THE SIMPLICITY THAT IS IN CHRIST
by W. B. Howard...Editor of Despatch

"I fear, lest by any means,
as the serpent beguiled Eve by his subtelty,
so your minds should be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ."
11 Cor. 11:3


 
TABLE OF CONTENTS...(T.O.C.)
 
 

Preface

Introduction

.....................................(i)... Real Issue 1.
....................................(ii)... Real Issue 2.
...................................(iii)... Real Issue 3.
...................................(iv)... Real Issue 4.

Real Issue No. 1. ............ The Sin Problem
Real Issue No. 2. ............ The Continuing Sin Problem
Real Issue No. 3. ............ Real Answer for the Planet
The Real Answer............. The Lord Jesus Christ


References...recommended reading

Appendix A
Appendix B|
 

PREFACE.....


 

"I fear, lest by any means,
as the serpent beguiled Eve by his subtelty,
so your minds should be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ."
11 Cor. 11:3

The apostle Paul, writing in II Corinthians 11, expresses a fear that should concern all Christians.
That fear is of a disease that could contaminate any one of us. A spiritual disease of corruption of our minds.

Who causes this dread malady?
The serpent who "bequiled Eve"!
Dare we not fear such a corruption of the mind?

What is the one thing we should guard our minds against?
To depart from "the simplicity that is in Christ."

Paul does not say, "I fear the corruption of your morals", or "I fear for your physical safety". Paul writes, of his fear of false doctrine. That which poisons the stream of the Fountain of Life in Christ Jesus.

INTRODUCTION.....

There is an answer for you. That answer is a Person, and He loves you.! The biggest question of all, for everyone,
is "how can I live in this world"? Due to a universal denial of the brevity of life and our own mortality, the bigger question "what about death?" is often left unasked. It can be faced, with joy! There is an answer to dying, as well as living. Not reincarnation, but resurrection.

This book is a simple statement about One Answer, - the LORD JESUS CHRIST. The real Jesus Christ, not one of the counterfeit "christs"! The REAL Christ, not the Maitreya, or the "christ" of our own inner self. The Lamb of God, who died on the cross for the sin of the world - HE is the answer to our questions, and He alone!

In this age of an overload of New Age beliefs, complications about what is life about (and never-ending "questions" and "answers") are choking the very atmosphere we breathe. U.F.Os, reincarnation, nature is the goddess "Gaia", Masters of Wisdom, gurus, earth grids, lost cities of Atlantis, the planet earth is dying, THE SKY AND THE OZONE LAYER are falling, wrong is right, right is wrong, homosexuals and abortionists are GOOD, Mums and Dads in the homes are child bashers and worse. What a trash market it all is, with no treasure.

The inhabitants of our cities and towns are joining the cries of the whole world, "where are the answers - I can't even understand a thing any more!" Everything is up-side-down! We secretly wonder whether we are the only idiots who are like fish out of water, because the "paradigm shift" and the "values clarification" talk doesn't make sense to us! Where is the SIMPLE TRUTH?

THE SIMPLICITY OF CHRIST JESUS.

In Jesus Christ the Lord all the treasures of life are found. All these riches are free. A number of startling confusions have eventuated on this planet. These confusions have blinded many to the reality of the treasures in our beloved Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that you, the reader, will not allow these dizzying deceptions to turn you away, groping in darkness.

(1) The New Age beliefs about `the Christ', `Christhood', `man is God',"nature is God", have befuddled countless millions about the actual identity of the real Lord Jesus Christ, who died for the whole world. His love for us all is the greatest thing this world can ever know. He is not the parody that atheists present in disgraceful films such as "The Last Temptation of Christ". Nor is he the weak victim of "Jesus Christ, Superstar".Do not be deceived! Christ Jesus is Lord, Saviour, Mighty God, Prince of Peace, the Way, the Truth and the Life - and He loves you!

(2) An awful,rapid departure from truth and the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord has undermined the organized churches. A smog of pollution has settled on the "Christian" denominations, and the brilliant Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings no longer shines. Doctrines which darken the minds, and separate needy people from the only One who can help, keep multitudes in bondage. Teachings which came up from the pit of hell and channel through the New Age movement. There are the false "self-esteem" and the self-glory "wealth and power for ME" beliefs. Shamanism in the form of "imagery" and "visualization", fill many churches with horror techniques.

A fast-growing pollution is "the Holy Spirit is feminine", which leads into the goddess worship of the New Age!

The smog is thickest when the churches join forces with nature worshippers to "Rescue the Earth" in amazing, (sometimes bizarre), "services", "blessing" animals, and seeking to create a paradise on earth against God's mandate for this age! Joining hands with the One World Church as it forms under the evil New World Order.

Yes, greed, shallowness, evil doctrines, crazy show-men, ear-splitting music, empty hearts and yearning abounds in the churches of these sad days. Fear for the earth, fear for the children and hidden despair tear down many a bewildered church-goer's faith in a God they know little about.

All these issues and voices in New Age and church have accumulated en mass, until the reality of Christ Jesus and His love have almost disappeared in society. Jesus Christ is Alive, however. And He wants you. He wants you to be safe in Him. He wants to give you joy and peace beyond understanding. He wants to satisfy your every need. He is filling my own heart with a great desire to make Him known to you. He is saying, through me, these words directly to you:

Would you allow Him now to clear your mind of all other voices and clamouring insistent thoughts? Forget for a while about everything that complicates your mind or distresses you about the state of the ecology, or the meaning of truth, or what is going to happen to your family and so on. Let Jesus Christ, Himself, speak to you. Let Him draw you into abundant life, and your "cup will overflow". Let's get right down to real issues and the real answer.

Oddly enough, those issues and the answer are very simple...
when we clear away the trash.

No.(i) -
The first issue is the SIN PROBLEM. 

The Real Answer....

Why does man cause war?
Why is the world filled with blood, corrupt authorities, mad power barons and starving children?
Why do I, myself, get into such a mess!
I want to find rest, peace and truth. I want God, I want to know Him.

Sin is the problem. Sin has caused it all. There is an answer to the sin problem, and it is not in denying the problem,
or in seeking to do better or to try to live a good life. JESUS CHRIST IS THE REAL ANSWER.
(Certainly not "unconditional love" from mere humans, as the New Agers teach!)

As you find the answer in Him, you will enter in by the DOOR, CHRIST,and find yourself in His sheepfold.

John 10:7-11.
Then said Jesus unto them again,

The first section of this book will open up the answer in Christ more fully. If you have never found complete forgiveness and mercy in Christ for your sin, you can! If you have never before come simply to Jesus the Lord, just as you are, empty handed and needy, and found eternal life as a free gift, then now you can! Jesus, Himself, says to you (no matter what you have done, said, left undone or messed up): This means you too!

No.(ii) -
The second issue is the continuing SIN PROBLEM. 

The Real Answer...

So you already know Christ as Saviour. Maybe, you have been born again. Yet happiness, peace, righteousness and successful Christian living seem only to happen for you in "dribs and drabs".

You have bought books, tapes and videos on numerous occasions which promise so much. The "abundant life" promised by the Bible, however, seems only a beautiful pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
As soon as you run towards the answer, the rainbow disappears.

The second section of this book opens up the answer which is CHRIST HIMSELF.
The abundant life can be yours. It will be, if you come simply to Christ, and find His life in all its fullness.

JESUS CHRIST IS SAYING TO YOU...

May your delighted cry soon be: No.(iii) -
The third issue is, who can "save the planet"?

The Real Answer....

The magnificent thrilling answer which should make your heart sing is - THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
He, Himself, is the real answer. Away with anxiety, Christ Jesus is near, He is the soon-coming KING.
Read also our booklet..."The Environmental Movement"

No.(iv) -
The fourth issue is, WHO is your object of faith?

The Real Answer...

Who or what are you living for, Christian? The answer must be CHRIST JESUS ALONE! Can the pages of this book lead you gently into a Bridal-relationship with your soon-coming Bridegroom? Are you caught in a duty/loyalty relationship with a denomination or set of doctrines? Are you moving through the motions of following in "discipleship" - but the leader is a mere man? Is it like slogging through thick mud, when Jesus Christ wants you to soar like an eagle to His arms?

The Real Answer Is The Beloved Lord Jesus.

He is your first love. He is infinitely knowable - He longs for you with unspeakable love.
 

No.1 - The Sin Problem. 
Here is where the whole process of REAL LIFE in CHRIST JESUS begins. Most of us have stood beside the sea at some time or other watching the waves roll onto the sand, frothy white. There is a "something" about the sea as you watch it, breathing in the salty air, that swells not just the lungs, but the whole chest with a fullness of awe. The depth of that power that could sweep we humans and our little cities all away - if the sea didn't stay within its appointed bounds. In the shallows, the smallest child can splash and dive, even cart away plastic buckets full of the ocean, to pour into a make-believe moat around a shelly castle. The power and gentleness of the ocean are so like the Creator who made it - and us.
The Lord God Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth and the ocean, is infinite. He is ALL POWER, ALL KNOWLEDGE AND EVER PRESENT. The Creator God (Genesis 1; John 1) made all things,
but the Bible shows us that He is NOT creation - He is the one who MADE "nature".

