine Agent; she prayed with faith, fervor, and importunity for the blessing; and God answered her prayers, and filled His servants with the Holy Spirit and with power!
But today, we merely talk of the Spirit - rather than feel our need! We boast of our instruments - rather than realize our dependence on the Almighty Agent!
~James Smith~
I am sick of modern religion - it is such a mixture, such a medley, such a compromise. I find much, indeed, of this religion in my own heart, for it suits the flesh well - but I would not have it so, and grieve it should be so!
The religion which I want is that of the Holy Spirit.
I know nothing but what He teaches me. I feel nothing but what He works in me. I believe nothing but what He shows me. I only mourn when He smites my rocky heart. I only rejoice when He reveals my Lord and Saviour.
This religion I am seeking after, though miles and miles from it - but no other will satisfy or content me.
When the blessed Spirit is not at work in me, and with me, I fall back into all the darkness, unbelief, earthliness, idleness, carelessness, infidelity, and helplessness of my Adam nature.
True religion is a supernatural and mysterious thing.
~J. C. Philpot~
______________________________
He Puts Us In Our Right Place!
"When He comes, He will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment" (John 16:8).
All who have the Holy Spirit are convinced by Him of sin.
He alone can open a man's eyes to the real extent of his guilt and corruption before God. He always does this when He comes into the soul. He puts us in our right place! He shows us the vileness of our own hearts, and makes us cry with the publican, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" He pulls down those proud, self-righteous, self-justifying notions with which we are all born, and makes us feel as we ought to feel, "I am a sinful man and I deserve to be in hell!"
Sin is no more pleasant to those who are taught by the Holy Spirit. It is their sorrow when tempted by it. It is their shame when they are overtaken by it. Their desire is to be free from it altogether. Their happiest times are when they are enabled to walk most closely with God. Their saddest times are when they are furthest off from Him.
"When He comes, He will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment" (John 16:8).
~J. C. Ryle~
________________________________
What Does The Church Need?
"Our gospel came to you not simply with words - but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction" (1 Thess. 1:5).
"We have," said one pastor, "the gospel regularly preached, the prayer meetings are continued, the church is in peace - but very few souls are converted to God! "What does our church need?"
It needs the presence and power of the Holy Spirit! For unless the Holy Spirit works - your minister may preach, your church may meet - but no real good will be done! God's work is carried on, not by might nor power - but by the Spirit of the Lord Almighty. It is the Spirit who must open the heart, quicken the soul, and sanctify the person!
And if the Spirit works - then the feeblest ministry is efficient, and the smallest church prospers!
All the success that followed the preaching of Peter, and the labors of Paul - was from the Holy Spirit. Therefore Paul says, "God gave the increase." Then the church felt her need of the Spirit; she realized her dependence on that divine Agent; she prayed with faith, fervor, and importunity for the blessing; and God answered her prayers, and filled His servants with the Holy Spirit and with power!
But today, we merely talk of the Spirit - rather than feel our need! We boast of our instruments - rather than realize our dependence on the Almighty Agent!
~James Smith~
The Work of the Holy Spirit # 1
The Work of the Holy Spirit # 1
My dear friends, I now propose to lay before you the doctrine of the Holy Spirit's work in the regeneration and sanctification of the human soul.
Man, by his fall, brought a twofold evil of a most dreadful nature upon himself, guilt upon his conscience, and depravity into his heart. What, therefore, he needs for his salvation, is pardon and sanctification. To obtain for him the former, is the end of the mediation of Christ; while to produce the latter, is the design of the work of the Spirit - and it is of great consequence accurately to distinguish between the work of Christ FOR us, and the work of the Holy Spirit IN us. Of what avail would it be to us that the Father loved us, and contrived a plan for our redemption, or that the Son loves us, and executed that scheme, if no provision were made to apply the whole, as a system or restoration, to our depraved hearts. man is blind in his judgment, and neither understands his need of salvation, nor the nature of the plan by which he is to obtain it; he is obstinately set against all that is spiritual and holy, and full of enmity against God and His ways; hence the need of something more than a plan of reconciliation - I mean, a power to fix his aversion, to make him willing to accept the offer of mercy, and amid all the temptations by which he is surrounded, to hold him to the way of truth. This agency is provided in the office and work of the Holy Spirit.
