Jesus Christ Abolished Death

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death, discerning the spirits, dying to self, eternal life, experience, faith, fellow-heirs with Christ, following Jesus, God's guidance, inheritance, Jesus Christ, Judgment, life, Overcomer, pain, redemption, repentance, Satan, soul and spirit, soul-life, spiritual power, suffering, T.A. Sparks, the cross, the devil, The Heritage, the throne, throne union, trials, tribulation, walking by the spirit

If you read and re-read the title, wondering about the truth of this seemingly simple statement, “Jesus Christ abolished… DEATH?”  🙄 you might feel the same way I did yesterday. I read an article by T. Austin-Sparks that left me both astonished and a bit bewildered at first. But then… No, I do not want to give away the ending yet. I am afraid, you need to read further if you want to know more.  😉 So, at first I am going to offer you this excerpt from one of TAS’ books that is called “Vocational Fellowship”. (1)

The Secret of Spiritual Soul Rest in Christ

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abiding in Christ, death, discerning the spirits, eternal life, experience, joy, Lily, our cat, rest, resurrection power, soul, Soul Rest, T. Austin-Sparks, The Holy Spirit, the whole armour of God, walking by the spirit

This title I chose seems to be self-explaining because we could also say that our soul finds its rest in Christ alone. Does not sound like a secret, does it? But if we, after decades of believing in the Lord, have not entered His rest yet although we always wanted to, maybe, it is not that easy to get there? Perhaps there is ‘something’ that continually keeps us from entering God’s rest. But what could this ‘something’ be?  🙄 Before expounding a bit more on what I just hinted to, I want to share another experience with you.

A True Revival or… Living A Deathless Life

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being born again, darkness, encouragement, following Jesus, freedom, Jesus Christ, joy, light, spiritual power, T.A. Sparks, the new self, the promised land, true faith

T. Austin Sparks wrote,

What is the supreme evidence of the living God being amongst us? It is that we know Jesus Christ as triumphant over the power of death in our experience: for, having met death in its full power, its full force, its flood-tide, He triumphed. It was the flood-tide of death that was encountered at Calvary; death, in all that death means, something far beyond mere physical death, even all the terrible, wicked power of spiritual death. The Lord Jesus went into the flood of iniquitous death, and death’s power was taken from it, and it could not overflow. He broke the power of death and its curse, and made death stand back. “He tasted death in the behalf of every man“.

How God Opens Man’s Ears to Hear HIS Voice

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death, discerning the spirits, exhortation, following Jesus, God's voice, mediator, peace, prayer, salvation, suffering, wisdom

Instead of writing a long blog post of my own, I offer you two biblical excerpts from Elihu’s speeches to Job after Job’s ignorant friends had tried to share their human wisdom with him who would suffer a lot. Sometimes we cannot understand why God lets us suffer without telling us WHY and HOW LONG it might take. But there must be a reason why suffering is necessary in our lives, even if we cannot see the reason right now. Here is wisdom that Elihu, inspired by the Holy Spirit, suggested to Job on (1) ‘How does God make us hear Him?’ and on (2) ‘Why does He not answer us as we expect Him to do?’

Who really has an impact on this world?

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a holy life, blogging, discerning the spirits, exhortation, experience, false spirits, Flesh vs. Spirit, following Jesus, God's love, human love, Satan, spiritual power, T.A. Sparks, Testimony, the new self, the old self, walking by the spirit

I think many of you might know the temptation to give in to people who do not know God, people by whom you want to be appreciated, though, even despite their sometimes profane remarks. We may not always be able to really like what they say, but we do not want to offend other people, either, or do we? Granted, there is a species of human beings who love to offend others continually; it is like a sport to them. But I do not speak of such personalities. Instead, I refer to those believers who try to live a Christian life and know about the difficulties to obey God when our old nature rather wants to cave in to ‘other spirits’, esp. when such human beings habitually impose their (strong self-) will on others. Our constant struggle to decide between flesh and spirit, as you know, was perfectly described by Paul here.

