Romans 4:19-21

A friend was reading through Romans and came across these verese

"And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead””and so was Sarah’s womb. Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.”
”­”­Romans”¬ ”­4:19-21”¬ ”­NLT”¬”¬

He then asked me the question "How can Paul say Abraham’s faith never wavered when it clearly did?

Does anyone have some insight on this? Abraham must have doubted because he tried to take matters in his own hands when he slept with Hagar. Right??

I read your post, and went back and looked at Gen. 16 and 17 one more time. Actually, the whole Hagar thing was Sarai's idea. Abraham just agreed to it. When the angel appeared, Abraham believed it, but Sarai laughed. That is why the child's name was called Isaac.

Abraham made a lot of mistakes and going in to Hagar was perhaps the most glaring. But I don't believe His faith in God that out of His loins would come a great nation and the savior ( Christ ) never wavered.

Several years ago I looked at every New Testament mention of Abraham and then compared it to the Old Testament. According to the New Testament, God showed Abraham that his seed would be Jesus Christ, the savior of the world, and showed him that Christ would be raised from the dead. This is why Abraham had such confidence in offering Isaac. He just assumed (great faith) that God would do for His son what He had been shown God would do for His own Son. Really cool stuff when you study it out. It will make you jump for joy at God's plan for your salvation.

It was God who made the covenant promise - commitment to Abraham. It was God's total responsibility to bring this promise to pass. Now Abraham believed in God's commitment to him because he knew what God had promised him, God would perform. Now Abraham’s faith never wavered because the fulfillment of the promise was dependent on God's faithfulness to Abraham. It did not depend on his faithfulness to God. So Abraham’s faith never wavered.

Hi Travis,

I also want to dig deeper into this.

Just thinking:

(1)

Sarah laughed.

Gen. 18:10-12 ”“
He said, "I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son." And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing. Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?"

But Abraham had also laughed.

Gen. 17:15-18 ”“
Then God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her." Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, "Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?" And Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before You!"

(2)

Sarah laughed.

But the Lord did not hold that against her.

This was the Lord’s response:

Gen. 18:14 ”“
"Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son."

Sarah’s lack of faith did not nullify the Lord’s faithfulness.

Perhaps Abraham’s faith didn’t waiver. He just went in with Hagar to please his wife in much the same way that Adam wasn’t deceived but perhaps ate the fruit to please his wife as did Sampson try to please Delilah. It’s a theme Paul addresses in 1 Corintjhians 7.

Hi Robert,

Here is the IMMENSE difference:

Adam was driven out of paradise (Gen. 3:23). Through him, sin and death entered the world (Rom. 5:12). And in him, all die (1 Cor. 15:22).

Abraham was God’s friend (Isa. 41:8). His faith is our example (Rom. 4:19-21; Heb. 11). And in his seed all the nations of the earth are blessed (Gen. 22:18).

And Sarai became Sarah (Gen. 17:15), God’s princess!
(Comment: Sarah means "princess”.)
And there was the time and place when it was God’s will for Abraham to listen to her (Gen. 21:9-12).

How would your explanation explain all these? If Abraham failed in the same way as Adam failed, why are the outcomes so vastly different?

Blessings.

The difference might be that God did not tell Abraham not to be with Hagar whereas, God definitively told Adam not to eat the fruit or he would surely die.

I'm glad some few decided to reply.

It appears from Genesis 17 that Abram being 99 years old, Ishmael being 13 years old, God appeared to Abram and made a covenant with Abraham that he would bless Isaac.

God gave specific reasons for not blessing Ishmael as he did Isaac.

13 years later, God appeared to Abram making covenant and establishing it with the sign of circumcision. God also now going forward to establish Abrahams descendants brings forth Isaac by supernatural intervention and not by way of natural human ability. This event marked a new period in the lives of Abraham and Sarah.

But as to wavering in his faith, It maybe that Paul was referring to Abrahams faith in God after God had appeared and made covenant with him that Sarah would conceive.
So, despite Abrahams age and Sarah being past child-bearing age, Isaac became the 'child of promise' because his birth was according to divine agency and not by way of expediency which Sarai and Abraham acted to obtain the promised child with human ability.

As I see it, Paul referring to Abraham's faith that God would give him a Child being so old and Sarah being past her natural ability to give birth undertook to go unto Sarah and receive from God a true child of promise.
Here in this context he did not waiver but believed and received of God what God had promised.

Abraham's unwavering faith in context was 'looking past the deadness of his body and Sarah's womb' and going unto his wife that by God's power she would conceive. The impossibility of his own body and Sarah's body performing was overthrown by his faith in the promise of God.

Paul by the Spirit of God seeing the working of God in this ancient couple receives the revelation of God, herein lays the heart of the new covenant, that being righteousness is by faith and not works. That our birth is by divine agency our righteousness is by divine promise, our new life is by a circumcision not made by hands and our Savior saw to it that what was promised to Abraham was fulfilled in us by way of his sacrifice of his own self on the mount.

Marvin wrote:
"Paul by the Spirit of God seeing the working of God in this ancient couple receives the revelation of God, herein lays the heart of the new covenant....."

I am thinking along the same lines.

Will gather my thoughts together and write again.

Roman 4:19-21 ””
Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.

John 8:56 ”“
"Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."

MY THOUGHTS:

THE CROSS IS WHERE TRUE FAITH BEGINS

Men commit two evils when they forsake God and turn to themselves and believe in themselves and trust in themselves for life and everything required for life. This is FALSE FAITH in self that imparts nothing but emptiness, futility and death.

Jer. 2:13 ”“
For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me,
The fountain of living waters,
To hew for themselves cisterns,
Broken cisterns
That can hold no water.

Therefore, the faith we are NOT to have is the confidence in ourselves, in "flesh”.

Phil. 3:3 ”“
for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,

TRUE FAITH is faith in God and NOT in self. TRUE FAITH sees our utter worthlessness and barrenness and hopelessness and sees God as our only hope and sufficiency and is fully assured that what God has promised He is able to perform.

Ps. 39:4-7 ”“
LORD, make me to know my end
And what is the extent of my days;
Let me know how transient I am.
Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths,
And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight;
Surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Selah.
Surely every man walks about as a phantom;
Surely they make an uproar for nothing;
He amasses riches and does not know who will gather them.
And now, Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in You.

