Hopefully Trust, Wait Peacefully

Blessed is he that waiteth (Dan. 12:12).

It may seem an easy thing to wait, but it is one of the postures which a Christian soldier learns not without years of teaching. Marching and quick-marching are much easier to God's warriors than standing still.

There are hours of perplexity when the most willing spirit, anxiously desirous to serve the Lord, knows not what part to take. Then what shall it do? Vex itself by despair? Fly back in cowardice, turn to the right hand in fear, or rush forward in presumption?

No, but simply wait. Wait in prayer, however. Call upon God and spread the case before Him; tell Him your difficulty, and plead His promise of aid.

Wait in faith. Express your unstaggering confidence in Him. Believe that if He keep you tarrying even till midnight, yet He will come at the right time; the vision shall come, and shall not tarry.

Wait in quiet patience. Never murmur against the second cause, as the children of Israel did against Moses. Accept the case as it is, and put it as it stands, simply and with your whole heart, without any self-will, into the hand of your covenant God, saying, "Now, Lord, not my will, but Thine be done. I know not what to do; I am brought to extremities; but I will wait until Thou shalt cleave the floods, or drive back my foes. I will wait, if Thou keep me many a day, for my heart is fixed upon Thee alone, O God, and my spirit waiteth for Thee in full conviction that Thou wilt yet be my joy and my salvation, my refuge and my strong tower."
--Morning by Morning

Wait patiently wait,
God never is late;
Thy budding plans are in Thy Father's holding,
And only wait His grand divine unfolding.
Then wait, wait,
Patiently wait.
Trust, hopefully trust,
That God will adjust
Thy tangled life; and from its dark concealings,
Will bring His will, in all its bright revealings.
Then trust, trust,
Hopefully trust.
Rest, peacefully rest
On thy Saviour's breast;
Breathe in His ear thy sacred high ambition,
And He will bring it forth in blest fruition.
Then rest, rest,
Peacefully rest!

~L. B. Cowman~

God's Reactions to Man's Defections # 26

The Testimony of the Blood (continued)

An Elect In Bondage (continued)

The preaching of Christ crucified is not the preaching merely of what men did to Him, but of what He allowed men to do, and, in and through what they did, what He did. The death of Christ, in its real meaning, is not man's act, nor is it the devil's act. satan and men had made many unsuccessful attempts to kill Him, but His hour had not come. He fixes the time for what He will do. The rulers said, "Not during the feast" (Mark 14:2), but the Lord Jesus took it out of their hands, and out of the hands of Judas, and precipitated it on that day in the Upper Room; so deftly heading it up that Judas was as one under authority: "That thou doest, do quickly" (John 13:27).

When He 'lays down' His life that He may 'take it again', there is infinitude in the deliberate act, and it relates to universal sovereignty. Sin, as the principle; the old creation, as the sphere; satan, as the ruler in that realm; death, as the consequence; and judgment, as the inevitable prospect and reality: all are involved in the death of Christ. That entire ground was dealt with, and that regime brought to an end, in that death. The whole thing centers in the Person of the Lord Jesus. The same Person must be able both to act as representative of man rejected of God because of sin, and, as representative, receive all the judgment of God upon man and sin, and yet at the same time, because sin is not inherent in Him, but in Himself He is utterly sinless, render death and hell incapable of holding Him. There never was such an One, other than Jesus Christ: Son of Man - Son of God.

The pouring out of His Blood was, on the one side, His voluntary yielding to wrath and destruction from the face of God, as Man for man; and, on the other side, a saying in effect to death, the devil and the grave, "I concede you all your claims unto the last atom, and exhaust all your demands, in being made sin and a curse. But you have another in Me also, over whom you have no power or rights because you have no ground in Him. You cannot hold Me - I defy you; and, what is more, I now take you as My prisoners. Henceforth I am your Lord, and I will plunder your domain and rob you of your spoil."

"O death, what is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? (1 Corinthians 15:55).

"Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o'er His foes".

"...He invaded death's abode
And robbed him of his sting".

"...He hath crushed beneath His rod
The world's proud rebel king.
He plunged in His imperial strength
To gulfs of darkness down,
He brought His trophy up at length,
The foiled usurper's crown."

