I Trust In Thy Word

I trust in thy word" (Ps. 119:42).

Just in proportion in which we believe that God will do just what He has said, is our faith strong or weak. Faith has nothing to do with feelings, or with impressions, with improbabilities, or with outward appearances. If we desire to couple them with faith, then we are no longer resting on the Word of God because faith needs nothing of the kind. Faith rests on the naked Word of God. When we take Him at His Word, the heart is at peace.

God delights to exercise faith, first for blessing in our own souls, then for blessing in the Church at large, and also for those without. But this exercise we shrink from instead of welcoming. When trials come, we should say: "My Heavenly Father puts this cup of trial into my hands, that I may have something sweet afterwards."

Trials are the food of faith. Oh, let us leave ourselves in the hands of our Heavenly Father! It is the joy of His heart to do good to all His children.

But trials and difficulties are not the only means by which faith is exercised and thereby increased. There is the reading of the Scriptures, that we may by them acquaint ourselves with God as He has revealed Himself in His Word.

Are you able to say, from the acquaintance you have made with God, that He is a lovely Being? If not, let me affectionately entreat you to ask God to bring you to this, that you may admire His gentleness and kindness, that you may be able to say how good He is, and what a delight it is to the heart of God to do good to His children.

Now the nearer we come to this in our inmost souls, the more ready we are to leave ourselves in His hands, satisfied with all His dealings with us. And when trial comes, we shall say:

"I will wait and see what good God will do to me by it, assured He will do it." Thus we shall bear an honorable testimony before the world, and thus we shall strengthen the hands of others.
--George Mueller

~L. B. Cowman~

The Stewardship of the Mystery # 88

The Corporate Expression of the Heavenly Man (continued)

The Mind of God in Christ

Now what are the prophets in the assembly? In a word, the prophet is the instrument for the expression of the mind of the Lord, and this is usually set over against the expression of the mind of man. Of very great moment is the injunction we have noted already, "... be renewed in the spirit of your mind ..." Because, in the corporate Heavenly Man, the Body, the mind of the Lord is to predominate, to operate, to be supreme. The Lord's mind is the only mind in this "new man," this Heavenly Man. You must be renewed in the spirit of your mind, if you are to come to the Lord's mind. The Lord's mind comes through an instrument called a prophet. He is the interpreter of the mind of the Lord. He brings into the Body the knowledge of the mind of the Lord. That, as we have said, involves the setting aside of the mind of man.

We are thinking, of course, of how the Old Testament prophets are a source of confirmation of what we have just said; for if you examine the point, you will find that they come before the people in relation to the rights of God in His House. Those rights were being set aside by His people. The mind of man was taking the place of the mind of God, and that worked out usually to very great evil, so that before long the very rights of God were denied Him in His own House, among His own people.

Take Elijah as an example. Elijah stands out preeminently among the prophets in relation to the rights of God, and Carmel is the great crisis as to Baal's rights and God's rights in Israel. Elijah is the instrument for establishing the rights of God in an utter way, unto the complete destruction of that other mind, represented in the prophets of Baal. Those rights are expressed in terms of God's mind for His people, and so all the prophets bring in the mind of God, interpret it, keep the mind of God before God's people, and do battle in relation to it, that God shall have His place, have things according to His mind.

This, again, is a functioning of the Heavenly Man in His Body, to keep things according to the mind of God. We are not thinking, at the moment, particularly of people whom we may think to call prophets among us. We are not thinking of office, but of function. Vital functioning is what is before us, and anyone who is anointed and endowed by the Holy Spirit to keep God's thoughts clear in the midst of His people, to make His people know the mind of God, so that God gets His place and His rights, and all other minds are set aside, is fulfilling the ministry of a prophet. We are so apt to start at the other end, with the technical line of things, that of appointing prophets. Let us look at the function, not the man, and let us see that it is Christ Who is the Prophet, and that in this character He ministers through some whom He gives for the expression of the Divine mind as in Himself. It is quite possible to combine these functions in one individual.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 89 - (The Heart of God In Christ)

The Power of Proclamation

In our last few devotionals, we have seen we are to pray for the unsaved and live lives that shine the gospel.

But there does come a time to speak up.  Look at Romans 10:13-14,

For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."  How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?  And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?  And how shall they hear without a preacher?

When the time does come to speak up, a lot of Christians are like arctic rivers:  frozen at the mouth.  But someone must tell the story!

Pray for the unsaved, let your light shine, and when the time comes, tell them the gospel story.  Paul said in Romans 1:16, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.

Through just a simple proclamation of the message, many people, when they hear it, will believe and be saved.  The reason for that is found in Romans 10:17,

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

A proclamation of the message causes faith to arise in people's hearts.  Just simply tell them the gospel story:  Mankind was separated from God,  Jesus paid the price for their sins,  He was raised from the dead, and if you put your trust in Him, you can be saved.

