Ian Johnson 18:08:2005
www.papelim.org.nz
JOHN 1:14-17
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, wfull of grace and truth. 15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me 6is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ” 16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Grace & Truth
If we hear a message and feel as though we are unable to obtain in our current condition, we miss the most important truth.
“That which Gods truth demands His grace provides”
To understand Grace a little better we need to see how deep and how high and how wide it is.
Thomas Carlyle says: Grace is more than unmerited favour. If you feed a tramp who calls on you, that is unmerited favour. But suppose that after robbing you, you then feed him. That would be grace. Grace then is favour shown where there is positive demerit in the one receiving it.
In Acts chapter 3 there is a story about a man who needed healing and spent his time begging for food and handouts. He needed alot but there was nothing about his life that was deserving of favour.
Peter and John passed by and when he asked for help. Peter said “Silver & gold have I none, but that which I have I give in the name of Jesus. Arise and walk.
Peter had Grace & Truth to offer, but not his own, it was the grace of God and the truth of the mighty power of Messiah Yeshua.
.ACTS 3: 16 And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
The truth is this: When we see the Holiness of our Lord and master, and we gain revelation of his greatness, we fall face down in the fear of God! Because the moment we see into the face of God, we see our own sinful nature.
We sing songs like “I want to get closer Lord” but the truth is that when Yeshua draws closer we shrink back in shame. This is what happened to Peter. His response Depart from me for I am a sinner!
LUKE 5: 4-8
3 Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon,* its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper and let down your nets, and you will catch many fish.” 5 “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, we’ll try again.” 6 And this time their nets were so full they began to tear! 7 A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.8 When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m too much of a sinner to be around you.”
In the light of the Lords purity, there is something that always cries out like Peter “Depart from me”
Or we brush past the Glory of God and all of a sudden we start boasting of our new revelation as though sensing His nearness was the same as obeying Him.
The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to us, not to overwhelm us nor to boost our ego. The purpose of revelation is this: What we observe we are to become!
2 Corinthians 3:18
18 And all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect* the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more.
The time is coming when we will see the Glory of God in greater measure, because the Father wants His bride to gaze upon His glory in order to reflect the same Glory in the dark world around us!
The Holy Sprit is therefore preparing His people for a visitation of Glory, a visitation of Christ. The question is: “How close are we going to let Him come?
The thing is, we are prepared to exchange pleasantries or even share a meal with the Lord, but the truth is He wants to move in and stay!
Dont worry about your response to His Glory, you are in good company.
Isaiah saw the Lord and said “Woe is me for I am undone”!
John saw the Glory of God in the Revelation and “Fell down as a dead man”
Job saw the Lords Glory and said Ï abhor myself and repent in sackcloth and ashes
Ezekiel saw the Lord and fell on His face.
Aaron & Moses revealed the Lords Glory (Lev 9) and the people fell face down
Every time we see Jesus we see two things>
1) We see truth – Truth is a Person
2) We see our absolute need of Gods grace.
1 Peter 1:13
13 So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the special blessings that will come to you at the return of Jesus Christ.
Our hearts must be fixed on His grace; otherwise we will be overwhelmed by His Glory.
These things prevent us from coming into a revelation of His grace.
1) Fear – that God will reject us – So we build walls of religion to protect us from this great grace.
2) Condemnation - The enemy tells us we are not good enough – Just agree with him and fall down before Gods glory and grace!
3) We walk in lack of faith - Without faith it is impossible to please God.
Gods glory can only be seen in its fullness when we understand the grace of God and walk in it!
Many Christians are shocked by Glory but we should be staggered by His grace!
A man under serious conviction of sin somehow could not give in to the claims of the Lord, because He just couldn’t see himself being able to live the life. His friend pointed to the water wheel in the stream and said “What turns the waterwheel? And the man answered “The Stream” then he asked what will turn it tomorrow? The answer “The stream” and the next day and the next day and on and on! The answer remained “The stream. Then he said “That’s like God’s grace. The same grace that saved you today, is able to save you tomorrow, and the next day and the next, until Jesus comes again.
Grace and Truth are revealed in the Glory of Messiah! Run into it today.
Ian Johnson
www.papelim.org.nz
