by God's Little Boy
© MakeshiftDarkroom.com 2011
Posted 6/16/11

"Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:" (Hebrews 12:28)

"Let us have grace". When we stand guilty before God, undone by our sinfulness and the reality of human depravity, could there be any greater solution? Are there any words more healing? Let us have grace! Who are we that God would so richly bless us with the favor of his lovingkindness? Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. (1 John 3:1) And yet NOW, even in this state, we are the sons of God! (1 John 3:2)

When we are in the time of deepest need, this is the cry; "let us have grace!" It is in this state of unworthiness that we come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and to find the help we need. (Hebrews 4:16) All of the redeemed are drawn from the well of sin - God has only sinners to work with. God has elected sinners so that in the ages to come he might indicate (bring to mind something not seen before) the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:7)

It is grace that saves us, and it is grace by which we are called and chosen. It is grace that justifies the ungodly. That same grace has pardoned the believer; removing their transgressions as far as the east is from the west. (Psalm 103:12) We are set apart and perfected by grace, and as a result we stand in grace. If we fall we are not utterly cast down, but we fall into the exceeding and inexhaustible riches of God's grace! Those who despise the riches of grace are of the company that would much prefer that the glory and the excellency of the power be of themselves. But for those who have partaken of the hidden manna and who have received a personal illumination of the grace that has been revealed, it is their sufficiency.

"The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant." (Psalms 25:14)

"ALL the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies." (Psalms 25:10)

GRACE, GRACE! It is all of grace!

GRACE, HIGH AND LIFTED UP

"In the year that King Uzziah died, [in a vision] I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and the skirts of His train filled the [most holy part of the] temple.

Above Him stood the seraphim; each had six wings: with two [each] covered his [own] face, and with two [each] covered his feet, and with two [each] flew.

And one cried to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

Then said I, Woe is me! For I am undone and ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!

Then flew one of the seraphim [heavenly beings] to me, having a live coal in his hand which he had taken with tongs from off the altar;

And with it he touched my mouth and said, Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity and guilt are taken away, and your sin is completely atoned for and forgiven." (Isaiah 6:1-7) Amplified

UNDONE!

The prophet Isaiah cried, "woe is me!" "For I am undone and ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips," In his vision of the Lord exalted in holiness he became immediately aware of his vile condition. Isaiah saw a glimpse of the holiness of God, holiness which is by nature, exclusive of everything outside of the Godhead. In the presence of such holiness even the holy seraphim veiled their faces and covered their feet. How much more are we unprofitable servants and in our best state altogether vanity. In the presence of God the seared conscience and callus heart of man must melt. Peter who witnessed the miracle of the impossible draught of fish on the sea of Galilee fell down before Jesus overwhelmed, and said, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord." And Job, after thirty four chapters of complaint, at God's answer said, "Behold, I am vile... I will lay my hand upon my mouth."

As frail sinners, we can easily fail God with our words and actions on the witness stand of life. How soon we can fail God on the witness stand! The sinful and undone heart is revealed through the lips of man. One has said, "what is in the well of the heart comes up in the bucket of the mouth." In the disappointments we experience on life's road, bitterness can turn saints into blasphemers. (As I write this work I stand before God a blasphemer who has received mercy.) Isaiah became deeply convicted of his sin and failing God with his confession. In God's presence his heart was smitten by his unclean words. The seraph came quickly to purge his conscience with a live coal of the divine consuming fire. For our God is a sin consuming fire.

"Then flew one of the seraphim [heavenly beings] to me, having a live coal in his hand which he had taken with tongs from off the altar; And with it he touched my mouth and said, Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity and guilt are taken away, and your sin is completely atoned for and forgiven."

A CONSUMING FIRE

What grace was richly bestowed upon God's beloved Isaiah. The live coal of fire was taken off the golden altar of incense, which was first kindled by God on the brazen altar, where Christ was sacrificed. The sin consuming fire that devoured his perfect once for all sacrifice would now purge the guilt of Isaiah's uncleanness. The same fire that burned up our sin with it's penalty is the same fire that will burn up our guilt and purge us of an evil conscience to serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:14) It is at this altar, the golden altar of incense, where we may have grace to serve God acceptably because of the finished work of Christ. It is called the golden altar because it is of a work that is ALL divine. It is called the altar of incense because, being purged, we may have grace to offer up service that is made acceptable to God.

Of course we are aware of the exceeding sinfulness of sin. But there are those who make too much of it, at the expense of God's glory. Our God is a consuming fire. He is not a fire to burn his elect with condemnation, but a fire to consume their dross. At ASLAN'S roar all sin is conquered; either by purging mercy or fiery wrath. Sin is no match for The Great LION and for what he has done. His love has found a way. When sin has been found in the life of one of his own he may now simply say, "Take away the filthy garments from him", and then, "I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will cloth thee with change of raiment." (Zechariah 3:4) The burning bush was not consumed. There is no harm in the fire but only the gentle healing of conquering grace that burns up the poison of the first Adam. The seraphim are named from a word that means, "to burn up." The fire by night was, to God's chosen, a warming light of grace, but to his enemies, and to ours, a consuming end. It is for this reason that it is no longer a sin issue. Grace and mercy have overcome spiritual death.

For a little while God is taking sin captive and is exploiting it as a defeated foe to demonstrate the formerly hidden glory of his nature of grace. Without sin what words would God use to make his grace known to perfect creatures? The essence of God's nature of grace is best demonstrated in the presence of sin. If you desire to perceive and understand grace, it is best to place it right alongside of human depravity. Its glory blazes brightest in the rudeness of this dark and pitiful setting. It is in this setting that both men and angels witness and comprehend the amazing grace of God. Like the cherubim upon the mercy seat, the elect will stand in awe of the fire of super abounding grace. "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" (Romans 11:33)

"Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: (Romans 5:20)

"He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them. (Numbers 23:21)

LET US HAVE GRACE

Let us have grace that we may reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Let us have grace that we may continually become, in our experience, all that he has made us to be, in our position. Let us have grace that we may overcome and walk in the white of fine linen that is the righteousness of saints. Let us have grace that we may receive the imparted righteousness that the Spirit of grace produces in us as trophies of grace. And let us have grace that we may present our bodies unto God, a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable just as God has made us to be. (Romans 12:1)

"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 2:5)

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16)

"Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace;" (Hebrews 13:9a)

"To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;" (Ephesians 1:6-7)

"That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:7-9)

"Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, Whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:" (Hebrews 12:28)

Let us have Grace.

Back to Snapshots

Doctrinal Statement

A Safe Light in a Dark World.