Is Jesus Your All?

                                      

Col 3:11  Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
 

I wonder, dear friends, what you covet and pray for more than anything else. 

For my own part, my coveting, my praying is more than for anything else, a fresh and mighty captivation of the Lord Jesus, a captivation of Christ. Oh, it is quite true, and we know it, that He is our Life, He is our Savior, He is so much to us and we are right when we say that we could not live without Him.

And yet, is there not some margin between that and what I am calling an absolute captivation with Christ? That He is a Passion in our lives, that He is a Dominating Power in our lives.

Language fails... that He has just so captured us, so utterly captured us, that not only is He our Life in the sense that we couldn't get on without Him, but that He is a passion for living.

This man who wrote these words, just look at him in this way: somehow he had seen Christ at the beginning and through his long years he had seen more and more of Christ, until in prison – with all those terrible sufferings and afflictions and adversities and sorrows and disappointments that had come upon him through those years, his catalog of adversities right at the end; Christ is more than everything. 

Christ is in the ascendant, it is “Christ will be All, and in all.” Now I say, language fails, I cannot put into words what I mean, but oh, for the positiveness of this passion of Christ....

Such a seeing, a grasping, an apprehending and being mastered by the Greatness of the One to Whom, by the grace of God, we have been united, called into the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ.

May it be more than a mental grasping of Christ; that we know He is Great, we believe He is great, we have experienced something of His Greatness. May our hearts, more than even our minds, be mastered by this Man Jesus Christ and we be His abject slaves in worship and adoration.

He is so great!

~T. Austin Sparks~

Spiritual Blessings

                             

Eph 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

The object of our meditation is: Jesus Christ in heaven as our Sufficiency.... Our Lord Jesus’ resources came from His Father when He was here on this earth.

He voluntarily lived in a state of absolute dependence on Him.

He willed it to be so.

He refused to have anything in Himself.

Everything He needed He drew from heaven; He received it from above. 

When we are in resurrection-union with Christ, the Holy Spirit brings us into oneness with Him who is in heaven for us.

That means: all the resources upon which the Lord Jesus lived are at our disposal. 

These resources were secret resources, that is, they were unknown to the world. 

The people around Him were absolutely in the dark as to the source of His power. There was a secret relationship between Him and His Father which impressed them. They saw that there was something in the background of His life, a mysterious power and knowledge, which was not ordinary to man.

He had a whole set of resources at His command which no one possessed. He had a knowledge which was far beyond man’s understanding. And because He lived a secret life, a life in His Father, His resources were mysterious and wonderful to men.

If we live in heavenly union with Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit, the same resources are at our disposal.

Let us remind ourselves of the Word which is at the basis of our meditation: “The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ.” 

That means that all the resources which are in Christ are available for us. But we have to learn to live in such close fellowship with Him as He lived with His Father in the days of His flesh.

~T. Austin Sparks~

How Can We Know We Are Truly "In Christ"?

                                                                                                                                                            
(Please note: These evidences are contingent upon your first repenting of sin, forsaking all wickedness, trusting in Christ for eternal salvation, and allowing Him to translate you out of darkness and into His kingdom of light.)

1. You are in Christ if you are continually being renewed. Those who are "in Christ" do not rest on a one-time conversion experience. Rather, they constantly cry out to be changed and renewed by the Holy Spirit. Their daily prayer is, "Lord, take out of me everything that is unlike You.”

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new 
(2 Corinthians 5:17).  Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour" 
(Titus 3:5-6).

2. You are in Christ if you govern your life by the Scriptures. Do you revere and fear God's Word?

Whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him (1 John 2:5). The Bible makes it clear: We know we are in Christ if we love and obey His Word.

3. You are in Christ if your faith is mixed with charity. Scripture says if you do not have charity, or unconditional love, you cannot be in Christ.
 
Though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing" 
(1 Corinthians 13:2). Nothing in Greek here means, "I am nothing now nor will I ever be anything. In other words, Without unconditional love for all, I am a nobody and I will always be a nobody."

You can be a gifted preacher, a powerful evangelist, or an anointed teacher of God’s Word who walks in great faith, but if you do not have love for others, you are nothing.

