mcm-4-21

Midnight Cry Messenger

Editor’s Letter

Dear Saints,
Greetings once again in the wonderful name of our Lord Jesus! Christmas is almost here as I write this. For so many, Christmas is just a sentimental holiday, but for God’s people it is a reminder of the coming into the world of our Savior.

Can you imagine the One Who spoke the stars into existence being willing to become, at least briefly, a single cell in the womb of a daughter of Adam’s race?! Amazing! And, all the time, and going back before time began, the Father had you and me in mind!

And yet, in the midst of this season we continue to see events in our world unfold. It seems that hardly a day goes by without someone remarking that the world has gone crazy.

Just the other day I had an email from a brother asking advice and encouragement as to how to handle everything going on, particularly the virus pandemic. My answer applies to me and every believer: “The Lord allows many things but He is always in control and His purposes never fail. In that light, come what may, we just actively trust the Lord, looking to Him moment by moment and thanking Him for His presence and His promises.”

As I have thought about all this, an article I wrote in the 1970s came to mind: “Great Tribulation.” It deals, not only with the underlying meaning of “tribulation,” but also with the end of the age. It surely seems more relevant to God’s people than ever.

The other frontpage article is a reprint of part 2 of Bro. Thomas’s teaching on, “A Great Mystery.” In it, he continues to explore the true meaning and expression that God intended for Christ’s body, the Church. I’m sure glad the Lord knows them that are His and how to bring everything together that His Father has purposed! I just want to be an active part of that outworking. I hope you do too! Something to actively pray about.

We have also included several short articles from the writings of Andrew Murray and also Major Ian Thomas that help to unlock practical Christian living in very clear ways. Satan ever seeks to corrupt and complicate the simplicity of what God has given us. And He has given us EVERYTHING we need in Jesus!

That is the glory of the gospel! God saw us totally dead in sin, living under the dominion of Satan’s kingdom (Eph. 2:1-3) but because of His great love He provided a perfect solution. And the solution does not depend in the least upon human goodness (there is no such thing in the light of God’s holiness) or upon human strength or effort but upon grace — divinely supplied power and influence that we could never deserve. Praise God! May He continue to teach us the depth of His great provision through Christ.

Our assemblies continue to meet as we are able as well as including some unable to attend through Zoom. We continue to enjoy the Lord’s presence and blessing regardless of the form. However we are able to gather, the thing that matters is the Lord’s presence. He reigns, and we know how the story ends!

Till next time may God’s rich blessings be yours.

Your brother in Christ,
Phil Enlow

GREAT TRIBULATION

by Phil Enlow

The following article was written and published in the 1970s. The spiritual climate of our world has gone steadily downhill since then, making these truths more and more relevant to God’s people than ever before.

We might as well face it: tribulation is an essential part of the Christian life. Jesus said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation.” John 16:33. Paul exhorted the believers in a group of young churches that “we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” Acts 14:22. He wrote the Thessalonians, “that no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation.” I Thess. 3:3-4. He even went so far as to characterize the proper Christian attitude toward it in these words: “we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience.” Rom. 5:3.

It should be very evident from these and other scriptures that God has ordained tribulation for His children. Throughout the centuries, everyone who has ever entered the kingdom of God has done so through much tribulation.

That last statement may well raise questions in some minds, but I believe that it is our understanding and not the scripture which errs at this point. As we ponder the word tribulation, all sorts of imaginary scenes may project themselves into our minds: we may picture Christians being stoned, beaten, burned at stakes, haled before authorities, thrown to lions, or, more up-to-date [this was written in the 1970s], sent to a Siberian forced-labor camp. We may recall some very out-standing trial undergone by certain believers.

Such things certainly qualify as “tribulation,” but they are only a small part of the picture. I have often observed believers being puzzled by scriptures which speak of persecution and suffering as the lot of the believer. They have real difficulty relating these scriptures to those modern Christians who live where there is relative religious liberty. Must we seek out persecution because Paul said, “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him”? II Tim. 2:12.

ITS MEANING
Perhaps when the meaning of the word “tribulation” is explored a little, we may find that such questions are answered. The Greek word involved is “thlipsis.” It is translated in several ways: “affliction,” “tribulation,” “anguish,” and “trouble” are the most common translations. In its verb form “thlibo,” it is translated into such related ideas as “to afflict,” “to trouble,” “to throng,” “to persecute,” etc.

There is one English word which I believe captures the central meaning found in all of these translations and that word is “pressure,” in the sense of being “caught in a squeeze.” For example, the word is used in the gospel story of Jesus healing the woman who touched him as he journeyed to Jairus’ house. The crowd “thronged” him, that is, they pressed on him from every side. When we think of tribulation as pressure we can more easily relate it to our everyday Christian lives.

When a believer is arrested and tortured in an attempt to cause him to renounce Christ, the issue is obvious. The man is caught in a squeeze between his allegiance to Christ and his desire for physical comfort and the avoidance of pain. Since his torturers will not allow him to have both, he must choose. This is, in essence, what tribulation is as it relates to the Christian believer: the pressure he experiences as a result of the conflict between his old nature and his new life in Christ.

