The Old Cross and the New

   ALL UNANNOUNCED AND MOSTLY UNDETECTED there has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old cross, but different: the likenesses are superficial; the differences, fundamental. From this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life, and from that new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique-a new type of meeting and a new kind of preaching. This new evangelism employs the same language as the old, but its content is not the same and its emphasis not as before.

The old cross would have no truck with the world. For Adam’s proud flesh it meant the end of the journey. It carried into effect the sentence imposed by the law of Sinai. The new cross is not opposed to the human race; rather, it is a friendly pal and, if understood aright, it is the source of oceans of good clean fun and innocent enjoyment. It lets Adam live without interference. His life motivation is unchanged; he still lives for his own pleasure, only now he takes delight in singing choruses and watching religious movies instead of singing bawdy songs and drinking hard liquor. The accent is still on enjoyment, though the fun is now on a higher plane morally if not intellectually.

The new cross encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic approach. The evangelist does not demand abnegation of the old life before a new life can be received. He preaches not contrasts but similarities. He seeks to key into public interest by showing that Christianity makes no unpleasant demands; rather, it offers the same thing the world does, only on a higher level. Whatever the sin-mad world happens to be clamoring after at the moment is cleverly shown to be the very thing the gospel offers, only the religious product is better.

The new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a cleaner anal jollier way of living and saves his self-respect. To the self-assertive it says, “Come and assert yourself for Christ.” To the egotist it says, “Come and do your boasting in the Lord.” To the thrill-seeker it says, “Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship.” The Christian message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue in order to make it acceptable to the public.

The philosophy back of this kind of thing may be sincere but its sincerity does not save it from being false. It is false because it is blind. It misses completely the whole meaning of the cross.

The old cross is a symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of a human being. The man in Roman times who took up his cross and started down the road had already said good-by to his friends. He was not coming back. He was going out to have it ended. The cross made no compromise, modified nothing, spared nothing; it slew all of the man, completely and for good. It did not try to keep on good terms with its victim. It struck cruel and hard, and when it had finished its work, the man was no more.

The race of Adam is under death sentence. There is no commutation and no escape. God cannot approve any of the fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear or beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual by liquidating him and then raising him again to newness of life.

That evangelism which draws friendly parallels between the ways of God and the ways of men is false to the Bible and cruel to the souls of its hearers. The faith of Christ does not parallel the world, it intersects it. In coming to Christ we do not bring our old life up onto a higher plane; we leave it at the cross. The corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die.

We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum.

God offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of death. It stands always on the far side of the cross. Whoever would possess it must pass under the rod. He must repudiate himself and concur in God’s just sentence against him.

What does this mean to the individual, the condemned man who would find life in Christ Jesus? How can this theology be translated into life? Simply, he must repent and believe. He must forsake his sins and then go on to forsake himself. Let him cover nothing, defend nothing, excuse nothing. Let him not seek to make terms with God, but let him bow his head before the stroke of God’s stern displeasure and acknowledge himself worthy to die.

Having done this let him gaze with simple trust upon the risen Savior, and from Him will come life and rebirth and cleansing and power. The cross that ended the earthly life of Jesus now puts an end to the sinner; and the power that raised Christ from the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ.

To any who may object to this or count it merely a narrow and private view of truth, let me say God has set His hallmark of approval upon this message from Paul’s day to the present. Whether stated in these exact words or not, this has been the content of all preaching that has brought life and power to the world through the centuries. The mystics, the reformers, the revivalists have put their emphasis here, and signs and wonders and mighty operations of the Holy Ghost gave witness to God’s approval.

Dare we, the heirs of such a legacy of power, tamper with the truth? Dare we with our stubby pencils erase the lines of the blueprint or alter the pattern shown us in the Mount? May God forbid. Let us preach the old cross and we will know the old power.
A.W. Tozer 1946

The Ministry of Elijah

by T. Austin-Sparks

Reading: 1 Kings 17.

What we have in view, of course, in the first place, is the servant of the Lord. Once more God is found reacting to a state of things amongst His Own people, rising up in Divine discontent, and, as always, laying His hand upon an instrument for recovery.

So Elijah stands before us to represent such an instrument, and, in God’s dealings with him, we see the ways and the principles by which a servant of the Lord is made an effectual servant, in relation to the purpose of God.

The Sovereign Choice Of God

The first thing related to any such instrument is the sovereignty of God. There is never any adequate, natural explanation for the choice and appointment by God of His servants. There may be things in the chosen instrument which will be turned to account, when they are wholly sanctified and brought under the government of God’s Spirit, but when all has been said, we have to recognize that God’s choice of His instruments is always a sovereign choice, and not because there is anything naturally in the instrument to warrant His choosing that instrument and selecting it from others. He acts sovereignly in choosing and appointing for His purpose. But, although that may be true, and although God may go beyond choosing and may endue that instrument with spiritual power, yet the instrument must be controlled and disciplined continually by the hand of God. Otherwise that servant of the Lord, or that instrument, will be found following in the direction of his own soul, following his own judgments, being influenced by his own feelings. The intent and motive may be very good, it may be very godly, but that does not dispense with the necessity of that instrument being continuously under the hand of God, for government and for discipline.

That is what comes very clearly before us at the outset in the case of Elijah. There is no doubt about God’s sovereign choice, and there is no question as to God having endued Elijah with Divine power. Nevertheless, we see him at every step under the hand of God, and those steps are all steps which are a disciplining of the man himself. God is dealing with His servant all the time, and bringing him, all the way along, under His hand, so that he never becomes something in himself, but has everything in the Lord, and only in the Lord. We make a great mistake if we think that it is enough to have the Divine thought as to Divine purpose, that is, to have the knowledge of what God desires to do. That is not enough, that knowledge of the thought of God is not sufficient. There has to be a dealing with us in relation to that Divine thought, and that dealing with us is usually in a way which is altogether beyond our understanding.

If God were dealing with us as sinners, that is, if He were dealing with us because of certain personal sins and personal faults, we could quite clearly understand that; but when He is dealing with us in relation to Divine purpose, as His servants, His dealings with us go far beyond our understanding. We are taken out into a realm where we do not understand what the Lord is doing with us, and why the Lord takes certain courses with us. We are out of our depth, we are altogether baffled, and we are compelled – that is, if we are going on with God – to believe that God knows what He is doing: we have just to move with Him according to whatever light we may have, and believe that these dealings with us, so far beyond our understanding, are somehow related to that purpose with which we are called, and that the explanation waits some distance ahead, and we will find it when we get there. God does not explain Himself when He takes a step with us. God never comes to a servant of His and says, ‘Now I am going to take you through a certain experience which will be of this particular character, and the reason for this is so-and-so.’ Without any intimation from the Lord, we find ourselves in a difficult situation, which altogether confounds us, puts us beyond the power of explaining that experience, and God takes us through without any explanation whatever until we are free, until the purpose for which that experience was given is reached, and then we have the explanation.

The point is, that even an instrument, sovereignly taken up by God in relation to His purpose, while knowing His main thought as to His purpose, still needs to be kept every moment, at every step, under God’s hand, to be disciplined in relation to that thought, to be governed entirely by God.

Elijah, great man as he was, outstanding in the history of God’s movements, was brought to that very point where, although he knew that God had laid hold of him, and although he knew what God’s intention was, he could not, by his own initiative and by his own energy, freely go on to fulfill his mission. He could not move more than one step at a time, and even so that step had to be definitely governed by God. He could only take that step under the Divine direction. You see it here in this chapter to begin with. He had to take just one step, and then the next, and that by Divine direction, nothing beyond that. The Lord does not turn even His greatest servants loose with an idea. He does not liberate His most mightily used instruments to take a free course, even though they may know what God is after.

