Can there ever be genuine unrest with believers in God concerning their being “accepted in the Beloved” (Eph 1:6)? When there is, it’s solely attributed to the unlearned believer concerning the completeness of Jesus’ efficacy in His once-borne Cross, for Scripture makes it repeatedly clear that the saint in Christ has full title to “the answer of a good conscience toward God” (1Pe 3:21). The security of God’s “hand” (Jhn 10:29) will be insufficiently appropriated in the conscience until the “once for all time” (Heb 10:10 - NLT) Christ’s expiation for the believers sins is clearly and permanently settled in the mind. Only one distraction can interfere here, and that is trusting in “the arm of flesh” instead of “the arm of God!”
On which of these two are we dependent? There can be no admixture here in any degree of varying percentages, no, not even “a little leaven” of one. For there to be steadfastness of conscientious-assurance, it can only be all of the Spirit of God, for “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump (Luk 13:21
1Co 5:6; Gal 5:9)! Without fail, we will continue to be taught that disappointment can always be attributed—somewhere along the line—to self-dependence, because God cannot disappoint; and it’s the seemingly smallest elements of self-sufficiency that are the most difficult to identify and put in check.
NC
There are two states which must exist at one and the same time in order to ensure happy and steady walk. The one is peace with God (how I accept His satisfaction concerning me in Christ—NC); the other, the peace of God with me (my appropriation of His peace through this wilderness—NC). In the first, my heart so rests on God’s satisfaction in the work of His Son on the Cross, that it is His satisfaction which I share. I cannot reach up to or measure the satisfaction of God, or know fully how He was glorified in the way the Lord Jesus answered to all the holiness of the Father; but I am lost in the satisfaction of my Father, who can and does receive me according to His love in righteousness.
It is then that I have peace with God! There is not an element to disturb; He has freed me through His Son from every atom of the offending thing (old man—NC). He has done it according to His own nature, that He might receive me to Himself according to His love. His satisfaction is proved in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus (Heb 13:20), and I trust in it, and not in the satisfaction of my own conscience about my sins; and then and there I have peace with my Father. This is one state; and if this state be not preserved, there will be no surmounting the pressure of the flesh, or the general atmosphere around.
In this state you are like a cedar tree, with nature and purpose to rise in height above everything: its course is always upward, for in that direction is its growth. The Heart at peace with God always finds that its course is upward, and its retreat and home above, and to this end all its strength and energy tend; and unless you are strong and mature in peace with the Father, you will not be able to seek His peace in your circumstances, which is another state.
Now this additional state—God’s peace keeping my heart and mind through Christ Jesus—is not enjoyed unless I have learned confidence in my Father, and can open all my heart to Him, and let Him see in detail the good and the sorrowful in my heart. It requires much confidence to do this; to empty out all the furniture of the heart to the Father, praising Him for the good parts (there’s nothing good except what is from Himself), and calling His attention to the broken ones. It is then that the peace of God keeps the heart and mind through Christ Jesus. The greatest wonder is that one like you or me should be kept in the midst of the most vexing elements, in the same state as the blessed Father is on His throne, and it is the greatest favor that He could confer upon anyone on earth. Surely it “passeth all understanding” (Phl 4:7); and then it is you are not only a cedar tree, but everything you do or touch, every bit of furniture in your heart is made of cedar wood and bears its fragrance.
In peace with the Father, you soar to the heavens, and having made known all your requests to Him, you have His peace imparting its wondrous values to you in everything here. In the power of life the cedar tree rises to its true place; but it is through death that its wood is available for furniture, and for use it must be cut down and seasoned. Thus it must be with you, as to these two states. In the power of the Spirit of life you rise to your appointed home; you are always reaching upward; the door in thrown open, you have boldness to enter into the Holiest of All; nothing lower is your position.
But as to your circumstances here, the more dead you are, the better will be the wood for use, and the more you will be a vessel fit for the Master’s use. It is death in this scene, and life in Christ outside it. The Lord grant that each of us may know more of these two states; and if the Lord detains you here for another year in the wilderness, may you be deeply and largely acquainted with this double blessing.