2 Cor. 3:5 (KJV) ”“
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;

Isa. 26:3-4 (KJV) ”“
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:

Jer. 17:7 (YLT) ”“
Blessed is the man who trusteth in Jehovah,
And whose confidence hath been Jehovah.

Rom. 4:20-21 ”“
…… he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.

God’s promise to us is eternal life and that life is in His Son, Jesus Christ.

1 John 2:25 ”“
This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.

John 14:6 ”“
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

1 John 5:11-12 ”“
And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

God gives us this eternal life by putting us in Christ and gives us His Holy Spirit to live in us and through the agency of the Holy Spirit we know the reality of Christ in us. Because Christ is in us, as He is, we are. TRUE FAITH is being fully assured that God’s promise of eternal life to us through Christ in us by the Holy Spirit is YES!

1 Cor. 1:30 ”“
But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,

John 14:16-17,20 ”“
I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you……In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

Col. 2:9-10 ”“
For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete……

2 Cor. 1:20-21 ”“
For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us. Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God,

WE must see the total worthlessness and hopelessness of self and die to self. We die to self by being crucified with Christ.

Gal. 2:20 ”“
I have been crucified with Christ……

"It is finished” (John 19:30).

In the old covenant, sacrifices were made year after year because in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year for it was impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins (Heb. 10:1-4). But, by the will of God, "we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. 10:10).

It is finished! Our old man of sin and self has died with Christ forever. And God says, "AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.” (Heb. 10:17).

Do we continue to sin?

Rom. 6:2 ”“
"May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?”

Rom. 6:6-7 ”“
knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.

Rom. 6:10-11 (KJV) ”“
For in that he died, he died unto sin once……Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin……

What do we do?

Phil. 3:13-14 ”“
……one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

2 Cor. 5:21 ”“
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

2 Cor. 5:14 ”“
For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

2 Cor. 5:17 ”“
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

Rom. 5:11 (KJV) ”“
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves ……alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Eph. 2:4-6 ”“
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us……raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

Col. 3:1-4 ”“
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

Col. 3:10-11 ”“
and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him-- a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

Gal. 2:20 ”“
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me……

Salvation is a gift of God.

Eph. 2:8-10 ”“
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

God Himself will perfect us in Christ.

I Cor. 1:4-5,8-9 (Berean Study Bible) ”“
I always thank my God for you because of the grace He has given you in Christ Jesus. For in Him you have been enriched in every way, in all speech and all knowledge…… He will sustain you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

1 Thess. 5:23-24 ”“
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.

John 17:3 ”“
This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

We do not have because we do not know Him, who He is in us. Therefore let us search the scriptures to know Christ. The riches of Christ are unfathomable (Eph. 3:8).

He is in us. As He is, we are. We do not possess because we do not see. May God open our eyes to see the glory of Christ in us.

2 Cor. 4:4 ”“
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

2 Cor. 4:6 ”“
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

2 Cor. 13:5 ”“
……Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you……?

2 Cor. 3:18 ”“
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

COMMENT ON ABRAHAM’S FAITH:

In Rom. 4:19-21, Abraham finally saw his own body as "dead”. At this crucial turning point, he denied himself, embraced the cross, died to himself, turned to God and trusted in God alone. False faith in self was cast away and true faith in God began and "he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.”

WOW!!!!

Knowing God is knowing the never ending - unfolding life we have received really is. First, in 1 John 5:11-12, John said this about that life. God has given us HIS-unfolding life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son [Jesus dwelling in your heart] has life.

The term His never ending - unfolding life carries the concept of the unfolding of our lives, step by step, out from Jesus living in our hearts. That unfolding of Jesus as our life will continue step by step, from glory to glory, forever.

But what is this life we now possess?

A Fountain of Water. Now, we said that we don't hold mental images in our brains depicting God. Nonetheless, Jesus gives us a picture in John 4:14 that He wants us to have when we think about the life that is Father, knowing Father, inside of us. Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become inside of him a fountain of water springing up into never ending - unfolding life.

Agree, Vern.

The life of Christ in us through the Holy Spirit is a never ending-unfolding life that begins now and will continue step by step, from glory to glory, forever.

Rom. 11:33 -- Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God!

ADD:

Eph. 3:14-19 -- ….that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith....that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

Phil. 3:8 -- …….that I may gain Christ

Phil. 3:12 -- Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

T. Austin Sparks:

THE OBJECT OF FAITH

"It is not that we have somehow to conjure up something called faith. It is the object of faith that is vital, ……and as the letter to the Hebrews so forcibly sets forth, even Jesus Christ, Who He is, what He is, the place He occupies, and His capacity. It is all in Him. The focal point of faith is Jesus Christ, and the value, the virtue, the power of faith is derived from its object, it is not in itself. It is not until you get the right object of faith that faith is a potent thing. ……To become a positive spiritual factor in the house of God means that there has to come a vital link between your spirit and Jesus Christ, a living union by faith with Jesus Christ, and it is that taking hold on Him in faith that provides the channel, the vehicle, through which the energy of God comes. The energy of God, the Holy Ghost, comes along the line of Jesus Christ as the object: not something that we call faith, which may, after all, be something that we have worked up to make ourselves believe. Oh no, what matters is the object of faith, the Lord Himself. God works on the ground of His Son, and you and I apprehend His Son, Jesus Christ, by faith. The Holy Ghost seals that, everything is related to that.”

Very good sermon by Major Ian Thomas:

Jehoshaphat ”“ "Faith cometh by Hearing"

http://ia801605.us.archive.org/5/items/SERMONINDEX_SID26481/SID26481.mp3

Here is the real question - how do I experience this union with God in Christ?

You DO NOT enter into union with the Lord Jesus Christ. You are incapable of doing such a thing. It is IMPOSSIBLE. Try for the rest of your life and you will never know Jesus as He really is.

Here is the truth - God has already united you with Christ Jesus. That is your present reality

1 Corinthians 1:30

New International Version (©1984) "It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption."

New Living Translation (©2007) "God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; He made us pure and holy, and He freed us from sin."

