Consecration

The following are Andrew Murray’s comments on these words of David from 1 Chron 29.14, ‘But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, and of Your own we have given You.’ [I have edited the message somewhat to make for easier reading.]

1. God is the Owner of all, and gives all to us. It is the glory of God to be always GIVING. There is nothing good outside of God. God does not live for Himself, but for His creatures. God is the great Owner and Giver of all. It is God’s delight to be always giving. Remember this: When God asks you anything, He must give it first Himself, and He will. Never be afraid of what God asks from you; for God only asks what is His own.
2. It is the glory of man to be always RECEIVING. We have been made to be each of us a vessel into which God can pour out His life, His goodness. His love. We are created to be a receptacle and a reservoir of divine life and blessing. Oh, the utter folly of being proud or conceited, and presuming we are self-sufficient. Everything we have is borrowed from God. Nothing is our own. Come as a receptacle – cleansed, emptied and humble – and God will delight to give. You know how water always flows into the lowest places. If we would but be emptied and low, what a blessed life we could live! God gives and we rejoice to receive! May we learn every moment to drink in the light and sunshine of God’s love.
3. If God gives all and I receive all, then the third thought is – I must give all back again to God. Oh, the happiness of pleasing God and serving Him! David felt it an unspeakable privilege to be allowed to give back to God what was His. [Read 1 Chron 29.10-20.] We say, ‘God gives us good gifts to enjoy [as if these were for our selfish pleasure and for us to retain].’ But the enjoyment is in giving back to God. Look at Jesus – God gave Him a wonderful body. He kept it holy and gave it as a sacrifice to God. We need to give our soul up to God. We need to give our will up to God. We need to give our mind up to God. We need to give our heart and its affections to God. We need to give all that we have to God. That is true consecration. We should say, ‘God can do with me what He pleases. I belong to Him with all I have.’ The highest life is the life of consecration – giving all to God.
4. The fourth and last thought is: God rejoices in what we give to Him. Have you not seen a mother give a piece of cake and the child comes and offers her a piece to share it with her? How she values the little gift! God longs to have you give Him everything. It is not the demand of a hard Master, but the call of a loving Father, who knows that every gift you bring to God will bind you closer to Himself, and every surrender you make will open your heart wider to get more of His spiritual gifts. God sees the ‘travail of His soul’ and is satisfied.

We need to abide in continual dependence on God. We need to understand that we are nothing but earthen vessels into which God will pour down the the treasures of His love. Blessed is the man who knows what it is to be nothing, to be just an empty vessel fit for the Lord’s use. We need to come to the place of deep, deep dependence on God, and take the place of child-like trust and expectancy, counting upon God to do for us everything that we can desire of Him.

Honor God as a God who gives liberally, and believe that He asks nothing from you but what He is going first to give. And then praise and surrender and consecration will follow. What are we going to consecrate to Him? First of all our lives: ‘Lord, I belong to You. I am absolutely at Your disposal.’ Be consecrated to the work of His kingdom. Let us give Him all the powers of our head and heart, our body and soul and spirit.

Some talk about the filling of the Holy Spirit. But you cannot expect to be filled with the Spirit unless you want to live for Christ and His kingdom. You cannot expect heavenly love and peace and joy to come into your life, unless you give them up absolutely to the kingdom of God and possess and use them only for Him. It is the soul utterly given up to God that will receive in its emptying the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Dear friends, we must consecrate not only ourselves, but all that we have.

Oh friends, our giving must be in proportion to God’s giving. Let us often say, ‘All that I have is His.’ You may not know how much you ought to give; but give up all, put everything in His hands, and He will teach you if you will wait. Whatever we receive from God, give it back and it will bring double blessing to your soul. Whatever we give to Him with a willing heart and a spirit of surrender will give Him infinite delight, and will bind you closer to Himself.

Church at Mirik

Church at Mirik

Originally uploaded by Prato9x.

