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The
Apostle declares to the saints in Christ: “[That you may really come] to know [practically, through
experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere
knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being]
unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine
Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!”
(Ephesians 3:19, AMP). If God lives
in us, why does he wish for the fullness of God? This is the awakening of the
saint to his true self. We have so much in us, but until we have that
revelation knowledge from God we are going to end up living the beggarly life,
even though we have the all-conquering life of God in us. Here’s Paul’s
previous statement: “Surely you have heard that God in his grace has given me this
work to do for your good. God revealed his secret plan and made it known to me
(…and if you will read what I have written, you can learn about my
understanding of the secret of Christ.)
“In
past times human beings were not told this secret, but God has revealed it now
by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets” (Ephesians 3:2-5, GNB). This
means that there are secrets in the Kingdom of God that you get to know by
revelation. As you prayerfully study and meditate on the Word of God, the
Spirit of the Lord is going to minister to you in a special way with spiritual
realities. And He is doing same even as you go through this message. Oh, thank
God for His grace. As the Anointed Redeemer of Israel, Christ Jesus has nothing
distinct from His Church, but all that He has He holds for her. Adam's
righteousness was ours so long as he maintained it, and his sin was ours the
moment that he committed it; and in the same manner, all that the Second Adam
is or does, is ours as well as His, seeing that He is our representative. Do
you know the good news? Read this: “God has put all things under the authority of Christ and
has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church” (Ephesians 1:22, NLT). God has put all
things under Christ for my benefit? The devil has no power over me!
Trials
may come, but they’re for our advantage because we grow by overcoming them. “My brethren,
count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the
trying of your faith worketh patience. But
let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting
nothings” (James 1:2-4). That
we should be happy to face trials? But why? This is the Message Bible’s
translation of the same verse: “Consider
it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides.
You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows
its true colours. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do
its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.”
Trials develop us, making us grow to maturity. But you know, it’s the will of
God that we grow as believers, and one of the ways is through trials. The Lord
allows the devil to bring many challenges our way, but He knows we can deal
with them.
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Sometimes
people criticise God, calling Him all sorts of names. But the fact is that God
loves us. Trials come our way so that by overcoming them we may be perfect,
wanting nothing. The more challenges you overcome, the stronger you become. It’s
because God loves us that He allows the devil to come around at times. The
apostle Paul said, “…we glory in tribulations…” (Romans 5:3). He also said, “…there was
given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times
I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace
is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore
I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power
may rest on me” (2
Corinthians 12:7-9). God is saying to you today, “My grace is sufficient for you…” In our trials, He doesn’t expect
us to cry. He wants us rejoicing!
Paul
said, “We glory in tribulations”, and
the subsequent, “I will boast all the
more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” Hallelujah!
That’s what we’re supposed to do when we face trials. Many give up, but refuse
to be counted as one. Our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion
looking for someone to devour (1 Peter
5:8). Satan is constantly on the lookout for his prey, but this is good
news: “…the
eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself
strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou
hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars”
(2 Chronicles 16:9). The Message
Bible translation: “GOD is always on the
alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him.
You were foolish to go for human help when you could have had God's help. Now
you're in trouble--one round of war after another.”
As
the devil goes out to look for his prey, God is also on the alert, looking out
for people who are committed to him, so He would deliver them from the snare of
the fowler and the noisome pestilence (Psalm
91:3). In Christendom, your faith really matters to God, that’s why He’s
dealt with every one of us the measure of faith (Romans 12:3). Every Christian has enough faith to turn hopeless
situation around for the best (Matthew
17:20). We are also saved by faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9). No wonder it’s impossible to please God without faith
(Hebrews 11:6). The act of faith is
what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd (Hebrews 11:2). I would personally
recommend that you read the whole of Hebrews chapter 11, where Paul talks about
the men and women of Faith. In the latter part Paul said, “And what shall I more say? for the time
would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae;
of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:
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“Who
through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises,
stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of
the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to
flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life
again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might
obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and
scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they
were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about
in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom
the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in
dens and caves of the earth” (Hebrews 11:32-38). We are a people of
faith. It’s with faith that you are going to be able to withstand every
affliction of the enemy.
“If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is
small”
(Proverbs 24:10). The Hebrew word
for faint as the scripture renders is
raphah which when translated, means to sink, relax, sink down, let drop, or be
disheartened. Strength, as this verse renders, is your faith. If you fail
in the day of trial then your faith is small. How strong is your faith? We should
not be apt to faint, to droop and be discouraged, to desist from our work, and
to despair of relief. This is where other people’s spirit sink, and then their
hands hang down and their knees grow feeble, and they become unfit for
anything. When anything threatens them, they faint immediately and are ready to
give up all for gone; and by this means they render themselves unfit to grapple
with their trouble and unable to help themselves. I know you are bigger than
that, because you are a child of God. Put your faith to work, no matter the
difficulties.
Take
this: “Keep a
cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing
better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You're not the only ones
plunged into these hard times. It's the same with Christians all over the
world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won't last forever. It
won't be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ –
eternal and glorious plans they are! – will have you put together and on your
feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does” (1 Peter 5:8-10, MSG). Don’t let
circumstances dictate to you; rather, speak to them to conform to your words.
They will, so command them! We are blessed with all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3). All the goodness of the
past, the present, and the future, Christ bestows upon His people. In the
mysterious ages of the past the Lord Jesus was His Father's first elect, and in
His election He gave us an interest, for we were chosen in Him from before the
foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4).