As well as opening your mouth to share the Good News, you might consider writing letters to your friends to simply and clearly share the gospel.  Incorporate your own story if you feel it would be helpful.

It is easy to share the gospel if you just remember three things:  our rebellion, our ransom, and our response.  With those three things, you can share the gospel with anyone.

~Bayless Conley~

The Stewardship of the Mystery # 87

"The Corporate Expression of the Heavenly Man (continued)

Authority In Christ (continued)

As the Lord's servants, you cannot have too clear a recognition of how definite is this operation of the authority of Christ in His Body. None can anywhere come into relationship with that corporate expression of Christ, which is constituted by the Holy Spirit, without becoming responsible for the Lord's testimony which is there, and if you violate it you suffer. You cannot just attach yourself, and escape the implications. If you make a breach of the testimony, of the oneness of the Body of Christ, when you have been brought into real touch with it, and do not put that right, you will die. You may die physically. You may have a tragic end. You will undoubtedly go through suffering and chastening; because you have not become a member of a movement, something merely of man; you have come into the place where the custodianship of eternal purpose is invested in the Holy Spirit working in the spirit of apostleship, and the authority of Christ is there. This is the precise meaning of those searching words in the First Letter to the Corinthians: "For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep." "Not discerning the Lord's Body" (1 Corinthians 11:30). You have come into a realm where things are not to be taken as mere doctrine, as an Organization, as something of man with which you can do as you like; you have come to the place where the authority of Christ is an operating reality. It is a terrible thing to get into the House of God if you are not of a mind to become suitably conformed.

That is one side, and a terrible side. But there is another side that makes for heart rest and assurance for those who carry extra responsibility in the house of God, where it is possible to say: 'Well, we have not to bear the full responsibility that properly is in the hands of the Holy Spirit, in the authority of Christ, to meet that which is contrary to the truth, and to the law of the house of God.' We need not be anxious, in that sense, because it is our responsibility. The heavenly Lord has put a functioning of His authority in the Church. There may be a disputing of that authority in the vessel. Hell may dispute, as at Philippi, or at Ephesus, or many another place, and may show its hand in vehement antagonism and resistance. But what is the issue? Every time the authority of Christ triumphs.

The establishment of the testimony throughout the Roman Empire through the Apostle Paul, is a marvelous manifestation of the supreme Lordship of Jesus Christ over all powers. It is not just a case of getting the better of man's mentality, of overcoming prejudice and difficulties among men; it is the conquest of the evil forces of hell. Cosmic forces are beaten and broken when the testimony is established through an apostle. It is the fact of Christ's heavenly authority in the Body, by the Spirit. Christ truly expressed in the assembly really cannot be set aside without suffering.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 88 - (The Mind of God in Christ)

How to Pray for Your Daily Bread

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. As we read this prayer our Lord gave, remember it is the model prayer. The Lord did not say "Pray this prayer," but "Pray in this manner." He taught us something wonderful about prayer: it's not the length of our prayer, the logic of our prayer, or the language of our prayer, but the faith, the focus, and the force of our prayer that causes it to be heard in heaven. "Bread" in this prayer is really symbolic of any need you have. Do you have a need today? God delights to meet your need. Here are four important steps to follow when praying for "daily bread." A Proper Priority Notice the priority in this prayer: Thy name Thy kingdom Thy will First comes God's name, His kingdom, and His will. Only after that comes our need, "Give us this day our daily bread." If you don't get that priority straight, you'll never have power in prayer. God is not a heavenly bellhop, running around to meet your needs. Prayer is not the way man gets his will done in heaven. Prayer is the way God gets His will done on earth. It's important we understand this. Jesus Christ summed it up in Matthew 6:33 "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." If you don't establish that priority, you're not going to get your prayers answered. Answered prayer is not for rebels. Why should God answer your request for daily bread if you're not going to use that strength to serve Him? You must pray "Thy will" before you pray "our bread." Give Him first place. The one place God will not work is second place. Is the burning, consuming desire of your heart that His name be glorified, His kingdom come, and His will be done? Matthew 6:33 will remain only an unreached promise if you've not put it to practice. Your Prayerful Petition Another reason some people don't have their needs met: they don't ask. It's that simple. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?  Matthew 7:11 You simply say, "Lord I have a need." Many people have not because they ask not. (James 4:2) You deny yourself when you don't pray. Prayer is the key that unlocks heaven's treasury. God answers prayer. The One Who created the universe, the great eternal God, says that I can call upon Him and He will answer me and show me great and mighty things. (Jeremiah 33:3) A Proper Perspective This doesn't mean you have the key to Fort Knox or you're going to get everything you want. It doesn't say God's going to meet our greed. God is going to meet our need, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:19)   "Give us…our daily bread," may be also translated "give us this day bread sufficient for us." Our Lord taught us to pray for bread, not for cake. Sometimes we want things we don't need. And sometimes we need things we don't want. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and God will delight to meet your need. Your Personal Part Prayer is not a substitute for work or diligence. If you pray for bread, do you know how to say Amen? Work for it. "In the sweat of thy face shall thou eat bread." Genesis 3:19 "…if any would not work, neither should he eat." 2 Thessalonians3:10 "The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold. Therefore shall he beg in harvest and have nothing." Proverbs 20:4 "He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread, but he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough." Proverbs 28:19 Too lazy to plow? Then you won't have anything to eat. God doesn't bless laziness and or indolence. Don't sit back and say, "I'm going to show my faith by doing nothing." To the contrary! You will show your faith by doing something, for faith without works is dead. Jesus is heaven's bread for earth's hunger. He became the Bread of Life so you and I could have our deepest hunger met. Do you know Jesus? Friend, if you had bread to spare and died and went to hell, so what? If you don't have Jesus, there's a hidden hunger never satisfied until it's satisfied in the Lord Jesus Christ. "Man shall not live by bread alone." (Matthew 4:4) When you go to bed tonight, have that Bread in your heart. His name is Jesus. He'll be sufficient for tomorrow. ~Adrian Rogers~