I preached in this little church in Mirik, Darjeeling district, in the Summer of 2004. I was on duty, but God gave me time to speak the word to His children in this little place. Oh, the hunger they had for God’s word! God’s work is spontaneous; it can never be established by man; it requires the Holy Spirit. You can see from their smiling faces how much they love the Lord!
When will I return to Mirik? May God give me the burden in my heart to visit all those hill churches!

Umbrellas, Dilli Haat, New Delhi

Umbrellas, Dilli Haat, New Delhi

Originally uploaded by Prato9x.

At an exhibition in Dilli Haat, these traditional-design umbrellas look enchanting. The seller was busy trying to adjust them. Since the light was going down, I had to take a quick shot. That explains the hand in the right corner.

The Loftiness of Man

If you read the Book of Isaiah as a whole, and not in parts as we are wont to do, you will perhaps find the key that unlocks the Scriptures. In the Book of Revelation chapter 5 we are told of a scroll which nobody in heaven or on earth was able to open. John wept because nobody was found worthy to open the scroll. Different interpretations are given to the scroll, but I believe it speaks of the Holy Scriptures. Till today there are few who are able to unlock the mystery of the Scriptures. Our understanding of the Bible is very superficial. Our understanding of the gospel too is very superficial.

The Lamb was found worthy to open the scroll because He was slain; because He shed His blood on the cross for the remission of our sins. The Lamb was found worthy to open the scroll because of His great sacrificial work on Calvary.

Here was a Man who humbled Himself to the point of death on the cross. He emptied Himself. He did not seek His own glory; He did not live to please Himself; He lived entirely to do the will of God. Keeping this in mind, we can understand why Israel received double for all her sins [Isa 40.2]. The Lord hates pride; He will bring low the loftiness of man. He hates self-righteousness, the ‘holier-than-thou’ mentality. He hates hypocrisy and lies and deceit. It is the old evil of Babel. There is no fear of God. Man thinks he can reach heaven by himself. But there is a day when the towers will fall with a crash; and the loftiness of man will be humbled in the dust.

I must come to the realization that there is nothing, nothing, good in me. Even my so-called goodness and virtue is of no account. Every good work of mine was foreordained by God. There is nothing in which I can boast. Therefore pride in one’s intellect, one’s possessions, one’s skills, one’s beauty, one’s power and influence, one’s popularity, one’s virtue – anything which the world values – is reprehensible to God. Man must be abased in the dust; the cross has to bring us so low that we dare not boast in ourselves. On the other hand, we have to rejoice in our humiliation, glory in our infirmities and – most painful of all — praise God for shame and reproach. Man by himself is no better than a beast; which is proved by his belief in evolution and by the evidence of history. The wisest man in the world is but a fool in God’s eyes, if he has not received Christ into his heart. In fact, what is esteemed by God is not man, but Christ in him. Christ must increase and keep on increasing, and I must decrease and keep on decreasing. May we be kept hidden by God and kept hid in God. May Christ alone be seen in us.

Salvation in the Book of Isaiah

I believe this is a book for our times. Isaiah is like a miniature Bible, having 66 chapters. The first 39 chapters deal with judgment [just like the 39 books in the Old Testament]. The 27 chapters in the second section deal with grace [just like the 27 books in the New Testament]. God is a God who judges; He judges His people, because He seeks not an outward or ceremonial righteousness but an inward righteousness. Holiness is the very character of God [Isaiah 6], and we must be holy, as He is holy [1 Peter 1.16]. God refines us in order to remove the dross and make us pure. There must be no spot or blemish in us [Eph 5.27].

