"The best that I can hope is that this has just opened a window, and that as you look through it you are seeing one thing - how superior is Jesus Christ to all else!"
- T. Austin-Sparks
July 18
You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? (Galatians 5:7 ESV)
Something had broken in and interrupted their running in the
spiritual race. This was extremely serious and disturbed Paul to the depths of
his being. It seems that in the case of the Galatians it was again the natural
man, but this time in the realm of natural emotions. They seem to have been of
that temperamental constitution which corresponds to Christ's words in the
parable about seed falling into shallow soil. The seed was received quickly and
earnestly, but did not go on to produce a harvest. There are some people who
make an enthusiastic start in this way and make quite a stir about it, but then
do not go steadily on. These Galatians were like that; they made a tremendous
response; they loudly protested their devotion; and then they were very quick to
drop out of the race. Why? Because they lived on their emotions, on their
feelings, and these were changeable. This may well be a matter of temperament,
but in fact something of such a characteristic can be found in most of us. We
respond to an appeal, come under the power of a great emotion, and then slack
off. In the words of the Lord Jesus: "When tribulation or persecution ariseth...
he is offended" (Matthew 13:21).
Clearly, then, if you and I are going to persevere to the end we must have a
greater power than that of our natural emotional life. The only hope is that it
may be true of us, as of Paul: "The love of Christ constraineth" (2 Corinthians
5:14). There is all the difference between the natural and the spiritual in this
matter of the energy of love. This word translated 'constraineth' is the same
one used over the arrest of Jesus when it says: "the men that held Jesus"
(Luke 22:63). So it is
that the love of Christ should hold or grip us, conquering our natural emotions
by the mighty power of the Spirit. Our feelings come and go. They may be strong
at times but they can also grow very weak. If we do not know something of the
mighty grip of Christ's love, we will never go right through to the end of this
strenuous race. After all it is the love of Christ which makes for the fullness
of Christ. If we finally come to that fullness it can only be by the constraint
and holding power of His love. "Ye were running well: who did hinder you?" The
answer is, "You ran in the strength of your own emotions, you ran as your
enthusiastic response to God's call because it affected your feelings for the
time." The letter to the Galatians is devoted to emphasizing the place of the
Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, for He alone can supply the necessary
energy of love for us to go on running well.
Daily Open Windows messages have been selected from the works of T. Austin-Sparks. In some cases they appear in abridged form. The introductory verse and its associated Bible version have been selected by the website editor and did not always appear within the original message. In keeping with T. Austin-Sparks' wishes that what was freely received should be freely given and not sold for profit, and that his messages be reproduced word for word, we ask if you choose to share these messages with others, to please respect his wishes and offer them freely - free of any changes, free of any charge (except necessary distribution costs) and with this statement included.