Daily Inspirational

[Brother Love]

ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MEN

By Ike T. Sidebottom


The Holy Spirit of God spoke through the patriarch Job, saying, “How should man be just with God? ... If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean: yet shalt Thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me. For He is not a man, as I am, that I should answer Him, and we should come together in judgement. Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that should lay His hand on us both.” (Job 9:1, 30-33) It is evident that Job was clearly shown the deep and unbridged chasm between himself, the sinner, and God, the righteous One. Consequently, His cry for a “daysman” to stand betwixt him and God. Laying one hand upon God and the other hand upon Job, thereby bridging the chasm between them.

The “daysman,” or mediator, has been supplied in the person of “the man Christ Jesus.” The appointed preacher, and apostle and teacher of the Gentiles, was moved upon to reveal the fact that it is the desire of “God our Saviour” that all men be “saved,” and “come unto the knowledge of the truth.” Coupled with this unprecedented longing in the heart of God our Saviour, He has also set forth the essential facts that He is the “one God,” Who became the “one mediator” be-tween God and men, “the man Christ Jesus”  (I Timothy 2:1-7).

With God's Word as our authority, we may be absolutely positive in our teaching that “the man Christ Jesus” is not a mere man. He is man, but He is also God. He is the one, and only, God-man. Therefore He is the one and only mediator between God and men. These things are attested in “all Scripture.”

A mere man could never be rightly spoken of as being “the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Yet, we find that God has spoken through the Psalmist David, saying, “O my God...Thy years are throughout all genera-tions. Of old, hast Thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure: yea all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed: but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall have no end” (Psalms 102:24-27). It is also written in Malachi 3:6, “I am the Lord, I change not.”

The writer to the Hebrews certified these same truths, saying, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.”

Thus we see that both the Old Testament and New Testament writers have joined together in testimony that the man Christ Jesus is from everlasting to everlasting and that He is unchangeable. Therefore the “one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, Who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” is none other than perfect God and perfect man. Therefore He is the go-between, and is capable of putting one hand in the hand of the fallen sinner and the other hand in the hand of the righteous God. This makes it possible for the believing sinner to be linked up with God through the tie which can never be broken.

Let us rejoice and give thanks for our fellowship with God through Jesus Christ His Son, our Saviour.


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2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

[Brother Love]

THE FLOOD OF NOAH’S DAY


During Noah’s flood the canopy of Genesis 1:6 that "divided the waters from the waters" converged with "the fountains of the great deep" to become one gigantic ocean  (Gen. 7:11-16). And God’s judgment upon the
wickedness of man "flooded" this globe.

"And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground...and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark" (Gen.7:23).

Genesis 9:9-17 speaks about a covenant that God made with Noah. In short, the "rainbow" is God’s "token of [that] covenant" (9:13) with
mankind, that He will never again destroy the earth by a flood. God’s faithfulness to His Word, here, has been wondrously demon-strated for over 4,000 years.

"I DO SET MY BOW IN THE CLOUD, AND IT SHALL BE FOR A TOKEN OF A COVENANT BETWEEN ME AND THE EARTH. ...AND THE WATERS SHALL NO MORE BECOME A FLOOD TO DESTROY ALL FLESH" (Gen.9:13,15).

Indeed God has also been faithful to His covenant of "day" and "night" (Jer. 33:20,21) since the beginning of time, that’s 6,000 years!

Though God shall never again destroy the earth with "water", the Apostle Peter declares that after the 1,000 year reign of Christ, earth and space shall be purified with "fire" from all that with which man has polluted it (IIPet.3:10-12).

Nevertheless before Prophecy is resumed and "that great and terrible Day of the Lord comes" (Joel 2:11,31; Acts 2:20; Rev.19:11-16) the armies of Heaven shall invade the earth.

"HE THAT SITTETH IN THE HEAVENS SHALL LAUGH: THE LORD SHALL HAVE THEM
IN DERISION. THEN SHALL HE SPEAK UNTO THEM IN HIS WRATH, AND VEX THEM IN HIS SORE DISPLEASURE" (Psa.2:4,5).

