GRACE AND THE TRUTH - DAILY INSPIRATION

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THE MOST IMPORTANT HOUR OF HISTORY
PART TWO
By John Steiner


SUBSTITUTION

We have not even begun to understand the cross if we do not understand that Christ died there as our Substitute, paying for our sins. "Christ died for our sins" (I Corinthians 15:3). "His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree" (I Peter 2:24).

He is our substitute because the "wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). Death is God's required penalty for sin, and by the way, even with all the medical advances of our day the death rate remains the same (one apiece).

Our Lord Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. He is an eternal being and as such "through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God" (Hebrews 9:14).

Many people do not get saved because they don't realize they are lost. They haven't agreed with God who says they stand condemned and guilty of the sentence of death. God's Word tells us we are sinners and therefore enemies of God by nature, the nature we inherited from Adam. Paul tells us, "I know that in me (that is in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing" (Romans 7:18 ). So, take it by faith, you're a guilty sinner, lost, guilty and condemned. Trust it fully in your heart, mind and soul that Jesus Christ died as your substitute on the cross of Calvary.

REPRESENTATION

But Christ was more than our Substitute; He was our voluntary Representative at Calvary. He had taken on Himself human form that He might represent man before God and die as Man for men. "As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many ... " (Hebrews 9:27, 28 ) "(He} was made ... lower than the angels ... that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man" (Hebrews 2:9).

He was qualified to represent man "in that he himself hath suffered being tempted" and was "touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 2:18, 4:15)

IDENTIFICATION

It follows from this that if Christ represented me at Calvary, He became identified with me there, and I am identified with Him as I accept this by faith. The moment we trust Him as Saviour, the Holy Spirit quickens, baptizes, or identifies us completely with Christ. "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath QUICKENED US TOGETHER with Christ. (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us SIT TOGETHER in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:4-6)

It is the OPERATION of God. This is why it says "without hands" we are identified completely with our Lord. Paul writes, "For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And YE ARE COMPLETE in HIM, which is the head of all principality and power. In whom also Ye ARE CIRCUMCISED WITH THE CIRCUMCISION MADE WITHOUT HANDS, in putting off the body of sins of the flesh by the CIRCUMCISION of Christ, BURIED WITH HIM in baptism where in also ye are risen with him through the faith of THE OPERATION OF GOD, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, HATH HE QUICKENED TOGETHER WITH HIM, having forgiven you all trespasses." (Colossians 2:9-13)

We are then so identified with Christ that we are hidden in Him as Paul writes, "for you are dead and, YOUR LIFE IS HID WITH CHRIST IN GOD. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory."  (Colossians 3:3-4) With all of this being true for us who believe, we should exclaim with Paul who wrote, "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith (or faithfulness) of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)

Considering these four words in connection with our Saviour's death at Calvary causes me to believe it was indeed the most important hour of history. How about you? God must see it this way for His Word has so much to say on this event and what our Savior accomplished in that hour. What peace and assurance comes to your heart and mind when you believe what the Bible tells us. Believe these truths for yourself if you have never done so. Do it this very hour. It could become the most important hour of your life.

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WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS
by C. R. Stam


Strange, is it not, that when men are successful, they generally credit themselves liberally for their success but when things go wrong they begin to blame others -- even God.

The writer does not have up-to-date information about two particular plots of ground in Moscow, but some years ago one of these was a beautiful garden, the other a patch of weeds. Above each there was a sign. Over the one: "This plot is cared for by the United Soviet Socialist Republic," over the other: "This plot is cared for by God"!

Evidently the atheistic Soviets who hatched this "bright idea" did not stop to think that only God could produce the beautiful flowers in the USSR plot. All their watering and cultivating would have been in vain except for the God they deny.

As to the other plot, they probably did not even know that even in Eden God put the garden in man’s charge "to dress it and to keep it" (Gen. 2:15), and later, when man sinned, God said to Adam, "Cursed is the ground for thy sake" (Gen. 3:17). This is why the Soviets must employ a gardener to control the weeds in even their garden! How wrong and foolish, then, for man ever to blame God for anything that goes wrong for him or causes him trouble!

Actually, when I have been asked: "If God is a God of love, why does He allow all this trouble and misery, and all this wickedness?" I have replied: "That’s easy. When God sent His Son into this world offering peace and righteousness and prosperity they cried: 'Away with Him' and nailed Him to a cross. If the Bible is true, and in this case it has surely proved to be true, how can this world expect peace while they still reject the Prince of Peace?"

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WHAT'S BEHIND OUR MORAL DECLINE?
by C. R. Stam



One does not have to be a prude to conclude that our country is suffering a serious moral decline. Our rulers and law enforcement agencies seem powerless to cope with it. Campaigns to check it seem vain. J. Edgar Hoover of the FBI warned us again and again that the alarming rate of this downward trend would spell ruin for America if not checked soon. But what most people fail to realize is that behind this moral decline there is a spiritual decline. America has departed from God and His Word.

