The Lord Came, Stood, and Called

And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel! iii. Sam.

Of urgency he stood, and called. Mark how He stands at the door to knock. At first He was content to call the lad once by name; but after three unsuccessful attempts to attract him to Himself, He uttered the name twice, with strong urgency in the appeal, Samuel! Samuel! This has been called God's double knock. There are seven or eight of these double knocks in Scripture: Simon, Simon; Saul, Saul; Abraham, Abraham.

 

How may we be sure of a Divine call?

 

We may know God's call when it grows in intensity. ‑‑ If an impression comes into your soul, and you are not quite sure of its origin, pray over it; above all, act on it so far as possible, follow in the direction in which it leads ‑‑ and as you lift up your soul before God, it will wax or wane. If it wanes at all, abandon it. If it waxes follow it, though all hell attempt to stay you.

 

We may test God's call by the assistance of godly friends. ‑‑ The aged Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child, and gave him good advice as to the manner in which he should respond to it. Our special gifts and the drift of our circumstances will also assuredly concur in one of God's calls.

 

We may test God's call by its effect on us.‑‑ Does it lead to self‑denial? Does it induce us to leave the comfortable bed and step into the cold? Does it drive us forth to minister to others? Does it make us more unseIfish, loving, tender, modest, humble! Whatever is to the humbling of our pride, and the glory of God, may be truly deemed God's call. Be quick to respond, and fearlessly deliver the message the Lord has given you.

~F. B. Meyer~

The Stewardship of the Mystery # 38

The Heavenly Man As the Instrument of the Eternal Purpose

The Heavenly Man personally is presented to us by the Apostle John in a fuller way than by any other of the New Testament writers. Paul advances to the corporate Heavenly Man. That does not mean that Paul does not present the personal Heavenly Man, for he undoubtedly does, particularly in his letter to the Colossians; but he advances from the personal Heavenly Man to the corporate Heavenly Man, which is the Church, His Body.

May we repeat one thing. Christ, actually and literally, was with the Father before times eternal, and the Church, not actually and literally, but in foreknowledge and fore-ordination, was also with the Father and the Son before times eternal. The fullest unveiling of the Church, which comes to us through the Apostle Paul, reveals it as already complete, but we know it to be a fact that it was in no sense completed when Paul wrote. It was not finished numerically and it was anything but finished spiritually and morally, yet he speaks of it as though it were the most complete, the most perfect thing in the universe. He is standing, as it were, at God's side, and God views the Church from the eternal standpoint, that is, as outside of time.

The Restoration of Heavenly Relationship

Recognizing, then, that Christ and the Church are revealed as being with the Father from all eternity, we next see that by reason of that which has taken place in the fall, and which was anticipated in the redemptive line of purpose, Christ comes into time, and is born in time in relation to redemption, and that redemption is said to be from "this present evil age." The Authorized Version renders it "world," but the change is important. It is not from a place that we are redeemed, but from an age, and it is perfectly clear what that age is. It embraces all the intermediary sections or dispensations. The present evil age runs from Adam to the new heavens and the new earth. There is a coming glorious age. To be redeemed out of this present evil age, means that the Church, which belongs to eternity and not to this age, is to be redeemed out of it. It shows how Christ, by redemption, brings back into the straight line of what is eternal and outside of time, into the eternal counsels and purposes of God concerning His Son. By the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, which is a redemption from this evil age, the Church is redeemed unto that other age, that eternal age. So the birth of Christ is related to the redemption of the purchased possession, the redemption of the Church.

Coming to John, firstly with regard to Christ's entry into time, we find that John has three things to say about Christ.

1. John sets Christ in eternity.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1).

2. He shows Christ's coming into time.

"And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us ..." (John 1:14)

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 39)

