May 25
11
Where shall we hide our blushing face?
By Octavius Winslow
There is much indeed in ourselves of which we have reason
truly to be ashamed, and to be filled with profound self-abhorrence. We have
need to be ashamed . . .
of our unbelief
of our low thoughts of the Saviour,
of our little love to God,
of our slow advance in the divine life,
of our imperfect conformity to Christ,
of the power of our indwelling sin,
of our slender spiritual attainments . . .
in knowledge,
in personal holiness,
and in heavenly meekness.
What shamefacedness should cover us, that we are so ready . . .
to compromise,
to falter,
and to halt.
How deeply humbled should we be that there still exists in us:
so much carnality,
so much love of the world,
and so much conformity to the world.
We have so little of the crucified spirit of a cross bearing Savior!
What cause of shame that, with all our profession . . .
the pulse of spiritual life beats in our souls so faintly,
the spirit of prayer breathes in us so feebly,
that we possess so little real, vital religion,
that we follow Christ at so great a distance!
We should be so filled with self-abasement . . .
that the fruits and graces of the
Spirit in us are so sickly, drooping and dwarfed;
that we have so limited a measure of faith, love and humility;
that we are so defective in our patience and meekness, wisdom and
gentleness;
that, with all our blossom and foliage—there is so little real fruit to
the glory of our Father.
May we not, in view of all this, exclaim with Ezra, in his deep grief and
humiliation for the sins of the people, “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my
God; for our iniquities are increased over our head, and
our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.”
Ezra 9:6
Oh, where shall we fly? Where shall we hide our blushing face,
but in the blood of atonement—sprinkled afresh with which, we may lift up our
heads and not be ashamed!
The soul’s hardest
lesson
(MacDuff, “Thoughts for the Quiet Hour”)
“Not my will, but Your will,” is the soul’s
hardest lesson; and, when learned, it is
its highest achievement!
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” 1 Timothy 2:5
J.C.Philpot
That he is God, is the very foundation of his salvation; for it is his eternal Godhead that gives virtue, efficacy, and dignity to all that as man he did and suffered for his chosen people. If he were not God, God and man in one glorious Person, what hope would there be for our guilty souls? Could his blood atone for our sins, unless Deity gave it efficacy? Could his righteousness justify our persons, unless Deity imparted merit and value to all the doings and sufferings of his humanity? Could his loving heart sympathise with and deliver us, unless “as God over all,” he saw and knew all that passes within us, and had all power, as well as all compassion, to exert on our behalf?
We are continually in circumstances where no man can do us the least good, and where we cannot help or deliver ourselves; we are in snares, and cannot break them; we are in temptations, and cannot deliver ourselves out of them; we are in trouble, and cannot comfort ourselves; are wandering sheep, and cannot find the way back to the fold; we are continually roving after idols, and hewing out “broken cisterns,” and cannot return to “the fountain of living waters.” How suitable, then, and sweet it is, to those who are thus exercised, to see that there is a gracious Immanuel at the right hand of the Father, whose heart is filled with love, and whose affections move with compassion; who has shed his own precious blood that they might live; who has wrought out a glorious righteousness, and “is able to save unto the uttermost all who come unto God by him.”
“Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.” Hebrews 5:8
J.C.Philpot
Our gracious Lord had to learn obedience to the will of God by a personal experience of suffering, and especially by an implicit submission to his heavenly Father’s will. And what was this will? That he should take upon himself the huge debt which his bride had incurred by original and actual transgression; that he should offer himself as a ransom price to discharge and put it away; that he should bear our sins in his own body on the tree, with everything which was involved in being made a curse for us; that he should by death overcome Satan, who had the power of death, and deliver them who all their life, through fear of death, were subject to bondage; and that, whatever sorrows and sufferings should lie in his path, he should bear them all, and learn, in and by them, implicit submission to the will of God. This was the will of God, for he was determined that his law should be magnified, his justice glorified, his infinite purity and holiness revealed and established; and yet, amid all and through all his displeasure against sin, that his infinite wisdom, tender pity, everlasting love, and sovereign grace might shine and reign in the happiness of millions through a glorious eternity. This, also, was the joy that was set before Christ, for which he endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The Finisher of Our Faith
“Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2)
Let us ever look away to the Lord Jesus Christ as the Finisher of our faith. The word here translated “finisher” seems to have been coined by Paul himself. It is found nowhere else. Christ is the Object of faith. Christ gives faith. Christ sustains faith. And Christ consummates, completes, and finishes faith. Paul explains what he means by the word “finisher,” or consummator, in the rest of the verse.
The Joy Before Him
The Lord Jesus has finished faith, that is to say he has finished that whole work that makes him the Object of faith, has finished that for which faith looks to him, and has finished his own life and example of faith, because he is that One “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
With those words, the Holy Spirit here tells us how Christ finished faith. The word “for” could be properly translated in two ways. Both translations are accurate. The word could be translated “instead of.” And it could be translated “because of.” An accurate explanation of this text requires that we interpret the word both ways. This is how the Lord Jesus Christ finished that great work of redemption by which he has become both the Object of our faith and the Example of it.
Instead of the joy set before him, our blessed Savior endured the cross. “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2 Cor. 8:9).
And because of the joy set before him, the Lord Jesus Christ endured the cross. “The joy set before him,” the joy that sustained him in all his soul’s trouble, sorrow, and agony was the joy of saving his people (Isa. 53:10-11), magnifying the law of God and making it honourable (Isa. 42:21), glorifying his Father (John 12:28), and the joy of attaining the glory he had with the Father as our Mediator and Surety from eternity (Ps. 2:8; John 17:5; Heb. 10:10-14; Ps. 21:1-6).
