Christ is Victor - September/October, 2013, Volume 26, No.5

“From Bondage to Sonship”

“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15).

What is the Spirit that we have received? Is it the Spirit of adoption (into God’s family) or the spirit of bondage? The spirit of bondage is trying to recapture people. Paul (in the above passage) is fighting to release these people from their bondage. Somehow, we like some bondage. Somewhere some bondage takes hold of us. The bondage of fear is a very common thing and our fertile imaginations multiply our fears. So we keep on imagining things—things which do not exist. That is the spirit of bondage. The Spirit of adoption makes us focus on the throne of God. We are told in the Bible that we are “joint-heirs” with Christ. The Spirit bears witness that we are joint-heirs with Christ. This Spirit of adoption makes us cry, “Abba, Father”.

“And He [Jesus] went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. And He said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt” (Mark: 14:35-36). This was in the garden of Gethsemane (the night before His crucifixion), and there Jesus cried, “Abba, Father”. This cry appears to be an undefined expression of a strong relationship—something which you will tell only to a father in great confidence, confiding to him, “Abba, Father, what can I do now?” Here Jesus faced the cup of man’s sin. What a moment, the sinless Son of God, faced with this cup of sin! So this heart cry, this sigh, comes from the heart of Jesus. Those who do not carry the cross will never have such a heart cry. We do not like humbling and owning up to our sins. Of course, we will not take the sins of the nation upon ourselves. We shut our eyes to the crying need of the nations today.

We are very busy with our own work and have no real burden for the world around us. Our Lord Jesus could have been very busy with His service. Organizational work has this great danger. It depends upon your work, so you have to work harder and it is not God at work. This is human regeneration; it has no “Abba, Father” in it. It has no cross, and no blood drops as great sweat drops. No, it is a physical exertion and zeal. Is that what we see? Are those the steps that Jesus teaches us? The burdens for souls and for the sins of others are what you should have. If that cry “Abba, Father” goes away, there is a big vacuum, and anything can come into that vacuum. Your thoughts, fears, evil inclinations and lusts, those old habits of speaking lies and half-truths, will flood your heart.

But what is the spirit which Jesus gives His children? He says, “I have brought you out of bondage”. So your spirit of bondage is gone. Now you have the Spirit of adoption. Is there not the cry, “Abba, Father” in our hearts? What kind of spirit has taken hold of us? The spirit of the world is at enmity with God. It makes you think, “How can I get rich quickly?” Where is Gethsemane there? Where is the cry, “Not my will, but yours be done” there? Have we lost that cry? We have got to be honest before God and speak no half-truths.

The Spirit of truth is the Spirit of God and the Spirit of adoption is the package of the Spirit of truth. It is terrible if you do not want to face the truth. Truth does not spare anybody. But is truth good for you? To know the truth, you should undergo some tests and the truth is not palatable to anybody. Unless a Fellowship has revival ever so frequently, at least every five or ten years, that Fellowship will become dead. In ten years little children become teenagers, and if they do not know revival, if they do not walk in the truth, they have no chance. The fifteen-year-old teenager becomes a new entrant into the job market. When he enters the job market, and money comes into his pocket, he never learnt how to put first the Kingdom of God and he never cried, "Abba, Father," and he is like a sitting duck to the world. Do you see the need for revival? Your heart needs to get that cry for revival. You cannot force it, and you cannot work it up.

Charles Finney spoke of a businessman. He would come from his business and immediately he would enter into the Spirit of prayer of the prayer meeting. Mr. Finney said, “This man is such a busy man and has got such responsibility. But how does he maintain the Spirit of prayer?” He happened to be the guest in his house and so one night, when Finney's child needed milk or something, he came down from his bedroom at about three in the morning and he found this man lost in prayer and waiting on God. He said, “Now I know the secret, how this man has this Spirit of prayer.” The man said, “The only way in which I can keep in close communion with God is to rise in the middle of the night, to spend time with God.” You know the discipline that it takes.

