Satan's Endeavour To Make Christianity A Legal System

 

Now at that point things divided. There is the true foundation, the true beginning, and the meaning of the Spirit being in us, but at a point with these people, the thing divided.

They moved away from the true guidance, the true constraint, the true movement of the Spirit on to an artificial one, and their Christian lives began to become artificial.

The reason was that these Judaizers came along, always on Paul's heels to try to destroy his ministry.

They came along and said, "You must be circumcised; except you be circumcised, you cannot be saved" - bringing in again the old legal idea, and making even Christianity into something legal.

It is a persistent thing all the way along. It is one of Satan's persistent objects, not to turn us away from Christianity necessarily, but to make Christianity something which it really is not, and to turn the great blessedness, joy, life and liberty of a true Christian life into something burdensome, something difficult and hard.

It is so easy just to come to a point where, from what has been a really living and blessed experience and enjoyment of the Lord, Christianity becomes something of laws and regulations, and we begin to feel that the Christian life is a strain.

Something has happened. A twist is being given to it, and now the whole prospect is one without real joy, without real liberty.

It is a case of, "You must!" It is the big stick kind of thing. "You must, and if you do not, woe betide you!"

It is easy for anything in Christianity to become like that, so that the Christian life now has become a burden, and the work of the Lord has become a burden.

Then we are more slaves than sons. That is what the apostle is arguing in this letter: "Thou art no longer a bondservant, but a son" (4:7).

But what has brought about this change? We have begun to take on something which for us is not living; it is not for us a matter of life, it is a matter of something that we have to measure up to and try to attain, of trying to be something that we are not, and so the thing becomes a weight and a burden.

It is an artificial kind of Christianity.

But over against that, the apostle is saying this, that immediately things begin to get like that, something has gone wrong.

If ever the Christian life begins to appear like that and become something like that to you, things have gone wrong; you have ceased to move in the Spirit, you have got on to some other ground.

The Spirit is the Spirit of life and of liberty. What do we mean by life and liberty? Well, the spirit of rest - just the opposite of burdensomeness.

~T. Austin Sparks~

The Comfort Of Having A Friend To Listen

In one sense, one of the duties of friendship is just to lend an ear.

It is an untold comfort when troubles are depressing us to have someone in whom we can confide.

A brother is born for adversity, not just that he may lend a helping hand. 

A helping hand may be a blessed thing, but a helping heart is often better.

To have somebody to whom we can open our hearts in the certainty of perfect understanding is one of the choicest gifts of human life.

Visitors among the poor have experienced that. How often they bring comfort by just listening!

Poor folk, toiling away bravely, discover an easing of their trouble when they can pour it all, if only for an hour, into a listening and appreciative ear.

Now it was that easing which David found in God. He showed before Him his trouble.

He did not brood on it in solitary bitterness; he quietly laid it before God.

And though the trouble didn't disappear any more than the thorn of the Apostle, he gained a sweet serenity of spirit which made him capable of bearing anything.

And, indeed, that is the real victory of faith and of all who quietly wait on God.

It may not banish all the trouble, but it always brings the power to bear it beautifully.

There is a deep-rooted feeling in the heart that if we are God's, we ought to have exemption.

Troubles that afflict the faithless soul ought to be averted from the faithful. But the age-long experience of God's children and all the sufferings of His beloved Son proclaim that this is not so. 

David was not protected from life's troubles, nor was Paul or our blessed Savior.

David knew, in all its bitterness, what a thing of trouble our human life may be.

His victory, and that of all the saints who have learned to show their trouble before God, was an inward peace that the world can never give and the darkest mile can never take away.

God does not save His children from that dark mile. He saves His children in that dark mile. 

Whenever they show their trouble before Him, He shows His lovingkindness to them.

He keeps them from an embittered heart; He puts beneath them the everlasting arm; He makes them more than conquerors in Christ.

~George H. Morrison~
     

HE GOES BEFORE

John 10:4  And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
 
This is intensely difficult work for Him and us~it is difficult for us to go, but equally difficult for Him to cause us pain.Yet it must be done.

It would not be in our best interest to always remain in one happy and comfortable location.Therefore He moves us forward.

