Sin's Presence # 1
There are two sides to a Christian's life: a light side - and a dark one; an elevating side - and a depressing one. His experience is neither all joy - nor all grief; but a commingling of both. it was so with the apostle Paul: "As sorrowful - yet always rejoicing" (2 Cor. 6:10). When a person is regenerated, he is not there and then taken to heaven - but he is given both a pledge and a foretaste of it. Nor is sin then eradicated from his being, though its dominion over him is broken. It is indwelling corruption which casts its dark shadow over his joy!
The varied experiences of the believer are occasioned by Christ's presence - and sin's presence. If, on the one hand, it be blessedly true that Christ is with him all the days, even unto the end; on the other hand, it is solemnly true that sin indwells him all his days, even unto the end of his earthly history! Said Paul, "evil is present with me"; and that, not only occasionally - but sin "dwells in me" (Romans 7:20-21). Thus, as God's people feed upon the Lamb, it is "with bitter herbs they shall eat it" (Exodus 12:8).
The Christian's consciousness of indwelling sin, his mourning over its defiling influence, his sincere efforts to strive against its solicitations, his penitent confessions to God of his failure to master this inveterate foe - are among the unmistakable evidences that he is a regenerate person. For certain it is, that none who is dead in trespasses and sins realizes there isa sea of iniquity within his heart, defiling his very thoughts and imagination; still less does he make conscience of the same and lament it.
Let the believer recall his own case: in the days of his unregeneracy, he was not cast down by what now distresses! We are bidden to "remember" what we were "in time past," and then contrast the "But now" (Eph. 2:11-13), that we may be shamed over the former - and rejoice and give thanks for the latter.
It is cause for fervent praise if your eyes have been opened to see "the sinfulness of sin," and your heart to feel its obnoxiousness. Since it was not always thus, a great change has taken place - you have been made the subject of a miracle of grace. But the continuance of indwelling sin presents a sore and perplexing problem to the Christian. That nothing is too hard for the Lord - he is full assured. Why then is evil allowed to remain present with him? Why is he not rid of this hideous thing - which he so much loaths and hates? Why should this horrible depravity be allowed to disturb his peace and mar his joy? Why does not the God of all grace rid him of this harassing tyrant?
It must ever be remembered that His thoughts and ways are often the very opposite of ours. Yet we must also remember they are infinitely wiser and better than ours. God then must have some valid reason why He leaves sin in His people; and since He loves them with a boundless and unchangeable love - it must be left in them for their benefit. Faith may be fully assured that evil continues to be present with the saint both for the glory of God and for his own good. Thus, there is a bright side to even this dark cloud.
We are not apt to think it is a most deplorable thing that sin still indwells us and to imagine it would be far better if we were rid of it. But that is our ignorance. Yes, it is something worse: it is a spirit of opposition to God, a rebelling against His dealings with us, an impugning of His wisdom, a casting reflection upon His goodness. Since He has given such abundant proofs that He has our best interests at heart, it must be most reprehensible for any to call into question His ways with them.
Rather, may we be fully persuaded that our loving Father would have completely removed "the flesh" from the soul of His children at the moment of their regeneration - had that been for their highest welfare. Since He has not done so, we must confidently conclude that God has a benevolent purpose in allowing sin to indwell them, to the end of their pilgrim journey. But does His Word furnish any hints of His gracious designs therein? Yes - but we must now limit ourselves unto one of them.
God leaves sin in His people - to promote their humility. There is nothing which He abominates, so much as pride. In Proverbs 6:16-17, the Holy Spirit has listed seven things which the Lord hates, and they are headed with "A proud look"! God feeds the hungry - but the rich He sends empty away. He "gives grace unto the humble," but "resists the proud" (James 4:6). It is the egotistical and self-satisfied Laodiceans who are so loathsome in His sight - that He spues them out of His mouth (Revelation 3:16-17).
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 2)
A Proliferation of Christian Devotionals and Sermons
Saturday, June 8, 2019
The Living God and the Battle for Life # 3
The Living God and the Battle for Life # 3
Now our point is just this, that the hallmark of God's work is Life, the hallmark of satan's work is death. The great objective of satan is to bring us into that state of heart - it is called "conscience" in Hebrews - which will be a suitable ground for him to bring about his reign of death, but God has made His full provision of another ground upon which satan has no standing, where he cannot come - iniquity cannot come on that ground, unrighteousness cannot come onto that ground, sin cannot come there. satan therefore cannot stand there on the ground of that provided righteousness in Christ who is made unto us from God righteousness, sanctification and redemption. satan cannot come there. Stand then on the ground of Christ and satan has no stand, no power, and death is vanquished. But that does not mean that satan accepts his defeat. It does not mean that the battle is at an end, for our battle is not to get our ground, it is to keep it. We may get our ground and stand on it, but that is not the end of the conflict. It may only be the beginning of the conflict. We have got to hold that ground, stand our ground. "Stand, therefore...stand, withstand, having done all, stand." The battle for Life so often resolves itself into a matter not of gaining some position, but holding it. Remember that! To get us moved away - that is a great apostolic word - being moved away, by any means to get us moved away. Now, satan stands at nothing to bring that about, that moving away.
I am not going to begin to touch on the means, the ways by which satan seeks to get that moving away, but I have the present situation very much in mind, and here I head up everything and stop. I cannot get away from the strong feeling that what is happening today is something very much more than just a phase of this world's history as such. I do not think that needs arguing. I think we all feel that. We are all convinced, even people who profess very little faith in the Lord Jesus have a strong feeling and strong conviction that this is more than merely an earthly, international conflict, that this is something more in this. We are quite sure about it, but what is the meaning of it? Well, I believe, beloved, that it is heading up to its end, the end of that particular phase of the sovereign ordering method of God which is called "the times of the Gentiles." The end of any dispensation takes the spiritual features of its beginning and repeats them.
