May 25
1
It is utterly impossible!
(Octavius Winslow,
1852)
It has been the distinctive aim, and the sincere desire of my ministry-to
make known and to endear the Saviour to your hearts.
Oh, how worthy is He . . .
of your most exalted conceptions,
of your most implicit confidence,
of your most self-denying service,
of your most fervent love!
When He could give you no more, and the fathomless depths of His love
and the boundless resources of His grace would not be satisfied by giving you
less-He gave you Himself!
Robed in your nature,
laden with your curse,
oppressed with your sorrows,
wounded for your transgressions,
and slain for your sins-
He gave His entire self for you!
His redeeming work now finished, He is perpetually engaged in meting out
blessings to His people from the exhaustless treasures of His love! He
constantly woos your affection, invites your grief, and bids you flee with
your daily trials to His sympathy; and with your hourly
guilt to His blood. You cannot be too covetous in your drafts upon
Christ’s fullness! Nor can you be too extravagant in your expectations of
supply! You may fail, as, alas! the most of us do, in making too
little of Christ-but you cannot fail in making too much of
Him!
It is utterly impossible to know Christ, and not become inspired with
a desire . . .
to love Him supremely,
to serve Him devotedly,
to resemble Him closely,
to glorify Him faithfully here,
and to enjoy Him fully hereafter!
In Christ, there is no further perfection to attain. In Christ, a sinner is made to be everything that God requires him to be. In Christ, wisdom is complete, righteousness is complete, sanctification is complete, and redemption is complete. To know Him is to know it all, and to have Him is to have it all. In Christ, we are as perfectly complete as we will ever be. ~Gabe Stalnaker
We are not flogged into loving Him!
(J.C.Philpot)
“Set your affections on
things above, not on things on the earth.” Colossians 3:2
Where are your affections to be set?
Are they to be set on “things on the earth” . . .
those perishing toys,
those polluting vanities,
those carking cares,
which must ever dampen the life of God in the soul?
The expression, “things on the earth,” takes in a wide scope. It
embraces not only the vain toys, the ambitious hopes, the perishing pleasures
in which a gay unthinking world is sunk and lost—but even the legitimate calls
of business, the claims of wife and home, family and friends, with every social
tie that binds to earth. Thus . . .
every object on which the eye can rest;
every thought or desire that may spring up in the mind;
every secret idol that lurks in the bosom;
every care and anxiety that is not of grace;
every fond anticipation of pleasure or profit that the world may hold
out, or the worldly heart embrace—all, with a million pursuits in which man’s
fallen nature seeks employment or happiness, are “things on the
earth” on which the affections are not to be set.
We may love our wives and children. We should pursue our lawful callings with
diligence and industry. We must provide for our families according to the good
providence of God. But we may not so set our affections on these things, that
they pull us down from heaven to earth. He who is worthy of all our affections
claims them all for Himself. He who is the Bridegroom of the soul demands,
as He has fairly won, the unrivalled love of His bride.
But how are we to do this?
Can we do this great work by ourselves? No! it is only the Lord Himself,
manifesting His beauty and blessedness to our soul, and letting down the golden
cord of His love into our bosom—that draws up our affections, and fixes them on
Himself. In order to do this, He captivates the heartby
. . .some look of love,
some word of His grace,
some sweet promise, or
some divine truth spiritually applied.
When He thus captivates the soul, and draws it up—then the affections
flow unto Him as the source and fountain of all blessings.
We are not flogged into loving Him, but are drawn by love into
love. Love cannot be bought or sold. It is an inward affection that
flows naturally and necessarily towards its object and all connected with it.
And thus, as love flows out to Jesus, the affections instinctively and
necessarily set themselves “on things above, and not on things on the
earth.”
Jesus must be revealed to our soul by the power of God, before we can see His
beauty and blessedness—and so fall in love with Him as “the chief among
ten thousand, and the altogether lovely One.” Then everything that . . .
speaks of Christ,
savours of Christ,
breathes of Christ,
becomes inexpressibly sweet and precious!
