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crsschk
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 A Witness and a Testimony ~ Sparks & Tozer

[b]REVELATION IS NOT ENOUGH[/b]

[A. W. Tozer]


[i]The following message by the late Dr. A. W. Tozer, to be included in a further volume of addresses by him now in preparation, is, we feel, so much in keeping with the ministry of A Witness and A Testimony, that we borrow it for our readers, assured that they will be very glad to read it. It was recently in The Alliance Witness of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. And while mentioning this, may I say that, in early years of ministry and the Lord's work, I owed very much to the life of Dr. A. B. Simpson, founder of that 'Alliance'[/i]. - Editor.

"[i]About the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught. And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself" [/i](John 7:14-17).

THE key, the crux of this whole issue, is in verse 17. [i]If any man is willing to do God's will, he shall know.[/i]

People marvelled at our Lord as He taught. They asked: "How knoweth this man letters having never learned?" 'How does He know learning', in other words, 'never having studied in the regular schools?' In those days they had no schools as we know them; a rabbi taught little groups of students. Our Lord evidently never attended a rabbinical school so they asked: 'How does He get His wonderful doctrine, since He has never been to the schools of the rabbis?'

Now, this question tells us a good deal about these people. It tells us that they held truth to be intellectual merely, capable of being reduced to a code. To know truth it was necessary only to learn the code.

Most of them had no books of their own -- they learned by memorizing. That was their conception of truth. I gather this not only from verse 17 but from the whole Gospel of John. To these people truth was an intellectual thing -- just as we know that two times two is four.

That is truth, but it is an intellectual truth only. They reduced divine truth to that status. They knew the laws: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me.... Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.... Thou shalt not ...". But to them there was no mysterious depth in truth, nothing beneath and nothing beyond the obvious fact. It was exactly here that they parted company with our Saviour, for our Lord Jesus constantly taught the beyond and the beneath.

These people believed that the words of truth were the truth. And here is a basic misunderstanding of Christian theology with a moral and spiritual consequence that is vastly important. They believed that if you had the words of truth, if you could repeat the code of truth, you had the truth. That if you lived by the word of truth you lived in the truth.

The Saviour tried to correct this inadequate view. He showed them the heavenly quality of His message. He said: 'My doctrine is not Mine -- I am [18/19] not a rabbi teaching doctrine that you can memorize and repeat. What I am giving you is not that kind of doctrine at all.'

He had said previously: 'I say nothing for Myself -- what I see the Father do, that I do, and what the Father speaks, that I speak. What I have seen yonder I tell you about. I am a transparent medium through which the truth is being spoken. You believe that the way to truth is to go to a rabbi and learn it. That's not the truth, that approach to truth is inadequate.'

Here, it seems to me, is the weakness in modern Christianity. The battle line, the warfare today, is not necessarily between the fundamentalist and the liberal. There is a difference between them, of course. The fundamentalist says God made the heaven and the earth. The liberal says: 'Well, that's a poetic way of stating it; actually it came up by evolution.' The fundamentalist says Jesus Christ was the very Son of God. The liberal says: 'Well, He certainly was a wonderful man and He is the Master, but I don't quite know about His deity.' So there is a division, but I don't think the warfare is on these matters any more.

The battle has shifted to another more important field. The warfare, the dividing line today, is between evangelical rationalists and evangelical mystics. I will explain what I mean.

There is today an evangelical rationalism which is the same as these Jews had. They said the truth is in the word, and if you want to know truth, go to the rabbi and learn the word. If you get the word, you have got the truth. That is evangelical rationalism and we have that today in fundamental circles. 'If you learn the text you've got the truth.'

This evangelical rationalism will kill the truth just as quickly as liberalism will, though in more subtle way. The liberal stands over there and says: 'I don't believe your inspired Bible; I don't believe your deified Christ. I believe the Bibles in a way; it is the record of the high points of great men and I believe in a certain mystic communion with the universe and it is all very wonderful, but I don't believe as you do.'

You can easily spot this man -- train your glasses on him and there he stands. You can tell he is on the other side, for he wears the uniform of the other side.

But your evangelical rationalist wears our uniform. He comes in wearing our uniform and says what the Pharisees, the worst enemies Jesus had while He was on earth, said: 'Well, truth is truth, and if you believe the truth you've got it.

Such see no beyond and no mystic depth, no mysterious heights, nothing supernatural or divine. They see only: "I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: and in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord." They have the text and the code and the creed, and to them that is the truth. So they pass it on to others. The result is we are dying spiritually.

Now, what about the evangelical mystic? I don't really like the word 'mystic' because you think of a fellow with long hair and a little goatee who acts dreamy and strange. Maybe it is not a good word at all, but I am talking about the spiritual side of things -- that the truth is more than the text. There is something that you've got to get through to. The truth is more than the code. There is a heart beating in the middle of the code and you've got to get there.

Now the question is simply this: Is the body of Christian truth enough? Or does truth have a soul as well as a body? The evangelical rationalist says that all of that talk about the soul of truth is poetic nonsense. The body of truth is all you need; if you believe the body of truth you are on your way to heaven and you can't backslide and everything will be allright and you will get a crown in the last day.

