Tag Archives: Miles Stanford

16: Appendix

  Congratulations on completing this segment of the course.  We covered 5 books (422 pages) in 95 days! The purpose of this endeavor was to learn how to think and read through the New Testament so that we "walk by the Spirit and ...not carry out the desire of the flesh."  Gal 5:16 

  There is so much more to think about regarding this critical subject. I have been posting a concurrent study I'm in; maybe you have noticed.  I invite you to read A Treatise Of Self-Denial by Thomas Manton.  He has incredible insight and I have found him to be a tremendous help in applying the cross of Christ benefit to my life.  You can find first lesson here.  I followed the same format as I did here so expect to put in the same amount of effort there.  

  For today, Stanford completes Abide Above with an Appendix and rich Biography.  Read what he has to say and give it some thought.  God bless!
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This is a review of the fifth book in The Green Letters series with comments and study questions along the way. Feel free to answer questions or ask your own in the comments to enrich our learning. To go to the start of this series click here.

Appendix

A: THE FIVE POINTS OF CALVINISM

1. TOTAL INABILITY OR TOTAL DEPRAVITY

Because of the fall, man is unable of himself to savingly believe the gospel. The sinner is dead, blind, and deaf to the things of God; his heart is deceitful and desperately corrupt. His will is not free, it is in bondage to his evil nature. Therefore, he will not – indeed he cannot – choose good over evil in the spiritual realm. Consequently, it takes much more than the Spirit’s assistance to bring a sinner to Christ – it takes regeneration by which the Spirit makes the sinner alive and gives him a new nature. Faith is not something man contributes to salvation – it is God’s gift to the sinner, not the sinner’s gift to God.

2. UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION

God’s choice of certain individuals unto salvation before the foundation of the world rested solely on His own sovereign will. His choice of particular sinners was not based on any foreseen response or obedience on their part, such as faith, repentance, etc. On the contrary, God gives faith and repentance to each individual whom He selected. These acts are the result, not the cause of God’s choice. Election therefore was not determined by or conditioned upon any virtuous quality or act foreseen in man. Those whom God sovereignly elected He brings through the power of the Spirit to a willing acceptance of Christ. Thus God’s choice of the sinner, not the sinner’s choice of Christ, is the ultimate cause of salvation.

3. PARTICULAR REDEMPTION OR LIMITED ATONEMENT

Christ’s redeeming work was intended to save the elect only and actually secured salvation for them. His death was a substitutionary endurance of the penalty of sin in the place of certain specified sinners. In addition to putting away the sins of His people, Christ’s redemption secured everything necessary for their salvation, including faith which unites them to Him. The gift of faith is infallibly applied by the Spirit to all for whom Christ died, therefore guaranteeing their salvation.

4. THE EFFICACIOUS CALL OF THE SPIRIT OR IRRESISTIBLE GRACE

In addition to the outward general call to salvation which is made to everyone who hears the gospel, the Holy Spirit extends to the elect a special inward call that inevitably brings them to salvation. The external call (which is made to all without distinction) can be, and often is, rejected; whereas the internal call (which is made only to the elect) cannot be rejected; it always results in conversion. By means of this special call the Spirit irresistibly draws sinners to Christ. He is not limited in His work of applying salvation by man’s will, nor is He dependent upon man’s cooperation for success. The Spirit graciously causes the elect sinner to cooperate, to believe, to repent, to come freely and willingly to Christ. God’s grace, therefore, is invincible; it never fails to result in the salvation of those to whom it is extended.

5. PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS

All who are chosen of God, redeemed by Christ, and given faith by the Spirit are eternally saved. They are kept in faith by the power of Almighty God and thus preserved to the end.

SUMMARY

Salvation is accomplished by the almighty power of the triune God. The Father chose a people, the Son died for them, the Holy Spirit makes Christ’s death effective by bringing the elect to faith and repentance, thereby causing them to willingly obey the gospel. The entire process (election, redemption, regeneration) is the work of God and is by grace alone. Thus God, not man, determines who will be the recipients of the gift of salvation.

B: THE FIVE POINTS OF ARMINIANISM

1. FREE WILL OR HUMAN ABILITY

Although human nature was seriously affected by the fall, man has not been left in a state of total spiritual helplessness. God graciously enables every sinner to repent and believe, but He does not interfere with man’s freedom. Each sinner possesses a free will, and his eternal destiny depends on how he uses it. Man’s freedom consists of his ability to choose good over evil in spiritual matters; his will is not enslaved to his sinful nature. The sinner has the power to either cooperate with God’s Spirit and be regenerated or resist God’s grace and perish. The lost sinner needs the Spirit’s assistance, but he does not have to be regenerated by the Spirit before he can believe, for faith is man’s act and precedes the new birth. Faith is the sinner’s gift to God; it is man’s contribution to salvation.

2. CONDITIONAL ELECTION

God’s choice of certain individuals unto salvation before the foundation of the world was based upon His foreseeing that they would respond to His call. He selected only those whom He knew would of themselves freely believe the gospel. Election therefore was determined by or conditioned upon what man would do. The faith which God foresaw and upon which He based His choice was not given to the sinner by God (it was not created by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit) but resulted solely from man’s will. Who would believe (and therefore who would be elected unto salvation) was left entirely up to man. God chose those whom He knew would, of their own free will, choose Christ. Thus the sinner’s choice of Christ, not God’s choice of the sinner, is the ultimate cause of salvation.

3. UNIVERSAL REDEMPTION OR GENERAL ATONEMENT

Christ’s redeeming work made it possible for everyone to be saved but did not actually secure the salvation of anyone. AIthough Christ died for all men and for every man, only those who believe on Him are saved. His death enabled God to pardon sinners on the condition that they believe, but it did not actually put away everyone’s sins. Christ’s redemption becomes effective only if man chooses to accept it.

4. THE HOLY SPIRIT CAN BE EFFECTUALLY RESISTED

The Spirit calls inwardly all those who are called outwardly by the gospel invitation; He does all that He can to bring every sinner to salvation. But inasmuch as man is free, he can successfully resist the Spirit’s call. The Spirit cannot regenerate the sinner until he believes; faith (which is man’s contribution) precedes and makes possible the new birth. Thus, man’s free will limits the Spirit in the application of Christ’s saving work. The Holy Spirit can only draw to Christ those who allow Him to have His way with them. Until the sinner responds, the Spirit cannot give life. God’s grace, therefore, is not invincible; it can be, and often is, resisted and thwarted by man.

5. FALLING FROM GRACE

Those who believe and are truly saved can lose their salvation by failing to keep up their faith, etc. (All Arminians have not agreed on this point; some have held that believers are eternally secure in Christ.)

