Day: September 3, 2017

Oswald Chambers 

Pouring Out the Water of Satisfaction
September 3, 2017
He would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord. —2 Samuel 23:16
   
What has been like “water from the well of Bethlehem” to you recently— love, friendship, or maybe some spiritual blessing (2 Samuel 23:16)? Have you taken whatever it may be, even at the risk of damaging your own soul, simply to satisfy yourself? If you have, then you cannot pour it out “to the Lord.” You can never set apart for God something that you desire for yourself to achieve your own satisfaction. If you try to satisfy yourself with a blessing from God, it will corrupt you. You must sacrifice it, pouring it out to God— something that your common sense says is an absurd waste.
How can I pour out “to the Lord” natural love and spiritual blessings? There is only one way— I must make a determination in my mind to do so. There are certain things other people do that could never be received by someone who does not know God, because it is humanly impossible to repay them. As soon as I realize that something is too wonderful for me, that I am not worthy to receive it, and that it is not meant for a human being at all, I must pour it out “to the Lord.” Then these very things that have come to me will be poured out as “rivers of living water” all around me (John 7:38). And until I pour these things out to God, they actually endanger those I love, as well as myself, because they will be turned into lust. Yes, we can be lustful in things that are not sordid and vile. Even love must be transformed by being poured out “to the Lord.”
If you have become bitter and sour, it is because when God gave you a blessing you hoarded it. Yet if you had poured it out to Him, you would have been the sweetest person on earth. If you are always keeping blessings to yourself and never learning to pour out anything “to the Lord,” other people will never have their vision of God expanded through you.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We should always choose our books as God chooses our friends, just a bit beyond us, so that we have to do our level best to keep up with them. Shade of His Hand, 1216 L

​Streams in the Desert – September 32017Sep 03

Streams in the Desert – September 3
2017Sep 03
And he saw them toiling in rowing (Mark 6:48).
Straining, driving effort does not accomplish the work God gives man to do. Only God Himself, who always works without strain, and who never overworks, can do the work that He assigns to His children. When they restfully trust Him to do it, it will be well done and completely done. The way to let Him do His work through us is to partake of Christ so fully, by faith, that He more than fills our life.
A man who had learned this secret once said: “I came to Jesus and I drank, and I do not think that I shall ever be thirsty again. I have taken for my motto, ‘Not overwork, but overflow’; and already it has made all the difference in my life.”
There is no effort in overflow. It is quietly irresistible. It is the normal life of omnipotent and ceaseless accomplishment into which Christ invites us today and always.

–Sunday School Times
Be all at rest, my soul, O blessed secret,

Of the true life that glorifies thy Lord:

Not always doth the busiest soul best serve Him,

But he that resteth on His faithful Word.

Be all at rest, let not your heart be rippled,

For tiny wavelets mar the image fair,

Which the still pool reflects of heaven’s glory–

And thus the image He would have thee bear.

Be all at rest, my soul, for rest is service,

To the still heart God doth His secrets tell;

Thus shalt thou learn to wait, and watch, and labor,

Strengthened to bear, since Christ in thee doth dwell.

For what is service but the life of Jesus,

Lived through a vessel of earth’s fragile clay,

Loving and giving and poured forth for others,

A living sacrifice from day to day.

Be all at rest, so shalt thou be an answer

To those who question, “Who is God and where?”

For God is rest, and where He dwells is stillness,

And they who dwell in Him, His rest shalt share.

And what shall meet the deep unrest around thee,

But the calm peace of God that filled His breast?

For still a living Voice calls to the weary,

From Him who said, “Come unto Me and rest.”

–Freda Hanbury Allen
“In resurrection stillness there is resurrection power.”

FaithEquip

FaithEquip

John the Baptist and Elijah

The first law of logic is the law of identity,

stating that something is what it is: an apple

is an apple. The second law of logic is the

law of non-contradiction, stating that A

cannot be both A and not A at the same time

and in the same sense: an apple is not a cat.

These laws are important when it comes to

the identities of John the Baptist and Elijah.

Many good theologians conclude that John

the Baptist is Elijah and/or they mean that

John the Baptist has already fulfilled all the

prophecies related to Elijah. Is this true?

When John the Baptist was asked, “Are you

Elijah?” he said “I am not”. We have this

Q&A in John 1:21 — and this Gospel was of

course inspired by the Holy Spirit. John the

Baptist came to bear witness of the light,

that all might believe on Christ (cf. John 1:6,

15, 32). We can surely believe John’s witness

about Christ and about his own identity — a

witness that the Holy Spirit confirms in

Scripture. So John the Baptist is John the

Baptist (law of identity), he is not at the

same time and in the same sense the literal

person Elijah (the law of non-contradiction).

John the Baptist fulfilled the prophecy of

Isaiah 40:3 (cf. Matthew 3:3) and the

prophecy of Malachi 3:1 (cf. Matthew 11:10).

The difficult question is whether John the

Baptist fulfilled the prophecy mentioned in

Malachi 4:5-6: “Behold, I will send you Elijah

the prophet before the great and awesome

day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the

hearts of fathers to their children and the

hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come

and strike the land with a decree of utter

destruction.”