The atonement of Christ having been accepted of God, and a way of communion, honorable to the Divine character and government, having been thus opened - the Spirit is poured out upon man, as one of the most blessed fruits of the mediation of the Saviour. This rich gift of celestial mercy is granted to our world entirely for the sake of our Lord's glorious sacrifice, and is therefore so much honor done to Christ.
The whole work of the Spirit, under the Christian dispensation, comprehends His extraordinary and miraculous gifts, granted and confined to the first age of Christianity for the confirmation of the truth, and His ordinary renewing and sanctifying influence, continued through all ages, for the application of the truth, in the regeneration and sanctification of believers; and in reading the New Testament, we must always bear this distinctly in remembrance, and inquire whether the sacred writer is treating of miraculous gifts or continual endowments.
In explaining the ordinary and continued work of the Spirit, I will briefly point out, first, what the Spirit's work does NOT imply. It does not, then, suppose, nor is it intended to supply, any deficiency in the atonement of Christ, since it is altogether for a different purpose. Nor does it suppose, nor is it intended to supply, any deficiency in the word of God, for the word is as complete and sufficient as an instrument can be. Nor does it suppose any weakness, inappropriateness, or lack of adaptation in the ministry of the word, for the preaching of the Cross is the power of God, the perfection of Christ's atonement, the clearness of the word of truth, and the power of the Christian ministry - he will not repent, believe, and obey - without the power of the Spirit operating upon his mind!
Consider next, in what the Spirit's work really consists. Not in imparting new natural faculties - but in rightly directing the exercises of those we already possess, not in effecting any mechanical change in the physical essence of the soul - but in producing a moral change in its disposition, not in bestowing upon us natural power - but that which is moral. Divines have distinguished between natural and moral inability, and the distinction is real, and exists in the very nature of things. Natural inability is that which a man has no power to do if he would; such, for instance, as in a blind man, with respect to vision, he cannot see if he would. Moral inability is that which a man would not do if he could, or which he has no inclination or disposition to do; such, for instance, as a man has, who hates a person he ought to love; he will not love him. Everybody perceives that there is a difference between those two kinds of inability.
Now the Spirit's work is not to give natural power - but moral; or, in other words, to impart will, inclination, disposition. If men had no natural ability, they could not be guilty and responsible; but, having natural though not moral power, they are both guilty and responsible, for not repenting of sin, believing in Christ, and loving God. A cripple has no natural power to go and hear a sermon, and is not blameworthy for not going, for he has no natural power; but if anyone comes and preaches to him in his house, he is guilty, and will be condemned, if he does not repent and believe. Yet it is certain he will not repent and believe, unless the Spirit, who opened the heart of Lydia, shall dispose and enable him to do so. Nothing, however, prevents him from believing - but the depravity of his heart; nothing but what makes him guilty; nothing but that for which he is accountable to God - but still which the Spirit alone can remove. You have now as clear a view as I can present to you, in this short compass, of the work of the Spirit - it is a Divine power operating upon the mind, giving it clear and impressive views of the truth, taking away from the heart its natural aversion to the truth, and substituting love to the truth in its place, and inclining the will to embrace it.
~John Angell James~
(continued with # 2)
My dear friends, I now propose to lay before you the doctrine of the Holy Spirit's work in the regeneration and sanctification of the human soul.
Man, by his fall, brought a twofold evil of a most dreadful nature upon himself, guilt upon his conscience, and depravity into his heart. What, therefore, he needs for his salvation, is pardon and sanctification. To obtain for him the former, is the end of the mediation of Christ; while to produce the latter, is the design of the work of the Spirit - and it is of great consequence accurately to distinguish between the work of Christ FOR us, and the work of the Holy Spirit IN us. Of what avail would it be to us that the Father loved us, and contrived a plan for our redemption, or that the Son loves us, and executed that scheme, if no provision were made to apply the whole, as a system or restoration, to our depraved hearts. man is blind in his judgment, and neither understands his need of salvation, nor the nature of the plan by which he is to obtain it; he is obstinately set against all that is spiritual and holy, and full of enmity against God and His ways; hence the need of something more than a plan of reconciliation - I mean, a power to fix his aversion, to make him willing to accept the offer of mercy, and amid all the temptations by which he is surrounded, to hold him to the way of truth. This agency is provided in the office and work of the Holy Spirit.