SUMMARY

Salvation is accomplished through the combined efforts of, God (who takes the initiative) and man (who must respond) ­ man’s response being the determining factor. God has provided salvation for everyone, but His provision becomes effective only for those who, of their own free will, “choose” to cooperate with Him and accept His offer of grace. At the crucial point, man’s will plays a decisive role; thus man, not God, determines who will be the recipients of the gift of salvation.

LIVE POSITIONALLY
“CRUCIFIED, RISEN, SEATED”
(Gal. 2:20; Eph. 2:6)

LIVE POSITIVELY
“FULLY PERSUADED”
(Rom. 14:5)

LIVE POSSESSIVELY
“ALL THINGS ARE YOURS”
(1 Cor. 3:21)

LIVE TRIUMPHANTLY
“MORE THAN CONQUERORS”
(Rom. 8:37)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

AustinSparks, T. What Is Man? London: Witness and Testimony Publishers, 1963.

Boggs, Wm., Jr. Faith Healing and the Christian Faith.

Bonar, Horatius. God’s Way of Holiness. Chicago: Moody Press, n.d.

Cate, B. F. The Nine Gifts of the Spirit Are Not in the Church Today. Des Plaines, IL: Regular Baptist Press, 1956.

Chafer, Lewis Sperry. True Evangelism. Grand Rapids: Zandervan Publishing House, 1919.

Conant, J. E. Every Member Evangelism. New York: Harper and Row, 1922.

Edmunds, Vincent & Scorer, G. Gordon. Some Thoughts on Faith Healing. London: The Tyndale Press, 1956.

Finney, Charles G. Finney’s Lectures on Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1957. 1979

Frost, Henry. Miraculous Healing. Philadelphia: The China Inland Mission, n.d.

Harrison, Norman B. His Side Versus Our Side. Minneapolis, MN: His International Service, 1940. New Testament Living. Minneapolis, MN: His International Service, 1953.

Hay, Alexander R. New Testament Order for Church and Missionary. Welland, Canada: New Testament Missionary Union, 194 7.

What Is Wrong in the Church? Vol. 2. Welland, Canada: New Testament Missionary Union, n.d.

Hopkins, Evan H. The Law of Liberty in the Spiritual Life. Fort Washington, PA: The Christian Literature Crusade, 1953.

Huegel, F. J. Bone of His Bone. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1972.

Kelly, Wm. Lectures on The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians. Oak Park, IL: Bible Truth Publishers, n.d. . Lectures on the New Testament Doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Los Angeles: Berean Bookshelf, n.d. Lohman, Ernst. The Overcomer. Boumemouth, England: The Overcomer Bookroom, 1910.

Maskery, C. H. The Pentecostal Error.

Maxwell, L. E. Born Crucified. Chicago: Moody Press, 1945.

Miller, W. D. Modem Divine Healing. Fort Worth, TX: Miller Publishing Co., 1946.

Murray, Andrew. Abide in Christ. Three Hills, Canada: Prairie Book Room, n.d. God’s Best Secrets. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub Like Christ. Three Hills, Canada: Prairie Book The Holiest of All. Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. The True Vine; Waiting on God; The Prayer Life. Chicago: Moody Press, n.d.

Nee, Watchman. The Normal Christian Life. Fort Washington, PA: The Christian Literature Crusade, 1961.

Newell, Wm. R. Romans, Verse by Verse. Chicago: Moody Press, 1938.

Penn Lewis, Jessie. The Cross of Calvary. Fort Washington, PA: The Christian Literature Crusade, n.d.

Penn Lewis, Jessie and Roberts, Evan. War on the Saints. Bournemouth, England: The Overcomer Book Room, 1939.

Paxson, Ruth. The Wealth, Walk and Warfare of the Christian. Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1939.

Pink, Arthur W. The Doctrine of Sanctification. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1955.

Ridout, Samuel. The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit. Nep tune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, Inc., Publishers, 1899.

Rossier, H. L. Joshua. Sunbury, PA: Believers Bookshelf, n.d.

Ryle, J. C. Holiness. London: J. Clarke & Co., Ltd., n.d.

Scofield, C. I. Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1896. The Fundamentals for Today. (Feinberg, Chas. L., ed.) Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1958.

Scroggie, Wm. Grahram. The Baptism of the Spirit: Speaking With Tongues. London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott, Ltd. n.d.

Taylor, Howard. Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret. Chicago: Moody Press, 1932.

Wallis, Reginald. The New Life. Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, Inc., Publishers, 194 7.

Warfield, Benjamin B. Miracles: Yesterday and Today. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1953.

Click on the "Abide Above" tag below to see all the posts in this series. To go to the start of this series click here.

15: Tongues Trauma Pt 2

  This analysis of the "tongues" movement has led me to believe that this is a movement toward narcissistic behavior.  The American Heritage dictionary will define narcissism as "a fixation on or a regression to an infantile stage of development" and "an exaggerated sense of self-importance, need for admiration, and lack of empathy."  "Excessive preoccupation with or admiration of oneself. See Synonyms at conceit." In a word it is a sin. As the last chapter in this book, hopefully by now you can see how one can avoid this.
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This is a review of the fifth book in The Green Letters series with comments and study questions along the way. Feel free to answer questions or ask your own in the comments to enrich our learning. To go to the start of this series click here.

15: TONGUES TRAUMA (continued)

Spiritual growth is not a result of emotional experiences, or “signs and wonders.” Rather, it comes through the realization of our spiritual position. “Believers do not depend upon signs, because they are believers.” As we abide in the Lord Jesus the Holy Spirit faithfully manifests His fruit in the life, quietly, normally, and for the Father’s glory.

What really happens to people in this climactic “baptism and tongues” experience? Are these the actual tongues of the carnal Corinthian church which Paul had to circumscribe so firmly? Something happens to these seekers – physically, morally, spiritually – and we shall see whether it is of the Holy Spirit.

PHYSICAL

Concerning the source of the tongues experience, Dr. Ernst Lohmann explains the process: “What physical occurrences accompany this phenomenon? The lower nerve-centers (the ganglionic system, or the ‘vegetative’ nerves, as they are called), which have their chief seat in the region round the pit of the stomach, i.e., solar plexus, are excited to increased activity. At the same time the central region of the higher nervous system (cerebral), which in a normal state of affairs is the medium of conscious perception and action, becomes paralyzed. There is a reversal of the order of nature. The lower nerves take over the duty of the higher ones.