The shepherd leaves the fold so the sheep will move on to the vitalizing mountain slopes. In the same way, laborers must be driven out into the harvest, or else the golden grain would spoil.
 
But take heart! It could never be better to stay once He determines otherwise; if the loving hand of our Lord moves us forward, it must be best. 

Forward, in His name, to green pastures, quiet waters, and mountain heights! (See Ps. 23:2.) 

He goes on ahead of [us]. So whatever awaits us is encountered first by Him, and the eye of faith can always discern His majestic presence out in front.

When His presence cannot be seen, it is dangerous to move ahead.

Comfort your heart with the fact that the Savior has Himself experienced all the trials He asks you to endure; He would not ask you to pass through them unless He was sure that the paths were not too difficult or strenuous for you.
 
This is the blessed life~not anxious to see far down the road nor overly concerned about the next step, not eager to choose the path nor weighted down with the heavy responsibilities of the future, but quietly following the Shepherd, one step at a time.

Dark is the sky! and veiled the unknown morrow! Dark is life’s way, for night is not yet o’er; 

The longed-for glimpse I may not meanwhile borrow; But, this I know and trust, HE GOES BEFORE.
 
Dangers are near! and fears my mind are shaking; Heart seems to dread what life may hold in store;
 
But I am His~He knows the way I’m taking, More blessed even still...HE GOES BEFORE.
 
Doubts cast their weird, unwelcome shadows o’er me, Doubts that life’s best~life’s choicest things are o’er; 

What but His Word can strengthen, can restore me, And this blest fact; that still HE GOES BEFORE.
 
HE GOES BEFORE! Be this my consolation! He goes before! On this my heart would dwell!
 
He goes before! This guarantees salvation! HE GOES BEFORE! And therefore all is well.
 
~J. Danson Smith~

The oriental shepherd always walked ahead of his sheep. He was always out in front. Any attack upon the sheep had to take him into account first. 

Now God is out in front. He is in our tomorrows, and it is tomorrow that fills people with fear. 

Yet God is already there. All the tomorrows of our life have to pass through Him before they can get to us.

~F. B. Meyer~

God is in every tomorrow, Therefore I live for today, Certain of finding at sunrise, Guidance and strength for my way;
 
Power for each moment of weakness, Hope for each moment of pain, Comfort for every sorrow, Sunshine and joy after rain.

Ask

Mat 7:7  Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
 
We must receive, as well as ask. We must take the place of believing, and recognize ourselves as in it. 

A friend was saying, "I want to get into the will of God," and this was the answer: "Will you step into the will of God?

And now, are you in the will of God?" The question aroused a thought that had not come before.

The gentleman saw that he had been straining after, but not receiving the blessing he sought.

Jesus has said, "Ask and ye shall receive." The very strain keeps back the blessing. 

The intense tension of all your spiritual nature so binds you that you are not open to the blessing which God is waiting to give you. "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."

He tells me there is cleansing From every secret sin, And a great and full salvation To keep the heart within.

And I take Him in His fulness, With all His glorious grace, For He says it is mine by taking, And I take just what He says.

~A. B. Simpson~

The Value Of Prayer

Prayer in virtue of the blood of the Lord Jesus touches the deepest things, touches everything and is associated with everything.

It is as though the Lord were saying, Yes, there is an atonement; in the most holy place atonement has been made. 

Yes, there is a mercy seat for communion. Yes, there is every provision. 

But for a daily value of that, a prayer life is essential.

All this is ministry by prayer, is entered into by prayer. There is nothing however great and comprehensive the divine provision may be — which can be known independently of prayer.

Find a prayerless life, and all the great, wonderful meaning of God's provision in Christ is of little real value.

There is no entering gloriously into God's great provision where prayer life is at low ebb.

Whether it be communion with God, that communion is in prayer; whether it be in testimony to the world, that testimony is made effectual through prayer; whether it is in feeding upon Christ, the Living Bread, that is by prayer.

You say, The Word! Yes, but what is the Word without prayer? 

If you divorce your Bible from your prayer life you simply have a Book of laws and instructions, a manual, and you become merely theological or doctrinal.

But prayer in association with the Word makes the Word live and makes it of spiritual value.

