In step

[RiverOL]

A Christ Not in Us...

Galatians 2:11-21

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." (v. 20)

We saw yesterday that the apostle Paul claimed his labors were energized by the grace given to him by God. He says something similar in the text before us today: "I no longer live ... Christ lives in me." The apostle had learned that it was not enough to give all of his strength to the work of Christ, though he certainly did that; he had to receive Christ's strength in order to do His work.

I have seen Christians suffer a breakdown as a result of trying to live the Christian life in their own strength.
On one occasion I was present at a dinner given in honor of a certain bishop. During the after-dinner speeches I heard a layman make a terrible blunder when he declared: "Bishop, we are both doing God's work; you in your way, and I in His." Question yourself at this very moment and ask: Am I doing God's work in my own way or in His? "A Christ not in us, imparting His grace to us," said the great preacher William Law, "is the same as a Christ not ours." I don?t know about you but I find those words terribly challenging.

Is this why so many of us fail to go as deeply with God as we ought? We have received Christ but we do not allow Him to diffuse Himself through all our faculties, to animate us with His life and Spirit. Let William Law's words strike deep into your soul: "A Christ not in us, imparting His grace ... is the same as a Christ not ours."

 

[RiverOL]

Grace upon Grace

John 1

"From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another." (v. 16)

The Amplified Bible translates today's verse thus: "For out of His fullness (abundance) we all received -- all had a share and we were all supplied with -- one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing, and even favor upon favor and gift [heaped] upon gift." I love the phrase "one grace after another." The thought contained in the original text is of grace succeeding grace. Our capacity to receive grace at any level depends on our use of it at the lowest level.

Refuse God's grace at one level of your life and you make it difficult to receive it at another level. We must use the present proffered grace to be granted the grace which succeeds it. One preacher said: "I remember when I sat for my first scholarship. I recall going to my professor and saying: 'What will I do when I have used the paper up?' He laughed. 'You needn't worry about that,' he said. 'When you have used all you have, just ask for more.'

Much relieved I added: 'Will he give me all I want?' 'No,' replied the professor, 'but he will give you all you can use.'" God is eager to give His grace to every one of us, and there is so much of it. Grace is flowing like a river Millions there have been supplied ... But it mustn't be wasted. You can have all you are able to use, but to have more you must use what you have. How good are you at using God's grace?

 

[RiverOL]

Moving off the Sandbank

Galatians 5

"You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?" (v. 7)

As you read the words of our text today, do you not sense the disappointment the apostle Paul felt over some of the Galatians? "You were running a good race." You were! Ah, there's the problem. They started well but they had been sidetracked.

Might the Savior say as much to you and me? We were keen once. We were responding to grace. It came in like the waves of the sea -- grace succeeding grace -- and we allowed ourselves to be carried along by it. Then the time came when God led us to some new task or act of surrender, and we sheered away. When we refused the task we refused also the grace. That's when we ran on to the sandbank.

People who started after us have swept past us, not because they are specially favored but because they use all the grace God provides.

It's no good putting our lack of keenness down to age or impediments. Before you go to sleep tonight, get alone and be quiet with God. Review your life in God's light. Ask yourself: Where did I fall out of the race? Invite God to show you the place where you drew back.

When He does, repent of your unwillingness to use His grace (there will be grace available for you to face up to this) and tell Him you want to be back in the race again, pacing forward spiritually, along with the most ardent souls you know. It will delight God and make the angels sing. "Look," they will say, "he (or she) is moving again. And with speed. Hallelujah!"

 

[RiverOL]

Two Extremes

Psalms 68:11-20

"Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens." (v. 19)

The next thing we must do if we are to go deeper with God is to spend time with Him. This means taking time to regularly read His Word, talk to Him in prayer, and cultivate the spiritual sensitivity to listen for His voice speaking directly to our souls.

One of the great tragedies of our day is that spiritual leaders fail to emphasize the need for all Christians to regularly spend time with God in this way. In my opinion, this de-emphasis is due to two things in particular. First, it is a reaction to the legalism of past days.

