by G. D. Watson
If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Matthew 16:24-25
If God has called you to be truly like Jesus in all your spirit, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility. He will put on you such demands of obedience that you will not be allowed to follow other Christians. In many ways, He seems to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.
Others who seem to be very religious and useful may push themselves, pull wires, and scheme to carry out their plans, but you cannot. If you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.
Others can brag about themselves, their work, their successes, their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing. If you begin to do so, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.
Others will be allowed to succeed in making great sums of money, or having a legacy left to them, or in having luxuries, but God may supply you only on a day-to-day basis, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, a helpless dependence on Him and His unseen treasury.
The Lord may let others be honored and put forward while keeping you hidden in obscurity because He wants to produce some choice, fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade.
God may let others be great, but keep you small. He will let others do a work for Him and get the credit, but He will make you work and toil without knowing how much you are doing. Then, to make your work still more precious, He will let others get the credit for the work which you have done; this to teach you the message of the Cross, humility, and something of the value of being cloaked with His nature.
The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch on you, and with a jealous love rebuke you for careless words and feelings, or for wasting your time, which other Christians never seem distressed over.
So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign and has a right to do as He pleases with His own, and that He may not explain to you a thousand things which may puzzle your reason in His dealings with you.
God will take you at your word. If you absolutely sell yourself to be His slave, He will wrap you up in a jealous love and let other people say and do many things that you cannot. Settle it forever; you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue or chaining your hand or closing your eyes in ways which others are not dealt with. However, know this great secret of the Kingdom: When you are so completely possessed with the Living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of heaven, the high calling of God.
Was that Spurgeon or Rick Warren?
Rick,
It would be interesting to get Mr. Warren’s take on this quote wouldn’t it?
In Christ
Mike Ratliff
I have heard him. He would say “A different time, a different place, a different audience.”
He forgets that the only time is eternity, the only place is in the Spirit, and the only audience is Christ Himself.
Hi Mike,
I believe if a message does not convict you or encourage you it has no worth.
Cristina
Amen Rick and Cristina!
What an excellent quote! Thanks for sharing it.
You are welcome Albert.
What would Christ say about a sugar-coated cross? It’s too grotesque to consider…
Great quote!
Jessica,
The unregenerate heart wants a sugar-coated cross, which should tell us who is behind these “men” who sugar-coat the gospel. Yes, it is grotesque and we must do all we can to turn people’s eyes to the real cross so the real gospel will soak into their hearts and do it’s glorious work of killing and making alive again.
In Christ
Mike Ratliff
What if there was only one bridge still intact that led to safety, but to get there everyone must drive a long distance over many bumps and potholes, and through a driving rainstorm? Would the man who knew the way to the only bridge think to himself, “I know there is only one bridge still useable, but the way to it seems so hard and many won’t even believe me and they’ll still try another bridge. I’ll just direct them to the closest one, they will all like that and I’ll be popular!”
You know what that man would be called?
A liar.
Good analogy Rick.