The atonement of Christ having been accepted of God, and a way of communion, honorable to the Divine character and government, having been thus opened - the Spirit is poured out upon man, as one of the most blessed fruits of the mediation of the Saviour. This rich gift of celestial mercy is granted to our world entirely for the sake of our Lord's glorious sacrifice, and is therefore so much honor done to Christ.
The whole work of the Spirit, under the Christian dispensation, comprehends His extraordinary and miraculous gifts, granted and confined to the first age of Christianity for the confirmation of the truth, and His ordinary renewing and sanctifying influence, continued through all ages, for the application of the truth, in the regeneration and sanctification of believers; and in reading the New Testament, we must always bear this distinctly in remembrance, and inquire whether the sacred writer is treating of miraculous gifts or continual endowments.
In explaining the ordinary and continued work of the Spirit, I will briefly point out, first, what the Spirit's work does NOT imply. It does not, then, suppose, nor is it intended to supply, any deficiency in the atonement of Christ, since it is altogether for a different purpose. Nor does it suppose, nor is it intended to supply, any deficiency in the word of God, for the word is as complete and sufficient as an instrument can be. Nor does it suppose any weakness, inappropriateness, or lack of adaptation in the ministry of the word, for the preaching of the Cross is the power of God, the perfection of Christ's atonement, the clearness of the word of truth, and the power of the Christian ministry - he will not repent, believe, and obey - without the power of the Spirit operating upon his mind!
Consider next, in what the Spirit's work really consists. Not in imparting new natural faculties - but in rightly directing the exercises of those we already possess, not in effecting any mechanical change in the physical essence of the soul - but in producing a moral change in its disposition, not in bestowing upon us natural power - but that which is moral. Divines have distinguished between natural and moral inability, and the distinction is real, and exists in the very nature of things. Natural inability is that which a man has no power to do if he would; such, for instance, as in a blind man, with respect to vision, he cannot see if he would. Moral inability is that which a man would not do if he could, or which he has no inclination or disposition to do; such, for instance, as a man has, who hates a person he ought to love; he will not love him. Everybody perceives that there is a difference between those two kinds of inability.
Now the Spirit's work is not to give natural power - but moral; or, in other words, to impart will, inclination, disposition. If men had no natural ability, they could not be guilty and responsible; but, having natural though not moral power, they are both guilty and responsible, for not repenting of sin, believing in Christ, and loving God. A cripple has no natural power to go and hear a sermon, and is not blameworthy for not going, for he has no natural power; but if anyone comes and preaches to him in his house, he is guilty, and will be condemned, if he does not repent and believe. Yet it is certain he will not repent and believe, unless the Spirit, who opened the heart of Lydia, shall dispose and enable him to do so. Nothing, however, prevents him from believing - but the depravity of his heart; nothing but what makes him guilty; nothing but that for which he is accountable to God - but still which the Spirit alone can remove. You have now as clear a view as I can present to you, in this short compass, of the work of the Spirit - it is a Divine power operating upon the mind, giving it clear and impressive views of the truth, taking away from the heart its natural aversion to the truth, and substituting love to the truth in its place, and inclining the will to embrace it.
~John Angell James~
(continued with # 2)
Saturday, June 16, 2018
Fear # 1
Fear # 1
"For this cause was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and 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" (Romans 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" (Revelation 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" (Psalm 27:1, 3).
***************************************
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning (the chief part) of wisdom (knowledge)" (Proverbs 1:7).
"There is no fear of God before their eyes" (Romans 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 afterwords.
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 these evils - fearing and not fearing.
The whole Word of God is shot through with strong condemnations of fear. We could spend hours in gathering up the Scriptures bearing upon that, the almost countless exhortations not to fear. "Fear not, be of good courage, be strong!" There is so much along that line, rebukes again and again for fear. Then, on the other side, in even more solemn tones and often rather in acts that in words, terrible rebukes for not fearing. Well, let us meditate on these two evils in connection with fear.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 2)
"For this cause was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and 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" (Romans 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" (Revelation 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" (Psalm 27:1, 3).
***************************************
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning (the chief part) of wisdom (knowledge)" (Proverbs 1:7).
"There is no fear of God before their eyes" (Romans 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 afterwords.
