“No One Is Strong in His Own Strength” Deuteronomy 8:17–18 You may say to yourselves, “I became wealthy because of my own ability and strength.” But remember the LORD your God is the one who makes you wealthy. He’s confirming the promise which he swore to your ancestors. It’s still in effect today. Matthew 26:41 Stay awake and pray that you won’t be tempted. You want to do what’s right, but you’re weak.” 2 Corinthians 12:9–10 But he told me: “My kindness is all you need. My power is strongest when you are weak.” So I will brag even more about my weaknesses in order that Christ’s power will live in me. Therefore, I accept weakness, mistreatment, hardship, persecution, and difficulties suffered for Christ. It’s clear that when I’m weak, I’m strong. 1 Corinthians 1:25 God’s nonsense is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. Since we are hindered by the devil from obeying with our thought and deed God’s will in all things, we pray and ask that God’s will may be done in us. And that it may be done in us we have need of God’s good will, that is, of His help and protection, since no one is strong in his own strength, but he is safe by the grace and mercy of God. WE NEED GOD, THINK ABOUT IT. Everlastingsalvationchurchofgod.com PayPal.me/donatetochurch PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
“I See More and More Sin Every Time I Look” I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” (Isa. 6:5) When many people start to follow Christ, they see a few things in their lives that need to be straightened out—things they have tried to deal with or even things that they’ve resisted admitting were a problem. Once the Spirit of God breaks through, they can finally confess their sins, feel forgiven, and be filled with joy. They then throw themselves into the life of the church, learning, growing, and sharing … but, over time, something unexpected happens. They start to discover areas of weakness or stubbornness that they didn’t know they had. Their Scripture-reading convicts them of something they had thought was okay. They hear their small-group leader or pastor talk about something that they never considered to be a problem. They rub shoulders with people who have walked with Christ for a long time, people who exude real kindness and gentleness and compassion and courage, and they’re embarrassed by their own lack of these qualities. It’s strange—being with God and his people starts to make them feel like they’re becoming worse, not better. Ever felt like that? As weird as that is, it’s normal. As you come closer to holiness, your wickedness becomes more obvious. That’s true not just for you and me, but for all God’s people. When Isaiah—one of God’s greatest prophets—saw God, he immediately concluded that he was so unholy that he had no hope. Seeing God did not produce sin in Isaiah. It showed him the ugliness of what was already there. Despite being a prophet—one who took God’s words on his lips—he confessed that his lips were unclean. But he had previously had no idea of this. Hear this the right way, and it will set you free: you also have no idea. You haven’t begun to see the least part of your problem. And I haven’t, either. I’m still on the front end of seeing my participation in evil for what it is. I now see whole new depths of things in me that are repulsive. Things that God has always been aware of but that I have not. How is that helpful? It’s helpful because the God who has always seen clearly has already crafted a solution that meets all our needs at every level. It’s the altar that stands before him (see Isa. 6:6). More specifically, it’s the sacrifice on the altar. That sacrifice, which anticipates Christ offering himself on the cross, doesn’t merely purify the flawed prophet’s lips but transforms them so that they can proclaim the message of the King (see Isa. 6:6–8). Spend time in that King’s presence, and you’ll see your unrighteousness more clearly. At times you will feel like you are lost. But look beyond yourself to him, and you’ll see his forward-looking grace both anticipating and meeting your need. Yes, mourn your failings; but go beyond them, as well, and celebrate his proactive response to them—a response that lets you stand joyfully in his presence. If God doesn’t expect you to pay for your sin or want you to be crushed by it, why does he show you more of it? Are you moved yet to celebrate his desire to free you from it? The next time your failures threaten to demoralize you, remind yourself that God has already provided in Christ everything that you need to be cleansed from the sin that you now see and from all that you ever will see. ALLOW THIS QUICK REFRESHER TO BE HELPFUL TO YOUR LIFE. PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
