Sustained by Sovereign Graceâ€”Forever - Revision history

JoyaTeemer at 22:26, 22 September 2008

JoyaTeemer — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 22:26:19 GMT

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	<blockquote>Not grace to bar what is not bliss,<br>Nor flight from all distress, but this:<br>The grace that orders our trouble and pain,<br>And then, in the darkness, is there to sustain.</blockquote>		<blockquote>Not grace to bar what is not bliss,<br>Nor flight from all distress, but this:<br>The grace that orders our trouble and pain,<br>And then, in the darkness, is there to sustain.</blockquote>
	Let's bless the Lord together with hymn #9, "Sing Praise to the Father"—and when we get to verse 3, revel with me in this truth that the Spirit quickens, and woos, and subdues, and seals, and presents us faultless to God.		Let's bless the Lord together with hymn #9, "Sing Praise to the Father"—and when we get to verse 3, revel with me in this truth that the Spirit quickens, and woos, and subdues, and seals, and presents us faultless to God.
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Kathyyee: Protected "Sustained by Sovereign Grace—Forever" [edit=sysop:move=sysop]

Kathyyee — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 03:15:43 GMT

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CharisGalbraith at 17:05, 8 January 2008

CharisGalbraith — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 17:05:34 GMT

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	'''4. God Promises to Do This with Infinite Intensity'''		'''4. God Promises to Do This with Infinite Intensity'''

-	Finally, God promises to do this with the greatest intensity imaginable. He expresses this in two ways, one at the beginning and one at the end of verse 41: "And ''I will rejoice over them''to do them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land ''with all My heart and with all My soul''." First he says that he will exert this sovereign, sustaining grace with ''joy'': "I will rejoice over them to do them good." Then he says (at the end of verse 41) that he will exert this sovereign, sustaining grace "with ''all'' [his] heart and with ''all''[his] soul."	+	Finally, God promises to do this with the greatest intensity imaginable. He expresses this in two ways, one at the beginning and one at the end of verse 41: "And ''I will rejoice over them'' to do them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land ''with all My heart and with all My soul''." First he says that he will exert this sovereign, sustaining grace with ''joy'': "I will rejoice over them to do them good." Then he says (at the end of verse 41) that he will exert this sovereign, sustaining grace "with ''all'' [his] heart and with ''all'' [his] soul."

	'''How Great Is God's Desire to Do You Good?'''		'''How Great Is God's Desire to Do You Good?'''

CharisGalbraith at 22:33, 4 January 2008

CharisGalbraith — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 22:33:00 GMT

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	'''How Great Is God's Desire to Do You Good?'''		'''How Great Is God's Desire to Do You Good?'''

-	He rejoices to sustain you and he rejoices with all his heart and with all his soul. Now I ask you, not with any sermonic exaggeration or rhetorical flourish or with any sense of overstatement at all—I ask you, I challenge you, can you conceive of an intensity of desire that is greater than a desire empowered by "''all'' God's heart and ''all''God's soul"? Suppose you took all the desire for food and sex and money and fame and power and meaning and friends and security in the hearts and souls of all the human beings on the earth—say about six billion—and you put all that desire, multiplied by all those six billion hearts and souls, into a container. How would it compare to the desire of God to do you good implied in the words, "with ''all''his heart and with ''all'' his soul"? It would compare like a thimble to the Pacific Ocean. Because the heart and soul of God are infinite. And the hearts and souls of man are finite. There is no intensity greater than the intensity of "all God's heart, and all God's soul."	+	He rejoices to sustain you and he rejoices with all his heart and with all his soul. Now I ask you, not with any sermonic exaggeration or rhetorical flourish or with any sense of overstatement at all—I ask you, I challenge you, can you conceive of an intensity of desire that is greater than a desire empowered by "''all'' God's heart and ''all'' God's soul"? Suppose you took all the desire for food and sex and money and fame and power and meaning and friends and security in the hearts and souls of all the human beings on the earth—say about six billion—and you put all that desire, multiplied by all those six billion hearts and souls, into a container. How would it compare to the desire of God to do you good implied in the words, "with ''all'' his heart and with ''all'' his soul"? It would compare like a thimble to the Pacific Ocean. Because the heart and soul of God are infinite. And the hearts and souls of man are finite. There is no intensity greater than the intensity of "all God's heart, and all God's soul."

