The Pathway to the Christ Life (2) - Being Emptied - Part 9

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

This is the last chapter in this series. hope you loved reading all the writings.

In the previous chapter, Lesson 8, we learned that true worship begins when the Giver Himself fills our heart and our vision. Only then can we safely use His gifts. Otherwise we shall abuse God's gifts and prostitute them away to selfish uses. This is what we see many a times, a misuse of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Today, we will learn about...

That which costs us everything

Abraham's devotion was tested that day when God asked him for Isaac. Had God asked Abraham for 10,000 sheep or 5,000 rams, that would have been easier for Abraham to offer. But one Isaac cost him everything, and he decided to offer nothing less than what God asked for. Abraham could have said the words that David said, years later, "I will never offer to my God that which costs me nothing" (2 Sam. 24:24). Yes, true worship involves our offering to God that which costs us EVERYTHING.

Interestingly, it was on this very spot (where Abraham offered Isaac, on Mount Moriah), that David spoke the words quoted above (the threshing floor of Araunah was located here). It was here too that the Lord chose to build His temple, a thousand years later (2 Chron. 3:1). God ordained His house to be built on the very spot where two of His servants (Abraham and David) had made costly sacrifices. That was where the fire fell from heaven and that was where the glory of God was seen (2 Chron. 7:1). It is even so today. God builds His true church and manifests His power and glory where He finds men and women who are willing to deny themselves and offer Him that which costs them everything.

Does Christianity cost us something? Is our service for God an easygoing, cheap thing that does not cost us our time, money, or energy? Do our prayers cost us something? Have we drawn a limit to the sacrifices we are willing to make for God? Do we look for ease and comfort? If not, how can we expect the fire of God to fall upon us and the glory of God to be seen in our lives? Let us not deceive ourselves. The fullness of the Holy Spirit can result only from a whole hearted giving up of ourselves to God.

The way of the cross is painful. How painful it must have been for Abraham to face the thought of slaying his own son himself. It is never easy for any parent to see their children suffering as a result of the stand they have taken for God. That can be very costly. But blessed are we, if we are willing to suffer even that. God is no man’s debtor. If we have honored Him, He will certainly honor us; and we shall find our children following God too, as Isaac followed in Abraham’s footsteps. Isaac’s willingness to be tied to the altar and to be slain was an indication of his own devotion to his father’s God. Isaac was a strong, able-bodied, young man, and his aged father could never have tied him to the altar, if Isaac himself had not been willing. But Isaac had seen the reality of God in his father’s life, and so he was willing to submit to anything that God desired. We see Isaac’s devotion to God just as much as we see Abraham’s. And we see how true it was what the Lord had said that Abraham would “command his children and his household to keep the way of the Lord” (Gen. 18:19).

On the other hand, many believers have lowered their high standards and compromised their Christian principles, for the sake of some material advantage for their children – only to see their children growing up to break hearts and live for the world.

Heaven’s greatest rewards are reserved for those who have followed in Abraham’s footsteps, and who like him have not withheld anything from God, whatever the cost.

I have once read about the story of a young American couple who went to China as missionaries, before the Communists took over that land. They asked their mission board to assign them to some unreached area that had not yet been evangelized. Accordingly, they were posted to a little village in the interior, near Tibet. They labored faithfully there for several years, but did not see a single soul saved. God then gave them the gift of a baby daughter. And as that daughter grew up, they saw a miracle taking place before their eyes. They taught their little girl Bible verses and choruses in the local language, and she in turn taught them to the children with whom she played. Those children went home and taught these verses to their parents. Soon one person was converted to Christ.

