Daily Inspirational

[Brother Love]

Loving God
Part 1



If I were to ask you "Do you love God?, you would probably think the question was ridiculous or preposterous.  You may even be somewhat insulted by it.  "Do I love God?"  you say.  "Of course I do."  How could I not love Him after all that he has done to save me?  He loved me so much that He became my Redeemer, dying upon the Cross of Calvary in order to save me from having to suffer the horrible and eternal consequences of the debt and penalty of my sins. And when I trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as my only an all-sufficient Saviour, God freely forgave me my sins and justified me unto eternal life in His sight.  So naturally I love God.  He is my Saviour saying here.  It is just as 1John 4:19, "We love Him, because He first love to us."

Well, now if the question "Do you love God?"  could only be asked in the context of our response to God as our Saviour, then it certainly would be a rather ridiculous ques-
tion for me to ask.  However this is not the only context in which this question can rightfully be asked.  Nor is it the only context in which God Himself confronts his people with the issue of whether they love Him or not.  And this is the true both in God's program with Israel and in His program with us today, who are the members of God's "new creature" the church the body of Christ, in this present dispensation of His grace.

So then the question, "Do you love God?" is not all that ridiculous, or preposterous, to ask.  For the truth of the matter is that though you may love God as your Saviour, you may not love Him as you ought to in some other way, or in some other context.

Some of the Other Ways and Other Contexts

Before asking this question again, it will be helpful to us if we take a brief look at some examples of other contexts in which the issue of 'loving God' or not  'loving Him' occurs.  In so doing it will help us not only to appreciate some of the different ways and different contexts in which Got speaks about His people loving Him, but also it will help us to realize that God truly does expect his people to love Him for reasons other than Him being their Saviour.

For example, consider what the Psalmist declares in the one hundred and sixteenth  Psalm.

'I love the LORD, because he hath heard my  voice and my applications (Psalm 116:1)

Here the Psalmist proclaims "I love the LORD."  Yet as the rest of what he says clearly shows, he does not say that he 'loves the LORD' because God has justified Him in His sight. In other words, the Psalmist is not talking about 'loving God' as the one who has saved him from his sins.  That he is justified in God's sight, and that he knows that this is so, is evident.  For as he states later on, he knows that he is a "saint" and also that he is the LORD's "servant."  Hence he is justified in God's sight, and as such he undoubtedly does 'love God' as his Saviour. But, once again, this is not what he has in mine when he declares, "I love the LORD."  Instead, he is talking about loving God for another reason, and in response to God being something more to him besides his Saviour.

The Psalmist said that he 'loves the LORD' "because he hath heard my voice and my supplications."  This, then, is his specific reason for 'loving God.'  And as he goes to explain in the Psalm, this particular love for the LORD was something that eventually developed in him.  It came about as a fruit of his edification.

     The sorrows of death compassed me,    and the pains of hell gate hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.  

    Then called I upon the name of the LORD;  O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.
Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;  yea, our God is merciful.
The LORD preserveth the simple: I was  brought low, and he helped me.
     Psalm 116:3-6                

In the balance of the Psalm the Psalmist sets forth how he had been taught about a particu-lar aspect of God's "Jehovah-ness" for his people.  And aspect in which God promised to be merciful to them, and would provide 0 deliverance for them, especially when their souls were afflicted with the horrors of death for his name's sake. Though the Psalmist had not needed to benefit from this particular aspect of God's mercy up until now, when the specified affliction eventually came to pass he "called upon the name of the LORD" in connection with what he had been taught about this promised aspect of God's "Jehovah-- ness."  And as he relates, God  was true to His word. "He helped me," as the Psalmist says.  For this reason he says, "I love the LORD."  

Simply put, the issue of God being the Deliverer of his soul, (delivering him from the extreme afflictions of the Satanic policy of evil against him), is the specific reason why the Psalmist says "I love the LORD."  He, therefore, loved God not only as his Justifier, but also has his 'Deliverer' from ploys and tactics of the policy of evil against him.    Once again this particular love for the LORD developed within him as a subsequent issue sometime after he had been justified.  

K.R.Blades, Pastor

-Continued-
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2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

[Brother Love]

LOVING GOD  
Part two




In fact in view  of the doctrinal role that the book of Psalms has in God's program with Israel, notice that this same kind of love for the LORD is brought up and taught about on more than one occasion.  It is first set forth and expressed by David himself earlier on in Psalm 18.  Then once it is learned by the remnant of Israel, in Psalm 31 it is personally urged upon them as something for them to likewise possess.

    I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my  deliver-er; my God, my strength in whom I will trust, my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall be saved from mine  enemies. (Psalm 18:1-3
       
     O love the LORD, all ye his Saints; for the
LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. (Psalm 31:23)

Though David loved God as his Justifier,  and had loved Him as such for quite some time, he came to love God as his  "rock," "fortress," "deliverer," "strength," and the like, later on in his life when he learned about these other aspects of God's Jehovah-ness unto him.  This is also the way it will be with the believing remnant of Israel's in the final installments of Israel's  program yet to come.  At that time they too will come to love God in the same ways, and for these same reasons, as they face the same kinds of afflictions in the "time of Jacob 's trouble."  Hence they are exhorted, O love the LORD, all ye his saints.

Consider another example of God's people loving him in a context, and for a reason, which are other than that of simply loving Him as their Saviour.

