Aug 23
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When had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.(Hebrews 1:3). “Majesty” signifies such greatness as makes one to be honoured of all and preferred above all. “The right hand” speaks of power and honour. “On high” means“the highest height,” the most elevated exaltation that could be conceived of or possible. What this says is that the highest seat in the universe now belongs to “Him” who once had nowhere to lay his head.
The earth which we walk upon is stained with the blood of the Son of God, The very blood which saves a sinner condemns the unbeliever.
We must keep preaching the Gospel until by the grace of God, somebody hears it. Noah preached 120 years and nobody heard it.
“Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, behold how He loved him!” If the Jews discerned the great love of Christ to Lazarus by His tears; can we not discern His love to us by His shedding his blood for us?
Faith, not a Feeling
Salvation is not a question of feeling, as so many would make it. It is entirely a matter of faith in a person, in an accomplished fact faith wrought in the soul of a sinner by the power of the Holy Ghost. This faith is something quite different from a mere feeling of the person or an assent of the intellect. Mere feeling and sentimentality (or emotion) can never rise above the source from whence they come, and that source is self; but faith has to do with God and His eternal Word, and is a living link, connecting the heart that possesses it with God who gives it. Feelings and sentiments can never connect with the soul of God. No doubt, faith will produce feeling and sentiments (spiritual feelings and truthful sentiments)—but the fruits of faith must never be confounded with faith itself. He can only be known by His own revelation and by the faith which He Himself imparts.
Scott Richardson
The Lord our God is the absolute sovereign of the universe. To say that God is sovereign is to simply declare that God is God. A god whose will can be broken, purpose defeated, power resisted, grace frustrated, or work overturned is not God at all, but a useless idol carved from a tree in the dark forest of man’s depraved mind. God is sovereign in creation, in providence, and in grace. ~Don Fortner
I don’t know much else, but through God’s amazing grace I do know Him. I know His sovereign, redeeming, justifying love in Christ Jesus to poor, lost sinners. And I know this: the older I get, the less concern I have whether I learn anything that isn’t related to Christ and His redeeming love and grace. I long to be like the apostle Paul who said, “I count all things but loss for the excellency (surpassingness) of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.”
Maurice Montgomery
When, by His grace, I know WHO HE IS, I better understand who and what I am!
When I know WHAT HE DID in obedience and death, I realize what I cannot do!
When I understand WHY HE MUST SUFFER, I understand how God can be just and justify me
When I know WHERE HE IS, I can rest in the blessed hope that I shall one day be there too!
Henry Mahan
The longer I live, the more I feel that if there were one thing left undone, if the devil were not conquered, sin not expiated, justice not satisfied, the law not honoured and magnified, death not overcome, and every burden not carried, I should not have a ray of hope. I used to think I saw this as clear as the noon day thirty or forty years ago; but I saw it very differently then to what I see now; for I see and feel now that if one hair-breadth is left for me to do to merit heaven, or bring as a plea before God, I am undone for ever and ever. But on the Mount of Calvary, the Lord Jesus Christ undertook the cause of His people; and there is not a jot nor a tittle that He left undone, but, “By one offering He perfected for ever them that are sanctified” and “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Here is complete perfection: Saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation.
John Warburton, 1853
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The most delightful
doctrine! by Spurgeon I am sure there is no more delightful doctrine to a Christian, than that of CHRIST’S ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGNTY! I am glad there is no such thing as ‘chance’, that nothing is left to itself, but that Christ everywhere has sway. If I thought that there was a devil in hell that Christ did not govern, I should be afraid that devil would destroy me. If I thought there was a circumstance on earth, which Christ did not over-rule, I should fear that circumstance would ruin me. Nay, if there were an angel in heaven that was not one of Jehovah’s subjects, I should tremble even at him. But since Christ is King of kings, and I am his poor brother, one whom he loves, I give all my cares to him, for he cares for me; and leaning on his breast, my soul has full repose, confidence, and security. |
The kingship of Christ
(J. C. Philpot,
“Meditations on the Blessed Redeemer”)
“King of kings and Lord of lords!” Revelation 19:16
The kingship of Christ is full of sweet consolation to
the tried family of God. As Zion’s enthroned King, He
supplies His people out of His own inexhaustible fullness!
To Him, as our enthroned King, we give the allegiance
of our hearts. Before His feet, as our rightful Sovereign,
we humbly lie. And we beg of Him, as possessed of all
power, to subdue our iniquities and rebellious lusts, and
sway His peaceful scepter over every faculty of our soul.
The kingship of Christ is a blessed subject of meditation,
when we consider its bearing upon our helpless, defenseless
condition. We stand surrounded by foes . . .
internal,
external,
infernal,
all armed against us with deadly enmity!
Every child of God is surrounded by a multitude of enemies
without and within, who, unless they are overcome–will
most certainly overcome him. And to be overcome is to be
lost, forever lost, and to perish under the wrath of God!
What hope or help can we have, but in . . .
that all-seeing eye, which sees our condition;
that all-sympathizing heart, which feels for us;
that all-powerful hand, which delivers the objects of
His love from all the snares and traps–and defeats all
the plans and projects of these mighty, implacable foes?
We daily and hourly feel the workings of our . . .
mighty sins,
raging lusts,
powerful temptations,
besetting evils,
against the least and feeblest of which, we have no strength!
But as the eye of faith views our enthroned King,
we are led by the power of His grace to . . .
look unto Him,
hang upon Him, and
seek help from Him.
Trials in providence,
afflictions in the family,
sickness and infirmities in the body,
opposition and persecution from the world,
a vile, unbelieving heart, which we can neither sanctify nor subdue,
a rough and rugged path, increasing in difficulty as we journey onward,
doubts, fears, and misgivings in our own bosom,
inward slips and falls,
wanderings,
startings aside,
hourly backslidings from the strait and narrow path,
jealous enemies ever watching for our halting,
with no eye to pity, nor arm to help–but the Lord’s!
