Experiencing a Faith Failure – Dr. Charles Stanley

"In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." Ephesians 2:22

J. C. Philpot - Daily Portions

      "In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." Ephesians 2:22

      

      These words will apply both to the whole body of Christ viewed collectively, and to each separate member of that body viewed individually; and what the Church of God is in its completeness in Christ, as it will be in heaven above, and what it is in its visible and militant state on earth now, so is every individual member of that Church in this time state; and it is this solemn truth which makes the words before us to have such a forcible application to every individual believer. As we shall all have to answer for ourselves, "to die," as one said, "alone," and as religion is a personal matter, how careful should it make each individual believer so to walk before God and man that he may have both an inward and outward evidence that his body is the temple of the Holy Ghost (1 Cor. 6:19), and that he is a habitation of God by the Spirit.

 If he realise this, and live under its solemn weight and influence, how careful he will be not to defile that body which is the temple of the Holy Ghost; how desirous and anxious not to defile his eyes by wandering lusts, nor his ears by listening to worldly and carnal conversation, nor his lips by speaking guile, or indulging in light and frothy talk, nor his hands by putting them to anything that is evil, nor his feet by running on errands of vanity and folly; but to view his body as a member of Christ (1 Cor. 6:15), and therefore sanctified to his service and to his glory.

The Stages of Our Faith – Dr. Charles Stanley

Escaping a Desperate Situation – Dr. Charles Stanley

"Bring Us Not Over Jordan" by T. Austin-Sparks

"Bring Us Not Over Jordan"

by T. Austin-Sparks

First published in "A Witness and A Testimony" magazine, July 1927, Vol. 5-7.

"Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan" (Numbers 32:5).

That is the request of two-and-a-half tribes, the tribes of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh. It takes you right to the heart of this extraordinary phase of Israel's history. It is quite impossible to study the whole subject of God's plan for Israel without seeing beyond a shadow of a doubt that God's purpose for Israel was that they should as a whole, in entirety go over Jordan and possess the land. That was His covenant with Abraham, confirmed to Isaac and Jacob. The whole programme of God for Israel lay inside of Canaan, over Jordan.

We have already seen in our previous studies in the book of Joshua and the letter to the Ephesians the spiritual significance of this history. Canaan, bounded by Jordan, clearly represents the life of fulness in Christ, and Jordan represents the Cross of Christ, as it invariably through the Bible marks that clear, distinct division between the old life, where self, the flesh, the world are still uncrucified and characterised by defeat; and the new life, where God Himself is supreme in the midst of His people, characterising their life by victory and enrichment.

Now, that being the historical event with its spiritual interpretation, we come up against this - that the two-and-a-half tribes decided not to go over Jordan into Canaan. "Bring us not over Jordan" is their request to Moses and the other leaders of the people. In effect they were saying, "We don't want absolute separation unto God. We don't want all that is involved in this aggressive programme. We are not prepared to risk all that is implied by going over into the land to subdue it for God. We are not prepared for that programme, that aggressive life, that life which you call fulness of life. We have found a certain satisfaction this side of Jordan, we have found here a good deal that is good, a great deal that satisfies us. We are quite content with the life we have this side of Jordan, without driving this distinct barrier of the Cross between. There are risks involved, possessions, children, etc.". So they would live their lives there and not risk the dangers and the sacrifice which seemed clearly to be involved in this aggressive programme.

John Piper’s Three Scenes of Ephesians 3

Adrian Rogers: A Church That Worships In Spirit And Truth