Where Christendom Has Gone Astray

Where Christendom Has Gone Astray 
by T. Austin-Sparks

"Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father... But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such doth the Father seek to be his worshippers. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:20,21,23,24).


Where does everything begin in relation to God, and therefore, in relation to the enemy in his counterfeit? It begins in the realm of worship. The beginning of everything is worship, in relation to God. That is, God having the central and supreme place of recognition, acknowledgment, of government. In our complete obedience, surrender, in every part and phase of our being, God having supreme right. Worship begins there. It is a relationship, not only an exercise. It is not something that we do in specified ways and methods. It is some attitude of the life, some place which God has in the entire consciousness. That is worship.

Now if Satan is to counterfeit and take God’s place, worship is his objective. With the first Adam that was his objective; to draw man away from giving God the supreme place, that he might take God’s place. He supplanted God in the reverence and the acknowledgment and the obedience of man and captured worship and became “the god of this age”. When the last Adam, the Second Man, came and entered officially, publicly upon the great work that He had come to do, the one thing that the adversary sought to capture was His worship. “All these will I give thee if thou wilt worship me.” He has betrayed himself; he has shown his hand. If he could do the same with the last Adam as he did with the first, he has defeated the object of a new race.

Now it is just here that we have got to have light. We have read John 4 from the twentieth verse. The woman is saying “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem men ought to worship.” Jesus said unto her, “Woman, the hour cometh, when neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, will men worship the Father. Believe Me, the hour cometh and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.” In spirit — a small “s”, not a capital “S”. Oh, what is this? This represents a new regime, a new order. This is the crisis of the Cross in the realm of worship, the basic thing. But what has happened? Jerusalem was definitely, divinely ordained as the seat of honour and worship. The Samaritans imitated with temple and mountain the system which was at Jerusalem and worshipped the same God. But God had brought into the world that system of worship at Jerusalem; He had projected that. It was a temple, a building, a piece of elaborate ecclesiastical architecture with priests, with robes and vestments, burning incense, offering sacrifices, making prayers, reading Scriptures, and many other things. Yes, God had brought that in, and now the Lord Jesus was setting the whole thing aside, and in so doing, implying as clearly as anything could be implied, that this is not true worship. It is a comparison which is almost invidious. “Neither in this mountain, nor at Jerusalem, will men worship the Father. But true worshippers shall worship in spirit and in truth.” “God is a spirit.”

Where Christendom is Astray

What has happened, then, if this is not the truth, what is the truth? That is where Christendom has gone astray. That is the divide between soul and spirit. Not something which was but a type, an illustration, a set of symbols. God never intended that to be the final thing, never intended man to make that a thing in itself, never intended that that thing should go on indefinitely. It was brought in to illustrate and represent something else and its time for duration was until the Lord Jesus came. It all pointed towards Him, led up to Him, spoke of Him and His Cross in which that which was merely of the soul would pass, and that which was of the spirit would come in. What is the spiritual life in the matter of worship? Oh, it is not ecclesiastical architecture, it is not vestments, it is not ordinances, it is not rites. They pass out with Calvary. The perpetuating of anything like that is a contradiction of Calvary. See where we are today. The maintenance of that sort of thing, beloved, is because of a failure to perceive what the Lord Jesus has brought in.

What, then, is spiritual worship? It is getting back behind all that and seeing the spiritual meaning. Those sacrifices which were brought and sacrificed were looked into and most carefully turned over, if peradventure there might be a flaw, a blemish, a taint, an inconsistency, a double element, two colours, two kinds. If any such mark could be found the whole thing was rejected. When, however, after careful inquiry and investigation not a flaw or a blemish could be found, and God’s representative with the keen eyes of an expert could pronounce over them the familiar “Tetelestai” — “It is perfect”, then they were offered to God. And the truth embodied in the type was this, that the only fellowship with God is on the basis of the spiritual perfections of the Lord Jesus.