~David Wilkerson~
 

Taking Sin Lightly

                                                                                
The prophet Ezekiel gives us a vivid illustration of what happens to a people who take their sin lightly. In this account, the seventy elders of Judah came to Ezekiel to receive a word from the Lord. These men were all in the service of the temple, and as they gathered with the prophet to worship, Ezekiel was given an amazing vision:

As I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me. Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber. And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem (Ezekiel 8:1-3).

The Holy Spirit fell on this gathering, and God's holy fire filled the place with light: "And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there" (verse 4). 

Whenever God's fiery presence appears in a meeting, sin is always exposed.
 
Suddenly, the prophet saw that these men's minds were filled with every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts (verse 10). He is describing demonic strongholds, evil beings. And they had infiltrated God's house through the ministry!

There sat the seventy elders, calm and placid, appearing as worshipers seeking guidance from the Lord. In truth, however, they were covering hidden sin. They had been going through the outward worship procedures of the temple ministry, when in reality they all belonged to a secret society of sun worshipers. They employed prostitutes in the temple and as part of the worship ritual, these supposedly godly elders took part in fornication.

Worst of all, these men were not convicted of their horrible idolatry. They had convinced themselves that God winked at their idolatry. David was heavily burdened by his sin but these seventy elders felt no arrows of conviction, no loss of physical strength, no emotional pain. Instead, they were deceived by what Moses called a "false peace."

And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst (Deuteronomy 29:19).

In other words: A deceived person is like a drunkard; he has lost all ability to discern. He can't even distinguish between thirst and drunkenness.

~David Wilkerson~

I Have Something Against You

                                                                           
The Christians at Ephesus walked closely with the Lord. As I read through Paul's letter to the Ephesians, I am amazed at the gospel these people heard and lived. In fact, Paul compliments them at length. He addresses them as, "The faithful in Christ Jesus blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ chosen before the foundation of the world predestinated unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will" (Ephesians 1:1-5).

What a description of a blessed, holy people! Jesus also compliments the Ephesian Christians in the book of Revelation: I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience (Revelation 2:2). In other words: I know all the good things going on in your lives. You patiently labor for Me without complaining and you will do anything for others. You're diligent in your good works and that is very commendable.

Jesus points out something else in the hearts of these Ephesians, something He notes is deeply wrong. He says, I see all your works your hatred for sin, your love for truth, your righteous courage. And yet somehow in all your labors, you've allowed your first love to wither. Your affection for Me is dying.

Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love (verse 4). Beloved, I have read and reread this verse and have concluded that its seriousness cannot be overlooked. The word somewhat here indicating something that might be taken lightly does not appear in the original Greek text. Instead, the original phrase is translated, literally, I have something against you!

I would like to think I am an Ephesian-type Christian, a faithful laborer. I want to believe that my suffering is for Jesus' sake, that my good works glorify Him, that I practice righteous living, that I am seated with Him in heavenly places. But when I read of Jesus walking among such well-taught believers as the Ephesians and telling them, "I have something against you,”
it grips my soul. 

I have to ask my Lord, "Jesus, do You have something against me? Have I also lost my affection for You?"

~T. Austin Sparks~

What Holds Your Heart?

                                                                                                                                                   
What holds your heart right now? Does your soul yearn for Jesus,or for the things of this world?

A woman on our mailing list wrote this distressing note: "My
husband was once on fire for God. For years he gave himself
faithfully to the Lord's work but today he's all wrapped up in a
new pursuit. He no longer has any time for the Lord. I worry for him, because he's grown so cold."

Jesus told a parable about this very kind of legitimate pursuit. A wealthy man sent his servant to invite all his friends to a great feast he was holding. But, Scripture says, the man's friends "all with one consent began to make excuse" (Luke 14:18).

One friend told the servant, "I just bought a piece of land, sight
unseen, and I have to inspect it. Please tell your master I won't
be able to come." The next friend told the servant, "I just bought a yoke of oxen and I haven't had time to test them. Tell your master I can't come, because I have to go into the field to plow with them." Yet another friend told the servant, "I just got married and I'm about to take my honeymoon. I don't have time to come to the feast."

