Crowns Won and Crowns Lost # 3
How Crowns Are Lost
1. The danger of compromise
But now, how are crowns lost? Well, of course, in many ways, and one can only draw upon the experience of temptation and what has been not only felt, but seen in one's own experience and in the lives of others as to how crowns are lost as well as how crowns are won. I think one of the ways in which crowns are more frequently lost perhaps than any other is by compromise, keeping strictly, of course, to the spirit of the word. I am thinking of this great master of crowns, Paul, and if there was one thing about Paul more than another thing, it was this, that he was a man of no compromise.
Compromise, you know, has many forms and many shades and it can be found under many very good names. For instance, what a lot of compromise is hidden behind that phrase - "broad-mindedness". Broad-mindedness is one of those great big trees spreading in all directions and great dimensions, and any bird of heaven can find a home in that tree, Compromise. It means calling things by other names than their rue names. You know how, in the world, they cover up evil by wonderful phrases. The whole terrible iniquity of gambling in horse-racing, for instance, is breed of horse, and that is the way in which all this iniquity ruined lives by the millions, devastated homes, hungry children - passes as something noble. We have got to be careful that we call things by their right name, and especially the younger people have got to be careful. You get out in the world and you know what the world thinks about Christians and Christianity,and then the temptation at once is in some way to be broad, not to be too particular, too singular and different from everybody else - be broad-minded! That broad-mindedness is the curse of compromise which has robbed many a young Christian or his or her crown for all eternity.
We are not going, of course, to go to a wrong extreme, you understand that, in the other direction, but let us be careful. Compromise has many forms, but the essence of it were Christians are concerned is an ashamedness of Jesus. Oh, let us call it by its right name - ashamed of Jesus!! That is the right name for it. Call it anything else and it comes down to that. "Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in His own glory, and the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels" (Luke 9:26): crown gone, Jesus ashamed of us. Why? We were ashamed of Jesus, but we would not call it that. We would call it by some name of compromise, broad-mindedness, being all things to all men - the wrong application of a right principle. Oh yes, crowns are lost like that, but I do urge upon you, especially my younger friends, this word - "that no one take thy crown", have no compromise, no letting go for anything whatever; no advantage that you can gain by any form or degree of compromise can ever bring you that which will deliver you from terrible shame and remorse in the day of Jesus Christ. Well, compromise is one thing and I say it works out in so many ways and it has so many connections with it.
2. The Danger of 'Success'
Crowns are lost imperceptibly in the beginning of things. For instance, there is the terrible peril of success. If there are dangers in adversity, I think the dangers of success are infinitely greater. I am speaking out of knowledge in certain directions. I am thinking of certain people who have lost everything of God's great calling which I knew to be theirs, and concerning which they gave such wonderful promise at one time, so bright and promising for the Lord, and it all turned upon this - they got promotion. It brought them into a new circle where they were made a fuss of, where they were something, you had challenged them, "Look here, you are losing something, you are losing out!" they would not have listened, would not have had it. Not at all: it was working subtly, imperceptibly, slowly, but it did work. The crown was gone, gone for ever. Maybe the majority of us here will not have to stand that awful test, the test of prosperity. I am not anticipating that peril myself! Perhaps most of you will not be put into that fire, but there are some of you younger folk who may yet, and before long, be in that real testing where you will be in a position of influence, where you will be made something of. That is your hour of peril, and the hour when your crown is in peril. I would like to be faithful with you in the light of a lot of tragic experience. Remember the perils of becoming something, being something, being made something of, having a position of importance or any kind of success.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 4 - How Crowns Are Won)
Saturday, December 30, 2017
Saturday, December 16, 2017
Crowns Won and Crowns Lost # 2
Crowns Won and Crowns Lost # 2
Here are our words. "Hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown." "Thy" crown. Now, you have only got to take the words singly and you get all the thoughts that I have suggested. Crown; thy crown; one take thy crown; that no one take thy crown; thy crown; one take thy crown; that no one take thy crown. Crowns won and crowns lost. We have seen a lot of people lose their crowns as we have gone through this life. I can go back over years and I can just array a number of people whom I know positively have lost their crown; I know they have lost it. There is no doubt about it, and they can never recover it. I think of a young man who I know, if ever I knew anything, was called of God to serve Him in a distant part of the earth. His whole being was consumed with that thought; he gave himself in every way to be prepared for that. You could never meet him but what that was the one thing. He was the authority on that one thing. He could have well said, For me to live is Christ! It was so. A young woman came into his life who had so such sense of divine call, but who had interests on this earth, ambitions here, and gradually that relationship twined round him. He never went to China, he lost his vision, steadily lost his spiritual life, gave himself to business, got on fairly well in business, but the Lord had gone out, and there is nothing there for the Lord, all gone, his crown lost. I could go right on like that touching so many who I know have lost their crown. It is a terrible truth that is set forth here: that there is a crown and that it can be lost.