“This state of things comes to pass negatively, by the higher system losing its natural supremacy under the pressure of illness, or artificially by hypnosis, autosuggestion, etc.; and positively, by the lower nerves being in some way excited artificially to increased activity, whereby they get the upper hand. Those in this condition feel as it were an electric stream pass through the body, which is an exciting of the lower nerves by which a feeling of bliss is produced, and the jaws are moved in speaking in tongues….”[1]

This initial breakthrough is brought about purely by psychological means, and never by the Holy Spirit. The individual is open and willing, and desperate to receive. He responds without question to all commands such as, “Raise your hands and praise God,” “Say Amen,” “Shout hallelujah!” The repetitive singing . of well-known choruses, and the rhythmic clapping of the hands coupled with the overpowering influence of the music’s beat, contribute both to the lulling of the cerebral system and the stimulating of the auto-nerves.

When the initial short-circuit of the nervous system has occurred, the nerve pattern is thereby established and tongues-speaking may be triggered at will.[2] At first some stimulus may be required, but soon it is simply a matter of choice. Actually, some find themselves unable to control the babbling when stirred by the excitement of a meeting.

There are other penalties involved in this unnatural stimulation. The nervous system becomes affected; the highs are too high, and the inevitable lows are too low. Extended periods of deep depression occur, often resulting in nervous breakdowns. A far cry from the miraculously-given languages of the transitional early church days, and further still from the Christ-centered ministry of the Holy Spirit!

MORAL

There are not only nervous breakdowns, but moral breakdowns as well.[3] All of the movements based upon “the baptism of the Holy Ghost” have a long history of moral laxity. For one thing, immorality is bound to show up in a realm where there is this type of physical stimulus of the lower nervous system.

Then too, there is a type of psychotic lying that takes hold of those who propagate these experiences. In regard to testimonies, all rationality and integrity seem to disappear. It never occurs to these people to question what they are told concerning miracles, signs and wonders, healings, raising of the dead, and the like. In the retelling, usually to one who “doesn’t have the Spirit,” there is much embellishment. Most of these stories start out as a lie, and never do recover.

At times it is not a matter of outright lying, but simply a lack of rationality when it comes to these assertions. Every range of mentality, from the lowest to the highest, is infected. In a recent Pentecostal book the following testimony was given by a young man who graduated magna cum laude from a leading American university, with a degree in theology. In seeking “the baptism of the Holy Ghost,” he said that the leader of the meeting stood before him for a moment, and then in Christ’s name “cast Satan out” of him. Instantly he knew that a demon had left; he felt himself physically shaken and distinctly smelled burning sulphur. And he claimed to know that smell well from chemistry lab!

SPIRITUAL

In this movement the tragic toll is greatest in the spiritual realm.[4] This type of error produces nothing but unscriptural unreality centered in bondage to a nerve-fostered experience. Without reality and growth in the risen Lord Jesus Christ, its followers rely upon a constant round of meetings and renewed experiences to keep going – to say nothing of renewed “salvation.” This endless circle and other related woes are the result of the initial error of holding far too low an estimate of the new birth. Instead of resting on the finished work of the Cross, they insist upon another reception of the Holy Spirit, and the necessity of maintaining one’s own salvation. (See Appendix B.)

CONTRAST

As Dr. L. S. Chafer has commented, “Where do the leaders of these great errors ever declare that God, impelled by infinite love and acting in sovereign grace, and on the ground of the absoluteness of the finished work of Christ, does save the chief of sinners on no other condition than that he believe?

“Do they preach that, since the sin question is settled – past, present and future (Col. 2:13) – unforfeitable, unchangeable, eternal life is God’s absolute gift to all who believe? Do they preach that being found in Christ every human merit and demerit, in the divine reckoning, passed; and the one who believes is so transferred to the perfect merit of Christ that he will never perish, but will endure as Christ endures? The preaching of the Gospel of Grace consists in the proclamation of these eternal glories, and apart from these announcements, there is no Gospel.”[5]

With no secure foundation upon which to build, there can be little or no true spiritual development.[6] Small wonder those in the movement are trapped at its so-called Pentecost, since they have yet to become established at Calvary. “Ye have need that one teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God….let us go on unto perfection [full growth], not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, or the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands…” (Heb. 5:12; 6:1, 2).

Until the Holy Spirit establishes the believer upon the solid Rock, Christ Jesus, He makes no attempt to take that one forward in God’s eternal purpose. These experience-centered people rely upon the Holy Spirit for what He will not do, and fail to rely upon the Lord Jesus Christ for what He has done. “If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established” (lsa. 7:9).

In the new birth, the Spirit’s baptizing work eternally unites the believer to the Lord Jesus as Head and to all members of the Body – the Church (Eph. 1:22, 23; 1 Cor. 12:1227). Taken out of the old creation in Adam, he is positioned forever as a new creation in Christ risen (2 Cor. 5:17). The false baptism separates from this knowledge; it also separates believers from each other.[7]

“Thank God, we may and should be filled with the Spirit, with a fulness which means nothing less than the dethronement of self, and the enthronement of Christ, or, in the terminology of Paul, the reckoning of self to have died in Christ’s death, and of ourselves newly alive in His resurrection. The craving today, on the part of many believers, for sensuous signs, is most unhealthy; it is destructive of sober Bible study, and invariably leads to pitiful extremes of belief and conduct.

“I feel compelled, therefore, to warn all seekers after fuller blessing against this unscriptural teaching about the Baptism of the Spirit and Tongues. “-Wm. G. Scroggie.[8]

Think of all the Father has done to position us at His own right hand in His Beloved Son (Eph. 1:6). He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, therefore we are complete in Him (Eph. 1:3; Col. 2:10). There is naught for us to do but abide above!

Questions

  1. The Overcomer (1910), p. 114.
  2. When the initial short-circuit of the nervous system has occurred, the nerve pattern is thereby established and tongues-speaking may be _________ _________ _________.
  3. There are not only nervous breakdowns in the “baptism and tongues” experience, but _________ breakdowns as well.
  4. In this movement the tragic toll is greatest in the _________ realm.
  5. True Evangelism.
  6. With no _________ _________ upon which to build, there can be little or no true spiritual development.
  7. Describe the two things that the false baptism does to a believer.
  8. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit: Speaking in Tongues, p. 29.
Click on the "Abide Above" tag below to see all the posts in this series. To go to the start of this series click here.

14: Tongues Trauma

  Why do some people fall for it and some don't?  Would you?  Would you take candy from a stranger?  This chapter describes the experience of some that do.  They never get what they bargain for. 
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This is a review of the fifth book in The Green Letters series with comments and study questions along the way. Feel free to answer questions or ask your own in the comments to enrich our learning. To go to the start of this series click here.

14: TONGUES TRAUMA

True spiritual growth is free, but not cheap; it is gradual, deep and thorough, never sudden or shallow; always Christ-centered, never self-centered. The Holy Spirit upholds and transmits God’s highest. Stoop not!

