Life On the Highest Plane
The Word of God is the Medium in Regeneration
Sometimes the Christian worker has lost his power for no other reason than neglect of the Bible. Because of this his message is devoid of freshness and fruitfulness. The inevitable result is the giving of his own word in the wisdom, eloquence and energy of the flesh. This God never promises to bless.
1 Corinthians 2:4, "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power."
1 Thess. 2:13, "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the Word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe."
"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God" (Luke 4:14). "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life" (John 6:63). Can we think it possible that the food on our tables should be so transmuted in nature's laboratory that it should reappear, now in stalwart muscle of the blacksmith's arm, and now in the fine texture of the poet's brain, and let it not seem incredible that the Word of God can reappear in every kind of spiritual power and holy efficiency?
The Word of God is a Lamp to Guide
Psalm 119:105, "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."
Pitfalls are all around the Christian; the devil has well-laid snares to entrap.
2 Timothy 2:26, " And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will."
Psalm 119:110, "The wicked have laid a snare for me; yet I erred not from thy precepts."
The straight and narrow way is not always easily discerned and still less easily followed. In these perilous times when there is so much of the world in the Church and when even the shepherd of the flock may walk in ways quite contrary to the Word of God, many an earnest Christian is perplexed and at a loss to know what is a consistent walk. He surely needs a light upon his path.
But he needs even more than that; he needs to be shown each step of the way. The Word of God is just such a guide and, when it is hid in the heart and heeded in the life, the Christian need not wander nor stumble. His every step may be ordered in full conformity to God's will and ways because in full obedience to God's Word.
Psalm 119:133, "Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me."
Psalm 37:31, "The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide."
Many mistakes are made by Christians through seeking and following the counsel of men rather than that of God. Some have lost the way altogether and are living outside the will of God because they have listened to man's voice. I know a life that is shipwrecked upon the rock of human counsel, devoid of both peace and power. We cannot be reminded too often of the solemn fact that Adam's sin came through heeding Eve's voice, and Eve sinned by believing obeying the devil's word instead of God's There is but one absolutely safe counselor for the Christian, the Word of God.
Psalm 119:24, "Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors."
2 Timothy 3:15, "And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."
The teaching, instruction, warning, correction and guidance which every Christian needs to make him complete and to equip him for service are all to be found in the Bible.
2 Timothy 3:16, "Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work."
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 12)
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Not of Works, But of Faith
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2:14-17
Martin Luther struggled with the book of James because he felt that the book discredited grace. After he, himself, tried to work so hard to prove his own faith, Luther came to the conclusion that salvation is by grace alone. He also realized that even our works are an act of God's grace. Verses like those above stumbled him because earlier in his life he tried to earn his salvation and to prove his faith through works, instead of grace. It is not works that save or justify or affirm your faith; it is a result of your faith that you desire to work for the things of God. When Luther ended up exhausted, burned out and lacking peace in his works, then he let faith be his guide to do what God called him to do. The Reformation is a result of his faith, not of his work. The Reformation resulted as a work of God through the faith of Martin Luther.
As the Bible says, God causes all things to work together for good. Today, there are countless churches and denominations reaching the world through the means and convictions that God has placed on each one's heart. God works through movements in His churches, but His works are still accomplished through individuals. That work is a result of the outpouring of love we have for the Lord. His burden is easy and His yoke is light. Titus 3:5 says "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us," meaning that we do works of righteousness but those deeds are a result of God's mercy, saving us and then working in us through faith. Today, allow the Lord to develop and strengthen your faith. Rest in His saving mercy and He will accomplish His work through your faith.
~Daily Disciples~
Saturday, April 6, 2013
The Believer's Part in Remaining Spirit-filled # 10
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)
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)
Salt and Light - The Nature of Believers
In these four verses the Lord summarizes the function of believers in the world—influence. This is a mandate for Christians to influence the world. The Beatitudes are not to be lived in isolation or only among fellow believers, but everywhere we go.