Divine Authority

Some of the reasons for that are clear. Elijah’s ministry was one of Divine authority. There were powers at work which were more than human powers. The case with Israel was not simply one of spiritual declension. It was not merely that the people had lost a measure of spiritual life and were on a lower level than they should be, so that they had to have a deepening of the spiritual life. That was not the position at all. Baal had a mighty footing in Israel, and the evil powers, the forces of darkness, were back of this state of things. The situation demanded more than merely spiritual help to Israel. Something more than a ministry of exhortation and of spiritual food, something more than a convention for the deepening of spiritual life was called for. A ministry of Divine authority was needed, to deal with a spiritual situation back of the condition in which the people were found. There were mightier forces at work than merely human faults and failings. The mighty power of Satan was there represented by Israel’s state. Elijah, therefore, must needs fulfill a ministry of Divine authority, and the very first public utterance indicates that that is what his ministry was:

As the Lord, the God of Israel, liveth, before Whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word (1 Kings 17:1).

There is a position, and there is an authority by reason of that position. James says that by Elijah’s prayer the heavens were closed. That is going beyond the merely earthly, human situation. And again, by his prayer the heavens were opened. That is authority in heaven.

Secret Preparation

Now that ministry of authority was born in secret preparation before it came out in public expression. The Apostle James tells us quite definitely that “Elijah was a man of like passions with us, and he prayed fervently (you have no mention of that in the historic record in the Book of Kings) that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth for three years and six months. And he prayed again; and the heaven gave rain…”

There is a secret history with God. He came into his public ministry with abrupt announcement. He simply stood there upon the platform of the universe, as it were, and made his declaration. But that is not all. There is a secret history with God behind that. All such ministry of Divine authority has its beginning hidden from the public eye, has its roots in a secret history with God. That kind of ministry, born out from that secret history with God, needs very special government by God to preserve its safety, to safeguard it from all those forces which can destroy it, and that is why Elijah, having such a ministry, needed to be governed in every step by God. There must be no generalization of movement in his case, there must be specific movement, God dictating every step. So God preserves that authority as He produces it, that is, by a hidden life. Such a life and such a ministry must not be exposed, otherwise it will be destroyed.

Separation From The Self-life

So the Lord said to Elijah, “Get thee hence…” Hence? Where from? From this exposure, this publicity, this open place with all its dangers. “Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.” Hide thyself. Geography may have little to do with it. What is here spiritually is “hide thyself”. Cherith means separation or cutting off, and that is linked with Jordan. Cherith is a tributary of the Jordan. We know what Jordan stands for, the death of the self-life. In the major sense, the Lord’s servants have been to Jordan; that is, the self-life has been set aside; but they have to keep near Jordan, and Jordan has to govern them at every step. The most paralyzing thing to a ministry of Divine authority is “thyself”. It is, in other words, the strength of our own souls. Elijah was a strong-minded man, a strong-willed man, a man capable of very strong and drastic actions, of pouring out a great deal of his own soul-life with great heat, and the self-life of a servant of God is a great peril to the spirit. Paul makes it perfectly clear that, at an advanced point in his ministry and in his spiritual life, when God had entrusted him with visions and revelations unspeakable, which it was not lawful for a man to utter, the main and most immediate peril and menace to the ministry of that revelation was himself. ‘Lest I should be exalted above measure….” Then the self-life had not been eradicated from Paul! Paul was not clear of the peril of doing great damage to purely spiritual ministry, and God had to take a special precaution against the self-life of His own servant, not the sinful life in its old sense, but the self-life. ‘Lest I should be exalted…” I… exalted! What is that? That is the exaltation of the ego, the self. What dangers are in that “I”, and how truly it stands in peril of getting into an exalted place, a place of power, a place of influence, a place of authority. It is in this sense that the Lord has to say, “Hide thyself”: ‘get to the place of cutting off, of separation.’

This was so different from what you might expect. You see, here is a man, having had this deep, secret preparation with God in much prayer, who finds himself brought out in Divine authority to make a great announcement which represents a crisis in the purpose of God. You would expect that, from that point, he would go straight on from strength to strength, from place to place, would at once become a recognized authority, a recognized servant of God, and be very much before the public eye. But God would guard against any servant of His taking up a Divine purpose and a Divine commission in himself, taking it up in his own energy. That will destroy it, and there must be a hiding, a very real hiding. If a geographical hiding is God’s way of getting a spiritual hiding, well, be it so. If God chooses to send us out of the realm of public life and ministry into some remote and hidden place, in order to take us away from the imminent peril of our becoming something, of our being taken up to be made something of, our going on in the strength of our own self-life, that is all well and good; but whether it be geographical or not, the word of the Lord to all His servants would always be, “Hide thyself!”

Adjustableness

Then you see, connected with that, as a part of it, the servant of the Lord must be found always in the place where he is pliable, where the Lord can get a ready and immediate response. The servant has no program, therefore there is nothing to upset. He has no set course, therefore the Lord has nothing to break. He is moving with God, or staying with God, just as the Lord directs. He must be mobile in the hands of the Lord, that is, capable of being moved at any time, in any way, without feeling that everything is being broken up and torn to pieces.

“Get thee hence… and hide thyself by the brook Cherith… and it came to pass… that the brook dried up.” The Lord did not say that it would not dry up, and the fact that the Lord told Elijah to go to the brook Cherith did not mean that the Lord was going to preserve the brook forever. It was a step, and the Lord said, in effect: ‘That is the next step. I do not promise you that you will stay there always. I am not saying that that is your last abiding place, and that you can settle down there forever. That is your next step: go there and be ready for anything else that I want.’

This is a spiritual condition, of course. No one is going to take this literally. If we were to begin to apply this literally, as to our business here on earth, we might get into confusion; but we have to be ready in spirit for the Lord to do anything that He likes, and never to feel that there is any contradiction when the Lord, having directed us in one way, now directs us in another. It is a matter of being in the hands of the Lord, without a mind of our own made up, though the way be hidden from our own reasoning, from our own will, from our own feelings, hidden from all our soul-life, so that the Lord has a clear way with us.

The brook dried up! Well, are you dependent on the brook? If so, you are in a state of utter confusion when the brook dries up. Are you dependent upon the Lord? Very well, let all the brooks dry up and it is quite all right. Dependence on the Lord is a governing and an abiding law of true spiritual power. Elijah has been spoken of and written of as the prophet of power. If that is true in any special way, he was very certainly the prophet of dependence.

That relationship to the Lord made it possible for the Lord to do other things, and to lead him on into new realms of revelation and experience. Oh, what a thing adjustableness is! If we are not adjustable, how we prevent the Lord from bringing us into His full revelation and purpose.

Those disciples of John the Baptist were adjustable, and because of that they came to know the Lord Jesus. You will remember those disciples of John who followed Jesus, and said, “Master, where dwellest Thou?” He said, “Come and see.” Now had they been fixed and settled, saying, ‘We are John’s disciples and we must stand by him; we must stay with John, and move with him; let Jesus have His Own disciples, but we stand by John,’ they would have lost a great deal. But they were open and adjustable, and moved beyond John.

Those other disciples of John whom Paul found at Ephesus many years afterward, to whom he said, “Did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye believed?” were adjustable. When they heard what Paul said, they were baptized into the Name of the Lord Jesus. They were ready to go on from John to Christ, and so they came into the greater fullness (Acts 19).

