The Hidden Treasure – Costly
Grace – Lent with Bonhoeffer Day 19– Purity 991
Purity 991 03/15/2023 Purity 991 Podcast
Purity 991 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of the sun, sand, and surf of Myrtle
Beach SC comes to us from yours truly as I captured this scene from the Springmaid
Pier near our resort back on February 23rd
during our recent “mid-winter recess” vacation.
Well it’s Wednesday and yesterday’s March Nor'easter
really did demonstrate that our getaway was only “mid winter” as the hump this
Humpday very well may be a pile of snow if you live anywhere in my neck of the
woods. But rather than dazzle you with a
winter scene I am sharing this beach scene because that is where my heart is. I will deal with whatever meteorological
circumstances that come my way but I think I am “done” with the winter of 2023,
even though it has been mild, and it might not be done with us.
Hey, they say that one path way to joy is in
anticipating good things to come so I think I will take my joy in knowing that unless
the Lord ushers in a prolonged ice age, spring is still coming, with the calendar
declaring the first day next week on Monday the 20th.
So in terms of the latest winter occurrence of snow
I say “This too shall pass”, and speaking of “passing” another day of Lent is upon
us, so let us turn back to, or spring ahead to our current series as we enter
into Day 19 of the 40 Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer
As a reminder, and as we will say each day of this
journey, we take this path to mark the season of Lent and to draw closer to God
in anticipation for the celebration of Easter, knowing that if we take this
journey of repentance seriously, we will not only see the days and seasons
change, the Lord will use it to change us too.
You can sign up to get this devotional yourself by
going to the Biblegateway link on the blog ((https://www.biblegateway.com/devotionals/40-Day-Journey-Dietrich-Bonhoeffer/today)) .
Day 19
Bonhoeffer writes:
“Costly grace is the hidden treasure in the field, for the
sake of which people go and sell with joy everything they have.
It is the costly pearl for whose price the merchant sells
all that he has; it is Christ’s sovereignty, for the sake of which you tear out
an eye if it causes you to stumble.
It is the call of Jesus Christ which causes a disciple to
leave his nets and follow him.
Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and
again, the gift which has to be asked for, the door at which one has to knock.
It is costly, because it calls to discipleship; it is
grace, because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ.
It is costly, because it costs people their lives; it is
grace, because it thereby makes them live.
It is costly, because it condemns sin; it is grace,
because it justifies the sinner.
Above all, grace is costly, because it was costly to God,
because it cost God the life of God’s Son․ “you were bought with a price” and because nothing can be cheap to us which is costly to God.
Above all, it is grace because the life of God’s Son was
not too costly for God to give in order to make us live…
Grace is costly, because it forces people under the yoke
of following Jesus Christ; it is grace when Jesus says, “My yoke is easy, and
my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30).”
Biblical Wisdom
For you
were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:20
Questions to Ponder
- If costly grace means that God wants
things from us as well as for us, what might those things be?
M.T.
Clark: As Bonhoeffer writers, Costly grace costs us our lives as we are “bought
for a price” and we become slaves of Christ’s as we make Him the Lord and
Savior of our live. It costs us our
lives but because it is grace that leads to eternal life as a part of God’s royal
family, we rejoice and give the Lord our love, loyalty, and allegiance to add
to the cost of our lives. We give God everything and count it all joy.
- What is the difference between following
Jesus Christ (costly grace) and simply believing things about Jesus Christ
(cheap grace)?
M.T.
Clark: The difference between following Jesus and simply believing things about
Him is the difference of knowing Him and knowing of Him, the difference between
the heart and the head, the difference between loving and liking, and the
difference between life and death, as followers of Christ will enter into His
kingdom one day, where as those who knew of Him and stopped short of following Him,
will pass into the outer darkness where their will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth because He will declare that He never knew them.
- What does it mean to say grace is costly
“because it costs people their lives”?
M.T.
