Name Above All Names

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11

Have you ever been in a position where you were the only Christian? Possibly now, you may be in the situation that your co-workers, neighbors or family members speak against Christians continually and frequently use His name as a curse word. What are you supposed to do? Our tendency is to try to maintain a position of peace (and so silence), especially where our paycheck is involved. We tend to back down, keep silent and ignore the comments. These actions reveal a person who is powerless and ashamed, even if that is not our intent. We should never appear powerless or ashamed of our Lord!

We need to stop and consider Who Our Lord Jesus is. One day all will bow before Jesus and confess that He is Lord. Every tongue, tribe and nation will be on their knees giving glory to God the Father, just by speaking the name of Jesus Christ. That day is coming and what a glorious day that will be! There will be no more denying Who Jesus is and no more discriminating against those who boldly speak His name. There will be no more hiding, embarrassment or guilt, only praise and pride in praising our Savior. And shame and sorrow, “gnashing of teeth,” to those who did not praise Him now.

Most importantly, stop and consider Who He is to you personally today. Should anyone have the right to discredit Your Lord and Savior at any time or anywhere? Paul tells us in Romans 1:16 that he was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. By succumbing to fear and acting ashamed of the gospel, we fall right into the pit of the devil. Why? Because our power is stifled. To not be ashamed allows the power of God to be released through your words. We represent life. Those who are criticizing represent death. We have the responsibility and we have the power to share the gospel of Christ.

Today, ask the Lord to forgive you for not speaking up and for not speaking out for Him. Today, as you wait for Him to open the door, ask the Lord to give you an opportunity to speak about Him. Today, ask the Lord to teach you to be bold for Him because you do not ever want Him to be ashamed of you. And today, thank the Lord for saving you, forgiving you and giving you His Holy Spirit so His will.

~Daily Disciples Devotional~

The Fight of the Faith # 15

Revelation In Relation to Sonship (continued)

Revelation Makes for Stability

Now we want to see how this connects with the whole object of the letter to the Galatians. These Galatians had, as the apostle said, started well, and for a little while they had run well, and then they had stopped because the traditionalists, the Judaizers, had come in and bewitched them, and their going on had been arrested; they had proved unstable. "I marvel", says the Apostle, "that you are so quickly removing from him that called you in the grace of Christ unto another gospel" (Galatians 1:6). I marvel! "O foolish Galatians, who did bewitch you ... having begun in the Spirit, are ye now perfected in the flesh?" (Galatians 3:1, 3). They had proved to be fickle, unstable, unreliable; and such features are not the features of sonship. They are just the opposite; they are the contradiction of sonship.

Now what is implied, if it is not directly stated, by the Holy Spirit through the Apostle is this, that when it is after this kind - "God revealed his Son in me? - when it is first-hand, immediate, direct, personal, the revelation of God's Son in us, it makes for stability, it makes for assurance, it rules out all fickleness. Immediately you get on to second-hand ground, you get on to dangerous ground, so far as your stability is concerned. Presently a storm will arise, the rains will come, the winds will blow and beat upon that house, and it will fall: and great will be the fall of  it, because it was built upon the sand. You remember our Lord said: "He that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his hose upon the sand". It implies something that is not rooted in experience, not rooted in ourselves, something we have heard and that is as far as it got. We have got it second-hand. The Galatians met the adverse winds and rains of the Judaizing assaults and crashed. Paul then, says, by implication, stability, assurance, trustworthiness in the spiritual life, demand that we shall have this first-hand knowledge by revelation of the Lord; and if it is a demand, it is a possibility, it is meant for us; and it is just that freshness of things by first-hand knowledge and revelation which brings the element of wonderful freshness and life into every case concerned.

There is all the difference, you see, between that Christian life which is a laboring under the burden of an imposed Christian order and system, requirement and demand, and the free life of a son in whom the joy of the Lord is the strength. I cannot help asking this question of you, Is your Christian life a burden? Are you under a strain because you belong to the Lord? Have you come into a realm - you may use phraseology and call it "the testimony" or something of the kind - into a realm which has brought you into a strain and you ever wear a look of strain on your face, and go about as though you were carrying a great burden: this testimony is something so exacting and you have to be so careful? Has your Christian life become anything like that, a strenuous burdensome thing which takes the real joy out of your life, and people feel that you are all the time trying to live up to something, to keep up a standard, to maintain something? That is all wrong, every bit of it is wrong. That is not sonship; that is slavery. That is what Galatians deals with, the great difference between the son and the slave. Sonship carries with it in the heart always the sense of wonder, of freshness of life. It does not mean you have no burdens and trials, but it does mean that your relationship to the Lord is a thing which is so real, so first-hand, and your knowledge of the Lord is so fresh, that you know that you are on the borders of a land of far distances. You know in your own heart what these words mean - "Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land of far distances" (Isaiah 33:17). I am not exaggerating and I am not straining to make this mean something. To some of us it is just like that. For us we know that we have come to the land of far distances. That can be put in other words. We are seeing so much, sensing so much, that we realize quite well we will never get through it, and never be able to give it out or even to exhaust it, though we were to go on here for many a lifetime. It is like that.

