Something More About His Ways

By Oswald Chambers

      He comes where He commands us to leave.

"When Jesus had made an end of commanding his disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities." '
      Matthew 11:1

      If when God said "Go," you stayed because you were so concerned about your people at home, you robbed them of the teaching and preaching of Jesus Christ Himself. When you obeyed and left all consequences to God, the Lord went into your city to teach; as long as you would not obey, you were in the way. Watch where you begin to debate and to put what you call duty in competition with your Lord's commands. "I know He told me to go, but they my duty was here;" that means you do not believe that Jesus means what He says.

      He teaches where He instructs us not to.

      "Master,...let us make three tabernacles."

Are we playing the spiritual amateur providence in other lives? Are we so noisy in our instruction of others that God cannot get anywhere near them? We have to keep our mouths shut and our spirits alert. God wants to instruct us in regard to His Son, He wants to turn our times of prayer into mounts of transfiguration, and we will not let Him. When we are certain of the way God is going to work, He will never work in that way any more.

      He works where He sends us to wait.

      "Tarry ye...until . . ." Wait on God and He will work, but don't wait in spiritual sulks because you cannot see an inch in front of you! Are we detached enough from our own spiritual hysterics to wait on God? To wait is not to sit with folded hands, but to learn to do what we are told. 

These are phases of His ways we rarely recognize.

"(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father )" (John 1:14)

INSPIRED PARENTHESES (1)


"(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father )" (John 1:14)

AS we read our Bibles we find that every now and again the translators have surrounded a parenthetic passage with double brackets -- (    ). These parentheses have no part in the flow of the narrative, as can be seen by simply omitting them from the reading and finding that there is no gap or break. Since, however, they are part of the inspired Word of God, they must not be omitted or overlooked. It may even be that the opposite is true, and that the Spirit has inserted them just there because they have a special value. I think this is the case, and propose to consider some of them in this way, beginning with the phrase quoted above from John 1:14.

The passage is a wonderful one. It tells us that: "the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth". This, however, could have been a general statement, true enough but quite impersonal. The words in brackets represent a most important addition; they inform us that John himself witnessed and appreciated this revelation from the Father. John closes his Gospel with the same insistence that he knew what he was writing about, since he had actually been present and enjoyed the spiritual reality of what had taken place (John 19:35 and 21:24). He not only saw the glory of the Incarnation, but also the glory of the Cross.

For him this parenthesis was all important. What is more, the values of it have overflowed to the Church everywhere. We cannot even imagine a New Testament lacking John's contributions, especially his Gospel which is full of spiritual wealth and is quite unique. We might never have marvelled at the water turned to wine if John had not seen Christ's glory at Cana of Galilee and believed on Him. If John had not been at the Cross, then we might not have known that the Lord's triumphant cry at the end was: "It is finished", and we would have had no personal testimony concerning the mysterious flowing of blood and water from the side of the crucified Saviour. All this, and very much more, represents the blessings which have accrued to us because John had this vital personal experience of beholding the Father's only Son.

The lesson, therefore, of this significant and inspired parenthesis is the supreme importance of having a personal revelation of God in Christ. It is not enough to have accurate information about the Lord Jesus -- we must see Him and know Him for ourselves. For John this was the secret of personal blessing, and it was also the basis of the long and costly witness which he faithfully bore right through to the isle of Patmos. But more than that, it gave him a mighty ministry of blessing to others. Because John so saw Christ, multitudes of others have come to see that glory for themselves, enjoying comfort and inspiration as a result of John's first-hand testimony.

Let us note this lesson. Let us make sure that we can put ourselves in the inspired double brackets, so that we also may be powerful and fruitful witnesses to the glory of the only begotten of the Father.

Harry Foster

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WHERE DO YOU STAND?

WHERE DO YOU STAND?
T. Austin-Sparks

"And the Lord God called unto the man, and said unto him,
Where art thou?" (Genesis 3:9)

"Behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him,
What doest thou here, Elijah?" (1 Kings 19:9)

"I John, ... was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God
and the testimony of Jesus." (Revelation 1:9)

THERE are times when we are called upon to give an account of where we are and why we are there. This is what happened on the three occasions which are described in our texts. The two in the garden were so challenged by God Himself, as was Elijah when he fled from Jezebel. Then there was John who commenced his book of the Revelation by declaring where he was when [57/58] he received that revelation, and why he was there.

The Lord's purpose in the case of the garden at the beginning was represented and symbolised by the tree of life. Everything circled around it, as may be verified by the reference in the final book of the Bible, the Revelation. So the original man's position was challenged as to its relationship with the Lord's testimony of life.

Elijah was the great prophet of life. How much he had to do with the meeting and overcoming of death! Eventually he went up in a whirlwind, untouched by death and triumphing gloriously over it. Here, however, we read of his being questioned as to his position, and pressed by the Lord to state just why he was where he was at that time.

There can be no doubt about the spiritual position of the apostle John. His whole ministry had been concerned with the testimony of Christ's triumphant life, and it was for that testimony's sake that he found himself in the isle of Patmos. There was no need for the Lord to ask any questions as to the whereabouts of His faithful servant, for He Himself had permitted the banishment, but others might ask and, if they did, John had his answer. He was where he was for the sake of the testimony.

Each of these three men had a different relationship to the testimony and each had to declare just what his position was. Which immediately confronts us with our own personal feelings. Where do we stand? We have Church associations and activities, we have doctrinal beliefs and Bible teaching, but the real question is whether we are in the good of a real and effective testimony to triumphant life in Christ. This is not just a matter of orthodoxy or sound evangelism, but rather of the impact of victorious life upon the kingdom of spiritual death.

ADAM and Eve had lost their living, God-appointed testimony. They hid themselves from the Lord. This means, of course, that there had awakened in them a conviction as to their maladjustment to the will of God. There was something gravely wrong with Adam's position. When the Lord asked: "Where art thou?", it was not because He did not know Adam's whereabouts so much as a stern challenge concerning his departure from the spiritual relationship with Himself which the man had previously had.

In the first place Adam was in a wrong relationship because of disobedience. He had been given light, had been instructed as to his proper procedure, but he had wilfully disobeyed. Perhaps he thought that he could get something better by taking this wilful way, or conversely that he would have lost by not taking it. This latter was certainly the suggestion made to him by the tempter. In any case, though, the point of the story is that, having been given light by God, he had disobeyed it and so fallen out of vital relationship with the Giver. So far as he and Eve were concerned, the door was now closed, and it would require another and a different 'Adam' to re-open it. It is a very serious thing to be shown the Lord's purpose and then to reject the light and sin against it. Adam tried to make excuses, as we so often tend to do, but the Lord cannot be put off in that way. No excuses will pass with Him. Adam is out of touch with God, that is where he is, and the inevitable consequence is death.