Now, if you do not know what I mean by that, let me illustrate. The times of the Gentiles came in with Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. God took the rule of this world away from Israel because of Israel's unfaithfulness and breaking of the Covenant, and committed the rule of this world and its kingdom into the hands of Gentile rulers, the first of which was Nebuchadnezzar. Now, one of the first things you find about Nebuchadnezzar taking the rule of the kingdoms of this world as the great head of gold is this. It came into his head - that is the way of putting it, it seems almost a fancy, a chance, but no. Things come into men's heads, but where do they come from? We will see in a minute. It came into his head to do something. What came into his head? Well, he had dreamed and it came into his head to put all the wise men throughout his dominion to a test and to say this: "Unless you pass the test, you will be destroyed!" - and that, from satan's standpoint, was a foregone conclusion. They would be destroyed. It was their death sentence, because they were not going to pass the test. The thing was altogether beyond them, and they would not pass the test, therefore all the wise men were sentenced to death before they even were given the test, virtually. They had got to interpret, and if they could not, they would be destroyed, for he was an absolute despot - whom he sentenced to death were killed; whom he kept alive were kept alive. That is what is said about this one.
Now, what is the objective of satan? Where did this thing come from? There is one man in Babylon with whom the interests of God and heaven are bound up. The testimony of God is bound up in one man's life - Daniel. He is one amongst the wise men. Get all the wise men killed, and you have got Daniel included. Now you see why. Daniel carries things right on to Christ. The testimony of Daniel is the testimony of Jesus; his prophecies lead right on to today and afterward. Everything of what is precious to God through the history of this world is bound up with that one man in Babylon. He is in touch with heaven. His prayers influence the heavenly powers, principalities. Yes, what is of God is bound up with that man. The living God, the living testimony, the living interests of God are bound up with one man, therefore satan does not mind if he has all the wise men throughout the kingdom of Babylon killed if he can only get one man. That is the beginning of this dispensation of the times of the Gentiles.
My conviction is this, that today satan is standing at nothing in the wholesale slaughter on this earth in order to get at one corporate man, that man child of Revelation 12, that company with whom the heavenly and eternal interests of God and the testimony of Jesus are bound up, and this is it - life or death? And the pressure to corrupt will be intense, the pressure to destroy faith in the living God will be terrible, the pressure to move us away from our ground of confidence in God will be unspeakably great in order that that testimony of the living God, that Life over which satan has no power, shall be brought, so far as the instrument is concerned, into a neutralized state - God must have an instrument. He has done this thing again and again.
It is our faith, beloved; if we lose faith, we have lost our Life; if we lose our confidence in the living God, we are engulfed in that spiritual death. It does not matter to satan if he throws all the nations into the fire of destruction if he can get his end. What is the end? It is God's elect, with which all the purposes of God are bound up, to get at that, to get at the faith of that, not to destroy it physically, but to get at its faith.
Let us see what the issue is right at the heart of things, and see it is all a colossal, upspeakable iniquitous attack upon a faith, the faith of the Son of God in us. If satan can destroy faith, the day is lost, he is victor. But to come back and finish on the right note - "Thou art the Son of the living God," "Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." The Living God!
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(The End)
Now our point is just this, that the hallmark of God's work is Life, the hallmark of satan's work is death. The great objective of satan is to bring us into that state of heart - it is called "conscience" in Hebrews - which will be a suitable ground for him to bring about his reign of death, but God has made His full provision of another ground upon which satan has no standing, where he cannot come - iniquity cannot come on that ground, unrighteousness cannot come onto that ground, sin cannot come there. satan therefore cannot stand there on the ground of that provided righteousness in Christ who is made unto us from God righteousness, sanctification and redemption. satan cannot come there. Stand then on the ground of Christ and satan has no stand, no power, and death is vanquished. But that does not mean that satan accepts his defeat. It does not mean that the battle is at an end, for our battle is not to get our ground, it is to keep it. We may get our ground and stand on it, but that is not the end of the conflict. It may only be the beginning of the conflict. We have got to hold that ground, stand our ground. "Stand, therefore...stand, withstand, having done all, stand." The battle for Life so often resolves itself into a matter not of gaining some position, but holding it. Remember that! To get us moved away - that is a great apostolic word - being moved away, by any means to get us moved away. Now, satan stands at nothing to bring that about, that moving away.
I am not going to begin to touch on the means, the ways by which satan seeks to get that moving away, but I have the present situation very much in mind, and here I head up everything and stop. I cannot get away from the strong feeling that what is happening today is something very much more than just a phase of this world's history as such. I do not think that needs arguing. I think we all feel that. We are all convinced, even people who profess very little faith in the Lord Jesus have a strong feeling and strong conviction that this is more than merely an earthly, international conflict, that this is something more in this. We are quite sure about it, but what is the meaning of it? Well, I believe, beloved, that it is heading up to its end, the end of that particular phase of the sovereign ordering method of God which is called "the times of the Gentiles." The end of any dispensation takes the spiritual features of its beginning and repeats them.
Now, if you do not know what I mean by that, let me illustrate. The times of the Gentiles came in with Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. God took the rule of this world away from Israel because of Israel's unfaithfulness and breaking of the Covenant, and committed the rule of this world and its kingdom into the hands of Gentile rulers, the first of which was Nebuchadnezzar. Now, one of the first things you find about Nebuchadnezzar taking the rule of the kingdoms of this world as the great head of gold is this. It came into his head - that is the way of putting it, it seems almost a fancy, a chance, but no. Things come into men's heads, but where do they come from? We will see in a minute. It came into his head to do something. What came into his head? Well, he had dreamed and it came into his head to put all the wise men throughout his dominion to a test and to say this: "Unless you pass the test, you will be destroyed!" - and that, from satan's standpoint, was a foregone conclusion. They would be destroyed. It was their death sentence, because they were not going to pass the test. The thing was altogether beyond them, and they would not pass the test, therefore all the wise men were sentenced to death before they even were given the test, virtually. They had got to interpret, and if they could not, they would be destroyed, for he was an absolute despot - whom he sentenced to death were killed; whom he kept alive were kept alive. That is what is said about this one.
