Knowing the Truth-Using the Truth You know.

Excerpt-

'It is possible for a consecrated Christian to be deceived into passivity for some years without ever awakening to his dangerous plight. The degree of inactivity will increase in scope until he suffers unspeakable pain in mind, emotion, body and environment. To present the true meaning of consecration to these ones thus becomes vitally important. The knowledge of truth is absolutely necessary for deliverance from passivity, without which freedom is impossible. We know that a believer falls into passivity through deception but this latter in turn is caused by a lack of knowledge.

The Knowledge of Truth

The very first step to freedom is to know the truth of all things: truth concerning cooperation with God, the operation of evil spirits, consecration, and supernatural manifestations.

The child of God must know the truth as to the source and nature of the experiences he may have been having if he expects to be delivered. Since his descent was (1) deception, (2) passivity, (3) entrenchment, and (4) further deception and passivity, then the way to release will be initially the uncovering of deception. Once the early deceit is dissolved, passivity, entrenchment and further deceit will disintegrate. Deception unlatches the gate for the evil spirits to rush in; passivity provides a place for them to stay; and the result of these two is entrenchment. To dispossess them requires an ending of passivity which in turn needs the exposure of deception, and this is brought about by nothing else save the knowledge of truth. Knowledge of truth is therefore the first stage towards freedom. Only the truth can set people free.

We have cautioned our readers repeatedly about the danger of supernatural experience. We are not suggesting that every such manifestation must be categorically resisted, forsaken and opposed:this would be at variance with Biblical teaching since the Scriptures record numerous supernatural acts of God. Our purpose simply has been to remind Christians that there can be more than one source behind supernatural phenomena; God can perform wonders, but so can evil spirits imitate! How crucial for us to distinguish what is of God from what is not of God. If one has not died to his emotional life but earnestly seeks sensational events, he will be easily duped. We do not urge people to resist all supernatural manifestations, but we do exhort them to resist every supernatural occurrence which derives from Satan. So what we have tried to point out throughout this Part of the book has been the basic differences between the operation of the Holy Spirit and that of the evil spirit so as to help God’s children discern which is which.

It can be stated that present day Christians are particularly susceptible to trickery in supernatural matters. Our earnest hope is that in their contact with supernatural phenomena they shall first undertake the task of discriminating lest they be beguiled. They must not overlook the fact that when the supernatural experience is authored by the Holy Spirit they are still able to engage their own mind; it is not required that they be totally or partially passive before they obtain such an experience. And afterwards too they are still able to exercise their conscience freely to distinguish good and evil without the least inhibition. But should the experience be authored by the evil spirit, then the victims must settle into passivity, their mind be blank, and their every action be performed under outside
compulsion. Such is the essential difference.

The Apostle Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 14 various spiritual gifts among which are revelation, prophecy, tongues and other supernatural manifestations. He acknowledges these gifts as flowing from the Holy Spirit, yet he defines the nature of these God-given gifts in these words: “the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets” (v.32). If what the prophets (believers) receive is from the Holy Spirit, then the spirits they receive will be subject to them. This means that the Holy Spirit Who bestows diverse supernatural experiences upon men will not infringe on their rights by manipulating any part of their bodies against their wills. They continue to retain the power of self-control. Only that spirit which is subject to the prophet or believer is from God; any spirit which demands the prophet to be subject to it is not from God. Although we should not oppose all supernatural elements, we nonetheless should judge whether these supernatural spirits require a man’s passive subjection or not. The workings of the Holy Spirit and those of the evil spirit are fundamentally opposite: the Former wishes men to be sovereignly free; the latter requires him to be altogether passive. The believer should judge his experience by this criterion. Learning whether he has been passive or not can be the solution to all his problems.

