"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
October 11
Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. (Hebrews 12:15 NLT)
If we consider what were some of the practical factors in Christ's crucifixion
we realize that His sufferings were caused by men's fickleness, bigotry,
fearfulness, jealousy and treachery. In love He bore all these for us. And these
may well be the factors which challenge the reality of our love to God. The
fickle crowds so soon forgot the kindness and goodness of the Lord Jesus,
allowing themselves to be carried away by base and false accusations, so that
they cried out against the one whom they had formerly extolled and praised. The
Pharisees were so dominated by a religious bigotry which was cruel in its
intolerance and harsh in its legalistic denunciations that they took the lead in
causing His sufferings. The disciples, as well as Pilate, were fearful; Judas
was treacherous; and Satan was jealous himself and inspired jealousy in the
Sadducees and others. But all this concentration of attacks upon love did not
turn the Lord away from remaining faithful to the Father's will in every detail.
God's love meant more to Him than the bitterness of enemies, the failure of
friends, the strength of popular opinion or the matter of His own rights. When
He came to rest in the glory of the Father's presence, love had conquered every
temptation....
We, too, are confronted by some of the foes which He had to face, for we have
been called to bear the Cross after Him. The fickleness of friends and
fellow-workers, the bigoted criticism of those who claim to be God's servants,
the fear-inspiring pressure of popular opinion, the misunderstanding and
jealousy which Satan himself inspires – these are some of the tests put to our
love. We can never hope to overcome them unless we remember that there is in the
presence of God for us a Savior who suffered the full agony of these things,
but accepted them as part of the cup which the Father had given Him to drink. It
was love for the Father which enabled Him always to choose the Father's will,
and the outcome of His triumph is that "we should be holy and without blemish
before Him in love." There is a sense in which God is seeking to undo in us all
that failure of love which we inherit from Adam. He exposes us to the
painfulness of the Cross, not in some capricious or unsympathetic way, but
because He aims to reproduce in us that love in fulfillment of His will which
Christ already presents to Him on our behalf.
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.