GRACE AND THE TRUTH - DAILY INSPIRATION

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COMPLETE IN CHRIST
Part 4 of 4
by William B. Hallman



If we are "COMPLETE IN HIM," and we are "by grace through faith," then it follows what Paul sets forth in this Epistle.

WE ARE COMPLETE WITHOUT PHILOSOPHY, "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments (elements) of the world, and not after Christ""' (2:8 ). We need no sophisms of this world to prop our faith. There is nothing new in philosophy except old error. One day three friend philosophers came to Job to comfort him and to set him straight as to his thinking. These three represent the reasonings of the best of men. Eliphaz reasons on human experience (4:8; 5:3; 15:17): "Even as I have seen," "I have seen," "I have seen." It is what he had seen, heard, and felt. Bildad comes with human tradition (8:8,10): "For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age," "search of the fathers." Zophar reasons on human merit (11:13-14): "If thou prepare thine heart." This is the gospel of humanism. Six thousand years of human gropings after wisdom have not given men the true knowledge of God, nor His ways with men. Man's reason is inadequate to understand either the will or way of God. If man by his own reason could find God, and His way of redemption, then there would be no need of a revelation. Like little David we are content with the sling and the stones. As for the armor of philosophy, we leave that to proud Goliath to wear. "Spoil you," says Paul. The word is sulagogon, and means "to carry off as a captive, a slave, as booty." It is used of kidnapping and plundering a house, also seducing a maiden.

WE ARE ALSO "COMPLETE IN HIM" WITHOUT CEREMONIES. "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross; Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days" (2:14, 16-17).


All these ceremonies had their day. They belong to the time of shadows; we now have the Substance, Christ. "Finished are the types and shadows of the ceremonial law." Circumcision, sacrifices, Passover, water baptisms, temple services, priestly functions, etc., are but "beggarly elements" of a past age, encumbrances no longer needed. Who looks for the moon as long as the sun is shining? We are in the day of the Substance, not in the night of the shadows. But man is so prone to be religious, and to add something to Christ. He must "touch," and "taste," and "handle" something.

Again, WE ARE "COMPLETE IN HIM" WITHOUT ANY HUMAN MERIT. "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' (Eph. 2:8-9). All our righteousnesses are but filthy rags. If we were "dead in sins," and we were, how could a dead man do anything? He cannot see, hear, touch, smell, speak, or walk. So how utterly foolish it is like Zophar to talk about preparing one's heart to appease God or to merit His favor.

Therefore, if "IN HIM" there dwells all "the fulness of the Godhead bodily," and we are "COMPLETE IN HIM," let us live as those who know this fulness! The Pauline doctrine of Christ is His absolute "fulness," His pleroma. And the doctrine of "ye are complete in Him." Christ should therefore command all our worship, our admiration, our love. There is at our disposal the infinite merit of His righteousness; the infinite efficacy in His blood; and the infinite power of His resurrection and glorification.

The celebrated artist Danneker was asked by Napoleon to paint Venus for the Louvre, and declined. An enormous sum was offered him, but still he declined. The little emperor angrily demanded the reason. "I have just painted Christ," was the answer, "and I can never lower my brush to paint such an inferior subject as Venus."

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THE SOURCE OF EVIL
By Pastor Bob Hanna



One of the most frequently misquoted passages of Scripture is I Timothy 6:10. The phrase so often thus abused is quoted as saying, "Money is the root of all evil." The actual meaning of the verse is totally lost when so interpreted. Accurately read, the statement says, "The love of money is the root of all [manner of] evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."

That it is the love of money, not money itself, that is the subject of this passage, becomes clear when we read on, as the apostle writes, "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good  works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life" (I Timothy 6:17-19). God doesn't decry material wealth per se. But He encourages generosity and spiritual investment on the part of those possessing physical treasure. God discourages the wealthy from pride in their wealth. God said, "Let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord" (Jeremiah 9:23,24).

The apostle Paul consistently endured poverty, for the sake of his ministry, though not shunning the advantages of physical prosperity. He didn't spurn the comforts provided by opulence, but they held second place to service to his Lord and Savior. He wrote, " I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need" (Philippians 4:11,12).

Paul had been a man of means in his career in the Sanhedrin. "I profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation" (Galatians 1:14.) "I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ" (Philippians 3:8 ).

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FRUSTRATED ENEMY
By Miles Stanford


"Then saith Jesus unto him, Be gone, Satan" (Matt. 4:10).

There is a great difference between a foe, and a defeated foe. A conquered enemy can be put to valuable use in the hands of the victor, and that is exactly what God is doing with that old serpent. Satan is allowed to sift, and try the believer; he is used of God as a winnowing machine to clear away the chaff in us.