Should the child of God desire freedom his folly must be removed. In other words, he must know the truth. He needs to appreciate the real nature of affairs. Satanic lies bind, but God’s truth unshackles. Naturally the knowledge of truth is going to be costly, for it will shatter the vainglory one has assumed due to his past experiences. He looks upon himself as far more advanced than others, as being spiritual and infallible. How hard hit he will be if he confesses the possibility of his being invaded or if he is shown to have been so invaded! Unless God’s child sincerely adheres to all the truth of God, it becomes very rough for him to accept this kind of painful and humiliating truth. One encounters no difficulty in accepting that truth which is agreeable; but it is not easy at all to take in a truth which blasts one’s ego. To acknowledge himself as liable to deception is relatively easy; whereas to confess that he is entrenched by the enemy already is most difficult. May God be gracious, for even after a person has known the truth he may yet resist it. The acceptance of truth is thus the first step to salvation. The child of God must be willing to know all the truth concerning himself. This requires humility and sincerity. Therefore let him who vehemently opposes such truth beware lest unknowingly he actually be enslaved.

The roads to truth are many and various. Some are awakened to their true state upon discovering that they have lost their liberty in all respects through their protracted and serious satanic bondage; others whose experiences may be ninety per cent of God and only ten percent impurity come to know the truth when they begin to doubt their experience; still others are brought to a knowledge of their condition through the truth given them by other believers. In any event, the Christian should not refuse the first ray of light which shines upon him.'

Excerpt- The Spiritual Man - by Watchman Nee

How Easy It Is To Be Deceived.

Mat_24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

These false Christs, these false prophets do so much to deceive people that were it POSSIBLE, which it is not, they could deceive God's elect.

People ARE going to be deceived, people who are NOT prepared to acknowledge that they can be deceived about many things.

WE NEED to acknowledge how easy it is to be deceived by Satan!

We need to pray for comprehension, pray for spiritual sight, pray for the light in such a dark, dark world.

May our God help us! All through Jesus Christ our Lord, our Savior! Now and forever!

*******

'Sufferings and Weaknesses

Having fully surrendered to God the Christian naturally concedes that he should walk in the way of the cross and suffer for Christ’s sake. He additionally acknowledges the futility of his natural life and is willing to be weak in order that he may be strengthened by the power of God. These two attitudes are commendable but they can be utilized by the enemy if they are not rightly understood.

Having recognized that there is something of great profit in suffering, the Christian following consecration may submit passively to whatever comes to him without question. He simply believes he is suffering for the Lord and that therefore it is both profitable and rewarding. Little does he understand that, unless he intentionally exercises his will both to accept what God allots and to resist what the enemy dispenses, his passive acceptance of all suffering will surely afford an excellent opportunity to the evil spirit to torment him.

Suffering at the hand of the evil spirit while believing the satanic lie that his suffering emanates from God merely gives the  enemy the right to prolong the assault. The person is unaware that his suffering does not arise from God but arises out of his fulfilling the conditions for the working of evil spirits. He still pictures himself as suffering for the church that he may complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body. He conceives himself a martyr whereas in fact he is a victim. He glories in these sufferings, yet they constitute but symptoms of the adversary’s entrenchment.

We should notice that all these afflictions which flow from the work of the evil spirits are meaningless—positively fruitless and purposeless. Apart from the fact that one is suffering, there is no sense to it. The Holy Spirit does not bear witness in our intuition that this proceeds from God.

Should the believer investigate a little he may discover that he did not encounter such experiences before he offered himself to the Lord and chose to suffer. Having made the choice, he automatically

accepted all sufferings as from God, although most are triggered by the power of darkness. He has surrendered ground to the evil spirits; he has believed their lies; and his life is consequently marked by

unreasonable and ineffectual sufferings. Knowing the truth concerning the deep workings of the evil spirit helps the individual not only to overcome sins but to eliminate unnecessary afflictions as

well.

The child of God may hold this same erroneous concept concerning weakness. He thinks he should maintain a condition of weakness if he is ever to possess God’s strength. For has not the Apostle Paul asserted that “when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12.10)? He accordingly wills to be weak that he too may be strong. He does not observe that the Apostle has not willed to be weak but that he is merely relating to us his experience of how the grace of God strengthens him in his frailty for the accomplishment of God’s purpose. Paul has not desired this infirmity; yet he is strengthened by God in that infirmity. Paul is not to be found persuading a strong believer to purposely choose weakness in order that God may strengthen him afterwards. He simply is showing the weak believer the way to strength!

