IN vain we build, unless the Lord

By A Collection of Hymns

  

C.M. Psalm cxxvii.

1 IN vain we build, unless the Lord
The fabric still sustain;
Unless the Lord the city keep,
The watchman wakes in vain.
In vain we rise before the day,
And late to rest repair,
Allow no respite to our toil,
And eat the bread of care.


2 But, if we trust our Father's love
And in his ways delight,
He gives us needful food by day
And quiet sleep by night.
Then children, relatives, and friends,
Our real blessings prove;
And all the earthly joys he grants
Are crowned with heavenly love.

If anyone wills to do His will.....Oswald Chambers

If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine . . . —John 7:17

The golden rule to follow to obtain spiritual understanding is not one of intellectual pursuit, but one of obedience. If a person wants scientific knowledge, then intellectual curiosity must be his guide. But if he desires knowledge and insight into the teachings of Jesus Christ, he can only obtain it through obedience. If spiritual things seem dark and hidden to me, then I can be sure that there is a point of disobedience somewhere in my life. Intellectual darkness is the result of ignorance, but spiritual darkness is the result of something that I do not intend to obey.

No one ever receives a word from God without instantly being put to the test regarding it. We disobey and then wonder why we are not growing spiritually. Jesus said, “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23-24). He is saying, in essence, “Don’t say another word to me; first be obedient by making things right.” The teachings of Jesus hit us where we live. We cannot stand as impostors before Him for even one second. He instructs us down to the very last detail. The Spirit of God uncovers our spirit of self-vindication and makes us sensitive to things that we have never even thought of before.

When Jesus drives something home to you through His Word, don’t try to evade it. If you do, you will become a religious impostor. Examine the things you tend simply to shrug your shoulders about, and where you have refused to be obedient, and you will know why you are not growing spiritually. As Jesus said, “First . . . go . . ..” Even at the risk of being thought of as fanatical, you must obey what God tells you.

Complementary, Not Contradictory

By T. Austin-Sparks


"The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet" (Acts 2:34-35).

"Jesus standing on the right hand of God..." "The Son of man standing on the right hand of God" (Acts 7:55-56).

"If Christ is in you"; "...his Spirit that dwelleth in you" (Romans 8:10,11).

It is a matter that should be clearly understood by all Christians that to confuse the truths of God is very often to nullify their value in the life of a believer, and worse than that, to bring about a condition which is a positive contradiction of what is fundamental to true Christianity. With great seriousness then we seek to discriminate between the different essential aspects of the truth, and the above passages represent one of the instances of immense importance. Although there are three quotations given, there are only two really separate matters signified. The first two are but two sides of one thing, but while those two and the third constitute a full Christian life, and are essential to such spiritual fullness, they are two distinctly different things which must on no account be allowed to overlap.

Christ in Heaven: (a) 'Sitting'

In the first two Christ is represented as in heaven at God's right hand, but in two postures, 'sitting' and 'standing'. There is no contradiction here. We must remember that we are in the presence of language which is figurative. In His "sitting" - "made to sit" (Ephesians 1:20): "Sit thou" (Acts 2:34) - there is the Divine attestation that His work was complete and perfect, and that as Son of Man He had won and inherited the place of absolute honour and glory. "We see Jesus... crowned with glory and honour" (Hebrews 2:9). The right hand is first the place of honour. 

It is of great significance that the new dispensation commencing with Pentecost begins with Christ sitting at God's right hand. All begins with a work completed! The seventh day the day of rest - becomes the first day. The colours of the rainbow end where they began. It is the law of the octave, the eighth is as the first and marks a new beginning. Our Christian life begins at the point where the work is already completed in our Representative Son of Man. There is nothing to add to it, either in need or possibility. Immediately we try to contribute something to it we in effect, for ourselves, nullify it all, and God stands back. We shall come back to that again presently.

Christ in Heaven: (b) 'Standing'

With regard to the second posture of Christ as in heaven - "standing on the right hand of God" - this is seen when the Church is in the conflict, or when things are needing to be done for her, not in the sense of her justification, but for her defence and support in adversity. Thank God, there is One in the glory standing up for us, and He will see to it that the enemy overreaches himself, as in Stephen's case. Much could be said about that, but it is not our subject just now.

We pass straight to the third position of Christ:

"Christ in You"

Any mental difficulty as to two so widely separated locations of Christ at the same time is got over by the further words "By his Spirit that dwelleth in you". Christ and the Holy Spirit are one.

Here we cross over to another phase of things entirely, and the only link between the two is that the second is the outworking of the first.

