JESUS! In Word and Song

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).

JESUS! In Word and Song

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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.

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WEEK 45

IN CHRIST

“[T]hose two New Testament words ‘in Christ’ are very dear.”¹

To be in Christ means that we have a saving relationship with Christ and are brought into union and communion with Him in such a way that, as we are in Christ, what is true of Christ becomes true of us. His grace and His resources become our experience and possession.²

Believers have been placed ‘in Christ’ so that whatever has happened to Christ has also happened to them. When Jesus died and rose again, so did we spiritually, and never again will God see a believer as anything other than a new creation in Christ Jesus. We are forever united and joined to Christ, and His history is our history!³

“[Christ] has died for all that those who live might no longer live for themselves” (2 Cor 5:24-25 ESV).

Some of us have tried very hard to get rid of [the] sinful life, but we have found it most tenacious; What is the way out? It is not by trying to kill ourselves, but by recognizing that God has dealt with us in Christ.”⁴

“For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal 3:27 ESV).

“Christianity begins not with a big DO, but with a big DONE.”⁵“[T]he Christian life is becoming (in experience) who you already are (as God sees you).”⁶

“God’s way of deliverance is altogether different from man’s way. Man’s way is to try to suppress sin by seeking to overcome it; God’s way is to remove the sinner.”⁷

“To do away with our sinfulness we must do away with our life. Bondage to sin came by birth; deliverance from sin comes by death.”⁸

“Christ has died for all, therefore all have died” (2 Cor 5:14 ESV).

Christ is the redeemed man’s new environment. He has been lifted out of the cramping restrictions of his earthly lot into a totally different sphere, the sphere of Christ. He has been transplanted into a new soil and a new climate, and both soil and climate are Christ.⁹ James Stewart

“[B]oth human responsibility and divine sovereignty [is] how we move forward spiritually.” “God does all, and we do all.”¹⁰ Jonathan Edwards

“I toil with all his energy that he powerfully works within me (Col 1:29).”¹¹

ENDNOTES

(45) In CHRIST

1. Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1977) 46.

2. Derek Thomas and Steve Lawson, “What Does It Mean to Be ‘in Christ’?” Ligonier Ministries, 26 January 2022 https://www.ligonier.org/learn/qas/what-does-it-mean-to-be-in-christ.

3. Iain Gordon, “How to Know Your Position in Christ,” Cru, 26 January 2022 https://www.cru.org/us/en/train-and-grow/spiritual-growth/core-christian-beliefs/the-believers-position-in-christ.html#2.

4. Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1977) 43.

5. Watchman Nee, Sit, Walk, Stand (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House, 1977) 2.

6. Iain Gordon, “How to Know Your Position in Christ,” Cru, 26 January 2022 https://www.cru.org/us/en/train-and-grow/spiritual-growth/core-christian-beliefs/the-believers-position-in-christ.html#2.

7. Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1977) 53.

8. Watchman, 42.

9. Dane C. Ortlund, Deeper (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2021) 56.

10. Ortlund, 54.

11. Ortlund, 55.

12. “I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous and I am no longer driven to impress God” (Galatians 2:19-21 MSG).

13. “[I]f anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV).

14. Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1977) 44.

15. Nee, 40.

16. Nee, 50.

17. Nee, 28.

18. Nee, 59.

19. “[You] are in Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 1:30 ESV).

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WEEK 44

OBEDIENCE IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE

King Saul’s first and last mistake was to listen to his army’s suggestion to leave the choicest spoil to be sacrificed to GOD when he had clear word from GOD to devote EVERYTHING to destruction (1 Sam 15:21). GOD does not delight in sacrifice but desires His followers obey His voice. To obey is better than sacrifice (1 Sam 15:22).

“Do you think all God wants are sacrifices— empty rituals just for show? He wants you to listen to him! Plain listening is the thing” (1 Sam 15:22-23 MSG). You can’t pick and choose in these things, specializing in keeping one or two things in God’s law and ignoring others” (James 2:8-11 MSG).

Our default reaction is to fall back into sacrificing when GOD’s Word has leaked out of

us. When time moves on and we have not disciplined ourselves to open GOD’s Word, the communication between GOD and us no longer exists. If joy is missing and obedience hard it is because we’re ignorant or avoiding what God has designed for us and what that is is to fellowship with Him.