God is apart from nature in the same way that a child is apart from the sand castle he builds. The child made it, but he is not the sand castle. The Lord God wants you to know Him, because He created humanity. He made mankind in order to LOVE mankind, and that mankind might manifest God's glory. SIN is the problem! Mankind fell in the Garden of Eden, you are a part of this fall.Sin separated man from God, who is PERFECT LOVE and who is HOLY. The Bible is a revelation from the Creator. Fallen humanity can never understand the enormous "whys" which frustrate the race, without direct revelation! Nature is inspiring, such beauty as the massive ocean, but the ocean cannot speak. The mountains can't tell the mystery of the "whys". WHY death, WHY suffering, WHY do we exist at all? Is there a God? And so the Creator gave A BOOK - the Bible.
The Bible contains the only sure and true answer to THE SIN PROBLEM. The Bible gives that answer as - The Lord Jesus Christ, Himself! Let us look then at what salvation from the sin problem is about, and how Christ can save YOU! YOU CAN NEVER BE SAVED IF: You trust in anything other than Christ Jesus, and His death on the cross.
What do I mean?
Plainly and simply, truthfully, truth based on The Word of God - you will go to hell.
(John 3:16; Romans 3:23; Revelation 20:11-15; Romans 5:8; John 14:6).
Read God's Word for yourself, trust what He has said.
Unsaved friend, sin is your problem. You are a sinner. Sinners are not only needy, lost and in terrible spiritual trouble, sinners are guilty, wicked rebels and they deserve punishment. Sinners have corrupt natures. ALL mankind is in the same trouble - you are not uniquely virtuous and exempt from punishment IF you attempt to be saved by any other method or way other than Christ Jesus.
WHAT WAYS LEAD TO HELL?
Today, "evangelists" are presenting false "gospels" by the cart load! Any other gospel than the one presented in the Bible is an anathema to God,("anathema"= "cursed, the Lord cometh"), and should be to ourselves! (Galatians 1:6-9; 1 Corinthians 16:22.). Robert Schuller, as an example, has told his victims that it is "demeaning" to call anyone a sinner and that the Lord Jesus died on the cross to restore human dignity and self-esteem. This is a seductive, pleasing message to human beings. But, it will save NO ONE! God does not want you to have dignity or self-esteem, He wants you to see your lost, sinful state - and come to the Saviour, who offers so freely mercy, forgiveness, the remission of sin and life eternal.
"Evangelists" in the Latter Days of these sad times often make appeals in order to give satisfaction to the hearer, or to attract large crowds - not to urge reconciliation with a Holy God through the shed blood and repentance from a sinful life. Appeals are made for people to "come to Christ" in order to be happy, wealthy, successful in business, healthy in body, to get rid of stress, or avoid divorce. No repentance, no need to see the depth of sin or the only way of the sacrifice of Christ. These "gospels" can be so diluted as to be frauds! Eternity hangs in the balance. RELIGION is Satan's main way of sending people to hell!
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God should shine unto them. (11 Cor. 4:4).
There are two main ways that RELIGION deceives:
1. RITUAL. This makes redemption, salvation, dependent upon church attendance, belonging to a certain denomination or group, or some performance by the priesthood. Often sacrifice is made in some way, such as in the rituals of Roman Catholicism or the pagan/New Age groups. THIS DENIES THE CROSS AND ITS FINALITY.
2. SELF-EFFORT. This insists that man has a part to play in his own salvation. Works appeal to man, he no longer feels helpless, a sinner completely undone. We have no part to play in Salvation, Christ has done it all. We cannot keep the law in order to be saved (Gal. 1:6-12).
THIS SELF-EFFORT DENIES THAT THE CROSS IS SUFFICIENT.
THERE IS ONE TRUE GOSPEL - ONE ONLY.
The true Gospel shows that the Cross is FINAL and the Cross is SUFFICIENT.
Two questions to be asked - and answered -
1. "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" (Heb.2:3).
ANSWER: We will never escape, no never. There is no escape. The Bible shows that clearly.
2. "What must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:30).
ANSWER: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved "(Acts 16:31).
Not good deeds, not religion, not self-esteem, not rituals ... Jesus Christ is the Answer.
SUBTLE DECEPTIONS ABOUND
Some deceptions regarding salvation are so like the truth that they can lead sincere people astray.
1. We are not saved by trusting in what Christ accomplished on the cross, but by receiving holiness. Some teach that if we do not receive enough grace or righteousness from the Lord Jesus, if we are not made sanctified or consecrated enough, then we will be lost. This is not salvation by "works", per se, but salvation by "infused grace". It is a subjective faith, one that sees salvation as dependent upon a work within the believer wrought by the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches, however, an objective faith. Christ Jesus has done it all. He died on the Cross to take away the sin of the whole world. Nothing within ourselves saves, only what Christ did - entirely outside ourselves.
2. We are not saved by continuous repentance .
Some teach that if we do not continuously repent over each and every specific sin or failure, we will not be saved. This is an outrage to the heart of God, who gave His Son as a propitiation for our sin. We do not lose salvation, regain it, lose it again - never sure, never safe in Christ's arms - as this heresy teaches.
Christ has completed the work of Salvation for you. It is a free gift of love. No sinful, needy, helpless soul such as your self could possibly even know the depths of its own sinful heart, let alone repent of every unrealized, specific, failure. The burden and fear of such a teaching would tear any sensitive person to shreds in a short time!
CHRIST ALONE....FAITH ALONE.....GRACE ALONE....
IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS...
All accomplished on the cross. We accept by Faith in Christ Alone - objectively. A legal term.
All of Christ's righteousness is credited to our account - IN CHRIST. Grace is unmerited favour from God - because of Christ's Death
 
 

IMPARTED RIGHTEOUSNESS -
Christ shares His life of righteousness wiht us, so that we might walk worthy of our high calling. We accept by faith - and grow in grace.

INFUSED GRACE...
NOT Biblical in the sense that "infused" Grace has nothing to do with Salvation. We are not saved by receiving Grace from God, or righteousness. Our faiht must always be OBJECTIVE never SUBJECTIVE. CHRIST HAS DONE IT ALL - completely outside ourselves, His death saved us. We must receive Christ, but we are justified as we accept what Christ has done on the Cross. We are not justified by anything that happens within ourselves.

HOW TO GET THIS ALL CLEAR.

If you are not sure you are saved, and are not certain you are on your way to Heaven, then bow in prayer now, and ask the Lord God to enlighten you to His glorious Gospel news of the Lord Jesus Christ.

READ ON.

You are saved by trusting and believing in the Lord Jesus, and what he has done for you. You are not saved by repenting, but repentance means that you turn from your own way and sin, and come to the Saviour.

Ephesians 2:8-9:

John 3:16:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life," CHRIST JESUS HAS DONE IT ALL!!!
He died on the cross to die for your sin and to pay the penalty demanded by God's Justice...
(1 Peter 3:18; 11 Corinthians 5:19; 1 John 4:10; Ephesians 2:13).

READ THE BIBLE VERSES FOR YOURSELF.


No.2 - The Continuing Sin Problem. 
Most Christians these days do not know that the real issue continues to be SIN. Maybe you are up-in-arms when you read that. After all, Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for sin, didn't He? Aren't all the sins of Christians forgiven? So why would there still be an issue of continuing sin? Now the answer to that question is also the answer to peace, joy, happiness - and being in a relationship with the Lord God which defies description! CHRIST JESUS is the answer to PUNISHMENT FOR sin, but is also the answer to the CONTINUING POWER OF sin in our lives!
AN ILLUSTRATION IN STORY FORM MIGHT HELP HERE.
Picture a Christian wife and mother. She has been truly born-again and has accepted Christ as her Saviour from sin. She has been saved for, say, ten years. However, the first delights of forgiveness and wonder in being alive in Jesus Christ have wilted in the hot sun of family life. She goes to church every Sunday, reads inspiring books, and tries to do her best to pray and obey God. She has read often that prayer will transform her life with God - she believes it. During beautiful services at church, or when she listens to Christian music she feels quite a lift of joy - which only lasts as long as the service or song does!
Her friends regard this lady (we will call her Jan) as a "good" Christian. Yet, Jan's heart is often so sad that she actually weeps when she is alone. Why? She has tried so hard to be a fine mother and wife, but she knows in her heart that things are not fine. Despite her good intentions and prayers, she loses her temper with the children and suffers under a bad marriage with a husband who ridicules her faith. Sometimes she misses church because she feels she can't be a hypocrite by going, when her husband and herself have been "at each other's throats". Where is the reality? Where is God?
Jan has only a fleeting relationship with God - and no answers to prayer at all! She would never admit this, however, as others seem so strong and satisfied in their Christian lives. Jan does not want to appear "unspiritual".
Into this sad contradiction of a life now enters the counterfeits, put in Jan's way by the enemy of her soul, Satan.  People in Jan's church bring in programmes called "inner healing", and a "healing of the memories". Jan, in desperation, undergoes certain techniques in order to rid herself of the past hanging around in her "sub-conscious", keeping her from breaking forth in the new life promised in the Bible. The programmes are lengthy and emotionally gruelling. Jan feels cared about, at least, and a little more at peace, but it is not lasting - and her last state is far worse than her original state.
Jan is still unable to control her temper, and her peace and joy are non-existent. She now has a scape-goat however. She blames her mother, father and social up-bringing for all these problems, and calms her shattering emotions with comforting thoughts of "it is not my fault, I know that now." She draws heavily on an imagined, visualized figure of "Christ Jesus" whom she "walks with" through imaginary corridors of time past. "Jesus" is a demon spirit, bent on destroying her and her family! Jan has no notion that this is a deception, and accepts the "christ" fully.
Now Jan adds "self-love", "self-esteem" and "self-worth" teachings to her steadily growing spiritual problems. She purchases a book from a church book-stall on these selfisms and absorbs the contents at every opportunity! SELF, and her own needs, rights and fulfillment fill her mind. SELF and the unhealed "sub conscious" are becoming the main areas of her "spiritual" life, the Bible becomes a smorgasbord of promises for SELF, and healing of the "inner life". The "promises" all coloured by the Inner Healing and SELF-LOVE books and teachings, of course.
Jan's unsaved husband feels unloved and ignored! Jan decides that this is because he is not spiritually alive, and Godless. She draws more and more into SELF. In the church she is told, however, that her grasp of "spiritual" things are a credit to her - she has, they say, a BIG MINISTRY ahead of her. Putting aside all thoughts of her responsibility for the growing mess in her family life, Jan embraces with great enthusiasm the BIG MINISTRY idea. She actually moves into this area of "ministry" spreading "Inner Healing", "Healing the Emotions" and "Self Love" (knows this stuff like an expert now). Jan becomes filled with SELF-ESTEEM! "I am a speaker and a counsellor" fills her mind - Bible verses flow freely from her mouth, all coloured by the books and teachings she has absorbed, out of context.
The marriage and family is almost destroyed, Jan is strutting, proud, entirely SELF orientated, desperately ambitious, wretchedly miserable - and is screaming inside "Where is God!!??".
Months go by. Jan has made a tape, spoken to the church congregation of
two thousand people, paid big money for training in her church "Bible" school. But, a new woman from another congregation has arrived at the church - the minister cuts down Jan's "ministry" to nil! This new woman's husband is a highly influential man (with a large bank account) used in ministry with other businessmen. Jan is left with "egg on her face" - and blames her miserable, Godless husband at home. If her husband had been rich, "Godly", - she would be acceptable.
Disaster reigns now, in church, at home, in Jan's sick, sad soul. The demons laugh with glee - another Christian bites the dust. Jan's body suffers. She is sick throughout her whole person. She desperately attends "healing" services, with slick wonder-workers from other countries "ministering" to her body. All this does not work, and she feels keenly the insistence of certain "friends" that she is not moving in "faith" any more. A "friend" rings and declares that she would just as soon let sin remain in her life, as let any sickness remain. Why, hadn't Jesus died for her sicknesses as well as her sin? Spiritual people knew victory over sickness and poverty. "Jan," counsels the "friend", "you may have a demon of sickness, and your husband possibly has a demon of poverty - face facts!" It is all too much - Jan leaves the church, and retreats to her home to suffer untold agonies of "Why?" No one from the church contacts her, or asks about her welfare. Jan hears of the spiteful rumours about her "back-slidden" state, and how her poor husband is suffering under her "demon" and his own!
WORSE IS TO COME, HOWEVER.
Jan seeks counselling in her extreme need. The pastor is a stranger to her, from another denomination. Over a period of weeks, the pastor draws her to himself, not to dependence on God. Upset, lonely, out of fellowship with God, at loggerheads with family and husband, Jan clings to the Pastor. This results in a painful, but brief romantic attachment.
This story is drawn from many people's experiences. Jan is not an actual person, "she" is countless people, men and women. Can we now show THE WAYwhich God showed to Jan? THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE brought Jan into the abundant life - SAVED TO THE UTTERMOST, praise the Lord Jesus Christ.
HOW TO BE SAVED TO THE UTTERMOST.
Jan found a little book written by an old-fashioned Christian, Roy Hession, called "The Calvary Road" at a second-hand book shop one day. The Lord God Almighty had arranged circumstances so that His beloved daughter would chance upon that book. The simple teachings opened Jan's spiritual eyes to the truths in Bible verses she hadn't read or understood before, and Jesus Christ flooded her life with Himself. What happened then was a miracle of transformation. Jan's own life was filled with the water of life, she overflowed in rivers of life to her family, and everyone she met saw Christ-likeness in her! Her body responded to the release of spiritual bondage, and although a few aches and pains remained, all of the complications due to soul misery left her.
THE TRUE ANSWER IS JESUS CHRIST.
Step by step, let us see how to be saved to the uttermost. Remember, Christian, THE TRUTH is so simple that it is entirely overlooked by multitudes of church goers today. This simple truth has been the treasure of the true church (the invisible Body of Christ) throughout previous ages. Millions of books have been written about Theology, hyper-faith teachings, how to be a millionaire Christian in ten easy lessons, name-it-and-claim-it greed, being a mighty, powerful, glorified big-wig in this world - and the One Pearl of Great Price has been ignored! That TREASURE we all long for is Christ Jesus Himself. Let us count all else as "dung". (Phillippians 3:8; 11 Corinthians 4:8-18).
Is your heart beating a little faster? Do you want to enter into abundant life in all fullness? We will see, not a doctrine of these matters, but a reality, an experience of Christ Himself, as our LIFE. (Romans 7:18- 8:4).
1. First Spiritual Principle
You must understand that the same spiritual principle that operated when you first entered into Christ as Saviour, operates throughout your Christian life and walk. THE BLOOD OF CHRIST cleanses us from all sin, and the corresponding truth, the Eternal Life of Christ is all that is needed. We are saved initially because THE BLOOD was shed for the punishment due for our sin, and we received Christ, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, as Eternal Life. Heaven and home, everlasting life and the fellowship with the Father, are all ours as a free gift in Christ. (Romans 8:31-39).
Now, in our present state as a saved one, THE BLOOD plus CHRIST'S LIFE are ALL.
THE BLOOD CLEANSES US FROM ALL SIN, the Life is ALL WE NEED for righteousness, peace, joy, wisdom and being brought close to the Lord God, Jesus Christ is all we need. Indeed, if we do not see this, or believe that other things are needed, we cannot enter into the abundant life in Christ. Just as we cannot mix faith and works forsalvation so we cannot mix faith and works for sanctification.
2. WHAT DID JAN FIND?
Jan was shown Christ as the answer to her home situation. How? Jan saw that her own sin and self were the problems in her personal life and in her home life. She saw that SELF didn't need to be built up but that self NEEDED to die. The Selfisms she had absorbed had terribly compounded the SELF and SIN agony. She realized that Christ Jesus was always ready to fill her with His victorious Life, but that her "cup" (her life) was dirty. Christ could not fill a "dirty cup". But when she allowed the cup to be cleansed, Christ Jesus filled her to overflowing with ALL SHE NEEDED - CHRIST'S LIFE, ABUNDANT LIFE.
3. COME TO THE LIGHT.
Jan came to the Light, she "Walked in the Light" (1John 1:5-10). Broken at last, humbled at last, the proud "I" of Jan became the bent "C" of Christ. Throwing herself upon the mercy of God, she cried "Show me myself as I really am, show me the wicked self and all its ways - ALL". God revealed, in His Light, the true Jan, whose life was so corrupt and depraved that the Son of God had had to die to save her, and give her His life for her life. Only that was enough. If we walk in the light we will always see that we are corrupt beyond alteration - if we don't see that, we are in darkness still.
The Spirit of God led Jan, compassionately, into ALL TRUTH, about herself and her situation. It was clear in the Light! She didn't need SELF ESTEEM, she needed TRUTH. She realized the pride, the ambition, the lovelessness, the self-gratification in her (so called) Christian "ministry". She saw the miserable self-pity, resentment, bitterness and unforgiveness towards her "friends", and her fleshly lust. Everything stood out in bold relief as she yielded to the Light of God. We will always know when we are in God's Light, for we will always see THE SIN and horror of the SELF LIFE.
Jan cried out "It is I, oh Lord! It is I!" Not her parents, not her upbringing, not the need of "Healing of the Memories", not her hidden, dark, mysterious "unconscious". No, the problem all the time was SIN in her life. An unclean "cup".
WELL, THE BLOOD AVAILED - PRAISE THE LORD!
Jan read in 1 John 1:7-9 of the precious truth about THE BLOOD. "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin. If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