This man had invited all his friends to enjoy an intimate time of
fellowship with him. He had made all the arrangements for their comfort and convenience. The table had been set and everything had been prepared, but no one came. Everyone was simply too busy or preoccupied.

Each person had a good, legitimate reason for not coming. After
all, they were not avoiding their friend so that they could go partying or bar-hopping. On the contrary, the Bible commends everything these people were doing: Buying and selling can provide security for one's family, and testing a major purchase is a sound business practice. Finally, marriage is a blessing that the Scriptures encourage.

Yet, how did this wealthy man react? Scripture says, "The lord
said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and
compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say
unto you, that none of those men which were bidden shall taste
of my supper" (verses 23-24).

Jesus makes a very clear point in this parable: Each of these
good, legitimate things becomes sinful when it takes priority over the Lord.

~David Wilkerson~

We Are The Temple Today

                           

Wherever two or three are gathered (drawn together as My followers) into My name, there I AM in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20 AMP)

Jesus, As THE TRUTH, is CONTRASTED with Satan, the LIAR. But HE is also Contrasted with All representations, types, symbols, outward forms, etc., which were – and are – not the true, the real.

When our LORD spoke of His body as the Temple, deliberately refraining from the fuller explanation because of the fixed prejudice of His hearers, He introduced the Great Truth of the transition from one dispensation to another, and the complete change in the nature of temple and worship.

It was because Stephen saw this and declared it that he was murdered by these very people. 

Said he: "The Most High dwelleth not in houses made with hands" (Acts 7:48). Paul said the same to the Athenians (Acts 17:24). This does not mean that God never came into representations When They Wholly Corresponded With His Thought.

Both the Tabernacle and the Temple were made with hands and GOD came into them in Power and Glory, but Not To Commit Himself To The Thing.

The time came when He FORSOOK BOTH and He was no longer found there. They were only temporary representations and His presence was conditional.

The "True Tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man" (Hebrews 8:2) is "Not Of This Creation."

The whole Letter to the Hebrews has to do with this change from the earthly and temporal to the heavenly and spiritual. Hence, He is no longer in "temples made with hands."

To come right to the point: the New Testament teaches that the Temple in this dispensation is a Person, and persons incorporated into Him through death, burial and resurrection, and "baptized into one body by one Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:13).

We must also remember that Jesus foretold the passing away of that entire temporal system, with Jerusalem as its center and representation.

With His foreknowledge of the passing of the earthly, temporal and material things; places, systems, fixed locations, and outward forms, the Lord Jesus put the whole matter of survival upon Himself as the constituent of a spiritual structure against which the very powers of hell would not prevail.

Against fixed localizing and systematizing of Himself and His presence He was emphatic, and history is evidence of how right He was. If, according to John 3:16, salvation is a matter of "whosoever," the Lord's presence and true worship, according to Matthew 18:20, is "wheresoever."

~T. Austin Sparks~

Devil Proof!

                                                      
God allows your trial because He wants to make you “devil-proof”! That does not mean you will not be attacked again but you will be trained to stand! It is all part of His preparing you for greater service, greater anointing and expanded usefulness in His kingdom.

Furthermore, the Lord is trying to strengthen you against the devil’s wiles. He is raising up a body of believers who have faced the devil, who have been strengthened against him, and who know his devices and are not afraid of him! 

God is saying, “Once you understand why you are going through this, you will have taken back all the ground you lost. You will be in control again—by the power of the Holy Spirit!”

Once Elijah’s trial was over (see 1 Kings 19) he would never run again. He now had a sense of direction and he was reassured in his spirit. You see, God was about to send him to nations to raise up kings, leaders and prophets!

God told Elijah: “Go, return on your way...anoint Hazael as king over Syria...anoint Jehu...as king over Israel. And Elisha...you shall anoint as prophet in your place” (1 Kings 19:15-16). Elijah had been given fresh anointing power. He was in control again!

“So he departed from there” (verse 19). Elijah came out of the cave to do God’s will! He did not have to shed a river of tears. No, he simply had heard the Word of the Lord!

Beloved, the only hold the devil can have on you is fear. And you must shake it off in faith!  

You have to say, “I am Not going down. God is going to give me a fresh anointing from heaven—He is going to use me!”

