None But the Hungry Heart #3
Each section in the None But the Hungry Heart series contains one hundred or more interrelated Scripture portions, as well as more than one hundred quotations and comments.
In meditating upon this material, our attention should be centered in the Word of God. It is hoped that each page may give enlightenment concerning the Scripture quoted. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom," for "the Word of God is living, and powerful" (Colossians 3:16; Hebrews 4:12).
All true devotional reading should give us a greater understanding of, and appreciation for our Bible. Anything other than this will hinder spiritual growth. It goes without saying that the Word of God, ministered by the Spirit of God, is the primary means of knowing the Son of God as our life. "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63).
"And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace. He is able to build you up and to give you your inheritance among His people" (Acts 20:32, Wey.).
"In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Ephesians 1:11).
Not only is God our Father not dead, but He is in eternal control of both life and death. He who is our very life is "the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom" (2 Timothy 4:1). The sovereignty of our God is not only universal, but also personal. What a source of heart rest!
"We find in Romans 8:28 a great marvel: All things work together for good to the believing lovers of God. This involves that billion billion control of God's providence--of the most infinitesimal things--to bring them about for 'good' to God's saints.
"When we reflect on the innumerable 'things' about us--forces seen and unseen of the mineral, vegetable, and animal worlds; on man at enmity with God; on Satan, and his principalities and powers, in deadly array; on the uncertainty and even treachery of those near and dear to us, and even of professing Christians, and of our own selves--which we cannot trust for a moment; upon our unredeemed bodies; upon our general complete helplessness in ourselves--then, to have God say, 'All things are working together for your good,'--reveals to us a Divine providence that is absolutely limitless." -W.R.N.
"THERE IS NO LIMIT TO GOD'S FAVOR TOWARD THOSE IN CHRIST." -W.R.N.
"All things are Thy servants" (Psalm 119:91, ASV).
"In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God" (Philippians 4:6, ASV).
Faith does not create or produce, but rests and rejoices in what God has already done. His finished work at Calvary was the basis for our birth, and His completed work in our risen Lord Jesus is the source of our growth. "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more [certain], now that we are reconciled, that we shall be saved [daily delivered from sin's dominion] through His [resurrection] life" (Romans 5:10, Amp.).
"A great many people have the faith that seeks, but they have not a faith that rests. The Lord Jesus is here, rest in Him, let the burden go. 'Lord, I trust Thee now; I abide in Thee now. Lord, as I think about my home problems, my business pressures, my personal difficulties in every sphere of life, I bring them all, and give them all to Thee.' And believe that He keeps you. I am sure this rest of faith is the center of all activity.
"You cannot work without friction until you have this rest of faith--complete dependence not only on what the Lord has done, but on what He is to you this very moment. Rest in Him. 'God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye always [not sometimes] having all sufficiency in all things, may abound unto every good work' (2 Corinthians 9:8)." -E.H.
"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:7, ASV).
"Feed the flock of God which is among you" (1 Peter 5:2).
It should grieve us to realize how many abandoned babes in Christ there are--spiritual orphans. In these days of spiritual dearth there is an ever-increasing need for the ministry of nurturing new believers, that they may be "rooted and built up in Him, and established" (Colossians 2:7). "The greatest proof of your love for Christ is that you care for those who belong to Him; 'if you love Me, feed My sheep'." -J.B.S.
"Let us not feel that our task is done with the rebirth of a soul. The great burden of the Christian ministry should be that Christ may be formed in men, and that they, in turn, may be living witnesses to others. Notice Peter's words: But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people.' But for what purpose has all this been accomplished? He goes on to say, ' . . . that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light' (1 Peter 2:9). 'But ye are...that ye should.' We believe in Christ's power and desire to win others, but for what? The whole purpose of salvation is that men and women may grow in the deeper stable characteristics of the Christian life--that they might be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ." -G.D.
"The Christian life is not merely a converted life nor even a consecrated life, but it is the Christ-life. It is the consuming desire of the Lord Jesus to reincarnate Himself in the believer." -R.P.
"Neither as being Lord over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock" (1 Peter 5:3).
"Ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you" (Romans 6:17).
The only true, consistent, and Christ-honoring experience is that which emerges from clear-cut faith in the explicit facts of the Word. Sound doctrine is the one basis for a mature walk and effective service. "Thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine" (1 Timothy 4:6).
"We must remember that our death to sin was once for all accomplished at the Cross. There the believer shared the death of the Lord Jesus; for when he became a believer, the life he received was life in Christ, that is, life out of death, resurrection life, 'newness of life'; and the relation to sin and the law which Christ had, became those of the believer! Our experience of it all is simply the entering by faith into what has already happened at the Cross.