The name Isaiah means ‘Jehovah is Salvation’. Salvation is the great theme of this book. But this is salvation of a deeper kind. When Isaiah talks about salvation he talks about it differently from what our gospel preachers speak of today. See chapter 12. He says, ‘Lord, you were angry with me…but now You comfort me…You have become my salvation.’ 12.1,2. This is a salvation which God’s people experience after God removes their reproach [25.8]. And after all the suffering and shame [which is the subjective experience of the cross], we will say, ‘Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation‘ [25.9]. God’s people have gone through severe chastening and judgment. But the result is: ‘The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day the LORD binds up the fracture of His people and heals the bruise He has inflicted.’ There is a fracture, a wound, and then healing. ‘Israel has been saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation; You will not be put to shame or humiliated to all eternity.’ [45;17] ‘Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction’ [48.10]

We have drunk the cup of reeling, the chalice of God’s anger [51.22]. ‘In My wrath I struck you.’ [60.10] ‘But the days of your mourning will be finished.’ [60.20]. The LORD has come to ‘comfort all those who mourn in Zion’ [61.2,3]. Instead of shame, we will enjoy a double portion of God’s blessing [61.7]. When we are humbled and come to the stage of a ‘broken and contrite heart’ [66.2] and the fear of God is implanted in us [8.13, 66.2], we shall enjoy the comfort of God in the heavenly Jerusalem. And God will wipe away all the tears from our eyes [25.8]

Being born again is merely the beginning of a great journey, which ends in the great and wonderful salvation that Isaiah speaks of.

Isaiah Chapters 40 to 66

The second section of Isaiah, from chapters 40 to 66, has to be read carefully for a clearer, fuller and deeper understanding of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The message here is not about initial salvation, i.e. being redeemed from Egypt. But it is about redemption from Babylon, after the Lord has dealt with His people in judgment and chastening. After He has refined them in the furnace of affliction, Isa 48.10.

From an overview of the 27 chapters we gather an important message for our times. We are living in an age of shallow evangelism, of the preaching of a gospel rooted in emotionalism and sentimentality; a superficial gospel which seems to convey the impression that once you are ‘saved’ that’s all there is to it, and you have reserved for yourself a corner in heaven. And you can go ahead with all the preoccupations and pleasures of earthly existence.

The Lord in this latter section of Isaiah is talking about judgment; how Jerusalem has received double for all her sins, Isa 40.2. There are warnings against idolatry, uncleanness, hypocrisy, lies, deceit, mischief, rebellion and violence. The intention of the Lord in His severe dealings with His chosen people is that they should become humble and contrite, Isa 57.15, 66.2. The Lord hates the proud and self-righteous; He abhors the worldly and the carnal. This is a serious warning to Christians, not only those from established denominations, but even those from evangelical Christianity. The latter present the gospel as a formula; they do not know God in an inward way; they have not experienced judgment, chastening and brokenness. They ‘talk’ the gospel, but do not ‘walk’ with Christ.

The Lord condemns the deafness and blindness of Israel. This we see even in the last chapter of Acts, in verses 26 and 27. It is typical of human nature to walk in the flesh, to set our minds on earthly things, to be easily deceived. There is no conviction, no repentance, no turning from our carnal and wicked ways. Our faith is a kind of mental assent, entirely lacking in practical testimony. You are My witnesses! declares the Lord [Isa 43.10] How can we be true to Him who died, was buried and rose again the third day? Only by being true to the testimony of baptism, being identified with His death, burial and resurrection. Only then can we be ‘witnesses of His resurrection’ [Acts 4.33] It is the inward work of the cross that makes us humble, holy and transparent.

Further Reflections on Comfort

The Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, 2 Cor 1.3. This is the beautiful title that Paul gives God. He is talking through experience. He has experienced the great mercies and abundant comfort of God in all his trials and distresses.

The second section of the book of Isaiah from chapter 40 to the end has wonderful promises, which comfort us again and again in our trials. We have the ‘Fear not’ promises, the ‘Comfort’ promises and the ‘Rejoice’ or ‘Shout for Joy’ promises in this section.

