Timely Messenger Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth Speaking the Truth in Love Volume 63 No. 9 September 2003 WITH ETERNITY S VALUES IN VIEW Continued from last month W e have seen previously that eternal life is a present position and protection to one who has trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour. This is completely by the death of Christ on the Cross. It is not by our good works whether religious or secular (Eph.2:8-9). Eternal life is in the here as well as the hereafter. Seeing and believing this wonderful truth, we should not neglect the effects that eternal life has on the believer. Are by Charles W. Wages there changes in the attitudes and actions of one who has received eternal life? First, knowing one has eternal life should have an effect on one s personal life. We have to believe and accept the devastating life of the past. Ephesians 2:1-3 states: And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins: Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind: and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. This life before we were saved is called the old man in Colossians 3:1. Some of the characteristics of the old man are anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication. There are many more too numerous to mention. However, when a person trusts the Lord for salvation, he or she becomes a new person in Christ! In 2 Corinthians 5:17, we are told that, Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away: behold, all things are become new. Notice the emphasis on the new creation and that old things are passed away. The old man has
nothing to look forward to but death. The new man now has eternal life and looks forward to an eternity in the presence of the Lord! Again, it must be stressed that eternal life is a present possession and should make a great change in our attitudes and actions while we live on this earth. This realization of present possession of eternal life should have an effect on our spiritual life as well as our personal life although they are closely related. An eternal connection with the Lord should be accompanied by a spiritual communion with Him. Communion basically involves fellowship. Fellowship with whom? 1 John 1:3 states, That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. W e m u s t h a v e communion with the One who has given us eternal life. This communion or fellowship is through the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. (Rom. 8:26-27) Communion involves communication. We have to have God s eternal life before we can have God s learning. The Scripture is clear that the natural man (devoid of eternal life) cannot understand the truth of God s Word. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. The realization of our eternal life gives the believer a yearning for learning. Learning more about this wonderful eternal life is a wonderful journey! This journey includes communion with the Lord who constantly and consistently loves us. Communion involves worship. One must have eternal life before one can worship the eternal God. We are told in Philippians 3:3, 2 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. This spiritual worship or communion should include: Reading and studying God s Word (2 Tim. 2:15) Prayer or communicating with God (1 Thess. 5:17) Fellowshipping with believers (Heb. 10:25) The full realization that eternal life is a present result of having trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour brings stability and soundness to the child of God. This results in sound values, sound minds, and real security to the believer. Let s remember that the Scripture says, These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. (1 John 5:13)
THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST Continued from last month W e saw last month that grace is often best defined by looking at an example from the Scriptures. The best example is that of our Lord Jesus Christ, as stated in 2 Corinthians 8:9. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor; that you through His poverty might become rich. by Gregg Bing The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ centers on this fact, that He became poor for our sakes. What does this mean? In one sense, Jesus poverty speaks of His physical poverty as He lived here on this earth, but it goes beyond this. We see also that He became flesh. The God of glory emptied Himself of the glorious form and position He had with His Father in heaven to become a Man and to live on this sin-cursed earth. (Phil. 2:5-8). Yet, this was not the full extent of Jesus poverty. We could never become rich just because the Lord Jesus Christ became flesh and lived a life of material poverty here on this earth. Why did the Lord Jesus become flesh? The writer to the Hebrews tells us: But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. (Heb. 2:9) The Lord Jesus Christ became a Man so that He, by the grace of God, (Continued on page 6) Timely Messenger Published monthly by: GRACE BIBLE CHURCH 1450 Oak Hill Road Fort Worth, TX 76112-3017 (817) 451-0937 Website: www.gracebiblechurch-fw.com Email: gbcfw@juno.com Gregg Bing Editor Sent free to anyone upon request. If you live in the Fort Worth area, we invite you to worship with us. Sunday Services: 10:00 AM Sunday School 11:00 AM Morning Worship 6:00 PM Evening Worship Mid-Week Services: Tues. 10:00 AM Ladies Class Wed. 7:00 PM Bible Study JANUARY 1-3, 2004 Winter Youth Retreat To be held at Three Mountain Retreat near Clifton, Texas. For youth, ages 13 through college age. Registration form will be included in future issues. 3