This missionary couple continued to labor there for another 14 years (making a total of 21 years) without a furlough, and in that period seven more souls were saved. (God doesn’t measure success by statistics as men do. This couple had spent 21 years to show 8 souls the way to eternal life. Surely their reward will be great when Christ returns). At the end of those 21 years, one day the father noticed a patch on the hand of his 14 year old daughter. They took her to a doctor who told them that the girl had contracted leprosy. It broke their hearts to think of what their child had to suffer because of their devotion to God and to His call. The mother and daughter traveled back to America for the daughter’s treatment. But the man himself stayed on in China. When they asked why he did not go back to America with his family, he replied, “I would have liked to have gone with my family. But back there in my mission station, there are eight souls who need to be instructed and fed. If someone else replaces me, it will take years before they develop confidence in him. And so I feel I should go back to them.” It cost that family everything they had, to serve God.

So many believers, who have much, give so little to God. But a few who have so little, give so much. And it is through this small and faithful remnant that God builds His church. The kingdom of God does not come through a spectacular outward show, but through men of God such as that missionary. Some of these men may not be well known on earth. But they will shine as stars in eternity.

The apostle Paul came from a wealthy business family in Tarsus and could have chosen an easy life, when he was saved on the Damascus Road. He could have settled down to a comfortable life as a Christian businessman in Tarsus. But he didn’t do that. He went out to serve God and endured hardship. He got 195 stripes on his back, he was stoned, and suffered shipwreck, and he faced many dangers in his service for God. If we were to ask him why he endured all that, he would say, “When I gave my life to the Lord, I determined that I would never offer Him any service that cost me nothing.”

Two hundred years ago, the Moravian brethren formed one of the greatest missionary movements that the world has ever seen. Two of their number, heard of a slave colony in the West Indies and went there, willing to be sold as slaves on that island. Two others heard of a leper colony in Africa where no one was allowed to enter and return, for fear that the disease might spread. They volunteered to go into that leper colony for the rest of their lives, in order to present Christ to the inmates of the colony. The motto of those Moravian brethren was “to win for the Lamb that was slain the reward of His sufferings”. They certainly knew what it was to worship God, by offering Him that which cost them everything.

How shallow and superficial our lies and labors are, compared with these men of men like these. How much has it cost us to serve God- in terms of loss of money, comfort, reputation, honor and health? Do we realize that we do not really know what it is to worship God if our Christianity has not cost us everything that this world counts dear? Those who serve God wholeheartedly, giving up everything for Him, are the only ones who will have no regret in eternity. The Lord is calling today for those who will follow Him along the pathway of the cross – being emptied of everything.

Margaret Clarkson places this challenge so clearly before us in her hymn:

“So send I you – to labor unrewarded,

To serve unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown

To bear rebuke, to suffer scorn and scoffing,

So send I you – to toil for Me alone.

So send I you – to loneliness and longing,

With heart a-hungering for the loved and known;

Forsaking home and kindred, friend and dear one,

So send I you – to know My love alone.”

This is the way of power. And we need to be reminded of it again in a day when many think that there are short cuts and once for all experiences that guarantee spiritual power. The way of the cross alone is the way of power. Jesus steadfastly set His face to go to the cross. What about us? We shall face this choice daily. If we are looking for three easy steps to the victorious life, then the Bible has no message for us. But if we are willing to pay the price of denying ourselves and taking up our cross daily and following Jesus, then we shall indeed know the power of the Spirit of God resting upon us for our life and sacrifice.

Dear brothers and sisters, the above extract has been taken from the book "Beauty for Ashes" by Zac Poonen. This is the last part of this series of being broken. Please keep me, a sinful servant of our Lord Jesus in your prayers for His guidance and enlightenment to know more about Him and to be obedient to His will. Also please pray that I might be guided into writing these messages in my own manner and understanding.

May the love of God, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the felllowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Your brother in Christ

The Pathway to the Christ Life (2) - Being Emptied - Part 8

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

In the last chapter, Lesson 7, we learnt that a deep and intimate knowledge of God can come only through an obedience like Abraham. We may accumulate plenty of theological information in our minds; but real spiritual knowledge can come only when we give everything to God. There is no other way.

Now moving on....

The Giver or His Gift?