What a glorious victory was hers in but a short period of time.
4. AVAIL YOURSELF OF THE BLOOD - the Ever-Flowing Blood.
Jan found a quiet spot, away from interruptions and allowed the Holy Spirit of Truth to bring each and every specific truth about her state before her. Then, she claimed the cleansing Power of the Blood of Christ - and was set free! No, she was not saved again She had never lost her salvation. Salvation is not of works, it is a free gift (Eph. 2:8-9). She entered deeper into Full Salvation. Here she found that "ALL" was the secret of the glorious life she so desired. ALL of sin confessed. ALL of self denied. All of her life laid down before the Lord. NO EXCUSES. No refusals to be shown THE TRUTH about herself.
5. BE FILLED... THE EVER-FLOWING FOUNTAIN OF LIVING WATER.
Next Jan asked and received by faith, the fullness of the Christ Life, ministered by the Holy Spirit. Here was salvation to the uttermost. His life in exchange for hers. Not a doctrine (Jan had heard this doctrine before - on and off). No! How could a cold understanding with the head ever match the REAL CHRIST becoming her ALL in ALL.
(Hebrews 7:25; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Phillippians 3:12-14).
You might say... I have never had an affair, and my marriage is reasonably happy. I don't need to repent, avail myself of the cleansing Blood continually, or find salvation to the uttermost! I am going pretty well in my Christian Life. If you feel that way, you are not yet in the Light. How can you get into the Light? Simply open ALL the doors and windows of your SELF to God, in sincerity, and He will show you YOURSELF.
You might say...
I have known that doctrine from the beginning of my Christian Life! I know that! But if your heart is not filled with peace, joy and love, if your life is not flooded with life from the Lord. If you are not daily seeking victory over sin and self, then you do not know the REALITY in an experiental way. Don't be satisfied with the husks of a mere belief. You may KNOW the wondrous Life of the fullness of Salvation to the uttermost is yours. Yes, yours. Do you want Him enough to cut pride dead in its tracks and seek REALITY?
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?
In Jan's own life.
She renounced all New Age teachings which taught the building up of the corrupt self-life. She renounced all demonic teachings which had led her to accept the "unconscious" or false "Christs" in visualization etc. She submitted herself, spirit, soul and body into the keeping of her beloved Lord - and left herself entirely in His hands.
Jan saw the need of continual walking in the Light with the Lord. Every day, moment by moment, "breathing out" and "breathing in". Breathing out = confession of sin. Breathing in = the fullness of Christ's Life received as ALL. She fell often in those first days, but instantly received the cleansing of the Blood as she confessed. She agreed with God every step of the way, never refusing the Light on her sin. Jan saw that ALL must be cleansed, for Jesus filled only a clean vessel. She did not seek to try harder any more. Christ provided ALL her goodness.
The reality of the corrupt nature of her SELF, through many experiences, had been brought to her by the Holy Spirit. At last, she broke, and what else could she do but let Christ be ALL? Revival is all about being brought into experiences which reveal sin, need, hopelessness and helplessness.
The Holy Spirit Blows the Whistle.
Jan gained peace beyond her understanding! That peace was so deep that whether her husband was snappy, the children cross, the dinner burnt, or the news was bad on television - nothing touched the deep peace of God. Until, she awoke one day with her peace gone! "What is wrong, Lord," Jan cried in alarm. Had her blessing gone forever? The small voice of God spoke gently to her, "Let my Light reveal your sin to you." In that light Jan saw worry and also fear lurking. Her husband's job was not secure, and the house payments were due. They had big bills to pay. Where would the money come from? In an instant Jan saw the problem. Not to do with the payments, but to do with herself and God. She confessed the sins of worry and fear, claimed the promise of 1 John 1:9, and asked to be filled again with the LIFE of Christ. PEACE returned, deep and flowing over, joy and happiness in God.
What about the house payments? No, she did not visualize the money in. She simply came to her Heavenly Father, asked Him for the money and trusted in His love and provision. The day the money was due, the morning post brought a fat cheque from an old Christian friend, who had felt the Lord wanted her to send Jan money! Jan had not told this lady of her need. (Psalm 84:11). Jan soon learnt that the Holy Spirit "blew the whistle" when a "foul" had been committed - just like a referee does in a football match. If her peace went, she could now see that something was wrong between herself and God - she let the Holy Spirit be the arbitrator.(Colossians 3:15). How wonderful to ask the Lord God the cause of the "foul", to be shown, ask cleansing according to 1 John 1:9, and to be filled again with all the fullness of
Christ. Peace reigned supreme, past understanding!
WHAT ABOUT THE PAST?
Jan soon saw in the Light of God that the "Christ" of the "Healing of the Memories" teachings was not the Christ of the Bible She called on the Lord God for wisdom on how to proceed in this matter, and was given these Bible verses , 11 Corinthians 3 : 4; 11 Corinthians 2 : 14; Colossians 2 : 15; 11 Corinthians 6 : 16. She stood on the victory of the cross and commanded the false "Christ" to go where the real Christ would send him -
and no more was heard from that demon! (1 John 3: 8).
"What about the past, Lord?" was the next question.
Shall we ask the same of the Lord, too? What about our pasts, Lord?
There are a number of very important things we should realize when dealing with our hurt and regret about the past..
1. The past no longer exists. There have been films galore these days which present the past as though it was still there, ready to be walked back into - such craziness as "Back to the Future". This is all fantasy, Christian, realize this. The past can never be gone back to - it is gone! False "Christs" can never walk these paths with you. All of us would like to be able to go back and not make those horrible choices which ruined our lives and others' lives. All of us would like to be able to undo the mischief we did, or the pain caused by other people. "If only", is a cry from the heart of all humans. But, done is done. That is the sad, sorry truth about the results of sin on this fallen planet. "If only Christ Jesus had been with me when that rough young man I trusted raped me", cries the heart of one. "If only Christ Jesus had been with me when I aborted my baby," cries another. "If only I hadn't cheated over that money". But, these things happened, TRUTH must be faced. They cannot be undone! If we can never go back into the past, never undo what was done, what is the answer? Is there no answer to the past? There certainly is, and that answer is the true Christ. We will deal fully with this later on.
2. The past, with its failures, should make us absolutely determined in the present to never again let the SELF LIFE dominate and rule now, or in the future. As we look back at the past, sometimes we say to ourselves, "That wasn't  like me, I'm not really like that. I let myself down so much at that point." TRUTH, as shown in the Bible, reveals that this is exactly "like you". The old life is corrupt, that is why you did what you did. No flash in the pan, no out of character occurrence. YOU are sinful. That is why you did those things. Facing the past, in the present, is meant to be a humbling, breaking experience. You are meant to see the depths of the self, the hopelessness and helplessness of yourself - as part of a fallen world of fallen men. (Romans 7:19-25). 3. Let God show you who was to blame for all the problems of the past. You will find, as I did myself, that my sinful response to the circumstances of my life was the true depression, misery maker! The only way I could be set free from grief and regret of the past was to deal with it God's way in the present moment.
What did Jan do? She (100%) allowed the Lord to show her the different areas of her life which had so troubled her, and had caused her to live a depressed life, although she had pretended to other Christians that she had it all together. (A hypocrite, friends, is an actor or actress. One who does not reveal the true self, but hides instead behind a mask).
ALL CLEAR - ALL CLEANSED.
Jan saw that her mother had been ungodly, harsh and gossipy - it was true. Then she saw that her mother was not a child of God, and could do nothing else but yield to the sinful nature which was inherent in her. Then Jan saw herself, full of resentment and self-pity and hidden anger at the many injustices she had suffered at her mother's hands. Yes, Jan had confessed these things before, but had also allowed them back again and again, instead of confessing and being cleansed when the thoughts rose up yet again.
Jan repented, and confessed "Lord, it is I!" - and determined that the Lord would have ALL, to fill her with His selflessness and love.
Next came the miserable years she had suffered as a young child, when her schooling had been interrupted, her father had been drinking and the children had teased her at school because she stuttered. How would God help here?
The Lord did not have to go down paths into a past long gone! Nor did the period of getting things right take a long time of painful introspection. In fact, Jan found that she could not even evaluate her past herself - she was so self-centered that she had seen everything in a biased way. Everyone else's wrong doing was magnified, but all her own wrong was minimized or dismissed altogether. In THE PRESENT, Jan asked: She meant what she said, this was not just a chorus she sang, without any heart-acknowledgement!
Then Jan presented the different problem areas of the past to God, that He might reveal the truth in His Light.
Jan understood, as she truthfully evaluated things in God's light. She remembered clearly her human father, as a young man, long ago in her past.Out of work and desperate to provide for his family, he had gone from suburbs to country towns seeking a more settled life. Unsaved, with no God to support and provide for him, he had failed again and again. Finally, he gave into drink, yet, he had pulled out of this in a few months to make a fair life for his family. Jan and her brother had suffered school instability, which had caused a stutter in Jan. The children had teased her, but Jan understood with new compassion. These mere children encountered something they couldn't understand, and it made them uneasy, even afraid. From a heart brimming with Christ's love, she forgave them all with words reminiscent of her Lord's
"Father, forgive them, (as I do), for they knew not what they did"

