"One Lord, One faith, One baptism;" Ephesians 4:5

"But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him." 1 Corinthians 8:6

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

There is no proof of ignorance more common than conceit of knowledge. Much may be known, when nothing is known to good purpose. And those who think they know any thing, and grow vain thereon, are the least likely to make good use of their knowledge. Satan hurts some as much by tempting them to be proud of mental powers, as others, by alluring to sensuality. Knowledge which puffs up the possessor, and renders him confident, is as dangerous as self-righteous pride, though what he knows may be right. Without holy affections all human knowledge is worthless. The heathens had gods of higher and lower degree; gods many, and lords many; so called, but not such in truth. Christians know better. One God made all, and has power over all. The one God, even the Father, signifies the Godhead as the sole object of all religious worship; and the Lord Jesus Christ denotes the person of Emmanuel, God manifest in the flesh, One with the Father, and with us; the appointed Mediator, and Lord of all; through whom we come to the Father, and through whom the Father sends all blessings to us, by the influence and working of the Holy Spirit. While we refuse all worship to the many who are called gods and lords, and to saints and angels, let us try whether we really come to God by faith in Christ.

Satan and Fallen Angels vs. The Christian

The Church at present is in conflict with 'principalities and powers,' with 'the rulers of the darkness of this world,' with 'wicked spirits in high places.  Nothing less truly invulnerable than the whole armor of God can therefore sufficiently protect us against the approaches of such a subtle foe.

Consider, first, that to the devil is ascribed by God Himself the agency of man's apostasy from his Creator. The serpent is said to have 'beguiled" our first mother by his subtlety. Is he less subtle now? And is he likely to be less successful when he has to deal, not with unfallen, but with sinful men? If by his craft he was victorious when he approached the ' image of God'  in the creature, shall he not with even less artifice prevail against those in whom, when he comes, instead of finding 'nothing,'he finds his own likeness?

For what is holiness but likeness to God, and what is sin if not 'of the devil' ? How great the peril, then, of that heart which sleeps in security, and, through ignorance or disbelief in his personal influence, watches not for the footfall of the tempter! Hence that Divine precept to the Church, ' Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.' 

Again, Holy Scripture plainly teaches that Satan comes to harass and perplex where he knows he cannot destroy. Did he expect, for instance, to prevail when he met the sinless Son of Man in the wilderness? Had he forgotten that terrible sentence which at the beginning was spoken to him by Jehovah Himself, who then put it into that very Bible, 'It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel'? No, however, while he knew that he could not bruise the Head in the head, yet he knew it was granted him to attack the Blessed One as being a partaker of 'the flesh and blood ' of the children.'' He could not destroy; he would therefore 'afflict' the Righteous One! So, is it still with 'the brethren.' Satan full well is aware of their security and final triumph in Christ, as the redeemed of His blood and the subjects of the indwelling Holy Spirit; he will therefore inject the  poison of doubt and fear into their souls. 

The Personality of Satan part 2

The same Divine authority has caused to be put on record not only the fiery ordeal of personal conflict with him in the wilderness for forty days and nights, but also numerous other instances of terrible engagements between the saints and the great adversary.  With all these and many more such proofs of external evil influence directly exercised on us, how is it possible to confound the personalty of Satan with the principle of evil in the fallen nature of man? 

Yet, if any would even still object, what shall be said of such plain passages as the following ?—

'And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.''

'Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it.'

'But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub, the chief of the devils' 'If Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand ?'

'Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well; the devils also believe and tremble.'s

'He said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And He asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion; for we are many.'

'Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.'

"God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell."

'Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.'

'When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart.'

'In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.'

'He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil! 
'That through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil! 

Here are many proofs, all going to enforce the solemn point in hand—namely, that there are in existence upon earth a multitude of mysterious beings, called by the Spirit of truth by various titles and names, whose nature is wholly evil, and who, actuated by feelings vindictive towards God and man, are actively engaged in opposing the glory of God and the well being of the human family; and further, that this evil angel host is presided over by a chief, whose present territory is the wide world of the heart of man, and who aims at pressing every event and circumstance of human life into his fiendish service.

The Personality of Satan

It must here be observed,  in spite of all the attempts of unbelievers to disprove the personal existence of the devil, and. to make out that only the spirit or principle of evil is intended by the title, that every quality, every action, which can indicate personality, is attributed to him by the Holy Ghost in the Word of God, and in language which by no rules of fair interpretation can be explained away.

The revelation of the existence of the great Evil Spirit, like every other fact divinely made known in Scripture, was progressive. On the first entrance of evil into the world, the temptation of man is referred only to the Serpent. Throughout the patriarchal and Jewish dispensations only a vague and imperfect revelation of the source of evil was prevalent. Here and there during the succeeding ages we meet with direct references of evil to the influence and instigation of Satan. 

It may here be mentioned that the word Satan primarily means 'adversary', and as a proper name or title it is used in the Old Testament only eight times. In the New Testament, however, the veil is boldly lifted, and the awfully real character of the Prince of this World is constantly dwelt upon. From 'the beginning of the Gospel,'' when the devil appears as the personal tempter of our Lord, through all the Gospels, Epistles, and the Apocalypse, we meet with constant revelations of the personality, origin, power, cruelty, malignity, and final doom, of 'the prince of the demons.'