At one time, most Christians were told that the life of discipleship turned on whether or not you established a daily quiet time and never wavered from it. In my youth I heard one Bible teacher say: "If you don't begin every day by reading a chapter of the Bible and spending at least thirty minutes in prayer then you have no right to go into the day expecting God to bless it."

What about those times when circumstances -- such as sleeping late, a family emergency, personal sickness, an unexpected turn of events -- make it impossible to begin the day with the reading of Scripture or a time of prayer?

In turning from the legalism of past days many, however, have replaced it with a more casual approach to personal devotions. If they don't feel like it they don't have a quiet time. And that, I suggest, is as harmful as the legalism from which they might have turned away.

 

[RiverOL]

Our Lord's Two "Customs"

Luke 4:14-30

"... on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom." (v. 16)

One reason there is a casual approach to personal devotions in the Christian church today is a reaction to the legalism of past days.

Another reason is the rise of the charismatic movement. In the early days of the charismatic renewal, many of its leaders from the historic denominations who had been fed on a diet of legalism began to emphasize (quite rightly) the joy of knowing Christ's presence through the indwelling Spirit every hour of the day. People in charismatic services often said: "Now I don't have to have a daily quiet time in order to feel God's presence.

Every waking minute is a quiet time." Dangerous stuff. The danger lies not in emphasizing that we are in Christ's presence every hour of the day but the de-emphasis on closeting oneself alone with Him in personal prayer and study of His Word.

Although most leaders of the charismatic renewal did not teach or encourage people to dispense with their personal times of devotion with the Lord, many came to believe they could get through the day simply by speaking in tongues.

Nothing must become a substitute for those private and personal moments we spend in prayer and communion with Christ. Our Lord knew and sensed the presence of God with Him and in Him to a degree we will never fully experience here on this earth, but it is said of Him in Scripture that He had two "customs." One custom was to go regularly to the house of God; the other was to pray regularly. And these must be our customs too.

 

[RiverOL]

The Profit of Passion

Psalms 34

"I sought the Lord, and he answered me ..." (v. 4)

The more time we spend with our families and friends the better we get to know them. It is the same with God too. Often I am asked to give a plan on how to conduct a quiet time. Here is one I used to give people many years ago. Decide on the amount of time you can spend, preferably in the morning. The morning is best because it tunes your soul for the day. Having fixed the time, stick to it.

Take your Bible and a notebook and read a portion slowly. Let it soak in. Make a note of anything that comes to you. Pray then, mentioning any requests or personal petitions you may have. Then relax and listen to see if God has something to say to you. It is far easier to talk than listen, so don?t worry if for some weeks or months nothing comes. Tuning in to God takes time and practice.

Nowadays I am reluctant to give people that plan without pointing out the danger of depending on a structure rather than the direction of the Holy Spirit. We would all prefer to go into a quiet time with a plan rather than to abandon ourselves to the Holy Spirit and wait upon Him.

Mature Christians should be able to closet themselves alone with God and on occasions simply enjoy His company and presence without even saying a word. The quiet time becomes more effective when we approach it with passion instead of a plan. Good marriages thrive on spontaneity and passion. So does a relationship with the Lord.

 

[RiverOL]

A Father and a Friend

Luke 11

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find ..." (v. 9)

The great danger of a quiet time is that we will use it as an opportunity to petition God rather than to know Him and be known by Him. I thought back to a statement I remember reading in C. S. Lewis's book, Prayer: Letters to Malcolm, to the effect that the older he got the less involved he became in petitionary prayer. "The strange thing is," said Lewis (and I am paraphrasing now), "the more I pray for things the less my prayers seem to get answered.

I think God is leading me on to ask less and less for things and more and more for Himself." Then he expressed this profound thought: "Prayer is taking part in the process of being known." I glanced up as I wrote those words and looked out at the trees in my garden.

God knows everything there is to know about those trees, but they are not persons so they cannot join in the process of being known.

God knows all there is to know about me, but that objective knowledge is quite different from the process of drawing close to Him in prayer and letting Him know me through my opening up to Him. One is objective knowledge, the other experiential.