Is it like that with you, or are you living on the last crumb, hardly knowing how to make ends meet spiritually? It is the difference in sonship, you see. Sonship implies an open heaven, sonship does bring in this element of wonder. Oh, friends, it is very true; and I would not say that to you if it were not true in my own case. I know this tremendous difference. Life is cut in two for some of us. On the one side of life, there was that strain to get something, to meet the demand, working hard to get some fresh idea, buying the latest books in order to try and keep fresh in our preaching, getting  new ideas. People who were the most suggestive or provocative of thought and idea were our favorite authors. Then came the dividing of life with death and resurrection, with the Cross, and the other half of life, the growing revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ that, no matter how long you go on, you feel that you have not started, but are still right at the beginning. It is a wonderful thing to feel you have the land of far distances, and are seeing the King in His beauty. That is the inheritance of sons. Christ is the land of far distances, He is the King in His beauty; and the land is our inheritance; we are brought into the land. It is a wonderful land.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 16 - "Revelation Leads to Loneliness")

Renewed Strength for His Glory

1 Kings 19:8

He arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights.

 

All the strength supplied to us by our gracious God is meant for service, not for wantonness or boasting. When the prophet Elijah found the cake baked on the coals, and the cruse of water placed at his head, as he lay under the juniper tree, he was no gentleman to be gratified with dainty fare that he might stretch himself at his ease; far otherwise, he was commissioned to go forty days and forty nights in the strength of it, journeying towards Horeb, the mount of God. When the Master invited the disciples to "Come and dine" with Him, after the feast was concluded He said to Peter, "Feed my sheep"; further adding, "Follow me." Even thus it is with us; we eat the bread of heaven, that we may expend our strength in the Master's service. We come to the passover, and eat of the paschal lamb with loins girt, and staff in hand, so as to start off at once when we have satisfied our hunger. Some Christians are for living on Christ, but are not so anxious to live for Christ. Earth should be a preparation for heaven; and heaven is the place where saints feast most and work most. They sit down at the table of our Lord, and they serve Him day and night in His temple. They eat of heavenly food and render perfect service. Believer, in the strength you daily gain from Christ labour for Him. Some of us have yet to learn much concerning the design of our Lord in giving us His grace. We are not to retain the precious grains of truth as the Egyptian mummy held the wheat for ages, without giving it an opportunity to grow: we must sow it and water it. Why does the Lord send down the rain upon the thirsty earth, and give the genial sunshine? Is it not that these may all help the fruits of the earth to yield food for man? Even so the Lord feeds and refreshes our souls that we may afterwards use our renewed strength in the promotion of His glory.

~Charles Spurgeon~

The Fight of the Faith # 14

Revelation in Relation to Sonship (continued)

The Need for a Revelation of Christ in the Heart

Paul says, "It pleased God - to reveal his Son in me". It pleased God likewise to reveal His Son in Peter, and in James and in John. Yes, but that is not good enough for me, and, while I may not question or doubt their experience or their knowledge, or the facts which they state, sonship in my case demands that God shall reveal His Son in me, and that I do not get it even from those who are reputed to be something, pillars in the Church, Peter, James or John. "It pleased God ... to reveal His Son in me." I received it not from men, be they the twelve Apostles; neither through a man, be he Peter, but through revelation of Jesus Christ.

That is very simple and elementary, but it sets forth the difference; and that is what Paul is drawing attention to. He does not, in so many words, say, Now, this is what sonship is, it is a revelation of God's Son in the heart of a person. He does not put it quite precisely like that, but that is what this letter stands for, and that is what the New Testament makes perfectly clear as being the real nature of sonship. It is that this whole matter of the Lord Jesus  has become a personal and, in a right and proper sense, an independent thing in our own hearts. Our testimony must be, not, I was brought up in a Christian home, and sent to Sunday School and taken to church, and instructed in these things of the Lord, and given a sound Bible teaching; not that - that may all be receiving it through or of men, or a man. There has to be something more than that. We have to be able to say, "God that said, Light shall shine out of darkness, hath shined into our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4;6).

