The Father of the Family by T.
Austin-Sparks
God
is acting in this dispensation to get a family, and God's present
dispensational activity is not going to be defeated by death, and He is not
going to be cheated of it by death. He will get a family, and will cheat death
of that family. It is not God, Infinite and Mighty, as such, it is the Father;
and it is a deathless family that He is after. This family is never divided by
death, this family is never broken into by death, this family knows no such
thing as bereavement by death, this family will never lose a child by death. Of
course, as the family, when we enter into the appreciation of that, that is our
comfort: that in this family we do not lose anyone. Death may touch things
here, but the spiritual family is no more separated in the spiritual reality
and in the eternal oneness of the Father's house, than they would be if they
were still here. It is the natural, human side of us that suffers the loss and
knows all that pain. But what is the comfort of the believer? We sorrow not as
those who have no hope. What is our hope? Because we have a Father Who has got
a family that can never be broken up by death and never lose a member by death.
Our hope is that the whole family will be together with not one missing. The
hope is that we have not lost any. Ours it is to be together forever. "The whole family in heaven and on earth...". That is a part of
the meaning of Fatherhood, and that is what the Father is doing in this
dispensation; getting that kind of family.
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the
husbandman" (chapter 15). The two go together all the time. This
says another thing. It is a figurative way of presenting the great spiritual
truths of the family. This says simply that the Father is concerned over the
service of His family. Chapter 15 is concerned with the service of believers:
fruit-bearing. That is the life of service. Do not let us stereotype it; do not
put service into a water-tight compartment and think of service as being
ministers or missionaries in that official designation. It may take various
forms and be through different channels, but service is the expression of the
life of the Father, it is answering to the Father's desires.
"My Father is the husbandman". In order to get fruit He takes a
certain course. There is fruit, but He sees that by adopting a certain method
He can get more fruit, and He is concerned with that particular branch that it
should be developed to its fullest possible fruitfulness. So He adopts a
certain method: "Whom the Lord
loves He chastens" is the word in the Hebrew letter which expresses
this. "No chastening for the
present seems joyous but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yields the
peaceable fruit of righteousness". The Father prunes and chastens,
in order to develop fruitfulness to its fullest measure. "I am the vine and my Father is the husbandman", and as such He is
concerned with one thing, and that is the fullest measure of fruit.
Do
we relate pruning and chastening to God, or to the Father? It makes a good deal
of difference. The mentality of "God"
is sometimes severe. We can never have a severe mentality in the right
atmosphere of "the Father".
All these things have to be brought into that realm; the Lord's dealings with
us now are the dealings of the Father and are along the family line. That is
what is happening in this dispensation.
No comments:
Post a Comment