Unless we are adjustable we shall miss a great deal. Elijah was adjustable, and so God could lead him on. The Lord allowed the brook to dry up because He had something more for His servant to learn, and something more to do through him, and so He said, “Arise, get thee to Zarephath… I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.” He went to Zarephath, and was made a blessing by his obedience.

Experience Of Resurrection

Then he was brought by his new movement of obedience and faith into a new exercise, a new perplexity, a new trial; for the woman’s son died. The woman was a widow with one son. The death of the son meant for her the loss of everything. It happened while Elijah was there, being looked after by this woman, and he was there in his obedience to the Lord. He had done this in obedience to the Lord, and now in the line of obedience to, and of faith in the Lord, the Lord allowed this catastrophe to come into the very home to which he had been sent. It clearly raised a big question in Elijah’s heart. ‘God sent me here, I know that! God raised me up and commissioned me, and in the course of the fulfilling of my commission He brought me into this situation! There is no doubt about the Lord having led this way, and now here I am, having done what the Lord told me, having taken the course that He indicated, and everything has come into death and confusion; there is a terrible contradiction here!’ All sorts of questions can arise when you get in a position like that, and you can begin to go back on your guidance, begin to raise questions as to whether, after all, you were led, or whether you made a mistake in your guidance. Do that, and you only get more and more into the mire. What is all this about? God has a revelation for Elijah beyond anything that he had yet received. He was going to bring him into something more than he had yet known. He was going to show His servant that He is the God of resurrection; and that has to be wrought, in a deep way, into the very being of His servant, through trial, through perplexity, through bewilderment. Thus the Lord allows the widow’s son to die, and the house to be filled with consternation, and all concerned to ask big questions.

The prophet goes up to his chamber and brings the thing before the Lord, and lays hold of God, and so relates himself to this situation that he and the situation are one, and the boy’s resurrection is the prophet’s resurrection. There is identification of the prophet with the situation in death, and then in resurrection. The mighty meaning of the power of His resurrection, with new experience of that for the servant of God, was an essential lesson, if this authority was to be maintained, and this ministry to work out to its ultimate meaning in the overthrow of the power of death, which were working destruction. The servant of God must go through it all in his own heart.

This discipline of Zarephath was relative to the whole ministry of the prophet. Zarephath means testing and refining, and it was indeed a refining fire. But Elijah came out, and everybody else concerned came out, into a new place in resurrection.

The Lord write these things in our hearts, and show us how they still remain as spiritual values connected with the reaching of God’s end, the fulfilling of His purpose.

First published in “A Witness and A Testimony” magazine, Sep-Oct 1938, Vol. 16-5.

COMMITMENT?

By: Major W. Ian Thomas

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Truth, and as in all other things that pertain, unto life and godliness” (11 Peter 1:3), He is the Truth about true commitment. He was committed to the Father for all that to which the Father was committed in the Son, and He was supremely confident that the Father who dwelt in Him, was gloriously adequate for all that to which He was committed. We know also that the Saviour’s commitment to His Father was such that the Father was completely committed to His Son!

The Lord Jesus Christ refused to be committed to the parochial needs of His own day and generation; He was not committed to the political situation in Palestine, or to the emancipation of the Jewish nation from the Roman yoke! He was not committed to the pressing social problems of His time, nor to one faction as opposed to another, any more than today He is committed to the West against the East, or to the Republicans against the Democrats (as though either were less wicked than the other!). Christ was not even committed to the needs of a perishing world; He was neither unmindful nor unmoved by all these other issues, but as Perfect Man He was committed to His Father, and for that only to which His Father was committed in Him ­ exclusively!

The basis of His commitment to the Father is the basis upon which the Lord Jesus Christ claims your commitment to Him; you are committed to Him for all that to which He is committed in you ­ exclusively!

You are not committed to a church, or to a denomination, or to an organization; as a missionary you are not committed to a Mission Board nor even to a “field,” and least of all are you committed to a “need”! You are committed to Christ, and for all that to which Christ is committed in You, and again I say ­ exclusively!

The Gospel of Paul

by T. Austin-Sparks

“…the gospel of the glory of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust” (1 Tim. 1:11).

“Be not ashamed therefore of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but suffer hardship with the gospel according to the power of God…” (2 Tim. 1:8).

“…our Savior Jesus Christ… abolished death, and brought life and in-corruption to light through the gospel, where unto I was appointed a herald, and an apostle, and a teacher” (2 Tim. 1:10, R.V. mg.).

“Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, of the seed of David, according to my gospel…” (2 Tim. 2:8).

We come now to our closing thoughts on what Paul called “the gospel which I preach”. “The gospel of the glory of the blessed God”. We need, in the first place, just to note the correct translation of these words, because the different versions render them in different ways. The Authorized Version has: “the glorious gospel of the blessed God”. You will note how different this is from the Revised Version from which I have quoted above. The latter – the Revised – is the correct rendering of the statement, and the point in getting it right is this. Paul is not speaking of what the gospel is about – the content of the gospel. He is speaking of the gospel which has to do with the manifestation of the glory of God. That may sound a little technical, but it is very important. Let me repeat: what Paul has in mind here is the gospel, or the good tidings, which is concerned with the manifestation of the glory of God. The glory of God in manifestation – that is the gospel.

Note another thing: “the gospel of the glory of the blessed God”. There is a translation which changes that word, and uses the word ‘happy’ in the place of ‘blessed’: “the gospel of the glory of the happy God”. But that does not sound quite right, does it, in our ears? And yet, if we understood the real meaning, we should realize that that is not an altogether inappropriate word.

There are two Greek words translated ‘blessed’ in the New Testament. One, which is much the more common, literally just means ‘well spoken of’. That is its literal meaning, but in the New Testament it is almost exclusively used in the sense of ‘blessed’, and is so translated. That, however, is not the word that is used here. The word used here – the second of the two words to which I have referred – is one that occurs far less frequently. It is a word which expresses that which properly speaking is true of God alone: that is, the uniqueness of God as to what He is in Himself, altogether apart from what men think of Him or say about Him. It is just what He is in Himself. You may think what you like, and say what you like, but God is this. This is the word here translated ‘blessed’. The word really means that solemn, calm, restful, perpetual gladness that fills the heart of God. If you can get the feeling of that definition, you have got somewhere near understanding the meaning of the word here translated ‘blessed’. It is the gospel of the glory of the calm, restful, confident gladness of the heart of God; the good news, the good tidings, of that.

The Good Tidings of the Glory of God

What is this glory of God which becomes that gospel, that good news? It is the glory of God in the revelation of Himself in His Son Jesus Christ. The revelation of Himself. In the Old Testament the glory of God has symbolic form, as we know. For instance, in the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle, between the cherubim on the mercy seat, the glory was found. The glory covered the mercy seat. It was a light streaming down upon the mercy seat, upon the ark of the covenant; streaming down and focusing there. It was heavenly radiance. It was but a symbol. That which it symbolized is here – the light of God streaming down upon, and through, His Son Jesus Christ. That is the glory of God. Paul in writing to the Corinthians puts it in this way: “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). It is that which is in the Lord Jesus of God’s perfectly restful, calm, tranquil, abiding satisfaction.