AN INFORMAL SURVEY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT A Dispensational Approach XVI. A Reminder of Peril 5:8-14 A. Vigilance 5:8 B. Victimization 5:9 C. Vindication 5:10 1. The Person 5:10a By R. B. Shiflet I PETER But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, He is the God of all Comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3). He is the God of Peace (Philippians 4:9; Romans 15:33) He is the God of Hope (Romans 15:13). The battle is not ours, but the Lord s. Martin Luther described Him well in his great old hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. 2. The Prerequisite 5:10b After that ye have suffered a while,... Just as high school, college and university courses often have prerequisites, that is, courses that must have been mastered before one can enroll in a new course, so the life of a believer requires suffering before strength and stability can take place. 3. The Promise 5:10c After that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. When we turn to the God of all grace in our suffering, He is able to use it to: a. Restore us (KJV make you perfect ) The word used here is frequently used in Greek literature to refer to setting a bone, or mending that which is torn. Its first occurrence in our Bible is in Matthew 4:21, where our Lord found some of his future disciples mending their nets. It is used in Galatians 6:1 of restoring a brother who has been overtaken in a fault. It has been observed that suffering will either cause the faith of a weak brother to collapse, or it will strengthen him to become a 4
stronger believer who is able to help others who are going through trials. Sir Edward Elgar once heard a young girl singing a solo from one of his compositions. She sang it beautifully and the audience was deeply impressed. Sir Elgar softly remarked to a friend, When she has suffered heartbreak she will be perfect. This verse should help us remember that when God allows suffering and sorrow to come into the lives of His children it is to restore them to more useful lives. b. Establish Us The word translated stablish in the KJV means to make as solid as granite. It is a trite but true statement that the same sun that melts the wax hardens the clay. We cannot help the trials and buffetings that come into our lives, but through the power of the God of all grace, we can help our reaction to them. A man called me to the hospital years ago to visit him. He was suffering from nosebleed and the doctor had packed his nostrils. He was in the midst of a pity party. Why, he wondered, do all these things happen to me? I went to another wing of the hospital to visit an elderly lady who was suffering from leukemia and who had a daughter who was battling terminal cancer. She was smiling and happy and said, Why, Brother Shiflet, if I die tomorrow it s all right. I ve had a good life. And she continued to count her blessings. Suffering had given her a bedrock foundation. The other person had his eyes on himself rather than the God who desires to use afflictions to establish us. c. Strengthen Us Having undergone hip surgery twice in an eight-month period, I was rather inactive for a time. This resulted in soft, flabby muscles. Through weeks of physical therapy and exercise, I have become much stronger. Afflictions that come into our lives can cause spiritual flabbiness, or if we exercise ourselves unto godliness, He will use the testing to strengthen us. d. Settle Us This word means to give us a solid foundation. Like the man in our Lord s parable who built his house upon the rock, the believer who accepts suffering and distress as a part of God s purpose will be settled. We usually do not know what the particular purpose is, but we trust a loving, kind Heavenly Father and know that He does all things well. 5
This verse does not guarantee that suffering will accomplish these things. Much depends upon how we accept the suffering. If we rebel, it is to our loss. If we can say with Fanny J. Crosby, I know what e er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well, we will find a precious promise in this verse. (To Be Continued) (Continued from page 3) might taste death for everyone. Philippians 2:8 tells us that He became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Jesus became flesh so that He could die; not just an ordinary death, but the death of the cross. What does this expression mean, even, the death of the cross? Jesus death on the cross was painful for Him in several different ways. The physical sufferings Jesus went through were terrible. He was slapped, beaten, crowned with t h o r n s, s c o u r g e d (whipped), and then crucified. Crucifixion was one of the cruelest forms of capital punishment ever devised by men. It was a slow, agonizing death (Jesus Himself was on the cross for six hours), the physical effects of which are described in vivid detail