"God now commands each of us to reckon ourselves as having died with Christ to sin--and therefore as now dead unto sin; and as having risen with Christ, and therefore now alive to God (Romans 6:11). Now it is always on the basis of what God has done that He asks us to reckon, to appropriate. God makes the facts and tells us to take the attitude that befits these facts; and when we obey, He increasingly works our experiential victory in and through us." -W.R.N.
"Give attendance . . . to doctrine" (1 Timothy 4:13).
3-5. SUBSTITUTE--REPRESENTATIVE
"Crucified with Him" (Romans 6:6).
Often when a believer finally sees his identification with the Lord Jesus in His death and resurrection, as set forth in Romans Six, he will then seek to experience it by self-effort. The net result: Romans Seven!
"As our Substitute He went to the Cross alone, without us, to pay the penalty of our sins; as our Representative He took us with Him to the Cross, and there, in the sight of God, we all died together with the Lord Jesus. We may be forgiven because He died in our stead; we may be delivered because we died with Him.
"God's way of deliverance for us, a race of hopeless incurables, is to put us away in the Cross of His Son, and then to make a new beginning by re-creating us in union with Him, the Risen, Living One. It is the Holy Spirit who will make these great facts real and true in our experience as we depend upon Him; and so the plague of our hearts will be stayed, and we shall go on to be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ." -J.C.M.
"The Holy Spirit so unites us to Christ that Christian experience becomes a reproduction in us of the essential facts of Christ's fourfold revelation He died unto sin: with Him we died (Colossians 2:20). He arose: with Him we are risen (Colossians 3:1). He is in heaven: our life is hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). He will appear again: with Him we shall appear in glory (Colossians 3:4)." -N.B.H.
"Risen with Christ" (Colossians 3:1).
"These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace" (John 16:33).
There are far too many irresponsible believers. At the same time, there are far too many over-responsible believers who are seeking to carry out the Lord's responsibilities. Our primary concern is to trust Him, and rest in Him, while 'it is God who confirms and makes us steadfast and establishes us...in Christ'" (2 Corinthians 1:21, Amp.).
"The good fight is the fight of faith. Nothing is easier than to step out of faith into feeling, or sight. But then it is failure, and no longer a fight of faith. When we abide in the Lord Jesus, the force of the assault is borne by Him. He takes the strain and the burden; whilst the believer passes into His triumphs, and is kept in perfect peace through it all.
"The believer then understands the meaning of Asa's words: 'Lord, it is nothing with Thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power....O Lord, Thou art our God; let not man prevail against Thee...' (2 Chronicles 14:11). Against us? No; against Thee! Why? Because the battle is the Lord's! How often we have looked at the battle as ours and have asked that man shall not prevail against us. But perhaps you are not wholly on the Lord's side; and this may be the secret of your failure. If you want continuous victory, you must be on the side of Him who knows no defeat. The question is not whether the Lord is on your side, but whether you are on the Lord's side." -C.A.F.
"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee" (Isaiah 26:3).
"For to me to live is Christ" (Philippians 1:2l).
Once we learn the truth of our union with the Lord Jesus, and of the Holy Spirit's indwelling, any attempt to imitate Christ will be seen for what it is: unscriptural, and futile.
"Our Father is going to teach us, mainly through personal failure, that the life we live is the life of our Lord Jesus alone. The Christian life is not our living a life like Christ, or our trying to be Christ-like, nor is it Christ giving us the power to live a life like His; but it is Christ Himself living His own life through us; 'no longer I, but Christ.'"
"The end of Christ's incarnation, death and resurrection was to prepare and form an holy nature and frame for us in Himself, to be communicated to us by union and fellowship with Him; and not to be able to produce in ourselves the first originals of such an holy nature by our own endeavors."
"Thc believer's true education is in the growth of Christ within. The Church's real ministry is not multitudinous public services, so-called, but the forming of the Lord Jesus Christ in the lives of His people; the reproduction of Christ; epistles made alive by the Holy Spirit, to be seen and read of all men." -C.A.F.
"There is no answer to infidelity like the life of the Lord Jesus displayed through the Christian. Nothing puts the madness of the infidel, and the folly of the superstitious more to shame and silence than the humble, quiet, devoted walk of a thorough-going, heavenly-minded, and divinely-taught believer."
"But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you" (2 Thessalonians 3:3).
"It is not you who chose Me, but it is I who chose you and appointed you that you might go and be fruitful" (John 15:16, Wey.).
We must be born into our ministry, our service; and it must be born in us. Thus it will be a sharing of life, through which others will be born and will "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18).