Do you believe that God is not finished with you—that He is teaching and training you for better things? He wants to speak to you in your cave of despondency. He wants to tell you what to do and where to go—and He wants to bring you out!

So get up out of your despair and shake off the bondage of fear and depression! Depart from your cave. 

You will discover that the moment you get up and walk out, the anointing will flow!

~David Wilkerson~

A ROD Of IRON

                                              
The apostle Paul writes of Christ's ascension into heaven: "And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it" (Colossians 2:15).  

THAT'S RIGHT! Staggering behind our Lord's triumphant procession was the prince of darkness himself, Bound In Chains.

And behind the DEFEATED devil underneath the wheels of the heavenly hosts were all the powers of darkness, bound and vanquished. 

They were being put to an open shame before all those who had died in faith before the cross.

And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall  they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father (Revelation2:27). Jesus entered the gates carrying in His hand a scepter of righteousness, His "rod of iron" with which He rules all nations.

Then, after His triumphant entrance, He took His Rightful Place on the Throne in FULL possession of ALL Power, Authority and Dominion.

What a glorious picture!  

Satan is NOT in control! Communism is NOT in control! Atheism is NOT in control!

No, the enemies of Christ exist ONLY by HIS PERMISSION!!!

And right now they only continue to FILL UP their cups of iniquity.

Jesus is in Control of all things and One Day, when He is Ready, He will "Break Them with a Rod of Iron; [He] shalt Dash them in Pieces like a Potter's Vessel"
(Psalm 2:9).

Beloved, our understanding of Christ's Victory over Satan and the dominion of  sin CANNOT be a vague, confused theology. 

We must KNOW and UNDERSTAND that Satan is TOTALLY DEFEATED!!! He cannot hold us prisoner!

And Christ has freed us by His blood from every bondage. 

Now He sits on His throne with ALL Power and Authority, offering us peace, joy and freedom.

~David Wilkerson~

Experience Is Of Greater Importance Than Being Delivered From Tribulation

                            

May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love... that you may really come to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge without experience. (Ephesians 3:17,19 AMP)

The Holy Spirit, with all that the gift of the Spirit means of enduement and endowment and instruction and strengthening, is not a substitute for experience.

We are very often found asking that certain things shall be done for us by the Holy Spirit which the Holy Spirit will never do. He has to lead us into experience. It is the only way in which He can answer our prayers.

Many prayers are answered through experience. You ask the Lord to do something, and He takes you through experience, and you arrive at the answer in that way.

You had not meant that, of course: you wanted the Lord to do the thing there and then as a gift, as an act; but that would have been merely objective, something given, whereas He wants to make it a part of yourself, and so He answers prayer by some experience.

Steadfastness worketh experience, and if there is no experience, what is the good of anybody or anything?

So then, experience is of greater importance than being delivered from tribulation. 

Tribulation worketh experience.

Oh, how often we have asked the Lord why He allowed this and that, or why He did not do this or that. Why did He not hinder Adam from sinning? Why has He not stopped the world in so many things that have had most terrible results? Experience is very largely the answer. 

Experience is very important because, after all, it is the very quality of service.

When we come to real life, and we are really up against things and the issues are of the greatest consequence, we do not want just information, we want experience, and we go where experience can help us. Is that not so? Thus experience is the very body and quality of service and usefulness to the Lord.

~T. Austin Sparks~

Die To Live

    

Jesus answered them saying - The hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified 

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit.

He is speaking of Himself first of all as laying down His soul, but now He extends that principle to those who shall share with Him this life, this life of ascension in God, this life which is Spirit.

We must follow the same principle that He followed, not only for our salvation, but for our identification with Him. 

We do not save ourselves in any way by trying to follow Jesus. I hope you recognize the meaning of that. We do not save ourselves in any way by trying to follow Jesus, because we cannot. 

The one who endeavored best to follow Jesus in the flesh was Peter. He tried hard; and he did all kinds of desperately courageous things, and there was no man so resolute, and determined as he. He was the one who stepped out on the sea in that dark and stormy night.

If ever there was a dare-devil it was Peter in the realm of his flesh. You must not minimize Peter's attributes of heart and mind as a man in the natural.

