The Happen Stance

How to Make Things Happen In Your Christian Life

K. Neill Foster

BEFORE WE LAUNCH fully into this discussion of Christianity on the offense, we must observe that each of our spiritual weapons is vitally related to the person of Jesus Christ. This relationship is not contrived. One of the requisites for each chapter that follows is that it must finally focus on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our victory. And so we are taking fourteen different ways to arrive at the same person - Jesus, the Lord.

I have determined that every chapter must lift up Jesus Christ. And so in the pages that follow He is declared - as He was in New Testament times. If it were not such a weary cliché, I would close every chapter with the words, "Christ is the answer."

But cliché or no, it is a fact. And I say it carefully. I know of no human problem, difficulty, or trial which cannot find resolution in Christ. A broken marriage. A broken heart. Wayward children. Financial reverses. Sorrow and bereavement. Sinfulness. Defeat. Depression. Discouragement. Sickness. Obnoxious personality traits. Deteriorating cultures. Nations under impending judgment. For all of these problems - and for many more - Jesus Christ is the answer.

Why is Christ the answer?

Because He is the Word.

Because He is the object of our praise.

Because we pray through Him.

Because we pray in His mighty name.

Because His blood still avails.

Because all authority is given to Him.

Because He is the Savior who fasted.

Because He is one with the Father in perfect unity.

Because He is the one whom we confess.

Because He is the author and finisher of our faith.

Because He surrendered unconditionally to the Father.

Because He suffered for our sins.

Because the gifts of the Holy Spirit are expressions of His body.

Because He is love personified.

Because He is God.

After his resurrection Jesus Christ ascended into heaven. He now sits at the right hand of the Father, far above all spiritual darkness. Jesus reigns now through His-children in this world. His purposes are being fulfilled. World events are controlled by our Lord now. And as the world lurches toward Armageddon, apparently out of control, divine purposes are nevertheless being fulfilled.

Another day is coming. Christ will return to this earth. He will openly seize the reins of human government and usher in the golden age. This is reason enough, I say, to shout encouragement to the battlers here and now.

So take courage!

Fight on!

Press your battle!

Charge - in Jesus' name!

FIRE

Fire consumes. It begins with a tiny flicker or a wisp of smoke. But fire in full bloom is a roaring, devouring, destroying force.

God's Word is like a fire and we do well never to forget it. Korea presently is a country where Christianity is on the march. On at least two occasions crowds numbering more than one million persons have assembled to hear the Christian gospel.

But the Korean flame was introduced by one (mark that, one) convert who led nearly his whole village to Christ even before the arrival of the first Protestant missionary, Horace Allen. Nearly a hundred years later the converts number in the millions. The present goal in Korea is to have a Bible-teaching church within walking distance of every Korean.

We do not play with fire. Only children or fools do that. But we must never forget that God's Word in our hands is "like a fire."

In every nation, the men and women of real influence are not the politicians, the presidents, or the prime ministers. They are those who spread the fire. History hinges upon the church of Jesus Christ.

DELIVERANCE

The delivering power of God's Word is also remarkable. Jesus Christ cast out the spirits "with his

word" (Matt. 8:16). The demons today are still driven out by the Scriptures. The Word of God, plainly read or preached, is powerful enough to effect deliverance from occult subjection and satanic bondage. If the devil could tear pages out of the Bible, he would certainly tear out those pages that describe Christ's authority, the victory of Calvary, and the mastery believers have under Christ's authority over his evil kingdom.

Paul declared the Word of God was not bound (2 Tim. 2:9). And John believed the young men were strong because "the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one" (1 John2:14).

God's Word does overcome. Yet many times we preach, print, or share the Word of God without realizing its overcoming power.

Against the kingdom of darkness, the Word is lethal, explosive, deadly. It can blast away human notions and satanic delusions.

HUNTING MOOSE

I am not a great hunter (my wife would surely agree), but I love to hunt the northern moose. Twenty minutes from my door is the wilderness. On my first moose hunt, about half an hour after we arrived in the hunting area, a bull came toward me through the trees. He was so close I could not see him through the scope on my borrowed .308 calibre rifle. I shot and he bolted sideways, but did not fall. Later one of my companions made the kill.

The next day as my partner and I were walking along, crossing frozen beaver ponds, there was the sound of crashing animals in the Alberta bush. Moments later a cow moose and her calf moved into plain view and paused to gaze at their intruders.

We fired our rifles and the animals tumbled. It was a rich reward. The surging feelings within seemed to be primordial. Perhaps there is a hunter buried deep in every man.

Later, I had a feeling of awe for the rifles and bullets. The results had been so decisive and final. I am sure, if we only knew it, if we only could see the invisible, the Word of God is a mighty, mighty weapon. God help us to aim it well.

SWORD WORK

The Bible is often likened to a sword. "Take. . .the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Eph. 6:17), said Paul. The writer to the Hebrews said, "For the word of God is living, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Heb. 4:12).

A sword cuts, pierces, rips apart. It kills and destroys. It conquers. It is an offensive weapon which is greatly feared. Before the advent of guns, it was the key to success or failure in war.

But I don't want you to think of only the Bible as God's Word. Focus on Jesus, the Son. In the first chapter of John's Gospel He is the Son of God, eternal, divine, and incarnate, the living Word. John sees Him ultimately as the Word who shall reign forever (Rev. 19:13).

So often we have quoted Hebrews 4: 12 and almost invariably we have taken it to refer to the written Word of God.

But what fascinates me is the verse that follows. The writer has been talking about the Word of God, about the sword. Now he immediately says, "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his eyes, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do" (italics mine). Clearly, the writer is speaking of a person.

Jesus Christ is the Word. He is the sword of the Spirit. He pierces and divides.

 Jesus is the Word. Conquer your circumstances through the Word!

Chapter 2