Jul 25
14
I GLORY IN THE CROSS OF CHRIST
As a guilty, helpless, sinful man I find all that I need, all that I desire, and all that a holy, righteous, Just, and true God requires of me in the cross. By his marvellous death upon the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ satisfied the demands of God’s law and Justice for me. I find all my pardon in the cross. Christ bore my sins in his own body on the tree of Calvary. Dying in my place, he put my sin away. I find all my righteousness in the cross. By the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ unto death, as my Substitute, God has made me righteous in him. I find all my sanctification in the cross. By his one offering, Christ has perfected forever them that are sanctified. I find all my hope in the cross. Trusting Christ alone for all my acceptance with God, I have hope of eternal life, because he died for me.
Don Fortner
More Mysterious than Imputation -C. H. Spurgeon
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53: 6).
Having no personal sin, being incapable of any, but yet taking the sin of others upon himself — it has been the custom of theologians to say — by imputation; but I question whether the use of that word, although correct enough as it is understood by us, may not have lent some color to the misrepresentations of those who oppose the doctrine of substitution.
I will not say that the sins of God’s people were imputed to Christ, though I believe they were; but it seems to me that in a way more mysterious than that which imputation would express, the sins of God’s people were actually laid upon Jesus Christ; that in the view of God, not only was Christ treated as if he had been guilty, but the very sin itself was, I know not how, but according to the text it was somehow laid upon the head of Christ Jesus. — “For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Is it not written, “He shall bear,” not merely the punishment of their sin, nor the imputation of their sin, but “He shall bear their iniquities”?
Our sin is laid on Jesus in even a deeper and truer sense than is expressed by the term imputation. I do not think I can express it, nor convey the idea that I have in my own mind, but while Jesus never was and never could be a sinner — God forbid that the blasphemous thought should ever cross our lips or dwell upon our heart! — yet the sin of his people was literally and truly laid upon him.
Noah went into the ark BEFORE ONE DROP OF WATER FELL! If he had waited until the rain commenced, he would have been joined by thousands of false converts. True faith believes the promises of God and the warnings of God BEFORE they come to pass. A refuge built or entered during the storm is usually forsaken when the sun shines. Be wary of those who seek the Lord when their flesh is pained. Henry Mahan
Peter tells us in I Peter 3:4 of, “A meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God a great price.” How differently God views things than we do. Men look at a meek and quiet spirit as weak and worthless. God views it “of great price.” Meekness is a grace of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). It is that temper of spirit that submits to whatever God does as good, therefore without disputing and resisting. A quiet spirit is not somebody who has nothing to say (although quite often that is a commendable trait). It means “tranquility from within.” It is based upon really believing God is in control. Because of that belief, you are not worried and upset. A meek and quiet spirit is willingly submissive to the will of God in all things. Men look upon that as weakness. God views it as, “Of great price.”
Todd Nibert
“And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for those that are escaped of Israel.” Isaiah 4:2
J.C.Philpot
By “the fruit of the earth” we may understand that gracious and holy fruit which grew upon the Branch–and it seems to be called “the fruit of the earth,” because it appeared on earth when our Lord was there. Thus not only all his words, works, and ways, all the parables, doctrines, precepts, and promises uttered by the mouth of the Son of God in the days of his flesh, but all the benefits and blessings that spring in the way of redemption out of his complex Person, and grow as it were a holy fruit out of him as the Branch, such as his atoning blood, his glorious righteousness, his dying love, his resurrection and ascension, and his power to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him, may all be considered as “the fruit of the earth,” because wrought by him in and upon the earth, and done in the days of his flesh when his gracious feet were upon this earthly ball.
This fruit is “excellent” to the escaped of Israel. There is seen in it to be a divine excellency. Therefore, there is not a shadow of a fault to be found with it. It is perfect in all its parts; complete to the very centre, and therefore seen to be excellent, as so glorifying to God, and so adapted to every need and woe of those that are left in Zion and remain in Jerusalem.
And “lovely” too. In his sufferings, in his blood shedding, obedience, holy life and expiatory death, there is a surpassing loveliness, because in them shine forth a divine glory and a heavenly beauty. It is indeed the same word as is translated “beauty” in the holy garments made for Aaron by Moses (Exod. 28:2), and clothed in which he ministered before the Lord when he went into the holy place. So our great High Priest now ministers within the veil in the holiness and beauty of his glorified humanity; and as this is seen and apprehended by faith, the Church sings, “I sat under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.” “His glory is great in your salvation–honour and majesty have you laid upon him.”
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:13.
Octavius Winslow
THE real believer in Jesus is a gracious man. He is a
“living soul.” He is the partaker of a new and a divine nature, and
is the depository of a heavenly and a precious treasure. But grace is a thing
foreign to the natural state of a man. His possession of it is not at the same
time as his natural birth, nor can it be his by right of hereditary law. No
parent, however holy, can transmit a particle of that holiness to his
posterity. But see how this mystery is cleared up in the conversation which
Jesus held with the Samaritan woman, as He sat wearied upon the mouth of
Jacob’s well: “Jesus answered and said unto her, If you knew the gift of
God, and who it is that says to you, Give me to drink, you would have asked of
him, and he would have given you living water.” This is the grace of which
we speak, and this is the source from where it flows into the hearts of all the
truly regenerate. It is in you, Christian reader, a “well of water,”
a springing well, mounting upward, and ascending to the source from where it
rises. Blessed words—”springing up into everlasting life”! As the
first blush of morning is a part of the day, so the least dawn of grace in the
soul is a portion of heaven.
