Divine Sugar Sticks for February 2001

What's the background behind Sugar Sticks? Click here to find out.

Thursday, February 1, 2001

Daily Readings as Music for the Soul

“Do All in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ,” Col 3:17.

“Do this in remembrance of Me,” as Paul expresses it, “discerning the Lord’s body,” 1 Cor 11:29.

Not only because you are in danger of forgetting, but to do this “because you remember.” Do this not only in order that your reminisces may be strengthened, but do it because they are strong. Seeing the Lord’s body, discerning His presence, loving that which you discern, do this!

And in like manner, “Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” To do, that is to say, for the sake of the character, as revealed to you, of Him whom you love.

Do it all, giving thanks unto the God and Father by Him, and then in a parallel passage “Whatsoever you do, do it heartily,” Col 3:23 and that is one principle and the next:

As the foundation of all real heartiness, do it “as unto the Lord.” That is the foundation and the limitation as well for it is only when we “do it heartily as to the Lord” that earnestness is kept from degenerating into absorption, and that a man, while working with all his might and “diligent in business,” Prov 22:29, shall be “fervent in spirit.”

The motive is the same in the Communion. It is the remembrance of the Lord. That earnestness is kept for select occasions and for what we call special acts of worship.

It is to be feared that the majority of Christians do with the Divine reason for work “the love of Christ constraineth us,” 2 Cor 5:14, as the old Franks used to do with their long-haired kings. They kept them in a palace at all ordinary times and gave them no power over the government of the kingdom and only now and then brought them out to grace a procession. And then they would take them back again into their reverential powerlessness.

That is like what Christians do, with that which ought to be the rule of their lives and the motive of all their work. We sit down to the Communion and “do it in the Name of the Lord.” We commemorate Him there when we pray and when we speak to Him.

But there is no action of life which is too great to bow to the influence of “this do in remembrance of Me” and there is no action in life which is too small to be magnified, glorified, or turned into a solemn sacrament by the operation of the same motive.

”Do this in remembrance of Me” in everything. Make it all a Communion.

“Ye Must Be Saved!” Why Do We Need to be Saved?

1. What high privilege was vouchsafed to man in the beginning?
   ”So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He Him, male and female created he them,” Gen 1:27.
   
2. How was man’s loyalty to God put to the test?
   ”And the Lord commanded the man saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die,” Gen 2:16, 17.
   
3. How did Satan subvert our first parents from allegiance to God?
   ”The serpent beguiled Eve through his subtley,” 2 Cor 11:3, Gen 3:1-6.
   
4. What tragic change came in the relationship between man and God as a result of the fall?
   A. They became sinners in His sight.
   ”Therefore as one man sin entered into the world and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men for they all have sinned,” Rom 5:12.
   
   B. They lost the privilege of open communion with God.
   ”Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden,” Gen 3:23.
   
   C. They were doomed to die.
   ”Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return,” Gen 3:19.
   
5. What heritage did the fall thus confer upon the whole human family?
   ”Behold I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me,” Psa 51:5.
   
   If there be any Truth in the Bible it is this. That sin is not a stage in upward evolution, a mere survival of animal tendencies which is gradually being outgrown, nor a mere result of untoward circumstances, or a lack of education or experience. But a lawlessness of human will, a perpetually-renewed rebellion against God, which disorders human nature by depriving if of the fellowship of God.
   More to follow
   

   

   Why Christ Said, “Ye Must be Saved” – Part Two

6. How sadly has man been marred by sin?
   A. His understanding is darkened.
   ”Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them,” Eph 4:18.
   
   B. His heart is full of evil.
   ”The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it?” Jer 17:9.
   
   C. His conscience is defiled.
   ”Unto the unbelieving is nothing pure but even their mind and conscience is defiled,” Titus 1:5.
   
   D. He is spiritually dead.
   ”You, being dead in your sins,” Col 2:13.
   
7. How completely is he alienated from God?
   ”The carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be,” Rom 8:7.
   
8. Are any excluded from condemnation?
   ”But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident the Scripture hath concluded all under sin,” Gal 3:11-22.
   ”The whole world lieth in wickedness,” 1 John 5:19.
   
9. How important is the sinner to work righteousness?
   ”Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil,” Jer 13:23.
   Sin has so affected his nature that he cannot do anything that is good without the Grace of God.
   
10. How hopeless is his condition apart from God?
    ”At that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise having no hope without God in the world,” Eph 2:12.
    

    

    Why Christ Said “Ye Must Be Saved” – Part Three

11. To what end therefore must unaided man inevitably come?
    ”To be carnally minded is death,” Rom 8:6.
    ”How can ye escape the damnation of hell?” Matt 23:33.
    There is nothing at the present time needs more to be insisted on than the reality of guilt. It is not an illusion, which we should be taught to disregard in view of God’s infinite love. It is as real as life or death, a gigantic problem alike for God and man. His condemnation of sin, His wrath repelling sin, resting over sin, are not figments of our ignorance and fear. They are absolutely real things, to which our conscience bears a true though awfully inadequate testimony.
    
12. What cry of despair may well come from his lips?
    ”O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Rom 7:24.
    
13. Because of man’s impotence to save himself, what is his only hope?
    ”Now set your soul and your heart to seek the Lord your God,” 1 Chr 22:19, Jer 29:12-14.
    
14. How has God demonstrated His desire to restore man to fellowship with Himself?
    ”Yet doth He devise means that His banished be not expelled from Him,” 2 Sam 14:14.
    
15. Through Whom has the possibility of restoration come?
    John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
    
16. How universal is God’s offer of Grace?
    ”For God hath included them all in unbelief that He might have mercy upon all,” Rom 11:32.
    

    

    Why Christ Said “Ye Must Be Saved” – Part Four

17. In what striking way is the comprehensiveness of redemption emphasized?
    ”Wherefore He is also able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him,” Heb 7:25.
    
18. Is there any other way of escape than God’s?
    ”Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other Name given under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved,” Acts 3:12.
    
19. What should be the sinner’s response?
    ”Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin,” Psa 51:2.
    ”Create in me a clean heart, O God,” Psa 51:10.
    
20. How is redemption compared with God’s creative work?
    ”If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation,” 2 Cor 5:17.
    
21. In what Scripture does Christ claim to be both Creator and Redeemer?
    ”But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, “For I have redeemed thee,” Isa 43:1.
    
22. What satisfaction does a knowledge of salvation bring?
    ”Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man in whom the Lord will not impute sin,” Rom 4:7-8.

”Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”

Friday, February 2, 2001

Take a Walk With Me – In the Word

“Stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on towards the goal,” Phil 3:13-14.

Childhood is the prophecy of maturity. The child is the father of the man, the bud foretells the flower.

In the same way, the very imperfections of the Christian life, as it is seen here, argues the existence of another state where all that is here in germ shall be fully matured. All that is here incomplete shall obtain the perfection which alone will correspond to the power that works in us. Think of the ordinary Christian character. The germ is there and more than the germ.

As one looks at the crudity, the inconsistencies, the failings, the feebleness of the Christian life of others, or one’s self, and then thinks that such a poor, imperfect exhibition is all that so Divine a principle has been able to achieve in this world, one feels that there must be a region and a time where we shall be all which the transforming power of the Holy Spirit can make us.

True, the very inconsistencies of Christians are as strong a reason for believing in the perfect life of Heaven as their purities and virtues. We have a right to say mighty principles are at work after Christian souls.

The power of the Cross, the power of love essaying to obedience, the power of the indwelling Spirit, and is this all that these great forces are going to affect on human character?

Surely, a seed so precious and Divine, is somewhere and some time to bring forth something better than these few poor half-developed flowers, something with more lustrous petals, and richer fragrance. The plant is clearly an exotic here. Does not its obviously struggling growth here tell of warmer suns and richer soil where it will be at home?

There is a great deal in every man and most of all in Christian men and women which does not fit this present. All other creatures correspond in their capacities to the place where they are set down. The world in which the plant or the animal lives, the world of their surroundings, stimulates to activity all their powers. But that is not so with man. “Foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests,” Matt 8:20. They fit exactly and correspond to their environment.

