JESUS! In Word and Song

WEEK 50

DWELL SPIRIT IN OUR HEARTS

The Holy Spirit is our Guide, not only to show us the way, but to go with us by continued aids and influences. To be led into a truth is more than barely to know it; it is not only to have the notion of it in our heads, but the relish, and savour, and power of it in our hearts.¹

“[T]he Helper, the Holy Spirit will teach you all things.” (John 14:26 ESV).

‘The abiding Indweller, the Spirit, is perpetually admonishing, leading, drawing, and constraining the soul.”²

It is the Holy Spirit who guides us into the right path for us to walk and convicts us of our sin if we stray from that path. It is the Holy Spirit who reminds us of the truth of God’s Word and teaches us how to apply God’s Word to our daily lives. It is the Holy Spirit who works in us to conform us to the image of Christ Jesus, and who works through us to minister the presence and power of Christ to others.³

“We are lacking in great doctrinal hymns concerning the Holy Spirit and His work. [T]hese hymns that beseech Him to come into the Church and to come upon us, and to do this and that – are thoroughly unscriptural.”⁴

The below hymn “which as a plea for spiritual realism, responsiveness, repentance, righteousness, and reviving of spirit in and through Christ is as near perfect as we are ever likely to get.”⁵ The verses are almost verbatim from the hymn, “Come, Holy Spirit, Come.”

Come, Holy Spirit, Come

Dwell Spirit in our hearts, show us that loving Man

The Lord of Hosts, the Mighty God, the Eternal Prince of Peace.

Convince us of our sin, then lead to Jesus’s blood,

And to our won’dring view reveal the secret love of God

‘Tis thine to cleanse the heart, to sanctify the soul,

to pour fresh life in ev’ry part, and new-create the whole.

Revive our drooping faith, our doubts and fears remove.

Then shall we know, and praise, and love, the Father, Son, and Thee.⁶

“Humans become like what they adore. The Spirit works to foster adoration of Christ so that people will become like him. Thus, sanctification flows from adoration, and both are accomplished by the Spirit in the believer’s life.”⁷

ENDNOTES

(50) Go With the SPIRIT

1. Matthew Henry, “Complete Commentary on John 16,” 1706, Matthew Henry Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible, 09 April 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/mhm/john-16.html.

2. Octavius Winslow, Evening Thoughts (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2005) August 9^th.

3. Charles F. Stanley, Living in the Power of the Holy Spirit (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2005) ix.

4. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Great Doctrines of the Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2003) 2:6.

5. J.I. Packer, Keep in Step With the Spirit (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1984) 261-262.

6. Joseph Hart, “Come, Holy Spirit, Come,” 1759, Hymnary, 09 April 2021 https://hymnary.org/text/come_holy_spirit_come_let_thy_bright_bea.

7. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2521.

8. “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. . . .” (Psalm 127:1 ESV).

9. “ . . . all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. . . .” (Isaiah 64:6 ESV).

JESUS! In Word and Song

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WEEK 49

THE NARROW GATE

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few”(Matt 7:13-14 ESV).

One way to conclude whether our conversion-to-salvation experience is GOD-pleasing or not is to review our love for Him. Are our affections increasing or have they stopped now that we are satisfied we are Christians in good standing?

“The Scriptures everywhere represent the seeking, striving, and labour of a Christian, as being chiefly after his conversion, and his conversion as being but the beginning of his work.”¹ “[M]any have all their striving and wrestling over before they are converted; and so having an easy time of it afterwards, to sit down and enjoy their sloth and indolence.”²

[T]hese false affections make him confident. [T]here are no more earnest longings. The man now is far from appearing to himself a poor empty creature. [H]e is rich and hardly conceives of anything more excellent than what he has already attained to. [T]here is an end to their crying and striving after God and grace.³

They have embraced “[c]heap grace that emphasizes emotional wholeness over spiritual maturity, self-esteem over self-denial, peace of mind over peace with God. It is a false gospel that presumes upon God to accept them on their terms and obligates him to reward them for their sincerity and good intentions.”⁴

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt 7:21 ESV).