Notice what the Lord said: "When Aaron dresses the lamps in the morning, he shall offer incense". 

What does he do in dressing the lamps? He takes the snuffers. 

Some wick has got a bit dry and used up, and it is smouldering and smoking and filling the atmosphere with something that is not pleasant, and that is the flesh.

This old man does get up, and this flesh life does manifest itself from time to time.

Even though we have the Spirit, the flesh becomes unsteady at times, and there is always the possibility very near at hand of the flesh and the self and the old nature filling the air with something obnoxious, unpleasant, smoky and smouldering. 

That has got to be trimmed every morning by prayer: "Lord, trim the smouldering wick of my fleshly lips, of my fleshly doing; trim my nature, Lord, this morning.

Cut off that which is me, which if not cut off today will make for much that is regrettable, and fill the day with cloudy, smoky, smouldering flesh.

Aaron trimmed the lamps with prayer every morning, and every evening when he lit the lamps he offered incense.

There is always darkness about, ready to encroach and overcome the heart which is God's sanctuary, and it has got to be withstood lest the light which is in us become darkness.

~T. Austin Sparks~

Gaining By Giving

Pro 11:25  The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.

If I desire to flourish in soul, I must not hoard up my stores but must distribute to the poor. 

To be close and niggardly is the world's way to prosperity, but it is not God's way, for He saith, "There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, and it tendeth to poverty."

Faith's way of gaining is giving. I must try this again and again, and I may expect that as much of prosperity as will be good for me will come to me as a gracious reward for a liberal course of action.

Of course, I may not be sure of growing rich. I shall be fat but not too fat.

Too great riches might make me as unwieldy as corpulent persons usually are and cause me the dyspepsia of worldliness, and perhaps bring on a fatty degeneration of the heart.

No, if I am fat enough to be healthy, I may well be satisfied; and if the LORD grants me a competence, I may be thoroughly content. 

But there is a mental and spiritual fatness which I would greatly covet, and this comes as the result of generous thoughts toward my God, His church, and my fellow men.

Let me not stint, lest I starve my heart. Let me be bountiful and liberal, for so shall I be like my LORD. He gave Himself for me; shall I grudge Him anything? 

~Charles Spurgeon~

Natural Emotions Or The Love Of Christ

                                      

Paul wrote to the Galatians: "Ye were running well: what did hinder...?"

Something had broken in and interrupted their running in the spiritual race.

This was extremely serious and disturbed Paul the depths of his being.

It seems that in the case of the Galatians it was again the natural man, but this time in the realm of natural emotions.

They seem to have been of that temperamental constitution which corresponds to Christ's words in the parable about seed falling into shallow soil.

The seed was received quickly and earnestly, but did not go on to produce a harvest.

There are some people who make an enthusiastic start in this way and make quite a stir about it, but then do not go steadily on.

These Galatians were like that; they made a tremendous response; they loudly protested their devotion; and then they were very quick to drop out of the race. Why? Because they lived on their emotions, on their feelings, and these were changeable.

This may well be a matter of temperament, but in fact something of such a characteristic can be found in most of us. We respond to an appeal, come under the power of a great emotion, and then slack off. In the words of the Lord Jesus: "When tribulation or persecution ariseth... he is offended" (Matthew 13:21).

Clearly, then, if you and I are going to persevere to the end we must have a greater power than that of our natural emotional life.

The only hope is that it may be true of us, as of Paul: "The love of Christ constraineth" (2 Corinthians 5:14).

There is all the difference between the natural and the spiritual in this matter of the energy of love.

This word translated 'constraineth' is the same one used over the arrest of Jesus when it says: "the men that HELD Jesus" (Luke 22:63). They took a purchase on Him; they were not going to let Him escape; He was a prize, and they expected a reward for arresting Him.

So it is that the love of Christ should hold or grip us, conquering our natural emotions by the mighty power of the Spirit.

Our feelings come and go. They may be strong at times but they can also grow very weak.

If we do not know something of the mighty grip of Christ's love, we will never go right through to the end of this strenuous race.

After all it is the love of Christ which makes for the fullness of Christ.