He was the man who took out his sword and was prepared to fight single-handed the armed forces that came to arrest the Saviour.

Just two swords they had, and Peter unsheathed one and was prepared to defend the Lord Jesus Christ against the world. That speaks for his courage; but he knew nothing about this other thing. He knew nothing about the impact of hell; he knew nothing about the impact of principalities and powers.

You remember the Lord (ch. 13) says - "Whither I go thou canst not follow me now," 

And Peter says: "I will lay down my soul for thy sake." But he did not know what it is to lay down the soul. He thought it was to die in the mortal body. That is not laying down the soul. 

There are plenty of men with dare-devil courage who will face that, but that is not laying down the soul. And the Lord tells him: "Wilt thou lay down thy soul for my sake?

Verily, verily, I say unto thee the cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice." As much as to say, You do not know the impact of Satan, and the weakness of your own moral fiber.

You will crumple up as I take My sheltering hand from over you; but I have prayed the Father that thy faith fail not, and when thou art turned again at last, and hast seen thine own weakness, then strengthen the brethren.

And it is only the brethren who have had this crash who can strengthen others, because they know the weakness of the flesh, the impossibility of any man or woman fighting their way through. 

Thou shalt follow Me hereafter. That means following Him in the way of laying down your life; but we are only able to lay down that life through the operation of the Cross. 

It is only as the Holy Spirit makes possible the laying down constantly of the natural life into that death which Jesus has already died for us that we can follow Him through into the Godhead, have access unto the Father in Fellowship of one Spirit in Him.

We only live in the Spirit as we are crucified in the flesh.

We only live in God as we die in ourselves.

~T. Austin Sparks~

PRESSED Out Of Measure

2Co 1:8  For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: 

2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

God allowed the crisis to close around Jacob on the night when he bowed at Peniel in supplication, to bring him to the place where he could take hold of God as he never would have done; and from that narrow pass of peril, Jacob became enlarged in his faith and knowledge of God, and in the power of a new and victorious life.

God had to compel David, by a long and painful discipline of years, to learn the almighty power and faithfulness discipline of years, to learn the Almighty Power and Faithfulness of his GOD, and grow up into the established principles of faith and godliness, which were indispensable for his glorious career as the king of Israel.

Nothing but the extremities in which Paul was constantly placed could ever have taught him, and taught the Church through him, the full meaning of the great promise he so learned to claim, "My grace is sufficient for thee."

And nothing but our trials and perils would ever have led some of us to know Him as we do, to trust Him as we have, and to draw from Him the measures of grace which our very extremities made indispensable.

Difficulties and obstacles are God's challenges to faith. When hindrances confront us in the path of duty, we are to recognize them as vessels for faith to fill with the fullness and all-sufficiency of Jesus; and as we go forward, simply and fully trusting Him, we may be tested, we may have to wait and let patience have her perfect work; but we shall surely find at last the stone rolled away, and the LORD waiting to render unto us double for our time of testing

~A. B. Simpson~

LET IT GO

                            

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

 

You have a life, and that Life is a Great Trust, a Great Responsibility. It can stay in its Own Ambitions, its Own Interests, its Own Worldly Concerns and Considerations, it can Stay By Itself.

Will you give your life to God, will you let it go to Him, will you put it on the altar and let the knife be taken that God may have it utterly?

If you will, God will multiply your life, God will extend your life, God will make much more of it than ever it would have been if you had kept it in your own hands. 

Have you got something in your life that you are holding on to as a Christian? 

You are not letting that go to the Lord?

You know what it is.

I should miss it if I tried to catalog the things it might be.

You know you have something where you are not letting go to the Lord. 

The Lord has put His finger on something, and you are holding on. 

You have an argument which you think is a very good argument. 

You have a reason you think perfectly good, so you are holding on. 

Deep down the truth is you are not prepared to let that go....

There are times when, in recognition that a certain course is the Lord’s way, we have to wait for the Lord’s time and see to it that our strength of will coming into alliance with some purpose of God is not jeopardizing the fruitfulness of that thing, and doing other people harm and making other people suffer.