    Peace I leave with you, my peace I give   unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.  Let not your heart by troubled,  neither let it be afraid.
     Ye have heard how I said into  you, I go    away, and come again unto you.  If you  ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto to the Father: for my Father is  great-er than I.  (John 14: 27 --28)

Here in the opening portion to the climatic stage of God's program with Israel,  the Lord is preparing His apostle's for His imminent rejection and for His subsequent return to the Father.  As He does this, He particularly addresses  the issue of their less -- than -- happy response to the significant and expedient of His impending departure from them.  In fact He pointedly reproves them for the contrary nature of their response when He says to them, "If ye loved me, ye would rejoice,  because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.  

"If you loved me," the Lord said to them, "ye would rejoice." As far as the Lord was con-cerned they did not love Him, because they were not rejoicing. And indeed they were not rejoicing. Instead their hearts were troubled and they were filed with sorrow, just as the Lord said. Yet did they not love  Jesus as their Lord?  Did they not love Him as their Saviour,  and even as the King of Israel?  Had not the Lord earlier  on the acknowledged that they did love Him as such?  Yes!  But now He indicates that their lack of rejoicing is because they did not love Him.

Obviously the Lord is not speaking here about the apostles loving Him simply as their Lord and/or Saviour. Rather He is speaking about them loving Him particularly in view of Him being Jesus the Christ,  the Son of God, who is at this time entering into the process of fulfilling the mandates of the Davidic Covenant for the salvation of Israel and for the establishment of God's kingdom on the earth.  Specifically the Lord is speaking about them loving Him in view of this highly sign-ificant event that is about to occur in His ministry as the Christ,  and loving Him in view of the wonderful advance that it will be in the outworking of the program.

Now if the apostles loved Jesus in connec-tion with this, then, as the Lord said to them, they "would rejoice."   For as He explains to them,  His departure will not be a defeat, or a setback, or anything like that it all.  Instead it will be the exact opposite, for as He said, "I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.  

So then the significance of this event truly was cause for the apostles to rejoice, just as it was for the LORD Himself.  Nevertheless at this point in time they did not love the Lord for this particular reason and in this particular way, though they would do so later on.

Also during this time the apostle Peter was singled out and was confronted by the Lord with the issue of "loving Him."  However this was for an additional and different reason altogether.  It pertained to a very particular reason which uniquely belonged to Peter.  And in view of it, it was needful for the Lord to confront Peter with the issue of whether he
'loved Him' in connection with it.

    So when they had dined, Jesus said to   Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest  thou me more than these?  He said unto him Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love  thee. He said unto him, Feed my lambs.
    He saith to him again the second time,  Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?  He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my  sheep.                      
    He saith unto him the third time, Simon,   son of Jonas, lovest  thou me?  Peter was   grieved because he said unto him the third   time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
     Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou   wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and  walk-edst whither thou wouldest: but when  thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth  thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.
    This spake he, signifying by what death he   should glorified God.  And when he had  spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.    (John 21:15--19)

Here, following his resurrection, the Lord pointedly questions Peter three times as to whether he loved him.  But the Lord's ques-tion did not pertain to whether Peter loved Jesus simply for who He is as his Lord and his God, or as his Saviour, or even as the King of Israel. But for another reason in entirely.

The Lord questions Peter about whether he loved  him in connection with the fact that the Lord had entrusted him with both the leadership of the apostles and with oversee-ing the edification of the remnant  of Israel.  For this reason the Lord's questioning was          three--fold, and his responses to Peter's  replies  were "Feed my lambs"; "Feed my sheep"; "Feed my sheep."   Also for this reason the Lord pointedly informed Peter of what the future held for him in view of what he had been entrusted to him.  Likewise for this same reason the Lord  appropriately capped  off the thought -- provoking ques-tions by saying to Peter, "Follow me."  
Hence in essence  the Lord asked Peter whether he loved  Him in view of who He  had made him to be among the rest of the apostles and over the remnant of Israel. Peter  loved the Lord as his God and as his Saviour and as Israel's King.  But did he love the Lord  in this particular respect?   This was the  question at hand, and the question that Peter needed to come to grips with as the time rapidly approached for him to function in this special position which the Lord had given to him.

K Blades

-To be continued-
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2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

[Brother Love]

Loving God


                                       Part three


Consider yet one more example of saints 'loving God' in a context other than that of  salvation.  This time let us take note of one that pertains to us in this present dispensa-tion of God's grace.

In 1 Corinthians 8, the apostle Paul reproves some of the saints at Corinth for not walking charitably one toward another, especially towards ones who are weak in the faith.  As he does this, Paul makes sure from the onset that the Corinthian saints realize the reason behind their lack of charity.  And that reason was rooted in them not loving God.

Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge.  Know-ledge puffeth up but charity edifieth.  
And if any man think that he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.
But if any man love God, this same is known of him. (1 Corinthians 8:1-3)

The Corinthians enjoyed the exercise of their sonship liberty in Christ.  They know that they had such liberty, and they exercised it in many ways; particularly in the eating that meats offered in sacrifice to idols.  However their knowledge regarding the doctrine of our sonship status and its liberty was only partial.  They had learned, understood, and appreciated, only the initial aspects of the doctrine, as Paul makes clear to them in verse 2.  They had failed to learn all that they should have learned.  This then resulted in them misusing what little they had learned, and becoming 'puffed up,' rather than having the fulness of the doctrine effectually work within them to make them charitable.

Now "charity" would have begun to have been the effectually produced within them had they continued on in the doctrine of their  sonship and its liberty. For the fact it is that this doctrine is specifically designed by God to produce charity in us -- genuine Godly   charity-- but only after it has first established and effectually produced the workings of its "liberty" within us.  For the truth of the matter is that sonship "liberty" functions as the womb in which Godly charity is conceived,  and from which it is given birth, and then from which comes forth to grow and to mature.
   
