O how the grace of God amazes me

Dr. Sinclair Ferguson's book "By Grace Alone: How the Grace of God Amazes Me" was inspired by a hymn by African pastor Emmanuel T. Sibomana.

"Although little is known about Sibomana," wrote Karisa Schlehr, "we do know he was born in 1915 and became a Christian in his late teens or early twenties. In 1946, he published the hymn that would be later translated as 'O How the Grace of God Amazes Me.'"

Here are the seven stanzas of the hymn:

1. O how the grace of God amazes me! It loosed me from my
bonds and set me free! What made it happen so?
His own will, this much I know, set me, as now I show, at liberty.

2. My God has chosen me, Though one of nought, to sit beside my
King in heaven's court. Hear what my Lord has done,
O, the love that made Him run to meet His erring son! This has God wrought.

3. Not for my righteousness, for I have none, but for His mercy's
sake, Jesus, God's Son, suffered on Calvary's tree;
Crucified with thieves was He; Great was His grace to me, His wayward one.

4. And when I think of how, at Calvary, He bore sin's penalty
instead of me, Amazed, I wonder why
He, the sinless One, should die for one so vile as I; My Saviour He!

5. Now all my heart's desire is to abide in Him, my Savior
dear, In Him to hide, my shield and buckler He,
cov'ring and protecting me; from Satan's darts I'll be safe at His side.

6. Lord Jesus, hear my prayer, Your grace impart; When evil thoughts arise
through Satan's art, O, drive them all away
and do You, from day to day, keep me beneath Your sway, King of my heart.

7. Come now, the whole of me, eyes, ears, and voice. Join me, creation
all, with joyful noise: Praise Him who broke the chain
holding me in sin's domain and set me free again! Sing and rejoice!

An mp3 of the hymn may be downloaded here.

Christ’s resurrection and the dawn of the new creation

Tony Reinke, in preparation for Easter, collected quotes to study with an open Bible to help him focus on "one of the many implications of Christ’s resurrection: how the resurrection marks the dawning of the new creation." He compiled a PDF file with the quotes, and his notes and quotes follow this rough outline:

1. Christ as the “Firstborn” and “Firstfruits” in Colossians 1 and 1 Corinthians 15
2. In 1 Corinthians 15:35–49
3. In the two Adams of 1 Corinthians 15:20–23 and 42–49
4. In Ephesians 1:15–23
5. In Colossians 1:15–20
6. In Revelation 3:14
7. In Revelation 21
8. In the practice of the Lord’s Day
9. Summary Quotes

Download the document here (PDF).

Endtimes e-book and timeline animation

David Murray has a helpful e-book titled "Endtimes Q&A," which is an expanded version of “The Four (Main) Millennial Views” he presented at the 2010 Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology in Grand Rapids. He also has several narrated animations of the four main views: amillennialism, dispensational premillenialism, postmillennialism, and premillennialism.

Amillennial timeline animation:

Dispensational premillenial timeline animation:

Postmillennial timeline animation:

Premillennial timeline animation:

The Story of Zac Smith

Whatever people may think to the contrary, God is, God is great, and God is good. May God continue to grace Zac Smith so that he lives by the strength that God supplies in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. to him belong the glory forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:11)

All good things secured by Christ on the cross

“Everything that we know and appreciate and praise God for in all Christian experience both in this life and in the life to come springs from this bloody cross.

Do we have the gift of the Spirit? Secured by Christ on the cross.

Do we enjoy the fellowship of saints? Secured by Christ on the cross.

Does he give us comfort in life and death? Secured by Christ on the cross.

Does he watch over us faithfully, providentially, graciously, and covenantally? Secured by Christ on the cross.

Do we have hope of a heaven to come? Secured by Christ on the cross.

Do we anticipate resurrection bodies on the last day? Secured by Christ on the cross.

Is there a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness? Secured by Christ on the cross.

Do we now enjoy new identities, so that we are no longer to see ourselves as nothing but failures, moral pariahs, disappointments to our parents—but deeply loved, blood-bought, human beings, redeemed by Christ, declared just by God himself, owing to the fact that God himself presented his Son Jesus as the propitiation for our sins? All this is secured by Christ on the cross and granted to those who have faith in him.”