	And that is the intensity of the joy he has in sustaining you with sovereign grace: "I will rejoice over them to do them good . . . with all my heart and all my soul." Some of you may be tasting the sweetness of this grace for the first time this morning. That is the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, and I urge you to yield to it and be mastered by sovereign, sustaining grace.		And that is the intensity of the joy he has in sustaining you with sovereign grace: "I will rejoice over them to do them good . . . with all my heart and all my soul." Some of you may be tasting the sweetness of this grace for the first time this morning. That is the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, and I urge you to yield to it and be mastered by sovereign, sustaining grace.

CharisGalbraith at 22:29, 4 January 2008

CharisGalbraith — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 22:29:10 GMT

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	{{MasterHeader \|author= John Piper \|partnerurl= http://www.desiringgod.org \|partner= Desiring God \|date= 16 June 1996 \|other= \|categorytopic= The Sovereignty of God \|mediatype= Article \|lang= English \|editor= n/a \|translator= n/a \|levels= 0 }}		{{MasterHeader \|author= John Piper \|partnerurl= http://www.desiringgod.org \|partner= Desiring God \|date= 16 June 1996 \|other= \|categorytopic= The Sovereignty of God \|mediatype= Article \|lang= English \|editor= n/a \|translator= n/a \|levels= 0 }}

-	=== Sustained by Sovereign Grace—Forever~~<br> =~~==	+	== Sustained by Sovereign Grace—Forever ==
-		+
-	~~By John Piper~~	+
-		+
-	~~June 16, 1996~~	+
-		+
-	~~<br>~~	+
-		+
-	~~<br>~~	+
	<blockquote>'''Jeremiah 32:36-41'''</blockquote><blockquote>		<blockquote>'''Jeremiah 32:36-41'''</blockquote><blockquote>
	Now therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning this city of which you say, "It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence," 37 "Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety. 38 And they shall be My people, and I will be their God; 39 and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good, and for the good of their children after them. 40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. 41 And I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul." 42 For thus says the Lord, "Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them."		Now therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning this city of which you say, "It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence," 37 "Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety. 38 And they shall be My people, and I will be their God; 39 and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good, and for the good of their children after them. 40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. 41 And I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul." 42 For thus says the Lord, "Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them."
-	</blockquote>	+	</blockquote>
	'''What Is Sustaining Grace?'''		'''What Is Sustaining Grace?'''

	We are celebrating 125 years of God's sustaining grace. What is that? What is sustaining grace? Let me put it in a four-line rhyme:		We are celebrating 125 years of God's sustaining grace. What is that? What is sustaining grace? Let me put it in a four-line rhyme:
-	<blockquote>Not grace to bar what is not bliss,<br>Nor flight from all distress, but this:<br>The grace that orders our trouble and pain,<br>And then, in the darkness, is there to sustain.</blockquote>	+	<blockquote>Not grace to bar what is not bliss,<br>Nor flight from all distress, but this:<br>The grace that orders our trouble and pain,<br>And then, in the darkness, is there to sustain.</blockquote>
	I stress this because to celebrate a grace that bars what is not bliss, and gives flight from all distress and does not order our pain would be biblically false and experientially unrealistic.		I stress this because to celebrate a grace that bars what is not bliss, and gives flight from all distress and does not order our pain would be biblically false and experientially unrealistic.

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	Now Bob Ricker is not naïve. He knows that if God can ordain that in the car behind there be a doctor, and that this doctor have a breathing apparatus in his pocket, and that he have the presence of mind to use it savingly, then this God is fully able to prevent the accident in the first place. In fact, earlier Bob had quoted Ephesians 1:11, "We have been predestined according to his ''purpose who works all things according to the counsel of his will''." And he stressed: "All things, means all things"—including, I assume, the paths of cars and airplanes and arrows and bullets. That was the inspiration for my little poem, "What Is Sustaining Grace?"		Now Bob Ricker is not naïve. He knows that if God can ordain that in the car behind there be a doctor, and that this doctor have a breathing apparatus in his pocket, and that he have the presence of mind to use it savingly, then this God is fully able to prevent the accident in the first place. In fact, earlier Bob had quoted Ephesians 1:11, "We have been predestined according to his ''purpose who works all things according to the counsel of his will''." And he stressed: "All things, means all things"—including, I assume, the paths of cars and airplanes and arrows and bullets. That was the inspiration for my little poem, "What Is Sustaining Grace?"
-	<blockquote>Not grace to bar what is not bliss,<br>Nor flight from all distress, but this:<br>The grace that orders our trouble and pain,<br>And then, in the darkness, is there to sustain.</blockquote>	+	<blockquote>Not grace to bar what is not bliss,<br>Nor flight from all distress, but this:<br>The grace that orders our trouble and pain,<br>And then, in the darkness, is there to sustain.</blockquote>
	'''. . . When the Car Breaks Down'''		'''. . . When the Car Breaks Down'''