The Corinthians,  though, failed to realize this and respond to  it as they should.  In so doing they failed to go on in the doctrine to the production of Godly charity within them. And they failed to do this because in a very particular way they had ceased to "love God."  Hence Paul's reproof says to them, "But if any man love God, the same is known of him."

Simply put the Corinthians had ceased to love God as their "Father," who having adopted them as "sons" had been educating them as His "sons." Regrettably these saints had fallen victim to one of the classic temp-tations that occurs in the early stages of son-ship edification. A temptation about which they had been forewarned by God the Father.
For He had warned them about it in perfect accordance with a father's admonishing of his son. Yet though they were forewarned, these saints fell victim to it, and as a result their love waxed cold.

Hence what should have been "known of" them, as ones who "love God," was not "known of" them.  For having been tempted and having succumbed to it, they now did not "love God" as they should or as they once had.

Therefore through these saints were just that, to -- Saints -- and as such undoubtedly loved God as their Justifier and Saviour, they did not love God in another way. They did not love God in the particular context that Paul is speaking about in 1 Corinthians 8.  For this reason they themselves did not walk in love and charity among themselves.

Now while we have taken note of are just a few examples of saints 'loving God' for reasons other than that of salvation.  And clearly such other reasons exist, which make it so that God truly does expect His people to love him for reasons other than just being  their Saviour.  

Loving God, or Not

So then it is possible for a Christian to not love God?  Certainly Especially when God is talking about us loving Him in some other way or for some other reason, than in  response to the fact that He is our God, and that he has justified us and saved us freely by His grace

Wherefore, for example, we not only have Paul dealing with the Corinthians lack of loving God in 1 Corinthians 8, but we also have his charge in 1 Corinthians 16.

If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.  (1 Corin-thians 16:22)

Furthermore, in the closing to Ephesians Paul declares....

Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.  Amen (Ephesians 6: 24)

Hence it is also possible for saints not to love the Lord Jesus Christ "in sincerity."

Moreover as Paul teaches in 2 Timothy 3, one of the grievous and perilous effects belong-ing to the evolution of man's ungodliness  during this present dispensation is that of Christians themselves becoming "lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God."  Indeed, in view of what it means to be a 'lover of God' in the context of 2 Timothy, a great many Christians today clearly do not love God very much.  They may love Him as their Justifier and Saviour, but when it comes to loving Him in connection with what His good pleasure  for their lives, they find pleasure in other things.  And they love these other things more.  They, therefore, truly are "lovers of pleasures more than "lovers of God."

Pastor K.Blades

-Continued-
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2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

[Brother Love]

Loving God
Part 4




The fact is that as we go through our epistles we find that Paul was both familiar with, and had to deal with, saints who either did not love God very much at all, or did not love Him  in sincerity, or loved other things more than Him. He also dealt with saints who for various reasons were having difficulties in learning to love God in the different ways that we should, or were ones who had had their love supplanted, or who even suppressed it.

In truth, therefore, we need to recognize that God wants us to love Him for a number of reasons, with many of them being reasons that we only come to learn about, and are able to response to, as our edification pro-gresses on.  We may very well sing the song, "Oh, how I love Jesus"; but loving Him as per the opening verses of that song is clearly not the only way that God talks about us loving Him, or even wants us to love Him.  (Indeed the songwriter himself testifies to this, as the remaining verses to his composition declare.)  Consequently it could be that we do not love God very much, or yet love God, in some of these other ways.

Once Again the Question, Do You Love God?

To bring the point of this question home, let us borrow some well-known words from a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.  But we will put her words in the more noble setting of loving God.

    "How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways," she wrote.  Let us, instead, say, 'How do I love thee, O God?  Let me count the ways.'

And indeed we can do this very thing. For in accordance with the way that God is educat-ing and edifying us, He not only provides for us to love Him, but for our love for Him to actually grow, abound, and mature.  More-over He provides for us to realize this and recognize it.  (In fact by the very same meth- odology God provides for our love for each other, as the "members one of another" that we are, to likewise grow, abound, and mature.  Hence we find Paul speaking to us about, and teaching us about, 'abounding love.')

Simply put, enumerating our love for God  begins with "the gospel of Christ" and the doctrine of our justification unto eternal life,  and the resulting hope of salvation that we now have being justified in God's sight.  These particular issues are the subject matter of the first five chapters of Romans.  And the effectual working within us of the gospel and the doctrines that are contained therein are designed by God to not only fully assure our hearts about our justification and its accomp-anying salvation, but also to effectually produce within us the corresponding love that we should have for God as our Redee-mer, Justifier and Saviour.

Wherefore, doctrinally speaking, we are to graduate from education and edification of Romans 1-5 with complete assurance regard-ing both the reality of, and the security of, our justification and salvation.  Moreover we are to graduate with the issue of loving God as our Redeemer, Justifier and Saviour fully established and functioning within us.

However this is only the beginning to our education and edification.  And this also means that this is only the beginning of us "loving God" in response to who He is and want He has done for us.  For indeed God has done much more for us then redeem us, justify us and save us.  Hence He is be loved by us for far more than simply being our Justified and Saviour.

So then as the foundation to our education and edification continues to be laid in Romans, we immediately encounter a reason for our love for God to grow.

Beginning in Romans 6 we are taught the doctrine of our sanctification "in Christ."  Through the effectual working of this doctrine we not only learn the reality of our sanctification, but we also learn how to put it into practice and so "live unto God" in the details of our lives.  Furthermore, and in accordance with God generating love for Him within us, this particular doctrine also effectu-ally works to produce within us the corres-ponding love for God as our Sanctifier.