What an exalted character, and what an enviable man, is the true
Christian! All the resources of the Triune God unite to replenish this earthen
vessel. No angel in heaven contains a treasure half so costly and so precious
as that poor believing sinner, who getting near to the Saviour’s feet, and
bathing them with tears of penitence and love can look up and exclaim,
“Whom have I in heaven but You? and there is none upon earth that I desire
beside You.” But what deep humility ought to distinguish the true
Christian, as a real professor of the grace of Christ Jesus! The grace which
you possess is a communicated grace. All that is really holy and gracious in us
springs not from our fallen nature, but, like “every good and perfect
gift, comes down from the Father of lights.” It is the spontaneous outflowing
of the heart of God—the free unmerited bestowment of his sovereign mercy. Then
what meekness of heart, what profound humility of mind, ought to mark you! What
a prostration of every form of self, self-confidence, self-seeking,
self-boasting—should there be, as reasonably becomes those who have nothing but
what they have received, and whom free and sovereign grace alone has
distinguished from others!
“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” –1 Corinthians 15:20-22
J.C.Philpot
Christ risen is the firstfruits of that mighty crop of buried dead whose remains still sleep in the silent dust, and who will be joined by successive ranks of those who die in him, until all are together wakened up in the resurrection morn. The figure is that of the sheaf of the firstfruits which was waved before the Lord before the harvest was allowed to be reaped (Lev. 23:10, 11). This offering of the wave sheaf was the consecration and dedication of the whole crop in the field to the Lord, as well as the manifest pledge that the harvest was fully ripe for the reaper’s sickle.
The firstfruits represented the whole of the crop, as Christ is the representative of his saints; the offering of them sanctified what was still unreaped in the field, as Christ sanctified or consecrated unto God the yet unreaped harvest of the buried dead; and the carrying them into the tabernacle was the first introduction therein of the crop, as Christ entering heaven as the firstfruits secures thereby the entrance of the bodies of the saints into the mansions prepared for them before the foundation of the world.
Thus Christ rising from the dead presented himself before the Lord as the firstfruits of the grand harvest of the resurrection yet unreaped, and by doing so consecrated and dedicated the whole crop unto God. As, then, he rose from the dead, so shall all the sleeping saints rise from the dead at the last day, for his resurrection is the fitst-fruits, the pledge, and the earnest of theirs.
CHRIST IS OUR LIFE
(Charles Spurgeon)
“Christ, who is our life.” Col.3:4
Paul’s marvellously rich expression indicates
that Christ is the source of our life.
“You has He quickened who were dead in
trespasses and sins.” That same voice which
brought Lazarus out of the tomb raised us
to newness of life.
Christ is now the substance of our spiritual life.
It is by His life that we live; He is in us, the
hope glory, the spring of our actions, the central
thought which moves every other thought.
Christ is the sustenance of our life.
What can the Christian feed upon but Jesus?
O wayworn pilgrims in this wilderness of sin,
you never get a morsel to satisfy the hunger
of your spirits, except you find it in Him!
Christ is the solace of our life.
All our true joys come from Him; and in times
of trouble, His presence is our consolation.
There is nothing worth living for but Him;
and His lovingkindness is better than life!
Christ is the object of our life.
As speeds the ship towards the port, so hastes
the believer towards the haven of his Saviour’s
bosom. As flies the arrow to its goal, so flies
the Christian towards perfecting of his fellowship
with Christ Jesus. As the soldier fights for his
captain, and is crowned in his captain’s victory,
so the believer contends for Christ, and gets
his triumph out of the triumphs of his Master.
For him to live is Christ.
Christ is the exemplar of our life.
Where there is the same life within, there will,
there must be, to a great extent, the same
developments without; and if we live in near
fellowship with the Lord Jesus we shall grow
like Him. We shall set Him before us as our
Divine copy, and we shall seek to tread in His
footsteps, until He shall become the crown of
our life in glory.
Oh! how safe, how honoured, how happy
is the Christian, since Christ is our life!
That
magic name!
The following is from Bonar’s book,
“The Night of Weeping”
God has many names for His people.
He calls them His flock, which implies
tender watchfulness on His part, and
dependent helplessness on theirs.
He calls them a vine, denoting their
oneness, as well as the unceasing
nourishment that is ever circulating
through them from the parent stem.
He calls them a temple, signifying their
compactness of structure, symmetry of
design, beauty of form, and above all,
fitness for the inhabitation and worship
of Jehovah.
He calls them a body, to set forth, not
merely their lovely proportions, but their
marvellous unity and conscious vitality
of being, as well as the closeness of
the binding tie, and their various
serviceableness to each other.
He calls them a city, intimating their
happy community of privileges and rights
and well ordered government; the security,
peace, abundance which they enjoy, the
comforts of neighbourhood with all its
cheerful greetings and mutual offices of love.
He calls them a kingdom, as expressive
of their high and honourable estate, of the
royalty, the glory, the dominion, of which
they have been made the heirs.
But it is that well known word, that magic
name, family, which alone can express all
that God sees of what is lovely and tender,
loving and loveable in the Church of Christ
into which He is pouring His love through
which He delights to see that love circulate
unhindered, and out of which he expects
that love to flow abroad.
The family of God- as such He dwells in the
midst of it, cares for it, and watches over it.
His dealings with it are those of a father;
fond yet strict; loving yet wise; sitting
among His children, having His eye on
each, and ordering in His gracious wisdom
all the concerns of His household.
His heart is there! Yes, it is in His family
that God’s heart may be said specially to be.
There it unfolds itself in a way such as it can
do amid no other order of His creatures. There
it shows itself in all its manifold fullness such
as it has no scope for elsewhere. It is in the
family alone that the one thing we call affection
or love is divided and spread out, like a sunbeam
into the rainbow’s sevenfold hues, there to
display itself in all the rich tints of hidden beauty.
So it is in His family alone that the love of
God is fully seen, not merely in all its intensity,
but in all its varied riches. All kinds of love are
unfolded there.