But a man! There is an enormous amount of waste faculty about him if he is only going to live in this world.

There is a great deal in every nature, and most of all in a Christian nature. If I am a son of God, I have got much in me that is not wanted on this voyage, and the more I grow into His likeness, the more I am thrown out of harmony with the things around me in proportion as I am brought into harmony with the things beyond.

The Creator is Our Saviour! The Saviour is Our Creator!

Isa 43:1, “But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou art Mine,” Isa 43:1. The Creator is also the Redeemer. Therefore, it cannot be any created being like Mary, Budda, Mohamed, Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Judge Rutherford, Mary Eddy Glover Patterson Baker.

We have a personal Creator!

1. With what affirmation does the Bible open?
   ”In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth,” Gen 1:1.
   
   How tremendous are the implications of this simple statement! It denies atheism by declaring that there is a God. It denies agnosticism by implying that God may be known. It denies pantheism by distinguishing between the Creator and the creation. It denies polytheism by revealing that God is one. There is no false “ism” which is not condemned by this statement.
   
2. In what other ways does the Bible teach that God is a personal being?
   A. He is described as “living.”
   ”He is a living God,” Jer 10:10
   
   B. Personal actions and faculties are attributed to Him.
   ”The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open.”
   Unto their prayers but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil,” 1 Pet 3:12.
   
   C. Jesus Christ is declared to be the Son of God and Jesus Christ claims God as His Father.”
   ”God sent forth His Son to redeem them that were under the law,” Gal 4:4-5.
   ”And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit,” Luke 23:46.
   
   D. He is called “the Father” of man and the righteous are called “His sons.” “But to us there is but one God, the Father of whom are all things,” 1 Cor 8:6.
   ”Ye are the children of the Lord your God,” Deut 14:1.
   
   More to come on the Creator-Saviour.
   

   

   Personal Creator Saviour – Part Two

3. What testimony does nature bear to the existence and personality of God?
   ”The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead,” Rom 1:20.
   
4. How do the Scriptures therefore regard those who deny His existence?
   ’The fool hath said in his heart there is no God,” Psa 53:1, 42:1.
   Posterity will one day laugh at the foolishness of the modern materialistic philosopher. The more you study nature, you more you stand amazed at the works of the Creator.
   
5. How do the Scriptures emphasize the unity of the Godhead?
   ”God is one,” Gal 3:20.
   
6. What does the Bible say of God in contrast with other alleged gods?
   ”Though there be that are called gods whether in Heaven or in Earth as there be gods many, and lords many, but to us there is but one God, the Father of whom are all things and we in Him,” 1 Cor 8:5-6.
   
7. What title does the Lord take to distinguish Himself from all other claimants?
   ”The Lord is the true God,” Jer 10:10.
   
8. What difference is there between the personality of God and man?
   A. He is invisible to mortal eyes.
   ”Lo, He goeth by me, and I see Him not; He passeth on also, but I perceive Him not,” Job 9:11.
   
   B. He is not subject to the limitations of human personality.
   ”God is a spirit,” John 4:24.
   
   C. His attributes are inherent in Him whereas man’s are derived from God.
   ”The Father hath life in Himself,” John 5:26.
   
   D. In all things He infinitely transcends His creatures.
   ”His understanding is infinite,” Psa 147:5.
   ”With God all things are possible,” Matt 19:26.
   
   ”There is none holy as the Lord, for there is none beside Thee,” 1 Sam 2:2.
   
   More to follow – Creator-Saviour.
   

   

   Creator-Saviour – Part Three

9. How enduring is the being of God?
   ”Even from everlasting to everlasting ... Thou art God,” Psa 90:2.
   
10. What Bible statements indicate that God has a definite dwelling place?
    ”The Lord’s throne is in Heaven,” Psa 11:4.
    ”Hear Thou, in Heaven, Thy dwelling place,” 1 Kings 8:39, Psa 103:19.
    
11. Though dwelling in Heaven, is He limited thereto?
    ”I am a God at hand saith the Lord, and not a God afar off, do not I fill Heaven and Earth?” Jer 23, 24.
    
12. How does He seek to come to His creatures?
    ”I dwell in the high and holy place with Him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit,” Isa 57:15.
    
13. What should the majesty and love of God evoke from us?
    ”O come let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker,: Psa 95:6.
    
14. What are the essential factors in acceptable worship?
    ”God is a Spirit and they that worship Him, must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth,” John 4:24.
    ”Without faith it is impossible to please Him,” Heb 11:6.
    ”Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness,” Psa 29:2.
    
15. For what are the ungodly condemned?
    ”The God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all Thy ways, hast Thou not glorified,” Dan 5:23.
    
16. In what tragic way has their worship been diverted through sin?
    ”Who changed the Truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the
    creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever,” Rom 1:25.
    
    More to follow ...
    

    

    The Creator-Saviour – Part Four

17. What appeal, therefore, does Paul make to the wicked?
    ”We preach unto you that you should turn from these vanities unto the living God which made Heaven and Earth and the sea, and all things that are therein,” Acts 14:15.
    
18. What, in fact, will be the theme of the last Gospel appeal to the world?
    ”Fear God, and give glory to Him ... and worship Him that made Heaven and Earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters,” Rev 14:7.

Who is the Creator? The Saviour!

Col 1:16, “For by Him were all things created that are in Heaven and that are in Earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers. All things were created by Him, and for Him.”

John 1:3, “All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made.”

It may well be that our announcement of God, Jesus Christ, as the Creator, is the very thing that our own generation needs most to consider. The more thoughtful thinkers warn us that the only escape from the paths of error is for mankind to return to the first words of the Bible, that God is the Creator!

Can I Know God?

1. In what tragic state of ignorance did Paul find the people of Athens?
   ”As I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription,
   ’to the unknown god’.” Acts 17:23.
   
2. By contrast, what striking affirmation did Paul make?
   ”I know whom I have believed,” 2 Tim 1:12.
   The heart of Cchristianity is not an opinion about God – such as philosophy might reach as the conclusion of an argument. It is a personal relationship with God.
   
3. How does He express His desire for others?
   ”I cease not to give thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers., that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,” Eph 1:15-17.
   
   The only knowledge which is of any avail in the light of eternity is a personal, intimate knowledge of God. Christianity is not merely a belief in certain facts about a Person, it is rather a knowledge of that Person. Only this can transform lives and solve the problems of humanity. Christianity is not a philosophy, but a life. Not a knowledge of abstract principles, but a personal knowledge of faith and love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
   
4. Can unaided human reason attain to a knowledge of God?
   ”Touching the Almighty, we cannot find Him out,” Job 37:23.
   
   Skilled as man may be in the elucidation of the mysteries of the universe, he cannot find out God. Elihu spoke truly when he said “Behold God is great, and we know Him not, neither can the number of His years be searched out,” Job 36:26.
   
   More to follow – “Immanuel”
   

   

   Can I Know God? – Part Two

5. Why cannot we search out God in the same way that we study natural phenomena?
   A. Because He cannot be apprehended by the physical faculties.
   ”You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His shape,” John 5:37.
   
   B. Because the finite mind cannot comprehend the infinite.
   ”That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out,” Ecc 7:24.
   
   C. Because sinful man cannot approach unto God.
   ”Thou canst not see My face, for there shall no man see Me and live,” Exodus 33:20.
   
6. Though man cannot find out God, what does God offer to do for that man?
   ”I will make known My Words unto you,” Prov 1:23.
   ”He openeth the ears of man, and sealeth their instruction,” Job 33:16.
   
7. Through what channels does God make Himself known to man?
   A. Through His works.
   ”The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead,” Rom 1:20, Psa 19:1.
   
   B. Through inspired men.
   ”God, who at sundry times and in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,” Heb 1:1.
   
   C. Through the Lord Jesus Christ.
   ”We know that the Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding that we may know Him that is true,” 1 John 5:20, John 1:18.
   
   D. Through the Holy Spirit in personal experience.
   ”Ye have an unction from the Holy One and ye know all things ye need not that any man teach you,” 1 John 2:20, 27.
   
