Faith Unto Enlargement Through Adversity # 13

The Key of Faith (continued)

The Danger of Passivity

It is thus clear that enlargement is a governing thought with God. But the Lord Jesus has not only pointed out that this is what God would have, but He has said on the other hand that it is exceedingly dangerous to be empty. He spoke of a certain "house," which was a man, possessed of a demon, an unclean spirit; and He visualized the casting out of the unclean spirit: but, although the house is 'swept and garnished,' it is left empty; and, because no other occupant takes possession, the unclean spirit comes back to his old home, taking seven other more evil than himself, and fills the empty house (Matthew 12:43-45). It is a dangerous thing to be empty, to leave a void. If God does not fill, the devil will. Beware of negative conditions, of not being positive and not being definite. Beware of vacuums in your heart, in your mind, in your life. David was one day on the housetop in a state of 'vacuum,' at a time when kings go out to war (2 Samuel 11:1-2) - and he was a king, and a warring king. But instead of being occupied in a positive way, he was in a passive state, and we know the disaster that overtook him, from which he never recovered all his life. It is a dangerous thing to be empty. The devil will see to the filling up of any space that he can occupy. The Lord wants to fill to the exclusion of all else.

The Fullness of God

The ultimate word in this matter in the Bible is: "that ye may be filled unto all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:19). Think of that! This is said to believers together in their corporate, related life - to the Church, which is "the fullness of Him that filleth all in all" (Ephesians 1:23). Think of it: the fullness of God! - that is, God coming in such a way that there is no room for anything else. It was like that at the dedication of Solomon's temple, in the Old Testament. When the priests moved out of the sanctuary, the glory of the Lord moved in and filled the house, and the priests could no longer stand to minister (1 Kings 8:10-11; 2 Chron. 5:11-14). When the Lord fills, there is no room for anything or anyone else. That is the fullness of God.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 14 - (Emptiness The Result of Judgment)