Paul's letter to the Romans tells us how the heathen got that way. Rom. 1:21,22 says: "When they knew God they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise they became fools," and the verses that follow tell how God finally had to "give them up" to "unclean- ness" and "vile affections"--all because "they did not like [wish] to retain God in their knowledge" (Ver. 28 ).

St. Paul further describes them in Eph. 4:17-19, as walking "in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who being past feeling [conscience] have given themselves over to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness." This, sad to say, is an accurate description of increasing numbers in America today. They are throwing off restraint and going after uncleanness "with greediness."

But this is not liberty, it is enslavement. It is not a sign of strength, but of weakness. It does not indicate superior intelligence, but grossest ignorance, and is the result of alienation from God.

How much better off are those who have come to know God through Christ! Of these the Apostle says:

"And you, who were once alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled, in the body of His flesh, through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight" (Col. 1:21,22).

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"WHEEL IDENTITY - A GUIDE TO FREEDOM THROUGH THE CROSS" - Part 1
By C.R. Solomon

Your Inner Conflict
By C.R. Solomon


*The "S" at the center of the wheel represents the self-controlled life or "flesh" (KJV).The flesh is in ascendancy in the lives of most believers for their entire Christian experience. It seeks differing forms, depending upon the individual, to get its needs met by something or person in either a negative or a positive way. Money, material things, success, fame, sex, power or any of countless other things can drive or motivate a person and become his central focus when he is dominated by the self-life or flesh. Thus the "flesh" is merely the believer's attempt to live the Christian life in his own strength.

The "flesh," therefore, is a very serious problem for the Christian-as serious as idolatry. For when we replace the centrality of Christ with anything-even ourselves-whatever we install on the throne of our lives becomes an idol. God must deal firmly with the flesh. And He does, usually by revealing the self-centered life's inability to cope until the believer, finding his situation unbearable, gives up on himself and becomes interested in exchanging the self-life for the Christ-life.

So long as self (flesh) remains in control, the conflicts depicted in the "soul" (personality) part of the Wheel Diagram will continue. They may become worse with age and increasing responsibilities. Occasionally, a psychologically well-adjusted self-life can cope with circumstances for most of a lifetime, but the results are far from fulfilling.

The psychological deficiencies, along with the guilt (both real and imagined), combine to produce varying degrees of frustration in the self-controlled life. The frustration must be dealt with. Some choose to dump it on others in the form of blows-physical or verbal - while some are more fearful of retaliation and suppress their hostility as best they can. Others suppress anger and frustration because they blame themselves for every problem and annoyance they encounter. When hostility and frustration are suppressed, for whatever reason, they will have an impact in the mind or emotions or both. Internalized hostility or anger often results in depression and/or anxiety in the emotions. Some persons can use their minds to implement various distortions or denials of reality. This enables them to escape the necessity of dealing with the real problem, the self-life.

When the psychological conflict drags on without remedy, however, it commonly results in somatic complaints, as illustrated in the diagram. The physical ailments, though real, actually are symptoms of a deeper problem the self-life. So are the psychological problems depicted in the "soul" area.

Your Deliverance

*These psychological and physiological symptoms begin to disappear when one sees how God can deal with the root problem by dethroning the self-life.

The Line Diagram Shows the "life out of death" principle- God's way of disposing of internal conflict.

The horizontal line represents eternal life, the life of Christ. By definition, eternal indicates no beginning or end. It exceeds the boundaries of time. Since Christ is God, He has always lived and always will. His life is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8 ). As portrayed at the left of the line, Christ "became flesh" (John 1:14) and lived in a human body for some 33 years. Then, He was crucified, buried and raised from the dead on the third day (1 Cor. 15:3-4). He continues to live today (Heb. 7:25). Note that eternal life is not only a present and future reality for the believer but also involves the eternal past.

Until we are born again (John 3:3) we are not in the life of Christ-eternal life-but we are in the spiritually dead life of Adam. One can readily see that if anyone of our ancestors, represented by the hatch marks on the diagonal line, had been missing, we also would be missing. Physically speaking, our lives had beginning in Adam, so whatever happened to him also happened to us. When he sinned, we sinned. When he died (spiritually), we died-just as we would have died in our great grand-father if he had died before siring any children. Thus, since spiritual death is separation from God, we were all born dead (spiritually). We need forgiveness for our sins, but we also need life. The Lord Jesus Christ came to give us both-by dying for our sins and by giving us His resurrection life (John 10:10).

