BY GRACE I'M SAVED

By Grace I'm Saved

1. By grace I'm saved grace free and boundless! My heart, believ'st thou this or not? Why tremblest thou with terror groundless? Has ever God a falsehood taught? His Word is truethen this must be: By grace there is a crown for thee.
2. By grace! our works are all rejected, All claims of merit pass for naught; The mighty Savior, long expected, To us this blissful truth has brought, That He by death redeems our race, And we are saved alone by grace.
3. By grace! mark well this phrase's meaning, When sin rolls sorrows o'er thy breast, When Satan threats with pride o'erweening, When troubled conscience sighs for rest: What reason ne'er can comprehend It pleases God by grace to send.
4. By grace His Son, on earth appearing, Vouchsafed beneath thy woe to bend; Hadst thou, damnation justly fearing, Done aught to render Him thy friend? Was't not that He thy welfare sought, And but by grace deliv'rance wrought?
5. By grace! this ground of our salvation As long as God is true endures: What saints have penned by inspiration, What God to our poor soul secures, What all our faith must rest upon, Is grace, free grace through His dear Son.
6. By grace! but think not, thou who livest Securely on in godless ways, That thou, though all are called, receivest The promised rest that wakes our praise: By grace none find in heaven a place Who live in sin in hope of grace.
7. By grace! They who have heard this sentence Must bid hypocrisy farewell; For only after deep repentance The soul what grace imports can tell; To sin while grace a trifle seems, To faith it bright with glory beams.
8. By grace the timid hearts that languish, Find access to the Father's heart, When conflicts fierce and bitter anguish Bid all their joy and hopes depart. Where, oftimes, should I strength obtain, Bid grace my anchor not remain!
9. By grace! on this in death I'll rest me, Rejoicing e'en though feeling naught; I know my sin it oft oppressed me But Him, too, who my soul hath bought: My heart exults grief flees apace Because my soul is saved by grace.
10. By grace! O sin and Satan hear it! I bear my flag of faith in hand, And pass, in spite of doubts, nor fear it, The Red Sea to the promised land; I hold the word my Savior taught As certain, whether felt or not.

Words: Christian L. Scheidt, 1742. Translated by Matthias Loy, (1828-1915).
Music: 'O Dass Ich Tansend Zungen' Johann Balthasar K�nig, 1738.
Setting: "The Evangelical Lutheran Hymnal" (Ohio Synod), 1908.
copyright: public domain. This score is a part of the Open Hymnal Project, 2007 Revision.

GREATEST JUDGMENT

The greatest judgment God lays upon a man in this life is to let him sin without control. When the Lord's displeasure is most severely kindled against a person, He does not say, I will bring the sword and the plague on this man, but, I will let him sin on: 'So I gave them up unto their own hearts' LUST.' (Psalm 81:12)

Thomas Watson

SINK IMMEDIATELY

If God should let you go, you would sink immediately and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell than a spider's web would have to stop a falling rock.

Jonathan Edwards

CLOSE EMBRACE

 He has chosen not to heal me, but to hold me. The more intense the pain, the closer His embrace.
- Joni E Tada

At LEAST 13 years after Genesis 12

Gen 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram ....

Which was thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael last mentioned; so many years more it was before he is expressly told he should have a son by Sarai, or had the promise of Isaac, which was for the trial of his faith; (John Gill).

An inference

An inference from a precedent does not an imperative make.

God is for us

Such a God have we, such a God do we worship, to such a God do we pray, at whose command all created things sprang into being. Why then should we fear if this God favours us? Why should we tremble at the anger of the whole world? If He is our dwelling-place shall we not be safe though the heavens should go to the wrack? For we have a Lord greater than all the world. We have a Lord so mighty that at His word all things sprang into being. And yet we are so fainthearted that if the anger of a single prince or king, nay, even of a single neighbour, is to be borne, we tremble and droop in spirit. Yet in comparison with this King, all things beside in the whole world are but as the lightest dust which a slight breath moves from its place, and suffers not to be still. In this way this description of God is consolatory, and trembling spirits ought to look to this consolation in their temptations and dangers.

Martin Luther

DON'T WASTE TIME

John Calvin: "Paul now forbids him to waste much time in debating with heretics, because battle would lead to battle and dispute to dispute. Such is the cunning of Satan, that, by the impudent talkativeness of such men, he entangles good and faithful pastors, so as to draw them away from diligence in teaching. We must therefore beware lest we become engaged in quarrelsome disputes; for we shall never have leisure to devote our labors to the Lord’s flock, and contentious men will never cease to annoy us. 

When he commands him to avoid such persons, it is as if he said that he must not toil hard to satisfy them, and even that there is nothing better than to cut off the handle for fighting which they are eager to find. This is a highly necessary admonition; for even they who would willingly take no part in strifes of words are sometimes drawn by shame into controversy, because they think that it would be shameful cowardice to quit the field. 

Besides, there is no temper, however mild, that is not liable to be provoked by the fierce taunts of enemies, because they look upon it as intolerable that those men should attack the truth, (as they are accustomed to do,) and that none should reply. Nor are there wanting men who are either of a combative disposition, or excessively hot-tempered, who are eager for battle. On the contrary, Paul does not wish that the servant of Christ should be much and long employed in debating with heretics."

PROVISION

Name one solitary day in which you provided, secured, sustained your food, clothing, health, housing, needs, or blessings?  So why should I fret and worry about how to do such things in the future, fearing that funds may dwindle. My faith should be in the sufficiency of my Father, not the sufficiency of my funds.

