Self-Sinner.

 Self…sins.

That's right, self…sins. 

The self-serving part of us sins. Name a sin that isn't self-serving in some way. 

The ironic thing is, what we consider self-serving is in fact ultimately going to kill us. The wages of sin is death. We kill ourselves through our sins and it's not a death necessarily of our flesh. You can sin until you're a hundred years old, but ultimately the death you'll reap from all the sin is a permanent death of non-existence. Non-existence. If you think your life of a hundred years is long, ask all those who are on the brink of a hundred years of life how fast all those years went by for them. They'll tell you it went very quickly. In the grand scheme of things, a hundred years is something that can go by very quickly. A hundred years when held against eternity is absolutely very little time.  Your years of sin revelry won't last, can't last, what you believe you're doing when you sin- serving self- is actually killing you and not serving yourself at all. You've been deceived into believing your sinning serving self is doing you good in some way or else why would you continue on in sin?  Not all sins that so easily beset us are easy to sin no more, but at the very most you must hate the sin and strive against sin. A true repentance, a genuine lamentation, a very real soul affliction must be made. A Holy Spirit conviction, a constant dying daily to self,  a surrender, an opening of the door to the One who knocks, the mystery of Christ in us, this must be our life! Only Christ in us- our hope - can give us the eternal salvation He alone can offer.  Christ our hope. 

(Excerpt- A.T. Jones)

The word of Christ to every man is this, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself." Luke 9:23.

All sin is of self, and self is of Satan. All righteousness is of Christ, and Christ is of God.

Therefore let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, "who emptied Himself" that the Father might appear to men, and that men might be saved. Let it be in you. As surely as you will let this mind be in you, so surely will it be in you. And so surely as in Him it led Him to empty Himself, so surely it will lead you to empty yourself of all self. And so surely as you are emptied of self, so surely will you be "filled with all the fullness of God." Eph. 3:19.

*******

"I just want to die! Let me die! Please, let me die!" Venjeran screamed. That scream however was nothing but a hoarse whisper to those who sat near him. 

"More balm, get more balm," Aljudia, one of two healers called to the servant boy who instantly rushed off. 

"The balm is not working," Whygni countered, but didn't yell for the servant boy not to go. 

"Nothing is working, nothing. We need stronger bark for the tea, and more of the soothing incense. The incense will help him sleep it's the only thing that does," Aljudia sighed, and reached out with a cool cloth touching it to the suffering man's brow.

"I'll get the incense," Whygni mumbled and left the room with forlorn parting remark. "Rarnee needs to return, and soon, or Venjeran is going to will himself to die."

*

"Are you sure you should go? You've scarcely recovered and…"

"Yes, I have to go. Venjeran…" Rarnee sighed leaving her sentence unfinished.

"Venjeran needs you, I understand," Luida commiserated. She wished things could be different for Rarnee and her ill husband. 

She'd been away from him for over two months and in truth didn't know if he were dead or alive. Unless she found the Miracle Worker and brought Him to Venjeran she couldn't return. How could she live with herself if she didn't do everything she could to help her husband. Some might question her leaving him in his time of desperate need, but he'd wanted her to help him and she could do nothing for him, nothing.  Putting a cool cloth on his head as he screamed in agony, did nothing. Crying hot tears as he cried tears of pain, did nothing.  When knowledge of the Miracle Worker came to her she knew right then she had to try to find Him because only a miracle could save her husband. Yes, she'd thought about the possibility of Venjeran dying while she was gone and every time the thought came she pushed it hard away from her, refusing to entertain the idea as any sort of reality. 

"I leave tomorrow morning and I can't thank you enough, Luida," Rarnee said, and reached for the woman's hands with hers, squeezing gently.

"All thanks goes to God, Rarnee, all thanks and all glory. He brought you to us and you've blessed us with your presence. You revived the memories of the Miracle Worker and all the blessings we received at His hands. You'll find Him, Rarnee, I know you'll find Him." 

Would she? She had to.

"Yes, I'll find Him."

Jesus Is the Acceptable Part of Us.

 The Greatest Mystery. 

Guess what?! You're invited to this greatest of mysteries!

The Riches of the Glory of This Mystery--Christ In You--Christ the Hope of Glory--Every Man Perfect In Christ Jesus.

You HAVE to admit that it is the greatest mystery -how we can be made perfect by Christ Jesus. 

From the worst most blatant sinner to the saint-seeming sinner, we are ALL corrupted. God will look for Christ in us because only Christ in us is worthy of redemption. Our works will be brought into judgment and only one work we do will be acceptable. The work of believing on Jesus Christ whom God sent to us, and believing over and over and over again- every day a renewed belief!

Christ in you, the hope of glory- not you in Christ, the hope of glory. There is a difference. Christ comes to live in us, we invite Him into our lives. We do not do the work of entering into Christ, we do not knock on His door. We have to believe truly that our salvation rests solely on Christ and His merits, and not a single merit of our own. Our believing is our work. Our believing that He draws us to Him and that alone brings us to Him for Him to enter into us, this is our work. We stand before Christ by invitation. We must accept the invitation, the rest is for Christ Jesus to do, for the Holy Spirit to enable.

When we are invited to an event -unless specifically stated we are under no obligation to bring something to that event (social dictation may require us to bring a token gift to a small, intimate event, or the nature of event may be to garner gifts). This particular huge event, this royal event does not dictate we bring anything- we are being gifted even by the invitation- our presence is all the reciprocation desired. Our showing up to the event we've been invited to, this is all important. Not showing up automatically leaves us empty, not able in any way to experience the event. We must show up. You can't show up to an event that doesn't take place.

The event you are allowed to attend has you escorted into, and given all you need, to take part in the event you've been invited to. Not wearing the appropriate clothing? Of course you're not. Clothing is offered to you. Not clean enough to don the appropriate clothing, a bath is offered to you. So hungry you fear you can't last until the main feast, a snack of ample substance is given to you. So thirsty you can't think straight, you are offered something to drink. In fact everyone who accepts the invitation to this event must partake of all the services offered, because this event is so unique, so inexplicably intricate and fancy, and such a mystery that none are ever appropriately prepared for the event. The invitation is not only for the event, but for that preparation for the event. You can only be prepare by allowing the host to do all these things for you, you simply must let him do what needs to be done. You must yield yourself to the host. Nothing you can ever think to do to be prepared will be acceptable, because the event is otherworldly, out of your realm of comprehension, filled with the wondrous.

Christ extends the invitation we accept the invitation and invite Him in and as soon as we invite Him in we are inviting Him to change us completely. This change is something that is done in mystery, we are just told to believe it will take place and be done in us. We are told to believe. Believe even when we cannot see, even when we cannot comprehend, even when we notice no change at all, we are told to believe -this is our work. The change will come in us and it's not supposed to be recognized as a change in us but recognized as Christ in us. That recognition may very well be unrecognizable to keep us from the tiniest sliver of laying claim to our making the change by something we've done- other than believe. We cannot force our own change try as we might, and boy, do we try. We sometimes try so hard we forget completely to yield and begin to do all kinds of things we think are commendable and acceptable, but none of those things are because NOTHING we do can be acceptable. It must all be done by our Savior every last bit, nothing excluded.  Jesus alone is the acceptable, when Jesus enters into us He is the acceptable part of us. 

Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: 

Col 1:28  Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: 

Col 1:29  Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily. 

Joh 6:28  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 

Joh 6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent

God-Man, Miracle Worker.

 The Miracle Worker- all knew the man who was meant by such a name, but none knew his given name in order to ask after him. Some could remember knowing his name at one time, hearing his name more than once, and yet could not remember that name now. The collective memory loss revolving around a single name confused the villagers but one of their wisest villagers simply remarked- "All glory to God."  