Now otherwise stated: Is revelation enough or must there be illumination? Is this Bible an inspired book? Is it a revealed book? Of course you and I believe that it is a revelation, that God spoke all these words and holy men spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

I believe that this Bible is a living book, that God has given it to us and that we dare not add to it or take away from it. It is revelation. But revelation is not enough. There must be illumination before revelation can get to your soul. It isn't enough that I hold an inspired book in my hands. I must have an inspired heart. There is the difference.

You can memorize all the texts of the Bible -- and I believe in memorizing -- but when you are through you've got nothing but the body. There is the soul of truth as well as the body. There is a divine inward illumination the Holy Ghost must give us or we don't know what truth means.

Conversion is a miraculous act of God by the Holy Ghost; it must be wrought in the spirit. The body of truth is not enough; there must be an inward illumination.

Christ's conflict was with the theological rationalist. It revealed itself in the Sermon on the Mount and the whole Book of John. Just as Colossians argues against Manichaeism and Galatians argues against Jewish legalism, so the Book of John is a long, inspired, passionately outpoured book trying to save us from evangelical rationalism, the doctrine [19/20] that says the text is enough. Textualism is as deadly as liberalism.

Now revelation, I repeat, can't save. Revelation is the ground upon which we stand. Revelation tells us what to believe. It is the Book of God and I stand for it with all my heart; but there must be, before I can be saved, illumination, penitence, renewal, inward deliverance.

I have no doubt that many people are eased into the kingdom. They are jockeyed into believing in the text, and they do; but they have never been illuminated by the Holy Ghost. They have never been renewed in their hearts. They never get into the kingdom at all.

Now, there is a secret in divine truth altogether hidden from the unprepared soul. This is where we stand in the terrible day in which we live. Christianity is not something you just reach up and grab. There must be a preparation of the mind, a preparation of the life and a preparation of the inner man before we can savingly believe in Jesus Christ.

Somebody asks: Is it possible to hear the truth and not understand the truth? Listen to Isaiah: "Hear ye indeed, but understand not, and see ye indeed, but perceive not" (6:9). It is possible to see yet not perceive.

Paul says (1 Corinthians 2:4-5): "My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

Now the theological rationalists say that your faith should stand not in the wisdom of man but in the Word of God. Paul didn't say that at all. He said your faith should stand in the power of God. That's quite a different thing.

Verses 9 through 14 say: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.... But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

Paul, the man of God, is saying: I came preaching and I preached with power that would illuminate and get to the conscience and to the spirit and change the inner man in order that your faith might stand in the power of God.

My brethren, your faith can stand in the text and you can be as dead as the proverbial doornail, but when the power of God moves in on the text and sets the sacrifice on fire, then you have Christianity. We call that revival, but it's not revival at all. It is simply New Testament Christianity. It's what it ought to have been in the first place, but was not.

Now look at Matthew 11: "Jesus answered and said, I thank thee O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him."

So there we have the doctrine taught plainly that there is not only a body of truth which we must hold at our peril; there is also a soul in that body which we must get through to, and if we don't get through to the soul of truth we have only a dead body on our hands.

A church can go on holding the creed. and the truth for years and generations and grow old and die, and new people come up and receive that same code and they grow old and die.

Then some revivalist comes in and gets everybody stirred and prayer moves God down on the scene and revival comes to that church. People who thought they were saved get saved. People who have only believed in a code now believe in Christ.

A man will go along in a church and believe texts and quote them and memorize them and teach them and maybe become a deacon and all the rest. Then one day, under the fiery preaching of some visitor or maybe the pastor, he suddenly feels himself terribly in need of God and he forgets all his past history and goes to his knees and like David begins to pour out his soul in confession. Then he leaps to his feet and testifies: 'I've been a deacon in this church twenty-six years and never was born again until tonight.'

What happened? That man had been trusting the dead body of truth until some inspired preacher let him know that truth has a soul. Or maybe God taught him in secret that truth had a soul as well as a body and he dared to get through and pursue by penitence and obedience until God honoured his faith and flashed the light on. And like lightning out of heaven it touched his spirit and all the texts he had memorized became alive.

Thank God, he did memorize the texts and all the truth he knew suddenly now bloomed in the light. That is why I believe we ought to memorize. [20/21] That is why we ought to get to know the Word, why we ought to fill our minds with the songs and the great hymns of the church. They won't mean anything to us until the Holy Ghost comes. But when He comes He will have fuel to use. Fire without fuel won't burn but fuel without fire is dead. And the Holy Ghost will not come on a church where there is no Biblical fuel. There must be Bible teaching. We must have the body of truth.

Jesus said if any man is willing to do God's will, he shall know -- he shall know the doctrine, he shall know the teaching. Now, this body of truth can be grasped by the average, normal intellect. You can grasp truth, but only the enlightened soul will ever know the truth and only the prepared heart will ever be enlightened.

And just what is the preparation needed? Jesus said: 'If any man is willing to do My will the light will flash in on him. If any man will obey Me, God will enlighten his soul immediately.'

We make Jesus Christ a convenience. We make Him a lifeboat to get us to shore, a guide to find us when we are lost. We reduce Him simply to Big Friend to help us when we are in trouble.

That is not Christianity. Jesus Christ is Lord. But when a man is willing to do His will, he is repenting and the truth flashes in.

