Life On The Highest Plane
The Word of God is the Medium in Regeneration
The Word of God is a Mirror to Reveal
James 1:23-25, "For if any man be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed."
A mirror reveals the personal appearance of the one who looks into it. The Bible is just such a revelation of man. In it we see the human heart mirrored exactly as it is in the sight of God. We have in the Word full-length portraits of the natural, the carnal and the spiritual man. As one studies the Bible he finds himself; mirrored in the lives of men and women who lived centuries ago he sees himself. In the covetousness of Achan, the backsliding of David, the despondency of Elijah, the avarice of Jacob the falsehood of Ananias and Sapphira, the denial of Peter, the self-righteousness of Saul of Tarsus and the jealousy, unbelief and self-seeking of the disciples, he looks into his own sinful heart and his own wayward life. The Bible takes the covering off the inmost spirit and unveils its secret thoughts and motives. it shows us to ourselves as we are. But it does not stop there. It unfolds to man's vision the Perfect Man. He "Beholds as in a glass the glory of the Lord" for in the Word God gives "The light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Then the Bible challenges him, who has seen himself as he is and as he may become, to act upon the vision, to become a doer of the Word in order that he may be conformed to the image of Christ.
The Word is Water to Cleanse and Refresh
Ephesians 5:25-26, "Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word."
John 15:3, "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you."
Psalm 119:9, "Wherewith shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to the Word."
Walking as pilgrims through a world reeking in sin we are in constant contact with its defilement and in constant need of cleansing. In olden times the priests, who were cleansed by the blood at the brazen altar, still needed the washing of water at the laver to make them fit for the worship and the work of the tabernacle. So we, though cleansed from the guilt of sin through the blood of the Living Word, yet need daily the washing by the water of the written Word. The Christian's life is kept pure and clean only in the proportion to which the Word of God is hid in the heart and applied to the life.
Water also refreshes. Countless Christians could testify to the removal of weariness of spirit, discouragement of soul and even exhaustion of body through a quiet hour of meditation upon the Word.
The Word of God is food to nourish and delight. The Word is milk for the newborn babe, it is strong meat for the spiritual adult; and it is honey for the spiritually-minded.
1 Peter 2:2, "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby."
Hebrews 5:14, "But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."
Psalm 9:10, "More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb."
The man who feeds upon God's Word will become strong; the one who neglects it will be dwarfed. Both stature and strength are gauged by the quality of spiritual food eaten and assimilated. Wherever you find a spiritual anaemic the reason is improper food.
The Christian who is improperly or insufficiently fed is the prey to all kinds of spiritual disease. He is powerless to resist temptation, blind to discern error, helpless to overcome sin. He is open to all the deceiving devices and subtle strategies of the evil one. He not only makes no progress but he cannot even hold his own and lives a flabby, inconsistent, dishonoring life before the world.
The Christian who is not entering into new possessions of God's grace, love and power through new conquests of the Word is living on the stale manna of some moldy experience or musty testimony. The new nature is starved because forced to exist on denatured emotions and devitalized vocabulary, "He feedeth on ashes" instead of "the Bread of life." Christ knew that the only food upon which the new nature could thrive was the Word of God. In His High Priestly prayer He said to His Father, "I have given them thy Word" (John 17:14).
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 11)
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