In no other way can our affections be lifted up from earth to heaven. We cannot
control our affections—they will run out, of their own accord. If then our
affections are earthly—they will run towards earthly objects. If
they are carnaland sensual—they will flow towards
carnal and sensual objects.
But when the Lord Jesus Christ, by some manifestation of His glory and
blessedness; or the Holy Spirit, by taking of the things of Christ and
revealing them to the soul, sets Him before our eyes as the only object worthy
of, and claiming every affection of our heart—then the affections flow out, I
was going to say naturally, but most certainly spiritually, towards Him. And
when this is the case, the affections are set on things above.
If Christ refused to pray for everyone, did He die for everyone?
John 19:9
Think about that. Religious people everywhere declare that “God loves all men, Christ died for all men, and the Holy Spirit is striving to save all men?” But could it be that those things are not so? If you will examine the Word of God, you will discover that none of those things are so.
God does not love all people (Romans 9:13). If He did, no one would go to hell. Christ does not pray for all men (John 17:9, 20). If He did, none would perish. He did not die for all men (Isaiah 53:8). If He did, none would be required to suffer for their sins. The Holy Spirit is not trying to save all sinners (Acts 16:6). If He were, all would be saved!
Think! Don’t blindly accept the traditions and doctrines of men. Your soul is at stake! The glory of God is at stake! If Christ died for the sins of all men, then none can be lost and all the sins of all men must be forgiven, or Christ is a failure! That cannot be (Isaiah 42:4). The Lord Jesus Christ did not merely make a stab at redeeming His people, He redeemed them (Galatians 3:13). His blood was not shed in vain. Justice, being satisfied, demands that all for whom atonement has been made must be saved.
Don Fortner
Sin Laid Upon One Mighty To Save
Isaiah 53:6
Read the text laying all the weight and emphasis of it upon one word. “The LORD hath laid on HIM the iniquity of us all.” This is of infinite importance. That One upon whom sin has been laid must have a back strong enough and shoulders broad enough to carry the horrible load of iniquity, without sinking beneath it. Were it possible for our Surety to fail, we would be utterly without hope. The comfort and hope of the gospel depends entirely upon the ability of Christ to bear our sins, satisfy justice, and execute his gracious will to save. Therefore it is written, “The LORD hath laid on HIM the iniquity of us all.” The Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour, that One upon whom sin has been laid, is mighty to save.” Then spakest thou in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon One that is mighty; I have exalted One chosen out of the people” (Psa. 89:19). And of this mighty One it is written, “He shall not fail, nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth” (Isa. 42:4). Who is this great HIM upon whom sin was laid? He is Jehovah’s Servant (52:13), the Root out of dry ground (v. 2), the despised and rejected Man of Sorrows (vv. 10-11), the sovereign Lord (v. 12). He is able to save to the uttermost!
This is the most wonderful, astounding, amazing thing ever performed by our great God. “The LORD hath laid on HIM the iniquity of us all.” Sin is the most hateful thing in the world to God, the only thing in the world God abhors. It is horrible, abominable and hideous in his sight. Yet, God made his lovely Son to be sin for us! I am amazed that God made his Son to be a man, a poor man, a suffering man, a crucified man. But when I read that “He hath made HIM to be sin for us,” I am altogether astonished! This is too wonderful, too sublime, too mysterious, too Divine for our puny brains to comprehend. But it is true! Believe it, rejoice in it, and give thanks to God for it. Our sins, being laid upon that Man who is God Almighty, have been effectually put away forever.
Don Fortner
That unclean
donkey is yourself!
(Charles Spurgeon)
“But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck.” Exodus 34:20
Every firstborn creature must be the Lord’s but since the donkey was unclean, it could not be presented in sacrifice to Him. What then? Should it be allowed to go free from the universal law? By no means! God admits of no exceptions. The donkey is His due but He will not accept it; He will not abate the claim but yet He cannot be pleased with the unclean victim. No way of escape remained, but redemption the donkey must be saved by the substitution of a lamb in its place; or if not redeemed, it must die!