THE CROSS ENDURED
In order to save us the Son of God, the Lord of Glory, the Darling of Heaven, voluntarily “endured the cross, despising the shame.”
“O what shall I do my Saviour to praise, so faithful and true, so plenteous in grace;
So strong to deliver, so good to redeem, the weakest believer that hangs upon Him?”
With what words can such a Saviour be praised? He who endured the ignominy of the cross, despising the shame, because of his heart’s love for and his soul’s determination to ransom our souls deserves infinitely greater praise than we can give him to all eternity! Because of his great love for us, the Lord Jesus Christ endured the cross. He would not go back. He would not give up. He would not quit until he had poured out his life’s blood unto death for us! Yes, he endured all the wrath and justice of God and endured to the end.
The Shame Despised
Because he loved us, the Lord Jesus despised the shame of the cross. What can be more difficult for a man to bear than shame? Yet, as Moses despised the riches of Egypt, counting them nothing, so the Lord Jesus despised the shame of the cross, that he might have us freed from sin and forever glorified with him. He counted all the shame of the cross to be nothing: ―all the shame heaped upon him by men ―all the shame of all of our sin being made to be his ―all the shame of our guilt imputed to him ―all the shame of being made a curse for us ―all the shame of One abandoned by God. Our Saviour despised it all, counted it all as nothing, for the joy of having his elect with him in glory forever!
BUT NOW SHAME IS ALL GONE! HE WHO ENDURED THE CROSS, DESPISING THE SHAME FOR US, EVEN UNTO THE END, “IS (NOW) SET DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE THRONE OF GOD!” HIS WORK IS FINISHED. HE HAS ENTERED INTO HIS REST. HIS GLORY IS FULL. HIS SOUL IS SATISFIED.
THE GOAL OF OUR FAITH
Let us therefore encourage our hearts, ever looking away to Christ as the Goal of our faith. As he overcame and has been seated in his Father’s throne, so too, as we follow him, persevering to the end, enduring whatever trial he sends us, despising whatever shame he has ordained, we shall soon be seated with Christ in his throne. Soon our work will be finished. Our rest will begin. Our glory will be full. Our souls will be satisfied!
Don Fortner
By the grace of God I am
what I am!
(“Every Day!” Author unknown, 1872)
“By the grace of God I am what I am!” 1 Corinthians 15:10
All that I am . . .
as a child of God,
as a servant of Christ,
as an heir of Heavenly glory
–I am by the grace of God!
Am I cleansed from the guilt of my sins? It was Your grace, O God of love,
which opened the fountain that washed it all away!
Am I justified? It was Your grace that provided the spotless robe of
righteousness, in which I stand accepted before You.
Am I sanctified? It is not by works of righteousness which I have done, but by
Your grace I am saved from the love and power of my sins.
Am I bearing any fruit to Your glory? It is by Your grace in Christ Jesus–for
apart from Him, I could do nothing.
Am I different from what I once was, or from the ungodly who have their portion
in this world? It is Your grace alone which has made me to differ. I have
nothing which I have not received from You.
“By the grace of God I am what I am!”
A pardoned sinner,
a justified believer,
an adopted child,
an heir of glory!
The sword of Divine justice buried in His sinless heart!
(Henry Law, “Family Prayers”)
Holy Father,
We blush to lift up our eyes unto You, O God of all grace and love. Shame and
confusion of face humble us to the very dust. Wherever You have been boundless
in mercy-we have been abundant in sin! We cannot measure
our ingratitude. We cannot estimate our vileness. Each day has added to our
guilt. Each scene has witnessed our wicked hearts, our straying
feet and our offending tongues. What is there in heaven or
in earth, above, around, without, or within-which condemns us not? The sun condemns
us, which has seen our misdeeds; the darkness, too, which hides
nothing from Your all-penetrating eye!
The cruel accuser justly accuses us.
Your righteous law,
Your holy Word,
our sin-soiled consciences,
our public and our private hours
-write dark things against us! We make no denial. We frame no excuse.
We confess, Father, that we have sinned against heaven and before You-and are
not worthy to be called Your sons! But still we live!
We live to fly as contrite penitents to Your extended arms!
We know that You will not cast us off-for Jesus brings us near.
You will not condemn us-for Your dear Son died in our place.
You will not mark the mountains upon mountains of our sins-for the Savior has
removed them all.
His precious blood has washed out every crimson stain!
Christ’s spotless robe of righteousness, covers all our deformities! We put it
on by the hand of faith-and we rejoice that we are lovely in His
precious loveliness, and beauteous in His matchless beauty.
Open widely the eyes of our faith, that we may see all our justly
merited curse, expended on the faultless head of our precious sin-atoning
Savior, and the sword of Divine justice buried in His sinless heart!
We come to You . . .
clinging to His cross,
sheltered by His side,
hidden in His wounds,
cleansed in His blood,
covered by His spotless robe,
beautified in His salvation!
“Is Thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee….?” Daniel 6:20
From time to time the question rises, “Can it be that a man of Arminian (free-will) faith is actually saved?” It would do us well to rephrase the question. It is not whether Arminian faith can save, for in truth, no faith can save in the technical sense; it is God that saves. The question should be, “Can the Arminian’s god save a sinner?” For the answer, we need only ask the Arminian. I have often heard Arminian preachers and witnessers say things like, “God wants to save you, but he can’t unless….” After the “unless” comes something a sinner must do in order to enable the Arminian god to save. Every truly Arminian “gospel” leaves something in the scheme of salvation dependent on the abilities of natural man. Such a scheme is doomed to failure. Much of the heat of the Arminian debate comes from looking at Arminians and asking if they are saved. We would do better to look at their god and ask if he can save. ~Joe Terrell