According to Thy gracious word

Every Lord’s Day we come to the Lord to acknowledge that His body was broken for us and that all of God’s children are one. On the one hand, we testify that the Lord’s body was broken for us. On the other hand, we testify that the church is the Body of Christ and that this Body is one. We who are many are one bread and one Body. We express this oneness. Whoever understands the Body of Christ renders this testimony on the Lord’s Day. On this day he testifies that there is only one bread. In the eyes of God, this bread is the center of all the meetings. God’s children should gather together for the purpose of breaking bread and fellowshipping with one another. The more one understands the Body of Christ, the more he will testify of the oneness of the Body through the breaking of bread. The breaking of bread is a remembrance of the Lord’s death, and it is an expression of the oneness of the Body. “Seeing that there is one bread, we who are many are one Body. ” We do this to show the world, the universe, and the whole creation that the church is one Body!

May the Lord be gracious to us, and may He show us clearly that the basis for forming the church is the Body of Christ. We are members one of another in the Body. Through the baptism of the Spirit, we are constituted as one Body. Thus our fellowship should be based only on the Body of Christ. In the Body every member has its function and every member should serve. We should ask God for more ministers of the word on behalf of the church, ministers who will perfect the saints to the work of the ministry unto the building up of the Body of Christ. We should also express the testimony of the oneness of this Body through the breaking of bread. May God bless all of us!

Messages for Building Up New Believers
Chapter 49 THE BODY OF CHRIST
(LSM)

Words of Grace

Luke 4:22 says, “And all bore witness to Him and marveled at the words of grace proceeding out of His mouth, and they said, Is not this Joseph’s son? ” The words of grace refer to the words in verse 21 , including the words of the gospel in verses 18 and 19 . Verse 22 indicates that those in the synagogue knew the Savior according to the flesh (2 Cor. 5:16), not according to the Spirit (Rom. 1:4).

Although the people marveled at the words of grace that proceeded out of the Lord’s mouth, it is not likely that they understood these words. This was the actual beginning of the dispensation of grace. The dispensation before that day was the dispensation of law. But in Luke 4 the divine jubilee, the jubilee of grace, was proclaimed by the Man-Savior.

In 4:23-27 the Lord Jesus warned the people using the case of the widow of Sarepta and the case of Naaman of Syria. The case of the widow of Sarepta was a case of feeding, signifying the Lord’s feeding of the hungry (John 6:33 , 35). The case of Naaman was a case of cleansing, signifying the Lord’s cleansing of sinners (1 Cor. 6:11). The Savior’s mentioning of these two cases implied that His gospel would turn to the Gentiles (Acts 13:45-48). This does not mean that His standard of morality was unable to embrace the Jews; on the contrary, it indicates their hardhearted rejection of Him.

Luke 4:28-30 says, “And all in the synagogue were filled with anger when they heard these things, and they rose up and cast Him out of the city and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built so that they might throw Him down the cliff. But He, passing through their midst, went away. ” It certainly was not reasonable for those in the synagogue to be filled with anger. Although they marveled at the words of grace proceeding out of the Lord’s mouth, they were nevertheless filled with anger. They rose up, cast Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill. But He passed through their midst and went away. This shows His steadiness under the threatening of His opposers.

Life-study of Luke

Message 11 (LSM)

Sunyi tanpa kawan, peluh darah dan tangis MU ku kenang semuanya. Penolongku kau patut ku ingat. Lord Jesus, You are the One worth remembering.

".... when these failing lips go dumb, remember me, Lord Jesus! Let your love never depart from me!

Remember Thee and all Thy pains

And all Thy love to me;

Galatians 2:20 "…. the Son of God… loved me and gave Himself up for me."

Revelation 1:5 - [Jesus Christ] loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood

Song of Songs 1:4b - We will extol your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you.

S. S. 1:4b footnote <extol> The fellowship of Christ and His lover in her mingled spirit is in the joy of Christ’s lover with her companions (“we”), in their extolling of His unrivaled love.

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Lord, we extol You and remember You and Your love. Thank you for loving us that you died for us! Even while we were sinners You died for us. Oh Lord Jesus!

My dad chose this song, just prior to our home communion. We are now in the midst of quarantine and cannot gather in any building. We still sing great songs in remembrance in our mighty God. Amen.

Lord, we thank you for loving us.

James Montgomery (1771-1854)

James Montgomery’s parents were Moravian missionaries to the West Indies. While attending a Moravian seminary in England, young James received word of the sudden death of both his parents in the mission field. Soon after James quit the seminary and, for a period of time lived a life of discouragement. Soon he became interested in newspaper work and writing. At the age of 23 he was appointed editor of the weekly ‘Sheffield Register’ in London, maintaining his position for the following 31 years. As editor Montgomery championed many causes one of which was the abolition of slavery. He also helped the poor and downtrodden. Twice he was imprisoned for writing about controversial issues. In 1797 he published a volume of poems called ‘Prison Amusements’ due to the fact that many of his works were written in prison. In 1825 he gave up his paper to devote himself to literary pursuits as well as the promotion of foreign missions. By 1833 Mr. Montgomery was recognized throughout his homeland for his integrity and worth and was awarded an annual pension of $1, 000 by the government, as a reward for his many contributions to English society.

Montgomery wrote approximately 400 hymns including ‘According to Thy Gracious Word’. The composer of this tune, was Henry Smart. Although largely self-taught, Smart was recognized as one of the finest organists and composers of the British Isles. For the last fifteen years of his life he was completely blind yet he continued to play and write some of his finest music. The original tune to this hymn, known as “Regent Square” was written during this period of blindness. The tune was composed especially for a hymnal being compiled by Dr. Hamilton, pastor of London’s Regent Square Presbyterian Church. Smart dedicated his new tune to this church. He also designed and built some of England’s finest organs and was often sought out both in England and Scotland for advice in new organ installations.

The two great contributors to the development of English hymnody are often thought as Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley respectively. Next to these two writers, it is commonly agreed by students of hymnology that James Montgomery is thought to be a foremost authority in hymnology, John Julian has written,

“Montgomery’s devotional spirit was of the noblest type. With the faith of a strong man he united the beauty and simplicity of a child. Richly poetic without exuberance, dogmatic without uncharitableness, tender without sentimentality, elaborate without diffusiveness, richly musical without apparent effort, he has bequeathed to the church wealth which could only come from true genius and a sanctified heart."

I loved this hymn it reminds me of all my saviour has done for me on that old rugged cross, oh how I love him so. Thank you Jesus for all you done for me.