They all agreed the Miracle Worker mentioned God often, and gave glory to Him endlessly. On Sabbaths the Miracle Worker had spoke in such a way they had their hearts touched and their spirits awakened as never before. The Miracle Worker was a miracle in and of himself, they knew this at the very core of their being. Never before in the history of all history had there ever been a time when such a man could heal as he, never.  Yes, each village had their healers, but their healing abilities were basic in comparison to this man's. They could clean and dress a wound, he could heal the wound to completion. They could give teas of herbs and spices for illnesses, he spoke a word and their illnesses were gone. They could wrap a broken bone, splint it and such, but he could make it so that is was as if the broken bone had never broken. They could offer as much comfort for things completely out of their realm of being able to help- leprosy, lameness, blindness, demon possession, mutism, deafness, wasting diseases and the like. The Miracle Worker cured all of those things, all of them! 

The Miracle Worker was from God, no one in their village would dispute that claim, who else could have sent such a prophet! God had blessed them richly and they couldn't even remember the Miracle Worker's name. All glory to God. He was a God-sent man, a prophet, but what was his name? All prophets had names. All glory to God - proclaimed the God Prophet, Miracle Worker, all glory to God.

They would have deemed him an angel sent by God, if they hadn't learned of his continued work all through their land. He was no angel, at least not an angel they'd ever been taught existed and walked among man before. He was a man, but a God man, they knew this in their hearts. Not a single villager would say different for all had been touched by him, healed by him in one way or another.

When their sicknesses began to return they didn't feel regret, they didn't feel anger, they continued to feel blessed, because they had been blessed. The blind never lost their sight, all those with diseases cured did not succumb to them again, and so on.  Did the newly diseased lament their new conditions having come too late for the Miracle Worker to cure? Sure, in some ways they couldn't help but mourn their fate, but they were still grateful for all he'd done, and when he'd done it.  

All glory to God- as the God-man proclaimed, all glory to God.

*******

A.T. Jones (Excerpt)

'So entirely did He empty Himself of all self that He could say with perfect truth, 

"I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me." John 6:38. 

"I can of Mine own self do nothing: As I hear, I judge, and My judgment is just because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me." John 5:30.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do; for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." Verse 19. 

"The Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works." John 14:10. 

"My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me." John 7:16. 

"The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of Myself," "But the Father which sent Me, He gave a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak." John 14:10; 12:49.

He came not doing His own will, nor speaking His own words, nor doing His own works.

It was the Father's will which was done in Him; it was the Father's words that were spoken by Him; and it was the Father's works that were done in Him. 

That is to say, He emptied Himself that the Father might appear in Him. And when He emptied Himself, the Father did appear in Him. And so, "in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." He was "God manifest in the flesh," "God with us."

But He did all this that men might know the Father as He really is. 

Therefore, He says none know "the Father but the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him." "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." 

This is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world.

What the Father was to the Son and in the Son in this world, that is just what He wishes to be to every person in this world. And just as certainly as any man will empty himself of self, as Christ did, so certainly will the Father be to him, and in him, what He was to the Son, and in the Son.

He Humbled Himself

 

God Jesus stripped off His divinity when He chose to humble Himself knowing that when He took on the flesh of humanity, He was taking on death.  He died for us unworthy creatures. 

Satan longs to be a god, equal with God the Father, equal with God Jesus. Satan's twisted mind, warped through pride, has Him believing he is a god- not equal, but better than the Father and Jesus, as well as the Holy Spirit. Satan took one third of God's created angels, angels just as He was an angel and through deception, the angel gathered other angels and began a life separated from the Gods of Heaven. Satan chose to target God's created human beings and was able to deceive them. They were now Satan's! They belonged to him! However, they were destined to die. He could NOT offer them eternal life, he didn't even try, it wasn't his to give. He offered them deception. He convinced them they needed to live their lives for themselves just as he lived his life for himself. He set up lie after lie, after lie. The first lie he set up was telling mankind they wouldn't die. He lied. To spin his lie, he told them once this body they possessed stopped living they had another body waiting for them, a body like his, a spirit body. He lied. 

Satan is the Father of lies and proud of it.

Jesus God who was in every way equal to God the Father willingly gave up His God power just to become a human being, to become part of a created race. Not only did He become part of a created race, but part of a created race that had succumbed to a created fallen angel's lies, a race of weak, sin inclined flesh. He humbled Himself. 

Php 2:6  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 

Php 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 

Php 2:8  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 

A.T. Jones

'Then, when the fullness of time was come, the Father would reveal Himself to mankind as He really is, and His bearing toward the world of sinners. And in order that this might be done in its fullness and perfection, Jesus emptied Himself, and "took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Phil. 2:6-8. 

"The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth." John 1:14.

So entirely did He empty Himself of all self that He could say with perfect truth, "I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me." John 6:38. "I can of Mine own self do nothing: As I hear, I judge, and My judgment is just because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me." John 5:30. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do; for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." Verse 19. "The Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works." John 14:10. "My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me." John 7:16. "The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of Myself," "But the Father which sent Me, He gave a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak." John 14:10; 12:49.'

Love By Our Creator.

"I need the miracle worker," she whispered through cracked, dried lips. 

"Shh, you're going to be okay, just rest now."

"You…you don't understand, my husband…" Her voice was barely audible. Her dry tongue tried to wet her parched lips but there was no moisture. 

The edge of a cup was placed against her mouth. "Sip slowly, dear." Her caretaker's voice was soft. 

Listening, she sipped from the cup. Cool water touched her lips and mingled with the copper taste of the caked blood. As the water trickled down the back of her throat she coughed lightly and the cup was pulled away. 

"Easy now, slowly." 

She was encouraged as the cup returned to her lips.

Several sips later she felt better and closed her eyes even as she tried to speak, but failed. Nonsensical words trailed off as consciousness eluded her.

Not awake, yet not resting, Rarnne tossed and turned, moaning as her dreams slipped into nightmares. 

He was calling for her over and over. The sound of his voice familiar yet strained by the agony filling his entire being. He needed her help, his pain was too intense, but there was nothing she could do, nothing. The teas to relieve pain weren't working any longer. The twisting of his spine growing worse even as he was placed in a healer's contraption meant to straighten him. Why had this happened to him? What caused him to go from being perfectly healthy to an invalid over the course of the last several years? He didn't know, she didn't know, and no one else knew why this tragedy had befallen Venjeran. Even if they knew, there was nothing they could do to change a thing. The knowledge of the why would not give the how and that is what they needed, the how to make things better.  

"Rarnneeeeee! Help me! Rarneeeee! Please! The pain! Stop the pain!" 

How long had she heard the cries, day in, day out, awake, asleep the constant voice of agony she could no longer shut out of her thoughts.

"Venjeran!" She answered in a hoarse cry of her own, breaking through her sleep and into consciousness. "Venjeran!" She tried to sit up but every muscle in her body protested and she fell back.

"No, no! Don't get up, stop, you need to rest!" Gentle hands wrapped around her arms and eased her back into the bed. "Shh, I'm Luida. You arrived here yesterday morning and collapsed. Let me get you some warm broth and some more water and after that if you feel up to it you can tell me…"

"Venjeran, he needs the Miracle Worker. We were told he'd been here, please…"

"Shhhh, eat first. You need to get stronger. The miracle worker hasn’t been here for over a year now, I'm so sorry." Luida gave Rarnee's arms a gentle pat, her words filled with compassion. Rarnee wasn't the first to come to their village looking for the Miracle Worker. Several people had heard the news and come looking for Him. Theirs wasn't the only village touched by the Miracle Worker, though. Many villages had been blessed by Him, people were desperate for His healing touch.

"I have to find Him, please…"

"Shhhh, let me get that broth. You stay here for a few days and rest up and I'm sure we can get you to the next village, they might have news of Him."

Rest, while Venjeran suffered, she didn't dare and yet, if something happened to her then she couldn't help him any longer. She'd rest but only for as long as it took for her to regain her strength. Every moment was precious and she'd been gone from Venjeran for over two months now. 

"Thank you," she whispered, "thank you, Luida, may God bless you."