A SPIRITUAL THING
We may, perhaps, be prone to think of tribulation as something primarily physical or psychological, but such thinking misses the point. Wherever the pressure is exerted, whether upon our bodies, our emotions, our minds, our wills, etc., tribulation is essentially a spiritual matter. These areas of our being are merely the focal point of a spiritual conflict. Tribulation is the result, in the providence of God, of the calculated opposition of the forces of darkness to the workings of God in human lives. In case you haven’t noticed, the Christian life is a battle. One who would live for Christ can expect opposition all the way to glory. Paul spoke of “pressing” forward. Phil. 3:14. Obviously he was encountering opposition that made pressing necessary if he were to move forward at all.

We spoke a moment ago of religious liberty. It is a point worth making that there is a great deal of difference between religious liberty and spiritual liberty. The devil may offer “religious liberty” but he never fails to oppose real spiritual life. Don’t be fooled and lulled to sleep by the difference. Though it offers a degree of religious liberty and pays lip service to a belief in God, America is not a Christian nation. The only Christian nation is the one mentioned in I Peter 2:9-10.

This world system always opposes God. In fact I really believe that the devil has been far more successful in destroying the real quality of Christian life through “liberty” than he has through persecution. Believers in America are lulled to sleep by prosperity and ease and at the same time are inundated by multitudes of false professors of faith in Christ with whom they must co-exist. In places where the enemy of our souls is more direct in his opposition to Christians, the quality and purity of the church is often much greater than it is where there is not that opposition. I have even heard of believers in Communist lands praying for American Christians for this very reason. The truth is that all believers experience tribulation: some of it is just more subtle and often more effective as well.

OUR OLD NATURE
The thing that makes tribulation possible is the simple fact that we are yet in the flesh and must contend with our old nature. Some teach that there is an experience in which our old natures are eradicated or completely removed, but if there is such an experience, the Apostle John didn’t know about it (I John 1:8). Paul didn’t either because he had to “die daily” (I Cor. 15:31), and was “alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake” (II Cor. 4:11). Such teaching does not really help people to deal with their flesh; it only makes them dishonest.

In the believer Satan can appeal to the whole spectrum of human nature. Through Christ we are not helpless against his appeals, but they are very real and can exert great pressure. Don’t pretend to be so super-spiritual that you think you could breeze through a torture chamber. We are still very human and need grace every day to overcome the old man.

In the example above, Satan’s appeal is simple and obvious, but as a rule it is far more subtle. The truth is he uses anything he can find in us and that God allows him to use to create opposition and pressure against our spiritual prosperity and advancement. His strategy is as varied as the people are upon whom he works. Such natural desires as the desire to be liked, the desire for comfort, sex, security, pleasures, wealth, etc., may all become the means of Satan’s opposition. He will appeal to our pride, self-will, laziness, carnal zeal, impatience, busyness or anything else you might name. Whatever appeals Satan finds us susceptible to, he gladly will use to put the squeeze on us.

It might be well to point out here that there are many things in us that he will try to use that are not necessarily sinful. Disliking pain is not inherently sinful, nor is a person who seeks out pain necessarily righteous. Much of our difficulty arises out of weaknesses which are simply a part of our humanity. Of course anything, however natural, becomes sinful when we allow it to possess us and prevent our serving God.

Whether we realize it or not, we spend our entire Christian lives making choices just as real as the one faced by the man in the torture chamber. These days Satan can cool off most any unwary child of God simply by keeping him busy with all sorts of carnal things. He feels under pressure constantly to “do this” or “do that” and then finds himself weakened due to his neglect of spiritual matters. We have all undergone this form of tribulation more than we dare admit.

So tribulation is pressure: the pressure a believer experiences when he must deny himself to choose God. It should now be very obvious why Paul could say so positively that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

THE “NOW” OF IT ALL
What we’ve said so far is general truth, applicable to those who have lived for God in every age. But I feel impressed to relate this simple truth to the hour in which we are living because I believe we are in an hour unique to all of human history. This is not just any hour and tribulation in our time is not just ordinary tribulation.

The Bible has much to say about the last short period of human history. For the wicked it is a time in which God turns men over to Satan, culminating in the awful final judgments described in many places in the scriptures.

However, my main concern here is the believer. Among the many things the believer is told to expect in the end time, a prominent one is great tribulation. I am well aware of the popular teaching of an escapist rapture followed by 7 years of turmoil, judgments, antichrist reign, etc. Many related issues at this point have been dealt with in other MCM articles so that I’ll pass over a drawn-out refutation of this doctrine. Suffice it to say that I cannot conceive of any believer, unschooled in the dispensational scheme, coming to believe it through an honest inquiry into the scriptures themselves. Such teaching, at the very least, leaves many believers woefully unprepared for what we are so plainly warned of in the scriptures.

In Matthew 24:21-31 we find Jesus warning of a unique time of great tribulation, to be shortened for the elect’s sake, accompanied by great spiritual deception, and to be immediately followed by his second coming. I invite you to read it for yourself and ignore the footnotes of men. Ask God to open His Word to you. According to Jesus, his return to earth will follow the greatest time of spiritual pressure the world has ever known. It is obvious that this pressure will concern God’s elect because it is to be shortened for their sakes.