No man can know the Son except the Father tell him. No man can know the Father except the Son reveal Him. I can know about God, that's the body of truth. But I can't know God, the soul of truth, unless I am ready to be obedient.

Before the Word of God can mean anything inside of me there must be obedience to the Word. Truth will not give itself to a rebel. Truth will not impart life to a man who will not obey the light! "If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." If you are disobeying Jesus Christ you can't expect to be enlightened.

But there is illumination. I know what Charles Wesley meant when he wrote: "His spirit answers to the blood, And tells me I am born of God!" Nobody had to come and tell me what he meant. 'He that is willing to do My will,' said Jesus, 'shall have a revelation to his own heart. He shall have an inward illumination that tells him he is a child of God.'

If a sinner goes to the altar and a worker with a marked New Testament argues him into the kingdom, the devil will meet him two blocks down the street and argue him out of it again. But if he has an inward illumination and he has that witness within because the Spirit answers to the blood, you can't argue with that man. He will say: 'But I know.' A man like that is not bigoted or arrogant, he is just sure.

Now that's revival, but yet it is not revival either; it is normal Christianity. It's the way we should be. "If any man will do his will, he shall know."

But you say you're going to take a Bible course. If you are holding out on God, refusing to follow Jesus, you can take a course and learn all about synthesis and analysis and all the rest. But you might just as well read Pogo; all the courses in the world won't illuminate you inside. You can fill your head full of knowledge, but the day that you decide you are going to obey God it will get down into your heart. You shall know. Only the servants of truth can ever know truth. Only those who obey can ever have the inward change.

You can stand on the outside and can know all about it. I once read a book about the inner spiritual life by a man who was not a Christian at all. He had an amazing penetration. He was a sharp intellectual, a keen Englishman. He stood outside and examined spiritual people from the outside but nothing ever reached him.

You can read your Bible -- read any version you want -- and if you are honest you will admit that it is either obedience or inward blindness. You can repeat the Book of Romans word for word and still be blind inwardly. You can quote the whole Book of Psalms and still be blind inwardly. You can know the doctrine of justification by faith and take your stand with Luther and the Reformation, and be blind inwardly. For it is not the body of truth that enlightens; it is the Spirit of truth that enlightens.

If you are willing to obey the Lord Jesus He will illuminate your spirit, inwardly enlighten you, and the truth you have known will now be known spiritually and power will begin to flow up and out and you will find yourself changed, marvellously changed. In that great day of Christ's coming all that will matter is whether or not I have been inwardly illuminated. Inwardly regenerated. Inwardly purified.

Do I know Jesus?


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Mike Balog

 2006/8/11 9:51Profile
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 Re: A Witness and a Testimony ~ Sparks & Tozer

Quote:
...[i]If any man is willing to do God's will, he shall know[/i]...And just what is the preparation needed? Jesus said: 'If any man is willing to do My will the light will flash in on him. If any man will obey Me, God will enlighten his soul immediately.'



This verse from John was quickened to me recently in regards to discussing spiritual matters with my wife. In the past we have studied the Bible together in family devotions but often would end in disagreement over certain doctrines (my wife attends a Catholic church). This was brought to a head when my daughter said one day, "Dad, I wish you and mom wouldn't argue about religion and would go to the same church." Wow, I was cut to the quick and it drove me to seek God in sorrow for wisdom and guidance on what to do. The Lord used this verse in John 7 and also the following verse from Proverbs; [i]My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.[/i]
(Pro 23:26).

Through these verses the Lord showed me that I need to stick to matters of the heart in our discussions of Scripture. The giving of the heart in the Proverbs verse relates to the "willing to do His will" in the John verse. The order there is important as Mr. Tozer points out, a simple willingness to walk in the light of Truth precedes an observing(or illumination) of God's ways.

My wife needs to know she is accepted and loved by me unconditionally regardless of her doctrine and I need to simply stop arguing doctrine before her and my children, instead focusing on planting seeds of truth and fostering an attitude of obedience and let the Spirit do His work in calling each of us to "give me thine heart."

In Christ,

Ron


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Ron Halverson

 2006/8/11 12:13Profile
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 Matters ...

Ron,

Quote:
Through these verses the Lord showed me that I need to stick to matters of the heart in our discussions of Scripture.



If there is any one thing that I have had impressed on me it is this. To do a 'study' of scrpiture on this all important word is almost hard to state that way for it is much more than a 'study' ... Could but pray that this would be delved into completely, each and every instance and even that which alludes to it. Straight on through the scriptures this is brought to bear;

From the heart ...
Out of the heart ...
Because of the heart ...
Their heart is not right towards Me ...

And your daughter ... Thanks for this brother.


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Mike Balog

 2006/8/11 16:08Profile
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 Re: A Witness and a Testimony ~ Sparks & Tozer

FAITH OPERATING IN A DARK DAY


OUR motto for 1970 circles round the declaration of Jeremiah in chapter 32, verse 17 of his prophecies: "Ah, Lord Jehovah ... there is nothing too hard (wonderful) for thee." This declaration was made in circumstances of extreme difficulty. Recall that situation.