What Really Counts in Life

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aging, blessings, books, commandments, death, disaster, discerning the spirits, exhortation, experience, following Jesus, God's love, hurry, Judgment, mind, obedience, rest, restlessness, the fear of God, the Kingdom of God, the new self, the old self, this world, thought life, waiting, wisdom, youth

If someone nurtures soaring hopes and plans, we might tell them to stay more grounded or earthed instead. But have you ever heard someone suggest to you to get more ‘heavened’? 🙄 If you, like me, often times wonder about the seeming hopelessness of our existence as we cannot sense the presence of God while (sometimes ridiculous) everyday troubles keep preying on our minds, you might have also observed non-Christians who can seemingly live their lives confronted with less problems and difficulties than we can. Yet, in the long run, that is not the truth. The Book of Ecclesiastes tells us some sobering facts.

Knowing God’s heart… intimately

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adultery, being born again, darkness, discerning the spirits, encouragement, exhortation, experience, eyes of the heart, following Jesus, George Michael, God's love, homosexuality, Jesus Christ, light, prayer, salvation, Satan, sin

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (Jn 3:3 ESV) –
Photo by Susanne Schuberth

It is not for me easy to define intimacy, even more difficult regarding my relationship with God. Maybe, an example might help here. Yesterday morning as I was thinking about someone who died four days ago, I closed my eyes and looked at Jesus in my spirit. I recall that I did not say anything, neither loudly nor silently in my mind, but my question was heard by Him, nonetheless. This person who died was famous and some might know that I write about British pop star George Michael who died at the age of 53. I did not know that much about him, I only remember some of his songs that touched me in a certain way, especially ‘Last Christmas’ where he sang,

“Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I’ll give it to someone special…”

I AM the Resurrection

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death, eternal life, experience, good works, grace, life after death, Life and Death, Martin Luther, Nicky Gumbel, Pippa Gumbel, salvation, true faith, truth

When time as we know it comes to an end, eternity in Christ begins.
(Picture taken from http://riverbankoftruth.com/)

Just lately I felt concerned about those who are grieved because they do not know whether their loved ones will be saved or not. Even looking closely at other people, we sometimes perceive no outward sign of faith in Jesus Christ. BUT that does not mean that they won’t be saved!

Death and Resurrection or… “I NEED A SAVIOR!”

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A.W. Tozer, being born again, death, dying to self, experience, following Jesus, joy, killing sin, love, pain, resurrection, spiritual power, suffering, T.A. Sparks, The Holy Spirit, the new self, the old self

Empty Tomb
(Source http://www.answering-christianity.com/empty-tomb.jpg)

In this article I want to make clear that death and resurrection are two very different things. Regarding Jesus’ death on the cross and His supernatural resurrection, and what that should imply for us today, you will find a longer excerpt taken from one of T. Austin Sparks’ sermons following my deliberations on dying to self.

Pressed Beyond Measure Into Christ

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death, discerning the spirits, experience, fellowship, following Jesus, God, life, Michael Clark, peace, Satan, T.A. Sparks, true faith, unity

This is another joint article by Michael Clark and me. Our common spiritual experiences were the foundation of our deliberations and conclusions in this post. If you have ever tried to really follow the Lord closely, you might know that Satan does not sleep but keeps attacking you as often as possible in order to drive you only deeper into the arms of God. Of course, that was NOT the devil’s intention! Instead, he merely wanted to discourage and finally destroy you. But whenever Satan means evil against us, God always means it for our good (see Gen 50:20).

A Wilderness Voice

By Michael Clark and Susanne  Schuberth

For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life: But we had the sentence [Grk, apokrima – an answer] of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead: (2Cor 1:8-9, KJ2000)

Susanne Schuberth recently took this picture on one of her prayer walks and sent it to me (Michael) and I cropped it to fit.

I (Susanne) thought about the biblical meaning of the number four. These four arrows represent the world system that puts those under pressure who eagerly want to follow the Lord. The two people with arrows coming at them from all directions seems to portray what we have been going through for some time with many attacks…

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