J. R. Miller - It is not your work that He wants most — it is you!

Keep Yourselves In The Love Of God

By G. Campbell Morgan


Keep yourselves in the love of God. Jude 21

These words are most remarkable in the light of their context. Taken apart therefrom, it would be the easiest thing in the world to misunderstand and misinterpret them. Let us, therefore, be patient while we remind ourselves of all that which we have read as a lesson. The words of this text may be said to be the center of Jude's advice in view of danger; danger, let it be carefully observed, threatening the called, beloved, kept, for so in the opening words he addressed those to whom he wrote, "them that are called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ."

To such he said, "Keep yourselves in the love of God." It has often been pointed out that the theme on which Jude desired to write was that of our common salvation. While he gave all diligence to the great subject, preparing for his work; he was turned aside from his purpose by the Holy Spirit of God, and constrained to write words of exhortation in view of perils threatening the called; the beloved of the Father, those kept for Jesus Christ.

He first described the perils, "There are certain men crept in privily, even they who were of old set forth unto this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." He did not enter into any fuller description of these men. We may be left very largely to speculation as to what the teaching was which they were advancing, or what the habits of life in which they were living. 

Having referred to the perils, he proceeded to remind those to whom he wrote by three instances that those once saved might by their own wrongdoing be fearfully punished. The Isrealites delivered from Egypt, sinning in the wilderness, failing in faith, were destroyed. Angels who kept not their proper habitation, but left the appointed orbit of their being and service, were cast down from the heights, and reserved in darkness to the final assize. Sodom and Gomorrah, cities of the well-watered plain, having all the advantages of that wonderful country; failing to discover the Creator through the creation, and giving themselves over to all manner of uncleanness, were destroyed. Then, referring again to the evil workers, he compared them to Cain, the hater of God, who reddened his hands in the blood of his brother; to Balaam, who constrained and compelled of the Spirit to the uttering of truth in prophecy, did nevertheless, eventually seduce the people of God to idolatry, and hopelessly perished; and to Korah, who rebelled against the government of God, and was destroyed. 

Then follows that passage which we have so often read, and yet of which, as we read it together tonight, we felt the almost appalling force, showing the evil of lust and pronouncing judgment upon it. Then having referred to Israel, and illustrated his master thought, that privilege does not in itself ensure ultimate blessing, but brings grave responsibility to those who share it; he came to the positive part of his letter, "But ye, beloved, remember ye the words which have been spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how that they said to you, in the last time there shall be mockers, walking after their own ungodly lusts. These are they who make separations, sensual, having not the Spirit. But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."

I bring you the message of that injunction. I bring it to those of you in this assembly who are "called, beloved of the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ." While we shall not have time in the course of one evening meditation to go back over this ground and consider it in all its detail, let us recognize that this injunction is one born of a consciousness of peril, filling the heart of a man who turned aside from what might have appeared to him would have been a greater, more important work--that of writing of our common salvation--in order to write this one brief page of exhortation. The final message of it, that to which all the rest lends force, is contained in these words, "Keep yourselves in the love of God."

I want to lead you in meditation; first on the plain meaning of this injunction; second, on its importance; and finally on the method which Jude reveals, by which we shall be able to obey the injunction.

Be patient with me if I take two or three moments to ask you to remember what this text does not mean. We are not told to keep ourselves in such a state as to make God love us. I think a recognition of that at the very beginning will help us in the consideration which is to follow. I am not called upon to bring myself to a condition of life which will compel or constrain the love of God toward me. I am not called upon in my life as a child of God to maintain a certain attitude in order to make God continue to love me. Let us start with the recognition of the fact, that God's love is unsought, undeserved and unconditional. We cannot, in this life, put ourselves outside the love of God. It is a great, fundamental truth of the Christian religion that "God so loved the world." The world did not seek His love. The world as He saw it in its sin did not deserve His love, and He did not impose upon the world, conditions fulfilling which, He would love them. He loved the world. I can never think of this for myself, without there coming back to me these lines full of simplicity, full of beauty, written by Charles Wesley.

He came from above our curse to remove,
He hath loved, He hath loved us because He would love.
Love moved Him to die, and on this we rely,
He hath loved, He hath loved, though we cannot tell why.

Said a boy in a Sunday School class to his teacher many years ago: "Teacher, does God love naughty boys?" The teacher said, "No, certainly not!" It was terrible blasphemy. Of course He does. There is a man somewhere in this congregation who has been disappointed within the first five minutes of my message, and is saying, This message is not for me; if it is to the called, the beloved, the kept for Jesus Christ; it is not for me. There are certain senses in which you are quite right; but remember this; God loves men, not upon any condition, not because they seek His love; but, I dare to put it even more forcefully as the idea is suggested in Wesley's hymn, because He would love; nay, He could no other, for His is love. However far you may have wandered, however far, the far country may be; you may have wounded Him, and grieved His Holy Spirit, but you have not made Him cease to love you. You may have forgotten Him, but God has never ceased to love you.

If that be admitted, then we may proceed. What then did Jude mean when he said, "Keep yourselves in the love of God"? Quite simply he meant this. Being in the love of God; keep yourselves from all that which is unlike Him; from all that which violates love and grieves the heart of God; or to use the actual word of Paul, that which causes sorrow to the Spirit of God.

Mark again the introductory word of this brief letter; you are "called, beloved in God the Father, kept for Jesus Christ"; therefore, seeing that you are loved, that you are dwelling in love, that love encompasses you, is set upon your perfecting, "keep yourselves in the love of God." Correspond to that in which you dwell. Answer the love of God.

Therein is the point of our personal responsibility; if indeed we are called of God, if indeed we are beloved of God, if indeed we are being kept for Jesus Christ, then to us the word applies, "Keep yourselves in the love of God."

Go back to the illustration of the earlier part of the letter; What was the sin of Cain? It was that of hatred, which expressed itself in murder. What was the sin of Balaam? The sin of greed, of covetousness, which expressed itself in the wickedness by which he seduced the people of God from their allegiance, and brought them into evil relationships with idolatrous peoples. 

What was the sin of Korah? Envy in the heart against the arrangements and the government of God, which expressed itself in rebellion against Him. I refer to these again only to ask you to notice that in each case that love is violated. In each case the action is contrary to love. Cain; hatred, murder; impossible to love. Balaam; greed, seduction; impossible to love. Korah; envy, rebellion; impossible to love. These illustrations, used to show the evil of the men against whom Jude is warning us, serve also to illuminate the meaning of this great charge, "Keep yourselves in the love of God." Being in His love, do not become careless, but remember that you are responsible. The atmosphere in which you dwell creates responsibility. The great and gracious fact of the unsought, unconditional, love of God, into which you have been specially brought as you have been called, creates grave responsibility.

