Posts Tagged ‘Gospel of Grace’
God does not want His children to worry. He does not want us to be affected by whatever happens in the world because He says that we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
For He has made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
In the way of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death. (Proverbs 12:28)
I. Even in the Old Testament, it is God’s righteousness that protects those who put their trust in Him.
The patriarchs in the Old Testament did not suffer hunger in the time of famine:
A. Abraham remained prosperous.
And there was a famine in the land. And Abram went down into Egypt to stay there, for the famine was severe in the land. (Gen 12:10)
B. Isaac received a hundred fold in the land that he sawed.
And there was a famine in the land, besides the famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines to Gerar. (Gen 26:1)
Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year a hundredfold. And Jehovah blessed him. (Gen 26:12)
C. Joseph and his household were blessed in the land of Egypt.
And Joseph placed his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh commanded. (Gen 47:11)
And Joseph nourished his father and his brothers, and his father’s entire household, with bread, for the mouth of the little ones. (Gen 47:12)
And no bread was in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted because of the famine. (Gen 47:13)
And Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they had possession in it, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly. (Gen 47:27)
II. God’s protection in our time
If we focus our eyes on Jesus who is our righteousness, we will prosper even in the times of recession.
A. Testimony of Ptr. Ed of Licab Nueva Ecija
Ever since they focus on the righteousness they received from Christ, their church stopped from borrowing money from banks. God supplied all their needs.
Every time we hear news about terrorist acts or natural disasters, remember what the Bible says in Proverbs 12:28, “In the way of righteousness there is life; along that path is immortality.”
B. One town was spared of the damage brought by Tsunami in South India back in 2004
Early in the morning before the Tsunami hit the region, a pastor was lead by the Holy Spirit to pray for protection for his town through the power of the blood of Jesus; because of this, their town was spared but their nearby towns vanished due to the enormous flood.
Our God is always ready to protect us from world’s undesirable catastrophe because we have become God’s righteousness in Christ Jesus.
God declared in His word, “In the way of righteousness there is life; along that path is immortality.” (Proverbs 12:28)
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things the man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)
I. Introduction
- David was the youngest amongst his siblings and he was just tending the sheep.
We all know the story of David and Goliath; and on how he defeated Goliath.
He lived with his parents and brothers. Music has been a part of David’s life.
David was look down as just a teenager but the Lord sees in him a king who will someday lead the Israelites. God foreknew that his name, David, will be known in all nation. Even the Lord Jesus when He walked on earth was called the Son of David (Matthew 20:30, 31).
- Moses lived a serene life with his beautiful wife and family, together with his esteemed father-in-law.
Moses thought that he will just live the rest of his life in Midian together with his family but God has a bigger plan for him. God saw that through Moses, the Israelites would be freed from their slavery in Egypt. Through him the Israelites would cross the red sea.
- Let us now be acquainted with Joseph Prince. He is a pastor of New Creation Church in Singapore with a membership of 19,000 to date. God called him to preach radical Grace and to bring back His Son Jesus in churches today. He is one of the most sought after speaker in Pastoral Conferences. Looking back at his background, he never thought that God would use him to preach to thousands and thousands of people because he had a speech impediment when he was a child. He stutters when he spoke, so he grew up to be a very shy teenager with little confidence; all that have changed because God sees him differently.
II. What does God sees in us?
A. God sees in us His Kingdom when we’ve put our faith in Jesus.
“….the Kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:21)
B. God sees in us His Son’s righteousness that we’ve received.
1. Before the law was given, only few were proven righteous before God.
“Then the Lord said to Noah… I have found you righteous in this generation.” (Genesis 7:1)
2. When the law was given, God said that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23; Romans 5:20)
God is on the look out for righteous people that He will guide and protect.
