Christ In The Church
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Isaiah 61:1
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An Imperative Rule
There are many things that we learn in order to follow Christ. However, there are certain things that are "salient" in their nature, and cannot be neglected if great progress is to be known in the pursuit of Christ. One of these things has to do with things in the past, whether failures or successes. God has made provision in Christ so that the believer can run free from entanglements and weights, in his love and service to Christ.
Aligned With God's Purposes
The moment when every believer in Christ was placed into Christ, the process began of conforming him into the image of Christ. This process was not done from the outside in, but from the inside out, and this by the Spirit of God. Only God can bring us into conformity with Christ, His purposes and will. Our part is to trust Him fully to do this for His glory.
Where Is The Church
Since the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit of God was "...poured out upon all flesh," the presence and role of the church of Christ, His living body on earth, has had a monumental effect on the world. The measure of that effect has been the revelation, or manifestation, of Christ in and through the church to the world. In times of revival, and awakenings, God moves in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform. He has chosen the church to reveal His glory in this age.
We Would See Jesus
It appears from Scripture that the request by certain Greeks who had come to Jerusalem to worship, was a pivotal and decisive moment when Jesus knew that the time had come to face the coming ordeal of the cross. He knew that He must, as the seed, "fall into the ground and die," if His life would bear fruit, eternal fruit in extraordinary measure. There are times, and moments, when the Spirit of God witnesses with our spirit that God is working specifically to bring about His eternal purposes. We need to be particularly receptive at times like these.
The Living Words Of Christ
What is the main difference between the words of God, as recorded in the Scriptures, and the words of men, as penned in millions of books? The first is truly living, by vertu of the power of God. The second, though some things may be true, are without the power to give and communicate Eternal Life, to save the soul, and glorify God. One is everlastingly unchangeable. The other will fail and return to the dust as will the men who spoke them.
The Constant Admonition To Believe
Why and how is the Word of God so very important inspiring and encouraging the Lord's servants? It is because it is first of all living, possessing the power by the Spirit of God to strengthen the soul, to believe and trust in God, especially in difficult times. The fact that it is eternal means that it is valid today to quicken the believer as when the Lord spoke the words, and they were recorded in Scripture.
The Blessing Of God
The promise of God is that He will supply the answer to every need according to His riches in Christ Jesus. He does this in answer to prayer, and in His wisdom and His time. His provision is always given in the measure of the His wisdom, and the furtherance of His purposes. There is coming a day when the believer, complete in Christ, will know the absolute fulness of Christ, when there will be no more conscious need.
Christ Our Sanctification
The moment the believer is born again of the Spirit, Christ becomes to him many things. One of those things is his sanctification, Christ's sanctification. As Jesus becomes his wisdom, so in the truest sense of the term, He becomes that God given blessing of knowing something of Christ's separateness unto God the Father according to His work on Calvary. One day the believer's sanctification in Christ will be fully realized, and accomplished in heaven, or when he meets Him face to face.
The Restoration Of The Soul To God
It is one thing to know that God restores the soul, bringing it back into communion or fellowship with Himself with all the blessings of God with it, but it is quite another to know the reality of Him restoring our souls, experiencing it. This he will do for the soul who seeks Him for it. He IS the perpetual Restorer of our souls, ever willing and waiting to accomplish this today.
The Old Man's New Beginning
God is ageless, and so is His calling. Though we live in these tents of clay we call our bodies, God's eternal calling, and the gifts which He bestows upon us so that we can do His will, do not change. We are therefore called upon to believe Him event to our old age, to be all that He desires to be in and through us by the Spirit of Christ.