Working For God! Part 3

Prepared unto every Good Work.

If a man therefore cleanse himself from them, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, meet for the Master's use, prepared unto every good work.'a"2 Tim. 2:21 Paul had spoken of the foundation of G.o.d standing sure (2:19), of the Church as the great house built upon that foundation, of vessels, not only of gold, silver, costly and lasting, vessels to honour, but also of wood and of earth, common and perishable, vessels to dishonour. He distinguishes between them of whom he had spoken, who gave themselves to striving about words and to vain babblings, and such as truly sought to depart from all iniquity. In our text he gives us the four steps in the path in which a man can become a vessel unto honour in the great household of G.o.d. These are, the cleansing from sin; the being sanctified; the meetness for the Master to use as He will; and last, the spirit of preparedness for every good work. It is not enough that we desire or attempt to do good works. As we need training and care to prepare us for every work we are to do on earth, we need it no less, or rather we need it much more, to bea"what const.i.tutes the chief mark of the vessels unto honoura"to be prepared unto every good work.

If a man cleanse himself from them'a"from that which characterises the vessels of dishonoura"the empty profession leading to unG.o.dliness, against which he had warned. In every dish and cup we use, how we insist upon it that it shall be clean. In G.o.d's house the vessels must much more be clean. And every one who would be truly prepared unto every good work must see to this first of all, that he cleanse himself from all that is sin. Christ Himself could not enter upon His saving work in heaven until He had accomplished the cleansing of our sins. How can we become partners in His work, unless there be with us the same cleansing first. Ere Isaiah could say, Here am I, send me,' the fire of heaven had touched his lips, and he heard the voice, Thy sin is purged.' An intense desire to be cleansed from every sin lies at the root of fitness for true service.

He shall be a vessel of honour, sanctified.' Cleansing is the negative side, the emptying out and removal of all that is impure. Sanctified, the positive side, the refilling and being possessed of the spirit of holiness, through whom the soul becomes G.o.d-possessed, and so partakes of His holiness. Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit'a"this first, then, and so perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord.' In the temple the vessels were not only to be clean, but holy, devoted to G.o.d's service alone. He that would truly work for G.o.d must follow after holiness; a heart established in holiness' (1 Thess.

4:14), a holy habit of mind and disposition, yielded up to G.o.d and marked by a sense of His presence, fit for G.o.d's work. The cleansing from sin secures the filling with the Spirit.

Meet for the Master's use.' We are vessels for our Lord to use. In every work we do, it is to be Christ using us and working through us.

The sense of being a servant, dependent on the Master's guidance, working under the Master's eye, instruments used by Him and His mighty power, lies at the root of effectual service. It maintains that unbroken dependence, that quiet faith, through which the Lord can do His work. It keeps up that blessed consciousness of the work being all His, which leads the worker to become the humbler the more be is used.

His one desire isa"meet for the Master's use.

Prepared unto every good work.' Prepared. The word not only means equipment, fitness, but also the disposition, the alacrity which keeps a man on the outlook, and makes him earnestly desire and joyfully avail himself of every opportunity of doing his Master's work. As he lives in touch with his Lord Jesus, and holds himself as a cleansed and sanctified vessel, ready for Him to use, and he sees how good works are what he was redeemed for, and what his fellowship with his Lord is to be proved in, they become the one thing he is to live for. He is prepared unto every good work.

1. Meet for the Master's use,' that is the central thought. A personal relation to Christ, an entire surrender to His disposal, a dependent waiting to be used by Him, a joyful confidence that He will use usa"such is the secret of true work.

2. Let the beginning of your work be a giving yourself into the hands of the Master, as your living, loving Lord.

XX.

Furnished completely unto every Good Work Give diligence to present thyself approved unto G.o.d, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth.'a"2 Tim.

2:15.

Every scripture inspired of G.o.d is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness; that the man of G.o.d may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.'a"2 Tim. 3:16, 17 A workman that needeth not to be ashamed is one who is not afraid to have the master come and inspect his work. In hearty devotion to it, in thoroughness and skill, he presents himself approved to him who employs him. G.o.d's workers are to give diligence to present themselves approved to Him; to have their work worthy of Him unto all well-pleasing. They are to be as a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. A workman is one who knows his work, who gives himself wholly to it, who is known as a working man, who takes delight in doing his work well. Such every Christian minister, every Christian worker, is to bea"a workman that makes a study of it to invite and expect the Master's approval.