Now, what is the objective of satan? Where did this thing come from? There is one man in Babylon with whom the interests of God and heaven are bound up. The testimony of God is bound up in one man's life - Daniel. He is one amongst the wise men. Get all the wise men killed, and you have got Daniel included. Now you see why. Daniel carries things right on to Christ. The testimony of Daniel is the testimony of Jesus; his prophecies lead right on to today and afterward. Everything of what is precious to God through the history of this world is bound up with that one man in Babylon. He is in touch with heaven. His prayers influence the heavenly powers, principalities. Yes, what is of God is bound up with that man. The living God, the living testimony, the living interests of God are bound up with one man, therefore satan does not mind if he has all the wise men throughout the kingdom of Babylon killed if he can only get one man. That is the beginning of this dispensation of the times of the Gentiles.
My conviction is this, that today satan is standing at nothing in the wholesale slaughter on this earth in order to get at one corporate man, that man child of Revelation 12, that company with whom the heavenly and eternal interests of God and the testimony of Jesus are bound up, and this is it - life or death? And the pressure to corrupt will be intense, the pressure to destroy faith in the living God will be terrible, the pressure to move us away from our ground of confidence in God will be unspeakably great in order that that testimony of the living God, that Life over which satan has no power, shall be brought, so far as the instrument is concerned, into a neutralized state - God must have an instrument. He has done this thing again and again.
It is our faith, beloved; if we lose faith, we have lost our Life; if we lose our confidence in the living God, we are engulfed in that spiritual death. It does not matter to satan if he throws all the nations into the fire of destruction if he can get his end. What is the end? It is God's elect, with which all the purposes of God are bound up, to get at that, to get at the faith of that, not to destroy it physically, but to get at its faith.
Let us see what the issue is right at the heart of things, and see it is all a colossal, upspeakable iniquitous attack upon a faith, the faith of the Son of God in us. If satan can destroy faith, the day is lost, he is victor. But to come back and finish on the right note - "Thou art the Son of the living God," "Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." The Living God!
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(The End)
Saturday, June 1, 2019
Troubles, Troubles, Troubles!
Troubles, Troubles, Troubles!
"Call upon Me in the day of trouble! I will deliver you - and you shall glorify Me!" (Psalm 50:15).
Believer, in this portion of the divine word, you will discover
1. your present portion - trouble.
2. your constant privilege - prayer.
3. your future prospect - deliverance.
1. Your present portion is TROUBLE. You must expect trouble, and will certainly be deceived if you expect to escape it. Sin is the parent of trouble - and our sin-cursed earth its fruitful soil. Trouble springs up all around us, and appears in an almost infinite variety of forms.
Every connection we form, every character we bear, every office we fill, and every relation we sustain - is a fruitful source of trouble!
We shall have trouble in mind, trouble in circumstances, trouble in body; trouble from almost every quarter!
This poor world is not our rest - for it is polluted! This poor world is not our home - for we are poor pilgrims! This poor world is not our country - for we are strangers and aliens!
Every day has its peculiar troubles. Often when we look for a certain comfort - we only find peculiar distress and vexation! Everything declares, "Happiness is not in me!" You may look on the right hand - but you will find no permanent peace; on the left - and disappointment awaits you. Only in Jesus is solid peace, holy satisfaction, and permanent comfort to be found. If we could rightly interpret the various voices around us, we would find them all saying, "Go to Jesus! Abide in Jesus! Derive all from Jesus - or be wretched, miserable, and disappointed!"
In youth, manhood and old age - trouble and tribulation is the Christian's lot. Our God feeds us with the heritage of Jacob our father; but if we carefully read his history, we shall find some very bitter herbs grew on it: Joseph is lost, Rachel dies, Simeon is imprisoned, Benjamin must go; Simeon and Levi slay the Shechemites - and all these things appear against him!
Just so with us, troubles and trials follow each other, at times, almost like Job's messengers; treading on each other's heels, and we are almost overwhelmed! But,
2. Your constant privilege is PRAYER - to visit the throne of grace, and wait upon our God. He says, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble!" Troubles furnish us with messages to our Father's throne, quicken us in our supplications, and oblige us to entreat His favor!
His throne of grace is always accessible, and His ear is always open; but in times of trouble, He especially invites us to draw near. He says: Call upon Me in trouble, call for whatever you need! Are you perplexed - then call for wisdom; are you guilty - then call for pardon; are you miserable - then call for comfort; are you in darkness - then call for light; are you in bondage - then call for freedom and relief.
Call upon Me, for I am always on the throne of grace! Call upon Me, for I am glad to see you! Call upon Me - upon Me first, before you run to others! Call upon Me - without reserve. Call upon Me boldly - without fear. The promise encourages us, the invitation allures us - but trouble impels us to call upon our God.
Our troubles are frequently the instruments the Holy Spirit employs to carry on His sacred work in our hearts. By troubles, He empties us of self, weans us from the world, and endears Jesus and His salvation to us! Oh, believer, make use of your privilege in every time of trouble - and fully expect what Your God has promised!
3. Your future prospect is DELIVERANCE. The prospect is opened up, "I will deliver you - and you shall glorify Me!" Here God comes under engagement to deliver His calling child. Can we, then, be too confident, or expect deliverance with too much assurance? Surely not! Only let us beware lest we dictate to God as to time, means, or manner of deliverance - and then we cannot be too certain. He will deliver, and in such a way as to put honor on your faith, pour confusion on your unbelief, and secure the glory to His blessed self!
"I WILL" this promise is more durable than earth, more stable as the pillars of Heaven, and as changeless as the nature of Jehovah.
"I WILL DELIVER!" this is at once the food, warrant, and plea of faith; the lattice through which hope directs the eye, and the prime argument which the soul uses before God.
"I WILL DELIVER YOU!" My poor brother - are you in trouble? Are you calling upon God? You are the person God had in His eye and in His heart - when He cased this precious portion to be penned. Say, "He will deliver ME!" And you, being delivered, proving God to be faithful, realizing the power of prayer, and enjoying delivering mercy - shall, though satan will try to hinder, and unbelief would gladly shut your mouth - you shall glorify Me!