So He, because of His sinless perfection, can stand in complete acceptance with God, suitable to God, and this representatively as man (though more than man). His Blood, therefore, representing His sinless and victorious life, is given to us, and in virtue of it there is constituted that princely seed in all the good of His triumph. This does not make us sinlessly perfect, but He Who is in us is so.

What remains to bring us into that good is a spiritual appreciation and apprehension of the transcendent greatness of the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit revealing Him in us; and then the link of faith unto obedience between what we are not and what He is. The bridge is faith. Some act as though it were a struggle or puzzle, or any one of a number of things which are in the nature of self-effort. It will be found, indeed, that faith is no mere passive acquiescence. But it is not the degree of faith only, but the object of faith. It is, after all, the place which Christ has in the apprehension of His people which makes for the prosperity and ascendency which should characterize them. The supreme days of Israel's history were those when Christ in type was largest and most dominating. The Feast of the Passover was the focal point and the pivot. There never was such rejoicing as then; and, in later times, when idolatry had gained a strong footing, it was after the restoration of this feast that the people instinctively returned to destroy the false system.

Thus the testimony of the Blood is basic to victory, ascendency, and spiritual prosperity, and is the most deadly force against all the works of the adversary.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 26 - (A Candlestick All of Gold)

Be Steadfast; Your Labor Is Not In Vain

Though you have allowed me to experience much trouble and distress, revive me once again! Bring me up once again from the depths of the earth! (Ps 71:20)

 

God shows us the troubles. Sometimes, as this part of our education is being carried forward, we have to descend into “the lower parts of the earth,” pass through subterranean passages, lie buried amongst the dead, but never for a moment is the cord of fellowship and union between God and us strained to breaking; and from the depths God will bring us again.

 

Never doubt God! Never say that He has forsaken or forgotten. Never think that He is unsympathetic. He will quicken again. There is always a smooth piece in every skein, however tangled. The longest day at last rings out the evensong. The winter snow lies long, but it goes at last.

 

Be steadfast; your labor is not in vain. God turns again, and comforts. And when He does, the heart which had forgotten its Psalmody breaks out in jubilant song, as does the Psalmist: “I will thank thee, I will harp unto thee, my lips shall sing aloud.”

 

“Though the rain may fall and the wind be blowing,

And old and chill is the wintry blast;

Though the cloudy sky is still cloudier growing,

And the dead leaves tell that the summer has passed;

My face I hold to the stormy heaven,

My heart is as calm as the summer sea,

Glad to receive what my God has given,

Whate’er it be.

When I feel the cold, I can say, ’He sends it,’

And His winds blow blessing, I surely know;

For I’ve never a want but that He attends it;

And my heart beats warm, though the winds may blow.”

~L. B. Cowman~

God's Reactions to Man's Defections # 25

The Testimony of the Blood (continued)

An Elect In Bondage (continued)

Think of the sons of the "Prince of God" engaged in building store-cities for Pharaoh, and thus adding wealth and glory to his world-system instead of serving the Lord in freedom and victory! Such is the state of the elect, more or less. From the position of servitude to sin, self, the world and the devil before salvation, through all the stages and phases of spiritual weakness and defeat to paralyzing introspection and spiritual self-analysis, the true dignity of princeliness, of sonship, is assailed.

Now, if we did but know it, there is always some ground for bondage. satan must have ground. his power cannot function without ground. he was utterly impotent in the case of the Lord Jesus because there was no ground. "The prince of the world cometh: and he hath nothing in Me" (John 14:30). The ground which issues in defeat and bondage at the hands of the adversary is as varied as the bondage itself.

Is it the natural condition of the sinfulness of human nature, that what is in man is quite unfit and unsuitable for the presence of God? Is it that the Divine will represents a standard of perfection in moral excellence which sets back from God even the very best among men? Is it a secret thing, hidden in the inward parts, which in itself becomes a weapon in the enemy's hand to knock us down? Is it sin done in ignorance, where the intention was good, but where fuller light reveals that it was wrong after all? Is it sin unconsciously committed, in the sense that we did not even know that we did the thing?

Yes, all these, and many more, are grounds that satan uses - and rightly so, if we fail in one all-embracing respect. This failure is in the matter of recognizing the virtue of the precious Blood, and the worth of Him Who shed it.