The complex and vast character of the kingdom of the devil is sufficiently implied in the New Testament by the titles and names which the Holy Ghost has seen fit to employ when speaking of this great fallen spirit. Thus, though not exhaustively, 'Abaddon ' (or Perdition); 'the Accuser of the Brethren ;'4 the 'Adversary ;' s the 'Angel of the Bottomless Pit;' 'Apollyon '(or he that exterminates); 'Beelzebub;' 'Belial'; the 'Dragon'; the 'Father of Lies ;' 3 the 'Great Red Dragon;'4 the'Liar ;'the 'Man murderer;' the 'Power of Darkness;' the 'Prince of this World'; the 'Prince of the Devils'; the 'Prince of the Power of the Air;' 'the 'Ruler of the Darkness of this World' (rather, of this Age); the 'Serpent; 'the 'Spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience;'the 'Tempter ;' the 'God of this World ;'the 'Unclean Spirit;' and the 'Wicked One.

His character is spoken of by the same Spirit of truth as being presumptuous, proud,  powerful,  wicked,  malignant, subtle, deceitful, fierce, cruel, always active in doing and promoting evil, and yet cowardly.  He is compared to a Fowler employed in setting snares for runaway souls ; to a wicked sower who by night scattered tares among the good seed of the field ;to a wolf, whose nature is to ravage the flock ; and to a lion restlessly wandering about for prey. Against his treacherous and insinuating approaches the Word frequently exhorts the saints to watch and pray. To his sinful solicitations Christ has commanded His disciples to give the most uncompromising resistance.

01 Lester Sumrall - Alien Entities 01 WOF

Derek Prince - Spiritual Warfare 1 of 9 War In Heaven And Earth - Part 1

The Effects of Being filled with the Spirit

1. It is the secret of holiness. There is a measure of the Holy Spirit's life in every regenerate soul, but it is when every part of our being is filled with His love and possessed for His glory that we are wholly sanctified, and it is this divine fullness which excludes and keeps out the power of sin and self, even as it was the descending cloud upon the tabernacle which left no room for Moses within.

Would you have continual purity of heart and thought and feeling, and entire conformity to the will of God? "Be filled with the Spirit;" "Of his fullness have we received, even grace for grace." Let the heavenly water flow into every channel of irrigation and by every garden bed and plant, until all the graces of our Christian life shall be replenished by His grace, and bloom like the garden of the Lord. Only abide in Him and have His abiding, and you shall bring forth all the fruit of the Spirit.

2. It is the secret of happiness. A heart half full is only full enough to make it conscious of its lack. It is when the cattle are filled that they lie down in the green pastures. "These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full."

3. It is the secret of power.  Only full hearts accomplish effectual work for God. Only the overflow of our blessing blesses others.

Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Realize, beloved, that God has made each of us, not a self-contained world of power and perfection, but simply a capacity to receive Him, a shell to hold His fullness, a soil to receive His Living Seed and fertilizing streams, and to produce, in union with Him, the fruits of grace.  Also, God has so constituted Christ and the Holy Spirit, to meet and satisfy the capacities and possibilities of our being; so that, while we are nothing without Him, His life and grace equally require us for their full development.  Into His living Son, God has poured all His fullness, so that "in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." 

All other systems gave us merely the ideas of things or the commandments or laws which require them of us. But Christ brings the power to realize them and is Himself the reality and substance in our hearts and lives. He is the Great Typical Man. But He is more than a pattern or a type, exhibiting what we ought to be, and demanding our imitation. 

He is also the Living Head and Progenitor of the very life which He Himself exhibits, begetting it in each of us by a living impartation of His very being, and reproducing Himself in us by the very power of His own life, and then feeding and nourishing this life by the Holy Spirit out of His own being.

Christ Within

"Be filled with the Spirit." Eph. 5:18.

 "Ye are complete (filled) in Him." Col.2:10

The emphatic word in both these verses is "filled." It is the Greek plaroo which means to fill full, so full that there will be no room left empty. This is the thought which, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, we desire to impress in this message. It does not mean to have a measure of the Holy Spirit, and to know a good deal of Christ, but to be wholly filled with, and possessed by, the Holy Ghost, and utterly lost in the life and fullness of Jesus. It is the completeness of the filling which constitutes the very essence of the perfect blessing. A fountain half full will never become a spring. A river half full will never become a water power. A heart half filled will never know "the peace which passeth all understanding" and the power which flows from the inmost being, as "rivers of living water."

We are not filled with an influence ; we are not filled with a sensation; we are not filled with a set of ideas and truths; we are not filled with a blessing, but we are filled with a Person. This is very strange and striking. It is wholly different from all other teaching. Human systems of philosophy and religion all deal mainly with intellectual truths, moral conditions or external acts. Greek philosophy was a system of ideas; Confucianism is a system of morals ; Judaism is a system of laws and ceremonies; Christianity all centres in a living Person, and its very essence is the indwelling life of Christ Himself. He was not only its Head and Founder, but He is forever its living Heart and Substance, and the Holy Spirit is simply the agent and channel through whom He enters, possesses and operates in the consecrated heart. This reduces Christian life to great simplicity. We do not require to get filled in a great many compartments, and with a great many different experiences, ideas, or influences, but, in the centre of our being to receive Him in His personal life and fullness, and then He flows into every part and lives out His own life in all the diversified experiences and activities of our manifold life.