Yet this too is not all.  For as the foundation to our education and edification continues on, we come to the point in the latter portion of Romans 8 where we are taught that we have also received "the adoption of sons."  In connection with learning about this, we have us we have reason to love God in yet another way.

By the doctrine of "the adoption of sons" we learn to love God as our Father."  However not simply by virtue of regeneration, but more so by virtue of what it means for us to now be dealt with by God our Father as an adult son.  In other words just as a child comes to love his father in a special, more meaningful way when his father adopts him  into sonship and they both enter into the unparalleled intimate relationship and fellow-ship of 'father and son,' so also should it be with us and God our Father.

So then by the effectual working within us of Romans 8:14 -- 15ff we as "sons" should come to love God as our "Father." And in so doing, at this particular point in our education and edification we should at least love God as our Redeemer, Justified, Saviour, Sanctifier, and Father. However this is still only the beginning for us.
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2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

[Brother Love]

LOVING GOD
Part 5, final one





Gateway into Manifold Love

In the progress of our education and edifi-cation, the fact is that we reach a gateway, so to speak, when we come to learn about our sonship status and in response to it come to love God as our "Father."  For by the nature of the 'father and son' relationship, (and in accordance with the close fellowship belong-ing to it), sonship functions as a gateway by which we enter into the realm of learning to love God for so many more reasons and in so many more ways.  Particularly for reasons that become very personal and in ways that are very intimate.

Indeed it is through the edification and the  fellowship belonging to the sonship that a son learns things about his father, and is taught things by his father, that he never knew.  Things that his father either could not teach him, or that he could not fully appreci-ate, until his father adopted him and he began to personally teach him and educate him.  This being so, as the son learns them  he is brought into close, intimate fellowship with his father and thereby learns to love him for many more reasons and in many more ways than he did before.  He therefore comes to love his father to a higher degree, and to a greater magnitude, than he had loved him before.

Hence it is that as God's "sons" way to come to learn things about God that we never knew, or were not in the position to fully appreciate before.  Things that he can only now teach us about Himself, having adopted us as "sons" and having given to us the specific curriculum for our sonship educa-tion and edification.

Therefore it is sure through the outworking and progress of our sonship edification that we are brought into close, intimate fellowship with God our Father, and our love for God is able to grow beyond the issues of loving Him only as our Justifier and Saviour.  Rather our    love for God is able to actually expand and abound, and even deepen and mature;
resulting in our ability to give a manifold
response to the question, 'How do I love thee, O God?  Let me count the ways.'

Yea, it is through our sonship education and edification that we enter into a love affair with our God and our Father, which makes it so that throughout the course of our edification and maturing relationship we are enabled to say to Him, Abba, Father; I love thee today more than yesterday, yet less than tomorrow.'

A Quick Sampling

Our sonship status and its edification truly is a gateway for us into a growing and manifold love for God.  For this reason as we proceed through the curriculum for our sonship edification, and we deal with the forms of doctrine that are set before us therein, we have our Father presenting Himself to us in a number of different ways.  Even by taking a quick sampling from the opening portion to our edification we can see that we are to learn him to understand, appreciate, and love God not only as our Redeemer, Justifier, Saviour, Sanctifier, and "Father," but also as "the God of patience and consolation," " the God of peace," the  God of hope," "the only wise God," and the Father of mercies and the God  of all comfort," to name just a few.

Wherefore, once again the question "Do you love God?" is not all that ridiculous to ask.  Instead it is both a genuine line and vital question to ask.  Moreover it is a vital question for us to answer.

How then do you love God?  Can you count the ways?  Do you love God more than being your Redeemer, Justifier, and Saviour? Do you love God as your "Father in view of receiving the adoption of Sons"?  More pointedly, does your sonship edification have you loving God yet more and more as your intimacy of fellowship with Him grows and matures?

May it be that your love for God is indeed manifold; that through the effectual working of your sonship edification you are learning to love God your Father for the many rea-sons, and in the many ways, that we as His "sons" should love him.  But most of all may it be that you are not  among those who, though saints, are   "lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.  

--K. R.  Blades
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2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

[Brother Love]

CROSS PURPOSES





"The Lord is faithful, who shall establish you,  
and guard you from evil" (11 Thessalonians 3:3, R.V.)




When once we see and accept His purpose for our lives to the extent that it becomes our will also, the details of His process cease to matter.
"Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him" (Job 13:15).

"The one purpose our Father has in view, in all His ways, is to conform us to the image of His Son.  This may explain our perplexities as to the past; it will govern our behavior in the present; it is to be our guide in the future. The chief concern of our Lord is not to in-struct us about a multitude of details, not to explain to us the reason for the trials which we are called to pass through.  He is working out everything to serve His one supreme aim in manifesting the character of His Son in His saints." ---H.F.

"The God given experiences of the Spirit's working within many a time passes away, and leaves the believer apparently dull and dead.  This is only until the double lesson has been fully learned: (1) that a living faith can rejoice in the Living God even when all feeling and experience appear to con-tradict the truth (Romans 8:28,29); and (2) that the Divine life only predomin-ates as the life of the old man is held in the place of death, inoperative (Romans 6:11a).  The life of the Lord Jesus is revealed as His death works in us (11 Cor. 4:11, 12), and as in weak-ness and nothingness we look to Him (11 Corinthians 3:18)." ---A.M.