"Our Father will never put work or service in the place of character; and, if we do that, eternity will reveal that, however much we may have done, we are very small amongst the inhabitants of the Land, whose stature will be measured by 'the measure of Christ.' It would be well if all who contemplate or are engaged in the work of God were governed by this one absolute final law: that, both as to themselves and as to those amongst whom they minister, the ultimate test is--not how much work is done, but how much of Christ is present, or results from the sharing." -T. A-S.
"The Gospel can never be fully preached by the eloquence of the evangelist; it finds its true authority only in the lives of those it has laid hold of. We live in a day when it is easy to evade the Cross worked out in our lives, and in which we are apt to place our confidence in modern methods, and techniques of evangelism. But lacking the solid evidence of godly living and devotion to the Lord Himself, these will become 'a fanfare of trumpets or the crashing of cymbals--nothing more' (1 Corinthians 13:1, Philippians) ." -J.C.M.
"Ye are My witnesses, saith the Lord, and My servant whom I have chosen" (Isaiah 43:10).
"God . . . hath quickened us together with Christ and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-6).
What is our attitude concerning our needs in the Christian life and warfare? Are we outside the armory, struggling and pleading for supplies? Or are we inside the arsenal, ready to be fully supplied and armed as our daily needs require? "Be strong in the Lord--be empowered through your union with Him; draw your strength from Him" (Ephesians 6:10, Amp.).
"It has come these days with new light and power that the first thing we have to see to as we draw near to God day by day is that our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. If we listen in the stillness till our hearts begin to respond to what He is thinking and feeling about the matter in question, whether it concerns ourselves or others, we can, from that moment, begin praying downwards from the Throne, instead of praying upwards from ourselves." -L.T.
"We must not think the revelation as to the will of God is an end in itself; it is but the first phase of a prayer ministry. When Daniel had prayed through to an understanding of the ways of the Lord, he then set himself three times a day to persevere in prayer for the fulfillment. His prayer ministry took him into the lion's den, but it also brought him out again, and he was able to see the things through to the glorious end." -H.F.
"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).
"According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue" (2 Peter 1:3).
It is necessary for our Father to utilize very firm means in order to separate us from the ingrained idea that sanctification is produced by our work, plus His help.
"A superficial acquaintance with God's plan leads to the view that while justification is God's work, by faith in Christ, sanctification is our work, to be performed under the influence of the gratitude we feel for the deliverance we have experienced and by the aid of the Holy Spirit. But the earnest Christian soon finds how little gratitude can supply the power. When he thinks more prayer will bring it, he finds that, indispensable as prayer is, it is not enough. Often the believer struggles hopelessly for years, until he listens to the teaching of the Spirit, as He glorifies Christ again, and reveals Christ, our Sanctification, to be appropriated by faith alone." -A.M.
"Look not upon a life of holiness as a strain and an effort, but as the natural outgrowth of the life of Christ within you. And let ever again a quiet, hopeful, gladsome faith hold itself assured that all you need for a holy life will most assuredly be given you out of the holiness of the Lord Jesus. Thus will you understand and prove what it is to abide in Christ our Sanctification. -A.M.
"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4).
"Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator" (1 Peter 4:19).
Initially, all we are able to trust God for is our justification. During this stage we are usually satisfied to remain spectators in the battle of life. Later, when we know Him better and are thereby able to trust Him more fully, we become willing to let our Father take us down into the arena and make us participators. "No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please Him who hath chosen him to be a soldier" (2 Timothy 2:4).
"If you would know victory you must have conflict; it is ridiculous to talk about having a victorious life when you have never been in conflict. You must be prepared to enter the arena with the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and He will give you lessons day by day. No one can enjoy freedom without paying the price, even in the ordinary values of life. If you would know what it is to triumph, you must certainly pass through tribulation. If you want patience, then it is tribulation; if you want victory there must be conflict."
"Does Paul regret the thorn in the flesh that drew forth words that have comforted countless millions? Do the men for whom the winds were contrary wish they had been spared the storm that brought their Lord to them, walking on the sea, and caused Him to speak that immortal 'It is I; be not afraid'?"
"The things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel" (Philippians 1:12).
"For the death which He died He became, once for all, dead in relation to sin; but by the life which He now lives He is alive in relation to God" (Romans 6:10, Wey.).
When we seek to suppress self in one area, it will express itself in another. If we attempt to prune the branches of the old life, we find that its root has thereby been strengthened. The one answer to this enemy, both God's and ours, is the daily crucifixion of the Cross.