Choosing weakness and choosing suffering both fulfill the requirements for the operation of evil spirits since by so doing man’s will is placed on the enemy’s side. This explains why countless children of God who enjoyed good health in the beginning find themselves weakened daily after they have chosen to be weak. The strength they expect does not emerge: they soon become a burden to others: they are useless in God’s work. Such a choice does not draw down God’s power; rather does it furnish the evil spirits ground for attack. Unless these saints persistently resist this debility they shall encounter prolonged weakness.'

Excerpt- The Spiritual Man- by Watchman Nee

Choosing to Resist the Devil.

We have a part to play in our Christian walk. What exactly does it mean when we are told the following--

Jas 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 

Does submitting ourselves to God mean giving up our ability to reason? No.

When we submit to God we are then told to RESIST the devil so the devil will FLEE from us. This resisting is an ACTION, not a passive entreaty. So, how do we RESIST the devil?

This is how our Savior resisted the devil-

Mat 4:3  And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 

Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 

Mat 4:5  Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 

Mat 4:6  And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 

Mat 4:7  Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 

Mat 4:8  Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 

Mat 4:9  And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 

Mat 4:10  Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 

Mat 4:11  Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. 

This is how WE resist the devil-

Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 

1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 

1Pe 5:9  Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. 

Rev 12:9  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 

Rev 12:10  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 

Rev 12:11  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. 

*******

Satan IS attacking us as often as he can in ways we can't even imagine.

As we go through our lives in the GOOD situations and the BAD we need to ask ourselves if they are of God or of Satan.

Satan will counterfeit God's ways leaving in just enough of his deception to ruin what should be a good thing. Not all seemingly good things are of God. We truly need to submit to God in the good and the bad. We need to resist the devil in all things, not just the thing we perceive as being outright evil. Satan will sneak into places in our lives we thought were sacred and beyond his reach but truly very little is beyond the reach of Satan. The powers of Satan's will are so strong this following verse needs to be memorized--

Mat_24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

IF it were possible the very elect would be deceived!

And this verse--

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. 

FEW find that narrow gate.

And this next verse-

Luk 17:26  And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 

Luk 17:27  They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. 

Luk 17:28  Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 

Luk 17:29  But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 

Luk 17:30  Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. 

This next passage tells us how few were saved in the days of Noah-

1Pe 3:20  …when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. 

*******

To believe that Satan isn't a real force to resist in a very real way is to be deceived. Don't put Satan on a back burner, something to think about another time. Don't put your resisting of the Devil on a shelf somewhere saving it for blatant attacks. We truly need to make it a daily practice to submit to God AND resist the Devil!  Our lives need examining, not ignoring.

2Co 13:5  Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.

Php_2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Reread this excerpt I posted already a couple days ago- it's worth rereading!

May God bless us and keep us in HIM! All through Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR now and FOREVER!

*******  Excerpt --

'God’s Ordering

We know that besides man’s will there are two other totally antagonistic wills in the world.

God calls us to obey Him and to resist Satan.

Twice in the Bible do we find these two sides mentioned together:

(1) “submit yourselves therefore to God,” exhorts James, and then he follows immediately with “resist the devil” (4.7);

(2) “humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God,” enjoins Peter, and continues by charging his readers to “resist (the devil), firm in your faith” (1 Peter 5.6,9).

This is the balance of truth. A believer certainly must learn to submit himself to God in all  matters, acknowledging that what He orders for him is the best.

Though he suffers, yet he heartily submits to the will of God. This, however, is just half the truth. The Apostles understood the danger of being lopsided; hence we find them right away warning the Christian to resist the devil once he submits to God. This is because there is another will besides His, that of Satan’s.

Frequently the devil counterfeits the will of God, especially in the things which happen to us. If we are unaware of the presence of a will other than God’s, we can easily mistake Satan’s to be God’s and so fall into the devil’s trap. For this reason God wants us to resist the devil when we submit

to Him.

Resistance is done by the will. Resistance means our volition opposes, disapproves, and withstands. God wishes us to exercise our volition, therefore He exhorts us to “resist the devil.” He will not

resist for us; we ourselves must do so.