*******

A collective of creatures. We all have the same basic components with overall minimal variances. The only thing unique to the creatures as individuals is their thoughts, their memories, their choices, the thing that makes them separate from all others. Our brains in structure are quite similar. To take several brains from several creatures and mix them up blindly, you'd be hard pressed to tell whose brain belong to which body (in general-not in comparing excising strokes and the like). The brain is our center of thought, our uniqueness resides there. If you were to really get right down to it, very few people are exactly alike in any great detail. We are all generally the same. We are creatures given the gift of unique individuality. That individuality was never intended for us to use in order to place ourselves in a position of superiority. No creature could ever become their own Creator, forever there would be a Creator above and beyond all creatures. 

We have been deceived by Satan, the would-be great usurper, the great deceiver, the one who dared believe they - a creature- could be a Creator. The deceiver was given a death sentence and prior to that being carried out, all the creatures would get an opportunity to use their individuality to decide to be creatures loving their Creator, or to be creatures loving themselves, creatures putting their Creator first, or creatures putting themselves first. Our loving Creator suffered and died to give us this opportunity of choice. Our loving Creator did everything He could to save as many of His creatures as He possibly could. 

A.T. Jones -

"The deception of man led him to put self in the place of God, and the mind and word of Satan in the place of the mind and word of God. This led to the perversion of man's ideas concerning God, and the receiving of Satan's ideas and suggestions as the true ideas concerning God. It led to the setting of God in a totally false light in the estimation of man. It led mankind to look upon God as a hard master, a despotic governor, and a stern, impassive, unmerciful judge. Over and over, the Lord set forth His Word to the contrary. To Moses He declared Himself to be "merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin." In His law He set forth His character as "LOVE." Yet, for all this, mankind still followed perverted ideas of God."

Exo 34:6  And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 

Exo 34:7  Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…

No Right to Know.

 Why do we imagine we have a right to know evil? Satan said to Eve…

Gen 3:4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 

Gen 3:5  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 

 God said…

Gen 2:16  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 

Gen 2:17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 

Eve chose to eat the forbidden fruit because of a lie. She didn't think she'd die. She imagined having her eyes opened to know good and evil would make her like a god. Satan lied and told her she would be 'as gods'. He didn't lie completely though, he loves to mingle truth with lies. Gods do know good and evil, but Gods are from everlasting to everlasting, without beginning or end.  Gods can create from nothing. Gods are the purest of love. Mankind are created beings, not Creators. Mankind are powerless, not gods. Tempted with being given God knowledge, Eve succumbed. She'd been told by her Creator Himself that she shouldn't eat of this tree, told it was a tree of knowledge of good and evil, told she would die if she chose to gain that knowledge by eating the fruit. She deemed it worth it, worth death. Did she know what death was? Yes. God gave her and Adam that knowledge of death's meaning. What good would such a warning be if there were no knowledge of the punishment? To tell a child they will not be allowed to play with a drum if they are disobedient would mean nothing if they had absolutely no knowledge of what a drum was.  But given the knowledge of the drum and its allure to be played with, the child would have incentive to be obedient.  God let them know what death would be should they eat of the fruit. Yet, Satan called God a liar and said that mankind would not die. Instead of dying they would just be given knowledge, and God had said it was a tree of knowledge. 

Death. There are many forms of death, aren't there? Seriously. You've heard the term a death to innocence, you've also heard- "You're dead to me." - spoken to a living being. The death that Adam and Eve were given knowledge of was the death of their non-existence, a death of their entire being. Satan knew that death was non-existence, as well as an end to their forms.  

When Eve bit into the fruit her death of non-existence was not instantaneous. The death of her being however had begun instantly, the process was underway. All the eternal life giving particles that she'd been imbued with were instantly tainted with the promised punishment of death. Everything changed for her and she knew it immediately. The knowledge of evil mingled with the knowledge of good, and that evil was horrific beyond anything she might have considered, but under God's protection she had no need to know of any evil, not the slightest bit. That she knew it existed and would take away her eternal life should have sufficed, it did not.

We have this belief that as created beings we have rights to things, oh wait, we forget we are created beings and that is why we believe we have the right to things. The knowledge of good and evil tainted all aspects of us, even our perception of rights as being people. We've put ourselves on pedestals- ever seeking a little god status that Satan promised we get by having knowledge. Knowledge does not make God, but knowledge especially evil knowledge can lead one to believe they are as gods. God does know evil and good, and it's a heavy weight of knowledge never intended for created beings.

We must all die with Christ- we must all be crucified with Christ, and rise with Him.  We suffer under the curse of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, a tree we had no right to partake of, a tree's fruit that is the root cause of all the suffering we ever experience in any way.

Please, Lord, we would be YOURS. Live in us, let Your mind be in us, because the mind of our own is corrupt, so very corrupt.

All by Your grace and mercy, Your love.

Find the Miracle Worker

 

Church Authority

 

Freed.

 Freed.

Alone with her own thoughts, no, no! That wasn't right! She wasn't alone there was something else there, something she couldn't explain, a whisper of peace. How long, oh, how long she'd suffered with the thoughts of others! She hadn't always had this plague of thoughts in her mind, no, no, she'd been the same as all others, hadn't she? It was hard to remember, but at the same time easy, the thoughts were easy, calm, alone.

"I…I…" she stammered softly, she was speaking. Her voice, it was her voice! The voice she'd lost when the others took over. When was the last time she'd heard her own voice? Ten, fifteen years ago? She hadn't been a woman more than a full year when the first voice had intruded. Called disturbed by some as her outgoing demeanor altered overnight into one of withdrawn sullenness, that didn't last long. A half a year later and two more voices they'd labeled her possessed, and they were right. Disturbed by one, and completely wrecked by three evil entities, Emelai was shunned and rightly so. 

 "Drink," the man responded, still with his back to her. Strong, calloused hands set the filled water jug on the edge of the well. "Drink deep, Emelai."

(Excerpt- Present Truth Articles - The Unconquerable Life By E.J. Waggoner)  

"In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness apprehended it not." John 1: 4, 5 (RV). The marginal rendering, "overcame," gives us the exact meaning of the text, and conveys a message of great comfort to the believer. Let us see what it is.

Christ is the light of the world. See John 8:12. 

Joh 8:12  Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. 

But His light is His life, as the text quoted states. He says, "I am the

light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." The whole world was in the darkness of sin. This darkness was due to lack of knowledge of God; as the apostle Paul says

that the Gentiles are "darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them because of the hardening of their heart." Eph. 4:18.

Satan, the ruler of the darkness of this world, had done his utmost to deceive men as to the true character of God. He had made the world believe that God was like men--cruel, vindictive, and passionate. Even the Jews, the people whom God had chosen to be the bearers of His light to the world, had departed from God, and while professedly separate from the heathen, were enveloped in heathen darkness. Then Christ came, and "The people which sat in darkness saw a great light, and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, to them did light spring up." Matt. 4:16. His name was Emanuel, God with us. "God was in Christ." God refuted the falsehoods

of Satan, not by loud arguments, but simply by living His life among men, so that all might see it. He demonstrated the power of the life of God, and the possibility of its being manifested in men.

The life which Christ lived was untainted by sin. Satan exerted all his powerful arts, yet he could not affect that spotless life. Its light always shone with unwavering brilliancy. Because Satan could not produce the least

shadow of sin in the life, he could not bring it within his power, that of the grave. No one could take Christ's life from Him; He voluntarily laid it down. And for the same reason, when He had laid it down, Satan could not

prevent Him from taking it up again. Said He: "I lay down My life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of My Father." John 10:17, 18. To the same intent are the words of the apostle Peter concerning Christ:-

-

"Whom God hath raised up having loosed the pains of death; because it was not possible that He should be holden of it." Acts 2:24. Thus was demonstrated the right of the Lord Jesus Christ to be made a high priest "after the power of an endless life." Heb. 7:16.

