Christianity Oasis Forum

[Netchaplain]

At the next coming of Christ it will be our condition, not our position, which will change because our present position of acceptance with the Father could not be efficacious than it is now; for “He hath made us accepted in the Beloved” (Eph 1:6).

Presently, the believer is guiltless before the Father, but conditionally, not sinless. This will not be until “the redemption of our body” (Rom 8:23), when it will be “the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body” (Phil 3:20, 21) and only then will it be “That He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Eph 5:27).

Positionally, all believers are equal but conditionally, they vary. A believer’s manner of living is determined by the response acted upon concerning the Word of God, because it is the Word through which the Holy Spirit applies the life of Christ to change us “into the same image” (2 Cor 3:18).

What are the “spot, or wrinkle” and “blemish” that we will be lacking when “we shall be changed” (1 Cor 15:51, 52) to “meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thess 4:17)? The corruptible body and the Adamic nature! -NC

7-3. NOW AND FOREVER FREE!

"Waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 1:7,8).

We can trust Him for our matriculation here, and we can trust Him for our examination and graduation in Glory!

That word, 'blameless,' may be translated 'unimpeachable' or unaccusable.' In other words, when we stand at last at the judgment seat of Christ, God Himself is going to see to it that no charge can stand against any believer, because the Lord Jesus Christ has atoned for all our sins with His own precious Blood. Every failure in life will be dealt with there, and all the wood, hay, and stubble will be burned in the fire of that day and we shall stand before our Lord unimpeachable, unaccusable." -H.A.I.

"Instead of my sins being between myself and Him, as before, it is Himself who is now between me and my sins; and the One who has thus interposed has given me to know that in the doing it He has brought me to Himself, and tuned my heart to His own praise.
He has borne the judgment due to my sins, and condemned sin in the flesh; in the Person of my Substitute I am clear from, and carried beyond, the judgment forever, the power of death is annulled, that of Satan finally broken."

"Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? Shall God that justifieth? Who is he that condemneth? Shall Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is ever' at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us?" (Romans 8:33,34).

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[Netchaplain]

There’s nothing more needless and unnecessary for the believer than to contend with the “old man”. Are we settled with the idea to continually turn everything over to over to the Lord? We can “wrestle” (Eph 6:12) without contending, for we are admonished, nay, commanded in “Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you” (1 Pet 5:7). Failure in this is to incur a hindrance, “for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage” (2 Pet 2:19).

To attempt to battle and overcome sin itself is to unknowingly misunderstand that it has been dealt with: “I am He who lives and was dead and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death” (Rev 1:18). We “overcome evil” when attempted against us, by doing “good” (Rom 12:21); that is, overcome the evil man and the evil he has done you by doing good to him, as presented in the four preceding verses 17-20.

The believer is not to “give place to the devil” (Eph4:27) but rather, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (Jam 4:7). This accomplishment involves “That ye put off . . . the old man” that we may “put on the new man” (Eph 4:22, 24).

“The putting off of the old man is not a removing him from the saints, nor a destroying him in them, nor a changing his nature; for he remains, and remains alive, and is the same old man he ever was, in regenerate persons; but it is a putting him off from his seat, and a putting him down from his government; a showing no regard to his rule and dominion, to his laws and lusts, making no provision for his support.” -JG

We can “enter into His rest” (Heb 4:10) by realizing and remembering that Christ has already, for the believer, triumphed over all evil; whether it be evil from our fellow man, our “old man” or “spiritual wickedness in high places”, we should identify and acknowledge the evil and cast our concerns of it on the Lord. -NC

7-4. REST AND REJOICE!

"Rejoice in the Lord always!" (Philippians 4:4).

Exhaustive effort brings home the necessity of strengthening rest. The believer will not be ready to enter into his spiritual rest until he is utterly worn out by his unsuccessful efforts to conquer sin and the old man. There is no rest for the "wretched man" of Romans 7-that struggle must lead to the rest of Romans 8.

"Grace is sufficient for favorable circumstances, but they are by far the most trying (spiritually) to the believer. There is an easy way of going on in worldliness, and there is nothing more sad than the quiet comfortable Christian going on day by day, apart from dependence upon the Lord.

