Put The “Amazing” Back Into Grace (Part 2) – Life Versus Death

1^st svc, 24 May 2009

preached by Ps Joseph Prince

as noted by Yeo Choon Meng Terence

The epistle to the Ephesians was written by the Apostle Paul. Ruins of amphitheatre in Ephesus. 16 April 2009. Day 6 of Turkey Tour.

TERRY MIZE

The 17 May 2009 Sunday service was preached by Terry Mize. I did not do notes of this.

100 FOLD

Mark 10:29 So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s,

Mark 10:30 who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time–houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions–and in the age to come, eternal life.

There is no such thing as giving to the Lord and being short-changed. If you ‘lose’ something for the gospel’s sake, you will get it back 100 fold. You may for example get 100 fold quality time with your family etc. Many times, we think that we are serving the ministry but it actually the ministry helping the server.

GRACE IS WHAT MAKES CHRISTIANITY SPECIAL

Other religions have their own prophets and holy books. It is Grace that makes Christianity unique !

Grace and holiness are not antithesis. Just like you cannot touch water without becoming wet, it is Grace that makes us Holy. When we touch Grace, we touch everything dear to God’s heart.

SIN SHALL NOT HAVE ANY DOMINION OVER YOU

Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

48 times, the expression “sin” is used in the NT. 47 times, it is used as a noun. Only one time as a verb.

You can replace sin (noun) in Rom 6:14 with sickness, the devil, strife, etc.

Israel had sin dominating them AFTER Sinai when they received the Law. This proves Rom 6:14. Israel had sin having dominion over them when they were under Law.

It is the devil’s master conspiracy to make it seem that under Grace, it fosters license to sin.

It is good to say I AM UNDER GRACE before interviews, and other tough situations to give yourself a sense of God’ Grace over you.

Before Sinai, despite sinning, there were no deaths amongst the Children of Israel. After Sinai, every sin, brought forth punishment and death.

Before Sinai, gold served Israel and gold came to Israel. AFTER Sinai, gold left Israel and they made the golden calf: Israel served gold.

Likewise some people make the golden calf their god and go after gold and prosperity, gold will depart from these people. Choose instead to go after Jesus and prosperity will chase after you.

Use money to love people and you will find money being drawn to you.

SOTERIA

When we are saved from sin, the Greek word typically used is “soteria” which is an all-inclusive word which embraces being saved from hell as well as meaning, experiencing heaven on earth.

Rom 1:6 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation [Greek: soteria] for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

Rom 1:7 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

The power of God to salvation is the Gospel, not prayer, fasting, etc. What is the gospel? The gospel is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.

CHOOSE LIFE

Why is it when you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you die? It is because this tree is a picture of the Law.

God wants us to choose life. Choose life and life more abundantly from God.

When the life of God is lacking, we experience constant fatigue, sickness, etc.

1 Tim 1:18 This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,

1 Tim 1:19 having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck,

True spiritual warfare is fight of faith in believing that you are righteous before the Father independent of your deeds.

ESTABLISHED IN RIGHTEOUSNESS

Isa 54:13 All your children [shall be] taught by the LORD, And great [shall be] the peace of your children.

Isa 54:14 In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; And from terror, for it shall not come near you.

The word translated into “established” is the Hebrew, kuwn [Strong’s 3559] which means fixed or stable.

When you are established in righteousness, your children will have peace.

The reference to “terror” in Isa 54:14 means destruction.

Isa 54:17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue [which] rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This [is] the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness [is] from Me,” Says the LORD.

The newspapers are not the basis for trusting in the promises of Isa 54:17. Isa 54:17 is the result of Jesus Christ’s passion as prophesied in Isa 53.

PARENTING TIPS

When parents are nervous, their children are nervous. When parents are cool, their kids are cool. Exams are important but not everyone who studies is successful. Having said that, students are encouraged to study hard. Often when exams are removed, the thirst for knowledge returns.

Parents ought to tell their kids that they will still love them even if they don’t score well in their exams. Perhaps the recent case when a child jumped down from a tall building arose because his parents had projected the need to succeed in exams as equaling a ‘successful life’ into the child.