This is confirmed in Daniel 12:1. “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”

The fact that Daniel’s people are not necessarily Jews according to the flesh, or natural descendants of Abraham has been dealt with in other articles. But the New Testament plainly teaches that the true Jew from God’s standpoint is the born-again believer in Christ (Rom. 2:28-29; Gal. 3:7, 29; Rom. 9:6-8; Gal. 4:26-28). The Church is God’s holy nation composed of his chosen people (I Peter 2:9-10), the recipient of angel ministry (Heb. 1:14), including that of Michael and his angels (Rev. 12:7).

We are talking about a spiritual matter here involving those whose names are written in God’s book. Surely the modern unbelieving Jew has no more in common with Daniel than does the unbelieving Gentile that they should be called his people. Daniel’s people are simply God’s people.

Daniel was permitted to peer ahead in time and see many puzzling events which were to take place at the end of time. Among other things he saw this unique time of trouble spoken of later by Jesus. He saw saints under pressure needing the deliverance of a mighty angel army. God also showed him the wonderful outcome for those men whose names were written in the book.

SOURCE OF PRESSURE
But where does all this pressure come from? Why is it so pronounced at this particular point in history? I believe that the New Testament teaches a binding of Satan extending from the cross until just before the return of Christ. Several chapters in the book, Lying Signs and Wonders, deal with this little-understood truth. Nowhere does the scripture teach the absolute binding of Satan and the removal of his influence from humanity. Rather it teaches the limiting of his influence for a period of time, no doubt to allow for the propagation of the gospel.

The binding referred to in Rev. 20:1-3 is with respect to the deceiving of the nations. Satan has not been permitted to carry out his ultimate goal: to so totally deceive humanity as to unite the world under his absolute dominion. He has been unable to gather all men into a world union controlled by the spirit of antichrist. It was shortly before going to the cross that Jesus said, “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” John 12:31. And he was. At the cross Jesus triumphed over the devil and paraded the hosts of darkness in defeat (Col. 2:15). After his resurrection Jesus told his followers that all authority in heaven and in earth had been given to him and therefore — because of that fact — they were to go to all nations with the gospel (Matthew 28:18-20). At the cross Jesus bound Satan and obtained an authority from God to gather out of the nations a people for God.

At the end of time, God has purposed to loose Satan for a little season that he might temporarily achieve his goal, at least in lost humanity. Notice the brief summary of events following Satan’s loosing given in Rev. 20:7-9. He sets out immediately to unite the world against God and His people. This he does rather quickly. There is a battle. The saints are opposed by a united Satan-inspired world. Before they can succeed in their attempt to banish God’s kingdom from the earth, God steps in and ends world history with their destruction, an event immediately followed by the final judgment.

NOTE THIS: The mere fact that Satan’s loosing quickly results in this specific chain of events is strong evidence to me that his binding was indeed relative, relative to his desire to achieve the kind of dominion over mankind described in this passage. If he has been loose all this time why has he not done this long before now?

Paul spoke in II Thess. 2:1-12 of the great falling away, the climax of the working of the mystery of iniquity in mankind, and the total deception of unbelievers by the decree of God and the working of Satan. This condition having reached its climax, the Lord will appear in judgment. The same pattern is seen here from a different viewpoint. When Satan’s influence is permitted to reach its zenith, the end will follow shortly.

In short, the cause of this time of unparalleled spiritual pressure is the loosing of Satan. I believe with all of my heart that God has revealed that Satan is loose now as he has not been before. This is the explanation of world conditions as we see them today. And more important than all of the external conditions which we may readily observe is the growing spiritual darkness which is engrossing the souls of unbelievers. While on the one hand Satan is working to enthrone himself in lost mankind, on the other he is seeking to exert every pressure at his disposal upon God’s people.

A PROCESS AT WORK
This will not happen overnight, but is rather a process which will ultimately see all men divided into two clear-cut and opposed camps: the tiny remnant of true believers, and all the rest. Though men will increasingly turn against us as they are given over to reprobation, our real enemies are the hosts of darkness: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). We are counseled to take to ourselves the whole armor of God that we might withstand in the evil day (verse 13). Though this scripture certainly has had application throughout church history, how much more does it speak of The Evil Day — the climax of all evil days, Satan’s last stand.

The purpose of writing all of this is not to inspire fear, but to awaken and to instruct. Knowledge is the basic weapon of the child of God. If we know by revelation what is happening we can meet it with faith in the promises of God. If we are unaware, we are an easy prey of our adversary.

The words of Daniel in 11:32-33 apply wonderfully today: “The people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many.” In Daniel 12:10 we read, “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.”

GOD IS ON HIS THRONE
Fellow believers, though we face, and I believe are already in, great tribulation, we must always look to God, believe His Word, and remember that He has everything under control. His grace is sufficient. He has ordained this time and He will end it. Every true child of God will be delivered.

Don’t be surprised by anything that happens, by anything Satan is permitted to do. Christians will experience every form of tribulation imaginable — and triumph!