"Romans Six is one of the most blessed portions of the New Testament, teaching us that our 'old man,' our old nature that is in us, was actually crucified with Him, so that now we need no longer be in bondage to sin. But remember it is only as the Holy Spirit makes Christ's death a reality within us, that we shall know, not by force of argument or conviction, but in the reality of the power of an endless life, that we are in very deed dead to sin." -A.M.
"Not by a stringent 'cutting off' of exterior things, nor by seeking a mental apprehension of 'death with Christ' in the conscious life, but by a simple reckoning upon His death as yours--shall you experience in the inner depths of your life, servant of God, the divine spiritual reality that 'Christ in you' is in truth your very life, displacing the old life of nature and continually 'making to die' its inclinations and habits"
"In the same way you also must regard yourselves as dead in relation to sin, but as alive in relation to God, because you are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 6:11, Wey.).
"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free" (Romans 8:2).
The more fully the Lord Jesus controls within, the less we will be influenced by externals. The more we are affected by externals, the less freedom He will have within.
"The Lord Jesus' miracles did not have a character changing effect upon the people who saw them or participated in them. They were but for a testimony to who He was. With all His miracles, in the end the principle of unbelief has not been rooted out of a single individual! Though they saw all that He did, the deep-rooted unbelief was untouched. The amazing thing--even with the disciples themselves--was that they were still capable of deep-seated unbelief. 'O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe....' 'He upbraided them with their unbelief....' With all they saw, it did not touch character, it did not touch their nature." -T. A-S.
"As in the apostolic days so now the desire exists for the manifestation of the Spirit in marvelous ways; but a life sober, righteous, holy, lived in the hope of the glory to come, is the more excellent way of the Spirit's manifestation and undeniable proof of His indwelling. The prayer should not be so much for this or that gift, or this or that result, as for Christ Himself to be made manifest to us and through us. The Apostle who was most filled with the Spirit sums all up in that one great word, 'For to me to live is Christ.'" -W.F.E.
"It is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me" (Galatians 2:20).
"Before I was afflicted l went astray: but now have I kept Thy word" (Psalm 119:67)
The head-knowledge of Spirit-taught study becomes the heart-knowledge of Spirit-led life, via Romans 8:28 and 29. How good it is to have a sovereign Father controlling all!
"You will find that no one learns truth easily. He who built on the rock was not secure merely because he built on the rock; but he also digged deep. What springs up quickly has no root. The more you understand the nature and scope of the Word, the more will you see the demand it makes on you and how unreserved must be your subjection to it; while as you are subject to it, you learn the blessedness and virtues of it.
"The true value of anything is known only when it is wanted. For this reason bright days must be succeeded by dark ones. In the dreary and desolate hour to nature, we begin to know the value of the truth communicated to us in the bright day. The learning is at one time, and the proving at another. In fact, we ought to be prepared for the dark hour; so that, though it be dark, there is something so blessed, so suited, pouring its comfort and sustenance on our souls, that, after all, the dark and dreary hour becomes a more really festive time to the heart, because of the virtues of the truth now made known, than the time of its reception, which was so happy and exhilarating." -J.B.S.
"But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while . . . stablish, strengthen, settle you" (1 Peter 5:10).
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3).
The New Testament believer's spiritual growth is not based upon Old Testament doctrine. We are not to neglect the Old, but its introduction of the law was designed to lead to the grace of the New. For a believer who is not yet established in the risen Lord Jesus, it is a temptation to go to the promises of the Old Testament for comfort. This may result in some help at times, but also may bring frustration. It is simply not our ground. "So now we serve not under [obedience to] the old code of written regulations, but under [obedience to the promptings] of the Spirit in newness [of life]" (Romans 7:6, Amp.).
"'The Law made nothing perfect' (Hebrews 7:19). It was given to discover sin and imperfection, not to impart holiness or perfection. The Lord Jesus has poured out His blessed Spirit that we believers, while on earth, might walk in that spirit of life and liberty that prevails in heaven where Christ is. God has given unto us His human-divine nature, and put within us His Holy Spirit. Shall we not therefore walk in that liberty in which Christ liveth? For He lives the same life of blessed freedom from bondage, and of joyful service to God, within us by His Spirit, as He does seated in a body, in heaven before God His Father." -W.R.N.
"If I would bring forth fruit and live to God, I must see myself as having died to law. Law is a principle on which we cannot live to God any more than we can be justified."
"For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God" (Galatians 2:19).
"And He shall stand, and shall feed His flock in the strength of Jehovah, in the majesty of the name of Jehovah his God: and they shall abide" (Micah 5:4, ASV).
To an overwhelming degree "we are what we eat--spiritually as well as physically. "Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by Thy name, O Lord God of hosts" (Jeremiah 15:16).