How the Joy of the Lord is maintained.

The joy of the Lord is sustained by His word and nourished by His "exceeding great and precious promises." "I rejoice in Thy Word," exclaims the Psalmist, "as one that findeth great spoil." Oh, the rich delight of beholding in the light of the Holy Spirit, the heavenly landscape of truth open before the spiritual vision, like some land of promise shining in the glory of the sunlight, the whole Bible seeming like the vision Moses saw from Pisgah's top! We have found great spoil, and it is all our own. "We have received the Spirit that we may know the things that are freely given us of God," and we can truly say like the same Psalmist again, "Thy testimonies are the joy and rejoicing of my heart." How sweet the voice in which the Spirit speaks the promises to the sorrowing heart and makes this precious word a living voice from our Beloved!

It is the joy of prayer. Its element is the closet, and its source the Mercy-seat. No prayerless life can be a happy one. "They that wait upon the Lord shall mount up on wings as eagles." "Ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full."

It is the joy of meekness and love. "For the meek shall increase their joy in the Lord," and the loving spirit ever finds that "it is more blessed to give than to receive." Selfishness is misery, love is life and joy. The gentle, lowly, chastened spirit shall find all the flowers in bloom and the waters flowing in the valleys of humility. The unselfish heart shall never fail to prove the promise true, "If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, the Lord shall satisfy thy soul in drought, and thou shalt be like a watered garden and a spring of water whose waters fail not." 

It is the joy of service and especially of winning souls. All true work is a natural delight, but work for God in the true spirit and in the power of the Holy Ghost, is the very partnership of His joy, whose meat and drink it was to do the will of Him that sent Him and to finish His work.

The secret of the Joy of the Lord

It springs from the assurance of salvation. 

It is the joy of salvation. 

Its happy song is

 "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine,

Oh, what a rapture of glory Divine 
Heir of salvation, purchased of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Saviour all the day long."
If you would know it you must accept His promise with full assurance of faith, and rest upon His word without a wavering or a doubt.

It is the joy of the Holy Ghost. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy." It is not indigenous to earthly soil; it is a plant of heavenly birth. It belongs to the kingdom of God, which is "righteousness, and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost." To know it we must receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit in full surrender and simple faith. It is the characteristic of all who receive this baptism that they know the joy of the Lord, and until we do receive this eternal fountain in our heart, all our attempts at joy are but surface wells ; they are waters often defiled and their bottom often dry. This is the great Artesian stream, the "well of water" Jesus gives "springing up unto everlasting life."

It is the joy of faith. "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing." There is indeed a deep delight when God has answered prayer, and the joy of fulfillment and possession overflows with thankfulness, but there is a more thrilling joy when the heart first commits itself to His naked promise, and standing on His simple word in the face of natural improbability, or even seeming impossibility, declares, "though the fig-tree shall not blossom nor fruit be in the vines, yet will I rejoice in the Lord and joy in the God of my salvation." If you are doubting God you need not wonder that your joy is intermittent. The witness of the Spirit always follows the act of trust. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee," but it is just as true, "Surely, if ye will not believe, ye shall not be established."

The Joy of the Lord is our strength for the body.

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine." This is the divine prescription for a weak body. And so on the other hand, despondency and depression of spirits are the cause of nervousness, head-ache, heart-break, and low physical vitality. A word of cheer and an impulse of hope and gladness will often break the power of disease. 

It is true there is a deeper cause and a diviner power than the mere natural influence of joy. Incurable disease can only yield to the actual touch of Divine omnipotence, but joy is the channel through which the healing waters flow, and the overflow of the life of Christ in both soul and body.  If you would live above your physical conditions, if you would renew your strength continually and "mount up on wings as eagles, and run and not be weary, and walk and not faint," if you would carry in your veins the exhilaration and zest of unwearied youth and freshness, if you would know, even here, in all its fullness, the foretaste of the resurrection life in your body, if you would be armed against the devil's shafts of infirmity and pain, and throw off his arrows upon your body as the heated iron repels the water which will not lie upon it, then, beloved, "Rejoice in the Lord always, and. again I say, Rejoice."

The Joy of the Lord is our strength for temptation.

"Count it all joy," James says, "when ye fall into divers temptations." One reason for this is because it is the best way to meet them. The devil always gets the best of a melancholy soul. Despondency will always bring surrender. Satan is so little used to joy in his own home that a happy face always scares him away. Amalek got hold of the hindmost of Israel's camp, the discouraged ones who were dragging behind and fretting about the hot weather and the hard road they had to travel. Such people always find the way harder before they get through. The fiery serpents, which were the devil's scouts, stung the murmuring multitudes, and it was an upward look to the brazen serpent that healed them. Jehoshaphat's armies marched to battle and victory with shouts of faith and songs of praise, and so still the joy of the Lord is the best equipment for the great conflict. But the apostle also means, no doubt, that temptation is no cause for despondency, but rather a great opportunity of spiritual progress. It is the proving of our armor and an evident token that the devil sees something in us worth trying to steal, and we may be very sure where the army of the enemy is encamped there the army of the Lord is also near. "The trying of our faith worketh patience, and let patience have her perfect work." Let us go through all the discipline and learn all that it has to teach us, and "when we are tried we shall receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to them that love Him."

