The Purpose of the Church

RIVER OF GRACE (Part 1 of 10)

Did you know that the whole New Testament is grace based? What this means is a whole lot more then simply the vertical act of receiving Christ as Lord. This is just the beginning. Once Christ has taken up residence in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, his grace immediately becomes DIVINE ENABLING POWER, that is a literal tangible substance that flows through us and enables us to do what is humanly impossible, like heal the sick, cast out demons and raise the dead.

One man once said, "the commandments of God are not hard, they are impossible!" This is true apart from the grace of God flowing through us. It is not natural to love your enemies and bless those who persecute you, it is super-natural. Grace partners with the human heart and the result is a super-natural lifestyle.

SO GRACE COMES TO US IN TWO WAYS:

1)-GRACE TO US-

> This is vertical and is from God to man through Christ.

> Has to do with our salvation

> (Eph.2:8)-"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not of yourselves it is the gift of God

2)-GRACE THROUGH US-

> This DIVINE ENABLING POWER working through man.

> Has to do with our gifts and calling.

> (Eph. 3:7)-"I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of Gods grace given me through the working of his power."

> (Acts 14:3)-"So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders."

Grace flows out of love because love must be expressed. "For God so loved the world that he GAVE-(GRACE) his only begotten Son."(Jn.3:16)

GRACE-(CHARIS) Is the root word for Kindness, Blessing, Credit, Favor, Gift, Gratuity, Thanks, Thankfulness, Thanksgiving. It is the Divine influence upon the human heart and it's reflection in life.

> Sin, mans defiant misuse of his finite freedom, has negated any claim he may have levied on his Creator's blessing. Grace therefore stands as the antithesis to sin.

> GRACE-Is the only way a Holy God could justify unholy men.

> GRACE-Is the only means by which God effects human character and changes it.

> The Cross alone is the means to the grace, which is the means to our transformation.

> GRACE-Is given to us in Jesus Christ and works through us by the power of the Holy Spirit.

> The river of God only flows through the grace of God.

The very first sermon John Wesley preached which lead to revival June 11, 1738 at the University of Oxford was from the text (Eph.2:8)-"For by grace you are saved through faith."

QUOTES:

"I do not doubt that a far greater power for usefulness lies concealed within the doctrines of grace then some men have ever dreamed of." (Charles Spurgeon)

"God has done it. God alone has done it! Nothing makes a man so humble, but nothing makes him so glad. Nothing lays him so low at the mercy seat, but nothing makes him so brave to look hi fellowman in the face. It is a grand truth. I pray to God that you will know it's mighty power." (Charles Spurgeon)

"We believe that if we are ever saved at all, we must be saved (gratis) saved as the gratuitous act of a bountiful God; saved by a gift not by wages; saved by Gods love not our own doing or merits. This is the apostles creed: Salvation is all of grace from first to last, and the channel of that grace is the Lord Jesus Christ, who loved and lived and died and rose again for our salvation." (Charles Spurgoen)

CONCLUSION:

"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ." (2Peter3:18a)

-The word "Grow"can be rendered- "be continually growing" This is the realm of Gods unmerited favor and the exercise of Spiritual graces. Remember, if you do not have a settled conviction concerning Gods grace (TO YOU) in salvation, you will struggle to access his grace / enabling power (THROUGH YOU) in your daily life.

Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie

KINGS: Goliath, Parts 1 and 2

The Miracle Maker

BASIC UNITY IN CHRIST

In the Jesus Movement early 1970 I was apart of a fellowship that was exclusive. Later on I became apart of a fellowship of believer that practice unity and working with and among other believers. We were given the basic truth of Jesus' passionate prayer in John 17, "that we would be one as the Father and Jesus are one" and it became apart of our lives. We were stoked to work with the other parts of the body of Christ. It didn't take long to discover not all the church had the same conviction about working together. We had the blessing of receiving revelation of this basic truth and thought this was a common reality in the church. I had a rude awakening. But never the less this was truth and I never gave up on this reality, "unity among the believers," it was birth in my heart by the Holy Spirit.

Basic spiritual truth is; "no one person, or group, has all of the truth." What we have must be joined to what the Lord gives to the rest of His body, (the church) if we are to have the whole truth. Jesus stated this in His prayer the night before He was crucified:

"And the glory which You have given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the would may know that You have sent Me, and You love them, even as You love Me" (John 17:22-23).

The word that is translated "PERFECTED" in the scripture could have been translated "COMPLETED." Either way, the Lord has established that the only way that we can fulfill our purpose is to be properly joined to the whole body of Christ. This is why Paul did not write that "I have the mind of Christ", but rather, "...we have the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthian 2:16b). No one person can contain His mind, It takes the coming together of the whole body for us to have His mind, or to reveal His ways.

Because of this, when the church comes into unity, the world will know that He was indeed sent from the Father. We will not be able to come into such a unity without Him. Without revelation and patience practice of this powerful truth it will just be another nice teaching from Jesus filed away in our doctrine folder. However, we will not come into this unity by seeking unity, but by seeking Him, seeking His Face. Unity as a goal in itself can be a false god, a place of pride, a stumbling block to both the mind of Christ and true unity. Unity will never be built on compromise, but through revelation from the Holy Spirit and understanding the Scripture.

When He is revealed, all of the things that now divide us from one another will be seen as petty and vain as they are.

Let's pray

Father give me understanding and revelation according to your Word about UNITY in the Body of Christ. In Jesus name. Amen

Quote of the Day

We should never attempt to bear more than one kind of trouble at once. Some people bear three kinds - all they have had, all they have now, and all they expect to have.

- Edward Everett Hale