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 these evils - fearing and not fearing.
The whole Word of God is shot through with strong condemnations of fear. We could spend hours in gathering up the Scriptures bearing upon that, the almost countless exhortations not to fear. "Fear not, be of good courage, be strong!" There is so much along that line, rebukes again and again for fear. Then, on the other side, in even more solemn tones and often rather in acts that in words, terrible rebukes for not fearing. Well, let us meditate on these two evils in connection with fear.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 2)
Saturday, June 9, 2018
The Jealousy of God # 2
The Jealousy of God # 2
The Cross of the Lord Jesus is the scene of the blazing forth of the Divine jealousy. Divine jealousy is represented as a fire: "Our God is a consuming fire." Divine jealousy is not passive; it is a mighty burning; it must have; it will be; it will devour. The Cross of the Lord Jesus is the scene of the work of that jealousy in its intense heat. It reveals how God must, and will, have everything. In the Old Testament it is defined by the whole burnt offering. The fire devours everything. The Lord Jesus is that matchless, universal, representative Person in which there is gathered up everything in this universe. That is saying a tremendous thing, a thing which we have not yet ranged or fathomed; that the whole universe is gathered up and centered in the Person of Jesus Christ. Heaven and earth and all therein bring back to God in the Person of Christ everything which has been taken away from God, everything which has challenged God's supreme position, God's utterness of right. It is all laid hold of in the Person of Jesus Christ; by Him and brought back to Him, in the Cross. So that in the Person of the Lord Jesus, representatively, actually, and yet potentially, all things are restored to God. God, through the Cross, possesses in Christ the place which has from eternity been His by absolute right. The battle of Calvary was the battle for God's rights in His universe, and those rights were secured through the Cross in Christ.
Then what does the Cross mean? We speak much about the Cross. We say that we stand upon the ground of the Cross. We proclaim the Cross. Ours is the message of the Cross. Do we really understand and recognize that the Cross is the place where the Divine jealousy is at white heat, and to come to the Cross means that there is nothing left to ourselves? Nothing whatever remains for us; no place, no position, no personal interests. The Cross says: God is everything. To the very last ounce it is God's. Every kind of personal direction, desire for self is finished in the Cross. Do we recognize then, that having taken the position with Christ crucified, two things must follow.
Firstly, or on the one hand, it is all the Lord; and we shall be tested, tried, on that one single issue at every point of our lives. The Lord will touch us with the meaning of the Cross at every point of these lives of ours, every position, every relationship, everything. No matter what has a place in our lives, He will touch that with the Cross, and say: "Am I all there, or do you have some place there?" The Cross means that. Those who accept the utter or even the fuller meaning of Calvary as a living reality will be brought into the sphere where the Divine jealousy operates and touches everything. God says: "Do I have absolute place?" That will be His interrogation on all matters. There is no place for anything or anyone (when the Cross has been established) which divides with the Lord. The Lord has taken that position all along. His grace may make the operation of that position progressive, so that it does not apply practically all at once, but the Lord's position is that from the beginning. In the long run we shall be brought back to the utterness of God. God does not accept the partiality of our surrender, the dividedness of our consecration. He does not accept it. He never has. He never will. He may be bearing with it, so that we progressively come to the recognition of it and voluntarily accept it, but His position is utter from the beginning.
Secondly, or on the other hand, Divine jealousy is the very nature of hell. That is, the everlasting burnings are the activities of that jealousy, that consuming fire which is against us when, having been presented with the meaning of the Cross, we do not accept it. If we come into the realm of Calvary, into the realm of the meaning of the Cross, where the Cross is not merely a doctrine, a theme, a teaching; not merely something objective, external, but where the Cross is a living reality, where the Cross is in the hands of the Holy Spirit, and not in the hands of man for application; when we come within the compass of the living activity of the Cross and we are not yielding to that Divine jealousy so that God is having all, that Divine jealousy works as a fire against us and consumes. It is a terrible thing, as well as a glorious thing, to come within the compass of Holy Spirit activity in relation to the Cross of the Lord Jesus.
