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 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.

JESUS! In Word and Song

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WEEK 38

THE HOLY SPIRIT POURED OUT

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh” (Joel 2:28 ESV).

Imagine being in Jerusalem during the Passover that Christians now call “Pentecost.” Imagine hearing that “mighty rushing wind” and coming together where Galileans were telling of the “mighty works of GOD” in all languages that surrounded Jerusalem.

Peter’s speech was the first of the “SPIRIT poured out.” Everyone heard Peter’s speech in his or her native language—that was the first miracle. The second was the SPIRIT causing the crowd to be “cut to the heart,” recognizing their sin.

“The sword of the Spirit, newly edged with power and bathed in the lightnings of heaven, cut its way through unbelief. Thousands were converted in a day.”¹

“Strengthened by the endowment of the Holy Spirit, [the Apostles] went forth filled with the zeal to extend the triumphs of the cross.”² “[T]hey were preaching in the power of the amazing gift He had sent to them, a person they called the Holy Spirit.”³

The same signs, wonders and mighty works performed by JESUS were now going to be performed by the Apostles. The supernatural phenomenon given by the HOLY SPIRIT sealed the words of the Apostles as Truth and the Christian Church was born.

“So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied” (Acts 9:31 ESV).

The “walking in fear” is a reaction to realizing GOD’s desire and ability to provide a way to restore us from the sin that entered us when we were born. And the ‘walking in the comfort of the Holy Spirit’ is the realization that the Spirit’s desire and His present workings is to purify and refine our various ‘faculties and passions’ back to making us ‘a proper habitation for God’ like it was before sin entered the world.⁴

The ultimate goal of all of life is to know and love God, make him known, and thereby glorify him. This goal is accomplished primarily through the work of the Holy Spirit. Reading the Bible, going to church, Christian fellowship, spiritual disciplines, service, and worship are merely playing at religion if all of these activities are not empowered, guided, and filled by the Spirit.⁵

ENDNOTES

(38) The SPIRIT Now Poured Out

1. Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1911) 38.

2. White, 46.

3. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Life in Christ, Studies in 1 John (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2002) 316.

4. Adam Clarke, “Commentary on Acts 9:31,” 1832 Adam Clarke’s Commentary 22 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/acts/9-31.html#verse-acc.

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

6. Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1911) 46.

7. Samuel Chadwick, The Way to Pentecost (Fort Washington, PA: CLC Publications, 2000, 2014) 56.

8. Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1911) 39.

9. “ . . . in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:14 ESV).

10. “For I am sure that . . . no things present nor things to come . . . will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39 ESV).

11. “But 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).

12. “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son . . .” (Romans 8:29 ESV).

13. “ . . . I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh . . .” (Joel 2:28 ESV).

14. “ . . . I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Hebrews 8:10 ESV).

15. “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up . . .” (Acts 9:31 ESV).

16. “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit . . .” (Romans 8:9 ESV).

17. “And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each of them” (Acts 2:3 ESV).

18. Samuel Chadwick, The Way to Pentecost (Fort Washington, PA: CLC Publications, 2000, 2014) 125.

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WEEK 34

THE MEDIATOR

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

The Father gave a people to the Son, and the Son voluntarily made Himself responsible to God for them. God the Father said He would grant forgiveness, reconciliation, restoration, new life, and a new nature to all who belonged to His Son. The condition was that the Son should come into the world and take human nature and the sin of mankind upon Himself to bear its punishment, stand for them, represent them, and suffer for them.¹

Because we were alienated from God by sin, we needed someone to come between God and ourselves and bring us back to him. We needed a mediator who could represent us to God and who could represent God to us. There is only one person who has ever fulfilled that requirement: ‘There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus’ (1 Tim 2:5). In order to fulfill this role of mediator, Jesus had to be fully man as well as fully God.²