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	But in this fallen world of futility that is not all that sustaining grace does.		But in this fallen world of futility that is not all that sustaining grace does.
-	<blockquote>Not grace to bar what is not bliss,<br>Nor flight from all distress, but this:<br>The grace that orders our trouble and pain,<br>And then, in the darkness, is there to sustain.</blockquote>	+	<blockquote>Not grace to bar what is not bliss,<br>Nor flight from all distress, but this:<br>The grace that orders our trouble and pain,<br>And then, in the darkness, is there to sustain.</blockquote>
	One of the young men in our church is going through some deep waters right now which are testing his faith almost to the limit. He said to me recently: it would be easier if Jesus hadn't healed but instead had given grace to endure the absence of healing. One of the things I said to him was this: That's exactly what Jesus did do—and for that very reason—in 2 Corinthians 12:9–10. God's grace ordains that Paul have a thorn in the flesh for the sake of his humility and then will not remove it in answer to prayer. But he says,		One of the young men in our church is going through some deep waters right now which are testing his faith almost to the limit. He said to me recently: it would be easier if Jesus hadn't healed but instead had given grace to endure the absence of healing. One of the things I said to him was this: That's exactly what Jesus did do—and for that very reason—in 2 Corinthians 12:9–10. God's grace ordains that Paul have a thorn in the flesh for the sake of his humility and then will not remove it in answer to prayer. But he says,
-	<blockquote>My [sustaining] grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.</blockquote>	+	<blockquote>My [sustaining] grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.</blockquote>
	To which Paul responds,		To which Paul responds,
	<blockquote>Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.</blockquote><blockquote>		<blockquote>Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.</blockquote><blockquote>
	Not grace to bar what is not bliss,<br>Nor flight from all distress, but this:<br>The grace that orders our trouble and pain,<br>And then, in the darkness, is there to sustain.		Not grace to bar what is not bliss,<br>Nor flight from all distress, but this:<br>The grace that orders our trouble and pain,<br>And then, in the darkness, is there to sustain.
-	</blockquote>	+	</blockquote>
	'''. . . When the Church Burns Down'''		'''. . . When the Church Burns Down'''

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	I hope the point is clear: We are celebrating ''sustaining'' grace.		I hope the point is clear: We are celebrating ''sustaining'' grace.
-	<blockquote>The grace that orders our trouble and pain,<br>And then, in the darkness, is there to sustain.</blockquote>	+	<blockquote>The grace that orders our trouble and pain,<br>And then, in the darkness, is there to sustain.</blockquote>
	'''God Does Not Always Spare Calamity'''		'''God Does Not Always Spare Calamity'''