A NEW SELF-RESPONSIBILITY.
Instead of resentment, understanding had begun to grow as the Life of Christ
filled Jan. She saw also the truth of wrongs committed by herself against others that had to be put right. Under the inspiration of the Lord, she wrote a letter to her mother, confessing her own wrong in spreading tales about her! Jan returned a family photo album which she had deliberately kept, out of a hidden revenge towards her parents. Peace, perfect peace reigned about her past at last.
And the Lord gave her this verse:

Consecrated deeply now, Jan was determined never to return to the past again. She had a life NOW in this moment, to live for Jesus. No long-gone past could rob her of this precious NOW.
HOW TO KEEP THE BLESSING.
Who keeps who?
Do you keep Christ, or does He keep you?
We pray that you reader, have seen the unique simplicity of the saving Life of Christ.
A quote from the little book "Calvary Road" by Roy Hession should be of great value for us all.(Pages 19-21).
" The picture that has made things simple and clear to so many of us is that of the human heart
as a cup which we hold out to the Lord Jesus, longing that He may fill it with the Water of Life.
Jesus is pictured as bearing the golden water-pot with the Water of Life. As He passes by, He looks
into our cup, and if it is clean He fills it to overflowing with the Water of Life; and as Jesus is
always passing by, the cup can be always running over. That is something of what David meant
when he said, " My cup runneth over." This is Revival - the constant peace of God ruling in our hearts because we are full to overflowing with blessing ourselves, and sharing it with others....
Only one thing prevents Jesus filling our cups as He passes by, and that is sin in one of its thousand forms. The Lord Jesus does not fill dirty cups. Anything that springs from self, however small it may be, is sin. Self-effort or self-complacency in service is sin. Self-pity in trials and difficulties, self-seeking in spare time, sensitiveness, touchiness, resentment, and self-defence when we are hurt or injured by others, self- consciousness, reserve, worry, fear. all spring from self and all are sin and make our cups unclean. But all of them were put into that other cup, which the Lord Jesus shrank from momentarily in Gethsemane, but which He drank to the dregs at Calvary - the cup of our sin; and if we allow Him to
show us what is in our cups and then give it Him, He will cleanse them in His precious Blood that still flows for sin. That does not mean mere cleansing from the guilt of sin, but from the stain and pollution of it, so that we have "no more consciousness of sin"there. And as He cleanses our cups, so He fills them to overflowing with His Holy Spirit."
IF WE ARE TO KNOW CONTINUOUS REVIVAL,
How to never again fall into a Christian life dominated by self and sin - that is the question. It all comes down to being broken on the specific area concerned. Not sin in general, but specifically - that is where the rubber meets the road.
Perhaps you live with an irritable, crotchety person who has been the cause of much upset. The moment you are conscious of the sin of resentment or irritability rising in yourself, give it to Jesus. Ask Him to cleanse you by the Power of His Blood. The reaction will go, your peace and joy will be restored wonderously. The cup must be kept clean at all times, this is your responsibility, to confess and be cleansed. You, however, are not responsible for the righteousness which you need to live a Christian life. Christ will fill your cup, with His Life, as you respond in Faith. He will provide all righteousness Himself. Only keep the cup clean.
You must yield to God over the whole business of the crotchety friend. You must be broken before God, and accept that person and the way they are as God's will for you. (This will lead us into the next part of our booklet - NO SECOND CAUSE).
The same things applies to all sin. A touch of envy, covetousness, "poor me", arises. The moment it arises, confess, bring it to Jesus, and let Him cleanse it away in the Precious Blood (1 John 1:9). THE BLOOD AVAILS. Don't let any sin rob you of the peace and joy of the fullness of Christ. Once, a young man was staying at a Christian Convention Centre in the bush. Wandering early in the morning, he met the visiting speaker. The Godly minister asked the young man why he wasn't at the morning prayer meeting. "I had a nasty quarrel with my wife last night," timidly confessed the man, "I am not fit to attend the prayer meeting with spiritual people." The old minister gently inquired, "Does the Blood not avail?"
The blessed truth is, the Blood always avails! The Blood cleanses.
NO SECOND CAUSES.
If we are to live a life of total dependence on Christ, of total trust in God, then we need to know throughout our entire being that it is safe to "Be still and know that I am God." We can know that if God be for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31) This all means that, if we yield ALL to God, He will care for ALL. And He is ALL POWERFUL, no one or thing can thwart His purposes for our lives.
There is nothing that can come into our lives which God has not censored first! If we truly put ourselves completely in His keeping (no self-deception), then His promise of Romans 8:28 is ours. We must proceed in the Christian life of victory, secure in the fact that there are no real second causes. Let us not look at the second causes, but the first cause. God can be trusted to not let into your life anything which He has not allowed. Do not be deceived, however, a Christian full of self and sin still has ground given to Satan, and has deliberately stepped out of God's will into dangerous territory! First step in any warfare against Satan is uncompromising obedience to the Holy Spirit's prompting and God's Word!
If we so ACT and TRUST, then we will not suffer with "why me", "why not me" and "it's all gone wrong!". The Bible promises "All THINGS work for good etc." This will take on new vibrance and vitality, as you realize the glorious implications of it.The hymn which has comforted saints down through the years puts it beautifully: A NOTE OF CAUTION.
Another composite personality could be introduced. Let's call him John. John had received Christ as Saviour, and had
also suffered defeat after defeat at the enemy's hands, just as Jan had. John, however, had sunk into a sheer miry pit of a departure from the true Lord Jesus and His way. He had tried everything, as Jan had, in order to live a Christian life of soundness and victory - but he had finally dropped out. The world of pleasure and the delights therein had plunged John into worldliness up to his neck. A young man, he had succumbed to rock music, marijuana, and finally homosexuality. Only a brief encounter with another man, but enough to catch - not AIDS but a demonic presence within. Jan had been oppressed from without by the false "Christ", John had received a demon, passed to him by the New Age sexual partner.
John became obsessive in unclean acts which revolved around the possessed area of his anatomy. I do not personally believe that a born-again child of God can be possessed by a demonic spirit to the same degree that an unsaved child of the devil can. John, however, had yielded a member of his physical anatomy to a demon, and had become taken over in that member. Before John could come into the glorious walk of victory in Christ Jesus, he had to become aware of the demonic spirit, and cast it out.
John came finally to ask help from a Christian leader who was a spiritual man of Godly nature. This minister spiritually discerned the presence of the demon, and in the power of the Lord Jesus Christ's victory on the Cross of Calvary, together John and he commanded it to leave and go where Jesus Christ would send it.
The compulsive, disgusting behaviour left John. His cries that he was in bondage had been ignored by his praying Christian friends. They had sincerely believed that John was refusing to repent! John, however, was rendered virtually helpless in a devilish bondage.
Let no person use this note of caution to excuse their own refusal to repent. Let us seek a sound balance here.
In the vast majority of cases, the need is not "casting out" or "deliverance", it is REPENTANCE, CONFESSION, THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE CLEANSING OF THE BLOOD, AND, BY FAITH, THE RECEIVING AFRESH OF THE FULLNESS OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST.
THE "GOOD" CHRISTIAN.
Here is another example, which we again view for clarity in a illustrative story. Let us call this Christian Jim. Jim has been a Christian many years. He has gone through Bible college, knows doctrine well, is a church elder, and is a Bible teacher. Jim knows the doctrine of the Saving Life of Christ very well. He has majored on this teaching for years, and has attended conventions on this glorious teaching many times. Jim, however, underneath, knows that he has never entered into the REALITY of this. Why not?
Jim has held back so much of his life, that he cannot be filled. The beliefs, the doctrines, the teachings, have replaced the glorious reality, until Jim no longer even seeks the experience of those beliefs. EXPERIENCE, actually, is an evil thing to Jim! Only extremists, existentialists love "experience", he secretly thinks.
Jim's life has a number of areas which he refuses to be broken on. The Holy Spirit has dealt with him many times on these key issues, but he will not yield. Time has gone by, until his life has soured despite the orthodoxy of beliefs and doctrines.
IN JIM'S LIFE, THOSE KEY ISSUES ARE...
1. Spiritual pride. Jim considers himself to be a sound Christian, a fine Biblical scholar and a pillar of his church. He tosses aside simple teaching about "Saved To The Uttermost", with a rather smug smile, "I know all that. I have always known all that." He has become, in actuality, more difficult to bring into full salvation than the new Christian who is so aware of his/her sinful state. He is saved by Grace. but walks by religious works.
2. Jim's second key issue is the things he calls "little". Too "little" to matter to God. Too "little" to stop the glorious reality of a Full Salvation? No, these very "little" matters have made his cup dirty, and have indeed stopped it from being filled to the full with the Life of Christ. Convicted many times over the years, Jim has now ceased to even consider he needs repentance. These matters are simply part and parcel of his own "character". He views the "little" things as rather colourful attributes of a complex, powerful man of God, who has a great many responsibilities.
(a) HOME.
At home, he is dictatorial, never a servant. He is waited on, he never takes the place of a servant for his family - ever. Stern and unforgiving, he lets harsh judgemental words fall from his lips, pouring out from the SELF LIFE not yet on the cross, and never repents or receives cleansing. He ignores this as evidence of SELF still in dominance, and even attributes his frequent "dignified" fits of temper to "righteous indignation". He is not willing to be broken on these, and other points. He sometimes laughingly says, "My father was a stern man with a quick temper - I am my father's son."
(b) CHURCH.
At church, Jim is rigidly dogmatic, filled with wrath if opposed over doctrine. Yet, he refuses to believe he is keeping a dirty cup which cannot be filled with Christ's life. If a doctrine, fiercely held and defended is proved unsound, Jim never admits error. He has been known to leave a church over a doctrine which he realises in his heart of hearts, has been misunderstood by himself. His spiritual pride is not broken. Jim wipes this away as his own "staunch defending of the faith".
(c) INSIDE HIMSELF.
Inside, Jim has allowed many thoughts and attitudes to dirty his cup. Pride in himself fill a lot of his thoughts. He no longer allows the Holy Spirit to bring the light of TRUTH into his thoughts. If ever a glimmer of TRUTH that he is not living in peace, joy, obedience and brokenness enters his mind, he dismisses it as impossible nonsense because of his "elevated", "out standing" grasp of scripture. How could a man such as he be lacking in any spiritual area?
So long has the cup been dirty that to begin to confess the real issues requires a huge immensely costly, utterly unknown (to Jim) re-evaluation of Jim's whole "Christianity". Jim is not aware of this, and if he was he would not be willing to pay the cost. Jim's "Christianity" has become built on SELF. He is a counsellor, but he is never counselled or advised. He is a teacher of scripture, but he is never a little one who must be led into truth of scripture by the Holy Spirit every step of the way lest he make terrible errors.
He is an example to the flock (in his own mind), but he is never a needy, helpless redeemed sinner - the old negro spiritual said it all "It is me, it is me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer."
The difference between REALITY and DOCTRINE OF A REALITY is found in the "little" word....ALL. ALL to be brought into the Light of God. ALL doors and windows of the soul opened to His searching light. ALL sin confessed, every moment, every day. ALL attitudes and thoughts surrendered to the scrutiny of the piercing sword of the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 4:12-13). ALL pride abandoned. ALL time, talent, possessions, loved ones and plans laid down at the feet of the dear One who alone knows what wonderous plans He has for the abandoned soul.
WHAT HAVE WE LOST, CHRISTIAN FRIEND?
Look back, over your shoulder, at the years gone by - just for one moment. Can you see the strife, heart-ache, spiritual loss, lack of fruitfulness, devastating grief, unspeakable, and damage to the beautiful Name of Christ that has spewed like sulphur from the SELF in domination?
I can, dear Lord of mercy, I can.
DARE WE IGNORE the pleadings of the Holy Spirit that He now DOMINATE, just as sin and self have dominated in time past?
What shining paths of heavenly service have we missed by letting SELF dominate? Who has left this world to go to a Christless eternity because of the stink of sulphur which has repelled them, when they have encountered the community of SELVES in their local church? A church which was the unbeliever's only contact with God's Salvation in Christ. Lost forever, because the Holy Spirit could not bring CHRIST to them through the Christians.
* The Cross Deals With The Self
* The Blood Cleanses All Sin.
God, search me and show me SIN and SELF - and let me manifest Jesus Christ - not tomorrow, but now!
THE SELF AND THE CROSS What is this mysterious "SELF"? As a young Christian I had a concept about "SELF" which I felt at the time was a good one, one which would help me deal with "SELF". I grasped the concept about death to the self in this way...
Inside me were two natures, one was SELF, one was CHRIST. If I "denied" SELF, Christ would grow instead. I could never really see how to "deny" this mysterious SELF part of me, but I diligently went about my home saying to myself, "I deny Self, and allow Christ full sway". It never seemed to work, although I had good intentions. I said, over and again, "It is no longer I, but Christ that liveth in me," but still I had no change in victory over sin, or "death to the self." I finally decided I was too dense to understand, and drove older Christians to distraction by ringing on the telephone to inquire into the matter... I still couldn't grasp the notion of "reckon yourself dead...".
WHAT IS "SELF"?
SELF IS ME!
Two areas we will approach in this short book are the practical out-workings of dying to self,
and the NEO-SELFISM of the 1990's.
YOURSELF IS "SELF".
To deny self is to deny ME. How does this work out and how can it be accomplished? Let us get really personal now, forget about other people and concentrate on yourself. SELF is yourself. You have always had a bias to live for You. As a child, it was your satisfaction, your needs, your rights, your happiness - it all came so naturally. It came naturally because your nature is a fallen nature, inherited from your fallen parents (Romans 3:10-12). As a young adult you saw as paramount your love life, your career, your fulfillments - you "had a life to live".
After conversion (you may have been converted as a child) it was the same. Your Christian service, your singing voice being used in the church, your rights, your happiness etc. Subtle differences may have occurred in this SELF pattern, but much of SELF was left intact. Sometimes the very acts of Christian service which seemed so good to others were very much done for ME. How do I know? Because I have been there.
Frustration because "I" have not been asked to speak. Now, the one who does speak may bring great blessing to the hearers, but SELF sees ITSELF in the whole scene, not others and Christ, and is frustrated. Self gets an
opportunity to minister, at last, but really cares hardly at all for others. "It is happening at last for me", delights myself. The real motives behind so much of what is going on are, being noticed and "used", being fulfilled, gaining power and position for self!
Sometimes self is hidden in subtle little ways. We "humbly" serve others, take the lowest place - in order to be more righteous, more spiritual than others are! We feel satisfied in this, secretly superior - "I" am not as so many other Christians are! I am "humble", I "always live for others".
The SELF, the ME, will never be righteous, however. We are corrupt, depraved fallen "selves".
To deny self is to see this in God's Light, agree with God, and agree to the humiliation, and costly sacrifice of NOT "I". If "I" tried for ever and a day I would still be sinful.
THE NEW AGE LIMITLESS SELF!
The New Age is teaching of a LIMITLESS SELF. This teaching has such devilish power to corrupt and destroy that one can only shudder in alarm! David Spangler, guru of the academics and educators, teacher of international renown, associated with Findhorn, Scotland (New Age) and the United Nations is adored by countless millions in the world today, even church people (Catholic and Protestant). Spangler has much to say about the "self". Mystical, esoteric, weird beliefs.
These beliefs lie in sinister wait beneath the veneer of the more acceptable teachings of self-esteem, self-worth and self-love. These are self-god, self-force beliefs of a Luciferian mind-set!
Spangler has pictured this limitless "self", as merging into a "Cosmic Christ".
Let David speak for himself. [page 153, "Reimagination of the World"]:
"Let's use the blackboard analogy some more. I write a paragraph on the board. Now, I point to a
letter on the board and call it "me". This letter, "myself", has three interacting components; it has a connection to the blackboard; it is a specific mark on the blackboard; and it has a relationship to all other letters, words, and sentences on the blackboard, a relationship based on language and thought. The interaction of these three elements creates the hologram which is Me.
Thus, there is part of me that is eternal and comes out of an undifferentiated place; it is part of the
total hologram - the total oneness in which every part replicates the whole. It is one with the blackboard. There is another part of me that is specifically David Spangleer. David Spangler has
never existed before....
Then there is the part of me that relates to all the other marks on the blackboard. This is part of
larger patterns that extend through what we call time and space, and through other dimensions
as well....
There is a pre-existent component and there is a post-existent component; there is a part that exists elsewhere and has never been in a human stream of existence. All of that makes up "me".
I can look at any one of those three and say, "Yes, that is who I am".... Some say we are part of God, or we are God; some say we are just ourselves as we appear in this incarnation...
To me, we are all of them...."
THE DANGERS WE AND OUR CHILDREN FACE.
"THE SELF" as GOD, as the COSMOS itself, as the WORLD BRAIN, as a vast network or a "lattice" of reality, even the whole "lattice" itself, is not an isolated idea of a minority crack-pot fringe-group! The philosophy of "I" being an identity distributed holographically "through the whole latticework of my higher dimensional being", is the very foundation of the New Age "selfisms" which have blanketed every part of our societies in the latter half of this century!
Satan, or Lucifer, is going to an astonishing length to reinforce "self". God, our Heavenly Father, wants HIS people, the true Church, to be aware of the corruption of self, and the roots of self in Satan. God wants us to count on the victory of the Cross, and to "reckon ourselves dead". The battle field is drawn, SELF or the LORD JESUS CHRIST. Who lives and dominates inyou? SELF is NOT extended outside of your body, or this period of time into eternity. SELF is NOT omnipresent (everywhere), and it is NOT identical with all creation! Self is the created being who came into existence at the beginning of this life of yours when you received physical life from God in the womb. Self has fallen in sin. Yet, Christ Jesus has given NEW LIFE - PRAISE THE LORD!
HOW CAN SELF "DIE"?
LET'S GET IT CLEAR.
The Bible makes it plain that I am commanded to "reckon my self dead" to self. Here Christ again is the whole answer. As we examine the death of self, pray that the Lord will make this spiritually alive for you, dead doctrine is useless! Three areas to look at. 1. HUMANS ARE TRIPARTITE.
The Bible teaches that humans come in three parts. Because of the fall man's three parts run like this - SOUL, BODY, SPIRIT. The spirit is there, but it is dead. Its life-spark has been extinguished because of separation from God.
When we are born-again, we receive new life from the Lord Jesus. The spirit is given life by the Holy Spirit, we then become God-conscious. God now wants us to live after this pattern, SPIRIT, SOUL, BODY, giving dominance to the Holy Spirit through our spirits.
2. THE FALL LEFT US SELF-CENTERED.
Since the moment you were born into a sinful world, you have lived in self-centeredness. This means I live for ME. Now this "me" is a mystery, rather like the doctrine of the Trinity, which simply cannot be fully grasped by our mortal intellect. What is the Nature of man's soul? A big question which can never be answered dogmatically.
Theologians have studied this subject down through countless ages. It seems that it is not so much that I have a soul, but rather that I am a soul. I have a body and I have a spirit, but the soul is me. The soul is me, the self is me.
The soul or "me", has had control throughout my unsaved life. This soul is usually described as having:
(a) Intellect. The ability of the "me" to work out whether something is right or wrong.
(b) Sensibility. The ability which tells "me" what the self would really like to do about that issue.
(c) Conscience. The ability which tells me what I should do.
(d) Will. The ability which tells "me" what I shall do about the issue. (Outline, Wilmington's Bible Study).