Handling aright the word of truth.' The word is a seed, a fire, a hammer, a sword, is bread, is light. Workmen in any of these spheres can be our example. In work for G.o.d everything depends upon handling the word aright. Therefore it is that, in the second text quoted above, the personal subjection to the word, and the experience of its power, is spoken of as the one means of our being completely furnished to every good work. G.o.d's workers must know that the Scripture is inspired of G.o.d, and has the life and life-giving power of G.o.d in it. Inspired is Spirit-breatheda"the life in a seed, G.o.d's Holy Spirit is in the word. The Spirit in the word and the Spirit in our heart is One. As by the power of the Spirit within us we take the Spirit-filled word we become spiritual men. This word is given for teaching, the revelation of the thoughts of G.o.d; for reproof, the discovery of our sins and mistakes; for correction, the removal of what is defective to be replaced by what is right and good; for instruction which is in righteousness, the communication of all the knowledge needed to walk before G.o.d in His ways. As one yields himself wholly and heartily to all this, and the true Spirit-filled word gets mastery of his whole being, he becomes a man of G.o.d, complete and furnished completely to every good work. He becomes a workman approved of G.o.d, who needs not to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of G.o.d. And so the man of G.o.d has the double marka"his own life wholly moulded by the Spirit-breathed worda"and his whole work directed by his rightly handling that word.

That the man of G.o.d may be complete, thoroughly furnished unto every good work.' In our previous meditation we learnt how in the cleansing and sanctification of the personal life the worker becomes a vessel meet for the Masters use, prepared unto every good work. Here we learn the same lessona"it is the man of G.o.d who allows G.o.d's word to do its work of reproving and correcting and instructing in his own life who will be complete, completely furnished unto every good work. Complete equipment and readiness for every good worka"that is what every worker for G.o.d must aim at.

If any worker, conscious of how defective his preparation is, ask how this complete furnishing for every good work is to be attained, the a.n.a.logy of an earthly workman, who needs not be ashamed, suggests the answer. He would tell us that he owes his success, first of all, to devotion to his work. He gave it his close attention. He left other things to concentrate his efforts on mastering one thing. He made it a life-study to do his work perfectly. They who would do Christ's work as a second thing, not as the first, and who are not willing to sacrifice all for it, will never be complete or completely furnished to every good work.

The second thing he will speak of will be patient training and exercise. Proficiency only comes through painstaking effort. You may feel as if you know not how or what to work aright. Fear nota"all learning begins with ignorance and mistakes. Be of good courage. He who has endowed human nature with the wonderful power that has filled the world with such skilled and cunning workmen, will He not much more give His children the grace they need to be His fellowworkers? Let the necessity that is laid upon youa"the necessity that you should glorify G.o.d, that you should bless the world, that you should through work enn.o.ble and perfect your life and blessedness, urge you to give immediate and continual diligence to be a workman completely furnished unto every good work.

It is only in doing we learn to do aright. Begin working under Christ's training; He will perfect His work in you, and so fit you for your work for him.

1. The work G.o.d is doing, and seeking to have done in the world, is to win it back to Himself.

2. In this work every believer is expected to take part.

3. G.o.d wants us to be skilled workmen, who give our whole heart to His work, and delight in it.

4. G.o.d does His work by working in us, inspiring and strengthening us to do His work.

5. What G.o.d asks is a heart and life devoted to Him in surrender and faith.

6. As G.o.d's work is all love, love is the power that works in us, inspiring our efforts and conquering its object.

XXI.

Zealous of Good Works.

He gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify us for Himself, a people of His own, zealous of good works.'a"t.i.t. 2:14 In these words we have two truthsa"what Christ has done to make us His own, and what He expects of us. In the former we have a rich and beautiful summary of Christ's work for us: He gave Himself for us, He redeemed us from all iniquity, He cleansed us for Himself, He took us for a people, for His own possession. And all with the one object, that we should be a people zealous of good works. The doctrinal half of this wonderful pa.s.sage has had much attention bestowed on it; let us devote our attention to its practical parta"we are to be a people zealous of good works. Christ expects of us that we shall be zealots for good worksa"ardently, enthusiastically devoted to their performance.

