THE FOUNDATION OF THE FORWARD MOVEMENT.
There is only one source of life. “With Thee is the fountain of life.” Ps. 36:9. “He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.” Acts 17:25. All men have forfeited life through sin. “All have sinned.” Rom. 3:23. “The wages of sin is death.” Rom. 6:23. “Being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them.” Eph. 4:18. This gift of life was renewed to men in the gift of Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the world. “And the witness is this, that God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath the life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life.” 1 John 5:11, 12, R. V. We receive Christ the Son (and therefore have Him) by believing. “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” John 1:12. “Believing [or by believing] ye might have life through His name.” John 20:31. The purpose of eating is to impart life, and not to gratify appetite. “Eat . . . for strength, and not for drunkenness.” Eccl. 10:17. The food and drink which God gives are spiritual. “And did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink.” 1 Cor. 10:3, 4. This was just as real food and drink (bread and water) as we deal with now. Life comes only from the word of God. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” “In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.” John 1:1, 4. Man lives only by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. We are to recognize this constantly in our eating and drinking. It is our privilege to drink living water which comes direct from the throne of God. “And He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.” “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Rev. 22:1, 17. The original diet of man was the word of God. “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” Gen. 1:29, R. V. “The seed is the word of God.” Luke 8:11. In saying, “Let the earth bring forth grass,” etc., God sowed the seed of every good thing. The earth was empty, and nothing could come from it until the seed was sown. But there was nothing sown but the word of God. Therefore the seed from which everything came that grew out of the ground in the beginning was nothing else than the word of God. And it also follows that the life of every seed that is borne by the grass, herbs, and trees, is nothing other than the actual word of God.