This endless, spotless life Christ gives to all who believe on Him. "As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. And this is life eternal, that they might know

Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." John 17:2, 3. Christ dwells in the hearts of all those who believe on Him. 

"I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me." Gal. 2:20. See also Eph. 3:16, 17.

Christ, the light of the world, dwelling in the hearts of His followers, constitutes them the light of the world. Their light comes not from themselves, but comes from Christ, who dwells in them. Their life is not from themselves, but it is the life of Christ manifest in their mortal flesh. See 2 Cor. 4:11. 

2Co 4:11  For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh

This is what it is to live "a Christian life." This living light comes from God in a never-failing stream. The psalmist exclaims: "For with Thee is the fountain of  life; in Thy light shall we see light." Ps. 36:9. "And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb." Rev. 22:1. "And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst, come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Rev. 22:17.

"Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day." John 4:53, 54. This life of Christ we eat and drink by feasting upon His Word, for He added, "It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life." Verse 63. Christ dwells in His inspired Word, and through it we get His life. This life is given freely to all who will receive it, as we read above; and again we read that Jesus stood and cried, saying, "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink." John 7:37.

This life is the Christian's light, and it is that which makes him a light to others. It is his life; and the blessed comfort to him is that no matter how great the darkness through which he has to pass, no darkness has power to put out that light. That light of life is his as long as he exercises faith, and the darkness cannot affect it. Let all, therefore, who profess the name of the Lord, have the confidence that can say, "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me." Micah 7:8.

Spirit Words.

 

Jesus Had No Power...

 

Living faith is a working faith. 

A living belief is a working belief. 

Truly our creature status is not talked about as much as it should be. God is our Heavenly Father, we are sons and daughters of God. Jesus is our Savior and He also said this…

Mat 12:49  And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! 

Mat 12:50  For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. 

And we are told this…

Heb 2:11  For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren

Jesus did the will of the Father.

Joh 10:30  I and my Father are one

Joh 4:34  Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. 

Joh 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

Joh 5:20  For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. 

JESUS said… THE SON CAN DO NOTHING OF HIMSELF.

So why do we believe we can do things of our own selves? 

We are to believe that God will work in us through the Holy Spirit by the grace of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

God will work in us. He is our CREATOR and as our CREATOR we know we are creatures, as creatures with full awareness we know who our Creator is and what our Creator wants of us. We need to truly submit to God allowing Him to live in us. Jesus could do nothing of Himself, and we can do nothing of our selves. 

You protest by listing all the things Jesus did, and right you are, Jesus did many things, but NOT of Himself! He wanted us to know that His POWER came from God, not HIMSELF! So why don't we learn this, and understand we will NEVER get power of our own, NEVER, it's a lie Satan wants to fill our hearts with, leading us to despair as we never attain what we think we should be attaining because we are striving for the impossible. Jesus NEVER had power of His own! He did ALL things through His Father!

*******

Excerpt - Present Truth Articles - Good Works - by E.J. Waggoner

The Bible holds out no promise of a reward for laziness. In God's plan no provision is made for idleness. Heaven is pictured before us as a place of activity, and heavenly beings as untiring workers. The Saviour said, "My

Father worketh hitherto, and I work" (John 5:17); and again, "I must work the works of Him that sent Me." John 9:4. Of the angels we read that they are all "ministering spirits sent forth to do service for the sake of them that

shall inherit salvation." Heb. 1:14, R.V.

This being the case, it cannot be thought that those who are to inherit salvation should be idle. The apostle Paul labored with his hands, as an example to the believers, and left on record the Divine commandment, "If any will not work, neither let him eat." 2 Thess. 3:10, R.V. But the frequent exhortation to work is with special reference to spiritual things, rather than physical. Jesus said, "Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life." John 6:27. So the apostle Paul says that the reward will be given to those who patiently continue in well doing (Rom. 2:7); and the Saviour says: "Behold I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:12.

Again we read that Christ "gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a people for His own possession, zealous of good works." Titus 2:14, R.V. And again, the Holy Spirit, through the apostle James, puts a premium upon good works, in these words: "But he that looketh into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and so continueth, being not a hearer that forgetteth, but a doer that worketh, this man shall be

blessed in his doing." James 1:25. 

Many other texts might be quoted to show that the Christian life is to be one of activity, and that good works are not only necessary, but are the one indispensable requisite.

Works, and works alone, in the judgment, will determine a man's condition for eternity. God "will render to every man according to his "works:" Rom. 2:6. The question which the judgment will settle will not be, "What has this

man believed?" nor "How has he felt?" but, "What are his works?" There is no place for the cavil of those who think that they are enunciating a principle of which the Bible is ignorant, when they say, "God will not damn a good man for his opinions nor for his belief." People are neither condemned nor saved because of their opinions, but because of their deeds.

"What!" exclaims one, "are you going to deny the doctrine of justification by faith?" Not by any means. I would go so far as to claim that the doctrine of justification by faith is the one great theme of the Scriptures, and that all

others things are but parts of it. But the thing to be emphasized by the above remarks and quotations, is that faith works. See Gal. 5:6. No truer statement was ever made than this, that "faith is not a sedative, but a stimulant."

Faith is intensely active, and the source of all spiritual activity. While it is true that only a man's works will be considered in the judgment, it is equally true that the character of his works will be determined by his faith. Where

there is no faith, there can be no enduring works.

The works which are acceptable to God are "good works." But perfect goodness resides in God alone. See Mark 10:18. 

Mar 10:18  And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. 

The righteousness which we must have is God's righteousness. Matt. 6:3. Of His own ways God says: "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." Isa. 55:9. Who, then, can hope to present to God the good works that will be equal to His? None but those who, like Paul's brethren, are ignorant of God's righteousness, would be presumptuous enough to think such a thing possible. Only God can do the works of God. Therefore when the Jews said to Christ, "What shall we do that we may work the works of God?" He replied, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." John 6:28, 29.

The words of Paul to the Philippians, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" are often quoted by those who forget the words immediately following, "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." Phil. 2:12, 13

God Himself does the good works which when exhibited in the lives of men,

render them pleasing to Him. So the Saviour said: "But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." John 3:21.

How, then, do they appear in men? This is the "mystery of godliness." It is the mystery of "God manifest in the flesh." "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." "And the Word

was made flesh, and dwelt among us." John 1:1, 14. This was done to demonstrate the possibility of God's dwelling in human flesh. The mystery of the works of God being manifested in the lives of men, is simply the

mystery of the incarnation.

In Christ dwelleth "all the fullness of the Godhead, bodily." Col. 2:9. Therefore when Christ in His completeness dwells in the heart by faith, that person will be "filled with all the fullness of God." Eph. 3:17-19.

What words could be more full of comfort, and more suggestive of the infinite possibilities of the Christian life than these in Ps. 31:19: "Oh how great is Thy goodness which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee; which Thou hast wrought for them that trust in Thee before the sons of men!" Think of it! God Himself has wrought the good works with which we are to appear before His throne. And how are we to get them?--Simply by trusting Him; by appropriating those good works by faith. God Himself comes to dwell with those who believe His word, and He lives out His own life in them. This thought is enough to fill every soul with love and joy and confidence.

The Christian life means an actual life. But life means activity. To live a godly life, therefore, means the living of a life in which the acts of God Himself are manifested. The apostle Paul said: "But by the grace of God I am what I am; and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all;" and then he added, "yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." 1 Cor. 15:10. And again: "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me." Gal. 2:20.

The secret of the whole matter is to acknowledge that in us dwells no good thing; and that God alone is good; that we are nothing, but that He is everything; that we are weakness, but that power belongs to God, and that

God has the power to manifest Himself in the flesh today as well as eighteen hundred years ago, if we will but let Him; and to submit ourselves to the righteousness of God. Exaltation comes only through self-abasement.

Christian activity comes only through passive submission to God, as the clay is passive in the hands of the potter. "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy and for Thy truth's sake."

I Thirst.