But, on the other hand, there is that side which has the shadow and dark background to it, which nevertheless has its own glory. How often have we seen someone stepping in and in that double measure of faithfulness and devotion to the Lord, you could almost see that one taking the thing that you knew was the thing that belonged to someone else. The Lord was calling, was working, and the Lord desired that one for such and such a thing, in such and such a way, and you could almost see the Lord cherishing that tree, doing all that He could to get that tree to respond, and you had a sense of what it was called for. No, careless, slothful, unresponsive, not taking the matter seriously at all. Then you saw someone coming, and you could almost see it happen, the preparation of another earnest out-and-out life, one that meant business with God, meant to go the whole way themselves, and you almost could see, in the realm of spiritual, that one take what this other one was called to,and in the outworking the one has gone out and the other has gone on. All you can say is, Well, the interpretation of those two lives is that this one took that one's crown! You saw the Lord offering this one a crown and the other one taking it, while the one dallied. It is possible, if this word means anything, that you and I should take a crown that is not intended for us in the first place, but it is available. We are not shut out from it, it is available, but what a warning it is and yet what an exhortation - double glory, glory more than was really meant for us, but yet open to us.
Ah yes, well in the earthly races or competitions, one man can take all the prizes. Some of us have seen that sort of thing happen. We remember in our school days how one fellow seemed to take all the prizes; if there was any prize going, it went his way. Those prizes were for the rest of us, everybody, they were for all.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 3 - How Crowns Are Lost)
Here are our words. "Hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown." "Thy" crown. Now, you have only got to take the words singly and you get all the thoughts that I have suggested. Crown; thy crown; one take thy crown; that no one take thy crown; thy crown; one take thy crown; that no one take thy crown. Crowns won and crowns lost. We have seen a lot of people lose their crowns as we have gone through this life. I can go back over years and I can just array a number of people whom I know positively have lost their crown; I know they have lost it. There is no doubt about it, and they can never recover it. I think of a young man who I know, if ever I knew anything, was called of God to serve Him in a distant part of the earth. His whole being was consumed with that thought; he gave himself in every way to be prepared for that. You could never meet him but what that was the one thing. He was the authority on that one thing. He could have well said, For me to live is Christ! It was so. A young woman came into his life who had so such sense of divine call, but who had interests on this earth, ambitions here, and gradually that relationship twined round him. He never went to China, he lost his vision, steadily lost his spiritual life, gave himself to business, got on fairly well in business, but the Lord had gone out, and there is nothing there for the Lord, all gone, his crown lost. I could go right on like that touching so many who I know have lost their crown. It is a terrible truth that is set forth here: that there is a crown and that it can be lost.
But, on the other hand, there is that side which has the shadow and dark background to it, which nevertheless has its own glory. How often have we seen someone stepping in and in that double measure of faithfulness and devotion to the Lord, you could almost see that one taking the thing that you knew was the thing that belonged to someone else. The Lord was calling, was working, and the Lord desired that one for such and such a thing, in such and such a way, and you could almost see the Lord cherishing that tree, doing all that He could to get that tree to respond, and you had a sense of what it was called for. No, careless, slothful, unresponsive, not taking the matter seriously at all. Then you saw someone coming, and you could almost see it happen, the preparation of another earnest out-and-out life, one that meant business with God, meant to go the whole way themselves, and you almost could see, in the realm of spiritual, that one take what this other one was called to,and in the outworking the one has gone out and the other has gone on. All you can say is, Well, the interpretation of those two lives is that this one took that one's crown! You saw the Lord offering this one a crown and the other one taking it, while the one dallied. It is possible, if this word means anything, that you and I should take a crown that is not intended for us in the first place, but it is available. We are not shut out from it, it is available, but what a warning it is and yet what an exhortation - double glory, glory more than was really meant for us, but yet open to us.