In saying this we are but bringing into view the offerings of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. A close study of these offerings will reveal two things. One is that God has searched out sin and tracked it to its most hidden and secret lair, even to the place of unconsciousness. The accidental, unwitting, and unsuspected is all taken into His consideration. He regards sin no as a state, not merely as a matter of a deliberate act. It is here, universal, operating in innumerable ways and finding common ground of affection in the whole race. This all comes out so clearly in a careful reading of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers.

But, having tracked sin to its remotest haunt, God has made provision for dealing with it to the very last suggestion.

1. A whole Burnt offering, that the believer may stand accepted and perfect in relation to all the will of God (Col. 4:12; Lev. 1; Hebrews 10).

2. A Meal offering, that he may be able to come into possession of moral perfection, not his own, but presented by faith.  (Lev. 2; Romans 12:1-2; Hebrews 10:10; 13:21, etc.).

3. A Peace offering, that there may be not only access and standing, but fellowship and oneness with God (Lev. 3; Col. 1:20; Romans 5:10, etc.).

4. A Sin offering, that sin in its more positive aspects, and sin in ignorance and without consciousness, may not interfere with living fellowship by bringing in spiritual death, either through our own failure or through the contamination of contact (Lev. 4; 5, etc.).

And not only in the matter of our relationship with God does the Blood make an all-sufficient provision, but in cooperation with God by priestly ministry, in effective spiritual service in its many-sidedness.

So, then, the first and primary thing in a living testimony to the complete overthrow of the dominion of satan and the destruction of his works is a due and adequate apprehension and appreciation of the Lord Jesus in the value of His Blood.

There is something almighty in the death of Jesus Christ. Many of God's people have failed to recognize the important distinction between His crucifixion and His death. The crucifixion is man's side. The death is His own. All the crosses ever made, and all the men who ever conceived them, could never have brought about the death of the Lord Jesus, apart from His own voluntary act of laying down His life. "I lay down My life ... No man taketh it from Me ... I lay it down of Myself. I have power (jurisdiction) to lay it down, and I have power (jurisdiction) to take it again.. This commandment have I received of My Father" (John 10:17-18).

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 26)

Bless Is He Whose Faith is Not Offended

Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me. (Luke 7:23)

 

It is sometimes very difficult not to be offended in Jesus Christ. The offenses may be circumstantial. I find myself in a prison-house—a narrow sphere, a sick chamber, an unpopular position—when I had hoped for wide opportunities. Yes, but He knows what is best for me. My environment is of His determining. He means it to intensify my faith, to draw me into nearer communion with Himself, to ripen my power. In the dungeon my soul should prosper.

 

The offense may be mental. I am haunted by perplexities, questions, which I cannot solve. I had hoped that, when I gave myself to Him, my sky would always be clear; but often it is overspread by mist and cloud. Yet let me believe that, if difficulties remain, it is that I may learn to trust Him all the more implicitly—to trust and not be afraid. Yes, and by my intellectual conflicts, I am trained to be a tutor to other storm-driven men.

 

The offense may be spiritual. I had fancied that within His fold I should never feel the biting winds of temptation; but it is best as it is. His grace is magnified. My own character is matured. His Heaven is sweeter at the close of the day. There I shall look back on the turnings and trials of the way, and shall sing the praises of my Guide. So, let come what will come, His will is welcome; and I shall refuse to be offended in my loving Lord.
—Alexander Smellie

 

Blessed is he whose faith is not offended, 

When all around his way

The power of God is working out deliverance 

For others day by day;

 

Though in some prison drear his own soul languish, 

Till life itself be spent,

Yet still can trust his Father’s love and purpose, 

And rest therein content.

 

Blessed is he, who through long years of suffering, 

Cut off from active toil,

Still shares by prayer and praise the work of others, 

And thus “divides the spoil.” 

 

Blessed are thou, O child of God, who sufferest,

And canst not understand

The reason for thy pain, yet gladly leavest 

Thy life in His blest Hand.

 

Yea, blessed art thou whose faith is “not offended”

By trials unexplained,

By mysteries unsolved, past understanding, 

Until the goal is gained.

~L. B. Cowman~

God's Reactions to Man's Defections # 24

The Testimony of the Blood (continued)

There is nothing which satan fears so terribly and contests so fiercely as a true and living testimony concerning the Blood of the Lord Jesus: not a teaching, doctrine, creed or phraseology, but that which is wrought out in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is therefore necessary for us to seek to recognize this fact, to understand, as far as we can, why it is so, and to know our position of victory because of the Blood. Unto this three-fold apprehension we shall begin at the ultimate issue of the testimony, which is -

The Divine Seed in Prosperity and Sovereignty

It is this that satan cannot bear to contemplate, and against which he is bitterly set, because it represents a menace to his kingdom at every point.