Let us then go forth into the conflicts which await us without a fear or cloud, and when we cannot feel the joy, but "are in heaviness through manifold temptations," let us "count it all joy," and say, "I will rejoice in the Lord, and I will be joyful in my God."

The Joy of the Lord in trials

The joy of the Lord is our strength for the trials of life. There are two ways of bearing a trial; the one is the spirit of stoical endurance, and the other through the counteracting forces of a holy and victorious joy. It was thus that Christ endured the cross for the joy that was set before Him, and then He could despise the shame and not even allow the smell of fire to remain upon His garments. We read in the first chapter of Colossians the prayer of the apostle for a company of saints who had already reached such a measure of holiness that they were made partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; but there was something higher and better for them, namely, that they should be ''strengthened according to His glorious power unto all patience and long suffering with joyfulness." "Patience" to endure the trials that come from the hand of God, and "long suffering" to endure those which come from men, and both to be endured with real joyfulness. In fact, there is nothing to endure when the heart is full of joy. It lifts us wholly above the trial, and we do not realize that we are being afflicted or wronged. The blessedness of true self-sacrifice is in being so filled with God that we will not have any sacrifice. What luxury of grace it is thus to be lifted above all that could even try the heart! The rocks are not taken from the bottom of the stream, but the blessed tides rise so high that the ships sail far above them in the current of God's great joy. And so the apostle explains his self-sacrifices for the Philippians, "Though I be offered on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all."

The joy of the Lord always counts on something better than we lose, and remembers that there is one above who is the great Recompenser and Restorer, and will give a thousand times more by-and-by for one victory of patience and love than all the world is worth to-day.  Yes, the joy of the Lord is our strength for life's trials, And lifts the crushed heart above sorrow and care,

Like the nightingale's song, it can sing in the darkness, And rejoice when the fig tree is withered and bare.

The Joy of the Lord

"The joy of the Lord is your strength." 8:10

There is no more pointed difference between Christianity and all other religions than the element of joyfulness. "God is Light and in Him is no darkness at all." The blessed God must be the source of blessedness. His Beloved Son, our Pattern and our Saviour, is the Prince of Peace, and the Royal Bridegroom, whom God "hath anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows," and surely His salvation should be a glad salvation; His touch should bring joy and sunshine, and they who follow Him should be true to His own ideal of that happy company who "shall come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." As we look over the earth we find that God has put beauty and gladness wherever He can. He has made us to be happy, and He has sent redemption to restore and consummate our joy, and so His great salvation is inseparably linked with a rejoicing spirit. True, it can stoop to sorrow; it will enter the saddest home and the darkest midnight, but it cannot dwell with gloom. It must banish sorrow as well as sin, and live in the light of joy.

Beloved, let us take the joy of the Lord into the dark places and the hard places and the low places, and the dusty, grimy streets and lanes of life! Let us plant the flowers around the little cottage as well as the great mansion! Let us have the song of the birds along the wayside, and even in the night, as well as in the gilded cage of the drawingroom and in the broad sunshine of the day! Let us rejoice in the light evermore and go through the pathways of common life so filled with the Spirit that like men intoxicated with the wine of heaven, we shall be heard "speaking to ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our hearts to the Lord," and then it shall be true, "Whatsoever we do in word or deed," we shall "do all in the name of the Lord Jesus givingthanks unto God by Him."

Faith Hindrances part 2

Faith is hindered by sight and sense, and our foolish dependence upon external evidences.

The very evidence in which we must live and grow is the unseen, and therefore all outward things must be withdrawn before we can truly believe; and as we look not at the things which are seen but on the things which are not seen, they grow real, more real than the things of sense, and then God makes them real in actual accomplishment. But faith must first step out into the great unknown, and walk upon the water to go to Jesus.  

Finally, this faith is hindered most of all by what we call "our faith," and our fruitless struggles to work out a faith which after all is but a make-believe and a desperate trying to trust God, which must ever come short of His vast and glorious promises.  

Beloved, in the light of this great provision, listen to the mighty promise now, and in His faith rise to claim, "If thou canst, believe. All things are possible to him that believeth," and cry, "Lord, I believe, Help Thou my unbelief."

Faith Hinderances

"If thou canst, believe."

Of course, faith is dependent upon obedience and rightness of heart and life. We cannot trust God in the face of willful sin, and even an un sanctified state is fatal to any high degree of faith, for the carnal heart is not the soil in which it can grow, but it is the fruit of the Spirit, and is hindered by the weeds of sin and willful indulgence. The reason that a great many Christians have so little faith is because they are living in the world and in themselves, and separated in so large a part of their life from God and holiness.