If you are a Christian, you already know this much. What you may not yet know is the following;

For the believer, physical death is the gateway from life in the world and the presence of sin to life in Heaven and the presence of God. Similarly, another type of death is the gateway from the sinful life of Adam to the eternal life of Christ . When a person is "born again," he in the same instant dies. He is born into the life of Christ, but he simultaneously dies out of the life of Adam.

Christ comes into our lives when we believe in Him and are born again, but that is not all. We are also made "partakers" of HIS life-eternal life. Romans 6:3 says we are not only baptized into Jesus Christ (His life) but also into His death. We can't occupy two opposite lives at the same time-the life of Adam and the life of Christ.

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"WHEEL IDENTITY - A GUIDE TO FREEDOM THROUGH THE CROSS" - Part 2
By C.R. Solomon

Your Identity

When we receive Christ by faith, it means that His death on the cross counts as payment for our sins. But it means much more. It also means that we enter into a new life-one that extends forever into the past as well as into the future. To put it another way, we exchange our history in Adam-the bad and the good-for an eternal history in Christ. We inherit a new "family tree!" By becoming partakers of Christ's life, we become participants in His death, burial, resurrection, ascension and seating in the heavenlies (Rom. 6:3-6; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 2:6). He only has one life, and this is the life we receive at our new birth (1 John 5:11-12).

Unless and until we know by personal faith experience that we were crucified with Christ, we will continue to try to live for Christ, using the methods we learned in our old self-lives. The conflicts stemming from our history in Adam will go on plaguing and defeating us. But when, by faith, we take our rightful place at the Cross in union with Christ's death and resurrection, then-and only then-can we truly "walk in newness of life" (Rom. 6:4b) where "old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor. 5:17).

The Cross experience (understanding experientially our crucifixion and resurrection with Christ) is the gateway into the Spirit-controlled life (Gal. 5:16). It is life out of death, victory out of defeat-the purpose and answer for suffering in the life of the believer. Our path to the Cross, as well as the Cross itself, is a path of suffering, but it is the only path that leads to the end of suffering.

Are you weary enough of your internal conflict and constant defeat to put an end to it by faith? Are you willing to die to all that you are so you can live in all that He is? To do so is to exchange the self-life for the Christ-life and be filled or controlled by the Holy Spirit. To refuse to do so is to continue a walk after the flesh and to grieve the Spirit with a continuation of conflict, suffering and defeat.

Salvation Prayer

*If you are tired of the anguish that results from doing things your way, Christ will free you if you will sincerely commit yourself to let Him have His way.

If you have never accepted Christ as your personal Savior, your first need is to let God create you anew by giving you spiritual rebirth. You can be born again if you can honestly pray like this:
    "Heavenly Father, I have seen that I am a sinner, still in the life of Adam, and that I have committed sins. I believe you sent your only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die in my place for my sins. I also believe He rose again and now lives, and right now I receive Him into my spirit as my Savior. I surrender all that I am, all I have and all I shall be to you. I turn from my sins and my selfish ways to live my new life in Christ. Thank you for saving me. Amen."

Identification Prayer

If you have prayed the "salvation prayer," you have been born again, for God says He gives to all who believe in Christ the privilege of becoming His children (John 1:12).

Now, whether you prayed for salvation just now or in the past, praying an  "identification prayer" may help you to experience Christ's life of victory and peace. Before this prayer can be effective, you must be truly sick of your self-life; you must be under conviction by the Holy Spirit of trying to live the Christian life in your own strength, and you must be ready to give up control of your life. If this is your condition, pray in this manner.

"Father, thank you for forgiving my sins and taking me out of the life of Adam and grafting me into the life of Christ. Now that I am in Christ, I believe that I was crucified with Him, buried with Him, raised with Him and that I am seated with Him at your right hand. From this moment on, I choose to have your son, Jesus Christ, live His life in me and through me. I consider myself dead to sin and alive to you, and I am counting on the Holy Spirit to make me aware when I forget my death with Christ and try to live His life for Him in my own human wisdom and energy. I choose to yield my total being to you as an instrument of righteousness, allowing no part of me to be used for sin. Thank you for making Christ and his life real to me. Glorify yourself through me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen,"


1. SALVATION
2. ASSURANCE
3. SECURITY
4. ACCEPTANCE
5. TOTAL COMMITMENT
(Romans 12:1)

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AFFLICTION'S EFFECT
By Miles Stanford


"But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ" (Phil. 3:7).

Our Father has many reasons for administering trial --- all good. Trial teaches us the futility of the old life, and the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus --- our new life.

"The Christian suffers the same calamities as others, perhaps even worse; he faces difficulties and losses in the things of this life; he has to be prepared to meet death itself.  In all these circumstances he is calm and trustful; he is not only sure of ultimately going to heaven, but already abides there and enjoys something of it in his own heart.

