WordSword

Satan was foiled in his attempt to turn the King aside from His divine path, but he succeeded with the servants (Satan can cause a believer to commit sin—but the sin will not be willful, as a sinner’s is—NC); and so the highest and best gift of God (salvation—NC) has been the occasion for the development of the worst evil (the greater the gift, the greater the wrong by not receiving it - 1Pe 4:18—NC). For man under the responsibilities which flow from this dispensation of grace has done worse than during that of law (because more information has been given in the New Testament about God’s will than in the Old Testament, thus making Christians more accountable—NC). The wickedness of Israel caused the heathen to blaspheme the name of Jehovah (via poor examples of obedience to God—NC). But now, within the sphere of Christian profession, a worse thing is found. The Jews always professed reverence for the Law, though he practically disobeyed. What do we see now in the lands of Christendom? The Word of God is esteemed by some no other than a myth, classed with the legends of paganism. By others the Lord is spoken of as a good, though mistaken man, esteemed as a Hero who really wished to raise man morally, but who allowed His disciples to believe and propagate a lie to accomplish the end He had in view; as an enthusiast who suffered death rather than withdraw His offer. And the literature of the present day teems with writings containing this terrible doctrine, a blasphemy as absurd as horrible. Nor is this confined to such writers as are professed infidels; for the truth of the Word is undermined, if not openly denied, by those who take the place of being theological teachers. All such books, by traitorous professors, are far more pernicious and dangerous than the vulgar infidelity of the last century. A distinguished feature of the present-day is that every shade of infidel thought has its representative and teacher. Theism is made the groundwork of science and taught in its halls, and being exalted to the rank of science, is applied as a corrector of God’s Book; it stops not at material things, but enters boldly the moral domain, and dares to judge what God must be, and what He must not be; decides how much—rather how little of the creation belongs to God and how much to “evolution.” God bears with this, for the present day is salvation, not judgment, and His longsuffering is the proof. The kingdom of heaven (whenever the word “kingdom” is used it almost always refers to the New Earth, i.e. ”Thy kingdom come,” we never see the word “kingdom” when referring to the New Heaven—NC) is the rule of Christ the King over this world. But how does He reign when He is rejected? The principles of the kingdom were in grace made known to man (Eph 2:8), and after he had cast out the King, he used His name and the inherent subjugating authority belonging to it, to establish a system for himself, where the name of the King is freely used, but His rights practically ignored; where instead of righteousness reigning, all the worst corruption of nature is dominant, the name of Christ is on their lips, the truth of Christ in its life-giving power is all but unknown. Hence the present time discloses the mystery of the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom as the scene of Christ’s power and glory was no secret; it was abundantly and clearly foretold by the prophets. Godly Jews were waiting for it, rejoicing in the hope of it (Jews who believed in God for the coming kingdom on the earth—NC). Further, it was predicted, though perhaps imperfectly apprehended, that the coming King should be despised and rejected, wounded in the house of His friends, valued at thirty pieces of silver—the price of a slave. But it was not revealed that the King should be more than nineteen hundred years absent, and that during His absence men should arrogate to themselves His authority, and establish human power buy its use (human power not God’s power); still less, that the Jews rejection of their King should be, in the wisdom of God, the occasion for the calling out of a people for a heavenly portion, who, while here passing through a path of predestined suffering, would be of all men most miserable if in this life only had they hope in Christ (1 Co 15:19). It is these two things we see now—the absence of the Lord from the scene of His future glory, and the hidden working by which He secures to Himself a people who, in spite of suffering, nay, using it rather as a means, are destine for a higher than kingdom glory (2 Co 4:177—the New Heaven will be far greater and glorious for the believers in Christ than the New Earth for the Jews who presently believe in God but not in Christ—NC). —Roger Beacon (1220-1292) MJS daily devotional excerpt for March 31 “Romans Six reveals our position as having died unto the principle of sin; Romans Seven teaches us our position as having died unto the principle of law. Both must be counted upon if we are to abide in Christ, and walk in the Spirit, as set forth in Romans Eight. “We have to look at ourselves and see how far we are devotedly following the Lord Jesus, with full purpose of heart—how we can say, ‘This one thing I do’; but we must take care at the same time not to get into legal bondage by this standard. If I say, ‘Here is a rule of conduct: follow it,’ this cannot reach the heart, the affections. The ministration of the letter brings only failure, and condemnation; for it prescribes a rule which man, being a sinner, can never follow. It does not change a man; it proves him ‘ungodly and without strength’ (Christians should love God, not because of salvation, but just because of who He is. Thus having eternal gratitude to Him—NC). “We may turn even Christ into that letter of condemnation; we may take His life, for instance, and make it our law. Nay, we may turn even the love of Christ into into our law; we may say, ‘He has loved me, and done all this for me, and I ought to love Him, and do so much for Him, in return for this love,’ etc. Thus if we turn His love into a rule of life, it becomes the ministration of condemnation” (loving God for Who He is, is the greatest of all—NC). —Miles J Stanford http://www.abideabove.com/hungry-heart/