Valley of Vision

"Forgive me if I have tried to add anything to the one foundation, if I have unconsciously relied upon my knowledge, experience, deeds, and not seen them as filthy rags; if I have attempted to complete what is perfect in Christ." -from "The Life Look" (page 54)

Various Types of Legalism

• RT @PastorTullian: Save yourself = theological legalism. Transform yourself = functional legalism. Change the world = missional legalism.

The accomplishment of Jesus

It is solely due to the life, death, blood, resurrection, obedience, righteousness, perfection, grace, and accomplishment of Jesus Christ that I was born again, given a new mind, a new heart, a living faith, and the exercise thereof. In fact it was accomplishment of Jesus Christ that ensured the exercise of the faith that His mediation gave me.

CALVIN on Head-Coverings

Should any one now object, that her hair is enough, as being a natural covering, Paul says that it is not, for it is such a covering as requires another thing to be made use of for covering it And hence a conjecture is drawn, with some appearance of probability -- that women who had beautiful hair were accustomed to uncover their heads for the purpose of showing off their beauty. It is not, therefore, without good reason that Paul, as a remedy for this vice, sets before them the opposite idea -- that they be regarded as remarkable for unseemliness, rather than for what is an incentive to lust. [625]

PRAY CONTRARY TO OUR OWN HEART

thought provoking: "If we are to pray aright, perhaps it is quite necessary that we pray contrary to our own heart." Bonhoeffer.

BEZA QUOTE

Theodore Beza: It belongs to the church of God to receive blows rather than to inflict them -- but, she is an anvil that has worn out many hammers. --Theodore of Beza 1561 to King Charles IX of France

AN OBSERVATION

The Christian life is a personal one. And what I mean is, it is easy to lay back and wait for corporate Bible study, corporate prayer, corporate evangelism, corporate benevolence ministry, corporate outreach, and all things corporate. It seems clear that God has provided a community body of the church to build one another up which includes encouragement, instruction, correction, and joint labor; it is wrong and dangerous to be a lone ranger void of accountability and teamwork.

Yet having said that, I am learning the past 4.5 years that I can never sit back and wait for the corporate functions (or lack thereof) to be my mainstay. In family worship, Joshua and his house will serve the Lord, and so I must constantly pursue Christ and His Kingdom as He first loved me and claimed me for His own possession. I will enjoy the nourishment of Christ, prayer, Scripture, evangelism, ministry, outreach, and worship without waiting for the Christian community to be the inducement or occasion to pursue these things.

Has the local congregation lacked evangelism, prayer, devotion, ministry, outreach, discipleship? Well, don't let that be my (your) excuse for my own lack of personal: evangelism, prayer, devotion, ministry, outreach, discipleship.

WANDERING SHEEP

I was a wandering sheep,
I did not love the fold;
I did not love my Shepherd’s voice,
I would not be controlled.
I was a wayward child,
I did not love my home;
I did not love my Father’s voice,
I loved afar to roam.

The Shepherd sought His sheep,
The Father sought His child;
They followed me o’er vale and hill,
O’er deserts waste and wild;
They found me nigh to death,
Famished and faint and lone;
They bound me with the bands of love,
They saved the wand’ring one.

They spoke in tender love,
They raised my drooping head,
They gently closed my bleeding wounds,
My fainting soul they fed;
They washed my filth away,
They made me clean and fair;
They brought me to my home in peace,
The long sought wanderer.

Jesus my Shepherd is:
’Twas He that loved my soul;
’Twas He that washed me in His blood,
’Twas He that made me whole.
’Twas He that sought the lost,
That found the wand’ring sheep,
’Twas He that brought me to the fold,
’Tis He that still doth keep.

No more a wandering sheep,
I love to be controlled;
I love my tender Shepherd’s voice,
I love the peaceful fold.
No more a wayward child,
I seek no more to roam;
I love my heavenly Father’s voice,
I love, I love His home!

HORATIUS BONAR

COMFORT THE FEEBLEMINDED

JOHN GILL ON 1 THESS 5:14

Comfort the feebleminded: such as are not able to bear the loss of near and dear relations; are ready to stagger under the cross, and at the reproaches and persecutions of the world; and are almost overset with the temptations of Satan; and are borne down and discouraged with the corruptions of their hearts, speak a comfortable word to them, encourage them with the doctrines of grace, and the promises of the Gospel.

Preaching with Faith

The preacher preaches the word with the aim to bring attention to the God of glory, an accurate apprehension /understanding of Scripture to the mind, a deepening affection to the heart, and a faithful application in the life.  Yet the preacher realizes he himself cannot change the listener's "attention, mind, heart, life"  The audience may ignore or drift from the passage, or reject and twist the meaning of the passage, and despise the passage, and never bear fruit in accordance with the passage.  So the pastor preaches first as an act of worship to God, an act of obedience to God, and an act of faith toward God, leaving the results of the preaching up to the power and grace of God.  Only God can change the attention, mind, heart, life of the soul.

POOR OR PLUSH

“For whom the devil cannot overcome with poverty, want, need and misery, he attacks with riches, favor, honor, pleasure, power and the like, and contends on both sides against us; yea, ‘he walketh about,’ says St. Peter in 1 Pet 5:8, so that if he cannot overthrow us either with suffering or love, … he retires to a higher and different method and attacks us with error, blindness and a false understanding of the Scripture.” -- Martin Luther