In verses 13 and 14, the pronoun “you” is emphatic. The idea is, “You are the only salt the earth knows and the only light the world sees.” The world’s corruption won’t be retarded and its darkness won’t be illumined unless God’s people are its salt and light. “You” in both verses is plural; that means the whole body, the church, is called to be the world’s salt and light.
By definition, an influence must be different from that which it influences, and Christians must be different from the world they are called to influence. We cannot influence the world for God if we are worldly ourselves, nor can we give light to it if we retreat to places and ways of darkness ourselves.
Ask Yourself
Is there anything that’s currently taking the bite out of your saltiness, or dimming the brightness of your light? Deal openly with the Lord about these things, asking Him to rid you of their influence so that you can be used of God to influence others.
~John MacArthur~
Friday, April 5, 2013
The Believer's Part in Remaining Spirit-filled # 9
Life On The Highest Plane
The Word of God is the Medium in Regeneration
But spiritual knowledge comes through just one channel. The Word of God is the divinely-appointed medium of revelation. The entrance of God's Word giveth light. Life and light come from the same source.
Psalm 36:9, "For with thee is the fountain of life; in thy light shall we see light."
Psalm 119:130, "The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple."
Romans 10:17, "So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God."
In the Word of God the Christian finds the revelation of everything needful for salvation, sanctification and service. All that the Father intends His child to know regarding his spiritual possessions, privileges and responsibilities He has revealed in the Bible. The clear revelation of Himself, His will, His way and His purpose is all in the Word.
John 15:15, "Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you."
Ephesians 1:9, "Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself."
The man who gives himself to daily thought and prayerful meditation on God's Word possesses a degree of spiritual perception out of all proportion to his intellectual capacity or attainment, judged from the standpoint of things natural.
The Word of God is the Medium of Renewal
Even the spiritual man has no resources in himself. He is in daily need of replenishing. "The spiritual blessings, which are given to him according to the everlasting covenant, are all treasured up in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Once we have begun to draw nigh to God, we must continue to draw nigh. It is both a necessity and a delight. A necessity because we are still as dependent on the creative, supernatural influence of grace ... Such pensioners are we of the divine bounty, daily and hourly we must be recipients of His gifts and of His power. Peter imagines he has a stock of courage and loving loyalty in himself; but sad experience teaches him that his nature is feeble and selfish; that not he, but Christ in him, is rock ... We have nothing in ourselves; our sufficiency is of God." The spiritual man never ceases to feel his utter dependence upon God.
God provides for his renewal. The man who is saved by the truth of God's Word is also sanctified by it. The stature and strength of the spiritual man will be in exact proportion to his faithful continuance in the Word of the Lord. The study of God's Word is the divinely-appointed means of spiritual culture; the divinely-ordained method of spiritual growth.
John 17:17, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."
John 8:31, "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed."
A careful study of the Scriptural names of the Word of God will reveal God's intended use of it in the renewal of the Christian life.
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 10)
The Word of God is the Medium in Regeneration
But spiritual knowledge comes through just one channel. The Word of God is the divinely-appointed medium of revelation. The entrance of God's Word giveth light. Life and light come from the same source.
Psalm 36:9, "For with thee is the fountain of life; in thy light shall we see light."
Psalm 119:130, "The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple."
Romans 10:17, "So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God."
In the Word of God the Christian finds the revelation of everything needful for salvation, sanctification and service. All that the Father intends His child to know regarding his spiritual possessions, privileges and responsibilities He has revealed in the Bible. The clear revelation of Himself, His will, His way and His purpose is all in the Word.
John 15:15, "Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you."
Ephesians 1:9, "Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself."
The man who gives himself to daily thought and prayerful meditation on God's Word possesses a degree of spiritual perception out of all proportion to his intellectual capacity or attainment, judged from the standpoint of things natural.