WRITERS OF OTHER DAYS ON THE "SOUL" AND "SPIRIT".
Dr. Andrew Murray has written,
"the soul was the meeting place, the point of union between body and spirit".
He also writes:

G.H. Pember explains soul and spirit function when he says,
"the body we may term the sense - consciousness".
He writes, the body, "gives us the use of the five senses"; and the soul, the Dr. Andrew Murray agrees entirely with Pember, when he comments that the gifts which make a man a personality, a "living soul", were those of "consciousness, self-determination, or mind and will".
Jessie Penn Lewis comments on this, Dr. Murray wrote, We can see that these Christian writers practically define the "soul" as the seat of the personality. This is the "self".
Self, or "you" as a person, with your will and intellect or mind, stands as a kind of person - entity between "spirit" and
the openness to the spirit world, and the "body", which is open to an outer realm of nature and the senses of feel, smell, hear and see. This "soul" has the power to choose between the spiritual world and the sense world.
Adam was a perfect man until he fell in sin. Before the fall, Adam was dominated in his "soul" by the Spirit of God.
His intellect, mind, will, his "soul", was so dominated by the Spirit that, through the vessel of the soul, his body was
shining and covered in the Lord. It felt no cold or heat,it was perfect in God.
The Lord has brought us back to Himself in His Son, Christ Jesus. We are now to allow
[the "soul" giving willing consent] the Spirit of God to dominate the "self" or "soul" - to overflow it.
THE TERRIBLE FALL.
The fall left us all without the control of God, with only the self as Lord and Master (actually, that is a delusion,
for self is really controlled by the arch-enemy, Satan!). Now we are saved, this self-centered living must stop.
So often this doesn't happen!
Self must "die", or all of the aspects of the soul must come under the domination of the Lord through the Holy Spirit.
Not now can it be what I think, want, will to do, but what God says, wants and HIS will alone. All the time!
3. CHRIST JESUS IS THE WHOLE ANSWER.
Alright, that is a tall order. How to break the power of the pattern, BODY, SOUL, SPIRIT of the ME dominated life - that is as big a question as "what is the nature of a man's soul?" Praise our glorious Saviour, He has handled it all for us.
Just as the BLOOD cleanses from all sin, so the CROSS has dealt with the SELF. Christ died for your sin, but He also died as you, bearing your self-life to the cross. That does not mean self no longer exists, if that were so you would be extinct. It means the power of the Cross has destroyed the fallen state which makes it impossible to do anything else but live controlled by ME!
The ghastly enslavery to SELF, SELF, SELF, ME, ME, ME, has been broken. Trust the power of the Cross of Calvary, and self's power is broken. SELF and SIN are the two greatest enemies we have to fight. JESUS CHRIST WON THE BATTLE FOR US, we must trust and obey.
All this makes me realize afresh how diabolical the New Age doctrines of "self-love", "self-worth", "self-esteem" are. These teachings, accepted and acted upon, fill Christians with self, and stop them from ever finding liberty from self-domination! The Holy Spirit therefore cannot fill the Christian with the Life of Christ, or manifest His life through them in rivers of living water to a thirsty world. What a disaster!
A LIFE OF TOTAL DEPENDENCE.
1. Before your salvation, you were "NOT ABLE NOT TO SIN" -
in Theological terms the Latin is "NON POSSE NON PECARE."
2. After salvation, because of Christ's righteousness alone, you are "ABLE NOT TO SIN" -
"POSSE NON PECARE".
3. After the Rapture, in glory, you will be "NOT ABLE TO SIN" - "NON POSSE PECARE."
ALL righteousness, be clear is CHRIST HIMSELF. HIS LIFE, not yours.
If you are to be victorious over SIN AND SELF, your life will be a life of constant, continual dependence upon Christ.
A conscious living in fellowship with Him, and a consciousness of "when I am weak, then I am strong".
ARE YOU WEAK ENOUGH TO LET JESUS USE YOU IN THIS WORLD OF WOE?
HOW DOES IT ALL PRACTICALLY WORK?
WHERE DOES THE CROSS COME IN?
Let us see the whole thing in the perspective of a single, ordinary day. With ALL your heart you desire CHRIST to live your life for you in victory. You awake in the morning, meet in prayer with the Lord, and read His Word.
Under the searchlight of God, through the reading of His Word, you allow the Lord to convict of sin which needs to be confessed and cleansed. Having agreed with God, no holds barred, no self-deception, you ask the indwelling
Holy Spirit to fill you afresh with the Life of Christ. PEACE will be one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-26). The day is surrendered into the Hands of Almighty God.
Stepping out into the day with the Lord, completely dependent upon His righteousness alone, sold out to only pleasingthe Lord in all things, you trust Him. There will now come into your life God's plan for that day. It will contain many things which will bring practically to the SELF the choice of SELF or CHRIST. SELF has been crucified with Christ - reckon on this!
First test comes. The telephone rings, a needy person (who always talks on and on in uninteresting details of home,and people you don't know, or personally care about) wants help. You are just about to get a cup of coffee and enjoya beautiful Christian music tape. To die to SELF means "you" have no rights in the matter - CHRIST IS ALL. You whisper a prayer "give me the words, Lord. I have no answers in myself," and sacrifice your time. The day goes on. Your best friend visits. She is unjustly angry about something you are accused of saying which broke a confidence (she says)she placed in you. An angry retort rises in your throat, before you know you have "snapped her head off". Tearful, she runs to her car. You immediately confess,and claim the cleansing that is yours in the Blood of Christ. Second test in operation. Self or Christ? You choose Christ, you have no other choice if you are to die to self. You follow her, and apologize, leaving the rights and wrongs of the matter to the Lord, the true judge. (prayer later shows the solution clearly).
You are asked to give a few words at the prayer meeting that night. Self is filled with ideas! NO, now Christ is to live alone. None of SELF, all of Christ. You ask Him to show you exactly what you must say. That night, just before youmust give your word, self-consciousness wafts over you in waves. You attempt to hide it, in embarrassment. But noSELF must be allowed if Christ alone is to live. You quietly confess your sin of SELF-consciousness, and ask cleansing in the Blood. You ask Christ to fill you and to give the talk for you. At day's end present yourself to God's Light and receive cleansing if any of self and sin have not been dealt with.
NO KNOWN SIN UNCONFESSED
NO LIFE INTO WHICH CHRIST JESUS IS NOT BROUGHT,
NO PLANS OF OUR OWN NOTHING WE CALL "OURS".
We will never be perfect in this earth, only in the next. "Sinless Perfection" is a doctrine which is out of touch with reality, for there has never been such a creature [other than Christ] as a sinless Christian. Be he or she a "saint" to the poor of the slums, a minister of religion, a worker of miracles, or merely a humble, God-fearing mother who sacrifices, her life daily
for her children - no one is sinless.
We can be Godly in heart, although never even perfect in intent, [we all remain selfish in motive, so often].  Paul wrote from a heart of love towards God, "I delight in the law of God after the inward man" [Romans 7:22] even though he was not perfectly victorious over outward sin - as the passage shows.
What is practical righteousness then, If it is not perfection?
It is to see sin as Owen once wrote: It is to embrace holiness as being light, and to hate sin and self as darkness. To see holiness as beauty and joy greatly to be sought after, and sin as filth and ugliness.
A person who has faith in Christ Jesus as their life, wisdom, will want to be conformed to His image [Romans 8:29].  They will earnestly endeavour to turn from every known sin in Christ's strength, and to keep every commandment of  the Holy Spirit to their souls.
A Godly person will actively seek to do good deeds, Loving, Kindly, Christian acts, not just stop from committing evil, sinful acts. They will be not a passive receiver of Christ's life, a robot, a machine turned by an unseen hand. They will determinedly actively follow after character transformation in Christ. Meekness, longsuffering, kindness, self-denial, humility, patience, compassion, understanding of others with great love, boldness in the denouncing of sin and evil,  merciful and generous, Not given to lying, cheating, unfairness, gossip and so on.
"He that saith he abideth in [Christ] aught himself also so to walk, even as He walked." [I John 2:6]
TO DIE IS GAIN.
Satan will try to convince you that to so die is to lose everything. Nothing is further from the truth. To die to self is heaven on earth. Satan knows that - it is a bit like moving from a poverty stricken hut to a lovely mansion. The changes are unsettling at first. The old ways are comfortable because they are so terribly familiar. You know you are not to go back to the familiar, you feel a kind of nostalgia about the familiar - but the benefits of the new far outweigh the old. You lose YOUR life - but you gain CHRIST'S LIFE in exchange!
All that causes emotional distress, hurt feelings, anguish inside, discontentment, frustration or inability to cope is SELF, SELF and more SELF. For Christ to live instead of SELF means no self-pity because one is aging - no upset because a "young soul" lives in an aging body. He is the answer to the most pressing problem (outside of death) that people face - GROWING OLD!
For Christ to live instead of SELF means no more "I" at all. If you immediately think "but that sounds awful. What is in it for me?" It will show you how ingrained SELF IS in the nature of humans.
The SELF is filled with self-effort in service, and is self-satisfied. It is filled with self-pity in problem times and in trials. SELF is self-seeking in business, self-indulgent in its times of pleasure, SELF is filled with touchiness, chip-on-the-shoulder, worry and fear for self. SELF is self-conscious and absorbed in SELF-interest. SELF suffers untold agonies over being passed over, insulted, neglected, put down or if it loses centre stage.
The whole world system has become SELF-orientated, SELF-centred, instead of GOD-CENTRED. Christian, we are  no longer of this world.
Neo-self in the 1990's.
A lot of teaching these days leads into self-dependence, instead of weakness, helplessness and Christ-dependence.  The "I'll never do it if you don't do it for me, Lord," has turned into "I am powerful, I am strong, I am the new creation."  Is this just seeing two opposite sides of the coin?
Is SELF "more than a conqueror" or is Christ the Victor? Is SELF, after salvation, encouraged in the Bible to see itself as powerful, victorious, able "to leap over buildings in a single bound", so to speak?
Only the Bible has the authority to answer this one. READ IT FOR YOURSELF. Phil.4:13; II Cor.12:9-10.
The Answer For Y0UR Mind Is Christ Jesus.
This New Age seeks to capture the minds of men, until their very souls, spirits and bodies are chained. The answer to an assault upon your mind in television subliminals, psychological mind-games, brain washing techniques and seductive doctrines of devils is - Christ Jesus Himself, the Living Word, as revealed in the Written Word.
Christ Jesus is the uttered thought of God, and the express image of the Father. You must be "renewed in the Spirit of your mind" if the mind of Christ is to be yours, and if every thought is to be brought into captivity to Christ Jesus. If Christ Jesus the Victor has your entire mind, what demon, or person, or devil could possibly take that mind away from Him. He won it at the Cross - it is a settled, completed fact of an absolute victory!
