Each person must be careful how he builds. (1 Corinthians 3:10 GW)
In other words, that which is of supreme importance is not Christian doctrine, mentally appraised and apprehended, but a living and clear spiritual apprehension of Christ. That is the work. What are you building? Are you, through a living, clear, inward, experimental relationship with the Lord Jesus, building a structure which comes out of that inward spiritual knowledge? Is it by that you are growing? Or are you growing by things said and mentally judged, appraised, dissected, accepted, and assented to? What is the nature of the building? The work in which we are engaged, to which this phrase “each man’s work” applies, is the building of Christ livingly into the very substance of our being, into the very fabric of our lives. It is not a question of getting to know a great deal about Christianity. Let us note that. The heart of the whole matter is the difference between the philosophy of Christianity, of Christian doctrine and the spiritual knowledge of Christ.
The Lord would teach us – and this is the lesson that my heart is bent upon learning, and that I would urge upon you to make your quest also – that the ground of assurance is not in our having decided for Christ, nor that we persist in the Christian life, nor that we feel strong, nor that we have certain ability as Christians and are able to do this or that. It is not the measure of our activity in the work of the Lord, nor any one of these things which constitutes our Christian life. These are simply the outworkings. The thing which constitutes us is that Christ is the foundation, and that we are inseparably linked with Him by faith. Everything else can be suspended as a secondary consideration until that is settled. It is as though God, if we may put it this way to try to simplify the truth, had given us His Son and had said to us: "In Him you have everything, and the first thing is not what you are, what you can do, or anything to do with you; it is what He is!" If only in the face of all you may see of a multitude of contradictions in your own life in weaknesses, and imperfections, and lack of attainment, you will persistently believe in Him as having it in Himself to bring you through to the end, you will go through in spite of all. We begin to take stock of ourselves, measure ourselves up, and say: "I am not this, and I am not that, and I am not something else; or else, I am this, and I am that, and all this goes against me." Nothing of all this is to the point at all. The totality of every divine requirement in us is in Christ.
By T. Austin-Sparks
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And thus the churches were filled with unregenerate members!
(Arthur Pink)
Many of the pulpiteers of the past fifty years acted as though the first and last object of their calling was the salvation of souls, everything being made to bend to that aim. In consequence, the feeding of the sheep, the maintaining of Scriptural discipline in the church, and the inculcation of practical piety, was crowded out; and only too often all sorts of worldly devices and fleshly methods were employed under the plea that the end justified the means; and thus the churches were filled with unregenerate members!
In reality, such men defeated their own aim. The hard heart must be ploughed and harrowed before it can be receptive to the gospel seed. Doctrinal instruction must be given on the character of God, the requirements of His Law, the nature and heinousness of sin--if a foundation is to be laid for true evangelism. It is useless to preach Christ unto souls, until they see and feel their desperate need of Him!
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Relying Upon the Holy Spirit
When the Lord told His disciples he was going away, Peter didn’t take it well—he rebuked Jesus! (See Matt. 16:21-23.) The impulsive disciple had a tough enough time following when the Lord was standing ten feet away; how much more difficult would obedience and loyalty be if Christ wasn’t physically present? We can certainly understand the disciples’ fear and frustration. But Jesus promises to leave them—and us—with a Helper.
For many years I had the idea that though my salvation was by faith, God’s approval had to be earned. So I did my best but never felt it was good enough. I struggled, failed, tried again, and failed some more. I am grateful the Lord directed me to His better way.
Because God wants His children to experience victory, He equips us with the Holy Spirit. When we yield to Him, He empowers us, guides us, and expresses the ways of Jesus Christ through our character, conversation, and conduct. On paper, this looks like a passive sort of existence, but in fact, we are constantly confronted with the responsibility to make a choice: We can either follow the Spirit’s promptings or act in our own strength. The latter frequently ends in despair, disaster, or both.
Think about those days when you are “too busy to pray”—or the times you think, Why bother God when there isn’t much going on? The truth is, you’re then relying on yourself. But even when life is routine and boring, the Father wants us depending upon His Spirit to guide us on paths of righteousness.
~Dr. Charles F. Stanley~
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