Jeremiah was himself in prison, perhaps in a dungeon. His ministry, after forty years, was in a state of suspense, perhaps finished personally. Jerusalem was besieged by the Chaldeans, and about to be taken, and the land overrun and destroyed. The people were about to be taken into far captivity, and Jeremiah knew that it would be for seventy years.

In that seemingly hopeless situation the Lord told Jeremiah that his cousin Hanamel would be coming to him as the next of kin who had the right of redemption to ask Jeremiah to buy -- redeem -- the family land, the field in Anathoth. It may have been a bit of shrewd business on the part of Hanamel for Jeremiah might most likely be killed and the field be lost if it had not been redeemed. Perhaps Hanamel was not accepting Jeremiah's gloomy prophecies and still believed that the country would be saved. However, for Jeremiah it was another situation; his prophecies were -- he knew -- going to come true. To buy the field was either foolhardiness or faith. He proceeded in faith, and carried out the transaction meticulously; and he left no question as to whose right it was. So Hanamel had been, and the Deed of Purchase was signed, sealed, and settled. Jeremiah, by right of redemption, was the owner of a field which, for long years, would lie under the heel of a foreign power. For himself , he knew that he would never occupy it. Was he -- maybe -- enacting a parable which had a far greater context? Was the far-seeing Spirit of God making Jeremiah's action a prophecy? Was there Another Redeeming Kinsman in the shadows of Jeremiah's transaction, One who would redeem His rightful inheritance and have to wait long years, while the enemy -- the prince of this world -- ruled in it? Was Jeremiah just yielding to the pressure of circumstances?

No, two things governed his action. One, God had told him to buy the field, and his dream, vision, verbal intimation (whatever it was) concerning Hanamel had come to pass. Two, his own prophecies [2/3] had contained a break in the far-distant horizon, seventy years hence, and that was a ray of hope in the dark present. On that streak of light his faith acted, and, not thinking of himself, he acted for posterity. Someone has spoken of his action as "faith staking a claim". But, as is usually the case, faith was tested by


REACTION


Jeremiah suffered this come-back. He seems to have come alive to the implications of what he had done, and a battle took place. He had to call to his help the omnipotence and sovereignty of God. "Ah, Lord, Jehovah, behold, thou hast made the heavens and the earth by thy great power and by thine outstretched arm; there is nothing too hard for thee."

This, surely, is a foreshadowing of "the faith of the Son of God".

Now, there are some valuable lessons for us in this incident:

1. There are times when we are so sure that the Lord has led us in a certain way, to take a certain course, to do a certain thing, or to a certain purpose. It comes to us with much life and assurance. At the time there seems to be real corroboration that it is of the Lord. Even our Hanamels turn up on time. We make our committal, set ourselves to the call or demand, and faith is all agog. Then, we are invaded by the adverse forces, like the prison in which we are found, or like the armies of the Chaldeans besieging. The temptation is to wonder if we have been mistaken, misled, and a trick has been played on us. A battle in the dark ensues and the whole question of the faithfulness of God is raised.

How true to history it is that the Lord's people, and His servants in particular, can never take a position with Him without -- sooner or later -- being tested severely by that very position! That important factor in Jeremiah's action must be borne in mind. Jeremiah acted without any personal interest influencing him. He was detached from his action, for he knew that he would not live to see the redemption made good. Faith was selfless and looked beyond his own lifetime. That is a very real test of its genuineness. Such thoughts never weakened his action! Perhaps the very reactions and assaults of doubt are only allowed in order to test the quality of faith.

A dungeon and an enemy host are sufficient to test the reality of vision!

2. "While we look, not at the things that are seen, but at the things which are not seen."

Jeremiah had an overwhelming amount of the impossible, the "too hard" in his seen situation. It would have been so easy at any time to surrender to existing conditions. Every servant of God who has been given "the heavenly vision", and been made acquainted with God's "eternal purpose" has, after a thoroughgoing committal, and some encouraging corroborations, come to the time of severe testing by circumstances which raise ultimate questions. The conditions argue that it is a vain hope; life will pass in disappointment.

Think of the vision of Peter, John, Paul, and then consider the state of the churches. They must have had some vision which eclipsed and transcended "the things which are seen". Paul said: "... we look at the things which are not seen." "Things", not imaginations, makebeliefs, vapours, but actual things not seen. These are the "eternal" and, like Jeremiah, the horizon of realization is beyond this hour.

How easy -- to our time-fettered life -- it would be to say that the Church is in ruins and irreparable; we labour in vain if we pour our lives out for the ideal! Well, the saints of old, the Prophets, the Apostles, and above all, our Lord Jesus in His humiliation, rebuke us. "Faith is the title deeds of things not seen." Jeremiah with the Deeds of Anathoth fits right in there.

Jeremiah linked this whole issue with God's Throne. This is the refuge of the sorely tried in faith. "There is nothing too hard for thee."

3. We must ask the Lord to, first, cleanse our hearts of all personal, and worldly motives and interests; to plant the Cross fairly and squarely in our soul-ambition, and then enable us to "buy the field" in confidence.