The Glory of God in a Man

Now, here is a very remarkable thing. You bear about the glory of God. Much is said about it, and you are told that that is what you will find in the Bible; that, if you go to the Bible, there you will find much about the glory of God. When you take up the Bible looking for the glory of God, what do you find? A Man! You find that you are confronted with a Man. You cannot get away from that Man: the Old Testament is always pointing, by numerous means and methods and ways, to a Man; the New Testament, from beginning to end, has one Man in view, a Man always in view. So that you have to say: ‘This is the answer to my quest. I am in quest of the knowledge of the glory of God, and God’s answer to the quest is a Man.’ That is but an exposition of this little phrase, “the gospel of the glory of the blessed God”, which is the revelation of God in His Son, Jesus Christ.

God is here represented as being in a state of perfect tranquility, restfulness, calm, abiding assurance and satisfaction and joy, and everything that can be summed up in the word ‘ blessedness ‘. God is represented as being, God is stated to be, in that condition. What is the basis of that state of God? It is just that God has found a perfect, a complete, expression of Himself in a Man. Yes, we know who that Man was. I am not overlooking or setting aside His Deity, His own Godhead, but I am not thinking about that just now. You see, God created man with very, very high purposes. Indeed, man was created in order to answer to and satisfy the heart of God: and when we say that, we are saying tremendous things. To satisfy the heart of God! There are some people who take a lot of satisfying. Indeed, they never do seem satisfied. Things are always falling short of their standard and their ideal. But you can go a long way, you can go as far as it is possible to go with any human conception of satisfaction, and you still fall far, far short, infinitely short, of God’s idea. God is so much greater, so much more wonderful.

We have in the fallen creation but a faint reflection of how wonderful and great God is. Yet even when we view this very creation as it is, with all its faults and weaknesses and variations and so on, we have to stand in awe and worship. We can see just a faint indication of what a wonderful God He is, and of how much it must take to satisfy Him. Yet here He is in a state of absolute satisfaction, calm, tranquil, restful, happy, because all those thoughts of His, all those desires of His, all those intentions of His, and all those first undertakings of His, have now been consummated and perfected – not in the creation generally, but in a Man. That Man answers to God to the very last requirement of that infinite Mind. How great Christ is! God finds, therefore, His happiness, His blessedness, His satisfaction, His tranquility, in that.

A Representative Man

Perhaps you may think, ‘That is a beautiful thing to say, those are very wonderful thoughts to express, but where is the practical value of it?’ Ah, that is just the gospel, you see. Do you think that the Lord Jesus, God’s Son, came through and took the position of man, and was made perfect to God’s utter and final satisfaction, just in order that God should have that in one Man? No, the gospel is this, that the Lord Jesus is representative of all the men that God is going to have. He is representative and He is inclusive. The old and beautiful beginning of the gospel, which you and I, after long familiarity with it, still often need, for our own tranquility, to grasp more perfectly, is just this: that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is a sphere into which we are called, bidden, invited to enter by faith, so that we are hidden in Him as to what we are ourselves; God sees only Him and not us. A wonderful thing! You have got to put aside all your arguments and all your questions, and accept God’s fact. That this phrase, “in Christ”, occurs two hundred times and more in the New Testament must surely mean something.

God Sees Us in Christ

The first, and perhaps the all-inclusive, thing that it means, is that, if you are in Christ, God sees Christ instead of seeing you. I have a little piece of paper here. Let that represent you or me in ourselves, what we are. I put it into a book, and that book represents Christ. You do not see the paper any more you only see the book. That is our position “in Christ”. That is what Christ means. All His satisfaction to God is put to our account. That is the gospel: when you and I are in Christ, God is satisfied with us – tranquil, happy, blessed. Oh, wonderful gospel! You cannot grasp it, or explain it, but there is the fact stated. This is the gospel of the glory of the satisfied God.

Putting again the test that we were applying in other connections in an earlier chapter, it is just this: that, when you and I really come into Christ and find our place in Christ, one of the first things of which we are conscious is that all the strain has gone out; we have come to rest. A marvellous tranquility, that is not natural, has come into us. We feel the battle is all over between us and God. It is wonderful; a blessed, happy condition. Now, that is our experience, but what is the significance of it? It is the Spirit of the happy God bearing witness to God’s happiness in our hearts. “The gospel of the glory of the blessed God”. The first stage of that is a position. We are in Christ.

Christ In Us

The second stage or the second aspect of that is that Christ is in us. But we must not pursue that to the same conclusion as in the last point. That does not mean that we are seen and Christ is hidden. No, Christ is in us and we are in Christ: an impossible thing to explain, unless perhaps we can put it like this. Dr. Campbell Morgan was asked on one occasion whether baptism was sprinkling or immersion. He said: ‘My dear friend, come with me to the Niagara Falls, and stand underneath. Are you sprinkled or are you immersed?’ Well, I leave you to answer. But it is like that. Christ is in us. Why is He in us? He is in us as that very satisfaction to the heart of God, in order that the Spirit of God may work in us to conform us to Christ.

And that introduces another aspect of the Christian life: that, if you and I go on continually on the basis of Christ within, our joy increases. That can be put to the test. Stop going on with the Lord, and see what happens to our joy. Get away from the Lord, and see what happens to our blessedness. We shall begin to lament then -
‘Where is the blessedness I knew
When first I saw the Lord?
Where is the soul-refreshing view
Of Jesus and His Word?’

Ah, but God forbid that it should be necessary for any of us to sing that hymn. It is not necessary. Go on with the Lord Jesus on the basis of God’s satisfaction with Him, and the blessedness increases. God’s happiness enlarges in our heart. Christ is installed within as the pattern, standard, and basis upon which God works.

Now, here is something fundamental. Oh, how long we take to learn this! It is simple, I know, but it is fundamental and it is a thing on which we are always tripping up. If we begin to try to go on on the ground of what we are, God stops. If we get on to our own ground, what we are in ourselves – our miserable, wretched self, that God regards as a corpse and a stinking corpse – forgive me for me for saying that – because it has been dead for two thousand years (that may sound amusing, but really it is exceedingly serious): if you get off the ground of “Christ in you” on to what you are in yourself, God says, ‘I am going no farther’. All Divine operations cease. We can only continue as we began. We began in faith that Jesus Christ was our substitute, took our place with God and answered to God for us. That was our faith that brought us into Christ. We have to go right on to the end with the same faith in the Lord Jesus, and no faith in ourselves, and God will go on if we go on on His ground. The good news is that God is ready to go right on with increasing blessedness if we will only keep on His ground. His glory is in His Son, and He has no glory in man apart from His Son.

So Christ is our sphere, Christ is our center, and Christ is our model, and we are being conformed, says the Apostle, until Christ is fully formed in us. Simple, basic: God’s glory in Christ being manifested in believers, in the Church, because believers are resting upon God’s satisfaction with His Son. That and that only is the way of the glory of God and the expression of God’s blessedness, God’s happiness. That is the gospel.

You see, it all comes at last to focus upon this. What is the gospel? When you have said all that you can about it, it is included in, and compassed by, this – God’s perfect satisfaction, rest, tranquility, concerning His Son, made available to us. Oh, that you and I might live without conflict with God, because we abide in Christ! Brother, sister, when you begin to feel miserable about yourself, repudiate it. ‘Yes, I know all about that. If I do not know all about that now, it is time that I did. I know all about what I am; I know where that will lead me if I begin to take that into account. I set that aside. It is a fact – God has done it – that, so long ago, in Christ I was crucified, in Christ I died, in Christ I was buried, in Christ I have been raised. It is all in Christ. That is where I stand.’ Maintain that position; abide in Christ. Get out of that on to any other ground, and the glory departs, the blessedness, the happiness, is arrested.