When God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, he was being tested as to whether he wold love the Giver or His gifts more. Isaac was undoubtedly the gift of God, but Abraham was in danger of having an inordinate affection for his son. Isaac was becoming an idol  who would cloud Abraham's spiritual vision. And so God intervened to save Abraham from such a tragedy.

In his book The Pursuit of God, A. W. Tozer speaks of "the blessedness of possessing nothing". God was teaching Abraham on Mount Moriah the blessedness of being emptied of everything and possessing nothing. Before that day, Abraham had held Isaac with a possessive spirit. But after he laid his son on that altar and gave him up to God, he never possessed Isaac again. Yes, it is true that, God gave Isaac back to Abraham, and Abraham had him at home. But he never possessed Isaac as his own again. Isaac, thenceforth, was God's. And Abraham held Isaac as a steward holds the property of his master. In other words, he had Isaac, but he never again possessed him.

This is to be our attitude to the things of this world. We can have them and use them. But we are never to cling to any one of them. Everything we own should have been placed on the altar and given completely to God. We must possess nothing. We can then keep only that which God gives back to us from the altar - and we are to keep even such things only as stewards. Only then can we truly worship God. This is the pathway to the glory of the Christ-life.

This principle does not apply to material things alone. It applies to spiritual gifts as well. It is possible for us to hold even the gifts of the Holy Spirit in a possessive way. Was not Isaac the gift of God? Why couldn't Abraham hold on to him then? To have to send away Ishmael was understandable, because he was not the promised seed. But Isaac's case was different. He was God's gift, produced in God's strength. Why should Abraham have to give him up as well?

And so we may argue too. We can understand the need to give up our attachment to the things of the world. But surely, we feel, we can hold on to the gifts that God Himself has given us. But God says, "No. Lay even your spiritual gifts (which I have given you) on the altar and give them back to me, lest they fill your life and cloud your vision of Me, the Giver." God would have us delivered from any inordinate attachment to even the most sacred gifts of the Spirit that He has given us. He wants us to sacrifice even the "Isaacs" that we have received from Him and not cling to any one of them. Isn't it this that many believers have not seen? They have given up their Ishmaels but not their Isaacs. They have given up sinful things. But the gifts that God gave them they are now using to glorify themselves - like the prodigal son, who took his father's gifts and spent them on himself.

What is it that fills our vision - our gifts and our ministry, or the Giver Himself? This is what we need to ask ourselves constantly. We are in most danger when God has blessed us much and used us greatly. It is so easy at such time to lose the vision of God. We need to go back to the altar on Mount Moriah again and again and give our all to God repeatedly.

True worship begins when the Giver Himself fills our hearts and vision. Only then can we safely use His gifts. Otherwise we shall abuse God's gifts and prostitute them to selfish uses. Isn't this the reason why there is so much misuse of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in our day?

Dear brothers and sisters, the above extract has been taken from the book "Beauty for Ashes" by Zac Poonen. Please keep me, a sinful servant of our Lord Jesus in your prayers for His guidance and enlightenment to know more about Him and to be obedient to His will. 

May the love of God, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the felllowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all

Your brother in Christ

The Pathway to the Christ Life (2) - Being Emptied - Part 7

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

In the last chapter, Lesson 6, we finished learning on what it means to trust to God, through Abraham's life. We learned that trusting God meant not just merely intellectual belief, but also being emptied of self-sufficiency and self-dependence. We learned to depend on the Holy Spirit in an area which is usually not much looked into - the area of prayer. In the end we learned that dependence upon God is an end to ourselves, an end to our self-sufficiency and self-dependence.

We now start with the second lesson we learn from Abraham's life - Worshiping God. Hope you all are enlightened by the lessons that are taught by some of our fathers in the Holy Bible. 

WORSHIPING GOD

The second lesson that Abraham had to learn was the true meaning of worship. If trusting God means to be emptied of self-confidence and self-sufficiency, worshiping God means to be emptied of everything (including one's possessions).