As John the Baptist is not literally Elijah (cf.

John 1:21), is it even possible (cf. the law of

non-contradiction) that he could fulfil the

prophecy mentioned in Malachi 4:5-6? It

seems that the Bible refers to some aspects

of John’s ministry in terms of contingency.

Even though he is not literally Elijah, John

“will go before Him [the Lord] in the spirit

and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17a). The Bible

affirms that John the Baptist shares many

characteristics with Elijah. John the Baptist

turned “many” of the children of Israel to the

Lord their God, but did he restore “all

things” (cf. Matthew 17:10-11; Luke

1:16-17)?

Coming down the Mount of Transfiguration,

the disciples asked Jesus, “Then why do the

scribes say that first Elijah must come?” He

answered, “Elijah does come, and he will

restore all things” (Matthew 17:10-11). At a

time when John had already been murdered,

Jesus says that Elijah “will restore” all

things, referring to future events. Unlike John

the Baptist who turned the hearts of “many”,

Jesus says that Elijah will restore “all

things”. Given these statements, I believe that

John the Baptist did not fulfil the prophecy of

Malachi 4:5-6. I also believe that Jesus said

that Elijah will still come to restore all things

(Matthew 17:11).

When He reviews John’s ministry, Jesus

says: “From the days of John the Baptist

until now, the kingdom of heaven has

suffered violence, and the violent take it by

force. For all the prophets and the law

prophesied until John, and if you willing to

accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who

has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matthew

11:12-15). It is not difficult to notice the “if”

in Jesus’ statement: “if you are willing to

receive it.” Even though John the Baptist

fulfilled two prophecies related to him as the

forerunner at Christ’s first coming (Isaiah

40:3 and Malachi 3:1), all in Israel did not

accept John’s witness and so “all things”

were not restored. In fact, the kingdom of

heaven suffered violence because of the

leaven of the leaders of “this generation” in

Israel (Matthew 12:24; 16:12; 23:13).

Jesus also said: “But I tell you that Elijah

has already come, and they did not recognize

him, but did to him whatever they pleased.

So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer

at their hands”. Then the disciples

understood that he was speaking to them of

John the Baptist (Matthew 17:12-13). If all

Israel believed the witness of the one who

came in the spirit and power of Elijah (but it

depends on the contingent “if”), then John the

Baptist could have fulfilled the prophecy of

Malachi 4:5-6. But not only was John’s

witness not believed, they even murdered him

(cf. Matthew 14:1-12). Still, despite Israel

not recognising John the Baptist for who he

is, John accurately witnessed that Jesus is

the Messiah who validly and genuinely

offered the kingdom of heaven to Israel

(Matthew 3:1-12; cf. 4:17).

“As there is only one Messiah but two

comings, contingency is evident when

considering the role of the

forerunner” (Scholtz 2014:3; cf. also Scholtz

2016:5). Of course, whether Israel accepted

or rejected Jesus as the Messiah-King cannot

change John’s identity (Pentecost 1958:312).

Since John came in the spirit and power of

Elijah (Luke 1:17; John 1:21), if “this

generation” in Israel were willing to accept

the witness of John the Baptist, he could

have been Elijah who was to come, but

because they rejected John, he was not

(Matthew 11:14). John the Baptist is a type

of the anti-type, Elijah: John the Baptist was

the forerunner at Christ’s first coming; Elijah

will be the forerunner at Christ’s second

coming. Whereas the first forerunner failed to

restore “all things”, the second forerunner will

succeed. Like others (Toussaint 1980:211;

Barbieri 1983:44, 60; Fruchtenbaum

2005:29-30), I believe that Jesus said that

Elijah will indeed come before the great and

awesome day of the LORD to restore all

things (Matthew 17:11; cf. also Malachi

4:5−6).

Read this article on our website: https://

faithequip.co.za/john-the-baptist-and-elijah/

FaithEquipKeys of the Kingdom

FaithEquip

Keys of the Kingdom

When he confesses that Jesus is the Christ,

the Son of the living God, Peter is blessed by

given the keys of the kingdom (Matthew

16:16, 19). What did Peter really receive?

What do these keys not mean?

In a context where even John the Baptist

wavered and others rejected Jesus as the

Christ, the revelation that God the Father

gave Peter about who Jesus really is, set the

stage for Christ’s inevitable march to the

cross (Matthew 11:2-6; 13:53b-58;

16:17-21). By this time in Matthew, ‘this

generation’ in Israel had already rejected

Jesus as the Son of David (12:23-32) and

the establishment of the Messianic kingdom

in terms of the Davidic Covenant had already

been postponed. Once Peter confesses the

true identity of Jesus, God’s kingdom

program during the inter-advent is made

more explicit, having previously been

announced in the parables of Matthew 13 in

a hidden way (cf. Scholtz 2015). Before the

Day of the LORD starts, Christ will build his

Church and the gates of hell will not prevail

against it (16:18a).