My soul, here is a lesson for you! That unclean donkey is yourself! You are justly the property of the Lord who made you and preserves you but you are so sinful that God will not, cannot, accept you! It has come to this the Lamb of God must stand in your stead or you must die eternally! Let all the world know of your gratitude to that spotless Lamb who has died for you, and so redeemed you from the fatal curse of the law!
Must it not sometimes have been a question with the Israelite, as to which should die the donkey or the lamb? Would not the man pause to estimate and compare the values of these animals? Assuredly there was no comparison between the value of a sinful man and the spotless Lord Jesus! Yet the Lamb dies and man the donkey is spared! My soul, admire the boundless love of God to you! Vile worms are bought with the blood of the holy Lamb of God! Dust and ashes are redeemed with a price far above silver and gold! What a doom would have been mine had not plenteous redemption been found!
The breaking of the neck of the donkey was but a momentary penalty. But who shall measure the eternal wrath to come to which no limit can be imagined! Inestimably dear is the glorious Lamb who has redeemed me from such a doom!
The death of Jesus was . . .
the opening and the emptying of the full heart of God;
the outgushing of that ocean of infinite mercy that heaved and panted and
longed for an outlet;
God showing how he could love a poor, guilty sinner!
Octavius Winslow
“It shall be perfect to be accepted.” — Leviticus 22:21
How good does a person have to be to get to heaven? He has to be perfectly good, as good as God himself. That which man looks upon as his “personal righteousness” he calls good; but is of absolutely no value in the sight of God. God calls all your thoughts and deeds of righteousness, and mine, “filthy rags.” They are an abomination to Him (Isaiah 64:6). Man’s definition of righteousness depends entirely upon his definition and understanding of God. The problem is most have never seen God in His glorious holiness. Once a sinner sees God in His holiness, he will cease forever to speak of his own goodness, personal holiness, and self-righteousness. With Isaiah, he will cry, “Woe is me! I am undone” (Isaiah 6:1-6). Who can stand in the presence of the holy Lord God?
No son of Adam can ever stand in the presence of the holy Lord God, because we are all cursed (Galatians 3:10). God is so infinitely holy that He charges the angels with folly, so holy that the heavens are not clean in His sight, so holy that when He found sin upon His own dear Son He forsook Him and killed Him! Are we better than the angels? Are we purer than the heavens? Dare we imagine that God will accept us, with our polluted works, when He killed His own Son for sin? Only one who is himself equal to God can stand in the presence of God and please Him (Psalm 24:3-5; Matthew 17:5). That righteousness which God requires, only God can give. Yet, it must be the work of a man, or it is of no value to men. Blessed be God! There is a Man who is himself God, who has magnified the law and made it honourable. He has brought in an everlasting righteousness by His perfect obedience to the law as a man, even the very righteousness of God. He has satisfied the law’s justice, by dying under its curse. And He lives forever to give righteousness and eternal life to sinners. That Man-God is Jesus Christ the Lord.
The Word of God plainly declares that no one shall enter into the glory of heaven who is not worthy to do so (Revelation 21:27; 22:11; 1 Corinthians 6:9). And all are by nature unrighteous (Ecclesiastes 7:20). We are all sinners. We all deserve the wrath of God. Yet, God the Holy Spirit tells us that there are some who have been made worthy to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints (Colossians 1:12). How can that be? How can a sinner be made worthy of heaven? Only God can do it! Grace alone can make us worthy of heaven’s glory. Every believer, every sinner saved by grace, everyone who trusts Christ alone as his Saviour and Lord has been made worthy of heaven by three mighty works of God: — By Blood Atonement — The believer’s sins have been fully paid for by Christ, so justice cannot require further payment. — By Righteousness Imputed — The righteous obedience of Christ has been imputed to all who trust Him, so that the believer stands before God as one who is perfectly righteous, having fulfilled all His holy law in the Person of Christ, our Substitute. — By Regeneration — In the new birth God the Holy Spirit gives every chosen, ransomed sinner a holy nature. By these three works of grace, sinners are transformed into saints and made worthy of heaven, — “perfect in Christ Jesus!”
Don Fortner