If we finally come to that fullness it can only be by the constraint and holding power of His love.

Ye were running well: who did hinder you? The answer is, You ran in the strength of your own emotions, you ran as your enthusiastic response to God's call because it affected your feelings for the time.

The letter to the Galatians is devoted to emphasizing the place of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, for He alone can supply the necessary energy of love for us to go on running well.

~T. Austin Sparks~

The Giants

                                                                                   
 There we saw the giants (Num. 13:33). 

Yes, they saw the giants, but Caleb and Joshua saw God! Those who doubt say, "We be not able to go up." Those who believe say, "Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able."

Giants stand for great difficulties; and giants are stalking everywhere. They are in our families, in our churches, in our social life, in our own hearts; and we must overcome them or they will eat us up, as these men of old said of the giants of Canaan.

The men of faith said, "They are bread for us; we will eat them up." In other words, "We will be stronger by overcoming them than if there had been no giants to overcome."

Now the fact is, unless we have the overcoming faith we shall be eaten up, consumed by the giants in our path. Let us have the spirit of faith that these men of faith had, and see God, and He will take care of the difficulties.

~Selected~

It is when we are in the way of duty that we find giants. It was when Israel was going forward that the, giants appeared. When they turned back into the wilderness they found none.

There is a prevalent idea that the power of God in a human life should lift us above all trials and conflicts. The fact is, the power of God always brings a conflict and a struggle.

One would have thought that on his great missionary journey to Rome, Paul would have been carried by some mighty providence above the power of storms and tempests and enemies. 

But, on the contrary, it was one long, hard fight with persecuting Jews, with wild tempests, with venomous vipers and all the powers of earth and hell, and at last he was saved, as it seemed, by the narrowest margin, and had to swim ashore at Malta on a piece of wreckage and barely escape a watery grave.

Was that like a God of infinite power? Yes, just like Him. And so Paul tells us that when he took the Lord Jesus Christ as the life of his body, a severe conflict immediately came; indeed, a conflict that never ended, a pressure that was persistent, but out of which he always emerged victorious through the strength of Jesus Christ.

The language in which he describes this is most graphic. "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be manifested in our body."

What a ceaseless, strenuous struggle! It is impossible to express in English the forcible language of the original. 

There are five pictures in succession. In the first, the idea is crowding enemies pressing in from every side, and yet not crushing him because the police of heaven cleared the way just wide enough for him to get through. The literal translation would be, "We are crowded on every side, but not crushed."

The second picture is that of one whose way seems utterly closed and yet he has pressed through; there is light enough to show him the next step.

The third figure is that of an enemy in hot pursuit while the divine Defender still stands by, and he is not left alone. Again we adopt the fine rendering of Rotherham, "Pursued but not abandoned."

The fourth figure is still more vivid and dramatic. The enemy has overtaken him, has struck him, has knocked him down. But it is not a fatal blow; he is able to rise again. It might be translated, "Overthrown but not overcome."

Once more the figure advances, and now it seems to be even death itself, "Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus." But he does not die, for "the life also of Jesus" now comes to his aid and he lives in the life of another until his life work is done.

The reason so many fail in this experience of divine healing is because they expect to have it all without a struggle, and when the conflict comes and the battle wages long, they become discouraged and surrender.

God has nothing worth having that is easy. There are no cheap goods in the heavenly market.

Our redemption cost all that God had to give, and everything worth having is expensive.

Hard places are the very school of faith and character, and if we are to rise over mere human strength and prove the power of life divine in these mortal bodies, it must be through a process of conflict that may well be called the birth travail of a new life. 

It is the old figure of the bush that burned, but was not consumed, or of the Vision in the house of the Interpreter of the flame that would not expire, notwithstanding the fact that the demon ceaselessly poured water on it, because in the background stood an angel ever pouring oil and keeping the flame aglow.

No, dear suffering child of God, you cannot fail if only you dare to believe, to stand fast and refuse to be overcome.

March Forward

Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward (Exod. 14:15). 