 

We can't live without fluids, this is a fundamental truth. Everyone needs fluid to survive and food, these are basic facts. You can kill someone by denying them fluids, and you can kill someone by denying them food. You can keep someone barely alive by giving them a little bit of fluid and food, indefinitely. A person's health deteriorates with insufficient fluid and food, but they can live for a long time in poor health.

We cannot live without the LIVING WATER and LIVING BREAD. Not spiritually. Is it any wonder that our Savior told us that if we believe on Him we shall have rivers of living water from Him. Those living waters are the SPIRIT. Those life giving waters are the HOLY SPIRIT IN US keeping us alive IN CHRIST. We cannot live without this living water! We cannot live without the Holy Spirit, not as Christ followers.  

Christ in us is our HOPE. Christ in us through the Holy Spirit living in us. LIVING in us. ALIVE in us. Not a silent, unliving, dead thing in our bodies but A LIVING, LIFE GIVING FORCE! We are infused with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Water become a part of our lives, a part of us that keeps us living in Christ. We feast on the Word of God, our Living Bread, and we drink from the Holy Spirit, our Living Water.

The WORDS of GOD so precious, life giving!

The HOLY SPIRIT so precious, life giving!

Let us drink and eat abundantly. 

I THIRST!

JESUS I WOULD DRINK OF THE LIVING WATER!

Joh 7:37  In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 

Joh 7:38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 

Joh 7:39  (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) 

Pro 1:23  Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. 

Zec 12:10  And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. 

Excerpt - Present Truth Articles - Life in Christ - by E.J. Waggoner

"For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." Romans 5:10. 

Many act and talk as if Christ was dead, and irrecoverably dead. Yes,

He died; but He rose again, and lives forevermore. Christ is not in Joseph's new tomb. We have a risen Saviour.

What does the death of Christ do for us?--Reconciles us to God. He died, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. Now mark! It is the death of Christ that brings us to God; what is it that keeps us there?--It is the

life of Christ. We are saved by His life. Now hold these words in your minds: "Being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."

Why was the life of Christ given? "God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 

Then Christ gave His life that we might have life.

Where is that life? and where can we get it? In John 1:4, we read, "In Him was life; and the life was the light of men." He alone has life, and He gives that life to as many as will accept it. John 17:2.

Joh 17:2  As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.  

Then Christ has the life, and He is the only one who has it, and He is willing to give it to us. Now what is that life? Verse 3: "And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." Has a person who knows Christ eternal life?--That is what the Word of God says.

Again He says in John 3:36: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." These are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. How do we know that we have this life? This is an important question. "We know that we have

passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer; and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him."

Says one, "We know that we will get eternal life by and by." Yes, that is true, but there is something better than that; we get it now. This is not a mere theory, it is the Word of God. Let me illustrate: Here are two men--brothers--to all appearances they are alike. But one is a Christian, and the other is not. Now the one that is a Christian, although there is nothing in his external appearance to indicate it, has a life that the other has not. He has passed from death--the state in which the other one is--to life. He has something that the other has not, and that something is eternal life. The words, "No murderer hath eternal life abiding in him," would mean nothing if nobody else had eternal life abiding in him. "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself; he that believeth not God hath made Him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son." 1 John 5:10. God cannot lie, and so when we say that the words of God are not so, we make liars of ourselves. Now, according to this Scripture, we make God a liar, if we believe not the record that God gave of His Son. What, then, must we believe in order to clear ourselves of that charge,--of not believing this record and thus making God a liar? The next verse explains it: "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son."

We are to believe that God has given to us eternal life in Christ. As long as we have the Son of God, we have eternal life. By our faith in the Word of God we bring Christ into our hearts.

When Jesus went to Bethany, He said to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life." We have already read about passing from death unto life; how was that done?--Only by a resurrection. In Christ we have a resurrection to a

new life. Note the following: Paul prays that he may know Him, and the "power of His resurrection." What is the power of that resurrection? In Eph. 2:4-7 we read: "But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us [made us alive] together with Christ (by grace ye are saved)."

 Notice, He hath done this, and He "hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." We were dead, we are quickened, and we are raised up to sit in heavenly places with Christ Jesus.

We must have, and we can have, the life of Christ today; for when He comes, He will change our vile bodies by the same power by which He has changed our hearts. The heart must be changed now. It cannot be changed

except by the life of Christ coming in and abiding in it. But when Christ is in the heart, we can live the life of Christ, and then when He comes, the glory will be revealed. He was Christ when He was here upon earth, although He did not have a retinue of angels and glory visible about Him. He was Christ when He was the Man of Sorrows. Then, when He ascended, the glory was revealed. So with us. Christ must dwell in our hearts now, and

when He comes and changes these bodies, then the glory will be revealed.

In Heb. 5:2 we learn that the work of the high priest was to be one of compassion. "Wherefore in all things it behooved Him [Christ] to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in

things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people." Heb. 2:17. What is done by the compassion of Christ?--Strength is given to us. What benefit is the compassion of Christ to us?--He knows the

strength we need. He knows what we need, when we need it, and how we need it. So the work of Christ as priest is for one thing,--to deliver us from sin. What is the power of Christ's priesthood?--He is made priest, "not after

the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life." 

That is the power by which Christ delivers you and me from sin this day, and this hour, and every moment that we believe in Him.

No one could take life away from Christ. The wicked had no power to kill Him. He laid His life down. But God raised Him up, "having loosed the pains of death; because it was not possible that He should be holden of it." He had power in His life that defied death. He laid life down, and took death upon Himself, that He might show His power over death; and when the time came for Him to do so, He took His life again. Why was it that death could

not hold Him?--Because He was sinless. Sin had spent all its force on Him, and had not marred Him in the least. It had not made a single blot upon His character. His was a sinless life, and therefore the grave could have no

power over Him. We have that same life when we believe on the Son of God. There is victory in that thought. We can have it by believing on the Son of God. Give your sins to the Lord, and take that sinless life in their place.

The life of Christ is divine power. In the time of temptation the victory is won beforehand. When Christ is abiding in us, we are justified by faith, and we have His life abiding in us. But in that life He gained the victory over all sin, so the victory is ours before the temptation comes. When Satan comes with his temptation, he has no power, for we have the life of Christ, and that in us wards him off every time. Oh, the glory of the thought, that there is life in Christ, and that we may have it!

The just shall live by faith, because Christ lives in them. "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved

me, and gave Himself for me." Gal. 2:20.

Law

 

The Law.  

There doesn't exist a single place upon earth where laws have no say so in their existence. Seriously. We've placed blanket laws even on undiscovered places, the rights to them and so on and so forth. We've place laws upon the ocean and just how much belong to different countries. We have even put laws governing airspace, and yes, outer space as well. Laws surround us and make up our lives even if we aren't in a position or desire to delve into the study of laws. Manmade laws fill and order our lives. We are confronted with the laws as a daily part of our existence. The constant breaking of laws only serves to reinforce the laws existence. Ignorance of a law can be an excuse but only in rare cases. 

What laws exist universally? Some say, none. Others say this-

Seven Basic Universally accepted rules- 'The rules: 

help your family, 

help your group, 

return favours, 

be brave, 

defer to superiors, 

divide resources fairly, 

and respect others’ property, 

were found in a survey of 60 cultures from all around the world.'

Of course we have no law that demands we help family members or be taken to court, punished or otherwise. The same goes for helping groups, returning favors. Being brave, well some could contend that we have a law against cowardice once you've enlisted in an armed force. Deferring to superiors, again there are certain laws for this in certain places - you cannot resist arrest or face consequences of your resisting. We have no law stating we have to divide resources fairly, but we do have laws that try to keep people from destroying what belongs to others.  

Rules, laws, we live with them all simply because we exist together in an unknown, unpredictable manner and try to make sense out of the unpredictable and unfavorable behavior of others. If no one at all was ever prone to stealing we would need no law to tell us not to do so. How amazing it would be to live in a world where no one ever stole anything from anyone in any manner. We haven't a clue though who is among those likely to steal, there is no predictability- try as we might we'll never predict without error those who will become thieves.  