The Lord’s desire for His people is not that they should be taken out of the world, but that they should be kept from the evil of it (though the Christian commits sin, God keeps them from ever desiring it - Phl 2:13—NC). In John 15 we looked at as here for the Lord Jesus in three aspects. The first as servant—fruit bearing, this is our aspect to men, as He says of Himself. “My goodness extendeth not to Thee but to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all My delight” (Ps 16:2, 3). You are to be a fruit tree, bearing ripe fruit, properly for the owner of the garden, but in reality for every one whom He had ordered to be supplied. Whatever you supply of Christ to anyone as ordered by Him is fruit. You are a fruit tree for everyone to derive from you something of Christ as He appoints. The second aspect is that of a friend to Himself. You are to prove to Him that His concerns are your chief interest, and thus you are His friend—“he was called the Friend of God” (Jam 2:23). The third is a witness. This aspect is not necessary for man, but it is against the world. You are maintaining Christ where He has been rejected, and thus encountering opposition from the world. The first is that of a donor of Christ’s grace to man; the second that of a heart living in His heart; the third that of a soldier of martyr, standing boldly for Him is refused and hated. All these factors belong to you as kept is this scene for Him. You might say, your health hinders you very much. But doubtless crippling you in your health is the means by which the Lord is keeping you for Himself. In each of these aspects there is an order of suffering that is keeping with its peculiar duty or place. The tree passes though winter before it bears fruit. The friend is tested before he is an established friend, and the witness is persecuted to prove that he is a faithful witness. I compare you to a singing bird in a cage. If you were released, you might turn to your native woods, and your song would be lost in the desert air. Your liberty is limited to your health, but you may sing all the live-long day—and maybe night too. Singing is what you are called to do, “making melody in your heart to Lord” (Eph 5:19). Thus it is always summer, the fruit season; happy and abounding in your heart, before you are able to contribute to others. May we all abound yet more and more. —J B Stoney (1814-1897 MJS daily devotional excerpt for March 19 “Just think! Our Father has placed us in eternal and living union with His Son, that He, not we, may “be.” “Moreover, He has placed His Holy Spirit eternally within us that He, not we, may “do.” Further, He has given us the necessary faith and Scripture that we may rest in this wonderful reality, trusting Him “to will and to do of His good pleasure.” This is a far cry from futile struggle and frustrating self-effort! “Christians in the main groan and strive and struggle largely on the basis of human effort where the grace of God, though acknowledged, is scarcely operative—only to come to grief. Even at their best, they find the purpose of the Lord Jesus remains an ideal infinitely beyond their reach. The trouble lies in the fact that they are proceeding on the wrong basis. “God does not expect them, as a result of their own endeavors, to be like the Lord Jesus. He expects them to realize the utter impossibility of such a thing (as in Romans Seven, where Paul comes to the end of himself – Gal 2:20; Col3:4). He expects them to know the Lord Jesus as their very life, disowning any other. He expects them to realize their position of absolute oneness with Christ, for He ‘has blessed them with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ’ (Eph. 1:3).” -F.J.H. http://www.abideabove.com/hungry-heart/