"No power in present things allowed to Satan annuls the will of the invisible God." - W.K.

"The story of Job shows clearly that it is God who sets the limit to the extent of the devil's activities and power. From the human viewpoint the Cross looks like a colossal failure. In it the victory of the power of evil seemed complete, But 'the weakness of God is stronger than men' or the enemy, and by the power of weakness having 'spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it' (Col. 2:15)." -CJ.M.

"It is inevitable that in a world like this the faith of Christians must be tried. For we are in an enemy's land, and he resents our presence. And we have an enemy within our gates --- the old man --- that opposes us too. But take heart, fellow believer, the trials of the faith will be found unto praise, honor and glory at the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ (I Pet. 1:7). The happy outcome is a foregone conclusion. Trials work patience, experience, hope --- and these are abiding qualities. Satan as it were is God's scavenger, and all he can do is to remove out of your life those things that mar your joy, your growth, and your service."

"For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy [undo] the works of the devil" (I John 3:8 ).

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AFTER WE LEAVE THIS WORLD
PART 1 OF 4
Pastor J. C. O’Hair


A well known author once wrote these words: “the path of glory leads but to the grave.” Then a more famous author once wrote a letter in which he stated that the path of special suffering leads to glory beyond the grave. They call him Saint Peter.

The path of most of the people who have gone on to the grave was anything but a path of glory. Only God knows how many people have left this world and have gone to the grave. But men have guessed the number to be over twenty billion. Of this number more that ten billion have been uncivilized, unevangelized and uneducated heathen. Most of them have died in poverty, and misery and degradation.

Perhaps you have read the first Book in the Bible, the Book of Genesis. In the first chapters of that first Book we read of a wonderful man, a man made in the image and likeness of God. That wonderful man was in a wonderful Paradise, communing with Almighty God. Then something happened. What was that something? Three letters tell us. S - I - N. Sin has played havoc with the human race. “The wages of sin is death.” As we come to the last chapter of that first Book we read the biography of another wonderful man. His name was Joseph. This is the way the chapter ends— “So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.”

What a contrast! Adam in the image of God in Paradise. Joseph in a coffin in Egypt. If Adam had not sinned, Joseph would not have been in Egypt or in a coffin. Yes, Joseph was about as fine and noble as any man who ever lived on this earth. But he went to the grave. “To the grave.” Not a very happy thought, but the funeral cars are constantly passing us on the way to the cemetery to keep us reminded that we, too, are on the way to the cemetery, whether we are numbered among the noble or just the ordinary.

There was another very noble man, a great king, in whose life there was much glory. But the time of his departure arrived. He said, “I go the way of all the earth.” “So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. (I Kings 2:10). Let’s read the account in I Kings 2:1 to 3—“Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying, I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man; And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep His statutes, and His commandments, and His judgments and His testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself.”

More than one thousand years after that great king died another great and noble man died; perhaps, with one exception, measured by true values, the greatest man who ever lived on this earth. Note his farewell message: “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; Hence-forth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them that love His appearing.” (II Timothy 4:6 to 8 ).

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AFTER WE LEAVE THIS WORLD
PART 2 OF 4
Pastor J. C. O’Hair


Where is this great man now? Is Paul forever dead? It was Paul who wrote--— “Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” (I Timothy 4:8 ).

But note again his words in I Corinthians 15:19— “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”

As we think of David, and Paul, and our loved ones, who have gone to their graves, the old questions of Job are ever new: “Man giveth up the ghost and where is he?” “If a man die, shall he live again?” Who has the answer?

The first question, “Where are the dead?” causes us to think of these strange words, recorded in Ecclesiastes 12:3 to 7— “In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened, And the door shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low; Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden and desire shall fail; because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets; Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit return unto God Who gave it. Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.”

Let us read with these words the story of a great Christian hero, Stephen. “And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge, And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” (Acts 7:59 and 60).

Paul might well have thought of Stephen when he wrote II Corinthians 5:8 and 9— “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him.”

There were times when Paul wanted to depart to be with Christ (Philippians 1:22 and 23). That meant that his path led to glory beyond the grave. Therefore he said: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18 ). “When Christ, Who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.” (Colossians 3:4).

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AFTER WE LEAVE THIS WORLD
PART 3 OF 4
Pastor J. C. O’Hair


Now let us compare the words spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ, when He was here on earth, with that wonderful truth He later revealed to Paul.

'Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” John 5:28 and 29.

“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” I Corinthians 15:51 and 52.