"God is real to him and ever near. He knows a peace which passes all understanding, and he experiences a joy which no man can take from him. This, surely, should be our testimony in the world, but it can only be as the Lord Jesus Himself lives out this life in us."-H.F.

"The world is divided into two things---pleasures and afflictions; I am more afraid of the pleasures than the afflictions. In afflictions you turn to the Lord. The danger is of being carried away by the very favors God has given to man."

"Those who suffer from chastening ought to be before the Father, owning His hand; and He who has wounded will heal. The Lord Jesus did not take the cup which He had to drink from us, from man, nor from Satan; but from His Father's hand."

"Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord" (Phil. 3:8 ).

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PEACE UNKNOWN
By DICK WARE, Pastor

Scripture Reading: Romans 3: 17

In the book of Romans, chapters 1-3 show us the movement of mankind away from God. In these chapters we see that all of Adam's race is inexcusable before God! As far back as creation, mankind has willingly turned away from the knowledge of God (1:18-23). The result is God giving mankind the consequences of his indifference to God (1:24-32). Even the riches of God's goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering are designed to lead men to repentance (2:4). But, man continues away from God, not realizing he will soon meet God in righteous judgment (2:5). Even the privileged Jew, has "dishonored God" and "blasphemed Him", by breaking the Law (2:23, 24). "For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin (3:9)."

Romans 3:10-18 is also a part of the conclusion concerning the condition of unrighteous man before the holy and righteous God. Some of these are: "there is none righteous;" "none who seek after God;" "all have gone astray;" "all have become unprofitable;" "all have been deceitful;" "they don't fear God;" and "all are full of bitterness and misery." Is it any wonder that we read: "And the way of peace they have not known.'''? The lack of peace, is a direct result of being guilty before God!

Many are in mental institutions today because they are guilt ridden. Many are busy and are considered successful, but "the way of peace they have not known!" Many instances could be given in which there is no real peace. Real, inward, lasting peace can only come as a result of having one's sin forgiven, and being declared "right with God" (Romans 5:1)

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JOY AND PEACE IN BELIEVING
By DONALD A. WEBB

Scripture Reading: Romans 15:13

This verse tells us that there are several benefits to believing. One is joy, another is peace, and still another is hope. The thing that is really interesting is that this verse is not talking about an unbeliever believing the gospel. This verse is talking about a believer believing God's Word and acting upon it! The God of hope will fill you with all joy and peace in believing that is, in accepting and obeying His Word. The result of this is that you will abound in hope (literally, this hope, i.e., the hope of the context) through the power of the Holy Spirit. Faith takes the step of obedience and the Holy Spirit empowers to the performing. That is always the way it is!

Just what then is this verse asking you and me as believers to believe! What is it that will cause us to he so blessed by God and filled with hope? It is believing that as we follow Christ's example and please not ourselves that we will glorify God. We must not despise one another but give of ourselves for our brother's edification. In this whole passage (15: 1-13), there are several key or main subject verses. There is a special blessing to the reader who will consider verses 8-13 in light of verses 1--7. Do you see that God is asking us to do certain things'? Do you see that Christ is the example of these things'? Notice that according to the Scriptures, through His unselfishness, the blessing was to extend even to the Gentiles'? And so it has, not through the prophetic program, but through the revelation of the mystery (Romans 16:25)! If we will live as those who have been so blessed, we will have joy and peace as we await our hope.

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HIS CROSS-OUR CROSS
By Miles Stanford



"He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him... take up his Cross daily" (Luke 9:23).


We go all the way to Calvary in faith and there find ourselves identified with the Lord Jesus in His death and resurrection. And Calvary comes all the way to us in experience as the Holy Spirit applies that finished work to our lives.

"It must be as with Israel and the manna; there must be the daily gathering and daily dependence upon God. If circumstances come between our hearts and God, we are powerless. If the Lord Jesus is nearer, circumstances will not hinder our joy in God."

"In the Reformation there was, through grace, a great deliverance. The groundwork of Christianity was recovered; namely, justification by faith. But though this was recovered, it was not maintained that the old man was crucified on the Cross, and hence they only refused the exactions of popery, but recognized the flesh as still before God. Refusing the exaction was right; but the retention of that in which the exaction could be made, the old man, was the weakness of the Reformation."

"I do not see the Cross truly if I only see it as opening a way of escape for me, and yet allowing that in me to escape which has incurred the judgment of the Cross. "

"In the present day (1867) the truth is lowered to the measure of man's need; hence if the need is met, which grace does, the convert makes little or no. advance; he rests in the satisfaction of his need, instead of being directed to the scope of God's thought, which only begins with his need.