Basically, many Christians are trying to get what they already have in Christ. They are trying to get into a room that they are already in. Christians are striving to improve themselves instead of resting in the power of His resurrection life. If we understood what the Bible declares to be true, then there is no self to improve. For a "dead man" can't be improved. "You are dead, and Christ is your life..." (Col. 3:3-4). God doesn't want improved nor recommitted people. He wants dead people. Why? You can't be raised with Christ if you are not dead.

Salvation is one thing and one thing alone and that is the PERSON of Christ living in you NOW. Jesus has entered into union with you!! You will never know Jesus in His power until you first accept Him as having already come unto union with all of your human weakness and inability. Jesus Himself NOW lives in you as you.

How do you start on your journey towards knowing this Jesus who is living inside you? It is so simple that many of us have missed it. Just embrace the fact of reality of the True Lord Jesus Christ, the Sustainer of everything, the One-Seed Son of God, lives inside your heart NOW!! Think, now, about this present fact, this is our first step of "believing in Jesus." First - "You believe in God, believe also in Me" and then - "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me" (John 14:1 & 11).

He is your Continuous Connection. Now Jesus lives in your heart in all that He is, and if the Father, that is, God the All-Carrying One, lives inside of Jesus, then - God Himself lives inside of you. The Father is in Jesus in you. Now that's a big deal. - God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29).

Right now you will know these words are coming into you as the Holy Spirit writing the Lord Jesus Christ upon your heart. Word and Spirit are ALWAYS together. Word without Spirit cannot be of God. Spirit without Word cannot be of God. Word and Spirit are always together, yet Word always leads, yet Spirit goes before to prepare the way for Word. Your ability, now, to believe that God is telling you the truth when He speaks concerning you, that ability is a miracle and gift of the Holy Spirit.

Christ lives in your heart through faith. Do you KNOW what God is telling you now is the truth through these words? Now just receive these words coming into you through faith to be Jesus in Person living inside your heart, then you have been touched by a miracle of God and the power of the Holy Spirit is overshadowing you. This Jesus living inside of you is the very same Jesus that was conceived inside of Mary.

Just take God at His word. You can do this NOW. You are being drawn by the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit is opening your eyes to this existing reality of Christ living within you. He has established you in love. He has totally qualified you and made you worthy. You are rooted and grounded in His Love. The veil over your eyes has been lifted. Now just embrace that fact any boldly speak something like this out loud. "I do believe you God. I take you at your Word. You alone have made me one with Christ and made me one with you. This union I now have was not the result of my efforts or energy, In fact it has nothing to do with me at all but what YOU did IN CHRIST Jesus Christ Is Now my LIFE- He Now lives inside of me. His Life is the only life I have. I can never be separated from Him".

Did you do that? You can do it NOW!!

There is a LIVING river of His Life and Love right now inside you and it near ceases. In fact this Life just keeps growing, expanding and unfolding every second. Nothing can stop it from growing, expanding or unfolding because it is CHRIST HIMSELF!! The devil can not stop it. Circumstances can not stop it. Your feelings and emotions can not stop it. You can not stop it even if you wanted to.

Do not forget that the only way for the Spirit's transforming power to be activated in us is by simply believing what God says instead of striving to become who we already are. Once we respond to Gods truth concerning us we believe, then Truth (Jesus) will takes us over and takes hold of is by His Holy Spirit and transform us into the new persons we already are, thereby causing us to spontaneously manifest righteousness.

God has given us this eternal life by putting us in Christ and given us His Holy Spirit to live in us and through the agency of the Holy Spirit we know the reality of Christ in us. Because Christ is in us, as He is, we are. TRUE FAITH is being fully assured that God's promise of eternal life to us through Christ in us by the Holy Spirit is YES! SO BE IT!!

John 17:3 - "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."

If you want to muddle up this issue some more, consider:

1 Chronicles 1:32: Now the sons of Keturah, Abraham's concubine: she bare Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And the sons of Jokshan; Sheba, and Dedan.

It seems as though Abraham sired these children after Sarah's death. But when he was old and Sarah still living, "he considered his body good as dead" which could indicate a health issue that made him think he could no longer sire a child. On the other hand, there is faith/hope: all physical evidence would indicate the impossible but hope means God will work in spite of it, proving he is the Creator still. In Abraham's case faith meant he will still try and expect God to work when the evidence was such it could not be otherwise.

My understanding. What say?

Sandra,

(1)
"But when he was old and Sarah still living, ‘he considered his body good as dead’ which could indicate a health issue that made him think he could no longer sire a child.”

My Comment:

The Bible says:
Rom. 4:19 -- ……he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead ((((( since he was about a hundred years old )))))……

The reason why Abraham considered his body as good as dead was OLD AGE, NOT ill-health.

Life in Christ ascends from glory to glory. It is life without end.

Life in self is descends from futility to futility. It is life with death at its end.

(2)
"In Abraham's case faith meant he will still try and expect God to work when the evidence was such it could not be otherwise.”

My Comment:

The Bible says:
Rom. 4:20-21 -- yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.

Abraham‘s faith did NOT mean that "he was still trying to expect God to work” BUT he was FULLY ASSURED !!! that what God had promised, He was also able to perform.

(3)
"1 Chronicles 1:32: Now the sons of Keturah, Abraham's concubine: she bare Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And the sons of Jokshan; Sheba, and Dedan.”

SOME THOUGHTS

Abraham has only ONE true seed which is Christ.

Gal. 3:16 -- Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, "And to seeds," as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your seed," that is, Christ.

We are Abraham’s seed IN CHRIST.

Gal. 3:26 -- For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Isaac is the representation.

Gal. 4:28 -- And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise.

THROUGH CHRIST, Abraham became the father of a multitude of nations.

The sons of Keturah are not sons of the promise because only Isaac is.

They were not fellow heirs of Abraham with Isaac and were sent away.

Gen. 25:5 -- Now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac; but to the sons of his concubines, Abraham gave gifts while he was still living, and sent them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the land of the east.

They were not sons of Sarah, the "free woman” in Gal. 4:31, therefore not of the "Jerusalem above” (Gal. 4:26).

They do not represent sons of God IN Christ, Abraham’s true seed, which is represented by Isaac. They do not represent heirs of God according to promise.

Gal. 3:29 -- And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise.

