The only true attitude for the Christian is that of dependence. The moment we get off the ground of dependence on God we are sure to come to grief. This is true both individually and collectively.
Peter got off the ground of dependence when, in self-confidence, he said, “Though all men shall be offended because of Thee, yet will I never be offended” (Matt. 26:3333Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. (Matthew 26:33)). Alas, he soon had to learn by bitter experience that he had no strength to stand when the hour of trial came. So it is with us; if we think we are strong and able to meet the enemy, it is just then we are in the most dangerous position of all. God has to allow some sifting to come to show us that we are nothing and that all our strength is in Him.
For a servant of God, even success in the Lord’s work has its dangers. He is apt to accredit himself with what God has done through or by him and to think that he has accomplished something. In this connection, it is interesting to note that the apostles, after returning from a most blessed missionary work, reported not what they had done, but all that God had done with them (see Acts 14:27; 15:4,12; 21:1927And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. (Acts 14:27)
4And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them. (Acts 15:4)
12Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. (Acts 15:12)
19And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. (Acts 21:19)).
It is only in the Lord’s presence and in nearness to Him that there can be that absence of self and constant dependence upon Him so needed for the Christian life and service. The same need of dependence is true collectively. The moment an assembly of Christians begins to say (or to think, if they do not say it), “We are the people, the testimony,” failure has come in; they are off the ground of dependence. Self, and not Christ, has become the object of attention. They have, in fact, taken the first step on the sloping plane of self-occupation, which is sure to end in disaster if not repented of.
The True Example
Our blessed Lord was the true example of dependence. He never deviated from the path of absolute dependence on the Father, not even for a moment. The last Adam stood where the first Adam had failed. No subtle allurements of Satan could induce Him to set up an independent will or leave the ground of simple dependence.
Thus, He could say, “I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me” (John 6:3838For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. (John 6:38)); “I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent Me” (John 5:3030I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. (John 5:30)); “I do always those things that please Him” (John 8:2929And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him. (John 8:29)). And He could answer Satan by “It is written.” He lived by the Father and by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God. His was a path of perfect obedience, perfect dependence, perfect submission to the Father’s will, and therefore of perfect light and inward joy, whatever sorrows may have pressed upon Him from without.
Oh to learn more of His grace! Just to dwell upon the path of the lowly, humble man, Jesus, who could say in the depth of His self-abnegation, “Thou My soul hast said to Jehovah, Thou art the Lord: My goodness extendeth not to Thee; — to the saints that are on the earth, and to the excellent Thou hast said, In them is all My delight” (Psa. 16:23 JND). What a place of perfect submission and dependence!
And was not our Lord Jesus truly and really “over all, God blessed forever” (Rom. 9:55Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. (Romans 9:5))? Surely He was, but He does not take that place in the psalm just quoted. Nowhere, indeed, does He show Himself to be God more truly than in the act of taking, voluntarily and in divine love, the lowly form of a bondservant. And how blessedly He has marked out the way for us and manifested the true features of the divine life in man, in His lowly path of dependence on God.
Blessed Saviour, may we learn of Thee and be occupied with Thee! And thus may that wretched self which so clings to us be displaced and forgotten in the presence of Thy lowly grace, perfect devotedness, and humble submission to the Father’s will in everything!
F. G. B., Christian Truth, 12:141