Fall Gathering Fashioned in Christ by the God of All Grace Mountain Grove Ecclesia Friday October 24

1Pe 5:10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. = The Call of God to His Eternal Glory

6 So bow down under Gods strong hand; then when the time comes, God will lift you up. 7 Since God cares for you, let Him carry all your burdens and worries. 8 Most importantly, be disciplined and stay on guard. Your enemy the devil is prowling around outside like a roaring lion, just waiting and hoping for the chance to devour someone. 9 Resist him and be strong in your faith, knowing that your brothers and sisters throughout the world are fellow sufferers with you. 10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of grace who has called you [to His everlasting presence] through Jesus the Anointed will restore you, support you, strengthen you, and ground you. 11 For all power belongs to God, now and forever. Amen.

1. We should submit ourselves to Gods mighty hand and cast our anxieties upon Him because He does care for us. 2. We need to be sober and vigilant because the diabolos within us is constantly active on our minds like a warring lion, waiting and hoping for a chance to devour us. We need to resist this pull within us by remaining steadfast in our faith, knowing that all believers face these challenges.

3. We have re-assurance that God will help us in this battle based on certain facts: We are dealing with the God of all Grace. God has called us. This call is ultimately to His Eternal Glory. He will help to see us through our trials by supporting us, strengthening us, and grounding us. All power belongs to God.

The re-assurances we will deal with in this talk.. 1. We are dealing with the God of all Grace. 2. God has called us. 3. This call is ultimately to His Eternal Glory.

God is the source of ALL grace. There is no other source. Grace is favour from God that we have not merited. It is not because of something we have done. His grace is more abundant when our attitude towards Him is one of humility-----when we put aside our pride. Jas 4:6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

God has given us free will. the greatest gift we can render to God is to demonstrate our humility by consciously submitting our will to His will. What we are in effect doing is choosing God rather than choosing self.

2Co 12:7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 2Co 12:8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 2Co 12:9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

But, it may not take the form of direct deliverance from the challenge that is burdening us Rather, it may take the form of Gods power in helping us to cope with our burden so that we persevere and remain faithful to the end of our probation.

God takes the long view of our life as a whole and knows what we need. Can we accept this, and trust Him, even when it seems our prayers for deliverance from the burden itself have not been answered?

Gods grace is not just something we hope to receive only when we stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ (although that is when our need for grace may be greatest). Rather, grace is something God is willing to extend to us on an ongoing basis, through events or circumstances or interventions in our lives that He directs to strengthen us, and that we may not always be aware of. His Grace then becomes the power of His Spirit in our lives to strengthen us.

What is the call or calling ? (Greek = tes kleseos) It means a call or invitation, as to a banquet It is the work of Gods Spirit, to enlighten our minds concerning our sinful state and of our need for salvation from sin and death It invites us to participate in the remedy, by being related to the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and Gods promises through belief, repentance and baptism into His saving name. This calling then consists of introducing to our minds the need and process to turn to God. If we respond positively to the call, we can become heirs of all Gods promises.

This calling is a work of Gods Spirit but may be introduced via many means including. the preaching efforts or conversations with other believers events directed by Gods providential hand that lead us to the Truth reading of the Word of God or a response to personal prayer But, it is something that God initiates. Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Those who are called are those who have an innate love for God. What is not said is whether this love is our doing or Gods doing but it is something that must be present if we are to be called by God. God extends an invitation to those whose hearts He knows will love Him.

To love God, we must first know about.. Who He is---the Creator and Sustainer of the universe Have some understanding of His plan and purpose Have an understanding of what he would have us do and how He wants us to live our lives-----all these things come only from the Bible Strive to honour Him by keeping His commandments 1 Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

26 Look carefully at your call, brothers and sisters. By human standards, not many of you are deemed to be wise. Not many are considered powerful. Not many of you come from royalty, right? 27 But celebrate this: God selected the worlds foolish to bring shame upon those who think they are wise; likewise, He selected the worlds weak to bring disgrace upon those who think they are strong. 28 God selected the common and the castoff, whatever lacks status, so He could invalidate the claims of those who think those things are significant. So it makes no sense for any person to boast in Gods presence. 30 Instead, credit God with your new situation: you are united with Jesus the Anointed. He is Gods wisdom for us and more. He is our righteousness and holiness and redemption. 31 As the Scripture says: If someone wants to boast, he should boast in the Lord.

The promise we have when we love God and respond positively to His call is that all things will work together for our ultimate good. And the final expression of this good will be that we will reflect His eternal glory

Num 14:21 But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD. Hab 2:14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. This group will reflect His glory by being recipients of His great promises including sharing in His divine nature.

This voluntary response to His call should include a desire to develop a close trusting relationship with the Eternal Being. by seeking His ongoing direction in our lives----being familiar with His will and deferring our will to His will This is what honours Him and gives Him glory. The concept of giving God glory is closely related to how we respect and honour God in our lives.

While Gods calling has an initial starting point, it is an ongoing process that continues until we exhale our last breath. It also places a responsibility on us to continue responding to Gods calling of us.

Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: This reference implies that our calling is an ongoing process. It isnt about earning our reward through our own efforts Rather, the Eternal Being wants us to demonstrate that we are continuing to respond to His call----- that it is a priority with us.

5 To achieve this, [to be a recipient of His grace and be a partaker of the Divine Nature as mentioned in v. 4], you will need to add virtue to your faith, and then knowledge to your virtue; 6 to knowledge, add discipline; to discipline, add endurance; to endurance, add godliness; 7 to godliness, add affection for others as sisters and brothers; and to affection, at last, add love. 8 For if you possess these traits and multiply them, then you will never be ineffective or unproductive in your relationship with our Lord Jesus the Anointed;

9 But if you dont have these qualities, then you will be nearsighted and blind, forgetting that your past sins have been washed away. 10 Therefore, brothers and sisters, work that much harder to confirm that God has called you and claimed you. If you do this, then you will never fall along the way; 11 and you can be sure that you will be richly welcomed into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King.

He wants us to confirm to Him on an ongoing basis that His decision to call us was well- placed. He wants us to demonstrate that we are continuing to respond to His call by growing in our character development, in our understanding of Him, and in our service to Him and to others.

Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

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Fall Gathering Fashioned in Christ by the God of All Grace Mountain Grove Ecclesia Friday October 24