Take Courage

The World and the Church

Still Higher For His Highest

by Oswald Chambers, February 15

so that He might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thin, that she might be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:27 ESV)

We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. (1 John 5:19 ESV)

The Church confronts the world with a message the world craves for but resents because it comes through the Cross of Christ. The central keystone for all Time and Eternity on which the whole purpose of God depends is the Cross (Galatians 6:14). When the world gets in a bad way, she refers to the Church; when prosperous, she hates it. If men could blot out the standard of the Christian Church they would do it; but in a crisis they find a need in their own heart. As preachers we are privileged by God to stand stedfast against any element that lowers His standard. We are called upon to confront the world with the Gospel of Christ, not to start off on side tracks of our own. The Church owns a mastery the world can neither ignore nor do without, the mastery of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am reading through this book as part of my early morning devotional time. It has been a blessing to me and helped me think upon the things of God. Chambers was a godly man who was a very good teacher of the Word. He knew God and was growing in his knowledge of God. He didn’t just know about God. Both his intellectual and practical knowledge of God were in balance. I would encourage you to read anything by him. I don’t think you will be disappointed.

Be growing in GRACE,

Bill (a fellow-laborer)

Romans 15:13; Jeremiah 9:23-24)

“I place no value on anything I have or possess except in relation to the Kingdom of Christ. If anything I have will advance that Kingdom, it shall be given or kept, whichever will best promote the glory of Him to whom I owe all my hopes, both for time and eternity.”

–         David W. Livingstone