This cannot be said to be the feeling with which most Christians regard good works. What can be done to cultivate this disposition? One of the first things that wakens zeal in work is a great and urgent sense of need. A great need wakens strong desire, stirs the heart and the will, rouses all the energies of our being. It was this sense of need that roused many to be zealous of the law; they hoped their works would save them. The Gospel has robbed this motive of its power. Has it taken away entirely the need of good works? No, indeed, it has given that urgent need a higher place than before. Christ needs, needs urgently, our good works. We are His servants, the members of His body, without whom He cannot possibly carry on His work on earth. The work is so greata"with the hundreds of millions of the unsaveda"the work is so great, that not one worker can be spared. There are thousands of Christians to-day who feel that their own business is urgent, and must be attended to, and have no conception of the urgency of Christ's work committed to them.

The Church must waken up to teach each believer this.

As urgently as Christ needs our good works the world needs them. There are around you men and women and children who need saving. To see men swept down past us in a river, stirs our every power to try and save them. Christ has placed His people in a perishing world, with the expectation that they will give themselves, heart and soul, to carry on His work of love. Oh! let us sound forth the blessed Gospel message: He gave Himself for us that He might redeem us for Himself, a people of His own, to serve Him and carry on His worka"zealous of good works.

A second great element of zeal in work is delight in it. An apprentice or a student mostly begins his work under a sense of duty. As he learns to understand and enjoy it, he does it with pleasure, and becomes zealous in its performance. The Church must train Christians to believe that when once we give our hearts to it, and seek for the training that makes us in some degree skilled workmen, there is no greater joy than that of sharing in Christ's work of mercy and beneficence. As physical and mental activity give pleasure, and call for the devotion and zeal of thousands, the spiritual service of Christ can waken our highest enthusiasm.

Then comes the highest motive, the personal one of attachment to Christ our Redeemer: The love of Christ constraineth us.' The love of Christ to us is the source and measure of our love to Him. Our love to Him becomes the power and the measure of our love to souls. This love, shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, this love as a Divine communication, renewed in us by the renewing of the Holy Ghost day by day, becomes a zeal for Christ that shows itself as a zeal for good works. It becomes the link that unites the two parts of our text, the doctrinal and the practical, into one. Christ's love, that gave Himself for us, that redeemed us from all iniquity, that cleansed us for Himself, that made us a people of His own in the bonds of an everlasting loving kindness, that love believed in, known, received into the heart, makes the redeemed soul of necessity zealous in good works.

Zealous of good works!' Let no believer, the youngest, the feeblest, look upon this grace as too high. It is Divine, provided for and a.s.sured in the love of our Lord. Let us accept it as our calling. Let us be sure it is the very nature of the new life within us. Let us, in opposition to all that nature or feeling may say, in faith claim it as an integral part of our redemptiona"Christ Himself will make it true in us.

XXII.

Ready to every Good Work.

Put them in mind to be ready to every good work.'a"t.i.t. 3:1.

Put them in mind.' The words suggest the need of believers to have the truths of their calling to good works ever again set before them. A healthy tree spontaneously bears its fruit. Even where the life of the believer is in perfect health, Scripture teaches us how its growth and fruitfulness only come through teaching, and the influence that exerts on mind and will and heart. For all who have charge of others the need is great of Divine wisdom and faithfulness to teach and train all Christians, specially young and feeble Christians, to be ready to every good work. Let us consider some of the chief points of such training.

Teach them clearly what good works are. Lay the foundation in the will of G.o.d, as revealed in the law, and show them how integrity and righteousness and obedience are the groundwork of Christian character.

Teach them how in all the duties and relationships of daily life true religion is to be carried out. Lead them on to the virtues which Jesus specially came to exhibit and teacha"humility, meekness and gentleness and love. Open out to them the meaning of a life of love, self-sacrifice, and beneficencea"entirely given to think of and care for others. And then carry them on to what is the highest, the true life of good worksa"the winning of men to know and love G.o.d.