"While our Father is dealing with someone in discipline, when He is applying the Cross in a life, be careful how you sympathize with him. You may be taking sides with him against God.  By such sympathy, you may, indeed, draw him away from the work of the Cross."

"For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh" (11 Corinthians 4:11).

MILES J. STANFORD
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[Brother Love]

Growing Old Gracefully







"Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father; and the younger men
as brethren; the elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with
all purity."-- I Timothy 5:1,2





The Apostle Paul deals with many different types of relationships in his epistles, but perhaps the most delicate relationship is with those who are older in years.  Like the sea-sons of the year, each of us gradually grow older until we find ourselves in the winter of our lives.  The first 70 years are normally filled with vim and vigor as we fulfill the desires of our heart.  But if by reason of strength we survive beyond this point the Scriptures indicate that the days ahead
are going to be filled with labor and sorrow.  Labor, in the sense that even the mundane things of life, such as rising from a chair, becomes burdensome.  To complicate matters further, sorrow surrounds us like a tattered garment as death robs us of those we love.

Little wonder that Paul admonishes us to esteem the senior members of the Body of Christ as fathers and mothers.  Their plight deserves our sensitivity and their years of experience our respect.  Furthermore, it will serve us well to remember that someday soon we will be the patriarch or matriarch.

In Ecclesiastes wise old Solomon, stricken in years himself, describes the aging process that creeps up on us like the leopard that stalks its prey.

"Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them" (Eccl. 12:1).

Someday the grim reaper will stand at the foot of our deathbed and the "mourners [will] go about the streets" whispering: Has he passed on? Beloved, there are thousands of ways to leave this earthly tabernacle, but perhaps the most common today is when the "pitcher is broken at the fountain."  In short, a fatal heart attack.

"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it" (vs. 7).

The sting of death is sin, but thanks be unto God that Christ died for our sins thereby removing its sting.  Thus, according to Paul's epistles death is merely a passage way into eternal life for all those who believe (I Cor. 15:55-57; Heb. 2:14,15).  No one looks forward to growing old, but hopefully we will do so gracefully and with dignity.  As they say: "There is nothing to fear, but fear itself."  The blood of Christ is our eternal life insurance policy which has a rider guaranteeing our future resurrection!

By Paul M. Sadler,
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2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

[Brother Love]

THE END OF THE WORLD









There has been a great deal of discussion lately about some Hindu astrologers who have predicted that this world will come to an end this February. The fact is that some
sincere Christians fear that these prophets might be right, since our Lord did speak several times about the coming "end of the world."

These Hindu astrologers, however, are    wrong. This February will not see the end of the world, for according to the Bible the world, or earth, will never come to an end. The word "world," which our Lord uses in this connection, does not refer to the earth, or even the people on it. It is the old Greek word aion, or age. Several ages in God’s program have already come to an end, and others will, but no matter what destructive weapons man may devise, the earth will
never be destroyed. In Isaiah 45:18 we read:

"For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens: God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it; He creat-ed it not in vain; He formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord, and there is none else."

But doesn’t Rev. 21:1 predict "a new heaven and a new earth"? Yes, but the context clearly indicates that this refers to the future renew-ing of the present heaven and earth, not the creating of different ones. Verse 5 says: "He that sat upon the throne: said, Behold I make all things new." Note: He didn’t say "I make all new things," but "I make all things new." There is a difference.

We should not be concerned about the end of the world, but rather about the end of this present age in which we live under "the dispensation of the grace of God," for God
has never promised how long this will last. Every hour He delays the return of Christ to recall His ambassadors, is an hour of wonder-ful grace, in which men may be saved by
grace, through faith in Christ who died for our sins. This is why Paul urges us:

"We then, as workers together with [Christ], beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.... Behold, NOW is the accepted time; Behold, NOW is the day of sal-vation" (II Cor. 6:1,2).

By C. R. Stam
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2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

[Brother Love]

GOOD WORKS




Millions of people are striving to make them-selves acceptable to God by good works. Such people can never be sure of salvation, for the simple reason that they can never be sure whether they have done enough good works or whether they have done them in the right way. Some suppose that heaven can be won if our good works outweigh our evil works, but this does not make sense either, for good works are what all of us ought to do and even one evil deed would prevent a just and holy God from justifying us or admitting us into His presence.

Let’s not put the cart before the horse. God does expect good works from His children but not as payment for salvation, for eternal life and glory could not possibly be bought at any price. "Christ Jesus came into the world,"
says the Apostle Paul, "to save sinners" (1 Tim. 1:15). Then, having saved them by grace, He expects them to do good works out of gratitude.

It is interesting to compare Tit. 3:5 with Tit. 3:8:

Tit. 3:5: "NOT BY WORKS of righteousness which we have done, but ACCORDING TO HIS MERCY HE SAVED US."

Tit. 3:8: " ...these things I will that thou affirm constantly, THAT THEY WHICH HAVE BELIEV-ED IN GOD MIGHT BE CAREFUL TO MAIN- TAIN GOOD WORKS. ..."

Faith is the root;  good works the fruit. Thus we read in Eph. 2:8-10:

"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."

By Cornelius R. Stam
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2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

[Brother Love]

LIFE ON THE HIGHEST PLANE
By Pastor Arvid Johanson
Part One





"I am crucified with Christ, no longer do I live."

The words written above are lifted out of Galatians  2:20 and are used to introduce a subject that is near and dear to the heart of God, namely, a holy walk by those who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ and born anew by the Holy Spirit. Since this is of the utmost importance to Him, it should be of the same importance to us as well.