Last Sunday evening, we were speaking here of that great word of Paul, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus," and the final message I brought you in that consideration was this, that the love of God shed abroad in the heart of the child of God if allowed to have its own way and master the life will express itself in the attitudes of the life. Paul's injunction is "Let this mind be in you." Answer the movement of the Divine life by bowing to the inward impulse of that life.

There is the same thought here. In speaking on that theme last Sunday night, I dwelt upon it as a great inspiration and gospel of hope to the child of God. Tonight, I come back to it, and listen to the emphasis of solemn warning. "Keep yourselves in the love of God."

Mark the importance of the injunction. We are surrounded by seductive influences. We are in the love of God; and yet we live in an atmosphere in which, unless we learn the art of watchfulness, unless we discover our responsibility, and answer it in the economy of God, we shall wander, not away from His love, for He will still love, but from the possibility of realization and manifestation; we shall fail to fulfil its purpose, and to answer its great and gracious impulse.

The Pain of Cross-Bearing

By A.W. Tozer


The weakness of much that passes for the Christian faith these days is seen in the readiness of many professed followers of Christ to make any concessions in order to 'get along with people,' especially with relatives and in-laws. The philosophy of mid-twentieth century Christianity is a philosophy of appeasement. Peace and unity have become the Castor and Pollux of the majority of religious leaders, and truth is regularly sacrificed on their altars. 

The notion that 'peace on earth' as the New Testament uses the words, means concord between light and darkness is foreign to the whole traditional Christian position. Our Lord cared nothing for the good will of bad men, nor would He alter one word of His message to stay in favor with anyone, be he Jew or pagan or even a member of His own earthly family. 'For even his own brothers did not believe in him' (John 7:5). 

No one has understood the meaning of the cross who puts blood ties alongside the ties of the Spirit. 'Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit' (John 3:6). All fleshly relationships will be dissolved in the glory of the resurrection, including the relationship between husband and wife. For this reason our Lord said plainly that for some people it would be necessary to break family ties if they would follow Him. 

"Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law" (Luke 12:51-53). "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple" (14:26-27).

Charles Spurgeon - Who is Sufficient for these Things? (Christian devotional)

ONE BODY IN CHRIST

ONE BODY IN CHRIST

By Watchman Nee


Before we pass on to our last important subject we will review some of the ground we have covered and summarize the steps taken. We have sought to make things simple, and to explain clearly some of the experiences which Christians commonly pass through. But it is clear that the new discoveries that we make as we walk with the Lord are many, and we must be careful to avoid the temptation to over-simplify the work of God. To do so may lead us into serious confusion.

There are children of God who believe that all our salvation, in which they would include the matter of leading a holy life, lies in an appreciation of the value of the precious Blood. They rightly emphasize the importance of keeping short accounts with God over known specific sins, and the continual efficacy of the Blood to deal with sins committed, but they think of the Blood as doing everything. They believe in a holiness which in fact means only separation of the man from his past; that, through the up-todate blotting out of what he has done on the ground of the shed Blood, God separates a man out of the world to be His, and that is holiness ; and they stop there. Thus they stop short of God's basic demands, and so of the full provision He has made. I think we have by now seen clearly the inadequacy of this. Then there are those who go further and see that God has included them in the death of His Son on the Cross, in order to deliver them from sin and the Law by dealing with the old man. These are they who really exercise faith in the Lord, for they glory in Christ Jesus and have ceased to put confidence in the flesh (Phil. 3. 3). In them God has a clear foundation on which to build. And from this as starting-point, many have gone further still and recognized that consecration (using that word in the right sense) means giving themselves without reserve into His hands and following Him. All these are first steps, and starting from them we have already touched upon other phases of experience set before us by God and enjoyed by many. It is always essential for us to remember that, while each of them is a precious fragment of truth, no single one of them is by itself the whole of truth. All come to us as the fruit of the work of Christ on the Cross, and we cannot afford to ignore any.


A GATE AND A PATH

Recognizing a number of such phases in the life and experience of a believer, we note now a further fact, namely that, though these phases do not necessarily occur always in a fixed and precise order, they seem to be marked by certain recurring steps or features. What are these steps? First there is revelation. As we have seen, this always precedes faith and experience. Through His Word God opens our eyes to the truth of some fact concerning His Son, and then only, as in faith we accept that fact for ourselves, does it become actual as experience in our lives. Thus we have:


1. Revelation (Objective). 2. Experience (Subjective).

Then further, we note that such experience usually takes the two-fold form of a crisis leading to a continuous process. It is most helpful to think of this in terms of John Bunyan's 'wicket gate' through which Christian entered upon a' narrow path'. Our Lord Jesus spoke of such a gate and a path leading unto life (Matt. 7. 14), and experience accords with this. So now we have:


1. Revelation. 2. Experience: (a) A wicket gate (Crisis) (b) A narrow path (Process).

Now let us take some of the subjects we have been dealing with and see how this helps us to understand them. We will take first our justification and new birth. This begins with a revelation of the Lord Jesus in His atoning work for our sins on the Cross; there follows the crisis of repentance and faith (the wicket gate), whereby we are initially " made nigh " to God (Eph. 2.13); and this leads us into a walk of maintained fellowship with Him (the narrow path), for which the ground of our day-to-day access is still the precious Blood (Heb. 10. 19, 22). When we come to deliverance from sin, we again have three steps: the Holy Spirit's work of revelation, or 'knowing' (Rom. 6. 6); the crisis of faith, or 'reckoning' (Rom. 6. 11) ; and the continuing process of consecration, or 'presenting ourselves' to God (Rom. 6. 13) on the basis of a walk in newness of life. Consider next the gift of the Holy Spirit. This too begins with a new 'seeing' of the Lord Jesus as exalted to the throne, which issues in the dual experience of the Spirit outpoured and the Spirit indwelling. Going a stage further, to the matter of pleasing God, we find again the need for spiritual illumination, that we may see the values of the Cross in regard to 'the flesh'-the entire self- life of man. Our acceptance of this by faith leads at once to a ' wicket gate' experience (Rom. 7. 25), in which we initially cease from' doing' and accept by faith the mighty working of the life of Christ to satisfy God's practical demands in us. This in turn leads us into the 'narrow path' of a walk in obedience to the Spirit (Rom. 8. 4).

The picture is not identical in each case, and we must beware of forcing any rigid pattern upon the Holy Spirit's working; but perhaps any new experience will come to us more or less on these lines. There will certainly always be first an opening of our eyes to some new aspect of Christ and His finished work, and then faith will open a gate into a pathway. Remember, too, that our division of Christian experience into various subjects: justification, new birth, the gift of the Spirit, deliverance, sanctification, etc., is for our clearer under standing only. It does not mean that these stages must or will always follow one another in a certain prescribed order. In fact, if a full presentation of Christ and His Cross is made to us at the very outset, we may well step into a great deal of experience from the first day of our Christian life, even though the full explanation of much of it may follow later. Would that all Gospel preaching were of such a kind!

