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~