Clark: Costly grace costs people their lives because followers of Christ are
crucified and die with Jesus before they are resurrected and born again to new
life with Him. When we put our faith in
Jesus, the old passes away and all things are new.
Psalm Fragment
Glory in
his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek
the Lord rejoice.
Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his presence continually. Psalm 105:3-4
Journal Reflections
- Have you experienced costly grace? If
so, what did it feel like? If not, what do you imagine it might feel like?
M.T.
Clark: I would say that I have experienced costly grace because I have made the
decision to repent and to follow Christ. Costly grace can feel like loss but we
are more than willing to pay the cost for receiving it because of the abundant
love that we experience when we agree to die and live with Jesus and He comes
to live in and through us.
- What would it mean for you to “leave
[your] nets and follow him”?
M.T.
Clark: For me to leave my “nets and follow him” would mean to walk away from my
current job or my place down by the River that He led me to. I think leaving my
corporate job and the comfort and security of having my relatively new house would
be as close to the “total surrender” that the phrase “leaving your nets”
represents.
Intercessions
Pray for the church and for all
Christians, that they may proclaim and practice costly grace.
M.T.
Clark: Lord,
We pray
for the church and for all Christians to proclaim and practice costly grace as
your Spirit reveals to them just how you want us to “leave our nets” to follow
you into the purpose you created for us.
In Jesus’
Name, Amen.
Prayer for Today
Thank you, O God, for the costly
grace you have offered me freely and which has made me a disciple of Jesus.
M.T. Clark: In Jesus Name, I
pray, Amen.
(40-Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Copyright © 2007 Augsburg
Books, imprint of Augsburg Fortress.)
***As we are being
provided with Bible verses from the 40 Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, we
will are taking a break from sharing a verse of the day from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”. We plan on
resuming that normal installment of the blog following Easter.***
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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I
always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to
assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink’s “The
Sovereignty of God.”
As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage all to purchase A.W. Pink’s books for your own
private study and to support his work. This resource is available on
many websites for less than $20.00.
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
By
ARTHUR W. PINK
CHAPTER NINE
GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY AND PRAYER concludes
In closing this
chapter we would utter a word of caution to safeguard the reader against
drawing a false conclusion from what has been said. We have not here sought to epitomize the whole teaching of
Scripture on the subject of prayer, nor have we even attempted to discuss in
general the problem of prayer;
instead, we have confined ourselves, more or less, to a consideration of the relationship between God’s Sovereignty
and Christian prayer. What we have written is intended chiefly as a protest against much of the modern
teaching, which so stresses the human
element in prayer that the Divine side is almost entirely lost sight of.
In Jer. 10:23 we are
told “It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps” (cf. Prov. 16:9); and
yet in many of his prayers man impiously presumes to direct the Lord as to His way, and as to what He ought to do: even implying that if
only he had the direction of the
affairs of the world and of the church he
would soon have things very different from what they are. This cannot be denied:
for anyone with any spiritual discernment at all could not fail to detect this
spirit in many of our modern prayer-meetings where the flesh holds sway. How
slow we all are to learn the lesson that the haughty creature needs to be
brought down to his knees and humbled into the dust. And this is where the very act of prayer is intended to put us. But
man (in his usual perversity) turns the footstool into a throne from whence he
would fain direct the Almighty as to what He ought to do! giving the onlooker the impression that if God had
half the compassion that those who pray (?) have, all would quickly be right!
Such is the arrogance of the old nature even in a child of God.
Our main purpose in
this chapter has been to emphasize the need for submitting, in prayer, our wills to God’s. But it must also be
added that prayer is much more than a pious exercise, and far otherwise than a
mechanical performance. Prayer is, indeed, a Divinely appointed means whereby
we may obtain from God the things we ask, providing
we ask for those things which are in accord with His will. These pages will
have been penned in vain unless they lead both writer and reader to cry with a
deeper earnestness than heretofore, “Lord, teach
us to pray” (Luke 11:1).[1]
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Encouragement
for the Path of Christian Discipleship