Perhaps as you have read you have become more aware of what you and others have been experiencing. It seems that a prominent observation among Christians today is the steady increase of pressure they both feel and observe.

The means of overcoming Satan which God has revealed to us will of necessity become very practical in the days ahead. We will learn as we never have before to rely upon the blood of Christ in all its implications, to stand in faith upon the word of God, to resist Satan by the authority of our great Head, Jesus Christ, and to cast down imaginations (Rev. 12:11, Eph. 6:10-18, James 4:7, II Cor. 10:4-5). We will learn what it means to not love our lives unto the death: that is, to choose to cooperate with God and to die to our own life and nature.

The great tribulation is a spiritual thing, a time of great satanic pressure on the church. What Satan has designed to destroy us, God has ordained to purify and unite us and prepare us for Christ’s very soon return.

In the light of what you have read, and as a fitting conclusion, please read Rom. 8:31-39 and II Cor. 4:17-18. Even so come, Lord Jesus!

A GREAT MYSTERY, Part 2

by C. Parker Thomas

(Editor’s note: This article was originally published in the March-April 1976 issue of the Midnight Cry Messenger.)

Unity of The Spirit
Spiritual unity is certainly one of the greatest aspects of truth, if not the greatest, relative to the mystery of Christ and the church. The whole purpose of the cross and the sufferings of Christ was to bring us together into one body. In ten thousand ways Satan has deviously divided the body of Christ. He knows far better than we do the power and glory of this unity, therefore he works unceasingly to confuse and divide.

Although the unity of the body of Christ is not seen nor understood by many, it is a literal fact in the mind and purpose of God that we cannot deny. Remember Eph. 4:4-6 says, “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

I Corinthians 12:12-13 says, “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”

Regardless of how far apart we are geographically or theologically, we are one if we have been born again and have God’s Spirit dwelling in us. I Cor. 6:17 says, “But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.”

Vital Union
This union is so vital that our condition and state affects every other member of Christ’s body regardless of what they believe or where they are. In writing to the Church at Corinth, Paul said, “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” I Cor. 5:4-5.

From this scripture it is evident that Paul fully understood the unity of the Spirit which would enable him to be present when the church officially judged this brother who was guilty of fornication.

If the members of Christ’s body ever realize that it is indeed a vital union of many members, it will make a great difference in their attitude toward each other. As members one of another (Eph. 4:25), we are not complete apart from our brother. We need every member of Christ’s body, including the weak ones and those we think to be less honorable. I Cor. 12:18-23.

Every member of Christ’s body has some gift, some grace, some measure of Christ that is needed by every other member. Some aspect of our spiritual life is enhanced and complimented by the life of Christ in our brother. Failure to recognize, honor and receive our brother is like trying to cut off our own hand or foot. I Cor. 12:15-26.

The life of God, in all his glorious attributes, dwelled in Christ, the Son. Col. 1:19, 2:9. On the day of Pentecost this glory and power was given to the church. Eph. 1:22-23. To avail ourselves of this glory and power we must recognize and receive the body that it resides in. This is really what Jesus is teaching in John 6:53 where he said, “…Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.”

The very life of God is received as we receive the humanity this life dwells in. Despise and reject the humanity that God honors with his indwelling presence and you despise and reject God. Thus the scripture is fulfilled where Jesus said, “He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.” The life of God cannot be received apart from this body.

Local and Visible
Although there is a perfect spiritual union between every believer from Adam to the last soul that God calls, the hub of New Testament Christianity is the local visible church. This is where believers assemble together to hear the Word of God. This is where the ordinances are observed. This is where the authority of Christ rests to judge and settle differences. This is where Christ said he would be in the midst. Matt. 18:15-20. Heb. 10:25.

We must see the local visible church as the body of Christ in a given place. Gal. 1:2. Phil. 1:1. I Thess. 1:11. To the church at Corinth, Paul said, “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.”

It will be noticed that Paul said they (the Corinthian Church) were the body of Christ, not the foot, the leg, the arm or a part of the body. For a body to be a body it has to have particular members. It would be deformed if it had four hands and no feet.

As carnal and imperfect as the Corinthian church was, it was a complete church or body. Enriched in everything by Christ in all utterance and knowledge, they came behind in no gift. I Cor. 1:5-7. As such, the church at Corinth had as much authority to loose and bind on earth as any other church. Matt. 15:18-19, 18:15-19.

Although Paul’s ministry went beyond the confines of the local church, he recognized the church at Corinth as the body of Christ and sovereignly endowed with authority to act in matters of judgment. The sin of this particular member, that we have already referred to in I Cor. 5, was so great until Paul instructed the church to turn him over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Though the church had this authority and should have exercised judgment, they were negligent in the matter until Paul wrote to them about it. From II Cor. 2:1-11, it seems the action of the church in judgment was used of the Lord to restore this erring member.

The action of the church in this case is a good example of the church using the keys of the kingdom to loose and bind on earth. Matt. 16:19. In this particular case God, himself, was withholding judgment, waiting for the church to act.

