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#13/ 14-Aug-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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has made us to be in Christ. You will be challenged 
to believe what God says about you--His New Creation. 
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IN CHRIST by A. J. Gordon
   No words of scripture... hold within themselves a
deeper mystery than this simple formula of the Christian 
life, "in Christ."
   ...Yet, great as is the mystery of these words, they
are the key to the whole system of doctrinal mysteries.
Like the famous Rosetta stone, itself a partial
hieroglyph, and thereby furnishing the long-sought clue
to the Egyptian hieroglyphics, these words, by their very
mystery, unlock all mysteries of the divine life, letting
us into secrets that were "hidden from ages and from
generations." True, we may not find in them an answer to
the question, "How can these things be?" but we shall see
clearly that they can be. For through this "Emmanuel knot 
of union," as one has quaintly called it, those great 
facts of the Christian life, regeneration, justification, 
sanctification, and redemption, are drawn up from the 
realm of the human and the impossible, and made fast to 
Him with whom "all things are possible." So that the 
question now becomes reversed, and we must ask, 
"How can it be otherwise?" 
   If one is in Christ, he must have regeneration; for how
can the Head be alive, and the members dead? If one is in
Christ, he must be justified; for how can God approve the
Head, and condemn the members? If one is in Christ, he
must have sanctification; for how can the spotlessly Holy
remain in vital connection with one who is unholy? If one
is in Christ, he must have redemption; for how can the
Son of God be in glory, while that which He has made a
part of His Body lies abandoned in the grave of eternal
death?
   And thus, through these two words, we get a profound
insight into the divine method of salvation. God does not
work upon the soul by itself, bringing to bear upon it,
while yet in its alienation and isolation from Him, such
discipline as shall gradually render it fit to be
reunited to Him. He begins rather by reuniting it to
Himself, that through this union He may communicate to it
that divine life and energy, without which all discipline
were utterly futile. The method of grace is precisely the
reverse of the method of legalism. The latter is holiness
in order to union with God; the former, union with God in
order to holiness. Hence the incarnation, as the starting-
point, is the prime condition of reconciliation to God,
since there can be, to use Hooker's admirable statement,
"no union of God with man, without that mean between both
which is both." And hence the necessity of incorporation
upon Christ, that what became possible through the
incarnation, may become actual and experimental in the
individual soul through faith. 
< http://www.peterwade.com/articles/gordaj/inchaj01.shtml >
Ask if you want the email version of this article!

RIGHTEOUSNESS by Peter Wade (29:35)
The great foundational truth of the principle of 
righteousness, by Peter Wade. 
< http://www.peterwade.com/modules.php?name=zina >

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2. SONGS I REMEMBER
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This month's hymn comes from our first few years of
pastoral ministry in Western Australia. Though written
in 1863, its truth is as up-to-date as tomorrow's
newspaper. In fact, verse two has given rise to the 
title of our forthcoming CD-ROM, "Hidden Treasure".
   Possibly based on Psalm 109:103-104, this hymn by
Edwin Hodder paints comparative pictures that both
young and old can understand. Here are some of its
seven verses...
 
Thy Word is like a garden, Lord,
With flowers bright and fair,
And every one that seeks may find
A lovely garland there.

Thy Word is like a deep, deep mine,
And jewels rich and rare
Are hidden in its mighty depths
For every searcher there.

They Word is like the starry host;
A thousand rays of light
Are seen to guide the traveller,
And make his pathway bright.

Oh! may I love Thy precious Word,
May I explore its mine!
May I its fragrant flowers glean,
May light upon me shine!

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3. A POSITIVE WORD FOR TODAY
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              YOU ARE COMPLETE IN HIM

"And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all 
principality and power" (Colossians 2:10)

When Solomon prayed at the dedication of the temple, he
observed, "But will God really dwell on earth?  The
heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. 
How much less this temple I have built!" (I Kings 8:27). 
And yet God now declares that you are filled with all the
fullness of God. It is a complete fullness.  
   I am complete in him.  The moment I was born again I
became "in him" and therefore I am completely complete. 
God did not leave one stone unturned in providing me with
everything I will ever need for any situation I will ever
run across. When Jesus paid the price to make the New
Creation a reality, it was not for a partial solution but
for a complete answer to all humanity's needs.
   Actually, Jesus had taught His disciples that what He
was offering was a complete gift, but they did not see
the greatness of it until God restated the truth to the
apostle Paul. For example, in the Beatitudes, part of
the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught a completeness, an
infinite supply. "Blessed are those who hunger and
thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled"
(Matthew 5:6). The Amplified Bible renders that last
clause, "...for they shall be completely satisfied!"  
   Salvation was God's greatest gift, but many churches 
teach that once I am saved then what I need is this, or 
that, or something else. I prefer to believe God! God's 
gift of righteousness has totally satisfied my hunger 
and totally quenched my thirst - and now I am starting 
to believe it!
(From "You Are A New Creation", Chapter 1, adapted by 
Hildy Matthews.)

AFFIRMATION: God has given me everything I need for 
life and godliness.

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4. SEARCHLIGHTS FROM THE WORD
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Continues in October. 

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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 we go...

A young man decided to join the police force. As a
recruit he was asked during the exam, "What would you 
do if you had to arrest your own mother?"
   He answered, "Call for backup."

"I never go to church," boasted a wandering member. 
"Perhaps you have noticed that pastor?"  
   "Yes, I have noticed that," said the pastor. 
   "Well, the reason I don't go is because there are so
many hypocrites there."  
   "Oh, don't let that keep you away," replied the
pastor with a smile.  "There's always room for one more."

A minister visited a rural family for supper and they
ate before church.
  He explained that he couldn't eat very much if he
wanted to preach a good message.
  After supper the wife asked the husband to go on to
the service with the minister while she washed the dishes
and then worked in the nursery.
  When the husband returned, she asked him how the
preaching was.
  "Oh, to tell you the truth he may have as well ate,"
said her husband. - Unknown

A minister wound up the services one morning by saying,
“Next Sunday I am going to preach on the subject of
liars.  And in this connection, as a preparation for my
discourse, I should like you all to read the 17th chapter
of Mark.”  
   On the following Sunday, the preacher rose to begin,
and said, “Now, then, all of you who have done as I
requested and read the 17th chapter of Mark, please raise
your hands.”  Nearly every hand in the congregation went
up.  Then said the preacher, “You are just the people I
want to talk to!” 

The last fight was my fault. My wife asked, "What's on
the TV?" I said, "Dust!"

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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/