We have a will; we should use it to take heed to God’s Word. So teaches the Bible. Thinking that

God’s will is revealed in His orderings, the Christian may accept anything which comes to him as His will. In that event he naturally will not employ his volition to choose, decide or resist. He just quietly accepts everything. This sounds good and appears right, but it contains a serious fallacy.

Now we do acknowledge the hand of God behind everything, and we do confess we must submit fully under His hand. But the point at issue here is more one of attitude than of conduct. If what happens to

us is the direct will of God, would we object to it? This is a matter of our heart intention. But after we are assured of our obedience to God we should inquire further: does this emanate from the evil spirit or is it but God’s permissive will? If it is His commanded will, we have no objection; if otherwise, we will resist it together with God.

Hence this never implies that we should submit to our environment without daily examination and testing. Our attitude remains the same at all times, but our practice comes only after we are sure of God’s will, for how could we submit to Satan’s will?

A Christian ought not act as one who is without a brain, passively driven by his environment. He actively and consciously should examine the source of every item, test its nature, understand its meaning, and decide the course to take. It is important to obey God, but not blindly. Such active investigation is not a sign of rebellion against God’s ordering, because our heart’s intent continues to be one of submission towards God. We only wish to be sure that in our submission we are verily obeying God.

A definite lack in an obedient attitude exists among believers today. Though they perceive God’s will, they nevertheless fail to yield. Contrariwise, those who have been broken by God run to the other extreme by unquestioningly accepting whatever occurs to them.

The truth lies in the center; obey in heart and accept after being assured of the source.

How sad, though, that many fully consecrated believers do not discern this difference. Such a Christian therefore passively submits to his environment, surmising that everything happens to him by the

order of God. He gives ground to the evil spirits to torment and hurt him. These spirits provide environment (their snares) by which to trap the saint into performing their will or raise up circumstances to trouble him.

Believers may misunderstand this to be what Matthew 5.39 enjoins when it says “do not resist one who is evil,” not recalling that God summons them to struggle against sin (Heb. 12.4). By overcoming environment they are overcoming the spirit of this world. The factors in such a misapprehension of God’s ordering are that (a) believers do not use their will to choose and decide; (b) God certainly does not oppress them with environment; and (c) the evil spirits utilize the environmental circumstances as a substitute for their passive will. Rather than obeying God these believers actually are obeying the evil spirits.'

Excerpt from 'The Spiritual Man' by Watchman Nee

Ridding Sin of Existence.

We all can comprehend what it would mean to live with a puppet, a robot, something that has no independent thought, no power of choice. What person among us hasn't played with a doll or action figure, most likely both growing up? You controlled that toy's actions it never acted on its own. If you owned a wind up, or motorized figure you could flip a switch or turn a knob and that toy would seemingly move of its own accord. Playing with dolls/actions figures allowed us to use our imaginations as we manipulated those toys in scenarios of our own design. Back in the days before store bought dolls  people would go to toy makers, or make their own dolls and such to play with, they actually created them from various items- wood, cloth, metal, etc. These toys could never replace playing with an actual friend, a person like yourself. In fact playing with those toys was always more fun with a friend.

Where am I going with all this? A question was recently brought up about why God allowed sin, and why God allowed Satan to remain free after sin rose up in him? These are all very valid questions and seeking the answers isn't always easy, truly there are things of God we cannot know.

Deu_29:29  The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

1Co_2:11  For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

Rom 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! 

Rom 11:34  For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? 

Yes, there are definitely things of God we cannot know.

1Co_13:12  For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

Yes, we are looking through a glass, darkly-  glass so murky in that darkness we can't see through it clearly. There will come a day we see God face to face and everything will be clear.

And while knowing one day we will be able to know and comprehend the things of God doesn't always satisfy us now, so we try to figure things out the best we can through prayer and study.

Why did God allow sin?  Because to not allow that power of choice between good and evil would mean creating beings completely restricted in their existence, they would be mere dolls in the hands of God and God did not want dolls.  God knew of good and evil when He created the creatures that exist. When angels were created God who knew of good and evil allowed angels this knowledge as well. With that knowledge in them, angels shunned evil. But then one day - a mystery beyond our full comprehension- occurred and Lucifer a covering angel found himself becoming prideful, found himself desiring to be like His creator, but not only to be like Him but to take His place as a god in his own right. The created did not accept created status, it made him unhappy. Having the knowledge of good and evil but not being a god seemed somehow wrong to Lucifer and that dissatisfaction began to grow in Him.  The robot would rise up, only this wasn’t a robot but one able to choose between good and evil.  Lucifer as a sentient being demanded recognition, and if he couldn't be a god himself, with the power of a god to create new creatures, then he would attempt to destroy the things of His Creator.