In all of our failure the Spirit has but one purpose, God’s purpose. He faithfully unmasks the self-life in order to reveal the scriptural remedy for it – our identification with Christ in His death unto sin (Rom. 6:6). Then the heart becomes energized for the life that is Christ, the abiding as a branch in the Heavenly Vine. The believer begins to see that he needs to settle down and, in dependence upon the Holy Spirit, “grow up into him in all things…even Christ” (Eph. 4:15).

SELF-BETRAYAL

But often because of extended defeat, darkness, depression and despair, some are unwilling to go upward for God’s very best at the Spirit’s measured pace within the bounds of the Word of God. They want victory at once; they demand power now! And, as always, there are those pressing in who are ready to promise self what it wants, when it wants it.

These aggressive ones insist that what the hungry-hearted believer has missed is “the baptism of the Holy Ghost”; that he must seek the Holy Ghost and receive Him for power; that he must tarry for his Pentecost and speak in tongues as in the Apostolic days. In some there is a response to this temptation to take a possible shortcut as a quick and easy way to “get the blessing.” Now it has become the blessing, rather than the Blesser – tragic evidence of the continued reign of self.

SELF-CENTEREDNESS

The Holy Spirit raises us to the level of Christ in Glory, but self ever lowers us to its natural level of error. Because of self-centeredness, there is a response, an anticipation generated in the heart by means of the endless testimonies presented by these people – tall and tantalizing tales of “signs and wonders,” “baptisms of power,” “dramatic healings,” “multitudes saved and sanctified,” “abundant financial blessings.” On and on it goes.

As the eagerness intensifies, the desperate desire for the blessing increases. Before long the unsuspecting one is taken to a church service which is followed by a stay at the altar. Or he may be invited to a motel or hotel dining room for a dinner meeting to hear some “great and powerful” leader in the movement tell startling stories. Included are impressive success testimonies by businessmen, along with the singing of many choruses. After the meeting the individual or couple will be invited to gather with a few others in another room.

Or he may find himself in a small home gathering where there are Bible discussion (mainly from certain sections of the Book of Acts), testimonies, singing, and possibly speaking in tongues. Regardless of the setting, these meetings follow a common pattern in order to gain a common end – the bitter end.

The believer becomes ever more vulnerable. He is determined to get the blessing, he wants it now, and he is afraid to resist the claims and promises extolled because he doesn’t want to “resist the Spirit,” or miss anything that God might have for him. What little scriptural support he is given for the so-called “baptism of the Holy Ghost” is always out of context and in complete disregard for the clear dispensational distinctions of the Word.

By now, anticipation has overcome reason. It is no longer (if it ever was) a matter of “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine…and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Tim. 4:3, 4). The deflected Christian is pressing, praying, and pleading for the Holy Spirit to do something that He has already done; to do something extra that He cannot and will not do.

The seeker is confused, but “God is not the author of confusion” (1 Cor. 14:33). He is now pursuing an emotional experience. He may receive such, but it will not be of the Holy Spirit! The ministry of the Spirit is within the scope of the “rightly divided” Word, and centered in the risen Lord Jesus Christ.[1] It is never otherwise, and never less.

In the after-meeting the’ emotion-charged seeker is awaiting the blessing that is purported to make everything right, that will bring in “the Holy Ghost and tongues” to set him apart as one of the spiritual elite, entirely sanctified.

SELF-EXPRESSION

Finally, the moment of moments arrives. On his knees with others closely gathered around, all cry out to “Jesus” (rarely is He given His title of “Lord”) and plead with the “Holy Ghost” to come, enter, and bestow the blessing. Hands are laid upon him, with rubbing and pressure applied to head and limbs. He is admonished to relax, to let his mind go blank, to loosen his tongue and let the Spirit take over. It is under these conditions that the mental and physical climax is reached. This may take one of several forms, depending upon the emotional preparation involved and the makeup of the individual.

(1) There is a sudden burst of uncontrolled paroxysms accompanied by the sensation of electrical pulsations surging up through the body. The limbs take on the characteristic jerking and the “tongues” pour forth in a rushing babble of unrelated gibberish. (Reminiscent of the phone call a mother received one night: “My dear, your daughter is lying on the Mission floor, chattering like a monkey!”)

(2) With others the emotional release results in tears and/or laughter, with an interplay of babbling in the supposed “language.” This may go on for an hour or two, until the agitation of the nervous system subsides and the cerebral brain can regain control. In whatever manner the experience may appear, the nerve pattern has been formed; now, with a little practice, the recipient is able to induce at will his “gift of tongues.”

(3) There are also those who experience nothing in the after-meeting, but later – sometimes weeks later, in another meeting or even alone – they suddenly find themselves in possession of their long-awaited “baptism.”

(4) In some cases there is a disappointing anticlimax, and the individual never does attain the blessing. As a consequence, his faith is crushed – the Spirit has evidently refused to give the blessing although the conditions have been met; Or there may come a cloud of guilt, with the feeling that he is not worthy of the “gift.”

Whether in a church, tent meeting, motel room or living room, whether within the erratic Pentecostal movement or the sedate and seemingly intellectual neo-tongues movement, the process of conditioning and its results are the same: unscriptural, out-of-Spirit control, emotional and spiritual catastrophe. Are these fleshly manifestations the glorious fruit of the Holy Spirit? Hardly!

Questions

  1. The ministry of the Spirit is _________ the scope of the “rightly divided” Word, and _________ in the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

Click on the "Abide Above" tag below to see all the posts in this series. To go to the start of this series click here.

13: Psychic Healing

  Thus far in this study our focus has been on the spiritual aspects of the concept life out of death.  In this section Stanford recounts physical aspects of this same conception.  There is a unique connection between our body, soul, and spirit.
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This is a review of the fifth book in The Green Letters series with comments and study questions along the way. Feel free to answer questions or ask your own in the comments to enrich our learning. To go to the start of this series click here.

13: PSYCHIC HEALING

The Holy Spirit’s ministry to the Christian (whether in sickness or in health) is to conform him to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that upon the foundation of his eternal security. No “healers” ever manipulate from that solid ground!

The modem “gifts” of tongues and healing have a common source. They are not of the Spirit, but of the flesh, and function primarily in the realm of the nervous system.

Whether carried on at a somber cathedral altar, on a spectacular TV program, or in a wild tent meeting, there is no basic difference. None but the psychosomatic condition is affected by healers. Now and then some sufferers may be relieved of their neuro-induced symptoms, but actual healing of organic sickness never occurs by such means.

DOCTRINE

The basic claim of the healing movement is that healing is included in the Atonement, that it is not God’s will for Christians to be sick, but that all should be in perfect health.[1] This premise has been based on Isaiah 53:4-6: “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed…the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

The word “me” refers to our Lord’s life-identification with our earthly griefs and sorrows. The words “with his stripes we are healed” set forth the result of our Lord’s death, identification with our iniquities. He shared with us the former in His life on earth, but He was made to be the latter in His death on the Cross.

