Obedience by Faith ON AGAIN, OFF AGAIN
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 1 John 2:1.
When we study the subject of God's control we are faced with a practical problem. As we are growing in our Christian lives and in our relationship with Christ, sometimes we depend on him and sometimes we depend of ourselves. Sometimes we allow Him to control us; at other times we take control away from Him and are again controlled by Satan. While it is exciting to realize that it is possible to be, at any given moment, completely under God's control and have all the obedience and victory that He has for us, we still must realize that we take advantage of this possibility only part of the time.
Remember Peter? In the sixteenth chapter of Matthew we see this principle of part-time control working in his life. Jesus asked the disciples who they said He was. Peter answered, "You're the Christ." And Jesus commended him for his answer, telling him that it was the Spirit of God that revealed that to him. But just a few moments later, when Jesus began to speak of His coming sufferings, Peter rebuked Him and said, "No, this isn't going to happen to You." And Jesus said, "Get thee behind me, Satan." Obviously, one moment Peter was under the control of God, the next he was under the control of Satan. The thought of the sufferings to come caused him to take his eyes off God's power and focus on himself, and he fell.
Martha is another example. When Jesus came to visit her and her sister after the death of Lazarus, she met Him with strong faith, not doubting His power and His love even in the face of death. But moments later, when He told her to roll away the stone, her thoughts turned to self, and she doubted His word. Part-time control by God, part-time control by Satan.
This fact is rooted in Scripture time and time again. The disciples, who at the foot-washing were "all clean," forsook Jesus and fled when the mob arrived at Gethsemane. Zacharias, looking for a moment to the weakness of humanity, doubted the angel's word, and was unable to speak until the birth the angel foretold. Each of us today, as we grow, can experience the same thing. But God leads us as quickly as possible to his control all the time.
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 1 John 2:1.
When we study the subject of God's control we are faced with a practical problem. As we are growing in our Christian lives and in our relationship with Christ, sometimes we depend on him and sometimes we depend of ourselves. Sometimes we allow Him to control us; at other times we take control away from Him and are again controlled by Satan. While it is exciting to realize that it is possible to be, at any given moment, completely under God's control and have all the obedience and victory that He has for us, we still must realize that we take advantage of this possibility only part of the time.
Remember Peter? In the sixteenth chapter of Matthew we see this principle of part-time control working in his life. Jesus asked the disciples who they said He was. Peter answered, "You're the Christ." And Jesus commended him for his answer, telling him that it was the Spirit of God that revealed that to him. But just a few moments later, when Jesus began to speak of His coming sufferings, Peter rebuked Him and said, "No, this isn't going to happen to You." And Jesus said, "Get thee behind me, Satan." Obviously, one moment Peter was under the control of God, the next he was under the control of Satan. The thought of the sufferings to come caused him to take his eyes off God's power and focus on himself, and he fell.
Martha is another example. When Jesus came to visit her and her sister after the death of Lazarus, she met Him with strong faith, not doubting His power and His love even in the face of death. But moments later, when He told her to roll away the stone, her thoughts turned to self, and she doubted His word. Part-time control by God, part-time control by Satan.
This fact is rooted in Scripture time and time again. The disciples, who at the foot-washing were "all clean," forsook Jesus and fled when the mob arrived at Gethsemane. Zacharias, looking for a moment to the weakness of humanity, doubted the angel's word, and was unable to speak until the birth the angel foretold. Each of us today, as we grow, can experience the same thing. But God leads us as quickly as possible to his control all the time.
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