You can understand that such people have the cry “Abba, Father”. They may be in the world but not of the world; the world never seems to get into them. The Lord Jesus said twice that His disciples “are not of the world, even as I am not of the world”. That gives me a knockout blow. “Be ye … perfect, even as your father in heaven is perfect.”

We are really like immature little children when it comes to any crunch or crisis. We speak what we like, give vent to our fears, and just say, “I want my will”. But the Spirit of adoption makes you cry, “Thy will and not my will”. It may be hard and wearisome; it may even kill you. But the Spirit of adoption gives you a firm entrenchment in, and an unbending commitment to, the will of God.

God has got a fixed deposit for us. What is that? Heirs to God! Are we running to get it? Have we got the Spirit of adoption? The Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of His Son, is sent into us crying, “Abba, Father”. Is that cry coming out of us? When you have that cry, all other cries and compulsions are excluded, because you are a son and your place is with Jesus. Your cry becomes the cry of the heart of Jesus. After receiving so much light, we ought to be walking in the heavenlies, walking with God. May God help us!

—Joshua Daniel

“Love is the Supreme Power”

“For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love” (Galatians 5:6).

Love is the supreme power. God is the supreme power because He is Love. You may say, “Well, we also love our children.” That is not true love; often it is selfish love. But God’s love is holy. When you have that divine love, you can do many things. Faith transforms our ordinary love into God’s divine love. Mother’s love is animal love. When faith comes in, it turns natural love into powerful love. When you pray with this powerful love, then you receive power from on High. Have you got this divine love?

If you try to love ten people, you will be strengthened. God so loved the world and sent His only Son into the world, to die for us. The nearest place to Heaven is our home because love is there. Children love the parents. Husbands and wives love one another and so on. Heaven is such a beautiful place made of love. If Christ is with the husband and wife, then their love will be true love. When Christ is with us, then there will be no quarrelling. Without Christ you may have love, but that will be mere animal love or natural love. Christ alone can give us divine love.

The Holy Spirit will keep you away from sin. St. Paul writes in a glorious way about love, mentioning eight points in 1 Corinthians 13. One of them is, “Love does not rejoice in iniquity”. When you become a true Christian, Christ will give you a new nature. God is not a liar and so you cannot lie.

A beautiful harmony will be found where there is true love. Do you love your neighbour? Christ gives you true love. The moment you begin to harbour anger and hatred, some kind of disease begins in you. Jesus forgave from the cross even the people who crucified Him. If you become angry, your stomach will be upset. People who are full of the spirit of hatred and vengeance will die early. Yes, men have some kind of love. But this animal love is very selfish which makes you say, “I and my family”. When Christ comes, He will change that natural selfish love into divine love. You will find your heart burdened for others. Thus, as you begin to love your neighbours, your family will be blessed.

Many think that Heaven is somewhere. No, heaven begins in our homes when you are converted. God fills the clean heart with love. If a church has a dozen people who have divine love in their hearts, that church will be blessed. Is there true love in your family? Are you contemplating anything against others? St. Paul teaches us to love others. Everywhere there must be love.

We must weep for not loving our neighbours, relatives and others. Why hate others? “And though I have the gift of prophecy … and have not love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2). That is the teaching of Christianity. When you love others, you will become a blessing and your life will be powerful. What is it we really lack? Not money, but love! But why don’t we experience such love? Inasmuch as there is impurity in our hearts and mixed motives, we cannot experience such love. Those that love others will dwell in God. Have you got a pure heart? If you are converted and study the Bible, your love will become divine love. Love is unlimited in its power. Let us love one another. The end of Christian teaching is love.

Joseph in the Bible was full of love. He kissed his enemies. He turned the wicked idolatrous country of Egypt of his day into a place of blessing. Daniel was full of love and prayed for his own people who were in bondage. It was Daniel’s prayer that brought the Jews once again to Jerusalem from Babylon.

True love gives Christ to others. If you have true love, you will tell others of Christ. The best gift of heavenly love to the earth is Jesus Christ. If you love your in-laws, you will give the Gospel to them. Except through the Saviour Jesus, there will be no real peace and love. Be full of His love.

