Inner-man power taught 'from the inside'

A classic hymn from 1864 begins, "Loved with everlasting love,

Led by grace that love to know;
Spirit, breathing from above,
Thou hast taught me it is so!
Oh, this full and perfect peace!
Oh, this transport all divine!
In a love which cannot cease,
I am His, and He is mine"

A famous quote by philosopher Robert C. Solomon says,

"Love can be understood only 'from the inside,' as a language can be understood only by someone who speaks it, as a world can be understood only by someone who lives in it."

The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 3, [16] That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
[17] That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
[18] May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
[19] And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
[20] Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
[21] Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

*****

“I don't think Believers appreciate near enough the fact that just by taking God at His Word--truly believing the Bible, dispensationally considered, contains absolutely everything God wants us to know about Him and our relationship to Him--lends real power,” says Jordan. “It's internal power that shatters anything the world has to offer.

"It's that ability God gives in the inner man, strengthened with might. It's an energy in your inner man to endure. That's spiritual power. There's something about that strength, that power that God gives. No great open physical displays and things that make everybody 'ooh' and 'ahh,' but that 'patient continuance in well doing.'

“He's saying not only can we know something about the breadth, length, depth and height of Jesus Christ's love for us, but we can truly know it and its power to work in us. The power is in the faith in it.

“Through knowing the measurements, dimensions and parameters of exactly what God is doing today, there's a maturing of the relationship that is extremely intimate and lends deep, deep communion.

"You can not just know about His tremendous love, but KNOW it, appreciate it, enter into it and find out how it passes knowledge. Just as it is in a momma's touch with a newborn baby, there's a love there and a communication there that passes any ability to understand and explain it.

"It's that kind of a bond, that kind of a connection. It's as though it were a mother's touch that reaches down and assuages the hurt and salves the wound and dispels the fear and gives untold strength and stability.

*****

“Paul writes in I Thessalonians 1:5, ‘For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in POWER, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.’

“He says in chapter 2, ‘For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.’

“Jesus says, ‘The flesh profiteth nothing,’ meaning all of OUR wisdom and OUR resources aren’t the issue.

“You got to start there! You never want to glory in yourself: ‘It isn’t me; it’s Him.’

“Jesus said, ‘The words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life.' The need is, 'Not I but Christ.' You're to constantly be learning this at a different level; that's part of what maturity is all about.

"The words on the pages are the Words of the Spirit and when I believe that Word, and put my faith in it, it WORKS; it becomes energizing activity and life.

“Paul writes in II Thessalonians 3:1: ‘Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you.’

“Paul’s saying, ‘I want the Word of the Lord to be set free; to run without obstacles, without needing to stop and be glorified.’

“When you glorify something, you demonstrate how valuable it is; how much of a treasure it is. How important it is.

“How would you glorify the Lord Jesus Christ? How do you demonstrate in your life that you cherish Him—His wisdom, His thinking--more than anybody else?”

(new article tomorrow)