The Word of God is the Medium of Renewal
Even the spiritual man has no resources in himself. He is in daily need of replenishing. "The spiritual blessings, which are given to him according to the everlasting covenant, are all treasured up in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Once we have begun to draw nigh to God, we must continue to draw nigh. It is both a necessity and a delight. A necessity because we are still as dependent on the creative, supernatural influence of grace ... Such pensioners are we of the divine bounty, daily and hourly we must be recipients of His gifts and of His power. Peter imagines he has a stock of courage and loving loyalty in himself; but sad experience teaches him that his nature is feeble and selfish; that not he, but Christ in him, is rock ... We have nothing in ourselves; our sufficiency is of God." The spiritual man never ceases to feel his utter dependence upon God.
God provides for his renewal. The man who is saved by the truth of God's Word is also sanctified by it. The stature and strength of the spiritual man will be in exact proportion to his faithful continuance in the Word of the Lord. The study of God's Word is the divinely-appointed means of spiritual culture; the divinely-ordained method of spiritual growth.
John 17:17, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."
John 8:31, "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed."
A careful study of the Scriptural names of the Word of God will reveal God's intended use of it in the renewal of the Christian life.
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 10)
Praying Aggressively
Many people assume that somehow everything that happens is God's will. But that's not true. Lives destroyed by murderous aggressors and families broken by adultery aren't God's will. Children and adults ravaged by abuse or crippled by disease aren't God's will. He uses sin and illness to accomplish His own purposes (Rom. 8:28), but they aren't His desire.
Eventually God will destroy all evil and fulfill His will perfectly (Rev. 20:10-14), but that hasn't happened yet. That's why we must pray for His will to be done on earth. We can't afford to be passive or indifferent in prayer. We must pray aggressively and not lose heart (Luke 18:1).
That's how David prayed. His passion for God's will compelled him to pray, "Make me understand the way of Thy precepts, so I will meditate on Thy wonders. . . . I shall run the way of Thy commandments, for Thou wilt enlarge my heart. Teach me, O Lord, the way of Thy statutes, and I shall observe it to the end. Give me understanding, that I may observe Thy law, and keep it with all my heart. Make me walk in the path of Thy commandments, for I delight in it" (Ps. 119:27, 32-35).
But David also prayed, "Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered; and let those who hate Him flee before him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish before God. But let the righteous be glad; let them exult before God; yes, let them rejoice with gladness" (Ps. 68:1-3). He loved God's will, but he also hated everything that opposed it.
When you truly pray for God's will to be done, you are aggressively pursuing His will for your own life and rebelling against Satan, his evil world system, and everything else that is at odds with God's will.
Suggestions for Prayer:
- Thank God for David's example and for others who demonstrate a passion for God's will.
- Ask for wisdom to see beyond your circumstances to what God wants to accomplish through them.
Read Psalm 119.
- How can God's Word help you to know and obey God's will?
- What was the psalmist's attitude toward the Word?
~John MacArthur~
Thursday, April 4, 2013
The Believer's Part in Remaining Spirit-filled # 8
Life on the Highest Plane
The Word of God is the Medium in Regeneration
The instrument used to implant in the human spirit the divine seed of the uncreated life of God is the Word of God. Through the Word we are brought out of death into life.
1 Peter 1:23, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever."
The Word of God is the Medium in Revelation
Life requires light. Regeneration presumes revelation. The newborn soul has been "called out of darkness into his marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9) and the light of God cannot be concealed from the one to whom the Life of God has been communicated.
Illumination is absolutely essential to the new life in Christ. To maintain the life, light is imperative.
John 1:4, "In him was life, and the life was the light of men."
John 8:12, "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."
Illumination is absolutely essential to the new walk in Christ.
Ephesians 5:8, "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light."
1 John 1:5-7, "God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth; But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."
When the Holy Spirit enters the human spirit He bestows a spiritual nature which has the capacity to perceive and an appetite to know. An insatiable hunger and an unquenchable thirst for the knowledge of God possesses a Spirit-filled, Spirit-controlled man. He cries with the Psalmist, "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for the living God."
