To day I have no leading of the LORD on what to share concerning His promises and will therefore share what Pastor Hoekstra has to say concerning Grace. With some editing done by me in italic. And from there I will again use the ESV translation should I be led elsewhere.
"Grace upon Grace in Our Lives"
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for (upon) grace." (John 1:14, 16)
"One of the titles of GOD, the Son, is the Word. When He, Jesus, became a man, He was GOD's incarnate message, His Word to humanity. As the early disciples watched Jesus' living His perfect life of godliness, they were looking at the glorious revelation of GOD's uniquely begotten (that is, virgin-born) Son. His life was an overflowing demonstration of Divine Grace and Truth. As the Living Revelation of GOD among men, having put on the flesh of man.
Jesus showed us the kind of life that GOD's Grace could be developing in us — a life of truth, a life of godly reality. Jesus came as the One to offer that fullness of Grace to all who would trust Him.
Now, for those who are depending upon Him day by day, life is explained and developed "Grace upon grace." GOD's Grace received within us by us establishes first a layer of forgiveness and spiritual new birth. Then, layers of growth, transformation, fruitfulness, victory, maturing, service, etc., are added as His Grace is appropriated (received) by faith. Yes, the Christian life is to be "Grace upon grace" — upon grace, upon grace, upon grace — until we stand face to face someday with our LORD of grace!
Wherever we are in our spiritual pilgrimage, our progress has come from receiving by faith from His fullness of Grace. Whatever remains to be accomplished must transpire in the same manner, receiving more fully of His fullness. Oh, what fullness is yet available to us in the Grace of our LORD Christ Jesus!"
Just to show just how thick headed we can become...I stated that I had not received of His direction in the beginning of this post. Not realizing that was exactly what it was that He required of me. So here are some of the Characteristics of GOD's Promises. I have already covered the Afflictions earlier.
Characteristics of GOD's Promises:
Unfailing:
1Kings 8:54-55, 56-61 "As Solomon finished offering all this prayer and plea to the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had knelt with hands outstretched toward heaven. And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying,
"Blessed be the LORD Who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. Not one word has failed of all His good promise, which He spoke by Moses His servant. The LORD our GOD be with us, as He was with our fathers. May He not leave us or forsake us, that He may incline our hearts to Him, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His rules, which He commanded our fathers. Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the LORD, be near to the LORD our GOD day and night, and may He maintain the cause of His servants and the cause of His people Israel, as each day requires, that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is GOD; there is no other. Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the LORD our GOD, walking in His statutes and keeping His commandments, as at this day."
Assured by Divine Ability:
Romans 4:16 -25 "That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest in Grace and be guaranteed to all His offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations"—in the presence of the GOD in Whom he believed, Who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, "So shall your offspring be." He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of GOD, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to GOD, fully convinced that GOD was able to do what HE had promised. That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness." But the words "it was counted to him" were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe Him Who raised from the dead Jesus now our LORD, Who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification."
Grounded in Christ:
2Corinthians 1:15-22 "Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of Grace. I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say "Yes, yes" and "No, no" at the same time? As surely as GOD is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. For the Son of GOD, Jesus Christ, Whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in Him it is always Yes. For all the promises of GOD find their Yes in Him. That is why it is through Him that we utter our Amen to GOD for His glory. It is GOD Who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and Who has also put His seal on us and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee."
Of Infinite Value:
2Peter 1:1-11 "Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our GOD and Savior Jesus Christ: May Grace and Peace be multiplied to you in the Knowledge of GOD and of Jesus our LORD. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to Life and Godliness, through the Knowledge of Him Who called us to His Own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the Knowledge of our LORD Christ Jesus. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former (way of life in) sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this Way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ."
Culminate in Everlasting Life:
1John 2:18-25, 26-27, 28-29 "Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have Knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the Truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the Truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that He made to us—Eternal Life.
I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about everything, and is True, and is no lie—just as He has taught you, abide in Him.
Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears we may have confidence and not shrink from Him in shame at His coming. If you know that He is Righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him."
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