"The best merely human literature that was ever written will not feed the new nature. You may bring the noblest thoughts which ever sprang from a human mind, you may couch them in the most fragrant rhetoric that ever distilled the perfume of literature in the book lover's nostrils and you will not quicken a single pulse of the new and spiritual life. Shakespeare may analyze, Milton soar, Bacon lead us step by step up the royal stairway of induction to the throne of logic, yet not a gleam of light or pulse of strength will be added to the Christ within." -I.M.H.
"With God all is uncultured which is not in accord with the likeness of Christ--of Him in whose image man was first created. Christ is the typical Man, and all in our education which is not after the pattern, after His likeness, is uncultured--only a caricature. We have only that degree of culture which results from the measure in which the image of the Lord Jesus Christ has penetrated us."
"But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" (Hebrews 5:14).
"For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).
The Lord Jesus was in our place of death and judgment; we are in His place of life and glory.
Romans Seven describes the experience of the believer who has been shown by the law principle the terrible consequences of his position in Adam. Romans Eight describes the experience of the believer who knows what it is to be "in Christ," and who is being made free experientially from "the law of sin and death" by "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus."
"It is of immense importance for every Christian to know that 'our old man' has been fully judged and ended before God. Not changed or forgiven but utterly condemned in the death of the Lord Jesus. 'God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh' (Romans 8:3). Where sin brought us, love brought the Lord Jesus--even to death; and His death is the end before God of all that we were as children of Adam--men in the flesh.
"On the other hand, we have life in One who is risen from the dead. We did belong to the race of which Adam was head; but the death of Christ is, in God's reckoning, the termination of our history in Adam. A new Head has been provided for us, and we have been transferred by divine grace from Adam to Christ." -C.A.C.
"He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves; but unto Him" (2 Corinthians 5:15).
"Love suffereth long, and is kind" (1 Corinthians 13:4).
The price of leadership remains high and hard; it may be cheap and easy for the dictator, for the hireling, but never for the shepherd. The dictator dominates; the hireling flees; but the good shepherd loves his sheep and is loved by them. He lays down his life for the sheep. True spiritual leadership involves this principle: "Death working in me works life in you" (2 Corinthians 4:12, Cony.).
"It is the quality of leaders that they can bear to be sat on, absorb shocks, act as a buffer, bear being much plagued. Moses put up with the complaints and the waywardness and revolt of the people. He pursued a steady course, enduring as seeing Him who is invisible. The wear and tear and the continual friction and trials which come to the servants of God are a great test of character." -F.M.
"Bridge the gaps! A bridge means something--generally a life laid down. The very simplest bridge, a plank thrown across a stream, was once part of a tree standing erect, sapping life from the earth, and beautifying all the area around it. Now it is dead, but perhaps saves other lives; anyway it helps to make others useful, and is content to push others on, unnoticed, unthanked. 'Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not,' just be a bridge. It is so simple. See that others are placed on the right track with God through the Lord Jesus. When they get there, they will not thank you, will never look back probably at the bridge; but the Great Architect will know and love and care." -E.W.
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5).
"God . . . called me by His grace, to reveal His Son in me" (Galatians 1:15, 16).
Just think! Our Father has placed us in eternal and living union with His Son, that He, not we, may "be." Moreover, He has placed His Holy Spirit eternally within us that He, not we, may "do." Further, He has given us the necessary faith and Scripture that we may rest in this wonderful reality, trusting Him "to will and to do of His good pleasure." This is a far cry from futile struggle and frustrating self-effort!
"Christians in the main groan and strive and struggle largely on the basis of human effort where the grace of God, though acknowledged, is scarcely operative--only to come to grief. Even at their best, they find the purpose of the Lord Jesus remains an ideal infinitely beyond their reach. The trouble lies in the fact that they are proceeding on the wrong basis.
"God does not expect them, as a result of their own endeavors, to be like the Lord Jesus. He expects them to realize the utter impossibility of such a thing (as in Romans Seven, where Paul comes to the end of himself). He expects them to know the Lord Jesus as their very life, disowning any other. He expects them to realize their position of absolute oneness with Christ, for He 'has blessed them with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ' (Ephesians 1:3)." -F.J.H.
"Be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 2:7, ASV).
"He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna" (Deuteronomy 8:3).
The wilderness wanderers were maintained by manna, but those in Canaan flourished on "the old corn of the land." The carnal Christian exists on the milk of the Word, while the hungry-hearted believer feeds and matures on the meat of the Word.
