Gospel News — Sep-Dec 2012

are asked to pick up His cross, to make His death our own. A firm commitment to this will enable us to stand firm against the various `winds' which buffet us- especially in this internet generation, where information which we're unable (if we're honest) to really process assails us from all sides. How does that suggested teaching, that possible way of living and being, square with my solid, once-for-all commitment to follow my Lord to His cross and beyond?

Back To The Bible

The man who built his house on the rock was able to ultimately withstand the winds. But his building was slow, because it was a `hearing of [Christ's] words and doing them' (Lk. 6:47,48). Spiritual progress will be slow- if it is real progress. This is not only a comfort to us, as our self-examination reveals pathetically slow progress. It also inspires us to patience with the slow spiritual progress of our brethren, whose failures and slowness to develop are so much more obvious to us than are our own similar frailties. The Lord's parable opens to us another way of being firm rather than easily swayed- to hear the Lord's words and do them. Daily Bible reading may seem a call from conservative yesteryear; but it is a necessary call. It is a daily familiarity with the basic text of Scripture and a daily, conscious commitment in prayer to follow God's word which will give us stability. When "It was told the house of David, saying, Syria is allied with Ephraim! His heart trembled, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest tremble with the wind. Then said the Lord..." (Is. 7:2,3). The antidote to hearts shaking back and forth was to pay serious attention to God's word.

This is the difference which the Bible makes in human life. An acceptance that finally, in that volume, we have the expressed will of God for us, giving us a basis upon which to firmly decide our principles and positions- "For the Bible tells me so". This is a feature of the seed sown on good ground- that is has a "root" (Mt. 13:6). But the interpretation of the sower parable adds the significant detail- that he who withers away "has not root in himself" (Mt. 13:21). Our

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root is in God's word, and in the things of the crucified Christ, the smitten rock. And yet it is `in ourselves' in the sense that God's word and the things of Christ are deep within us. This, then, is the intention of regular, daily, habitual reading and meditation upon God's word, both as it is in the Bible and as it is in the character and personality of the Lord Jesus, who should likewise be our daily meditation. It is "the root of the trees" which will be judged (Lk. 3:9; Mk. 11:20); it is who we are and what we have deep within us which is so crucial, and which withstands every wind. There is a colossal emptiness within the hearts of so many, an emptiness willingly filled with the meaningless words of popular music, entertainment and a life focused upon the cosmetic rather than the essential. We have so much more to fill our minds with- let us do so. Carry a pocket Bible with you. Dip into it in the course of the day. "Gird up the loins of your mind", Peter says- gather together our thoughts instead of letting them flow and drift everywhere, thus hampering our movement. Focus them upon the Lord Jesus. Have Him as Lord and Master of your heart. Be spiritually minded. And as we inevitably reflect that all this is so much easier read than done- pray that the rock of Israel, and the smitten rock of His Son, shall fill our minds with their spirit, so that really it shall be possible for us.

Establishing The Heart With Grace

The New Testament has a major theme of the believer being `established' by God (1 Cor. 1:8; 2 Cor. 1:21; Col. 2:7). The Greek word implies that we will be made stable, having a foundation that will not be swayed; and God will do this to us if we allow Him to. Heb. 13:9 teaches that we will not be carried or blow about if our heart, our core being, is "established with grace". If we really accept that gift, believing and feeling that in spite of our works we will be saved should Jesus return right now- then nothing will blow us off course. The wonder of that will be our stability, both now and eternally.

--Duncan Heaster