That brings us to why God didn't just blink him out of existence, him and all his evil would then be gone and not able to corrupt human beings.

God wanted more than automatons.  Willing to chance evil rising up, He did not interfere with the tempting of Eve.

God wasn't playing with dolls, He gave the dolls life and once they had life they were allowed to make their own choices. Would Adam and Eve or any of their descendants have sinned without the influence of Satan to seduce them? The possibility was there. The tree of good and evil was there and as soon as it was placed there and they were informed of its powers they had a choice to make every day, every hour, every minute , every second to either eat from it or not.  They were told this-

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.

They were told the tree would bring death into their existence where no death existed.

They had to choose to believe God and know the tree would bring death or else believe differently, believe other than what God their Creator told them.

And they did believe Him and chose not to eat and bring death to their lives.

But then… Satan lied to them and they chose to believe the lie rather than the truth.

Why did God allow Satan to tempt them with lies?

If God had taken Satan and chained him to the planet Mars void of human beings, what was God in essence doing? He wasn't eradicating sin that had been birthed into existence, He was binding it, not ridding existence of evil. And if we think that's a good thing then we need to ask ourselves, is it better to rid the world of a plague or simply bind it up? Everyone knows something that is bound is still able to be unbound, but something destroyed completely has no way of rising up again. 

Now before you say that it could, and I say I agree, let me just say one thing- this is why Satan wasn't chained, this is why Satan wasn't simply blotted out of existence along with all capability of sinning. Sin and Satan needed to be destroy in such a way that there would never be the choice to sin ever again or our Creator would keep creating various creatures of intellect and the cycle of sin would go on and on and on over and over again. 

How precious is eternal life in Christ? More precious than we can truly fully fathom.

Our Creator wants to rid sin of its existence altogether and have creatures who desire this very same thing with every fiber of their being. Every sin gone! 

Do you have any cherished sins? Or do you utterly despise all your sins? Do you have any pet sins you keep around telling yourself they aren't going to bite you, they aren't going to turn on you? Pet sins you tell yourself aren't really sins at all, do you have any of those? A single non-despised sin is you declaring you don't really want every sin wiped out of existence.

God wants sin gone and He wants human beings- like 2/3rds of the angels- to choose the same thing.

Sin is insidious, and we can put spiritual blinders on our eyes and tell ourselves some sins aren't so bad and convince ourselves they are even good, but deep down we are allowed a chance to realize that all sin is worthy of death eternal. If we shun that truth, we will be allowed spiritual blindness.

Sin's destruction is God's design and His reasoning for allowing it and for allowing us to be influenced into sin is for this end.  Do we understand it all, probably not, but Eve and Adam chose not to believe words that came from God's mouth, and we too must make choices all the time whether to believe the words of God's mouth.

May God help us in our search for TRUTH, may we always TRUST in Him and know God only ever desires the best for us- for us to ultimately live with Him in eternity, an eternity that will never be curious about sin again.

Please bless us with Your mercy and grace, with Your will, Your truth, Your amazing love all through our blessed Savior, Jesus Christ our LORD now and forever!

God's Will, Our Will, Satan's Will.

Have you ever thought about the will of Satan?

We are constantly as Christians desiring God's will to be done in our lives.  We read this--

Mat 6:10  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 

Mar_3:35  For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

Act_13:36  For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption

Rom_1:10  Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.

Rom_8:27  And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Rom_12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

And there are still more verses like those.

The will of God is a reality.  But as the following excerpt states, not all is the will of God.

We tell ourselves in many of our situations in life that - it is God's will and we do this to believe that we must accept everything that occurs.

God doesn't will sin and yet sin exists.

God doesn't will pain and agony, yet it exists.

God doesn't will heartache and sorrow but it is everywhere.