Ah yes, well in the earthly races or competitions, one man can take all the prizes. Some of us have seen that sort of thing happen. We remember in our school days how one fellow seemed to take all the prizes; if there was any prize going, it went his way. Those prizes were for the rest of us, everybody, they were for all.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 3 - How Crowns Are Lost)
Saturday, December 9, 2017
Crowns Won and Crowns Lost # 1
Crowns Won and Crowns Lost # 1
Reading: "I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown" (Revelation 3:11).
First of all we ought to look at these words and get hold of their implications, for things are implied here which are rather impressive, certainly very serious.
A Crown Offered
There is first, if not a positive statement, it is as good as a positive statement, that there is something related to the life of the child of God which is called a crown, his crown, her crown. You notice that the application of the exhortation is personal - "He that hath an ear, let him hear." It is not just a general application even to a local church. The thing is brought down to the individual, and therefore we are permitted, at least permitted, to reach this conclusion, that with every individual child of God there is bound up something in the mind and purpose of God which is called his or her crown, the crown of his or her life. That brings into view a time when every child of God should, in the will and purpose of God, have that great seal set upon their lives which was God's intention, when He will say, 'This is the thing for which I marked you out, this is the thing which I had in view for you, this is the thing for which I called you, this is the end for which I laid My hand upon you, this is the very crown of all my thoughts, desires, intentions, where you are concerned!' Now that is not straining what is here,k it is not exaggeration, it is stated here that to him that overcometh, there is that which is his crown, her crown.
So first of all we want to allow this to come right home to our hearts. You and I, each one of us individually in God's thought, is marked out for something which is called our crown. What that crown is, we will not stay to try and inquire. Paul speaks of several crowns, but we will leave exactly what the crown is, only reminding ourselves that Paul himself was one who recognized this truth in those great words in Philippians 3. You remember he said, "That I may apprehend, that I may lay hold of, that for which I have been laid hold of by Jesus Christ." "I press toward the mark of the prize of the on-high calling." The prize of the on-high calling - I press toward that! We may come back to that passage again presently, but Paul saw this that, in that day on the Damascus road it was as though the hand of the Lord Jesus came and took hold of him - he called it being apprehended, the hand of the Lord came on him - on that day it was with a purpose in view, a crown in view, an on-high calling, a prize, and he said, "I have been laid hold of, I have been apprehended by Christ Jesus and now my one business in life is to lay hold of the thing for which I have been laid hold - the prize.
Let this come home to your hearts very strongly. I remember what a strength and help and inspiration these words were to me as a young Christian when I first, as a young fellow, took a very definite stand for the Lord in the midst of surroundings which were anything but spiritually helpful, very much to the contrary. In the midst of a great many difficulties and a good deal of cost, I took a stand for the Lord. These very words, in the light of what I am saying now, were a tremendous strength to me. There is a crown which is your crown, which belongs to you in the purpose of God. Now then, it is your business that no one takes your crown. Well, that is the first thing.
The Possibility of Losing Our Crown
Then, of course, the second thing which does so clearly arise from this statement is that it is possible to lose our crown. I am not thinking now of losing our eternal salvation but that which is called the crown, the prize of the on-high calling. It is possible; these words, if they mean anything, mean that. "That no one take thy crown." It is possible for us to have our crown taken by someone else, for us to lose it. It is terribly and really possible that we should reach that day which should be our crowning day and there not be the crown for us that the Lord intended.
Now, Paul lived in the light of that possibility also. As you remember, he said on one occasion - "lest having heralded others (our version is "preached to others", but the word is "heralded") I myself should be rejected", turned aside, cast away, I myself should miss (1 Cor. 9:27). "Lest..." - that is a word of precaution.
Well, the second thing is the terrible possibility that we should lose the thing for which the Lord has laid His hand on us.
Then another thing which runs with that is this - someone else can get what we were called to. God intended something for us, He called us in relation to something. Someone else was not in the first place called to that particular crown, that was not their crown, but by double faithfulness on their part, that is, by faithfulness to their own calling and by faithfulness where we were unfaithful, they have got their own and ours as well. That is implied here, isn't it? Someone else can get the crown we were called to. That is terrible. I will tell you how that happens. We will not go to the application yet. Just look at the text. There it is.