So, our “spirit-check” is to ask ourselves if we are content with our interaction with GOD. True Christians are never content. They labor to cast out selfishness in order to please their heavenly FATHER—“Nothing short of the complete denying of self is what He claims from every one who would have communion with Himself.”⁵

The more a true saint loves God the more he hates sin, the more he desires to hate it, and laments that he has so much remaining love to it; the more he mourns for sin, the more he longs to mourn for sin; the more his heart is broke, the more he desires it should be broke: the more he thirsts and longs after God and holiness, the more he longs to long.⁶

“We are to come constantly to the Throne of Grace, that we may there find grace to help us repudiate and turn away with loathing from everything which is abhorred by God.”⁷

ENDNOTES

(49) The Narrow Gate

1. Jonathan Edwards, The Religious Affections (Carlisle, PA: THE BANNER OF TRUTH TRUST, 2004) 306.

2. Edwards, 307.

3. Edwards, 306.

4. Denny Johnson, “Sermon on the Mount, Part B,” New Hope Church sermon notes, 14 November 2021: 7-8.

5. Arthur W. Pink, “The Narrow Way,” Studies in the Scriptures XI (January 1932) : 22.

6. Jonathan Edwards, The Religious Affections (Carlisle, PA: THE BANNER OF TRUTH TRUST, 2004) 303.

7. Arthur W. Pink, “The Narrow Way,” Studies in the Scriptures XI (January 1932) : 24.

8. Denny Johnson, “Sermon on the Mount, Part B,” New Hope Church sermon notes, 14 November 2021: 7-8.

9. Johnson, 3.

10. “Draw me after you; let us run” (Song of Solomon 1:4 ESV).

11. “Behold, you are beautiful, my love” (Song of Solomon 1:15 ESV).

12. “We will exult and rejoice in you” (Song of Solomon 1:4 ESV).

13. “[W]e will extol your love more than wine” (Song of Solomon 1:4 ESV).

JESUS! In Word and Song

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WEEK 48

THIS JESUS—

WHAT HE DID FOR ME_2

JESUS pities my weaknesses: (Heb 4:15).

“Jesus is able to identify with his people because of his human experience and the sufferings he endured while being tempted.”¹

My sin was assigned to CHRIST and His righteousness to me: (2 Cor 5:21).

“God has imputed the believer’s sin to Christ and likewise imputes Christ’s righteousness to the believer.”²

In CHRIST I am blessed with every spiritual blessing: (Eph 1:3).

“God hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in which life and immortality are brought to light by the Gospel,”³ “in things suited to prepare us for heaven.”⁴

JESUS gave me the HOLY SPIRIT: (Titus 3:5-7).

“I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you’ (John 15:5-7).”⁵

I have fellowship with the FATHER and the SON: (1 Cor 1:9).

Only upon the broad basis of His Law honored, His holiness secured, and His justice satisfied, can God, in the way of mercy, have communication with the sinner. Here we see the great glory of Jesus as the God-Man Mediator. His atoning work opens a channel through which God, without compromising a single perfection of His nature, can communicate the saving and sanctifying power of His grace to the soul.⁶

He saved me from GOD’s wrath: (1 Thes 1:10).

“Christians go beyond avoiding God’s wrath and actually rejoice in the same God who would pour our wrath on them were it not for Christ.”⁷

CHRIST gives me eternal life: (Heb 9:12).

“[T]he Lord Jesus obtained eternal redemption for His people, and, by rising as the Representative, gave pledge that they too should rise after His example, through His merits and power.”⁸

The believer’s participation in the divine nature of Christ: (2 Pet 1:4).

“From Christ as from a fountain sanctification flows into the souls of the saints.”⁹

As was the Master, so must the servant be. On His way to the cross, He looked round and said, ‘Follow me’ (Joh 12:26). On his way to the throne, after He had passed the cross, He said the same (Joh 21:22). To the cross and to the crown alike, then, we are to follow Him. It is one way to both.¹⁰

ENDNOTES

(48) JESUS Is the Mediator

1. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2367.

2. ESV Study Bible, 2231.

3. Adam Clarke, “Commentary on Ephesians 1:3,” 1832, Adam Clarke Commentary, 2 March 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/ephesians/1-3.html#verse-acc.

