The Habitation of God

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20)

According to the Scriptures the Church is the habitation of God through the Spirit, and as such is the most important organism beneath the sun. She is not one more good institution along with the home, the state and the school; she is the most vital of all institutions - the only one that can claim a heavenly origin.

The cynic may inquire which church we mean, and may remind us that the Christian Church is so divided that it is impossible to tell which is the one true one, even if such a one exists.

Being inside the Church we are probably as well aware of her faults as any person on the outside could possibly be. And we believe in her nevertheless wherever she manifests herself in a world of darkness and unbelief.

The Church is found wherever the Holy Spirit has drawn together a few persons who trust Christ for their salvation, worship God in spirit and have no dealings with the world and the flesh.

The Church was never intended to be a natural and intellectual organization, but a supernatural instrumentality wholly dependent upon the power of God.

~A. W. Tozer~

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A Hard But Glorious Way

"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me" (Luke 9:23)

To enter into the deeper life, seekers must be ready to accept without question the New Testament as the one final authority on spiritual matters. They must be willing to make Christ the one supreme Lord and ruler in their lives. They must surrender their whole being to the destructive power of the cross, to die not only to their sins but to their righteousness as well as to everything in which they formerly prided themselves.

If this should seem like a heavy sacrifice for anyone to make, let it be remembered that Christ is Lord and can make any demands upon us that He chooses, even to the point of requiring that we deny ourselves and bear the cross daily.

The mighty anointing of the Holy Spirit that follows will restore to the soul infinitely more than has been taken away. It is a hard way, but a glorious one. Those who have known the sweetness of it will never complain about what they have lost. They will be too well pleased with what they have gained.

The one misery of man is self-will, the one secret of blessedness is the conquest over our own wills. To yield it up to God is rest and peace.

~A. W. Tozer~