Satan wills all things evil. God WILL utilize situations that occur to bring about our ultimate good, but He does not will that we sin or are victims of sin in any way.

Rom_8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

And God purpose in calling us is to be saved through His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

More on all of this tomorrow by the grace and yes, by the will of God.

*******

'God’s Ordering

We know that besides man’s will there are two other totally antagonistic wills in the world.

God calls us to obey Him and to resist Satan.

Twice in the Bible do we find these two sides mentioned together:

(1) “submit yourselves therefore to God,” exhorts James, and then he follows immediately with “resist the devil” (4.7);

(2) “humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God,” enjoins Peter, and continues by charging his readers to “resist (the devil), firm in your faith” (1 Peter 5.6,9).

This is the balance of truth. A believer certainly must learn to submit himself to God in all  matters, acknowledging that what He orders for him is the best.

Though he suffers, yet he heartily submits to the will of God. This, however, is just half the truth. The Apostles understood the danger of being lopsided; hence we find them right away warning the Christian to resist the devil once he submits to God. This is because there is another will besides His, that of Satan’s.

Frequently the devil counterfeits the will of God, especially in the things which happen to us. If we are unaware of the presence of a will other than God’s, we can easily mistake Satan’s to be God’s and so fall into the devil’s trap. For this reason God wants us to resist the devil when we submit

to Him.

Resistance is done by the will. Resistance means our volition opposes, disapproves, and withstands. God wishes us to exercise our volition, therefore He exhorts us to “resist the devil.” He will not

resist for us; we ourselves must do so.

We have a will; we should use it to take heed to God’s Word. So teaches the Bible. Thinking that

God’s will is revealed in His orderings, the Christian may accept anything which comes to him as His will. In that event he naturally will not employ his volition to choose, decide or resist. He just quietly accepts everything. This sounds good and appears right, but it contains a serious fallacy.

Now we do acknowledge the hand of God behind everything, and we do confess we must submit fully under His hand. But the point at issue here is more one of attitude than of conduct. If what happens to

us is the direct will of God, would we object to it? This is a matter of our heart intention. But after we are assured of our obedience to God we should inquire further: does this emanate from the evil spirit or is it but God’s permissive will? If it is His commanded will, we have no objection; if otherwise, we will resist it together with God.

Hence this never implies that we should submit to our environment without daily examination and testing. Our attitude remains the same at all times, but our practice comes only after we are sure of God’s will, for how could we submit to Satan’s will?

A Christian ought not act as one who is without a brain, passively driven by his environment. He actively and consciously should examine the source of every item, test its nature, understand its meaning, and decide the course to take. It is important to obey God, but not blindly. Such active investigation is not a sign of rebellion against God’s ordering, because our heart’s intent continues to be one of submission towards God. We only wish to be sure that in our submission we are verily obeying God.

A definite lack in an obedient attitude exists among believers today. Though they perceive God’s will, they nevertheless fail to yield. Contrariwise, those who have been broken by God run to the other extreme by unquestioningly accepting whatever occurs to them.

The truth lies in the center; obey in heart and accept after being assured of the source.

How sad, though, that many fully consecrated believers do not discern this difference. Such a Christian therefore passively submits to his environment, surmising that everything happens to him by the

order of God. He gives ground to the evil spirits to torment and hurt him. These spirits provide environment (their snares) by which to trap the saint into performing their will or raise up circumstances to trouble him.

Believers may misunderstand this to be what Matthew 5.39 enjoins when it says “do not resist one who is evil,” not recalling that God summons them to struggle against sin (Heb. 12.4). By overcoming environment they are overcoming the spirit of this world. The factors in such a misapprehension of God’s ordering are that (a) believers do not use their will to choose and decide; (b) God certainly does not oppress them with environment; and (c) the evil spirits utilize the environmental circumstances as a substitute for their passive will. Rather than obeying God these believers actually are obeying the evil spirits.'

Excerpt from 'The Spiritual Man' by Watchman Nee

Humble Us.