The grave is simply a stop on the way. We are all either on the way to eternal glory or to eternal perdition. The wonderful, startling news is, that some are going to eternal glory without going to the grave. Think of the joy of the redeemed ones who will be raptured in the twinkling of an eye. No funeral. No grave. But glory eternal.

Did Moses make a mistake in his choice? “Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasure in Egypt; for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward” Hebrews 11:25 and 26.

Moses was not near-sighted. He looked far beyond the pleasures of sins and the treasures of earth. He believed the truth of I John 2:16 and 17— “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

Every life is a sacrifice. The sinner sacrifices heaven and eternal glory for fun, fortune or fame. The Christian sacrifices the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life for an eternity with Christ in glory.

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AFTER WE LEAVE THIS WORLD
PART 4 OF 4
Pastor J. C. O’Hair


Yes, the Christian is going to heaven to share the glory of Christ, because of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.

I Peter 3:18 “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:”

Romans 5:8 and 9 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”

Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”

Acts 4:12 “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

Can you imagine that any person living in the United States does not know what is beyond the grave; or that any one in this country does not know how to escape eternal perdition?

Hear these solemn words in John 3:36—“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.”

Hear again Hebrews 10:39—“But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”

The time we spend this side of the grave is a nothing compared with the unending eternity after we leave this world. But we must decide on our eternal destiny and destination before we die of before Christ comes. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Hebrews 9:27

After death and the grave, what? Judgment—the wrath of God. Not probation or another chance. You can settle the matter of your eternal destiny right now. “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. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8 to 10.

Be wise and receive Christ right here and now.

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It's a Matter of the Heart
by Pastor John Fredericksen


      In recent months, my wife’s father has had a series of  issues with his heart that required different pacemakers to be implanted. After two previous by-pass operations, there have been justifiable reasons to be concerned about him. So, when we see or call him, we frequently ask,“How is your heart today?”

The condition of one’s heart is just as important in the spiritual realm as it is in the physical realm. It is for this reason the Scriptures say so much about the heart and why Solomon wrote, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23). The spiritual condition of one’s heart will determine how one responds to the Lord and, ultimately, it will have a huge impact on each of us in eternity.

Since God is “not willing that any should perish” (II Pet. 3:9) and “lighteth [or draws to Himself] every man that cometh into the world”(John 1:9), everyone has the option to be saved from eternal punishment. The Lord seeks with every individual to do what He did with Lydia, “whose heart the Lord opened” (Acts 16:14): drawing him or her to a personal decision of saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. However, because many resist and refuse this internal wooing of the Lord, they remain as some to whom Paul wrote in the Roman epistle: “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and… righteous judgment of God” (Rom. 2:5).

Thankfully, many choose to open their hearts to the salvation God offers. Countless numbers of people have “call[ed] on the Lord out of a pure heart” (II Tim. 2:22). Hosts of believers today seek to leave behind the regular practice of sin because they “have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you” (Rom. 6:17). On a daily basis, most believers pursue a walk that will please the Lord because “in singleness of heart, fearing God…[they choose to] serve the Lord Christ” (Col. 3:22-24). Many believers are “doing the will of God from the heart” (Eph. 6:6). Those who choose such a path do so because they are choosing to “keep their heart with all diligence.” They do so by regularly taking in the Word of God and applying proper truth to the way they live each day.

It is, of course, possible for a believer to choose a path of sinful living. Every believer can choose to allow his heart to grow cold to the things of the Lord. For those who do, the Apostle Paul warned that, while still saved, they could reach a spiritual condition of “having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God… because of the blindness of their heart” (Eph. 4:18 ). Such a condition is the spiritual equivalent of a blockage to the heart. Knowing that as believers “we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ… [and] everyone of us shall give an account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:10,12), it behooves every believer to maintain a soft, responsive heart to the Lord.

Dear believer, how is your heart today, in a spiritual sense? If you have made past decisions of sinfulness that have hardened your heart, you can choose to open the door of your heart and begin to live for the Lord again. You can begin today. You can begin to read the Scriptures again, talk to the Lord in prayer, and seek a church where the truths of God’s Word are faithfully taught. If your heart has been faithfully following the Lord, “Praise His Name.” May we all seek to apply the wise counsel from Solomon to “keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

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Buy the Truth and Sell It Not

by Pastor C. R. Stam


      Every true Christian should understand that the truth costs. If you don’t think so, make it your own, value it, defend it, stand for it, and see if it doesn’t cost. Before you are through it may cost you far more than you had thought — hours of ease and pleasure, friends and money. Yes, the truth costs. Salvation is gloriously free but the truth costs — that is, if you want it for yourself. Many who know the truth won’t buy it. They won’t pay what it costs to say:“This is what I believe. This is my conviction.” The truth isn’t worth that much to them.