Much as He did in the land of Egypt when Pharaoh would not let His people go (Ex.5:1—14:31). Are you ready for this "Coming" of the Lord  Jesus Christ? Probably not, who would be!

But God has some "good news" for you; before His wrath is poured out upon this Christ rejecting world, He shall "catch" us away to Heaven (IThes.4:13-18).

First, my friend, God wants to save you from your sins, if you will only believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

By Russell S. Miller


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2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

[Brother Love]

Personalization

"He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord"
(1 Cor. 1:31).

There should be a progression in one's faith from objective facts about the Lord Jesus to personal fellowship with him.

"It is sad to see the Lord's people, even many who pass for spiritual, who have very little concern about the Lord Jesus Himself.  They can talk much about His work, but show very clearly that the Person of the Lord Jesus has never really won their hearts.  They could not truly say, "Yes, He is altogether lovely."  They are interested in His work because that is for them-there is the selfish element in it.  But to find in the Lord Jesus Christ what the Father saw in Him when He said, "This is My Be-loved Son in whom is all my delight,"  this  place in the purposes of the Father all too few seem to have found."

"It is a proof of immense favor from the Father if in our heart's estimation the Lord Jesus is 'fairer than the children of men." It  is easy to sing hymns, and to use the most precious expressions in Scripture in a sentimental way, but it is another thing for our hearts really to fine rest and satisfaction in the moral perfections of the Lord Jesus." --C.A.C.

"The Lord Jesus Christ is the only object for faith, the only One that satisfies us, as in-deed He is the Father's object: and if we have got but one mind with the Father about Him, our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ."-- W.K.

"If you are walking in the Spirit, the Lord Jesus is the Object before you; when you are walking in the flesh, yourself is your object."  --J.B.S.

"Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ" (1 John 1:3).

By M. Stanford



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2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

[Brother Love]

GRACE AND PEACE




For many years this writer, along with the mass of religious people, supposed that the Bible phrase "grace and peace be unto you" was simply a beautiful, spiritual salutation. Thank God we have come to learn that it is much more than a salutation. It is an official proclamation.

Every single one of the epistles signed by St. Paul opens with the declaration: "Grace be unto you and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ." This was
the theme of the message which he, as a duly appointed ambassador, had been sent to proclaim. To appreciate this fully we must remember that God had declared in prophecy that He would reply to the world’s rejection of Christ with judgment. Psa. 110:1 pictures the
Father saying to the Son: "Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool." Psa. 2:5 declares: "Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them
in His sore displeasure."

After the crucifixion and ascension of Christ it seemed that all was ready for the judgment to fall. As the signs of Pentecost appeared Peter declared: "This is that which was
spoken by the prophet Joel" (Acts 2:16) and it did indeed look as if the rejected Lord was about to return to "judge and make war," as Rev. 19:11 puts it. But now, instead of
judgment and war, St. Paul proclaims grace and peace. Does this not indicate that in grace God interrupted the prophetic program to bring in the present dispensation under which God’s ambassadors proclaim with Paul:

"But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound; that as sin hath reigned... so might grace reign" (Rom. 5:20,21).

Indeed, Paul the former persecutor was himself the living demonstration of God’s grace to a Christ-rejecting world. In I Tim. 1:15,16 he declares:

"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief."

"Howbeit, for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting."


By C. R. Stam


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2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

[Brother Love]

 

[Brother Love]

Daily Inspirational

TRAVAIL




"Feed the flock of God which is among you...  being examples to the flock" (1Peter 5:2,3).

It is one thing to teach, but quite another to cultivate, nurture, and bring to maturity.  "There are ten thousand tutors," but "not many fathers."  Not many who are willing to know the conformity to death which brings the travil for souls, in fellowship with Him who travailed on the Cross for us.

"We must not expect to win healthy souls or lead them on into spiritual maturity without long travail.  If it becomes Him for whom are all things  and by whom are things,  in bringing many sons to glory, to make the Captain  of their salvation perfect through sufferings, who are we that we should expect easily to bring many sons to glory?  My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,'  that is what we must expect.  And when this travail comes we must go through with it,  not try to  escape it."  -- C.A.C.