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

"The heart of man naturally seeks rest, and seeks it here. Now, there is no rest to be found here for the believer; but it is written, 'There remaineth, therefore, a rest to the people of God' (Hebrews 4:9).

"To know this is both full of blessing and full of sorrow: sorrow to the flesh; because it is always seeking its rest here, it has always to be disappointed; blessing to the spirit, because the spirit, being born of God, can only rest in God's rest, as it is said, 'If they shall enter into My rest' (Hebrews 4:5). What God desires for us is to bring us into the enjoyment of all that which He Himself enjoys." -J.N.D.

"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently' for Him" (Psalm 37: 7).

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[Mackenaw]

Amen!

Thank you, NetChaplain

Thank You Holy Spirit \o/ \o/ \o/

God bless and keep you.
In Christ Jesus' love,
Sister Mack

[Netchaplain]

7-5. HIS CROSS -- OUR CROSS

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

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

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

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

"In the present day (1867) the truth is lowered to the measure of man's need; hence if the need is met, which grace does, the convert makes little or no advance; he rests in the satisfaction of his need, instead of being directed to the scope of God's thought, which only begins with his need. "Where would souls be put if they were simply and definitely instructed in Christ Jesus and Him crucified and risen; connected by faith with the living One, who was crucified, and whose death terminated man in the flesh?" -J.B.S.

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

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[Netchaplain]

7-6. AFFLICTION'S EFFECT

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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[Netchaplain]

7-7. "PEACE ON EARTH"

"Let the peace of God rule in your hearts " (Colossians 3:15).
Peace does not, and cannot, exist in the fallen Adam life; and as long as the old man reigns within, there is going to be turmoil both within and without. The path of the Cross is alone the path of peace.

"The moment came when the Lord Jesus could say, 'Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you' (John 14:27). This could only be on the ground of His death, for the man in Adam could never give up his will: to do so would be to give up his very existence. But the death of the Lord Jesus is-judicially, and for faith-the end of that man, and the Christian walking in the Spirit owns him no more.

"The believer can thus, and only thus, have freedom from the tyranny of sin as he reckons himself to have died unto sin, and to be alive unto God as one 'alive from the dead.' He presents his body a living sacrifice unto God, and proves what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Thus walking, the peace of the Lord Jesus becomes an experiential reality in the heart of the believer. Thank God! we are no longer linked with the fallen Adam, and the Holy Spirit has placed us in union with Christ risen and glorified." -C.A.C.

"The more clearly we enter, by faith, into objective truth, or what is true of us in the Lord Jesus, the deeper, more experiential and practical will be the Spirit's subjective work in us, and the more complete will be the manifestation of the moral effect in our life and character. " -C.H.M.

"Both He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one" (Hebrews 2:11).

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[Netchaplain]

How often have we forgotten when enduring a hardness, that the Lord is not only with us in it but knew it was inevitable and that even if we think we may not have not properly responded to it, He always works it “together for good” to our advantage? If we think it’s the result of something in which we've made a wrong decision, He still works accordingly.

He knows we never want to ultimately decide on anything that would displease Him, so we need not to ever allow the Enemy, our old self or anyone to use anything to make us feel guilty, concerning anything (this doesn’t include non-repented wrongs); remorseful for wrongs but not guilt. It's not as though we are on probation, because all forgiveness has been settled for us and everything is now part of Him teaching us.

7-9. PATH PROXIMITY

"God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye, always having all sufficiency, may abound to every good work " (2 Corinthians 9:8).
Suffering takes us in condition where truth has us in position.

"We will never learn any truth in experience excepting in the deepening knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the lack of this which is the cause of weakness among believers; bare doctrine is not personal fellowship with Him. We have that which is lovely and full of blessing in Him; but if we are to know it as such; to prove its truth, to enjoy it always, it must be in taking these things as connected with Him." -J.N.D.

"The passive power of faith needs for its sustenance closer communion with the Father than its active energy. Action, as it were, nerves us to the conflict; but quiet endurance of wrong, or suffering of any kind, which neither friend nor foe sees, but only God, this indeed needs divine power, and without God's support none would bear the strain. Many a saint has shown the courage of faith before his enemies, as Elijah when he faced Ahab, but who, like him, quails and flees, where there is nothing to do, but quietly trust in God."