8. Why do so many fail to apprehend God?
   ”The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto Him, neither can He know them because they are spiritually discerned,” 1 Cor 2:14, “but you have the mind of Christ.”

More to come … Immanuel




Can I Know God? – Part Three

9. On what spiritual condition is this spiritual conception given?
   A. Spiritual desire
   ”Yea, if thou criest out after knowledge and liftest up thy voice for understanding, if thou searches her as silver, and searchest for her as a hid treasure, then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God,” Prov 2:3-5.
   
   B. Faith
   ”He that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him,” Heb 11:6.
   
   C. Readiness to obey
   ”His secret is with the righteous,” Prov 3:32.
   
10. What are some of the blessings which the knowledge of God brings to the believer?
    A. Peace
    ”Acquaint thyself with Him and be at peace, thereby good shall come unto thee,” Job 22:21.
    God has made us for Himself and we are restless until we find our rest in Him.
    
    B. Joy
    ”Thou wilt show me the path of life, in Thy presence is fulness of joy. At Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore,” Psa 16:11.
    The world is full of pleasure, but how little joy. The appearance of happiness is but a cloak to conceal an aching heart, a feeble attempt to escape from the sorrow which is sapping the life of mankind.
    How different is the joy of knowing Him. It is not superficial and transient, but deep and enduring.
    
    C. Understanding
    ”Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord,” Hosea 6:3.
    ”For the Lord giveth wisdom,” Prov 2:6, James 1:5.
    
    D. Comfort
    ”Who comforteth us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God,” 2 Cor 1:4.
    
    E. Confidence and hope
    ”I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against the day,” 2 Tim 1:12.
    
    More to come – Immanuel
    

    

    Can I Know God? – Part Four

11. What supreme blessing does the knowledge of God bring to the believer?
    ”This is life eternal that they may know Thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent,” John 17:3.
    
12. What urgent call, therefore, comes to us?
    ”Seek ye the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is yet near,” Isa 55:6.
    God is infinitely willing and desirous of bestowing His companionship upon us. Tenderly He pleads for us to come to Him. He will not force an entrance into the sanctum of the soul if we do not wish to know Him. But He knocks at our soul’s door and if we will open to Him, He will come in and abide with us.
    
13. How shall we respond to the call of God?
    ”When Thou saidest, Seek My face, my heart said unto Thee, Thy face Lord will I seek,” Psa 27:8.
    
    To know Him, to talk with Him, to tell Him all our joys and sorrows and to hear His words of comfort, to walk with Him in the daily tasks of life, and to feel the support of His powerful arms. What a glorious privilege. Shall we refuse such an invitation?
    
    ”Whosoever shall call upon the Lord shall be saved.”
    
14. What benediction does Peter pronounce upon believers?
    ”Grow in Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,” 2 Pet 3:18,
    ”Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus Christ our Lord,” 2 Pet 1:2.

Immanuel

Saturday, February 3, 2001

Let’s Take a Walk, in the Word, Fragrance of Music for the Soul

Heb 3:15, “Today, if you will hear His voice burden not your hearts.”

Every moment makes it harder for a man to turn to Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour. The dreadful power of habit weaves chains about him. Thin at first, as a spider’s web, solid at last as an iron fetter. Associations that entangle, connections that impede, grow with terrible rapidity. And if it is hard for you to turn to the Lord now, it will never be easier, and will certainly be harder.

”Today!” How long is it going to last?

All the deeper reasons for being a Christian remain unaffected if you are going to live in this world forever. And the Gospel of Jesus Christ is as good to live by as it is to die by.

Common sense says that if our time here is so uncertain as we know it is, there is no time to put off. You and I have to die whether we find a convenient season for it or not. And perhaps we have to die before we find Felix’s “convenient season,” Acts 24:25, to send for Paul or Paul’s Lord.

So, in the narrowest sense of the word, “Today harden not your hearts.”

Some of our young people may be kept from accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour and serving Him, by a vague disinclination and dread to make so great a change, if a change is right, then the sooner it is made the better. The shrinking all passes when it is made.

You hear Christ speaking to you through His Word, in His servants, even in the depths of your souls, and He speaks to you as a dying Saviour, and of His infinite love, of His perfect sacrifice. Of a complete salvation, a cleansed soul, a blessed life, a calm death, an
open Heaven for each, if only we will take Him.

”See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh,” Heb 12:25.

Why Did Jesus Christ Have to Die?

1. When was Jesus Christ chosen to be the world’s Redeemer?
   ”Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,” 1 Pet 1:20.
   
2. To what lengths did God know His Son would need to go in order to save man?
   ”The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,” Rev 13:8.
   
3. How certain was Jesus Christ of the predesigned course of His life?
   ”This that is written must yet be accomplished in Me and He was reckoned among the transgressors, for the things concerning Me have an end.” Luke 22:37.
   
   Christ’s death was not just a fitting conclusion to a life of self-sacrifice, and obedience to the uttermost, but He was born to die. His death affected something vital for our salvation, which His earthly incarnation, had it ended in some other way, could not have
   secured for us.
   
4. In what Words did Jesus Christ testify to His willingness to suffer for men?
   ”Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life that I may 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 up again,” John 10:17-18.
   
5. What did the death of Christ thus reveal?
   ”God commended His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,” Rom 5:8.
   
   There was a “Cross in the heart of God” before there was one planted on the green hill outside of Jerusalem. And now that the Cross of wood has been taken down, the one in the heart of God abides. And it will remain as long as there is one sinful soul for whom to suffer.
   

   

   Why Did Jesus Christ Have to Die? – Part Two

6. Beside manifesting the extent of the love of God and of Christ for man, what further purpose did the Cross serve?
   It indicated the immutability of the law of God.
   ”Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God,” Rom 3:25.
   
   Man’s soul had to be adequately dealt with. It demanded expiation. And expiation means a change of mind. In this stern and inexorable law lies the necessity of an atoning sacrifice for the sin of the world.
   
7. What penalty had man incurred through sin?
   ”The wages of sin is death,” Rom 6:23.
   ”Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned,” Rom 5:12.
   
8. Could God abolish the penalty of the law?
   ”It is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass then one tittle of the Law to fail,” Luke 16:17.
   
9. What, therefore, was necessary for the salvation of man?
   A sinless Man, not involved in the penalty, and possessed of life, inherent, and underived, must vicariously accept it on behalf of the race.
   
10. Who only could fulfill the requirements of such a vicarious sacrifice?
    ”God sent forth His Son made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law,” Gal 4:4, 5. ”Who did no sin,” 1 Pet 2:22.
    
    Though God is the Author of the atonement, and without Him fallen humanity would have been unable to offer it, yet it was made by Man acting in the true conditions of man’s nature.
    

    

    Why Did Jesus Christ Have to Die? – Part Three

11. How does Paul state the Doctrine of vicarious atonement?
    ”For He made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him,” 2 Cor 5:21.
    
12. What Divine dilemma did Jesus Christ thus resolve?
    ”To declare, I say, as this time His righteousness, that He might be just, and the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus Christ,” Rom 3:26.
    
13. As a result of Christ’s paying the penalty of transgression, what privileges are offered to man?
    A. Deliverance from Satan.
    ”Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness,” Col 1:13.
    
    B. Revocation of our sentence of death.
    ”Therefore, as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of One, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life,” Rom 5:18.
    
    C. Forgiveness of sin.
    ”Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sin,” Acts 13:38.
    
    D. Reconciliation to God.
    ”All things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself,” 2 Cor 5:18-19.
    
    E. New status of sonship.
    ”The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God and if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ,” Rom 8:16-17.
    
    F. Sanctification.
    ”By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all,” Heb 10:10.
    
    G. Eternal life.
    ”Whosoever believeth in Him shall never perish, but have eternal life,” John 3:16.
    ”He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on Him,” John 3:36.
    

    

    Why Did Jesus Christ Have to Die? – Part Four

14. How complete is the restoration made possible through the sacrifice of Christ?
    ”He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them,” Heb 7:25.
    
15. In what way do the wicked regard the preaching of the Cross?
    ”For the preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness,” 1 Cor 1:18.
    
