WE ARE PERFECT IN CHRIST – Part II

Colossians 1:28 – “So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect[a] in their relationship to Christ.”

The Church of Christ then will be so pure that not even the eye of Omniscience will see a spot or blemish in her; so holy. So glorious that Hart did not go beyond the truth when he said– With my Savior’s garments on, Holy as the Holy One. Then shall we know and taste and feel the happiness of this vast but short sentence, complete in Christ.

Not till then shall we fully comprehend the heights and depths of the salvation of Jesus. Does not your heart leap for joy at the thought of it? Filthy as you are, you shall be clean. Oh, it is a marvelous salvation this! Christ takes a caterpillar and transforms it into a butterfly;

Christ takes a dirty and deformed thing and makes it clean and matchless in His glory, peerless in His beauty. O my soul, stand and admire this blessed truth of maturity in Christ.

It’s a brand new day! Keep enjoying Kharis!

Pastor Josh Laryea

TOPIC: WE GROAN FOR HIS APPEARING

BRAND NEW DAY
Tuesday, 1st October, 2024

Romans 8:23 – “We ourselves . . . groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”

This groaning is common among God’s people: To a greater or lesser extent we all feel it. It is not the groan of murmuring or complaint: It is a note of desire rather than of distress. Having received a deposit, we desire the rest of our portion; we are sighing that our entire manhood, in its trinity of spirit, soul, and body, may be set free from the last trace of the Fall; we long to discard the rags of corruption, weakness, and dishonor and to be clothed with incorruption, immortality, glory; the spiritual body that the Lord Jesus will bestow upon His people.

We long for the manifestation of our adoption as the children of God. “We . . . groan,” but it is “inwardly.” It is not the hypocrite’s groan, by which he would make men believe a lie. Our sighs are sacred things, too holy and too personal for us to broadcast. We keep our longings for our Lord to ourselves. We are to groan for glorification, but we are to wait patiently for it, knowing that what the Lord appoints is best.

Waiting implies being ready. We are to stand at the door expecting the Beloved to open it and take us away to Himself. This groaning is a test. You can learn a lot about a man by what he groans after. Some men groan after wealth; they worship money; some groan continually under the troubles of life; they are merely impatient. But the man who sighs after God, who is uneasy until he is made like Christ; that is the blessed man.

It’s a brand new day! Keep enjoying Kharis!

Pastor Josh Laryea

THE LORD OUR DELIVERER

Jeremiah 15:21 – “I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”

Notice the personal nature of this promise: “I will.” The Lord Jehovah Himself intervenes to deliver and redeem His people. He pledges Himself personally to rescue them. His own arm shall do it, in order that He may have the glory. Not a word is said of any effort of our own that may be needed to assist the Lord. Neither our strength nor our weakness is taken into account, but the lone “I,” like the sun in the heavens, shines out resplendent in complete sufficiency. 

Why then do we allow ourselves to be wounded by calculating our forces and consulting with mere men? God has enough power without borrowing from our puny arm. To enjoy peace, our unbelieving thoughts must be stilled, and we must learn that the Lord reigns. There is not even a hint of help from any secondary source. The Lord says nothing of friends and helpers: He undertakes the work alone and feels no need of human arms to aid Him.

All our looking around to companions and relatives are vain; they are broken reeds if we lean upon them-often unwilling when able, and unable when they are willing. Since the promise comes from God alone, it is best for us to wait only on Him; and when we do so, our expectation never fails us. Who are the wicked, that we should fear them? They are to be pitied rather than feared. As for terrible ones, they are only terrors to those who have no God to turn to, for when the Lord is on our side, whom shall we fear?

It’s a brand new day! Keep enjoying Kharis!

Pastor Josh Laryea

PRAY IN THE HOLY SPIRIT

Jude 1:20 – “Pray in the Holy Spirit.”

Note the key characteristic of true prayer – “in the Holy Spirit.” Only the prayer that comes from God can go to God. We must shoot the Lord’s arrows back to Him. The desire that He writes upon our heart will move His heart and bring down a blessing, but the desires of the flesh have no power with Him. Praying in the Holy Spirit is praying in fervency. 

Cold prayers ask the Lord not to hear them. Those who do not pray with fervency do not pray at all. We might as well talk of lukewarm fire as of lukewarm prayer-it is essential that it be red-hot. It is praying perseveringly. The true petitioner gathers force as he proceeds and grows more fervent when it seems that there are delays. The believer must be persuaded and persistent until they receive the witness of the Spirit in their spirit to cease or see the physical manifestation of their prayers. 

Prayer should be perfumed with love, saturated with love—love for our fellow believers and love for Christ. Moreover, it must be a prayer full of faith. A man prevails only to the extent that he believes. The Holy Spirit is the author of faith and strengthens it, so that we pray believing God’s promise. Now our prayer is that this blessed combination of excellent graces, as priceless and sweet as rare spices, might be fragrant within us because the Holy Spirit is in our hearts! Blessed Comforter, exert Your mighty power within us, helping our weaknesses in prayer.

It’s a brand new day! Keep enjoying Kharis!

Pastor Josh Laryea