Ananias and Sapphira are early illustrations of how terrible a thing it is. What was the principle? Why, that of God having everything! Calvary was an accomplished thing, the Holy Spirit had come on the ground of that utterness of God having everything in the Cross. The Holy Spirit having His way in the hearts of those people simply meant that they were letting go all to the Lord, and then there came along a man and a woman who kept something back from the Lord; and thus, right in the presence of an activity in relation to the deepest meaning of Calvary, they held something for themselves, and they therefore denied the Cross and came into collision with the Divine jealousy. The Divine jealousy was, on the one hand, bringing these into joy, into gladness, because of God having His place (and there is no more joyous life than when God has His full place - the Divine jealousy works out to great joy, great rest, great peace when it has its way), but to withstand it meant to be consumed. The Divine jealousy works for and it works against.
Go through the Scriptures with that thought. "I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion" (Zech. 1:14); "My jealousy shall burn as a fire." Let Babylon, let Chaldea, let anybody get in the way of that fire, and see what happens. God is for His people with a burning jealousy, and when His people are wholly for Him, that jealousy will stand at nothing for their defence, for their preservation. It is a great thing to stand with the burnings, where the burnings have you utterly. You have all the fury of His jealousy on your side when you are with Him on the ground of the Cross. But you see, if that is not operating to have full, utter, complete place, then the burnings are against and not for.
The whole purpose of this little word is to seek to constrain to a recognition of the fact that the Holy Spirit is still as jealous for God's full rights, for God's full place. In other words, He is still as jealous for the practical operation of the meaning of the Cross of the Lord Jesus as ever He was. The Cross gathers up all that history: "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." "Nothing, no one, in My place, or to divide My place with Me!" The Cross gathers up all that, and settles it as an issue, and now we have to reckon with the Cross of the Lord Jesus as in the hands of no lesser Person than the Holy Spirit Himself.
There are two sides to that. It works both ways in the Scriptures. In the Old Testament it worked historically. In the New Testament it worked spiritually: "For this cause many among you are sick and not a few die." Why? Because they violated the meaning of the Cross! The Holy Spirit is looking after Christ's Cross. That Cross of Calvary is a thing of infinite regard in the eyes and the hands of the Holy Spirit. To come into touch with it is not to come into touch with a teaching. It is to come into touch with the burnings of God, the consuming fire.
I was very impressed in reading through Hebrews 12 in the section of the chapter which says:"We are not come unto a mount that burned with fire (and then all that terrible description of the voice and the thunder, and the stoning should even a beast touch the mount; a scene of terror, of destruction, of judgment and reproach). But ye are come unto mount Zion", and then all the superior blessedness of coming to what we do come to, and yet, the close of that is: "ye are come unto the heavenly Jerusalem...to the... church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven." And it concludes: "Wherefore...let us have grace whereby we may offer service, well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe: for our God is a consuming fire". It does not change the position. It only lifts it into a realm where it says that coming to Christ,and coming to Calvary, is even more than coming to Sinai, and it means greater responsibility, and not less. Grace does not put away responsibility: "Our God is a consuming fire."
We can rejoice while we are working with the jealousy of God, because the jealousy of God is working for us. We can leave our case in the hands of Divine jealousy. He will look after our interests if we are wholly His. On the other hand, it does behoove us to remember that a touch with Calvary, a touch with the Cross, involves us in the utterest abandonment to the Lord, with nothing whatever that separates us from Him. We must not hold back, for to hold back is to find the jealousy, which would work for us, working against us. The Lord preserve us from that.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(The End)
The Cross of the Lord Jesus is the scene of the blazing forth of the Divine jealousy. Divine jealousy is represented as a fire: "Our God is a consuming fire." Divine jealousy is not passive; it is a mighty burning; it must have; it will be; it will devour. The Cross of the Lord Jesus is the scene of the work of that jealousy in its intense heat. It reveals how God must, and will, have everything. In the Old Testament it is defined by the whole burnt offering. The fire devours everything. The Lord Jesus is that matchless, universal, representative Person in which there is gathered up everything in this universe. That is saying a tremendous thing, a thing which we have not yet ranged or fathomed; that the whole universe is gathered up and centered in the Person of Jesus Christ. Heaven and earth and all therein bring back to God in the Person of Christ everything which has been taken away from God, everything which has challenged God's supreme position, God's utterness of right. It is all laid hold of in the Person of Jesus Christ; by Him and brought back to Him, in the Cross. So that in the Person of the Lord Jesus, representatively, actually, and yet potentially, all things are restored to God. God, through the Cross, possesses in Christ the place which has from eternity been His by absolute right. The battle of Calvary was the battle for God's rights in His universe, and those rights were secured through the Cross in Christ.