16. On the other hand, what does the Cross mean to the believer?
    ”But unto us which are saved, it is the power of God,” 1 Cor 1:8.
    
17. How will our salvation be consummated?
    ”So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation,” Heb 9:28.
    
18. What reward will Jesus Christ receive in that day for all His sacrifice on our behalf?
    A. Satisfaction.
    ”He shall see the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied,” Isa 53:11.
    
    B. Universal adoration.
    ”Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus, every knee should bow of things in Heaven and things in Earth, and things under the Earth,” Phil 2:9-10.

”Immanuel”

What is it That Man Needs? Grace to Meet the Need of Man!

1. What question relating to salvation did a certain young man ask of Jesus Christ?
   ”Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life,” Matt 19:16.
   
2. How did Jesus Christ reply?
   ”If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments,” Matt 19:17.
   
3. How perfect an observance of the commandments is necessary however, to gain salvation by works?
   ”Whosoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all,” James 2:10.
   
4. Can any claim that He has earned eternal life and salvation according to this standard?
   ”But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God it is evident,” Gal 3:11.
   
5. To what, therefore, are all condemned through sin?
   ”For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord,” Rom 6:23.
   
6. What attributes of God come to the aid of the condemned sinner?
   ”But Thou, O Lord, are a God full of compassion and Gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth,” Psa 86:15.
   
7. What loving provision has He made available to man in Christ?
   ”I thank my God always on your behalf for the Grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ,” 1 Cor 1:4.
   
   ”Immanuel”
   

   

   Grace to Meet Man’s Needs – Part Two

8. What is the Grace of God in Christ able to affect on our behalf?
   ”That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might Grace reign through righteousness, unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord,” Rom 5:21.
   The help man needs must come from without and from above. God alone can undue that which by his fall man has inflicted on creation and on himself.
   The great message of the Gospel is that God is not only able so to do, but willing also, and that He has, in fact, done it in the Person of His Son incarnate.
   
9. To how many is this saving Grace available?
   ”For the Grace of God which bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,” Titus 2:11.
   
10. How may the sinner appropriate it?
    Eph 2:8-9, “For by Grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
    
11. What is the basis of our acceptance with God?
    ”To the praise of the glory of His Grace wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved,” Eph 1:6.
    
12. How did Paul acknowledge the operation of the Grace of God in his own life?
    ”By the Grace of God I am what I am, and His Grace, which was bestowed upon me was not in vain,” 1 Cor 15:10.

”Immanuel.”

Dear Abba!

Q. I recently saw on TV, a minister performing a wedding ceremony for lesbians and homosexuals. What does the Bible say about this?

A. Marriage is for believers and unbelievers, too. It is a designed institution as a factor for the stability of a nation. There are some guidelines in Scripture for marriage. There are three passages of Scripture which are sentinels for marriage and other important decisions in life, like the following:

Deut 4:2, “Ye shall not add unto the Word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from It, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.”

Prov 30:6, “Add thou not unto His Words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”

Rev 22:18, “For I testify unto every man that heareth the Words of the prophecy of this Book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this Book.”

So, the guidelines for marriages are found in the Bible and nothing is to be added to it or diminished from it.

I will follow with basically what the Bible says about marriage.

Biblical Marriages – Part Two – A Sacred Ordinance!

1. When God had created man, Adam, and provided him with perfect surroundings, what did He still feel was needed to complete his happiness?
   ”And the Lord God said, It is not good that man should be alone, I will make him a help meet for him,” Gen 2:18, verses 21-23.
   God celebrated the first marriage. Thus, the institution has for its Originator the Creator of the universe, which was Jesus Christ. It was one of the first gifts of God to man, and it is one of the two institutions that, after the fall, Adam brought with him beyond the gates of paradise.
   When the Divine principles are recognized and obeyed in this relation, marriage is a blessing. It guards the purity and the happiness of the race, it provides for man’s social needs, it elevates the physical, the intellect, and the moral nature.
   
2. For what purpose beside companionship was this first union ordained?
   ”And God blessed them and God said unto them be fruitful and multiply and replenish the Earth,” Gen 1:28, Jer 29:6.
   
3. Of what was it to be a pattern?
   Of all future homes.
   ”For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife and they two shall be one flesh,” Eph 5:31.
   The family tie is the closest, the most tender and sacred, of any on Earth. It was designed to be a blessing to mankind. And it is a blessing whenever the marriage covenant is entered into intelligently, in the fear of the Lord, and with due consideration for its responsibilities.
   
4. What wedding did Jesus Christ Grace with His presence?
   ”And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there, and both Jesus was called, and his disciples to the marriage,” John 2:1-2.
   
5. In what honor therefore should the marriage estate be held?
   ”Let marriage be had in honour among all,” Heb 13:4.
   
   More to follow …
   

   

   Biblical Marriages – Part Three

6. In a sinful world, how is the happiness of the family relationship often marred?
   ”Nevertheless, such, as marry, shall have trouble in the flesh,” 1 Cor 7:28.
   
7. Why are many marriages unhappy?
   ”Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness, and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?” 2 Cor 6:14-15.
   
8. For this reason what marriages did God prohibit among the Israelites?
   ”Neither shalt thou make marriage with them, the heathen around, thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following Me, that they may serve other gods,” Deut 7:3-4. Ask Solomon!
   
9. What very proper care did Abraham show in seeking a wife for his son?
   ”And I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of Heaven, and the God of the Earth that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell. But shall go into my country and to my kindred and take a wife to my son, Isaac,” Gen 24:3-4.
   
10. What advice did Paul offer to Christians contemplating marriage with unbelievers?
    ”Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you,” 2 Cor 6:17.
    
    We need not be surprised at these strong and repeated prohibitions, a mixed marriage is a prolific source of misery. Believers in such unions do not level their unbelieving partners up to Christ, but are themselves dragged down to infinite misery and self-reproach.
    
    More to come ...
    

    

    Biblical Marriages – Part Four

11. Under what conditions did He say marriage should be entered into?
    ”She is at liberty to be married to whom she will only in the Lord,” 1 Cor 7:39.
    
12. How will the Lord recompense those who are denied the blessings of marriage by their loyalty to Christ?
    ”And will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty,” 2 Cor 6:18.
    
13. What high standards to the Scriptures set for the relationship between man and woman?
    ”Teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands,” Titus 2:4.
    ”Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it,” Eph 5:25.
    
14. How exclusively devoted should man and woman be to each other?
    ”Drink waters out of thine own cistern and running waters out of thine own well. Let thy fountain be dispersed abroad, and rivers of water in the streets. Let them be only thine own and not strangers. Let thy fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of thy youth” Prov 5:15-18.
    
15. What commandments were designated particularly to safe guard family ties?
    ”Thou shalt not commit adultery,” Exodus 20:14.
    ”Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife,” Exodus 20:17.
    
    More to come ...
    

    

    Biblical Marriages – Part Five

16. What incentive beside family loyalty is there to purity of life?
    ”Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of a harlot? God forbid,” 1 Cor 6:15. Also verses 19, 20.
    
17. How indissoluble did God intend marriage to be?
    ”Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder,” Matt 19:6.
    
    ”In the beginning He created them male and female. The Hebrew for “man” is RAKAN.” The Hebrew for female is NEGABAH because of the sex form.
    
18. What special responsibility rests upon believers in divided homes?
    ”For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by her husband. Else were your children unclean. But now they are holy, for what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? Or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?” 1 Cor 7:14-16.

Husband and wife, man and woman. Marriages ...

”Immanuel”

Sunday, February 4, 2001

Let’s Go For a Walk in the Word – Music for the Soul!

The Heavy Cost of the World

Mark 8:36, “What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”

You get nothing for nothing in this world’s market. It is a big price you have to pay before these mercenaries will come to fight on your side.

Here is a man “that succeeds in life.” Well, what does it cost him? It has cost him the suppression, the atrophy by disuse of many capacities of his soul which were far higher and nobler than those that have been exercised in his success. It has cost him all his days. It has possibly caused him the dying out of generous compassions and the stimulation of unwholesome selfishness.