“Faith Starts Prayer to Work” Romans 5:1–5 Now that we have God’s approval by faith, we have peace with God because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done. Through Christ we can approach God and stand in his favor. So we brag because of our confidence that we will receive glory from God. But that’s not all. We also brag when we are suffering. We know that suffering creates endurance, endurance creates character, and character creates confidence. We’re not ashamed to have this confidence, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Hebrews 4:16 So we can go confidently to the throne of God’s kindness to receive mercy and find kindness, which will help us at the right time. Mark 11:22–25 Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God! I can guarantee this truth: This is what will be done for someone who doesn’t doubt but believes what he says will happen: He can say to this mountain, ‘Be uprooted and thrown into the sea,’ and it will be done for him. That’s why I tell you to have faith that you have already received whatever you pray for, and it will be yours. Whenever you pray, forgive anything you have against anyone. Then your Father in heaven will forgive your failures.” Faith starts prayer to work—clears the way to the mercy-seat. It gives assurance, first of all, that there is a mercy-seat, and that there the High Priest awaits the prayers and the pray-ers. I HOPE YOU ENJOYED AND RECEIVED FROM THIS QUICK REFRESHER. PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
Much Fruit He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. —John 15:5 Our Lord has spoken of fruit and more fruit. He now adds the thought: “much fruit.” There is in the Vine such fullness—the care of the divine Husbandman is so sure of success—that the much fruit is not a demand. It is the simple promise of what must come to the branch that lives in the double abiding—he in Christ, and Christ in him. “The same bringeth forth much fruit.” It is certain. Have you ever noticed the difference, in the Christian life, between work and fruit? A machine can do work: only life can bear fruit. A law can compel work: only love can spontaneously bring forth fruit. Work implies effort and labor: the essential idea of fruit is that it is the silent, natural, restful produce of our inner life. The gardener may labor to give his apple tree the digging and manuring, the watering and the pruning it needs. But he can do nothing to produce the apple. The tree bears its own fruit. Likewise, in the Christian life, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace…” (Galatians 5:22). The healthy life bears much fruit. The connection between work and fruit is perhaps best seen in the expression, “fruitful in every good work” (Colossians 1:10). It is only when good works come as the fruit of the indwelling Spirit that they are acceptable to God. Under the compulsion of law and conscience, or the influence of inclination and zeal, men may be most diligent in good works. And yet, they find that they have little spiritual result. There can be no reason except this—their works are man’s effort, instead of being the fruit of the Spirit. They do not know the restful, natural outcome of the Spirit’s operation within them. Let all workers come and listen to our holy Vine as He reveals the law of sure and abundant fruitfulness, “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.” The gardener cares for one thing—the strength and healthy life of his tree. The fruit follows of itself. If you want to bear fruit, see that the inner life is perfectly right, that your relationship to Christ Jesus is clear and close. Begin each day with Him in the morning, to know in truth that you are abiding in Him and He in you. Christ tells us that nothing less will do. It is not your willing and running, it is not by your might or strength, but “by my Spirit, saith the Lord” (Zechariah 4:6). Meet each new engagement, undertake every new work, with your ears and heart open to the Master’s voice, “He that abideth in me…beareth much fruit.” You see to the abiding; He will see to the fruit, for He will give it in you and through you. O my brethren, it is Christ who must do all! The Vine provides the sap, the life, and the strength. The branch waits, rests, receives, and bears the fruit. Oh, the blessedness of being only branches, through whom the Spirit flows and brings God’s life to men! I pray you, take time and ask the Holy Spirit to help you to realize the unspeakably solemn place you occupy in the mind of God. He has planted you into His Son with the calling and the power to bear “much fruit.” Accept that place. Look always to God, and to Christ, and joyfully expect to be what God has planned to make you—a fruitful branch. Much fruit! So be it, blessed Lord Jesus. It can be, for You are the Vine. It will be, for I am abiding in You. It must be, for Your Father is the Husbandman who cleanses the branch. Yes, much fruit, out of the abundance of Your grace. I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS QUICK STUDY. DID YOU FIND THIS QUICK STUDY TO BE HELPFUL? PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