“The grand end of Christ’s mediation is the appeasing of God’s anger and the securing of His favor. He is the Advocate with the Father on behalf of His sinning people, pleading His righteousness and blood for them.”³

“The Lord Jesus is the anointed Mediator.”⁴ “Christ presents His people before God as those who are inestimably dear unto Him. He not only died for them, but lives for them (Rom 5:10). He died to render satisfaction to God on their behalf; He lives to keep them secure.”⁵

Christ sits at God’s right hand as no silent and inactive Spectator, but as an industrious and mighty Intercessor: to prevent the sins of His people making any breach, to preserve a perpetual amity between God and them. Thus we have ‘a Friend at court’ who spreads before the Father the odours of His merits as the all-sufficient answer to every indictment which Satan prefers against us. He requests not the Father to show mercy at the expense of justice. There is no compromise of holiness in God’s pardoning His children, for Christ made full atonement for all their sins.⁶

[Christ’s] mediation on the throne is as real and indispensable as on the cross. [I]t engages all His time and powers [and] is His unceasing occupation at the right hand of the Father. And we participate not only in the benefits of this His work, but in the work itself.⁷

ENDNOTES

(34) I See a Man at GOD’s Right Hand

1. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “God’s Great Plan of Redemption,” Free Grace Broadcaster 236 (summer 2016) : 3.

2. Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994) 541.

3. A.W. Pink, 1 John, Part One 1:1-2:11 (Pensacola, FL: Chapel Library, 2005) 123.

4. Charles Spurgeon, “God’s Purpose Consummated,” Free Grace Broadcaster 236 (summer 2016) : 27.

5. A.W. Pink, 1 John, Part One 1:1-2:11 (Pensacola, FL: Chapel Library, 2005) 120.

6. Pink, 120-122.

7. Andrew Murray, “With Christ in the School of Prayer,” PC Study Bible by Biblesoft, Inc, 2003, twenty-sixth lesson.

8. Horatius Bonar, “I See A Man at God’s Right Hand,” 1872 Hymnary, 20 February 2021 https://hymnary.org/text/i_see_a_man_at_gods_right_hand.

9. “Oh the Valley,” music and melody, author unknown.

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WEEK 33

APOSTLES DAY

“Then [Jesus] opened [the Apostles] minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, ‘Thus it is written, repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in [my] name. You are witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:45-48 ESV).

The Holy Spirit energized the hearts and minds of the apostles in their ministry, helping them to produce the NT Scripture. The disciples had failed to understand many things about Jesus and what He taught, but because of his supernatural work, they came to an inerrant and accurate understanding of the Lord and His work and recorded it in the gospels and the rest of the NT Scriptures.¹

“The Holy Spirit was to be given them in its fullness, sealing them for their work.”² “So long as they obeyed His word, and worked in connection with Him, they could not fail.”³

The Sent One (Jesus) has now become the Sender, commissioning his followers to serve as his messengers and representatives. All three persons of the Godhead are involved in this commissioning: as the Father sent Jesus, so Jesus sends his disciples equipping them with the Holy Spirit.⁴

“The whole position of the Apostles is that they have something to declare, something to say. They have seen something, they are reporting it. [I]t is a proclamation; there is an urge and an authority behind it.”⁵

“The disciples were to carry their work forward in Christ’s name. Their every word and act was to fasten attention on His name, as possessing that vital power by which sinners may be saved.”⁶

They told that ancient world of certain things which had happened; they talked about a person, and they reported what had happened to Him. And with a very special emphasis, they told people of the amazing fact of the Resurrection; how this person, Jesus of Nazareth—who had been completely misunderstood, not only by the common people, but by the rulers and elders of the people—how He had been put to death. But, they said, God had raised Him from the dead, and He had manifested Himself to them, His chosen witnesses.⁷

“[The Apostles] had the amazing privilege of seeing Him, of hearing Him, of examining Him and touching Him and listening to Him.”⁸

“The authority of the Apostles in the Church was unquestionable from the very beginning. Their powers were derived from Christ Himself. They preached boldly and acted as His representatives, teaching and speaking ‘in the Holy Spirit.’”⁹

ENDNOTES

(33) Stay Close on His Heels

1. John MacArthur, One Perfect Life (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2012) 415.

2. Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1911) 30.