There is a very great significance attached to the introduction of the Book of Exodus with "the names of the sons of Israel", who came into Egypt. The title "sons of Israel" represents their dignity as sons of "a prince of God." They came into Egypt and were in great prosperity and strength, while yet a separate and unabsorbed people. This dignity, prosperity and power came to be regarded as a distinct peril to the king of Egypt, and he projected a plan for humbling them, bringing them into bondage and making them rather to contribute to his own prosperity and power.

Thus Exodus presents, firstly, God's mind concerning the princely dignity and spiritual prosperity and ascendency of the "sons"; then the activity and object of the adversary concerning them; and finally the Divine thought and intention established in the realm of "far above all rule and authority" in virtue of the shed blood of chapter 12. So then, sonship and sovereignty are the two factors present throughout. Sonship is the basic principle. Sovereignty is the issue involved in the conflict. The Blood is the instrument by which both are established. "These are the names of the sons of 'the prince' of God" ... is the introduction. "Let My Son go, that he may serve Me", is the challenge to Pharaoh; and "Thou hast refused ... behold, I will slay thy son", is the sovereign factor at issue (Exodus 4:23).

Now these elements are carried forward throughout all the Scriptures. It does not matter where you look: that which lies behind all the conflicts in the history of the people of God concerns the existence of a Divine seed in prosperity and power - spiritually - and the factor which is mainly involved is that of the Altar and the Blood. Everything hangs on that. This all heads up and finds its supreme expression in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus. As with Moses typically, so with Him anti-typically, there was the recognition of the One through Whom this Divine seed would be constituted in its "authority ... over all the power of the enemy" (Luke 10:19). So from birth a "dead set" was made for His destruction - not only by direct onslaught, but by subtle subterfuge to get Him to act upon a level of self by which the Divine protection would be forfeited.

The point at which we meet this whole matter of the testimony of the Blood is with - 

An Elect In Bondage

There is abundant Scripture to show what was the original thought and intention of God for His spiritual seed, and this is a very important matter for the apprehension of the Lord's people. But what particularly concerns us now is its realization. It is not a little impressive that of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament at least twenty-one have to do with the bringing of the Lord's children into their right spiritual place. And how many of them are directly concerned with the matter of the actual or threatening loss of spiritual prosperity and ascendency through some form of bondage. There is a bondage of iniquity, of sin and sins, of the Law, of tradition, of fear, of the flesh, of the carnal mind, of reason, of the righteousness of the flesh, the wisdom of the flesh, the 'spirituality' of the flesh, and many other forms of bondage. The bonds of satan are very numerous, and he suits the kind to the case. A prince in chains, a member of the seed royal in servile oppression, is a pitiable sight, and this is what the devil delights in. The "man-child", whether individual as in Moses and Christ (Exodus 1 and Matthew 2), or corporate as in Revelation 12, is the object of the dragon's venom. This is the Divine seed.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 25)

Mercy! Forgiveness! Acceptance! Pardon! Welcome!

In Hebrews 12:22-24, we are given a powerful word on how the blood of Jesus speaks such better things than the blood of Abel.  This is a great insight, so bear with me,

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

You can read the story of Abel and his brother, Cain, in Genesis 4.  What we learn is that Cain became jealous of Abel, and as a result, Cain rose up against Abel in the field and killed him.

God said, "Cain, the blood of your brother, Abel, cries out to Me from the ground."  What did the blood of Abel say?  "Vengeance!  Judgment!"

The blood of Jesus cries better things.  The blood that soaked the cross and made it red, the blood that soaked the ground below the cross at that place called Calvary, the blood that today is in the heavenly Holy of Holies, that blood cries out day and night into the ears of God.

The blood of Jesus today does not cry out, "Vengeance!  Judgment!"  Instead, it cries out, "Mercy!  Forgiveness!  Acceptance!  Pardon!  Welcome!"

The question is:  How will you respond? Hebrews 12:25 issues a stern warning,

See that you do not refuse Him who speaks.  For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven.

If you have yet to accept Jesus as your Savior, do so today.

~Bayless Conley~