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Christ - All, And In All

by T. Austin-Sparks

".....What is Christian service according to the mind of God? It is not necessarily our having a very full programme of Christian activities. It is not that we are always busy in what we call 'things of the Lord'. It is not the measure and amount of our activity and business, not the degree of our energy and enthusiasm in the things of the kingdom of God. It is not our schemes, our enterprises for the Lord. Beloved, the test of all service is its motive. Is the motive, from start to finish, that in all things He may have the pre-eminence, that Christ may be all, and in all?

You know the temptations and the fascination of Christian service; the fascination of being busy, of being occupied with many things; having your programme, schemes, enterprises; being in it, and always at it. There is a peril there which has caught multitudes of the Lord's servants. The peril is that it brings them into prominence, it makes the work theirs; it is their work, their interests, and the more they govern the thing and run it the more pleased they are.

No, there is a difference between going the round of the clock in Christian service as the mere enjoyment of activity, with the fascination of it and all the advantages and facilities it provides for ourselves, and its gratification to our flesh - there is a great difference between that and this, "Christ all, and in all". Sometimes this latter is achieved by our being put out of action; and then is the test, as to whether we are, or are not, quite satisfied to be altogether put out of work if only the Lord can be the more glorified thereby. If only He can come into His own, it does not matter a scrap whether we are seen or heard. We are getting somewhere, in the grace of God, when we are quite content to be put up in a corner, unseen and unnoticed, if thereby the Lord Jesus can come into His own more speedily and fully.

Somehow we have got caught up into this thing and think the Lord can only come into His own if we are the instrument. The rivalry on platform and in pulpit; sensitiveness because one is put before another, because the address of one is given more attention than that of another; the favourable remarks all made in one direction, etc! I know all about it. After all, what are we after? Are we seeking to impress our audience by our cleverness or to make known our Lord? A great difference! Sometimes the Lord gets more out of our bad times than we think, and it may be that when we have had good times He has not got the most. Therein is the necessity for our being set aside, kept weak and humble, that He might have the pre-eminence.

The challenge of service according to God's thought is just this - What are we doing it for? Do we want to be in the work, because we like to be busy? Or is it utterly and only that, by any means, He may come into His own, that God's end may be realized? If He can be all, and in all, by our death as well as by our life, have we come to the place where we truly desire "that... Christ may be magnified in my body, whether by life, or by death"? (Phil. 1:20). That is the explanation of service from God's standpoint.

Of course, this is the explanation of many other things. It is....."

A HUMAN VEHICLE OF THE DIVINE LIFE

By: Major W. Ian Thomas

"Faithful is he that calls you, who also will do it." (I Thessalonians 5:24).

The One who calls you to a life of righteousness is the One who by our consent lives that life of righteousness through you! The One who calls you to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, is the One who by your consent, goes into all the world and preaches the Gospel to every creature through you!

This is the divine genius that saves a man from the futility of self-effort. It relieves the Christian of the burden of tying to pull himself up by his own bootstraps! If it were not for this divine provision, the call to Christ would be a source of utter frustration, presenting the sorry spectacle of a sincere idealist, constantly thwarted by his own inadequacy.

If you will but trust Christ, not only for the death He died in order to redeem you, but also for the life that He lives and waits to live through you, the very next step you take will be a step taken in the very energy and power of God Himself. You will have begun to live a life which is essentially supernatural, yet still clothed with the common humanity of your physical body, and still worked out both in the big and the little things that inevitable make up the lot of a man who, though his heart may be with Christ in heaven, still has his two feet firmly planted on the earth.

You will have become totally dependent upon the life of Christ within you, and never before will you have been so independent, so emancipated from the pressure of your circumstances, so released at last from that self-distrust which has made you at one moment an arrogant, loud-mouth braggart, and the next moment the victim of your own self-pity ­ and, either way, always in bondage to the fear of other men's opinions.

You will be free from the tyranny of a defeated enemy within. You will be more than conqueror, for even death itself is conquered by His life. Christ through death destroyed "him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" (Hebrews 2:14). This indeed is victory!

You will be restored to your true humanity ­ to be the human vehicle of the divine life.

From: The Saving Life of Christ. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House. ©1961.

HE WHO ALONE IS YOUR LIFE

By: Bob George

Christ knows us, He understands us, He loves us, He accepts us, and He is the only true wisdom available to us. He is the solution to all our problems, and our peace in the storms of life. He, and He alone, has given us "everything we need for life and godliness" (2 Peter 1:3). He, and He alone, is the One who is "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14), and therefore the only one who can teach us "to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope ­ the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:12,13).

A misunderstanding of this truth forces the Christian to become what the Bible calls a "double-minded man, unstable in all he does" (James 1:8) He studies the Word to get to know God, but he studies the psychology books to get know himself.

Paul said, "For to me, to live is Christ . . ." (Philippians 1:21). In Galatians 2:20, he said, "I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." Since it is true that we no longer live, but Christ lives in us, let me ask you this question: If you want to get to know who you are, who are you going to have to get to know? Him! In other words, to discover your true identity, you will have to discover Him who alone is your life.

This eliminates the need for analysis, self-actualization, and going back into memories of past experiences to "understand yourself." When Paul said in Romans 7:15, "I do not know what I am doing," he didn't go on to say, "I therefore need to go for counseling." He merely recognized his condition of sin and death as revealed by God's law and claimed God's solution: "Thanks be to God ­ through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:25).

From: Growing in Grace