There are times when we have to come back to the Lord and say, "Lord, You have shown me that is Your way for me, but I can see that it is going to involve others in a great deal of suffering.

I do want to be sure of Your time in this, and that I am not taking hold of it; it is not my strength of will to do Your will. I want to do this thing in self-sacrificing love, so that the least loss shall be suffered by others."

We have seen people who are right as to their objective, right as to what the Lord wants, but the way in which they do it often spoils the whole thing.

They take hold of Divine things, and while the thing is right, they are spoiling it by bringing their own strength of will into alliance with it.

This applies in many ways. We must be circumcised in heart to do the will of God, ready to let go and let God determine the way to accomplish it. May the Lord interpret His Word and make it fruitful.

I know it is challenging. It searches us all; we shall all come up against it. But oh, see what happened in heaven, and see that He desires that as it is in heaven, so it shall be on earth.

~T. Austin Sparks~

Forsake YOUR Ground

Gal 3:28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 

In this dispensation God is not meeting Jews as Jews, and Gentiles as Gentiles, and a great many are making the mistake of thinking that He is.

His Word to the Jew is: "You must leave your Jewish ground, and stand before God, not as a Jew, but as a man, and until you take that ground God has nothing to say to you; you will not have any light whilst you persist in coming before God on your own ground."

The same has to be said to everyone else. We have to leave our own ground in every way. As that applies in these directions nationally, it applies in every other thing. Are you going to answer the Lord back: But I am this or that, or something else; or, But I am not this or that. It is not what you are, but what the Son is, that is of account.

Come on to His ground. The Lord will not meet you on the ground of what you are, whether it be good or bad; He will meet you on the ground of the Heavenly Man. Do you answer back, "I am so weak!" The Lord is not going to meet you on that ground; He will meet you on the ground of His Son.

That is what the Holy Spirit means by such words as He speaks through Paul: “...be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:1). God hears us exclaim, "But I am so weak, Lord!" but He does not pay any heed to what we mean to indicate by that confession, which is: "Come down on to the ground of my weakness and pick me up!" He says, "You forsake that ground, and come on to the ground of My Son, and you will find strength there." "I am so foolish, Lord!" The Lord says: "You will remain foolish until you get on to the ground of My Son, Who is made unto you wisdom."

That applies all the way along. We take our own ground before the Lord and are surprised that the Lord does not lift us right out of our own ground and put us into a better position, but He never does. We shall stay there forever, if that is our attitude.

The Lord’s word to us is: "Forsake your own ground and come on to My ground. I have provided a Heavenly Man Who is full of all that you need; now come on to that ground." It does not matter what you are, or what you are not. There everything is adjusted and made good.

~T. Austin Sparks~

REVIVING THE HEART

                                                                                 
Did you first come to the Lord only because you wanted something from Him? Did you turn to God in order to kick a drug habit, to have your marriage restored, to be delivered from financial trouble?

The truth is, Christ will work miracles for you. He will do the impossible in  your life. But if you come to Him only to get something from Him only to be delivered from your problems you will never grow an inch in maturity. On the contrary, you will only grow hard.

Think back to the time of your conversion. Did it happen after some locust had  eaten everything away? Was your health debilitated? Was one of your children in trouble? Did you end up in devastation, with death and ruin hovering over you?

Please do not misunderstand me. Of course, God loves to save people who end up  in ruin. When all is lost, He is always near and faithful to deliver. But, beloved, you cannot come to Jesus just to get relief. You must come to Him because He is God and because He deserves your life, your worship, your obedience.

Right now you may be saying, "Yes, I admit I've been neglecting God's Word and  I'm still bound by a besetting sin. Am I too far gone to receive the Lord's healing touch?"

No, not at all! If you will begin to call on the Lord today, in the midst of  your need, He will bring you times of refreshing. Whenever you bring a truly repentant heart to Him, He will act as your mediator and intercessor, not as your judge.

Do you want to grow into maturity in Christ? Do you want the Lord to keep  reproving you in love and guiding you toward godliness? Then call on Him today. Nothing will keep you on His intended path for you more than a broken and contrite heart!

For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name  is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isaiah 57:15).

