27 here is an important subject that has to do with faith and the practical reception of that for which we are able to trust Him. appropriation (def - suitable for a particular person, purpose, occasion ..from latin appropriatus made one's own) does not necessarily mean to gain something new, but to set aside for our practical possession something that already belongs to us.
to appropriate something for our daily walk in Christ, we face 2 essentials: to see what is already ours in Christ; and to be aware of our need for it. on these 2 factors rests the ability to appropriate, to reach out in steadfast faith and receive what belongs to us in our Lord Jesus Christ.
regarding the first essential, to SEE what is already ours, William R. Newell wrote: 'Paul does not ask a thing of the saints in the first 3 chapters of Ephesians but just to listen while he proclaims that wondrous series of great and eternal FACTS concerning them and not until he has completed this catalogue of realities about them does he ask them to do anything at all!
'and when he does open his plea for their high walk as saints, everything is based on the revelation before given - the facts of their high character and destiny as saints: 'I therefore... beseech you that ye walked worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called ( ephesians 4.1). let us cease laying down to the saints long lists of 'conditions' of entering into the blessed life in Christ; and instead, as the primal preparation for leading them into the experience of this life, show them what their position, possessions and privileges in Christ already are. thus shall we truly work with the Holy Spirit and thus shall we have more and much more abiding fruit of our labors among the people of God.'
once we see what is ours in Christ Jesus, practical need will cause us to appropriate, to receive the answer to that need. 'there was a supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ' for paul and that made it possible for Christ to be magnified in him. it was a supply which was always available, but only appreciated and appropriated as and when the Apostle came to know his need. life is meant to bring a succession of discoveries of our need of Christ and with every such discovery the way is opened for a new inflow of the supply. this is the explanation of so much that we cannot otherwise understand - this plunging of us into new tests where only a fresh supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ will beet out need. and as our need is met, as we prove the sufficiency of Christ to meet our inward need, so there can be a new showing forth of His glory through us. (HF)
these two realities of seeing and needing bring us from childish meandering into a responsible, specific walk of faith. they take us from the 'help me' attitude to that of giving thanks; from begging to appropriation...
30 ..now we have seen a third element involved in our appropriation. after we have seen our possessions in Christ and become aware of our need, then we must give Him the necessary time to work the appropriation into our everyday walk. if we are looking for our needs to be met in the next interview, the next devotional book, the next series of special meetings, the next hoped-for 'revival', then reality will never come.
in this matter of christian development, there is no shortcut, no quick and easy way. the Husbandman builds into the believer that which He intends to minister through him to others. to minister Life to others, what one does and says must flow from what he is. 'for it pleased the Father that in Him (Christ Jesus) should all fullness dwell'; 'for we are made partakers of Christ'; 'that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God'; 'for your life is hidden with Christ in God'; 'that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh' (Col. 1.19; Heb. 3.14; Eph. 3.19; Col. 3.3; II cor. 4.11b)
how often we simply admire and talk about truths the Holy Spirit reveals to us in the Word, whereas His primary purpose in giving them to us is that we might stand on them in faith, waiting confidently for Him to make them an integral part of our life. 'A prophet is one who has a history, one who has been dealt with by God, one who has experienced the formative work of the Spirit. we are sometimes asked by would-be preachers who many days should be spent in preparation of a sermon. the answer: at least 10 years and probably nearer 20! for the preacher matters to God at least as much as the thing preached. God chooses as His prophets those in whom He has already worked what He intends to use as His message for today'.
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