"In our hearts" - that is where sonship begins, and it is that which is sonship from beginning to end; and initial thing where we leap clear of everything that is second-hand and the thing becomes first-hand, and where it grows and grows and never tops growing as a first-hand thing. That is sonship. If you understand and can grasp what that means, then you know what sonship is.

You see, about every fresh case of revelation there is a sense in which everything is quite new, as though the thing revealed had never been before, and no one else in all God's universe had ever heard or seen it. When you really come to have that experience, that knowledge by revelation of the Lord Jesus may be very imperfect, it may be only one thing about Him, but it is the revelation of the Lord Jesus in some particular way, at some particular point, some particular significance; and when you come in this way of revelation into possessing of that it is to you as though it is something that has just come out of heaven newborn, and no one else in all the world has ever had it before. That is the effect of it. You want to tell it to other people, and old believers who have known it for years and years have become your pupils. You begin to teach them something they know about as though they knew nothing of it at all. That is the effect of it. Of course, they do not let on; they do not smile benignly, and say, Poor creature! Inwardly they may smile, but it is a smile of gratification. They know that is how it ought to be with you. But they know quite well exactly what has happened. It is just like that. Some of us know that, when we did, by the grace of God and the operation of the Holy Spirit, leap clear of all that we had known in that other way, that traditional way, into the knowledge of the same thing in a living way by revelation, then we began to talk about it, and it did not matter to us at all that there had been people saying the same thing for years, or that it could be found in a good many books. To us it was as though they knew nothing about it at all. We were the only ones who knew anything about it! That is quite pardonable. If it really is of the first-hand order, there is something which is quite new and quite fresh, as though it had just come for the first time out of heaven. That is sonship.

Oh, if we lived there right up to date all that time, how different things would be. I mean, how much of our knowledge is, after all, what we have got through men, or of a man. And Paul is saying, Now, I could have got it all from the elders and apostles at Jerusalem and become a good Christian and an apostle, a servant of Jesus Christ like that. But no - "Paul an apostle (not from men, neither through a man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead)."

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 15 - "Revelation Makes for Stability")

That You May Believe

And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. - John 19:35

Over 333 prophecies were fulfilled during the life of Christ. Twenty-eight of those prophecies were fulfilled while Jesus was on the cross. In this Scripture passage, John points out three times that certain events occurred for the Scriptures to be fulfilled, "so that you may believe."

In the Christian life, our salvation (our faith) is based upon one thing: our belief that Jesus Christ came to earth as the Son of God, fully God and fully man, and that He gave His life as a ransom for us. He was not just a good man or prophet or teacher—He was God incarnate. Jesus began His journey to earth back in the Garden. God told us that her Seed (the woman) would crush his head, the head of Satan. The rest of the Old Testament foretold of His coming and God's people knew to look for Him. Yet, when Jesus showed up on the scene, many of them did not believe. In the course of three years, He did more miracles than could be recorded. But still, many did not believe.

Jesus fulfilled the prophecies, just as had been told. He died on a cross for the sins of humanity and opened the way for all who look upon Him and believe in Him, to have everlasting life. But, He did not stay dead—He arose on the third day. Jesus conquered death so that we may live. One day the rest of the prophecies will be fulfilled, just as the Bible foretells. One day, Jesus will return and will reign as the King that many of these people were looking for when He came the first time. Until then, we wait and we eagerly look for Him to return. Do you believe?

The Bible was written so that we may believe. The Gospel of John was written by the disciple whom Jesus loved, so that we may believe. Regardless of life's trials and hardships, do not allow the hardness of this world to weaken your faith. Look up! Look to the Cross and be saved. Sometimes we need to be reminded to look up and see Jesus. He is with us right now—He is with you right now. Just believe.

Pray about it: Lord, I will never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross. Help me to never take for granted the forgiveness You have extended to a sinner like me. Help me walk in the freedom You gave to me as a result of Your perfect sacrifice.