Teach them what an essential part of the Christian life good works are.

They are not, as many think, a secondary element in the salvation which G.o.d gives. They are not merely to be done in token of our grat.i.tude, or as a proof of the sincerity of our faith, or as a preparation for heaven. They are all this, but they are a great deal more. They are the very object for which we have been redeemed: we have been created anew unto good works. They alone are the evidence that man has been restored to his original destiny of working as G.o.d Works, and with G.o.d, and because G.o.d works through him. G.o.d has no higher glory than His works, and specially His work of saving love. In becoming imitators of G.o.d, and walking and working in love, even as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us, we have the very image and likeness of G.o.d restored in us. The works of a man not only reveal his life, they develop and exercise, they strengthen and perfect it. Good works are of the very essence of the Divine life in us.

Teach them, too, what a rich reward they bring. All labour has its market value. From the poor man who scarce can earn a shilling a day, to the man who has made his millions, the thought of the reward there is for labour has been one of the great incentives to undertake it.

Christ appeals to this feeling when He says, Great shall be your reward.' Let Christians understand that there is no service where the reward is so rich as that of G.o.d. Work is bracing, work is strength, and cultivates the sense of mastery and conquest. Work wakens enthusiasm and calls out a man's n.o.blest qualities. In a life of good works the Christian becomes conscious of his Divine ministry of dispensing the life and grace of G.o.d to others. They bring us into closer union with G.o.d. There is no higher fellowship with G.o.d than fellowship in His saving work of love. It brings us into sympathy with Him and His purposes; it fills us with His love; it secures His approval. And great is the reward, too, on those around us. When others are won to Christ, when the weary and the erring and the desponding are helped and made partakers of the grace and life there are in Christ Jesus for them, G.o.d's servants share in the very joy in which our blessed Lord found His recompense.

And now the chief thing. Teach them to believe that it is possible for each of us to abound in good works. Nothing is so fatal to successful effort as discouragement or despondency. Nothing is more a frequent cause of neglect of good works than the fear that we have not the power to perform them. Put them in mind of the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. Show them that G.o.d's promise and provision of strength is always equal to what He demands; that there is always grace sufficient for all the good works to which we are called. Strive to waken in them a faith in the power that worketh in us,' and in the fulness of that life which can flow out as rivers of living water.

Train them to begin at once their service of love. Lead them to see how it is all G.o.d working in them, and to offer themselves as empty vessels to be filled with His love and grace. And teach them that as they are faithful in a little, even amid mistakes and shortcomings, the acting out of the life will strengthen the life itself, and work for G.o.d will become in full truth a second nature.

G.o.d grant that the teachers of the Church may be faithful to its commission in regard to all her membersa"Put them in mind to be ready for every good work.' Not only teach them, but train them. Show them the work there is to be done by them; see that they do it; encourage and help them to do it hopefully. There is no part of the office of a pastor more important or more sacred than this, or fraught with richer blessing. Let the aim be nothing less than to lead every believer to live entirely devoted to the work of G.o.d in winning men to Him. What a change it would make in the Church and the world!

1. Get a firm hold of the great root-principle. Every believer, every member of Christ's body, has his place in the body solely for the welfare of the whole body.

2. Pastors have been given for the perfecting of the saints with the work of ministering, of serving in love.

3. In ministers and members of the churches, Christ will work mightily if they will wait upon Him.

XXIII.

Careful to maintain Good Works.

I will that thou affirm these things confidently, to the end that they which have believed G.o.d may be careful to maintain good works. Let our people also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful.'a"t.i.t. 3:8, 14 In the former of these pa.s.sages Paul charges t.i.tus confidently to affirm the truths of the blessed Gospel to the end, with the express object that all who had believed should be careful, should make a study of it, to maintain good works. Faith and good works were to be inseparable; the diligence of every believer in good works was to be a main aim of a pastor's work. In the second pa.s.sage he reiterates the instruction, with the expression, let them learn, suggesting the thought that, as all work on earth has to be learned, so in the good works of the Christian life there is an equal need of thought and application and teachableness, to learn how to do them aright and abundantly.