Humble-


Definition of humble
1. 1:  not proud or haughty :  not arrogant or assertive
2. 2:  reflecting, expressing, or offered in a spirit of deference or submission a humbleapology
3. 3a :  ranking low in a hierarchy or scale :  insignificant, unpretentiousb :  not costly or luxurious a humble contraption


From <https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/humble>



*
We know pride is evil. Pride is what caused the covering angel to sin. Placing self-importance above other-importance, in place of God-importance is wrong because esteeming ourselves great as if we have power in and over ourselves to give ourselves life. Just because we can control various parts of our lives we have to comprehend that ultimately we have very little control over life in general. We like to take on importance as if we are creators of ourselves, when in truth we create nothing, we give life to nothing that isn't beyond our comprehension in so many ways. Pride destroys, being humble lifts up God to His proper place in our lives, it lifts up others in their proper place and keeps us in ours- comprehending truth, knowing the love of God, knowing God.

We need to be humble but not in an outward manner to reap pride to ourselves which can be done and all too often is done.


By the grace of God may we all be humbled, knowing humility in HIS way, not man's, all through our Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord!


(Excerpt follows--)


5. Humility. Text: “Not that we venture to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves” (2 Cor. 10.12 ff.).


2Co 10:12  For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. 


Believers misjudge this long passage from verse 12 to 18 as signifying a call to hide themselves to the extent that they are left without a proper self-regard, one which God unquestionably permits us to have. Not a few instances of self-abasement are essentially a disguise for passivity. Consequently: (a) the believer effaces himself; (b) God does not fill him; and (c) evil spirits exploit his passivity to
render him useless.


When the Christian is self-abased under the enemy’s penetration his surroundings appear entirely dark, hopeless and desolate to him. He gives the impression of being deadly cold and dishearteningly
melancholic to all who are in contact with him. He himself easily faints and is discouraged. At critical moments he deserts the fight and withdraws, thus embarrassing others. God’s work is not too
important to him. In speech and work he tries hard to hide himself, but this only manifests his self the more—to the great sorrow of the truly spiritual. Due to his excessive disregard for himself he stands
by watching when there is such great need in the kingdom of God. He exhibits perpetual inability, hopelessness, and wounded feelings. While he may envisage this to be humility he does not realize it is
but the work of the evil spirits. True humility is able to look at God and proceed on.'  Excerpt - The Spiritual Man- by Watchman Nee


1Pe_5:5  Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.


Col 3:12  Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 
Col 3:13  Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 
Col 3:14  And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. 
Col 3:15  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. 
Col 3:16  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 
Col 3:17  And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. 

Teacher- Holy Spirit, Love Through the Holy Spirit.

Excerpt -

(The Spiritual Man by Watchman Nee)

3. Memory. Text: “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14.26).

Christians do not grasp that this verse means the Counselor will enlighten their mind so that they may remember what the Lord has spoken. They instead think it instructs them not to engage their memory because God shall bring all things to their minds. They accordingly allow their memory to degenerate into passivity; they do not exercise their wills to remember. And what is the outcome?—

“(a) the man himself does not use his memory; and (b) God does not use it, because He will not do so apart from the believer’s co-action; (c) evil spirits use it, and substitute their workings in the place of the believer’s volitional use of his memory.” (Penn-Lewis, WOTS,121)

4. Love. Text: “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us” (Rom. 5.5).

Believers misconstrue this to signify that they are not themselves to love but to let the Holy Spirit dispense God’s love to them. They petition God to love through them that His love may be supplied

abundantly so as to fill them with divine love. They no longer will love for hereafter it is God Who must make them love. They cease to exercise their faculty of affection, permitting its function to sink into

total paralysis. With the result that (a) the believer himself does not love; (b) God will not bestow supernatural love upon him in disregard of the man or the operation of his natural affection; and so

(c) evil spirits substitute themselves for the man and express their love or hate through him. And once he has abandoned the use of his will to control his affection the evil spirits put their counterfeit love

in him. Thereafter he behaves like wood and stone, cold and dead to all affections. This explains why many saints, though holy, are scarcely approachable.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength,” says the Lord Jesus (Mark 12.30). Now whose love is this? Exactly whose heart, soul, mind and strength is brought into view here? It is of course ours. Our natural life needs to die, but these natural endowments and their functions remain.'