True Rest! The Lord said, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” This promise is directed to those who are pressed down and burdened by the guilt of sin against God. All who are anxious about salvation and the desire to have it; and all who tremble at the very thought of judgment and who are afraid of falling into that bottomless pit. O, we have spent a lifetime hewing our cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water, but He promises rest from our labors. First - He promises rest from the fear of sin. He put it away by the sacrifice of Himself. Second - He promises rest from the fear of judgment. He, in His own body, bore our judgment. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:1 Third - He promises rest from fear of the law. The law has no further claim on the man or woman who has come to Christ by faith. Their debt is fully paid and all requirements to God's law have been satisfied by His shed blood. --Scott Richardson ----------------------------------------------------------------- Upon the High and Sovereign Throne Words: Gary Shepard Tune: Doxology 1. Upon the high and sovereign throne, Sits One who by Himself alone, Has purged our sins and gone on high, That those in Him should never die. * 2. There at the right hand ever nigh, Of that great Majesty on high Amidst the creatures crying loud, Almighty God in flesh there crowned. * 3. Is this the One who just before, Our sins in His own body bore, There justly dying in our place, For all the chosen of His grace? * 4. Yes, it is He, the King of kings, A full salvation now He brings; The Victor, He now sits at rest Forever all our Righteousness. * 5. And only those He makes to see, Salvation by His cross made free; Can see in Him by all expressed, God's grace that reigns through righteousness. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- God’s Workmanship “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10 Verse 10 of Ephesians 2 is the preemptive answer to what religion hears and responds to in verses 8-9, particularly as they hear that salvation is by grace through faith and that not one iota of that salvation has anything to do with the works of man. Boasting is excluded! Lest one thinks that good works do not matter the Lord assures that those who are save by grace that they will have good works. Your good works are ordained, predestinated by God and you will do them, and you will do them by the same, exact, precise grace that saved you. Your works are the result of predestinated grace alone just as is the rest of your salvation (John 15:16, fruit born of connection, not labor). “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10 This text is a place of comfort for the believer, a place where his mind can find ease concerning good works. It is a comparative phrase or sentence that declares an opposite condition and estate of that which is declared in verses 2-3. When we were dead in trespasses and sins we walked under the rule of the prince of the power of the air governed by our own lust to fulfill the desires of our minds. But we have been saved by grace, given wonderful faith, resurrected from the dead with Christ in newness of life and seated with Christ in the heavenlies. God has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose in grace that was given us in Christ before the world began. Whereas once we were driven to fulfill our wickedness we are now created and ordained to fulfill the will of God. We are His workmanship (poema). The sense in which the word “poem” is used is the sense of perfection or a perfect work of rhythm, orderliness and beauty. “His” workmanship embraces the entirety of His work in the redemption of the elect (1:3-14; 2; 5-9). It encompasses the complete salvation of our soul. And the beauty of it is that it encompasses your life too. The works of the believer are a result of the sovereign grace and omnipotent action of God Almighty. –Pastor Tim James (Studies in Ephesians)
***************************************************************************** “LORD, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.” Psalms 90:1-2 ***************************************************************************** Daily Readings June 16-22 16- Nehemiah 4-6 Acts 2:22-47 17- Nehemiah 7-9 Acts 3 18- Nehemiah 10-11 Acts 4:1-22 19- Nehemiah 12-13 Acts 4:23-37 20- Esther 1-2 Acts 5:1-21 21- Esther 3-5 Acts 5:22-42 22- Esther 6-8 Acts 6
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