To date I dare say that there have not been visitors to this blog or my other one which reveals that GOD has One Way for us all to acquire entry into His kingdom. Primarily because man does not normally seek search or inquire into such things. Instead he settles for the mundane earthy worldly things in the knowledge of these things. That is unless he acquires the Comforter and Teacher of Spiritual matters man remain on the out side as an outsider and is satisfied to remain there. However when we have the Holy Spirit within us that normal way of life after a period of time looses its attractiveness to us. Because the new man within demands more and more knowledge of the LORD and of GOD his Creator, just as any son does of his Father. Now for Pastor Hoekstra and his writing on Grace and the Person of Christ. And then with the use of the ESV translation and the LORD I will look into our need to search for Wisdom from on High.
"Characteristics of Living by Grace"
"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant." (2Corinthians 3:5-6)
"When we live in the New Covenant of Grace, GOD impacts our lives. He makes us sufficient by sharing His sufficiency with us. "Our sufficiency is from GOD, Who also made us sufficient as ministers of the New Covenant." This Impact is from His Grace at work on us, in us, and through us. This process produces spiritual characteristics in our every day living. A brief reflection upon the workings of GOD's Grace will provide a helpful context as we begin to consider these characteristics.
The Grace of GOD is brought to us through the ascended LORD Jesus Christ in His humanity. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us . . . full of Grace and Truth" (John 1:14). When Jesus came to earth as GOD's incarnate word to man, He came overflowing with the Grace of GOD. This abundance of Grace in Christ is to be our ongoing spiritual provision for living in the Christ-likeness of Christian life our being One with GOD just as Adam first was in Genesis 2 and Jesus was in His own earthly walk. "And of His fullness we have all received, and Grace for [upon or in] grace" (John 1:16). One work of GOD's Grace builds upon another work of His Grace is to mark our pilgrimage day by day.
This constantly-available Grace of GOD is able to justify and sanctify lives. "And now, brethren, I commend you to GOD and to the word of His Grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance" (Acts 20:32). GOD's Grace, held forth by His word, offers us new birth by (in and through) Grace. But all of the is predicated first on our Trusting Him Believing Him from which faith grows. Faith in Faith is the receptive force that works through the law of Love to receive Grace. When we believe the Lord Jesus, we are justified (declared not guilty, righteous in GOD's sight). Thereby, we obtain the spiritual inheritance of the children of GOD: "the word of His Grace, which is able to . . . give you an inheritance." This same Grace of GOD then becomes our heavenly resource for growing sanctification (that is, growing in Godliness): "the word of His Grace, which is able to build you up."
Part of growing in Godliness involves being set free from the dominating influence of sin (the worlds hostility of resentment, bitterness, anger and unbridled thoughts) in our lives. GOD's Grace provides this liberating reality. "For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under Grace" (Romans 6:14). As we learn to live by GOD's Grace, instead of by our own best performance, the Grace of GOD is working deep within us, bringing spiritual stability to our inner man. "It is good that the heart be established by Grace" (Hebrews 13:9).
This working of GOD's Grace in us marks us with distinctive spiritual characteristics, which will be examined in the passages of scripture that lie ahead."
The Search for Wisdom:
Job 28:10-11, 12-22, 23 "He cuts out channels in the rocks, and his eye sees every precious thing. He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle, and the thing that is hidden HE brings out to light. "But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man does not know its worth, and it is not found in the land of the living. The deep says, 'It is not in me,' and the sea says, 'It is not with me.' It cannot be bought for gold, and silver cannot be weighed as its price. It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire. Gold and glass cannot equal it, nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal; the price of wisdom is above pearls. The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, nor can it be valued in pure gold. "From where, then, does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding? It is hidden from the eyes of all living and concealed from the birds of the air. Abaddon and Death say, 'We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.'
"GOD understands the way to it, and HE knows its place."
Taw.
Psa 119:169-176 "Let my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding according to Your word! Let my plea come before You; deliver me according to Your word. My lips will pour forth praise, for You teach me Your statutes. My tongue will sing of Your word, for all Your commandments are right. Let Your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen Your precepts. I long for Your salvation, O LORD, and Your law is my delight. Let my soul live and praise You, and let Your rules help me. I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I do not forget Your commandments."
Proverbs 2:1-15 "My son, if you receive My words and treasure up My commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of GOD.
For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding; HE stores up sound wisdom for the upright; HE is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.
Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech, who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil, men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways."
Ecclesiastes 1:12-15 "I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that GOD has given to the children of man to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted."
Ecclesiastes 2:12-17 "So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done. Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them. Then I said in my heart, "What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?" And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind."
Ecclesiastes 7:23-26 "All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, "I will be wise," but it was far from me. That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out? I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases GOD escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her."
Ecclesiastes 8:16-17 "When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one's eyes see sleep, then I saw all the work of GOD, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out."
Guidance Sought:
Psalm 5:8-10 "Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; make Your way straight before me. For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. Make them bear their guilt, O GOD; let them fall by their own counsels; because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against You."
Psalm 25:4-7 "Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in Your Truth and teach me, for You are the GOD of my salvation; for You I wait all the day long. Remember Your mercy, O LORD, and Your steadfast Love, for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to Your steadfast Love remember me, for the sake of Your goodness, O LORD!"
Psalm 27:11-14 "Teach me Your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence. I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!"
Psalm 143:10-12 and Acts 1:24 "Teach me to do Your Will, for You are my GOD! Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground! For Your name's sake, O LORD, preserve my life! In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble! And in Your steadfast Love You Will cut off my enemies, and You Will destroy all the adversaries of my soul, for I am Your servant."
Acts 1:15-26 "In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry." (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) "For it is written in the Book of Psalms, "'May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it'; and "'Let another take his office.' So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when He was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to His resurrection." And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, "You, LORD, Who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place." And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles."
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