—J B Stoney (1814-97)
April 8: TRIUMPH IN TRIAL
“If there is a great trial in your life today, do not own it as a defeat, but continue, by faith, to claim the victory through Him who is able to make you more than conqueror, and a glorious triumph will soon be apparent. Let us learn that in all the hard places our Father brings us into, He is making opportunities for us to exercise such faith in Him as will bring about blessed results and greatly glorify His Name.”
- Miles J Stanford
http://www.abideabove.com/hungry-heart/
On which of these two are we dependent? There can be no admixture here in any degree of varying percentages, no, not even “a little leaven” of one. For there to be steadfastness of conscientious-assurance, it can only be all of the Spirit of God, for “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump (Luk 13:21
1Co 5:6; Gal 5:9)! Without fail, we will continue to be taught that disappointment can always be attributed—somewhere along the line—to self-dependence, because God cannot disappoint; and it’s the seemingly smallest elements of self-sufficiency that are the most difficult to identify and put in check.
NC
The Two Peaces
There are two states which must exist at one and the same time in order to ensure happy and steady walk. The one is peace with God (how I accept His satisfaction concerning me in Christ—NC); the other, the peace of God with me (my appropriation of His peace through this wilderness—NC). In the first, my heart so rests on God’s satisfaction in the work of His Son on the Cross, that it is His satisfaction which I share. I cannot reach up to or measure the satisfaction of God, or know fully how He was glorified in the way the Lord Jesus answered to all the holiness of the Father; but I am lost in the satisfaction of my Father, who can and does receive me according to His love in righteousness.
It is then that I have peace with God! There is not an element to disturb; He has freed me through His Son from every atom of the offending thing (old man—NC). He has done it according to His own nature, that He might receive me to Himself according to His love. His satisfaction is proved in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus (Heb 13:20), and I trust in it, and not in the satisfaction of my own conscience about my sins; and then and there I have peace with my Father. This is one state; and if this state be not preserved, there will be no surmounting the pressure of the flesh, or the general atmosphere around.
In this state you are like a cedar tree, with nature and purpose to rise in height above everything: its course is always upward, for in that direction is its growth. The Heart at peace with God always finds that its course is upward, and its retreat and home above, and to this end all its strength and energy tend; and unless you are strong and mature in peace with the Father, you will not be able to seek His peace in your circumstances, which is another state.
Now this additional state—God’s peace keeping my heart and mind through Christ Jesus—is not enjoyed unless I have learned confidence in my Father, and can open all my heart to Him, and let Him see in detail the good and the sorrowful in my heart. It requires much confidence to do this; to empty out all the furniture of the heart to the Father, praising Him for the good parts (there’s nothing good except what is from Himself), and calling His attention to the broken ones. It is then that the peace of God keeps the heart and mind through Christ Jesus. The greatest wonder is that one like you or me should be kept in the midst of the most vexing elements, in the same state as the blessed Father is on His throne, and it is the greatest favor that He could confer upon anyone on earth. Surely it “passeth all understanding” (Phl 4:7); and then it is you are not only a cedar tree, but everything you do or touch, every bit of furniture in your heart is made of cedar wood and bears its fragrance.
In peace with the Father, you soar to the heavens, and having made known all your requests to Him, you have His peace imparting its wondrous values to you in everything here. In the power of life the cedar tree rises to its true place; but it is through death that its wood is available for furniture, and for use it must be cut down and seasoned. Thus it must be with you, as to these two states. In the power of the Spirit of life you rise to your appointed home; you are always reaching upward; the door in thrown open, you have boldness to enter into the Holiest of All; nothing lower is your position.
But as to your circumstances here, the more dead you are, the better will be the wood for use, and the more you will be a vessel fit for the Master’s use. It is death in this scene, and life in Christ outside it. The Lord grant that each of us may know more of these two states; and if the Lord detains you here for another year in the wilderness, may you be deeply and largely acquainted with this double blessing.
—J B Stoney (1814-97)
April 8: TRIUMPH IN TRIAL
“If there is a great trial in your life today, do not own it as a defeat, but continue, by faith, to claim the victory through Him who is able to make you more than conqueror, and a glorious triumph will soon be apparent. Let us learn that in all the hard places our Father brings us into, He is making opportunities for us to exercise such faith in Him as will bring about blessed results and greatly glorify His Name.”
- Miles J Stanford
http://www.abideabove.com/hungry-heart/
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