CHECK YOURSELF Jeremiah 17:10 ESV “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” OH, YOU MAY TRICK AND DECEIVE MAN, BUT GOD SEARCHES YOUR HEART, AND MIND. REMEMBER YOU WILL RECEIVE A REWARD, OR PUNISHMENT FROM GOD. THINK ABOUT IT. PayPal.me/donatetochurch Everlastingsalvationchurchofgod.com PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
The Believer Goes to Be with Christ. 2 Cor. 5:6, “Being therefore always of good courage, and knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.” Phil. 1:23, “But I am in a strait betwixt the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ; for it is very far better.” The experience (death-sleep) through which the believer passes ushers him at once into the presence of Christ. It takes him instantly to be “at home” with the Lord. Surely there can be no hint of unconsciousness or the sleeping of the soul in these words. It would seem from Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 5:1–5 that some kind of spiritual body is given to the believer during the period of his waiting for the resurrection body. What Paul longs for is not to be in a bodiless state, but to put on another body which shall not be subject to death. “At home with the Lord”—that is what “death” (?) means to the believer. FOOD FOR THOUGHT PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
LIVE A GODLY LIFE Everlastingsalvationchurchofgod.com Christians should live completely for God, not patterning their lives after the world. Romans 12:1-2 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” SELF-CHECK: WHO DOES PEOPLE SEE WHEN THEY SEE YOU? DO THEY SEE GOD OR DO THEY SEE THE WORLD? THINK ABOUT IT. PayPal.me/donatetochurch PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
Demons in the New Testament In the New Testament, the term demon is used to describe wicked demonic spirits. These entities defile and bring evil to human subjects. Their intent seems to be physical affliction more than moral persuasion. Demons in the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles The primary context in which demons are found in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles is in relation to their negative and harmful effects on human beings. These include physical violence (e.g., Matt 8:28–33; Mark 5:2–5, Luke 4:34–36; Acts 8:7), muteness (Matt 9:32–33), blindness (Matt 12:22), torment (Matt 12:43–45; Luke 6:18; 11:24–26), and sickness (Acts 19:12). In addition to these maladies, other conditions manifest themselves in those who are overtaken by demons or evil spirits. These include: self-destructive or isolating behaviors, insanity, sudden outbursts, convulsions, crying out, grinding teeth, foaming at the mouth, and becoming stiff (Matt 17:14–17; Mark 9:17–29; 5:1–20; Luke 9:39–43). In the Gospels, the term “spirit” is often employed to designate demonic or unclean spirits (Mark 3:22, 30; 7:25–26). This is due in part to their habitation. Demons are associated with specific locations such as deserts, tombs, and desolate places (Mark 5:2; Luke 8:27; 11:24). These places were thought to make a person ritually unclean. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke refer to the ruler of the demons as Beelzebul (e.g., Matt 12:24, 27; Mark 3:22) and Satan (e.g., Matt 12:26; Mark 3:26; Luke 13:11, 16). The book of Matthew mentions the future judgment of demons (e.g., Matt 25:41). In the Gospels, Jesus frequently helps those possessed by demons. Most exorcisms conducted during Jesus’ day were done in conjunction with elaborate rituals such as incantations. The historian Josephus (ca. AD 37–101) tells of a Jewish exorcist by the name of Eleazer who cured many demon-possessed people by means of a root set in a ring. The root was held under the victim’s nose and the demon was drawn out (Josephus, Antiquities 8.46–49). In the book of Tobit, Tobias burns the heart and liver of a fish as part of an exorcism (Tob 6:5–6; 8:2–3). In contrast to these elaborate remedies, Jesus cast out demons on His own authority—the Spirit of God working through Him (Matt 12:22–13; Mark 3:22–27; Luke 11:14–23). Others also perform exorcism in Jesus’ name: the twelve disciples (Mark 3:15), Philip (Acts 8:7), Paul (Acts 19:12), and one unnamed individual outside of Jesus’ circle of disciples (Mark 9:38). The Gospels do not give any indication of how one becomes possessed by a demon. Some ancients believed that the mouth or nostrils could be a passageway for entering or leaving a person (e.g., Josephus, Antiquities 8.46–49). Demons in the Rest of the New Testament There are relatively few references to demons or evil spirits in the remainder of the New Testament. For Paul demons were a real, but defeated power—in the sense that Jesus’ resurrection overturned the power of evil, but not in the sense that they no longer exist. In one passage he warns the Corinthians to abstain from any idolatrous sacrifices, for they were comparable to the ones offered to demons by the Israelites in Deut 32:17 (1 Cor 10:20–21). Further, Paul believes that demons were actively involved in deceiving humanity, leading to corruption about the teachings of Scripture (1 Tim 4:1). Revelation describes demonic, evil spirits appearing as frogs, which will come out to seduce the kings into battling on the great day of the Lord (Rev 16:13–14). It was believed there would be an increase in demonic activity in the last days (2 Bar 27:9). Everlastingsalvationchurchofgod.com FOOD FOR THOUGHT. ONE CAN NEVER LEARN TOO MUCH. I HOPE YOU FOUND THIS QUICK STUDY TO BE HELPFUL. PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
Are the New Testament Accounts of Demons True? Everlastingsalvationchurchofgod.com CLEARLY THE NEW TESTAMENT refers to demons. According to the Gospels Jesus “cast out” many of them, and they appear to be personal beings who make requests, react in fear and take other actions that characterize personal beings. But are they real? Are demons not a prescientific way of talking about what we would now call psychoses (or some other mental problem)? Are there really spiritual beings in this world that can affect human beings? It is true that in the Middle Ages and even today in some Christian circles much, if not all, of what we call psychological dysfunction was and is attributed to demons. The results of this misdiagnosis in the Middle Ages were often grotesque and rightly deserve the censure of Christians committed to expressing the love of Christ. Also, demons are rarely mentioned in the Old Testament, and most of the Old Testament texts in which they are mentioned are controversial. They certainly are not called “demons,” for that is a Greek word. And it is true that many of the symptoms attributed to demons in the New Testament could also be indications of such dysfunction as hysteria or epilepsy. This in itself makes one want to question the reality of demons. Yet this is not the whole story. First, the belief in demons is part of a development in doctrine within Scripture. In the Old Testament there is very little said about any spiritual being other than God until after the exile. There is the enigmatic figure of “the serpent” in Genesis 3, but it has no other name and does not appear again in the Old Testament text. There are also indications that at least some of the Old Testament people believed in the reality of the gods of the nations around them, even though they were themselves true worshipers of Yahweh. Still, that is not the official teaching of the Old Testament. The thrust of the Old Testament is that the gods of the nations were helpless idols, simply wood or stone (Is 44:9–20). To whatever extent they existed, they were helpless before Yahweh, the living God of Israel. This, of course, is in keeping with God’s persistent emphasis up to the exile that he is One and that he will not accept both/and worship (such as worshiping both Yahweh and the Baals). It is therefore only late in the Old Testament period that we get references to Satan (and even then “Satan” may be more a name for a heavenly prosecutor than for an evil being) and only in the intertestamental period that we get significant references to demons (see, for example, Tobit). The New Testament is in line with this development of doctrine. The simplicity of the Old Testament view of the universe gives way to a greater complexity in the New. Thus it is not surprising to find references to demons in the New Testament where there are none in the Old. Second, the Bible as a whole and the New Testament in particular witness to the existence of nonphysical beings and a spiritual realm. Besides God the Father, there is Jesus, who according to John once existed completely in this realm and then became flesh (Jn 1:14). The ascension refers to his return to the spiritual realm, but as a physical being (that is, he remains a human being with a body). Then there are angels, which are referred to 176 times in the New Testament, mostly in the Gospels and Revelation. These holy beings point to the existence of a spiritual realm, which, the New Testament says, also contains a dark side. This dark side includes Satan (or the devil), referred to in the New Testament more than 65 times, spiritual forces that Paul calls “powers and authorities” (Rom 8:38; Eph 3:10; 