Your Bible: A Living Treasure

In this study of the Word of God, you will see some of the qualities of the Bible that can be said of no other book. If you do not love, know, understand, practice, and obey the Word of God, you cannot be a victorious Christian. I want you to learn how to study your Bible - how to make it burst aflame in your hand. Knowledge is power. That's true in any realm, business, athletics, or theology, for knowledge of truth transforms. We need to be molded, motivated, and managed by the Word of God. We must know the Word to have spiritual power. Yet for many the Bible remains a closed, mysterious book. They just don't understand it. There is no cheap, lazy, or magical way to understand the Bible, but it's not impossible. In fact, it's joyful and thrilling. Psalms 119, the longest psalm in the Bible, is entirely focused on the Word of God. For your Bible to truly come alive, you must appreciate the qualities that set it apart from all other books. The Bible is a Timeless Book The Bible is not the book of the month or the book of the year. It is the book of the ages, unchanging and timeless. "For ever, O LORD, Thy Word is settled in heaven." Psalms 119:89 "Concerning Thy testimonies, I have known of old that Thou hast founded them forever." Psalms 119:152 "Thy Word is true from the beginning: and every one of Thy righteous judgments endureth for ever." Psalms 119:160 In the New Testament, 1 Peter 1:25 states, "But the Word of the Lord endureth for ever ..." Forever! God says the Word - the Bible you hold in your hand or have on your shelf - is done, settled in heaven. So, if it's on the shelf, dust if off and get it into your heart. Why? Other books may come and go. The Bible is here to stay. Thousands of years have passed since the Bible was written. Empires have risen and fallen. Civilizations have changed and changed again. Science has pushed back the frontiers of knowledge. Yet the Bible stands: timeless, ultimate, indestructible. Emperors like Diocletian have decreed its extermination, atheists like Voltaire have railed against it, agnostics through the years have cynically sneered at it, and liberals strive to remove the miracles from the Bible. Materialists have simply ignored it. How is it that the Bible still stands after centuries of attempts to destroy it? Because the Bible is eternal, settled in heaven. The Bible is a Truthful Book "Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Thy law is the truth...Thou art near, O LORD; and all Thy commandments are truth...Thy Word is true from the beginning ... " Psalms 119:142,Psalms 119:151, Psalms 119:160. In the Gospel of John, Pilate asked Jesus, "What is truth?" (John18:38). Jesus had already answered that question in John 17:17when, speaking to the Father, He said, "Thy Word is truth." In a world that has lost its appreciation for truth, you can say without apology that the Bible is truth. Today there are many attacks on the truth of the Bible. There's the frontal attack of liberals who deny it is true. There's the attack from the rear by those who want to substitute their own experience over the Word of God, saying, "Well, I know what I feel or think." Sometimes they'll even argue, "I don't care what the Bible says. Let me tell you what I experienced." And there's an attack from the flank by people who don't necessarily deny the Bible but want to replace it or prop it up with psychology, philosophy, or other things - as if the Bible itself were not good enough. But if you're looking for truth, you can find it in the Bible. Why? 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God."That word inspiration is used only once in the Bible - here in this verse. What a magnificent word it is. In Greek it literally means "God-breathed." Jesus said in Matthew 4:4, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouthof God." Every word comes from God. He did not simply breathe upon the writings of men such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Matthew, Mark, and Paul, making their words His own. They held the pen of God. They were His instruments as He spoke, breathing the Scriptures out. Therefore, the Bible is true, because the God of truth cannot speak error. ~Adrian Rogers~

The Stewardship of the Mystery # 37

The Heavenly Man - The Inclusiveness ... (continued)

Nothing But What is of Christ Allowed By God in the Ultimate Issue (continued)

The Lord keeps us humble through the difficult people He sets around us, and whom He does not take away however much we cry to Him to do so, even though in themselves they are all wrong and an apparent menace to the Lord's interests. They serve to keep us humble and dependent. The Lord does that sort of thing, all in keeping with this law, that everything in us must be of Christ. Christ fills the universe for God. If He sees anything but what is of Christ, it cannot have a place. Only His Son can fill all things, excluding everything else. Oh, how humbly we need to seek of the Lord that there shall be nothing about us that, as of ourselves, presses itself upon others - our manner, our mannerisms, our presence, our conduct, our spirit, even our voice. The Spirit would oft-times check us and cause us to walk softly. None of us has attained to very high levels in this matter, and we are all having to acknowledge failure. The Spirit is dealing with us in that way. If even in our dress, or in any other thing, we come into view as the Lord's children, the Holy Spirit would seek to bring us to a place of sensitiveness, where He can say: That is bringing yourself into view! That is out from you! Now, get covered, get hidden! That thing excludes Christ!

God has determined from all eternity that this universe shall be filled with Christ, the Heavenly Man, through that corporate heavenly man joined to Him as its Head. He is getting rid of the Jew in us, of the Greek in us, and constituting us according to Christ, conforming us to the image of His Son. Blessed be God! the moment we come to the place where the last remnants and relics of what is not of Christ fall from us, then He will be displayed in us; He shall come to be glorified in the saints. It is Christ Who is to be glorified, not ourselves; yet so  close is the relationship that He is to be glorified in us. The Lord hasten the day!