"Where would souls be put if they were simply and definitely instructed in Christ Jesus and Him crucified and risen; connected by faith with the living One, who was crucified, and whose death terminated man in the flesh?" --J.B.S.

"Whosoever doth not bear his Cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:27).

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How can we be at peace amid all of this conflict and trouble?
By John Walker

As we look at the world around us, our country's financial situation, the conflict in the Middle East, the war on terror, crime, drugs, gangs, and anything else you may want to add to the list, what in the world is the Christian to do or think? How can we be at peace amid all of this conflict and trouble?

Recently, as I was teaching in Paul's letter to the Philippians, it really stuck out to me where we are to find real peace. In Chapter 4 it says, "and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." (v. 7) and "and the God of peace shall be with you." (v. 9)

In verse 7, we will have God's peace after we do something. That something is stated in verse 6 which says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." The phrase "Be anxious for nothing" can also be translated "Do not care or be concerned about one single thing." Then Paul uses the strong adversative, but, to point us toward what we should be doing.

We should be praying and supplicating or petitioning God with thanksgiving and requesting or asking God to take care of these things. How many times have I prayed to God and let my requests be made known to Him and then I keep on being anxious or worrying about it? It seems to me that I have failed on two points. First, I am disobedient in that I continue to "be anxious or am concerned" about what I just prayed about to God. Second, I have a lack of faith in God that He can handle it. I demonstrate this by continuing to "be anxious" as if that is really going to help the situation.

Only when we truly release our cares and concerns to God for Him to take care of and resolve, then we will truly have God's peace that surpasses, that goes out beyond all understanding, or literally, every mind. This peace will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. When we are in Christ Jesus, when we are part of His Body, this is the place of safety. This is the place where He guards our hearts and minds. It is key for us to be in Christ Jesus.

In verse 9b, Paul mentions that the God of peace will be with us. In verses 8-9a, Paul, inspired by God, tell us how to bring that about. People often quote verse 8 without connecting it to verse 9. Verse 8 lists many positive and wonderful things for us to consider or think about. Most people talk about the list of things in verse 8 in very general terms. Paul, however, has some very specific in mind.

He states in the beginning of verse 9, "which things you learned and received and heard and saw in me, practice these things." What were the "things" the Philippians learned, received, heard, and saw in Paul? I believe it was the message and truth God revealed to and through the apostle Paul for the Church. Just as Paul was taught by God, received truth from God, heard the truth, and then lived that truth to be seen by the Philippians, they are to follow the pattern they saw in Paul. Paul, again, has put himself forward as the example for the Church to emulate.

My conclusion is that only when we consider and put into practice the truth for the church as given to us through the apostle Paul, then the God of peace will be with us. If we try to live under the Law or the truth for the coming Kingdom for Israel, we will never know the full extent of God's peaceful presence with us.

My prayer is for you to realize the full extent of God's peace in your life. May God bless you as you live for Him who died for you (2 Cor. 5:15).
In Christ's Service,

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Can America Be Saved?
Part 1 of 3
WOULD "CHRONICLES 7:14 HELP?
BY RICHARD JORDAN



America feels as if it is unraveling. There is a mood of foreboding about the future as our nation seems to be somehow crumbling around us.

This has, of course, happened more than once in recorded history and brings to mind a very strong statement about what happened to a people in a situation strikingly similar to America's current dilemma.

Isaiah 3 records the coming judgment of God on the nation Israel because of her rebellion. The nation Israel had gone so far downhill, had sunk so low, that it was sick to its very core (Isa. 1:6). As you work through Isaiah's eloquent description of the decline and destruction of his once flourishing nation, the parallel with our own day is unavoidable:

"For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,

   "The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,
   "The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.
    "And I WILL GIVE CHILDREN TO BE THEIR PRINCES, AND BABES SHALL RULE OVER THEM" (lsa. 3:1-4).

One by one Isaiah describes the pillars upon which a nation stands being snatched away. "The whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water" will dissolve into famine and economic collapse. This is coupled with a famine in national leadership as civic and moral disarray abounds: "The mighty man and the man of war, "the government and military leaders in whose hands the welfare and safety of the nation rests, will falter; the legal system will be so corrupted that "the judge" can no longer be depended on for justice; "the prophet" will preach lies and deceit; "the prudent and the ancient "  will no longer be available to make wise decisions in the government--true statesmanship will be dead.

Also missing will be "the honorable man" who can always be trusted to tell the truth and "the counsellor" who can give wise advise. "The cunning artificer," the true artist, will be gone and all that will be left will be filth.

And who will take their places as the leaders of government and society? CHILDREN!! With no one to "civilize" the emerging band of neophites born each year, their society was soon to be ruled by children--not simply children in age but men who as far as their qualifications are concerned are "children" and "babes."