And what is breathtakingly marvelous about all this is that in every spiritual t?te-?-t?te I hold with God, He seeks to draw my soul into such a relationship with Him that I know Him as a Father and a Friend. Such knowledge is almost too good to be true. But also too good not to be true.

 

[RiverOL]

Knowing God

Philippians 3

"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection ..." (v. 10)

It is not my purpose at this moment to explore the philosophy of prayer, but I do feel it will be helpful to some if I point out that God delights also to be known.

The Father is known by the other members of the Trinity (and of course they by Him), and that undoubtedly brings Him great pleasure. But He longs to be known by His children also. There is something in the heart of the Deity that enjoys being known. A lovely, though apocryphal, story told by a Jewish rabbi describes a conversation between Abraham and God.

It goes something like this. "God said to Abraham: 'Do you realize, Abraham, that without Me you would be nothing?' 'Ah yes, Lord,' said Abraham, 'I do realize that without You I would be nothing.' Then he thought for a moment, and bowing his head low to the ground said: 'Forgive me if I am being presumptuous, O Lord, but it occurs to me that without me You would not be known.

'" This is only a story, of course, and is not intended to convey that God is dependent on His creatures. It simply illustrates the truth that in some mystical way we enrich the heart of God by knowing Him.

I am not saying that by knowing God we add to Him or complete Him. That would be foolish. But we can by our deeper knowledge of Him bring Him pleasure. And if there is no greater reason than that for knowing God, then it ought to suffice.

 

[RiverOL]

Stated Times

Matthew 6

"But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen." (v. 6)

In order to go deeper with God we must sit quietly in His presence, talk with Him, and let Him talk with us.

Those who say they can develop their relationship with God without stated times of prayer and the reading of His Word are fooling themselves. Jesus (as we saw) is our best example. He knew God's presence better than anyone, yet He made time to get alone with Him and talk to Him in private prayer.

To say that we can develop a rich relationship with God by recognizing we are always in His presence but without taking time to have a spiritual focus is as senseless as saying that we can live in a state of physical nourishment without having regular meals.

As I travel I often ask Christians I meet if they have a daily or regular quiet time, and sometimes the answers I receive astonish me.

One man told me: "Yes, I get up early, sit quietly in my garden and watch the birds feeding or the goldfish swimming in the pond ... and I feel rejuvenated in my spirit and ready to start the day." The modern idea of a quiet time! The whole purpose of the quiet time is to take in the spiritual resources of God.

Nature is wonderful and restorative, but for the intake of spiritual resources we need the blessing that comes from the Word of God and prayer. The quiet time is where the soul grows receptive, where prayer becomes powerful. In turn we gain the quiet heart, that becomes quiet confidence, and that becomes quiet power.

 

[RiverOL]

Ah, What Then?

Psalms 46

"Be still, and know that I am God ..." (v. 10)

In the quiet time the soul is stilled so that it concentrates on God, and it is through this concentration that the spiritual life is deepened. The great French Christian Blaise Pascal once declared that "nearly all the ills of life spring from this simple source, that we are unable to sit still for long in a quiet room." In this modern age people seem to find it difficult to sit quietly for long.

They must have a radio blaring or something else to drown the silence. Sitting still can be therapeutic, but what if in the stillness we meet with God? We then receive spiritual therapy. God waits to offer us infinite resources -- for the asking and the taking.

The quiet time is where the soul grows receptive, where prayer becomes, as a poet put it, "the organ of spiritual touch," where the touch becomes, as effective and as healing as the touch of the woman on the hem of Jesus' garment, where peace flows into our turbulence, where love absorbs our resentments, where joy heals our griefs, and where we enter into the process of being known.

The quiet time shuts us in with God, the door closes upon us, and then infinite resources flood into our soul. The door opens and we move out, with an increased awareness of God, ready to face a world that knows so little about Him. There is, as we have said, great benefit in stillness, but when we meet with God in the stillness -- ah, what then?

 

[RiverOL]

Can God Be Trusted?