Worship is no longer bringing of animal sacrifices but bringing up from the heart an appreciation of the perfection of Christ. That is worship. The vestments of old were only types and figures and illustrations. The priestly apparel was speaking all the time in type of a righteousness and beauty and glory which is the nature of the God-Man, the Lord Jesus. It is given, imputed and imparted to the one who by faith apprehends Christ. We who are in Christ, in the sight of God, are wearing garments of beauty and glory and holiness. Why, then, perpetuate a system? The Lord Jesus put all that away in His Cross, it is all gone. That is what He means by worshipping in spirit and in truth.

The temple and the tabernacle were only types, speaking of that spiritual fellowship of the saints as joined to an exalted Head, one Body, the Temple of God. The boards of the tabernacle tied together by the bands only speak of saints with the imputed righteousness and holiness and glory of God laid upon them, bound together in one spirit, one Body, with the “joints and the bands”. The fitting together of the stones of the temple wrought in the quarry and brought together without the sound of hammer or axe, silently fitted in, only speaks in foreshadowing of the living stones built together for a spiritual habitation. God now indwells not temples made with hands, but a spiritual body, the members of Christ joined to Him.

Why, then, perpetuate a thing which God has dismissed in the Cross, and keep to the lower, fail to reach the higher, the fact that “we who are many are one body”? Do you see where things are astray today? I know how sweeping this is, but all this has to do with worship.

THE UNCHANGING GOD

THE UNCHANGING GOD
John H. Paterson

For I am the Lord, I change not;
therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
Malachi 3:6

THE other day, I was driven to the dictionary, as most of us are at times, to check the spelling of a word. It was 'changeable' -- that 'e' in the middle was the difficulty! After I had looked it up I was led, by a train of thought that any Bible reader can share, to recall various Scripture references to people and things that are changeable, and others that are not. One such reference is the verse in Malachi which stands at the head of this article.

It is one of the Bible's surprise verses; that is, it is one of those verses that take us by surprise because they say the opposite of what we probably expect. There are plenty of others; indeed the Lord Jesus, when He was here preaching and teaching, constantly surprised His audiences with these opposites "Ye have heard it said ... but I say ..." [86/87]

So, if you have read Malachi's prophecies up to this point, with their almost continuous denunciation of God's remnant people for their short-comings, you would not expect what you read here. You would, I am sure, expect Malachi 3:6 to read something like this: "I am the Lord, I change not; therefore as long as you go on behaving like this I shall go on punishing you, as I have done in the past." But that is not what it says!

Now I must be frank with you, and recognise that scholars are not absolutely sure what it does say. The all-important word "therefore" is not actually in the original Hebrew. But the Authorised, Revised and Revised Standard Versions all translate it this way, not to mention several modern versions. And if they are right to do so, what a tremendous "therefore" this is! It is because the Lord does not change that His people are secure. The converse of that is, obviously, that if God ever did change, the people would be consumed.

All believers are familiar with Bible assurances that the Lord does not change. How often we have comforted ourselves with those reminders: "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). But this verse in Malachi stands a little apart from those other references. Their message is consoling: "How wonderful that God doesn't change; He's always there to help me when I need Him!" The message from Malachi, on the other hand, is challenging: "What a good thing that God doesn't change, for our security, our very survival, depends on His not doing so!"

Malachi's Complaint

Let us now relate this verse a little more closely to its context in Malachi's prophecy. Throughout an incredibly up-and-down history as a nation of God's people, Israel had been preserved by one thing alone: God's unchanging character and His refusal (I almost wrote "His inability", but that might sound strange) to act in any way out of keeping with it.

Not that Israel understood this: on the whole they preferred to think of themselves as being owed favours by God, and they paid little attention -- and that hostile -- to the prophets whom He regularly sent to remind them of the true situation. They regarded themselves as privileged people -- which indeed they were, though not in the sense they imagined. They traded largely on the way in which, time and again, He had apparently let them off, and still held out to them the same promises which He had made to Abraham and the Fathers long ago. Little did they realise how fragile was their ground of confidence, how delicately-balanced their status, for the slightest tremour of change in Him and they would all have been consumed.