One thing is certain, that revelation will always precede faith. When we see something that God has done in Christ our natural response is: 'Thank you, Lord!' and faith follows spontaneously. Revelation is always the* work of the Holy Spirit, who is given to come alongside and, by opening the Scriptures to us, to guide us into all the truth (John 16. 1.3). Count upon Him, for He is here for that very thing; and when such difficulties as lack of understanding or lack of faith confront you, address those difficulties directly to the Lord : 'Lord, open my eyes. Lord, make this new thing clear to me. Lord, help Thou my unbelief!' He will not fail you.


THE FOURFOLD WORK OF CHRIST IN His CROSS

We are now in a position to go a step further still and to consider how great a range is compassed by the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the light of Christian experience and for the purpose of analysis, it may help us if we recognize four aspects of God's redemptive work. But in doing so it is essential to keep in mind that the Cross of Christ is one Divine work-and not many. Once in Judea two thousand years ago the Lord Jesus died and rose again, and He is now " by the right hand of God exalted " (Acts 2. 3 3). The work is finished and need never be repeated, nor can it be added to.

Of the four aspects of the Cross which we shall now mention, we have already dealt with three in some detail. The last will be considered in the two succeeding chapters of our study. They may be briefly summarised as follows:


1. The Blood of Christ to deal with sins and guilt.


2. The Cross of Christ to deal with sin, the flesh and the natural man.


3. The Life of Christ made available to indwell, re-create and empower man.


4. The Working of Death in the natural man that that indwelling Life may be progressively manifest.


The first two of these aspects are remedial. They relate to the undoing of the work of the Devil and the undoing of the sin of man. The last two are not remedial but positive, and relate more directly to the securing of the purpose of God. The first two are concerned with recovering what Adam lost by the Fall ; the last two are concerned with bringing us into, and bringing into us, something that Adam never had. Thus we see that the achievement of the Lord Jesus in His death and resurrection comprises both a work which provided for the redemption of man and a work which made possible the realisation of the purpose of God.

We have dealt at some length in earlier chapters with the two aspects of His death represented by the Blood for sins and guilt and the Cross for sin and the flesh. In our discussion of the eternal purpose we have also looked briefly at the third aspect-that represented by Christ as the grain of wheat-and in our last chapter, in our consideration of Christ as our life, we have seen something of its practical outworking. Before, however, we pass on to the fourth aspect, which I shall call 'bearing the cross', we must say a little more about this third side, namely, the release of the life of Christ in resurrection for man's indwelling and empowering for service. We have spoken already of the purpose of God in creation and have said that it embraced far more than Adam ever came to enjoy. What was that purpose? God wanted to have a race of men whose members were gifted with a spirit whereby communion would be possible with Himself, who is Spirit. That race, possessing God's own life, was to co-operate in securing His purposed end by defeating every possible uprising of the enemy and undoing his evil works. That was the great plan. How will it now be effected? The answer is again to be found in the death of the Lord Jesus. It is a mighty death. It is something positive and purposive, going far beyond the recovery of a lost position ; for by it, not only are sin and the old man dealt with and their effects annulled, but something more, something infinitely greater is introduced.


THE LOVE OF CHRIST

Now we must have before us two passages of the Word, one from Genesis 2 and one from Ephesians 5, which are of great importance in this connection.

MY STRONG ROCK

By Bible Names of God

      Psal 31:2 Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me. {my...: Heb. to me for rock of strength}

      David is in trouble. He wants deliverance and he calls upon the Lord for help. How natural it is! How like our own experiences! 

This verse is the opening of a great prayer. Turn to your Bible and read it through. Meditate upon it. Were it not true that in the Lord Jesus Christ we have an "anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast", to whom could we turn for refuge and deliverance? 

Where could we find rest? Praise His Name, we CAN come to Him and pray; 

      Dear Lord, we have anchored our faith upon Thee as "Our Strong Rock". Grant us Thy Promised Deliverance. Amen.

The Theology Of Rest

By Oswald Chambers


'Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?'
Matthew 8:26

When we are in fear we can do nothing less than pray to God, but Our Lord has a right to expect that those who name His Name should have an understanding confidence in Him. God expects His children to be so confident in Him that in any crisis they are the reliable ones. Our trust is in God up to a certain point, then we go back to the elementary panic prayers of those who do not know God. We get to our wits' end, showing that we have not the slightest confidence in Him and His government of the world; He seems to be asleep, and we see nothing but breakers ahead.

"O ye of little faith!" What a pang must have shot through the disciples - 'Missed it again!' And what a pang will go through us when we suddenly realize that we might have produced down right joy in the heart of Jesus by remaining absolutely confident in Him, no matter what was ahead.

There are stages in life when there is no storm, no crisis, when we do our human best; it is when a crisis arises that we instantly reveal upon whom we rely. If we have been learning to worship God and to trust Him, the crisis will reveal that we will go to the breaking point and not break in our confidence in Him.

We have been talking a great deal about sanctification - what is it all going to amount to? It should work out into rest in God which means oneness with God, a oneness which will make us not only blameless in His sight, but a deep joy to Him.

PREPARATIONS FOR THE KINGDOM

PREPARATIONS FOR THE KINGDOM (Studies in 1 Samuel)

11. GRACE REIGNS (Chapters 27 - 30)
Harry Foster

THE first half of this book was devoted to Hannah's trial and prayer, the appearance of Samuel and the subsequent emergence of Saul. With his failure we found God intervening again to bring forward the one of His choice, David, the man after His own heart. The second half of the book covers about twelve years and tells of the trials of David who, having been anointed and commissioned to be God's king, had to wait and be proved by God. Our last study deals with chapters 27 to 30, finishing with the tragic end of Saul and terminating David's period of probation. If we continued on into 2 Samuel we should be considering David's history as king, but for the time being we conclude this series of studies with the record of how he came to the throne.