Then what does the Cross mean? We speak much about the Cross. We say that we stand upon the ground of the Cross. We proclaim the Cross. Ours is the message of the Cross. Do we really understand and recognize that the Cross is the place where the Divine jealousy is at white heat, and to come to the Cross means that there is nothing left to ourselves? Nothing whatever remains for us; no place, no position, no personal interests. The Cross says: God is everything. To the very last ounce it is God's. Every kind of personal direction, desire for self is finished in the Cross. Do we recognize then, that having taken the position with Christ crucified, two things must follow.
Firstly, or on the one hand, it is all the Lord; and we shall be tested, tried, on that one single issue at every point of our lives. The Lord will touch us with the meaning of the Cross at every point of these lives of ours, every position, every relationship, everything. No matter what has a place in our lives, He will touch that with the Cross, and say: "Am I all there, or do you have some place there?" The Cross means that. Those who accept the utter or even the fuller meaning of Calvary as a living reality will be brought into the sphere where the Divine jealousy operates and touches everything. God says: "Do I have absolute place?" That will be His interrogation on all matters. There is no place for anything or anyone (when the Cross has been established) which divides with the Lord. The Lord has taken that position all along. His grace may make the operation of that position progressive, so that it does not apply practically all at once, but the Lord's position is that from the beginning. In the long run we shall be brought back to the utterness of God. God does not accept the partiality of our surrender, the dividedness of our consecration. He does not accept it. He never has. He never will. He may be bearing with it, so that we progressively come to the recognition of it and voluntarily accept it, but His position is utter from the beginning.
Secondly, or on the other hand, Divine jealousy is the very nature of hell. That is, the everlasting burnings are the activities of that jealousy, that consuming fire which is against us when, having been presented with the meaning of the Cross, we do not accept it. If we come into the realm of Calvary, into the realm of the meaning of the Cross, where the Cross is not merely a doctrine, a theme, a teaching; not merely something objective, external, but where the Cross is a living reality, where the Cross is in the hands of the Holy Spirit, and not in the hands of man for application; when we come within the compass of the living activity of the Cross and we are not yielding to that Divine jealousy so that God is having all, that Divine jealousy works as a fire against us and consumes. It is a terrible thing, as well as a glorious thing, to come within the compass of Holy Spirit activity in relation to the Cross of the Lord Jesus.
Ananias and Sapphira are early illustrations of how terrible a thing it is. What was the principle? Why, that of God having everything! Calvary was an accomplished thing, the Holy Spirit had come on the ground of that utterness of God having everything in the Cross. The Holy Spirit having His way in the hearts of those people simply meant that they were letting go all to the Lord, and then there came along a man and a woman who kept something back from the Lord; and thus, right in the presence of an activity in relation to the deepest meaning of Calvary, they held something for themselves, and they therefore denied the Cross and came into collision with the Divine jealousy. The Divine jealousy was, on the one hand, bringing these into joy, into gladness, because of God having His place (and there is no more joyous life than when God has His full place - the Divine jealousy works out to great joy, great rest, great peace when it has its way), but to withstand it meant to be consumed. The Divine jealousy works for and it works against.
Go through the Scriptures with that thought. "I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion" (Zech. 1:14); "My jealousy shall burn as a fire." Let Babylon, let Chaldea, let anybody get in the way of that fire, and see what happens. God is for His people with a burning jealousy, and when His people are wholly for Him, that jealousy will stand at nothing for their defence, for their preservation. It is a great thing to stand with the burnings, where the burnings have you utterly. You have all the fury of His jealousy on your side when you are with Him on the ground of the Cross. But you see, if that is not operating to have full, utter, complete place, then the burnings are against and not for.
The whole purpose of this little word is to seek to constrain to a recognition of the fact that the Holy Spirit is still as jealous for God's full rights, for God's full place. In other words, He is still as jealous for the practical operation of the meaning of the Cross of the Lord Jesus as ever He was. The Cross gathers up all that history: "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." "Nothing, no one, in My place, or to divide My place with Me!" The Cross gathers up all that, and settles it as an issue, and now we have to reckon with the Cross of the Lord Jesus as in the hands of no lesser Person than the Holy Spirit Himself.
