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 God’s 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.
2.
We should submit ourselves to God’s mighty
hand and cast our anxieties upon Him because He
does care for us.
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 God’s 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?

God’s 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 God’s 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 God’s 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 God’s promises.

This calling is a work of God’s Spirit but may be introduced via
many means including…….

the preaching efforts or conversations with other
believers
 events directed by God’s 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
God’s 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 world’s foolish to bring shame
upon those who think they are wise; likewise, He selected the world’s
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 God’s
presence. 30 Instead, credit God with your new situation: you are
united with Jesus the Anointed. He is God’s 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 God’s 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 God’s 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 isn’t 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 don’t 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 wellplaced.
 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.