But in Prov. 23:23 God’s Word urges us: “Buy the truth”! Not, “Buy it if you can get it at a bargain; if the price is not too great.” No, “Buy the truth”! Buy it at any price. It is worth far more than anything you can give in exchange for it.

And when you have bought it: “sell it not.” How many, alas, have bought the truth only to sell out again! For a while they valued and defended some God-given light from His Word, but presently they sold it again for something that seemed more valuable. Perhaps it was peace with others, or position, or popularity or some other temporal gain. They still gave mental assent to it but it formed no part of them. It was no longer a conviction.

Such should read again the Spirit’s counsel: “Buy the truth,and sell it not.” He does not say: “Don’t sell it unless you can get a very good price for it.” He says: “Sell it not.” Sell it not at any price. Buy it, no matter what it costs and when it is yours do not sell it for any price or under any consideration.

It is because the truth is so little valued in this indifferent age, that many of God’s people have become so spiritually powerless. They hold opinions instead of convictions, because they have given the infallible, unchangeable Word of God little place in their lives. God blesses and uses those who “buy the truth and sell it not.”

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When Things Look Bleak
by Pastor Paul M. Sadler



“Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well-nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”
—Psalm 73:1-3

This particular Psalm, along with eleven others, is ascribed to Asaph, a Levite who ministered as the chief musician at the temple. After many years of faithful service, Asaph began to waver in the faith. With a heavy heart he says, “My feet were almost gone; my steps had well-nigh slipped.”Most believers can relate to this having experienced the same struggle in their own lives. In fact, it is an all too common problem.

Notice what the stumbling block was: Asaph became envious of the prosperity of the ungodly. He made the mistake of comparing his life with the lifestyle of the rich and famous. “They have more than the heart could wish” (vs. 7), everything had been handed to them on a silver platter. And what was even more disturbing to the Psalmist was they had obtained their ill-gotten gain through corruption and violence (vss. 6,8 ).Meanwhile, Asaph had labored day and night to barely make ends meet. He had compassion on the poor, but the wicked oppressed them seemingly with impunity. It just didn’t seem fair! As the old saying goes, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

The wicked in those days, as now, were not interested whatsoever in God and acted as though He really didn’t know or care (vs. 11). And to add insult to injury, the heavens were silent! The Psalmist, on the other hand, sought to live a righteous life only to find himself afflicted by the world and chastened of the Lord. This caused him to ponder, “Have I cleansed my heart in vain?” The more he dwelled on this, it was just too painful for him to bear. “Until!” Until what?

“Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. Surely Thou didst set them in slippery places: Thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors” (Psa. 73:17-19).

Have you ever awakened from a nightmare and felt thankful it wasn’t real? For the ungodly the nightmare described here is very real. The Psalmist’s “foot had almost slipped,” but he was spared by God’s grace and mercy in salvation; but the slippery slope the ungodly will find themselves on ends in terror. When things look bleak—Remember Psalm73!

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VICTORY BY GRACE
Read: 1 Cor. 15:54-67


"Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world; and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God!" (1 John 5:4,5). Carnal man has not the capacity nor the means to fortify himself against the destructive forces of this world. As vessels of clay we know only discouragement and defeat. So long as we walk the earth we are subject to its evils and temptations. Each of us has the same struggle as that described by the Apostle Paul.

"For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD...For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 7:22-25; 8:2).

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or peril, or sword! ....Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us" (Romans 8:35,37).

"So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory .....The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ"

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HOW GOD EMPOWERS HIS WITNESSES
by C. R. Stam

    As we know, Paul wrought mighty miracles, as Peter and the Pentecostal believers had done. Indeed, a comparison of Paul's miracles with those of Peter shows Paul's to have been the mightier. This was mainly in divine confirmation of his apostleship, since Paul was not one of the twelve (II Cor. 12:11,12).

But it is clear from a study of Paul's ministry and his epistles that these miraculous demonstrations were to vanish away as the dispensation of grace was fully ushered in(See I Cor. 13:8; Rom. 8:22,23; II Cor. 4:16-5:4; 12:10; Phil.3:20,21; I Tim. 5:23; II Tim. 4:20). In fact, in the last seven of Paul's epistles nothing whatever is said about signs, miracles, healings, tongues, visions or the casting out of demons.

How, then, does God now empower His servants in their conflict with Satan and his demons? The answer is: by the Holy Spirit through His Word, as it is preached with conviction. There is a great volume of evidence as to this in Paul's epistles, including his early epistles. Two examples:

I Cor. 2:4: "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing [persuasive] words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power."