~Daily Disciples Devotional~

The Fight of the Faith # 13

Revelation in Relation to Sonship

Galatians 1:1, 11-12 15-17, 23-24

I want to seek, as the Lord enables us, to get still closer to this matter of sonship, and I think there is no doubt that Paul, as he comes before us in this letter to the Galatians, himself stands as an example of what sonship is. There is no doubt that much of the nature of sonship is resident in these statements of his about himself - "not from men, neither through a man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead", and other passages which are similar.

"An Apostle, not after Men"

The question arises - and it is a very simple way I think, of getting to understand what is indicated - the question arises, How might Paul have been an apostle other than by this method, other than in this way - "an apostle not from men, neither through a man: the Gospel which I preach not after man, neither did I receive it from a man, nor was I taught it". What did he mean? Well, there were two ways in which Paul could have become an apostle and a preacher of the Gospel. There were the apostles at Jerusalem with whom he went up later, and if he had been an interested inquirer, he might have gone perhaps to one of their meetings, or might have called upon them for an interview, and they, Peter, James and John, and others, might have told him all that they knew about Jesus, and have given him a good deal of what they had heard him say through the three years, and also of the many and mighty miracles which He wrought; and then about His death; and then with tremendous earnestness, passion, zeal and fire and enthusiasm, of His resurrection. Thus they might have given Saul all those facts, and given them in such a way, with such fire and such earnestness as to be tremendously persuasive. The young man might have fallen to that because the thing seemed to be indisputable, so real, so wonderful to them. He might say, There is no doubt that these men have seen something, and they know something, and what they say is true! Then, as a result of it all, he might have said, Well, what can I do but accept what they say, believe that they are speaking the truth, and myself just become a follower of Jesus Christ and, accepting these facts and believing them, go out and declare them to other people? He might have become an apostle in that way. That is what he meant when he said, "of men", "through a man". It might have been like that. It could have been like that, and it has been like that in multitudes of cases; not just the acceptance of the argument, but the contagion of someone else's belief, becoming enthused by the others.

It is not a question of whether they were right, or whether what they said was the truth. That is not the point at all. Nor is it in question whether their experience was a true one. There is no doubt at all regarding the truth and reality of their experience. Yet other people may have an experience, and be in a perfectly true and right position, it may be the most living and real thing with them; and their zeal and their passion and their conviction, and all that they know, the truth which they possess, may be given to you, may be passed on to you, and you may accept it quite honestly and sincerely, and in a sense you may believe it, and in that way go on with the Lord Jesus and become a Christian and a servant of Christ: and it is just between that and something else which, after all, is altogether different, that this whole matter of sonship arises.

The Need for a Revelation of Christ in the Heart

Paul says, "It pleased God ... to reveal his Son in me". It pleased God likewise to reveal His Son in Peter, and in James and in John. Yes, but that is not good enough for me, and, while I may not question or doubt their experience or their knowledge, or the facts which they state, sonship in my case demands that God shall reveal His Son in me, and that I do not get it even from those who are reputed to be something, pillars in the Church, Peter, James or John. "It pleased God ... to reveal His Son in me." I received it not from men, be they the twelve Apostles; neither through a man, be he Peter, but through revelation of Jesus Christ.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 14)

Standing Strong and Tall through Prayer

 

Nehemiah 1

 

Nehemiah was a man who lived on his knees. Whenever he needed guidance, strength, provision, or protection, his first response was prayer. Because of Nehemiah’s humble dependence, God was able to use him greatly to achieve His purposes.

 

This principle is still true for believers today. God can use us in the most awesome fashion if we'll seek Him and make ourselves available. He has a calling for each of us and doesn't want us wasting the opportunities He provides.

 

To follow Nehemiah's example of dependent prayer, we must first recognize God as the sovereign Ruler of the universe (v. 5). Although He's our loving Father and loyal Friend, we must never forget that He is also our high and exalted Creator whose holiness is beyond our comprehension. Never think of the Lord as "the man upstairs" or come into His presence in a frivolous manner.

 

Because Nehemiah respected the awesome holiness of God, he approached Him with confession, admitting not only his sin, but his father's and Israel's as well (vv. 6-7). We cannot hide, deny, or cherish sin and expect the Lord to hear and answer our prayers. Purity of heart and the power of God are linked. We need the sensitivity to instantly recognize when we've strayed, and the willingness to deal with sin immediately.

 

The reason Nehemiah stood so tall and strong was not due to his natural abilities, but because he developed a relationship of dependency on the Lord through prayer. The same can be true for you. Don't rush into your day without taking time to enter God's throne room to seek His guidance.

~Charles Stanley~