Gems for the Week
January 20 - 21
"It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word of God." (Luke 4:4)
It is the written Word Jesus ever uses, and Satan is powerless. What amazing importance Jesus gives the Scriptures! God now acts by the Word, and Satan is resisted morally in this way. A man cannot be touched by Satan while the Word is simply used in obedience. "He that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth Him not" (1 John 5:18). It was not as an exercise of divine authority He dismissed Satan, but the enemy is proved unable to grapple with obedience to the Word of God. If he cannot take out of the path of obedience, he has no power. What more simple? Every child of God has the Holy Spirit acting by the Word to keep him. (J.N. Darby - The Man of Sorrows)
N.J. Hiebert # 3224
"The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God." (Galatians 2:20)
It is by faith that God is honoured.
It is enough for Satan if he succeeds in frightening us away from the pure and simple path of faith.
Faith acts on God's behalf, and reveals Him in the midst of circumstances, instead of being governed by them. Its superiority over that which surrounds it is evident. What repose to witness this amid the mire of this poor world.
It is characteristic of faith to reckon on God, not simply spite of difficulty, but spite of impossibility. (J.N. Darby)
N.J. Hiebert # 3225