One of the sure marks of a spiritual man is his ever increasing knowledge of God. Spiritual perception and spiritual enlightenment stamp a man as a growing Christian. God puts no premium on ignorance. Paul prayed that his converts might have spiritual understanding, Heaven-born wisdom, divine enlightenment.
Ephesians 1:17-18, "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints."
Colossians 1:9, "For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding."
God expects every child of His to be growing in the knowledge of Him. Paul did not pray that the Colossian Christians might be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding that they might be equipped to fill a chair in the theological seminary or to go as a missionary to some foreign field, but that wherever they were and whatever their task they might "Walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing." "Be fruitful in every good work," and "Be strengthened with might, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness."
The Apostle Paul constantly said "Know ye not?" Again and again in the letters to the Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians he speaks of the things we should know. The words "We know" are almost the key words of the first Epistle of John. Count for yourself the number of times they are used and write out the things the Christian should "Know." In the realm of the spiritual it is the man who knows who does.
Daniel 11:32, "And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall be flatteries; but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits."
In Romans 6 God's divine order is "Know" (v. 6); "Reckon" (v. 11); "Yield" (v. 134); "Obey" (v. 17). It is the man who really knows God who believingly reckons on the great facts of salvation, who voluntarily yields himself to the Saviour, and who gladly obeys Christ, the Lord. Growth in grace and growth in the knowledge of God are simultaneous.
2 Peter 3:18, "Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 9)
The Word of God is the Medium in Regeneration
The instrument used to implant in the human spirit the divine seed of the uncreated life of God is the Word of God. Through the Word we are brought out of death into life.
1 Peter 1:23, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever."
The Word of God is the Medium in Revelation
Life requires light. Regeneration presumes revelation. The newborn soul has been "called out of darkness into his marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9) and the light of God cannot be concealed from the one to whom the Life of God has been communicated.
Illumination is absolutely essential to the new life in Christ. To maintain the life, light is imperative.
John 1:4, "In him was life, and the life was the light of men."
John 8:12, "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."
Illumination is absolutely essential to the new walk in Christ.
Ephesians 5:8, "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light."
1 John 1:5-7, "God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth; But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."
When the Holy Spirit enters the human spirit He bestows a spiritual nature which has the capacity to perceive and an appetite to know. An insatiable hunger and an unquenchable thirst for the knowledge of God possesses a Spirit-filled, Spirit-controlled man. He cries with the Psalmist, "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for the living God."
One of the sure marks of a spiritual man is his ever increasing knowledge of God. Spiritual perception and spiritual enlightenment stamp a man as a growing Christian. God puts no premium on ignorance. Paul prayed that his converts might have spiritual understanding, Heaven-born wisdom, divine enlightenment.
Ephesians 1:17-18, "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints."
Colossians 1:9, "For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding."
God expects every child of His to be growing in the knowledge of Him. Paul did not pray that the Colossian Christians might be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding that they might be equipped to fill a chair in the theological seminary or to go as a missionary to some foreign field, but that wherever they were and whatever their task they might "Walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing." "Be fruitful in every good work," and "Be strengthened with might, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness."
The Apostle Paul constantly said "Know ye not?" Again and again in the letters to the Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians he speaks of the things we should know. The words "We know" are almost the key words of the first Epistle of John. Count for yourself the number of times they are used and write out the things the Christian should "Know." In the realm of the spiritual it is the man who knows who does.
Daniel 11:32, "And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall be flatteries; but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits."
In Romans 6 God's divine order is "Know" (v. 6); "Reckon" (v. 11); "Yield" (v. 134); "Obey" (v. 17). It is the man who really knows God who believingly reckons on the great facts of salvation, who voluntarily yields himself to the Saviour, and who gladly obeys Christ, the Lord. Growth in grace and growth in the knowledge of God are simultaneous.
2 Peter 3:18, "Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 9)
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