How truly blessed, how pleasant, how satisfactory is this! Every believer must say: "It is just as I would have it! I get all the mercy - and God gets all the glory!"
~James Smith~
(The End)
"Call upon Me in the day of trouble! I will deliver you - and you shall glorify Me!" (Psalm 50:15).
Believer, in this portion of the divine word, you will discover
1. your present portion - trouble.
2. your constant privilege - prayer.
3. your future prospect - deliverance.
1. Your present portion is TROUBLE. You must expect trouble, and will certainly be deceived if you expect to escape it. Sin is the parent of trouble - and our sin-cursed earth its fruitful soil. Trouble springs up all around us, and appears in an almost infinite variety of forms.
Every connection we form, every character we bear, every office we fill, and every relation we sustain - is a fruitful source of trouble!
We shall have trouble in mind, trouble in circumstances, trouble in body; trouble from almost every quarter!
This poor world is not our rest - for it is polluted! This poor world is not our home - for we are poor pilgrims! This poor world is not our country - for we are strangers and aliens!
Every day has its peculiar troubles. Often when we look for a certain comfort - we only find peculiar distress and vexation! Everything declares, "Happiness is not in me!" You may look on the right hand - but you will find no permanent peace; on the left - and disappointment awaits you. Only in Jesus is solid peace, holy satisfaction, and permanent comfort to be found. If we could rightly interpret the various voices around us, we would find them all saying, "Go to Jesus! Abide in Jesus! Derive all from Jesus - or be wretched, miserable, and disappointed!"
In youth, manhood and old age - trouble and tribulation is the Christian's lot. Our God feeds us with the heritage of Jacob our father; but if we carefully read his history, we shall find some very bitter herbs grew on it: Joseph is lost, Rachel dies, Simeon is imprisoned, Benjamin must go; Simeon and Levi slay the Shechemites - and all these things appear against him!
Just so with us, troubles and trials follow each other, at times, almost like Job's messengers; treading on each other's heels, and we are almost overwhelmed! But,
2. Your constant privilege is PRAYER - to visit the throne of grace, and wait upon our God. He says, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble!" Troubles furnish us with messages to our Father's throne, quicken us in our supplications, and oblige us to entreat His favor!
His throne of grace is always accessible, and His ear is always open; but in times of trouble, He especially invites us to draw near. He says: Call upon Me in trouble, call for whatever you need! Are you perplexed - then call for wisdom; are you guilty - then call for pardon; are you miserable - then call for comfort; are you in darkness - then call for light; are you in bondage - then call for freedom and relief.
Call upon Me, for I am always on the throne of grace! Call upon Me, for I am glad to see you! Call upon Me - upon Me first, before you run to others! Call upon Me - without reserve. Call upon Me boldly - without fear. The promise encourages us, the invitation allures us - but trouble impels us to call upon our God.
Our troubles are frequently the instruments the Holy Spirit employs to carry on His sacred work in our hearts. By troubles, He empties us of self, weans us from the world, and endears Jesus and His salvation to us! Oh, believer, make use of your privilege in every time of trouble - and fully expect what Your God has promised!
3. Your future prospect is DELIVERANCE. The prospect is opened up, "I will deliver you - and you shall glorify Me!" Here God comes under engagement to deliver His calling child. Can we, then, be too confident, or expect deliverance with too much assurance? Surely not! Only let us beware lest we dictate to God as to time, means, or manner of deliverance - and then we cannot be too certain. He will deliver, and in such a way as to put honor on your faith, pour confusion on your unbelief, and secure the glory to His blessed self!
"I WILL" this promise is more durable than earth, more stable as the pillars of Heaven, and as changeless as the nature of Jehovah.
"I WILL DELIVER!" this is at once the food, warrant, and plea of faith; the lattice through which hope directs the eye, and the prime argument which the soul uses before God.
"I WILL DELIVER YOU!" My poor brother - are you in trouble? Are you calling upon God? You are the person God had in His eye and in His heart - when He cased this precious portion to be penned. Say, "He will deliver ME!" And you, being delivered, proving God to be faithful, realizing the power of prayer, and enjoying delivering mercy - shall, though satan will try to hinder, and unbelief would gladly shut your mouth - you shall glorify Me!
How truly blessed, how pleasant, how satisfactory is this! Every believer must say: "It is just as I would have it! I get all the mercy - and God gets all the glory!"
~James Smith~
(The End)
The Living God and the Battle for Life # 2
The Living God and the Battle for Life # 2
God has one thing in view finally, and that is Life. He intended from the beginning that that which issued from Himself, represented Himself, and bore His mark, should be that which lives with His own Life. satan has determined just the opposite, that that which comes from him bears his mark, and that is death, not because he wants to have death to gratify himself, but he wants God to be deprived of that upon which His heart is set. satan's heart is a heart of malicious spite against God. Remember that! He has, deep in his very being, this spite against God. God has done something to satan which has turned his heart with the bitterest malice and deep abysmal hatred for God and spite against God, and he wants to deprive God of His end - that is, a universe marked by God's own Life. And so anything whatever that has the mark of God upon it or is in the way of having that mark or that seal, is the objective of satan's bitterest hatred. It becomes a sharer with God in the spite of satan. Remember that! Wherever there is Divine Life, then that becomes part and lot with God in the animosity of the devil. The one thing is to bring that Life to an end, to spoil that Life, to bring in death; where Life is, to surround that and try and engulf it in death again. There is only one way in which he can do it and that is to corrupt, but, strangely enough, it is to get the mind or the heart of the believer accepting corruption.
You see, in Christ Jesus, by faith, we are partakers of the very righteousness of God. It is not a goodness of man, but a righteousness of God which is by faith in Jesus Christ. That is what God is. We share in His nature by faith. We are accounted the same as God by faith in another righteousness. A tremendous thing! That is not what we are in ourselves. No man can ever say for a moment, "I am one with God in my nature!" Who can say that? "I am one with God in His very righteousness, in His very holiness, in His sinless perfection! I, in myself, am one with God in that!" What presumption! But yet, by faith in the Lord Jesus, in virtue of His mighty Blood, we are able to say, "In Christ, not in myself, in Christ I am a sharer in the Divine nature, I am accounted one with God in His righteousness, His nature!"