Psalms 20

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God." (v. 7)

We consider now another matter that is essential if we are to go deeper with God -- confidence in His character. Is God good and can He be trusted? The manner in which we answer this question is crucial to our ongoing relationship with Him. If we have doubts about His character -- His justice for example -- it will most certainly affect the way we view Him and approach Him.

You may have heard the story of the farmer whose one and only tractor failed. So he decided to walk across the fields to a neighboring farmer whom he knew had three. As he strode to the neighbor's farmhouse, he reflected on what he knew about his fellow farmer. He remembered that he never appeared at any of the village's social events, and he had heard somewhere that he had a reputation as a skinflint.

More negative thoughts about the farmer entered his head, but by this time he found himself at the door of the farmhouse. The farmer, who had seen him coming across the fields, appeared at the doorway and asked: "What's the problem?" "I've come to tell you," said the man, "that you can keep your jolly old tractor!" Many do not realize how profoundly the way we think about God and His, character influences the way we worship Him, the way we work for Him, and the way we witness to Him.

Any doubts about the goodness of God will result in our souls keeping their distance from Him. If we do not have complete confidence in Him, we will not desire a close relationship with Him.

 

[RiverOL]

Doubt and Disobedience

Genesis 3

"[The serpent] said to the woman, 'Did God really say, "You must not eat from any tree in the garden"?'" (v. 1)

We continue discussing the point that unless we have a strong conviction that God is entirely trustworthy, we will not desire a deep and ongoing relationship with Him.

Yesterday we spoke of the distance from God our souls experience when we entertain doubts about His goodness. Do you realize that the reason for the distance between God and the first human couple in the Garden of Eden was doubt about God's goodness? Doubt about God soon leads to dislike of God, and dislike of God soon leads to disobedience.

When Eve responded to the Tempter's insinuation that God did not have her best interests at heart (by withholding something from her), the doubt she entertained soon led to dislike of God, and then it was relatively easy to take the next step and disobey Him. The moment her doubt about God's goodness expressed itself in taking the forbidden fruit, the foundation on which her relationship with God was established -- trust -- crumbled beneath her feet.

Adam rapidly followed her in committing the same kind of sin (doubt about God's goodness) and then, inevitably, distance replaced closeness. Since the Fall, every child born into this world has within its nature a basic distrust of God. Paul puts it like this: "The sinful mind is hostile to God" (Rom. 8:7).

The word hostility can be translated "enmity." No one trusts someone they regard as an enemy. Distance between humankind and God arose when the first human couple doubted His goodness. Closeness between human beings and God comes when we have confidence in His goodness. As we said yesterday, no confidence -- no relationship.

 

[RiverOL]

Build on the Rock

Matthew 7:15-29

"'... everyone who ... does not put [Jesus' words] into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.'" (v. 26)

"The biggest problem we face in the Christian life," said Dr. Cynddylan Jones, a famous Welsh preacher, "is distance."

He continued: "The only way that distance can be overcome is by having the perspective of Job who said: 'Though He slay me yet will I trust Him.'" When I talk to counselors in training I tell them that what they should be listening for as a counselee tells his or her story is distance. That's what underlies most problems that bring people into counseling.

This does not mean we should ignore or make light of the surface problems with which people may be struggling. But the plain fact is this -- when we are close to God and have a deep and intimate relationship with Him, we may feel downcast but not destroyed. Therefore, every Christian counselor's ultimate goal should be to close any distance there may be between the person and God, and to develop spiritual oneness. Counseling is not effective or complete until this is accomplished.

How does distance come between ourselves and God? There are many causes -- bitterness and resentment against another, persistent sin, failure to establish a devotional life -- but largely it arises through a lack of trust. If you cut your way through the maze of human problems that's what you find -- an inability to trust.

That's what happened in the Garden of Eden, and that's what happens in our personal Garden of Eden also. To try to develop a close relationship with God and fail to deal with this most basic issue is about as effective as building a skyscraper on an acre of sand.

 

[RiverOL]

Where Is God?