Imagine, O child of God, if you can, that triumphal march! The excited children restrained from heights of wonder by the perpetual hush of their parents;

The most uncontrollable excitement of the women as they found themselves suddenly saved from a fate worse than death; 

While the men followed or accompanied them ashamed or confounded that they had ever mistrusted God or murmured against Moses;

And as you see those mighty walls of water piled by the outstretched hand of the Eternal, in response to the faith of a single man, learn what God will do for His own.

Dread not any result of implicit obedience to His command; fear not the angry waters which, in their proud insolence, forbid your progress. 

Above the voices of many waters, the mighty breakers of the sea, "the Lord sitteth King for ever."

A storm is only as the outskirts of His robe, the symptom of His advent, the environment of His presence.

Dare to trust Him; dare to follow Him! And discover that the very forces which barred your progress and threatened your life, at His bidding become the materials of which an avenue is made to liberty. 

~F. B. Meyer~

Have you come to the Red Sea place in your life, Where, in spite of all you can do, There is no way out, there is no way back, There is no other way but through?

Then wait on the Lord with a trust serene Till the night of your fear is gone; He will send the wind, He will heap the floods, When He says to your soul, "Go on."

And His hand will lead you through-clear through--Ere the watery walls roll down, No foe can reach you, no wave can touch, No mightiest sea can drown; 

The tossing billows may rear their crests, Their foam at your feet may break, But over their bed you shall walk dry shod In the path that your Lord will make.

In the morning watch, 'beneath the lifted cloud, You shall see but the Lord alone, When He leads you on from the place of the sea To a land that you have not known; 

And your fears shall pass as your foes have passed, You shall be no more afraid; You shall sing His praise in a better place, A place that His hand has made

~Annie Johnson Flint~

THE LORD THUNDERS IN THE FIRE

                   

Joh 15:16  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

Joh 15:7  If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Mat 18:19  Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.  

Mat 18:20  For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. 

Isa 59:19  So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.

Heb 13:6  So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Eze 14:14  Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the LORD GOD      

The Nature Of The Trying Fire

1Co 3:13  Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is

What is the fire? We have, as we see, the claus "for the day shall declare it,” which no doubt applies to the day of the Lord’s appearing, but I think there is an application of the words “the fire itself shall prove” in that day, which is specific, which is along a certain line.

Passing over to another part of the Scriptures, let us ask what the nature of the devouring by the dragon is in Revelation 12:4. 

There we see the great red dragon standing waiting to devour the man-child the moment he is born.

What is the character of the devouring?

How will the dragon seek to devour?

I do not think it would be an adequate answer to say that this is a way of describing a great persecution from without, a physical persecution of the saints. 

That is not an adequate explanation; because the Blood of the Lamb is not the ground upon which you overcome physical persecution.

You go through physical persecution, you are not delivered out of it. 

You can appeal to the Blood of the Lamb as much as you like in the day of persecution from without, and the Blood of the Lamb does not avail to release you from it. 

There is a support through it. But here in this twelfth chapter of Revelation the man-child is seen escaping the jaws of the dragon, being delivered from him, and being caught up to the throne. 

It is an absolute deliverance from the dragon who stands waiting to devour.

Now what is the nature of the devourer? The nature of the devourer is explained by the nature of the victory. “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony...” 

It may be outwardly they suffer death, loving not their lives even unto death, but there is something inward which means that, even while they are delivered up unto death outwardly, they overcome spiritually.
 
Here is something in which these escape the dragon and are not swallowed up by him; and that will tell you, if you think for a moment, what the nature of the devourer is. 

It seems to me that the devourer is related to the faith of the overcomer. It is a matter of swallowing up their faith. 

Faith in what? Faith in all that upon which they stand for their eternal salvation.

The accuser is there, and if, with no more multiplication of words, we reduce it to this, you will see what we mean.

It is a question precisely of an inward spiritual, living relationship to Christ Himself.

In that day, when the enemy moves in that intensified form against an overcomer-company to swallow that company up, there will be the most severe and intense testing and trying out of an inward relationship to the Lord.

It will certainly come along one line, if not entirely along the one line, namely, of being tempted to believe that the whole foundation has given way.

In other words, the great effort of the adversary will be to bring to a place where the hope of salvation is gone, where the saints have had cut from under them their assurance in Christ. 

The devouring will be in relation to their faith, the awful blackness of being out of the pale and hope of salvation.