Now, the enemy's objective is not to make us worse than we are. I do not know whether he can do that, if we knew the depths of our own nature. It is not that, but it is always to work upon what we are to try and bring it up as a cloud between us and our faith and God's righteousness, in order that we shall accept in our hearts and in our minds an evil state rather than that state which is ours by faith. And so, accepting in our hearts and in our minds condemnation and accusation on the genuine ground of what we are in ourselves, so destroying faith in what we are in Christ, to bring us under condemnation and so to smite us with death, to bring about death.
There is that wonderful illustration of this in the Old Testament in the case of Balaam and Israel. You remember how Balak hired Balaam to curse Israel. "Come, curse me Israel." Balak took Balaam up into the great high place and showed him Israel and Balaam was unable to curse. And Balak said, "Come round and look at them from another angle, perhaps you will be able to curse them there!" But he found he could not curse them from that angle. Then Balak tried another another angle, "We will get these people somehow!" But Balaam could not curse them, he had to go on blessing. And Balak said, "I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them." What is the explanation? Oh, Balaam's utterance contains one clause! You see, he is being compelled to look down on Israel from God's standpoint, from heaven, not along the level of earth, but what Israel is, what Jacob is. Jacob is used there as a title. But he was compelled to down from above. "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob." Why? Because Jacob was without iniquity. Not a bit of it. There is another story in the Psalms about what Jacob was, that corporate Jacob, what they were in themselves, but He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob! Why? They are out under the Blood. When they are out under the Blood, God has His own view. "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob." Therefore it was impossible to bring them under the curse because of the Blood.
Paul says, "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?...It is Christ Jesus that died, yea rather, that was raised from the dead" (Romans 8:33-34).
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Well, satan is always trying to do that with a view to bring under the curse, to death, this great issue of Life and death.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 3)
God has one thing in view finally, and that is Life. He intended from the beginning that that which issued from Himself, represented Himself, and bore His mark, should be that which lives with His own Life. satan has determined just the opposite, that that which comes from him bears his mark, and that is death, not because he wants to have death to gratify himself, but he wants God to be deprived of that upon which His heart is set. satan's heart is a heart of malicious spite against God. Remember that! He has, deep in his very being, this spite against God. God has done something to satan which has turned his heart with the bitterest malice and deep abysmal hatred for God and spite against God, and he wants to deprive God of His end - that is, a universe marked by God's own Life. And so anything whatever that has the mark of God upon it or is in the way of having that mark or that seal, is the objective of satan's bitterest hatred. It becomes a sharer with God in the spite of satan. Remember that! Wherever there is Divine Life, then that becomes part and lot with God in the animosity of the devil. The one thing is to bring that Life to an end, to spoil that Life, to bring in death; where Life is, to surround that and try and engulf it in death again. There is only one way in which he can do it and that is to corrupt, but, strangely enough, it is to get the mind or the heart of the believer accepting corruption.
You see, in Christ Jesus, by faith, we are partakers of the very righteousness of God. It is not a goodness of man, but a righteousness of God which is by faith in Jesus Christ. That is what God is. We share in His nature by faith. We are accounted the same as God by faith in another righteousness. A tremendous thing! That is not what we are in ourselves. No man can ever say for a moment, "I am one with God in my nature!" Who can say that? "I am one with God in His very righteousness, in His very holiness, in His sinless perfection! I, in myself, am one with God in that!" What presumption! But yet, by faith in the Lord Jesus, in virtue of His mighty Blood, we are able to say, "In Christ, not in myself, in Christ I am a sharer in the Divine nature, I am accounted one with God in His righteousness, His nature!"
Now, the enemy's objective is not to make us worse than we are. I do not know whether he can do that, if we knew the depths of our own nature. It is not that, but it is always to work upon what we are to try and bring it up as a cloud between us and our faith and God's righteousness, in order that we shall accept in our hearts and in our minds an evil state rather than that state which is ours by faith. And so, accepting in our hearts and in our minds condemnation and accusation on the genuine ground of what we are in ourselves, so destroying faith in what we are in Christ, to bring us under condemnation and so to smite us with death, to bring about death.
There is that wonderful illustration of this in the Old Testament in the case of Balaam and Israel. You remember how Balak hired Balaam to curse Israel. "Come, curse me Israel." Balak took Balaam up into the great high place and showed him Israel and Balaam was unable to curse. And Balak said, "Come round and look at them from another angle, perhaps you will be able to curse them there!" But he found he could not curse them from that angle. Then Balak tried another another angle, "We will get these people somehow!" But Balaam could not curse them, he had to go on blessing. And Balak said, "I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them." What is the explanation? Oh, Balaam's utterance contains one clause! You see, he is being compelled to look down on Israel from God's standpoint, from heaven, not along the level of earth, but what Israel is, what Jacob is. Jacob is used there as a title. But he was compelled to down from above. "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob." Why? Because Jacob was without iniquity. Not a bit of it. There is another story in the Psalms about what Jacob was, that corporate Jacob, what they were in themselves, but He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob! Why? They are out under the Blood. When they are out under the Blood, God has His own view. "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob." Therefore it was impossible to bring them under the curse because of the Blood.
Paul says, "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?...It is Christ Jesus that died, yea rather, that was raised from the dead" (Romans 8:33-34).
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Well, satan is always trying to do that with a view to bring under the curse, to death, this great issue of Life and death.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 3)
Saturday, May 25, 2019
Classic Christian Quotes from Classic Ministers
Classic Christian Quotes from Classic Ministers
My Beloved is mine--and I am His!
(William Nicholson, "Christ, the Portion of Believers!")
Christians! The Redeemer with all His glorious salvation, in all His offices, and under all the characters which He sustains--is yours! You may say, with the fullest assurance, "My Beloved is mine--and I am His!" You are the objects of the blessed Redeemer's particular care, given into His hands by His and your Father, to be saved by Him . . .
from the guilt and dominion of sin,
from all the powers of darkness, and
from the vengeance of eternal fire!
