This message entitled “Salvation” was given by Brother Cecil duCille in 1970s.
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By Mavis M. duCille
Scripture reading: Matthew 26:41
Some weeks ago, during prayer for some dear brethren, the word came, “the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” – with this came also a much deeper understanding of these words.
Flesh is not only man’s body, but man’s whole being, including sense and reason when it is destitute of God, because the seat of sin is in the soul.
“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of HIS OWN lust, and enticed,” James 1:13-14.
God does not tempt man. Romans 8 speaks in absolutely plain language of the MIND OF THE FLESH; how it works contrary to the will of God. Man’s only hope of overcoming the flesh is through the Spirit, by which security is provided by God’s love. The Spirit gives life in place of death. The Old Testament brethren could not have the magnitude of OVERCOMING grace which we have received, because a set of laws or legal codes could not bring righteousness; only a life controlled by the Spirit, on the basis of THAT NEW LAW WRITTEN NOT ON TABLES OF STONE, but ON THE HEART, could produce such qualities in us as peace, joy, hope and love.
The flesh is constantly at war with the Spirit. The desires of the flesh are ever present, but the provision for overcoming is through the Spirit, therefore, the following seven steps are absolutely necessary to the overcomer.
- The believer should, at some time after accepting Jesus as Saviour, receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
- The believer should be aware of the Holy Spirit as being a part of the Godhead.
- The believer should want to be no longer in charge of his own life, but desire the Life of Christ to be lived out in him.
- Be sensitive to the voice of the Spirit. (He is always speaking, but we are not always listening.)
- Be exercised in the operations of the Spirit through obedience.
- Most important – be willing and ready to submit to the chastening and cleansing of the Spirit as He makes known deep-hidden or simple-surface weaknesses – because “He will not always chide.”
- Bear in mind, that when we come together in worship, the move of the Spirit in the midst is different than in any other place – prophecies and all the gifts of the Spirit can be practiced, and the believer has the type of growth that is necessary to his overall spiritual advancement.
THE CARNAL MIND: The carnal mind is that which is not under the control of the Holy Spirit. Because of this, it can conceive and bring forth evil, since Satan is the prince of evil.
There are some innocent desires (might not be evil) which can eventually become the occasion of sin. The CARNAL MIND cannot please God.
Scripture states:
“Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry,” Colossians 3:5.
We should see to it that these members of ours do not resist the restraint of Divine Law. Human life, therefore, would be brought under subjection to the purpose for which it was ordained.
God made man to live in beauty and strength according to His Divine laws. Sin made an inroad and left a roadway. Man was defiled. God in His plan of restoration has to redeem man spirit, soul and body, but this cannot be achieved without the willingness and total submission to God’s Divine plan. As the Spirit is allowed to work in the inward parts, He is able to turn bitterness to sweetness, rage to peace, hate and animosity to love, rough to smooth, sorrow to joy and heaviness to praise, delivering the soul from envy, jealousy, malice (and) pride, causing a true spirit to pervade which can stand the LIGHT OF HIS COUNTENANCE.
So many times, it seems easier to give way to the flesh in anger, malice, strife, hatred, (and) mistrust of the brethren, or on the other hand deceiving the brethren, giving false witness, using a false balance and others too many to mention (whatsoever does not edify the individual or the Body of Christ, or glorify Jesus is not of God). Some things are seen out in the open – others are not very obvious; then some left only to the honesty of one’s conscience before God; “To thine own self be true.” (Shakespeare). Trust and be trusted.
(Excerpt from Nuggets for the Needy, 1997, pages 69-71)
Thought for today: The desires of the flesh are ever present, but the provision for overcoming is through the Spirit.
Posted in Christian Walk | Tagged Carnal Mind, Cleansing of the Spirit, Divine Law, God's Divine Plan, Overcoming, Romans 8 | Leave a Comment »
By Mavis M. duCille
Scripture reading: Proverbs 3:6
God has assigned us to a partnership with Him through the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son. By the Spirit and the Word, He makes each part of the Contract clear; His part, as also our part. When Paul sought the Lord regarding his thorn in the flesh, God’s reply was, “My grace is sufficient.” Paul had this responsibility by the grace of our Lord and Saviour, through the effectual working of the Spirit in him, to have the victory over that thorn. He must have really fought a good fight, as he said, seeing it was not the thorn in the flesh that ended his physical life, but some of the rulers of this world.
“The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His anointed,” Psalm 2:2. History repeats itself.