4. Albert Barnes, “Commentary on Ephesians 1:3,” 1870, Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible, 2 March 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/ephesians/1-3.html#verse-bnb.

5. Arthur W. Pink, “The Exaltation of Christ,” Studies in the Scriptures XI (August 1932) : 2.

6. Octavius Winslow, “Christ and Sanctification,” Free Grace Broadcaster 215 (2011) : 15.

7. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2166.

8. Arthur W. Pink, “The Exaltation of Christ,” Studies in the Scriptures XI (August 1932) : 1.

9. Dane C. Ortlund, Deeper (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2021) 51.

10. Horativus Bonar, “Let Us Then Shine!,” Free Grace Broadcaster 215 (2011) : 42.

11. “Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant . . .” (Hebrews 9:15 ESV).

12. “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” (1 Timothy 2:5 ESV).

13. “Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant . . .” (Hebrews 9:15 ESV).

14. “For it is witnessed of him, ‘You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.’” (Hebrews 7:17 ESV).

15. “This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant” (Hebrews 7:22 ESV).

16. “If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it” (John 14:14 ESV).

17. “ . . . the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26 ESV).

18. “. . . the Lamb . . . is Lord of lords and King of kings . . .” (Revelations 17:14 ESV).

19. “ . . . Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen” (Romans 9:5 ESV).

20. “ . . . To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18 ESV).

JESUS! In Word and Song

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WEEK 47

THIS JESUS—

WHAT HE DID FOR ME_1

“Christ was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you, who through him are believers in God” (1 Pet 1:19-21 ESV).

“CHRIST indeed finds His people entirely destitute of holiness and of every desire after it, but He does not leave them in that state. He produces in them a sincere love to God and a real pleasure in His ways.”¹

JESUS delivered me out of this present evil age (Gal 1:4). He became to me wisdom from GOD (1 Cor 1:30).

A Christian finds that there is enough in Christ to make him holy, that, in simply taking his sins to Jesus, they are pardoned; in taking his strong infirmities, they are subdued; in taking his wants, they are supplied. In a word, he finds Christ to be his ‘wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.’²

He is my sanctification and redemption (1 Cor 1:30). Through Him I am filled with the fruit of righteousness (Phil 1:11). In CHRIST I have been made complete (Col 2:10).

JESUS has been appointed for me (Acts 3:20). He suffered for me (1 Pet 2:21). He forgives all my trespasses (Col 2:13) and cancels my certificate of death (Col 2:14).

JESUS suffered that He might bring me to GOD (1 Pet 3:18). I am reconciled through His fleshly body through death. He presents me before GOD blameless and above reproach (Col 1:22). Salvation is not found in anyone else; in no other name but JESUS can I be saved (Acts 4:12).

I have been raised with CHRIST (Col 3:1). GOD makes me alive together with Him (Col 2:13). I have died and my life is hidden with CHRIST in GOD (Col 3:3).

Eternal life is the life of Jesus in us. He who has the son, has the life. And Jesus himself has promised, ‘I will never leave you, nor will I ever forsake you.’ He imparts his life to us through the Holy Spirit as an act of his sovereign grace when he miraculously regenerates us, cleanses us from all sin, gives us a new heart and a new spirit and causes us to be born again.³

He is in me (Col 1:27); it is no longer I who live but CHRIST lives in me (Gal 2:20). CHRIST is my life (Col 3:4). He will sustain me to the end, guiltless (1 Cor 1:8). And I will be revealed with Him in glory (Col 3:4).

ENDNOTES

(47) This JESUS, Has Made Me Alive

Abraham Booth, “The Motive of Sanctification,” Free Grace Broadcaster 215 (2011) : 30.
Octavius Winslow, “Christ and Sanctification,” Free Grace Broadcaster 215 (2011) : 17.

3. Denny Johnson, “Going On to Maturity,” NHC sermon notes, 11 July 2021: 7.

4. “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him,”(Colossians 2:13 ESV).

5. “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3 ESV).