When we read the epistles to the Romans and to the Ephesians carefully, we cannot but see the difference between where the Gospel places us on earth, and where knowledge of our position puts us. In Romans I am a justified man going on to glory, fulfilling (because walking is the Spirit) the righteousness of the law (Rom 8:4)—all that God had required of a man, magnified in our Lord Jesus Christ. Hence such an one presents the body as a living sacrifice, and serves according to the gift given him of the Father, known by the measure of faith (Rom 12:3). As a believer, he is hated by the world (Jhn 15:18, 24). There is nothing of position in all this, though no one could walk in the truth of the mystery (concerning Christ and the Church - Eph 5:32—NC), if he had not all this. I am through grace as much an Ephesian saint as I am a Roman saint; but I must be the lesser, or I could not be the greater (Mat 23:12). In Romans I am a delivered one on the earth, walking in the Life of the Lord Jesus (Col 3:4), by the Holy Spirit dwelling in me (Jhn 14:16; Rom 8:11; 1Co 3:16). In Ephesians I am a member of the Body of Christ, in union with Him who is the Head in heaven (Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 5:23) and a member of His Body set there where He is, by the same power that placed Him there (Eph 2:6). The power that positioned me there works in us here (Eph 3:20), and now I am united wih the exalted Man: and by His Life I grow into a manifestation of Him where He has been rejected. The Body of the glorified man is down here on the earth is to “grow up unto Him in all things” (Eph 4:15), “till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:13). Now we are not only opposed by the power of Amalek, who cut off the weak ones (Deu 25:18), but the whole subtlety of Satan is arrayed against us, in order to prevent our being in heavenly beauty down here (the devil can delay a believer’s growth in the faith in Christ, but never effect salvation, nor prohibit faith—NC). The Enemy cannot deprive us of our heavenly position, but he tries to prevent the manifestation of it from us. This is the scope of the grace given to us in the whole, though we grow into it in parts (in position saints are everything Christ is - 1Jo 4:17, but are learning its application and fullness gradually—NC). The only way to grow is to be conscientiously true to what we so see. “He that hath, to him shall be given” (Mar 4:25). The more separate I am from the world (some separate themselves more than others—NC), and the less I am conformed to it, the less am I warped, and the better I can “prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom 12:2). Every true heart knows its own world. My world may not be the world to you. Music is one man’s world; painting, another man’s world; politics another’s, riches another’s, his family another’s and so on. Whatever is most difficult to surrender is your world; (“surrender” - place after God—NC) and as you advance, according as you seek separation to the Father, you have to separate from what you are most bound by (“bound” worldliness that means too much to you—NC), for it is that which influences you the most. It may even be a paltry thing. Isaac was warped by his son’s deception. Peter wanted to stand well with those who “came from James” (Gal 2:11-14 - these were Judaizing Christians believing in Christ, but were zealous of the law - Act 21:20—NC). The Lord give you to see the whole scope of His grace, and give you grace to lay aside every hindrance, dealing honestly and truly with the one next to you. Many occupy themselves with the branches instead of with the root. The root is the seat of the evil, and the Spirit of God always leads to it (to put it off at the source—NC). —J B Stoney MJS daily devotional excerpt for November 27 “The Lord Jesus Christ is the only object for faith, the only One that satisfies us, as indeed He is the Father’s Object; and if we have got but one mind with the Father about Him, our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” If you are walking in the Spirit, the Lord Jesus is the Object before you; when you are walking in the flesh, yourself is your object.” William Kelly (1821-1906) http://www.abideabove.com/hungry-heart/

