The Certainties of the kingdom - Chambers, Oswald

1. The substratum of certainty (acts 17:2229)

Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare i unto you. . . . For in him we live, and move, and have our being. (acts 17:23, 28)

Substratum an under stratum or layer, a fundamental element that does not appear, but on which all that does appear rests. There is a difference between the christian foundation and my experience of it. I can no more experience the foundation of my faith than a building can experience its foundation; but the two must be associated. Dissatisfaction in the christian life is sure to arise if the foundations are ignored. Because men cannot experience the foundations of the christian

Faith they are apt to discard them as unnecessary: they are more necessary than all the experiences which spring from them. To say you dont need theology to save a soul is like saying what is the good of a foundation? What we want is a house. The good of the foundation is that when the storms come nothing can wreck the house that is built on the foundation (see Matthew 7:2427).

Theology is the science of Christianity; much that is wrongly called theology is mere psychological guess-work, verifiable only from experience. Christian theology is the ordered exposition of revelation certainties. If our teaching and preaching is not based on a recognition of those things that cannot be experienced it will produce parasites, people who depend on being fed by others. We are dealing in these studies with the great fundamental certainties of the kingdom, and it is essential to take time to soak in these certainties so that when we get out into work we find we are rooted and grounded on the right foundation. If we go into work on the ground of our experience we will soon be exhausted.

What do i know about the foundation truths which i expect to reproduce in my own experience? Experience is an effect; i must have faith in a god whom i never can experience. My experiences are accountable for only by the fact that i am based on god who is bigger than all my experiences of him. We must take time to know who it is we worship. We worship a revelation, not a mystery. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare i unto you. How can i know god? Jesus christ has revealed him: he that hath seen me hath seen the father. I do not experience god; i relate all my experiences to the revelation of god which jesus christ has made.

2. The superstructure of cultivation (1 Corinthians 3:1015)

But let every man take heed how he buildeth there- upon. (1 Corinthians 3:10)

Superstructure anything erected on a foundation. We are to be wise master builders, taking care that the superstructure is built according to the foundation, and see to it that we put on the foundation only those things that will stand the fire. Self-interest cannot stand the fire, it is not of the nature of god. There is a danger in us all of ignoring the funda- mental things and dealing only with the things that affect our immediate interests; what engrosses our attention actually is what we are after. The practical craze, anything that is efficient, is the insanity of our daywe must be at it! Do anything at all, but don’t take time to sit down and think and pray, that is a waste of time; all that is required is to live right practically. If you are living right practically it is because you have not only experienced new birth, but you are being nourished on the right foundation. . . . And the fire shall try every mans work of what sort it is. We put on the foundation stuff built by our own human energy, consequently as soon as it is touched by the fire of the presence of god, it fizzles up; it is not of the nature of reality, it does not belong to the foundation. In 1 Corinthians 13:13, the apostle Paul is referring to the white-heat of emotional energy, the height of intellectual efficiency and competence; i can do certain things and ostensibly prove i can, but, he says, it all amounts to nothing because it is not based on the foundation. The only work that will abide is that which is built on the foundation, which is Jesus christ.

3. The supremacy of Christ

Come unto me. . . . (Matthew 11:28)

Supremacy highest authority or power. God never insists on our obedience; human authority does. Our lord does not give us rules and regulations; he makes very clear what the standard is, and if the relation of my spirit to him is that of love, i will do all he wants me to do without the slightest hesitation. If i begin to object it is because i love someone else in competition with him, viz. , myself.

Galatians 2:20 is foundation truth and experimental truth in one i am crucified with Christ: nevertheless i live; yet not i, but christ liveth in me. These words mean the breaking of my independence and surrendering to the supremacy of the lord Jesus. No one can do this for me, i must do it myself. There is no possibility of debate when once i am there. It is not that we have to do work for god, we have to be so loyal to Jesus christ that he does his work through us. We learn his truth by obeying it.

Come unto me. It is the rarest thing for us to come to Jesus; we come to our own earnestness; we come with notions of what we want. How often have you come to god with your requests and gone away with the feeling, oh, well, i have done it this time! And yet you go away with nothing, while all the time god has stood with outstretched hands, not only to take you but for you to take him. Think of the invincible, unconquerable, unwearying patience of Jesus come unto me. The attitude of coming is that you fling yourself entirely on him, and that is salvation, because he is salvation. Stake your all on god, and never be impertinent enough to tell him that that is what you are doing. Come, if you are weary and heavy laden; ask, if you are evil; and everything that happens after that is of God.