Perhaps you are questioning that there is any danger of mind-manipulation by Latter Day forces of evil. That is understandable! It does seem rather "far-out", but these times we are living in are astonishingly demonic - the atmosphere of the planet is heavy with "energies" which are taking victims every day we live here! Self-confident Christians are not aware of their extreme vulnerabilty, and are falling in the fight for control of the mind. Mind sciences of the psychology "experts", persuasive teachers with counterfeit doctrines which are so like the real that believers themselves are being deceived, "christian" television with many delights which fill the mind with the ideas of the world, and the spirit of the world and the subliminal manipulation of the god of this world - Satan!
UNDERSTAND WHAT THE WILL OF GOD IS.
There is a clamour, a longing, to know "the will of God for my life". But in so many cases what is meant is, what kind of grand, prestigious ministry will God lead "me" into. The will of God, in reality, is righteousness in Christ, humility and self-sacrifice in Christ, giving loving service to others et, al, and to "be renewed in the spirit of your mind". Understand what the will of God is! "....be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is." Not self-gain, and self-glory, but self-giving and self-humbling.
HOW ARE OUR MINDS...
WHOLLY PROTECTED BY THE LORD JESUS?
1. Realize now that you are being dealt with by a Sovereign, All-Powerful, God of perfect love, who wants to protect your mind far more than you want to be protected. God's will is to renew your mind. Ask the Lord specifically in prayer  to liberate your mind from all bondage.
2. Refuse to allow any bit of ground in your mind to be used by Satan's spirits. Say "I refuse to allow, by my own will, to allow any deceiving spirits to enter my mind with their "doctrines", "teachings" and "tricks" or "visions". Give your allegiance afresh to the Lord, and know that Satan cannot control your mind against your will. (Eph. 6:10 - )
3. Jessie Penn Lewis wrote in "The Cross, the Touchstone of Faith":
"Those who are kept in perfect peace, are those whose minds are stayed on Him (Isaiah 26:3).
"Gird up the mind", means to use it every step of the way, to act, think, as an intelligent human
being accountable to God in all things; one whom God has re-created with a new heart,
and a new mind".
Christians are often encouraged to have a change of heart toward God, but what is also needed is a change of the old mind" -"Lord, I trust thee to give me a renewed mind and I agree to part with the old one!".
Do not become passive in anyway. You are not a robot, you are made an intelligent being with a free will.
The Lord made you, and He wants a yielded will and mind, not an empty, passive mind, or a passive "tool" of a person.
4. You need the Word of God. "Inwardly digesting" the Word of God simply means allowing the scriptures to incorporate themselves so much into your mind and heart that the whole person is changed by them. If you study and memorise scripture, then the Holy Spirit can bring back the words when you most need them, even if you are not reading the Bible. The mind is the battle field. You are only transformed by the "renewing of your minds" (Romans 12:1).
SEEK THE WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD.
Jesus Christ is Our Life - He is the Bread of Life. He is "the bread that came down from Heaven."
What is the meaning of "to eat of His flesh, and to drink of His blood?" It is to appropriate Him as the nourishment of our souls! We all know that to go without physical food for any length of time will mean death, eventually, to the physical body. It cannot survive without physical nourishment. In exactly the same way, we must nourish our souls with the Bread of Life. We must constantly draw on the sustainer of our souls, the Lord Jesus.
As we read the written Word of God, the true Bread of Life feeds us spiritually. The world can never satisfy the believer in Christ with its junk and polluted offerings. The "fast food" of super-humanistic philosophies which flatter the carnally-minded, only produce indigestion in the spiritually-minded people of God.
We need, as starving souls, to receive the fresh Bread of Life everyday. Only He can nourish us.
Modern day Christians have lost "the whole counsel of God" so often. They have done this (and teach others to do likewise) in these ways by:
1. They neither teach or know the discipline of solid study of doctrine, Bible principles, or relevance of all areas of the scriptures. Some major on God's love and healing and financial provision to extreme, but deny His justice, chastisement, judgement and majesty. Some know the gospels - Paul's writings, but refuse to study the Book of Revelation and prophecy in the Old Testament. Some major on gifts of the Spirit, discipleship under leaders, promises of benefit and blessing for the people of God, but ignore the fear and awe of God and His righteous demands for leaders and all Christians alike.
They read books, watch videos, listen to tapes on "christian" matters - but they do not search the scriptures for themselves. They are held to ransom by the thoughts and changes being wrought in their lives by mere men. With all that means of error, deliberate perversion of the Word and worldly manipulation often for crass financial gain.
HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE. (also read our Online Booklet)
If you don't know how to study the Bible then begin at once to learn. A few basic guide-lines from a delighted student of the Word for thirty five years, should get you going on a life marked by a mind transformed by the reading of God's Word.
2. INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE LORD.
You need each day to get your instructions from God. The manna fell every day in the wilderness for the Israelites, it was fresh for them. Our living manna of the Word of God, needs "eating" every morning. Get a place and set a time, and make a habit of reading the Word. If you don't you will act just like the people of the world around you, and the world system of error and deception will swallow you up! Let's have an example. A relative falls out with you. Instigated by him, there are things said by other family members which hurt you. You have decided you will go and give that relative "a piece of your mind", and you certainly won't invite him to the Christmas party this year. In your morning devotion, these words come before you -Romans 12:17-21 THE WHOLE COURSE OF EVENTS IS ALTERED in an instant as you obey God.
What if you never read the Word regularly? You telephone the relative that day and you get your grievances "off your chest" etc. Family members take sides, bitterness results, your witness to Christ is marred. We will only know in eternity how much damage has been done by our acting out of God's will because we do not know God's Word. This is a living Word, and convicts as well as instructs. We need conviction of our real state in Christ every day. The entrance of God's Word is light on where we are wrong, what we must do, how God wants us to act, how He wants to use us, and so much more.
Perhaps a certain "christian" video is in your possession. You watch it, and it instructs you to claim the riches of the wicked for your own, and your church's use. "Stand against the demons who control the money in your city," the preacher urges "and command the Lord to release the money to yourselves!"
The teaching makes you feel uncomfortable. In your Bible reading next morning you read, I Tim.6:6-19, You see the unbiblical heresy for what it is, and reject it. The Word has given Light.
3. THE NEED TO STUDY SUBJECTS AND PRINCIPLES.
Perhaps you have a problem in your life. An example might be your lack of money in a recession. You need the Counsel of God on this matter! A Bible Concordance is of great value to you. This shows you where to find the verses you seek.
A Topical concordance sets out the verses in subjects. An Exhaustive concordance sets out all the Biblical words under the words. (The Bible course online here is recommended to give a very basic overall picture of the Bible and what is happening today, and how we win others before it is too late.)
A pencil and paper, the concordance and you are off. Looking up "supply", "need", "provision", "help", "riches", et, al, you get a list made of relevant verses. Taking the Bible, you pray, and read them through. A chain-reference Bible is of use here. Trace through other passages in context. Ask the Lord for His mind on the matter which troubles you. And come to your conclusions and points of action as given by the Lord, in an intelligent, sound manner. Trust and Obey.
4. A SOUND BIBLE COMMENTARY
is a good aid to Bible study. Remember that the Lord God is the One who will lead you into all truth by the Holy Spirit. Wilmington's Bible Study Notes are worth considering as a good commentary. Always use a KJV.
5. STUDY BOOKS AS A WHOLE, AND SUBJECTS AS A WHOLE.
Don't take one verse and accept it on "face value" without checking relevance and context with other parts of the Bible.
If you read about "submission" in regard to a church leader for example, look up the word "submission" and "leaders" and get the whole counsel of God on submission. You will find interesting things indeed. Submission one to another. Leaders must not "Lord it over" the flock. Servants to one another. Humility towards the flock et al.
6. NOT ACTING ABSURDLY!
Do not go to your knees in prayer, in times of emergency, ignorant of God's Word and after praying, do something like this. You pick up the Bible, open it, and choose the first verse you come to, act upon it and say "God told me to!".
Now is the time to get to know what God says in His word. God does give verses that simply "stand up" for you as you read the Word. But, just because He did that once does not mean you always get your instructions that way, without effort, sense, diligence or work. Your mind must be saturated with His commands, His will, His purposes, and His thoughts - incorporated into your very being.
7. NOT MAKING THE STANDARD OF TRUTH, THE HUMAN TEACHER!
"If we are to accept as infallible truth all that is said to be from God, on the ground of the character and life of a worker, it would remove the standard of truth from the written Word,
to the character of the teacher". (Jessie Penn Lewis).
Our "standard of truth" should always be the written Word, which reveals the Living Logos, Christ Jesus. We cannot know what the written Word says, if we don't know the teachings of the Bible for ourselves. A teacher can be kind, generous, charmingly interesting to listen to, sincere, and dedicated - and still be teaching error and spiritually poisonous doctrine! The only one who can check for themselves is the individual themselves. Submit to God and submit to His Word. The oft misquoted "by their fruit ye should know them" means more than the fruit of a pleasing personality. "Fruits" are actions and character as grown by the Holy Spirit, but also thoughts and doctrines in conformity to the Word of Truth. "I have more understanding than all my teachers, [Psalm 119:99-105] for thy testimonies are my meditation." "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." You may never progress into the study of Greek words or learn how to do a proper exegesis of a passage and so on, but reading, memorizing, and learning the Bible Principles and Doctrines for yourself, will certainly work miracles of change for your life.
HOW CAN WE ESCAPE ........ Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Word, is the whole Answer. The Mind of a Christian has been "unblinded" from the darkness and veil of Satan (II Tim.:7). It must now be completely renewed and covered by the helmet of Salvation (Eph. 6; Romans 8:5-6). You must "put away the old man" as "concerning your former manner of life" (Ephesians 4:22. but you cannot do this unless you yield to the Lord to become "renewed in the spirit of your mind" (Ephesians 4:23).
If Christ "transforms" you by "the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2) then that mind will be at liberty -
and Satan and his deceptions can never find a place in your mind at all. Praise God!