Isaiah's Psalm

ON THE WAY UP (16)

Isaiah's Psalm
(Chapter 12)

SOME of the prophets wrote songs which have no place in our Book of Psalms. This is a notable one. It is to be sung "In that day", a phrase often used by the prophet in his predictions. It frequently refers to some event in this history of God's earthly people, but since here it follows the announcing of the Child born and the Son given (Isaiah 9:6) and the Spirit-endowed Branch (11:1-2), we can confidently apply it to our times, the day of grace, and sing in celebration.

1. A Day of Comforting Forgiveness. The nearer we get to the Lord, the more we can feel of His anger against sin. Indeed, quite apart from God's feelings, we are angry with ourselves. Thank God, though, the anger has passed for ever, and His gracious comfort is sweet to our souls.

2. A Day of Saving Protection. To be fearful of the unknown future is natural enough and is a healthy matter of concern to those who know nothing of God's salvation. For us, however, who have found shelter under that very wonderful name of the LORD JEHOVAH, the Saviour Jesus, there need be no more fear. I will trust, and I will sing as I trust, but fear has no place in the lifestyle of a believer.

3. A Day of Joyful Renewal. God's grace is likened to a well, or more accurately to "wells of salvation". Even if we fail to let down our bucket, the water is there waiting for us. However empty the bucket may be when I let it down, it always comes up full, and even running over. I understand that Jacob's well is the one absolutely certain landmark in Israel. The Samaritan woman said, "The well is deep" (John 4:11). It needed to be to have lasted all these centuries. Christ's well is eternal and it is bottomless. It provides a joy that no man can take from us (John 16:22). But we must keep on drawing up its waters.

4. A Day of Triumphant Witness. "Let this be known in all the earth". Joy shared is joy multiplied, and to us is given the privilege of letting others know of these wells of salvation, and to sing as we do so. We are not here to proclaim how needy people are. By the aid of the convicting Spirit they can discover that for themselves. Our great privilege is both to call upon the Lord's name and to make known His doings among the peoples. His name is indeed exalted, but it is our glad task to mention that fact to all who will listen.

5. A Day of Glorious Indwelling. References to "The Holy One of Israel" abound in Isaiah's writings, but this song of his ends with appreciation of the wonderful fact that this Great One actually lives within us. "In that day", Jesus Himself affirmed, "In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you" (John 14:20). It is something to cry aloud and shout about! It is also something to be lived out in daily life. Isaiah has already said that the LORD JEHOVAH is not only his strength but also his song (verse 2). Even the least musical of us can have a part in the heavenly symphony, since the Lord Jesus lives in our hearts.

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BAFFLED BELIEVERS

BAFFLED BELIEVERS

John H. Paterson

WHEN it comes to dealing with spiritual things, there is a great difference believing and understanding. I mean this not only in the sense that, when things become difficult for the Christian, he or she will say, "I don't understand, but I believe the Lord means it for good, and I trust Him." Many of us know that experience. Rather I mean that it is quite possible to believe in the Lord Jesus, and yet totally mis-understand His ways.

In recently re-reading the Gospels I have been struck by the truth of that statement where Jesus' disciples were concerned. They provide the best example of how one could have a growing faith, culminating in the acknowledgement that Jesus was indeed the Son of God and the Messiah, and even have a daily contact with Him, but without any real grasp of the meaning of the events and the words which they witnessed.

This was apparent, in the first place, in the questions which they asked Jesus, sometimes cutting right across His train of thought and teaching to do so. For example, in those last, precious few moments which the Lord had with them, and which John recorded in chapters 13-17 of his account, their persistent questioning betrayed an ignorance of what it all meant that must have been intensely saddening to the Lord. A lesser man would have shouted at them, or thrown up his hands in disgust, and asked "Haven't you understood anything that I've taught you?" The Lord Jesus, sad though He may have been, went patiently on, answering their silly questions and then returning to what He wanted to say.

