June
2
Do not be ashamed of the
testimony about our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share in suffering for
the gospel by the power of God. (2 Timothy 1:8 ESV)
That which represents
the testimony in its fullest and closest approximation to the ultimate purpose
of God, then has to be shorn of much that has been good, necessary, and of God
in a preparatory way, and must be shut up to what is ultimate. The captivity is
not to a conceived truth or a superimposed doctrinal acceptance. It is wrought
into the very fiber of the being by experience following revelation, and
revelation interpreting experience. It is not the championing of some espoused
interpretation: it is that it is the very Life of instruments and the
instrument is that in its very being. It is not a matter of wanting to be or
not wanting to be, but cannot be other, a prisoner, the sovereignty of God has
done it.
This applied both to
Paul and to those who were brought into touch with him. For the Apostle the
settling into the sovereign ordering of God in his imprisonment issued in
increasing illumination leading to spiritual emancipation. No one can fail to
recognize the tremendous enrichment of ministry as contained in what are called
"the Prison Epistles." If he had been restive, piqued, rebellious, or
bitter, there would have been no open heaven, and a spirit of controversy with
the Lord would have closed and bolted the door to the fuller Divine unveilings
and clarifyings. When all was accepted according to the mind of the Lord, then
"the heavenly places" became the eternal expanses of his walking
about, and earthly bondage gave place to heavenly freedom. So it must be with
every instrument set apart in relation to the higher interests of the Lord's
testimony.
By T. Austin-Sparks from: Captivity In The Lord
This painting by Claudia Wood Rahm is called Surrendered.
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