Mark well, this was power in his preaching, not in performing miracles. Indeed at the very same time when he proclaimed his God-given message with such power, he himself was very weak, for in the preceding verse he says:

"And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling."

The other example is I Thes. 1:5:

"For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance..."

In Thessalonica too, Paul had suffered much opposition and persecution, until the whole city was in an uproar (Acts 17:1-5), and this may well have been the result of his powerful preaching. Out of the "uproar," however, sprang the beloved Thessalonian church, an example and inspiration to those won to Christ under more benign circumstances.

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STRENGTHENED WITH POWER
By Pastor Robert Hanna

"That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit In the inner man" Eph. 3:16

To the unregenerate soul, many of the declarations of the Apostle Paul are unfathomable. Most notable among these is the statement recorded in verse 10 of 2 Corinthians, chapter 12: "I take pleasure in infirmities (weaknesses), in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."

The saint of God, however, can heartily empathize with this profound affirmation. He knows that the strength here referred to by the apostle is drawn from the power of God in Christ. We who are redeemed in Jesus Christ know full well that to struggle in our own strength is to tilt at windmills. Thus, Paul declares that "(his) strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9) He is saying that he gains strength only as the power of the indwelling Christ prevails. Hence the confident statement, "I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13).

As members of His Body we are specifically instructed, exhorted and admonished through His Word of truth. And He assures us of our ability to comply with His requirements by HIS strength, which will enable us to resist and persist in accordance with the walk of faith. "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (1 Cor. 10: 13b).

And so Paul prays for us" ...to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man......

[nChrist]

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THE DEEPER LIFE
By Pastor L. Peterson


There is much in the Word of God relative to a closer walk with the Lord Jesus. To be exact as to Scriptural reference, I would like to submit a few: Ephesians 6:10, 'Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.'; 2  Peter 3:18,'But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.' ; John 10:10, 'I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.'; Romans 12:2, 'And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. '

Beloved Christian, there is more than just being saved from something. Thank God we are saved to Someone. Salvation is not some sort of spiritual mechanism by which you are automatically escalated from one spiritual floor to another. Salvation is a spiritual romance with our beloved Savior. It is a walk of love. It is not a religious endurance contest. Do we really love Christ Jesus? Do we love His companionship? Do we want to know Him better? Paul prayed, 'That I may know him...' Phil. 3:10.

Personally I have no time for a supercilious 'holier than thou' attitude. God doesn't either - see Isaiah 65:5. Don't be fooled. This is not a deeper life. That life is usually composed of negatives - don't - don't - don't. This is the devil's counterfeit. However, there is a life of sweet and spiritual composure that bears testimony of a spirit-filled life. We all need this badly. Will you, dear friend, pray with me relative to this matter? Let's not wear any badges or labels. Let's just show it by ministry in the many aspects of Christ's calling. Let's be prayer meeting saints; let's give Christ our talents; let's get under the load. 'But be filled (controlled) with the spirit.' Eph. 5:18.

[nChrist]

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THE BATTLE IS STRONG
By R. Edward Beauchamp



Scripture Reading: Ephesians 6:10-20

Since the first time that Darwin showed his manuscripts to different colleagues, knowing full well that it was a hoax and full of error, man has sought to find a way to make this joke into reality. Darwin expected ridicule and chiding but that was not the case. Men flocked to him and called him a great man of insight, a true philosopher. Thus, one of the foundations of Anti-Christianity and Atheism started to grow. The gospel according to Darwin caught on and spread into schools and quickly went from a theory to the "Law of Evolution." It is required study in our schools while prayer to God and the Bible is banned. Because evolution is a religion (Atheism and various Unitarianism's), it is used as a basis for anything contrary to all sound Biblical teaching.

Yes, our children are taught Satan's word but not allowed to hear God's Word. Evolution saturates entertainment, toys, advertising, etc., and has created a standard that this Earth is very old. It is to be accepted that struggle, death and dying has gone on for billions of years. That is why Paul exhorts us to be prepared by putting on Christ and the armour of God: "and having done ALL (or having worked out) to stand, STAND THEREFORE "(Eph. 6:13). Man is searching for methods to find the answers to the age of this Earth. He has opted to turn his back on his own scientific proofs that this Earth is very young. As we study, we will find that the Earth is a very young planet, it has not been here for eons of time. Most substantiated and accepted scientific data sets the age of the Earth at between 6,000.and 10,000 years.

Just because a rock looks old, does not mean that it is old .. "In beginning---God" is the key. God can make the appearance of this Earth to look old to test us as to whether we will trust Him and His Word or man's empty explanations.