He executes all of His offices on your behalf:
My Beloved is mine--and I am His!
(William Nicholson, "Christ, the Portion of Believers!")
Christians! The Redeemer with all His glorious salvation, in all His offices, and under all the characters which He sustains--is yours! You may say, with the fullest assurance, "My Beloved is mine--and I am His!" You are the objects of the blessed Redeemer's particular care, given into His hands by His and your Father, to be saved by Him . . .
from the guilt and dominion of sin,
from all the powers of darkness, and
from the vengeance of eternal fire!
He executes all of His offices on your behalf:
As a Priest, He has made an atonement for your sin, and reconciled you to God.
As a Prophet, He teaches you all that you need for life and godliness, from His Word.
As a King, He reigns in His Church, and rules in the heart of every believer.
He is a Physician to heal the diseased soul.
He is a Shepherd to feed and guide His flock.
He is a Counselor to direct them in all the intricate paths of life.
He is a Friend that sticks closer than a brother, and whose friendship is unchangeable and everlasting.
He is an Advocate to plead His people's cause.
He is a Redeemer to emancipate their souls from sin's bondage.
Jesus is . . .
a Sun to enlighten you,
a Shield to defend you,
a Door to admit you to Heaven,
a Tree for fruit to nourish you,
a Balm of Gilead to heal your soul maladies!
His unchangeable grace and mercy,
His perfect obedience,
His sin-atoning death,
His constant divine intercession--
are replete with comfort to the lost and undone sinner.
I have found Him whom my soul loves!
I've found the Pearl of greatest price!
My Christ is first, my Christ is last, my Christ is all in all!
We are His, through the purchase of His blood--we are bought with an inestimable price! Delightful thought! The believer can confidently say, "I am the Lord's!"
What more can my soul desire, in order to secure its happiness? I am the Lord's--delightful words, as sweet as the harmony of Heaven! Thousands of times might the charming announcement be made, and yet . . .
not all its power is felt,
not all its worth is comprehended,
nor all its glory seen!
I am the Lord's! Then welcome . . .
poverty with all its toils,
persecution with all its frowns,
labors with all their arduousness.
Then welcome death which will end all my conflicts here, and lead me home to Him whose I am--who loved me, and gave Himself for me!
Jesus is . . .
a Sun to enlighten you,
a Shield to defend you,
a Door to admit you to Heaven,
a Tree for fruit to nourish you,
a Balm of Gilead to heal your soul maladies!
His unchangeable grace and mercy,
His perfect obedience,
His sin-atoning death,
His constant divine intercession--
are replete with comfort to the lost and undone sinner.
I have found Him whom my soul loves!
I've found the Pearl of greatest price!
My Christ is first, my Christ is last, my Christ is all in all!
We are His, through the purchase of His blood--we are bought with an inestimable price! Delightful thought! The believer can confidently say, "I am the Lord's!"
What more can my soul desire, in order to secure its happiness? I am the Lord's--delightful words, as sweet as the harmony of Heaven! Thousands of times might the charming announcement be made, and yet . . .
not all its power is felt,
not all its worth is comprehended,
nor all its glory seen!
I am the Lord's! Then welcome . . .
poverty with all its toils,
persecution with all its frowns,
labors with all their arduousness.
Then welcome death which will end all my conflicts here, and lead me home to Him whose I am--who loved me, and gave Himself for me!
_________________________
And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: Deliver me, I pray thee (Gen. 32:9, 11).
There are many healthy symptoms in that prayer. In some respects it may serve as a mould into which our own spirits may pour themselves, when melted in the fiery furnace of sorrow.
He began by quoting God's promise: "Thou saidst." He did so twice (9 and 12). Ah, he has got God in his power then! God puts Himself within our reach in His promises; and when we can say to Him, "Thou saidst," He cannot say nay. He must do as He has said.
If Jacob was so particular for his oath's sake, what will not our God be? Be sure in prayer, to get your feet well on a promise; it will give you purchase enough to force open the gates of heaven, and to take it by force.
--Practical Portions for the Prayer-life
--Practical Portions for the Prayer-life
Jesus desires that we shall be definite in our requests, and that we shall ask for some special thing. "What will ye that I shall do unto you?" is the question that He asks of every one who in affliction and trial comes to Him. Make your requests with definite earnestness if you would have definite answers. Aimlessness in prayer accounts for so many seemingly unanswered prayers. Be definite in your petition. Fill out your check for something definite, and it will be cashed at the bank of Heaven when presented in Jesus' Name. Dare to be definite with God.
Miss Havergal has said: "Every year, I might almost say every day, that I live, I seem to see more clearly how all the rest and gladness and power of our Christian life hinges on one thing; and that is, taking God at His word, believing that He really means exactly what He says, and accepting the very words in which He reveals His goodness and grace, without substituting others or altering the precise modes and tenses which He has seen fit to use."
Bring Christ's Word--Christ's promise, and Christ's sacrifice--His blood, with thee, and not one of Heaven's blessings can be denied thee.
--Adam Clarke
--Adam Clarke
~L. B. Cowman~
The Living God and the Battle for Life # 1
The Living God and the Battle for Life # 1
Read Matthew 16:13, 16, 18; John 10:10; 2 Corinthians 3:3-6, 17-18; Hebrews 9:13-14; 12:22; 1 Timothy 3:14-16; 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10; Revelation 7:2-3.
"As he saith also in Hosea, I will call that My people, which was not My people; and her beloved, that was not beloved. And it shall be, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not My people, There shall they be called sons of the living God" (Romans 9:25-26).
We are very familiar with the phrase - the living God - and it is not the first time in which we have dwelt upon it, but it is the only word that comes to me just now as containing something of the Lord's mind for us in this present hour.
I begin by reminding you that this phrase lies behind everything in God's universe from eternity to eternity - The Living God! And it is not only a designation of God or a title, it implies the entire work of God. The work of God throughout is the work of Life; the work of the living God is the work of Life.