T. Austin Sparks


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Mike Balog

 2006/8/12 1:00Profile
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 Devern Fromke

[b]AT EASE OR AT REST?[/b]

[i]The second message by Mr. DeVern Fromke at the Conference in Switzerland


"Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed" (Jeremiah 48:11).[/i]

I WANT this morning that we should see the wrong tendency to be at ease, but the right way to be at rest. We will, from a bird's-eye view of the history of Israel, and continuing from what we were saying yesterday, see how she was always wanting to be delivered from, but was hardly ready to be moved unto the purpose of God.

We will begin by seeing Israel after her four hundred years of captivity in Egypt. God heard her cry when she began to be tired of the taskmasters of Egypt, and He delivered her out of Egypt and across the Red Sea. He brought her out from her bondage, or captivity, but, having been brought out, she then had the privilege of choosing: Would she give herself unto the purpose of God?

I think we shall see how even today there are so many who in their bondage cry out to the Lord for deliverance, but are unwilling to go on unto the full purpose that He has for them.

Israel was content to stop half-way instead of moving on unto the full purpose of God, but God seems to say: 'If ye will not go on unto , I have another captivity for you.' And so they wandered forty years round and round the wilderness instead of moving into the land of Canaan. They did not want the glorious captivity in the Lord, so there was imposed upon them a schoolroom captivity. Thus this whole generation died in the wilderness, except for two men, Joshua and Caleb, but God, in His mercy, heard the new generation and delivered them out of the wilderness-wandering into the land of Canaan. He delivers them out from the captivity of the wilderness, and now He waits for them to move unto a full possessing of the land of Canaan -- but you know the story so well. While they possessed and conquered some of Canaan, pretty soon they settled down just to enjoy it for themselves. They were not primarily God-conscious, purpose-conscious, or fulfilment-conscious, but only deliverance-conscious.

So once again there is a captivity imposed upon them: the captivity of the nations of Canaan. God had said to them: "Make no league with the inhabitants of this land" (Judges 2:2), but they did not obey Him. They were fearful of the people of Canaan, and so became captive to them.

What does all this teach us? When we are first saved we are delivered out of the world. It is so wonderful to have a release from our old habits and our old way of life, but there are so many young believers who do not realize that God wants to teach them how to live by His life. They must learn how to live by the bread from heaven and the water that He supplies, but they still have an appetite for the things of Egypt, and there are those who murmur and complain for the onions, the leeks, the garlic! You would think that they would enjoy the manna from heaven, but God has to apply the tree to change our appetites. He says: 'If you will not move unto and live by My life, you will know the captivity of the fleshly life.'

And then there are those who do move into Canaan, as it were, but somehow they make entanglements with the men around them; and we read of the darkest hour in Israel's history during the period of the Judges. They cried out to the Lord, and with each new judge that He raised up there was a bit of revival, but I believe that this would teach us that mere reviving is not the real answer. God must awaken His people to be alive to His larger purpose, not merely awakenings and revivings for themselves.

In due time the people of Israel cry out, and God gives them the prophet Samuel. Then, after a short period of King Saul, King David unifies the people into a nation. Finally King Solomon builds the House of Prayer for all nations, and it seems that for the first time God is maybe getting something out of His people Israel. And yet, once again, they begin to settle down merely to using all the good things for themselves. They had been in the land four hundred and ninety years, and this represents seventy sabbaths, when the land was to rest, and so the Lord tells them that they will be carried into Babylonian captivity for seventy years. He would take them away and enforce a sabbath rest for every sabbath year that they had failed to let the land be idle. Let us go back and see once again what this means.

Taken first out of the world, then delivered from the fleshly life of wrong appetites, then set free from the entanglements and the fears of men, this is the people that should have a ministry unto God and unto the world around, but they began to enjoy [6/7] God's blessing and the temple just for themselves instead of letting them be a means for the blessing of the world. My gift, in my ministry, must never be merely for my blessing, but for the blessing of others.

And so we see the northern armies of Syria coming in and taking Israel into the Babylonian captivity. I wonder if now we have a fuller appreciation of Psalm 137? I see so many of the Lord's people in this kind of captivity. Instead of joy there is defeat, and the only testimony they have is: 'We remember a better day!' But hear me! We today should know the joy and the overflow of the life from within. Let us read about these people in Psalm 137:

[i]"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof."[/i]

Now notice how the people round about are turning to them and saying: 'Why do you not sing us one of your blessed songs of Zion? We remember that you are the songbirds.' I notice in my country how many people of the world like to slip in and hear the Christians sing!

[i]"For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion."[/i]

All the people around us are looking for something of reality in us. If not in words, at least in some way they are saying: 'Lift us with one of your songs of Zion', but all these people can say is:

[i]"How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?"[/i]

I know I am in a strange land here, but I have a song, for this is a different kind of strange land -- I am here with my brothers and sisters! But I wonder if we catch the real significance here: these are the people who had a ministry, but they lost the ministry they had. You see, the very issue is this: We are called all along the way to give, to be poured out. 'Death worketh in us', and this brings life unto others.

And so we see that there are three different planes. Up above there is a glorious captivity in the Lord. If we do not want that, then the Lord says: 'Well, I have another one for you', but there are so many of the Lord's people who want to stop half-way. They do not want to be a love-captive, nor to be a bondage-captive, but they just want to be free. But I must remind you that this half-way plane is only a passing-zone; it is not a stopping-place. You think you can stop here, but God says: 'I enrol you in My school-room'. Israel turned the wilderness into a schoolroom, and the captivity of the nations into another schoolroom. Even the Babylonian captivity was turned into a schoolroom.