Although discipline and judgment are necessary in the church, the purpose should always be to deliver and restore. This is always the purpose of God’s judgment concerning a believer, and it should be ours also. Gal. 6:1. Heb. 12:5-11. Beyond doubt the widespread emphasis of the body of Christ as being universal and invisible has clouded the revelation of the local church as the body of Christ.

For all practical purposes the church is local and visible. Although there are ministries that go beyond the confines of any one locality, practical Christianity recognizes the church as an assembly of believers in a given locality, watched over by local elders. Titus 1:5. Acts 20:17-28.

Needless to say, you cannot ordain elders over a universal invisible church. And it is impossible to assemble together or tell your problems to a universal invisible church.

Discerning the Body
Beyond doubt, failure to discern the body of Christ is the cause of much of our problems. Not only does it result in physical sickness and death but it also results in spiritual sickness and death. I Cor. 11:30. When we fail to discern the body we do not see the importance of the unity of the Spirit.

Of all the gifts and graces that might be present in the church, we have discovered that the most powerful and compelling witness is the unity of the Spirit. It truly takes the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost to bring about and maintain the unity of the Spirit. Where you have unity wrought in hearts by a work of God’s Spirit through the Word you have love. This, of course, is why the unity of the Spirit is such a powerful and compelling force.

The purpose of Jesus’ prayer, that we be made perfect in one even as he and the Father were one, was that the world might see and believe that the Father sent the son. John 17:21.

Although I certainly agree that we have room for improvement, I can personally testify that, time and again, people who have come in among us have been most amazed by the spirit of unity they observe. However I must add that it is no small task to achieve and maintain the unity of the Spirit. But it can be done by the grace of God. Paul gives us the key in Eph. 4:2-3. “With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

And, of course, discerning the Lord’s body in the matter of wisdom and counsel and judgment is absolutely essential. This will also put a stop to the freelancing independent spirits that get such great revelations they don’t need to walk with the body of Christ. In many such cases these people have received an exalted spirit (demon) which deludes them into believing they are spiritually superior to the church.

Freedom
There are many misconceptions about the freedom we have in Christ. Many quote the scripture which says, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

“See,” they say, “we are free. We don’t need any church or preacher telling us what to do. We go as the spirit directs us and are in bondage to no man.” This is what the Jews said in rejecting Christ. John 8:33. Many so-called spirit-led individuals who spout this philosophy in the name of Christ are rebels against God, his Word and his body, the church.

Freedom, like all other principles, is a relative thing. If a poor horse was tethered to a hitching post day and night for weeks and was suddenly turned loose in a nice 10-acre pasture, he would kick up his heels and run wild with delight because of his newfound freedom.

However, if there were horses, cows and other farm animals in this pasture, his new found freedom wouldn’t give him the right to run, kick and bite the other animals. He would have to live in harmony with his new environment, under the watchful eye of Farmer Brown. Otherwise, he might be led back to the hitching post.

When we become a citizen of God’s kingdom, we are baptized into one body and made to drink into one Spirit. I Cor. 12:13. We don’t just become a part of the mystical church but a part of a local visible church in a given place. Frankly, I’m afraid of these so-called Christians that have been fathered by freelance ministers who claim to have been set free from all the religious systems of men.

Spiritual babies need mothers as much as physical babies do. They also need fathers who won’t desert them the first time an attractive harlot comes by.

Our God is a practical God. His true church gives birth to his children and they are fathered by the head of the Church, Jesus Christ. Many bastards have come forth, but they are not God’s children. It is only when Zion travails that spiritual children are born into God’s kingdom. Heb. 10:8. Isa. 66:8-9. Only the seed of Christ, activated by the anointing of God’s Spirit, can produce children. And it is this seed that will endure forever. Psa. 89:29.

And though they are set free from the curse of the law and the penalty of sin, they are babes that need to be taken care of by a good mother (church). They need the sincere milk of the Word that they might grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The saying that “the world has yet to see what a man can do who is totally surrendered to Christ” is very misleading. It makes no difference how dedicated a person is; he can only minister according to the measure of faith that is given to him. Rom. 12:3.

In addition to our faith being governed by the type of ministry we have, faith grows and develops as we exercise ourselves in spiritual things. Heb. 5:14. Even as our body and mind grows and develops into greater strength and capacity, so should the spiritual man. Growth and development require a well balanced diet and proper exercise. Where the diet and exercise is lacking, growth and development is stunted.

Dedication in itself will not take the place of these things. This is also the reason the church is spiritually weak and anemic. How can we minister a deliverance we have not experienced? We cannot minister health and vitality that we do not have.

The development of the Church is dependent on the ministry that it has. Everything brings forth after its own kind. Not only must the ministry have a knowledge of truth that will set the body free from many traditional hangups, but it must also minister faith that will enable the church to exercise itself in spiritual things.

Under the one congregation and one pastor system, the rest of the body has had very little opportunity to exercise itself in spiritual matters. And, under this system, the preacher served only the denominational diet instead of the living bread which comes down from heaven by the Holy Ghost. The prophet saw this day and said, “For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.” Isaiah 28:8.

If the fullness of God in knowledge, wisdom and power dwells in Christ’s body, the church, there must be some means of manifesting that life. This is a question that must be answered. Somehow, some way, the body must be liberated to express this life.

