Examples of Grace

"That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus," Ephesians 2:7.

The Lord has greatly blessed me. He saved my unworthy soul when I deserved to go to Hell. Jesus rescued me, certainly not because I deserved it, but because He showed this wretched sinner mercy. I'm thankful for what Christ did for me and what He's doing for me now, and what He has promised to do in the future. Our text isn't talking about the here and now, but in ages and generations to come. Do you every think about life after death? Does this world have such a hold on you that you are captive to its every whim? God showed mercy to sinners to make the redeemed displays of His grace. He brought us from under wrath to the trophies of His mercy.

In the ages to come, in the New Earth, God's people, washed in the blood of the Lamb, will be the demonstrations of God's awesome kindness. The Lord saved sinners so He might show through all eternity, how gracious and kind He is to us through Jesus. God, to glorify His kindness, has planned to use His people as the means on which to show that kindness. The Almighty will show how good He is in eternity by continually showing kindness to his children. God has already shown more mercy and kindness to a sinner like me than I can calculate, but the storehouse of goodness will never empty. I'll never get to the bottom of the treasure house of grace. In the ages to come, God will STILL be showing me how good He is through Christ Jesus

I know this life is hard and it may seem like one battle after the other and can easily get discouraged and downcast. But if you are in Christ, you have this eternal joy waiting for you. You have the unending, multiplied blessings waiting. Look to His promises and live by faith. Don't become a slave to what the world tells you to think and how the world tells you to feel. I have liberty in Christ, and I am His freeman. I need not live in the bondage of fear any longer, that's not the spirit of God within. Do you know Christ? Then consider the end of His great sacrifice that redeems, justifies, and glorifies. You have a living hope in a living Saviour, who wills that His people, His purchased possessions will be where He is and see Him as He is. It was Christ that loved me, sought me, saved me, died for me in my place, redeemed me, gave me life, granted me repentance, and unites Himself to me, so that I am one with Him – and it is Christ in whom I have hope in for the future. He has never done me wrong or failed to do what He promised.

The Feast of Tabernacles.

During the Feast of Tabernacles the children of Israel went camping. Personally, I prefer hammock camping, but they had some regulations and had to use a tent (also called tabernacles, or booths) constructed from trees. In West Virginia, wilderness camping means go to Dolly Sods and camping amongst the bears in the wild. But for the children of Israel, wilderness camping meant something else. Leaving Egypt and wandering in the wilderness before entering the promised land for 40 years was wilderness camping for Israel.

 God established an annual, weeklong camping trip/feast, where they gathered together and lived in tents like their forefathers did when they left Egypt (Leviticus 23:42-44). Every year, away from home, they and remembered the old days and how God delivered their ancestors from Pharaoh and brought them into the good land, flowing with milk and honey. They also recalled, though God kept His promise, it was because of the disobedience and hard hearts of their forefathers, they spent 40 years in booths, rather than a couple weeks. "I know you want to go back home Johnny, but imagine living like this for 40 years!"

 The Feast of Tabernacles wasn't just a family reunion, it was a solemn feast, a religious festival. They rejoiced in God's goodness, in faith and thanksgiving (Deuteronomy 16:13-15).  A weeklong Thanksgiving (sounds good to me!) praising the Lord for the blessing in harvest and the hope God will bless in the future. They took a week after the hard work of harvest was over, and praised God for his goodness, mercy, and provision – He is the covenant keeping God.

 

The feast of tabernacles was also a bloody week because there where a whole lot of sacrifices – 191 meat offerings, 191 drink offerings and 199 animal sacrifices. So much bloodshed and offering, just in this one week, but it never appeased God’s wrath. Hebrews 10:4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. The sin was never taken away. Day after day, month after month, year after year the priests offered sacrifice  because the blood of bulls and goats was not sufficient to take away sins. But this man [Jesus Christ], after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified (Hebrews 10:12-14). Old testament animal sacrifices picture the true substitutionary atonement and blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin.  We see in the unmarred, spotless animal sacrifice the picture of the pure and sinless life, body and blood of the Lord Christ Jesus. Most strikingly, we see the inability to appease God’s wrath with blood of bulls and goats. Rivers of blood flowed in the Old Testament sacrifices, but God’s wrath was never satisfied. Only in Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross was it said that God was satisfied (Isaiah 53:11). 

 

Walk at Home

Since March, many people have the option (required?) to work from home. Online schools, Zoom meetings, live stream events are a way of life for a lot of people now. It's a blessing for some ,but a curse for others. The BBC reported that during the first seven weeks of their lockdown, the police received one domestic abuse call every 30 seconds. For many women and children, the government locked them in a prison and doomed them to far worse suffering than COVID. Sadly, we don't know how many homes are not what they ought to be or even appear to be on the outside. Psalms 101:2  "…I will walk within my house with a perfect heart."

You are who you are at home. If you are a paradigm of piety in public but a scoundrel at home, I can tell you which persona is the real one. David was the same man at home as he was in public. He sang of God's mercy and judgment in public worship as well as private. David's faith had feet. He "walked" in his home, which is talking about his character, his integrity, and the principles that guided his life. His guiding principle for public and private life, was the Word of God. David's goal was to walk with a perfect heart everywhere, but especially at home. Charles Spurgeon called it, "The Psalm of Pious Resolutions." Most agree this was written as prior to David becoming king, and maybe before David was married as he thought about life as the head of his home. When he thought about what it meant to lead, he didn't imagine using and abusing authority, but he purposed to do what was right, even when he was out of the prying and critical public eye. When he came home and sat down to rest, away from his enemies and away from the public pressure of being a man of authority, he wasn't going to give himself over to sin because he "deserved a break." But he loved God in the public square, and loved him at home. David's resolution was to be a holy man, starting and especially at home. Some Christians get so wrapped up in their testimony to the lost and yet never give a moments consideration to their testimony at home. Do you treat your family better or worse than your co-workers?