6. Colossians 3:3.

7. “ . . . that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,” (Acts 3:20 ESV).

8. “ . . . wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10 ESV).

9. “And you . . .God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,” (Colossians 2:13 ESV).

10. “by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14 ESV).

11. “ . . Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father . . .” (Romans 6:4 ESV).

12. “. . . Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2 ESV).

13. “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved’” (Acts 4:12 ESV).

14. “he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,” (Colossians 1:22 ESV).

15. “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,” (1 Corinthians 1:30 ESV).

16. “and you have been filled in him . . .” (Colossians 2:10 ESV).

17. “ . . . the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen” (Galatians 1:3-5 ESV).

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WEEK 46

NO LONGER WILLINGLY HABITUALLY DISOBEDIENT

“The genuine Christian finds clear evidence of two natures, two contrary principles at work within him.”¹

Before I believed in CHRIST through faith, I was enslaved, giving all my body to sin as instruments for unrighteousness (Rom 6:13). But now, having been set free from sin that entangles my natural flesh, I am able to present my new-nature self as a slave to righteousness (Rom 6:18-19).

My fleshly nature still lives and tempts me to choose unrighteousness even though I have the desire to do what is right (Rom 7:18).

He who is born again does not sin habitually, or is not habitually a sinner. [T]he act is against the habitual inclination and purpose of his soul. [H]e who is born again does not do wrong deliberately and by design. He means to do right. He is not willfully and deliberately a sinner. It is true that when one does wrong, or commits sin, there is a momentary assent of the will; but it is under the influence of passion, or excitement, or temptation, or provocation, and not as the result of a deliberate plan or purpose of the soul.²

I have died to trying to obey GOD’s law with my natural flesh and now walk in the new way of living in the SPIRIT (Rom 7:5-6).

“We are progressively becoming more and more like Christ as we go on in the Christian life. Paul tells the Colossians they have ‘put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator’ (Col 3:10).”³

When we repudiate all idols, surrender to Christ as Lord, and trust in the efficacy of His sacrifice, the heart is prepared for the Spirit to enter and take possession for Christ’s use. When we give up ourselves to Christ, He owns the dedication by making our bodies the temples of the Holy Spirit, there to maintain His interests against all the oppositions of the Devil.⁴

When Jesus commands us to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect (Matt 5:48), this simply shows that God’s own absolute moral purity is the standard toward which we are to aim and the standard for which God holds us accountable. The fact that we are unable to attain that standard does not mean that it will be lowered; rather, it means that we need God’s grace and forgiveness to overcome our remaining sin.⁵

“Let us put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Rom 13:13-14 ESV).

ENDNOTES

(46) I Recognize the Sin in Me

1. Arthur W. Pink, “The Exaltation of Christ,” Studies in the Scriptures XI (September 1932) : 29-30.

2. Albert Barnes, “Commentary on 1 John 3:6,” 1870, Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible, 08 April 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/1-john/3-6.html#verse-bnb.

3. Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994) 749.

4. A.W. Pink, 1 John, Part Two (Pensacola, FL: Chapel Library, 2005) 83-84.

5. Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994) 751.

6. R.C. Sproul, ed., The Reformation Study Bible (Orlando, FL: Ligonier Ministries, 2005) 1624.

7. Arthur S. Way, Letters of Paul, Hebrews and the Book of Psalms (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1901) 242.

8. “Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin” (Hebrews 10:18 ESV).

9. “let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22 ESV).

10. Matthew Henry, “Complete Commentary on Romans 7:14,” 1706, Matthew Henry Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible, 08 April 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/romans/7-14.html#verse-mhm.

11. Albert Barnes, “Commentary on Romans 7:15,” 1870, Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible, 08 April 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/romans-7.html.

12. Theodore Beza, “Commentary on Romans 7:15,” 1599-1645, The 1599 Geneva Study Bible, 08 April 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/romans/7-15.html#verse-gsb.

Bonnie's Prayer Affair

Keeping myself in CHRIST

Month: October 2023

JESUS! In Word and Song

JESUS! In Word and Song

JESUS! In Word and Song

JESUS! In Word and Song

JESUS! In Word and Song