3. White, 29.

4. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2070.

5. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Life in Christ, Studies in 1 John (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2002) 45.

6. Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1911) 28.

7. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Life in Christ, Studies in 1 John (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2002) 316.

8. Lloyd-Jones, 51.

9. Rev. Fr. Andrew G. George, “Feast of the Twelve Apostles,” Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, 1 September 2021 https://www.goarch.org/-/feast-of-the-twelve-apostles?inheritRedirect=true.

10. Horatius Bonar, Words Old and New (Carlisle, PA: THE BANNER OF TRUTH TRUST, 1866, 1994) 57.

11. “In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,” (Ephesians 1:11 ESV).

12. “To the sound of musicians . . . they repeat the righteous triumphs of the LORD . . .” (Judges 5:11 ESV).

13. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses . . .” (Acts 1:8 ESV).

14. “But 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).

15. “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5 ESV).

16. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses . . .” (Acts 1:8 ESV).

17. “In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,” (Ephesians 1:11 ESV).

18. “’This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,’” (Hebrews 10:16 ESV).

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WEEK 32

THE CROSS STILL STANDS

“Responsive readings can be beneficial because they invoke the congregation in voicing the sacred text.”¹

These paragraphs are to be recited before the start of each verse:

VERSE 1:

“God sent His only begotten, dearly loved Son into this world in order that He might go to the cross. It was God who sent Him. It was God who smote Him and struck Him and gave Him the punishment that we deserved.”²

“Why did God bruise his Son? He did it to resolve the dissonance between his love for his glory and his love for sinners.”³ “The cross of Christ justifies God; he remains holy because He has punished sin in the death, the shed blood, of His Son.”⁴

VERSE 2:

“In the Old Testament the Israelites transferred their guilt to a lamb, and then the lamb was killed.”⁹

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life” (Lev 17:11 ESV).

“God has provided His own sacrifice; it is His own Son.”¹⁰

“[Jesus] carried up to the Cross our sins in His body and offered himself there as on an altar (1 Peter 2:24).”¹¹

VERSE 3:

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10 ESV).

“The cross tells me that I am a complete failure, and that I am such a failure that He had to come from heaven not merely to teach and preach in this world, but to die on that cross. Nothing else could save us.”¹⁴

“It is the cross alone that saves any one of us from the destruction that is coming to the world.”¹⁵

ENDNOTES

(32) I Will Praise the Cross

1. ¹ ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2575.

2. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Walking With God Day by Day (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2003) April 23^rd.

3. John Piper, The Pleasures of GOD (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, Inc., 1991, 2000) 161.

4. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Life in Christ, Studies in 1 John (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2002) 134.

5. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Walking With God Day by Day (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2003) April 23^rd.

6. Lloyd-Jones, April 23^rd.

7. Lloyd-Jones.

8. Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1911) 333.

9. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Walking With God Day by Day (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2003) April 3^rd.

10. Lloyd-Jones, April 3^rd.

11. Kenneth S. Wuest, The New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1961) 554.

12. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life” (Leviticus 17:11 ESV).

13. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Walking With God Day by Day (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2003) April 3^rd.

14. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, April 14

15. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, April 11^th.