"The old corn of Canaan typifies what the risen and ascended Lord ministers directly to us now by the Holy Spirit. Those who appropriate their position in Christ feed no longer merely on the manna, which represents Christ as supporting our life while we yet 'know Him not' as regards any intimate fellowship.
"If positional truth, rather than the duties of attainment, were taught first to the saints, much more satisfactory results would follow the ministry of many Christian workers. We should note most carefully that Israel was brought into Canaan, all uncircumcised and unworthy as they were, before they were asked to take the circumcised, separated position as the people of God, or enter upon their warfare.
"So we, as believers, have been already brought by Jesus Christ our Head, in His death and resurrection, into the 'heavenly places,' and to us have been given 'all things that pertain unto life and godliness' (2 Peter 1:3). And it is always on the ground of where we already are, and what we already are, and what we already have, that the Holy Spirit shows us our blessed privileges and responsibilities of 'the calling wherewith we are called.'" -W.R.N.
"And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land" (Joshua 5:12).
3-21. THE CROSS, THEN CONSECRATION
"The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (Romans 8:7).
The Cross is the altar upon which God sacrificed His Son. It is upon this same Cross (take up your Cross "daily"), this same altar (the place of death), that I am to be consecrated to God as "a new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17). This eventuates in my intelligently yielding myself to Him as one who is "alive from the dead" (Romans 6:13).
"God asks us to present our bodies as living sacrifices to Him (Romans 12:1). Until we have done this, there is nothing else we can do. But notice that this exhortation comes after Romans Six. There is a reason for this order--crucifixion comes before consecration. Uncrucified self refuses to be consecrated (to say nothing of God's refusing to accept it). That is why so many people with all sincerity walk down the aisles again and again, consecrating uncrucified self to God." -H.D.
"We must learn to know Him and to love Him. Then we will not have to struggle to move into consecration. The heart will lead into it. A lover never thinks about giving himself to a loved one. He cannot do otherwise. He loves to do it. Is there not here a key to consecration? Why do we not yield? Because we do not love. Why do we have to fight the battle and vow and groan and struggle? Because we do not know Him." -C.A.C.
"That I may know Him...and the fellowship of His sufferings" (Philippians 3:10).
"God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:9).
We want fellowship with the Lord Jesus in His peace and joy, and naturally fear and seek to avoid suffering. However, it is in the fellowship of His sufferings that we partake of His peace and joy.
"The Lord has a wonderful way of bringing us into the fellowship of His sufferings, even when everything outside looks prosperous. Sometimes the most apparently prosperous lives have the deepest sufferings at the back of them. The Lord must one way or another teach us fellowship with suffering, or we cannot be of much use. We dwell much upon the side of being filled with joy, but let us not forget there are broken hearts all round us, and if we are to be channels of divine comfort to them, we must learn something of the fellowship of His sufferings in our own experience."
"We shall err if we think that life in the Sanctuary, hidden with Christ in God, means freedom from suffering, sorrow, and trial. Rather will the soul be strengthened inwardly to be trusted more and more with the 'fellowship of His sufferings, becoming conformed unto His death' (Philippians 3:10)."
"Our Father can advance His children into conformity to the image of His Son, more by suffering in one day, than in many years of ease from trial."
"See how we call those who thus endured happy! You have heard how patiently Job endured and have seen how the Lord finally blessed him, because the Lord is tenderhearted and merciful" (James 5:11 Wms.).
"But now that you have been set free from the tyranny of Sin, and have become the bondservants of God, you have your reward in being made holy" (Romans 6:22, Wey.).
When the believer truly sees Calvary he says, "There, through the work of the Cross, I died with the Lord Jesus unto sin." When the believer truly sees Pentecost he says, "There, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, I was baptized into the risen Lord Jesus." Here are the two mighty pillars of our freedom from the power and domination of sin.
"The believer is to rejoice in the double blessing of Calvary and Pentecost. He is freed from condemnation because of the Blood shed, and he is set free from the law of sin and death by the indwelling Spirit that he received when he came to the Lord Jesus. It is not only that there is no condemnation, but there is liberty.
"'The law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death' (Romans 8:2). '...hath made me free....' Let me walk in it; let me enjoy it, and I am free. I am not struggling to get free; I have been set free in the Spirit, and I am bidden to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made me free (Galatians 5:1). I am not struggling for victory; I am standing in victory. I have not to struggle to get out of the horrible pit. He lifted me out; set my feet on the Rock and established my goings; and He bids me, 'Stand fast in the victory that I have gained for you.' Believe and rejoice in it, and you will know what it is to be free." -G.G.
"Walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Romans 8:4).
"That He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had afore prepared unto glory" (Romans 9:23).