Good News for Young People

Paul was speaking to Timothy about the gospel, and Timothy needed good news, good tidings. To begin with, Timothy was a young man. A young man who is a Christian has his own personal problems – he has many difficulties and problems in himself. A young man represents the sum of a life at its beginnings: all the problems of life are resident there. Timothy was a young man. To such a young man, the Apostle says: ‘It is all right, Timothy: you may be beset by all these problems and these difficulties, you may be having all this trouble spiritually in these different ways, but Jesus Christ is equal to the whole situation!’ Do remember, young man, young woman, that the Lord Jesus is God’s answer to all the problems of youth. That is good tidings, is it not?

Timothy was not only a young man, but he was a young man in difficulties of a specific kind by reason of his position in Christian work. Difficulties were coming at him from three directions. Firstly, there was the pagan world. What a challenge that must have meant for a young man in those days! It was a world that had no place for God, no place for the Lord, no place for the things of God, and all the opposing force of that world must have seemed concentrated upon this young man. Secondly, there were all the difficulties of the Jewish world. Paul hints at them here. These Judaizers were pursuing Paul over the whole world, with the determination: ‘This man shall be brought to an end – this man’s work shall be utterly wiped out!’ By every means these Judaizers were set upon destroying Paul and his work and his converts, and Timothy was associated with Paul. Paul says: “Be not ashamed… of me”. Association created a good many difficulties for Timothy. The answer is: ‘All right, Timothy ; there is good news for you! The Lord Jesus is equal to that – He will see you through it all’.

And then Timothy was a young man in great responsibility in the work of God – in the Church of God. If you know anything about that, you know that you need a fairly sure ground of confidence. He came up against some very difficult Christians. But Paul said: “Let no man despise thy youth.” There were certain wiseacres – people who thought themselves to be something – who were inclined to say, ‘Oh, Timothy is only a young fellow, you know – you must not take too much notice of him.’ They were despising his youth. That is rather a difficult thing to endure. It takes the heart out of you if you happen to be in that position. I remember so well, when I commenced ministry and became responsible for a church, where most of the church officers were old men, one of them was heard to say, one day, ‘He is so young, you know!’ But I had a champion among them, and he said, ‘Don’t worry about that – he is getting over that every day!’ Well, that is very kind and nice: but that sort of attitude among fellow-workers may well take the heart out of you, when you have to carry the responsibility. Timothy was in that position, but this is the gospel for Timothy: ‘It is all right: the Lord Jesus is equal to that situation – He can see you through that too’.

After all, it is really just this. It is what the Lord Jesus is “made unto us… from God”: God’s satisfaction. Oh, thank God that the Lord Jesus covers our faults and weaknesses and defectiveness. I once read a story – I think it was true – of a certain hotel on the Continent, where people used to go and stay for rest and quiet and detachment. One day a mother arrived with her little girl, and that little girl was just beginning to learn the piano. Every morning, first thing, she went to the piano and strummed and strummed, and all day long she strummed. Morning, noon and night she strummed, until those people became almost distracted, and they were counseling together as to what they should do, when a famous pianist arrived to stay at the hotel. He at once sensed the atmosphere, took in the situation, and when the little girl went to the piano, he went up alongside and sat down, and put his hands over hers and guided them, and there began to come forth the most beautiful music. The people came down from their rooms into the room where the piano was, and sat down and listened. When the recital was over, the pianist said to the little girl, ‘Thank you so much, dear; we have enjoyed it so much today’ – and all the trouble was over.

Yes, the Lord Jesus just puts His hands over ours. We might make a mess of things; we do, if we are left to ourselves. We upset a lot, do a lot of harm; we are so imperfect, so faulty: and then the Lord Jesus comes, in this blessed way, and corrects our defectiveness, answers to the Father for us, makes good our deficiencies – how? – with Himself, just Himself.

That is the answer; that is the good news – “the gospel of the glory of the blessed God”.

The Indwelling Christ…

By Watchman Nee

“God’s normal for a Christian can be summarized as follows: I no longer live! Now it is Christ who lives His life in me (Gal. 2:20).”

“Because of our limited comprehension of the state of our fallen nature, we do not have true appreciation of how helpless the natural man really is. Thus, we still have some expectations in ourselves. And as a result of this faulty line of thought, we think that we can please God.”

“The blood can wash away my sins, but it cannot wash away my ‘old man’ (Rom. 6:6). For this we are in need of the Cross, that the old man may be crucified. Though the blood deals with sins, it is the Cross that deals with the sinner.”

“At the beginning of the Christian life, we are concerned with our doing and not with our being; we are distressed more by what we have done than by what we are. We think that if only we could rectify certain things we would be good Christians; therefore, we set out to change our actions. We try to please the Lord, but we find that something within us does not want to please Him. And the more we try to rectify matters externally, the more we realize how deep-seated the problem really is.”

Since we came into this world by birth, we must go out by death. To do away with our sinfulness, we must do away with our life. But how do we die? It is not by trying to kill ourselves. Rather, we die by recognizing that God has already dealt with us in Christ. This is summed up in the apostle’s statement, ‘As many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death’ (Rom. 6:3).”

“The Cross terminates the first creation, and out of death there is brought in a new creation in Christ: the Second Man.”

“God’s way of deliverance is altogether different from man’s way. Man’s way is to try to suppress sin by seeking to overcome it; God’s way is to remove the sinner. Many Christians mourn over their weakness, thinking that if only they were stronger all would be well. But God’s means of delivering us from sin is not by making us stronger and stronger; rather, it is by making us weaker and weaker. God sets us free from the dominion of sin, not by strengthening our old man, but by crucifying him; not by helping him to do anything, but by entirely removing him from the scene of action.”

“It is not intellectual knowledge at all, but an opening of the eyes of the heart – to see what we have in Christ.”

“In dealing with Christ, God has dealt with the Christian; in dealing with the Head, He has dealt with all the members. It is altogether wrong for us to think that we can experience anything pertaining to spiritual life merely in ourselves, apart from Him.”

“Grace means that God has done something for me; law means that I must do something for God.”

“The law makes our weakness manifest. Had it not been for the law, we would never have known how weak we are. The law is what exposes our true nature.”

“The law was not given with the expectation that we would keep it; it was given in the full knowledge that we would break it. And when we have broken it so completely as to be convinced of our utter need, then the law has served its full purpose. It has been our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that in us He Himself may fulfill it (Gal. 3:24).”

“What does it mean to be delivered from the law? It means that I am henceforth no longer going to try to do anything to please Go; for if I do, then I immediately place myself under the law. Therefore, I have alternative; I must allow Christ to fulfill the law in me. And finally, I see that this alone is what is pleasing to God (Matt. 5:17). This is deliverance from the law!”

“It is only after having reached the point of utter despair in ourselves – so that we cease even to try – that we put our trust in the Lord to manifest His resurrection life in us. The sooner we give up trying, the better. For it is only by ceasing in ourselves that we give place to the Holy Spirit. And then, we will see a power stronger than ourselves carrying us through.”

“As long as we are trying to do anything, He can do nothing. It is because of our trying that we fail.”

“We all need to come to the point where we say, “Lord, I am unable to do anything for You, but I trust You to do everything in me.”

“One faulty line of thinking that is prevalent among Christians is this: we know that justification is ours through the Lord Jesus and that it requires no work on our part, but we think sanctification is dependent on our own efforts. We know we can receive forgiveness only by our entire reliance on the Lord, yet we believe we can obtain deliverance by doing something ourselves. After salvation, the old habit of “doing” reasserts itself, and we begin our old self-efforts again. However, the Bible declares that, in both justification and sanctification, He is the doer. ‘It is God who works in you’ (Phil. 2:13).”

