The pastor from California that my dear friend is acquainted with came through this week and stayed at her house for two days. It was sweet, sweet fellowship in the Grace of God in Christ Jesus, the Gospel.
This was a man that neither of us had ever met face to face although she has corresponded with him for some time by email. He sends her tapes and notes and he was pleased and humbled to stop and minister to the family. He came to not only minister to her in a personal family way but also to the body of Christ, which included me and another family friend.
When we have the bond of grace in Christ we aren’t strangers to one another. How can we be strangers when we are fellow citizens in the household of God and we have inherited the same promises of the unconditional Covenant? The covenant whereby the Lord writes His laws upon our hearts and minds and our sins and lawless deeds He remembers no more. It was evident in our conversation for those two days how we walked in the same truths of the Scripture. We shared those truths and the love of Christ for His people, His everlasting love. It was pure bliss to talk of those eternal truths that many ignore and brush aside and in doing so lose the clear and certain meaning of the gospel.
The whole of Scripture points us, teaches us and show us the eternal purpose of God in Christ Jesus; to save His people from their sins. Timothy 1:9 “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”
The Gospel truly is simple. I know that is too simplistic of a statement for many, perhaps it sounds uneducated theologically but I remember always Paul’s admonishment to the Corinthians. He was fearful that their minds would be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. John Gill calls it “the pure and simple doctrine of the Gospel, which respects the person and grace of Christ; and chiefly lies in this one plain, easy, and important truth, salvation alone by Him.” What a blessing it is to read the Scripture through the lens of this Gospel because it is God’s eternal purpose in Christ.
On that last night he opened his bible and preached to us from John 10 and the blessed truth of being one of Christ’s sheep. Sheep hear the voice of their Shepherd because they have been given to Him by the Father, not one will be lost. I was almost dizzy in the nodding of my head in a continuous amen and amen! We worshiped in Spirit and in Truth, Christ was exalted and we were truly thankful! Thank you dearest Lord for your care of your sheep!
Grace and Peace!