One Day at a Time

The Lesson of Love: Chapter 18 - One Day at a Time

By J.R. Miller

      "And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day." Genesis 1:5

      One of the secrets of happy and beautiful life, is to live one day at a time. If we would learn it, it would save us from the worry that in so many people spoils the days, and would add immeasurably to the value of the work we do. For, really, we never have anything to do any day--but the bit of God's will for that day. If we do that well--we have absolutely nothing else to do.

      Time is given to us in days. It was so from the beginning. We need not puzzle ourselves trying to understand just what the "day" was in which God wrought in creating the universe--we may leave this matter to the scientific men and the theologians; but it is interesting to know that each day had its particular apportionment in the stupendous work. At the end of each of the creative periods we read, "There was evening and there was morning, one day." So it has been ever since.

      Time is measured to us by days. Each day has its particular section of duty, something that belongs in between sunrise and sunset, that cannot be done at all if it is not done in its own hours. "There was evening and there was morning, one day, a second day, a third day." This breaking up of time into little daily portions means a great deal more than we are accustomed to think. For one thing, it illustrates the gentleness and goodness of God. It would have made life intolerably burdensome if a year, instead of a day, had been the unit of division. It would have been hard to carry a heavy load, to endure a great sorrow, or to keep on at a hard duty, for such a long stretch of time. How dreary our common task-work would be--if there were no breaks in it, if we had to keep our hand to the plough for a whole year! We never could go on with our struggles, our battles, our suffering--if night did not mercifully settle down with its darkness and bid us rest and renew our strength.

We do not understand how great a mercy there is for us in the briefness of our short days. If they were even twice as long as they are, life would be intolerable. Many a time when the sun goes down--we feel that we could scarcely have gone another step. We would have fainted in defeat--if the summons to rest had not come just when it did.

      Night with its darkness seems to be a blot on the whiteness of day. It seems to fall across our path as an interruption to our activity, compelling us to lay down our work when we are in the very midst of it, leaving it only half done. It seems to be a waster of precious time, eating up half the hours. How much more we could accomplish, we sometimes say, if the sun did not go down, if we could go on without pause! Night throws its heavy veil over the lovely things of this world, hiding them from our view.

      Yet night really is no stain on the splendor of day, no thief of time, no waster of golden hours, no obscurer of beauty. It reveals as much beauty as it hides--for no sooner has the sun set, leaving earth's splendor of landscape, garden, and forest in gloom--than there bursts upon our vision the other splendor of the sky filled with glorious stars.

God is to have the scraps of a man's life?

God is to have the scraps of a man's life!

(Charles Spurgeon, "A Good Start!")

David said, "O Lord, truly I am Your servant." Psalm 116:16

If you become the servant of God--then become the servant of God truly. God is not mocked.

It is the curse of our churches, that we have so many merely nominal Christians in them. It is the plague of this age, that so many profess Christ--and yet never intend to live for Him. Oh, if you serve God, mean it!

If a man serves the devil--then let him serve the devil!
But if he serves God--then let him serve God!

Is there not much of this hypocrisy abroad? God is to have the scraps of a man's life--and he flings these down as if they were all that God was worth. But as for the world, that is to have the vigor of his life and the cream of his being.

God does not want nominal servants! "O Lord, truly I am Your servant!" He who does not mean to be truly God's servant, let him not pretend to be one at all.

Every man in the presence of the cross-bearing Jesus, should feel that to take up his cross and follow Christ is the most natural thing that can be; and he should resolve in God's strength that he will do it, and continue to obey the Lord, though all the world should ridicule. He must put on the badge of Christ, and say, "I am His servant and His follower from this day to life's end, and will shoulder the cross! I am free from all the maxims and customs of the world!"

"And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:15

   ~  ~  ~  ~

The Rise, the Noon, the Sundown of a Great Church

The Rise, the Noon, the Sundown of a Great Church 

by T. Austin-Sparks

Acts 19; 20. 2 Timothy. Revelation 2:1-5.

Like the glory of a radiant morn, full of promise and blessed portent: like the power, the wealth, the beneficence of noontide, like the passing of a glorious day, the gathering shadows, the fast-approaching night, the sense of decline, loss, and failure; is the story of 'Ephesus' as we have it in the New Testament. It is a story, historically, of abounding promise; of abundant wealth; and of ultimate tragedy.

The Radiant Morn

The story of that glorious beginning is told in Acts 19 and 20:17-38.

First, it is the story of a small beginning with a few disciples, who, having had imperfect instruction and limited light, made a full-hearted response to further enlightenment, and took their stand on the full meaning of the Cross as signified by baptism - death, burial, resurrection in Christ, and the consequent government of the Holy Spirit.

Then it is the inevitable and invariable story of the uprising of the powers of evil and of intense conflict: a real baptism into heavenly warfare and the sufferings of Christ. It was the reaction of "the world rulers of this darkness" against the invasion of their territory by Jesus Christ. Through this conflict the testimony was established and the church grew strong.