“Living in the Spirit means that I trust the Holy Spirit to do in me what I cannot do myself. It is not a case of trying, but of trusting; not a case of struggling, but of resting in Him.”

“We think of the Christian life as a “changed life”, but it is not. What God offers us is an “exchanged life”, a “substituted life”, and Christ is our substitute within.”

“Many believers have a wrong understanding of sanctification. It is commonly conceived that every item of our lives should be holy. But that is not holiness; rather, it is the fruit of holiness. Holiness is Christ.”

THE CARNAL CHRISTIAN

By Winkie Pratney

One hundred years ago revival swept America. Thousands of souls entered the Kingdom of God under the searching sermons of a humble servant of Christ, Charles G. Finney. It has been estimated that over half a million were converted to God as a direct result of his ministry. and that by a conservative estimate over 80% remained true to Christ to the day of their death without backsliding or falling by the wayside.

The years have passed, and century 21 is almost born. Yet no voice has been raised strong enough to stir the church and shake the world. A wave of watery Churchianity, militant proselytism and unintelligent “evangelicalism” threatens to be the only apparent forms of “conversion” confronting a reality-hungry generation. The church world is fast drifting into an “easy-believism” salvation that Christ would not recognize. Men who profess salvation must meet anew God’s own conditions of true conversion.

“Christian” is almost a meaningless word to the mass of people today. The reason for this sermon is that so many people believe that they are Christians when in fact they are not. This message has been simplified, condensed and supplemented somewhat from other sections of Finney’s lectures and sermons, and thoroughly documented with Scripture. A certain amount of paraphrase was utilized to adapt them to todays’ vocabulary.

May the Spirit of truth challenge your heart as you read! You may appreciate the solemn injunction of the apostle Paul’ – “Examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith… prove your own selves.” (2 Cor. 13:5) Each section is set forth in love, so you can examine your own spiritual standing in the light of God’ s Word. Many examine themselves by comparing their beliefs with others, or by trying to live up to what is set forth by some man or group. If we profess to truly follow the Lord Jesus, we will heed His words about Scripture; – “To the law and the testimony; if they speak not according to this word. it is because there is no light in them” (Is.8:20). “Search the Scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me”. (John 5:39) – for there is a way that seems right to a man but the end of it is the way of death.” (Prov. 14: 12)

This message may shock you and shake you. It was made to! But do not be angry or afraid to read on. It is YOUR LIFE and eternal destiny that is being settled by acceptance or rejection of the word of God. Only the dishonest fear the truth. If your faith is real, it will stand this searching examination; if it is false. God knows it and you shall know it to do something about it before you go out into eternity. May you feel the same yearning love and compassion that moved these messages some hundred years ago, and may you have the courage and faith to do whatever you must before the God Who searches every heart.

Much is said today about the “carnal Christian”. Such a one, we are told, has made Jesus “Savior” but not Lord. It appears by this that a man can be saved, but not surrendered to Christ; following Him, but still serving self. And it is easy to see why this idea has arisen. Preachers and personal workers are at loss to otherwise explain the strange contradiction of a self-pleasing, self-centered person who still claims the name “Christian” without bearing any resemblance to this Savior they profess to love. Yet ask them – “Do you believe in Christ? Have you accepted Him as your personal Savior?” “Oh, yes” is the invariable answer. If these are all the basics, they are apparently in order, so another source of counsel must be sought other than conversion.

Out of a morass of uncertain Christianity, men have looked for a way to distinguish between an “effective” Christian who lives like his Lord, and the “believer” who seems no different from his pagan neighbor. The distinction has been made between making Christ Savior and believing Him for salvation and making Him Lord that He might use this person for service. This “carnal Christian” becomes a middle stage of person; he may partly serve God and at the same time partly serve himself. His ticket to heaven is guaranteed; his discipleship is optional. All this, we trust, can be substantiated by Holy Scripture. Or can it?

Just what does GOD have to say about the “carnal man” ? Before examining this question, you should understand that God looks at the heart of man. Whatever you are on the outside God looks at your heart. He knows the real reason why you live the way you do. Because of the simple fact that almost every Christian duty and feeling can be imitated or duplicated by the unsaved man, we will concentrate on GOD’s analysis of conversion and GOD’s verdict on this issue. It will do no good to ask “What are men doing today that call themselves Christians?” and make these findings the criterion of true faith. Our guide must be the Bible, for on the evidence of this Holy Book rests the final truth of each matter of faith.

Just how much like a Christian can a sinner be? The Bible answers – exceedingly so. It tells us that an unsaved men can be strictly moral in his outward life (Matt. 23:8) outwardly very prayerful (Mk. 12:40) very zealous in religion (Matt. 23:15) and very conscientious in doing what is expected of him (Matt. 23:23). None of these things are necessarily the sign of a true child of God. An unsaved man may be very much like a Christian in desires; to be of some use to others, to make converts and give money for the work of religion. (I Cor.13:3; Matt. 23:15; Lk.18:12) But desires are not the measure of true faith. The sinner may hate the same things a Christian hates but for a totally different reason, and that difference brings him a totally different destiny. It is the HEART, or the supreme ultimate choice each man lives for that determines in God’s sight whether they are true Christians or not. If the heart is wrong, everything else is wrong, no matter what is done outwardly. Either your heart is set on serving Christ supremely or it is set on supremely serving yourself. You are loving or you are selfish. You are living intelligently or unintelligently. You belong to God or you do not. (Matt.6:22-24; 7:17-20; 12:33-35; Jn.3:19-21; Ro.6: 16-18; 2 Cor.5:17; Tit.1:15; Jas.3:10-Il)

It’s Hard To Tell The PHONY (sometimes)

The sinner may want to GLORIFY GOD, and still be unsaved! The true saint does this because he LOVES Him, and wants to see Him glorified; the counterfeit, because he knows this is the way to be saved, and desires it as a MEANS to HIS great end, his own benefit. The counterfeit may want to REPENT, with the saint, because he is afraid if he does not he will be lost; the Christian repents because he hates sin in itself, because it dishonors God. They may both BELIEVE IN CHRIST; the true saint because he loves Him: the other, that he might have a hope of Heaven. They may both feel like obeying God; the Christian, that he might be more like his Lord; the counterfeit because he wants the rewards of obedience. Desires are the same; the heart is in each case totally different. One is saved; the other is not.

They may also agree in actual AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS towards certain things. A counterfeit may even “love” (as far as feelings are concerned) such things as the Bible, prayer and witness, even “love” Christ and the Father – YET STILL BE UNSAVED! FEELINGS are not the true test of faith. God sees the heart, and the essential difference is this; the true saint loves God with the unselfish love of trust and obedience. because he sees His character to be supremely excellent and lovely and he loves Him for His own sake; the counterfeit “loves” God with a feeling of “buddy-buddy” affection, because ha thinks God is his particular friend that is going to make him happy forever, and why shouldn’t he love Him?(Matt.5:46) The Christian loves Christ because he has responded to His love provision for us to return to God (I Jn.4:19); the phony because he thinks God is going to save him from Hell and give him eternal life among other things, and ha connects the friendship of Christ with his own selfish interests. The saint loves Him for what He IS; the counterfeit, for what He GIVES. One seeks the Giver; the other, His gifts only. One gives himself to God, to do whatever he asks; the other comes to get whatever he can for himself, his own happiness and his own selfish purpose in life. (John 6:26-29; John 2:24)

Both true and false may feel badly about the low state of religion or church; both hate infidelity, injustice and prejudice. The true saint, because it is opposed to God, to holy living and to his Kings’ Kingdom; the counterfeit. because it injures an interest in which he is concerned (for himself, of course) and if allowed to spread, will injure his hopes for happiness, oppose the religion he has chosen and run contrary to his own views and opinions. (Matt.5:20) A man can even “hate” SIN and yet not forsake it, being no more a Christian than the devil. now often an addict hates drugs because they have ruined him, but not for sins’ sake; he hates their bad effects, but loves the sin itself. Both may attend religious meetings,.pray in secret, be self-denying and even be willing to suffer martyrdom for their faith. Yet, even in these, the basic motive of each may be utterly opposed. One has truly changed his direction and supreme purpose of life from living for self to God. His life is moved and marked by LOVE; he unselfishly CHOOSES the highest good of God and the universe to the best of his knowledge. The other has merely changed his MEANS of serving himself, from the secular to the religious. His life is marked and motivated by SELFISHNESS – he wants his own happiness above the interests of everyone in the universe, including God.