“In the book, If You Need Healing Do These Things, the author says, ‘Healing is in the Atonement, therefore it includes all.’ This error would be avoided if people had a fair knowledge of dispensational truth, and would remember that the removal of the entire curse placed upon the human family is in the Atonement.[2] But we have not received all that was wrought out for us in the Atonement. We are still ‘waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body’ (Rom. 8:23).” – B. F. Cate.[3]

“God can, and does, heal today, but not always. He is not committed to a covenant promise today, but is perfectly free to exercise a proper discrimination regarding the spiritual advisability of doing so where His people are concerned. No believer who has a history with the Lord will deny that He has used physical weakness and sickness as a means to develop the graces of the Holy Spirit and a spiritual dependence upon the power of God.

“At the same time there are many who have prayed earnestly for deliverance and have received it. In both cases the Lord works on the principle of the highest benefit to the believer, which is his or her spiritual life and growth.” – C. H. Maskery.[4]

Concerning God’s principle of the highest benefit to the believer: “Hudson Taylor once told me that his greatest spiritual blessings had come to him in connection with his various sicknesses; and later he made the remarkable statement to me that all of the most important advance movements which had taken place in connection with the China Inland Mission, including its inception, had come as a direct result of some physical breakdown through which he had been called to pass.” – Henry Frost.[5]

DIAGNOSIS

Just how correctly diagnosed are the cases of cancer, TB, blindness, deafness, etc., that healers claim to have cured? “It is extremely easy for a layman to be misled regarding the exact nature of a disease. No layman is qualified either to diagnose his own sickness, or to determine whether he is completely healed. Public testimonies of healing at moments of great excitement and emotional stress are worthless. For that matter, even doctors are occasionally deceived. We have all known cases where doctors disagree.” – W. H. Boggs, Jr.[6]

“Few physicians of even lifelong practice are really good diagnosticians; perhaps there is none of whatever eminence who has not been more than once wholly deceived in the nature of the disease he has been called upon to treat – as the autopsy has proved.” – B. B. Warfield.[7]

PSYCHOSOMATIC ILLNESS

It has been admitted from the platform of a large healing campaign that seventy percent of all who apply for healing cards are suffering from psychosomatically induced symptoms. Mayo’s claims it to be an even higher percentage in their medical work. Of those who are screened and thus admitted to the healing line, a certain number actually do experience some relief.

One often hears healing claims concerning goiters, tumors, and cancers, such as, “They disappear right before your very eyes!” But – “There was a woman in St. Luke’s Hospital, New York City, who had a tumor, to all, even the most skilled, diagnosis. But the tumor simply disappeared on the administration of ether and the consequent withdrawal of nervous action.” – B. B. Warfield.[8]

“First of all, the majority of the patients cured under such conditions (Lourdes) are neuropaths. That is to say, they are persons whose illness is to a preponderant extent due to mental causations.

Before a group of European physicians in Paris in 1932, a French neurologist gave an incredible demonstration of the potential power of suggestion. After the man who was the subject had been blindfolded and informed that his right arm had just been burned above the elbow, there soon developed, on the specified place on his arm, a large red spot surmounted by a water blister. Yet the man had not been touched by any object.

“After three years of investigations, a special committee of the British Medical Association had this to say in their report, ‘Divine Healing and Cooperation Between Doctors and Clergy: As far as our observation and investigation have gone, we have seen no evidence that there is any special type of illness cured solely by spiritual healing which cannot be cured by medical methods which do not involve such claims.

“‘The cases claimed as cures of a miraculous nature present no features of unique and unexpected character outside the knowledge of any experienced physician or psychiatrist. We can find no evidence that organic diseases are cured solely by such means as spiritual healing. The evidence suggests that many such cases claimed to be cured are likely to be either instances of wrong diagnosis, wrong prognosis, remission, or possibly of spontaneous cure.'” – V. Edmunds and G. Scorer.[9]

GOD’S WILL

Finally, we must consider God’s will in the subject of healing. “God’s primary purpose for His children is the forming of the image of Christ in them (Rom. 8:28, 29). Whether He heals or not will depend upon which will contribute to the accomplishment of that purpose.” – A. Hay.[10]

“It takes a lifetime to learn and really believe in our hearts that there is sometimes something better than release from pain and sorrow, and that is a deep likeness to the Lord Jesus Christ which means fruitfulness.

“I would witness to the fact that the deepest, the most abiding spiritual lessons which God has been pleased to teach me were learned in consequence of and during my various experiences of sickness. This last is particularly true in respect to the prayer-life, the praise-life, the life of dependence upon God, and the life which chooses to live, not for the seen but for the unseen, not for the temporal but for the eternal.” – Henry Frost.[11]

“As in the apostolic days so now the desire exists for the manifestation of the Spirit in marvelous ways; but a life sober, righteous, holy, lived in the hope of the glory to come, is the more excellent way of the Spirit’s manifestation and. undeniable proof of His indwelling. The prayer should not be so much for this or that gift, or this or that result, as for Christ Himself to be made manifest to us and through us.[12] The Apostle who was most filled with the Spirit sums all up in the one great word, ‘For me to live is Christ.”‘ – W. F. Erdman.

“It is a serious mistake to presume that the Christian can maintain a neutral or passive attitude toward error. Contrariwise, he must oppose error as definitely as he embraces truth. Error is never static or stagnant, but is always aggressive. For that reason it has never died a natural death, nor can we ignore it to death.

“Error ceaselessly seeks to corrupt, efface, and neutralize the truth, and to destroy all whom it enmeshes in its tentacles. The grand reason then for opposing error is to retrieve precious souls from its blight, and to deliver them from bondage to freedom, from darkness to marvelous light.” – W. D. Miller.[13]

“Is it not significant that in groups today in which the Corinthian errors regarding the gifts of the Spirit are taken as normal and sought, there appear finally along with them the same manifestations of carnality and disorder that were evidenced in the Corinthian church?” – A. Hay.[14]

Questions

  1. The basic claim of the healing movement is that healing is included in the _________.
  2. This error would be avoided if people had a fair knowledge of _________ truth.
  3. The Nine Gifts of the Spirit Are Not in the Church Today, p. 31.
  4. The Pentecostal Error, p. 30.
  5. Miraculous Healing, p. 45.
  6. Faith Healing and the Christian Faith, p. 22.
  7. Miracles: Yesterday and Today, p. 188
  8. lbid. p.188.
  9. Some Thoughts on Faith Healing, pp. 88, 89. [not found in the 1979 edition.]
  10. New Testament Order for Church and Missionary, p. 195.
  11. Miraculous Healing, p. 45.
  12. The prayer should not be so much for this or that gift, or this or that result, as for Christ Himself to be made manifest to us and _________ us.
  13. Modern Divine Healing, p. 9.
  14. New Testament Order for Church and Missionary, p. 195.
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12: The Silent Minority

  When God said to Adam and Eve to go forth and be fruitful and multiply He set them on a mission that passes down to us today.  Every descendent lives under that great mandate. Made in the image and likeness of God we are to rule and subdue creation to bring His glory into every crook and crevice.  Organizing ourselves to help one another grow to be able to do that is helpful.  This chapter provides some tips regarding this activity.  
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This is a review of the fifth book in The Green Letters series with comments and study questions along the way. Feel free to answer questions or ask your own in the comments to enrich our learning. To go to the start of this series click here.

