In John 14:6 Christ is said to be, the way, the truth and the life. In 1 Co 1:30 Christ is said to be made unto me, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. This covers all that I need to stand in God\u2019s presence, only a fool would look for more. Pastor John Chapman<\/p>\n
Prevenient Grace
\nWhat is Prevenient Grace? It is grace before grace, or that which is pre (before) convenient (purposed to an end)? In fact, it is everything, (yes, everything) a child of God experiences in life and thought prior to being effectually called to Christ by the Holy Spirit. Our Heavenly Father knows each one of His children perfectly. He has ordained a perfect set of circumstances for each one of them to be able to hear the gospel and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. In the hand of our merciful, loving Father, it really is\u2026 \u201cAll Good\u201d.
\nBecause the reprobate enjoys the benefits of living in a world where God is providing for His people, some speak of God\u2019s \u201ccommon\u201d grace. There is nothing \u201ccommon\u201d about God\u2019s grace, and there is no such thing as grace that is not saving grace. Only God\u2019s elect receive God\u2019s grace, and everything they receive is by God\u2019s grace. \u201cI know the thoughts I have for you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.\u201d Jer. 29:11. \u201cAnd we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to His purpose.\u201d Rom. 8:28. \u2013Greg Elmquist<\/p>\n
1 Now from the garden to the cross,
\nLet us attend the Lamb of God.
\nBe all things else accounted dross,
\nCompared with sin atoning blood.
\n2 See, how the patient Jesus stands,
\nInsulted in his lowest case:
\nSinners have bound the Almighty’s hands;
\nAnd spit in their Creator’s face.
\n3 With thorns his temples gored and gashed,
\nSend streams of blood from every part.
\nHis back’s with knotted scourges lashed:
\nBut sharper scourges tear his heart.
\n4 Nailed naked to the accursed wood;
\nExposed to earth, and heaven above,
\nA spectacle of wounds and blood;
\nA prodigy of injured love!
\n5 Hear how his doleful cries affright
\nAffected angels, while they view.
\nHis friends forsook him in the night;
\nAnd now his God forsakes him too.
\n6 O what a field of battle’s here!
\nVengeance and love their powers oppose:
\nNever was such a mighty pair;
\nNever were two such desperate foes.
\n7 Behold that pale, that languid face,
\nThat drooping head, those cold dead eyes!
\nBehold, in sorrow and disgrace,
\nOur conquering Hero hangs and dies!
\n8 Ye that assume his sacred name,
\nNow tell me, what can all this mean?
\nWhat was it bruised God’s harmless Lamb!
\nWhat was it pierced his soul, but sin?
\n9 Blush, Christian, blush; let shame abound,
\nIf sin affects thee not with woe,
\nWhatever spirit’s in thee found,
\nChrist’s Spirit thou didst never know.
\nJoseph Hart \u201cThe Crucifixion\u201d<\/p>\n
CASTING DOWN THE WORKER OF INIQUITY<\/p>\n
Psalm 36: 1: The transgression of the wicked, saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes. 2: For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful\u2026. 5: Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. 6: Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast 7: How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings\u20269: For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light\u202612: There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise.<\/p>\n
When my old man of sin begins to reign over me, the only way I am delivered is by the Spirit of Christ. He speaks into my new man making me see that my sinful flesh is \u201cthe wicked worker of iniquity.\u201d When I think myself anything more, the Spirit reveals it is only my sinful flesh \u201cflattering himself in his own eyes.\u201d But the lust of my flesh can only flatter \u201cuntil his iniquity be found to be hateful.\u201d The Holy Spirit renews my new man, making the iniquity of my sinful flesh hateful to me. Then, beholding my own sinful flesh, \u201cthe transgression of the wicked, saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then the Spirit magnifies God my Father and my Lord Jesus to me bringing me to praise him for his unchanging mercy, faithfulness, righteousness and lovingkindess by which he preserves me when I am more beast than man. Once again, he brings me to trust under the shadow of his wings.<\/p>\n
Then I am brought to give God, through my Lord Jesus Christ, all the glory for once again delivering me from the body of this death. Lord, once again you have shown me that with thee is the fountain of life: in thy Light shall we see light. There, in Christ thy Light, is the worker of iniquity within me, once again, fallen: there, in Christ thy Light, is he cast down within me. And as long as you make me see light in thy Light, Lord, he shall not be able to rise.
\nA PICTURE OF FAITH<\/p>\n
Exodus 12: 8: And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. <\/p>\n
We may have considered the application of the blood over the doorpost as a picture of faith. But the blood was applied by the elder who was head of his house. (Ex 12: 21-22) Christ is the Elder who is Head of his house. (Heb 3: 5-6) Through the Holy Spirit, Christ sprinkles the hearts of his people with his blood, making with us God\u2019s everlasting covenant of grace. Moses also pictured Christ performing this work when Moses sprinkled the children of Israel with the blood of a lamb, enjoining the first covenant of works to them. (Heb 9: 14, 18-23) But in this eighth verse, we have an instructive picture of faith in Christ and repentance from dead works. <\/p>\n
They shall eat the flesh in that night. In the same night the elder applied the blood to the doorpost of their house they ate the flesh of the paschal lamb. As soon as Christ applies his blood to our hearts, we are made willing to eat Christ\u2019s body and drink his blood by believing on him. (Jn 6: 53-57)<\/p>\n
Roast with fire. They did not make the lamb to be roasted with fire by eating it. They ate the lamb that, in type, had already borne the fire for them. Faith does not make Christ\u2019s work to be effectual for me. Rather, faith believes on Christ who has already borne the fire of God\u2019s justice on my behalf, confessing, \u201cI AM crucified with Christ\u201d (Gal 2: 20), \u201cour old man IS crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.\u201d (Rom 6: 5)<\/p>\n
And unleavened bread. Leaven typifies sin. Christ made us righteous by his work for us on the cross\u2014\u201cBlessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity.\u201d Christ makes us holy by his work in us in regeneration\u2014\u201cAnd in whose spirit there is no guile.\u201d (Ps 32: 2) Thereby, \u201cYe ARE unleavened.\u201d Therefore, we keep the feast \u201cnot with the old leaven\u201d adding our self-righteous works, \u201cbut with the unleavened bread of TRUTH\u201d resting in Christ our Righteousness. \u201cNeither with the leaven of MALICE and WICKEDNESS\u201d adding our self-sanctifying works, \u201cbut with the unleavened bread of SINCERITY\u201d worshipping with a holy heart by Christ our Sanctification. (1 Cor 5: 7-8) \u201cGod is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in SPIRIT and in TRUTH.\u201d (Jn 4: 24) <\/p>\n
And with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Accompanying God-given faith in Christ is God-given repentance from our sin. \u201cI will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in BITTERNESS for him, as one that is in BITTERNESS for his firstborn.\u201d (Zech 12: 10)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In John 14:6 Christ is said to be, the way, the truth and the life. In 1 Co 1:30 Christ is said to be made unto me, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. This covers all that I need to stand in God\u2019s presence, only a fool would look for more. Pastor John Chapman Prevenient Grace […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bulletin-editions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4795"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4795\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4796,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4795\/revisions\/4796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}