There may be more than one reader of this little book who has felt how little he has lived in accordance with all the teaching of G.o.d's word, prepared, thoroughly furnished, ready unto, zealous of good works. It appears so difficult to get rid of old habits, to break through the conventionalities of society, to know how to begin and really enter upon a life that can be full of good works, to the glory of G.o.d. Let me try and give some suggestions that may be helpful. They may also aid those who have the training of Christian workers, in showing in what way the teaching and learning of good works may best succeed. Come, young workers all, and listen.

1. A learner must begin by beginning to work at once. There is no way of learning an art like swimming or music, a new language or a trade, but by practice. Let neither the fear that you cannot do it, nor the hope that something will happen that will make it easier for you, keep you back. Learn to do good works, the works of love, by beginning to do them. However insignificant they appear, do them. A kind word, a little help to some one in trouble, an act of loving attention to a stranger or a poor man, the sacrifice of a seat or a place to some one who longs for ita"practise these things. All plants we cultivate are small at first. Cherish the consciousness that, for Jesus' sake, you are seeking to do what would please Him. It is only in doing you can learn to do.

2. The learner must give his heart to the work, must take interest and pleasure in it. Delight in work ensures success. Let the tens of thousands around you in the world who throw their whole soul into their daily business, teach you how to serve your blessed Master. Think sometimes of the honour and privilege of doing good works, of serving others in love. It is G.o.d's own work, to love and save and bless men.

He works it in you and through you. It makes you share the spirit and likeness of Christ. It strengthens your Christian character. Without actions, intentions lower and condemn a man instead of raising him.

Only as much as you act out, do you really live. Think of the G.o.dlike blessedness of doing good, of communicating life, of making happy.

Think of the exquisite joy of growing up into a life of beneficence, and being the blessing of all you meet. Set your heart upon being a vessel meet for the Master's use, ready to every good work.

3 . Be of good courage, and fear not. The learner who says I cannot, will surely fail. There is a Divine power working in you. Study and believe what G.o.d's word says about it. Let the holy self-reliance of St. Paul, grounded on his reliance on Christ, be your example: I can do all thingsa"in Christ which strengtheneth me. Study and take home to yourself the wonderful promises about the power of the Holy Spirit, the abundance of grace, Christ's strength made perfect in weakness, and see how all this can only be made true to you in working. Cultivate the n.o.ble consciousness that as you have been created to good works by G.o.d, He Himself will fit you for them. And believe then that just as natural as it is to any workman to delight and succeed in his profession, it can be to the new nature in you to abound in every good work. Having this confidence, you need never faint.

4. Above all, cling to your Lord Jesus as your Teacher and Master. He said: Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls.' Work as one who is a learner in His school, who is sure that none teaches like Him, and is therefore confident of success.

Cling to Him, and let a sense of His presence and His power working in you make you meek and lowly, and yet bold and strong. He who came to do the Father's work on earth, and found it the path to the Father's glory, will teach you what it is to work for G.o.d.

To sum up again, for the sake of any who want to learn how to work, or how to work better: 1. Yield yourself to Christ. Lay yourself on the altar, and say you wish to give yourself wholly to live for G.o.d's work.

2. Believe quietly that Christ accepts and takes charge of you for His work, and will fit you for it.

3. Pray much that G.o.d would open to you the great truth of His own working in you. Nothing else can give true strength.

4. Seek to cultivate a spirit of humble, patient, trustful dependence upon G.o.d. Live in loving fellowship with Christ, and obedience to Him.

You can count upon His strength being made perfect in your weakness.

XXIV.

As His FellowWorkers.

We are G.o.d's fellowworkers: ye are G.o.d's building.'a"1 Cor. 3:9.

And working together with Him we intreat that ye receive not the grace of G.o.d in vain.'a"2 Cor. 6:1.

We have listened to Paul's teaching on good works (chaps. IX.-XXII.); let us turn now to his personal experience, and see if we can learn from him some of the secrets of effective service.

He speaks here of the Church as G.o.d's building, which, as the Great Architect, He is building up into a holy temple and dwelling for Himself. Of his own work, Paul speaks as of that of a master builder, to whom a part of the great building has been given in charge. He had laid a foundation in Corinth; to all who were working there he said: Let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon.' We are G.o.d's fellowworkers.' The word is applicable not only to Paul, but to all G.o.d's servants who take part in His work; and because every believer has been called to give his life to G.o.d's service and to win others to His knowledge, every, even the feeblest, Christian needs to have the word brought to him and taken home: We are G.o.d's fellowworkers.' How much it suggests in regard to our working for G.o.d!