Psalms 74

"Rise up, O God, and defend your cause; remember how fools mock you all day long." (v. 22)

How do we develop trust in the goodness of God when so much that is happening in the world seems to contradict it? If God is good, how can He allow disasters? Dr. M. Scott Peck opens his book The Road Less Travelled with these words: "Life is difficult. This is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it." I have great difficulty with some of Dr. Scott Peck's statements, but I fully endorse these remarks.

Once we accept the fact that life is difficult -- that the mystery of why calamities and suffering occur will never be fully solved while we are here on earth -- then we will stop demanding that a satisfactory answer be found and begin to get on with life. Christians go down different routes regarding this matter of calamities and suffering. One is to close their eyes and pretend the tremendous problems are not there.

But integrity requires that we face whatever is true. Reality is grim -- innocent children are abused, starved, massacred -- and countless other forms of atrocity are carried out around the world daily. We must not blind our eyes to these facts and pretend they are untrue because they appear to contradict the concept of God?s goodness.

Pretense must never be our refuge. We must be willing to look at these things, unpleasant and horrible though they be, and allow ourselves to be jarred by them. When we face life honestly and allow ourselves to be jolted by what we see, then, and only then, are we ready for God to speak.

 

[RiverOL]

The God Who is There

Job 42

"My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you." (v. 5)

The Book of Job records the story of a godly man who underwent some of the most bitter experiences it is possible to meet with in this life.

At first Job says very little about his difficulties, but later in the book he begins to face the reality of what has happened to him and declares that if he could have an interview with God he would tell Him exactly what he thought of Him (Job 23:1--17). It was when he faced his hardships, recognized how he really felt and admitted it that God came to him and answered him (Job 38:1--41:34). We must never be afraid of admitting that what we see around us doesn?t match up with what we know about the character of God.

To blind our eyes to the realities of life for fear that what we observe might turn us against God is utterly foolish. We must face difficult issues, for it is only when we do so that we are ready to hear God speak. If we refuse to face reality, then our souls are not alert to hear His voice. We fear that we might hear something to make us even more uncertain of God, and thus prefer to take refuge in illusion. When Job faced the reality of his situation and how he really felt, then he was ready for God to speak.

But notice God didn't give any answers to Job's questions. He gave Himself. Job had an encounter with God that more than satisfied him. He could live without answers when he knew that God was there.

 

[RiverOL]

Messed Up Theology

Job 13

"Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him ..." (v. 15)

A friend of mine who is an instructor in the field of Christian counseling says that one of the things he likes to do with his students is to mess up their theology. He does so by asking them difficult questions about the realities of the universe in order to see how they attempt to square these issues with their view of God. "God always answers the prayer of faith," said one of his students. "Then why," he asked the student, "did I pray for an hour for my father who was desperately sick to have a good night and then hear that he had the worst night since he had been in the hospital?" "You didn't pray in faith," replied the student. That's the kind of glib answer many people would give to that question.

Such people can't sit quietly in the presence of mystery and say: "I don't understand why this is so but nevertheless I still believe God is good." They must have some kind of answer that they can hold on to because when they have no answers they have no faith. Faith is Job saying: "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him."

Anyone can believe when there are explanations and answers. The person who goes on to know God in a deep and intimate way is the one who can affirm that God is good even though there may be a thousand appearances to the contrary. Pray for me and I will pray for you that together we might come to the place of trusting God even when we cannot trace Him.

 

[RiverOL]

The Old Rugged Cross

Romans 5

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (v. 8)

Can we believe that God is good even though things may be happening around us that seemingly give the lie to that fact? The only place we Christians can go when we are assailed by doubts about God's goodness is the cross. At Calvary we were given undeniable evidence that God is good. We must cling to the cross when in doubt and remind ourselves that a God who would give His only Son to die for us simply has to be All-Goodness.

A songwriter put it like this: God is love, I see it in the earth around me; God is love, I feel it in the sky above me; God is love, all nature doth agree; But the greatest proof of His love to me ... is Calvary. Many things about the cross are mysterious, but there is no mystery about divine goodness.

There at Calvary it blazes forth for all to see. I often wonder to myself what was happening that was good when my wife was dying with cancer. I couldn't see anything, but because I know God is good I accept that something good was being worked out.

