By Miles Stanford
"That you may be filled with a clear knowledge of His will accompanied by thorough wisdom and discernment in spiritual things" (Col. 1:9, Wey.).
Service does not come first; neither does life! The proper sequence for the believer is death to the old, from which emerges newness of life and fruitful service.
"It is a sad thing when service interferes with soul-prosperity. It is possible to be so engrossed with service that one's meditations are colored by it, one's prayers are full of it, and the Word of God becomes simply a quarry out of which material for sermons can be dug up. This is a serious loss to the soul and many are thereby hindered from making spiritual progress.
"Very often new believers who have not even peace with God are encouraged to take up service, and they become so occupied with what they are doing that they are not at leisure to learn or to take their place in the favor of the Father. Hence, so long as the service prospers, and they get on pretty well with it, they are happy. The service is their life! But when there is no success, and the whole thing seems to be a failure, their joy collapses. They have to discover how little they have really got, and in many cases to find that they are perfect strangers to the liberty and joy of acceptance." -CA.C.
"There must be a profound and genuine experience of Divine things; a cultivation of the highest possibilities of godliness if the witness is to be really effective and fruitful. There must be a man behind the message - a saint behind the service. There must be the nameless effectiveness that comes from true fellowship with the Father." -A.T.P.
"So that your lives may be worthy of the Lord and perfectly pleasing to Him while you manifest the results of right action of every sort and grow into a fuller knowledge of God" (Col. 1:10, Wey.).
The cross that ended the earthly life of Jesus
now puts an end to the sinner;
and the power that raised Christ from
the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ.
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