Now. if the Bible be our guide, it is clear that a man cannot truly be called a Christian when he is supremely selfish. And if the “selfish” Christian cannot be found in the Bible, as far as God is concerned. there no such thing. Yet it is said that the Bible teaches this, and such a person may be called a “carnal Christian”. Let us first examine the BIBLE signs of the carnal man, to see whether or not we may call him at least a partial Christian:

The word “carnal” comes from the Greek root “sarx” (flesh) giving, “sarkikos” meaning “fleshly”. Each time the word “flesh” or “fleshly” is used in the Bible, where in context, it is describing a moral action, it can be replaced by the word “carnal”. The two words are the same in Greek; they only differ in some English translations. Let us first of all list the signs of tbs carnal man as opposed to the spiritual man in Romans chapter 8 -

CARNAL MAN SPIRITUAL MAN
Condemned (Rom. 8.3) No condemnation (Rom.8:1)
Walks after the FLESH Walks NOT after flesh (Rom.8:4)
Under law of sin and death Free from law of sin and death (8:2)
Minds things of FLESH Minds things of Spirit
CARNALLY minded is DEATH Spiritually minded is LIFE, PEACE (8:6)
Enmity (enemy) against God Friend of God (8:7) cf. Jn.14:15-21,14.
Not subject to God’s law A subject of God’s law (Rom.13:8-14)
Cannot be subject to law God’s law the rule of his life
(cf. Matt.12:33-35) (cf. Matt. 7:13-27; 1 Jn.2:3-7)
Cannot please God (Rom. 8:8) Pleases God (Jn.14:21; 16:27)
In the FLESH (Rom. 8:9) NOT in the flesh (not carnal) (Rom.8:1)
OUT OF CHRIST IN CHRIST, if Spirit indwells (Rom.8:9)
NONE OF HIS (Rom.8:9) A child of God (Rom.8:16)
Shall Die (spiritual death)8:13 Shall LIVE (Gal.3:2-3;5:24)

These are hardly encouraging Scriptures for the “carnal Christian” philosophy. However, Paul lists another set of signs characterizing the carnal man in Galatians 5:16-26 -

The “WORKS OF THE FLESH”

Adultery
Fornication
Uncleanness
Lasciviousness
Idolatry
Witchcraft
Variance
Emulations

actions of the CARNAL MAN
Wrath
STRIFE
SEDITION
Heresies
ENVYINGS
Murders
Drunkenness
..AND SUCH LIKE

…”of the which I told you before, as I have also told you in the past that THEY WHICH DO SUCH THINGS shall NOT INHERIT the Kingdom of God.” (v.21)

” NOTE especially these starred characteristics for later reference.

Another list of the characteristics of carnal people is given in 2 Peter 2:9-22. We are told that they are UNGODLY and are reserved for judgement. (2:9) Those signaled out for the worst judgement are those who have KNOWN the Gospel and still live selfishly and carnally. They “WALK AFTER THE FLESH” in the lust of uncleanness and despise government -(rule or authority – immediately, of a society. but ultimately of God; refusing His Lordship) 2:10.

They are self-willed and self-loving (Amp.2:10) showing most of the signs of the people in Galatians 5:16-26—— fornication (2:14) uncleanness (2:10) lasciviousness (2:2); emulations (2:18) sedition (2:10) heresies (2:1) drunkenness and ravelings (2:13) These men are CURSED (2: 14) forsaken the right way, gone astray (2: 15) slaves of sin (19) – “to whom the MIST OF DARKNESS IS RESERVED FOREVER” This does not sound like heaven!

It should be reasonably evident now, that a man who claims to be a “carnal Christian” does not have a very promising future, because his life is identical with the UNSAVED MAN. He is a slave to the flesh, a servant of his own desires and as such a rebel against the good rule of God, righteousness and holiness.

But it is asked – “Didn’t Paul address the Corinthian Christians as “carnal” in I Cor.):l?” Since this is the ONLY passage where the word “carnal” is used that at a superficial reading might give the impression of a “selfish Christian”- NOTWITHSTANDING the above Scriptures listed BY PAUL HIMSELF against this very idea, let us examine it in detail. If the “carnal” Christian philosophy is not taught here, it is not taught anywhere in the Bible. And if it s taught here, this passage is in direct contradiction to those already studied.

NOTE. In introduction: (a) Pauls’ audience will, of course, include the unsaved (cf. his letter to the Romans 1:7-8 and 2: 1-24; also to the Galatians (cf. Gal.1:1-5 and 3:1-5); (b) He specifically states the criterion of those he addresses AS SAINTS – those SANCTIFIED IN CHRIST (set apart in Him – not following sin, living like Crist as 1 Jn.4:17)…1 Cr: 1:2.

SETTING ANALYSIS: 1 Cor. 2:9-16

(A) Paul came under the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit, not his own powers. The PURPOSE of visit(and letter) is to combat faction, division and false teaching not of the Holy Spirit. This implies (a) That he has God’s authority to tell them something from Him; (b) They may not like what he has to say; (c) No matter whether they do or not, they had better be prepared to act on his words!

(B) He amplifies his purpose (showing more of Christ’s glories for those that LOVE Him – I Cor.2:6-10) then says that the Spirit shows men God’s right and goodness. Accordingly,(a) Spiritual men are taught of God what is wrong in situations (vs 11-15) (b) They do not live in sin (v 15; cf .l Jn. 1:5-7; 3:4-8) (c) God knows and shows what is right to spiritual men, who have His mind. (v 16) HOWEVER….

This sets the atmosphere for a searching, but loving rebuke. Paul has heard of some very suspicious activities still going on in this Corinth church. Sin could only occur if (a) Some Corinthian Christians still thought some sins might be allowable or even justifiable through either lack of light or false teaching. (b) Some sinners in the church were still successfully posing as true Christians.

From this, Paul says – “I. brothers, could not speak to you as spiritual (men) but as CARNAL (natural, fleshly. unsaved men) as babies in Christ (or – as uninstructed people in the Word of God as to what a Christian should be like). He explains further by saying the first time ha spoke to than, they had so little light they hardly seemed like Christians, so he had to give than ‘milk” (simple, basic facts of true faith for conversion). BUT – now some have still not changed:! A “baby” Christian is not partially selfish and “growing” from partial repentance and commitment to complete repentance. All true men of God have forsaken all KNOWN sin, and are not knowingly living in sin. A Christian “grows” by responding to moral light given and disciplining new areas as God reveals.