"Probably friendship is second only to prayer in its importance in soul-winning.  With sincerity to offer one's friendship to another is an  almost certain way to gain  an opportunity to speak an effective word for the Lord.  But can one introduce two people to each other if one is a friend of only one?  How can we introduce someone to the Lord Jesus if we know only Him, but not the poor lost sinner"?


'The life with the most favorable beginning will come to maturity the soonest.   Let us aim at well-born souls. Let us seek to do more careful sowing, so as to send babes in  Christ into the world handicapped as little as possible at the beginning.  Moreover, let us  remember that our own level oft-times determines the level of those we lead to the Saviour."

"Nourished up in the words of faith and good doctrine" (1 Tim. 4:6).
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2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

[Brother Love]

Grace Vine -- Nov. 2004



Fourteen years ago this month, I was a struggling pastor, whose heart was toward God but whose Christian experience and ministry caused me to feel unfulfilled and frustrated.  It would be six more months before I heard the message of my identity in Christ and what it means to walk in grace.  At that time I wrote the following words in my journal:

What does it mean to be totally submissive to the will of God?  There are two possible goals toward which one might strive.  The first is to submit my will to the will of God so that I surrender my own desires is to His.  This second is to somehow find my will absorbed into the will of God so that I no longer have a will apart from His.

The first option is one of submission toward God.  It is an attitude which suggest that I have a preference of my own, but I choose to place my preference in a subservient posture toward God's whale.  The latter alternative eliminates independent will.  It is the merging of the human will of a man with a holy will of God in such a way that there are no longer two wills, but one.  His thoughts and desires become my own.  It means that I have no agenda of my own, that I in am neutral and content to do whatever God directs me to do.

The former position espouses complete submission to the will of God while the latter suggests complete union with God's will.  Of the two positions, the first seems more attainable; but the second certainly seems more fulfilling.

As already mentioned, at the point these words were written I was six months away from hearing the message of the believer's union with Christ.  I had never heard it taught but, as evidenced by the journal entry cited above, the Holy Spirit was beginning to prepare me to receive the great truth of the believer's union with Christ through the Cross.

I do find my assessment in the final paragraph of this entry somewhat amusing.  "The first seems more attainable"
shows that at some level I recognize that for my will and God's will to be one would require something more from me than I had been able to offer thus far.  To live in such a way that "there are no longer two wills, but one," was beyond my grasp, despite my best efforts. "The second seems more fulfilling" reveals my awareness that if it really were possible to live out of a union with God, it would be wonderful.

Thank God, the day did come a few months later when the Holy Spirit used dear people to whom He introduced me to and wonderful books to which He led me, to teach me the biblical reality of our union with Jesus Christ!  I came to discover that we don't attain obtain victory in the Christian life.  It comes as a gift though my union with Jesus at the Cross.

Much has happened in the years since I wrote these words early one morning.  I now know what it means to live from that union I then saw on the horizon.  I feel compassion for the man who wrote those words and am thankful that God miraculously rescued him from his lifetime struggle toward spiritual submission to the Father.

Are you at the place where I was when I recorded that journal entry?  If so, please receive this word of encouragement from somebody who lived there for a longtime.  You don't have to try harder to be victorious.  You don't even have to try to perfect your surrender to God.

Just relax.  Your Father has you on a journey that He is guiding.  He loves you so much that He won't stop working in your life until He finishes what He has started.  This is His project, not yours.  I wasted so much energy in frustration, self- condem-nation and rededication to try harder to do better.  Don't make the same mistake.

Take your hands off your life and give it all to Him.  Don't make more promises.  Don't analyze yourself to pieces.  Take your eyes of yourself and put your eyes on Jesus Christ.  Stare at Him and don't look away.  He really is directing your journey, even when it doesn't seem like it.