“I’m after love that lasts, not more religion. I want you to know God, not go to more prayer meetings” (Hos 6:6-7 MSG).

“The word abide means to remain or stay around. The abiding believer is the only legitimate believer. Abiding and believing actually are addressing the same issue of genuine salvation.”¹

When we are too far away to hear the LORD, we are forced to depend on insights of others or our own thinking. Without dwelling in the LORD’s presence we have absolutely no inkling how to live spiritually. And, like Saul, we will always fall into attempting to impress Him by doing something we think He would like.

“[G]ifts and sacrifices can’t really get to the heart of the matter, can’t assuage the conscience of the people, but are limited to matters of ritual and behavior” (Heb 9:6-10 MSG).

“Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.’” (Matt 9:13 ESV).

True saving faith is supernatural, a gracious gift of God that He produces in the heart and is the only means by which a person can appropriate true righteousness. Saving faith consists of three elements: (1) mental: the mind understands the gospel and the truth about Christ; (2) emotional: one embraces the truthfulness of those facts with sorrow over sin and joy over God’s mercy and grace; and (3) volitional: the sinner submits his will to Christ and trusts in Him alone as the only hope of salvation. Genuine faith will always produce authentic obedience.²

ENDNOTES

(44) Obedience is Better Than Sacrifice

1. John MacArthur, One Perfect Life (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2012) 417.

2. MacArthur, 508.

3. “I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people” (Leviticus 26:12 ESV).

4. “[T]hey provoked the LORD to anger. [H]e gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them” (Judges 2:12,14 ESV).

5. “Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them” (Judges 2:16 ESV).

6. “[W]hen the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the people to Israel, who saved them” (Judges 3:9 ESV).

7. “[I]f you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache” (Leviticus 26:14,16 ESV).

8. “I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38 ESV).

9. “We were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4 ESV).

10. “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever” (John 14:16 ESV),

11. “[W]hoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it” (James 2:10 ESV).

12. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30 ESV).

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WEEK 43

HOUND OF HEAVEN

The Fall of man and the consequential depravity places GOD’s creatures on the edge of a chasm where a retreat to our original condition is impossible. But GOD has better plans. “We have in Christ a full reconciliation with God, and an advancement into higher favour with Him, than the first Adam had in the state of innocency.”¹

Because He shuts us all up in our disobedience and unbelief, it enables Him to provide mercy to us all (Rom 11:32). Thus begins the activity of the Godhead to restore His chosen.

This activity of drawing children back to Him can be fierce—a provoking, prodding or forcing (Acts 26:14), or He can do it gently—as a quiet knocking (Rev 3:20).

[W]e may experience either the ecstasy of underserved love or the acute pain of unrequited love, because we know instinctively that love is the greatest thing in the world. It is in such moments as these that Jesus Christ draws near to us and uses his hand to knock or to goad.²

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow [us] all the days of [our] life” (Psalm 23:6 ESV).

Author, Gautrey points out that the Hebrew word here translated by the mild verb ‘follow’ should be rendered more forcefully; for instance, ‘goodness and mercy have hunted me, haunted me, dogged my steps all the days of my life.’ ‘It is a pursuit, patient but purposeful, affectionate but relentless.’³

“If we love Christ, it is because he loved us first. If we are Christians at all, it is not because we have decided for Christ, but because Christ has decided for us. It is because of the pursuit of ‘this tremendous lover.’”⁴

“’The Hound of Heaven’ is a striking expression invented by Francis Thompson.”⁵

When we were running full speed the other direction, he chased us down, subdued our rebellion, and opened our eyes to see our need of him and his all-sufficiency to meet that need. We were not drowning, in need of being thrown a life-preserver; we were stone-dead at the bottom of the ocean. He pulled us up, breathed new life into us, and set us on our feet—and every breath we now draw is owing to his full and utter deliverance of us in all our helplessness and death.⁶

Ultimate reality is an eternal fountain of endless, unquenchable love. A love so great that it could not be contained within the uproarious joy of Father, Son, and Spirit but spilled out to embrace fallen humans into it. Divine love is inherently engulfing, embracing, overflowing. God made you so that he could love you.⁷

