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The Death-Conquering Life

This is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. (1 John 5:11)

Christ is never proved to be alive from the dead, nor to be Lord, by doctrinal statements. Your statement of faith may include the fact that you believe Jesus died and rose again, ascended to heaven, and is at the right hand of the Majesty on High, but how are you going to prove your statement? What has God given as the evidence of that? You may believe it; you may be willing to lay down your life for that faith; you may state it with tremendous emphasis, and yet you are not thereby proving it. You will never prove anything by saying: "I believe with all my might that this is the case!" You will never prove a thing by standing up and declaring it as something which you believe. You will never prove a thing by saying: "I believe in all the fundamentals of the Christian faith!" and calling yourself by some name which indicates that you believe in the inspiration of the Bible. Nothing is ever proved in that way. Reducing the whole matter to these two points that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead, and is Lord of all you have still to prove your statement after you have made it. If you have appealed to the fact that the Word of God says so, even then you have proved nothing. Your proof can never be by argument, because what argument can build up, argument can pull down, and what logic can construct, logic can destroy.

How, then, are you going to prove that this is so? By the expression and manifestation of His risen Life, that is all but it is a mighty "all!" That signifies that you are the embodiment of the thing which you declare that besides the doctrinal statement there is the living expression. Thus the resurrection and the lordship of Jesus are bound up with this expression which is called the "testimony." The testimony is not a system of truth. It is that extra factor to the statement and presentation of truth which is the power of a Life which conquers death. How, then, will you prove that Jesus has conquered death? The proof of it will be a death-conquering Life that expresses itself in you.

This is the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat it.

We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. § Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. § At that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise … But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, … having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace.

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.

If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

Ex. 12:43;  Heb. 13:10;  John 3:3;  Eph. 2:12,13;   Eph. 2:14,15;  Eph. 2:19;  Rev. 3:20

[Jesus] prayed the third time, saying the same words.

Who, in the days of His flesh, … offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death. Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. § [Continue] steadfastly in prayer. § Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication. § By prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will. § This is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. Delight yourself … in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.

Matt. 26:44;  Heb. 5:7;  Hos. 6:3;  Rom. 12:12;  Eph. 6:18;  Phil. 4:6,7;  Matt. 26:39;  1 John 5:14;  Ps. 37:4,5

Personal Appreciation

As ye have, therefore, received Christ Jesus as Lord, so walk ye in Him, rooted and built up in Him" (Col. 2:7).

We appreciate His benefits toward us, but are we appreciative - do we express to Him our appreciation?

"Let us be very watchful that the inner life, communion with the Lord Jesus, be the true source of our activities."

"The Lord Jesus longs for fellowship with us. He does not want patronage. It does not meet the desire of His heart to be followed, or admired, or gazed at, because of what He can do or give. He delights in a heart taught of the Spirit to appreciate His Person, for this glorifies and gratifies the Father. He retires from the gaze of an excited and tumultuous throng who would fain make Him a king, because they had eaten of the loaves and were filled; but He could turn with touching earnestness to the little band of disciples who still remained, and challenge their hearts with the question, 'Will ye also go away?'"

"Love could never be too near to its object. Nearness to the Lord Jesus is the instinct of divine life, as we see in the first question of the two disciples who followed Him, Where dwellest Thou?' Why is not this the first question now? Because there is not simple devotedness of heart to the Lord Jesus Christ."

"There is nothing in all the world so precious to the Father as a heart that, in any measure, appreciates His Son."

"Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28).

Perfect in Christ - Character and Attributes of God (8)

Proclamation of Peace