Hitherto man has restrained such freedom in the church lest the wrong kind of spirit manifest itself. But this is not the answer. It is true that if God is free to manifest himself in our midst, demonic power is also free and is subject to take advantage of this freedom to manifest itself.

Whenever we seek to curb or hinder the liberty of the body from manifesting the wrong spirit, we also hinder the freedom of the body to manifest the life and power of Christ. The truth is that both should have liberty to come forth in manifestation.

I Thess. 5:19-20 says, “Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings.” If we quench not the Spirit and despise not prophesyings, it is evident that liberty is also given to the wrong kind of spirit to manifest itself. However with liberty there also comes responsibility. What comes forth should be judged by the body. This is why I Thess. 5:21 adds these words, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”

Without judgment you cannot give liberty to the body to freely express itself. Otherwise you will have confusion, contention and strife. This is the reason the one preacher or pastor system developed in the beginning. The church must first be taught and prepared for body ministry and the necessity of judgment.

In The Midst
Another reason the Spirit of unity is so vital is because it is when we are walking together as a body that Christ takes his place over us as head. Matt. 18:20 says, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

To be gathered together in his name is not a random gathering together of professing Christians. It is a body that has been spiritually and scripturally formed together into one. They have been baptized into his name and become one flesh with him. They have his name. A spiritual and legal transaction has taken place. They are actually married to Christ and have a legal right to use his name in loosing and binding on earth.

Independent spirits, claiming to be Christians within or without some church systems, have no part nor lot in what we are talking about. This is why Christ is not in the midst of so many groups claiming to be his church.

Though claiming to be Christians, this lack of spiritual union prevents the church from having the covering of safety and protection that Christ’s body has when he is indeed in their midst. Only when we are moving together as a body, do we have the glory and protection of the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. After the sin of Miriam and Aaron, God removed the protective cloud covering from over Israel, and Miriam was smitten with leprosy. Num. 12:10.

It is this presence of Christ in our midst that Satan hates. Surrounded by this divine presence the church becomes an impregnable fortress that Satan’s forces cannot enter. When Christ is present in this manner, the church moves forward. The works of darkness are exposed and Satan’s kingdom is destroyed. With the unity of the Spirit, the church is invincible.

Spirit of Division
This is also why Satan ever seeks to divide the body of Christ. The Satanic motive behind most conflicts in the church is to divide. It is amazing how clever and adept Satan is in creating divisions through one means or another.

One real tragedy about division is that good and innocent people are often involved. They are made to suffer along with the guilty. Division causes roots of bitterness to come forth and defile others. Worst of all, the Holy Spirit is grieved and the testimony of Christ is hurt in the earth.

The spirit of division often starts through people who have joined themselves to the body without being truly converted. In fact, Satan actually plants such people among God’s people to create division. This is one of the tactics he uses to strangle and stop the forward progress of the church. When unconverted people become the ruling majority in a local church or movement, that church or movement dies. It may continue the outward form but it ceases to minister the life of Christ to men.

Although Satan would much rather cause division among the leadership in Christ’s body, he will take whatever he can get. If he can’t get a mile he will take a yard, if he can’t get a yard, he will take an inch. If he can’t get to a strong influential member, he will defile a weak one.

The reason he desires to divide the leadership is because that is where he can do the most damage to the body. Leaders are your most respected and influential members. People follow leaders. When leaders are led astray by the spirit of division, the people are led astray. When leaders begin to feud with one another, the people begin to feud with one another.

It is through the ministry of Christ to the church that Christ, the head, leads his people. So division is not just brother being separated from brother; it is separation from Christ and God. This is what Satan is after.

Another reason Satan works so hard to divide the church is because he cannot get in without division. Division opens the door for all kinds of evil spirits to enter the church. In the very last days before the coming of Christ, Babylon, which epitomizes division and confusion, will become the habitation of devils and the hold of every foul spirit. Rev. 18:2.

The key to the blessings of Christ and our protection from Satan and his evil host is the unity of the Spirit in walking with our brother. This will require subjection to one another in the church such as most of us have never experienced before.

Hidden Treasure
This is indeed a great mystery; called by Jesus in Matt. 13:44, the “treasure hid in a field.” The field is a type of the earth from whence God fashioned the body of Adam in the beginning. This is why Paul says, “…we have this treasure in earthen vessels….” II Cor. 4:7.

The field is not the whole earth but a very small and particular portion that has been chosen and prepared to bring forth fruit. John 15:16. Heb. 6:7-8. This field is that very small remnant of humanity whose earthen vessels hold the treasure that is Christ.

It is very difficult for man to find this treasure because of where it is hid. When man thinks of God he looks to past religious history, the prophetic future or the mystical God of heaven. He looks in every direction but the right one. He knows too many negative things about the flesh of man to look in that direction. It is beyond human conception to think that God would clothe himself in sinful human flesh.

This is the great mystery that has to be revealed by God himself. This is also why Satan constantly works to make the church look bad. He knows that the natural, sense-governed man cannot see Christ come in the flesh because of the flesh itself.