ENDNOTES

(43) Hound of Heaven

1. Horatius Bonar, Words Old and New (Carlisle, PA: THE BANNER OF TRUTH TRUST, 1866,1994) 229.

2. John Stott, Why I Am a Christian (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press 2003) 31.

3. Stott, 16.

4. Stott, 18.

5. Stott, 15.

6. Dane C. Ortlund, Deeper (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2021) 27.

7. Ortlund, 70.

8. Hal Leonard, The Hymn Fake Book (Milwaukee, WI: Hall Leonard Corporation) 194.

9. John Stott, Why I Am a Christian (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press 2003) 29.

10. Stott, 30.

11. Stott, 17.

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WEEK 42

THIS JESUS—

What He Did_2

“It’s easy to forget that nothing we do will make us more acceptable to God. Jesus came to set us free to serve Him in the freshness and spontaneity of the Spirit, and to receive the ABUNDANT blessing God has for us.”¹

JESUS gave redemption through His blood:(Eph 1:7).

“By it, [the cross of CHRIST] the body of sin is wounded, and wounded fatally. From it, pardon, peace, and holiness flow. And through it, the soul daily rises to God in a holy surrender of itself to His service.”²

He became a curse for His spiritual children:(Gal 3:13).

“Christ Jesus gave himself as a ransom for all” (1 Tim 2:5-6 ESV).

JESUS broke down the dividing wall of hostility:(Eph 2:13).

“Jews and Greeks [have] been transcended by a new entity in Christ: ‘the church of God’.”³

He is the high priest:(Heb 7:26).

CHRIST “has become a priest by the power of an indestructible life”(Heb 7:16 ESV). “[T]he high priest acts on behalf of men in relation to God. That is he acts as a mediator.”⁴“Jesus’ resurrection from the dead indicates his eternal priesthood. Death could not conquer Jesus; therefore, his priesthood lasts forever.”⁵

JESUS became the Perfecter of Faith:(Heb 12:2).

“Through his atoning work, Christ’s perfection leads to the perfection of his people.”⁶

JESUS abolished death and brought life:(2 Tim 1:10).

“We come to Him for life, or rather, first of all, He comes to us with life.”⁷

He is the wisdom and knowledge of GOD:(1 Cor 1:24).

“Christ is the image of God. God has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor 4:4,6).

He filled believers with His SPIRIT:(2 Tim 1:14).

“[T]he Spirit does His work not exerting a mere influence, but coming into us and abiding with us; so that being filled with His company, as well as pervaded by His power, we are thoroughly ‘transformed.’”⁸

JESUS became the first-born of the dead:(Rev 1:5).

“Jesus Christ [is] risen from the dead” (2 Tim 2:8 ESV). “He alone came back from death never to die again, being the first of many to triumph over death.”⁹

ENDNOTES

(42) JESUS Is Founder of Faith

1. Roy and Revel Hession, We Would See Jesus (Fort Washington, PA: CLC Publications, 1958, 2010) back cover.

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

3. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2265.

4. Jared Dymond, “Hebrews 5:1-10,” New Hope Church sermon notes, 06 March 2022: 3.

5. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2371.

6. ESV Study Bible, 2383.

7. Horatius Bonar, “Let Us Then Shine,” Free Grace Broadcaster 215 (2011) : 42.

8. Bonar, 43.

9. James Burton Coffman, “Commentary on Revelation 1:5,” 1983-1999, Coffman Commentaries on the Bible, 1 March 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/revelation/1-5.html#verse-bcc.

10. “ . . . Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith . . .” (Hebrews 12:2 ESV).

11. :Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand . . .” (Romans 5:2 ESV).

12. “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility” (Ephesians 2:14 ESV).

13. “ . . . that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,” (Ephesians 2:15 ESV).

14. “ . . . Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith . . .” (Hebrews 12:2 ESV).

15. “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility” (Ephesians 2:14 ESV).

16. “And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,” (Ephesians 1:22 ESV).

17. “ . . . the church submits to Christ . . .” (Ephesians 5:24 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).

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WEEK 41

THIS JESUS—

What He Did_1

JESUS was faithful to GOD who appointed Him (Heb 3:2). He became the Mediator who enacted a better covenant (Heb 8:6). Therefore, He was able to save forever all those who draw near to GOD through Him, interceding for them (Heb 7:25).

He became the “firstfruits” (first to rise from the dead) (1 Cor 15:23). He is now seated at GOD’s right hand (Eph 1:20) and head over all things to the Church (Eph 1:22).