Thirdly, it is the story of an extended period of building up, instruction, during which time the spiritual values spontaneously became extra-local and "all Asia heard the word". The true nature of the Church universal became the nature of the church local; not by organized design, not by committee, machinery, and institutions, but by spontaneous and overflowing spiritual life.

Fourthly, it is the faithful reiteration of all that had been done and imparted at great cost, through much travail, and uncompromising loyalty to Christ and the truth. A final note of prophetic warning closed that epoch; warning that, if the enemy's fierce and vicious assaults from the outside failed to break that church, its testimony, and its far-reaching influence, he would turn to the inside and "from among your own selves shall men arise... to draw away the disciples after them" (Acts 20:30).

All that makes up to a wonderful and heart-ravishing beginning. How vital and significant a beginning it is! Would that every local church had such a clear-cut and transparent beginning! It was of God, not of man. It was wholly of the Spirit, and not of the flesh. It was of Heaven and not only on earthly ground. Therefore it had all the features of a heavenly calling; there was a heavenly fulness which spontaneously overflowed to distant regions, and a heavenly power which - while things remained true - triumphed over the many-sided insidious assaults of men and evil powers.

While it remained on heavenly ground, Heaven supported it. That it did survive for so long and exercised such a great influence is attributable to the soundness of the beginning.

The Noon

Although we should, perhaps, let the latter part of what we have written overlap into this second phase, we feel that the full blaze of the noon-time of the significance of 'Ephesus' is to be seen in the Letter to which its name (probably with others) was attached. Paul was then in prison in Rome. In the sovereignty of God he had been cut off from actual travelling among the churches in person, and from all those activities which, although ever vital and important, must now give place to a new phase.

The Lord who ruled all things in the life of His servant, acting on the principle of comparative values, judged that the greatest purpose would be served by shutting His servant away in seclusion, at least for a time. So, to the prison in Rome he went, despite every evil effort to end his life on the way. How fully and perfectly the wisdom of God has been vindicated!

Since "the heavenly vision" broke upon him on the road to Damascus, over a period of approximately twenty-eight to thirty years, that vision had been steadily and unceasingly growing in meaning and significance. It had been added to by special visions and revelations of the Lord (2 Cor. 12:1), in meditation, thought, and experience; in many long journeys on foot, and by sea. Much as he had given in letters, there remained a vast residue stored up in his heart, which demanded quiet detachment and freedom from administrative responsibilities for its release. So, the Lord planned it. What a mighty debt the Church universal through all the subsequent centuries owes to that act of Divine wisdom and sovereignty!

We do not hesitate to say that the greatest document ever penned and given to men is what is called "The Letter to the Ephesians". (We know the contention that it was an encyclical, and that 'Ephesus' was filled into a vacant space left for various other places, and we have no quarrel with that conclusion.) For Ephesus it certainly was intended and that fact carries with it certain implications.

Firstly. It is a well-attested fact, known to all preachers and teachers who fulfil their ministry in the Spirit, that the measure of liberty and the degree of' utterance depend upon the capacity of the recipients. Jesus enunciated this fact when He said: "I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now" (John 16:12), and it is stated categorically in Hebrews 5:11. The limit is imposed by the immaturity, the arrested growth, or lack of spiritual life in the hearers. A servant of the Lord, speaking in the Spirit, will know when he can go no further, and to try to go on will result in loss of unction and help. It is as though the Spirit said, 'That is as far as I can go with these people, they cannot take any more.' On the other hand, what a thing it is when there is no such restraint, and it is possible to give all that you have because the people are just drawing it out and are unwearied!

This is evidently how it was with those to whom this Letter was written. The Apostle was able to pour out the pent-up stores of heavenly riches. His only handicap was language, Superlative is heaped upon superlative. He beggars language and sometimes ruins grammar in his effort to free himself of his burden. There is nothing so profound; nothing so glorious; and nothing so significant for the Church as is here contained - or released!

Those believers must have been in a healthy spiritual state to receive all that. Paul must have felt how free that state made him, to so open the 'heavenlies' - a word so characteristic of the Letter.

A company of Christians will get what they are ready for. The Lord has vast stores and He is only straitened in us. One of the saddest things said about Israel was: "He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul" (Ps. 106:15). An attitude and condition of heart will determine 'leanness' or plenty.

Isaiah 48

48 Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness.

2 For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The Lord of hosts is his name.

3 I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.

4 Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;

5 I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.

6 Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.

7 They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them.

8 Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.

9 For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off.

10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

11 For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another.

12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.

13 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.

14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The Lord hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.

15 I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.

16 Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me.

17 Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.

18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:

19 Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.

20 Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob.

21 And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.

22 There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.