Faith is hindered by reliance upon human wisdom, whether our own or the wisdom of others. The devil's first bait to Eve was an offer of wisdom, and for this she sold her faith. "Ye shall be as gods," he said, "knowing good and evil," and from the hour she began to know she ceased to trust. It was the spies that lost the land of promise to Israel of old. It was their foolish proposition to search out the land, and find out by investigation whether God had told the truth or not, that led to the awful out-break of unbelief that shut the doors of Canaan to a whole generation. It is very significant that the names of these spies are nearly all suggestive of human wisdom, greatness and fame. And so in the days of Christ, it was the bondage of the Jews to the traditions of the fathers and the opinions of men, that kept them back from receiving Him, "How can ye believe," He asked, "which receive honor from men, and seek not that which cometh from God only?" This, to-day, has much to do with the limitation of the church's faith. The Bible is measured by human criticism, and the promises of God are weighed in the balance of natural probability and human reason. Our own wisdom is just as dangerous if it take the place of God's simple word, and therefore, if we would '' trust the Lord with all our heart," we must "lean not to our own understanding."

Self-sufficiency and dependence on our strength is also a hindrance to our faith.
God, therefore, has to reduce us to helplessness before we can have much trust in Him. The hour of His mightiest interposition is usually the time of our greatest extremity.

The Reasonableness of Faith

Why should God make all things dependent upon our faith?

1. Because the ruin of the-race began with the loss of faith, and its recovery must come through the exercise of faith. The poison Satan injected into the blood of Eve was a question of God's faithfulness, and the one prescription that the Gospel gives to unsaved sinners is, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved."

2. Faith is the law of Christianity, the vital principle of the Gospel dispensation. The law of faith the apostle calls it in distinction from the law of works. The Lord Jesus expressed it in the simple formula which has become the standard of answered prayers and every blessing that we receive through the name of Jesus. God is, therefore, bound to act according to our faith and also according to our unbelief.

3. Faith is the only way known to us by which we can accept a gift from God, and inasmuch as all the blessings of the Gospel are the gifts of grace, they must come to us through faith and in the measure of our faith, if they come at all.

4. Faith is necessary as a subjective influence to prepare our own hearts for the reception of God and His grace. How can the Father communicate His love to a timid, trembling heart? How can God come near to a frightened child? I have seen a little bird die of terror in the hand of another, when He only intended it no harm but tried in vain to caress it and win its love. And so the individual heart without faith would die in the presence of God in absolute terror, and be unable to receive the overflowing love of the Father which it could not understand.

5. Faith is an actual, spiritual force. It is, no doubt, one of the attributes of God Himself. We find it exemplified in Jesus in all His miracles. He explains to His disciples that it was the very power by which He withered the fig tree, and the power by which they could overcome and dissolve the mightiest obstacles in their way. There is no doubt that while the soul is exercising through the power of God the faith that commands what God commands, that a mighty force is operating at that very moment upon the obstacle, a force as real as the currents of electricity or the power of dynamite. God has really put into our hands one of His own implements of omnipotence and permitted us to use it in the name of Jesus according to His will and for the establishment of His Kingdom.

The Possibilities of Faith part 2

3. Divine Healing is possible to him that believeth. "The prayer of faith shall save the sick," is still the Master's unaltered word for His suffering church. And this faith must be the faith of the receiver, for in the epistle it is said, "Let not him that wavereth think that he shall receive anything of the Lord." Still it is as true as when the Master touched the eyes of the blind men to whom He said it, "According to your faith be it unto you." It matters not how serious the disease, it may be as helpless as the cripple's who could not in any wise lift herself up; as chronic as the impotent man who lay for thirty and eight years helpless. at the pool; as obscure and as despised a case as the poor blind men who begged by the wayside and whom the multitude thought unworthy of Christ's attention, or as the sinful woman of Syro Phoenicia, whom even the Saviour called a dog, and yet to her, as to others, the healing came when He could say, "Great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt." It is not the faith which heals, it is the God that the faith touches; but there is no other way of touching God except by faith, and, therefore, if we would receive His Almighty touch, we must believe.


4. All power for service is possible to him that believeth. The gift of the Holy Ghost is received by faith. The power of the apostles was in proportion to their faith. Stephen "full of faith and power" could meet all the wisdom of Saul of Tarsus and the synagogue of the Sicilians. The simple story of Barnabas is that "he was a good man and full of faith and the Holy Ghost, and much people were added unto the Lord." The secret of effective preaching is not logic, or rhetoric, or elocution, but to be able to say, "I believed and therefore have I spoken." The success of some evangelists and Christian workers is out of all proportion to their talent or capacity in any direction, but they have one gift which they faithfully exercise, and that is expecting God to give them souls ; and, therefore, they are never disappointed.  Humble toiler in the vineyard of the Lord, will you go forth to all the possibilities of faith in your work for Him as you realize the strength of your weakness and the might of your God for it is "not by might or by power but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts."

The Possibilities of Faith

"If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."Mark 9:23

These are bold and stupendous words. They open the treasure house of the Eternal King to sinful people, and offer to the children of clay the privilege of God's own omnipotence and all the possibilities of His infinite resources. Side by side these two astounding declarations stand, "All things are possible with God,"

I. Let us consider the possibilities of faith:—

1. Salvation is possible to him that believeth. No matter how vile the sin, how many or how great the sins, how aggravated the guilt, how deep the corruption, how long the career of impenitence and crime, it is everywhere and forever true, '' He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life," "Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved." And thus alone can any soul be saved, for it is just as true forever, no matter what qualifications the soul may possess, whether the highest morality or the deepest depravity, '' He that believeth not shall be damned." This blessed text opens the gates of Paradise and all the possibilities of grace to any and every sinner, and '' whosoever will, may come, and take the Water of Life freely."

