5 January
And the remnant... shall again take root downward, and bear
fruit upward (Isaiah 37:31.)
The
Lord must have something which cannot be carried away, which cannot be removed,
cannot be shaken, and certainly something which cannot be rooted up. That is
His remnant. That, He must have for His own glory, and, that being so, He will
take every measure with His remnant to have them after that kind, with roots
downward. Of course, unto fruit upward. We speak much about the upward side of
things, life in the heavenlies, sitting in the heavenlies, and our warfare and
work – the fruitfulness of our life in union with the Lord. That is only
possible as our roots are downward. In order that that might be so, we have to
get into a place of unshakeableness where the roots have got such a grip that
nothing can overthrow. And I believe that explains a very great deal of what
the Lord is doing with His own spiritual people in these days.
It
is true that the true children of God are going through a time of intense trial
and testing spiritually in these days; everywhere it is so. Why? Because the
Lord must have something against which hell is impotent and by which He
demonstrates to the universe that strength of His might, which causes to stand
and withstand, and having done all to stand. If one were asked what the last
issue for the Church in this age is, I would say that it stands, and that is
saying a tremendous thing. Oh, you say, that is surely limiting things, are you
not expecting much more than that? Progress, advance, sweeping movements? The
Church will have all its work cut out in the end to stand, but its standing
will be its victory. Just to be able, through testing, trial, when everything
is blowing round you like a blizzard; when everything is dark, mysterious, and
even God seems far away and unreal, and faith is tested and you are being
assailed on the right hand and on the left, and there is every reason outwardly
for your moving, giving up, falling down, surrendering, lowering your standard,
just to stand and not be moved in your faith is the greatest possible
victory.... We are passing through deep experiences, the enemy is doing it and
the Lord is not preventing him, but we are coming to a fuller knowledge of the
power of our God and a deeper rooting beyond all previous shakeableness. And
the Lord is seeking to have a people who cannot be shaken, against whom hell
with all its demonstration of arrogance and pride, is impotent. “And the
remnant... shall again take root downward.” That is what the Lord needs.
By
T. Austin-Sparks from: Rooted
and Grounded
This photograph is by Charlie Burnell.
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