Those who should be leading the nation in paths of righteousness had lost their strength of character and will to tell these children, "NO!" --to teach them right from wrong -- and thus as the children grow up they remain children in attitude, tastes and actions.

This, of course, leads to anarchy and social injustice. "The people shall be oppressed" as the "base"-- the lowest elements of society -- rise to take the reigns (v. 5).

An almost present-day-sounding political statement is echoed in verse 6 as the people appeal for leadership to one who "hath clothing!" The standard for selecting the nation's leaders will have become the "seven second sound bite" accompanied by a "beauty contest."

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Can America Be Saved?
Part 2 of 3
WOULD  II CHRONICLES 7:14 HELP?
BY PASTOR RICHARD JORDAN





All this because Israel had forsaken the Lord, not wanting Him involved in their lives .. their government, courts, boardrooms, schools, homes and personal lives. So far had they departed that they brazenly display their sin and "hide it not" (v. 9).

Such was a society ripe for the judgment of God .. a judgment which Isaiah warns was soon coming:

   "As for my people, CHILDREN ARE THEIR OPPRESSORS, AND WOMEN RULE OVER THEM. 0 my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.
   "The Lord standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people.
   "The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof. .. " (vs. 12-14).

COULD ISRAEL BE SAVED?

What was Israel to do? Could she be saved? God's words to Solomon foresaw this dilemma:

   "And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice.
   "If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;
   "lF MY PEOPLE, WHICH ARE CALLED BY MY NAME, SHALL HUMBLE THEMSELVES, AND PRAY, AND SEEK MY FACE, AND TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS; THEN WILL I HEAR FROM HEAVEN, AND WILL FORGIVE THEIR SIN, AND WILL HEAL THEIR LAND" (II Chron. 7:12-14).

Before we yield to the popular notion that this passage is somehow a formula for America's survival, notice that this intervention (for blessing or cursing) was for a specific people, Israel; at a specific time, under the law; for a specific purpose, to bless for obedience or punish for disobedience.

In a seeming "concern for society" too many have for too long been too willing to ignore the facts and take passages which refer to another dispensation and apply them to society today, thus perverting God's revealed program for today. This is not only true of Modernists and Liberals but, shamefully, also of Fundamentalists and Evangelicals as well.

No matter how often it is quoted, no matter how sentimental the appeals based on it. the simple facts of God's Word cannot be changed:

1. Today, in the current dispensation of grace, God has temporarily set aside the nation Israel and does not recognize the Israelites in their former (and future) status as His chosen people (Rom. 11:11, Gal. 3:27-28 ).

2. Today is not a day of the law but the day of grace (Rom. 6:14).

3. Today God is not blessing based on obedience to the law but on the basis of grace--by believing the gospel of grace and thereby being placed into Christ Jesus and made "complete in Him" (Col. 2:10).

II Chron. 7:14 has nothing to do with God's workings during the present dispensation. While it had exactly the right instruction for Israel--''My people" --under the law "If .. then "--it cannot be simply torn from its dispensational context and made to apply to us today. Such spiritual larceny is only to dishonor God's Word and do despite to His program for us.

WILL AMERICA BE SAVED?

What are we to do then? If America is in such an obviously similar situation to Isaiah 3 but without the promise of II Chron. 7:14--will America be Saved?

The honest answer is that we do not know. The verdict is still out. One thing is certain: America's future will be determined by the basic decisions that we as a people make concerning the fundamental issue of what constitutes reality, what we recognize as truth. And this is where we come in!

While the Body of Christ can and should be a restrainer of evil, we must recognize that we are not going to change the course of this world. Too often we have forgotten--if we have known at all--what the Bible actually says about the society in which we live:

   "[Christ] gave himself for our sins, THAT HE MIGHT DELIVER US FROM THIS PRESENT EVIL WORLD, ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD AND OUR FATHER" (Gal. 1:4).
    " KNOW YE NOT THAT THE FRIENDSHIP OF THE WORLD IS ENMITY WITH GOD? WHOSOEVER THEREFORE WILL BE A FRIEND OF THE WORLD IS THE ENEMY OF GOD" (Jas. 4:4).
    " ... THE WHOLE WORLD LIETH IN WICKEDNESS" (I John 5:19).
    ".... in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Eph. 2:2).
   "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God ... " (I Cor. 2:12).
   "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom THE WORLD IS CRUCIFIED UNTO ME, AND I UNTO THE WORLD" (Gal. 6:14).

[nChrist]

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Can America Be Saved?
Part 3 of 3
WOULD  II CHRONICLES 7:14 HELP?
BY PASTOR RICHARD JORDAN


The Body of Christ is not here to reform the world system, solve the problems facing society, inaugurate social justice, etc. While true believers can and should have a powerful impact for good wherever they are, we are not going to change the world system about us. In fact, part of our task is to testify to the fact that the world is not going to be made acceptable to God but rather as the age progresses will grow worse, morally and spiritually, until Christ returns to put down man's rebellion and establish His reign.

