A Glimpse of the Christian: More Glimpses of God’S Grace

By Richard J. "Dick" Hill

A Glimpse of the Christian seeks to clarify the true identity and nature of Christians to a world that has become hazy on this subject. In this study, author Richard J. Dick Hill crafts a clear, simple, and easy-to-understand guide to life and ministries of Christians in todays world.

Christians are spiritual people connected to Jesus by the supernatural ministry of Gods Spirit. Eleven chapters offer varied glimpses into elements of the Christians life, including possessions, giftedness, security, works, education, and accountability. Each chapter draws upon wisdom from the Scriptures, illustrations from daily life, and insights from Hills own experiences to explain the chapters topic and to provide a fresh perspective from which you may catch a clear glimpse of the Christians life. Hill also provides an appendix that sketches out a method for memorizing key passages from the Bible.

Whether you have recently come to faith in Christ and wonder how God may shape your life in the coming years, or you have journeyed to the point in your Christian discipleship where you seek an unobstructed view of your calling as a Christian, A Glimpse of the Christian provides a no-nonsense, plain-spoken, and faithful explanation of the character and mission God grants to people who follow Jesus Christ.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Apr 13, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512702835

Richard J. "Dick" Hill

Dr. Richard J. “Dick” Hill has five decades of experience in Christian ministry. He is the founder and director of Glimpses of Grace Ministries and a retired pastor. Other published books he has authored include A Glimpse of the Christ, A Glimpse of the Christian, A Glimpse of the Chosen, A Glimpse of the Coming King, A Glimpse of Galatians, and A Glimpse of Romans. He received a ThM degree from Dallas Theological Seminary and a ThD from Louisiana Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Linda, have three children and nine grandchildren. They reside in Kosciusko, Mississippi.

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Copyright © 2016 Richard J. Dick Hill.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-0282-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-0281-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-0283-5 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 04/01/2016

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version (NKJV). Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.

Permission to quote from the following additional copyrighted version(s) of the Bible is acknowledged with appreciation: New American Standard Bible® (NASB®), © copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1 A Glimpse of the Christian's Life

Chapter 2 A Glimpse of the Christian's Position

Chapter 3 A Glimpse of the Christian's Transformation

Chapter 4 A Glimpse of the Christian's Possession

Chapter 5 A Glimpse of the Christian's Giftedness

Chapter 6 A Glimpse of the Christian's Security

Chapter 7 A Glimpse of the Christian's Walk

Chapter 8 A Glimpse of the Christian's Works

Chapter 9 A Glimpse of the Christian's Education

Chapter 10 A Glimpse of the Christian's Assembly

Chapter 11 A Glimpse of the Christian's Accountability

Appendix Scripture Memorization

Endnotes

INTRODUCTION

A Glimpse of the Christian is a follow-up book to A Glimpse of the Christ, which features small insights into the identity and work of Jesus Christ. A Glimpse of the Christian emphasizes short glimpses into the identity and work of Christians.

I went to a pastors' meeting recently and overheard two brothers questioning their call to the ministry. Think of this! They were wondering aloud why in the world they did not pursue a different educational path that would have given them a career to fall back on. This caught my attention, and I settled in to listen more carefully. Both men were discouraged about the ministries that God had placed them in. They were not sufficiently motivated to stay the course amidst all the obstacles they were facing.

I consider God's call to preach His Word to the world as the highest calling a human being can have. However, some find it hard to remain faithful amid the many pitfalls in ministry: the money that does not come in to pay the bills, church leaders who feel obligated to take a stand against everything the pastor suggests, disgruntled church members who think it necessary to keep something negative stirred up all the time, not to mention the personal family pressures. I wanted to say, Fellows, don't you remember how and why the living God called you to Himself in the first place?

I thought back to my own reasons for hanging tough through the years. How had I been motivated to hang in there through it all? I am drawn back to the amazing glimpse of grace I received in 1989 during a morning walk. God used it to change the course of my entire ministry. I was going through a particularly rough time with the congregation I was leading. I was looking to God for answers and pondering some passages I had recently studied.

Centuries ago, Paul faced the same opposition that I was facing in preaching the gospel. He found that he had to defend himself before the very people who should have trusted him. I identified with that! Some even accused him of using the gospel to serve his own selfish desires. Quitting was never an option for Paul or for me. Paul said that we are hard-pressed on every side yet not crushed. We are perplexed but not in despair, persecuted but not forsaken, and struck down but not destroyed.

What enabled Paul to persevere in the face of such suffering? He thought back to the day of his own dramatic Damascus Road conversion when he met Jesus Christ face-to-face. It has always been fascinating to me that God blinded Paul so that he could really see for the first time. From that day on, his ministry was to advance the cause of Jesus Christ rather than his own agenda.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16--18)

I am painfully aware that my outward man is perishing. My body is growing older and wearing out. I do not have all the time in the world to finish the purpose for which God has set me apart.