~David Wilkerson~



 

THE IMPOSSIBLE MISSION

                                                                                 
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). Christ said, "I came into this world for one reason — to reach and save lost souls." Yet this was not only the mission of Jesus, He made it our mission also: "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15).

Jesus was speaking here to a small band of believers, about 120 people who had  gathered in the upper room. And what an impossible task He laid before them!

Go to foreign nations, live with the people and study their languages. Lay hands on the sick, cast out devils, proclaim the good news. Go to the very seat of Satan and preach the power and victory of the risen Savior."

We must realize that Jesus was talking to ordinary, insignificant, uneducated  men and women. He was placing the very future of His Church on their shoulders. They must have been overwhelmed.

Can you imagine the conversation that must have taken place once their Master  ascended to heaven? "Did I hear Him right? How could we start a worldwide revolution? We're penniless and the Romans are beating and killing us. If we are treated this way here in Jerusalem, how will we be treated when we witness and preach in Rome?”

Another might have said, "How does our Lord expect us to go into all the world  with the gospel when we don't even have enough money to go to Jericho? How are we to learn languages when we haven't been educated? This is all impossible."

It was indeed an impossible mission. Yet our challenge today is just as  daunting!

If all who read this message would allow the Holy Spirit to make this word real  to them to seek Him for His burden and guidance — there is no telling what kind of harvest the Spirit might reap. The truth is, the greatest works for eternity are done not in mass crusades, but with one saint reaching one lost soul.


~David Wilkerson~

How Long Will You Halt~~~~~~~~~~~~ Between Two Opinions?

                             

1Ki 18:21  And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. 

 

That word was never addressed to the unsaved. It was never intended for them. It is only rarely that the unsaved are in the position of two opinions. More often than not they are of no opinion.

This is what the prophet really said to the people: "How long limp ye from one side to another?" He viewed them as lame, and lamed by uncertainty, lamed by indecision, paralyzed by an unsettled issue.

Oh, how an unsettled issue does paralyze the life. Have a controversy with the Lord, an unsettled issue with the Lord, and your whole life is lamed, is paralyzed; you are limping first one way and then the other; there is no sense of stability about your way.

So the prophet called for the issue to be settled. How long limp ye from one side to the other? Settle this issue one way or the other. If Jehovah be God, let Him have His place, His full rights; settle it once and for all. If Baal is god, well then let us be settled. 

But until that is done you are crippled, you are paralyzed, and the whole secret of your being in that weak, indefinite, unstable, uncertain place is that God is not having His full rights.

There is a dividedness in your life, a dividedness in your own soul, because other interests and considerations are in view. The dividedness may be in your home life, where you have power, authority and influence, and you are not standing one hundred percent for the Lord’s interests there. 

It may be working in other directions, but wherever it is present the result is that deep down in your being you are not satisfied, you are not at rest. You may be busy, you may be occupied, you may be rushing hither and thither in the Lord’s name, but you know that deep down there is a lack, an uncertainty, an unsettled state; your spiritual life is limited and paralyzed.

It will always be so until the issue is settled and God has His place in fullness in every part and relationship of your life. It is a question of zeal for the Lord, jealousy for the Lord.

~T. Austin Sparks~

Satan Knows Our Weakest Moment~~~ And He Uses It

It was when the Master had fasted for forty days and nights and hungered that Satan came with his testings. 

Whatever other factors were present in the cases of Elijah and others, there is no doubt that the Physical and Nervous drain of recent experiences gave the cowardly enemy very promising ground for his assault.

When Moses made his great mistake at the rock it is evident that he was an overwrought man, and although the weakness is given full uncovering and the result shown to be very grievous in a temporal way, he was never afterward repudiated in history as a failure; rather was he with the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration. David still held his place of high honor and value in Divine purposes, and his name runs to the end of Scripture with Divine recognition despite the grievous fallings in the way. 

He suffered, it is true, but God knows that in the lives of those who count for Him there are forces at work which are extra to the ordinary human weaknesses.

This is made so clear in the case of Peter, whose terrible failure was said by the Lord to be the work of Satan; and there is no doubt but that Satan knew Peter's weak point and weak moment. 