He has bought his prosperity very dear. If people would estimate what they pay for gold in treasure that cannot be weighed and stamped, they would find it to be about the dearest in God’s universe. And that there are few men who make worst bargains than the men who give “themselves” for worldly success. Even when they receive what they give themselves for.

Some have learned how much enjoyment has cost them. Some have bought pleasure at the price of innocence, of moral dignity, of stained memories, of polluted imaginations, of an incapacity to rise above the flesh, and some have bought it at the price of health.

The world has a way of getting more than it gives.

”Demas has forsaken me having loved this present world.”
“Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage.”

Only he that is a man in Christ has come to the measure of a perfect man,” Eph 4:13.

”Immanuel”

The Greatest Display of Grace in “The Great Tribulation”

Heaven’s Last Appeal!

1. What was Paul’s message to his day and generation?
   ”And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance and judgment to come, Felix trembled and answered, Go thy way for this time, when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee,” Acts 24:25.
   
2. By what message will the warning “of judgment to come” be superceded just before the Lord returns?
   ”And I saw another angel fly in the midst of Heaven having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the Earth, and to every nation, kindred, and tongue and people saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come,” Rev 14:6-7.
   ”Grace always precedes judgment.”
   
3. To what judgment does this refer?
   ”I beheld to the thrones were cast down and the Ancient of Days did sit, the judgment was set and the books were opened,” Dan 7:9-10.
   This judgment is not the executive judgment upon the Earth at the end of time, but an investigative judgment in Heaven by which the former must obviously be preceded.
   
4. What prophecy provides definite information as to the time when this message was to go forth?
   ”Unto two thousand and three hundred days then shall the sanctuary be cleansed,” Dan 8:14.
   
5. In what other vision was John shown the commissioning of God’s last day witnesses to carry the judgment hour message to the world?
   ”And I saw another mighty angel come down from Heaven and he had in his hand a little book open, and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the Earth. And cried with a loud voice as when a lion roareth,” Rev 10:1-3.
   
   More to come ...
   

   

   Grace in Tribulation – Part Two

6. What book was to be opened and understood in the last days of Earth’s history?
   ”But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end, many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased,” Dan 12:4.
   
7. For what response did the judgment hour message call?
   ”Saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to Him for the hour of His judgment is come, and worship Him that made Heaven and Earth, and the sea, and the fountains of the waters,” Rev14:7. That is Christ.
   
8. What are the special characteristics of the remnant called out by the judgment hour message?
   ”Here is the patience of the saints here are they that kept the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus,” Rev 1:12.
   
9. In which commandment is the Creator supremely recognized?
   ”Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, for in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth, and the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day, wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it,” Exodus 20:8-11.

”Immanuel”
Grace always precedes judgment.

It is All God’s Fault! Why Did He Let This Happen to Me?

That was Adam’s problem. Gen 3:1, “It was the woman Thou gavest me.”

Is God responsible?

1. What law of cause and effect operates throughout all creation?
   ”Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap,” Gal 6:7.
   
2. How does this principle work out in connection with man’s moral nature?
   ”For he that soweth to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting,” Gal 6:8.
   
3. What, therefore, is the explanation of many of the judgments of God?
   ”Why criest thou for thine afflictions? Thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquities. Because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee,” Jer 30:15.
   
4. Have sinners any ground for complaint when God allows judgments to come upon them?
   ”Wherefore doth a living man complain? A man for the punishment of his sins? Let us search and find our ways and turn again to the Lord,” Lam 3:39-40.
   
5. What confession does the psalmist make as to the righteousness of God’s judgments?
   ”I know, O Lord, that Thy judgments are right and that Thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me,” Psa 119:75.
   
   Faithfulness afflicts.
   
   More to come …
   

   

   It is All God’s Fault – Part Two

6. Is God’s judgment of sin, however, vindictive or arbitrary?
   ”For He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men,” Lam 3:13.
   
7. What evidence is there of this in the relation between God’s judgments and man’s deserts?
   A. They are far less than we deserve.
   ”And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that Thou, our God, has punished us less than our iniquities deserve,” Ezra 9:13.
   
   B. They are often mercifully withheld.
   ”But He being full of compassion forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not, yea, many a time turned He His anger away and did not stir up all His wrath,” Psa 78:38.
   
   C. His anger endures but a moment.
   ”For His anger endureth but a moment, in His favor is life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning,” Psa 30:5.
   
8. To what does God compare His judgments?
   ”Thou shalt also consider in thine heart that, as a man chasteneth his son so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee,” Deut 8:5.
   
9. From what does the Lord desire through affliction to save us?
   ”But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world,” 1 Cor 11:32.
   
10. What does He intend His judgments to accomplish?
    ”And testifieth against them that Thou mightest bring them again unto Thy law,” Neh 9:27.
    
    ”For they verily for a few days chasten us after their own pleasure, but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness,” Heb 12:10.
    
    More to come …
    

    

    It is All God’s Fault – Part Three

11. How carefully are God’s judgments tempered to achieve His purpose?
    ”I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure, yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished,” Jer 46:28.
    
    Thus always, the rod, the stripes, the chastisements, but amid all, the love of God carrying out His redemptive purpose, never hasting, never resting, never forgetting, but making all things work together till the evil is eliminated and the soul purged.
    
12. What salutary effect had affliction upon the psalmist?
    ”Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I have kept Thy Word,” Psa 119:67.
    
13. What other examples do the Scriptures provide of affliction bringing men to a change of mind?
    A. Jonah
    ”Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God, out of the fish’s belly, and said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord and He heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and Thou heardest my voice,” Jonah 2:1-2.
    
    B. Manasseh
    ”And when he was in affliction he sought the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto Him and He was intreated of him. And heard his supplication and brought him again to Jerusalem unto his kingdom, then Manasseh knew that the Lord, He was God.” 2 Chr 33:12-13.
    
    C. Nebuchadnezzar
    ”And at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto Heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me. And I blessed the Most High and I praised and honoured Him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation,” Dan 4:34.
    
    I don’t think it is God’s fault!
    
    More to come …
    

    

    It is All God’s Fault – Part Four

14. How did many in Israel respond to the judgments meted out to the nation?
    ”When He slew them, then they sought Him and they returned and inquired early after God, and they remembered that God was their Rock and the High God, their Redeemer,” Psa 78:34-35. Not Peter.
    
15. How obdurate however, was the nation as a whole to the remedial judgments of God?
    ”For the people turned not unto Him that smiteth them. Neither do they seek the Lord of hosts,” Isa 9:13.
    
16. What did the prophets declare God would do to Israel because they responded not to His chastening?
    ”My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto Him,” Hosea 9:17.
    
    Those who hate to be refined by the fire of Divine Grace will undoubtedly be ruined by the fire of Divine wrath.
    
17. What lesson are we intended to learn from Israel’s obduracy and fate?
    ”And all men shall fear and shall declare the work of God for they shall wisely consider of His doing,” Psa 64:9.
    
18. How should we regard the chastening of the Lord?
    ”My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither be ye weary of His correction,” Prov 3:11.
    
19. What response should His remedial judgments produce in our lives?
    ”As many as I love, I rebuke, and chasten, be zealous therefore and change your mind,” Rev 3:19.
    
20. With the psalmist what confession should affliction evoke from us?
    ”It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Thy statutes,” Psa 119:71.
    
    ”Before I was afflicted I went astray, now it is good for me to be afflicted.”

“I don’t think it is God’s fault based on these principles.

”Immanuel”

Monday, February 5, 2001

Let Us Take a Walk in the Word – Music For the Soul

“To us there is but one God, the Father, of Whom are all things, and we in Him,” 1 Cor 8:6.

Every act of our life sets forth some aspect of our Lord and our relation to Him from the moment we open our eyes in the morning. Having slept the sleep of sin, awake to righteousness, all through the busy day, when our work may speak to us of “Him who worketh continually.” Our rest may prophesy for us the rest that remaineth for the people of God,” Exodus 16:23.

Our journeyings may tell of the journey of “the soul of God.” Our home may testify of the Home which is above the skies.