The next thing, of course, putting that round the other way, is this, that we can get someone else's crown as well as our own. That is, we can get a double reward; we can excel in this matter. We are not wanting other people to lose their crown, I am sure we do not want to take another's crowns, we would sooner everybody had their crown. We are not ambitious in this sense that we want to do anybody out of their eternal glory, not a bit of it, but there it is. Here is the word, and there is a great deal that supports it, that there are those who are forfeiting what the Lord meant for them and someone else is taking that. The word here is so clear and so simple, so precise - "that no one take thy crown." Cut it right down if you like - "one take thy...". Well, we can come in for something of double glory by faithfulness where the Lord is being disappointed in others. Whether that appeals to us or not, in outworking that is a very great reality.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with# 2)
Reading: "I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown" (Revelation 3:11).
First of all we ought to look at these words and get hold of their implications, for things are implied here which are rather impressive, certainly very serious.
A Crown Offered
There is first, if not a positive statement, it is as good as a positive statement, that there is something related to the life of the child of God which is called a crown, his crown, her crown. You notice that the application of the exhortation is personal - "He that hath an ear, let him hear." It is not just a general application even to a local church. The thing is brought down to the individual, and therefore we are permitted, at least permitted, to reach this conclusion, that with every individual child of God there is bound up something in the mind and purpose of God which is called his or her crown, the crown of his or her life. That brings into view a time when every child of God should, in the will and purpose of God, have that great seal set upon their lives which was God's intention, when He will say, 'This is the thing for which I marked you out, this is the thing which I had in view for you, this is the thing for which I called you, this is the end for which I laid My hand upon you, this is the very crown of all my thoughts, desires, intentions, where you are concerned!' Now that is not straining what is here,k it is not exaggeration, it is stated here that to him that overcometh, there is that which is his crown, her crown.
So first of all we want to allow this to come right home to our hearts. You and I, each one of us individually in God's thought, is marked out for something which is called our crown. What that crown is, we will not stay to try and inquire. Paul speaks of several crowns, but we will leave exactly what the crown is, only reminding ourselves that Paul himself was one who recognized this truth in those great words in Philippians 3. You remember he said, "That I may apprehend, that I may lay hold of, that for which I have been laid hold of by Jesus Christ." "I press toward the mark of the prize of the on-high calling." The prize of the on-high calling - I press toward that! We may come back to that passage again presently, but Paul saw this that, in that day on the Damascus road it was as though the hand of the Lord Jesus came and took hold of him - he called it being apprehended, the hand of the Lord came on him - on that day it was with a purpose in view, a crown in view, an on-high calling, a prize, and he said, "I have been laid hold of, I have been apprehended by Christ Jesus and now my one business in life is to lay hold of the thing for which I have been laid hold - the prize.
Let this come home to your hearts very strongly. I remember what a strength and help and inspiration these words were to me as a young Christian when I first, as a young fellow, took a very definite stand for the Lord in the midst of surroundings which were anything but spiritually helpful, very much to the contrary. In the midst of a great many difficulties and a good deal of cost, I took a stand for the Lord. These very words, in the light of what I am saying now, were a tremendous strength to me. There is a crown which is your crown, which belongs to you in the purpose of God. Now then, it is your business that no one takes your crown. Well, that is the first thing.
The Possibility of Losing Our Crown
Then, of course, the second thing which does so clearly arise from this statement is that it is possible to lose our crown. I am not thinking now of losing our eternal salvation but that which is called the crown, the prize of the on-high calling. It is possible; these words, if they mean anything, mean that. "That no one take thy crown." It is possible for us to have our crown taken by someone else, for us to lose it. It is terribly and really possible that we should reach that day which should be our crowning day and there not be the crown for us that the Lord intended.
Now, Paul lived in the light of that possibility also. As you remember, he said on one occasion - "lest having heralded others (our version is "preached to others", but the word is "heralded") I myself should be rejected", turned aside, cast away, I myself should miss (1 Cor. 9:27). "Lest..." - that is a word of precaution.
Well, the second thing is the terrible possibility that we should lose the thing for which the Lord has laid His hand on us.