These questions, while they give us some measure of the disciples' ignorance, were at least a frank admission of what they did not understand. What I find particularly interesting, however, is the frequency with which they thought they did understand -- but were wrong! Time and again they acted, or made suggestions for action, evidently confident that they would meet with Jesus' approval, only to be rebuked, or disregarded, or put right.

They must sometimes have felt utterly baffled like children who think their parents will be pleased when they pick all the flowers in father's garden, and are astonished that their offering is not appreciated! What the disciples were reduced to was trying to guess: would He be pleased with them or not? [73/74]

Mistaken Ideas

Let me refer to a few examples of this guessing game that went wrong. There was the time (Luke 9:52-56) when Jesus and His disciples were not welcomed in a Samaritan village, and James and John wanted to call down fire to avenge the insult to their Master. "But he turned and rebuked them, and said, ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of." In the next chapter (Luke 10:17-20), we have the story of how the seventy whom He had sent out to preach "returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name." Surely, they could be happy about that? No! "In this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

Then there was the occasion (Matthew 19:13-15; cf. Mark 10:13-14) when little children were brought to Him, and the disciples were doing a splendid job of shielding the Lord from unnecessary pressure. They were doing what good secretaries nowadays are supposed to do -- making sure that the manager's time is not wasted by visitors who are not bona fide customers! But they were wrong again: He wanted the children to come.

Then there was the sternest of all His rebukes recorded in three Gospels, when Peter took it upon himself to tell Jesus His own business: "Peter took him, and began to rebuke him saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee" (Matthew 16:22, etc.) Peter obviously felt that, if Jesus did not know what was good for Him then he, Peter, would see to it that He learned!

The Seen and the Unseen

The Seen and the Unseen 

by T. Austin-Sparks

(The 1928 Motto)

Faith is the victory that overcometh and "faith is the conviction of the reality of things not seen."

If this is true then the secret of victory is the capacity for and the deliberate persistence in looking - not at things seen but at the "things not seen." So it has always proved to be in the history and experience of God's people. Paralysis, defeat, disaster have always been consequent upon judgment after the sight of the eyes (the eyes of the natural senses). Victory has always issued sooner or later from someone's assurance of and discernment of the Divine resources and realities behind all else.

How often this twofold issue upon this one principle is seen in the scriptural record of the experience of men. How often deliverance was because someone was given spiritual and moral ascendency because in their close walk with God their inner eyes refused the tyrany of their outer and were given to a spontaneous "LOOKING OFF"! How often the effect of the Divine admonition by which triumphant emergence came was negatively "NOT AT THINGS SEEN," and positively "BUT AT THE THINGS NOT SEEN." And when "things" were hidden for faith's purifying, the sum total of all the things was "HIM Who is invisible."

What, could ye not watch with me one hour?--Mat 26:40

 
George H. Morrison - Devotional Sermons

      The Cry for Companionship     
      What, could ye not watch with me one hour?--Mat 26:40
     
      The Closest Disciples Sleep Most Often     
      The scene was the Garden of Gethsemane, and all three disciples were asleep. It is not the first time in the Gospel story that we have found these three disciples sleeping. When the Lord was transfigured on the mountain these same disciples were asleep, and neither there nor here was it a light and evanescent drowsiness. We are told that in the former narrative, and here, the moment Jesus ceased to speak they relapsed into their heavy slumber. One would have thought that the word of Jesus to them would have stabbed them wide awake. It evidently did nothing of the kind. The last syllable was scarcely uttered, when they were sunk again in profound sleep.
     
      As a Man, Jesus Craved Companionship     
      One recognises in these words of Jesus His passionate yearning for companionship. In His hour of travail and of agony He craved the companionship of men. One might have conjectured that in such an hour the Master would have longed to be alone. Had He left His disciples in Jerusalem one could have understood that perfectly. And the very fact that He took these three disciples, and set them where they were not far away, shows how He craved for human sympathy and needed the companionship of men. Our blessed Saviour was no stoic. He leaned hard on loving hearts. He yearned for the fellowship of men as intensely as they yearned for His. And if today He is "the very same Jesus," unchanged by death and resurrection, then He still craves, with an unaltered longing, for loving human companionship.
     