—N. Daniel

“The Faithfulness of a Living God”

Do you believe in the real and living God? If so, do you ever doubt His faithfulness? George Müller was a man who learned to take God at His Word. “Sell that ye have, and give alms” (Luke 12:33) and “[o]we no man anything, but to love one another” (Romans 13:8)—such were the commands he obeyed. In 1834, he set out to prove the reality and faithfulness of God by establishing (and then maintaining) an orphan house in Bristol by prayer and faith only—with no fund-raising and no loans. Müller did not expect God to create silver and gold for him, but he knew that the Lord could move the hearts of men to aid his God-given work. “Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it” (Psalm 81:10): Müller felt led to apply this promise to the orphanage work.

In 1845, God made it clear through various means that the time had come to build an orphanage. Premises for three hundred children would be needed, and a large piece of ground near Bristol for the building and a small farm. That would cost at least £10 000, and Müller would not enter into any contract until the sum had been received.

On the thirty-sixth day after Müller began to pray, he received £1000 for the building of the Orphan House—the largest single donation he had ever received. After six hundred and seven days of seeking the Lord and receiving His provisions, building work finally began.

One November, the boiler began to leak in the new house. To fix it, the children would have to suffer for lack of warmth, for the heat had to be shut off while repairs were going on. After the day was set for the repairs, a bitter north wind began to blow. Müller now asked the Lord for two things: to change the north wind into a south wind, and to give the workmen a desire to work. He remembered how much Nehemiah in the Old Testament had accomplished in fifty-two days while building the walls of Jerusalem because “the people had a mind to work” (Nehemiah 4:6).

On the morning of the repairs, a south wind began to blow. No heat was needed, the brickwork was removed, the leak was found, and the repairmen set to work. At about 8.30pm, the manager of the repair firm paid a visit to see how the work was progressing. Müller went to the cellar to see him and his men. “The men will work late this evening and come very early again tomorrow,” said the manager. “We would rather, sir,” replied the foreman, “work all night.” By the next morning, the boiler was repaired. Within thirty hours, the brickwork which had been taken down was up again, and the fire was in the boiler. All that time, the south wind blew so mildly that no heat was needed. God had answered both prayers.

What were Müller’s principles in prayer? He knew that to have them answered, He must make his requests to God on the ground of the merits and worthiness of His perfect Son, the Lord Jesus. He could not depend on his own merits and worthiness.

Trusting in God meant more than just obtaining money by prayer and faith; Müller desired his faith to extend toward everything. By reading God’s Word and meditating on it, by maintaining an upright heart and a good conscience, by embracing trials of faith, and by allowing God to work for him, Müller found his faith greatly strengthened. And so might yours be.

“Reality Check”

For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth (Psalm 37:9).

“A Cripple Healed by Jesus”

The Voice

“I want to die.” They were bold and honest words. “I don’t want to live anymore…” Crippled from the age of two and now bereaved of her beloved father, Gulshan—a Pakistani Muslim—unleashed her hopelessness. It was shortly after 3am.

In her grief and pain, Gulshan heard a gentle voice respond: “I won’t let you die. I will keep you alive.” “What’s the point of keeping me alive?” Gulshan asked. “You’ve taken away my father and left me with no hope…” But the voice spoke again: “Who gave eyes to the blind, and who made the sick whole, and who healed the lepers and who raised the dead? I am Jesus, son of Mary. Read about Me in the Quran, in the Sura Maryam.”

Gulshan obeyed that voice. As she read of Jesus the Healer in the Quran, a faith in her grew that He was alive and could heal her. Many times a day she began to pray a prayer of healing to Jesus. The more she prayed, the more she was drawn to this figure who had a power over sickness and death which Mohammed never claimed.

The Encounter

One night at 3am, Gulshan awoke as usual, the prayer for healing sounding out in her heart. But then she stopped: “I’ve been doing this for so long and I’m still a cripple.” At last in pain she cried out, “If you are able to, heal me—otherwise tell me.” What happened next is nearly beyond words.