Then another thing which runs with that is this - someone else can get what we were called to. God intended something for us, He called us in relation to something. Someone else was not in the first place called to that particular crown, that was not their crown, but by double faithfulness on their part, that is, by faithfulness to their own calling and by faithfulness where we were unfaithful, they have got their own and ours as well. That is implied here, isn't it? Someone else can get the crown we were called to. That is terrible. I will tell you how that happens. We will not go to the application yet. Just look at the text. There it is.
The next thing, of course, putting that round the other way, is this, that we can get someone else's crown as well as our own. That is, we can get a double reward; we can excel in this matter. We are not wanting other people to lose their crown, I am sure we do not want to take another's crowns, we would sooner everybody had their crown. We are not ambitious in this sense that we want to do anybody out of their eternal glory, not a bit of it, but there it is. Here is the word, and there is a great deal that supports it, that there are those who are forfeiting what the Lord meant for them and someone else is taking that. The word here is so clear and so simple, so precise - "that no one take thy crown." Cut it right down if you like - "one take thy...". Well, we can come in for something of double glory by faithfulness where the Lord is being disappointed in others. Whether that appeals to us or not, in outworking that is a very great reality.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with# 2)
Saturday, December 2, 2017
The Potter and the Clay # 2
The Potter and the Clay # 2
But then, you see, that means such an utter position. In the clay represented in this parable, there was evidently something that rose up, that rebelled, that defied Him, that resisted Him, that had a mind of its own, a way of its own, a will of its own, an interest of its own, a desire of its own; something which, being of itself, was not in accordance with the thought of the Potter - and it was marred in the hand of the Potter. What is called for, if God is going to pursue His work to His full end of glory and self-expression, is the utter position of unreserved acquiescence. God requires that; a yieldedness, a surrender; no argument, no controversy, no rebellion, but a perfect response to the Lord in the most complete surrender to His hand. That is the Divine requirement if the thought of God from all eternity in us, concerning us, is to mature and have its full expression. He is to be the Master in every part of our being, and we have to have nothing in heart, or mind, or will that is contrary to His own.
That is a law written here so distinctly and written through history - God setting out to do a great and a glorious thing in a life, or in a people, or in a creation, and then something rising up contrary to God, other than God, and presenting God with difficulties, making it necessary for the Lord to say, "I cannot go on with what I intended. I cannot do what I meant to do". Yes, it is a remarkable thing, but it is quite true that even God Almighty, for the realization of His end, requires our acquiescence and our full acquiescence. He is not going beyond the point where we comply with His will. In this way we can set back the purpose of God in our lives; we can arrest the hand of God; we can defeat the Divine intention. It is a solemn thought, but it is true. So the Lord calls to us for this yieldedness to Himself in implicit faith where we find difficulty in understanding what He is doing. Well, that is remarkable, but these are the simple laws of Divine purpose in any life.
God's First Or Second Best?
Then, out of that, issues this: we can miss God's first best and only have His second best. "The vessel that he made...was marred in the hand of the potter, he made it another vessel." I wonder what that meant in the case of Israel? I wonder if that is not explained in the words of the Lord Jesus to Israel many years after this, when He said, "Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof"(Matt. 21:43). And Peter, still many years later than that, said of the church, "Ye are an elect race, a holy nation" (1 Peter 2:9). I wonder then if Israel lost that high purpose of God which the church has come into? It is a thought. A heavenly thing - for you remember God showed Abraham his seed not only as the sane of the seashore, but as the stars of heaven,but undoubtedly Israel has lost the heavenly side. If Israel is recovered, as prophecy would seem to indicate, it will only be the earthly thing. The church has the heavenly side. Israel has God's second best. The turning-point was here in prophecy and actually in the days when the Lord Jesus came.
Yes, it is possible to miss God's first best and only have His second best. Are you going to be content with that? Some of us know many who have made that choice, who have missed what we knew was God's purpose for their lives, and they knew, but for some mess of pottage, for some temporal interest, because of some earthly relationship or because of the difficulty of the way, they accepted something less. They went to something else. They let go the heavenly vision. We know that, so far as God's first thought is concerned, it is no longer possible for them - and they know it too, that heaven is closed to them.
Talking to a young man in Glasgow recently, telling me about his school life, he said this, "Well, the thing that mattered to me while I was there was no so much that I should excel either in my academic life, nor in sports. The thing which concerned me was that in my life I should come to God's first best." That is where he is and that is where he was, even at school. You say that that is unusual. Yes, but God's seal is on that life, and such a declaration is a challenge to us all.