6:12; Col 1:16; 2:15), and of course demons, mentioned 52 times (and “demon” is only one of the terms used for them; they are also called “unclean spirits” some 23 times). In other words, demons fit into a New Testament picture of a nonphysical or spiritual world surrounding human beings. In this context they are not strange but part of a normal biblical worldview. If one were to deny the possibility of the existence of such beings, the logical extension would be to deny the existence of all spiritual beings, most likely including God. Third, while demons do cause symptoms which we might at first interpret as psychological dysfunction, it is not true that such problems are all that they cause. Such diseases as epilepsy (Mt 17:14–18), paralysis similar to that caused by some forms of malaria (Lk 13:10–13) and probably fever (Lk 4:38–39) are all attributed to demons. Therefore, many forms of physical disease were attributed to demons, although not all physical disease was attributed to them, for the Gospels differentiate between healing diseases and casting out demons. The key is whether those physical diseases attributed to demons really disappeared when Jesus cast out the demon. If so, his claim that a demon was causing the problem and that it took casting out rather than a healing word would be confirmed. Fourth, there is a good reason for the emphasis on demons in the New Testament and especially in the Gospels (which is the only place that they receive emphasis). Jesus came announcing the reign or kingdom of God. When that “kingdom” came in a more physical form in the Old Testament, there was a conflict between God (Yahweh) and the gods of Canaan (and before that of Egypt). This ended with God’s demonstrating his power over these gods and often with the destruction of the idols. Now in the New Testament the kingdom comes and it is opposed by Satan, as seen in the temptation narratives and other references to Satan throughout the Gospels. Lesser powers associated with Satan (the exact relationship between Satan and the various other dark spiritual forces is never described in detail) would naturally be involved in this opposition. If the kingdom of God is going to come to individuals, the power of the kingdom of darkness is going to be broken and the demons may end up being destroyed (see Mk 1:24; 5:7–8). Thus the demons are part of the cosmic or spiritual conflict going on behind the outward actions of preaching, teaching and healing. Demons fit into the New Testament picture of what the reign of God means and the fact that salvation is not simply deliverance from physical sickness or political oppression or poverty, but at root a deliverance from final judgment, from spiritual sin and from the oppression by evil spiritual forces connected to these things. Therefore, if one believes that the New Testament picture of the world and the human situation is accurate, it is quite normal and logical to believe in demons as real personal beings. It would also be quite normal to believe that where the kingdom of God is expanding one might run into such beings. However, only spiritual discernment can reveal when words of comfort and counsel, when healing and when a command to expel a demon are needed. Where such discernment is present, the results will be good, as in the case of Jesus and the apostles. Where it is lacking, we will see either the rejection of the existence of demons (with the result that a certain number of people who could be healed will not be healed) or a fascination with them in which people either withdraw in fear or else try to “cast out” what is really a disease and by so doing violate other human beings. The New Testament teaches us about the reality of demons. It also teaches us not to fear them or to go looking for them, but to recognize that if and when they are encountered, there is more than sufficient power in Christ to expel them. I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS QUICK STUDY ABOUT DEMONS. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT DEMONS. PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
DON’T GIVE UP Everlastingsalvationchurchofgod.com It’s not about how many times you fall, it’s how many times you get back up. It’s in the Bible, Proverbs 24:16, NIV. “for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.” Don’t let failure discourage you. It’s in the Bible, Joshua 1:9, TLB. “Yes, be bold and strong! Banish fear and doubt! For remember, the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” You can succeed next time. It’s in the Bible, Philippians 4:13, TLB. “For I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power.”
DO NOT GIVE UP. DO NOT QUIT. WE ARE CHAMPIONS, WE ARE CHRISTIANS. THE VICTORY WILL BE OURS.
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