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He
had from all eternity the prerogatives of Sonship, as His Father's
only-begotten and well-beloved Son, and He has, in the riches of His grace, by
adoption and regeneration, elevated us to sonship also, so that to us He has
given “power
to become the sons of God” (John
1:12). The eternal covenant, based upon suretiship and confirmed by oath,
is ours, for our strong consolation and security. In the everlasting
settlements of predestinating wisdom and omnipotent decree, the eye of the Lord
Jesus was ever fixed on us; and we may rest assured that in the whole roll of
destiny there is not a line which militates against the interests of His
redeemed. The great betrothal of the Prince of Glory is ours, for it is to us
that He is affianced, as the sacred nuptials shall ere long declare to an
assembled universe. The marvellous incarnation of the God of heaven, with all
the amazing condescension and humiliation which attended it, is ours.
The
bloody sweat, the scourge, the cross, are ours for ever. Whatever blissful
consequences flow from perfect obedience, finished atonement, resurrection,
ascension, or intercession, all are ours by His own gift. Upon His breastplate
He is now bearing our names; and in His authoritative pleadings at the throne
He remembers our persons and pleads our cause. His dominion over principalities
and powers, and His absolute majesty in heaven, He employs for the benefit of
them who trust in Him. His high estate is as much at our service as was His
condition of abasement. He who gave Himself for us in the depths of woe and
death, doth not withdraw the grant now that He is enthroned in the highest
heavens. “It pleased
the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell” (Colossians 1:19). God has given to Him
all power and all authority. As the Son of man, He is now head over all things
to His church, and He reigns over heaven, and earth, and hell, with the keys of
life and death at His girdle (Revelation
1:18).
He
has taken and carried by storm the hearts of His people, and has slain their
enemies who held them in cruel bondage. In the Red Sea of His own blood, our
Redeemer has drowned the Pharaoh of our sins. He has delivered us from the iron
yoke and heavy curse of the law. We are His portion, whom He has taken out of
the hand of the Amorite with His sword and with His bow. “But we have this treasure in earthen
vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us”
(2 Corinthians 4:7). We are troubled
on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted,
but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:7-9). New covenant servants (followers of Jesus
Christ) are “earthen vessels”
(ordinary clay pots). Yet, in the container of their redeemed humanity dwells “this treasure” (the Son of God
Himself). This arrangement calls for the treasure (Jesus), not the vessels (you
and me) to be the object of all trust and the recipient of all glory.
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Appropriately,
the Lord has also arranged a process that magnifies the treasure. This process
involves the everyday pressures of life, which come from all sides. Clay pots
cannot withstand much pressure, but the treasure within us (Christ) is able to
keep us from being smashed. “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus”
(2 Timothy 2:1). The process that
draws attention to the treasure also involves many perplexities. We face
difficult decisions and impossible issues, but our Wonderful Counsellor protects
us from hopelessness: “In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).
Persecutions are included in the process. People accuse us, misunderstand us,
or lie about us. Still, we know we are not abandoned by our Lord who lives
within us: “…for
he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5). Even catastrophes are a
part of the process that magnifies the treasure who indwells us.
Circumstantial
upheavals and overwhelming heartaches occur, but the Lord stabilizes our souls,
so we don't tip over under the weight
of circumstances. “They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the
LORD was my support” (Psalm 18:18,
ESV). Thus, life comes at us like an overpowering military tank, ready to
flatten us. There is no natural hope, because clay pots can't handle tanks.
Yet, as the dust clears, the flower pot of our lives can remain intact (if we
are trusting in the able and faithful one who lives in our hearts). There is no
attacking tank that can overcome the Lord Jesus Christ. “He who is in you is greater than he who is
in the world” (1 John 4:4).
Jesus is our indwelling treasure. When pressures, perplexities, persecutions,
or catastrophes come our way, He’s right there. As a Christian, you are vested
with the authority of God irrespective of how big or small you look.
A
few months back, there were some huge controversies about a song that was
released by a Ghanaian missionary, revivalist and psalmist, Rev Prince Nyarko.
I just wanted to know the lyrics of the song that people criticised so much. The
song is titled, “I Rule the World!” (Watch it on YouTube). Even when I’d not
listened to it I was like, “Dear Lord
Jesus. This song is going to be so inspiring and full of revelation.” The
title alone should draw your attention to something. It makes your spirit yearn
to just know what it’s all about. The song talks about Christians knowing who
they are and where they stand. According to the song, anything made by God
overcomes the world and words in the song such as “I am created to rule the world, anything made of God is the light of
the world therefore it is made to shine and rule the world”, attests to it.
What a song!
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How
could this song be controversial, raising a lot of questions among the public? Anybody
who talks against this song is either not a Christian or a non-student of the
Bible. There’s something we carry on the inside of us that many of us do not
really meditate upon. How could you be making critics of such song when you see
this in your Bible: “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and
this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that
overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”
(1 John 5:4-5). The Message Bible
puts it like this: “Every God-begotten person
conquers the world’s ways. “The conquering power that brings the world to its
knees is our faith. The person who wins out over the world’s ways is simply the
one who believes Jesus is the Son of God.” The first question you’re going
to ask yourself is, “I’m I born of God?”
Secondly, “Do I believe in Jesus as the
Son of God?”
Labels: THE BELIEVER'S AUTHORITY