ABUNDANCE OF GRACE

Rom 5:17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance [Greek is perissea, Strong’s 4050, = superabundantly] of grace and of the gift [Greek is dorea, Strong’s 1431 = gift] of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

Adam ushered in death by his offence. God is not at fault.

Most of us are more conscious of the first part of the verse “For if by … through the one”. We ought to be more conscious of the second part of Rom 5:17.

The degree in which you are not whole or lacking, is the degree in which you are not established or lack belief or knowledge in your believing.

Say “Thank you Jesus”, it give Him pleasure. Receive righteousness as a gift. Not as something you have to work or give consideration for in return

NOT ACCORDING TO KNOWLEDGE

Rom 10:2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

Rom 10:3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

Rom 10:4 For Christ [is] the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

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According to Rom 10:2, those Jews who were under Law had a zeal for God but not according to accurate knowledge. Those under Law are ignorant of God’s righteousness.

Be careful of those teachers who teach about the concept of ‘subjective’ righteousness.

REIGN IN LIFE

Rom 5:17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.

The Greek word translated into “reigned” and “reign” in Rom 5:17 is basileuō [Strong’s 936] which means: to be king, to exercise kingly power, to reign, to exercise the highest influence, to control. The word, basileuo, is where we get the word, basilica.

Death’s kingly reign is all encompassing notwithstanding your good works because of Adam’s original sin. However, those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall have a kingly, all encompassing reign in life.

This reigning in life is not merely reigning in ‘this’ physical life-span on earth. It includes this concept but is much more! It is reigning in realm of life as contrasted with death.

Reigning is via speaking as a king does and not working.

OBSTACLES TO REIGNING

If we are reigning in life, the devil, poverty, sickness etc cannot reign. Therefore to stop you from reigning, the devil will attack “abundance of grace” and “gift of righteousness” teachings.

TRUE WORSHIP

The etymology of “worship” is “worth-ship” in Old English. We know the true worth of Jesus. True worship is borne out of a revelation of God’s Grace. It is a response to His Love and what He has done for you.

DON’T MAJOR ON THE MINORS

Don’t major on the minors in respect of fasting, prayer, praise and worship etc and turn everything into a formula. The devil does not care; as long as the fasting, prayer, etc is not grace-based, he has got you.

It is not enough if a church preaches grace, it has to preach an abundance of Grace (Rom 5:17) in order for the people in that church to reign in life.

No church is ‘against’ grace. Some churches are against ‘too’ much grace. But Rom 5:17 says we must receive an abundance of grace!

2 Cr 11:14-15 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore [it is] no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

If you spot somebody who preaches works and who warns that you cannot have too much grace and righteousness, you know who he is speaking for, regardless of how many degrees and how respectable he dresses.

The devil also tries to slander and assassinate the character of Grace teachers.

To judge the character of the preacher in regards Grace, see how much he ‘looks’ like Jesus. In regards a Grace preacher, you will either love him or hate him, you cannot remain passive towards him.

There is such a stirring as the devil does not give up easily because territory and dominion is involved.

BABY CHRISTIANS

Some ‘baby’ Christians do not have it all together. Some things come by growth in the knowledge of Christ. Cut them some slack.

It is different for mature Christians. If they persistently commit a sin, the leaders will first approach that person in love to get him to repent. There is order and accountability in this church. Confront the person individually for the sin. Do not use the pulpit to ‘whack’ everybody. The pulpit ministry is primarily for feeding and not beating the flock.

BINDING OR LOOSING?

To get the demon out from somebody, some ministers say you must bind and others say you must loose (they reason that if the demon is bound, he cannot be cast out)! What is the true solution? It is emphasizing reigning in life through the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness rather than this and concepts like spiritual authority. By emphasizing spiritual authority per se, you cannot get the devil out. It is by being strong in Grace and Righteousness.

STAND UNDER THE SPOUT WHERE THE GLORY COMES OUT

Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded [Greek, pleonazō, Strong’s 4121], grace did much more abound [Greek, hü-per-pe-rēs-syü'-ō, Strong’s 5248 = to abound beyond measure]

If you can detect any form of sin (‘sin abounded’) which in its strictest definition, means any form of falling short, then you can receive super-abounding grace. Hallelujah!