As to the work we have to do.a"The eternal G.o.d is building for Himself a temple; Christ Jesus, G.o.d's Son, is the foundation; believers are the living stones. The Holy Spirit is the mighty power of G.o.d through which believers are gathered out of the world made fit for their place in the temple, and built up into it. As living stones, believers are at the same time the living workmen, whom G.o.d uses to carry out His work. They are equally G.o.d's workmanship and G.o.d's fellowworkers. The work G.o.d is doing He does through them. The work they have to do is the very work G.o.d is doing. G.o.d's own work, in which He delights, on which His heart is set, is saving men and building them into His temple. This is the one work on which the heart of every one who would be a fellowworker with G.o.d must be set. It is only as we know how great, how wonderful, this work of G.o.d isa"giving life to dead souls, imparting His own life to them, and living in thema"that we shall enter somewhat into the glory of our work, receiving the very life of G.o.d from Him, and pa.s.sing it on to men.

As to the strength for the work.a"Paul says of his work as a mere master builder, that it was according to the grace of G.o.d which was given me.' For Divine work nothing but Divine power suffices. The power by which G.o.d works must work in us. That power is His Holy Spirit.

Study the second chapter of this Epistle, and the third of the Second, and see how absolute was Paul's acknowledgment of his own impotence, and his dependence on the teaching and power of the Holy Spirit. As this great truth begins to live in the hearts of G.o.d's workers, that G.o.d's work can only be done by G.o.d's power in us, we shall feel that our first need every day is to have the presence of G.o.d's Spirit renewed within us. The power of the Holy Spirit is the power of love.

G.o.d is love. All He works for the salvation of men is love; it is love alone that truly conquers and wins the heart. In all G.o.d's fellowworkers love is the power that reaches the hearts of men. Christ conquered and conquers still by the love of the cross. Let that mind be in you, O worker, which was in Christ Jesus, the spirit of a love that sacrifices itself to the death, of a humble, patient, gentle love, and you will be made meet to be G.o.d's fellowworker.

As to the relation we are to hold to G.o.d.a"In executing the plans of some great building the master builder has but one carea"to carry out to the minutest detail the thoughts of the architect who designed it.

He acts in constant consultation with him, and is guided in all by his will; and his instructions to those under him have all reference to the one thinga"the embodiment, in visible shape, of what the master mind has conceived. The one great characteristic of fellowworkers with G.o.d ought to be that of absolute surrender to His will, unceasing dependence on His teaching, exact obedience to His wishes. G.o.d has revealed His plan in His Word. He has told us that His Spirit alone can enable us to enter into His plans, and fully master His purpose with the way he desires to have it carried out. The clearer our insight into the Divine glory of G.o.d's work of saving souls, into the utter insufficiency of our natural powers to do the work, into the provision, that has been made by which the Divine love can animate us, and the Divine Spirit guide and strengthen us for its due performance, the more we shall feel that a childlike teachableness, a continual looking upward and waiting on G.o.d, is ever to be the chief mark of one who is His fellow-labourer. Out of the sense of humility, helplessness, and nothingness there will grow a holy confidence and courage that knows that our weakness need not hinder us, that Christ's strength is made perfect in weakness, that G.o.d Himself is working out His purpose through us. And of all the blessings of the Christian life, the most wonderful will be that we are allowed to bea"G.o.d's fellowworkers!

1. G.o.d's fellowworker! How easy to use the word, and even to apprehend some of the great truths it contains! How little we live in the power and the glory of what it actually involves!

2. Fellowworkers with G.o.d! Everything depends upon knowing, in His holiness and love, the G.o.d with whom we are a.s.sociated as partners.

3. He who has chosen us, that in and through us He might do His great work, will fit us for His use.

4. Let our posture be adoring worship, deep dependence, great waiting, full obedience.

XXV.

According to the Working of His Power.

Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus; whereunto I also labour, striving according to His working, which worketh in me mightily.'a"Col.