12: THE SILENT MINORITY

The Holy Spirit has ever carried out the eternal purposes of the Father through His little flock. The nature of that flock is Lamb­like; dependent, humble, silent. Only when they are sufficiently prepared will the Spirit give them freedom to speak; only those whom He has conditioned can receive what they have to share.

Much as the Lord has used spiritual conferences, they are by no means His be-all or end-all for deeper life teaching. Especially in recent years, the Holy Spirit has been awakening and preparing leadership for small study groups throughout the body of Christ. These are known as Bible studies, deeper life studies, growth groups, etc. Some are held in sound churches, many in Christian homes. Some are led by awakened pastors, but most by lay people. In these days, however, there are other types of groups that should be avoided. Let us briefly examine some of them.

DANGEROUS

The hungry-hearted believer should at all costs avoid any type of secular or “Christian” sensitivity training group, including those called prayer therapy. This destructive and subversive “sensitivity” technique is being implemented, mainly by government grants, throughout many school systems, government projects, business corporations, and is now even filtering into sound churches.

The U.S. Congressional Record of March 11, 1969, states: “Group criticism compels the participant to bare his soul before ten or fifteen other persons who are required to do likewise under the direction of a group leader. The individual is pressed to seek out real or fancied shortcomings in his personality and thinking, to humble himself and give up his independence of mind and judgment, to make himself dependent upon the good opinion of the leader and others in the group. The individual’s ‘problems’ become group property.”

This is being reflected in the “Christian” groups by uninhibited “honesty” and confession, with the molding of one’s beliefs to the prevailing low level. If there were a high spiritual level, the group would not exist. They are of necessity self-centered and emotionally motivated – never Spirit-controlled and Christ-centered.

Care must be taken to avoid study groups that are affiliated with or mainly composed of those from modernist, holiness, or cultist churches. Such groups engage in sharing, confession, testimonies, non-doctrinal discussion, cult study, or tongues and healing. These gatherings put self first, not Christ.

SECONDARY

Some Bible study meetings are comparatively large. They often utilize quite sound literature, but may be led and attended by those who are more or less ecumenical and worldly. The level is far too low for those who would abide above.

There are also many true-to-the-Word Bible studies that are capably led and attended by hungry hearts. For the most part, general Bible teaching is given, having little or nothing to do with the deeper truths. Such studies are valuable as far as they go, even to the laying of a good foundation for spiritual growth.

COMPROMISING

On a large scale there are numerous Christian organizations and churches seeking to minister according to the theory of accommodation.[1] Their method is to descend to the level of those whom they attempt to reach in order to gain rapport and thus a response.

This is a costly procedure. In utilizing the world’s methods, music, dress, speech, and attitudes, the Christian is inevitably pulled down to the world’s level instead of drawing the worldling to a spiritual level. The price paid is infinitely too high for what little is gained.

IDENTIFICATION

In direct contrast to the foregoing, there is the small Bible study group designed for the purpose of presenting the identification truths as the basis for growth in the Lord Jesus Christ. The following thoughts are shared to help guide those who would lead and those who would be led in this type of gathering.

The purpose of the identification study group is to enable hearts to progress in the opposite direction – not down, but up. Not down to the world’s sinful level, but up to Christ’s glorious level, and that via the Cross. This is not a way of escape, but a full preparation for the world’s dire needs. Our ministry to others must ever be from the standpoint of our being hid with Christ in God, and never from the standpoint of the world itself. “We do not stand in the world bearing witness to Christ; we stand in Christ bearing witness to the world.”[2]

The group is comparatively silent because it is composed of those who are aware of their personal need for growth and maturity in the Lord Jesus. They do not attempt to share to any great extent until He has them prepared for the outreach of His choice. As always, the little flock is a silent minority; not superior to any, just humble and needy.

LEADERSHIP

When it comes to forming a group of this nature, whether the leadership be pastor or layman, it is best to gather a few hungry hearts in a church, parsonage, or Christian home affiliated with a sound church. Although the Bible is to be central, a textbook will help guide, such as Hopkins’ Law of Liberty, or the growth chapters in Conant’s Every-Member Evangelism. We might even suggest The Green Letters. It has been found best to meet only once or twice a month.[3] This gives the individual sufficient time to study thoroughly the assigned reading. And what is even more important, it gives the Holy Spirit time to work some of the truth studied down from the head to the heart and life by means of everyday experience. The meetings should be continued just long enough to clarify the identification truths, and give an introduction to the best growth literature. In this way the individual will not become dependent either upon the leader or the group, and yet will be able to study further and go on with the Lord. The hungry heart will never give up, and those who learn the hard way are better prepared to properly teach others.

SOLID FOUNDATION

Sometimes it is necessary to divide a group, if it becomes obvious that all are not doctrinally prepared for identification. It is the responsibility of the leader to make certain that each one is established in the foundational doctrines, i.e., assurance, acceptance, and eternal security in the Lord Jesus Christ. Until this groundwork is sure, there can be no advance into the deeper growth truths. Harrison’s New Testament Living and the writer’s Principle of Position are suitable for use with preparatory groups. The fatal temptation of both leaders and students is to want to hurry through the all-important basic teaching so that they can “get to the good part.”

This is the Achilles heel of the conference movement, as well as of many deeper life groups: hungry hearts are being taught the growth truths without first being established in the birth truths. Unless this is rectified, the work is bound to come undone – the Holy Spirit will never build upon sand.

GOD’S TERMS

In true identification study the Spirit will turn the heart and life away from the world and its ways, back to the finished work of the Cross. From there He turns the heart and life still further from the world and its self-centered methods, up to the risen Lord Jesus Christ. It is not a matter of the believer conforming to the world to reach the worldling. The Lord Jesus came into this world, but He was never of it; it is the same with the Holy Spirit. As we abide in the Lord Jesus and walk in the Spirit, the same will be true of us. The Father offers His Son to the world as Savior, and to the believer as Life, on His terms! He has met all needs at the Cross, and this is the only place where all find their needs met.[4]

HOLY SPIRIT CONVICTION

It is mainly through Christ-centered and Cross-centered Christians that the Spirit convicts of “sin…righteousness…judgment” (John 16:9-11). Under true conviction of sin the stricken one will come to the Lord Jesus on His terms;[5] all of his selfish demands and pet arguments will be instantly discarded. Now, nothing matters but that which God says in His Word. The convicted heart will settle for nothing less than God’s will, under God’s conditions! This is the disposition of the healthy convert and of the awakened believer who will make spiritual progress. As He did with Paul, the risen Lord has stopped them in their tracks, and their submissive response is, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6). It takes far more than an accommodating approach to produce this heart attitude.

