NEWS The Meaning of Shine
It is often the case that the Spirit moves in my heart well before I have a clear understanding in my mind what is really going on. I am sure this is the case with many other Spirit-filled hearts. The Lord gives us a revelation, and then, with great faith and trust, we come into deeper understanding of the meaning over time.
When Christine and I were working on 'Shine,' the Lord was beginning to move greatly in our hearts, and we allowed the Spirit to flow through the music. When I was inspired to write the lyrics to the title track, I knew in my heart that the concepts of 'believing' and 'shining' were important, but I had not fully grasped their meaning.
Recently, I came across a short book by T. Austin-Sparks titled, "Things of the Spirit," that illuminates the whole concept of what it means to shine. In this post, I would like to highlight certain passages from Sparks' book. I will start with the section titled "New Birth: A Lamp Re-lit." Here, Sparks says:
"This aliveness to God involves what the New Testament speaks of as 'new birth,' being born anew. But what is that? It is the re-birth of a certain faculty by which man is able to have this aliveness to God. The Word of God has this phrase: "The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord" (Prov. 20:27). Now a lamp is a very definite and concrete object. A lamp is something in itself. It is not just something abstract. A lamp is a definite object. "The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord." When Adam was disobedient, that lamp went out. The spirit of man was no longer the lamp of the Lord in that man. The light went out."
Don't you just love Proverbs 20:27? The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord. When the Lord is in our hearts and we are following Him, our lamps are shining brightly. How wonderful!
Let's continue. Sparks goes on to say:
"And so right through the Bible it is assumed and declared that man by nature is in darkness, man by nature is blind, man by nature is without understanding, man by nature has not the knowledge which is life. The Lord Jesus built His whole coming and ministry upon that fact. "I am come a light into the world" (John 12:46). "(I came) into this world, that they which see not may see" (John 9:39). "This is life eternal, that they should know thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ" (John 17:3). It is assumed and taken for granted that man is in the dark, blind, without knowledge, and without understanding."
Here Sparks is telling us that the natural man cannot see the Lord. Until the eyes of our hearts are opened, we are spiritually blind. Sparks continues with a discussion of the deep things of God:
Now, the great passage which gathers all that into itself is the verse from which we have taken the title of this message - 1 Corinthians 2:14.
"Now the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things."
We ought really to read the whole chapter, and I suggest to you that you read this chapter very carefully as soon as possible. What have we here? Well, in verse 10 we have this phrase: "For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God". Now that is said in connection with what has just gone before. "Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, and which entered not into the heart of man, whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him. But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God."
Now the statement broken up is just this. There are the deep things of God. Those deep things of God are "things which no eye hath seen, no ear hath heard, things whereof no vision ever dawned on human heart, all those things which God hath made ready for those who love Him." That is how Wey puts that verse very beautifully. And the covering statement is that the natural man is shut out of all that. He just cannot know the deep things of God, for the natural eye has not seen, the natural ear has not heard, the natural heart has not conceived or perceived anything of this. All that was closed down to man when Adam disobeyed God. The natural man is utterly at a discount, entirely incapacitated, in the realm of the things of God. That is a very thorough-going, very drastic, very comprehensive statement."
Here Sparks is pointing out the difference between the natural man (Adam) and the spiritual man (Jesus). The natural man is incapable of following the Lord. Following Jesus requires becoming a spiritual man. According to Sparks, when we are blessed with the Spirit, our faculty gets renewed and this fundamentally changes the very fabric of our being. Here's what Sparks says:
"Something, then, has got to be done in man, if he is to come back into the realm where all that is open to him, where to him the deep things of God are an open book - a marvellous thing to say: where the things which eye never saw, ear never heard, heart never perceived, are all open, the heritage and the inheritance of man. Something has got to happen to change that state and make that true. But here it is! It is stated not as something that is going to be later on. This does not belong to the Hereafter, to Heaven, when we shall see. No, this is something which came in on the day of Pentecost. "God hath" - not is going to - "God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit": 'unto us', says Paul, 'did God unveil them by His Spirit.' The lamp has been re-lit, the light has been re-born; the faculty, which is the lamp of spiritual life, light, understanding, knowledge, perception and inheritance, has been brought into new life.