The fact of the matter the laws we put into place are supposed to be there to protect people from other people. 

God's righteousness is in His moral law, the royal law, the ten commandments. Loving God and loving our fellow man are summed up in those ten laws. Righteous laws from a righteous God. These laws will forever be in existing, because the righteousness of God will never cease to exist.  There will come a time they are a complete way of life, perfect life in Christ Jesus when He calls us to Him as the last trump sounds.

All in the amazing love of our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST forever and ever! Amen. 

 

*******

Excerpt 'Present Truth Articles- Perpetuity of the Law - by E.J. Waggoner'

The law of God is the righteousness of God. It may not be amiss to review the proof on this point. David, in these words, bears witness to the fact that the commandments are themselves righteousness: "My tongue shall speak

of Thy word; for all Thy commandments are righteousness." Ps. 119:172. 

Since there is no righteousness but that of God, the commandments must be His righteousness; but we have still more direct evidence. 

The prophet Isaiah thus contrasts the things of earth with the righteousness of God: "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner; but My salvation shall be for ever; and My righteousness shall not be abolished." Isa. 51:6.

In the next verse he proceeds to tell what this righteousness is: "Hearken unto Me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is My law." 

Because the law is the righteousness of God, it enables those who are instructed in it to "give judgment upon good or evil."

The text says, "My righteousness shall not be abolished." Since there can be no question but that "righteousness" is here used with reference to the law of God, we may properly substitute "law" for "righteousness," thus: "The earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner; but My salvation shall be for ever, and My law shall not be abolished." 

This gives the exact meaning, and is no more positive than we shall find stated elsewhere. God is from everlasting to everlasting. Ps. 90:2. As He cannot exist separate from His nature, or, in other words, separate from Himself, and the law is the transcript of His nature, it necessarily follows that the law exists from everlasting to everlasting. And since created beings, who are all subjects of God's government, cannot obey an abstract principle, but must have that principle clearly defined, we know that at least from the time that God created intelligent beings as subjects of His government, the law must have existed in written form, or must have been expressed in definite language. And from the beginning of His creation to everlasting ages, it must continue so to exist.

This is exactly what we are taught by the words of Christ in the sermon on the mount. Said he: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill [to ratify, establish, or teach]. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Matt. 5:17, 18. 

Here two things are mentioned, the law and the prophets. Christ did not come to destroy either one. He came in fulfillment of prophecy, and also to teach the law, which he did in the sermon on the mount. He did not, however, fulfill all the prophecy; for some of it reaches far beyond His first advent. For instance in Ps. 89:20-29 we read the following prophecy concerning the kingdom of David, over which Christ, as the Son of David, is to rule:--

"I have found David My servant; with My holy oil have I anointed him; with whom My hand shall be established; Mine arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him. And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him. But My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him; and in My name shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. He shall cry unto Me, Thou art my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation. Also I will make him My firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and My covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven."

In verses 35-37 we read further:--

 Once have I sworn by My holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven.

Here is a prophecy that will be in process of fulfillment as long as the sun and moon endure, even to all the days of heaven. Now the words of Christ are that "one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be

fulfilled." Till all what be fulfilled? Evidently till all the prophets be fulfilled, for He is speaking of the prophets, in connection with the law. Then, in view of the prophecy that we just read, we know that not the slightest change can be made in the law so long as Christ reigns on the throne of David; and that will be throughout eternity. 

The Word- For Instruction.

 Truth Seeking.

The truth? I long for the misery of the world to end. The injustice that lurks around every turn, seeping through so many facets of our lives is overwhelming and it doesn't matter who you are, it's there. We are witnesses to an existence so degraded by Satan it is scarcely comprehensible. The debauchery of our world has existed since sin entered. The multitude of evil has grown exponentially as the population on earth has grown. 

Here's an excerpt from google-

'The title of science fiction author John Brunner’s magnum opus, “Stand on Zanzibar,” plays off the idea that the Earth’s 1950 population of 2.5 billion could fit, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, on the Isle of Wight, in the English Channel. Brunner, who predicted that unbridled population growth would drive that figure to 7 billion by 2010 (he was off by a year — the population reached 7 billion around Halloween, 2011), wryly noted that we would need a bigger island — hence, Zanzibar.

Let’s face it, 7 billion sounds like an awful lot of people being supported by this cosmic island called Earth, particularly considering that the global population stood at only 3 billion in 1960 and at around 300 million — roughly the current U.S. population — some 2,000 years ago.'

1960 - 3 billion people

2011 - 7 billion people

And the evil has only grown along with the population. 

Our tolerance of others has diminished. Our expectations of others level of empathy and general ability to care about each other, has dwindled. Or has it? Isn't it our constant expectation to be treated civilly- with courtesy and a degree of compassion -what throws it in our faces when this isn't the case? Don't we find our own tempers a little too short, our moods a touch more volatile, our self-focus more pronounced? Our perceptions are skewed all the time. A look of anger on a stranger's face can cause us to question why we received the look when in truth the anger isn't for us at all, we just happened to catch to expression of a totally unrelated situation. Perceiving we've been given a nasty look our reaction is one of confusing and perhaps instant cockiness, all silent, but the emotions evoked in us are there and can go on to affect our own mood. We are often ruled by the moods of those around us, and this can lead to a lot of nastiness caused by a vicious cycle. 

7 billion people and whether anyone wants to believe it or not, the Word of God tells us that the majority of the people will not belong to Him when Christ returns. 

Few.

Mat 7:13  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 

Mat 7:14  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. 

Many will not be His.

Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 

Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 

This is truth. 

7 billion people- and the majority belong to Satan. This is the world of deception, the world of pain and heartache, the world that will end with evil filling so many lives. 

Mar 13:12  Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. 

Mar 13:13  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 

2Ti 3:1  This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 

2Ti 3:2  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 

2Ti 3:3  Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 

2Ti 3:4  Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 

2Ti 3:5  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 

2Ti 3:6  For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 

2Ti 3:7  Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 

2Ti 3:8  Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 

2Ti 3:9  But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was. 

2Ti 3:10  But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, 

2Ti 3:11  Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. 

2Ti 3:12  Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 

2Ti 3:13  But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. 

2Ti 3:14  But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; 

2Ti 3:15  And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 

2Ti 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 

2Ti 3:17  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. 

Truth.  The truth is… we live in an evil run world. The truth also is, that we have a Savior who is greater than all the evil in the world. We must believe on Him, cling to Him, turn to Him, make Him our lives all through the Holy Spirit. Christ must live in us, the Holy Spirit must guide our lives. We must know doctrine which will reprove us and correct us, instructing us in right living through Christ and His righteousness. 

All by His grace and mercy, His love! Now and forever, amen!

Excerpt 'Present Truth Articles- How the Word Came- by E.J. Waggoner'

Keeping in mind the text, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God," we will place by the side of it the following from 2 Peter 1:21: "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."

In a later article we shall consider more fully the scope of the word "prophecy;" but here it is sufficient to note that the statement made in regard to the prophecy, must be applicable to all Scripture, since it is all given by the inspiration, or breathing, of God. The Scriptures, therefore, did not originate from men, but from the Holy Spirit.

This must settle the question as to whether or not the Scriptures are in any degree the reflection of the ignorance or the prejudice of the men who wrote them; for he who would claim that they are, must take the position that the

Holy Spirit is capable of being moved by human prejudice, or that it cannot utter words of perfect, Divine truth through an imperfect instrument. But that would be to degrade the Holy Spirit to the level of man.

It is not our business to inquire how the Spirit of God could speak through a human instrument without destroying his individuality, and still the message be wholly Divine. That is a mystery that rests only in the power  of God. We accept it just as we accept the mystery of the incarnation of Christ, without attempting to explain it.

