The Practical Theology Of Psalm 37
If ever there was the practical application of Biblical principles, mixed with the sovereign power of God to bless the believer according to them, it was by the life and writings of David. The key to His life was the Spirit of God, who revealed to Him the ways of God, and the truth of His nature. It was also the Spirit who revealed that God cannot be put in a box of man's own ideas. For this reason, faith is the key to seeing the Lord do the exceeding abundantly above all that we could ask or think.
The Cross, The Point Of Beginning
In the economy of God, there is no crown without a cross. The cross of which we speak is that of Christ, and our identification with His finished work, by which, "...the world was crucified to me, and I to the world." The cross is the point of beginning for it is the point of separation of the old life, crucified with Christ, to live now unto God as a new creation in Christ.
Overcoming The Enemy
What does it mean to overcome the enemy? In the submission to the authority of Christ, authority and power is given to the believer not to submit to the enemy of our souls. Christ's strength given to us by the Spirit of God, makes us more than conquerors through Him that loved us. Christ has won a total victory. The believer is called to enter by faith into that victory.
Living The Mystery Of Christ
What is a mystery, but something that is hidden. In the case of Christ and the gospel, both are considered mysteries, because there is so much that is wonderful that is not yet revealed. With regard to the union of the believer with Christ, this mystery was declared in Scripture long before the Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem. It was at Pentecost that there was the realization of this mystery, with the increasing revelation unveiled by the writings of the Apostle Paul.
Christ Our Sanctification
The Lord Jesus Christ is not only our Life, Light, and Love, He is also our wisdom, righteousness, redemption, and sanctification. In the matter of Him as our sanctification, it is in the appropriation of Him by faith, deliberately and decisively, that we partake of His Life, and are conformed to His image. By the Spirit, Christ reveals His life in us, through us, that the world may know that He is God.
The Great Appropriation
What is abiding in Christ but that appropriation of His life by faith. It has been said that truth is not mine until it becomes me. This is true of knowing God, according to the truth of our union with Christ. It is in the appropriation of Christ, taking Him to be our all, and specifically for every need, that we partake of Him. His life then is revealed in our own, for His glory.
The Fulness Of God
Is it possible to be filled with the fulness of God? What does this mean? It certainly does not mean that God, in the fulness and magnitude of His glory, will come and reside in the heart to manifest this greatness. However, all of God's fulness is in Christ at the right hand of the Father. The believer is called upon to believe God to fill him with the Spirit of Christ, according to the measure of His blessing, so that he may walk as the Lord Jesus walked while on this earth.
The Depthless Riches Of Christ
How deep and numerous are the riches of Christ? What are these riches, if not the depthless revelations of Christ's nature, person, and purposes? They are also those individual, and immensely varied, resources found in Christ, certainly to meet our every need for His glory. These riches have been given to the believer. Like the land of Canaan for the Israelites, so it is the Christian's responsibility to go up and possess the Land for the glory of Christ.
Love That Passes Knowledge
To know God is to know the love of God. But can such love be truly known? When we look at our petty limitations, we are overwhelmed by the fact that our capacity to know God is very small. It is only as the Lord by His Spirit reveals Himself to the heart according to the Word of God, that He measures the knowledge of this love out to us. God is love, and is of such power and goodness, that we must trust God to give it in the measure that we can receive it, and give it to others, for His glory.
By The Mercies Of God
How do we know that God will intervene in a circumstance, or in a person's life? It is all based upon what the Scriptures call "the mercies of God." These are those individual aspects, and facets, of His intervention by which the Holy God condescends to us, to reveal His goodness and grace. These mercies also include His multiple, and diverse, resources by the Spirit for meeting the need in answer to prayer.