The Stewardship of the Mystery # 86

The Corporate Expression of the Heavenly Man (continued)

Authority In Christ (continued)

We see later how that worked out. When there were those who tried to displace Moses, or tried to take an equal place with him, see how the authority found expression. Moses never had to fight for his position. When the dispute arose touching his position, being the meekest of men, he just said to the Lord, in effect: Lord, am I here by Your authority, or am I not? Have I grasped this position? Have I sought authority, or have You put me here with it? I count on You to let it be known whether my position is of my own taking, or whether of Your appointing. The Lord called the people to the door of the tabernacle and took up the case of Moses, and you know what happened. It was because of what he represented as an apostle.

"All authority hath been given unto Me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore ..." (Matthew 28:18). Thus an apostle is one who stands in Divine authority for the setting up, and the carrying on, of the Divine testimony. You can see that in Moses. The Lord appeared unto Moses and spake with him face to face. No one else came into that realm. Even though they came up into the Mount, they did not come into exactly the same place as Moses. It was with Moses that the Lord communed and spake as a man speaks to his friend, face to face. Then for ever after, the one thing that governs Israel is this: "... as the Lord spake unto Moses ..." At the end of the constituting of the tabernacle, there is a whole chapter in which some seven or eight times this one phrase occurs: "... as the Lord commanded Moses." It speaks of authoritative government by what had come in through Moses, God's apostle. Well, in that authority he set up the testimony, and maintained it; the authority was his to that end.

Or, again, take the Apostle Paul, who perhaps above all others stands out as an apostle, and you see that his commission and his authority was, first of all, for the setting up of the testimony everywhere, and then for the maintaining of the testimony. He says to the Corinthians that, if he comes to them in the authority that he has received, it will go ill with some of them, because he is invested with this authority to maintain the testimony in purity.

Now what does this say to us? It is the Lord! This is the factor of Christ's heavenly authority in the corporate Heavenly Man. That may be administered through individuals. The point is that it is a feature of the Heavenly Man, and is active in the Church. We are face to face with the fact that Christ in His heavenly authority is in the Church for the setting up of His testimony, and the maintaining of it. Where the Lord's testimony is by the Holy Spirit, there the authority of the Lord is, and people have to reckon with that.

Of course, while we have to take these things to heart in our own personal lives, we are saying them as to those who have to instruct others.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 87)

Are You Hiding by the Baggage?

Therefore they inquired further of the Lord, "Has the man come here yet?" So the Lord said, "Behold, he is hiding himself by the baggage." 1 Samuel 10:22

One day, Saul went out to search for his lost donkeys. The next day, Saul was anointed to be the first king of Israel. Saul found something for which he wasn’t searching. Even though he was anointed by Samuel, Saul hid himself by the baggage when it came time to reveal his anointing as Israel’s first King. The Scriptures tell us that he was empowered by the Holy Spirit and changed internally. But on the outside, not much changed. He went back home and plowed the fields until one more day. At that point, Saul was ready to accept his calling and outwardly became what God had already changed in him inwardly.

The same thing happens to us. Many times God calls us to do something that we weren’t searching for either. We know that the prayers that we are praying seem impossible. We know that something is changing on the inside of our hearts, but to break free and become that person on the outside is beyond our doing. We then struggle between the God-given prayers on our hearts and the person we are in the flesh. How can the two become one?

And when? The answer is time or should I say, “in His time.” Regardless of what the Lord has put on your heart, you can’t receive all He has for you until you have the character to keep you there. In the passing of time, the Lord is molding you through different circumstances, conflicts and experiences as training for the real deal. Take every encounter you go through seriously. Praise Him through the difficulties and maintain self control when He pushes you to your limit. He will exalt you in due time. As the Scriptures say in Galatians 6:9, “And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary.”

~Daily Disciples Devotional~