That is the new birth. It is the spirit of man, which lost its power of knowing God and the things of God, brought back into life as from the dead, brought back into the light as out of darkness, brought back into knowledge as out from ignorance, brought back into sight as out from blindness. This, dear friends, is the very beginning of the Christian life. Oh, if that were entered into and apprehended, and really were true of every Christian, am I not right in saying that much of that which exists would not exist? and that is putting it very mildly. So we begin in nature with a man incapacitated in regard to God and all His things, and then, with the coming of the Holy Spirit and the work of the Holy Spirit in new birth, the incapacitated man is capacitated. He has a faculty that he never before possessed in nature; he is quickened and made alive.
Now, this whole matter, as I suggested, relates first of all, initially, to a faculty. We have got to realise this, for it is a point upon which so much hangs. It concerns a faculty, renewed, quickened and energized by the Spirit of God, for knowing the deep things of God. It is not just a matter of information from without. It is not just a matter of what you get in addresses, teachings, ministries, messages and books. You can cram yourself with information about God and the things of God, you can read it up and get all that kind of knowledge and give it out as though it were your own, and yet it is secondhand. What the Spirit of God does is to make everything original, firsthand, in us; and if it is not that, we are simply living on something objective, outside of ourselves, whether it be sermons, addresses, churches or what not. There has to be a lighted lamp within us to illuminate the things of God."
When we receive the Spirit, our lamps become re-lit. How wonderful! How marvelous! In other words, when the Spirit enters our hearts, we possess the ability to shine. This is the very beginning, says Sparks, of the Christine life. The very beginning!
That's exactly how Christine and I feel about "Shine." The whole record is about the beginning of a spiritual journey into the loving heart of God. Our lamps have been re-lit. We can walk in love. We can bear Spiritual fruit. We can SHINE!
When the Spirit moved me to write the lyrics for the title track to "Shine," here's what came out:
Receive
The kingdom
Conceive
The love to come
Born anew
Two become One
Eternal life
Forever’s begun
Surrender
It's time
Go on your way
Believe
And shine
The simplicity and beauty of a new birth comes through loud and clear in those lyrics. The truth is I could have never written these lyrics prior to being blessed with the Spirit, or if, by chance I did, I would not be able to understand their meaning.
As I know now and as Sparks explains in his book, the Spirit unlocks the door to the heart of God. When we are blessed with the Spirit, we enter His kingdom - we receive it. We cannot buy it. It is a gift from God - the most precious gift in the entire universe. Having that gift allows us to fill our hearts with His love - a never failing and eternal love. New love is born in our hearts - a kind of love that our minds cannot comprehend. It is far greater than any human love. It is the kind of love that Jesus spoke of to His disciples - the kind that allows us to love our enemies (God loves our enemies).
Once blessed with the Spirit, we become One with God ("born anew, two become One"). It is a blessed union of hearts. Here is what Sparks says:
"But we spoke of a 'vital' union with God. That is indicated in further words in this chapter from 1 Corinthians. "Who among men knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man, which is in him?" May I illustrate by addressing my male readers for a moment? You and I, brethren, can understand one another - up to a point at any rate! - just because we are fellow-men. We know how men think and how men feel and how men act; and if we know other men, we know what to expect from men and what not to expect from men. We are men, and there is something in us which we have in common which is a man's life, which gives us ability to understand one another.
"Even so", says the Apostle, "the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God." Only the Spirit of God understands the things of God, because They have everything in common. Now the natural man does not understand God or the things of God. We know that. Even though we are Christians, how our own natural life limits our understanding of God! We have got to have some knowledge and understanding of God that we do not possess naturally, otherwise we are fogged and defeated and baffled. Only the Spirit of God understands God, because They are God in common.
Now, if the Spirit of God comes into us and begins to operate in us, we are lifted on to a higher level altogether than the 'natural man' level. The Spirit begins through this renewed faculty to make us able to understand the things of God, and that is the experience of every one to whom the Spirit reveals. It begins with a faculty in us. Oh, it is a wonderful thing, a wonderful thing, this faculty - I think the most wonderful thing in the whole Christian life, apart from the grace of God. It is a tremendous thing to have the key, the secret; in union with the Spirit of God to have a faculty in yourself for seeing through - for grasping the things of God. It is a wonderful thing to have that faculty, the greatest thing that we can possibly have. Just think of all this that is closed to the natural man - the deep things of God and all that is said about the deep things of God - and then follow on and say, "God hath revealed them unto us". And it is because He has done something in us."
Having the Spirit - this faculty that allows us to understand God - is the most wonderful thing in the whole Christian life, apart from the grace of God. As Sparks says, it is a TREMENDOUS thing to have the key, the secret - the ability to grasp the things of God.