The Church is here to save men out of this world system, to deliver men from "the present evil world." This is the way to make our ministry relevant to the realities of our time. We are not here to save the wreck man has made of society. We are here to save perishing souls from the wreck doomed to destruction.

Tragically, when needed most, the Church has become totally irrelevant and ineffectual in our floundering, confused culture. Seemingly aware of its impotence, multiple movements emerge which seek social and political power in order to gain attention to causes dear to them. Yet for all the effort in everything from political action to new, contemporary methodologies, the world about us rushes forward largely untouched by the truth deposited in our care.

Why is this? What is the problem? Answers abound: lack of prayer, absence of real separated living, indifference to the lost and the task of world evangelism, disregard of the felt needs of those about us, etc. But wait: These are really the symptoms, the results. What is the core cause? It isn't really that difficult to identify.

Departure from God's message and program for our day as revealed through the epistles of Paul-this is the real root of the trouble. My friend, just as it was departure from Moses' law that constantly got Israel into trouble, with the Church it has been departure from Pauline truth. Just as surely as the dispensation of the law was committed to Moses, so surely was the dispensation of grace committed to Paul (Eph. 3:1-9).

Only when the Church returns to God's program for today will it be able to fulfill its true role as "the pillar and ground of the truth" (I Tim. 3:15). This is the true path to the revival so desperately needed and the only avenue that can lead to another genuine spiritual awakening for our nation.

WHERE WE FIT IN

Will America be saved? We do not know. Can America be saved? YES! But not without a basic change in course.

America does indeed stand at the crossroads. Decisions made during the next few years will set the course for our nation's future for the remainder of the 21st century. A spiritually healthy, vibrant Church has a vital part to play. This is where those of us who rejoice in the rightly divided Word fit in, for only by recognizing God's program for today will the Church be up to the task.

The Body of Christ, of course, belongs to the Lord and in the wider sense is His responsibility. Each of us, however, has a part to play in its functioning. It is true that there is much we cannot do, but the fact remains that there is much we can and should be doing.

The greatest single thing you and I as believers can do for our generation, for our nation. is to have  Christ live through us in our own every day lives. As we study God's Word and learn sound doctrine, as we testify of Christ and live in obedience to Him, the Word takes root in our hearts and produces genuine spiritual growth and fruit.

When Christ lives through us personally, our families will be impacted; as He lives through our families, our communities will be impacted; as He lives in our communities, our state. nation and world will be touched by truth.

And it is the understanding of the message of God's grace to us in Christ that will motivate and empower us in reaching out in every possible way to every possible person with the good news we have to proclaim.

NOW IS YOUR TIME AS NEVER BEFORE!!!

As you walk by faith in obedience to God's Word to us, as you live godly in Christ Jesus in the details of your daily life. God is active in your world! May the love of Christ constrain us all to so live that others may know the truth as it is in Jesus Christ. This is what our generation, our nation, our world needs most!

[nChrist]

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The Glory of Grace
Pastor Richard Jordon

        If you find it difficult to live the Christian life you are not alone. Many Christians live second-rate lives with feelings of insecurity, discontent, anxiety and impotency. For them, the joy and victory that the gospel of grace promises seem little more than a theoretical illusion, a fleeting ghost in the face of disappointments that trap them in a syndrome of stress, self-pity and depression. Sadly missing are the confidence, assurance and consistency that come from the life of freedom that faith in Jesus Christ brings for every believer.

        Grace is the answer. Legalism is the enemy. Victory in the Christian life is obtained in the same manner as salvation: by appropriating, receiving, believing - not by works.

        Rom. 6:11-13 is a key passage every believer needs to master:

        "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

        "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

        "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God."

        This is the process: Reckon yourself dead unto sin, but alive unto God. How is it possible? Just before the above passage, Paul had explained:

        "Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?" (Rom. 6:3).

        The moment we trust the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, we die - with Him. Our baptism into Christ's death sets us free from sin, "For he that is dead is freed from sin" (vs. 7). But grace does not stop there; the wonderful thing is that we can die and yet still

        "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Rom. 6:4).

        It is only after we die - with Christ - that we are able to really start living - again, with Him. Thus Paul goes on to state:

        "But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

        "Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness." "But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life" (Rom. 6:17,18,22).

        All of this is succinctly summed up in a verse every sincere believer should know by heart:

        "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20).

        How can I be dead and alive at the same time? The explanation is clear: it is not I anymore but it is Christ who lives in me and it is His life - His power, energy and wisdom - that is to be on display in my action and attitudes. The wonderful truth is that Jesus Christ gave His life for me at Calvary, so that He might give His life to me when I trusted Him, so that He might live His life through me day by day.

