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#07/ 22-Mar-1999


          P O S I T I V E     W O R D S
               Editor: Peter Wade

     ----- http://www.peterwade.com/ -----


IN THIS ISSUE...
1. At the Positive Words site
2. Songs I Remember
3. Positive Words for Today
4. Searchlights from the Word
5. Humor

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1. NEW AT THE POSITIVE WORDS SITE
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We welcome many new subscribers from all over the
world. Thank you for requesting our newsletter!

THE REAL STORY OF EASTER...
For Easter reading, we present Dr. E.W. Bullinger
with the article "Crucified With Christ" --
http://www.peterwade.com/articles/crucifid.html --
"God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified
unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision availeth any thing nor
uncircumcision, but a new creature" (Galatians
6:14,15). These last words the Apostle Paul sums up
his important letter to the churches of Galatia, and
he emphasizes the great sum and substance, the essence
and marrow of the Gospel of Christ, and of true
Christianity. This is utterly and entirely opposed to
the world and to the world's religion. The world is
that which is opposed to the Father (I John 2:16). The
world has always been willing to support religion, and
even Christianity, provided it has been allowed to
alter it, and adapt it, and put its own marks upon it.
And in all ages Christians have been willing to comply
with this condition, and have allowed its sacred
deposits to be tampered with.

Also recommended reading is "Identified With Him" by
Peter Wade. We were identified with all that Christ
experienced from Calvary to the Ascension. Follows
these events as seen in Paul's epistles.
http://www.peterwade.com/articles/identify.html

THREE ARTICLES conclude the Easter series, "The
Great Experiences of Jesus' Life" by S.D.Gordon. In
the early 1900s, S.D. Gordon was a widely traveled
speaker in high demand. A prolific author, he wrote
more than 30 devotional books, most with the phrase
"Quiet Talks" in the title.

Previous articles were:

THE JORDAN: THE DECISIVE START
http://www.peterwade.com/gordsd/exper01.html

THE WILDERNESS: TEMPTATION
http://www.peterwade.com/gordsd/exper02.html

THE TRANSFIGURATION: AN EMERGENCY MEASURE
http://www.peterwade.com/gordsd/exper03.html

GETHSEMANE: THE STRANGE, LONE STRUGGLE
http://www.peterwade.com/gordsd/exper04.html

The three new articles are...

CALVARY: VICTORY
It is probably close to midnight when Jesus steps out
from among the trees to meet the crowds headed by the
traitor. He knew they were coming, and quietly goes to
meet them. There is a great rabble that the chief
priests had drummed up, a city rabble with Roman
soldiers, some of the chief priests' circle, and in
the lead of all, Judas. Judas keeps up the pretence of
friendship, and, advancing ahead of his crowd, greets
Jesus with the usual kiss. Jesus dispels the deception
at once with His question of reproach, "Betrayest thou
with a kiss?" Damnable enough to betray, but to use
love's token in hate's work made it so much worse.
Then He yields to Judas' lips. It was the beginning of
the indignities He was to suffer that night. Jesus
quietly adds, "Friend, do what you have planned. Let
there be no more shamming." But Judas' work is done.
The silver secured under his belt is earned. He drops
back into the crowd.
http://www.peterwade.com/gordsd/exper05.html

THE RESURRECTION: GRAVITY UPWARD
Two things stand out very clearly about Jesus'
resurrection. It was not expected by these followers,
but received at first with incredulity and doubt and
stubborn unwillingness to accept it without clear
indisputable proof. And then that they were thoroughly
satisfied that He was actually back again with them,
with His personal identity thoroughly established; so
satisfied that their lives were wholly controlled by
the consciousness of a risen Jesus. Sacrifice,
suffering, torture, and violent death were yielded to
gladly for His sake.
   A new morning broke that morning, the morning of a
new day, a new sort of day. That resurrection day
became a new day to them and to all Jesus' followers.
The old Sabbath day was a rest-day. God Sabbathed from
His work of creation. This new day is more, it is a
victory day. Every new coming of it spells out Jesus'
victory over sin and death and our victory in Him. The
old Hebrew rest-day came at the week's close. The new
victory-day comes at the week's beginning. With the
fine tingle of victory in our spirits, we are ever at
the beginning of a new life and new victory and great
things to come.
http://www.peterwade.com/gordsd/exper06.html

THE ASCENSION: BACK HOME
Jesus' ascension was a continuation of the
resurrection movement. The resurrection was the
beginning of the ascension. Having finished the task
involved in dying, Jesus responded to the natural
upward movement of His life. On His way up from the
tomb to His Father's home and throne, He tarried
awhile on the earth for the sake of these disciples
and leaders, then yielded again to the upward movement.
http://www.peterwade.com/gordsd/exper07.html

In our next update will be another article by S.D.
Gordon, "The Crowned Christ".

OTHER ARTICLES
Finally, also by Dr. Bullinger, is the article
"Praise For Divine Goodness" --
http://www.peterwade.com/articles/goodness.html --
"Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness,
and for His wonderful works to the children of men"
(Psalm 107:3). This sacred exclamation, this devout
desire is repeated four times in this Psalm. May we
learn this lesson ourselves.

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2. SONGS I REMEMBER
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One of the great truths of Christianity is called
"the omnipresence of God" in theology. This simply
means that God is always present everywhere at the
same time. The practical application to you and me is
that "wherever I am, God is"! There are very few hymns
that really express this truth. Some make much of
God's presence when His people are gathered together,
but few speak of His constant presence with you and
me. Here is one that I have sung many times; it was
written by John Burton (who also wrote "Holy Bible,
book divine").

	None is like God, who reigns above,
	So great, so pure, so high;
	None is like God, whose Name is Love,
	And who is always nigh.