How all these foes and fears make us feel our need
of an enthroned King, Head and Husband . . .
whose tender heart is soft to pity,
whose mighty arm is strong to relieve!
We should be ever looking up to our enthroned King,
not only that He might sway His scepter over our hearts,
controlling our rebellious wills, and subduing us to His
gentle might; but as King over all our enemies–of which
our internal foes are much more numerous and mighty
than any external enemies!When we feel the power of sin, the tyranny of our vile
lusts and passions, and what our nature is capable of
if left to its own will and way–how sweet and suitable
is the promise, “He will turn again, He will have compassion on us;
He will subdue our iniquities; and Thou wilt cast all their sins
into
the depths of the sea!” Micah 7:19
“We have no might against this great company that cometh against us;
neither know we what to do; but our eyes are upon Thee”. 2 Chronicles 20:12
“The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save!”
Zephaniah 3:17
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What a difference! Spurgeon, COMING JUDGMENT OF THE SECRETS OF MEN What a difference there will be then between the babe of Bethlehem’s manger, hunted by Herod, carried down by night into Egypt for shelter, and the King of kings and Lord of lords, before whom every knee must bow! What a difference between the weary man and full of woes, and he that shall then be girt with glory, sitting on a throne encircled with a rainbow! From the derision of men, to the throne of universal judgment- what an ascent! What a contrast between the “despised and rejected of men,” and the universally-acknowledged Lord, before whom Caesar and pontiffs shall bow into the dust. He who was judged at Pilate’s bar, shall summon all to his bar. What a change from the shame and spitting, from the nails and the wounds, the mockery and the thirst, and the dying anguish- to the glory in which he shall come whose eyes are as a flame of fire, and out of whose mouth there goes a two-edged sword! He whom the nations abhorred, shall judge the nations. He shall break them in pieces like a potter’s vessel, even those who cast him out as unworthy to live among them. Oh, how we ought to bow before him now, as he reveals himself in his tender sympathy, and in his generous humiliation! Let us kiss the Son lest he be angry; let us yield to his grace, that we may not be crushed by his wrath. You sinners, bow before those pierced feet, or else they will tread you like clusters in the wine-press. Look up to him with weeping, and confess your forgetfulness of him, and put your trust in him; lest he look down on you in indignation. Oh, remember that he will one day say- “But those mine enemies, which would not have me reign over them, bring them here, and slay them before me.” To be trampled beneath the foot which was nailed to the cross will be to be crushed indeed. |
Dominion, and glory and a kingdom!
(J. C. Philpot, “Jesus, the Enthroned King“)
“Hallelujah: For the our Lord God omnipotent reigneth!” Rev. 19:6
The unlimited dominion of King Jesus extends over . . .
all things,
all events,
all circumstances,
all people!
All are subjected to the sovereign control of the King
of kings and Lord of lords!
Everywhere on this earthly globe–as far as waves roll,
winds blow, sun shines, or stars hold on their nightly
courses–does the scepter of Jesus sway the destinies,
and control the designs and actions of men.
“And there was given Him dominion, and glory and a kingdom,
that all people, nations and languages, should serve Him; His dominion is
an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His
kingdom that which shall not be destroyed!” Daniel 7:14
This is the God whom we adore!
(Letters of John Newton)
“For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.
Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that He did in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and
all deep places!” Psalm 135:5-6
God rules all! And though He is concealed by a veil of second
causes from common eyes, so that they can perceive only the means,
instruments, and contingencies by which He works, and therefore think He does
nothing; yet, in reality, He does all according to His own counsel and
pleasure, in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth.
Who can enumerate all the beings and events which
are . . .
incessantly before His eye,
adjusted by His wisdom,
dependent on His will,
and regulated by His power!
If we consider the heavens, the work of His fingers, the moon and
the stars which He has ordained; if we call in the assistance of astronomers to
help us in forming a conception of the number, distances, magnitudes, and
motions of the heavenly bodies — the more we search, the more we shall be
confirmed that these are but a small portion of His ways! Without His continual
energy upholding them — they would rush into confusion, or sink into nothing!
They are all dependent upon His power, and obedient to His command.
To come nearer home, and to speak of what seems more suited to our scanty
apprehensions — still we may be lost in wonder. With respect to mankind,
He reigns with uncontrolled dominion over every kingdom, family and individual.
Before this blessed and only Potentate, all the nations of the earth are but as
the dust upon the balance, and the small drop of a bucket — and might be
thought (if compared with the immensity of His works) scarcely worthy of His
notice! Yet here He presides, pervades, provides, protects, and rules! All
changes, successes, and disappointments — all that is memorable in the annals
of history, all the risings and falls of empires, all the turns in human life —
take place according to His sovereign plan!
In Him His creatures live, move, and have their being. From
Him, is their food and preservation. The eyes of all are upon Him; what He
gives, they gather — and can gather no more! And at His word they sink into the
dust!
There is not . . .
a worm which crawls upon the ground,
or a flower which grows in the pathless
wilderness,
or a shell upon the sea-shore —
but bears the impress of His wisdom, power, and goodness!
He preserves man and beast, sustains the
young lion in the forest, feeds the birds of
the air, which have neither storehouse or barn, and adorns the insects and
the flowers of the field with a beauty and elegance beyond all
that can be found in the courts of kings!
All things serve Him, and are in His hands — as clay in the hands of the
potter. Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true
are Your ways, O King of saints!
This is the God whom we adore! This is He who invites us to lean
upon His almighty arm, and promises to guide us with His unerring eye!