THIS VERSE PULLS Paul back to the center: “It is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and all for your upbuilding, beloved” (2 Cor. 12:19). This is important—very. He writes of “speaking in Christ.” To be in Christ is to speak in Christ—to speak with His emphasis and with His spirit.
With His emphasis. If we are to speak with His emphasis, we must saturate ourselves with the New Testament, for here we find the clearest exposition of His emphases. Get your eyes off Him and you sink. In a plane which was tossed about in a wind of eighty miles an hour over mountains, a lady opposite me was reading a book on faith healing and forthwith got sick. I was reading the New Testament and I rode the waves—as He did—with joy!
With His emphasis. Some of our emphases may be verbal. His were vital. The emphasis of His words and of His acts were the same. The prime minister of the Union of South Africa, as he was about to make a speech, loosed a white dove which was the symbol that he would make peace in South Africa. The dove refused to fly, however, and hit the ground with a thud! A very dramatic symbol that you cannot have peace by slogans and symbols. He had one emphasis with his drama and another with his deed. There was no power in it. Jesus’ words had power, for His words were deeds and His deeds were words.
With His spirit—His emphasis and His spirit. The latter is important. We can say the right thing with the wrong spirit. To speak in Christ is to speak both with His emphasis and with His spirit. A dog knows the difference—throw him a bone and he’ll go away without a wag of his tail. Call him to you, pat his head, and give him the bone, and he’ll go away with wagging tail. In both cases it is the same act; you gave the bone. The latter was different because it was done in a different spirit.
O Jesus, Savior Divine, may I give Thy gifts with Thy spirit. Then the gifts will be gifts—plus. There will be an aroma about them—the aroma of Thy spirit. All will be upbuilt, for Thou art life. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: Speaking in Christ, thinking in Christ, loving in Christ, living in Christ—may this be my occupation today.