As in Genesis 15, in Genesis 22 also, the paragraph begins with the phrase, "After these things...." Here too, as we look at the circumstances that immediately precede this hour of testing, we find Abraham in a triumphant position. The heathen had come to him and said, "Abraham, we've been watching your life and we know that God is with you in all that you do" (Gen. 21:22). No doubt they had heard of the miraculous way in which Sarah conceived  and were convinced that God was with this family. Ishmael had been sent away. Isaac was now the darling of Abraham's heart. Abraham stood in grave danger, at this time, of losing his first love and devotion for God. And so God tested him again, and told him to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice.

Sacrifice and worship

Have we heard God calling us to hard and difficult tasks like that? Or do we only hear Him comforting us with promises all the time? Oswald Chambers has said that if we have never heard God speaking a hard word to us, it is doubtful whether we have ever really heard God at all.

It is easy for our carnal minds to imagine that God is speaking to us with comforting promises all the time. Because we do not like the hard way, we can be deaf to God's voice when He calls us to a difficult task.

But Abraham had ears to hear, and a heart that was willing to obey anything that God commanded. He rose up early the next morning and went forth to obey God (v. 3). The record does not tell us what the old patriarch went through, during the previous time, after God had spoken to him. I am sure he did not sleep that night. He must have kept awake and gone and looked at his beloved son again and again; and the tears must have rolled down his eyes as he thought of what he had to do to him. How difficult it must have been for Abraham to offer up the son of his old age. But he was willing to obey God at any cost. Fifty years or so, earlier, he had put his hand to the plough when God called him to Ur; and he would not now look back. In the words of another, what Abraham was saying was:

"Keep me from looking back - 

The handles of my plough with tears are wet,

The shears with rust are spoiled, and yet, and yet,

My God! My God! Keep me from turning back"

There were no complaints and no questions. Abraham did not say, "Lord, I have been so faithful already. Why do you ask this hard thing also?" Neither did he say, "Lord, I have already sacrificed so much - much more than all those around me. Why do you call me to sacrifice more?" Many believers compare the sacrifices they have made with those that others have made. And they hesitate when God calls them to go further than others around them. But not so Abraham. There was no limit to hs obedience and no end to his willingness to sacrifice for his God. No wonder he became the friend of God.

There was faith in Abraham's heart as he went up to sacrifice Isaac, that God would somehow raise hs son from the dead. Hebrews 11:19 tells us that. God had already given Abraham a foretaste of resurrection-power in his own body and in Sarah's, through the birth of Isaac. Surely it would be np problem for such a God to bring back to life an Isaac who was slain on the altar. And so Abraham tells his servants when leaving them at the foot of Mount Moriah, "I and the lad will go yonder and worship and (we will both) come (back) again to you" (v. 5). That was a word of faith. He believed that Isaac would come back with him.

Notice too that he tells his servants, "We are going to worship God". He is not complaining that God is requiring too much from him, neither is he boasting about the marvelous sacrifice that he is about to make for God. No. Abraham did not belong to the category of those who subtly inform others about the sacrifices they make for God. Abraham said he was going to worship his God. And there we understand something of the real meaning of worship.

Remember how Jesus once said, "Abraham rejoiced to see My day; and he saw it and was glad" (John 8:56). Surely it must have been here on Mount Moriah that Abraham saw the day of Christ. In prophetic vision, the aged patriarch saw in his own action, a picture (faint though it be) of that day when God the Father Himself would lead His only begotten Son up Calvary's hill and offer Him up as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind. And that day on Mount Moriah, Abraham knew something of what it would cost the heart of God to save a wayward world. He came to a place of intimate fellowship with the heart of God that morning. Yes, he worshiped God - not just with beautiful words and hymns, but through costly obedience and sacrifice.

A deep and intimate knowledge of God can only come through such obedience. We may accumulate plenty of accurate theological information in our minds; but real spiritual knowledge can come only when we give up everything to God. There is no other way.

