The Joy of Jesus (Church Online)

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Christ's Intercessory Prayer.
17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
The next thing he prayed for for them was that they might be sanctified; not only kept from evil, but made good.
I. Here is the petition (v. 17): Sanctify them through thy truth, through thy word, for thy word is truth; it is true—it is truth itself. He desires they may be sanctified,
1. As Christians. Father, make them holy, and this will be their preservation, 1 Thess. v. 23. Observe here,
(1.) The grace desired—sanctification. The disciples were sanctified, for they were not of the world; yet he prays, Father sanctify them, that is, [1.] "Confirm the work of sanctification in them, strengthen their faith, inflame their good affections, rivet their good resolutions." [2.] "Carry on that good work in them, and continue it; let the light shine more and more." [3.] "Complete it, crown it with the perfection of holiness; sanctify them throughout and to the end." Note, First, It is the prayer of Christ for all that are his that they may be sanctified; because he cannot for shame own them as his, either here or hereafter, either employ them in his work or present them to his Father, if they be not sanctified. Secondly, Those that through grace are sanctified have need to be sanctified more and more. Even disciples must pray for sanctifying grace; for, if he that was the author of the good work be not the finisher of it, we are undone. Not to go forward is to go backward; he that is holy must be holy still, more holy still, pressing forward, soaring upward, as those that have not attained. Thirdly, It is God that sanctifies as well as God that justified, 2 Cor. v. 5. Fourthly, It is an encouragement to us, in our prayers for sanctifying grace, that it is what Christ intercedes for for us.
(2.) The means of conferring this grace—through thy truth, thy word is truth. Not that the Holy One of Israel is hereby limited to means, but in the counsel of peace among other things it was settled and agreed, [1.] That all needful truth should be comprised and summed up in the word of God. Divine revelation, as it now stands in the written word, is not only pure truth without mixture, but entire truth without deficiency. [2.] That this word of truth should be the outward and ordinary means of our sanctification; not of itself, for then it would always sanctify, but as the instrument which the Spirit commonly uses in beginning and carrying on that good work; it is the seed of the new birth (1 Pet. i. 23), and the food of the new life, 1 Pet. ii. 1-2.

Friday, December 10, 2010

The Joy of Jesus is Salvation to All

A Prayer for Cleansing
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, 2.1--0.1 ; 0.12 ; -15.15 after he had gone in to Bath–she'ba.

1 Have mercy upon me, O God,

according to thy loving-kindness:
according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity,

and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions:

and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned,

and done this evil in thy sight:
that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest,
and be clear when thou judgest. Rom. 3.4
5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity;

and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts:

and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean:

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me to hear joy and gladness;

that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
9 Hide thy face from my sins,

and blot out all mine iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God;

and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from thy presence;

and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation;

and uphold me with thy free Spirit.
13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways;

and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,

thou God of my salvation:
and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
15 O Lord, open thou my lips;

and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.
16 For thou desirest not sacrifice;

else would I give it:
thou delightest not in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit:

a broken and a contrite heart, O God,
thou wilt not despise.
18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion:

build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,

with burnt offering and whole burnt offering:
then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

The Joy of Jesus is to Grow in Love

"As the Father hath loved me, so I have loved you" (John 15:9). There is no change of theme, only another aspect of it. In the two previous verses the Lord had described three of the consequences of abiding in Him in order to fruitfulness; here, and in the three verses that follow, He names three of the varieties of the fruit home; and it is very striking to note that they are identical with the first three and are given in the same order as those enumerated in Galatians 5:22, where the "fruit of the Spirit" is defined. Here in John 15:9, it is love; in John 15:11, it is joy; while in John 15:12 it is peace—the happy issue of brethren loving one another.
"As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you." "As the Father loved Him from everlasting, so did He love them; as His Father loved Him with a love of complacency and delight, so did He love them; as the Father loved Him with a special and peculiar affection, with an unchanging, invariable, constant love, which would last forever, in like manner does Christ love His people; and with this He enforces the exhortation which follows" (Dr. John Gill).
"As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you; continue ye in my love." (John 15:9). Christ’s love to us is unaffected by our changeableness, but our enjoyment of His love depends upon our continuance in it. By this continuance in His love, or abiding in it, as it should be (the Greek word is the same), is meant our actual assurance of it, our reposing in it. No matter how mysterious His dispensations be, no matter how severe the trials through which He causes us to pass, we must never doubt His immeasurable love for us and to us. The measure of His love for us was told out at the Cross, and as He is the same to-day as yesterday, therefore He loves us just as dearly now, every moment, as when He laid down His life for us. To "abide" in His love, then, is to be occupied with it, to count upon it, to be persuaded that nothing shall ever be able to separate us from it. Dwelling upon our poor, fluctuating love for Him, will make us miserable; but having the heart fixed upon His wondrous love, that love which "passeth knowledge," will fill us with praise and thanksgiving. Very blessed but very searching is this. To "abide" in Christ is to abide in His love. Our growth proceeds from love to love.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

The Joy of Jesus is Peace

Stilling the Storm

Matt 8:23; Mark 4:35; Luke 8:22

Luke 8:22-25 (web)
Now it happened on one of those days, that he entered into a boat,
himself and his disciples, and he said to them,
"Let’s go over to the other side of the lake."
So they launched out.
But as they sailed, he fell asleep. A wind storm came down on the lake,
and they were taking on dangerous amounts of water.
They came to him, and awoke him, saying, "Master, master, we are dying!"
He awoke, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water,
and they ceased, and it was calm.
He said to them, "Where is your faith?"
Being afraid they marveled, saying one to another,
"Who is this, then,
that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?"
What does this teach about Jesus?

He is Lord over nature, commanding the wind and sea.

What is an application to the Christian life?

We shouldn't panic when we are following the Lord, regardless of the situation.

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you."Isaiah 26:3
So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" Heb 13:6

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

The Joy of Jesus is Healing & Hearing

Healing a Deaf Mute

Mark 7:31

Mark 7:31-37 (web)
Again he departed from the borders of Tyre and Sidon,
and came to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the region of Decapolis.
They brought to him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech.
They begged him to lay his hand on him.
He took him aside from the multitude, privately,
and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat, and touched his tongue.
Looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha!" that is, "Be opened!"
Immediately his ears were opened,
and the impediment of his tongue was released, and he spoke clearly.
He commanded them that they should tell no one,
but the more he commanded them, so much the more widely they proclaimed it.
They were astonished beyond measure, saying,
"He has done all things well. He makes even the deaf hear, and the mute speak!"
What does this reveal about Jesus?

He can make the deaf to hear and mute to speak.

Notes & Applications:

The most closed people are naturally reluctant to seek out Jesus themselves. Others may have to bring them to Jesus. But these others need to come to realize that they can only bring them to the living water. To really become open, this closed person has to have personal contact with Jesus, experiencing his love and empathy. Then he will become open to perceive spiritual truth and give praise to God.

Do you understand how the Word of God applies to you? Is it a natural part of your lifestyle to speak spiritual things to others? If not, then get together with Jesus and let him heal you.