It makes no difference how good or righteous a man might be, the natural man is prone to place all flesh in the same category. Unbelief sees only evil and human infirmity. This is why the masses of humanity could not see God in Christ. This is also why unbelieving man, controlled by the spirit of antichrist, will never find this treasure nor understand this great mystery.

Until the church regains a knowledge of the truth hidden in the “great mystery” of Eph. 5:30-32, it will remain weak and anemic. This truth, walked in, will set us free. John 8:31-32. God alone can reveal this great mystery to us.

Thank God for Psa. 25:14 which says, “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant.”

Like the healing waters of Ezekiel 47:1-12, as the tide of truth rises higher and higher it will bring healing to everything it touches. Beyond doubt, one of our greatest problems is failure to discern the body of Christ.

Encouraging Words

Heb. 10:25 “… let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Andrew Murray Quotes

Faith is “…confessed helplessness casting itself on God and His promises…”

I’m just a branch…but a beloved one!

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5 ESV.

Abiding in Christ

“As surely as the Husbandman made the Vine what it was to be, will He make each branch what it is to be. Our Father is our Husbandman, the Surety for our growth and fruit…

He insists upon the truth: Not of itself can the branch bear fruit; except it abide, it cannot bear fruit. “No more can ye, except ye abide in me.”

Let me learn the lesson. Abiding is to be an act of the will and the whole heart…

You are the branch.—You need be nothing more. You need not for one single moment of the day take upon you the responsibility of the Vine. You need not leave the place of entire dependence and unbounded confidence.

Abiding in Me is indispensable, for, you know it, of yourselves you can do nothing to maintain or act out the heavenly life…

It is the wholehearted surrender in everything to do His will, that gives access to a life in the abiding enjoyment of His love. Obey and abide…

“The purpose is His, He will carry it out; the fruit is His, He will bring it forth; the abiding is His, He will maintain it.” ― The True Vine

Living by Faith

You know how Scripture teaches us that in all God’s leadings of His people, faith has everywhere been the one condition of the manifestation of His power.

Faith is the ceasing from all nature’s efforts, and all other dependence; faith is confessed helplessness casting itself upon God’s promise, and claiming its fulfillment; faith is putting ourselves quietly into God’s hands for Him to do the work. — Abide in Christ

…the life of faith [is] a life in which, every moment, everything is expected from God. — The Two Covenants

…the true nature of the branch-life; its absolute dependence, and at the same time its glorious sufficiency — independent of all else, because dependent on Jesus. — Abide in Christ

Relationship between Grace and “Doing” (Law)

It is impossible to speak too strongly of the need there is to know that, as wonderful and free and alone sufficient as is the grace that pardons, is the grace that sanctifies; we are just as absolutely dependent upon the latter as the former. We can do as little to the one as the other. The grace that works in us must as exclusively do all in us and through us as the grace that pardons does all for us. In the one case as the other, everything is by faith alone.

…the one difference between the Old [Covenant, Law] and the New [Covenant, Grace] is that in the latter all is to be done by God. — The Two Covenants

Encouraging Words

Heb. 10:25 “… let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

A Human Vehicle of the Divine Life

by Major W. Ian Thomas

“Faithful is he that calls you, who also will do it.” (I Thessalonians 5:24).

The One who calls you to a life of righteousness is the One who by our consent lives that life of righteousness through you! The One who calls you to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, is the One who by your consent, goes into all the world and preaches the Gospel to every creature through you!

This is the divine genius that saves a man from the futility of self-effort. It relieves the Christian of the burden of trying to pull himself up by his own bootstraps! If it were not for this divine provision, the call to Christ would be a source of utter frustration, presenting the sorry spectacle of a sincere idealist, constantly thwarted by his own inadequacy.

If you will but trust Christ, not only for the death He died in order to redeem you, but also for the life that He lives and waits to live through you, the very next step you take will be a step taken in the very energy and power of God Himself. You will have begun to live a life which is essentially supernatural, yet still clothed with the common humanity of your physical body, and still worked out both in the big and the little things that inevitably make up the lot of a man who, though his heart may be with Christ in heaven, still has his two feet firmly planted on the earth.

You will have become totally dependent upon the life of Christ within you, and never before will you have been so independent, so emancipated from the pressure of your circumstances, so released at last from that self-distrust which has made you at one moment an arrogant, loud-mouth braggart, and the next moment the victim of your own self-pity and, either way, always in bondage to the fear of other men’s opinions.

You will be free from the tyranny of a defeated enemy within. You will be more than conqueror, for even death itself is conquered by His life. Christ through death destroyed “him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14). This indeed is victory!

You will be restored to your true humanity to be the human vehicle of the divine life.

From: The Saving Life of Christ. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House. ©1961.

