February
20
To the one we are the
aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to
life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, as so many,
peddling the word of God. (2 Corinthians 2:16,17)
The Lord has not called
upon us to form churches. That is not our business. Would to God men had
recognized the fact! A very different situation would obtain today from what
exists, if that had been recognized. It is the Lord Who expands His Church, Who
governs its growth. What we have to do is to live in the place of His
appointment in the power of His resurrection. If, in the midst of others, the
Lord can get but two of His children, in whom His Life is full and free, to
live on the basis of that Life, and not to seek to gather others to themselves
or to get them to congregate together on the basis of their acceptance of
certain truths or teaching, but simply to witness to what Christ means and is
to them, then He has an open way....
The Church is not
increased by your going and taking a building and trying to get people to come
to it, and to your meetings, and then forming them, by a church roll, into a
local church. That is not the way. Growth is by Life, and this, to begin with,
may be by the entering into Life of but one soul, and then after a long waiting
time of another; or it may be more rapid. But the point is that it is increase
because of Life. That is the growth of the Church. For the growth of His
Church, the Lord must have Life channels, Life centers. I believe that, given a
Life center, sooner or later one of two things will happen, that it will be
abundantly manifest that Christ is fully and finally rejected there, or else
there will be an adding, a growth. There is tremendous power in Life, and the
Life of the Lord either kills or quickens. It depends on the attitude taken
toward it. He is a savor of Life unto Life, or of death unto death. Things can
never remain neutral.
By T. Austin-Sparks
from: The Risen Lord
and the Things Which Cannot be Shaken - Chapter 11
This was a greeting card someone sent me once. Its' title: Not Like All Otters!
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