Up to the hour when night falls and sleep, and the image of death speaks to us of the last solemn moment when we shall close the eyes of our body on Earth, to open those of our soul on the realities of eternity, when we no more shall “see through a glass, darkly” but “face to face.”

All things and all acts, and this whole universe, proclaims to us God our Father, Christ our Love, Christ our Hope, our Portion, our Joy.

If we could only know the meaning of the world higher than itself. If we could pierce beneath the surface and know the sanctities that are all around us.

Remember that when we took bread and wine for a memorial of Him, that all is sacred and the world is the temple of God and everywhere there are symbols and memorials of the living God.

Everything that the loving eye can look upon, everything which the believing soul can apprehend. All is sacred.

The Divine Refiner!

1. To what strange experience of the righteous does the psalmist draw attention?
   ”Many are the afflictions of the righteous,” Psa 34:19.
   
2. For what valuable purpose are trials permitted?
   ”Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction,” Isa 48:10.
   
3. By what other illustration does Jesus Christ reveal the purpose of trials?
   ”Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit, He taketh away and every branch that beareth fruit He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit,” John 15:2.
   
4. For what reason was Paul given “a thorn in the flesh?”
   ”And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me,” 2 Cor 12:7.
   
5. Until he understood this, how earnestly did he plead for release from his affliction?
   ”For this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me,” 2 Cor 12:8.
   
6. What reply did Paul receive from the Lord?
   ”And He said unto me, My Grace is sufficient for thee, for My strength is made perfect in weakness,” 2 Cor 12:9.
   
   God often lets His people reach shore as on the planks of a shipwrecked vessel. He deprives us of the cisterns in order to make us drink out of the fountains of water.
   
   He frequently takes away our supports, not that we may fall to the ground, but that He Himself may become our Rod and our Staff. The embarrassment of His people are only the festive scaffoldings on which His might, His faithfulness, and His Grace celebrates their triumphs.
   
   More to come …
   

   

   The Divine Refiner – Part Two

7. When he saw that it was for his good, how resigned was Paul to his affliction?
   ”Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ might rest upon me,” 2 Cor 12:9.
   
8. What other salutary effect do trials have upon the soul?
   ”Knowing this, that the trying of your faith, worketh patience,” James 1:3.
   
9. In whose experience is this strikingly illustrated?
   ”Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy,” James 5:11.
   
10. How resigned was Job to his affliction?
    ”Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him,” Job 13:15.
    
11. What confidence had He as to their outcome?
    ”But He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold,” Job 23:10.
    
12. What did Jesus Christ learn through suffering?
    ”Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered,” Heb 5:8.
    
13. What will trials also produce in the believer’s experience?
    ”Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby,” Heb 12:11.
    
    More to come …
    Divine Refiner – Part Three
14. To what exalted experience was Jesus Christ raised through suffering?
    ”For it became Him for Whom are all things, and by Whom are all things, in bringing many sons into glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings,” Heb 2:10.
    
15. What will be the effect in us of trials patiently borne?
    ”But the God of all Grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you,” 1 Pet 5:10.
    
16. How then shall we relate ourselves to the testing of our faith?
    A. Not question.
    ”The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the Name of the Lord,” Job 1:21.
    
    B. Endure in patience.
    ”Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer,” Rom 12:12.
    
17. Of whose compassion may we be assured in trial?
    ”Blessed be the God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God,” 2 Cor 1:3-4.
    He leads us through no darker rooms that He has not gone before.
    
18. What does Jesus Christ also extend to the afflicted?
    A. Understanding compassion.
    ”For we have not a High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we, yet without sin,” Heb 4:15.
    
    B. Loving aid.
    ”And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for thee that thy faith, fail not,” Luke 22:31-32.
    
19. What control does God exercise over the trials which He permits us to pass through?
    ”When thou passeth through the waters I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee, when thou wakest through the fire thou shall not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee,” Isa 43:2.
    
20. Of what, therefore, may we be confident?
    ”And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose,” Rom 8:28.
    
21. What will be their glorious outcome?
    ”That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ,” 1 Pet 1:7
    
22. By what were Christ’s sufferings crowned?
    ”Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory,” Luke 24:26.
    
23. How will the patient endurance of the saints be rewarded when Jesus Christ comes?
    ”Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promise to them that love Him,” James 1:12.

The Divine Refiner ... “Immanuel”

A Biblical Concern for the Modern Morals in High Places!

1. What sacred emotion has God placed in the human soul?
   ”Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh,” Gen 2:24.
   
2. By what is the Divinely-instituted family life safeguarded?
   ”Thou shalt not commit adultery,” Exodus 20:14.
   The command is a simple, unqualified, irrevocable negative. “Thou shalt not!” No argument is used, no reason given, because none is required. The sin is of so destructive and damning a nature that it is in itself sufficient cause for the stern forbidding. A seven-fold vice is this sin of unchaste conduct, being a sin against the individual, the family, society, the nation, the race, the universe, and “God.”
   
3. What are some of the contributory causes of immorality?
   ”Behold this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness, was in her and in her daughters,” Ezek 16:49.
   If then you yearn for the inestimable blessedness of purity of life, you must flee from idleness, for idleness lays you open to every assault of the devil. You must flee youthful lusts, and avoiding all over-indulgence in softness, must keep your body under control, sober, and chaste.
   
4. What law inexorably operates in the life of man?
   ”Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption,” Gal 6:7-8.
   
5. What are some of the consequences of adultery?
   A. Moral corruption.
   ”But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul,” Prov 6:32.
   
   B. Shame and reproach.
   ”A wound and dishonor shall he get, and his reproach shall not be wiped away,” Prov 6:33.
   
   C. Penury.
   ”For my means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life,” Prov 6:26.
   
   More to follow …
   

   

   Biblical Concern for Modern Morals in Our Country – Part Two

6. How perverted does the adulterer finally become?
   ”Wherein they think it strange that run not with them to the same excess or riot, speaking evil of you,” 1 Pet 4:4.
   
7. What attitude does Jesus Christ have towards the seventh commandment?
   ”But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his mind,” Matt 5:28.
   
8. Why are sins against the body particularly heinous in the child of God?
   ”Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of a harlot? God forbid,” 1 Cor 6:15.
   
   ”How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” Gen 39:9.
   
9. What obligation do we owe the Lord who bought us?
   ”For ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s,” 1 Cor 6:20.
   
10. What life is becoming of saints?
    ”For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness,” 1 Thes 4:7.
    
11. What occasion do sexual sins on the part of the believer give to the unbelieving world?
    ”By this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme,” 2 Sam 12:14.
    
12. From what, therefore, did Peter urge believers to abstain?
    ”Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,” 1 Pet 2:11.
    
    More to come …
    

    

    Modern Morals in Our Country in Regard to Biblical Morality – Part Three

13. What steps are they to take to curb sensual desires in their lives?
    ”Mortify therefore your members which are upon the Earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry,” Col 3:5.
    
14. How complete a control over the thoughts is possible through Jesus Christ?
    ”Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ,” 2 Cor 10:5.
    
15. What sins does Paul list among the most conspicuous in the last days?
    ”This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come, for men shall be without natural affection, incontinent,” 2 Tim 3:1-3.
    
16. When will adulterers be finally judged?
    ”But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers and whoremongers, and sorcerers and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death,” Rev 21:8.
    
17. From what will they be excluded?
    ”For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God,” Eph 5:5.
    
18. Who only will be permitted to see God?
    ”Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God,” Matt 5:8.

Modern morals and biblical morality.

”Immanuel”

Will Prophecy Be Fulfilled Tomorrow?

An election will take place tomorrow in Israel. One of the candidates is called “Barak.”

Judges 4:6, “And Deborah sent and called for Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali and said unto him, Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali, and of the children of Zebulun?”

The name “Barak” in Hebrew means “a flashing sword.” If I am not mistaken, I think he was one of the most decorated soldiers.

”Immanuel” – You won’t find this on the Drudge Report!

Tuesday, February 6, 2001

Let’s Take a Walk in the Word – Music for the Soul

“Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body,” 2 Cor 4:10.

