"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5). In other words, you can do no more without Him than He could do without the Father. But how much could the Father do through the Son? Everything! for He was available to all that the Father made available to Him. "Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands . . ." (John 13:3.) "It pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell" (Colossians 1:19).
How much then can Jesus Christ do through you and through me? Everything! He is limited only by the measure of our availability to all that He makes available to us, for "in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in Him" (Colossians 2:9,10). What then is the faith that releases divine action? How may you be saved by His life, as you have already claimed to be redeemed by His death? This is the critical question of Christian experience, and the answer is simple "The just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17).
Faith in all its sheer simplicity! Faith that takes God precisely at His Word! Faith that simply says, "Thank You."
If you are to know the fulness of life in Christ, you are to appropriate the efficacy of what He is as you have already appropriated the efficacy of what He has done. Relate everything, moment by moment as it arises to the adequacy of what He is in you, and assume that His adequacy will be operative; and on this basis in I Thessalonians 5:16 you are exhorted to "rejoice evermore!" You are to be incorrigibly cheerful, for you have solid grounds upon which to rejoice!
Can any situation possible arise, in any circumstances, for which He is not adequate: Any pressure, promise, problem, responsibility or temptation for which the Lord Jesus Himself is not adequate? If He be truly God, there cannot be a single one!
This being so, applying His adequacy by faith to every situation as it arises, will leave you with no alternative but to obey the injunction of I Thessalonians 5:18 "In everything give thanks!" In how many things? In everything without exception, "this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
From: The Saving Life of Christ. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House. ©1961.
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Major Ian Thomas (1914 - 2007)
Evangelical writer, theological teacher and founder of the Torchbearers bible schools. These schools are now world-wide in many countries and provide a teaching base on the person of Christ in the believer and basic Biblical exposition of Bible books.Among the many books that he wrote, the most influential have been: "The Saving Life Of Christ" , "The mystery of godliness" and "If I perish, I Perish." His burden in ministry was to express and show the indwelling life of Christ in believers and the rest and power that life will have in us as we trust and have faith.
Recommends these books by Major Ian Thomas:
The Indwelling Life of Christ: All of Him in All of Me by Major Ian Thomas
If I Perish, I Perish by Major Ian Thomas
The Mystery of Godliness: Experiencing Christ in Us by Major Ian Thomas
W Ian Thomas was a writer and theological teacher. Thomas is probably best known as an author and as the founder of both Torchbearers International and Capernwray Missionary Fellowship of Torchbearers.
His book, "The Saving Life of Christ", seems to have had a profound affect on Bert Harned, M.D., and the many individuals he has discipled in his lifetime.
Major W. Ian Thomas was born in London, England of middle class parents and was converted at the age of twelve in a Boy's Camp. With the intention of becoming a missionary in Africa, he studied medicine at London University for two years, where as a student of nineteen, in deep discouragement about his Christian life, he discovered the life-transforming secret of the indwelling life of the risen, living Lord Jesus Christ in the life of the believer. This discovery precipitated him almost immediately into an evangelistic and Bible teaching ministry which has spread around the world.
Arising from this world wide-ministry, there came into being a Young Peoples Christian Conference Center and Bible School at Capernwray Hall, Carnforth, in the North West of England and from this beginning there developed the Capernwray Missionary Fellowship of Torchbearers, of which Major Thomas is the Founder and General Director.
There are now Conference Centers and Bible Schools beyond the British Isles in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Sweden, Canada, the U.S.A., Australia, New Zealand, India, Indonesia, Japan, Costa Rica and additional Headquarters established in the Sudan, Micronesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Major W. Ian Thomas was born in London, England of middle class parents and was converted at the age of twelve in a Boy's Camp. With the intention of becoming a missionary in Africa, he studied medicine at London University for two years, where as a student of nineteen, in deep discouragement about his Christian life, he discovered the life-transforming secret of the indwelling life of the risen, living Lord Jesus Christ in the life of the believer. This discovery precipitated him almost immediately into an evangelistic and Bible teaching ministry which has spread around the world.
Arising from this world wide-ministry, there came into being a Young Peoples Christian Conference Center and Bible School at Capernwray Hall, Carnforth, in the North West of England and from this beginning there developed the Capernwray Missionary Fellowship of Torchbearers, of which Major Thomas is the Founder and General Director.
There are now Conference Centers and Bible Schools beyond the British Isles in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Sweden, Canada, the U.S.A., Australia, New Zealand, India, Indonesia, Japan, Costa Rica and additional Headquarters established in the Sudan, Micronesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.