Pg1
“ A song of Grace ”
But for Grace, my soul had perished, Withered as the desert sand;
Gone to shadows, and tormented, But for Grace's perfect plan!
But for God's unceasing Mercy, But for Calvary 's sacrifice;
I had wandered, blind and thirsting, Fell to Satan's grim device.
But the blessed blood of Jesus, Shed upon that cruel tree;
Called me from the ling'ring shadows, Saved my soul, and rescued me!
But for Grace, O Grace perfected, But for love's undying flame;
I had never hoped in Jesus, Ne'er had even known His name!
-Carlos C. Beam See: Rom 5:15; Eph 2:8
“I do not at all understand the mystery of grace - only that it meets us where
we are but does not leave us where it found us.” -Anne Lamott
“Grace can pardon our ungodliness and justify us with Christ's righteousness;
it can put the Spirit of Jesus Christ within us; it can help us when we are down;
it can heal us when we are wounded; it can multiply pardons, as we through frailty multiply transgressions.” -John Bunyan (1628-1688)
Pg 2
1. God’s eternal purpose: Vs 18 - Exegesato-
{ Proclaim, expound, illuminate, explain}- Declare. “ The Word” Vs1
Ps 40:10. / 14:6-8
2. By the Manifestation of His glory: Vs 14- John 13:31/ vs. 1(2clause):
Prov 27:19 . Face, to Face: / Prov 8: 22-31 (Perfect intimacy)
( Exact representation Heb 1:2) ( An undistorted/effectual testimony Rev1:5)
3. The content of that glory: Vs 17Grace/Truth- Eph 2:8,9/ Titus3:5/
Ex33:19/ Hosea 14:2- 1Peter5:10 / ( Attributes / Acts )
4) The effects of the glory: vs. 16/ 13- The reception of Grace, and Faith,
because of it! What did we receive? Of His fullness, in order to gaze, John 6:40
In order to believe! That we might receive sonship.
Christmas is the beginning of the manifestation of God’s glory in Christ
Pg 3
“ HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE” John 5:39
Christ is the Word of God. It is not in certain texts written in the New Testament, valuable as they are; it is not in certain words which Jesus spoke, vast as is their preciousness; it is in the Word, which Jesus is, that the great manifestation of God is made. Phillips Brooks
As the prophesied Messiah, Jesus Christ is the central theme of Scripture. The Old Testament looked ahead to Him; the New Testament looks back to His first coming and on to His second. Canonical Scripture is the divinely inspired and therefore normative witness to Christ. No hermeneutic, therefore, of which the historical Christ is not the focal point is acceptable. Holy Scripture must be treated as what it essentially is – the witness of the Father to the incarnate Son.
The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy
If Jesus knew that Scripture contained human error yet never made this fact known to His followers, misleading them rather by His insistently positive attitude toward it, He can hardly qualify as a great moral teacher and the incarnate God of truth.
Henry Virkler
It is beyond doubt that Jesus highly esteemed the Old Testament and constantly submitted to it as to an authoritative revelation. He taught that the Scriptures bore a witness to him, just as he bore a witness to them. Because they are the words of God, Jesus assumed their complete reliability, in whole and to the smallest part. James Montgomery Boice
The Bible was the only book Jesus ever quoted, and then never as a basis for discussion but to decide the point at issue. Leon Morris
Pg 4
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 ¶ Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
The passage before us is clear, Christ is our victory . He is our victory for justification. We have overcome sin and death, through him, by his death, and His suffering we are made righteous, through faith in him.
We have also overcome idleness. God in his mercy has called us into the vineyard of his service, to work and labor, for the cause of His glory. In thus too, we cannot fail, Christ has started this work in us. He has called us, and He will perform it. 1Thess 5:23. “ He will work in us, the will and to do”
We by him have overcome ignorance. We are not in darkness. We walk in the light. His Word is our light and it instructs us as to our life and calling. Meditation, reading, prayer, witness, giving, helping, serving. God’s people are all industrious, according to their calling. There are none without guidance. He is our helper. Rom 8:14-17
For some of us, this will be in the home. Others in the Church. Others still in our place of frequent gathering. Wherever. We all must admit, “ we need to be more diligent, serving Him!”
As we embark upon a new year, let us labor to abound in our service to Jesus Christ. Let us prepare NOW to rearrange our priorities so that we can be more productive in the sowing to the Spirit, waiting for an harvest of grace, and mercy for us and others for whom and with whom we labor.
May 2009 be a year of growth and service for all of us, already possessing the victory!