I believe that God wants us to know the weight and the value of the blessings we receive from Him. It is not theoretical or head-knowledge, but practical knowledge gained by experience, that the Lord is seeking. Only the one who has gone through darkness will know the value of light. He who has suffered sickness will know the value of health. He who has undergone bondage knows the value of liberty. He who has gone through afflictions knows what real comfort is. He who has experienced sorrow will know the abundance of joy. He who has gone through suffering will know the weight of glory. So we go through the experience of being forgotten and forsaken [Isa 54.7,8], to taste the Lord’s compassion. Read Lamentations 3:19-23, which contain the famous words: ‘His compassions never fail’ . ‘If the Lord causes grief, then He will have compassion according to His abundant lovingkindness.’ Lam 3.32. We come to know the ‘Father of mercies and the God of all comfort’ in a real, intimate and tangible way in all our trials and distresses.

In the light of the above reflections, we can understand the story of the Good Samaritan in a deeper way. The Samaritan had compassion and he reached for the stores of oil and wine that he carried with him; he was thus enabled to minister comfort, healing and blessing to the wounded Jew. [Luke 10.33,34]. By undergoing various afflictions, we are enabled to minister comfort to others. Job’s friends were ‘miserable comforters’, because they had no experience of suffering. Job, on the other hand, after passing through his great trial, was able to minister grace to his friends; his prayers were effectual and ‘availed much’.

The Lord wounds and then heals; He chastens and shows mercy; He breaks and then blesses; He takes us through death to bring us on resurrection ground. He refines us in the furnace of affliction. He shares in our sufferings [Isa 63.9], and we share in His sufferings [Col 1.24].  We drink the cup that He drank. At least, to some, fractional extent. Only then are we able to comprehend the meaning and magnitude of sufferings of the Cross. Only then do we experience and know Christ. This inward knowledge sustains us; He is a suffering and a travailing God, who from utter and incomprehensible barrenness brings forth abundant and astonishing fruitfulness. [Isa 49.19-21; Isa 66.8-11]

Meditation on Psalm 16

Meditation on Psalm 16

The psalm begins with a prayer, which is a cry of faith. David’s mikhtam is an expression of strong faith, of the faith which we term ‘assurance’.

There are seven assertions of faith regarding the LORD. The LORD Jehovah of the Old Testament is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. First, the psalmist declares that the LORD is his Lord. So also we say, ‘The Lord Jesus Christ is my personal Saviour and Lord.’ The first assertion is that he has no goodness apart from Him. So also says Paul in Rom 7.18: ‘There is nothing good in me.’ And Paul goes on to say, ‘O wretched man that I am!’ We need to realize our wretchedness apart from Jesus Christ. He is our goodness; there in none good except God. And Jesus is God,  God who lives in our heart through the Holy Spirit.

Secondly, the psalmist declares that God’s people are his delight. He not only delights in the Lord, but he delights in the fellowship of God’s people, the assembly of the righteous, the congregation of the saints, the church. Clearly he does not associate with worldly people. In fact, he says the saints are ‘majestic ones’ -  good, noble and upright. He clings to the Lord and hates idols. He will worship none other than Jesus Christ. He will not take the names of other gods on his lips. Alas, in our churches we find so-called Christians having the names of heathen gods. Even after baptism they carry their old heathen names, because they want to be accepted by the world. They do not separate themselves from world, but are still influenced by the world and follow worldly customs and ideas.

Thirdly, the psalmist says that the Lord is his inheritance. He has no portion in this world. His inheritance, like the inheritance of the Levite, was the Lord Himself. The Lord is his cup; his satisfaction is from the Lord. He is delighted to abide in the Lord, to dwell in the heavenly places and feed on the Lord’s faithfulness. He knows there are spiritual places, for the Lord has set him high upon a rock. He leaves the valley of Sodom and journeys to the heights of Hebron like Abraham.

Fourthly, he praises the Lord for His counsel and guidance. [Read Psalm 32.8, Isa 28.29]. He experiences the leading of the Holy Spirit and the guidance of the word of God. In the silence of the night, the Lord instructs him in his spirit [inner man]. He keeps his eyes upon the Lord, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of his faith.

Fifthly, he is secure. The Lord is at his side. The Lord is his keeper. Not only is he safe in his spirit, but his flesh [his body] is secure. The Lord’s angels are guarding him. He is safe in the hands of the Lord.