in Psalm 22:14-17. The public shame, the humiliation of Jesus death, was horribly degrading (Heb. 12:2). Crucifixion was a punishment reserved for the vilest of criminals: thieves, murderers, leaders of political insurrection; men such as Barabbas. Our Lord was spit upon, mocked, marched through the crowded streets as a common criminal, stripped of His clothing, and then taunted by the crowds who stared at Him there on the cross. The personal sorrow Jesus experienced must have been excruciating for Him as well. He was rejected by His own creation, His own people (John 1:11) those whom He dearly loved (Eph. 5:2). Even the twelve apostles, who were closer to Jesus than His earthly family, forsook Him and fled 6 when He was arrested in Gethsemane (Matt. 26:56). Yet, all of these sufferings were nothing in comparison to the period of silence that Jesus endured on the cross of Calvary. We read in Matthew 27:45-46: Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? For three hours, from noon until 3:00 P.M., there was darkness over all the land. I believe that it was during this three hours that Jesus bore our sins in His own body on the tree (1 Pet. 2:24). This was the third and most difficult as-
pect of the poverty of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He Became Sin For He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Cor. 5:21) During those three hours, as Jesus bore our sins, He also bore the full wrath and judgment of God, all for us (Rom. 8:3). This is why we hear Jesus cry out, My God, My God, Why have You forsaken Me? The word f o r s a k e n m e a n s completely and utterly forsaken. The Son of God, who, up to this point, had close, continual fellowship with His Father, endured three hours of painful silence, being separated from God the Father, and His cry was, Why? The answer to this anguished cry is found in the prophecy of Psalm 22. My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning? O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent. But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them. They cried to You, and were delivered; They trusted in You, and were not ashamed. But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people. (Psalm 22:1-6) 7 The reason the Father had to completely forsake His Son is found in verses 3 and 6 of this Psalm. Verse 3 says, You (God) are holy, and verse 6 declares, But I (Christ) am a worm and no man. Here is the ultimate step of Christ s poverty. During those three hours on the cross, Jesus was destitute, empty, completely alone. He had nothing. He had no one. He was rejected by His own, deserted by His closest friends, and completely and utterly forsaken by His Father. All that the Lord Jesus had on that cross was our sins! He went through all this for our sakes. Why would Jesus do this for us? Love! As Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. (Eph. 5:2) He loved us unconditionally, while we were still sinners (Rom. 5:8), and gave Himself for us an offering and sacrifice to God; an offering which was, to God, a sweet smelling aroma. Jesus willingly went through these terrible sufferings for us, that He might bring us to God (1 Pet. 3:18). Having endured these three hours of darkness, Jesus then cried out, in a loud voice (Matt. 26:50), It is finished! (John 19:30). Our debt to God was paid in full there on that cross. The payment we owed to God, the wages of sin, was death (Rom. 6:23). When Jesus died for our sins, God was satisfied
with His payment. He was pleased with the offering of His Son. God s holy and righteous requirements were fully met, thus God s gift of eternal life (Rom. 6:23b) was now available to all who would simply believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior (John 3:16). Did you deserve this? Did I? Did anyone? No! This is grace! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is that He became poor, that you, through His poverty, might become rich; that you might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21). Yes, grace is a gift we don t deserve, but now we see the terrible sufferings Jesus Christ went through to provide that gift for us. Yes, grace is unmerited favor, but now we see the extent of the favor that God bestowed upon us. Yes, grace is God doing for us what we couldn t do for ourselves, but now we see why He alone could do this work. Do you, personally, know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ? Have you trusted in Him and the finished work He accomplished for you on the cross of Calvary? Have you received His wonderful gift of eternal life? If you have not, you can do so, today, this very moment. You don t have to join a church, go through any ordinances, go down front and shake a preacher s hand. You don t have to do anything, except believe in t h e L o r d J e s u s Christ (Acts 16:31); believe that He died for your sins and that He was buried and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3-4). If you simply trust in Him to save you from your sins, He will, the very moment you believe. This is grace! T hanks be to God for His indescribable Gift! GRACE BIBLE CHURCH 1450 Oak Hill Road Fort Worth, TX 76112-3017 NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID FORT WORTH, TEXAS PERMIT NO. 480