 

No.3. - Real Answer. 
The third issue is enormously important in these days of ecology hysteria. "Who can save the planet"? seems to be the issue The real issue is actually, "what has happened to the planet?" The real answer is "The Lord Jesus Christ will save
the planet - and He alone."...read our Online Booklet..."The Environmental Movement"
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE PLANET?
* It is a fallen planet, still God's earth, but with a world system controlled by a usurper named Satan.
(Ephesians 2:2; 11 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 6:12; 1 John 5:19).
* There is a curse on the earth because of sin. (Genesis 3).
* Because of sin and the curse, suffering, death, wars, distress in nature, injustice, cruelty. hatred and near chaos through the terrible wickedness of man, hold sway. We must get our facts quite clear. Mankind is corrupt and depraved, nature is in a fallen, cursed state. Satan is the "god" and ruler of this world in rebellion against the Almighty.
* All this is not God's fault! It is the choice of mankind (Genesis 3:1-6; John 8:44; Romans 1).
* Mankind (in the majority), as we approach the end of the millennium, is in a worse state of rebellion than ever before. Wickedness of an appalling kind is ravaging the earth. Paganism, witchcraft, Satanism, homosexuality and all kinds of perversions, murders, killing of the unborn, vicious greed and avarice, slavery, terror, ghastly injustice and rejection and mockery of THE TRUE GOD and the SAVIOUR, JESUS CHRIST, have turned the earth blood red! Ripe as a blood plum for Justice and Judgement!
* NO WORLD GOVERNMENT can possibly "Save the Planet".
* NO UNITED NATIONS can "Save the Planet".
* NO GREEN MOVEMENT, or
* ECOLOGY PROGRAMME, or
* "ONE WORLD or NONE" campaign or
* "GREAT INVOCATION", or
* "WORLD GOODWILL",or
* "CHRISTIAN" DOMINION,
.....................................................can possibly "Save the Planet".
No group of men or women, in the majority lost in sin and in hatred of the true God, could possibly "Save the Planet".
The New World Order is a delusion from the mind of Satan, a counterfeit of "paradise".
Read our `World in Crisis' booklet Online...also other booklets on the subject
 
 

