Churchwork
02-15-2006, 06:10 AM
Suppose you look at your own self. Perhaps you will wonder why
you are still the same after you have heard you were circumcised. I
want you to know that Satan will tempt you by insinuating that you
are just the same as before, that nothing has changed, even perhaps
that what God says is not true. With the result that your faith will
waver.
Are there not many who expect some God-given proof in their
hearts assuring them that they are now better and cannot be touched
by sins? Let me be frank to say that apart from the word of God,
there is no trustworthy evidence. If you believe in God’s word, that is
the proof. The greatest evidence lies in the fact that God has spoken.
It is not because you inwardly feel good or outwardly have changed.
It is only because the word of God says that you were circumcised
with the circumcision not made with hands in Christ. That alone will
prove to be sufficient if you will only believe.
What a blunder is committed when people will not believe in
God’s word because they do not see or feel themselves changed for
the better. This is not faith. No matter what your experience is, it
cannot make God’s word either unreal or more real. If you think you
are truly circumcised but only because you have more patience today
or have overcome temptation once, may I remind you that that is not
faith. That is merely looking at your symptom, at your experience.
You will be defeated with such a mentality. I myself have had the
experience that whether I feel good or bad, I cannot be moved if I
believe in God’s word. On the contrary, my feet stand on solid rock,
and I am as secure as the formidable mountain. If you deem yourself
getting better and half-believe in yourself, you will soon fall. But by
truly trusting in God’s word, you will find the infinite power of God
manifested in your life, enabling you to overcome the temptations
and sins which you could not overcome before. You come to know
that it is not you, but God, who does all this. All uncleannesses will
fall away as though a piece of foreskin had just been cut off from an
uncircumcised body.
God has already accomplished all things in Christ. Whether you
feel it or not should not create any problem. The important thing is
that you believe what God has said about you: you were circumcised
in Christ, and hence you have been circumcised! You do not even
need to struggle to hold on because God cares for the faithfulness of
His word far more than you even care for victory. Just believe, and
God will take care of its success.
How many young believers attempt to hold on to victory with
their own strength, but as soon as they are tempted they fall. Then
Satan will suggest to them that they are no better than before. And
once that suggestion is accepted, they lose all hope. If there be a hero
of faith who, from the outset of believing and as he goes through all
the tests of experience, stands firm in the word that “whatever God
has said, it is done,” he will greatly glorify the Lord. If one can
believe in God’s word under the most hostile of circumstances, he
brings much glory to God. Though there may be a cloud before his
eyes, he ought to keep in mind that above the cloud the sun still
shines. However dark may be the situation, God’s word remains true.
Not to believe in God’s word is one of the greatest sins in the whole
world.
Today a glad tiding is being given to you—which is, that you may
overcome. You do not overcome because you do not believe. If you
are still troubled by lusts and passions, this can only be attributable to
your unbelief and not to any unfinished work of Christ. A sinner
remains unsaved not because Christ cannot save him or because
Christ has not shed His blood to redeem him, but because he will not
believe. If a person really believes in God’s word, glorious days will
come to that one. He will walk on earth conscious of the sun and not
of the cloud.
May God give us faith. May we believe in His word today. And as
soon as we believe, we shall instantly possess it.
you are still the same after you have heard you were circumcised. I
want you to know that Satan will tempt you by insinuating that you
are just the same as before, that nothing has changed, even perhaps
that what God says is not true. With the result that your faith will
waver.
Are there not many who expect some God-given proof in their
hearts assuring them that they are now better and cannot be touched
by sins? Let me be frank to say that apart from the word of God,
there is no trustworthy evidence. If you believe in God’s word, that is
the proof. The greatest evidence lies in the fact that God has spoken.
It is not because you inwardly feel good or outwardly have changed.
It is only because the word of God says that you were circumcised
with the circumcision not made with hands in Christ. That alone will
prove to be sufficient if you will only believe.
What a blunder is committed when people will not believe in
God’s word because they do not see or feel themselves changed for
the better. This is not faith. No matter what your experience is, it
cannot make God’s word either unreal or more real. If you think you
are truly circumcised but only because you have more patience today
or have overcome temptation once, may I remind you that that is not
faith. That is merely looking at your symptom, at your experience.
You will be defeated with such a mentality. I myself have had the
experience that whether I feel good or bad, I cannot be moved if I
believe in God’s word. On the contrary, my feet stand on solid rock,
and I am as secure as the formidable mountain. If you deem yourself
getting better and half-believe in yourself, you will soon fall. But by
truly trusting in God’s word, you will find the infinite power of God
manifested in your life, enabling you to overcome the temptations
and sins which you could not overcome before. You come to know
that it is not you, but God, who does all this. All uncleannesses will
fall away as though a piece of foreskin had just been cut off from an
uncircumcised body.
God has already accomplished all things in Christ. Whether you
feel it or not should not create any problem. The important thing is
that you believe what God has said about you: you were circumcised
in Christ, and hence you have been circumcised! You do not even
need to struggle to hold on because God cares for the faithfulness of
His word far more than you even care for victory. Just believe, and
God will take care of its success.
How many young believers attempt to hold on to victory with
their own strength, but as soon as they are tempted they fall. Then
Satan will suggest to them that they are no better than before. And
once that suggestion is accepted, they lose all hope. If there be a hero
of faith who, from the outset of believing and as he goes through all
the tests of experience, stands firm in the word that “whatever God
has said, it is done,” he will greatly glorify the Lord. If one can
believe in God’s word under the most hostile of circumstances, he
brings much glory to God. Though there may be a cloud before his
eyes, he ought to keep in mind that above the cloud the sun still
shines. However dark may be the situation, God’s word remains true.
Not to believe in God’s word is one of the greatest sins in the whole
world.
Today a glad tiding is being given to you—which is, that you may
overcome. You do not overcome because you do not believe. If you
are still troubled by lusts and passions, this can only be attributable to
your unbelief and not to any unfinished work of Christ. A sinner
remains unsaved not because Christ cannot save him or because
Christ has not shed His blood to redeem him, but because he will not
believe. If a person really believes in God’s word, glorious days will
come to that one. He will walk on earth conscious of the sun and not
of the cloud.
May God give us faith. May we believe in His word today. And as
soon as we believe, we shall instantly possess it.