God presents to us His first best, but it is the way of the potter's wheel, and that is not always an easy and comfortable way. There is a good deal of letting go to be done, a good deal of yielding to be made, a good deal of compliance with a will not our own - that higher will. There is a lot of that. We can, be refusing, by not acquiescing, shall I say it positively - by not setting our hearts wholly upon God's first best, miss it, and be one of those who, in the end, have only got God's second best.
I remember someone telling me years ago, a dream they had had. In their dream they saw a number of crosses and they were all different sizes. There was a small cross, and a large cross,and a larger and a larger, until there was a very large cross. And they were asked to choose their cross. They looked at those crosses and chose, not the smallest, that was too mean, but also not the largest, that was too big - they chose an intermediate cross. Then they said that in their dream they were transported to heaven and in heaven they saw a number of crowns, and they also varied in size and glory. There was a small one, and a large one, and a larger and a larger, each crown corresponded to the cross in glory, in magnificence, and an intermediate crown was brought. But the Lord said, "My child, that was the crown that I intended for you, but you chose something that did not correspond with it: a smaller cross than that crown warranted". That is a dream, but it has its message.
The way of God's first best is a hard way, a difficult way, a costly way. We can have a lesser way, but oh! then there is the glory. Listen again to the apostle - "This one thing I do...I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the upward calling of God in Christ" (Phil. 3:14). No one can say that that attitude of the apostle Paul was necessary in order to get into heaven, to be saved, to get blessings that are in heaven. Not at all, those were secured to him through faith in the Lord Jesus, but this prize of the upward calling corresponded to what? "I fill up...that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ...for His body's sake, which is the church" (Col. 1:24). I think that is the balance of things; the prize and - not what we must do in order to get to heaven and to get the blessings of heaven and of eternal life - but the prize because of that upon which our hearts are set, the satisfaction of the Lord's own heart in seeing the realization of what He had purposed: the expression of Himself.
Are we going the way of God's first best? Oh, God forbid that we should miss God's first best, should fail to set our heart upon that. The message is clear. He made a work upon the wheels, and the vessel that He made was marred; He made it again another vessel. We must ask the Lord, in a new act of abandonment to Him, that it may never be true of any one of us that we are another vessel than He intended, that we might have grace to be that which God intended. We must seek grace to go on through the difficulty, the adversity, the suffering entailed in God getting His first best and not draw back.
Here, then, is the message of the potter's house. God desires to express Himself; God can only begin to realize His eternal purpose as He is in possession of our lives; God can only proceed with His work as He has absolute acquiescence on our part. It is possible to miss the first best and only have the second best. The Lord write His word in our hearts!
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(The End)
But then, you see, that means such an utter position. In the clay represented in this parable, there was evidently something that rose up, that rebelled, that defied Him, that resisted Him, that had a mind of its own, a way of its own, a will of its own, an interest of its own, a desire of its own; something which, being of itself, was not in accordance with the thought of the Potter - and it was marred in the hand of the Potter. What is called for, if God is going to pursue His work to His full end of glory and self-expression, is the utter position of unreserved acquiescence. God requires that; a yieldedness, a surrender; no argument, no controversy, no rebellion, but a perfect response to the Lord in the most complete surrender to His hand. That is the Divine requirement if the thought of God from all eternity in us, concerning us, is to mature and have its full expression. He is to be the Master in every part of our being, and we have to have nothing in heart, or mind, or will that is contrary to His own.
That is a law written here so distinctly and written through history - God setting out to do a great and a glorious thing in a life, or in a people, or in a creation, and then something rising up contrary to God, other than God, and presenting God with difficulties, making it necessary for the Lord to say, "I cannot go on with what I intended. I cannot do what I meant to do". Yes, it is a remarkable thing, but it is quite true that even God Almighty, for the realization of His end, requires our acquiescence and our full acquiescence. He is not going beyond the point where we comply with His will. In this way we can set back the purpose of God in our lives; we can arrest the hand of God; we can defeat the Divine intention. It is a solemn thought, but it is true. So the Lord calls to us for this yieldedness to Himself in implicit faith where we find difficulty in understanding what He is doing. Well, that is remarkable, but these are the simple laws of Divine purpose in any life.
God's First Or Second Best?