When we have our attention specially directed to the fact that the Scriptures proceed wholly from the Spirit of God, we cannot fail to be struck with the frequency with which the statement occurs in the Bible. Let us note a

few instances.

"Now these be the last words of David. David, the son of Jesse, said, and the man who was raised up on high, the  anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue." 2 Sam. 23:1, 2. David spoke the word, but it was the Word of God.

Again, 1 Peter 1:10, 11: "Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you; searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in

them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." 

Who was it that testified? It was not the prophets themselves, but the Spirit of Christ that was in the prophets. The prophets did not understand the full import of the things that the Spirit testified through them, but had to study

their own writings.

Notice in the following Scriptures how carefully the distinction is made between the men who were used as instruments, and the source whence the revelation came:--

Acts 28:25, 26: "Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, saying, Go unto this people and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive."

Acts 1:16: "Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus."

 

Acts 4:24, 25: "Lord, Thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is; who by the mouth of Thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?"

Luke 1:68-70: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He hath visited and redeemed His people,...as He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets, which have been since the world began."

 Acts 3:20,21: "And He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you; whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets

since the world began."

In all the preceding texts the prophet is mentioned as the mouthpiece of the Spirit of God; but in the following quotation from Jeremiah 21:33, the prophet is ignored, and the credit is given directly to the Holy Spirit:--

"Whereof the Holy Ghost also in a witness to us; for after that He had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write

them." Heb. 10:15, 16.

Who gave this witness?--The Holy Ghost. The prophet Jeremiah was used as the instrument of transmitting it to the people; but it came so directly from the Holy Spirit that Jeremiah could without injustice be ignored in giving

credit for the words. And so we learn that, since the Scriptures came not by the will of man, but that "men spake from God, being moved by the Holy ghost," the word which they spoke is not the word of man, but is indeed the

Word of God.

Christ's Spirit Lives In Us.

 Rom 8:11  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 

The SAME Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead will DWELL in us!

This is truth! 

Zec 4:6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of host

It's NOT by might, it's NOT by any power we may think we possess, it is by the SPIRIT of the LORD that we are CHRIST'S!

You cannot be Christ's without His Spirit in you, it's impossible. It is His spirit in you that makes you His. The Spirit enables us to be Christians. Never will we be true Christ followers without the Spirit. There are many people who claim to belong to Christ, to follow Him, to love Him, to be used by Him- but it they do not have the SPIRIT in them, their love of Christ is a false love, their works are false and they are being used but not by Christ.  Christ will tell these people who will cry out super loudly professing their love and the results of that love, to get away from Him, that He doesn't know them.  Their love is FALSE! The spirit in them is FALSE! They do not belong to Christ, Christ doesn't know them! Christ MUST know those who are His, and He knows them because the SPIRIT, the same SPIRIT that lived in Him, the same SPIRIT He sent to be with His followers, must be in US! 

We have to be yielded completely to the Holy Spirit allowing Him to work in us the works of Christ! It's all through CHRIST'S power, every action we commit as followers of Christ's are Christ's actions, the glory goes to HIM always and only! We are blessed by the presence of the Holy Spirit living in us, working in us.  All glory to God! All praise and honor to God! He does all this FOR US, not expecting us to do it for ourselves. We were NEVER expected to live on our own without His power, His love, His Spirit in us.

By the grace and mercy of Christ may we have His Spirit in us! All through HIS amazing LOVE, now and forever!!!!!!!

Amen!

*******

Excerpt 'Present Truth Articles- The Power of Christ by E.J. Waggoner'

One of the most intensely interesting occasions for the disciples of the Master was when He, their Saviour and Lord, "was taken up and a cloud received Him out of their sight." He had given "many infallible proofs" of His resurrection, "being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God." Acts 1:3. Before His death He had instructed them concerning His return to the Father. That knowledge had brought grief and sadness to their troubled hearts. But He did not leave them without hope: "Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I

would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."

Absorbed with the idea of the immediate establishment of His kingdom, they were poorly prepared to grasp all the  truth He tried to set before them. They thought that the right was His to reign as king; they desired that He

should be king, and they were ready to give Him the homage of loving hearts. But a little later we see their King a helpless victim on Calvary's cross, and their hopes dying within them. But now the scene has changed. The bands of death have been broken, and He that was dead is alive again, and is once more with them. They hear His  own sweet voice; they listen to the gracious words that fall from His lips; and by His resurrection they were

begotten "again unto a lively hope." 1 Peter 1:3. He bade them go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, but how little did they comprehend the meaning of all that! "Lord, wilt thou at this time," said

they, "restore again the kingdom to Israel?" Acts 1:6. "Ye shall receive power," said He, "after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria,

and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

In this commission He entrusted to them, and through them to us, a mighty work to be accomplished--a work beyond the power of man to perform. He bade them go; the command was imperative; but, thanks be to His dear

name, before the command was the promise of power to perform it. "Ye shall receive power" and then you can "be  witnesses unto Me." Acts 1:8. St. Matthew presents the same thought and in precisely the same order. 

"Jesus  came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach  all nations,...and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."

Why were they to go? Because He had commanded it. How were they to fulfill this high and holy commission, and do this work which was beyond man's power to perform? The answer is found in this, that He had promised to be with them till the end, and He who made the promise possessed all power, and had said, "Ye shall receive power" and "ye shall be witnesses unto Me." "And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight."

Shortly before this He bade them tarry "in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high." But now what a spectacle is this! He, their great Leader in whom they trusted, is "taken up" and a cloud received

"Him out of their sight," and they--they so poor and weak and erring--are left to carry on the mightiest work ever committed to mortals. I do not wonder that those disciples tarried in Jerusalem, and prayed till the day of

Pentecost came; for just in proportion as they felt that the command to do the work was imperative, so must they have realized that Divine power would be a necessity. And when in response to their prayers and their faith, that

power came and they rehearsed before the people the recent scenes of Calvary, and presented in its simplicity the  Gospel of Christ, the effect of that power was seen in the conversion of three thousand souls on that same day. And the same power which existed then exists still, and awaits the demands of the people of God today. 

Personal consciousness on our part that without Him we can do nothing, and a self-surrender to His will, is the pathway that leads to success in the work assigned us; and the result will be the salvation of souls, and glory and honour to His name who has promised to endue His servants with power from on high.

Words of Spirit and Life.

 Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Jesus said- The words I speak…they are spirit…they are life.

We have many of Jesus' words recorded for us in the Bible. In fact, the truth in the Word of God- Old and New Testament are inspired words. The entire Bible written by mankind as they were INSPIRED by the HOLY SPIRIT. The entire Bible, books put together in an INSPIRED manner, not something haphazardly done. We may often question why various parts of the Bible were included, but it's not ours to question. We read this INSPIRED Bible and let God work in us. We feed off the Word of God, and as we digest the Spiritual feast we partake of, we allow God to let it flow through us giving us the Spiritual life we need from it. You may pick up the Bible and read a passage a hundred times seemingly confused by it and unable to comprehend its meaning, yet God knows when and if you will need that particular knowledge. You feed and He utilizes the food we ingest.  Is it ANY wonder at all why men and women, and even children have died just to obtain the written Word of God? Is it ANY wonder why Satan has inspired many leaders even today to ban God's word in their countries? Satan knows the incredible power of the Bible. When he couldn't get rid of it, he made it a book placed upon a shelf, or in a box, tucked away in an attic, dusted weekly on the coffee table, shut up in a drawer…and he's let it hide in plain sight. He made it available in surplus so that it would lose its appeal, it's importance, it's special, reverent, holy status. Satan has made it just a book to a lot of people and they care not that in their possession is the written word of God- the words spoken by God, by their Savior, through the Holy Spirit that are given to us for spirit and life.  

The Savior God said- "The words I speak…they are spirit…they are life." 

Light does shine in darkness, but the darkness comprehends it not. If we follow the Light of our Savior, we won't be in darkness. We can choose to remain in darkness, many do.

