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His Thoughts

The leading priests and the teachers of religious law saw these wonderful miracles and heard even the children in the Temple shouting, "Praise God for the Son of David." But the leaders were indignant. (Matthew 21:15 NLT)

From the Mount of Olives He went, and in that meek and lowly way presented Himself as King. The fickle multitude, of course, jumped at earthly possibilities, and again the disciples are all in it. But when you get to Matthew 21:15, you get to the true situation in Israel among the Jews, and it will be found that even the fickle multitude will come to that presently when they discover that He did not mean a temporal, political kingdom at all. And when all that prospect seems to be more than doubtful, the crowd will join the ruler cry, way with Him!The real thing deep down behind is in verse 15: the positive antagonism towards Him; no desire to have Him, of course stimulated by envy and jealousy. The place where it was really drawn out as to what people wanted was the Mount of Olives....

Really their thoughts and His are very far apart, and that becomes very clear in the end. The Mount of Olives first of all gets down into the truth as to what people are after. You never know the truth about a situation. It may look all right, it may seem to be quite favorable, but in fact it may be all wrong, false, and untrue. You never know until you obtain the heavenly position of higher ground, and then from that higher ground you can see the truth about things. That works in principle; that works in history. If you present the high ground of God full thought for His people and the hearts of the people are really set upon having a work for God down here that is flourishing and prosperous and well-spoken of, you find that people are really, after all, only going with Him so long as He comes into line with their ideas and ambitions. But immediately that runs counter to thoughts more earthly, thoughts even in relation to Him, something deeper rises up. They are not going to have that. You have seen that many times; you must not touch their things. They say it is for the Lord, but you must not touch it; it is their own. If you are not coming to help their thing or things with your ministry or presentation, of course they won have it, and it resolves itself into this: they won have Him; that is not the kind of Lord they want. They want a Lord who is going to make their thing for Him successful down here. You can only know and discriminate between the true and the false when you yourself are on the higher ground.

You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting.

The Lord is the God of knowledge; and by Him actions are weighed. § What is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. § The Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. § Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

What profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? § What things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.

Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts. § You have tested my heart; You have visited me in the night; You have tried me and have found nothing.

Dan. 5:27;  1 Sam. 2:3 ; Luke 16:15;  1 Sam. 16:7;  Gal. 6:7,8;  Matt. 16:26;  Phil. 3:7;  Ps. 51:6;  Ps. 17:3

Christ the firstfruits.

Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. § If the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. § Now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. § If we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection. § The Lord Jesus Christ … will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

The firstborn from the dead. § If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.

1 Cor. 15:23;  John 12:24;  Rom. 11:16;  1 Cor. 15:20;  Rom. 6:5;  Phil. 3:20,21;  Col. 1:18;  Rom. 8:11;  John 11:25

Sans Effort

To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Rom. 4:5).

There is no work involved in our receiving the Lord Jesus for life, and there should certainly be no self-effort involved in the manifestation of His life in and through us. The principle is the same, from re-birth to maturity.

˜Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ' (1 Cor. 15:57). That is grace. That is the test of the real or the counterfeit. Just remember this: any victory over the power of any sin whatsoever that you have to get by working for it is counterfeit. Any victory that you have to get by trying for it is false. If you have to work for your freedom, it is not the real thing, it is not that which the Father offers you in His Son."

"The effortless life is not the will-less life. We use our will to believe, or receive, but not to exert effort in trying to accomplish what only the Father has done. Our hope for freedom from the power of sin is not Christ plus my efforts,' but Christ plus my receiving.' To receive victory from Him is to believe His Word that solely by grace He is, this moment, freeing us from the dominion of sin. And to believe on Him in this way is to recognize that He is doing for us what we can never do for ourselves." -C.G.T.

"The Father has left us as much dependent on the Lord Jesus' work for our deliverance as for our forgiveness. It is wholly because we died with Him on the Cross, but unto sin and unto the whole legal principle, that sin's power for those in Him is broken."

"Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt" (Rom. 4:4).

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