So we read that in due time, after seventy years of captivity in Babylon, the Lord stirred the spirit of Cyrus, King of Persia, and the people go back to their land. They rebuild the temple, restore the wall -- and settle down to enjoy it all for themselves again! Well, we have another Psalm -- 126 -- which tells us about the turning of their captivity:

[i]"When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them."[/i]

Do you know who it is that knows when you are set free? The neighbours begin to say: 'Something has happened to brother ...!' Even your wife says: 'He has a song again!' You see, the heathen had a sense of what Israel ought to be. They may be glad that you are in captivity, but they know inwardly what is right, and so they say: "The Lord hath done great things for them." And then the Israelites reply:

[i]"Yes, the Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad."[/i]

Now, God wants to turn one captivity to another, for we are not made to be free in ourselves. Many years ago Dr. Matheson wrote these words:


"Make me a captive, Lord,

And [i]then[/i] I shall be free!"

And so we read in the next verse:

[i]"Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south."[/i]

He who expects to have a real, poured-out ministry must know the broken 'streams of the south'. In our country we say that the South is way down deep, and the North is up, so it is way down deep within that the 'streams of the south' must be broken up.

[i]"They that sow in tears shall reap in joy."[/i]

Let me illustrate that. Many years ago, when my grandfather came from Sweden to America, he homesteaded out in the bleak prairies of the Dakotas. One spring they had so little food for the family that when it came time to plant the potatoes in the ground, my grandfather said he felt that each potato he put in was being taken out of the mouths of the little children. It was almost like weeping and watering each one, but that was the only way to have a joyous harvest. Beloved, there is no easy way to bring life to others. "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." [7/8]

[i]"He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."[/i]

That may perhaps be true of our ministry, but look at my lovely Lord who comes with all of His sheaves!

So it is hard to say how much Israel did move unto the full purpose of God. The temple was built, and the nations round about looked upon the glory of Israel. You remember that the Queen of Sheba had heard about the glory of a people who had sanctified the Lord God in their midst, and when she came and beheld it all she said: 'Oh! The half has not been told!' Israel had her wonderful ministry of representing, of being a testimony to what a people could be who are living unto God, and I have often wondered what she could have moved unto if the kings who followed had continued wholly in the way of the Lord. But we remember how, after Solomon, the kingdom was divided under Jeroboam and Rehoboam, and, weakened from within, Israel was overcome by the Babylonians. The enemy's way is always to weaken us first from within, and where there is no real life within we are subject to all the diseases from outside.

Israel comes back from the Babylonian Captivity, rebuilds and restores, and in due time the Lord Jesus comes to offer Himself to them as their King; but they could not recognize the One they had cried for for so long. However orthodox they were in their interpretations, they did not have the spiritual eye to see, and so we find them today dispersed throughout the world. But we have a promise in Deuteronomy 30:3: [i]"Then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee."[/i] This does not mean that they will merely be brought back from captivity, but they will be turned again to another captivity -- the one up above.

There is the background. Do you not see that the tendency of man is to get delivered [i]from[/i], and then to settle down at ease? People who move from one experience to another experience, or from one lovely doctrine to another doctrine, are so prone to settle down at ease. Do you not see that if Israel had moved up to the upper plane God could have taken them on into all that they needed to see? Jesus had said: "[i]I am[/i] the Life; [i]I am[/i] the Way; and [i]I am[/i] the Truth." I do not know how to explain what I see of entering into this captivity by which He becomes my life, my [i]whole[/i] way and the very reality of everything, but are you not glad that God is very sovereign? He gets His way in spite of us.

Is there someone here who wonders why their spiritual life has come to a stalemate? Even when you read God's Word it does not seem to speak to you as it once did, and in praying God seems so very far away. If God would bring you out from some captivity, would you say with your whole heart: 'Lord, I choose to see and move unto your fullest purpose'? I believe I have learned by sad experience that, while the lower plane seems to be the easier way, the upper plane is [i]the[/i] way. I believe I can see that in my earlier life there was such a period of wilderness-wandering when God was changing the appetites, and then a period when I was so prone to be yoked with men for rest and security, and I got all mixed up in the denominations. You forgive me -- but there are many kinds of nations with which we become entangled! But God's highway is the way of identification with Him.

In closing, listen again to what God says in Jeremiah 48:11: "Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees." So many of God's children wonder why God takes them through the crucibles of life, but with all the Moabites they live on at ease. If you are a Moabite, all right, but if you are one of God's own, He stirs you up to keep you from settling down at ease. Oh, how many times I have groaned in being poured from vessel to vessel! It seems that God says to Moab that he has not gone into captivity, but he is not really free. There is a much worse captivity! There are people who say they are captives of the Lord, but when I live close to them, I see that their tastes have not been changed. You see, if we are captive to the Lord we smell of His fragrance, but if we are in this imposed captivity, we smell of the flesh, we have the odour of entanglements, and we are those who are defeated, without a real ministry unto the Lord.