At the supernaturally appointed time, you will see His smiling face come into focus.  You will then clearly see that He has been in charge of each of your steps, all along the way.  He will guide you until, hand in hand with Him, you walk across the boundary line between time and eternity.  In the meantime, en joy your journey.  Don't struggle because it really is a grace walk.

-- Steve McVey

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2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

[Brother Love]

"LIGHT LIVING"



"Ye were once darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord" (Ephesians 5:.

It takes a long time for us to realize that we have been in the light above since we first saw the Light below.

"Let the realization of the soul be compared to the condition of men groping about in the dense, dark fog; still we know that it is clear  daylight above the fog, and all we want is to get high enough.  Now, the fact is, we are risen with Him.  Then may we set our affec-tion on the things above where the Lord Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father; and though the secret power is unseen, faith in Him will lift our spirit into the clear light where He is.--H. F. W.

The first question is, where the believer walks; the next, how he walks.  Is he in the golden palace, the Holiest of All, where the full blaze of the divine light shines, or is he still outside the palace and walking in the darkness of the world?  The believer's walk may often be faulty as he grows, but he is in the light ."-- H.F.W.

"Here it is that the child of God is to walk: 'If we walk in the light as He is in the light.' How   he walks is a question to be settled after it is determined where he walks. And walking in the light, fellowship follows, not as an attain-ment, but as a consequence."

"We are never called outside the camp till we are inside the veil. We have title to our home in the Father's presence; we are to come forth from that abiding place  let the world know that  we are strangers to it." -- J.G.B.

"As a Christian I am now in Him before the Father, as He is in me before men; and the Holy Spirit has been given as enablement to enjoy  the privileges above and to make good responsibilities below."

"Giving thanks unto the Father, who hath made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light" (Colossians 1:12).

By M. Stanford

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2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

[Brother Love]

"THE TRUTH"




The Bible is unique among books as Christ was among men, in that it is the only book that claims repeatedly and consistently to be the truth.

It begins with the majestic words: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." It does not argue the case; it simply states it. The sacramental introduction to
the prophecies is: "Thus saith the Lord," and a hundred fulfilled prophecies prove that the Bible is indeed the Word of God -- the truth.

Without apology it refers to: The "manife-station of the truth" (II Cor. 4:2).

The "knowledge of the truth" (II Tim. 3:7).

Those who "have erred concerning the truth" (II Tim. 2:18).

Those who "resist the truth" (II Tim. 3:.

Those who "hold [hold down, suppress] the truth in unrighteousness" (Rom. 1:18).

Those who "turn away their ears from the truth" (II Tim. 4:4).

Those who "believe and know the truth" (I Tim. 4:3).

Those who "acknowledge the truth" (Tit. 1:1).

Our Lord said to His Father: "Thy Word is truth" (John 17:17).

Paul wrote to those who were saved when they "heard the word of truth, the gospel of [their] salvation" (Eph.1:13).

We are instructed to "rightly divide the Word of truth," that we may be "approved unto God... workmen who need not to be ashamed" (II Tim. 2:15).

Where the truth is concerned God’s Word is all we need, for:

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness;

"That the man of God may be perfect [complete], THOROUGHLY FURNISHED unto all good works" (II Tim. 3:16,17).

By C. R. Stam

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2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

[Brother Love]

BIBLE TEST





A Bible test was sprung recently on five classes of college-bound llth and 12th graders in an American public school.

Some thought Sodom and Gomorrah were lovers; that the Gospels were written by Matthew, Mark, Luther and John; that Eve was created from an apple; and that the stories which Jesus told were called parodies.

Eighty to ninety per cent of the students could not complete the most familiar quo-tations from Scripture.

The teacher, Thayer S. Warshaw, was understandably upset and rightly asked: "Is the student to study mythology and Shake-speare and not the Bible? Is it important for him to learn what it means when a man is called an Adonis or a Romeo, yet unimport-ant for him to be able to tell a Jonah from a Judas?"