If they were babies, they should have learned last time. There was only one other explanation for such sin problems continuing under the light of truth he had given them -

“For you are yet (still must be UNSAVED) CARNAL; for whereas there is among you
ENVYINGS – (zelos – cf. Rom. 13:13; Jas. 3:14,16; 1 Cor.13:4 but especially Gal.5:21)
STRIFE – (eris – cf. Rom. 13:13; 2 Cor.12:20 but especially Gal.5:20 as above)
DIVISIONS – (dichostasia – “a two-fold upstanding” – used only twice elsewhere in Scripture; Ran.16:17 as “faction” and Gal.5:20 as SEDITION )

…”are you not CARNAL, and walk as men?” or “Are you not worldly-minded and behave like the unconverted? (Berk.) ( I Cor.3:3)

NOTICE CAREFULLY: Paul makes no case for a selfish Christian at all. There is no OPTION here to forsake all sin; it is an absolute NECESSITY. No honest Bible scholar could at all justify the salvation of a men who still lives in sin. If he does not know what he is doing IS wrong, it is NOT sin (Ran.7:7-9; James. 4:17; Lk. 23:34; 12:47-48; 11:47-51; Jn. 9:41; 15:22,24) If he sins ignorantly, he is a baby; if he sins knowingly, he is a phony.

“Christian” implies being a “little-Christ” or “Christ-like” ( 1 Jn.2:6;4:17; 3:7,3) What kind of blasphemous combination is a “CARNAL CHRIST-LIKE” You might as well talk about Godly sinners”or “heavenly devils”. God sees sinners; He sees saints. He does not see “sinful saints” or “saintly sinners:’ What fellowship has light with darkness? We are either good or bad, selfish or loving. No definition of a Christian that allows fellowship with the sin that cost God His Son and Christ His life comes from the Holy Spirit of God. The “carnal Christian” philosophy is all right its place; that place is Hell. If you are living In known sin, it is time you quit it for good. If you live a carnal life, you are not a Christian and have no right to call yourself one,”carnal” or otherwise.

Neither does the following passage ( 1 Cor.3:5-15) refer to a “selfish” Christian Who has not served God on earth, makes heaven. but loses his “rewards” in the fire. Paul is not talking about SALVATION, but MINISTRIES; this passage is a terrible warning to a man who tries to build a ministry on his own basic salvation (through Christ the Foundation-Stone) but presents a sub-standard message. He preaches to others a salvation God cannot justify or endorse. Through carelessness or spiritual blindness, tradition or man-centered activism, he fails to faithfully present GOD’S conditions for new birth. He himself is saved – but all his work and ministry of sub-standard quality and presentation is Burned.. (1 Cor.3:15)

Ministers, personal- workers, teachers – will you be in that awful number? And you who claim you are a “carnal Christian” – will you be lost in that terrifying fire? May God bring you to your knees. men end women of the Gospel, that you may re-examine your life or ministry is in the strong, clear light of the Holy Scriptures. If you have justified sin – will you now finish with It FOREVER? Will you cry out to God to strip away the filthy rags of your own self-righteousness, and come naked and humbled to the foot of the cross? Will you do it?

No MAN can serve TWO MASTERS; for either he will love the one and hate the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other…” “CHOOSE YE THIS DAY whom you will serve!”

 

What Kind of revival Do We Need?

By Andrew Murray

How is the church to be lifted up to the abundant life in Christ, which will fit her for the work that God is putting before Her? Nothing will help but a revival, nothing less than a tremendous spiritual revival. Great tides of spiritual energy must be put into motion if this work is to be accomplished. Now there may be great differences in what we understand by revival. Many will think of the work of evangelists like Moody and Torrey. We need a different and mightier revival than those were. In them the chief object was the conversion of sinners, and incidentally, the quickening of believers. But the revival that we need calls for a deeper and more entire upheaval of the Church. The great defect of those revivals was that the converts were received into a Church that was not living on the high level of consecration and holiness, and speedily sank down to the average standard of ordinary religious life. Even the believers who had been roused by it, also gradually returned to their former life of clouded fellowship and lack of power to testify for Christ.

      The revival we need is a revival of holiness, in which the consecration of the whole being is to the service of Christ, and that for the whole life shall be counted possible. And for this there will be needed a new style of preaching in which the promises of God to dwell in His people, and to sanctify them for Himself, will take a place which they do not now have. When our Lord Jesus gave the promise of the Holy Spirit, He spoke of the New Covenant blessing that would be experienced – God dwelling in His people. “If a man love Me, he will keep my words; and My Father will love him.” So Paul also writes: “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith . . . that you might be filled with all the fullness of God.” With the Reformation, the great truth of justification by faith was restored to its place. But the other great truth of sanctification has never yet taken its place in the preaching and practice of the Church which God’s Word claims for it. It is for this that we need a revival, that the Holy Spirit may so take possession of us that the Father and the Son can live in us, and that the fellowship with Them, and devotion to Their will and service shall be our chief joy. This will be in very deed a holiness revival.

      The Moravian community (at Herrnhut) owed its birth to a holiness revival. There were gathered together a number of Bohemian refugees, and along with them a number of Christian of different sects. It was not long before disputes arose, and Herrnhut became a scene of contention and divisions. Zinzendorf felt this so deeply that he went down to live among them. In the power of God’s Spirit he succeeded in restoring order and in binding them together in the power and devotion of Jesus Christ and of love to each other. More than once they had remarkable manifestations of the presence of the Spirit, and their whole life became one of worship and praise. After they had for a couple of years been having their nightly fellowship meetings, they were lead to the consecration of the whole body to the service of Christ’s kingdom. It was in this holiness revival that the Moravian missionary idea was born. When John Wesley visited them he wrote: “God has given me the desire of my heart. I am with a church whose conversation is in heaven, in whom is the mind that was in Christ, and who so walk as He walked. Here I continually met what I sought for – living proofs of the power of faith, persons saved from inward as well as outward sin, by the love of God shed abroad in their hearts. I was extremely comforted and strengthened by the conversation of this lovely people.”

      A holiness revival! What was the great evangelistic revival in England through Whitefield and Wesley but this? They had together at Oxford been members of the “Holy Club”. With their whole heart they had sought deliverance from the guilt of sin, but also from the power of sin. When their eyes were opened to see how faith can claim the whole Christ in all fullness, they found the key to the preaching which was so mightily effectual for the salvation of men. What John Wesley did for the Methodism, General Booth, and his disciple, did for the Salvation Army. Looking at the material on which he had to work, it was amazing how, with his teaching of the clean heart and full salvation, he was able to inspire tens of thousands with a true devotion to Christ and the lost. There may be great differences of doctrine, but no one can be blind to the seal God has set upon the intense desire to preach a full salvation and an entire consecration.

      A revival of holiness is what we need. Such preaching of the claim that Christ Has on us, shall lead us to live entirely for Him and His kingdom; such an attachment of love to Him as shall make His fellowship our highest joy; such faith in His freeing us from the dominion of sin as shall enable us to obey His commandments; such yielding to the Holy Spirit as to be led by Him in all our daily walk – these will be some of the elements of the revival of true holiness for which the Church must learn to seek as for the pearl of great price.

      And how is it to be found? It will cost much prayer. It will cost more than that – much sacrifice of self and of the world. It will need a surrender to Christ Jesus to follow Him as closely as God is able to lead us. We must learn to look upon a life like Christ’s, having the very same mind that was in Him, as the supreme object of daily life. It is only when a prayer such as Robert Murray McCheyne’s becomes ours, “Lord make me as holy as a pardoned sinner can be,” and begins to be offered by an increasing number of ministers and believers, that the promise of the New Covenant will become a matter of experience.