Keys open and lock doors. Jesus gives the

keys of the kingdom of heaven only to Peter

(16:19). These keys confer the authority to

open the spiritual door of the kingdom of

heaven to Jews, Samaritans and Gentiles

(Matthew 28:18b-20; cf. 10:5-7; Acts 1:8;

Toussaint 1980:205). Fruchtenbaum and

Gendron (1996:230) describe Peter’s role as

follows: ‘Having the keys, already known

from the Old Testament, carried two

concepts: first, authority (Isa. 22:20-24) and,

second, the right to unlock the door.

Therefore, the basic point of Matthew 16:19

is that Jesus gives the authority to Peter to

open the door of the church, or the body of

Christ, to all three segments of humanity.

Once he opens the door for a segment of

humanity, it will remain open for them. This

helps explain the sometime delay of the

baptism of the Spirit to believers.’ In the

Book of Acts, Peter opens the door of the

kingdom of heaven to Jews (Acts 2),

Samaritans (Acts 8) and to Gentiles (Acts

10-11).

It is submitted that between the inter-advent

period, more believers in Christ—more

children of the kingdom (cf. Matthew 13:38)

— are added with all other believers of all

time who will enter the Messianic kingdom

when it will be established in terms of the

Davidic Covenant when Christ returns (cf.

Scholtz 2015:1). Note that the Church is not

the kingdom. Believers from Pentecost

onwards, and who are baptised into Christ’s

body, will enter the Messianic kingdom when

it is established. But this still does not mean

that the Church is the kingdom. During the

time that Christ Jesus is in heaven, the

kingdom of heaven may exist in the sense

that some of the sons and daughters of the

kingdom are present on earth (cf. Matthew

13:24, 38; Toussaint 1980:172).

The above must not be construed as

agreement with the traditional Roman

Catholic view that Peter was the first in a line

of popes that exists to the present day,

because this authority regarding the keys of

the kingdom which Christ gave to Peter

cannot and was not transferred to other

people. Peter does not provide salvation to

anyone for salvation is only by grace through

faith in Jesus Christ. Peter is not a high

priest in any sense, because Jesus Christ is

the only High Priest according to the order of

Melchizedek. Peter was married (Matthew

8:14) and he made some sinful mistakes

(Matthew 26:69-75; Galatians 2:11-14), but

he repented and Jesus forgave him. Christ

Jesus is still building his Church and the

gates of hell will not prevail against it.

Read this article on our website: https://

faithequip.co.za/keys-of-the-kingdom.

​Charles Spurgeon:

Charles Spurgeon:

“Honor the Spirit of God as you would honor

Jesus Christ if He were present. If Jesus

Christ were dwelling in your house, you

would not ignore Him. You would not go

about your businesses if He were not there.

Do not ignore the presence of the Holy Spirit

in your soul. To Him pay your constant

adorations, reverence the august guest who

has been pleased to make your body his

sacred abode. Love Him, obey Him, worship

Him. Take care never to impute the vain

imaginings of your fancy to Him. I have seen

the Spirit of God shamefully dishonored by

persons—I hope they were insane—who have

said they have had this and that revealed to

them. There has not, for some years, passed

over my head a single week in which I have

not been pestered with the revelations of

hypocrites or maniacs. Semi-lunatics are

very fond of coming with messages from the

Lord to me, and it may save them some

trouble if I tell them once and for all that I

will have none of their stupid messengers.

Never dreamed that events are revealed to

you by heaven, or you may come to be like

those idiots who dare impute their blatant

follies to the Holy Spirit. If you feel your

tongue itch to talk nonsense, trace it to the

devil, not to the Spirit of God. Whatever is to

be revealed by the Spirit to any of us is in the

Word of God already. He adds nothing to the

Bible and never will. Let persons who have

revelations of this, that and the other go to

bed and wake up in their senses. I only wish

they would follow the advice and no longer

insult the Holy Spirit by laying their nonsense

at His door.” ~ Charles H Spurgeon

​Steve Hammer

Steve Hammer

THOUGHT FOR TODAY – If we can sin

without conviction, if we can deliberately

break God’s laws with no remorse or

chastening of the Lord, chances are we

have never been Biblically Born-Again and

our eternal destiny will be the Lake of Fire.

Cry out to Jesus!!!

Correction is never rejection. It is always

PROTECTION!

“Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a

kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall

be an excellent oil, which shall not break

my head (Psalm 141:5):”

Just a thought…

Chuck Morley

​Stephen ThomasWords to Ponder

Stephen Thomas

Words to Ponder

The enormity of evil in these days has not yet reached its limits … but when it does, planet earth will experience wickedness, atrocity, inhumanity, depravity, savagery, death and destruction on a level never before seen. All at the hand of the “god” of this world. Satan has objectives, strategies, and tactics for his appointed time. However, Almighty God’s love for mankind has placed each and every one of us in this end-time generation to serve His will and counter the Satanic attacks in this day. Understanding the high calling you have and who you are in Jesus the Christ is so important, at the soon close of the church age. Almighty God has equipped His saints with every talent and strength needed for victory at a time such as this. Follow His lead with boldness, knowing that you are His perfect choice to impact time and eternity in this amazing generation. Blessings saints.