"There is but one thought with our Father in disciplining us, namely, to make our trials an opportunity for our heart to learn and discover more of His love, and the resources which are in Him as He has revealed them to us in His Son." -J.B.S.

"There is no way of learning faith except by trial. It is God's school of faith, and it is far better for us to learn to trust our Father than to enjoy life."

"As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things " (2 Corinthians 6:10).

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[Netchaplain]

7-10. BEHOLD, THE MAN!

"[God] hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus " (Ephesians 2:6).

There aren't many truly happy Christians simply because there aren't many who really abide in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our risen Lord is the source of our happiness as we rest in Him-triumphant over circumstances; not hopelessly underneath them. Happy is the abiding believer, "hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3).

"I must not only see my position in the Lord Jesus, but I must come near to the One who set me there. Many are
disappointed that after hearing with delight and receiving the truth of their position they are not more affected by it.

"The reason is that they rest too much in the position and have not occupied themselves increasingly with their risen Lord; have not drawn nearer to Him, and recognized Him as the only One who can make it all experiential in them." -J.B.S.

"Is the living Person now in heavenly glory really the Object of our hearts? For some time after I knew the Savior I used to think of Him as One who had lived and died on earth long years ago, and I well remember the day when I knelt down with a dear brother who prayed that we might know the Lord Jesus as a living Person in heavenly glory, and it dawned upon me that there was a present Object for my heart in heaven. Our hearts will never be satisfied until that glorified Lord Jesus becomes our Object bright and fair. "

"Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth" (Colossians 3:2).

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[Netchaplain]

7-11. GRACE AND MERCY

"But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).
If and when the trial comes, you will find Him waiting there.

"We should always be prepared for circumstances that will arise, and for blessings that are to come, without foreseeing what these circumstances and blessings will be. This preparation consists in attention to present responsibility, and acceptance of present discipline.

"If day by day we first seek divine direction, and then follow it, we shall be ready, when new circumstances arise, for the new blessings which will be offered. Today should be preparation for tomorrow. The only proof that we shall be equal to tomorrow's test is that we are meeting today's test believingly and courageously. The only evidence that we shall be willing for God's will tomorrow is that we are subject to His will today. " -W.G. S.

"Our Lord has special reserves of grace for special needs. If ever you feel that you could not go through a certain trial, that if you had to face that, you just could not go through with it, you are taking on something that you have no right to take on.
"If the Lord calls you to go through fire or water, He has a special reserve of grace for you in that. And that grace will be from the throne of grace. It is the throne above, mediating grace for need and suffering as it is required." -T. A-S.

"Let us. . . come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need " (Hebrews 4:16).

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[Netchaplain]

It is not that Christ’s walk is substituted for ours, or His holiness which is imputed to us, or anything of the kind. It is not yet the question of how to walk, but of what I am; but a question which, when settled in God’s way, stops necessarily the effort to be what no effort of mine can make me, and what, thank God, His infinite grace has already made me: “complete in Him.” “As Christ is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17).

Could effort of ours make us “as Christ is’? It would be clearly impossible; and yet nothing but this would reach up to the standard God has given us. Nothing short of this would be perfection, and nothing short of perfection could we rightly rest in. If imperfection God cannot accept, and perfection I cannot bring Him, what then? Then I must accept of my Father’s providing, and find in the Lord Jesus a new self that needs no mending and cannot be improved, where no body of death disturbs or oppresses, and occupation with which is not legalism, nor Pharisaism.

I am privileged to turn away from what I find in myself as a man down here, then, because in the death of the Cross, the death wherein I died with Him, “sin in the flesh” has been fully dealt with. The condemnation of it by God has already found its full expression on the Cross. For faith, not for experience, I too have died and that “to sin”, because “He died unto sin once.” I reckon myself (not feel or find myself) to be dead indeed unto sin, and alive unto God in Christ Jesus Rom 6:11). -- F.W. Grant

7-12. POSITIONAL CONDUCT

"They who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1 7).

"Law and grace are separated by the infinite chasm of the Cross. Law required right conduct first, with earthly position to be earned thereby. Grace gives heavenly position immediately, which ultimately produces right conduct. "Ye are not under the law, but under grace" (Romans 6:14).