Truly, as those who have some knowledge of the revelation of the mystery, as those who are aware of the uniqueness of this present program of grace, we certainly have a great many things to talk and sing about, and commit to the printed page. However, in all of this it seems as though God's provision for true holiness, true spirituality, and living for God His way, has fallen by the wayside.

These days in which we live are days marked by spiritual deadness and moral laxity. Per-haps it is time to review briefly some of those grand truths that God has used to produce the spiritual giants of the past. Perhaps it is time to look once again at those God-breath-ed truths that can conform His own to the image of His dear Son.

Beginning with Romans Chapter 6:1, we have sixty-two verses of Scripture that unfolds for us the provision of God that enables us to live as He would have us live so that we might show forth the praises of Him who call-ed us out of darkness into His marvelous light. There are a number of ways that Christ-ians attempt to live for God; however, the only way that works is God's way. Now let us begin with a definition of the Christian life. The first step toward spiritual living is identi-
fication with the death of Jesus Christ. The second step is that we are in the risen, living, and glorified Christ Who lives through us day by day. This is the Christian life as presented on the pages of the Book. Romans 6:1 "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?"

Paul begins by doing what he does so often and so well in the book of Romans. He antici-pates a question that might be raised, asks the question himself, and then answers it with such force that there can be no rebuttal. Paul puts before us the central issue--sin in the life of  believer. If it were not possible for  a  believer to go on living in sin. Paul would not even raise a question such as this.

Now at the moment, we are not talking about sins, plural. We are talking about the sin nature, singular, which is the root of sins, plural. If the root, singular, is dealt with then it follows that sins, plural, are also dealt with. For all sins have their origin in this evil
Adamic nature we received through inheri-tance from Adam.

Paul has told us in 5:20. "Where sin abound-ed, grace did much more abound." So, some-one might say, "O.K.. Paul, then let us go on sinning, in order that grace may continue super abounding." Paul, what do you say?
6:2 "God forbid! For how shall we who died  to sin, live any longer in it?"

Paul is most emphatic in answering the quest-ion he himself has raised. "Let it never be! Away with such stupid and bone-headed thinking"! Paul is horrified at the thought that a believer who  has escaped the fires of hell, continue in sin.

I feel the necessity of a question here. How many believers know that they died to sin? Do they know when they died to sin, where they died to sin, and how they died to sin? If they do know these things, it is making a difference in their lives? Fortunately for us, Paul is going to spell it all out. Here on the pages of Romans, as nowhere else in the Bible, Paul touches every base as regarding  a holy life. Beginning with the fact that at a point in time every believer has died to sin.
6:3 "Or are you ignorant that as many of us  as were baptized into Christ Jesus were bap-tized into His death?"

When Paul raises the question "Are you igno-rant?" you can mark it down--the brethren are ignorant about something. Let  us see if we can determine just what it is that Paul wants these Roman believers to comprehend.

First of all, I trust that a treatise on water baptism will not be necessary, for certainly there is no possibility of water anywhere in the sixth chapter of Romans. Rather, we have in verses 3-6 a sequence of events that took place nineteen hundred years ago outside the walls of Jerusalem. These  events happened to our Lord in a physical sense, and at the same time happened to every one who would ever be saved in this age of grace, in a spiritual sense.

Do not let this terminology deceive  you, for in God's sight this whole sequence was as real as if I were totally physical. Now, unless someone tries to convince me that they were water baptized outside the walls of Jerusalem ninteen-hunded years ago, we will go with the premise that it is another kind of baptism entirely.

The context here is the cross that our Lord Jesus occupied, and then unoccupied, the tomb occupied and then unoccupied. We were all involved in this whole process, we who go by the title of "Christians." There is only one way that this could happen, and this is one of the most precious truths in the New Testament. We are the Body of Christ and we have been made one with the very Son of God, joined to the living Christ for time and eternity,  one in every  sense of the word (1 Cor 12:12; Eph. 5:30; Heb 2:11; Rom 6:5). Since we are one with Him, His death has become ours, and His triumph over the grave has become ours, and to what end? Newness of life for us.

If we were not baptized with water, then what kind of baptism? In Romans 6:2-11, we have the word "dead" and "death" thirteen times. This certainly gives us a clue as to the kind of baptism that is before us in verse three. In a kingdom setting the Lord raises the question, "Are you able to drink the cup I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that  I am baptized with?" The Jordan River and what took place there is past tense. His question here is in the future tense as He faces the cross. Paul in a church setting speaks of the same event--the cross-death of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in addition, our death with Him.  So then, it was at the cross where we died to sin.

Spiritual living begins at the cross of Jesus Christ where we are identified with Him and His death. 6:4 "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the Glory of the Father, we too may live a new life"

We are also identified with Jesus in His burial and resurrection .

The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the answer to the question of how and where we died to sin. God identifies those who believe in Jesus with His baptism at the cross, and this is where spiritual living begins.

will be continued...
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2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
 

[Brother Love]

Life on the Highest Plane
By:  Pastor Arvid Johanson
Part two



We are in the midst of a section that sets forth the very basic principles of true holi-ness, true spirituality, and a life truly pleasing to God. If this is our goal, we must begin where God begins, and God begins at the cross upon which the Prince of Glory died on behalf of sinners.  He died once, He died for all, and He will never die again, for, in His one-time death, He accomplished all that would ever be necessary.

When, 1900 years ago, our Lord died for sin in a physical sense, everyone who would be saved this age of grace was seen as dying to sin, in a spiritual sense.  In Romans 6:2, Paul says, "we died to sin." In the statements made thus far, we see where, when, how, and why this event became reality.