16. Lloyd-Jones.

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WEEK 31

GOD’S MASTER PLAN

[H]ere are you and I, miserable worms in this world, miserable worms with our arrogance and our pride and our appalling ignorance. We deserve nothing but to be blotted off the face of the earth. But what has happened is that before the foundation of the world this blessed God considered us, considered our condition, considered what would happen to us and planned a way whereby we might be forgiven and redeemed.¹

“God’s act of choosing His people in Christ was without the consideration of the fall, nor was it upon the foresight and footing of works, but was wholly of grace, and all to the praise and glory of it.”²

“[I]n love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,” (Eph 1:4-5 ESV). “God predestined his elect to redemption and holiness in Christ according to the free council of his will.”³

“God has imputed the believer’s sin to Christ and God imputes Christ’s righteousness to the believer.”⁴ “[We] are pardoned because [our] sin is punished in Christ. And [we] are restored because his righteousness becomes [ours].”⁵

“Christianity rest on an unveiling of the hidden Creator Himself.”⁶ “[B]eing creatures, we cannot know God unless He acts to make Himself known to us. Even Adam in Eden needed direct divine speech to make known to him all God’s will.”⁷ “God created man in his own image. And God blessed them. And God said to them . . . And God said . . . ”(Gen 1:27-29 ESV).

“Revelation does not mean man finding God, but God finding man, God sharing His secrets with us, God showing us Himself.”⁸

It always bothers me when we gather for worship and people say things like, ‘Lord, we invite you into our presence.’ When we should be humbly thanking him for allowing us into his presence. You see, proper worship begins with a proper perspective of who we are and who God is. When we gather to worship, it’s good for us to remember that God is not in our presence, we are in his.⁹

“He is a friend to us, and we to Him, He finding His joy in giving us gifts and we finding ours in giving Him thanks.”¹⁰

ENDNOTES

(31) GOD’s Love Self-generated

1. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “God’s Great Plan of Redemption,” Free Grace Broadcaster 236 (summer 2016) : 4.

2. A.W. Pink, “The Mediator Chosen,” Free Grace Broadcaster 236 (summer 2016) : 25.

3. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2260.

4. ESV Study Bible, 2231.

5. G. I. Williamson, The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing Company, 1964, 2004) 105.

6. J.I. Packer, God Has Spoken (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1979) 45.

7. Packer, 53-55.

8. Packer, 46.

9. Denny Johnson, “The Intimacy of God’s Sovereignty,” NHC sermon notes, 7 February 2021: 4.

10. Packer, 50.

11. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Life in Christ, Studies in 1 John (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2002) 550-551.

12. Horatius Bonar, Words Old and New (Carlisle, PA: THE BANNER OF TRUTH TRUST, 1866, 1994) 126-127.

13. “ . . . Jesus Christ—Loyal Witness, Firstborn from the dead, Ruler of all earthly kings” (Rev 1:4-7 MSG).

14. Isaac Watts, “Jesus Shall Reign,” 1719, Hymnary, 19 February 2021 https://hymnary.org/text/jesus_shall_reign_whereer_the_sun.

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WEEK 30

GOD BEFORE THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE WORLD

[L]ong ere the day-star knew its place, before God had spoken existence out of nothing, before angel’s wing had stirred the unnavigated ether, before a solitary song had disturbed the solemnity of the silence in which God reigned supreme, He had entered into solemn council with Himself, His Son, and His Spirit and had in that council decreed, determined, proposed, and predestinated the salvation of His people.¹

“God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun” (Rom 8:29-30 MSG).

“God chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world according to the purpose of his will” (Eph 1:3-5 ESV).

“God’s great love has been manifested in what He has done for us in and through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”² “God created the world so we could share in the joy of knowing him.”³

“It is a superlative honor that Christ is the channel through which all the grace and glory we have, or shall have, flows to us, and was set up as such from the beginning.”⁴

“[T]he mystery hidden for ages and generations [is] now revealed to his saints. [T]his mystery is Christ in you”(Col 1:26-27 ESV).

To make sure that the FATHER had a people to shower His love on, He selected His elect before He created them, cementing all His purposes in stone before He set up the world—making sure the ones He purchased would not (could not) fall away from Him. Through His Son’s work and drawing His people to accept His plan in faith, He will always have a people to love.