The passages which we have read, as you notice, bringing in this phrase and this title so frequently, relate to the kind of thing that comes out from God, the kind of thing that belongs to God. The first, the Son of the living God, - "Thou art... the Son of the living God" declares "I am the Life", and says, "I came that they might have Life." He, the Son of the living God, is Himself the Life and the mediator of Life.
Then the sons of the living God are not just those people who belong to a certain company, a certain few who bear a certain title, that is, 'sons of the living God.' They are those who share with God His own Life; they are the living ones in that Divine sense, inasmuch as they have received God's own Life.
The Church is called "the church of the living God" and again the designation is not of some particular institution which belongs to God as differing from others; it is that which, differing from all others, is distinguished by the very Life of God which is in it.
So you go on from passage to passage and you find that it is a discriminating word. That is seen in John 10:10: "The thief cometh not, but...to kill...I am come that they might have Life" - a discriminating word.
So, behind everything, back of the universe which comes in after God, we have the living God, and all the work of God is the work of Life, until you head right up to that great discriminating act at the end when the earth and the sea are to be delivered over to judgment and the final destruction, and there is a staying call to the angel - "Wait a minute, before everything is handed over to destruction and death, there is a seal, not just God, but of the living God. These are to be marked as sharing God's Life, marked out by the seal of God, the mark of God, and what is it? These cannot be engulfed in the general destruction, these cannot be involved in this work of judgment, these are distinguished and discriminated from all the rest. They have a seal upon them and that seal has God's stamp. What is the hallmark of God anywhere at any time? It is always Life, just as the hallmark of satan is death. Those two things stand clearly apart and distinguished - one to kill and destroy, the other to make alive and by that Life to preserve even through all the work of death.
Now, this, as we have often seen, is the great issue of all time. It is the issue of Life and death, death and Life. The issue is not first sin and righteousness; that is not the first issue. The issue is death and Life, Life and death. Sin is the ground upon which the issue is decided; sin is the ground of death, but death is the objective, therefore satan, in order to kill, to bring death into God's universe, must first corrupt it. He must get the condition of corruption in order to get a state of death. Righteousness, while it is a matter of great importance with the Lord, is not the first thing. Life is God's first thing but now, because of sin, God must have righteousness unto Life. He must create righteousness before there can be Life, but the object is Life, just as the object with satan is death. All accusations from satan, all condemnation, all bringing under the cloud of an evil conscience, is with a view to death. All the values of Christ our Righteousness to be appropriated and continually held on to by faith are God's provision for Life, not just to make us good, but to make us live.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 2)
Read Matthew 16:13, 16, 18; John 10:10; 2 Corinthians 3:3-6, 17-18; Hebrews 9:13-14; 12:22; 1 Timothy 3:14-16; 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10; Revelation 7:2-3.
"As he saith also in Hosea, I will call that My people, which was not My people; and her beloved, that was not beloved. And it shall be, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not My people, There shall they be called sons of the living God" (Romans 9:25-26).
We are very familiar with the phrase - the living God - and it is not the first time in which we have dwelt upon it, but it is the only word that comes to me just now as containing something of the Lord's mind for us in this present hour.
I begin by reminding you that this phrase lies behind everything in God's universe from eternity to eternity - The Living God! And it is not only a designation of God or a title, it implies the entire work of God. The work of God throughout is the work of Life; the work of the living God is the work of Life.
The passages which we have read, as you notice, bringing in this phrase and this title so frequently, relate to the kind of thing that comes out from God, the kind of thing that belongs to God. The first, the Son of the living God, - "Thou art... the Son of the living God" declares "I am the Life", and says, "I came that they might have Life." He, the Son of the living God, is Himself the Life and the mediator of Life.
Then the sons of the living God are not just those people who belong to a certain company, a certain few who bear a certain title, that is, 'sons of the living God.' They are those who share with God His own Life; they are the living ones in that Divine sense, inasmuch as they have received God's own Life.
The Church is called "the church of the living God" and again the designation is not of some particular institution which belongs to God as differing from others; it is that which, differing from all others, is distinguished by the very Life of God which is in it.
So you go on from passage to passage and you find that it is a discriminating word. That is seen in John 10:10: "The thief cometh not, but...to kill...I am come that they might have Life" - a discriminating word.
So, behind everything, back of the universe which comes in after God, we have the living God, and all the work of God is the work of Life, until you head right up to that great discriminating act at the end when the earth and the sea are to be delivered over to judgment and the final destruction, and there is a staying call to the angel - "Wait a minute, before everything is handed over to destruction and death, there is a seal, not just God, but of the living God. These are to be marked as sharing God's Life, marked out by the seal of God, the mark of God, and what is it? These cannot be engulfed in the general destruction, these cannot be involved in this work of judgment, these are distinguished and discriminated from all the rest. They have a seal upon them and that seal has God's stamp. What is the hallmark of God anywhere at any time? It is always Life, just as the hallmark of satan is death. Those two things stand clearly apart and distinguished - one to kill and destroy, the other to make alive and by that Life to preserve even through all the work of death.
Now, this, as we have often seen, is the great issue of all time. It is the issue of Life and death, death and Life. The issue is not first sin and righteousness; that is not the first issue. The issue is death and Life, Life and death. Sin is the ground upon which the issue is decided; sin is the ground of death, but death is the objective, therefore satan, in order to kill, to bring death into God's universe, must first corrupt it. He must get the condition of corruption in order to get a state of death. Righteousness, while it is a matter of great importance with the Lord, is not the first thing. Life is God's first thing but now, because of sin, God must have righteousness unto Life. He must create righteousness before there can be Life, but the object is Life, just as the object with satan is death. All accusations from satan, all condemnation, all bringing under the cloud of an evil conscience, is with a view to death. All the values of Christ our Righteousness to be appropriated and continually held on to by faith are God's provision for Life, not just to make us good, but to make us live.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 2)
Saturday, May 18, 2019
Classic Christian Quotes from Classic Christian Ministers
Classic Christian Quotes from Classic Christian Ministers
By T. Austin-Sparks
_____________________
The Midas touch!
