I've been listening to a lot of sermons lately.... A LOT!!! all by Pastor Judah Smith of the City Church. Go ahead, just listen to one of his sermons and you'll see why I've been listening so much. He has such a gift in communicating the Word of God. I've been in church my entire life. Raised pentecostal, where so much emphasis was placed on old school holiness and doing everything right, I very much lost the concept of grace.
But, this week, I learned something. The title of this particular sermon was Bewitched. It was based on the text of Galatians chapter 3.
1O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?(A) It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly(B) portrayed as crucified. 2Let me ask you only this:(C) Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by(D) hearing with faith? 3Are you so foolish?(E) Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by[a] the flesh? 4(F) Did you suffer[b] so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and(G) works miracles among you do so(H) by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6just as(I) Abraham "believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness"?
7Know then that it is(J) those of faith who are(K) the sons of Abraham. 8And the Scripture, foreseeing that(L) God would justify[c] the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying,(M) "In you shall all the nations be blessed." 9So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith
Here, these particular Christ followers had recently been subjected to a belief that basically, Christ's sacrifice was not enough. They had to throw some works in there too.
This sounded so familiar.
It wasn't enough to accept Jesus and love Him and serve Him. I needed to be holy, and the evidence should be seen on the outside.
I had it all on the outside.... every measure of Holiness that we were encouraged to exemplify, but in my heart was found dead mens' bones. When I realized the ugliness in my heart, it shook my world and turned it upside down.
Grace is such a multi faceted concept... it is PAST FINDING OUT... and frankly, I DON'T WANT TO FIGURE IT OUT!!!! I want to get lost in the mystery of it.
If you look at our Father and look at Jesus, our lover, NOTHING that He did made sense.
Does giving up everything to humble yourself and make yourself the lowest of the low to go through unimaginable pain and torture and humiliation for the chance that you might win the heart of the very people that you are passionate about even remotely make sense?? NOPE!!
But that is Jesus. That is the gospel.
Here's what amazes me about His grace and His character....
After all that He has done in my life, when I go to the Lord in prayer, I'm amazed that I don't hear this:
Haven't I done enough for you?! I bled and died for you... can you just get it together?!?!
but I don't hear that.
I hear:
I love you. I love you. I love you. I'm jealous for you. My grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in your weakness. Throw your cares upon me, I care for you. I see your every move. I know your every pain. Lean on me, trust me, love me. Let me love on you. Let me wrap my arms around you and whisper to you the secrets of my kingdom. You are my Beloved. You are my friend. I order your steps. Let my grace empower you to live the life that I have planned for you.
Its been said that the thought "This is too good to be true." is a direct response and sure symptom and evidence that you are hearing the gospel.
When I read the Gospel that is Jesus Christ and when I look at all that He's done for me and His promise of an eternity with Him and yet, all I have to do, is just say yes, and truly believe in Him and just trust Him...
my only response, is,
this is too good to be true.
I want to love Him and serve Him and learn from Him for all of my days and at last see Him face to face and know for all eternity that He is my Bridegroom and He is my Bride..
It's not work to fall in love with Him. It's just a natural response to the grace that has sought me out.
But, this week, I learned something. The title of this particular sermon was Bewitched. It was based on the text of Galatians chapter 3.
1O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?(A) It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly(B) portrayed as crucified. 2Let me ask you only this:(C) Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by(D) hearing with faith? 3Are you so foolish?(E) Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by[a] the flesh? 4(F) Did you suffer[b] so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and(G) works miracles among you do so(H) by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6just as(I) Abraham "believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness"?
7Know then that it is(J) those of faith who are(K) the sons of Abraham. 8And the Scripture, foreseeing that(L) God would justify[c] the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying,(M) "In you shall all the nations be blessed." 9So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith
Here, these particular Christ followers had recently been subjected to a belief that basically, Christ's sacrifice was not enough. They had to throw some works in there too.
This sounded so familiar.
It wasn't enough to accept Jesus and love Him and serve Him. I needed to be holy, and the evidence should be seen on the outside.
I had it all on the outside.... every measure of Holiness that we were encouraged to exemplify, but in my heart was found dead mens' bones. When I realized the ugliness in my heart, it shook my world and turned it upside down.
Grace is such a multi faceted concept... it is PAST FINDING OUT... and frankly, I DON'T WANT TO FIGURE IT OUT!!!! I want to get lost in the mystery of it.
If you look at our Father and look at Jesus, our lover, NOTHING that He did made sense.
Does giving up everything to humble yourself and make yourself the lowest of the low to go through unimaginable pain and torture and humiliation for the chance that you might win the heart of the very people that you are passionate about even remotely make sense?? NOPE!!
But that is Jesus. That is the gospel.
Here's what amazes me about His grace and His character....
After all that He has done in my life, when I go to the Lord in prayer, I'm amazed that I don't hear this:
Haven't I done enough for you?! I bled and died for you... can you just get it together?!?!
but I don't hear that.
I hear:
I love you. I love you. I love you. I'm jealous for you. My grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in your weakness. Throw your cares upon me, I care for you. I see your every move. I know your every pain. Lean on me, trust me, love me. Let me love on you. Let me wrap my arms around you and whisper to you the secrets of my kingdom. You are my Beloved. You are my friend. I order your steps. Let my grace empower you to live the life that I have planned for you.
Its been said that the thought "This is too good to be true." is a direct response and sure symptom and evidence that you are hearing the gospel.
When I read the Gospel that is Jesus Christ and when I look at all that He's done for me and His promise of an eternity with Him and yet, all I have to do, is just say yes, and truly believe in Him and just trust Him...
my only response, is,
this is too good to be true.
I want to love Him and serve Him and learn from Him for all of my days and at last see Him face to face and know for all eternity that He is my Bridegroom and He is my Bride..
It's not work to fall in love with Him. It's just a natural response to the grace that has sought me out.
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