The Grace That We Need

The Grace That We Need
Robert Wurtz II

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14) 

In our previous entry entitled, “Living by faith” we examined the importance of waiting on the vision; that is to say, to wait on what God has said to us rather than taking matters into our own hands. We said that mixing our word with God’s word creates a mixture of God’s will and our will. It is rejected as the product of the flesh. In this entry I wish to examine his God sends His word to us for our edification and direction. We are not to live by bread alone, but by every word that is proceeding from the mouth of God. By implication we see that God’s Word is the true bread. In fact, this is what Jesus said: Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. (John 6)

The Word- full of grace and truth

In our passage in John 1:14, we see how this works. Jesus Christ, the Word of God, is full of grace and truth. This is what the passage says if for the purposes of our study we connect the phrase “And the Word was…” with the last phrase “full of grace and truth.” The Word is full of grace. This is an amazing statement. The source of God’s grace is found in Jesus Christ, the Word. God’s divine enablement proceeds forth from Christ. He is the storehouse of grace. He, as our Great High Priest, has within Himself all that we need for our edification (building up) and direction. When our Great High Priest speaks to us, His words are full of grace to help in the time of need. You will remember that the Ark of the Covenant represented the throne of God’s glory in the Old Testament and that only the High Priest could approach the throne (Holy of Holies). These were just figures of the truth that are in Heaven itself. The throne of Grace is the throne where Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, distributes His grace (Hebrews 4:16). Notice it is a “throne of grace”. This implies that the will of God and His authority are in play when grace is distributed. In other words, the grace we seek in the time of need is the grace we need to be being built up to do God’s perfect will. Keep this very clear.     

The Lamb Priest

And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. (Revelation 5:6-7)

We have a picture here of the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the World, signified with seven eyes and seven horns. You will know that seven is the number of perfection. Eyes represent knowledge and horns represent power. The Lamb of God, having proven Himself worthy of all things, has perfect knowledge and perfect power. As has been noted, “Not six horns so that he didn’t possess all power, though He had all knowledge; but seven eyes and seven horns.” He is all knowing and all powerful. Moreover, He is the only one worthy to deliver revelation to the churches of God. For it is written; “And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.” (Revelation 5:2-5) When we come to the throne of Grace we are approaching the only one worthy to open the book and loose the seals thereof. Many pretenders and anti-christs would seek to speak to the churches over the centuries; but Jesus Christ alone has that prerogative. He earned the right through His death on the Cross.

Speaking to the churches

The one with seven eyes and seven horns has both the knowledge and the power to provide His people with what we need. He is on top of it as the High Priest of the Old Testament would tend the Lamp stand. He walks in the midst of the lamp stands (the churches of God) observing as-it-were with His “seven eyes” to see just exactly what is needed so that He might send the Word of His grace. The Holy Spirit is the messenger that reveals this Word in the midst of the assembly, but any number of means. the people are simply instructed; “he that has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches.” The Lord Jesus sends His grace filled Word to us to help in our time of need.  

The Word of the Lord –Ron Bailey May 15, 2009
 
The phrase “the Word of the Lord” is used over 250 times in the scriptures and over 50 times in Jeremiah alone. It is easy to become desensitized to phrases like this, but to pause when we read them is very challenging. When God spoke of his own diligence in sending prophets to the nation of Israel he used a lovely Hebrew idiom which is simply “He rose up early in the morning and…” The picture, apparently, is of a man loading his camel for an early start. Of course God never sleeps, but the urgency and the industry of God sending His Word is captured just the same. How faithfully He sent those messengers. Some they ignored, some they opposed, some they silenced, but “the next morning” God just loaded up another “camel” and sent another Word. Sometimes prophetic messages were simply called “the burden of the Lord”. God solemnly warned the people of Jeremiah’s day that a day would come when there would be no “daily delivery”, no burden of the Lord. Jer 23:33. (see the KJV)

The grace that we need

God is sending “the Word of the Lord” to each and every one of us daily in this crisis hour. He speaks to His people individually and in churches with the expectation that they will hear and hearken to what has been said. It is the Word of His grace that is able to build us up and give us an inheritance among those that are being sanctified (Acts 20:32). It is our daily supply of every word that is proceeding from the mouth of God. Those words, that the Holy Spirit so lovingly quickens to our hearts, provide the grace we need in the moment. Sometimes God speaks long-term directives and we wait upon Him in those matters, trusting and obeying in faith; but there is a daily Mannah that comes forth from the word who is full of grace and truth.  For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. Amen.