“The righteous are guided and protected by the Lord, but the evil are on the way to their doom”. (Psalms 1:6)
3. What happens when we put our faith in Jesus’ finished work on the cross?
- We received the “gift of righteousness”. (Romans 5:17)
- We become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
- We were redeemed. (Hebrews 10:14; 1 Corinthians 1:30)
C. God sees in us righteous leaders that He’ll guide and protect. (Romans 5:17; Ephesians 4:11-16)
- To prosper in God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness. (Romans 5:17
- To grow in the grace and knowledge for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 3:18)
- To train in the service and to be strengthened as part of the body of Christ.
A True Worshiper
Posted on: February 23, 2010
“To make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” (Ephesians 5:26-27)
Introduction:
Have you experienced going to church with excitement? As you begin to raise your hand in worship and adoration to the Lord, you heard the worship leader spoke and said to seek our heart first before we worship God. As you begin to seek your heart, you were reminded of all the bad things you have done till all your excitement to worship God fades then you just sat down on the pew.
I. True worshipers are those who let themselves be cleansed by God.
Our attitude in worshiping God should be similar to the Old Testament way of worshiping God. In the Old Testament times, Israelites bring offerings to the priest; and it is the duty of the priest to assess the offering of any defects to make sure that only offering that are spotless are brought before God. Then the offering and the person who brought it become pleasing and acceptable in God’s presence. The priest doesn’t even have to judge at the person who brought the offering but only on the offering itself.
In our time, we come before God to worship Him in the assurance that all our sins past, present, and future have already been judged. God looks at the perfect sacrifice on the cross, offered once and for all (study Hebrews 10).
II. True worshipers are those who are Jesus-conscious, forgiveness-conscious and grace-conscious.
A woman who had lived a sinful life went to the house of the Pharisee who invited Jesus to have dinner with him. She wept at Jesus’ feet, wiped His feet with her hair and poured an alabaster jar of perfume that she brought on Jesus’ feet (Luke 7:36-50). This was her act of worship.
She worships Jesus because of Who He is, she came before Him as who she was, a sinner. She is someone we call a “Jesus-conscious” worshiper. In Luke 7:48 Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” She received the forgiveness that she needed.
Conclusion:
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy, and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16).
We can always come before Jesus as who we are; and He will say, “Come, receive your restoration, prosperity, healing, and wholeness.” Amen.
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)
Introduction:
Whatever the devil throw at us, we should never lose hope. We have an assurance that God can turn those situations around for own benefit, because He is not just with us but He is for us. When God created Adam, God gave him the power to rule over all the earth.
“And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creepers creeping on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26)
In the fall of man, sin and death have made its way in us and with it we lose the power to rule the earth.
I. Does this mean the devil won?
No. God made a way to redeem us from the fall when He sends His only Begotten Son to die on the cross for us. God wants us to know that the death of Jesus on the cross didn’t just restore our position before the fall but He has set us even higher than what Adam’s position had.
II. In the Old Testament
We can read in the Old Testament how God brought the Israelites from slavery in Egypt to a land flowing with “milk and honey”. The devil thought that he could stop God’s plan by placing giants in the promise land; he did this to prevent the Israelites from receiving their inheritance. But God is clever than the devil.
During those times, God let the giants occupy the promise land to build their houses and cities, to dig wells and to plant until the opportune time. Then God brought the Israelites to the promise land to defeat the giants. The Israelites received their inheritance. Large and magnificent cities which they did not build, houses full of every good thing which they did not fill, and wells which they did not dug, vineyards and olive trees which they did not plant.
“And it shall be when Jehovah your God has brought you into the land which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you great and good cities which you did not build,” (Deuteronomy 6:10)
“…and houses full of every good thing which you did not fill, and wells which are dug, but which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you shall eat and be full,” (Deuteronomy 6:11)
III. In The New Testament
When God raised Jesus from the death, we who are one with Christ was also raised together with Him. Therefore, we are also sitted with Him in the right hand of the Father.
“…far above all principality and authority and power and dominion, and every name being named, not only in this world, but also in the coming age.” (Ephesians 1:21)
This was not the position of Adam before. We have received a position greater than Adam, this became possible because of Jesus’ death and rise on the cross.