That is not mere hypothesis; that is an actuality.

There are many true children of God in that affliction now, and the enemy is pressing that, and will press that more and more toward the end.

You and I, beloved, by reason of being given certain conditions and circumstances: physical, circumstantial, mental, will be tested on that matter, tested right out as to what we have been using to build with. 

What does your building represent? Is it so much teaching, so much doctrine, so much theory, so many meetings, so many prayers, so much Bible reading, Bible study, so much activity in the Lord’s work? 

Is that the structure? Supposing it all goes, and you are no longer able to do anything: no longer able to pray, no longer able to study the Word, no longer able to go to the meetings, no longer able to work for the Lord outwardly, what do you have left?

Supposing all that structure is all that you have, and your whole Christian life is represented by that, and it all goes, what do you have left?

Do you have Christ inwardly? That will be the test..

The work is that which we are doing now in the building up of our Christian lives. What are we using? What are we working with? 

I believe that the only thing which will satisfy the Lord is that we should be able to stand with Him in any place, though it be in hell itself.

The Lord might test us by the fires in that way, as to whether we are able to stand not merely when we are in the good fellowship of Christian people, with all the helps around us, with all advantages at our disposal spiritually, but when we are alone, cut off, shut up, or in some place where it is ninety-nine percent the devil and hell.
 
What is it that will make it possible for us to stand in such an hour?

Nothing but an inward, clear, living knowledge of Christ Himself. 

Each man’s work shall be tried; the fires shall make manifest of what sort it is. 

The work relates to the building up of ourselves as Christians.

What is it that is represented by our Christian lives? Is it the place in which we meet? Is it the teaching we receive there? Is it anything like that?

You may be assured that that is going to be put in the fire, and then the question will be how much of Christ has through that become a living, inward reality, a part of your very being, so that you do not say: I know of certain teaching, and I belong to a certain fellowship! but, I HAVE CHRIST!

That is our work, and each man’s work shall be tried.
 
The enemy will stand ready to swallow up, and he will swallow up all that he can. 

He cannot swallow up Christ. 

If Christ is in us, in a closer relationship with us than any human relationship, so that Christ has become a very part of us, the enemy cannot devour that.

~T. Austin Sparks~

Hindrance To Prayer

Psa 37:5  Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

I once thought that after I prayed that it was my duty to do everything that I could do to bring the answer to pass.

He taught me a better way, and showed that my self-effort always hindered His working, and that when I prayed and definitely believed Him for anything, He wanted me to wait in the spirit of praise, and only do what He bade me.

It seems so unsafe to just sit still, and do nothing but trust the Lord; and the temptation to take the battle into our own hands is often tremendous.

We all know how impossible it is to rescue a drowning man who tries to help his rescuer, and it is equally impossible for the Lord to fight our battles for us when we insist upon trying to fight them ourselves. It is not that He will not, but He cannot. Our interference hinders His working. 

~C.H.P.~

Spiritual forces cannot work while earthly forces are active.

It takes God time to answer prayer. We often fail to give God a chance in this respect. It takes time for God to paint a rose.

It takes time for God to grow an oak. It takes time for God to make bread from wheat fields.

He takes the earth. He pulverizes. He softens. He enriches. He wets with showers and dews. He warms with life. He gives the blade, the stock, the amber grain, and then at last the bread for the hungry.

All this takes time. Therefore we sow, and till, and wait, and trust, until all God's purpose has been wrought out. 

We give God a chance in this matter of time. We need to learn this same lesson in our prayer life. It takes God time to answer prayer.

 ~J. H. M.~

The Church An Intercessory Instrument

Now we must also see that the Church is here to be an intercessory instrument for the Holy Ghost for two purposes. 

Here we have got the Book of Esther very much in mind. And just to mention that will explain to you what we mean.

In the first place we have the intercessory instrument as represented by Esther for the purpose of preserving the Life of God's people; preserving the testimony to that Life of the Lord's people. Oh, that is a big calling and vocation. 

Here is this satanic scheme as illustrated in Haman who is out to blot out the people of God as the instrument of the testimony of God in the earth, though at the time a poor, decadent instrument, nevertheless the people of God; and Esther comes into relation to the throne in order to have that foul plan of the enemy reversed, destroyed, and the testimony of life maintained.