Rom. 8:16-17 -- The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

I see them representing Christians who are apart from Christ, Christian who are not branches in the True Vine, Christians who are not abiding in Christ and Christ is not in them.

Consider Midian, the fourth son of Keturah (Gen. 25:1-2). He was an enemy of the descendants of Isaac as shown in the following scripture:

(i)
Connection with Ishmaelites

Joseph was sold by his brothers to traders going to Egypt. In the Genesis account of this event, the Midianites and Ishmaelites are so intermingled they seem to have the same identity.

Gen. 37:25 ”“ Then they sat down to eat a meal. And as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing aromatic gum and balm and myrrh, on their way to bring them down to Egypt.

Gen. 37:26-28 ”“ Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood? "Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers listened to him. Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. Thus they brought Joseph into Egypt.

Gen. 37:36 -- Meanwhile, the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh's officer, the captain of the bodyguard.

(ii)
Connection with Moabites

Num. 22:1-7
Elders from Moab and Midian were sent by Balak, king of Moab, to employ Balaam to curse Israel.

Num. 25:6-15
A son of Israel joined himself with a Midianite woman. They were slain by Phinehas the son of Eleazer, the son of Aaron, and the plague which had killed 24 000 was checked.

Num. 31:1-20
Israel waged war again Midian, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. And they killed every male and, also, every woman who had known man intimately. And Balaam was also killed in that war.

(iii)
Connection with Amalekites

Judg. 6:1-8:28
The Midianites joined the Amalekites and the "sons of the east” to oppress Israel by coming up "like locusts” to destroy their produce at harvest time.

My Comment:

Abraham had other children who were not children of the promise.

They had no share in Isaac’s inheritance.

They were sent away.

Are we IN Christ, Abraham’s true seed?

The Church at Ephesus had many good works but had lost their first love. They needed to repent or their lampstand would be removed out of its place (Rev. 2:1-7).

The Church at Laodicea considered themselves rich (riches can also be religious riches) but Christ was not within.
Rev. 3:20 ”“ Beholod, I stand at the door and knock……

2 Cor. 13:5 (KJV) -- Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

John 15:4-6 -- Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.

Major Ian Thomas:

"The surest way of reckoning ourselves dead to sin and to our old Adamic nature is to reckon ourselves alive in Jesus Christ and to be continually dependent on Him.”

"……without Me you can do nothing. So how much is it worth that you do that isn’t Jesus doing? Nothing. The truth is that Jesus alone can and we can’t. And that is the principle of the Christian life whereby you will reign in Christ Jesus moment by moment more than conquerors. In every situation, threat, opportunity and responsibility, you say, "I can’t”. You never say ‘I could’. But, ‘You can’, whose strength is made perfect in our weakness. And you always say, ‘You would’……That is what the Bible calls faith.”

The word reckon is a banking word. It means you can count on money in the bank when you go shopping. You can write checks because there's money in the bank. Reckoning doesn't put money in the bank. But counting on the fact that there is money in the bank will free you to write checks. After explaining that we have died and been raised with Christ, Paul said, "Even so consider [reckon] yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Romans 6:11).

You are dead to sin. You are alive to God. Reckoning doesn't make it so. It is already so. But reckoning allows you to live out of the fact that it is so. God says you are a brand-new creature. The old one died. You don't look dead, you don't feel dead, you don't always act dead, but are you going to agree with God or are you going to debate Him? You may debate Him, but you're going to lose the debate. It's not worth it. So in a simple act of faith you agree with God: "I read that, and it sounds too good to be true, but I'm going to believe that. I'm going to take God at His Word and count it as so."

It is extremely important for you to know that it was totally by God's doing that you are NOW one with Him. He put you in union with Christ. You DO NOT enter into union with the Lord Jesus Christ. You are incapable of doing such a thing. It is IMPOSSIBLE. Try for the rest of your life and you will never know Jesus as He really is.

1 Cor. 1:30, "God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; He made us pure and holy, and He freed us from sin." New Living Translation (©2007)

Good post, Vern.

Acts 3:6 (KJV) ”“
……Silver and gold have I none……In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

SILVER AND GOLD HAVE I NONE

Acts 17:24-25 ”“
The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;

Ps. 81:10 ”“
I, the LORD, am your God, Who brought you up from the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide and I will fill it..

Rom. 11:36 ”“
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

"So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey……(Ex. 3:8)”, a land filled with "great and splendid cities which you did not build, and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied… " (Deut. 6:10,11).

2 Cor. 3:5 ”“
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;

Jer. 9:23 ”“
Thus says the LORD, "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches……”

1 Cor. 1:26-29 ”“
For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.

Phil. 3:7-8 ”“
But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,

T. Austin-Sparks:
"……the great lesson of the vast expanse, the desert expanse, which lies between Christians in themselves and Christ. Karl Barth has coined for us a phrase …… ”” "the altogether other-ness of Christ”. ……Even yet in evangelical Christianity there is a clinging to the idea that we transfer everything to Christ and to Christianity when we are born again. We transfer all our faculties and our powers over to the interests of Christ and then, instead of using them for ourselves and for the world, we use them for Christ. That is the meaning of consecration, of surrender, as the terms are used so largely today in evangelical Christianity ”” the consecration of ourselves, our gifts, our faculties, our everything, to the Lord and to His service. But that falls short of something……It is not the transference and the consecration of everything that we are to the Lord to be used straight away as it is over on His side, for His interests instead of in the world. Christ is other yet, Christ is still different yet from consecrated natural life, oh, so other! ……to get a new mentality, a new conception, another, not our old one transferred, but another, and the distance, I said, is not the distance of time or geography necessarily, it is the distance of difference……"

Ps. 16:2””
I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord; I have no good besides You."

Job 22:24-26 ”“
And place your gold in the dust,
And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks,
Then the Almighty will be your gold
And choice silver to you.
For then you will delight in the Almighty
And lift up your face to God.