        This is the glory of grace: not simply that it saves us from eternal damnation in "the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death" (Rev. 21:8 ), there is more, "much more." The glory of God's grace to us in Christ is that His life is available to us right now.

        Speaking about the saints, Col. 1:27 says:

        "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."

        The "riches of the glory of this mystery" is defined as "Christ in you, the hope of glory." This wealth is what God wants His saints to appreciate and rejoice in. If all you understand about grace is that we are not Israel and they are not us, you are missing the real wealth, because the "riches of His grace" are found in God's saving godless sinners and then coming and living His life in them.

        Being set free from sin and having the life that spoke the universe unto existence living in us is "the riches of the glory of this mystery," indeed!

        It is this truth of "Christ in you, the hope of glory" that empowers the believer's walk. To be "dead in sin" provides needed freedom from sin's dominion; to be "alive unto God" provides the capacity to use this freedom to bring forth "the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God" (Phil. 1:11).

Gal. 4:1,2 demonstrates that a basic difference between a child and an adult is the issue of freedom. What a child is required and forced to do, an adult does voluntarily. What a child does in fear, an adult does in freedom.

        Freedom is an awesome thing. Although it can be and too often is abused, when it is used for its intended purpose, our freedom in Christ is our most valuable spiritual asset. There are two aspects to freedom: freedom from and freedom for.

        By God's grace we have been freed from sin - from both its condemnation and its control. Free from guilt and shame. Free from the downward impulses and urges we couldn't stop when in bondage to sin. Free from the tyranny of other's expectations, opinions and demands. But this is not all - not by far.

        God's grace has also made us free for service. We are free to obey, free to love, free to forgive others as well as ourselves, free to live beyond the limitations of human effort, free to serve and glorify Christ, free to live as adult members of the family of God.

        When we come to appreciate the freedom of our Sonship, we recognize that we are free to voluntarily do that which formerly we did in fear. As adults we can voluntarily apply the wisdom of God to the details of our lives by making decisions based on the Word of God.

        God is surely glorified when believers bear the fruits of their righteous standing in Christ. These "fruits of righteousness are by Jesus Christ" - that is, they are mediated through Christ in us. There is literally an outbreak of the righteous character of God on the stage of human history through the lives of believers who bear these fruits.

        This is of course the result of "the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe" (I Thess. 2:13).

        We could never accomplish this by our own doings, no matter how intended,  just as an apple tree bears apples because of the life that is in it, so the believer bears fruits of the righteousness because of the life of Christ living through us.

        When Paul says, "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13), he is referring to the Spirit of God working in the believer's inner man through the Word of God. Our service is not born out of an outward constraint or necessity, but rather is the result of the life of Christ in us working itself out through the members of our body as we voluntarily apply God's wisdom to the details of our lives. Thus it is that "the life is also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body" (II Cor. 4:10,11).

        The glory of God's grace to us in Christ goes far beyond simply what He has and is doing for us. It goes on into the manifestation of what He is doing for Himself through us, for we are simply "His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10).

The law of God condemns the best of men;
the grace of God saves the worst of men.

[nChrist]

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THE GOSPEL OF PEACE
By MARVIN DUNCAN

Scripture Reading: Romans 10:15

Man's condition before his Creator is one of enmity and separation. He has turned his back upon God and has gone so far as to remove God from his thinking (Romans 1:28 ). Because of this attitude, God has given him up to his own devices (Romans 1:24,26,28 ) and has allowed him to do and worship anything his foolish mind can conceive. The condition of the Gentiles is described in Ephesians 2:11-12.

We see the awful breach between God and men in the description Paul gives in Romans chapter five. From verse 6 we see man as "ungodly." Verse 8 says he is a "sinner" and verse 10 shows him as an "enemy" in his relationship to his Creator. Being in this condition, how was man ever to be restored to fellowship with his Creator?

Paul gives us the answer in his letter to the church at Corinth. In Second Corinthians 5:19 he says, "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself." One of the ministries Christ accomplished when He died on the Cross of Calvary was to bring peace to the earth and remove the enmity that existed between God and man. Through Christ's death, God has made peace with a world that is at war with Him and is now offering reconciliation to anyone who will accept the death of Jesus Christ as the payment of his sin debt.

Once we receive the salvation God has provided through Christ's death, we not only receive peace WITH God, but as we allow the Word of God to direct our lives we will experience the peace OF God ruling our hearts (Philippians 4:7). It is this peace OF God that allows us to maintain a calm attitude even when the world seems to be falling apart around us. Today, the saints have been given the Gospel of Peace to share with others who are still outside of Christ (II Corinthians 5:19).