This writer’s heart is with that teacher and all who are awake enough to see that the Bible is disappearing more and more from American life. How can we expect anything
but juvenile delinquency, the rapid general rise in the crime rate, the growing divorce rate, increasing dishonesty at every level of business and social life -- how can we ex-
pect anything but these conditions when the Bible is flaunted and despised? This depar-ture from the Word of God is bound to get us deeper and deeper into trouble.

But whatever the conditions about you, you may have the joy and peace and light that comes from that Blessed Book. The Bible tells us frankly that "all have sinned" (Rom. 3:23) and that "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23) since a just God must deal with sin. Ah, but it tells us also that "Christ died for our sins" (I Cor. 15:3), and that the believer may have "peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1).

Read the Bible, especially the Epistles of Paul, who was raised up to proclaim "the gospel [good news] of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24). You will never cease to thank God for having given your attention to this wonderful Book.

By C. R. Stam

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2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

[Brother Love]

Growing Up In Grace

PART 1


Introduction

Have you ever told anyone to grow up? Has anyone ever told you that you need to grow up. What did they mean when they said that? What did you mean when you said that?

Illustration: In The Last Days Newsletter, Leonard Ravenhill tells about a group of tourists visiting a picturesque village who walked by an old man sitting beside a fence. In a rather patronizing way, one tourist asked, "Were any great men born in this village?" The old man replied, "Nope, only babies." A frothy question brought a profound answer. There are no instant heroes -- whether in the world or in the body of Christ. Growth takes time.

Paul tells us to grow up, not to be a baby anymore!

God wants us, as believers, to grow up. To realize our adult status in the body of Christ.

Notice: Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

How Can We or How Do We Grow Up?

When we say grow up we mean to mature. Maturity is "full development". Christians sometimes remind me of schoolchildren who want to look up the answers to their math problems in the back of the book rather than work them through.

God's will for all believers is that we would "grow up" and be mature saints. Toward that end, the Apostle Paul gives us three distinct principles that will assist in our efforts to function like the adult sons of God that we have been made in Christ.

These three principles of maturity in the Age of Grace are faith, hope, and charity.



 

Faith, Hope, & Charity



 

Paul wrote to at least 2 assemblies regarding faith, hope & charity.

One group was immature and the other was not. One employed the principles of faith, hope & charity and one did not. Do you know who they were?

 

The Immature Corinthians!

1 Cor 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.

 

The Maturing Thessalonians!

1 Th 1:6 And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost: 7 So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing.
 

[Brother Love]

Growing Up In Grace

PART 2

What a contrast!


one assembly must be dealt with as "babes in Christ"
the other assembly are "ensamples to all that believe". Question: How are you known? Your Assembly? How would you and I like to be known?

What is the reason for this great contrast in the maturity level of the assemblies at Corinth and Thessalonica? The difference can be found in the extent to which the assemblies and the individuals in them functioned based on the principles of faith, hope & charity

 

The Corinthians demonstrate their immaturity by not putting away childish things.

Paul writes to them and says…

1 Cor 13:11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

When we look at the Thessalonians we read Paul commending their maturity .

1 Th 1:2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; 3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;

Clearly then, faith, hope & charity were missing in the church at Corinth and were present in the church at Thessalonica!

It is these principles that made the assembly at Thessalonica a much more mature and properly functioning assembly than the one at Corinth!

These principles are the principles that describe how mature Sons of God are to function in the Age of Grace.



The Work Of Faith



Our walk today, in the dispensation of the grace of God is to be by faith!

2 Cor 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

2 Cor 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

 


Faith is not based on physical circumstances of life.2 Cor 11:24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

2 Tim 4:6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

Question: Was God displeased with Paul's service? It might look that way but Paul says by inspiration of the Holy Spirit "I have kept the faith!"


Paul's evaluation of his service was not based upon his physical circumstances. It was based upon comparing his service with the revealed will of God in His Word.


Doing a work of faith, not looking to circumstances for guidance or confirmation of our faith, is a principle that will allow us to function as the mature adult sons that God has made us in Christ.