God is able to work out his sovereign will within the distinctive characteristics of what he has created. He moves a rock as a rock, and moves a human heart as a human heart. He does not turn a person into a thing when he brings about his sovereign intentions in a person’s life. Paul describes sanctification as the result of both human effort and ultimate divine enabling. He sees no conflict between divine and human activity. Rather, God is uniquely able to bring about his purposes within human beings so that they are fully engaged as persons and responsible for their own decisions, attitudes, and actions.⁵

ENDNOTES

(30) To GOD Be Glory Forevermore

1. Charles Spurgeon, “God’s Covenant in Eternity,” Free Grace Broadcaster 236 (summer 2016) : 5.

2. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Life in Christ, Studies in 1 John (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2002) 517.

3. Bob Kauflin, Worship Matters (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2008) 176.

4. A.W. Pink, “The Mediator Chosen,” Free Grace Broadcaster 236 (summer 2016) : 27.

5. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2529.

6. Charles Spurgeon, “God’s Covenant in Eternity,” Free Grace Broadcaster 236 (summer 2016) : 5.

7. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2529.

JESUS! In Word and Song

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Today starts volume 2 of JESUS! In Word and Song. See SONG in main menu for more information.

WEEK 28

TRINITY SUNDAY

“Trinity Sunday is a day when Christians think of the nature of God rather than, as with other festivals, commemorating historical events of special significance.”¹

“[T]he three blessed Persons in the Trinity divided up the work: The Father planned, the Son put it into operation, and the Holy Spirit applies it.”²

God was so sure of the depth and expansiveness of your sin, of your inability to grasp how desperate your condition is (and, even if you were able, your complete inability to free yourself from it), that he was willing to harness the forces of nature and to carefully control the events of human history so that at a certain point Jesus would come to live the life you could not live, die the death that you should have died, and rise again, conquering death. Why did God go to this elaborate and sacrificial extent? There is only one answer to the question. God the Father planned it, God the Son was willing to do it, and God the Holy Spirit applied this work to your heart and mine because there just was no other way.³

“When God brought His work of revelation to its climax by sending into the World His Son and His Spirit, He thereby showed Himself to be tri-personal—three Persons in one God.”⁴

“God exists eternally as one God in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each person within the Trinity possesses the same essence and attributes of deity and is co-equal in power and glory.”⁵

“While each ‘personage’ is distinct in function, each shares together in the same deity and each reflects the divine attributes of the one living God.”⁶

[T]he Father plans, directs, and sends; the Son is sent by the Father and is subject to the Father’s authority and obedient to the Father’s will; and both Father and Son direct and send the Spirit, who carries out the will of both. Yet this is somehow consistent with equality in being and in attributes.⁷

“All that can be felt of God is in the Holy Spirit; all that can be known of God is in the Son; and all that is of God is in the Father.”⁸

“It requires a whole Trinity to keep a saint of God.”⁹

To him that sits upon the throne,

The great eternal Three-in-One;

To him let saints and angels raise

An everlasting song of praise.¹⁰

ENDNOTES

(28) SPIRIT, FATHER, Son

1. “A Guide to Christian Festivals and Dates,” Church of Scotland, 4 July 2021 https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/worship/festivals-and-dates.

2. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “Gods Great Plan of Redemption,” Free Grace Broadcaster 236 (summer 2016) : 1.

3. Paul David Tripp, New Morning Mercies (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2014) February 29^th.

4. J.I. Packer, God Has Spoken (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press,1979) 47.

5. New Hope Church Statement of Fatih, “2. God,” Spring 2021 https://www.newhopechurchofoxford.org/statement-of-faith.

6. “Holy Spirit,” 2002-2020, All About God, 17 February 2021 https://www.allaboutgod.com/holy-spirit.htm.

7. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2514.

