Epistle to ECN

 

Samuel, a disciple of Jesus Christ by the grace of the living God, to the beloved brethren and sisters of the ECN family, called to the fellowship of His Son and sanctified by His indwelling Spirit: grace be unto you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and hath called us into the fellowship of life in His Son.

 

I thank my God always on your behalf, making mention of you in my prayers, that you be great in life, occupied higher position in the sectors of the world, grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth, being built up as a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, abiding in Him who is life and light.

 

I do not write to you with eloquent words or persuasive speech, but as one who has received mercy from the Lord, granted the ability to perceive the deep truths of life and righteousness within. Even as the Lord hath made known unto us the fellowship of life, so now also it is laid upon my heart to speak concerning the sense of life, which is the inward knowing and consciousness of God’s life within.

 

Brethren, the life which we have received is not a dead thing, nor is it without voice or feeling. It is the life of God, strong and living, full of power and peace. And this life within hath a sense, even a knowing, which governs and guides us in all things. For it is written, “To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” And this peace is not as the world giveth, but it is the witness of the Spirit in the inward man.

 

Whenever the heart is set upon the flesh, there is a sense of death: weakness, dryness, and unrest. But when the heart is turned unto the Lord and the mind is set on the spirit, there is a sense of life: strength, satisfaction, peace, and light. This is the rule of life within us, which testifieth of the path we walk and maketh known what is well-pleasing unto God.

 

This sense of life is not separate from our conscience, but rather it is deeper still, being joined unto the conscience and enlightening it. Even before we speak or act, the sense within doth bear witness. Yea, it is more to be trusted than outward signs, for it proceedeth from the law of the Spirit of life which God hath written in our hearts.

 

Let no man despise this inward anointing, for it teacheth us all things and abideth in us. As it is written, “Ye need not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie.” And this anointing is the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, who now dwelleth in us and worketh in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure.

 

Therefore, beloved, let us walk softly before Him, yielding ourselves to the sense of life within. Let us not grieve the Spirit, nor harden our hearts, lest we be found walking in the way of death. For the Spirit is gentle and holy, and the life He gives is full of light and truth.

 

I beseech you, walk in Him. Abide in Christ as the branch abideth in the vine, that His life may flow freely and bear much fruit in you. And the fruit of this life is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

 

My joy is full when I hear that you walk in the truth, and that your hearts are kept tender toward the Lord. Continue, then, in what you have received, holding fast the beginning of your confidence firm unto the end.

 

The Lord is at hand. Be ye therefore sober and watchful in prayer, discerning the times, and redeeming each moment in the Spirit. Let brotherly love abound among you. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. And let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, that you may be established and built up in Him who is the life and the light of men.

 

Beloved, it is given unto us not only to believe on Him but also to partake of His dealings. Job of old was a man perfect and upright, yet he knew only the stripping and consuming from without. In his day, God stripped him of his possessions and consumed his outer man through sufferings. Yet the experience of Job was but a shadow compared with that of the apostle Paul, whose consuming and stripping under grace became a thing of joy and life.

 

Paul was one destined even from birth unto crucifixion, and when he was reborn, he was crucified with Christ, that it should be no longer he that lived, but Christ who lived in him. He was pressed on every side, yet not constrained; cast down, yet not destroyed. In every trial he did not despair, for his inward man was renewed day by day, while his outward man perished under the consuming hand of God.

 

Unlike Job, Paul did not curse the day of his birth nor seek death, but counted it far better to live and magnify Christ, whether through life or through death. In distresses he was well-pleased; in sufferings he rejoiced; in afflictions he saw the working out of an eternal weight of glory.

 

Paul pursued to be conformed unto the death of Christ, to bear about in his body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in him. Each consuming prepared him for renewing, and each stripping made space for more of Christ to be expressed.

 

Beloved, let us not be as Job, who stood in the line of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, clinging to his own uprightness and natural attainments. Let us be of those who stand in the line of the tree of life, who live not by knowledge, but by Christ Himself as life. In our daily living, let us not water the old tree, but live by the tree of life, saying with Paul, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who liveth in me.”

Thus shall we be filled with the fullness of God, men and women of God in reality, constituted with Christ, no longer entangled with the sorrows of this world, but expressing the very life and nature of our Lord.

 

In the face of affliction, let us not forget that our fellowship with Christ which is our true life to endures, regardless of the trials we may face. Like Job, we may experience suffering for the purpose of consuming and stripping of ourselves, but as we abide in Him, we are kept by His life and His light, which are unshakable.

 

Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.