We are not to lose heart, because the spiritual man inside is being renewed day by day. This is a comforting thought. No matter what is going on around us, the Holy Spirit is constantly renewing our minds and conforming us to the image of Jesus Christ.

What an encouragement! But how is this possible? Paul made an amazing contrast. He said that our momentary light affliction is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. What exactly did Paul mean by momentary light affliction? He tipped his hand in the same book by relaying his own personal testimony.

In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness---besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches. (2 Corinthians 11:23b--27)

Momentary light affliction! Up against that backdrop, my problem with the congregation didn't appear to be so bad. Paul said that all he was going through in this life paled in significance when compared to the eternal weight of glory that awaited him. Seeing Christ face-to-face far outweighed the effects of an aging body, the suffering, the defeats---all the heartaches in this life.

What Paul said next became the motivation for my life's ministry. He said that I was to begin looking beyond the things that human eyes can see and begin to peer into God's unseen world. The things that I see with my physical eyes are destined to pass into oblivion. They are just temporary. The things that I cannot see with my human eyes are eternal.

God impressed upon me that I am to use the eyes in my mind to see the unseen. My thoughts went quickly to the words of Jesus Christ when He said, Blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear. He was obviously not speaking of human eyes or human ears. My mind raced on to another passage that I had recently studied. Contrasting human wisdom with God's wisdom, Paul wrote these incredible words that God etched forever into my mind:

But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (1 Corinthians 2:9--13)

God's wisdom is knowledge that cannot be seen with human eyes or heard with human ears. That sounded familiar. In fact, God's wisdom has never entered a human mind before. Incredible! That means that God's wisdom is not some rehashed human understanding coming from the mind of man.

Paul then wrote something that has become the motivation for Glimpses of Grace Ministries and the day-by-day church ministries that God has led me to. He said that God has revealed these hidden things to us through His Spirit. Hold it! Is this saying what I think it is saying? Is Paul saying that God's Spirit opens to our human spirits the deep things of God, the hidden wisdom of God? Is he saying that we can know the things that human ears have never heard or eyes have never seen? We can know the things that no human mind has ever thought? That is exactly what he is saying. This is fascinating!

How is this possible? The next line reads, What man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? I alone know my own secret thoughts. Likewise, the Spirit of God alone knows the deep things of God. My mind began to race. We have received not the spirit of this world but the Spirit who is from God! Why? So that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. The Spirit of God lives in me. He has a purpose for being there. He can teach me the deep things of God. We can know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

The final words of the passage comparing spiritual things with spiritual actually sent me into another world. The Holy Spirit brings to my mind spiritual thoughts as I read the words of Scripture. As I study the written words of the Bible, verse by verse and line upon line, God the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of my mind to see and understand the deep, fascinating wisdom of God. That is absolutely incredible. We can know the mind of God!

But there's a catch. These glimpses into God's unseen world cannot be found by searching for them. God opens them to us at His pleasure as we study the Bible word by word and line by line year after year. These glimpses are not unique to only one Christian. They are open to all. Since we have the Holy Spirit living in us, we meet the criteria to receive these spiritual nuggets. There are not different glimpses for different people. Every believer receives the very same truth.

God has not taught me everything that I have desired to know about His plan, but He has been pleased to give me small insights, little glimpses. These insights placed together began to etch a beautiful portrait in my mind. God has opened to me His incredible salvation plan, the true identity of Jesus Christ, the immense value of His death and resurrection, and the nature and purpose of the Holy Spirit, to name a few. These are glimpses of grace.

The Christian's relationship to Christ has everything to do with the invisible work of God the Holy Spirit. Christians become Christians by means of His work. Christians live their Christian lives also by means of the Holy Spirit. A Glimpse of the Christian features these ministries of the Holy Spirit:

• the Holy Spirit's work of regeneration (Titus 3:5)

• the Holy Spirit's work of baptizing (1 Corinthians 12:13)

• the Holy Spirit's work of indwelling (1 Corinthians 6:19--20)

• the Holy Spirit's work of equipping (1 Corinthians 12:18)

• the Holy Spirit's work of sealing (Ephesians 1:13--14)

• the Holy Spirit's work of teaching (John 16:12--14)

• the Holy Spirit's work of controlling (Ephesians 5:18)

Many books on the Christian life have as their theme what Christians are supposed to do. For example, Christians are people who busy themselves living moral lives, praying, preaching the gospel, going to church, studying the Bible, and attempting to make a godly impact on those around them.

All of this is true, but it is far more important to discover who we are as Christians. Why? Because what we do is based on who we are. We do not become Christians because we do Christian things. We are Christians; therefore, we do the things that Christians do.

So let's discover who Christians are and what Christians are to do.

CHAPTER 1

A GLIMPSE OF THE CHRISTIAN'S LIFE

The very first time the word Christian is found in the Bible is in the book