Rom 6:4 "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 new-ness of life."

First of all, we focus upon the two words "with Him." This further establishes the time frame when these things took place. As we come to verse 4, death has already taken place. What follows is what one would expect to take place: burial, and then coming forth from the tomb in resurrection life. This hap-pened to the Lord Jesus physically, and to His church, spiritually, to the end that now, some 1900 years later, children of God might "walk in newness of life."

Anyone who has attended a burial will have to agree that the occupant of the grave has been cut off from the old life. In like manner, in our burial with Christ, we can say that prov-ision has been made to escape the bondage of sin, to be cut off from the Adam-life, and to be enabled now to live the life He would have us live--the very life of Christ.

Death and burial having taken place, we con-sider the next aspect: the physical resurrect-ion of Christ and, at the same time, the spirit-ual resurrection of all those who would be saved in this age of grace.  The greatest demonstration of power this universe has ever witnessed took place 1900 years ago when God raised His Son from the dead. That same power was effected in us as we were raised spiritually from the dead--that power being "to us that believe" (Eph.. 1:19-20)

The greatest consideration in heaven, and among His own that dwell upon the earth, is the glory of God.  In the eternal purpose of God, which He purposed in Christ before the world began, everything He has ever said and everything He has ever done has been to the end of bringing present and future glory to Himself. In our present verse, "raised by the glory of the Father" indicates that the glory of God was in view as He brought His Son back to life, and, at the same time, the "church which is His body." It would appear that the crown jewel of the purpose of God centers in the one who is "the Head over the body" and those blessed ones who make up that body, that single entity called "the Christ" (1 Cor. 12:12).

Paul goes on to inform us of the blessed result that comes from laying hold of the previously set forth truth by faith: "we should walk in newness of life." The life spoken of here is not a reworked remodeled, or rehabili-tated life. Paul is speaking of something brand new. Something totally unknown in times past or times future. The life here is the very resurrection life of the risen, ascended, glorified Christ, ministered to us and through us by the Holy Spirit of God day by day. As yet we have not touched every base, but we do see the purpose behind our death, burial, and resurrection together with the Lord Jesus Christ "that we should walk in newness of life.

will be continued...
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[Brother Love]

LIFE ON THE HIGHEST PLANE
By Pastor  Arvid Johanson
Part 3






The desire of every child of God should be: "So now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or death" Certainly this applies to our testimony, but beyond that to include a life pleasing to Him. The inner man is beyond human sight,  but not beyond the scrutiny of "Him who called us out of dark-ness into His glorious light."

In chapter 7 of Romans, Paul puts before us two hindrances that can impede true holiness and true spirituality. The first is the entrance of the Mosaic Law as an assistant to  right-eous living. The result of this can only be spiritual disaster. If we can only remember what Paul  says about the Law in 2 Cor. 3:6-7.  First of all we are told, "the letter kills but the Spirit gives life." Paul goes on to point out that the Law "is a ministry of death written and engraved on stones." The emphasis can-not be missed. The Law cannot produce holiness.

Romans 6:7 "But now we have been delivered from the Law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the new-ness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter."

Again we have two little words that set forth,  in so many places in Paul's letter's, the vast difference between the way it was under the old program, and the way it is now under grace.  "But now," delivered now from the Law through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, free now, by the Power of the Holy Spirit, to serve God and now live for Him in all the freedom and liberty we have as child-ren of God in this age of Grace.

Romans 7:7 "What shall we say then? Is the Law Sin? God forbid! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the Law. For I would not have known covet-ousness unless the Law had said, 'You shall not covet.'"

Paul tells us which commandment it was that punctured his religious balloon.  It was the tenth and last --covteousness--that one gets them all sooner or later. For the tenth com-mandment involves thought-life, and what sinner can control his very thoughts to the extent of being  pleasing to God?

Before Paul goes any further, he wants all to understand there is nothing wrong with the Mosaic Law. How could there be, for it is God's majestic holy standard? The fault lies with the nation to whom it was given. The weakness of the flesh, because of sin, was the root of the problem for the Jewish people, to whom  the Law was given.  The Law was not  given  to produce holiness.  The Law demanded a holy life but was unable to produce what it demanded.

The Scripture gives us two reasons why the Law was given. First of all, it was given to show the Israelite that he was a sinner. We see in this verse that, in Paul's life, it did precisely that. In addition, after the continued futility and frustration of trying  to live up to the precepts and concepts of the Law and failing miserably every time, the Law became their pedagogue, their child-leader, to bring them to the one who could perfect holiness, their Messiah- King, the Lord Jesus Christ.  In Paul's case, the Law worked to perfection. It showed  Paul  that he was a sinner and also pointed him to the salvation that is in the Lord Jesus.

Romans 7: "But sin taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting; for apart from the Law sin is dead."

Now Paul tells us how it was in his life before the Law, made him aware of his lost condi-tion. To paraphrase: "Why, sin was having a field day in my life, and I wasn't even aware of it." Paul has said "for without the Law sin was dead." Sin wasn't really dead; Paul was just deceived into thinking it was. There are blatant sins that shout loud and clear as to their presence. There are other sins that are more subtle: pride, arrogance, bigotry, vanity, and covetousness. As Paul looks back,  he sees that those sins were his.

Romans 7:9 "I was alive once without the Law, but when the commandment came,  sin revived and I died."