Our only hope and protection is hiding in the Rock, and dwelling in the Secret Place of the Most High. It demands a daily commitment to His PERFECT WILL for each individual. What man of war goes into battle on his own dictates? He would be a fool, and would die like Abner. Man in himself is no match for the enemy, for it is a battle against a very high intelligence: against principalities and powers, not flesh and blood. See Ephesians 6:12.
Therefore it takes “…being endued with power from on high,” baptized in the Spirit of God, and complete obedience to the CAPTAIN AND SOLE COMMANDER, who is our Lord Jesus Christ (CAPTAIN OF THE HOST) and Lord of All. He sees and knows each battle from beginning to end. Yes, the infinite God knows each person’s battle from beginning to end; that is why we must trust Him – He is our VICTORY. We must acknowledge God in all our ways. In nothing can we be our own MAN or WOMAN, and do our own thing whenever we feel like it. Our behavior, our speech, our attitudes can arrest the flow of God’s blessings, and cause us to forfeit our heritage in Christ.
Oh, how many times we are caught in being careless or impatient, acting out of the will of God, and are caught in the snare. The price is pain, regret, remorse. “Oh, what needless pains we bear, all because WE DO NOT CARRY EVERYTHING TO GOD IN PRAYER.” “Wait upon the Lord – wait, I say, upon the Lord.” Good things come to those who wait.
For instance: it might be good and proper for one to buy a house, car, horse, property or anything, even choosing a partner in marriage or business, etc., but God wants us to realize that there is a special one of any or all of these; that God with His love and foreknowledge would choose for you – the special individual that we are to Him. Our knowledge is limited, therefore, we must always bear in mind that our CAPTAIN who is ALL WISE, ALL KNOWING, is the perfect consultant whose ears are always open; His doors never close; He just sits waiting, looking and listening for His children to ask so “it can be given.” Of course, we should not ask:
- To heap upon our lusts
- Amiss
- Wavering.
Times without number, Jesus testifies of His union with the Father, showing how absolutely necessary it is for total submission to the Father’s will. John 8:14-18 gives the working arrangement with Jesus and the Father. Although the Father has given to the Son ALL POWER for deliverance and judgment, yet He did nothing but the Father’s will. In healing and miracles, etc. “My Father… and I work;” in judgment, “I judge no man… yet my judgment is true.”
Seeing that Jesus, the Son of God, found it necessary to acknowledge the Father in all things, thus fulfilling His perfect will for Him, how about us? All power is given unto us through Jesus; as He was, so are we to be in all obedience and humility, that we might also find our place in His purpose for His creation.
In order to walk safely and securely, (to) be blessed in Him and be a blessing, there is the need to be found in Him; not having our own righteousness, but the righteousness which is of the Father. This righteousness will desire, seek after, long for and be satisfied with nothing but the Father’s perfect will.
Each new day brings its new demands of new experiences in our Christian walk. Our Heavenly Father has given the Holy Spirit with the necessary tools to fight our battles, but although He knows the order of the battle completely, He cannot breach our free will. He tells us in His Word to trust Him each day that He might be in control through the Spirit. “IN ALL THY WAYS (and through all thy day) ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, AND HE SHALL DIRECT THY PATHS,” Proverbs 3:6. The power and glory of heaven is made available to us through Jesus Christ, but if the whole world of wealth is made available to one man, woman or child, and he or she does not choose to effect that claim, it becomes useless to such a one.
We are encouraged to appreciate and appropriate that which was lost in the first Adam, but restored in the Second Adam, Jesus Christ, to bring us into eternal victory. God uses every method to awaken us to the consciousness of who we are, where we are and what we ought to be. He allows us to go ahead and do things we desire so badly – which are not His perfect will – knowing that the circumstances will teach us the bitter lessons of what it means to move out of the will of God. Happy are we if we learn the lessons through one or two experiences. It is very sad when our own attitudes rob us of being able to glean from our experiences the lessons God intends that we embrace, seeing that the sole purpose and intention of His dealing with us is to bring us into union and communion with Him, that we might walk as wise men.
(Excerpt from Nuggets for the Needy, 1997, pages 45-47)
Thought for today: Yes, the infinite God knows each person’s battle from beginning to end; that is why we must trust Him – He is our VICTORY.
Posted in Christian Walk | Tagged Blood of Jesus, Eternal Victory, Flesh and Blood, God's Righteousness, Secret Place, Will of God | Leave a Comment »
By Mavis M. duCille
Scripture reading: Psalms 19:1
In seeking the Lord about certain hard, unfortunate or painful experiences we encountered over a period of time, the LORD brought vividly a sense of awareness that is indelibly impressed on my mind. A few words of Scripture, which have been read over and over, all of a sudden come forth with a great enlightenment and a new perspective, “In all thy ways acknowledge Him.”