If you know your Bible, you might be reading with a furrowed brow of disapproval, thinking, "David wasn't much of a family man, look at what he did in his life!" Which is true. David was a sinner and he wasn't the best husband who ever lived, or the best father. But consider all David's problems in his later years came from his failure to walk in his house with a perfect heart. It should be your desire to walk with integrity in public, but just as much in private. Christ must be Lord of your life, and that includes your home.

 

Integrity

“The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them,” Proverbs 11:3. Integrity means to be whole, complete, or sound. A building, with structural integrity, will stand strong when the storm comes rolling in. Or, when people talk about the “integrity of our elections,” they are talking about the soundness and reliability of the process. If a person has integrity they are morally whole and sound. To have integrity you need convictions and the gumption to stand upright by them. A man of integrity stands upright. But what’s the difference between a man of integrity and a hardheaded individual? Many confuse their cantankerousness for conviction but how can we distinguish the two? To stand with integrity, you need a foundation. If the structure of your conviction is going to have any integrity, it needs a strong base, the truth of God’s Word. It’s hard to remain upright slipping and sliding in the mud, no matter how confident you are about your footing. Having opinions and sticking to them isn’t necessarily a recipe for holiness. Being truly convinced and being wrong is not a good road to travel. Know truth and stick to it.

When your foundational belief is to do whatever benefits them in the moment, your own crooked ways will be your doom. The sin and their deceitfulness used to get what you want, in the end, becomes your own judgment. Like wicked Haman, in the book of Esther, who built the gallows to hang his enemy Mordecai in a treacherous and murderous plot, was in the end, the one who was swinging from them when his plan backfired. Having no core convictions or compromising the truth can be beneficial for a little while, but in the end, you’ll pay a heavy price.

The man of integrity is not going to bend due to public pressure. He won’t be swayed by the popularity of his positions. He won’t change, even if he knows it will cost him. In Paul’s letter to Titus, the second chapter deals with issues he wanted Titus to preach. To the young men in the church, he wanted them to be sound in doctrine and their life. They should believe the truth, speak the truth sincerely and live the truth with integrity (Titus 2:7-8). If you want to be a person of integrity you need to have integrity in your belief. When Moses sent Joshua and Caleb to spy out the promised land before entering, they came back with an honest report. But the people didn’t like what they heard. The tide of public opinion was beginning to turn against them. Because they were men of integrity, they stood on the promises of God and rebuked the people for their lack of faith and exhorted them to take the land. The result? The people wanted to stone them. Men of integrity are rarely popular while they live because the have to stand against the majority. 

I’m Offended

Are you offended? Seems like most people are today. Offend came from the Latin word offenden, which means “to sin against,” and offendere, which means to “attack or to strike.” But, since our culture no longer has any moral common ground, and has forgone the Biblical doctrine of sin, we have no basis for offense, other than our feelings. I think the last thing we all agree is wrong is hurting someone’s feelings. We are more offended by being told we are wrong than sin itself and demand apologies for our words. But we shouldn’t apologize simply because someone is offended when we simply state what we believe. You definitely should apologize if you sin against someone but not for saying something that makes some sensitive soul’s bottom lip quiver. 

After the Lord’s famous teaching in John 6, some disciples who followed said (in John 6:59-65) it was a “hard saying.” This doesn’t mean the Lord’s sermon was difficult to understand. It means they thought Jesus harsh, intolerable, and offensive (compare Matthew 25:24 and James 3:4 where it’s translated “fierce”). The Lord’s message wasn’t a hard saying because it was difficult to understand. It was a hard saying because it was completely understood. These students were offended by the Teacher. There are two main themes in Jesus message, the sovereignty of God in salvation and the exclusivity of salvation by grace, through faith, in Christ alone which is the true teaching and meaning of the Lord’s teaching on “eating his flesh and drinking his blood.” These doctrines are offensive. I believe in God’s sovereign grace in salvation and sometimes that doctrine is labeled as unloving, or cold or callus, but it’s interesting the same charge was levied against the Lord. Jesus never sinned with his words but he certainly offended people. God’s sovereignty in salvation hurt their feelings and their pride, so they said the problem was with the doctrine. 

Are you offended by the sovereignty of God?  Will you be offended if you see Jesus coming again in the clouds? Will you be offended by his sovereignty THEN? Would you be offended at the sight of the glorified and risen Christ? Then why be offended at the sovereignty of God now? It’s the Spirit that quickens. It is the Spirit that gives life. They were offended by God’s sovereignty because they loved their perceived  “autonomy” but the flesh profits nothing. The flesh doesn’t give life, but it is the sovereign Spirit. The words, this truth, the gospel, they are life. And despite this truth, there are some who will not believe because they are dead in their sin. That’s why Jesus said, no man can come to him, except it were given unto him of the Father. Jesus didn’t apologize when he lost the crowd. The truth of the gospel is offensive but that’s not the gospel’s fault. Don’t apologize for believing what the Bible says just because someone is offended by truth. Jesus didn’t.