We must, however, bear in mind that, while the Scriptures on these matters are given us for our comfort, and to magnify the grace of God, they are not meant to weaken us or excuse our weakness, but to make us aware of how Satan can get an advantage, and to indicate the danger points along the way of spiritual usefulness.

In the case of Elijah before us, there is one thing that we want to note, and the noting of which we feel will be a help to some. It is this: in the moment of his weakness Satan sowed a lie in Elijah's mind, and Elijah accepted it. Our Lord said of Satan that "he is a liar, and the father thereof" (John 8:44). In this case he begot the lie that Elijah was the only faithful prophet of God left in Israel. There was ground for that seed. The man was fighting a lonely battle; ploughing a lonely furrow; walking a lonely path. There is no doubt about that. 

~T. Austin Sparks~

TroubleMakers

John 16:33  These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. 

 

When the Spiritual STANDS to CONFRONT the merely formal, traditional, nominal and natural, then there is going to be trouble.

This is not now merely the reaction from the world: it is the reaction from religion. I would go further, and say it may be the reaction from Christianity.

There is a very great difference between formal, traditional, nominal, "natural" Christianity, on the one side, and spiritual Christianity, on the other; a great deal of difference. So much so, that this also becomes a battlefield – the battlefield of a lot of trouble.

Leave formalism alone, and everything will go on quite quietly. Leave traditionalism alone – that is, the set order of things as it has always been; that framework of things as it has been constituted and set up and established by man; that Christianity which is the fixed, accepted system of things – and you will escape a great deal of trouble.

But seek to bring in a truly spiritual order of things, and trouble arises at once. And YOU are the trouble maker!

The truth is that the trouble lies in the existing condition, the situation, the state; but it is only brought out by your action.

And so spiritual men and women, and spiritual ministry, are called "trouble makers," because the two things cannot go on together. That is where Israel was. They had the traditions, they had the oracles, they had the ordinances, they had the testimonies; they had the forms, they had the system – they had it all; but, in the days of the prophets, there was ever this vast gap between the "externals" and "internals" of life in relation with God.

The heart is far removed from the lips. The spiritual reality is not found in the formal. You may have it all – but then bring in the truly spiritual meaning of things, and trouble begins in that very realm.

It is the trouble which arises when what is external and traditional comes into conflict with something which is truly spiritual.

~T. Austin Sparks~

A SATANIC MASTER-STROKE

                              

2Co 2:10  To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; 

2Co 2:11  Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Perhaps one of the most significant things to any who are Not Ignorant of his (Satan’s) devices is that there never has been a specially spiritual movement of God in the earth, calculated to serve Him in a particularly useful way, but what Satan’s ANIMOSITY thereto has been Manifested along the line of Division, Schism, Discord, Separation, and a Breaking Down Of Fellowship.

And how often has the Real Sting and Stigma been modified by a feigning love unbroken and preserved, when the divided parties should have no association with each other in the things of God.

Love, let us again say emphatically, is incumbent upon the Lord’s people toward “all men,” whether of the “household” or otherwise (Gal. 6:10), but fellowship is something more. It is the most spiritual things which suffer the greatest shocks in this matter, and again we say this carries its own satanic significance.

The methods of the enemy are numberless, the “wiles” unfathomable by human wit.

A Suggestion of Suspicion, IF it finds lodgment, is enough to completely paralyze the work of God and spiritual progress. Have a doubt and you are done.

There never was a time when Positive Spiritual Work was more jeopardized by suspicion than now.

It would seem that hell is largely employed in issuing forth smoke, clouds, vapors, mists of suspicion, question, reservation, in order to INFECT with uncertainty, mystification, prejudice, fear, discrediting, distrust, aloofness. 

It is in the “heavenlies” that this is most registered; that is, the higher ranges of spiritual things. It is an atmosphere, and it is everywhere. You sense it wherever you go. In some places it is stifling – there is no clear breath of the Spirit, and a word of Life is almost choked back. Of course, this is no new thing, although now so intensified. The New Testament is full of it.

The Lord Jesus met it – Not in Spiritual people, ONLY in Religious people. John met it. Paul met it in every direction. It was made to circle round his person, his methods, his character, and his message.

~T. Austin Sparks~