Col. 2:2 ”“
………Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

T. Austin-Sparks:
"What is the secret of it? What is the secret of spiritual progress? It is the letting go of our own will and mind to the fact, to the truth, that after all, though Christians at our best, wanting to be a hundred percent for the Lord, it is not in us either to be or do. Our will can never do it, our reason can never accomplish it, our impulses and desires can never get us there. We have to come to a brokenness and yieldedness where nature is laid low in the dust and all our treasure is with the stones of the brook and the Almighty becomes our treasure (Job 22:24-25); the Lord alone our wisdom, our strength and vision, our desire. Until you and I have learned the lesson of that utter brokenness and yieldedness and letting go to the Lord, spiritual progress is delayed.
"………Is it not desire to have it in ourselves, to see it, to feel it, to know it, to have it according to our minds? What is faith? Well, faith has nothing under its feet but God, just God. It is the Lord.
"May the Lord just indicate the meaning of the word, show us the great distance that lies between ourselves as Christians and Christ, and give us a heart that yields to the Spirit’s work in teaching that lesson and making it good and bringing us more and more to the measure of His Son.”

BY FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS

Extract from "The Spirit of Love Part II” (1754) by William Law (1686-1761):

The true Perfection and Profitableness of the holy written Word of God is fully set forth by St. Paul to Timothy: "From a Child," saith he, "thou hast known the Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto Salvation, which is by Faith in Christ Jesus." Now these Scriptures were the Law and the Prophets, for Timothy had known no other from his Youth. And as they, so all other Scriptures since, have no other Good or Benefit in them, but as they lead and direct us to a Salvation, that is not to be had in themselves, but from Faith in Christ Jesus. Their Teaching is only to teach us, where to seek and to find the Fountain and Source of all Light and Knowledge.

Of the Law, saith the Apostle, "it was a Schoolmaster to Christ:" Of the Prophets, he saith the same. "Ye have," says he, "a more sure Word of Prophecy, whereunto you do well, that ye take Heed, as unto a Light that shineth in a dark Place, until the Day dawn, and the Day-Star ariseth in your Hearts." The same Thing is to be affirmed of the Letter of the New Testament; it is but our Schoolmaster unto Christ, a Light like that of Prophecy, to which we are to take great Heed, until Christ, as the Dawning of the Day, or the Day-Star, ariseth in our Hearts. Nor can the Thing possibly be otherwise; no Instruction that comes under the Form of Words can do more for us, than Sounds and Words can do; they can only direct us to something that is better than themselves, that can be the true Light, Life, Spirit, and Power of Holiness in us.

Would you then have me to say, that the written Word of God is that Word of God which liveth and abideth forever; that Word, which is the Wisdom and Power of God; that Word, which was with God, which was God, by whom all Things were made; that Word of God, which was made Flesh for the Redemption of the World; that Word of God, of which we must be born again; that Word which lighteth every Man, that cometh into the World; that Word, which in Christ Jesus is become Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Sanctification in us; would you have me say, that all this is to be understood of the written Word of God? But if this cannot possibly be, then all that I have said is granted, namely, that Jesus is alone that Word of God, that can be the Light, Life, and Salvation of fallen Man. Or how is it possible more to exalt the Letter of Scripture, than by owning it to be a true, outward, verbal Direction to the one only true Light, and Salvation of Man?

Suppose you had been a true Disciple of John the Baptist, whose only Office was to prepare the Way to Christ, how could you have more magnified his Office, or declared your Fidelity to him, than by going from his Teaching, to be taught by that Christ to whom he directed you? The Baptist was indeed a burning and a shining Light, and so are the holy Scriptures; "but he was not that Light, but was sent to bear Witness to that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every Man, that cometh into the World."

What a Folly would it be, to say that you had undervalued the Office and Character of John the Baptist, because he was not allowed to be the Light itself, but only a true Witness of it, and Guide to it? Now if you can show, that the written Word in the Bible can have any other, or higher Office, or Power, than such a ministerial one as the Baptist had, I am ready to hear you.

But if that is not possible to be done, then you are come to the full Proof of this Point, viz., that there are two Ways of attaining Knowledge, Goodness, Virtue, &c., the one by the Ministry of outward, verbal Instruction, either by Men or Books, and the other by an inward Birth of Divine Light, Goodness, and Virtue, in our own renewed Spirit: and that the former is only in order to the latter, and of no Benefit to us, but as it carries us further than itself, to be united in Heart and Spirit with the Light, and Word, and Spirit of God. Just as the Baptist had been of no Benefit to his Disciples, unless he had been their Guide from himself to Christ.

But to come now closer to our Subject in Hand.

From this two-fold Light, or Teaching, there necessarily arises a two-fold State of Virtue and Goodness. For such as the Teacher, or Teaching is, such is the State and Manner of the Goodness, that can be had from it. Every Effect must be according to the Cause that produces it. If you learn Virtue and Goodness only from outward Means, from Men, or Books, you may be virtuous and good according to Time, and Place, and outward Forms; you may do Works of Humility, Works of Love and Benevolence, use Times and Forms of Prayer; all this Virtue and Goodness is suitable to this Kind of Teaching, and may very well be had from it. But the Spirit of Prayer, the Spirit of Love, and the Spirit of Humility, or of any other Virtue, are only to be attained by the Operation of the Light and Spirit of God, not outwardly teaching, but inwardly bringing forth a new-born Spirit within us.

And now let me tell you both, that it is much to be feared that you as yet stand only under this outward Teaching; your good Works are only done under Obedience to such Rules, Precepts, and Doctrines, as your Reason assents to, but are not the Fruits of a new-born Spirit within you. But till you are thus renewed in the Spirit of your Minds, your Virtues are only taught Practices, and grafted upon a corrupt Bottom. Every-thing you do will be a mixture of good and bad; your Humility will help you to Pride, your Charity to others will give Nourishment to your own Self-Love; and as your Prayers increase, so will the Opinion of your own Sanctity. Because, till the Heart is purified to the Bottom, and has felt the Axe at the Root of its Evil (which cannot be done by outward Instruction) every Thing that proceeds from it partakes of its Impurity and Corruption.

Some one says: "I do indeed desire to live the life of perfect trust; I desire to let Christ live it in me; I am longing to come to such an apprehension of Christ as shall give me the certainty that Christ will forever abide in me; I want to come to the full assurance that Christ, my Joshua, will keep me in the land of victory." What is needful for that? My answer is: "Take care that you do not take a false Christ, an imaginary Christ, a half Christ." And what is the full Christ? The full Christ is the man who said, "I give up everything to the death that God may be glorified. I have not a thought; I have not a wish; I would not live a moment except for the glory of God."