Finally, we are either deliverance-centred (or salvation-centred), or we become purpose-conscious. DeV. F.




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Mike Balog

 2006/8/13 14:00Profile
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 Poul Madsen

[b]THE PRACTICAL OUTWORKING OF THE WORD OF THE CROSS[/b]

[Poul Madsen]


IN our first message we considered the word of the Cross and found that it is the power of God. Next we considered that there is only one voice in the universe that can bring us the word of the Cross, and that is the voice of the Good Shepherd. That voice can be recognized in every one of the Lord's servants who truly follows Him; otherwise we only hear the words spoken, and, though they may be true, we do not recognize the voice of God. Then we considered the results of the preaching of the word of the Cross, and found that they are very profound. The word of the Cross creates a deep change in the man who is exposed to it, a change from spiritual pride to true humility, from contempt of men to Divine love for even the basest of them; it gives him a profound work to do for the Lord; and it gives him a profound conception of the Church of Christ and its calling.

But someone might now ask me this question: Could you not give us some practical advice in order that we may [i]experience[/i] all this? We like the truth of it all, but what can we do to get a true experience corresponding to the truth that we see and understand?

The Apostle Paul gives us three pieces of very good and very practical advice, which we will now consider.

1. [i]"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly"[/i] (Colossians 3:16)

Notice what Paul says -- "Let the word of [i]Christ[/i] ..." What does he mean by that? Does he not mean the word of the Bible? Then why does he not say so? Because of his own experience! Before his conversion he knew the Bible; the word of the Bible dwelt richly in him and he used it greatly -- to kill as many people as possible! Now he does not want to repeat that experience, nor does he want the Church to repeat it -- but the Church [i]has[/i] repeated it, over and over again. My experience is that no one can be as cruel as Christians can, especially when they think they know the Bible. I cannot tell you how many dear old saints have come to me and told me what is in the Bible! They bang their fists on the table and say: 'It is in the Bible. Why don't you do it?' I have met that again and again, and these people are convinced that they are right and that they are doing right.

You see, the Bible can be used in a literal sense -- its "letter" bereft of its spirit -- and "the letter killeth" (2 Corinthians 3:6) -- and the Christians killed one another gladly in the name of the Lord! They did it in order to build the Church. But this is what we spoke of in our second message -- the word, but not the voice. Thus, when a strong Christian enters your room and says: "This -- or that -- is found in the Bible, so you must do it and organize your church along that line", just give him this answer: 'Dear brother, I give you a fortnight to examine yourself before the Lord to find whether the spirit of 1 Corinthians 13 is found in your heart and in your mouth. Will you please read that chapter once a day, or even once an hour, for fourteen days, and then come back to me and tell me, not what is in the Bible, but what the word of Christ is.' [i]Never[/i] enter into an argument with strong Christians! They are much too clever. They have examined the Bible and know everything about it, but they have never given the Bible a chance to examine them, and, therefore, the word of Christ does not dwell richly in them or among them. So they gladly kill the Lord's servants and destroy the Church, thinking they are serving the Lord.

The word of Christ is the word of the Cross, and if the Bible has not become the word of the Cross to you, you run the risk of destroying and killing, instead of giving life and health. All strong Christians run that risk. They use the word of the Bible and do mighty things for God. They can bring into being great movements which grow and increase and they can point to the Word as that which supports all they do and say, but God never gave us the Word as a weapon with which to fight for the truth. If you want to fight for the truth, all you can do is to give your life, and that is the best weapon. It is easy to take the lives of others: that is the spirit of the Inquisition -- fighting for truths by taking the lives of others and using the Word of God in support. But the Inquisition has not stopped, and it is not confined to the Roman Church. The spirit of the Inquisition can be found in any strong Christian. If the Lord has really revealed His truth to you, He has not done it in order that you should take the lives of others, but that you might have the honour of giving yourself, your own life, in defence of the truth. That is the word of Christ! "Father, forgive them! ..."; "I lay down my life ..." Let [i]that[/i] word dwell richly in you!

The Lord Himself said a profound and wonderful thing about this word: "The words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life" (John 6:63). Have you ever thought about that? When that word of Christ is given it not only describes spirit [54/55] and life, but it is spirit and life. It creates what it says. You see, the word of the Bible as such can describe life for you. It can describe what ministry is. It can describe the Church. But it cannot do more than give a description, and therefore people have themselves to do what they have seen described in the Bible. That is the reason why so many try to make a New Testament Church. Strong Christians have told them, with their Bible in their hand, how things ought to be. (And may I, in parenthesis, give you a piece of very naughty advice? When you meet a very strong Christian who says: 'Submit to what I say!' make your neck as stiff as possible!) Those strong Christians can give you a wonderful description of how things should be and will fight anyone who stands up against them, but they do not create anything. They simply leave this description of how things ought to be with those over whom they have had any influence, and then expect them by their own means to work it out.

But the word of Christ, the word given through broken men, gives much more than a description. The living Lord, the Creator of all things, speaks through them, and He does not operate like an artist giving a description. He operates as a Creator, and His word [i]is[/i] spirit and [i]is[/i] life, and it is only through that word that the work of the Lord is being done and the Church is built.