God expects His creatures to love, honor, respect and recognize Him as the Creator. After all, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handywork,” Psalm 19:1. These are abundant evidences of His presence, power and authority. He is infinitely greater than anything on earth, and, undoubtedly, well able to supply all man’s needs, far beyond our wildest dreams. It takes, however, a knowledge of the nature of God and the revelation of the scripture, together with the supernatural working of the Spirit, to awaken, confirm and enlarge our knowledge of God’s friendship and communion, seeing that our love to Him has been greatly obscured since the fall.
One of the most important points of revelation which the Lord brought to us, was that He desires that we love, honor, obey, respect, esteem and recognize Him as Creator. This is not for any benefit to Himself, but that these attributes, when given to God, create in us a VIRTUE, which we could not obtain otherwise.
“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent,” John 17:3.
Knowing God, in all His attributes furnished by nature and scripture, will result in trust and confidence, that through love, man’s free will becomes one with Him – this is the Victory.
MAN’S FREE WILL – GOD’S CHANNEL: God can accomplish His purpose on earth for man only through man’s free will (the choice is ours). In so doing, God makes available to man an immense and limitless realm of power, but we limit God and retard our progress by not appropriating God’s goodness. See Psalm 78:41.
God’s plan is that man be the channel through which heaven is released and expressed on earth. When our will is totally submitted to the will of God, then we will be in tune with Him and whatsoever we ask will be according to His will and He will direct our path.
The saints must possess the Kingdom, but this can only be accomplished as the people of God put the world behind them, and set their faces upon the eternal values. The world, the flesh and the devil are against the reign of Christ in the earth – thus, “the heathen rage” to destroy God’s richest graces and (the) true value of humanity. To love, to honor, to respect and obey are endowments of God which place man above the beast.
REDEEMED, BEING REDEEMED, SHALL BE REDEEMED: God is in the process of redeeming man – spirit, soul and body, through Christ, “who is made not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life,” Hebrews 7:16. Therefore, those who seek Him will find Him, through the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in His knowledge.
There is a place in consecration, as one progresses in God, where the unfolding of God’s plan and purpose demands a further and deeper offering of one’s self; the willingness to make such an offering is the law and principle by which God takes us from victory to victory. This willingness, which is the free-will offering of the soul, gives God the authority to manifest His purposes in our lives. The impartation of Christ’s Spirit of obedience to the believer, which brings him in communion with this work, must be ratified in the believer’s life and experience. This obedience removes fear, but embraces trust and confidence. When exercised, these experiences become easy and joyful; thus, OBEDIENCE is God’s plan to deliver man from the corruption and enslavement of the FALL.
Self-confidence and self-reliance are often used as tools of the enemy to cause us to forfeit our blessings. God-confidence and God-reliance are better. There is a subtle working of the enemy of which we must always beware. The enemy will oppress a believer to make him or her feel “I am nothing,” “poor me,” and surely the counselors will try to get such a one to believe in himself, only to find that he makes a 180-degree turn and is the greatest Christian in town. The enemy keeps an eye out for weaknesses, for they are dark spots, and he does everything to get us in our weak place. We are encouraged, therefore, to “lay aside every weight and the SIN (that weakness) that doth so easily beset us,” so he will have no power over us.
This word “SELF” seems to be the greatest mountain between us and God. So many stories in the Bible show us the danger of the lurking monster.
- David numbered the people.
- Saul offered his own sacrifice.
- Joshua and the elders sought not of the Lord regarding the Gibeonites, etc.
It is evident that God’s people must always be conscious of the fact that He is the AUTHORITY – He is in supreme control, and that is the victory. Therefore, when one fails to acknowledge Him in all things, the concealed pitfalls and the snares of the enemy (known only to him) will catch us unawares.
Sometimes, praise God, we escape the hidden dangers by divine intervention, while another time, we might experience the consequences of not seeking the mind of Christ in a matter; pain, regret, remorse, loss of goods and credibility follows.
(Excerpt from Nuggets for the Needy, 1997, pages 42-45)
Thought for today: It is evident that God’s people must always be conscious of the fact that He is the AUTHORITY – He is in supreme control, and that is the victory.
Posted in Christian Walk | Tagged Divine Intervention, Endowments of God, God's Goodness, God's Will, God-Confidence, Man's Free Will | Leave a Comment »
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