We should all be shouting 'Amen!!!' after reading these passages. "AMEN!!!"
May the Spirit fill your heart and may your re-lit lamp shine.
Agape,
Steve
When Christine and I were working on 'Shine,' the Lord was beginning to move greatly in our hearts, and we allowed the Spirit to flow through the music. When I was inspired to write the lyrics to the title track, I knew in my heart that the concepts of 'believing' and 'shining' were important, but I had not fully grasped their meaning.
Recently, I came across a short book by T. Austin-Sparks titled, "Things of the Spirit," that illuminates the whole concept of what it means to shine. In this post, I would like to highlight certain passages from Sparks' book. I will start with the section titled "New Birth: A Lamp Re-lit." Here, Sparks says:
"This aliveness to God involves what the New Testament speaks of as 'new birth,' being born anew. But what is that? It is the re-birth of a certain faculty by which man is able to have this aliveness to God. The Word of God has this phrase: "The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord" (Prov. 20:27). Now a lamp is a very definite and concrete object. A lamp is something in itself. It is not just something abstract. A lamp is a definite object. "The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord." When Adam was disobedient, that lamp went out. The spirit of man was no longer the lamp of the Lord in that man. The light went out."
Don't you just love Proverbs 20:27? The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord. When the Lord is in our hearts and we are following Him, our lamps are shining brightly. How wonderful!
Let's continue. Sparks goes on to say:
"And so right through the Bible it is assumed and declared that man by nature is in darkness, man by nature is blind, man by nature is without understanding, man by nature has not the knowledge which is life. The Lord Jesus built His whole coming and ministry upon that fact. "I am come a light into the world" (John 12:46). "(I came) into this world, that they which see not may see" (John 9:39). "This is life eternal, that they should know thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ" (John 17:3). It is assumed and taken for granted that man is in the dark, blind, without knowledge, and without understanding."
Here Sparks is telling us that the natural man cannot see the Lord. Until the eyes of our hearts are opened, we are spiritually blind. Sparks continues with a discussion of the deep things of God:
Now, the great passage which gathers all that into itself is the verse from which we have taken the title of this message - 1 Corinthians 2:14.
"Now the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things."
We ought really to read the whole chapter, and I suggest to you that you read this chapter very carefully as soon as possible. What have we here? Well, in verse 10 we have this phrase: "For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God". Now that is said in connection with what has just gone before. "Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, and which entered not into the heart of man, whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him. But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God."
Now the statement broken up is just this. There are the deep things of God. Those deep things of God are "things which no eye hath seen, no ear hath heard, things whereof no vision ever dawned on human heart, all those things which God hath made ready for those who love Him." That is how Wey puts that verse very beautifully. And the covering statement is that the natural man is shut out of all that. He just cannot know the deep things of God, for the natural eye has not seen, the natural ear has not heard, the natural heart has not conceived or perceived anything of this. All that was closed down to man when Adam disobeyed God. The natural man is utterly at a discount, entirely incapacitated, in the realm of the things of God. That is a very thorough-going, very drastic, very comprehensive statement."
Here Sparks is pointing out the difference between the natural man (Adam) and the spiritual man (Jesus). The natural man is incapable of following the Lord. Following Jesus requires becoming a spiritual man. According to Sparks, when we are blessed with the Spirit, our faculty gets renewed and this fundamentally changes the very fabric of our being. Here's what Sparks says:
"Something, then, has got to be done in man, if he is to come back into the realm where all that is open to him, where to him the deep things of God are an open book - a marvellous thing to say: where the things which eye never saw, ear never heard, heart never perceived, are all open, the heritage and the inheritance of man. Something has got to happen to change that state and make that true. But here it is! It is stated not as something that is going to be later on. This does not belong to the Hereafter, to Heaven, when we shall see. No, this is something which came in on the day of Pentecost. "God hath" - not is going to - "God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit": 'unto us', says Paul, 'did God unveil them by His Spirit.' The lamp has been re-lit, the light has been re-born; the faculty, which is the lamp of spiritual life, light, understanding, knowledge, perception and inheritance, has been brought into new life.
That is the new birth. It is the spirit of man, which lost its power of knowing God and the things of God, brought back into life as from the dead, brought back into the light as out of darkness, brought back into knowledge as out from ignorance, brought back into sight as out from blindness. This, dear friends, is the very beginning of the Christian life. Oh, if that were entered into and apprehended, and really were true of every Christian, am I not right in saying that much of that which exists would not exist? and that is putting it very mildly. So we begin in nature with a man incapacitated in regard to God and all His things, and then, with the coming of the Holy Spirit and the work of the Holy Spirit in new birth, the incapacitated man is capacitated. He has a faculty that he never before possessed in nature; he is quickened and made alive.
