LESSON THREE – OUR END IS GOD’S BEGINNING

Phil. 2:12-13 — So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but now much rather in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who operates in you both the willing and working for His good pleasure.

Paul, from the ground of resurrection, can say: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure” [ASV] (Phil. 2:12, 13).

BEING FREE FROM DOING GOD’S WILL AS OF OURSELVES

Philippians 2:12-13 say that it is God which worketh in you [ASV]. Deliverance from law does not mean that we are free from doing the will of God. It certainly does not mean that we are going to be lawless. Very much the reverse! What it does mean however is that we are free from doing that will as of ourselves. Being fully persuaded that we cannot do it, we cease trying to please God from the ground of the old man. Having at last reached the point of utter despair in ourselves so that we cease even to try, we put our trust in the Lord to manifest His resurrection life in us.

Let me illustrate by what I have seen in my own country. In China, most bearers can carry a load of salt weighing 120 kilos, a few even as much as 250 kilos. Now along comes a man who can carry only 120 kilos, and here is a load of 250 kilos. He knows perfectly well he cannot carry it, and if he is wise he will say: “I won’t touch it!” But the temptation to try is ingrained in human nature, so although he cannot possibly carry it, nevertheless he has a go. As a youngster I used to amuse myself watching ten or twenty of these fellows come along and try, though every one of them knew he could not possibly manage it. In the end he must give up and make way for the man who could.

“I’LL NOT DO IT; I’LL TRUST THE LORD TO DO IT FOR ME”

The sooner we too give up trying the better, for if we monopolize the task, there is left no room for the Holy Spirit. But if we say: “I’ll not do it; I’ll trust Thee to do it for me,” then we shall find that a Power stronger than ourselves is carrying us through.

In 1923 I met a famous Canadian evangelist. I had said in an address something along the above lines, and as we walked back to his home afterwards he remarked: “The note of Romans 7 is seldom sounded nowadays; it is good to hear it again. The day I was delivered from the Law was a day of heaven on earth. After being a Christian for years I was still trying my best to please God, but the more I tried the more I failed. I regarded God as the greatest Demander in the universe, but I found myself impotent to fulfill the least of His demands. Suddenly one day, as I read Romans 7, light dawned and I saw that I had not only been delivered from sin but from the Law as well. In my amazement I jumped up and said: ‘Lord, are You really making no demands on me? Then I need do nothing more for You!’”

GOD IS THE LAWGIVER ON THE THRONE AND ALSO THE LAWKEEPER IN MY HEART

God’s requirements have not altered, but we are not the ones to meet them. Praise God, He is the Lawgiver on the Throne, and He is the Law keeper in my heart. He who gave the Law, Himself keeps it. He makes the demands, but He also meets them. My friend could well jump up and shout when he found he had nothing to do, and all who make a like discovery can do the same. As long as we are trying to do anything, He can do nothing. It is because of our trying that we fail and fail and fail. God wants to demonstrate to us that we can do nothing at all, and until that is fully recognized our despair and disillusion will never cease.

“LORD, I AM UNABLE TO DO ANYTHING FOR THEE, BUT I TRUST THEE TO DO EVERYTHING IN ME”

A brother who was trying to struggle into victory remarked to me one day, “I do not know why I am so weak.” “The trouble with you,” I said, “is that you are weak enough not to do the will of God, but you are not weak enough to keep out of things altogether. You are still not weak enough. When you are reduced to utter weakness and are persuaded that you can do nothing whatever, then God will do everything.” We all need to come to the point where we say: “Lord, I am unable to do anything for Thee, but I trust Thee to do everything in me.”

I was once staying in a place in China with some twenty other brothers. There was inadequate provision for bathing in the home where we stayed, so we went for a daily plunge in the river. On one occasion a brother got cramp in his leg, and I suddenly saw he was sinking fast, so I motioned to another brother, who was an expert swimmer, to hasten to his rescue. But to my astonishment he made no move. Growing desperate I cried out: “Don’t you see the man is drowning?” and the other brothers, about as agitated as I was, shouted vigorously too. But our good swimmer still did not move. Calm and collected, he remained just where he was, apparently postponing the unwelcome task. Meantime the voice of the poor drowning brother grew fainter and his efforts feebler. In my heart I said: “I hate that man! Think of his letting a brother drown before his very eyes and not going to the rescue!”

But when the man was actually sinking, with a few swift strokes the swimmer was at his side, and both were soon safely ashore. Nevertheless, when I  got an opportunity, I aired my views. “I have never seen any Christian who loved his life quite as much as you do,” I said. “Think of the distress you would have saved that brother if you had considered yourself a little less and him and little more.” But the swimmer, I soon discovered, knew his business better than I did. “Had I gone earlier,” he said, “he would have clutched me so fast that both of us would have gone under. A drowning man cannot be saved until he is utterly exhausted and ceases to make the slightest effort to save himself.”

WHEN WE GIVE UP THE CASE, THEN GOD WILL TAKE IT UP

Do you see the point? When we give up the case, then God will take it up. He is waiting until we are at an end of our resources and can do nothing more for ourselves. God has condemned all that is of the old creation and consigned it to the  Cross.  The flesh profiteth nothing! God has declared it to be fit only for death. If we truly believe that, then we shall confirm God’s verdict by abandoning all fleshly efforts to please Him. (CWWN, vol. 33, “The Normal Christian Life,” ch. 9)

Reference: CWWN, vol. 33, “The Normal Christian Life,” ch. 9

MAKE ME A CAPTIVE, LORD

Longings—For Freedom – 422

• Make me a captive, Lord,
  And then I shall be free;
  Force me to render up my sword,
  And I shall conq’ror be.
  I sink in life’s alarms
  When by myself I stand,
  Imprison me within Thine arms,
  And strong shall be my hand.

• My heart is weak and poor
  Until it master find:
  It has no spring of action sure,
  It varies with the wind;
  It cannot freely move
  Till Thou hast wrought its chain;
  Enslave it with Thy matchless love,
  And deathless it shall reign.

• My power is faint and low
  Till I have learned to serve:
  It wants the needed fire to glow,
  It wants the breeze to nerve;
  It cannot drive the world
  Until itself be driven;
  Its flag can only be unfurled
  When Thou shalt breathe from heaven.

• My will is not my own
  Till Thou hast made it Thine;
  If it would reach the monarch’s throne
  It must its crown resign;
  It only stands unbent
  Amid the clashing strife,
  When on Thy bosom it has leant,
  And found in Thee its life.