Mercifully, day by day, He unfolds before our startled eyes the evil depths of the self-life. It is thus we come to know Him as the "God who is rich in mercy," and ourselves as "vessels of mercy."
"Today sinful men, not angels, are entrusted with the preaching of the Gospel, and before they can be used of God must first of all have plumbed the depths of their own sinfulness, and have, therefore, discovered the heights and glories of God's longsuffering. In this way they can become a pattern of His mercy, by means of which He can demonstrate His grace to others." -J.C.M.
"The power effectively to present Christ as Lord, is by means of revelation deep within us, bringing into being an unshakable knowledge of His authority and might, and making us content to accept our weakness and nothingness in order that we may see the pleasure of the Lord prosper in His hand (Isaiah 53:10)." -J.C.M.
"The more useful anyone is, the more he requires to be brought to an end of himself, and to find that his all is in the Lord Jesus. We find some of His servants deeply chastened at first, in order to prepare them for a useful course; and some after a useful period are brought low and afflicted in order that they might learn how truly and fully our Father is sovereign." -J.B.S.
"From Me is thy fruit found" (Hosea 14:8).
"Put away, as concerning your former manner of life, the old man" (Ephesians 4:22, ASV).
Positionally, in the finished work of the Cross and resurrection, we have been cut off from the old man through death, and have been born into the new Man by the new birth. "Ye have put off the old man...and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him" (Colossians 3:9, 10). Experientially, day by day, our part is to choose against the old ("put off") in favor of the new ("put on"), thus allowing the Holy Spirit freedom to apply the finished work of the Cross (Romans 6:11 ). "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me" (Galatians 2:20, ASV).
"The flesh need not be an ugly form of life, indeed it can be apparently very nice, but it is alien to this new life in the Spirit. It belongs to another race; it is not the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we are told that the Holy Spirit is in open conflict against the self-life (Galatians 5:17).
"It is equally true that the flesh lusts (strives) against the Spirit, but He is well able to take up the challenge. He will not quietly accept this rival to the rule of Christ, so He stands, with His great weapon of the Cross, to render inoperative everything which is a menace to the life of Christ in us. He calls us to cooperate with Him in this matter by reckoning, for only so can the excellency of Christ be manifested in the believer." -H.F.
"Put on the new man" (Ephesians 4:24).
"For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God" (1 Peter 2:19, 20).
When self reacts correctly in a difficult situation, it can only result in the sin of self-righteousness. In order for Christ's righteousness to be manifested, the Holy Spirit must hold self inoperative by means of the Cross.
"Accustom yourself in everything that happens, to recognize the hand of the Father. Before you fix your thoughts on the person who did it, first be still, and remember, God allows me to come into this trouble to see if I shall glorify Him in it. This trial, be it the greatest or least, is allowed of God, and is His will concerning me. Let me first recognize and submit to God's will in it. Then in the rest of soul which this gives, I shall receive wisdom to know how to behave in it. With my eye turned from man to God, suffering wrong is not as hard as it seems.
"The Lord Jesus knew that His Father would care for His rights and honor. But he who lives in the visible, wants his honor to be vindicated at once here below. He who lives in the eternal, and as seeing the Invisible, is satisfied to leave the vindication of his rights and honor in God's hands; he knows that they are safe with Him. Giving one's all into God's keeping brings rest and peace." -A.M.
"When He suffered, He . . . committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously" (1 Peter 2:23).
"Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us" (2 Corinthians 7:6).
All of us are going to have sorrow, and none of us should miss its spiritual benefits. "Godly sorrow worketh repentance...while the sorrow of the world worketh death" (2 Corinthians 7:10).
"God's purpose is to conform us to the image of the Lord Jesus. God had one Son, without sin, but not without sorrow." -A.S.
"Sorrow reveals unknown depths in the soul, and unknown capabilities of experience and service. God never uses anybody to a large degree, until after He breaks that one. It takes sorrow to widen the soul."
"We cannot do good to others save at a cost to ourselves, and our afflictions are the price we pay for our ability to sympathize. He who would be a helper must first be a sufferer. 'Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God' (2 Corinthians 1:4). We cannot have the highest happiness of life in succoring others without tasting the cup which our Lord Jesus drank. The school of suffering graduates rare scholars."
"Well, it is but a little while and He will appear to answer all inquiries and to wipe away all tears. I would not wish, then, to be of those who had none to wipe away, would you?" -J.H.T.
"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes" (Revelation 7:17).
"Be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is" (Ephesians 5:17).
Prayer to God must come from God. There can be no prayer in the full assurance of faith apart from the known will of God in the matter. "The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know His will" (Acts 22:14).