The devil conspired a plan to stop God’s plan on humanity; but he failed. God’s plan has already been accomplished and it had accomplished more than we could ever think or imagine.
Conclusion:
The devil may throw negative things against us but God can turn those things around for our benefit because He is for us.
“Truly He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)
Convince Yourself Not God
Posted on: January 31, 2010
Because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” (Mark 5:28)
One of the synagogue rulers pleaded with Jesus to come to his house because of his sick daughter. So Jesus went with him as a large crowd followed and pressed around him.
“You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’” (Mark 5:31)
Of all the people in the crowd who touched Jesus it was only the woman whom he took noticed of. Her touch from Jesus’ cloak gave her the “instant healing” to her sickness which brought her great suffering for 12 years.
Let us find out how we can touch God and so received the miracle that we need:
When the woman heard about Jesus’ coming to their town she already said to herself that if she could touch the hem of Jesus’ clothe she would be healed.
On her way to Jesus, she have probably muttered repeatedly that if she could just touch the hem of Jesus’ clothe she would be healed. We don’t know how many times she said this to herself. What’s important is that she has fully convinced herself that it was Jesus who would give her the healing that she needed.
What’s this message conveys is our need to convince ourselves that:
We have already received our complete salvation.
We have already received our complete forgiveness for our sins.
We have already received our complete healing.
We have already received all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3).
We don’t need to convince God or to push Him to do things for us. We have already received all the blessings that we need. If there’s anyone we need to convince – it is ourselves. This is the reason we need to speak forth the Word of God, which is full of His promises.
There are people who declare to their colleagues about their faith to convince God of their blessings. An example of this is when a person relays to his friends that he has the faith that he has already received his healing. Unwittingly, he’s actually convincing God to heal him of his affliction because he has already told his friends that God have healed him. It would be a shame on the part of God if he were still suffering.
This kind of talk brings “unbelief” to a person and it dictates God of what He’s supposed to do. It is right to let others know about our faith so that hope would spring forth in their hearts; but we shouldn’t be convincing God of our healing. What we should do is to convince ourselves that because of His great love to us, it is His utmost desire to prosper us.
Let us remind ourselves, “By His stripes we are healed.” I will not lack anything. I am blessed, highly favored, and deeply love by God. I believe that He will take care of me.
Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion (Psalm 103:4).
Introduction:
There were four women recorded in the genealogy of Jesus; but Sara, Rebecca, Lea, and Rachel, wives of the patriarchs were not included (Matthew 1:1-16).
Tamar – fooled her father-in-law, Judah, and was mistaken for a prostitute.
From the line of Judah came the Messiah (Genesis 38).
Rahab – a gentile prostitute from Jericho.
She believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Joshua 2:1-21). She became the mother of Boaz, husband of Ruth (Ruth 4:13).
Ruth – a respected woman but because she was a Moabites, a gentile, she was considered unclean.
She became the grandmother of King David (Ruth 4:13-17).
Bathsheba – committed sin of adultery (2 Samuel 11:4).
She became the mother of King Solomon (2 Samuel 12:24).
What does God wants us to learn from these women?
That He has power over all the sins of world.
“But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” (Romans 5:20b)
The grace of God is more powerful than the sins of the world. If the world cannot accept you because of your sinfulness, in Him you are accepted in the Beloved – Jesus that you might receive God’s blessing.
He is a God of many chances.
We have learned from these women that though we are sinners but the moment we come before Him, He is ever ready to help us until His glory shines in our lives.
He is a supernatural God.
When all our hopes have gone, and in the moment we decide to come to Him, we will find rest in spite of the bondage we are in; and through His help just like Ruth, God can put us in the right place at the right time that we too can be blessed and be a source of blessings to others
Conclusion:
Friends, brothers, and sisters let us not look back in our past, let us not depend on our background nor look at the bad things that happened in our lives. Do not be condemned nor be afraid just trust in what Jesus has already accomplished on the cross for you. (Psalms 103:4, Romans 5:17).
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