Then, out of that, issues this: we can miss God's first best and only have His second best. "The vessel that he made...was marred in the hand of the potter, he made it another vessel." I wonder what that meant in the case of Israel? I wonder if that is not explained in the words of the Lord Jesus to Israel many years after this, when He said, "Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof"(Matt. 21:43). And Peter, still many years later than that, said of the church, "Ye are an elect race, a holy nation" (1 Peter 2:9). I wonder then if Israel lost that high purpose of God which the church has come into? It is a thought. A heavenly thing - for you remember God showed Abraham his seed not only as the sane of the seashore, but as the stars of heaven,but undoubtedly Israel has lost the heavenly side. If Israel is recovered, as prophecy would seem to indicate, it will only be the earthly thing. The church has the heavenly side. Israel has God's second best. The turning-point was here in prophecy and actually in the days when the Lord Jesus came.
Yes, it is possible to miss God's first best and only have His second best. Are you going to be content with that? Some of us know many who have made that choice, who have missed what we knew was God's purpose for their lives, and they knew, but for some mess of pottage, for some temporal interest, because of some earthly relationship or because of the difficulty of the way, they accepted something less. They went to something else. They let go the heavenly vision. We know that, so far as God's first thought is concerned, it is no longer possible for them - and they know it too, that heaven is closed to them.
Talking to a young man in Glasgow recently, telling me about his school life, he said this, "Well, the thing that mattered to me while I was there was no so much that I should excel either in my academic life, nor in sports. The thing which concerned me was that in my life I should come to God's first best." That is where he is and that is where he was, even at school. You say that that is unusual. Yes, but God's seal is on that life, and such a declaration is a challenge to us all.
God presents to us His first best, but it is the way of the potter's wheel, and that is not always an easy and comfortable way. There is a good deal of letting go to be done, a good deal of yielding to be made, a good deal of compliance with a will not our own - that higher will. There is a lot of that. We can, be refusing, by not acquiescing, shall I say it positively - by not setting our hearts wholly upon God's first best, miss it, and be one of those who, in the end, have only got God's second best.
I remember someone telling me years ago, a dream they had had. In their dream they saw a number of crosses and they were all different sizes. There was a small cross, and a large cross,and a larger and a larger, until there was a very large cross. And they were asked to choose their cross. They looked at those crosses and chose, not the smallest, that was too mean, but also not the largest, that was too big - they chose an intermediate cross. Then they said that in their dream they were transported to heaven and in heaven they saw a number of crowns, and they also varied in size and glory. There was a small one, and a large one, and a larger and a larger, each crown corresponded to the cross in glory, in magnificence, and an intermediate crown was brought. But the Lord said, "My child, that was the crown that I intended for you, but you chose something that did not correspond with it: a smaller cross than that crown warranted". That is a dream, but it has its message.
The way of God's first best is a hard way, a difficult way, a costly way. We can have a lesser way, but oh! then there is the glory. Listen again to the apostle - "This one thing I do...I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the upward calling of God in Christ" (Phil. 3:14). No one can say that that attitude of the apostle Paul was necessary in order to get into heaven, to be saved, to get blessings that are in heaven. Not at all, those were secured to him through faith in the Lord Jesus, but this prize of the upward calling corresponded to what? "I fill up...that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ...for His body's sake, which is the church" (Col. 1:24). I think that is the balance of things; the prize and - not what we must do in order to get to heaven and to get the blessings of heaven and of eternal life - but the prize because of that upon which our hearts are set, the satisfaction of the Lord's own heart in seeing the realization of what He had purposed: the expression of Himself.
Are we going the way of God's first best? Oh, God forbid that we should miss God's first best, should fail to set our heart upon that. The message is clear. He made a work upon the wheels, and the vessel that He made was marred; He made it again another vessel. We must ask the Lord, in a new act of abandonment to Him, that it may never be true of any one of us that we are another vessel than He intended, that we might have grace to be that which God intended. We must seek grace to go on through the difficulty, the adversity, the suffering entailed in God getting His first best and not draw back.
Here, then, is the message of the potter's house. God desires to express Himself; God can only begin to realize His eternal purpose as He is in possession of our lives; God can only proceed with His work as He has absolute acquiescence on our part. It is possible to miss the first best and only have the second best. The Lord write His word in our hearts!
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(The End)
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