8. Horatius Bonar, Words Old and New (Carlisle, PA: THE BANNER OF TRUTH TRUST, 1866, 1994) 340.

9. Bonar, 332.

10. J. Swain, “To Him That Loved Us, Ere We Lay,” 1838 Gadsby’s Hymn Book, 17 February 2021 https://bethlehemswell.com/hymns/721/.

11. Charles Spurgeon, “God’s Covenant in Eternity,” Free Grace Broadcaster 236 (summer 2016) : 6-7.

12. Spurgeon.

13. Spurgeon.

JESUS! In Word and Song

Posted by bonniefaurote

WEEK 27

PENTECOST

Pentecost Sunday is a commemoration and celebration of the official birthday of the Christian church, marked by the receiving of the Holy Spirit by the early believers. Pentecost Sunday is observed on the seventh Sunday after Easter and ten days after Ascension.¹

“[Y]ou will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:5 ESV).

The effects are seen in the Apostles on the Day of Pentecost. Pentecost changed all their outlook. The Scriptures were made luminous in the light of the Holy Ghost. The change in their characters was even greater than the change in their knowledge. The Gospels portray these men as proud and contentious, selfish and cowardly; but the first pages of the Acts of the Apostles tell another story. Pentecost transformed them.²

Under the training of Christ the disciples had been led to feel their need of the Spirit. Under the Spirit’s teaching they received the final qualification, and went forth to their lifework. No longer were they ignorant and uncultured. No longer were they a collection of independent units or discordant, conflicting elements.³

“[L]et us recall and realize all the mighty and marvelous signs of this first Pentecost, and its instant and immediate results and effects; of conquered cowardice, of utterance, of courageous speech, of other tongues.”⁴

The preaching of the cross of Christ was the very center and heart of the message of the apostles. It was not the teaching of Christ, nor the example of Christ either. What they preached was His death on the cross and the meaning of that event.⁵

[T]hey were to proclaim to the world the truths entrusted to them. The events of Christ’s life, His death and resurrection, the prophecies pointing to these events, the mysteries of the plan of salvation, the power of Jesus for the remission of sins.⁶

“[T]he gospel must be proclaimed. The wonderful truth that through Christ alone could remission of sins be obtained, was to be made plain.”⁷

[W]e should read the writings of the New Testament as God’s very words, still living and powerful to speak to our hearts today with the authority of God himself. No other words spoken today can ever equal the words of Scripture itself in authority, in purity, or in power.⁸

ENDNOTES

(27) Abiding Miracle

1. Joe Carter, “9 Things You Should Know About the Christian Calendar,” 1 December 2019, The Gospel Coalition, 3 July 2021 https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/9-things-know-christian-calendar/.

2. Samuel Chadwick, The Way to Pentecost (Fort Washington, PA: CLC Publications, 2000) 169-170.

3. Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1911) 45.

4. W.C. Doanne, “Commentary on Acts 1:2,” 1876, James Nisbet’s Church Pulpit Commentary, 16 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/acts/2-1.html#verse-cpc.

5. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Walking With God Day by Day (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2003) April 2^nd.

6. Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1911) 27.

7. White, 31-32.

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

9. W.C. Doanne, “Commentary on Acts 1:2,” 1876, James Nisbet’s Church Pulpit Commentary, 16 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/acts/2-1.html#verse-cpc.

10. Samuel Chadwick, The Way to Pentecost (Fort Washington, PA: CLC Publications, 2000) 35.

11. Chadwick, 37.

12. Chadwick, 40.

13. Chadwick.

14. Chadwick 43.

15. W.C. Doanne, “Commentary on Acts 1:2,” 1876, James Nisbet’s Church Pulpit Commentary, 16 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/acts/2-1.html#verse-cpc.

16. Alexander MacLaren, “Commentary on Acts 2:1,” Alexander MacLaren’s Expositions of Holy Scripture, 16 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/mac/acts-2.html.

17. MacLaren.

Bonnie's Prayer Affair

Keeping myself in CHRIST

Martyn Lloyd-Jones

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