It is necessary to carefully examine verse 9 before we arrive at a conclusion as to its meaning. First of all, we must recognize Paul speaks here of the time-frame years before when he was the child of pharisees (Acts 23:6), before the force of the tenth command-ment really struck home. It was a time when he was unaware of what the Law said, for he says, "I was alive once," i.e. he thought he was alive. Of course, we recognize that he was never truly alive before God, but dead in trespasses and sin, like all the rest of the human race at that time.

Paul was just like so many religious people--blissfully unaware of his true spiritual condi-tion before God. Like the rest of us, though, in the process of time, God called him out of spiritual darkness into His glorious light. Paul, now freed from the Law, can for the first time serve God" in newness of the Spirit."
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[Brother Love]

THE VALUE OF ONE INDIVIDUAL PERSON





Just imagine! It had been three weeks since a big Air Force plane had disappeared over the Pacific with a crew of eight and a Navy enlist-ed man.

Now, in that general vicinity, the pilot of an Air Force cargo plane reported sighting a raft with one man standing up in it, waving for help.

Almost immediately the Air Force dispatched sixteen planes to the area and called upon all ships nearby to help, in the hope of finding this one man.

Again and again we have witnessed the almost unlimited effort and expense that men will go to to rescue even one of their fellow-men from death. This is as it should be, for it is only in this life that we can prepare for eternity and it is important that each of us should have the greatest possible opportun-ity to prepare, in case through carelessness we may have put this important matter off.

It was with eternity in mind that the Lord Jesus Christ paid the greatest possible price to save men from judgment to come, and what the Bible calls "the second death."

"Christ also hath once suffered for sins," says I Pet. 3:18, "the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." Tit. 2:14 says that "He gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity." I Pet. 2:24 declares that He "bore our sins in His own body on the tree," and in Gal. 2:20 St. Paul exclaims: "He loved me and gave Himself for me."

After three weeks alone on the ocean, the man referred to above was keenly conscious of his need. He stood up and waved frantic-ally, in the hope that someone on the plane
might see him and bring help. Some people, adrift in this world of sin and trouble, go on for many years before they become aware of their need-or at least, before they will ac-     knowledge it. But not until we do  acknowl-edge our sin and our need, can we expect help or salvation. "Christ Jesus came into  the world to save sinners" (1 Tim. 1:15).
Good people do not need a Savior, but who is really good? Rom. 3:23 says that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God," and our consciences bear witness. But let us
rejoice that "Christ died for our sins," and trust Him for salvation. "He that believeth on the Son [of God] hath everlasting life" (John 3:36).

By C. R. Stam

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2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

[Brother Love]

THE WATER OF LIFE



For almost twenty-four hours, recently, Chicagoans had to boil their drinking water! Millions of small fish had jammed the water intakes far out in Lake Michigan, and had died there. It was, of course, a major peration to clear them all away and to make sure that Chicago’s drinking water was ncontaminated.

It is of the utmost importance, always, that the water we drink is pure and fresh, and this is no less so where spiritual matters are con-cerned. The Bible has much to say about stagnant water, and foul water, and poisoned water, but the water which God would give to us is called in Scripture, "the pure water of life," doubtless because it is so wholesome and refreshing.

Perhaps the reader will recall the picture our Lord drew for that fallen Samaritan woman at the well of Sychar. John 4:10-14 tells how he and this woman had discussed Jacob’s well. Somehow she seemed to sense that He was contrasting her vain pursuit of pleasure with eternal life, when He said:

"Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again, but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him, a [fountain] of water, springing up into ever-lasting life" (Vers. 13,14).

How true this is! The pleasures of this world do not satisfy. Men go on "pursuing plea-sure" to keep from being bored, but the ever-lasting life that God gives to those who trust in Christ is a never-ending source of refresh-ment and joy. Also, it provides the greatest incentive to serve Him.

Those who possess the joy of sins forgiven and of peace with God naturally long to serve and please Him, and God desires no service except that which springs from genuine gratitude and love. "We love Him because He first loved us" (I John 4:19).

By C. R. Stam
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Daily Inspirational

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Grace And The Truth
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2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

[Brother Love]

JUSTIFIED FREELY

"Being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:24).

It is wonderful to know that we sinners are not justified by praying, or paying, or saying, or sighing, or crying, or doing anything.  We are justified freely, by the grace of God.

But this passage from Romans will mean more to us when we learn how the word rendered "freely" here is translated elsewhere in the Bible. The same expression is found in John 15:25, where our Lord, quoting from the Psalms, said: "They hated me without a cause."

Why did men hate Him? He went about doing nothing but good: healing the sick, giving the blind their sight, causing the lame to leap for joy, preaching good news to the poor and deliverance to those who were bound. There was no good reason for crying, "Away with Him!" and "Crucify Him!" They hated Him "without a cause."

But in the same way we might ask: "Why should He die for sinners? Why should He pay for their sins? He had done  nothing wrong." Ah, it was in love that He deliberately gave Himself into the hands of sinful men, that He, the sinless One, might pay for their sins. He did not die His own death, for death is "the wages of sin." He died our death, pay- ing for our sins. So, as men hated Him "with-out a cause" (except their own sinful condi-tion), so Christ has "Justified" believers "without a cause" (except His own divine love).

And so it is that we can now proclaim the glorious news that God has sent us to tell all mankind, that His righteousness is conferred "upon all those who believe," and that be- lievers are "justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

By C. R. Stam

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Should this devotional be a blessing to you, maybe you have a friend or family member that would like to start receiving the daily word. You may forward this to them, by copy and paste method,  and they can use the below link to subscribe. We love to meet new people

Daily Inspirational

WEB SITE
Grace And The Truth
www.graceandthetruth.com

E-Mail GracentheTruth@aol.com

2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.