All Glory to God the Father and to our Savior Jesus Christ
From Westminster Shorter Catechism (written in 1647), questions 99 to 102:
Q99: What rule hath God given for our direction in prayer?
A99: The whole Word of God is of use to direct us in prayer; but the special rule of direction is that form of prayer which Christ taught his disciples, commonly called The Lord’s Prayer.
Q100: What doth the preface of the Lord’s prayer teach us?
A100: The preface of the Lord’s prayer, which is, “Our Father which art in heaven,” teacheth us to draw near to God with all holy reverence and confidence, as children to a father, able and ready to help us; and that we should pray with and for others.
Q101: What do we pray for in the first petition?
A101: In the first petition, which is, “Hallowed be thy name,” we pray, That God would enable us and others to glorify him in all that whereby he maketh himself known; and that he would dispose all things to his own glory.
Q102: What do we pray for in the second petition?
A102: In the second petition, which is, “Thy kingdom come,” we pray, That Satan’s kingdom may be destroyed; and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced, ourselves and others brought into it, and kept in it; and the kingdom of glory may be hastened.
Hopefully you were able to get through the “homework” I left you with last week. You may have thought of it as a lot of thumbing through the Bible, but since it concerns your understanding of Christ’s coming and your salvation, it can’t really be considered too much work, can it? From what I hear and see, persecution of believers is coming, but none us has been crucified for what we believe just yet. So, with the right perspective, what you were given to read and pursue was no work at all, right?
Along this line of thinking, this week my morning devotionals from Grace to You and John MacArthur, talked about the call. Two Bible Studies back, we learned about the church as we know it, is really the people who were called by God. This is a little confusing with most people understanding what Church is. It is Us, drawn by our Father (John 6:44), to worship and sing praises unto to Him that drew us. Our assumption is that the building is the focus, which is reinforced by our somewhat lazy or incurious if you will, understanding of the word Church. Getting back to my point, John MacArthur had this in the Drawing Near part of his Devotionals.
Understanding Your Calling
“I pray that . . . you may know what is the hope of [God’s] calling” (Eph. 1:18). The hope of your calling is grounded in God’s promises and in Christ’s accomplishments. In Ephesians 1:3-14 Paul proclaims the blessings of our salvation. In verse 18 he prays that we will comprehend those great truths, which he summarizes in the phrase “the hope of His calling.”
“Calling” here refers to God’s effectual calling—the calling that redeems the soul. Scripture speaks of two kinds of calling: the gospel or general call and the effectual or specific call. The gospel call is given by men and is a universal call to repent and trust Christ for salvation (e.g., Matt. 28:19; Acts 17:30-31). It goes out to all sinners but not all who hear it respond in faith.
The effectual call is given by God only to the elect. By it He speaks to the soul, grants saving faith, and ushers elect sinners into salvation (John 6:37-44, 65; Acts 2:39). All who receive it respond in faith.
Now we have a better understanding of these two calls to faith. It is important to know that being a believer should show. Those who hear the gospel call can respond to that with a realization of what a wretched sinner they are, repent and then pursue Christ. Not all do however. This is where the parable of the Sower (Matthew 13) comes in to help us understand why some fall away from faith when they are tested with adversity.
My testimony is one where I felt I had no choice but to accept and follow what I was drawn to. Why God waited almost 6 decades of my life to bring me to faith is a mystery to me, but not to Him. So how is it with you? Are you casual with your faith or or you drawn to it?
Most churches today are preaching not from the scripture but a message of only Love and Inclusiveness. They tell a story of Jesus accepting you just as you are. What they don’t say is, do not expect to remain “just as you are.” With coming to Christ, repentance is a key to understanding what the message of Christ is. When you repent, you see what sin is in your life and how it can no longer remain. God told us to be Holy because He is Holy.
(1 Peter 1:16) How can you be Holy and not change? As mentioned before, being a believer should show. Those that claim to be Christians, but show no signs of living like a Christian, now we are in the parable of the tares and wheat. Matthew 13:24-30
Since last week’s message was a lot of information to absorb, you can add what I have here to that and we’ll call it good. If you haven’t finished the 47 prophecies from last week, go ahead and get through that. Once done, take a moment to analyze where you stand with your Savior. I ask you to take a hard look at 1 Peter 1. Be Holy for He who has drawn you is Holy.