2. Sanctification is possible to him that believeth. '' Inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith that is in me," is still the inscription over the gates of our full inheritance. "Purifying our hearts by faith" is still the Divine process of full salvation. Thus alone can the soul be sanctified. It is not a work, but a gift of grace, and all grace must be by faith. It is not possible by painful struggling ; it is not possible by penance and self-torture; it is not possible by sickness, suffering or self-crucifixion; it is not possible by careful training, correct teaching and perfect example; it is not possible even by the dark, cold waters of death itself. The soul that dies un sanctified shall be un sanctified forever. "He that is holy, let him be holy still: he that is filthy, let him be filthy still." But it is possible to him that believeth. It is the gift of Jesus Christ; it is the incoming and indwelling of Jesus Christ; it is the interior life and divine imparting of the Holy Ghost, and it must be by faith alone. And it is possible to any soul that will believe, no matter how unholy it has been, no matter how perverse it is; as mean perhaps and crooked as Jacob, as gross as David in his darkest sin, as self-confident as Simon Peter, as willful and self-righteous as Paul—it may be and shall be made as spotless as the Son of God, as holy as the holiness of Jesus Himself, who comes to dwell within, if we will only believe and receive.

God's Attributes Part 4 Q&A,

"God is a good and merciful God."  Ps. 145:1-21

God is good, and he does good.  Heaven and earth are full of his goodness.  Every living thing enjoys his goodness.  Birds, beats, fishes, insects, creeping things, are fed by his bountiful hand.  He takes kind care of them all.  It is of his mercy that we live and behold the pleasant light of the sun and moon; and enjoy the spring, when the trees and grass look so green, and we plant the ground-summer, when we eat nice fruit-autumn, when we gather in harvests-and winter, when we warm by the blazing fire.  It is of his mercy that we have everyday provisions, health, family, and friends.  It is of his mercy, when we are sick, that he makes us well; and when we are in danger of being hurt or killed, that he keeps us safe.  

Above all, it is of his mercy that he has sent his Son to die for us.  If it were not for the mercy of God, we should not live -the world would not stand.  His mercy should lead us to repentance.  He shows us mercy that we may repent and live.


Q. Who only is perfectly good in himself, and does good to us and to all creatures?

A. God. (Ps. 119:68, Matt. 19:17, 1 Chron. 16:34, Ex. 34:6, Ps. 145:9)

Q. Do we deserve God's goodness towards us?

A. No. 

Q. And why not?

A. Because we have sinned against him.  (Luke 15:21)

Q. Is God a merciful God?

A. Yes. (Jonah 4:2, Ps. 103:8, Exod. 34:6, 2 Cor. 1:3, Ps. 86:5)

Q.What great thing has God done for us sinners, that shows he is a good and mericfu God?

A. He sent his Son to die for us. (1 John 4:9, 10, John 3:16)

Q. As God treats us in a good and merciful way, how does he command us to treat each other?

A. In a good and merciful way also. (Luke 6:36, Matt. 5:44-48, James 2:13, Matt. 18:21-35)

Q. To what should God's goodness and mercy lead us?

A. "To repentance." (Rom. 2:4)

God's Attributes Part 3 Q&A

God is a holy God.  His very nature is holy.  His holiness is His glory.  There is no iniquity in God.  He is infinite purity in all his thoughts and words and ways.  He hates sin with a perfect hatred.  If God were not Holy he would not be worthy of our love. He loves the righteous.  He will take care of take  and give them a place before him in heaven.  He hates the Wicked, and will destroy them.  Let no man in his sins hope to see God in peace.  We can therefore never be happy nor expect God's favor unless we cease from sin and follow after holiness is to obey his law in thought, word and deed.  And this holiness we obtain from the Lord.

Q. What is God glorious in?
A. "Holiness" (Exod. 15:11)

Q. When Isaiah saw the Lord on his throne, and the angles worshiping him, what did they cry one to another?
A. "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory."(Isa. 6:1-4, Rev. 4:8, John 12:41)

Q. Is there any sin, or iniquity or unrighteousness with God?
A. No. (Ps. 111:9, Isa. 4315, Acts 3:14, Ps. 145:17, James 1:13-17, Rom. 9:14, 1 John 1:5)
Q. What kind of a place is heave where God lives?
A. A holy place. (Rev. 21:9-27, 22:14,15)

Q. How does God feel towards all the wicked?
A. He hates them; however, He desires all men to repent and be saved.  (Ps. 5:4, 5 11:5, 34:16, Job 15:14-16, Hab. 1:13)

Q. How does God feel towards the righteous?
A. He loves them. (Ps. 11:7)

Q. Will God ever receive us into heaven if we are not holy?
A. No. (Amos 3:3, 2 Cor. 6:14,15 Rev.21:8-27)

Q. What must we follow if we would see the Lord?
A. "Holiness." (Heb.12:14, 2 Tim. 1:9, Rom 6:19-22, John 3:1-8)

Pride

"Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus: who emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant; and humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death. Wherefore God also highly exalted him."—Phil. 2:5-7

No tree can grow except on the root from which it sprang. Through all its existence it can only live with the life that was in the seed that gave it being. The full apprehension of this truth in its application to the first and the Second Adam cannot but help us greatly to understand both the need and the nature of the redemption there is in Jesus.