	In all the earth there is no spot
	Excluded from His care;
	We cannot go where God is not,
	For He is ev'rywhere.

	He is our best and kindest Friend,
	And guards us night and day;
	To all our wants He will attend,
	And answer when we pray.

	O if we love Him as we ought,
	And on His grace rely;
	We shall be joyful at the thought
	That God is always nigh.

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3. A POSITIVE WORD FOR TODAY
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             THE PRINCIPLE OF REVERENCE

"Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and
shun evil. This will bring health to your body and
nourishment to your bones" (Proverbs 3:7-8).

To fear the Lord means to have a reverence for the
God who made the heavens and the earth, the God Who
sent His Son to die on the cross for you and for me.
Have a reverence for God and shun evil.

Perhaps by now you have noticed that some of these
principles have a positive and a negative side to
them. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart [the
positive], and lean not on your own understanding [the
negative]," and here again, "Do not be wise in your
own eyes [the negative]; fear the Lord [the positive]
and shun evil [the negative again]."

The result of applying this principle is clearly
stated, "This will bring health to your body and
nourishment to your bones." The word "health" is also
translated "medicine." (From "Outdo, Outwit, &
Outperform", Chapter 6, adapted by Hildy Matthews.)

AFFIRMATION: I turn my back on those things which are
not going to be effective in my life this year. I make
a quality decision not to do certain things, because
they do not contribute to my success.

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4. SEARCHLIGHTS FROM THE WORD
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G. Campbell Morgan was a well-known preacher and
writer from the turn of the century. In this spot each
issue we reproduce a comment from one verse in every
chapter of the Bible. We continue with the so-called
"Prison Epistles" of Paul: Ephesians, Philippians,
Colossians, Philemon.

  "Take... the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word
of God" (Ephesians 6:17).

The life of the saint, in this world to the end, will
be one of conflict; and the conflict will be more keen
because it is waged against the dark forces of the
underworld, "the spiritual hosts of wickedness."
Towards the close of this letter, Paul dealt with this
matter, recognizing the inevitability of the conflict,
understanding its fierceness, and giving a description
of the armour by the use of which the saint is not
only to stand, but also to withstand, and having done
all, to stand.

In this description all the weapons are defensive,
save one. The only offensive weapon is "the sword of
the Spirit, which is the Word of God." The weapon
itself is the Word of God. Here the familiar phrase
stands in its lonely splendour and for us connotes all
that it truly stands for. It is first the will of God
as it is made known to men. It is therefore centrally
and supremely the Son of God, in Whom that will has
been completely and finally spoken to men. It is
therefore the body of the writings through which, and
through which alone, we know anything about Him.
Notice carefully that the Apostle here claims that
this is the sword of the Spirit. It is the one weapon
by which He attacks and puts to flight the hosts of
wickedness which fight against God and against man.

Let us put perfect confidence in it; and, moreover,
let us learn to use it with skill. It is the weapon by
which we may attack and defeat all the evil forces
which are massed against us in our spiritual conflict.

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5. HUMOR
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Each issue includes some of the best pieces we have
seen since our last issue. So here goes...

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE HYMN???

 The Dentist's Hymn:
    Crown Him With Many Crowns
 The Weatherman's Hymn:
    There Shall Be Showers of Blessings
 The Contractor's Hymn:
    The Church's One Foundation
 The Tailor's Hymn:
    Holy, Holy, Holy
 The Golfer's Hymn:
    There is A Green Hill Far Away
 The Politician's Hymn:
    Standing On The Promises
 The Optometrist's Hymn:
    Open My Eyes That I May See
 The Tax Agent's Hymn:
    I Surrender All
 The Gossip's Hymn:
    Pass It On
 The Electrician's Hymn:
    Send Out Thy Light
 The Shopper's Hymn:
    Sweet By And By

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About 10 o'clock one cold February morning a man was
in bed sound asleep. His mother came into the room.

"Son, it's time to get up. You gotta get ready for
church," she implored.

"I'm too tired. Leave me alone," he said.

"Son, you gotta get up and get ready for church."

"I'm not going to church. Give me one good reason why
I have to go to church," he protested.

"I'll give you two good reasons: one, it's Sunday and
two, you're the Pastor!"

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"All things have an end, except a sausage which has
two." -- German proverb.

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TOP TEN SIGNS YOU MAY NOT BE READING YOUR BIBLE ENOUGH:

10) The Preacher announces the sermon is from
Galatians ... and you check the table of contents.
9) You think Abraham, Isaac & Jacob may have had a
few hits during the 60's.
8) You open to the Gospel of Luke and a WWII Savings
Bond falls out.
7) Your favorite Old Testament Patriarch is Hercules.
6) A small family of woodchucks has taken up
residence in the Psalms of your Bible.
5) You become frustrated because Charlton Heston
isn't listed in either the Concordance or the Table of
Contents.
4) Catching the kids reading the Song of Solomon, you
demand: "Who gave you this stuff?"
3) You think the Minor Prophets worked in the quarries.
2) You keep falling for it every time when Pastor
tells you to turn to First Condominiums.

And the number one sign you may not be reading your
Bible enough:

1) The kids keep asking too many questions about your
usual bedtime story: "Jonah the Shepherd Boy and His
Ark of Many Colors."

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An inexperienced young minister was anxious to do a
good job on his first sermon.  He had planned well and
had lots of notes to use.  He preached for an hour on
the four major prophets. Some congregation members
were getting tired, so when the young minister took a
breath and started in again with, "And what place
shall we assign the minor prophets?", an elderly man
about halfway back in the church stood up and said,
"One of 'em can have my seat!"

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THANKS for reading Positive Words. Please share it
with a friend!
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(c) 1999 Peter Wade
http://www.peterwade.com/