Sixthly, he has the unshakeable hope of resurrection. The Lord declared: ‘I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies.’ As the Lord rose again on the third day, so we will rise again. ‘O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?’ 1 Cor 15.55. Death has no hold over us, for we have eternal life.

Lastly, we have the blessed hope that one day we shall see Jesus face to face. We shall dwell in His presence, and experience the fullness of joy. ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear has heard, nor has it entered the heart of man, to know the things that God has prepared for those who love Him.’ 1 Cor 2.9. Joy unspeakable and full of glory. At His right hand, there are pleasures forevermore.

Comfort in ‘Isaiah’

You would have noticed the word ‘comfort’ appear several times in the Book of Isaiah, especially in the second section [chapters 40 to 66], which is very New Testament in content and expression. The section begins with the words, ‘Comfort, O comfort My people’, and ends with the lovely verse, in Isa 66.13: ‘As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem [or Zion].’

In the New Testament book of Second Corinthians we have at the beginning itself the description of God as the ‘Father of mercies and the God of all comfort’. And then the passage in 2 Cor 1.4-7, which talks of how we receive divine comfort in all our afflictions, so that we might have the capacity to comfort others in their afflictions. In a suffering world God wants us to be ‘comforters’. But that means we have to undergo afflictions; the more abundant our sufferings, the more abundant the comfort we receive. And the more abundant the comfort we provide.

There are seven promises of comfort in the second section of Isaiah, viz. Isa 40.1; 49.13; 51.3; 51.12; 52.9; 61.2 and 66.13. Isa 49.13 declares that heaven and earth should rejoice over the comfort and compassion that the LORD has provided to His people. In the depths of despair, we cry: ‘The Lord has forgotten me!’ [49.14] But the LORD says, ‘A woman may forget her nursing child…but I will not forget you!’ Isa 49.15. He says, ‘I, even I, am He who comforts you.’ [51.12] The Holy Spirit within us is our heavenly Comforter, and in the midst of the fiery trial, we hear the voice of God comforting us, ‘Fear not. I am with you.’ In all our afflictions, He is afflicted. Isa 63.9

The LORD will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places. Isa 51.3. The desert will rejoice and blossom as the rose, Isa 35.1. The LORD will open rivers on the bare heights and streams in the desert. He will make our wilderness like the garden of Eden. The LORD will comfort all who mourn [Isa 61.2]. We will become oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified, Isa 61.3. He will be glorified in and through us, Isa 49.3. It is the experience of fruitfulness. It is the glory of resurrection.

The Ransomed of the Lord

There is a verse in Isaiah 35.10, which is repeated in Isa 51.11, and can be seen in the famous section of Jeremiah 31.11-14. Here is the verse.

The ransomed of the LORD will return,
And come with shouts of joy to Zion;
And everlasting joy will be on their heads.
They will obtain gladness and joy,
And sorrow and sighing will flee away.

The ransomed of the LORD are those who have returned from captivity, from exile in Babylon. This is not being ransomed from Egypt, but being ransomed from Babylon. These are those redeemed from self, those who have experienced a deep inward work of the cross. They are a broken and purified people. They dare not trust in themselves, but they depend wholeheartedly upon the LORD. They have partaken deeply in the sufferings of Zion, and have had their share in the sufferings of Christ.

What does it all mean? It means that redemption is not just from sin, but it is redemption from self. God redeems us not only in spirit, when we are born again; but He redeems us in our souls. ‘Return to your rest, O my soul, for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.’ Psalm 116.7

It is a thorough work of the cross that is done in our lives. God does not leave us just like that. But patiently He works in us; He is conforming us to the image of Christ. It is not only being clothed with righteousness, but we are made upright in heart. So David puts it in Psalm 32.11. ‘Be glad in the LORD And rejoice, you righteous ones [saints], and shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.’ We have to become crucified people in order to know Christ.