The showing forth of Christ’s death is the truest explanation and definition that we can give of the process by which a Christian soul grows up into the likeness of its Lord. The death of the Lord Jesus, as death for us, and the ground of our hope, is to show forth in our daily walk, as a death working in us, and the ground of our conduct.

There is not only the atoning and sacrificial aspect in Christ’s death on the Cross, but there is this likewise. That it stands as an example of the way by which we are, in our measure and place, to mortify our members which are upon the Earth,” Col 3:5. Because we “are dead with Him and our lives are hid with Christ in God,” Col 3:3.

Here then we say, this death was for us. And I trust it. In our common life we are to say that death is working in me and I am becoming conformable unto the image of His death, “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and so to attain to the resurrection of the dead,” Phil 3:10-11.

As sacred as is one form of memorial, so sacred is the other, and closer than the outward sign which expresses the outward fact upon which we hope, is the inward reality by which alone the outward fact becomes the basis of our hope and the reason for our confidence.

Paul said “I die daily.” That is the death of Christ working in Paul.

”Immanuel”

Psa 68:11, “The Lord Gave the Word, Great Was the Company of Those Who Published It.”

All who were convinced of the power of Scriptures tried to impress believers in their generation of the importance of the Word of God.

Moses stressed the necessity of spiritual nourishment. Deut 8:3.

Job considered the Word of God more vital to his soul than food for his body. Job 23:12.

Jeremiah found happiness through the intake of the Word, Jer 15:16, when by human standards he should have been miserable.

Throughout the Bible there are passages of Scripture which stress the importance of the Word of God in the believer’s life.

Matt 4:4, “Man cannot live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
”Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I may not sin against Thee.”
”Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way, but taking heed to Thy Word therein.”

A Lesson in Grace!

1. What sinful feelings possessed the minds of the disciples as they sat at the Last Supper?
   ”And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest,” Luke 22:24.
   
2. Reading their thoughts, what silent lesson did Jesus Christ begin to teach them?
   ”He riseth from supper, and laid aside His garments and took a towel and girded Himself. After that He poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples feet and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded,” John 13:4-5.
   
3. By whom was such service usually performed?
   ”And she, Abigail, arose, and bowed herself on her face to the Earth and said, ‘Behold let Thine handmaiden be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord’,” 1 Sam 25:41.
   
   So, Christ expressed His love for His disciples. Their selfish spirit filled Him with sorrow, but He entered into no controversy with them regarding their difficulty. Instead He gave them an example they would never forget. One of the last acts of His life on Earth was to gird Himself as a Servant and perform a servant’s part.
   
   He came to minister, not to be ministered unto.
   
4. While some of the disciples accepted Christ’s service in shamed silence, what protest did Peter venture against Jesus Christ humiliating himself?
   ”Then cometh He to Simon Peter; and Peter said unto Him, ‘Lord dost Thou wash my feet’?” John 13:6.
   
5. How did Christ answer Peter’s protest?
   ”Jesus answered and said unto him ‘What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter’,” John 13:7.

Peter protested. Was Peter a Protestant Pope?

Jealousy Can Destroy Your Marriage

1. Jealousy is the strongest of the mental attitude sins, Prov 27:3-4.
   
2. Jealousy is the most cruel of all sins. It turns a person into a monster.
   
3. Jealousy removes all happiness from the believer. It is a mental attitude sin by which you make your own misery.
   
4. Some people can’t stand the success of others. Consequently, jealousy destroys the relaxed mental attitude which is a basis of friendship.
   
5. So great was the sin of jealousy that a whole offering of the Levitical code was prescribed for it. Num 5:11-31. “It is the only offering that is designed for one sin only.” You won’t find this in that Man is from Mars.
   
6. Jealousy is the basis for the destruction of Category Two Love, marriage. S.O.S. 8:6, “Jealousy is as cruel as the grave.”
   
7. The same jealousy which destroys Category Two Love, can also destroy the normal function of the soul. Job 5:2, Prov 14:30. This is the explanation of some cases of psychoses and neuroses.
   
8. Category Two Love precedes jealousy, S.O.S. 8:6.
   
9. Jealousy motivates to revenge, Prov 6:34.
   
10. Jealousy of Jospeh motivated his brothers to sell him into slavery, Acts 7:9.
    
11. Therefore, jealousy takes real or apparent wrongs out of the Lord’s hand and intrudes on the Divine prerogative of judgment. Deut 32:35, Rom 12:19.
    
12. Jealousy split the nation of Israel. Isa 11:3. Ephraim’s jealousy of Judah.
    
13. Jealousy was the motivator of the religious leaders who crucified the Lord Jesus Christ. Matt 27:18, Mark 15:10.
    
14. Continuous negative volition manifests itself in jealousy. Rom 1:28-29.
    
15. Jealousy rejects the teaching of the Word of God. Acts 13:45, 17:5.
    
16. False Doctrine of apostasy produces jealousy. 1 Tim 6:4.

In these passages “envy” and “jealousy” are synonymous terms.

Lessons From Daniel Chapter Three!

1. Daniel chapter three reveals the pernicious activities of religion.
   
2. God cannot be reduced to material substance. Therefore, nothing made by man is worthy of worship.
   
3. Neither human egotism, pride, nor the abuse of power can change the course of human history.
   
4. Governmental interference with human volition in spiritual matters is anti-biblical and does not constitute a legitimate function of government.
   
5. Responses to ecumenical religion are not ordered under the Divine Institution which God has ordained.
   
6. God never honors compromise.
   
7. A believer should never be foolish enough to retaliate against jealous people. Remember, “The battle is the Lord’s.”
   
8. In time of pressure and suffering, the presence of the Word of God in the soul is imperative for stability and correct decisions.
   
9. Happiness comes from the Word of God in the human spirit, not from the materialistic possessions or power.
   
10. God protected the faithful believers of Daniel’s day when they faced persecution and death.
    
11. By application, God protects His people in the Church Age today and will provide for believers in the Age of Israel, upon its resumption at the beginning of the Tribulation.
    

    

Psalm 37 is an Illustration That “The Word of God is Sharper Than Any Two-Edged Sword,” Heb 4:12

Sometimes we take a promise or two from Psalm 37 and apply it to our lives, which is what promises are designed for. But, if you take an over-all look at Psalm 37, you will see that it also brings out the absolutes in God’s plan.

Psa 37 not only promises rewards to the believer who loves the Lord, but, also, in contrast, shows us how thoroughly God handles the discipline of those who are evil in His sight.

I will let the Word do its work!

”The Word of God is alive and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword.”

”Immanuel”

Wednesday, February 7, 2001

Let’s Take a Walk!

1 Cor 13:2, “Though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, but have not love, I am nothing.”

This is a passage, by the way, that Theodore Roosevelt corrected his pastor, and he told him that the word “charity” in the Greek was the word “love,” AGAPE.

Man may know all about Christ and His love without one spark of love in his soul. There are thousands of people who know as much of Jesus Christ and His love as any of us do, and could talk about it, and argue about it, and draw inferences from it, and have the whole system of evangelical Christianity at their finger tips. It is at their finger tips and it never gets any nearer to them than that!

There is a knowledge with which love has nothing to do with – a knowledge with many people is all-sufficient. But “knowledge puffeth up” says the apostle in 1 Cor 8:1, into an unwholesome babble of self-complacency that will one day will disappear. Nothing but love “buildeth up” a steadfast, slowly rising fabric.

There are two kinds of knowledge, the mere rattle of notions, in a man’s dry brain, like the seeds of a withered poppy head, very many, very dry, very hard. That will make a noise when you shake it.

There is another kind of knowledge which goes deep down into the soul and is the only knowledge worth calling by that name. That knowledge is the child of love. Love, says Paul, is the parent of all knowledge.

”The greatest of these is love.”

”Immanuel”

What is Man?

1. What does God claim with reference to man’s origin?
   ”I have created him, I have formed him, yea, I have made him,” Isa 43:7.
   
2. What physical nature has he in common with other living creatures?
   ”And the Lord formed man of the dust of the ground,” Gen 2:7.
   ”He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things,” Acts 17:25.
   ”They have all one breath,” Ecc 3:19.
   