JESUS entrusted Himself to GOD (1 Pet 2:23), offering Himself without blemish (Heb 9:14), committing no sin (1 Pet 2:22). He lived for the will of God (1 Pet 4:2).

He learned obedience from the things He suffered (Heb 5:8). “We know that Jesus was always obedient to His Father. What this verse means though is that His obedience was displayed in a new way, when he was faced with suffering.”¹ JESUS was made perfect (Heb 5:9). “This verse does not mean that Jesus was ever at some point not perfect, but that through temptation and suffering his perfection was revealed.”² JESUS displayed perfect obedience and became perfect by temptation and suffering.

He died and rose again (1 Thes 4:14), triumphing over all rulers and authorities (Col 2:15), destroying the one who had the power of death (Heb 2:14). He now is able to give redemption (Rom 3:24).

He put an end to the agony of death for us (Acts 2:24) and healed all oppressed by the devil for GOD was with Him (Acts 10:38).

This JESUS came to earth to reveal the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:3). He came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8)—disarming rulers and authorities putting them to open shame by triumphing over them (Col 2:15).

He came to reconcile all things to Himself making peace by the blood of His cross (Col 1:20).

God the Father, using the principle of imputation, treated Christ as if He were a sinner though He was not and had Him die as a substitute to pay the penalty for the sins of those who believe in Him (Gal 3:13). The wrath of God was exhausted on Him and the just requirement of God’s law met for those for whom He died.³

He bears the sins of many and will come a second time to bring salvation to everyone waiting for Him (Heb 9:28). “This will be our salvation from the presence of sin.”⁴

“[He] is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him” (Rev 1:7 ESV).

ENDNOTES

(41) This JESUS, Committed No Sin

1. Jared Dymond, “Hebrews 5:1-10,” New Hope Church sermon notes, 06 March 2022: 8.

2. Dymond.

3. John MacArthur, One Perfect Life (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2012) 513.

4. MacArthur, 504.

5. “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth” (1 Peter 2:22 ESV).

6. “For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure” (John 3:34 ESV).

7.” . . . Christ did not please himself” (Romans 15:3 ESV).

8. “ . . . Christ suffered . . . in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God” (1 Peter 4:1-2 ESV).

9. “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame . . .” (Colossians 2:15 ESV).

10. “ . . . The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8 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. “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” (1 Timothy 2:5 ESV).

14. “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him” (Romans 6:9 ESV).

15. “ . . . he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,” (Ephesians 1:20 ESV).

16. “ . . . Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:2-3 ESV).

17. “so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him” (Hebrews 9:28 ESV).

JESUS! In Word and Song

Posted by bonniefaurote

WEEK 40

THE WORD INFALLIBLE

“Holy Scripture should be thought of as God preaching.”¹ “He holds everything together by what he says—powerful words”(Heb 1:1-3 MSG)!

The sufficiency of Scripture means that Scripture contains all the words of God which he intends his people to have at each stage of redemptive history, and that it contains everything we need God to tell us for salvation, for trusting him perfectly, and obeying him perfectly.²

“At each stage in redemptive history, the things that God had revealed were for his people for that time, and they were to study, believe, and obey those things.”³

[A]t the time of the death of Moses, the first five books of our Old Testament were sufficient for God’s people at that time. But God directed later authors to add more, so that Scripture would be sufficient for believers in those subsequent times. For Christians today, the words from God which we have in the Old and New Testaments together are sufficient for us during the church age.⁴

Scripture leads to a Person, not just truths. All Scripture points to Jesus’ death and resurrection, to forgiveness, and to personal knowledge of God through him. [We] should come to Scripture humbly, expecting to learn and be corrected, willing to observe Scripture closely and accept whatever [we] find.⁵

“We find Christ in all the Scriptures. In the Old Testament He is predicted, in the Gospels He is revealed, in Acts He is preached, in the epistles He is explained, and in Revelation He is expected.”⁶

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them”(Matt 5:17 ESV). Here Christ was emphasizing both the inspiration and the enduring authority of all Scripture. He was specifically affirming the utter inerrancy and absolute authority of the OT as the Word of God. [N]othing has passed from the law, but rather every aspect of the law has been fulfilled in him.⁷

“[T]rue knowledge of God includes understanding everything from his perspective. It is to learn what God loves and hates, and to see, hear, think, and act the way he does.”⁸

“To understand God’s Word, we must totally disregard our own wisdom and rest in utter dependence on the Spirit of God to interpret it for us.”⁹

“[Through the mire and through the slough, through the flood and through the flame, follow Jesus and the Word infallible.”¹⁰

ENDNOTES

(40) We’ll Stand on GOD’s Word

1. J. I. Packer, God Has Spoken (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1979) 97.

2. Wayne Grudem, The Gift of Prophecy (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1988, 2000) 250.

3. Grudem, 261.

4. Grudem.

5. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2561.