That is the Church's vocation, that is what God is after securing, a company who will be to Him an instrument in this day to save the testimony of God in a decadent spiritual age and day; and many of the Lord's people are failing, are in captivity, weakened, robbed of their place, robbed of their witness, robbed of their power by the evil one because of their own idolatry, because they have been guilty of dividing God's rights and not giving Him His whole place. 

Idolatry is not merely the falling down and worshipping of gods of wood and stone. 

Idolatry is anything, beloved, anything in all the universe which detracts from God. If a young man takes to the smallest degree the place of God in a young woman's life, and the other way round as well; husband and wife, parent and children, business, home, anything that comes in to take God's place. 

We can be idolators with our time, with our money, with our affections. 

If God's place is interfered with by another consideration, that is idolatry, and it was idolatry which brought about this spiritual condition amongst the people of God, and it always does.

Oh, God would bring back His people, bring back His people into a relationship with Himself that they shall truly be His right representative on the earth. 

To do that, He must get those into relationship with Himself Who will become an intercessory instrument like Esther to save the testimony of the Life of the Lord's people.

For that, He calls us, and such must take this thing upon their hearts as a tremendous burden; that is, the state of the Lord's people must become a heart-ache, a heart-break.

The spiritual condition of those who are the Lord's must ever be a tremendous burden upon the heart of the instrument that God would have for saving the situation, and in order to save that situation He must put that burden upon some hearts.

Esther took it on her heart, she took her people before the Throne, and to such an extent, that she took her life in her hands, saying "If I perish, I perish," "but I give myself to this business without any personal interest or consideration whatever; in this matter, I live or die."

Oh that God would find a company of men and women today like that, so burdened, so weighed down, so distressed by the spiritual condition of His own people, by the fact that the world is not having registered upon it the testimony of God through His own people. Oh for such an instrument. 

Would that the Holy Ghost would light upon us and turn us into at least a part of that instrument for today.

This instrument is to be God's instrument, by the Holy Ghost, of bringing about the overthrow of Satan.

Oh, wonderful work, oh, wonderful work, "God shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly." 

Within the decadent Church, Laodicea today - overcomers, through whom the Lord will bring about the undoing and the overthrow of Satan. 

Solemn business, terrific business, but it is the Lord's decision, not ours.

He has chosen to do it, and if He has chosen to do it, He is well able to do it, and if the Holy Ghost constitutes the instrument, it will be done.

~T. Austin Sparks~

Waiting And Working

And the hand of the Lord was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth unto the plain, and I will there talk with thee Ezek. 3:22.
     
Did you ever hear of any one being much used for Christ who did not have some special waiting time, some complete upset of all his or her plans first; from St. Paul's being sent off into the desert of Arabia for three years, when he must have been boiling over with the glad tidings, down to the present day?
     
You were looking forward to telling about trusting Jesus in Syria; now He says, "I want you to show what it is to trust Me, without waiting for Syria."
     
My own case is far less severe, but the same in principle, that when I thought the door was flung open for me to go with a bound into literary work, it is opposed, and doctor steps in and says, simply, "Never! She must choose between writing and living; she can't do both."
     
That was in 1860. Then I came out of the shell with "Ministry of Song" in 1869, and saw the evident wisdom of being kept waiting nine years in the shade.

God's love being unchangeable, He is just as loving when we do not see or feel His love.

Also His love and His sovereignty are co-equal and universal; so He withholds the enjoyment and conscious progress because He knows best what will really ripen and further His work in us.

~Memorials of Frances Ridley Havergal~
     
I laid it down in silence,This work of mine,And took what had been sent me~A resting time.

The Master's voice had called me To rest apart; "Apart with Jesus only," Echoed my heart.
     
I took the rest and stillness From His own Hand, And felt this present illness Was what He planned.

How often we choose labor,When He says "Rest"- Our ways are blind and crooked; His way is best.
     
The work Himself has given, He will complete.
     
There may be other errands For tired feet;There may be other duties For tired hands,The present, is obedience To His commands.