Now, this whole matter, as I suggested, relates first of all, initially, to a faculty. We have got to realise this, for it is a point upon which so much hangs. It concerns a faculty, renewed, quickened and energized by the Spirit of God, for knowing the deep things of God. It is not just a matter of information from without. It is not just a matter of what you get in addresses, teachings, ministries, messages and books. You can cram yourself with information about God and the things of God, you can read it up and get all that kind of knowledge and give it out as though it were your own, and yet it is secondhand. What the Spirit of God does is to make everything original, firsthand, in us; and if it is not that, we are simply living on something objective, outside of ourselves, whether it be sermons, addresses, churches or what not. There has to be a lighted lamp within us to illuminate the things of God."
When we receive the Spirit, our lamps become re-lit. How wonderful! How marvelous! In other words, when the Spirit enters our hearts, we possess the ability to shine. This is the very beginning, says Sparks, of the Christine life. The very beginning!
That's exactly how Christine and I feel about "Shine." The whole record is about the beginning of a spiritual journey into the loving heart of God. Our lamps have been re-lit. We can walk in love. We can bear Spiritual fruit. We can SHINE!
When the Spirit moved me to write the lyrics for the title track to "Shine," here's what came out:
Receive
The kingdom
Conceive
The love to come
Born anew
Two become One
Eternal life
Forever’s begun
Surrender
It's time
Go on your way
Believe
And shine
The simplicity and beauty of a new birth comes through loud and clear in those lyrics. The truth is I could have never written these lyrics prior to being blessed with the Spirit, or if, by chance I did, I would not be able to understand their meaning.
As I know now and as Sparks explains in his book, the Spirit unlocks the door to the heart of God. When we are blessed with the Spirit, we enter His kingdom - we receive it. We cannot buy it. It is a gift from God - the most precious gift in the entire universe. Having that gift allows us to fill our hearts with His love - a never failing and eternal love. New love is born in our hearts - a kind of love that our minds cannot comprehend. It is far greater than any human love. It is the kind of love that Jesus spoke of to His disciples - the kind that allows us to love our enemies (God loves our enemies).
Once blessed with the Spirit, we become One with God ("born anew, two become One"). It is a blessed union of hearts. Here is what Sparks says:
"But we spoke of a 'vital' union with God. That is indicated in further words in this chapter from 1 Corinthians. "Who among men knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man, which is in him?" May I illustrate by addressing my male readers for a moment? You and I, brethren, can understand one another - up to a point at any rate! - just because we are fellow-men. We know how men think and how men feel and how men act; and if we know other men, we know what to expect from men and what not to expect from men. We are men, and there is something in us which we have in common which is a man's life, which gives us ability to understand one another.
"Even so", says the Apostle, "the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God." Only the Spirit of God understands the things of God, because They have everything in common. Now the natural man does not understand God or the things of God. We know that. Even though we are Christians, how our own natural life limits our understanding of God! We have got to have some knowledge and understanding of God that we do not possess naturally, otherwise we are fogged and defeated and baffled. Only the Spirit of God understands God, because They are God in common.
Now, if the Spirit of God comes into us and begins to operate in us, we are lifted on to a higher level altogether than the 'natural man' level. The Spirit begins through this renewed faculty to make us able to understand the things of God, and that is the experience of every one to whom the Spirit reveals. It begins with a faculty in us. Oh, it is a wonderful thing, a wonderful thing, this faculty - I think the most wonderful thing in the whole Christian life, apart from the grace of God. It is a tremendous thing to have the key, the secret; in union with the Spirit of God to have a faculty in yourself for seeing through - for grasping the things of God. It is a wonderful thing to have that faculty, the greatest thing that we can possibly have. Just think of all this that is closed to the natural man - the deep things of God and all that is said about the deep things of God - and then follow on and say, "God hath revealed them unto us". And it is because He has done something in us."
Having the Spirit - this faculty that allows us to understand God - is the most wonderful thing in the whole Christian life, apart from the grace of God. As Sparks says, it is a TREMENDOUS thing to have the key, the secret - the ability to grasp the things of God.
We should all be shouting 'Amen!!!' after reading these passages. "AMEN!!!"
May the Spirit fill your heart and may your re-lit lamp shine.
Agape,
Steve
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home