Bible Study and Prayer Meeting

We seem to have benefited so much from God's word during the last year.

We have learned much from our studies of: 

• Psalm 1

• Jabez, from 1 Chronicles chapter 4

• Psalm 91

• Nehemiah's prayers

• Nehemiah's leadership in rebuilding Jerusalem's walls

• Acts chapter 1: Resurrection and Ascension

• A study about angels

• Acts chapter 2: God's plan to take His message to the nations

• Acts chapter 2: Preaching the word

• Acts chapter 2: A living church

• Acts chapter 3: Signs and miracles and the same message

• Jonah: God's grace and sovereignty

• The apostle Paul: Misplaced zeal and conversion

• Grace: The greatest treasure to the least deserving.

God's Grace - His 'underserved kindnesses', His 'unmerited favour' to us

John Newton called it 'Amazing', 

GotQuestions.org defines 'grace' as: God giving the greatest treasure to the least deserving - which is every one of us. 

The apostle Paul just couldn't stop taking about it: all his letters begin and end with mentions of God's grace. they are usually full of it too!  It must be important to get to grips with what it means.

Using a list of 165 references to 'grace' from James Strong's concordance we looked up passages to see what the word meant in various contexts.  Most 'grace' in the Old Testament seemed to be favour shown between people.  

Then we hit the New Testament! - with John 1:17:

'The Law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ'

Paul's 88 mentions of 'grace' are over half those in the entire Bible. "Of course", said one of the group. "He knew what it meant. He had been a persecutor of the church, and then forgiven!"

Vague Hints and Adumbrations

For our study of Old Testament types and antitypes of our Lord Jesus Christ we were joined by Maisy and Charles who asked (too) many questions, but got us thinking about the spiritual future meaning intended by God behind the OT stories of:

• Enoch’s bodily ascension to heaven.

• Noah, who built an ark, to rescue believers from God’s wrath on sin.

• Moses, who returned to his brethren in Egypt to save them from slavery and futility.

• The Passover lamb whose blood saved believers.

•  Daniel, ‘resurrected’ from the ordeal with the lion.

•  A Ram, whose death substituted for Isaac’s.

•  Joseph, providentially taken to Egypt, to save his brothers...

•  ...and we briefly referred to many others.

We looked in more depth at the classic example of Abraham, where: 

• Abraham took his loved son a distant journey to Mount Moriah.

• Isaac went willingly, and submitted to his father’s will.

•  Melchizedek, strangely, met with Abraham. 

•  Sampson gave his life to overcome his, and God’s, enemies.