You say at once, "What Christian can ever attain that?" Do not ask that question, but ask, "Has Christ attained it and does Christ promise to live in me?" and leave Him to teach you how far He can bring you and what He can work in you. Make no conditions or stipulations about failure, but cast yourself upon, abandon yourself to this Christ who lived that life of utter surrender to God that He might prepare a new nature which He could impart to you and in which He might make you like Himself. Then you will be in the path by which He can lead you on to blessed experience and possession of what He can do for you.

Christ Jesus came into the world with a commandment from the Father that He should lay down His life, and He lived with that one thought in His bosom His whole life long. And the one thought that ought to be in the heart of every believer is this: "I am in the death with Christ; absolutely, unchangeably given up to wait upon God, that God may work out His purpose and glory in me from moment to moment." Few attain the victory and the enjoyment and the full experience at once. But this you can do: Take the right attitude and as you look to Jesus and what He was, say: "Father, Thou hast made me a partaker of the divine nature, a partaker of Christ.

It is in the life of Christ given up to Thee to the death, in His power and indwelling, in His likeness, that I desire to live out my life before Thee." Death is a solemn thing, an awful thing. In the Garden it cost Christ great agony to die that death; and no wonder it is not easy to us. But we willingly consent when we have learned the secret; in death alone the life of God will come; in death there is blessedness unspeakable. It was this made Paul so willing to bear the sentence of death in himself; he knew the God who quickeneth the dead. The sentence of death is on everything that is of nature. But are we willing to accept it, do we cherish it? and are we not rather trying to escape the sentence or to forget it? We do not believe fully that the sentence of death is on us. Whatever is of nature must die. Ask God to make you willing to believe with your heart that to die with Christ is the only way to live in Him.

You ask, "But must it then be dying every day?" Yes, beloved; Jesus lived every day in the prospect of the cross, and we, in the power of His victorious life, being made conformable to His death, must rejoice every day in going down with Him into death. Take an illustration. Take an oak of some hundred years' growth. How was that oak born? In a grave. The acorn was planted in the ground, a grave was made for it that the acorn might die. It died and disappeared; it cast roots downward, and it cast shoots upward, and now that tree has been standing a hundred years.

Where is it standing? In its grave; all the time in the very grave where the acorn died; it has stood there stretching its roots deeper and deeper into that earth in which its grave was made, and yet, all the time, though it stood in the very grave where it had died, it has been growing higher, and stronger, and broader, and more beautiful. And all the fruit it ever bore, and all the foliage that adorned it year by year, it owed to that grave in which its roots are cast and kept. Even so Christ owes everything to His death and His grave. And we, too, owe everything to that grave of Jesus. Oh! let us live every day rooted in the death of Jesus. Be not afraid, but say: "To my own will I will die; to human wisdom, and human strength, and to the world I will die; for it is in the grave of my Lord that His life has its beginning, and its strength and its glory."

from The Master's Indwelling Creator(s): Andrew Murray

Excerpts from Andrew Murray’s commentary on the extract from "The Spirit of Love” by William Law that I posted:

………the Scriptures………While they teach and discipline and strengthen and influence us, they always point away from themselves to a salvation which they cannot give, but is only to be had from God himself. Their teaching only serves to direct us to what they cannot give us, to lead us to Him who gives the true spiritual teaching. "They direct us to what is better than themselves, that can be the true life, light, spirit, and power of holiness in us.”

……we are reminded of the difference between Christ, the living Word, and the letter of Scripture. We are told that this is the very way to exalt Scripture when we own it to be the faithful and only direction to Him who is the true light of men. Just as the highest honor a disciple of John the Baptist could confer on his teacher was to leave him and go to Christ, so the Scriptures, the more we study and rejoice in them, will only have their full effect upon us as they daily point us to Christ. They can awaken us to desire and obedience and diligence and faith; it is Christ himself whom faith receives, who becomes within us the life and the light of our souls.

……Let us use all outward instruction as the guide to that which it ever points to””the birth of the Spirit of Love within us.

There is a solemn and very urgent need of applying all this to our daily Bible reading and to all the preaching we hear. It is possible to be most diligent and even successful in our Bible study, and yet to miss the real blessing it is meant to bring. Scripture ever points us away from itself to the living Word, Christ Jesus, who waits to be formed within us, and to the blessed Spirit who is within us, and is alone able to make what we read or hear "truth in the inward part.” The Holy Spirit, by whose inspiration the Word was written, and by whose inspiration alone the Word can become life within us, who, as the spirit of truth, is himself the truth, the power, the life of all that is in the word, dwells within you. Turn with each thought of divine things, with each word of God you would fain spiritually apprehend, turn inward and wait quietly in the faith that the true divine Teacher can make it true to you, can make it live in you. Let your heart open to Him in the quiet confession of the insufficiency of your understanding, in the quiet faith of His hidden but sure and almighty teaching. So will you find truth and grace, and all goodness, not by human thought and feeling, but by the birth and power of a divine life within you, giving you the very things, the actual realities, of what the word speaks of.

1 Cor. 15:50 ”“
Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Ezek. 36:26-28 ”“
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.

2 Cor. 5:17 ”“
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

Col. 2:6 ”“
Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,

IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH RISE UP AND WALK (ACTS 3:6, KJV)

Eternal life is by faith in Jesus’ name.

John 20:31 ”“
but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

Jesus’ name is Jesus Himself.

Ex. 3:13-14 ”“
Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

John 8:58 (Young’s Literal Translation) ”“
Jesus said to them, 'Verily, verily, I say to you, Before Abraham's coming -- I am;

John 8:24 (International Standard Version) ”“
That is why I told you that you will die in your sins, for unless you believe that I AM, you'll die in your sins."

1 John 5:11-12 ”“
And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the great I AM,

And we are in Him and He is in us (John 14:20, 17:20-26).

Gal. 2:20 (Young’s Literal Translation)”“
with Christ I have been crucified, and live no more do I, and Christ doth live in me; and that which I now live in the flesh -- in the faith I live of the Son of God, who did love me and did give himself for me;

Moment by moment,

The Lord Jesus lives in me as my Bread of Life.

John 6:35 ”“
Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.

The Lord Jesus lives in me as my Light of Life.