"I do not think that a petition that misses the mind of God will ever be answered (1 John 5:14). Personally, I feel the need of trusting Him to lead me in prayer as well as in other matters. I find it well to preface prayer not only by meditation but by the definite request that I may be directed into the channels of prayer to which the Holy Spirit is beckoning me (Romans 8:26, 27)." -J.O.F.
"When we once have the deep, calm assurance of His will in the matter, we put in our claim, just as a child before his father. A simple request and nothing more. No crying, no beseeching, no wrestling. No second asking, either." -J.O.F.
"The Lord may see it needful, for the trial (development) of faith, to seem for a season not to regard our supplications; yet, if we patiently and believingly continue to wait upon Him, it will be manifest in His own time, and way, that we did not call upon Him in vain." -G.M.
"My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him" (Psalm 62:5).
"You were set free from the tyranny of sin" (Romans 6:18, Wey.).
The tyranny of sin over the lost necessitated the death of the Lord Jesus on the Cross. The tyranny of sin over the saved necessitated the death of the believer in the Lord Jesus on that same Cross. The dual truths of Calvary: His death for our sin, as payment; our death with Him unto sin, for deliverance.
"The believer sees that Christ by dying for him has completely delivered him from the penalty of sin. So it is his privilege to see that because he is identified with the Lord Jesus in that death, he is also delivered from sin as a ruling principle. Its power is broken. He is in that sense 'free from sin' (Romans 6:18, 22)." -E.H.
"Through my life-union with Christ in His death and resurrection, I have 'died to sin.' His death to sin is my death to sin. In my very humanity, Christ so took me up with Himself in death that, when He died unto sin, I too was executed and there died to sin's reign and power. Has Christ so dealt with sin that He has exhausted its every claim and dominion? And do I share with Him His death unto sin? With bold and explicit reckoning, then, let me count on my death-resurrection relationship to God through the Lord Jesus. In Christ crucified I have been discharged from sin's domination." -L.E.M.
"When victory does not tend to worship, we and God part company, so to speak, as soon as the victory is achieved. How sad to see victory often leading to mere joy, instead of still greater dependence on, and delight in, God!" -J.N.D.
"But now, being freed from the bondage of sin . . . your fruit is growth in holiness" (Romans 6:22, Cony.).
"Let the same disposition be in you which was in Christ Jesus." "Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh is at rest from sin" (Philippians 2:5, Wey; 1 Peter 4:1m).
Too late! Too late! If we seek to deal with sin by reckoning at the moment it becomes an issue. Our stand and attitude from the beginning of each day is to be a settled matter as we rest in our risen Lord Jesus: the death of the Cross separates me from the enslavement of sin and self, and I continually abide in my new life, Christ Jesus. My life is "hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3).
"The reckoning believer is to meet every proposal of self-gratification armed with the mind to suffer in the flesh. Sin is the gratification of self, but 'he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from the domination of sin.'
"If you allow yourself to entertain a suggestion of self-gratification--if you consider it, and give it a place in your mind--you are defeated. You have laid aside your armor, and will fall an easy prey to the foe. But there will be no response to the suggestion or temptation if you stand armed with the mind to suffer in the flesh. That which is proposed to you is exactly opposite to what you are set for. It is suggested that you should be pleased and gratified in the very thing in which you are fully minded to suffer. You are now in conflict with sin--not going along with it; you suffer in the flesh, and have ceased from the practice of sin." -C.A.C.
"So that he can no longer spend the rest of his natural life living by [his] human appetites and desires but [he lives] for what God wills" (1 Peter 4:2, Amp.).
"Ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God" (Romans 7:4).
Romans Six reveals our position as having died unto the principle of sin; Romans Seven teaches us our position as having died unto the principle of law. Both must be counted upon if we are to abide in Christ, and walk in the Spirit, as set forth in Romans Eight.
"We have to look at ourselves and see how far we are devotedly following the Lord Jesus, with full purpose of heart--how we can say, 'This one thing I do'; but we must take care at the same time not to get into legal bondage by this standard. If I say, 'Here is a rule of conduct: follow it,' this cannot reach the heart, the affections. The ministration of the letter brings only failure, and condemnation; for it prescribes a rule which man, being a sinner, can never follow. It does not change a man; it proves him 'ungodly and without strength.'
"We may turn even Christ into that letter of condemnation; we may take His life, for instance, and make it our law. Nay, we may turn even the love of Christ into our law; we may say, 'He has loved me, and done all this for me, and I ought to love Him, and do so much for Him, in return for this love,' etc. Thus if we turn His love into a rule of life, it becomes the ministration of condemnation."
"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1).