"The believer does not walk in order to reach the throne. On the contrary. His walk is determined by the fact that he has been placed with the Lord Jesus in a position of immeasurable ascendancy. He has been made to sit together with Christ in heavenly places in order that, having received an abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness, he might reign in life by one, even the Lord Jesus.

"He walks like a king because he is a king (Revelation 1:6). He is not called upon to walk in kingly fashion in order that he may reach the throne. God's order is different. The Christian begins at the throne and his kingly manner is only the inevitable outcome of his exalted position.

"Our frustrations and agonies in an effort to attain the unattainable, our shame and our defeats such as we find in Paul's own experience tabulated so faithfully in Romans 7, come about naturally and inevitably when, failing to grasp all this, we put the emphasis on our conduct rather than our position, which must come first." -F.J.H.

"Unto Him that loveth us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us a kingdom of priests unto God and His Father, to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever " (Revelation 1 :5, 6).

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[Netchaplain]

What does “casting all your care upon Him” involve (1 Pet 5:7)? It involves an ongoing dependence on the Father at all times for all things, “for He cares for you”. Any action other than this is an expectation of provision from self and disappointment is sure to follow; for not only is this a failure to realize that God wants to provide for “all your care”, there is also the idea that there must something that falls to us out of responsibility of doing our part. Though there may appear to be a seemingly necessity to “help yourself”, self-help is infinitely inferior to God’s desire for us.

There are certain expectations of us from God but they are always within the framework of depending on Him to cause whatever occurs in our life (even bad decisions) to “work together for good” (Rom 8:28). The saying, “it’s all good” has been popularized but this truism is only for the believer; to and from the unbeliever is nothing truly good, for only “He who does good is of God” (3 John 1:11). “To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.” (Titus 1:15).

Identifying the vulnerability of self, which will repetitiously occur - esp. during times of excessive self-concern, is the evidence of learning to understand that “the old man” is ever present, which through the Spirit’s work is kept dormant: “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Gal 5:17). -NC

7-13. LOOK AND LIVE!

"But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord " (2 Corinthians 3:18).

As the plant to the sun, we look to the Son for growth!

"What is the good of a man being ennobled, made a prince of, if he feels he has gained no more or sensible acquisition by it? This is the disappointment which souls feel without being able to account for it; and they are subject to nights of wrestling, because they have rested in their grand title, instead of in the means of supporting their titles, which is dependence on, and ever deepening acquaintance with, the One who has conferred them. -J.B.S.

"I cannot conceive anything more satisfying or cheering to the heart than the consciousness that I may not only draw near, but that I draw near in answer to the thought and interest that the Lord Jesus has about me, and that I draw nigh to enjoy myself in His presence where there is so much thought and interest about me. It is there my heart goes out in acknowledgment of Him in answer to His deep, gracious, and everlasting love. "

"By means of the Word, look to the Lord Jesus in faith. Exercise the blessed trust that He is yours, and that He has given Himself to you, and that you have a claim to all that is in Him. It is His purpose to work out His image in you. Behold Him with the joyful and certain expectation: the glory that I behold in Him is destined for me!" -A.M.

"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shone in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the fare of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6).

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[Netchaplain]

7-14. THE MARCH OF TIME

"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him " (Psalm 37 7).

The difference between knowing the Lord Jesus as Savior and knowing Him as Life, is the better part of a lifetime; even for the hungriest of hearts. "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14).
"In receiving the Word of God by faith, there is first, light; then exercise of conscience; third, prayer-you are cast on God; fourth, the work of the Spirit to lead you into it.

"Not one of us is beyond the work of the Spirit in us. Many think, because they have the light of a truth that they are in the power and reality of it. No! you may have all the Bible, have much light, but there is no growth beyond the measure of the Spirit's work in us.

"Conception of a truth is one thing, and execution is quite another. Grace may have been furnished you with a true conception, but you must wait on the Lord to carry it out by His Spirit. The working out of a true conception is the real discipline."

"Do not be discouraged because you may not carry out your purpose at once; God will carry it out, but you must keep in the place where you will be preserved, in the circle of His interests.
"Moses had to wait forty years to carry out his purpose, which was a right one, though in the first flush the flesh sought to carry it out; but in the Lord's time, how fully every purpose of his heart was met–all the way to the Mount of Transfiguration!"

"Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord. (Hosea 6:3).

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