The Keys To Full Assurance
Where does assurance come from in the believer's relationship with God? It comes from the Spirit of God, who gives peace, consolation, conviction, and clarity. However, He gives it when the believer has dealt with any and every obstacle hindering Him from working. It is essential for the believer to have clean hands and a pure heart.
The Essential of Communion With God
It has been said that, "Life reduced to fellowship with Christ, makes the complicated simple." Communion, or fellowship with Christ, is the great calling to man, specifically to the believer. By that fellowship of walking with Christ, abiding in Him, living by and for Him by the Spirit, one comes to truly know Him. The Christian is called to first know Him, and then to make Him known.
On Thing Never To Forget
There are many things that one might need to forget if in the present one is to follow Christ, sins, failures, even successes for which we might be tempted to glory over. But there is one thing that we must never forget. It is the love of God revealed in the sacrifice of His dear Son to save us all. The Lord's Supper is such a time, and symbol, of remembering Christ, and what is cost Him to make a sinner whole.
In The Spirit
What does it mean to be in the Spirit, as opposed to being in the flesh? It means that the believer is in union with Christ by virtue of the new birth, that old things are passed away, and not only are all things become new, but by virtue of being IN CHRIST, all that is in Christ is available to the believer by faith, when quickened by the Spirit. Hence, we are called to be filled with the Spirit, and to walk by the Spirit.
Fulness On The Isle Of Patmos
Beyond borders, circumstances, and even the limitations of man, the believer can be filled with the Spirit. How can this be? It is possible because of the promised presence of the Spirit of God, one with the spirit of the believer. It actually comes about when the blood of Christ is claimed to cleanse from all sin, and then faith put wholly in Christ, according to the promise of His blessing. With clean hands and a pure heart, faith can claim the blessing.
The Sword Of The Lord
When we see in Scripture an angel, or a man with a sword, and in particular the Lord Jesus glorified, with a sword protruding from His mouth, we are confronted with spiritual authority, supremely that of Christ. The sword is a symbol of this authority, and the very power to be exercised according to the word of the Lord. This is why we obey Christ, for His authority is in His words.
The Practice Of Standing
The expression of one's faith takes many forms. One of those forms is kneeling, another is sitting before God, as David did, inquiring of God. There is another that is very important. It is that of standing. Why? Standing means that one is attentive, living in the expectation that God will answer, and that one stands ready not only to hear, but to obey, doing the will of God.
The Essential Of A Renewed Vision
Scripture tells us that without a vision the people perish. Why is this so, and why is it so difficult to maintain such a clear vision? The vision sets the purpose and object of faith before us. Christ is our vision. Faith to believe God for all that He desires to do is given to the one who sees clearly Christ as his objective and understands clearly the knowledge of His will towards which he is pursuing.
The Christ Of The Revelation
What is it that Christ is glorified, and in heaven? One has only to see Him by faith in the book of Revelation, coming in the clouds of heaven, but this time, not in the meekness and lowliness of the Servant, but this time in the garb of the conquering King, the eternal Savior having come to claim His own, and set all things right. He that is Faithful and True is coming in His glory.
Completeness In Christ
The salvation which God has provided for mankind is perfect in every way, and complete in its application to the needs of men. There is nothing lacking in God's provision in Christ, so that the believer may glorify God presently, and know for certain that he will be kept for eternity, ever in the eternal peace and blessing of God, for he has been placed IN CHRIST.