Whispers of His Power – AUGUST 25

Phil. 2.5-8:  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:  but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man,  He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

We never touch the realm of the cross until we are suffering vicariously, until our suffering is the suffering of sympathy with others, and our strength is being poured out in order to help others.  That is the cross.  We can only interpret the cross by His cross.

It is an arresting and revealing thing to take the demands of Jesus as uttered at Caesarea Philippi and place them side by side with the greatest thing written under inspiration by the apostle concerning the Lord Himself.  Read what Paul wrote in Philippians 2.5-8.

There is the cross.  He emptied Himself.  The death of the cross.

If I am going after Him I must deny myself.  He went all the way to the cross.  If I am going to be His disciple I must accept that cross as the principle of all life and service.  That is what He meant here.  He says:  If men are coming after Me, they must go My way:  Discipleship does not merely mean the salvation of the soul.  It means fellowship with Him in the travail, and then the triumph.  Unless we are prepared for that, He says we cannot be His disciples.

oooOOOooo

These words are from ’Whispers of His Power’ a collection of writings that Amy Carmichael wrote for her ‘children’ and others associated with the Dohnavur Fellowship. and are Copyright © The Dohnavur Fellowship 1982

Unless otherwise stated, biblical quotations are from the Authorized King James Version of the Bible.

The following abbreviations are used to refer to other versions and sources:

BCP:               Book of Common Prayer, the Great Bible of Coverdale

Conybeare:       W. J. Conybeare, The Epistles of Paul (a translation)

Delitzsch:        F. Delitzsch, Notes on Job and the Psalms

Kay:                W. Kay, The Psalms (a translation)

LXX:              The Septuagint

Moffatt:           J. Moffatt, The New Testament: a new translation

Rotherham:      J. B. Rotherham, The Emphasized Bible Revised Version

RV:                 Revised Version

Way:              A. Way, The Letters of St Paul (a translation)

Westcott:         F. Westcott, Notes on the Gospel of St John

Weymouth:      R. F. Weymouth, The New Testament in Modern Speech

Young:            R. Young, A Literal Translation of the Bible

Verses of poetry without quotation marks were written by Amy Carmichael.