      He Craved for Their Companionship although He Knew It Would Be Inadequate     
      It should be noted that He craved this fellowship when it was utterly inadequate. How little could these disciples fathom all that was transacting in the darkness! There He was bearing sin upon His spirit, as on Calvary He bore it in His body. There He was giving Himself utterly to God's will in the redemption of mankind. Even had the disciples been awake, how little could they have understood--yet He craved an imperfect sympathy like that. What an exquisitely human touch that is! An old and faithful family retainer may know nothing of what her master has to bear. To her his troubles may be as great a mystery as the troubles of Jesus to His three disciples. Yet the loving sympathy of that old servant, even though she does not understand, is strangely helpful to her master's heart. Perhaps at the best all we can give to Christ is a sympathy like that of the old servant. There are depths in His being, His death, His endless life, that no human heart can ever fathom. And yet He wants our loving close companionship, just as, in the Garden of Gethsemane, He wanted that of these three sleeping men.
     
      He Asked Them to Watch But One Hour     
      Another thought that meets us is how often it is in lesser things we fail. In order to fully appreciate that I ask you to put the accent on one hour. Had He asked them to watch through the livelong night with Him, that might have been a high and arduous service. But to ask their vigilance for sixty minutes surely was a very small demand, yet it was there that the disciples failed. In the last great service Peter did not fail Him, for Peter was crucified for Christ. James, too, laid down his life for Him, and John went to exile in the Isle of Patmos. Where they all failed was in the lesser thing, in the duty that was comparatively small--what, could ye not watch with Me one hour?
     
      And perhaps it is there most often that we fail in our loving companionship with Christ. Perhaps it is there that love most often fails. In our fellowship with the Lord Jesus we may be ready and eager for the greatest sacrifice, and yet we cannot watch with Him one hour. In those infinitesimal self-denials which are possible with every passing day, in patience and appreciative sympathy within the shelter and secrecy of home, in the rendering of those little kindnesses which are more to many hearts than gold or silver, how often we fail as those disciples did. Great services reveal our possibilities; little services reveal our consecration. Jesus places the emphasis of heaven on him who is faithful in the least. Had these disciples watched for that one hour they would have rendered a service far beyond their dreams. That is true of everyone of us.

Itching Ears

By A.W. Tozer


In the church many are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. If you do not like what I am saying, I want to ask you something. Think about the company you run with. What do they talk about most? God and the love of God, or other things? You decide that. Many Christians today will not endure sound doctrine. Paul described these people as having "itching ears" (2 Timothy 4:3). They did not like sound doctrine, but they were Christians. They called themselves Christians, but their ears were itchy. 

A commentator I read some years back explained this. In Paul's day the pigs had a disease called "itching ears." The symptom was that their ears got inflamed and itched terribly. The only way they could get relief from these inflamed ears was to go to a pile of rocks and rub their ears earnestly and vigorously. The stones scratched their ears for the time being. Paul saw that, smiled a sad smile and said, "I am running into Christians here and there who are just like that. They love pleasure more than God and will not endure sound doctrine. They have itching ears so they will be eager for something else beside the sound docrine and holy ways. They will pile up teachers everywhere and rub their ears for dear life." That is a most dramatic and colorful illustration. 

A lot of so-called Christians have to have piles of rocks to rub their ears. They will not endure sound doctrine. I think that is a description of the churches, Protestant and evangelical. In the light of New Testament predictions, teachings and standards, is what I just said about the prevailing religious mood untrue? Is what I have said about the prevailing religious mood uncharitable? Is it extreme? I do not think it is, but I only ask you to do one thing: Look around you and look in your own heart. See which of these pictures describes the churches you know.