RESTING IN HIM

Our life in this world is to be the expression of our growth in Christ and fellowship with Him in Glory. “If [since] ye were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God…. For ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God” (Col. 3:13, ASV). Abide above, for the burden below!

Questions

  1. There are numerous Christian organizations and churches seeking to minister according to the theory of _________ .
  2. “We do not stand in the world bearing witness to Christ; we _________ _________ _________ bearing witness to the world.”
  3. When forming a group it is best to meet how often?
  4. The Savior has met all needs _________ _________ _________ , and this is the only place where all find their needs met.
  5. What is characteristic of the one under true conviction of sin?
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11: Identification Leadership

Although this chapter is directed at pastors, it still reminds us to be aware of those times of growth. Often when our kids were growing up we would make the comment, “he’s going through a growth spurt.” There were indicators (mainly an increase in appetite) that made clear that this was so. Similarly, we should be on the lookout for the heart’s readiness to absorb the deeper truths.

Perspective: Pastor, shepherd, servant | Baptist Messenger of Oklahoma
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This is a review of the fifth book in The Green Letters series with comments and study questions along the way. Feel free to answer questions or ask your own in the comments to enrich our learning. To go to the start of this series click here.

11: IDENTIFICATION LEADERSHIP

In the ministration of the growth truths, the one who shares must have a spiritual parent-heart of love and understanding. Such leadership has the Spirit-fostered yearning of Paul, “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you” (Gal. 4:19).

Pastors are like all others when it comes to spiritual development, since our Father is no respecter of persons. There has to be preparation of heart by the Holy Spirit prior to any realistic apprehension of the Christ-life. The fact of the pastor’s theological training makes little or no difference in this growth realm, for even if our sound seminaries clearly taught the identification truths the Spirit rarely reveals these by formal academic means. Moreover, the student-stage is usually somewhat premature for the necessary needs and realizations to be generated in the life.

It is a lamentable fact that the majority of our sound pastors never become really interested in these positional doctrines, nor aware of their indispensable nature. They faithfully preach the gospel and general teachings for the Christian life. They present more or less “the whole counsel of God” – with the exception of the very truths that make all the difference in the life and service of the Christian.

AWAKENING

On the other hand, it is heartening to note that in the midst of this needy situation the Holy Spirit is quietly awakening the minds and hearts of an increasing number of shepherds. To this end He is using deeper life conferences and literature, as well as some true to the Word tape ministries.

Nevertheless, there has been much misunderstanding among pastors concerning conferences for spiritual growth. This is mainly because they present “deeper truth,” as well as the fact that they are “outside the church.” Concerning these barriers, there are one or two factors that should be considered.

Such conventions came into being because growing believers must have not only milk, but the meat of the Word. The Holy Spirit will never allow the heart that He has stimulated to starve. If the scriptural nourishment for maturity in Christ is not available in the local church, He will provide it elsewhere and by other means. Actually, these “other means” are often utilized by the Spirit to bring the food back into the churches, where He would have it.

The Keswick movement was never meant to be, and never has been, in competition with sound churches. In 1875, the original Keswick settled down in the capable hands of devout churchmen and subsequently made its mark throughout the world. Those gifted men of God, without peer today, being dead yet speak by means of their books. The present-day church would be yet more spiritually impoverished were it not for the ministry of such faithful leaders of past days.

There are other factors to be considered in connection with the deeper truths and the church ministry, some of which the pastor soon discovers when he is awakened to the realm of identification. No matter what means the Spirit uses to reveal these truths to him, the revelation always comes as a wonderful surprise. “Why didn’t I see long ago what is now so obvious?”

The pastor has been highly trained in the Word, which he, loves and memorizes; he also depends upon the Spirit of truth in his study and use of it. Yet the entire subject of the Cross in the life of the believer is closed to him until the Spirit has prepared his heart.

Before long he realizes that identification is Church doctrine in the very strictest sense; it has to do exclusively with the members of the Body of Christ. It is marvelous positional truth, centered in the Cross that means death and the Lord Jesus who means life – not just new birth, but His ascended life. As he begins to realize in experience something of the release from the old and growth in the new, the shepherd’s attention refocuses upon his flock. “Feed my sheep.”

“This is just what my people need. Order 25 Green Letters, and let’s get started!” Now there comes another, but sad, surprise. The need is not necessarily the call in any realm of service, whether it be church or mission field. The tendency here is to forget the processing needed to prepare one for these truths, no matter how clearly (or vehemently) presented. When the newly awakened pastor attempts to teach or preach identification, he is bound to suffer frustration and disillusionment.

When it comes to sharing the deeper truths, there are two important factors that must be taken into account. First, it is imperative to know the doctrines scripturally and to some extent experientially. Second, it is every bit as necessary to know how to share them. It takes time for the Spirit to impart a clear understanding of identification, and it takes time for Him to teach the intricacies of sharing effectively.[1]

PASTOR

When the pastor’s presentation is premature, there is the tendency to preach instead of to share. He may resort to exhortation and pressure to compensate for his failure to prepare hearts. This is also a chronic conference problem: the content is Calvinistic (sound), but the application is Arminian (pressure).

What if the Holy Spirit were to enlighten even a dozen of the congregation? It is one thing to see believers awakened, and quite another to be able to establish them on the path to maturity. The Lord gives just a few at a time, so that each may be given the required care to enable him to begin to grow.

CONGREGATION

Rarely is there more than a handful at any time who are ready to hear the message of crucifixion with Christ. Were the eager pastor to stand up on the Lord’s Day and unburden his heart concerning the need for the Cross in the life of the believer, he would perceive but a flickering spark here and there midst a glassy sea of eyes. There has been faithful preaching and the church is composed of believers who love the Lord, yet they are in no way prepared for death to self, to say nothing of the Christ-life.

As for the enthusiastic pastor’s initial attempts at apprising his fellow-ministers of his newly found treasure, we will refrain from mentioning the results here. The average awakened leader has been trained and has pastored for some fifteen or twenty years, therefore he should understand the necessity of quietly waiting upon the Lord for a further period in preparation for this deeper ministry. Although there will be some unlearning involved, none of the former experience need be looked upon as wasted; all fits into the underlying foundation.