Dear brothers and sisters, the above extract has been taken from the book "Beauty for Ashes" by Zac Poonen. Please keep me, a sinful servant of our Lord Jesus in your prayers for His guidance and enlightenment to know more about Him and to be obedient to His will. 

Your brother in Christ

The Pathway to the Christ Life (2) - Being Emptied - Part 6

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

It has been long since I last wrote, and this post is a continuation of where I left off in "Being Emptied - Part 5". So to put t short in what I last wrote - we learned through Father Abraham's life not to depend on what the human hands make or to depend on the acts of the flesh, but to depend on the works of the Holy Spirit. We learned that even today, we need to be emptied of our self sufficiency and filled wit the Spirit of God, if we are to produce "Isaacs" that please God.

Now to continue to the next part....

An end of ourselves

In Edith Schaeffer's book L'Abri, she recounts how God brought her husband Francis Schaeffer and his co-workers, again and again to a point of utter helplessness. More than once they found no way out of their problems. The enemies of the gospel almost triumphed at many a point. In their impotence they looked to God to work on their behalf. And He did - not just once or twice, but repeatedly. This is the type of work - a work of faith - that will remain for eternity.

It is not the size of a work that  impresses God. The world looks for size and numbers. But God is looking for works of faith - even if they be the size of mustard seeds.

And so, when God brings us to an end of ourselves, hedging us in on every side and shattering our hopes, let us take heart! He is preparing us for greater usefulness by bringing us first to the place of impotence. He is equipping us to produce Isaacs.

This is how Jesus prepared His apostles for His service. What do you think was the purpose of His training them for 3 1/2 years? They were not being coached to write scholarly these that would earn them doctorates in theology! That's how some people today feel they can be equipped to serve the Lord. But Jesus didn't train His apostles for that. None of the twelve disciples would have qualified for a basis theological degree, even if they had tried. Jesus trained them to learn one lesson primarily - that, without Him they could do nothing (John 15:5). And, I tell you, a man who has learned that lesson is worth more than a hundred theological professors who haven't learnt that lesson.

Total dependence upon God is the mark of the true servant of God. It is true even of Lord Jesus Christ, when He was on earth, as the Servant of Jehovah. In a prophetic reference to Him in Isaiah 42:1, God says. "Behold My Servant, whom I uphold". He does not stand in His own strength; He is upheld by God. Because Christ emptied Himself thus, God put His Spirit upon Him, as the verse goes on to say. It is only on those who have come to an end of themselves and emptied themselves of self-confidence and self-sufficiency, that God pours out His Spirit.

Look at some of the remarkable statements that Jesus made, which clearly show how emptied of self He was: "The Son can do nothing of Hiimself...... I can of Mine own self do nothing....... I do nothing of Myself........ I have not spoken of Myself; but the Father Who sent Me, He gave Me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak...... The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of Myself" (John 5:19,30; 8:28; 12:49; 14:10).

Amazing!! The perfect, sinless Son of God lived by faith. Emptied of all dependence upon HIs own self, He depended entirely on His Father. It is thus that God calls us to live too.

When we are self-sufficient, we try to use God to help us serve Him. But when we are emptied, God can use us.

As I finish this part, I am remembering a hymn written by A. B. Simpson, a great man who founded the Christian and Missionary Alliance

"Once it was my working, His it hence shall be;

Once I tried to use Him, now He uses me.

Once the power I wanted, now the Mighty One;

Once for self I labored, now for Him alone."

This is what it means to trust God. And this was the first lesson that Abraham had to learn.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, hope you like reading the above lesson from Abraham's life. Next would be on the lesson Abraham learnt of the true meaning of worship. Dear friends, if you would like to let me know anything, please put in some comments to know whether you like reading and learning. And friends, please pray for me a sinful servant of Jesus to not to trust in my own strength but to trust in our Lord.

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas season.

God bless you all. 

Your brother in Christ Jesus

Jobin George