(Thomas Brooks)
Faith is the most useful grace--it is the Christian's . . .
right eye, without which he cannot see for Christ;
right hand, without which he cannot act for Christ;
tongue, without which he cannot speak for Christ;
strength, without which he cannot live for Christ.
It is fabled of King Midas, that whatever he touched would be turned into gold.
I am sure that whatever faith touches, it turns into gold; that is, into our good.
Whatever faith lays its hand upon, it appropriates to itself, and turns it into the soul's good!
If our faith touches the promises, it turns them into our good.
If faith looks upon God, it says, "This God is my God forever and ever--He shall be my guide unto death!"
When it looks upon Christ, it says, "My Lord and Redeemer!"
When it looks upon the crown of righteousness, it says, "This crown is laid up for me!"
Faith is . . .
bread to nourish us,
wine to cheer us,
a cordial to strengthen us,
a sword to defend us,
a guide to direct us,
a staff to support us,
a remedy to heal us,
a friend to comfort us, and
a golden key to open Heaven unto us.
Faith, of all graces, is the most useful grace to the soul of man.
All those services are lost, wherein faith has not a hand.
You may write 'loss' . . .
upon all the prayers you make, and
upon all the sermons you hear, and
upon all the tears you shed, and
upon all the alms you give,
--if all are not managed by a hand of faith.
"Without faith it is impossible to please God!" Hebrews 11:6
_________________________
Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. (Galatians 5:1 NLT)
Legalism always crucifies Christ afresh because legalism cuts out the greatest word in Christianity. The word over the door into true Christianity is the word: "Grace." Legalism always wipes out "Grace," and puts in its place "Law." Grace is the chief word in the vocabulary of the Christian. Do you notice that where legalism reaches its fullest expression, it always puts the crucifix in the place of the empty tomb? The badge of the Christian is the empty tomb. That is "Life from the dead." The badge of legalism is a crucifix, "a dead Christ." Legalism always brings death, and the chief thing about Christ is resurrection. It is Life from the dead. This was something that Paul came to see when it pleased God to reveal His Son in him. And he said, "Let me get out of all this legalistic system. Jesus of Nazareth Whom we crucified is alive. He has been revealed alive in my heart."
If we really see the Lord Jesus, we shall be emancipated. Some of us have had that experience. We were in legal systems; our horizon was that system. Then the day came when the Lord opened our eyes to really see the significance of Christ. And that whole system fell away as being all nonsense. No, it is not our business to say, "Come out of this and that, and come into this other." The word "must" or "thou shall" does not belong to this realm. That belongs to the old legal realm. The "must" becomes a spiritual thing, not a legal thing. We could say of Paul, there was a mighty "must" in his spirit. "I have seen the Lord, and I am seeing more and more of what the Lord is, and this is creating in me this great imperative. 'This one thing I do, leaving the things which are behind, I press on toward the mark of the prize of the on-high calling.'" So we do not say, "Change your system." But we do say, "Ask the Lord to reveal His Son in you." Then the great work of emancipation will begin.
By T. Austin-Sparks
_____________________
The Midas touch!
(Thomas Brooks)
Faith is the most useful grace--it is the Christian's . . .
right eye, without which he cannot see for Christ;
right hand, without which he cannot act for Christ;
tongue, without which he cannot speak for Christ;
strength, without which he cannot live for Christ.
It is fabled of King Midas, that whatever he touched would be turned into gold.
I am sure that whatever faith touches, it turns into gold; that is, into our good.
Whatever faith lays its hand upon, it appropriates to itself, and turns it into the soul's good!
If our faith touches the promises, it turns them into our good.
If faith looks upon God, it says, "This God is my God forever and ever--He shall be my guide unto death!"
When it looks upon Christ, it says, "My Lord and Redeemer!"
When it looks upon the crown of righteousness, it says, "This crown is laid up for me!"
Faith is . . .
bread to nourish us,
wine to cheer us,
a cordial to strengthen us,
a sword to defend us,
a guide to direct us,
a staff to support us,
a remedy to heal us,
a friend to comfort us, and
a golden key to open Heaven unto us.
Faith, of all graces, is the most useful grace to the soul of man.
All those services are lost, wherein faith has not a hand.
You may write 'loss' . . .
upon all the prayers you make, and
upon all the sermons you hear, and
upon all the tears you shed, and
upon all the alms you give,
--if all are not managed by a hand of faith.
"Without faith it is impossible to please God!" Hebrews 11:6
_________________________
1 Corinthians 8:1-3
(1) Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. (2) And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. (3) But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.
New King James Version
New King James Version
These seemingly innocuous words may be the central issue in this whole book (or both books to the Corinthians) because this was the sin that led Satan to separate from God's government. He became puffed up about himself. Likewise, the Corinthians were puffed up about how much they knew.
Satan thought so much of himself that he became twisted in his thinking, and he attacked God. We do not attack God directly—this book shows us we attack each other! Therein lies the problem. We attack each other through gossip, rumors, accusations, and things of that nature.
We begin to draw up lists in our minds of the faults of those who have offended us, and we begin to withdraw from them. We will not associate with them. Division begins to occur because they offend us. We say to ourselves, "Well, they were mean to me," or "They aren't intelligent enough," or "They are peculiar," or "They wear garish clothing," or "They have strong opinions about unimportant things."
This is not to say that these things are right and good, or that one should be able to do his own thing at anytime, anywhere, and that others should be tolerant of it. Nevertheless, Satan can, if he is given the opportunity, lead our minds to find reasons to not associate with others—reasons that have nothing to do with sin. Satan is at work.
If the feeling continues unabated, we will eventually come to the place where we will withdraw from fellowship altogether. It will not happen quickly, necessarily, but gradually. Perhaps we stop attending Bible Studies or begin to find reasons not to come to Sabbath services, or we will arrive late to services and leave early. In this way, Satan is slowly but surely moving us toward self-indulgence rather than love.
~John W. Ritenbaugh~
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