There are two sides to that. It works both ways in the Scriptures. In the Old Testament it worked historically. In the New Testament it worked spiritually: "For this cause many among you are sick and not a few die." Why? Because they violated the meaning of the Cross! The Holy Spirit is looking after Christ's Cross. That Cross of Calvary is a thing of infinite regard in the eyes and the hands of the Holy Spirit. To come into touch with it is not to come into touch with a teaching. It is to come into touch with the burnings of God, the consuming fire.
I was very impressed in reading through Hebrews 12 in the section of the chapter which says:"We are not come unto a mount that burned with fire (and then all that terrible description of the voice and the thunder, and the stoning should even a beast touch the mount; a scene of terror, of destruction, of judgment and reproach). But ye are come unto mount Zion", and then all the superior blessedness of coming to what we do come to, and yet, the close of that is: "ye are come unto the heavenly Jerusalem...to the... church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven." And it concludes: "Wherefore...let us have grace whereby we may offer service, well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe: for our God is a consuming fire". It does not change the position. It only lifts it into a realm where it says that coming to Christ,and coming to Calvary, is even more than coming to Sinai, and it means greater responsibility, and not less. Grace does not put away responsibility: "Our God is a consuming fire."
We can rejoice while we are working with the jealousy of God, because the jealousy of God is working for us. We can leave our case in the hands of Divine jealousy. He will look after our interests if we are wholly His. On the other hand, it does behoove us to remember that a touch with Calvary, a touch with the Cross, involves us in the utterest abandonment to the Lord, with nothing whatever that separates us from Him. We must not hold back, for to hold back is to find the jealousy, which would work for us, working against us. The Lord preserve us from that.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(The End)
Saturday, June 2, 2018
The Jealousy of God # 1
The Jealousy of God # 1
Read: Ex. 20:5; Ex. 34:14; Deut. 4:24; Zech. 1:14; 1 Kings 19: 10, 14; Song of Songs 8:6; John 2:17; 2 Cor. 11:2.
The Nature of the Jealousy
You will see from these passages that there is something of a paradox in relation to jealousy. On the one hand the very worst things are said about it. Jealous is as cruel as the grave, and we know that the very worst things recorded in the Scriptures were done through jealousy. We are even informed that the Lord Jesus Himself was put to death through jealousy; that is, on the human side. And yet, on the other hand, it is shown to be a Divine attribute, one of the outstanding features of God: "The Lord thy God is a jealous God"; "the Lord, whose name is jealous".
The only way in which to reconcile the two things is to understand what jealousy is. We only need to be quiet with the word for a few moments and we shall soon arrive at the nature of jealousy. Jealousy is the desire to be in absolute and undivided possession of an object, whether that object be a person, or a place, or a position. It is the desire that, in relation to that object, no one else shall have any part, but there shall be an unreserved monopoly. It may be as to the affections; it may be as to the esteem, the recognition, the adoration. It may be in any one of a great many directions that there is this desire to have everything and no one else to share. That is behind jealousy, so that if that object is shared, that position is shared, that recognition is shared, that consideration is shared, then jealousy arises, because someone else is receiving what the individual concerned desires to have all for himself or herself. That is the nature of jealousy.
On the Human Side No Individual has a Right to Monopoly
Now we can come immediately to the point, and, so far as men and women are concerned, so far as human beings are concerned in this creation, no individual has the right to a monopoly. The person does not exist who has unreserved and undivided rights as to objects, places, positions, or any kind of interest. God did not create men for that purpose. The whole principle of the creation is that of fellowship, communion, intercourse, interchange, mutual participation, mutual recognition, and everything that spreads interest over the company rather than concentrates them upon the individual. That on the human side.
On the Divine Side
God is the only Being Who has absolute right to undivided recognition and position.
God is the only one of Whom it can ever be said properly and rightly that He is a jealous God. His Name is Jealous; He is a jealous God! Why? Because all things are His by absolute right, and that distinguishes Him from all the rest of the creation, because He has the right to the absolute place of adoration, affection, consideration, and every other kind of attention and interest. Therefore, at root, jealousy is a tendency, at least, to take God's place. He is the only One Who has a right to be jealous.