Encouraging Words

Heb. 10:25 “… let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Faith For Young Believers

by Andrew Murray

When an honourable man says anything, he also does it: on the back of the saying follows the doing. So also is it with God: when He would do anything, He says so first through His word. When the man of God becomes possessed with this conviction and established in it, God always does for him what He has said. With God, speaking and doing always go together: the deed follows the word: ‘Shall He say it and not do it?’ (Gen. 21:1; 32:12; Num. 14:17,18,20; 23:19; Josh. 21:45; 23:14; 2 Sam. 7:25,29; 1 Chron. 8:15,24; Ps. 119:49) When I have a word of God in which He promises to do something, I can always remain sure that He will do it. I have simply to take and hold fast the word, and there with wait upon God: God will take care that He fulfils His word to me. Before I ever feel or experience anything, I hold fast the promise, and I know by faith that God will make it good to me. (Luke 1:38,45; John 3:33; 4:50; 11:40; 20:29; Heb. 11:11,18)

What, now, is faith? Nothing other than the certitude that what God says is true. When God says that something subsists or is, then does faith rejoice, although it sees nothing of it. (Rom. 1:17; 4:5; 5:1; Gal. 3:27; Eph. 1:19; 3:17) When God says that He has given me something, that something in heaven is mine, I know by faith with entire certitude that it is mine. (John 3:16,17,36; 1 John 5:12,13) When God says that something shall come to pass, or that He will do something for me, this is for faith just as good as if I had seen it. (Rom. 8:38; Phil. 3:21; 1 Thess 5:24; 1 Pet. 1:4,5) Things that are, but that I have not seen, and things that are not yet, but shall come, are for faith entirely sure. ‘Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the proving of things not seen.’ (Heb. 11:1) Faith always asks only for what God has said, and then relies on His faithfulness and power to fulfil His word.

Let us now review again the words of Scripture. Of Mary we read: ‘Blessed is she that believed; for there shall be a fulfilment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord.’ All things that have been spoken in the word shall be fulfilled for me: so I believe them.

Of Abraham it is reported that he was fully assured that that which had been promised, God was also able to fulfil. This is assurance of faith: to be assured that God will do what He has promised.

Exactly thus is it in the word of Paul: ‘I believe God that it shall be even so as it hath been spoken unto me.’ It stood fixed with him that God would do what He had spoken.

Young disciples in Christ, the new, the eternal life that is in you is a life of faith. And do you not see how simple and how blessed that life of faith is? I go every day to the word and hear there what God has said that He has done and will do. (Gal. 2:20; 3:2,5; 5:5,6; Heb. 10:35; 1 Pet. 1:2) I take time to lodge in my heart the word in which God says that, and I hold it fast, entirely assured that what God has promised, He is able to perform. And then in a childlike spirit I await the fulfilment of all the glorious promises of His word. And my soul experiences: Blessed is she that believed; for the things that have been spoken to her from the Lord shall be fulfilled. God promises — I believe — God fulfils: that is the secret of the new life.

O my Father, Thy child thanks Thee for this blessed life of faith in which we have to walk. I can do nothing, but Thou canst do all. All that Thou canst do hast Thou spoken in Thy word. And every word that I take and trustfully bring to Thee, Thou fulfillest. Father, in this life of faith, so simple, so glorious, will I walk with Thee. Amen.

1. The Christian must read and search the Scriptures to increase his knowledge. For this purpose he daily reads one or more principal portions. But he reads the Scriptures also to strengthen his faith. And to this end he must take one or two verses to make them the subject of special reflection, and to appropriate them trustfully for himself.

2. Pray, do not suffer yourselves to be led astray by those who speak as if faith were something great and unintelligible. Faith is nothing other than the certitude that God speaks truth. Take some promises of God and say to Him: I know for certain that this promise is truth, and that Thou wilt fulfil it. He will do it.

3. Never mourn over unbelief as if it were only a weakness which you cannot help. As God’s child, however weak you may be, you have the power to believe, for the spirit of God is in you. You have only to keep in mind this: no one apprehends anything before that he has the power to believe; he must simply begin and continue with saying to the Lord that he is sure that His word is truth. He must hold fast the promise and rely upon God for the fulfilment.

Encouraging Words

Heb. 10:25 “… let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

I Am

I Am Somebody, A Saint, By God’s Grace, In Christ
Ephesians 1:1-1, Psalm 139:13-18 , Ephesians 2:8-10, 2 Corinthians 5:17

I Am Blessed With Every Spiritual Blessing And Have All I Need In Christ
Ephesians 1:3, Colossians 2:9-10

I Am Chosen By God
Ephesians 1:4,11, 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5, Colossians 3:12, John 15:16

I Am Holy And Blameless In His Sight
Ephesians 1:4, Romans 3:21-26, Romans 8:1-4, 1 Corinthians 1:30, Ephesians 4:22-24

I Am A Loved Son/Daughter Of God
Ephesians 1:4,5, John 1:12,13, Romans 8:15-17, Romans 8:31-39, 1 John 3:1, Romans 5:6-8, John 15:15, 1 John 4:9-10

I Am A Trophy Of God’s Grace
Ephesians 1:9-10, 12, Ephesians 2:4-7, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

I Am Redeemed And Forgiven
Ephesians 1:7, Isaiah 53:4-6, Colossians 1:10-14

I Have The Holy Spirit In Me
Ephesians 1:13-14, John 14:15-17

I Am God’s Possession
Ephesians 1:14, 1 Peter 2:9