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly." What is the result of that? It is that you teach and admonish one another in all wisdom. Can you sense the difference between an atmosphere where the word is used as a hammer, and an atmosphere where the word of Christ is being heard? Where the word of Christ is there is also wisdom, [i]Divine[/i] wisdom, and that leads us back again to the Cross, because the Cross of Christ [i]is[/i] the wisdom of God; and in the spirit of the Cross we can speak about everything, loving one another, paying respect to one another, and seeing truly that the other one is greater than we are. In that spirit we can teach and admonish, and Christ is at work in [i]that[/i] atmosphere; He builds His Church in that atmosphere; and there is a note of true, deep joy, even happiness, in that atmosphere, so that Paul speaks of "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God." (And now comes another piece of naughty advice! When a very strong Christian comes to you and says: 'This is in the Bible and you must do it', say to him: 'Dear brother, let us start with five of Sankey's hymns!') Well, if the Lord's children cannot sing together, then they cannot teach one another anything at all. "Let the word of [i]Christ[/i] dwell in you [i]richly[/i]."

2. [i]"And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all it the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him"[/i] (Colossians 3:17).

This is just the same thing, but it is said in different words. It is the result of the working of the Cross in any man who exposes himself to it, which means that he does not do anything any longer in his own name, that is, in his own strength and energy. He does not even speak about the Lord or teach others in his own name. The more certain you are of your own position, the weaker you are, for our strong points are always our weak ones. If you are very certain and quite convinced that you are right, then you will speak in your own name. You do not even have to look to the Lord, for you know everything. You know the Bible, so you speak freely in your own name, and you are quite convinced that, with the Bible in your hand, you are doing the work of the Lord. But the more certain you are of a thing, the more you need to depend upon the Lord, for you might misuse the thing you know.

Therefore it says in this profound verse: "Do all in the [i]name of the Lord Jesus[/i], giving thanks to God the Father through him", and this thanksgiving means very much. It is not formal; it is thanksgiving from a soul who is dependent upon the Lord and knows that he must receive every word from Him; and therefore he thanks the Lord for it. It is an expression of humility in the deepest sense: 'I am not worthy, Lord, to speak for Thee, so I look to Thee and if, Lord, Thou shouldest say: "Don't speak!" Thou knowest, O Lord, that I dare not open my mouth. I can only speak in Thy name, giving thanksgiving, praise and worship for being allowed to speak for Thee.'

3. [i]"Continue stedfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving "[/i] (Colossians 4:2).

That, again, is just the same thing, but expressed in another way. It is an expression of total dependence upon the Lord, day and night -- for what is prayer? Is it your mastery over God, or is it His mastery over you? If you are a strong Christian, with the letter of the Bible in your hand, you use prayer to serve your own ends, but you are convinced that you fight for the [i]Lord[/i]. But if you are exposed to His Cross, then you continue in prayer, and watch, that is, you seek the Lord's mind. You watch and look to the Lord, seeking [i]His[/i] will, [i]His[/i] mind, [i]His[/i] way and [i]His[/i] means.

I am sure Paul had a smile in his eyes when he continued: "Withal praying for us also." He started by saying: 'Watch and pray with thanksgiving', and then he said: 'Pray also for me', but he did not say: 'with thanksgiving'! But if these [55/56] people had the mind of the Lord they [i]would[/i] pray for him with thanksgiving.

Can you see the difference? On the one side there is the great and strong Christian telling you the truth, convinced that he is doing [i]the[/i] very thing that the Lord wants, praying for you with all his power and might; and, on the other side, there is the man of the Cross, meeting you with the word of Christ, and praying for you with thanksgiving. Which of the two is the Lord's servant? At which of them do you think the powers and principalities tremble? Who is building with wood, hay and stubble, and who is building with gold, silver and costly stones?

I trust that all of us can see on which side we would like to stand. If you would like to stand on the side of him who is the man of the Cross, then bow down before your Lord and give Him time to speak to you. Never make Yourself the instrument of a man's programme, but become, and remain, a slave of the Lord. This, too, can be done, and it shall be done but [i]only[/i] through Him! - P. M.


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Mike Balog

 2006/8/14 9:55Profile
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 Re: Poul Madsen

Quote:
The more certain you are of your own position, the weaker you are, for our strong points are always our weak ones. If you are very certain and quite convinced that you are right, then you will speak in your own name. You do not even have to look to the Lord, for you know everything. You know the Bible, so you speak freely in your own name, and you are quite convinced that, with the Bible in your hand, you are doing the work of the Lord. But the more certain you are of a thing, the more you need to depend upon the Lord, for you might misuse the thing you know.


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Mike Balog

 2006/8/14 17:49Profile
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Joined: 2003/7/31
Posts: 2850
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 Re: Poul Madsen

I would like to know a little more about Mr. Poul Madsen. His sermons that have been transcribed in a Witness and a Testimony are wonderfully anointed. Unfortunately, what little is there in that publication is all I know of Mr. Madsen. I Would like to hear some audio messages from him if any exist.

In Christ,

Ron


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Ron Halverson

 2006/8/14 18:21Profile
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Joined: 2003/6/11
Posts: 9192
Santa Clara, CA

 Poul Madsen

Agreed!


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Mike Balog

 2006/8/15 1:05Profile





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