We are not dealing with jealousy as a thing. We are for the moment defining it, in order to get to something that is more important than our talking about human faults and failings.
God's Place of Absoluteness in This Universe and in Our Lives
He created all things for Himself. Everything has its very being and existence by Him. Nothing would ever be, but for Him. Everything and everyone owes its very being to Him, and He stands, therefore, in the position of having the right, the absolute right, to preeminent place - to have everything, to have undivided, unreserved place. The first sin in this universe was the sin of jealousy. From the first sin all the havoc in this universe has proceeded, and it is not just an objective thing. It is something which, like a poison, has entered into the very being of man, so that man's natural tendency is to draw to himself, to have for himself, to be an object of interest, of importance, of consideration,sometimes of adoration. All that is the working of an evil which takes away from God, draws away from God, puts God out of His place. And inasmuch as you or I seek place, position, reputation, or consideration, it may be just the working of that sinister thing.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 2)
Read: Ex. 20:5; Ex. 34:14; Deut. 4:24; Zech. 1:14; 1 Kings 19: 10, 14; Song of Songs 8:6; John 2:17; 2 Cor. 11:2.
The Nature of the Jealousy
You will see from these passages that there is something of a paradox in relation to jealousy. On the one hand the very worst things are said about it. Jealous is as cruel as the grave, and we know that the very worst things recorded in the Scriptures were done through jealousy. We are even informed that the Lord Jesus Himself was put to death through jealousy; that is, on the human side. And yet, on the other hand, it is shown to be a Divine attribute, one of the outstanding features of God: "The Lord thy God is a jealous God"; "the Lord, whose name is jealous".
The only way in which to reconcile the two things is to understand what jealousy is. We only need to be quiet with the word for a few moments and we shall soon arrive at the nature of jealousy. Jealousy is the desire to be in absolute and undivided possession of an object, whether that object be a person, or a place, or a position. It is the desire that, in relation to that object, no one else shall have any part, but there shall be an unreserved monopoly. It may be as to the affections; it may be as to the esteem, the recognition, the adoration. It may be in any one of a great many directions that there is this desire to have everything and no one else to share. That is behind jealousy, so that if that object is shared, that position is shared, that recognition is shared, that consideration is shared, then jealousy arises, because someone else is receiving what the individual concerned desires to have all for himself or herself. That is the nature of jealousy.
On the Human Side No Individual has a Right to Monopoly
Now we can come immediately to the point, and, so far as men and women are concerned, so far as human beings are concerned in this creation, no individual has the right to a monopoly. The person does not exist who has unreserved and undivided rights as to objects, places, positions, or any kind of interest. God did not create men for that purpose. The whole principle of the creation is that of fellowship, communion, intercourse, interchange, mutual participation, mutual recognition, and everything that spreads interest over the company rather than concentrates them upon the individual. That on the human side.
On the Divine Side
God is the only Being Who has absolute right to undivided recognition and position.
God is the only one of Whom it can ever be said properly and rightly that He is a jealous God. His Name is Jealous; He is a jealous God! Why? Because all things are His by absolute right, and that distinguishes Him from all the rest of the creation, because He has the right to the absolute place of adoration, affection, consideration, and every other kind of attention and interest. Therefore, at root, jealousy is a tendency, at least, to take God's place. He is the only One Who has a right to be jealous.
We are not dealing with jealousy as a thing. We are for the moment defining it, in order to get to something that is more important than our talking about human faults and failings.
God's Place of Absoluteness in This Universe and in Our Lives
He created all things for Himself. Everything has its very being and existence by Him. Nothing would ever be, but for Him. Everything and everyone owes its very being to Him, and He stands, therefore, in the position of having the right, the absolute right, to preeminent place - to have everything, to have undivided, unreserved place. The first sin in this universe was the sin of jealousy. From the first sin all the havoc in this universe has proceeded, and it is not just an objective thing. It is something which, like a poison, has entered into the very being of man, so that man's natural tendency is to draw to himself, to have for himself, to be an object of interest, of importance, of consideration,sometimes of adoration. All that is the working of an evil which takes away from God, draws away from God, puts God out of His place. And inasmuch as you or I seek place, position, reputation, or consideration, it may be just the working of that sinister thing.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 2)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)