A good God was in charge, and I am prepared to wait for the clarification of that until I get home. Then I know He will tell me Himself. God is good no matter what the appearances to the contrary. The "old rugged cross" makes that crystal clear. Let us cling to it, come what may.

 

[RiverOL]

Understanding the Cross

For reading & meditation: Romans 5:6-21

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (v. 8)

An ancient theologian - St. Augustine - suggested that "the answer to the mystery of the universe is God and the answer to the mystery of God is Christ." If this is so then I would like to make a further suggestion: the answer to the mystery of Christ is to be found in His sacrificial spirit, the supreme evidence of which is the cross. We will never in our mortal state be able to grasp the full meaning of the cross. But what we do grasp gives us a clue to what lies in the heart of the Infinite. Theologians often discuss the various theories of the atonement.

Personally, I find myself accepting any theory of the atonement that makes the meaning of the cross more vital and clear. No theory seems to me big enough to fit the facts. As Jesus broke the bars of the tomb and stepped out beyond them, so the fact of Jesus dying seems to transcend our most careful statements or form of words. To really understand the cross one must have an attitude of mind and heart that responds to its meaning.

I came across this: "To understand art one must have art within one; to understand music one must have music within one." I thought to myself, to understand the cross one must have a sacrificial spirit within one. Those who profess to know Christ but live only for self will know something of the cross but will miss its real meaning. The cross is best understood not by an argument but by an attitude.

 

[RiverOL]

One Long Search for God

For reading & meditation: Mark 7:8-23

"For from within, out of mens hearts, come evil thoughts ..." (v. 21)

We need to be reminded that there is in life a dark and terrible problem - the problem of evil. Herbert Spencer in Natural Law in the Spiritual World defines physical life as "inward correspondence with outward environment." When we take in food, air and water, we live. When we don't, we die.

There must be a response to our environment. But there is also a spiritual environment to which we must respond, and when we are in correspondence with God we live spiritually. The facts of life fairly faced proclaim with heart-breaking obviousness that human beings are out of touch with their spiritual environment. To be out of touch with God means, inevitably, that we will be out of touch with ourselves and with others.

But the history of humanity is, as one historian put it, "one long search for God." We stand beside our altars, we breathe our prayers, we make our vows, we repeat our ceremonies, we crave with inexpressible yearnings of the inmost heart, we long for fellowship with God. Yet something dark, dreadful, and sinister stands between us and God.

We realize God is pure, and because we are conscious of our impurity we hardly dare ask for fellowship with Him. We are separated and guilty.

The object of all religions is to bring those who long for fellowship with God into correspondence with Him. But how is that achieved? Christianity says it can be done only through the cross. Other religions point to other ways, and claim their way is as valid as the Christian way. But God says the cross is the only way.

 

[RiverOL]

At-One-Ment

For reading & meditation: Romans 3:21-31

"God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood." (v. 25)

Herbert Spencer, whom we quoted earlier, wrote: "The task of religion is at-one-ment: atonement. If it fails to do this it fails at the vital point." Its ritual may be beautiful, its sanctions may be ancient, its precepts may be good, but if it fails to bring men and women into correspondence with God it fails vitally and irretrievably. All else is useless, for if the problem of evil is ignored or passed over, we are like the person who dreams about and plans next year's happiness while an incurable disease is eating at his vitals.

The wonderful distinctive of Christianity is this - Jesus Christ has done something about the problem of being out of correspondence with God. He puts the hand of a penitent sinner into the hand of a pardoning God. Because of the nature of the problem - the problem of evil - no other solution is possible.

Salvation is a task which only God could engineer. As one theologian puts it: "It is a task worthy of God." The ancient Greek playwrights used to warn their students that when writing a tragedy they should not bring a god onto the stage unless there was an entanglement worthy of a god.

The presence of evil in this world, I suggest, presents an entanglement worthy of God. But it is no mere stage affair. It is a tragic fact. To deliver men and women from evil was a problem that challenged God's power and made the deepest claim upon His love. The cross is the answer. If we don't take God's way of salvation, then nothing else will do.