3. How does man differ from the lower order of creation?
   A. God communicated to man, a nature akin to His own.
   ”In the image of God made He man,” Gen 9:6.
   
   B. He intended man for communication with Himself.
   ”Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God,” Matt 4:4.
   
4. With what faculties are we able to apprehend God and His will?
   ”With my soul have I desired Thee ... with my spirit within me will I seek Thee early,” Isa 26:9.
   
5. Of what three parts is the believer thus composed?
   1 Thes 5:23, “I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
   
   More to follow ...
   

   

   What is Man? Part Two

6. Having given man the capacity for communion, what invitation does the Creator extend to them?
   ”Seek Him that maketh the seven stars and orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night,” Amos 5:8.
   
7. How are we encouraged to avail ourselves of the privilege of communion?
   ”He is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him,” Heb 11:6.
   
8. How does God desire us to regard Him?
   ”Have we not all one Father, hath not one God created us?” Mal 2:10.
   God is a universal, sovereign Father, and all men by nature are His children. The age long tragedy of mankind springs from the fact that though the Fatherhood abides, the sonship is broken. Mankind does not live in the spirit of sonship or in the fellowship of sons. The Christian message is that men may enter into the consciousness and experience of sonship through Jesus Christ.
   ”We are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”
   
9. What harmonious relation should likewise obtain between man and man?
   ”Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” Mark 12:31.
   ”A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another as I have loved you, that ye also love one another,” John 13:34.
   
10. What authority did God give man on Earth?
    ”Thou makest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands, Thou hast put all things under his feet,” Psa 8:6.
    
    More to come …
    

    

    What is Man? Part Three

11. What is required of a steward?
    ”It is required in stewards that a man be found, faithful,” 1 Cor 4:2.
    
12. Though God has made man His steward, how does He declare His ownership?
    ”Whatsoever is under the whole Heaven is Mine,” Job 4:11.
    
13. Will God call man to account for his stewardship?
    ”Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour,” 1 Cor 3:8.
    
14. What is required of a faithful steward?
    ”Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God’s,” 1 Cor 6:20.
    
15. What will the unfaithful steward forfeit?
    ”If thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity,” Ezek 33:9.
    
16. How just will be God’s appointment of reward and punishment?
    ”The soul that sinneth it shall die, the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him,” Ezek 18:20.
    
    More to come …
    

    

    What is Man? Part Four

17. Will God take pleasure in withdrawing life for ever from the sinner?
    ”I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, for why will ye die,” Ezek 33:11.
    
18. What gracious offer therefore, is made to those who seek to fulfil the Divine intention?
    ”Repent and turn yourselves from all your transgressions. So iniquity will not be your ruin,” Ezek 18:30.
    The word “repent” both in the Hebrew and Greek language means to “change your mind,” i.e., to change your mind about Christ. “For with the mind man believeth unto salvation.”
    
    Christ never said to feel sorry for your sins to be saved, because sin is not the issue. Sins were paid for on the Cross. Now the issue is not sin but the Saviour ... What think ye about Christ?

”What is man that Thou are mindful of him?”

“Immanuel”

Where Did Evil Come From?

1. Had evil any part in God’s original creation?
   ”And God saw everything that He made and behold, it was very good,” Gen 1:31.
   
2. With whom then did sin originate?
   ”He that committeth sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning,” 1 John 3:8
   
3. Who is the devil?
   ”The old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world,” Rev 12:9.
   If ever an idea was Biblical, it is the existence of a personal devil.
   
4. What was his original name and from what high estate has he fallen?
   ”How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning,” Isa 14:12.
   
5. What was Lucifer’s original character?
   ”Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou was created,” Ezek 28:15.
   
6. What sinful thought arose in Lucifer’s mind?
   ”Thine mind was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness,” Ezek 28:17.
   
7. Who associated themselves with Satan in his opposition to God?
   ”The angels which kept not their first estate but left their own habitation,” Jude 6.
   
   More to follow …
   

   

   Where Did Evil Come From? Part Two

8. What was the result of Lucifer’s rebellion?
   ”And there was war in Heaven, Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and the dragon fought and his angels and prevailed not. Neither was their place found any more in Heaven,” Rev 12:7-8.
   
9. Where was Satan exiled?
   ”I beheld Satan fall from Heaven,” Luke 10:18.
   ”Woe to the inhabiters of the Earth and of the sea, for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath,” Rev 12:12.
   
10. By what means did he deceive our first parents?
    ”The serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety,” 2 Cor 11:3, Gen 3:1-6.
    
11. How has Satan since been occupied in the Earth?
    ”The devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour,” 1 Pet 5:8.
    
12. Who volunteered to defeat Satan’s designs?
    ”For this purpose was the Son of God manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil,” 1 John 3:8, Heb 2:14.
    
13. On what occasion was the overthrow of Satan first foretold?
    ”I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel,” Gen 3:15.
    
    Genesis chapter three is the only chapter which if we could conceive of it as being withdrawn, would leave all the rest of Scripture unintelligible. Take this away, this record of the fall, and of the provision which God so graciously made to repair these consequences, to build up the breach which Adam had made, take this away and you take away the key of knowledge to all the rest of the Bible.
    
    Nor is it the Bible alone which thus would become unintelligible, but the whole condition of the world around us, of man and of nature, of our own selves above all, would present itself to us an inexplicable riddle. What a riddle indeed, does it ever more continue to be to all those who refuse to accept the solution of it here offered.
    
    There are indeed in this chapter almost as many mysteries as there are words.
    
    More to come …
    

    

    Where Did Evil Come From? Part Three

14. How was Christ’s power over Satan and his evil angels manifested during His earthly ministry?
    ”When the even was come, they brought unto Him many that were possessed with demons. And He cast out the spirits with His Word,” Matt 8:16.
    
15. In the hour of death, what reference did Jesus Christ make to the transience of Satan’s power?
    ”This is your hour and the power of darkness,” Luke 22:53.
    
16. How had He previously foretold the end of Satan’s dominion?
    ”Now shall the prince of this world be cast out,” John 12:31.
    
17. After His ascension, whom did Jesus Christ commission to continue His controversy with Satan?
    ”I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness ... to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God,” Acts 26:16, 18.
    
18. What struggle is the lot of the children of God in all ages?
    ”For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places,” Eph 6:12.
    
    More to come …
    

    

    Where Did Evil Come From? Part Four

19. How may we obtain full protection from Satan?
    ”Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil,” Eph 6:11.
    
20. What assurance of triumph is given to every child of God?
    ”He that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not,” 1 John 5:18.
    
21. What seeming triumph will Satan achieve in the last days and why?
    ”Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of demons,” 1 Tim 4:1.
    
22. Yet in spite of Satan’s apparent victories, how fearfully do the evil angels contemplate the coming of judgment?
    ”The demons also believe and tremble,” James 2:19.
    
23. To what end will Satan ultimately come?
    ”And the devil that deceived them was cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone,” Rev 20:10.
    
24. What end did Paul also predict for the evil angels?
    ”Whose end shall be according to their works,” 2 Cor 11:15.
    
25. What assurance are we given that the tragic story of rebellion will never again be repeated?
    ”Affliction shall not rise up the second time,” Nahum 1:9.

”Immanuel”

Thursday, February 8, 2001

Let’s Take a Walk in the Word – Music For the Soul

“That ye may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge,” Eph 3:17-19.

”The sanctity of love”

Before we can love an unseen Person and believe in His love, we must know about Him by the ordinary means by which we learn about all persons outside of the circle our sight. So, before the love which is thus the parent of deep, true knowledge, there must be the knowledge by study and credence of the record concerning Christ, which supplies the fact on which alone love can be cherished.

The understanding has its part to play in leading the soul to love, and then the soul becomes the true teacher.

”He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love,” 1 John 4:8.

He that, because Christ dwells in the heart, is rooted and grounded in love, will be strengthened to know the love in which he is rooted. The Christ within us will know the love of Christ.

We must first “taste” and then we shall “see” that the Lord is good, as the psalmist puts it with deep Truth. Psa 34:8.