—D.A. Carson, Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010), 70-71

(HT: Of First Importance)

True freedom

John 8:31-38: So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”

Tim Challies (paraphrase and direct quote): Though our hearts and bodies may cry out for some kind of fulfillment outside of God's revealed will, we will ultimately find freedom in obedience to God. "No sin is worth the captivity it brings us. Sin enslaves, but God delivers. We find our freedom not apart from him and the boundaries he gives us, but with him and within those boundaries he has graciously given to us. Here is true fulfillment and true freedom."

What is grace?

“Grace is not a ‘thing’. It is not a substance that can be measured or a commodity to be distributed. It is the ‘grace of the Lord Jesus Christ’ (2 Cor. 13:14). In essence, it is Jesus Himself.”

- Sinclair Ferguson, By Grace Alone (Lake Mary, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2010), xv.

(HT: Of First Importance)

Be watchful

Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 1

The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 2

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 3

"Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children-- 4

but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him." But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. 5

And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake." 6

fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, "Fear not, I am the one who helps you." 7
______________

1. Rev 3:2; 2. 1Pe 4:7; 3. 1Pe 5:8; 4. Deu 4:9; 5. Heb 10:38,39; 6. Mar 13:37; 7. Isa 41:10,13

Check out more of "Samuel Bagster's 'Daily Light' Devotions," which "consists of brief groupings of scripture passages which speak to prominent Biblical themes - two themes (morning and evening) for each day of the year. Daily Light appends no commentary, but simply allows scripture to speak for itself."

The Story of God

“If you read the Bible from cover to cover you realize that it narrates (proclaims!) a true and cohesive story: the good news that through Jesus Christ God has entered history to liberate and renew the world from its bondage to sin and suffering. This is the story of God, who pursues the restoration of his creation at the cost of his own life. He is making all things new (Rev 21:5)! That’s the simple and yet profound, life- and world-altering plotline of the Bible.”

- Michael R. Emlet, CrossTalk (Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2009), 41.

(HT: Of First Importance)

Forgiveness gives away the right to get even

John Piper: Forgiveness assumes grace. If I am injured by you, grace lets
it go. I don’t sue you. I forgive you. Grace gives what someone
doesn’t deserve. That’s why forgiveness has the word give in it.
Forgiveness is not “getting” even. It is giving away the right to
get even. (The Passion of Jesus Christ: Fifty Reasons Why He Came to Die, page 36)

Henry Scougal on humility

"Humility" imports a deep sense of our own weakness, with a hearty and affectionate acknowledgment of our owing all that we are to the divine bounty. This is always accompanied with a profound submission to the will of God, and great deadness towards the glory of the world and applause of men. (The Works of Henry Scougal (1650-1678), page13)

(HT: Joshua Harris)

The Gift of Gifts

Here's a prayer titled "The Gift of Gifts" from "Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions" edited by Arthur Bennett (pages 27-28):

O SOURCE OF ALL GOOD,

What shall I render to thee for the gift of gifts,
thin own dear Son, begotten, not created,
my Redeemer, proxy, surety, substitute,
his self-emptying incomprehensible,
his infinity of love beyond the heart's grasp.

Herein is wonder of wonders:
he came below to raise me above,
was born like me that I might become like him.

Herein is love;
when I cannot rise to him he draws near on
wings of grace,
to raise me to himself.

Herein is power;
when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart
he united them in indissoluble unity,
the uncreated and the created.

Herein is wisdom;
when I was undone, with no will to return to him,
and no intellect to devise recovery
he came, God-incarnate, to save me
to the uttermost,
as man to die my death,
to shed satisfying blood on my behalf,
to work out a perfect righteousness for me.

O God, take me in spirit to the watchful shepherds,
and enlarge my mind;
let me hear good tidings of great joy,
and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore,
my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose,
my eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father;
place me with ox, ass, camel, goat,
to look with them upon my Redeemer's face,
and in him account myself delivered from sin;
let me with Simeon clasp the new-born child
to my heart,
embrace him with undying faith,
exulting that he is mine and I am his.

In him thou hast given me so much
that heaven can give no more.