[Brother Love]

Growing Up In Grace


PART 3

The Labor of Love



Charity is the outworking of Love! Many corrupt translations change the word charity in Corinthians to love. However the word of God defines charity as the product of love. There can be no true act of charity without love and there can be no true love without it producing an act of charity.

 

The Apostle Paul makes clear to us that we are motivated to service by God's love, not by His wrath as with Israel.

2 Cor 5:14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:

Paul encourages us to serve the Lord, not because we fear His wrath, but because we are grateful to Him for having delivered us from His wrath by His grace.

This principle can be clearly seen in admonitions from Matthew and Ephesians concerning the act of forgiveness.

Mat 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. 14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, (then) your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, (then) neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

 

Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. 5:1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;


God's desire to have his people be a forgiving people has never changed, but His way of motivating His people to do so has changed.


As Israel prepared for the kingdom they were motivated to forgive out of a fear that they would not be forgiven. As we forgive in the Age of Grace we are motivated to forgive because we have already been forgiven.

The Patience of Hope



In Romans 8 the Apostle Paul tells us how we are to view physical sufferings in the Age of Grace.

Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

Notice that what Paul uses to describe our physical deliverance is exactly the opposite of that used by Moses to describe Israel's physical deliverance.


First, Paul says that our physical redemption is something that "we see not".
Second, our physical redemption is something that we "with patience wait for".
Our lives in the Dispensation of Grace are not lives that are going to be marked with miraculous displays of deliverance from physical distress. Rather they are lives that must be lived enduring tribulation while patiently waiting for the deliverance of our bodies.
Living our lives in the patience of hope, not looking for immediate deliverance from our physical difficulties, is a principle that will allow us to function as the mature adult sons that God has made us in Christ.

[Brother Love]

Growing Up In Grace


PART 4


Walk Worthy of Your Calling



In Paul's closing admonitions to the church at Corinth he once again returns to these three principles of adult sonship as he encourages them to push toward maturity.

1 Cor 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work (of faith) of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour (of love) is not in vain (patience of hope) in the Lord.

We, as individuals and as local assemblies, as we follow these three principles of faith, hope, and charity will walk worthy of our position as adult Sons of God.


By Pastor D. Dodd

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2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

[Brother Love]

PERSONAL PREPARATION




"I count all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my LORD" (Phil. 3:.

Truth is acquired in fellowship with His Word; truth is shared in fellowship with His heart.

"It is feared that when we speak of being here for Christ it is often the thought of our service or conduct that it prominent,  and therefore it is well to be reminded that there is something over which the Lord Jesus is more concerned than He is over our conduct or our service.  It is that 'garden closed,' that 'spring shut up,' that 'fountain sealed,' from which all others but Himself are excluded -- the hidden spring of those affections which alone satisfy His heart, or render conduct and service acceptable to Him."  -- C.A.C.

"All our trials in service only serve to lead us to know the Father, as we could not know Him otherwise, as 'the Father of mercies, and the God of all consolation' (2 Cor. 1:3).  It is in this school that we acquire the ability to comfort others; so that our personal affliction or personal comfort work unto the same end, even the profit of others -- for we are their servants for Jesus' sake." --J.L.H.

"A preparedness is necessary for the Christian soldier who hears his Lord's words.  We have to learn that human energy cannot cross rivers of death, or break down walls of this world's strongholds; and if we be aroused to follow the Lord, it must be in His own way.  Impulse is not faith.  Going forward in the mere strength of humanity,-- acquired knowledge of God's Truth -- is not being lead of the Spirit.  The Father would not have His people act in the excitement of freshly -- gained knowledge, and well would it often be, if instead of pushing on in the impulse of new--acquired truth, there were first a tarrying, as it were, three days, to digest it, to make it, by the power of God's Spirit, thoroughly part of the new man." --H.F.W.

"Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God" (Col. 3:1).


By M. Stanford

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Should this devotional be a blessing to you, maybe you have a friend or family member that would like to start receiving the daily word. You may forward this to them, by copy and paste method,  and they can use the below link to subscribe. We love to meet new people

Daily Inspirational

WEB SITE
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E-Mail GracentheTruth@aol.com

2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.