The Need.— When the Old Serpent, he who had been cast out from heaven for his pride, whose whole nature as devil was pride, spoke his words of temptation into the ear of Eve, these words carried with them the very poison of hell. And when she listened, and yielded her desire and her will to the prospect of being as God, knowing good'and evil, the poison entered into her soul and blood and life, destroying for ever that blessed humility and dependence upon God which would have been our everlasting happiness. And instead of this, her life and the life of the race that sprang from her became corrupted to its very root with that most terrible of all sins and all curses, the poison of Satan's own pride. All the wretchedness of which this world has been the scene, all its wars and bloodshed among the nations, all its selfishness and suffering, all its ambitions and jealousies, all its broken hearts and embittered lives, with all its daily unhappiness, have their origin in what this cursed, hellish pride, either our own, or that of others, has brought us. It is pride that made redemption needful; it is from our pride we need above everything to be redeemed. And our insight into the need of redemption will largely depend upon our knowledge of the terrible nature of the power that has entered our being. 

The Attributes of God Part 2 Q&A

"God is present in every place and knows everything." Ps. 139:1-12

Q. Is God present in every place?

A. Yes. (Jer. 23:24, 2 Chron. 2:6, Matt. 18:20)

Q. What does God see and know?

A. All things. (Acts 15: 18, 1 Tim. 1:17, Heb. 4:13, Prov. 15:11, John 2:24, 25)

Q. What does the Scriptures say about the "eyes of the Lord?"

A. "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and good." (Prov. 15:3, 2 Chron. 16:9, Jer. 32:19)

Q. Can we hide ourselves by day or night, in any secret place from God?

A. No (Jer. 23:24, Ps. 139:1-12, Job 31:4, Heb. 4:13, Amos 9:2-4)

Q.  Whom do ask wisdom from?

A. God.  God has all knowledge and all wisdom. (Ps. 147:5, Isa. 40:28; 1 Tim 1:17, James 1:5 Ps 94:10, Prov. 2:6)

Q. Who gave Solomon, the wisest man, all his wisdom?

A. God. (1 Kings 3:5-14, 4:29-34, 2 Chron. 1:8-12)

Q. What is that, within every man, which God alone perfectly knows?

A. The heart. (1 Kings 8:39, 1 Sam. 2:3, 16:7, Ps. 44:21, Rom. 2:16, 1 Cor. 4:5, Eccl. 12:14)

Q. What is said of the deceitfulness and wickedness of the heart?

A. "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked." (Jer. 17:9,10, Gen. 6:5, 8:21, Eccl. 9:3, Rom.3:10-19, Gal. 5:19-21)

The Tri-Unity of God

Excerpt taken from Clarence Larkin's "The Spirit World"

"One of the great Mysteries of the Spirit world is the Tri-Unity of God.  The scriptures clearly teach  the distinct personality of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  At the Baptism of Jesus there was present the "Divine Three."  The "Father" was present and spoke, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased."  The "Son" was present in Jesus.  And the "Holy Spirit" was present in the form of a "Dove." (Matt. 3:16,17)  the "Tri-Unity of God is also taught in the Old Testament.  In Gen. 1:26, we read, "And God Said, Let US make man in OUR image."  And when the "Babel builders" were building their tower, the Lord said -"Go to, let US go down, and confound their language."  (Gen. 11:7)  How to reconcile this "Tri-Unity is the difficulty."  Are there three "Gods" or are there three "Persons" in one "God-Head?"

A simple illustration may help us.  The "sun" of our Solar System is a "Trinity."  It manifests itself in a "thee fold manner, "Heat," "Light", and "Chemical Action."  These three properties of the Sun make up the Sun itself.  Neither one of them by itself is the Sun.  The "Heat" of the Sun is not seen, but is felt.  The "Light" of the Sun can be seen, and it is the "light" of the Sun that makes the Sun VISIBLE.  The "Chemical Action" of the Sun can neither be seen nor felt, but its power is revealed in the growing plant, and on the photographic plate.

To apply our illustration let the "Heat rays of the Sun correspond to "God the Father."  He cannot be seen, but He can be felt, for "God is Love," ( 1 John 4:7-16, John 3:16) and love can be felt but not seen.  The "Light" rays of the Sun correspond to "God the Son."  It is the "Son of God" that makes God VISIBLE.  The Son (Jesus) came ti manifest God. (1 Tim. 3:16)  Jesus said of Himself, "I am the Light of the World." (John 8:12, 1:1-14)  Without the Son we would not know what God is like for He came to reveal God, so that He could say, "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." (John 14:9)  "The Chemical Action" of the Sun corresponds to "God the Holy Spirit."  It is the Holy Spirit that gives life and power, and forms the "Image of God" on the sensitive plate of the "Human Heart." As neither the "Heat" or the "Light" or the "Chemical Action" of the Sun is in itself the Sun, but it takes all three to make the Sun, though each has its separate work to perform, so the "Father," "Son" and "The Holy Spirit," are not each in Himself God, but they in their united capacity are GOD, each performing His Official function in the creation and preservation of the Universe."