John 8:12 ”“
Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."

John 1:4 ”“
In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.

The Lord Jesus lives in me as my Good Shepherd.

John 10:11 ”“
I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

Ps. 23 ”“
The LORD is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

The Lord Jesus lives in me as the power of His resurrection and His life.

John 11:25-26 ”“
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?"

Phil. 3:10-11 ”“
that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Eph. 2:5-6 ”“
……even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus……

T. Austin-Sparks:
"………what the power of that resurrection did in Christ. It not only raised Him from the dead, not only took Him out from this age, but took Him through the ranks of principalities and powers as a conquest; for as He passed through He stripped off, He broke through and triumphed; but not only so, God put Him there at His own right hand far above all these, and put all things in subjection to Him. That was all the outworking of this power of His resurrection, what God ‘wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenlies, far above principality and power and might and dominion... and hath put all things under his feet....’
"The Holy Spirit says, through the Apostle, ‘that power is to usward who believe,’ and He is able ‘to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us...’ that power! You see how far that life that you and I received in new birth is capable of taking us. We have received it, as it were, in its infant form in new birth, but oh, within that infant life there are all the potentialities of that vast range of triumph right up to the throne. All that which was accomplished in Christ is possible in us by exactly the same power that worketh in us; it is all there.’”

I live in the Lord Jesus as a branch lives in the vine (John 15).

"Moment by moment I’m kept in His love,
Moment by moment I’ve life from above;
Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine;
Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine.”

He Himself is my wisdom, my righteousness, my sanctification and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30).

He is my peace that passes understanding (John 16:33, Phil. 4:7), my fullness of joy (John 15:11) and my perfect rest from all burdens and toil (Matt. 11:28-30).

In Him are hidden all my treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:2-3) and His riches are unsearchable (Eph. 3:8)…………”which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25).

In Him I am complete (Col. 2:9-10).

Prov. 18:10 ”“
The name of the LORD is a strong tower;
The righteous runs into it and is safe.

Eph. 2:19-22 ”“
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

GO UP, TAKE POSSESSION

Deut. 1:21 ”“
See, the LORD your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed.

Josh. 1:3 ”“
Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you……

There was a son who though he was in possession of his father’s riches lived in a lack of it.

Luke 15:29,31 ”“
"……he………said to his father, 'Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends……”
And he said to him, 'Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours……”

Phil. 3:12 ”“
Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

BEHOLD AND BELIEVE

1 John 3:23 ”“
This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.

Rom. 1:5 ”“
……to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake,

Rom. 1:17 ”“
……as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."

John 6:40 --
"For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."

COME TO ME

1 John 5:11-12 ”“
And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

John 5:39-40 ”“
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.

There is power in the word God speaks. No word spoken by God can return to Him unfulfilled. It must accomplish the purpose for which it is sent, in the age and the place to which He sent it.

It must be fulfilled, but will it be fulfilled in me?

I mix my faith with the word God speaks. His word has its full effect in me. The very moment Mary said these words, Jesus was conceived in her womb.

The word is near me, in my heart and in my mouth. If I confess with my mouth and believe in my heart ”“ that word is fulfilled in me.

I belong to God alone. I belong to no other. I am baptized into the death of Jesus. I am raised in the resurrection of Jesus. I am no longer a slave to sin. I am now a slave to God. This thing is not up to me; it is up to Him. But I must embrace the power of His word.

I embrace the power of Your word, O God. There is no resistance, no doubt in my heart. No matter how inconceivable the thought, no matter how impossible, I know that Christ is in me. I know that the life in me is the very Son of God.

I know that Your Word, spoken by Your Mouth, must be fulfilled in Me. I must be conformed to the image of Your Son. I believe You. 'Let it be to me according to Your word.'

EXCERPTS FROM "THE SECRET OF THE ABIDING PRESENCE” BY ANDREW MURRAY:

"Think for a moment of the marks of true faith. First of all, faith depends on God to do all that He has promised. A person with true faith does not rest content with taking some of the promises; he seeks nothing less than to claim every promise that God has made in its largest and fullest meaning. Under a sense of nothingness and utter powerlessness of his faith, he trusts the power of an almighty God to work wonders in the heart in which He dwells.”

"In the pursuit of the power that such a life of faith can give, there is often a faith that seeks and strives but cannot grasp. This is followed by a faith that begins to see that waiting on God is needed, and quietly rests in the hope of what God will do. This should lead to an act of decision, in which the soul takes God at His word and claims fulfillment of the promise and then looks to Him, even in utter darkness, to perform what He has spoken.”

EXCERPTS FROM "THE SECRET OF THE FAITH LIFE” BY ANDREW MURRAY:

"Dear Christian, as you read God’s wonderful promises and long to have them fulfilled, remember the mustard seed. However small it may be, if it is put into the ground and allowed to grow, it becomes a great tree. Take the hidden, feeble seed of the little faith you have, and with the Word of promise on which you are resting, plant it in your heart. As it makes contact with Christ through fervent prayer to Him, He will accept the feeble, trembling faith that clings to Him without letting Him go. A feeble faith in an almighty Christ will become the great faith that can move mountains.”

"Ever blessed God and Father, how can we praise You for the wonderful salvation that you have prepared for us in Christ Jesus? We humbly confess that we have so little understood it, believed it, yielded ourselves to its power, and shown forth its beauty to the world around us.
"We fervently pray for all saints, that You would give them a vision of the abundant life that is in Christ Jesus. May this stir their hearts to a deep unquenchable desire to know fully what Christ is meant to be to them. May they feel deeply that all the powerlessness of Your church to bless the world is the result of not giving Christ and the Holy Spirit the place in their hearts that You desire to have.
"Above all, grant such an insight into the need, power, and blessedness of a simple wholehearted faith in Jesus Christ, and such an unreserved surrender to His mastery, that their hearts may be prepared to receive Him in all the fullness of His love and of His abiding presence.
"Father, we ask You to hear us in the name of Jesus. Give to each reader such a vision of Your power to fulfil in us every promise, and such a humble childlike trust in Your faithfulness, as will be to Your glory. May all the glory be Yours forever. Amen.”