Many in traditional churches have been taught the reverse, that is, that because of sin, God cannot give you grace or bless you!

If you are honest, you will make this observation: many times if you do bad, you receive good! Super-abounding Grace ! Sometimes, you do good and you do not get good results.

What you should do if you fall short e.g. you mess up on the road and your temper flares up, is to say “God I receive your super-abounding Grace here in this area.” Then you receive Grace for the bad temper (most of us do not expect grace). This cause me to glorify God and not despair in my sin. This attitude does not cause one to sin some more.

ROMANS 6:1

Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

Martin Lloyd-Jones commentary on Rom 6:1 is as follows:

“The true preaching of the gospel of salvation by grace alone always leads to the possibility of [the charge that we may

sin that grace may abound] being brought against it. That is a very good test of gospel preaching….

“If my preaching and presentation of the gospel does not expose it to that misunderstanding, then it is not the gospel….If

your preaching of salvation has not been misunderstood in this way, then you had better examine your sermons again,

and you had better make sure that you are really preaching the salvation that is offered in the New Testament to the

ungodly, to the sinner, to those who are dead in trespasses and sins, to those who are enemies of God.”

The very area of your failure is where the Glory of God comes out upon you.

GRACE IS ALWAYS SUFFICIENT

2 Cr 12:8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

2 Cr 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2 Cr 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

The Lord’s Grace is ALWAYS (present tense) sufficient for you for His strength is made perfect in weakness.

The Greek word which is translated into “rest” in 2 Cr 12:9 is episkenoo [Strong’s 1981] which has the meaning of TABERNACLE or make a tent over me. The power of Christ so tabernacled upon Paul that even his clothes and handkerchiefs had power to heal. We all want to be like Paul too in this respect. We thus must learn to live the spirit of 2 Cr 12:9-10. Paul realized and understood the power of God’s Grace so much so that he took ‘pleasure’ in his weaknesses (2 Cr 12:10), however he was by no means a sado-masochist.

Many of us are not like Paul yet because we are not glad about our minuses (‘take pleasure in infirmities…. in distresses’) for Christ’s sake.

Jesus went everywhere and looks for minuses i.e. Sin. Sin means missing the mark. Anything which misses the mark or falls short of the glory of God (e.g. sickness) is sin.

Jesus went around looking for minuses e.g. woman with withered hand — because that is an area where His Father has released super-abounding Grace, and heals that person i.e. sends in the super-abounding grace

Healing is a Grace.

When sin (e.g. sickness) abounds, Grace (healing) super-abounds!

When your body is being attacked, it is clear sign that God is anointing you with a super healthy body (which you will even use to heal others). Become more conscious of renewal of youth within you than phantom pains.

The same principle can be applied to an attack on your finances.

Right now, receive the super-abundant grace in your minuses. Reject the perceived symptoms.

Everywhere Jesus saw minuses, He also saw the PLUS factor of God’s super-abounding Grace!

When the H1N1 flu was on the front pages of the newspapers, God already had released a new reign of health on the nation. Reverse in your mind whatever the devil is attacking and you will see what God is doing in that area. God leads. He does not react. The media is only reporting the devil’s reaction to God’s sovereign moves.

ALWAYS RECEIVE GRACE

Rom 5:17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.

The word translated into “receive” in Rom 5:17 is lambano in Greek [Strong’s 2983] which connotes an ‘always continuous’ receiving of Grace.

We must continuously and actively receive Grace in order to reign in life!

Nothing will happen until you receive the Grace.

Our disqualification is our qualification in Christ.

View life differently now. Take pleasure in all your minuses as God’s Grace super-abounds and is released on them.

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IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: THE ABOVE NOTES WERE DRAFTED BY, DEVELOPED, COMPILED AND ORGANISED BY YEO CHOON MENG TERENCE IN HIS PERSONAL CAPACITY ON 23 JUNE 2009 AND ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS ARE HIS ALONE. THE ABOVE NOTES ARE NOT REPRESENTATIONS OF, ATTRIBUTABLE TO OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH NEW CREATION CHURCH OR JOSEPH PRINCE MINISTRIES.