Light—a powerful light—flooded the bedroom, surpassing the brightness of day. Twelve long-robed figures stood before her with a radiant, larger thirteenth. Gulshan began to pray, seeking to know who these people were. A voice spoke: “Get up. This is the path you have been seeking. I am Jesus Son of Mary, to whom you have been praying, and now I am standing in front of you. You get up and come to me.”

Three times Jesus commanded her—the crippled Gulshan—to stand up and walk. Strength entered into her limbs and Gulshan not only stood up, but ran and fell at the feet of the vision, bathing in its wonderful light.

Jesus placed His hand upon Gulshan. From a hole in His hand shone forth a ray of light upon her clothes: “I am Jesus. I am Immanuel. I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. I am alive, and I am soon coming. See, from today you are my witness. What you have seen now with your eyes you must take to my people. My people are your people…” Jesus instructed Gulshan to pray a new prayer: “Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

There at the feet of Jesus, Gulshan had a live encounter with the Son of God. Her arm and leg were now covered in flesh. Though strength came to her hand, it was not perfect. “Why don’t you make it all whole?” she asked. Jesus replied, “I want you to be my witness.”

The Continuation

It was a costly decision to become a witness for Jesus. Gulshan began to pray about the question of who His people were, where they were, and how she could go to them in light of her family’s prohibition. The answer came as a voice: “If you’re frightened because of your family, I won’t be with you. You have to remain faithful to me in order to go to my people.”

When Gulshan daringly obtained a New Testament, she found spiritual bread for her hunger; Jesus as God was revealed to her in its precious pages. No animal blood could cleanse Gulshan from her sin; only the sacrificed flesh of Jesus can provide a way for us into the holiest place where He, after having “offered one sacrifice for sin for ever, sat down on the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12).

—See The Torn Veil, as told to Thelma Sangster

“The Man that Died for Me”

In the Californian mining country stood a one-room mud cabin where a rough, hardened man lay dying. When Mrs. Barney went over the hills and visited him for the first time, her attempt to speak of Jesus and His death was met with oaths. “That’s all a lie,” the miner said, “Nobody ever died for others.” Her following visits were treated with less gratitude than a dog would have shown.

One night, convicted that she had not really cared for the dying miner, Mrs. Barney prayed, “Oh, Christ, give me a little glimpse of the worth of a human soul.” She stayed on her knees for hours as Calvary—where Christ died—became a reality to her. “The Lord is going to save him,” she told her husband.

The next morning, Mrs. Barney was accompanied by a neighbour with her little girl, Mamie. When the dying man heard the little girl’s beautiful laugh, he earnestly desired to see her. “I had a little girl once, and she died. Her name was Mamie. She cared for me. Nobody else did. Guess I’d been different if she’d lived. I’ve hated everybody since she died.” This affection strongly contrasted with the bitterness he felt towards his wife and mother.

“The dear Lord didn’t want her to be like them. He loved her better than you did. So He took her away,” said Mrs. Barney. “Don’t you want to see her again?” she asked. She told him of Jesus’ death on the cross, and soon Mamie prayed for the dying miner: “Dear Jesus, this man is sick. He has lost his ‘ittle girl, and he feels bad about it. I’s so sorry for him, and he’s so sorry too. Won’t You help him, and show him where to find his ‘ittle girl? Do please. Amen.”

The old man kept saying, “Tell Him more ‘bout it, tell Him everything,” and poured out such a torrent of confession! On the third day, he turned from everything to “the man who died for me”.

Some time after, a meeting was held in the cabin with boys from the mills and mines. “Boys,” declared the dying miner, “You know how the water runs down the sluice boxes and carries off the dirt and leaves the gold behind. Well the Blood of that Man [Jesus],” he continued, “went right over me just like that; it carried off ‘bout everything. But it left enough for me to see Mamie, and to see the Man that died for me. Oh, boys, can’t you love Him?”.

When Mrs. Barney was leaving the miner some days later, she saw that the end had come. “What shall I say tonight, Jack?” “Just good night,” he said. “What will you say to me when we meet again?” “I’ll say ‘good morning', up there.” That night the miner died—but his last words were: “Tell her I’m going to see the Man that died for me.”

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