Saul was called to the kingdom, was tested and found wanting and so his sad and challenging story is one of failure. A dreadful indication of this impending failure is given in the fact that when Saul inquired of the Lord he received no answer at all (28:6). His army was outnumbered and the prospect so grim that we are told that Saul was afraid and his heart trembled greatly. Now there is no disgrace in a man being afraid. Almost every man of God in the Bible had at some time or other to be reassured with the words: "Fear not!" The tragedy with Saul, however, was that God did not say 'Fear not' to him; in fact He gave no reply at all to Saul's prayers. There are statements by David in some of the Psalms which show that to him this would have been the ultimate calamity if it had happened to him: "My rock, be not thou deaf unto me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit" (Psalm 28:1). For God to be silent to him was the worst thing which could possibly happen. Enemies, distresses, calamities, these he could bear; but if God refused to answer him then life itself had no more meaning. Well, God never was deaf to him, nor will He be to us, but he was to Saul. The Lord answered him not by dreams (which was one of His methods of speaking to men), nor by Urim (the light on the high priest's breastplate), nor by prophets (though even some of the bad kings at least had a message from God through a prophet). This was tragedy indeed. To pray and to get no answer at all, to find that God refused to speak to him. The reason is not far to seek. It is Wisdom which declares: "Because I have called, and ye have refused ... ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof ... Then they shall call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me diligently, but they shall not find me" (Proverbs 1:24-28). [92/93]

SO God had nothing more to say to Saul. What then could he do? He went to a source of information which he had himself formerly banned (v.3), a 'medium' who could put him in touch with the other world. This is what large numbers of people are doing in our own countries today, ignoring God's orders and going back on their own good laws. It is neither 'fun' nor is it just pretence, as Saul soon found. When a spirit appeared which seemed like Samuel, she realised who her visitor was and was frightened. She could trust her 'familiar spirit' to speak through her, but she could not trust it to deliver her, and she would not have gone on if Saul had not guaranteed her safety. Her insight was correct, and we need never be surprised if spirits give evidence of their knowledge, for of course the Devil knows the past. He knew what Samuel looked like when Saul last saw him, and so he produced the spectre of an old man covered with a robe. Saul was deceived, and may be so was the woman, but it was obviously a deceiving spirit masquerading as the old prophet. You notice that it asked: "Why hast thou disquieted me ...?" Can we tolerate for one moment the thought that a wayward sinner or a sordid old woman could cause any disquiet to a godly saint resting in the presence of his Lord? "There the wicked cease from troubling; there the weary be at rest," affirmed the old patriarch (Job 3:17). Is it possible that a cringing wreck of a man like Saul could have any power to alter that? Notice, too, that the spirit speaks of being brought up. Had it really been Samuel, he would surely have felt that in coming back to earth he was coming down. Can anyone who has the least insight into spiritual things believe that in eternity a saint of God will look anything like he did when on earth? Earthly robes will have been left behind, old age exchanged for eternal youth. There is no such thing as 'an old man' in eternity.

For me, then, this was not Samuel but a masquerading spirit. It knew the past and could quote all the familiar story of Saul's disobedience and rejection, for evil powers doubtless gloated in the unseen as God's name was dishonoured in this man. It knew that the Lord had departed from him -- everybody knew that -- and it must have had a shrewd idea that the coming battle would bring victory for the Philistines. I suggest that it did not know the future (which is known only to God) but seized the opportunity of introducing the idea of suicide into the mind of the desperate king. One of his favourite ploys is to suggest that we end it all -- he tried that, unsuccessfully, with Job -- and in fact that is precisely what Saul did (31:4). This, then, was the shameful end of a man who failed of the grace of God. David did not kill him; nor did God; nor indeed did the Philistines, for he committed suicide. This was the final outworking of disobedience. The original act may have seemed quite small. He had been told to wait seven days for Samuel, but he could not wait and impulsively took things into his own hands, forcing himself to a sacrifice which was not for him to offer. 'Disobedience?', men may comment, 'but it was not all that important'. 'Conceit and self-will? True, but none of us is perfect!' 

Well, men may minimise the responsibility of a man called to the kingdom, but God will not do so. The end of disobedience is death. And like so many others, Saul involved others, including his own three sons, in his downfall. The Philistines gloated and praised their idols (31:9). That was what Satan had been working for. From the day when God regained for Himself the glory which departed through the capture of the Ark, the Devil had been seeking an opportunity to rob God once more and gain glory for his own kingdom of darkness. The real issue was not just the man, Saul, but the perpetual war between Satan and the Lord, a war which still continues and in which we are all involved. Can God be robbed of glory? Can the Devil usurp that glory for himself? This is the question which lies behind Saul's history and ours. In Saul's case it was a grievous blow to God's glory. The kingdom of Israel was at a very low ebb after the defeat on Mount Gilboa. Happily God had His answer. He had been preparing David for just such a time.

There is just one bright spot at the end of 1 Samuel: "When the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard concerning him that which the Philistines had done to Saul, all the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons ... and buried them ... and fasted seven days" (verses 11-13). These were the men who had been saved by Saul's first great victory (chapter 11). In the hour of general defeat it is heartening to know of some who were grateful enough and bold enough to break into Philistine territory to recover at least something for the glory of God.

WE turn now from Saul to David, and may be rather surprised to find that he too is in rather a bad way. The thought that I wish to stress in this connection is that an abiding principle of God's working is resurrection. The kingdom is [93/94] brought very low and its new beginning must be a resurrection act of God. David, also, is passing through an experience which can only be solved by resurrection power. Clearly the prelude to resurrection is to be brought right down to zero. The actual zero point of David's experience is found in 30:4-6: "David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept until they had no more power to weep ... and David was greatly distressed ...". This, mark you, was God's anointed king! He is at rock bottom. He has lost all; all except the grace of God.

The Resurrection of the Son of the Widow of Sarepta.

By Andrew Bonar

1 Kings 17

'To this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.' (Rom. 14: 9)


There never was a resurrection in the world or in the Church of Christ before this one. Yet it is a resurrection in very quiet circumstances. The Lord does not make a work about His wonders, for what are wonders to Him? Sarepta was a town of Syro-Phoenicia. I have sometimes thought that the Syro-Phoenician woman belonged to this place. I should not wonder but that the Lord had gone out of the coasts of Israel in order to see it. I remember it, forty years ago. It was a place of villas for the people of Tyre. On this account the woman would spread the news all the better among the Gentiles there. But let us keep to the story of the widow. Christ refers to it, showing He had read it carefully, as setting forth the sovereignty of God. Let us look at

I. This incident as bearing on the widow.- She must have had some acquaintance with the Hebrew truth and the Hebrew prophets, for when Elijah appeared to her in the name of his God she was not at all surprised, but put faith in the God of Israel. First her faith was tried, then it was rewarded. 'Her barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail.' Would you risk anything in faith for the Lord? Are you conscious that you often do things simply because you believe they are God's will? Did you ever do so without being rewarded? It is not like the Lord to forget those who do anything for Him.

