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The Way Of The Winepress

We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. (2 Corinthians 1:8 ESV)

The Lord Jesus said "I am the true Vine," and it was prophesied of Him that He would tread the winepress alone. The Cross was His winepress. How He was pressed in the Cross! He was crushed and broken, but out of that breaking has come the Life which you and I have, and which so many in all the nations have received. That is true, in a measure, of His Church. It was out of the breaking and crushing of the Church that the Life came to the world. And that is true of every member, every branch of the vine. If we are to fulfill this true, living ministry, it will only be through suffering, through the winepress, through pressure and through breaking. Paul said: "We were pressed out of measure, above strength" (2 Corinthians 1:8 A.V.) but what Life has come out of that man's pressure! It is like that. We are not talking about preaching and Bible teaching, but about this great ministry of Christ giving His Life through us. It may be passed on to others through preaching, or through teaching, or through living, but if it is His Life it will come out of experiences of suffering. A preacher or a teacher who has never suffered will never minister Life.

Well, this may not seem a very pleasant outlook, but it is true. The best doctors and nurses are those who know something about suffering themselves. Some are just professional, treating you as a case you are just case number blank. But, ah! there are others who treat you as a person, a human being, who care for you. If you ask why, you may find that they have a background of suffering themselves. They know just a little of what you are going through. We have read in the Letter to the Hebrews: "We have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one that hath been in all points tempted like as we are... He is able to succor them that are tempted" (Hebrews 4:15, 2:18). He has been the way of the winepress and we have received the benefit.

I am dark, but lovely.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. § “Your fame went out among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through My splendor which I had bestowed on you,” says the Lord God.

I am a sinful man, O Lord! § Behold, you are fair, my love! Behold, you are fair!

I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. § You are all fair, my love, and there is no spot in you. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. § Be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.

I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells. § You are complete in Him. § Perfect in Christ Jesus.

You were washed, … you were sanctified, … you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. § That you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Song 1:5;  Ps. 51:5;  Ezek. 16:14; Luke 5:8; Song 4:1; Job 42:6;  Song 4:7;  Rom. 7:21; Matt. 9:2;  Rom. 7:18; Col. 2:10;  Col. 1:28;  1 Cor. 6:11;  1 Peter 2:9

All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

I have come to “set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law… A man’s enemies will be those of his own household.” § Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. § Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.

If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. . . . “A servant is not greater than his master.” § I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

2 Tim. 3:12;   Matt. 10:35,36;   James 4:4;  1 John 2:15,16;   John 15:18,19;   John 15:20;   John 17:14

Truth, Then Experience

But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Pet. 3:18).

The Christian who relies mainly upon "experiences" for growth will manifest little spiritual discernment, dependability or maturity, whereas the believer who relies upon doctrinal truth will be found to manifest these aspects of a healthy walk. If we bypass truth, we fall short of spiritual reality.

"Many people today are seeking for a new religious experience and when the last grows old, they seek to get yet another experience. The actual need of most believers today is not an experience, but a true apprehension of what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished on the Cross for us and of our present day union with Him.

"When a person begins to apprehend what it means to be united to the Son of God and what he has through this union, he will at once realize that his spiritual growth depends upon a clear understanding of truth rather than upon an experience. However, those who really appropriate this truth cannot fail to have daily experiences with the Lord." -L.L.L.

"Nowhere in Scripture is it taught that there is a sudden leap to be taken from carnality to spirituality, or from a life of comparative unconcern as to godliness to one of intense devotion to the Lord Jesus. On the contrary, increase in piety is ever presented as a growth, which should be as normal and natural as the orderly progression in human life from infancy to full stature." -H.A.I.

"Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them, that thy profiting may appear to all" (1 Tim. 4:15).

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