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	That's what the rest of this text is about. The answer is: sustaining grace for God's chosen people is sovereign grace. That is, sustaining grace is omnipotent grace. It is grace that overcomes all obstacles and preserves the faith and holiness that brings us home to heaven. This is our only sure confidence for the future. You and I, in ourselves, are utterly fickle and unreliable. If we were left to our own powers to persevere, we would make shipwreck of our faith, it is sure. This is why the saints have prayed for centuries,		That's what the rest of this text is about. The answer is: sustaining grace for God's chosen people is sovereign grace. That is, sustaining grace is omnipotent grace. It is grace that overcomes all obstacles and preserves the faith and holiness that brings us home to heaven. This is our only sure confidence for the future. You and I, in ourselves, are utterly fickle and unreliable. If we were left to our own powers to persevere, we would make shipwreck of our faith, it is sure. This is why the saints have prayed for centuries,
-	<blockquote>O to grace how great a debtor<br>Daily I'm constrained to be!<br>Let thy goodness like a fetter<br>Bind my wandering heart to thee:<br>Prone to wander, Lord I feel it,<br>Prone to leave the God I love;<br>Here's my heart, O, take and seal it;<br>Seal it for thy courts above.</blockquote>	+	<blockquote>O to grace how great a debtor<br>Daily I'm constrained to be!<br>Let thy goodness like a fetter<br>Bind my wandering heart to thee:<br>Prone to wander, Lord I feel it,<br>Prone to leave the God I love;<br>Here's my heart, O, take and seal it;<br>Seal it for thy courts above.</blockquote>
	Is that the way saints should pray? Is that the way to pray for your future and for Bethlehem's future? Is that a biblical way to pray? Make your goodness like a fetter—a chain—that binds my wandering heart to you. Seal my heart with an unbreakable bond for the courts of heaven. In other words: Keep me! Preserve me! Defeat every rising rebellion! Overcome every niggling doubt! Deliver from every destructive temptation! Nullify every fatal allurement! Expose every demonic deception! Tear down every arrogant argument! Shape me! Incline me! Hold me! Master me! Do whatever you must do to keep me trusting you and fearing you till Jesus comes or calls. May we—should we—pray and sing like that?		Is that the way saints should pray? Is that the way to pray for your future and for Bethlehem's future? Is that a biblical way to pray? Make your goodness like a fetter—a chain—that binds my wandering heart to you. Seal my heart with an unbreakable bond for the courts of heaven. In other words: Keep me! Preserve me! Defeat every rising rebellion! Overcome every niggling doubt! Deliver from every destructive temptation! Nullify every fatal allurement! Expose every demonic deception! Tear down every arrogant argument! Shape me! Incline me! Hold me! Master me! Do whatever you must do to keep me trusting you and fearing you till Jesus comes or calls. May we—should we—pray and sing like that?

	The answer from this text is yes. That kind of singing and praying is rooted in the new covenant promise of sovereign, sustaining grace. Let's read it. Keep in mind: this is one of several Old Testament promises of the new covenant that Jesus said he sealed with his own blood for all who are in him. It is not just for Jews, but for those who are true Jews by virtue of union with Jesus, the seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:7, 16). Jeremiah 32:38–41 says,		The answer from this text is yes. That kind of singing and praying is rooted in the new covenant promise of sovereign, sustaining grace. Let's read it. Keep in mind: this is one of several Old Testament promises of the new covenant that Jesus said he sealed with his own blood for all who are in him. It is not just for Jews, but for those who are true Jews by virtue of union with Jesus, the seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:7, 16). Jeremiah 32:38–41 says,
-	<blockquote>And they shall be My people, and I will be their God; 39 and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good, and for the good of their children after them. 40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. 41 And I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul.</blockquote>	+	<blockquote>And they shall be My people, and I will be their God; 39 and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good, and for the good of their children after them. 40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. 41 And I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul.</blockquote>
	'''Four Promises of Sovereign, Sustaining Grace'''		'''Four Promises of Sovereign, Sustaining Grace'''

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	Others of you have lived in this sweet assurance for decades and simply join me this morning in exulting over this glorious reality in our lives. I invite you all to sing with me, to bless the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit for the sovereign, sustaining grace that has kept us as a church for 125 years and will keep God's elect in the faith till Jesus comes or Jesus calls.		Others of you have lived in this sweet assurance for decades and simply join me this morning in exulting over this glorious reality in our lives. I invite you all to sing with me, to bless the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit for the sovereign, sustaining grace that has kept us as a church for 125 years and will keep God's elect in the faith till Jesus comes or Jesus calls.
-	<blockquote>Not grace to bar what is not bliss,<br>Nor flight from all distress, but this:<br>The grace that orders our trouble and pain,<br>And then, in the darkness, is there to sustain.</blockquote>	+	<blockquote>Not grace to bar what is not bliss,<br>Nor flight from all distress, but this:<br>The grace that orders our trouble and pain,<br>And then, in the darkness, is there to sustain.</blockquote>
	Let's bless the Lord together with hymn #9, "Sing Praise to the Father"—and when we get to verse 3, revel with me in this truth that the Spirit quickens, and woos, and subdues, and seals, and presents us faultless to God.		Let's bless the Lord together with hymn #9, "Sing Praise to the Father"—and when we get to verse 3, revel with me in this truth that the Spirit quickens, and woos, and subdues, and seals, and presents us faultless to God.