One day this woman's son sickened and died. Could there be a greater affliction to a widowed mother? Is this the reward of faith? No doubt she hazarded a great deal in taking in a Hebrew prophet into her house, and is this the way the Lord rewards her? No doubt Elijah prayed for her son; yet he died. It is remarkable how it affected her. 'Thou hast brought my sin to remembrance.' How affliction brings sin to remembrance! It is one of the Lord's ways of convincing of sin in the case of His own people. If you let the Spirit of the Lord work in you it will always have this effect, and a most blessed effect it is. The Lord wanted to humble the woman. Perhaps she was getting a little proud of her barrel of meal. Ay, and perhaps she was beginning to feel that she deserved it, for taking the prophet into her house. The Lord drives all this out of her. But still, is it kind to do this to a believing woman? 'God is not unrighteous to forget your work of faith, in that ye ministered to the saints (Heb. 6:10). Now she has ministered to the saints. Well, God has rewarded her, and this is His way of preparing a greater reward - a kindness such as had never been granted to a saint since the Flood, before or after. 

You see the Lord empties before He fills. When you are overtaken by some bitter grief, say, 'Now I know the way of the Lord. He is preparing something better for me.' It ended in the widow's son being given back to her from the grave. 'Now I know,' she says, 'that thou art a man of God.' Did she not know that before? Yes, but have you not noticed that there are times when the truth we know is lighted up as with a flame? I referred to walking forty years ago on the shore at Sarepta. I well remember how Mr. M'Cheyne and I used to say to one another, as we walked in other parts of Palestine with our Bibles in our hands, 'We believed the Bible before, but now we believe it more than ever.' Some of you have felt this after a time of affliction.

II. This incident as bearing on Elijah. - I think Elijah was a little stumbled at first. He seems not to have known what to say. 'Give me thy son.' He goes up to his upper room, and there he is, alone with the dead child. You see what he is about. He speaks to the Lord for him, not to his mother. Three times he cried. It often puts me in mind of our Lord's words, 'Ask, seek, knock.' 'Asking' is when we pray, but 'seeking' is more earnest still, and 'knocking' is more and more in earnest. Elijah had never heard of a resurrection before, but he does not hesitate to ask this of the Lord. You see we may ask Him to do greater things than He has ever done yet. Don't confine yourself to the same things over and over again. I think Elijah took a hint from former things done for him. There was heaven, sealed and opened again, - there was the barrel of meal not spent. 'Lord, Lord, do greater things!' What a simple resurrection, done so quickly, done in a private house, done in an upper room. I don't know that men would hear of it till long afterwards. The heathen would not believe the woman's story. The Lord likes to do great things, if we would not make a great noise about them. Let them tell their own story. I think the Lord was preparing Elijah for greater things still. We may in this respect compare him to David slaying the lion and the bear by faith. When we are dealing with the Lord we always act on this principle, 'greater still, greater still.' Here is the man who was never to die used by God to bring life to one who was dead. God let him look into the cavern of death, and see how He could bring back from death. And the Lord was teaching His servant in his retirement what He could do for a dead nation.

When the Lord gives you any remarkable visit in your retirement He means you to use it. We need a great awakening. God does not want us to be content with what we have got. Have you cried to the Lord for the quickening of souls as earnestly as Elijah cried for the quickening of life in that dead lad? If we were intensely in earnest we would see reviving.


Transcribed from Reminiscences of Andrew A. Bonar D.D.

Re-Working the Clay

Living In The Will of God, Part 4: Re-Working the Clay
By Charles Price


Jeremiah 18: 1-6

If you have got a Bible with you I am going to read from the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah Chapter 18 - one of the Old Testament prophets.

Now Jeremiah Chapter 18; I am going to read to you in a moment the first six verses. Before I read them, let me set the context for this because, for a number of weeks, we have been talking about living in the will of God.

And before we look at some of the issues of personal guidance, which are probably important to many of us, we are looking at some of the big picture issues of how God works out His will in our world.

Last week we talked about a dilemma Scripture presents us with. In 1 John Chapter 5, John wrote there that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.

Jesus three times called Satan the prince of this world. Paul called him the god of this age. He also called him the ruler of the kingdom of the air.

And these, you will agree, are lofty descriptions. And we see the fingerprints of Satan all over the place. We see the evidence of these statements all over the place. Yet at the same time we looked at Job's confidence when at the end of the book of Job, having been subject to explicit satanic attack, he wrote this - he said to God,

"I know you can do all things and no purpose of yours can be thwarted."

And we tried to draw a distinction between processes and purpose. There are many processes of our experience of life that have the fingerprints of Satan on them and his activity. We live in a fallen world. We are ourselves fallen. We are ourselves corrupted. And yet in the midst of those processes, which involve evil, there is a purpose that Job says of God, "No purpose of Yours can be thwarted. You are working out a purpose in all of this." And we talked a bit about that last week.

And the reason why I remind you of that because I want to build on that this morning a little bit. In talking about the sovereignty of God in situations that are wrong or situations that have gone wrong or situations that are self-imposed as wrong things, and I want to do so by reading this story in Jeremiah Chapter 18.

Reading from Verse 1:

"This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 'Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message.'

"So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

"Then the word of the LORD came to me: 'O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?' declares the LORD. 'Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.'"

That is as far as I am going to read but don't close your Bible; we are going to pick up later parts from this passage as well.

I knew a man extremely well who believed that when he was a young man as a student at an agricultural college he had disobeyed God in such a way that he believed he had destroyed what had been God's purpose for his life.

I don't know the details of what had actually happened, but I do know he lived with a sense of being second best and living, not the plan that God had for him, but an inferior plan.

He continued to love God. He continued to read his Bible every day. He prayed every day. I don't know anyone who was more diligent in his daily devotions with God, both morning and evening, as he was.

I knew him well because he was my father. And he died about four years ago. But he lived most of his life with this sense, "I stepped out of the will of God and I can't get back in."

I don't know whether there is anybody here this morning who feels that, maybe not in the same measure or the same set of circumstances. But maybe there are things you look back on in your life that you feel have disqualified you from being what God wants you to be.

Of course it is true we can disobey God. We can move out of His will; that is true. But the question I want to ask and address this morning is what happens to the will of God when you have stepped out of what you sensed was His will and purpose for you?

And the answer to that is what we'll talk about this morning from this story in Jeremiah Chapter 18 where God sent Jeremiah down to visit the house of a potter. And he watches the potter at work and in the course of his work the clay becomes marred.

It doesn't tell us why it becomes marred because that is irrelevant to the point. The point is it becomes marred.

And what the potter does is he remoulds the marred clay into something else. And I love the qualification attached to it:

"...as seemed best to him."

This is the best thing I can do. It's not the original purpose and it's not the second best.

Jeremiah 18 follows Jeremiah 17 and in order to interpret any part of Scripture well, we have to look at the context for it. And I am going to just pull out one or two things that will have give some clarity to this I think.