[the death of the old self (man)]? We appropriate it the same way we do anything God says is ours-by faith. We simply take God at His word, believe Him and receive it. The issue is not whether we feel dead to sin or act dead to sin, but what God says. If God says we have died to sin, that is the way it is. That is true truth and real reality-whatever is not in accord with what God says is a deception-a lie. Our problem is we have believed our feelings, our performance or men’s opinions. But truth is what God says, regardless of how I feel, how I perform or what men say. We have based our theology on experience (how we have performed in the past) instead of on what God says. The truth is that the old self (man) has been crucified with Christ; that we are dead to sin and freed from it whether we believe it or not. It is an accomplished fact and a done deal and all we have to do to appropriate it is take God at His word and receive it as true. As we do this and reckon on it, the Holy Spirit will make the objective truth real to us and we will begin to walk in the freedom God has provided.

EXCERPTS FROM "THE SECRET OF FAITH LIFE” BY ANDREW MURRAY

CHRIST’S LIFE IN US

John 14:19 ”“ Because I live, ye shall live also.

"And so in John 14 Christ said, "Because I live, you will live also.” The disciples were to receive from Him, not the life He then had, but the resurrection life in the power of its victory over death and of His exaltation to the right hand of God. He would from then on always dwell in them; a new, heavenly eternal life ”” the life of Jesus Himself ”” would fill them. And this promise is to all who will accept it in faith.”

"Take time and let Christ’s wonderful promise possess your heart. Be content with nothing less than a full salvation, Christ living in you, and you living in Christ. Be assured that it is meant for everyone who will take time to listen to Christ’s promises and will believe that the almighty power of God will work in him the mighty wonder of His grace ”“ Christ dwelling in the heart by faith.”

IN CHRIST

John 14:20 ”“ At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

"Our Lord spoke of His life in the Father: ‘Believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me’ (v.11). He and the Father were not two individuals next to each other; they were in each other. Though Christ was on earth as a man, He lived in the Father.

"This divine life of heaven, of Christ in God and of God in Christ, is the picture and the pledge of what our life in Christ is to be here on earth. It is the very nature of the divine life that the Son is in the Father. Even so, we must know and ever live in the faith that we are in Christ. Then we will learn that, even as the Father worked in Christ, so Christ will also work in us if we truly believe that we are in Him and yield ourselves to His power.

"And even as the Son waited on the Father and as the Father worked through Him, so the disciples would make known to Him in prayer what they wanted done on earth and He would do it. Their life in Him was to be the reflection of His life in the Father. As the Father worked in Him, because He lived in the Father, so Christ would work in them as they lived in Him.”

"’At that day’ ”“ when the Spirit fills your heart ”“ ‘At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.’”

CHRIST OUR LIFE

Rom. 5:17 ”“ Much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.

Rom. 6:11 ”“ Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ out Lord.

"Paul taught that our faith in Christ as our righteousness is to be followed by our faith in Him as our life from the dead.”

"The man who knows that he died in Christ and is now alive in Him can confidently depend on it that ‘sin shall not have dominion over [him]’ (v.14), not even for a single moment. ‘Reckon ye also yourselves also to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ This is the true life of faith.”

THE GOD OF ALL GRACE

1 Pet. 5:10 ”“ But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

"And what is to be our position toward this God? Should not our first thought every day be to humbly place ourselves in His hands, to confess our absolute helplessness, and to yield ourselves in childlike surrender to receive from Him the fulfillment of His promises ”“ promises such as ‘the God of peace……make you perfect in every good work’ (Heb. 13:20-21); ‘The God of all grace……perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you’?”

"By His grace, may this henceforth be the spirit in which we awake every morning to go out to our work, humbly trusting in the promise that God Himself will perfect us: ‘The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me’ (Ps. 138:8).”

NOT SINNING

1 John 3:5-6 ”“ And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not.

"In the text above, John taught how we can be kept from sinning. ‘Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not.’”

"As you seek to abide in Him in whom there is no sin, Christ will indeed live His own life in you in the power of the Holy Spirit and will equip you for a life in which you always do the things that are pleasing in His sight.”

"Thank God, that life is for me.” Some say, "I believe there is such a life, but not for me.” There are people who continually say: "Oh, my character is so unstable; my will is naturally very weak; my temperament is nervous and excitable, it is impossible for me always to live without worry, resting in God.” Beloved brother, do not say that. You say so only for one reason: You do not know what your God will do for you. Do begin to look away from self, and to look up to God, Take that precious word: "He brought them out that he might bring them in.” The God who took them through the Red Sea was the God who took them through Jordan into Canaan. The God who converted you is the God who is able to give you every day this blessed life. Oh, begin to say, with the beginnings of a feeble faith, even before you claim it, begin even intellectually to say: "It is for me; I do believe that. God does not disinherit any of His children. What He gives is for every one. I believe that blessed life is waiting for me. It is meant for me. God is waiting to bestow it, and to work it in me. Glory be to His blessed name! My soul says it is for me, too.” Oh, take that little word "me,” and looking up in the very face of God dare to say: "This inestimable treasure””it is for me, the weakest and the unworthiest; it is for me.” Have you said that? Say it now: "This life is possible to me, too.”

And then comes the next step, and that is: "I can never, by any effort of mine, grasp it; it is God must bestow it on me.” I want you to be very bold in saying, "It is for me.” But then I want you to fall down very low and say, "I can not seize it; I can not take it to myself.” And how can you then get it? Praise God, if once He has brought you down in the consciousness of utter helplessness and self-despair, then comes the time that He can draw nigh and ask you, "Will you trust your God to work this in you?” Dearly beloved Christians, say in your heart: "I never, by any effort, can take hold of God, or seize this for myself; it is God must give it.” Cherish this blessed impotence. It is He who brought us out, who Himself must bring us in. It is your greatest happiness to be impotent. Pray God by the Holy Spirit to reveal to you this true impotence, and that will open the way for your faith to say, "Lord, Thou must do it, or it will never be done.” God will do it. People wonder, when they hear so many sermons about faith, and such earnest pleading to believe, and ask why it is they can not believe. There is just one answer: It is self. Self is working; is trying; is struggling, and self must fail. But when you come to the end of self and can only cry, "Lord, help me! Lord, help me!”””then the deliverance is nigh; believe that. It was God brought the people in. It is God who will bring you in.

from The Master's Indwelling Andrew Murray