“O my God, I trust in thee; let me not be ashamed….Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed…. Show me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me” (Ps. 25:25).

Questions

  1. What are the two important factors when it comes to sharing the deeper truths?
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10: Life Via Literature

This is a review of the fifth book in The Green Letters series with comments and study questions along the way. Feel free to answer questions or ask your own in the comments to enrich our learning. To go to the start of this series click here.
 A list of deeper life literature follows with admonition to seek out the best for your consumption.
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10: LIFE VIA LITERATURE

The good has always been the enemy of His best. No books can replace the Book, and only those of highest caliber can assist in opening its treasures. Therefore, seek the best and shun the secondary.

In conjunction with the Word of God, the greatest aid to spiritual growth comes through deeper life literature. As to feeding, it must be primarily the Word. But desired growth can be substantially aided by concentration upon the best writings. Secondary books, good as they may be, just will not do.

It must be pointed out that there are not many of the better titles available today. The enemy has thus far succeeded in keeping some of the older ones out of print, while any number of his are being produced for unsuspecting hearts, even by evangelical publishers. However, our Lord has seen to it that adequate material for healthy growth can be obtained by any hungry Christian.

It is important to select only superior growth literature, whether it be for the purpose of study, sharing, or selling. Much could be said about the mass of questionable and even harmful material that is available in most of our Christian bookstores. Once the best books are discovered, the reader’s discernment and requirements keep him from dropping to the level of the secondary. It makes all the difference when the awakened believer is early introduced to the tried and true writings on the Christ-life. Even so, caution must be exercised in studying most of the better books.

In the early stages, the eager Christian never dreams of questioning an author who presents the identification truths. Such teaching seems so far in advance of other spiritual literature that in his estimation these authors can do no wrong. This attitude is not as harmful as it may seem at first, since the Spirit in time gives adequate discernment whereby the believer is able to glean the gold without accepting or rejecting the whole.

We find this admixture in many of the best growth books. The main problem centers in their teaching on the filling of the Spirit. Despite this and other lesser difficulties, the priceless truths are there for all who hunger for His best. Brief comments concerning some of these books and their authors may be of help here, especially to those whom the Lord has only recently begun to stimulate. These titles are carried by most Christian bookstores, and should be made available at conference booktables and in church libraries. (See bibliography at end of book for further information on these books.)

Romans, Verse by Verse – Wm. R. Newell. The anchor book of them all in the growth realm. A doctrinal and devotional study of the identification truths, as well as of the entire Epistle. This is a lifetime treasure that all should have.

The Wealth, Walk and Warfare of the Christian – Ruth Paxson. Highly commendable textbook on Ephesians.

His Side Versus Our Side – N. B. Harrison. Textbook on Galatians. Recommended for early-stage growth. Study manual available.

Galatians – Wm. Kelly. Advanced study of deep exposition.

The Normal Christian Life – Watchman Nee. In recent years the Lord has used this book to awaken and instruct many concerning the identification truths.

The above is Nee’s best book, and is within the realm of growth. Most of his other titles cannot be recommended as they are more or less centered in his extreme teaching regarding the local church, similar to that of the exclusive branches of the Plymouth Brethren.

Several of the Nee books promulgate his “release of the spirit” teaching, which involves one in unsound and dangerous spirit-warfare such as emerged from the Welsh Revival. Actually, Nee took a great deal of this material directly from the controversial book, War on the Saints, which was written as a result of the Revival’s excesses.

The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit – S. Ridout. A safe and sound treatment. Seven fine lectures regarding the Holy Spirit.

The Law of Liberty in the Spiritual Life – Evan Hopkins. This is considered to be the standard textbook of the original Keswick teaching, Hopkins being one of the founding fathers of the movement. It is the prototype of all Keswick writings, and naturally very clear on the truths of identification.

Born Crucified – L. E. Maxwell. Contains outstanding teaching and illustrations concerning identification.

Bone of His Bone – F. J. Huegel. A fine treatment of the subject of our union with Christ.

Abide in Christ, and its sequel Like ChristAndrew Murray. These two are Murray’s finest, and are based upon identification. Of his sixty devotional books, there are probably fifteen or twenty now in print. Such titles as The True Vine, Waiting On God, The Prayer Life, God’s Best Secrets, and The Holiest of All, contain growth teaching that is unsurpassed.

Murray’s books dealing with the Holy Spirit are not recommended as he tended to confuse the baptism of the Spirit with His fulness, similar to the teaching of R. A. Torrey and others.

Joshua – H. L. Rossier. Old Testament study geared for growth. Exceptional.

What Is Man? – T. Austin-Sparks. A sound treatment of the subject of soul and spirit. Identification-centered.

Every-Member Evangelism – J. E. Conant. An old book that the Lord has kept in print. Not only valuable concerning church outreach, but contains some outstanding chapters on the subject of identification.

Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret – Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor. Biographical account of this great missionary leader’s discovery of the life that is Christ.

Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth – C. I. Scofield. A small booklet well suited to establish the new believer on a solid footing for growth.

The Cross of Calvary – Jessie Penn-Lewis. Few have made the identification truths clearer than this author. However, outside of this realm her writings cannot be recommended. Concerning “the baptism” and “warfare,” her teachings are too extreme to be followed. She was mainly influenced in this direction by the Welsh Revival and its leader, Evan Roberts.

The New Life – Reginald Wallis. Once again in print, this little book is one of the best on the subjects of the self-life, the Cross, and the Christ-life.

There is other literature for growth that could be mentioned, but the above titles will serve to set a high standard for the hungry heart. It is unfortunate that all of the books by all of these authors cannot be recommended; nevertheless the discerning believer is encouraged to dig for the golden truth while allowing the slag to lie.

Most of these writings yield richer treasure with the years of study. As the Christian grows, the Holy Spirit takes him deeper into the truth presented; it seems as though He renews the material every five or ten years. “We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” “God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” (1 Cor. 2:12, 10).

There are two reasons for the careful and prayerful study of the highest in growth material. The most important consideration is one’s own spiritual development – so that the Lord Jesus may be glorified, and others drawn to Him.

It is also important to know the literature well enough to be able to share it intelligently with others. Books can work day and night, year in and year out, and never tire. Furthermore, they can present the truth far better than most of us.

When one is burdened to point out these truths to others, it is extremely vital to share the right book with the right person at the right time. Begin with something simple, preferably a deeper life tract. If the response is favorable, then present something a little more definite. If the reaction is otherwise, pray and wait – for years, if necessary.

Often such literature is received by one who is as yet unprepared, and it may collect dust on the shelf indefinitely, patiently awaiting the Spirit’s time. When that time comes, the newly inspired heart wonders why it didn’t “discover” such glorious truth long before!

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