Truly, Satan has used great deception with mankind. Satan has used the pride of mankind to ruin them. Satan has puffed mankind up to the point they feel they have no need of God, no need of salvation. Darkness cover the spiritual sight of many because they choose their own idea of knowledge over the knowledge of their Creator. God help us to seek the LIGHT of TRUTH, God help us listen to the words of our Savior whose words are spirit and life.

Bible Echo - October 15 1892  by A.T. Jones (Excerpt) 

"In Him was life and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness and the darkness apprehended it not." John 1:4, 5 R.V. The marginal rendering, "overcame," gives us the exact meaning of the text and conveys a message of great comfort to the believer. Let us see what it is.

Christ is the light of the world. See John 8:12.

Joh 8:12  Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. 

 But His light is His life, as the text quoted states. He says, "I am the light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life." The whole world was in the darkness of sin. This darkness was due to lack of knowledge of God as the apostle Paul says that the Gentiles are "darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them because of the hardening of their heart." Eph. 4:18, R.V.

Eph 4:18  Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart

Satan, the ruler of the darkness of this world, had done his utmost to deceive men as to the true character of God.  He had made the world believe that God was like men--cruel, vindictive and passionate. 

Even the Jews, the people whom God had chosen to be the bearers of His light to the world, had departed from God and while professedly separate from the heathen, were enveloped in heathen darkness. 

Then Christ came, and "The people which sat in darkness saw a great light, and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, to them did light spring up." Matt. 4:16, R.V. His name was Emanuel, God with us. "God was in Christ." God refuted the falsehoods of Satan, not by loud arguments, but simply by living His life among men so that all might see it. He demonstrated the power of the life of God and the possibility of its being manifested in men.

The life which Christ lived was untainted by sin. Satan exerted all his powerful arts, yet he could not affect that spotless life. Its light always shone with unwavering brilliancy. Because Satan could not produce the least shadow of sin in the life, he could not bring it within his power, that of the grave. No one could take Christ's life from Him; He voluntarily laid it down. And for the same reason, when He had laid it down, Satan could not prevent Him from taking it up again. Said He, "I lay down my life that I might take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father." John 10:17, 18.

To the same intent are the words of the apostle Peter concerning CHRIST: "Whom God hath raised up having loosed the pains of death; because it was not possible that He should be holden of it." Acts 2:24. Thus was demonstrated the right of the Lord Jesus Christ to be made a high priest "after the power of an endless life." Heb. 7:16.

This endless, spotless life Christ gives to all who believe on Him. "As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh,  that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." John 17:2, 3. 

Christ dwells in the hearts of all those who believe on Him. "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me, and gave himself for me."  Gal. 2:20. See also Eph. 3:16, 17.

Eph 3:16  That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 

Eph 3:17  That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love

Christ, the Light of the world, dwelling in the hearts of His followers, constitutes them the light of the world.  Their light comes not from themselves but from Christ, who dwells in them. Their life is not from themselves, but it is the life of Christ manifest in their mortal flesh. See 2 Cor. 4:11. This is what it is to live "a Christian life."

2Co 4:11  For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. 

The living light comes from God in a never-failing stream. The psalmist exclaims: "For with thee is the foundation of life; in thy light shall we see light." Ps. 36:9. "And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal,  proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb." Rev. 22:1. "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that is athirst, come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely." Rev. 22:17.

"Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:53, 54. 

This life of Christ we eat and drink by feasting upon his word, for He added, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." Verse 63. Christ dwells in His inspired word, and through it we get His life. This life is given freely to all who will receive it, as we read above; and again we read that Jesus stood and cried, saying, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." John 7:37.

This life is the Christian's light, and it is that which makes him a light to others. It is his life; and the blessed comfort to him is that no matter how great the darkness through which he has to pass, no darkness has power to put out that light. That light of life is his as long as he exercises faith, and the darkness cannot affect it. Let all,  therefore, who profess the name of the Lord have the confidence that can say, "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me." Micah 7:8.

Faith Is Active, Faith Is A Work.

Bible Echo - August 1, 1890  by A.T. Jones (Excerpt) 

"But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above); or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead). But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is,  the word of faith, which we preach: that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Rom. 10:6-9.

May we accept these words, especially the statement in the last verse, as literally true? Shall we not be in danger if we do? Is not something more than faith in Christ necessary to salvation? To the first of these questions we say, Yes, and to the last two we say, No, and refer to the Scriptures for corroboration. So plain a statement cannot be other than literally true and one that can be depended on by the trembling sinner.

As an instance in proof, take the case of the jailer at Philippi. Paul and Silas, after having been inhumanly beaten,  were placed in his care. Notwithstanding their lacerated backs and their manacled feet, they prayed and sang praises to God at midnight and suddenly an earthquake shook the prison, and all the doors were opened. It was not alone the natural fear produced by feeling the earth rock beneath him nor yet the dread of Roman justice if the prisoners in his charge should escape, that caused the jailer to tremble. But he felt in that earthquake shock a premonition of the great judgment, concerning which the apostles had preached; and, trembling under his load of guilt, he fell down before Paul and Silas, saying, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Mark well the answer; for here was a soul in sorest extremity and what was sufficient for him must be the message to all lost ones. To the jailer's anguished appeal, Paul replied, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Acts 16:30,  31. This agrees exactly with the words which we quoted from Paul to the Romans.

 

On one occasion the Jews said unto Jesus, "What shall we do that we might work the works of God?" Just the thing that we want to know. Mark the reply: "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." John 6:28, 29. Would that these words might be written in letters of gold and kept continually before the eyes of every struggling Christian. The seeming paradox is cleared up. Works are necessary, yet faith is all-sufficient, because faith does the work. Faith comprehends everything and without faith there is nothing.

The trouble is that people in general have a faulty conception of faith. They imagine that it is mere assent and that it is only a passive thing to which active works must be added. But faith is active and it is not only the most substantial thing but the only real foundation.

 The law is the righteousness of God (Isa. 51:6, 7), for which we are commanded to seek (Matt. 6:33), but it cannot be kept except by faith, for the only righteousness which will stand in the Judgment is "that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith."  Phil. 3:9.

Read the words of Paul in Rom. 3:31. "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law." Making void the law of God by man is not abolishing it; for that is an impossibility. It is as fixed as the throne of God. No matter what men say of the law, nor how much they trample upon it and despise it, it remains the same. The only way that men can make void the law of God is to make it of none effect in their hearts by their disobedience. Thus in Num. 30:15, a vow that has been broken is said to have been made void. So when the apostle says that we do not make void the law through faith, he means that faith and disobedience are incompatible. 

No matter how much the law-breaker professes faith, the fact that he is a law-breaker shows that he has no faith. 

But the possession of faith is shown by the establishment of the law in the heart, so that the man does not sin against God. Let no one decry faith as of little moment.

But does not the apostle James say that faith alone cannot save a man and that faith without works is dead? Let us look at his words a moment. Too many have with honest intent perverted them to a dead legalism. He does say that faith without works is dead and this agrees most fully with what we have just quoted and written. For if faith without works is dead, the absence of works shows the absence of faith; for that which is dead has no existence. If a man has faith, works will necessarily appear and the man will not boast of either one, for by faith boasting is excluded. Rom. 3:27. Boasting is done only by those who trust wholly in dead works or whose profession of faith is a hollow mockery.

Then how about James 2:14, which says: "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith and have not works? Can faith save him?" The answer necessarily implied is, of course, that it cannot. Why not?  Because he hasn't it. What doth it profit if a man say he has faith, if by his wicked course he shows that he has none? Must we decry the power of faith simply because it does nothing for the man who makes a false profession of it? Paul speaks of some who profess that they know God but who deny Him by their works. Titus 1:16. The man to whom James refers is one of this class. The fact that he has no good works--no fruit of the Spirit--shows that he has no faith, despite his loud profession, and so of course faith cannot save him; for faith has no power to save a man who does not possess it.