6. Alistair Begg

7. John MacArthur, One Perfect Life (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2012) 139.

8. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2505.

9. R. A. Torrey, God’s Power in Your Life (New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 1982) 72-73.

10. Charles Spurgeon, Spiritual warfare in a Believer’s Life (Lynnwood, WA: Emerald Books, 1993) 80.

11. R. Kelso Carter, “Standing on the Promises,” 1886, Hymnary, 2 August 2021 https://hymnary.org/text/standing_on_the_promises_of_christ_my_ki.

12. Charles Spurgeon, Spiritual warfare in a Believer’s Life (Lynnwood, WA: Emerald Books, 1993) 80.

JESUS! In Word and Song

Posted by bonniefaurote

WEEK 39

THE WORD

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Matt 5:17-18 ESV).

“God considers what he has told us in the Bible to be enough for us, and that we should rejoice in the great revelation that he has given us and be content with it.”¹ “Scripture today is exactly what God wanted it to be, and it will stay that way until Christ returns.”²

“To read the Bible ‘theologically’ means to read the Bible ‘with a focus on God’: his being, his character, his words and works, his purpose, presence, power, promises, and precepts.”³

“I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes” (Ps 119:11-12 ESV)!

“He that would be like Christ must study Him. We cannot make ourselves holy by merely trying to be so, any more than we can made ourselves believe and love by simple energy of endeavor.”⁴ We do not know truth on our own. “The truth is something that always enlightens us.”⁵

“He that would be holy must steep himself in the Word. It is through the truth that we are sanctified (John 17:17). Exposing our souls constantly to this light, we become more thoroughly ‘children of the light.’”⁶

“We don’t create our own salvation by our actions but we reflect and express it and so grow in our certainty of it. Because we Christians are liable to deceive ourselves, we should give ourselves to the study of God’s Word to be instructed and encouraged in our salvation.”⁷

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Col 3:16 ESV). “Since Satan’s primary weapon is the lie, your defense against him is the truth. Dealing with Satan is not a power encounter; it’s a truth encounter.”⁸

In our daily lives, it is the words of Scripture alone that must have first place in our hearts and our minds. We must read them, believe them, memorize them, love them, and cherish them as the very words of our Creator speaking to us. All other gifts and teachings today are to be subject to the words of Scripture and are to be judged by them. No other gift or teaching or writing should be allowed to compete with them for absolute priority in our lives.⁹ “The God of the Scriptures has preserved his divine Word. [I]t promises to instruct us in walking humbly before him in reverence and awe.”¹⁰

ENDNOTES

(39) Whether the Word be Preached or Read

1. Wayne Grudem, The Gift of Prophecy (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1988, 2000) 258.

2. Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994) 68-69.

3. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2567.

4. Horatius Bonar, God’s Way of Holiness (Pensacola, FL: Mt. Zion Publications) 88.

5. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Life in Christ, Studies in 1 John (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2002) 112.

6. Horatius Bonar, God’s Way of Holiness (Pensacola, FL: Mt. Zion Publications) 88.

7. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2503.

8. Neil T. Anderson, Victory Over the Darkness (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1990) 170.

9. Wayne Grudem, The Gift of Prophecy (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1988, 2000) 49.

10. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2565.

11. Charles Wesley, “Whether the Word be Preached or Read,” 1783, Hymnary, 25 February 2021 https://hymnary.org/text/whether_the_word_be_preached_or_read.

12. Phillip P. Bliss, “Wonderful Words of Life,” 1874, Hymnary, 27 February 2021 https://hymnary.org/text/sing_them_over_again_to_me_wonderful.

Bonnie's Prayer Affair

Keeping myself in CHRIST

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

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

JESUS! In Word and Song