Note: Please let me know if you ever decide you would rather not to continue receiving these messages. I realize viewing something that may be difficult to understand might not be very encouraging, so I don’t want to chance confusing anyone. Thanks and God bless. -NC Clear Communion There is often only occupation with Christ for the relief of the conscience, and if so, where does it stop? It stops when the relief is met. But if He is the Object of the heart, you will never be satisfied but in association and fellowship with Him where He is. If there is simple occupation with Christ, you cannot enjoy it but in association with Him where He is, and in communion with Him about things here. In Psalm 23, there is lying down first, and then I come forth refreshed for the responsibilities of life here, and to walk in “the paths of righteousness.” I “fear no evil.” I must first know Him where He is; if I do not know Him where He is, I shall not rest in Him for my life down here. True, He accomplished everything down here, but you never get satisfied rest in your soul until you know that the Father has glorified Him up there. You never find a truly restful soul who does not raise the question—where is He? Mary Magdalene says, “They have taken my Lord” (Jhn 20:13). The two disciples in John 1 asked, “Where dwellest thou” (Jhn 1:38). The heart is set on the discovery of where He is. It is vain for a man to tell me his heart is on a person, if he is indifferent as to where that person is. “If you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth” (Col 3:1). I stand on simple grace. I am entitled to nothing, but I count on what is in my Father’s heart for me. When I come to discover what is in that heart for me, that is grace. It is an unspeakable comfort to my heart to say I know He will do something, though what He will do I know not. I would not venture to dictate to Him what He should do, but I know my Father’s heart. The Lord says to me, if you come to Me, you will find My Word working in you to remove the shade of reserve that has come between you and Me; the first great desire of My heart is that there shall be nothing between you and Me. I will make it My business that there shall be no break in our intimacy (there’s never a time when we are not “forgiven”—NC). He wiped the disciple’s feet after He had washed them; the towel is to give the soul the sense that there is nothing between, nothing of defilement left. The moment I begin to walk in His path (1Jo 2:6 – concerned only of the Father’s will—NC), I find out all my contrarieties. For the right road there are ninety-nine roads wrong, and the heart is ever inclined to go up one of those roads. When it does, the Lord says, I will send My Word after you and draw you out of it. The washing of my feet sets me free from the wrong road, and, the moment I get on the right one, I have the confirmed sense from the Lord Himself—I am with you, I bear you company. If I am not aware that the Lord sympathizes with me, that He is looking after my concerns, I cannot turn around and think of His affairs. But if I have the sympathy of the Lord Jesus I shall not be worried (John 14:1, 27), I know that He is thinking about me and my affairs, and I leave them all to Him (Mat 11:28). —J B Stoney MJS daily devotional excerpt for November 20 “It takes us a long time to realize that all is darkness outside the Light of heaven and earth.” -MJS “The moment we begin to rest our peace on anything in ourselves, we lose it. And this is why so many saints have not settled peace. How can you have settled peace? Only by having it in the Father’s way. By not resting on anything, even the Spirit’s work within, but on what the Lord Jesus has done entirely outside you. “Then you will know peace—conscious unworthiness, but yet peace. In the Lord Jesus alone, the Father finds that in which He rests; and so it is with His saints. The more you see the extent and nature of the evil that is within, as well as that without and around, the more you will find that what the Lord Jesus is and did, is the only ground at all on which you can rest.” “When the eye is turned away from the Lord Jesus, darkness must set in. It is only as the eye is single that the body is full of light. And what is a single eye but having Him for our Object? It is thus that light divine pours in upon us, until every chamber of our moral being becomes lighted up, and we become light for others. In this way the believer is kept happily free from obscurity, perplexity, and anxiety. He finds all his springs in the Lord Jesus.” “It is having the Lord Jesus as our Object which alone gives us the power of truth. When we have anything of our own as an object, so far we slip aside, for the Lord Jesus alone is the full truth. It is only in proportion as we are filled with Him, and have Him to the exclusion of our own evil, that we ourselves walk in the truth. Let us have our hearts fixed on any one thing or person save the One who is our life, and evil results.” William Kelly (1821-1906) http://www.abideabove.com/hungry-heart/day/2024/11/20/

The most difficult thing Christians go through are the “temptations” they are to endure—and a Christian will endure every single one. Know that God uses everything—especially the trials, for the benefit of believers (Ro 8:28). This promise alone is enough to use to deal with the hardness from a trial, but God goes further, in that “God is faithful, Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1Co 10:13. No matter what the hardness, God will cause you to endure it, esp. when you don’t know how or what to feel, for His “grace is sufficient” (2Co 12:9); and trials are tests that will manifest whether or not one is reborn, so you will eventually know for certain. There are three promises here that God uses to take one through the difficulties that will “suffice.” 1. God doesn’t allow the trail to be beyond the believer’s ability to endure it. If one thinks it’s too much, then you have yet to believe and learn this lesson, but He will always take you through it anyway. 2. God “makes a way” we can endure it, but it requires the trust and faith to use it. It just requires being patient as possible while you are waiting for the resolution (Rom 12:12). 3. This promise is part of which one receives when waiting, even if you can’t learn patience in it yet, He will take you through it regardless. Our Father knows the extent of our ability, and keeps it within one’s level of maturity—so that you will “be able to bare it,” that is, the ability to deal with it. Again, it just requires patiently waiting on, and trusting God for the deliverance. Even if one doesn’t know what or how to think or feel concerning the difficulty, He will still deliver you through to its end; and you will learn something after the trial. Often the trial involves the Enemy attempting to bring you to an agreement of guilt concerning something—when you fully know you have not intentionally sinned anywhere; or the trial might just involve a feeling of not caring about anything. Nothing means anything to you, even eating and sleeping, one is just empty—except for loving and trusting God for everything, which is the main purpose of the trails! It’s my belief that believers learn most of God’s love through the trials, because these are the hardest times, which is like a fire, that burns away the doubt and leaves the faith; and a stronger faith at that, through every trial! May the Father of all trials guide you to continue “to be conformed to the image of His Son;” (Rom 8:29; 2Co 3:18). NC

The oneness of the Father and Son is in the sense of being in the same accord, or same choices; they agree together and are one concerning everything. To me, "the Father will send in My name" is the same as the Lord Jesus sending Him. Everything Jesus does is from the Father and for the Father, i.e. the will of the Father.; "Thy (the Father) will be done."