But the focal point I want to look at with you is the work of the potter with his marred clay. But in Chapter 17, the previous chapter, and Verse 12, there is this statement that says,

"A glorious throne, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary."

A sanctuary is a place where you go for refuge, a place you can go to hide, a place you can go to be protected. And he says, "This is what we have, a glorious throne." That is, the sovereignty of God on His throne - that is the place where we go to for refuge, he says. That is the place of our sanctuary. That is where we find our security.

And what is that glorious throne? What is the sovereignty of God? Is it a fixed rigid pattern that if you break out of it, you are out of it forever like a map on the wall which you can't change?

Well in Chapter 18 he explains it to us. That the sovereignty of God, the place of our refuge is that God in His sovereignty, as the potter with the clay, has all through history (and I will show you this in a few moments) and He does in your life and mine, He remoulds according to whatever the clay is that is in His hand.

You see Jeremiah is watching the potter at work here. The focus is on the potter. And because it becomes marred, something goes wrong with it, he forms it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

And he gives an explanation in Verse 6 where He says,

"O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does? Like clay in the hands of the potter, so are you in my hand."

And if that clay has become marred and if that clay has become damaged in some way, then the potter remoulds it into something that is good, that seems best.

In Verse 9 and 10, a little bit later there, in Jeremiah 18,

"If at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it."

So here's the situation where He says, regarding the nation of Israel, "If it does evil in my sight, if it does not obey me", what does the potter do? Does he throw it away? Does he discard it? Does he put it on the trash heap?

No. "I reconsider the good I had intended to do for it and remould it into something that seems best." He remoulds the clay into something else.

You see I have no doubt that this building this morning is full of marred clay. I myself am marred clay.

There are things in our lives, things in our history we cannot undo. There are times we have rebelled against God. We are all by nature sinful. We start off on the wrong foot. We start off with a bent towards rebellion and going our own way and doing our own thing. We start off marred.

And the picture here; what is the will of God in that situation? Is it, well, you can descend into some kind of second class living; yes, it will be okay but it's only second class.

No, the picture is here that if the clay is yielded (and we'll talk about the clay needing to be soft and pliable) - when the clay is yielded, he forms it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to Him. Not shaping it second best but as seen best to Him.

I don't know what lies in your past but there are folks here who carry in your life secrets - maybe they are secrets - or you carry a history that has been damaging to you. Maybe you have been through an abortion; maybe you are the father of the fetus, or the mother. You can't go back and undo that.

Maybe you have been through a divorce and it was painful to you and painful to your spouse and painful to your children, if there were children involved. And going back seems out of the question - it may not be, but maybe it seems it is.

I get letters quite often from people in prison because our television program, Living Truth, is shown across the country and other parts of the world. It seems that in Canada and the United States prisoners can watch TV on Sunday morning, and maybe more often. But several have told me in letters that a group of them meet together Sunday morning and they watch the program and I get letters from people.

And I am in correspondence with one or two folks in that situation, and some of them in horrendous situations. One man I am in communication with who is in prison for life. He murdered his own wife and he has come to know Christ in the prison, and writes beautiful letters. He can't go back; he can't undo that.

Maybe it's things that have been done to you. Maybe you were molested as a child and out of that has grown a confused sexuality and all the repercussions of that. Or you were damaged in earlier years and there is a legacy from that damage and it's impacted your ability to trust.

The clay can be damaged in many ways. It says the clay is damaged in the potter's hand - not damaged by the potter, though it was in his hand. Many of the damages are self- inflicted.

But here is the message of this story, and it is a message of hope: that the potter does not take it off the wheel and discard it. He re-works it, forming it into another pot. Yes, different, because this history is now part of this new pot, as seen best to Him.

You see, nobody, and no experience is irredeemable in our lives. I didn't say everything is fixable because it is not.

And sometimes we have to walk through life with a limp like Jacob. Do you remember Jacob who wrestled with God? And Jacob, the very name Jacob, means twister and cheat, and he was all of that; he lived up to his name.

And one day God met him and in that intriguing story when God takes on physical form, as often in the Old Testament Scriptures you have that in what we call a theophany where God is incarnate in human form.

And He meets with Jacob and they wrestle and they throw each other to the ground and they fight on the ground and eventually God knocks his thigh out of joint. And eventually Jacob clings to Him and says, "I will not let You go unless You bless me." He had been the antagonist; now he clings to Him and won't let Him go. And Jacob walked with a limp for the rest of his days.

Yes, you may walk with a limp; most of us do in some way or other. But the picture is here that despite the fact you might walk with a limp, and you carry the legacy, that God is making another pot that is good and fulfills His purpose.

Now He is talking about the nation of Israel here in Jeremiah and their history prior to this already demonstrates this. When Israel came into the land of Canaan, God set them up as a nation and they were to be a theocracy, not a democracy - there was no such thing - nor a monarchy; they were to be a theocracy.

What that meant was that God was to be their king. And what that meant was that He would raise up men or women, He would put His Holy Spirit on them, people would recognize God's anointing on them and God's empowering of them. They were known as judges and for over 300 years, Israel lived as a theocracy.

You didn't know where the next judge was coming from; the next leader was coming from. When one died, you looked around, "Who is it that God has put His Spirit on and has called to this task?"

The Silver Trumpets

The Silver Trumpets 
by T. Austin-Sparks

This is a transcript of a message given in 1954. Words in square brackets [] are added by the editor.

"Make thee two trumpets of silver; of beaten work shalt thou make them: and thou shalt use them for the calling of the congregation, and for the journeying of the camps. And when they shall blow them, all the congregation shall gather themselves unto thee at the door of the tent of meeting. And if they blow but one, then the princes, the heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee and when ye blow an alarm, the camps that lie on the east side shall take their journey. And when ye blow an alarm the second time, the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their journeys. But when the assembly is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm. And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and they shall be to you for a statute for ever throughout your generations. And when ye go to war in your land against the adversary that oppresseth you, then ye shall sound an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the Lord your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. Also in the day of your gladness, and in your set feasts, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow the trumpets over your burnt-offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace-offerings; and they shall be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the Lord your God." (Numbers 10:2-10 ASV).



"But the righteousness which is of faith saith thus, Say not in thy heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down) or, Who shall descend into the abyss? (That is, to bring Christ up from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach: because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved: for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek: for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich unto all that call upon him: for, Whosoever shall call upon 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 whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach, except they be sent? even as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings of good things!" (Romans 10:6-14 ASV).



"Even things without life, giving a voice, whether pipe or harp, if they give not a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped? For if the trumpet give an uncertain voice, who shall prepare himself for war?" (1 Corinthians 14:7,8 ASV).

I want to say a very simple word, a word to which many of you may sound a very elementary word based upon these two silver trumpets about which we have read in the book of Numbers. In the first place I want to speak to Christians and then a word to any who may not lay claim to being such.