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 38 - (The Heavenly Man As the Instrument of the Eternal Purpose)

There Came a Lion

And there came a lion (1 Samuel 17:34).

It is a source of inspiration and strength to come in touch with the youthful David, trusting God. Through faith in God he conquered a lion and a bear, and afterwards overthrew the mighty Goliath. When that lion came to despoil that flock, it came as a wondrous opportunity to David. If he had failed or faltered he would have missed God's opportunity for him and probably would never have come to be God's chosen king of Israel.

"And there came a lion." One would not think that a lion was a special blessing from God; one would think that only an occasion of alarm. The lion was God's opportunity in disguise. Every difficulty that presents itself to us, if we receive it in the right way, is God's opportunity. Every temptation that comes is God's opportunity.

When the "lion" comes, recognize it as God's opportunity no matter how rough the exterior. The very tabernacle of God was covered with badgers' skins and goats' hair; one would not think there would be any glory there. The Shekinah of God was manifest under that kind of covering. May God open our eyes to see Him, whether in temptations, trials, dangers, or misfortunes.

~L. B. Cowman~

The Stewardship of the Mystery # 36

The Heavenly Man - The Inclusiveness... (continued)

Nothing But What Is of Christ Allowed By God In the Ultimate Issue (continued)

The same thing applies with regard to work, to great movements. The history of a movement is like that of the individual. Even that which has been blessed by God comes to the place where, as a movement, as a collective instrumentality, it knows that the old days have passed, and for that which now obtains, and that which is before, a new position is necessary. Unfortunately so many try to live upon the past, try to go on upon a reputation, a history, and will not confess to the fact that things have changed and that God requires something more. If only they would face up to that, how much more glorious in its effectiveness would be the future, than ever the past has been. But there you have the interpretation of the experience. However it is apprehended by those concerned, the fact remains that God applies this law, that in the end, when everything has been said and done, and when all these present ages have run their course, in God's ages of the ages there will be nothing but what is of Christ. He is seeking to bring the Church to that goal, to be the fullness of Him that filleth all in all. It cannot be the fullness of Christ while anything else is there.

How manifold is the application of this truth! How many a detail it touches, and how ashamed it should make us! If we really do see it, if it really strikes our hearts, we shall be greatly humbled. Inwardly we shall feel thoroughly disgusted with ourselves as in the light of this we think of "our" assertiveness, of "our" strength, of "our" activity in the things of God, of all that has been of "ourselves" in this realm. The putting forth of strength is only effective in the proportion in which it represents a measure of Christ. We puny folk on this earth stand up and think we are of some account! What insignificant people we are if viewed from the heavenlies! The Lord looks down upon us and sees us trying to make names for ourselves in His things; dominating other lives; trying to exercise our influence with other lives; manipulating, putting our hands upon them. It is all pride, all conceit, all "self" in some form. The aspects of it are countless. The Lord looks at it and says, No, it is not of Christ; therefore, in the final issue it has to go! That is why He breaks us, and empties us, and brings us down to the place where we cry from a deep, heart-broken consciousness: Lord, unless Thou dost it, it is impossible! Unless Thou dost speak the word, my words are useless! That is why He works in that way. The Lord in His Sovereignty sees to it that we meet with plenty of things to keep us humble.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 37)

Yearning for God

In a sense we are fortunate that we cannot see God. If for one second the veil were removed and we caught a brief glimpse of the face of God, we would perish instantly. His effulgence is so brilliant, His glory so dazzling, that in our present corrupted state we could not bear the sight of Him. He remains invisible both as a curse and as an act of protecting grace. As long as we remain infected by sin we are doomed to wander in His world sightless with respect to Him. We may be comforted by His Word and healed by the secret ministration of His Spirit, but we cannot see the supreme beauty of His face.

But we have a dream; nay, more than a dream. We have the sure and certain promise that someday we will see Him face to face. The heart of every Christian longs for the face of Christ. We yearn to look directly at God Himself without fear of being consumed. That deep yearning will be fulfilled one day.

The future vision of God is called the "Beatific Vision" because it will bring in its wake the consummate blessedness for which we were created and redeemed. One of the Beatitudes spoken by Jesus was, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matt. 5:8). In heaven we will be pure in heart. In heaven we will see God.

Coram Deo: Living in the Presence of God

Do you yearn to see God? Reflect on His promise: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

For Further Study

1 John 3:1-3: "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure."

~R. C. Sproul~