Only Christ Jesus can, and will, "Save the Planet".
He alone is the real answer. Christ Jesus Himself.
Just as the sinner could not add works to grace in order to save himself, and the saved person could not add their own righteousness in order to be saved to the uttermost in the Christian walk. Just as a fallen person, lost in sin, needs the shed blood and the life of Christ ALONE - so also does the fallen earth. Here, again, the same principle applies. The Blood and Life of Christ.
HOW DOES THIS ALL WORK, WHEN THE EARTH IS NOT "A SINNER"?
The earth was made for man to dwell in (Genesis 2). Humanity was given the rule over the earth (Gen. 1: 26-27). Humanity in Adam and Eve, turned against the Creator's plan - and surrendered the planet into the hands of the evil one. (Genesis 3).
When Christ died on the cross, He died to win back THE WORLDas well as THE HUMAN RACE. He shed His
Blood for the earth.He died to loose the world from the hands of the usurper, Lucifer. (Romans 8:18-22; Ephesians 1: 22-23; Isaiah 11: 6-9). Christ redeemed the world, as well as the souls of men. (Revelation 5). Christ Jesus has done it
all on the Cross. He will come again, in order to put down all rebellion and wickedness (Revelation 19:11-21). All those who refuse mercy and forgiveness in the Cross of Calvary must suffer judgement, before the planet can be "saved". (Revelation 21:1-8). Christ now holds the title deed to the world because He paid for it with His death on the cross (Revelation 5:5-7).
As man's representative, Christ Jesus undid the damage done by Adam at the fall. The earth is His now, He will come again soon, in righteous to manifest His rightful ownership. He can do all that is required in omnipotent might - He needs no one to aid Him as He "Saves the Planet". His life will change this world to paradise again - only His Life. The world is "dying" because it is separated from Christ Jesus, the Creator. (Revelation 1:11; 22:13- 17).
BEWARE, CHRISTIAN!
1. All humanity's plans to unite to save the world will end in abject failure and finally judgement. The Lord God barred the way to paradise and the tree of life - no man can re-open the way. The way back is only Christ Jesus. (Genesis 3:22-24).
2. Lucifer, or Satan, is making a grand-stand play to unite rebellious mankind in a One World Government, One World Church and a One World Economy. He promises PEACE, PARADISE and THE TREE OF LIFE. His promises are lies.
3. Christians who unite with the rebellious, Godless, pagan enemies of the true Lord Jesus Christ in order to bring a New Order in a New World, will not remain unscathed. They will not lose their salvation, if they are truly born again, but they will suffer great loss. LOSS of reward at the Judgement seat (Bema) of Christ. Shame at His coming.Awareness in eternity of time wasted, of deceptions accepted, which caused them to be too busy with politics and earthly plans to be about the real business of God's true church - the saving of souls. Choose whom you will serve - CHRIST - or the Godless World System with its plan for a ONE WORLD.

No.4 - The Real Answer - 
The Lord Jesus Christ The Real Answer -
......The Lord Jesus Christ ......
Who is your "first love", Christian? Let God search our hearts in these days of fearful apostasy and most evil of world events, coming now to a head like a poison filled boil in the 1990's. Who will you serve? The Lord Jesus Christ, or the change agents and organizations of Lucifer, masquerading as World Church leaders, and evangelists?
LOYALTY TO CHRIST.
Today we face huge and clamouring orchestration which is drawing the inhabitants of our world into "harmony" - all together now! Play our song, go with our beat, march to our orders! The Christian must decide NOW - will you serve the Lord Jesus Christ? We, who are saved, are part of a Heavenly choir, myriads of angelic beings and of saints of the ages gone by (Hebrews 12:1 & 2). The song we march to is "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receives power and riches and wisdom and might and honour and glory and eulogy ---- To Him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be the eulogy and the honour and the glory and the power forever and forever" (Rev.5:11-14). Our "harmony" is not in accord with this NEW AGE/NEW WORLD ORDER. Our "harmony" cannot accommodate the discordant instruments and voices of a world out of sync with the Almighty Creator.
1. DOCTRINE.
Many are the weird and wonderful, seductive and silly, diabolical and dreadful doctrines or beliefs in the church and the world today! Where does your loyalty lie? Will you accept theology and beliefs which "add to", or "detract from" the Scriptures? Will you embrace beliefs and teachings which deny the Scriptures, or throw doubt upon the inspiration of God's Word? Does your loyalty lie with church teachers or with well-known "Christian" authors, who, if proved wrong (according to Scripture) you will, never-the-less, defend vehemently? To be loyal to Christ Jesus means no apology adherence to the truth of God's Word. Authors and books are countless and varied. The Bible is the Word of God given by the inspiration of the Third Person of the Trinity, The Holy Spirit of Truth. We dare not yield even to the "little" errors. Perhaps you might say to yourself, that a certain author presents so much which is sound, so "little" which is unsound -
that "little" does not matter. But, the Bible warns us not to be "carried about with divers and strange doctrines.
For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace ....." (Heb. 13:9).
Would you tolerate a "little" dishonesty, a "little" stealing? A "little" heresy is just how cults and apostasies always begin. False doctrines grow and grow. False doctrines spiritually KILL! They destroy the souls of men, destroy the understanding and knowledge of the Lord, and have sent many a sad victim to "ship wreck" and a doctrinal "watery grave".
J.C. Ryle wrote over a hundred years ago:

Will you be loyal to the Christ of the Word? The Truth "as it is in Jesus" is the most glorious, precious, infinitely valuable Word that has ever been delivered to humanity, the verities of God. False doctrine always attacks the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, even in the most subtle doctrines which may seem to only deal with peripheral points. THE WORD OF CHRIST, THE CHRIST OF THE WORD - how uncompromisingly will you stand for Christ in this cosmic battle?
2. THE CHURCH YOU ATTEND.
If a conflict of loyalty arises in the church you attend - Christ Jesus or the denomination - where will your heart's honour go? Times are strange as we approach the end of the millennium. A One World Church is rapidly being formed, a Church comprised of every religion upon the face of the earth! Voodoo, witchcraft, the esoteric, pagans, tribal shamans, Hindus, Buddhists, Theosophists, Catholics, Pentecostals, Evangelicals - all syncretized into a monstrous parody of a Global Church. Your denomination may certainly be drawn into a union with this Anti-Christian system. Where will you stand?
In whose camp will you be found? Will you love the Lord Jesus enough to suffer "outside the camp" of those who trust in their own divinity, good works and religious ritual?
If you must deny the truth of the Lord Jesus in any shape or form in order to remain in a denomination, then surely one must deny the denomination in preference. If a choice must be made DENY CHRIST and HIS TRUTH, or DENY THE DENOMINATION, will you choose Jesus Christ? To any issue of heart's honour - our answer must be THE LORD JESUS CHRIST is my Saviour, Lord and Master, I serve Him.
3. WHO IS YOUR SHEPHERD?
"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." (Psalm 23:1).
In a NEW AGE world which teams with meditation, stress management, alternative medicines, alternative "natural" life- styles, confusing ideas about U.F.Os and Crop Circles and Channelling - and goodness knows what else - how comforting for many Christians to have a minister or pastor to rely on! Is this, however, what God wants in these days? Should a Christian "rely on", "lean on" any other redeemed sinner? Even a church leader? What happens if the pastor is removed?
Who are you following, Christian? Whose "rod and staff" comfort you? When a difficulty comes along, do you turn at once to the pastor, or to the Lord Jesus Christ? "Don't follow the man" is a caution which has been in churches for many years, yet people continue to put themselves in peril by "following the man" and not following the Great Shepherd. The Lord Jesus loves you, He died for you, He is the mediator between God and man, He ever lives to intercede for you, He will come again to take you to be with Him forever - not your pastor. Although your pastor or minister may be a fine Christian, if he is a Godly man - he would be the first to counsel you to TRUST IN THE LIVING CHRIST - not in man.
How often do you hear, these days, Christians singing the praises of this leader or that leader! No suggestion of fault will be entertained about the idol of their affections, no suggestion that he (or she) could possibly be wrong in belief or faulty in character. Whole lives are built sometimes on the ministry of a television evangelist, or a man with a flashy healing ministry, or on a series of books by a "woman of God". Eyes glow, hearts beat faster, delight is experienced just at the mention of Pastor or Mrs, Pastor "Wonderful". That leader has gathered a following which leads the sheep to buy his/her books, tapes, videos in the dozens. Rivalry can even develop amongst the followers of these leaders, whose leader is more "wonderful" being the contention.
Christian, your loyalty should be to Christ Jesus. Those leaders are mere men and women, are only saved sinners
(if indeed some of them are actually even saved). NO, they are NOT spiritual beings of a different variety than yourself. They may be more mature in Christian things (they may also be charlatans), but you, yourself, are saved and anointed by the Holy Spirit, you have direct access to Almighty God through the Lord Jesus Christ, you are a child of God, you have the leading of the Holy Spirit, you can walk in the centre of God's will under His care and protection.
God has indeed raised up pastors and teachers to serve, pray for, and spiritually guide Christ's flock in all humility. But, CHRIST JESUS is to be honoured, praised and glorified - not mere men. No Christian should tolerate the strutting, the pontificating and proud, the man or woman who elevates themselves above other Christians (1 Cor.1:26 - 31).
DO YOU
"GLORY IN THE LORD"?
LIFT JESUS HIGHER. HE IS OUR FIRST LOVE, PRAISE HIS NAME!
THE GOOD SHEPHERD.
That Name above all Names - Jesus Christ. How privileged is the saved child of God, whose Shepherd is the Lord! How foolish to replace that Shepherd with anyone or anything - any teacher, building, lifestyle, imaginary "christ", or faith techniques and positive confessions, and so on - All that we really need is Jesus, and if everything else be taken away, when the Lord is ALL, then our lives are left intact. Beloved of the Lord, never let anything or anyone come between yourselves and the One who loved you so much that He died for you. Never let anyone or anything assume a place in your life as a vital necessity, else you cannot exist or cope. Only Christ is a vital necessity. Love your family and friends, pray for them, enjoy your home or business - whatever. But - NEVER let those things or people be so much a need that you simply could not go on in life if they were taken away for some reason. Let Jesus Christ be YOUR life - He alone is worthy.
WHAT KIND OF SHEPHERD?
The Shepherd figure shows the ALL in ALL sufficiency of our Lord so beautifully. Needy, foolish sheep such as we are safe with our protector, safe from the evil one.
Jesus Christ is THE GOOD SHEPHERD, You are in the sheep fold (John 10:7) because He gave His life in sacrifice for you.
This Jesus Christ is THE GREAT SHEPHERD. He will provide "every good thing" in order that we might do God's will. God will work in us "that which is pleasing in His sight" - through this Great Shepherd. Glorify Him, Christian believer, not men or men's organizations.
This Christ has under-shepherds who are called of God (1 Peter 5: 1-4). These under-shepherds have a most serious calling from the Chief Shepherd. But in every spiritual sense the under-shepherd is himself A SHEEP. He too must depend on the Great Shepherd for all his needs (Heb.13:20-21).
The Bible is very stern indeed against False Shepherds of God's precious flock. Read the startling indictments in just a few passages of scriptures:
1 Peter 5:2; Ezekiel 34:1-6; Ezekiel 34:7-10; Ezekiel 34:17-22; Zechariah 11:15-16.
HAVE YOU STRAYED FROM THE GOOD, GREAT, CHIEF SHEPHERD? DARK CLOUDS HAVE GATHERED.
Jesus Christ, beloved one of the L