Q&A of the Attributes of God

"God lives forever and ever" Ps. 90:1-17

God lives forever and ever He never had a beginning, and he will never have an end. He never changes. He is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever.  He is the everlasting Father—the Fountain—the Giver of life to us and to all things. “ In him we live, and move and have our being.” Our father and mother and friends in this world, may die and leave us alone. But our Father in heaven is greater than these, and can never die. He lives, and can take care of us from the cradle to the grave. Ps. 103:1—5; 145 :9, 15, 16; Matt. 6:11.  And because He lives, we shall live also.  Our bodies may die, but God will raise them up again. We shall live soul and body forever.  2 Tim. 1:9, 1 .This is a delightful truth to us if we are righteous. If we are righteous, then we shall live with God in heaven, forever! But it is a distressing truth if we are wicked. We shall then live with devils in hell, forever. Matt. 25 :46; 16:24-—27.

Q. Who made and who takes care of all things?

A. God. (Gen.1:1, John 1:1-3, Col. 1:1-15, Heb. 1:1-3, Matt. 6:19-34, 10:28-33)

Q. Was God made Himself?

A. No. (Isa. 44:6, 43:10, Deut. 32:39, 40)

Q. Has he a Father?

A. No. He has no Father (Eph. 4:6)

Q. If then God is not made, and has no Father, who gives him life?

A. No one

Q. How then does He life?

A. The Father has life in Himself. (John 5:26, Jer. 10:10, 1 Tim. 1:17, 6:16,)

Q. Has God always lived?

A. Yes.

Q. Will He ever change of die, and come to an end?

A. No. (Gen. 21:33, Ex. 3:14, 1 Tim. 1:17, 6:16, Heb. 1:10-12, Isa. 40:28, Ps. 145:13, James 1:17, Rev. 1:8)

Q. What does the Scripture say of God’s being from everlasting?

A. “ From everlasting to everlasting thou art God.”(Ps. 90: 2, Mal.3:6,  Ps.90:4).

Q. Who gives life to us and to all things?

A. God. (Ps. 145 : 15, 16; Acts 17: 25.)

Q. What does the Bible say, beginning with, “In Him we live ?”

A. “In Him we live, and move. and have our being." Acts 17:28.

Q. Shall we live forever and ever? 

A. Our bodies shall die, but our souls shall live.

Q. But will not our bodies be raised to life again in the last day?

A. Yes. 

Basic Bible NT Questions & Answers

Q.Who was the fore-runner of Christ?

A.John the Baptist.

Q.Who were the four Evangelists?

A.Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Q.Who sat at the receipt of custom?
A.Matthew.

Q.Who was the Disciple that Jesus loved?

A.John.

Q.Who was the beloved Physician?

A.Luke.

Q.Who was the Mother of Jesus? . 

A. Mary.

Q.Who was the husband of Mary?

A.Joseph.

Q.Who sought to kill Jesus when he was a little child? 

A.King Herod.

Q.Who was raised from the dead by our Lord Jesus Christ?

A.Lazarus.

Q.Who betrayed his Lord?

A.Judas

Q.Who denied his Lord?

A.Peter.

Q.Who condemned Jesus to be crucified?

A. Pilate. 

Q.Who were struck dead for telling a lie?

A.Ananias and Sapphira his wife.

Q.Who was killed with the sword?

A.James.

Q.Who was stoned to death ‘I

A.Stephen.

Q.Who was the Apostle to the Gentiles‘!

A.Paul 

Q.Who wrote the first Book in the Bible‘! 

A.Moses.

Q. Who wrote the last Book in the Bible?

A. John

Basic Bible OT Questions and Answers

Q. Who was the First Man?
A.Adam.


Q. Who was the first woman?
A. Eve.


Q. What were the names of their two sons? 
A. Cain and Abel


Q.Who was carried to Heaven without dying ? 
A.Enoch

Q.Who was the oldest man?
A.Methuselah.

Q.Who were saved in the Ark when the world was drowned?
A.Noah and his family. '

Q.What were the names of his three sons?
A. Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Q.Who was saved when Sodom was burnt?
A. Lot and his two daughters.

Q. Who was turned into a pillar of salt?
A.Lot's wife.

Q.How many sons had Jacob?
A.Twelve. . 

Q.Who was sold into Egypt by his brethren?
A. Joseph.

Q.Who was the meekest man?
A. Moses

Q. Who led the Children of Israel into the Promised Land?
A. Joshua

Q. Who commanded the Sun and Moon to stand still'?
A. Joshua

Q. Who was the strongest man?
A. Samson 

Q. Who was the wisest man?

A. Solomon

Q. Who was carried into heaven in a Chariot of Fire?
A. Elijah

Q. Who made iron to swim?
A. Elisha

Q. Who was cast into the lion's den?
A. Daniel

Q. What three children were cast into the fiery furnace?
A. Shadrach, Meschach, and Abed-nego