First of all then, a word to Christians about two silver trumpets and their meaning for us. I think it is perfectly clear that our bringing together of the New Testament passages and those words in the Old Testament, that the Lord has something to say and He wants His people to know what He has to say. The Lord has given voice, and is giving voice, to His mind. Well, that of course is the first and most simple meaning of trumpets, that they give voice to something.

There is a great deal about trumpets in the Bible: indeed the word trumpet occurs no fewer than one hundred times in the Bible. And that is impressive, because it does mean that the Bible is God's trumpet; or that God has something to say, to announce, to make known by means of His Word; that God is a speaking God who makes His mind known to people. That's where we begin. And this has very definite and immediate application to those of us who are His people and, being such, are to be His servants.

Let's look at the two trumpets then. First of all, we note the material of which they are made, they are:-

Silver Trumpets

And you Christian people know very well as part of your kindergarten of Bible knowledge that silver in the Word of God, in the symbolism of the Old Testament, is a type or symbol of redemption. I'm not going to gather up all that shows that to be so, but we know that it is so. Silver speaks to us of redemption; so that the trumpets are the means of proclaiming redemption... making known the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. But it also says that no one can be a trumpet that is not redeemed; trumpets are silver, they are the embodiment of that spiritual truth: redemption. And only redeemed people can speak for God. Only redeemed people can convey God's message. Only redeemed people can voice the mind of God. That, of course, is very elementary, but it's not universally recognised or acknowledged. Before we can speak or proclaim the message of redemption, we have got to know redemption in the very constitution of our being. We've got to be redemption in life, in experience. We have got to be silver.

Then it says, and not all versions make this clear, but mine did and mine is the right one [laughs]: "of beaten work".

Of Beaten Work

Now, you know what that means, simply: the thing is hammered out; the thing is wrought into the very substance. It means that there is a very real and deep and thorough-going experience in the matter with which we have to speak. The Lord does not just commit to us something to say. The Lord works the thing into us before He allows us to say it if we are really going to be His messengers. He takes pains to see that the pattern of the thing is hammered into our very being. We have got to know what redemption means in a deep way. And that sometimes does mean that there's a good deal of cutting into us by the hammer and chisel; it's beaten work, it's wrought work, it's something that is very real.

Dear friends, these things, according to God's mind, are to characterise every one who would be a messenger of God to others. The thing has got to be wrought into you. And may I say, that while it is not conveyed here, this matter is a continuous process. We shall only really express God, convey God to others, be able to speak of God and for God, be able to give to others God's thoughts and God's mind insofar as the thing is wrought into us. You've only got a little bit and you've only let the Lord take you so far; that is just the measure of your witness, of your testimony, of your real ability to convey what God wants conveyed. We've got to let God do this thing in us very thoroughly. And I do feel that, simple as it is, elementary as it is, it's a very important thing to say.

There may be here tonight those who have really come to the Lord, who could say that they are saved, they've given their hearts to the Lord, they've let the Lord into their hearts... however you might put it, there is that initial transaction with the Lord by which you have come to be His. That has taken place. But you've only gone just so far and there are still things which have not come into the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. The redemption has only gone so far, it hasn't touched some things in your life, you still have some associations, you still have some pleasures, some interests, you still have some idols of some kind. You're a Christian, yes, but you've only gone just so far and now you haven't gone any farther and you're not going any farther, you've just stopped. You've stopped, and all that great fullness that God has for you is suspended because, well, you've gone so far... you are the Lord's, but you're not letting the Lord work the fullness of redemption into your life. Because redemption is a very comprehensive thing.

Redemption does not begin and end with our just being saved from judgment and hell and being assured of heaven, forgiveness of our sin, and the coming of the Lord. Oh, that is a mere fragment - a large fragment and an important and valuable fragment - but after all in the light of all the redemption that is in Christ Jesus it is only a very little thing. So much more... and this redemption has got to apply to and touch everything until we are wholly on the ground of redemption and everything is on that ground.

Take an illustration from the life of Israel. You remember when they were redeemed by God from their bondage in Egypt, the Lord so worked, so thoroughly worked, so drastically worked, that He was not going to have, as it is put, "the hoof of one ox left in Egypt." Yes, He applied this matter of redemption to the last hoof of the last animal to leave Egypt. His idea is a very thorough-going redemption with nothing left outside, it's got to cover all that we are and all that we have. And it was because that generation of Israelites did not allow the principle to be wrought into them, the principle which God had established in that objective way, they did not allow it to be wrought into them that they did not come into the full purpose of redemption and occupy the great land of promise. Now, that's all illustration, it was true in history, but it is an illustration of the spiritual life that this thing has got to be wrought... beaten work, wrought into us thoroughly and exhaustively if we are going to come into all the good of redemption. So that while we can in a certain sense say, "I am redeemed", we have got to be able to say: "I am continually being redeemed. I'm going on in redemption, it is applying everywhere."

Now the point is this: that only in so far as the thing is wrought into us as the Lord's people have we a testimony. You can't go in testimony, speaking to others, beyond that which is true in our own being. So it is a beaten work, it is inwrought. Enough about that.

Then simply, again, the trumpets are two.

Charles Spurgeon - The Dog Howled At Them (Christian devotional)

"All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me" (Ps. 42:7).

  
Streams in the Desert

     

 His Billows

     
      "All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me" (Ps. 42:7).
     
      They are HIS billows, whether they go o'er us,
      Hiding His face in smothering spray and foam;
      Or smooth and sparkling, spread a path before us,
      And to our haven bear us safely home.
     
      They are HIS billows, whether for our succor
      He walks across them, stilling all our fear;
      Or to our cry there comes no aid nor answer,
      And in the lonely silence none is near.
     
      They are HIS billows, whether we are toiling
      Through tempest-driven waves that never cease,
      While deep to deep with clamor loud is calling;
      Or at His word they hush themselves in peace.
     
      They are HIS billows, whether He divides them,
      Making us walk dryshod where seas had flowed;
      Or lets tumultuous breakers surge about us,
      Rushing unchecked across our only road.
     
      They are HIS billows, and He brings us through them;
      So He has promised, so His love will do.
      Keeping and leading, guiding and upholding,
      To His sure harbor, He will bring us through.
      --Annie Johnson Flint
     
      Stand up in the place where the dear Lord has put you, and there do your best. God gives us trial tests. He puts life before us as an antagonist face to face. Out of the buffeting of a serious conflict we are expected to grow strong. The tree that grows where tempests toss its boughs and bend its trunk often almost to breaking, is often more firmly rooted than the tree which grows in the sequestered valley where no storm ever brings stress or strain. The same is true of life. The grandest character is grown in hardship. --Selected