Yes, the Lord Jesus is equal to the Father and Holy Spirit in essence and power, even while He was in the flesh on earth. But concerning order, Jesus said the Father is greater than Him (Jhn 14:28); thus the Father sent the Son, and the Son sent the Spitit--from the Father (Jhn 15:26). This means the order of authority is the Father, then the Son, then the Holy Spirit.

Of course it's ok to believe what you choose because it will not affect salvation. God bless!

Amen, God is "working" in all who are saved to cause us to please Him (Phl 2:13).

The Word of God had to become something He wasn't before (Word became flesh). He gained this for us in order to do what He did, and now He is the Word of God (Rev 19:13) and the Son of God. The point here is that the Lord Jesus has always been the Word of God, and now is also, for eternity, for us, the Son of God in the new Body He did not have before. Good insight you have!

Thanks for your replies and comment Friend! How one understands the Trinity will not affect their salvation.

More than anything, I believe the Lord Jesus wants to relate to Christians as the Savior of sinners; the sole Mediator between God and man; the Head of the church. I could continue to relate Him in the sense of Savior, because that's what is most significant to the believer.

The primary word for understanding the Trinity is “representation.” Thus the Lord Jesus is the “exact representation” of God (Heb 1:3), which I believe answers to why Christ is occasionally demonstrated in Scripture as “God” or as the “Father” (Isaiah 9:6). The Word is not the Father and the Father is not the Word; but the Word, or Son of God, is so much the representation of God, Who is the Father—that He can be referred to as God. Christ has from eternity past been the “Word of God.” He came in this world from the Father or God, as the Word of God (John 1:14), and has taken back His place as the Word of God (Rev 19:13). Concerning creation I believe when any One of Them act, it is power of the Three, because Deities though being three individuals, always act as One, thus when They said "Let Us create," it was not just the Word, though He was the One through which They created, thus it being a joint action, as in all They do. Just a few examples concerning Christ being the Creator; “hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ” (Eph 3:9 KJV, NKJV); Col 1:16-17; Heb 1:2). Though we may maintain numerous concepts of Scripture in our own understanding (which may not necessarily be wrong), it's only accurate when maintaining Biblical validation. Jesus said the Father is God, and that God is the Father: “My Father, and your Father; and to My God, and your God” (John 20:17). This also answers to why most of Paul’s Epistles begin with “Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 1:7; 2Co 1:2; Gal 1:3; Eph 1:2; Col 1:2; Phm 1:3). This is why we see in Scripture “the Son of God,” “the Son of the Father” (2Jo 1:3), “the Spirit of God” and “the Spirit of your Father” (Mat 10:20); the Son of God, the Spirit of God--but not the Father of God, because the Father is God. Scripture occasionally identifies Jesus as God and Father but this is in relation to Him being indwelt by "the fullness of the Godhead" (Col 2:9), e.g. everything seen, heard, said or done is the same as if it were God, or the Father (John 14:9); hence the passage “I and My Father are one” (Jhn 10:30), i.e. are one accord in everything. The Son is not the Father and the Father is not the Son but They, along with Their Holy Spirit are “one,” i.e. in “one” accord concerning everything (1John 5:7 KJV). Jesus said, for "Ye have neither heard His (Father) voice at any time, nor seen His shape" (John 5:37), but Christ’s redemption mission involved revealing the Father and Himself (John 1:18). Scripture continuously stresses the Father being God, for Jesus said of Him, "He is greater than I" (Jhn 14:28), and “My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all” (Jhn 10:29). We also read, "But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things (creation), and we by Him" (1Cor 8:6). To me the significance in this article is in making the distinction between the Father and the Son, and the mandate that both are to be equally worshiped and honored (to be a Christian), for "All should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him" (John 5:23). What one believes concerning the Trinity is not salvation-essential, for only what one believes concerning Christ as the Savior is salvation-essential; then after this, God “works in you” (Phl 2:13). NC

You probably mean having a desire, but tantalize means to tease or torment by or as if by presenting something desirable to the view but continually keeping it out of reach. Thanks for your replies and God bless!

Good comments! I agree, we can be encouraged with the thought of knowing our place in heaven. Concerning "heaven on earth," this is for God's people the Jews who believe in God but not the Lord Jesus; believers in Christ will not be on the earth, but in heaven with Him--ruling (judging; teaching) those on the earth (Mat 19:28).