His eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and
he saw everything clearly. (Mark 8:25)
You and I, dear friends,
individually, and if we belong to a company of the Lord's people, that company,
will only make progress toward that full, ultimate end of God in Christ if we
have a spiritual vision of Jesus Christ. Vision is essential to progress. Is it
necessary for me to stay with the word "vision"? I am not thinking
about something objective that you see with your eyes of flesh. It is something
that has happened inside of you, and your inner spiritual eyes have been
opened. You can say, "I have SEEN,
and that has revolutionized my life. That has put me on my feet. That has set
me on a course. That has become a dynamic in my life which, in spite of myself, keeps me
going." Yes, thank God, it works like that.
I know the aspect, the factor,
of our responsibility, but God help you and me if it is all going to be left to
our responsibility and what we do! I tell you – and this may have been your
experience, or it may interpret your present experience – many, many times I
would have given up the race. That is an awful confession! Indeed many times I
have given it up in my heart. It became so difficult that I could go no
further, so I gave up. It was not, therefore, my persistence that enabled me to
go on, but what the Apostle calls "the power that works in us." What
is that? The Holy Spirit has put a dynamic in us and we have seen. We cannot
un-see! We cannot go back. The seeing may fade, and it may even be eclipsed by
days of darkness and trouble. We may know what Paul meant when he said:
"We were pressed out of measure, beyond our strength, insomuch that we
despaired even of life" (2 Corinthians 1:8). That was a terrible thing for
the greatest of all apostles to say! What happened? Did Paul give up and say:
"Well, I cannot go on!"? No, not at all! "The power that works
in us" got him on his feet again and again. Let Elijah seek out his
juniper tree and say: "Take away my life!", but the Lord does not
agree. He has given Elijah a part in His great, eternal purpose, and so he will
come up again.
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