Apr 26
26
THE SUM OF OUR GOSPEL
“CHRIST DIED FOR THE UNGODLY.” This is the sum and substance of our gospel and is the great article of faith.
WHO DIED? Christ, the only-begotten, well-beloved Son of God in human nature (Rom. 8:34; Matt. 3:16-17).
HOW DID HE DIE? A death of shame, under the wrath and judgment of God (Phil. 2:8).
WHY DID HE DIE? He died for, in the stead of, and as a substitute for all God’s elect in order that God might be just and justifier (Rom. 3:24-26).
FOR WHOM DID HE DIE? “For the ungodly,” not for righteous men, nor religious men, nor deserving men, but for those who are ungodly in nature and. practice (Eph. 2:1-5).
WHEN DID HE DIE FOR US? When we were without strength to obey Him or to keep His law, and without ability to help ourselves. We were in bondage to law and to sin and unable to change our condition (Jer. 13:23). He died for us “in due time,” at the time appointed by the Father (Gal. 4:2-5; I Tim. 2:5-6).
This is the greatest single proof of love, to give one’s life for the object of that love (I Jn.4:10; Jn.15:12-13).
Henry Mahan
The natural man will not bow to a God, who is Sovereign. A God who always does what He wants, when He wants, how He wants, where He wants, with whomever He wants, and is always right in everything He does, is a threat and offence to the man who has set himself up on the throne of God. Only the Spirit born child of God will bow happily in true worship seeking mercy from the One who said; I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy.
Greg Elmquist
Marriage between a man and a woman in this world is based on a covenant of works. They begin their union by exchanging vows (promises). Each make promises to the other, “Until death do us part”. Essentially, saying; “I will, if you will”. Some-times, marriages dissolve because someone was not faithful in keeping their promises. That’s the way a covenant of works, works. The gospel of God’s free grace in Christ is not a covenant of works. God does not say, I will save you, if you will believe. Or I will forgive you, if you will repent. No, it is a covenant of grace. God says I have saved you and you shall believe. I have forgiven you and you shall repent. For time and eternity Christ says to His bride, I will, and you shall. That marriage can never fail for the Husband is able and faithful to bring and keep His wife. No man can pluck you out of My Hand.
Greg Elmquist
“Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps: set thine heart toward the highway, even the way which thou you wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities.” –Jeremiah 31:21
J.C.Philpot
To look at the past is often a blessed encouragement for the future. If we are travellers in the way Zionward, we shall have our various waymarks. A conspicuous call, or a signal deliverance, or a gracious manifestation of Christ; a promise applied here, or a marked answer to prayer there; a special blessing under the preached word; a soft and unexpected assurance of an interest in the blood of the Lamb; a breaking in of divine light when walking in great darkness; a sweet sip of consolation in a season of sorrow and trouble; a calming down of the winds and waves without and within by, “It is I, be not afraid”–such and similar waymarks it is most blessed to be able to set up as evidences that we are in the road.
And if many who really fear God cannot set up these conspicuous waymarks, yet they are not without their testimonies equally sure, if not equally satisfying. The fear of God in a tender conscience, the spirit of grace and of supplications in their breast, their cleaving to the people of God in warm affection, their love for the truth in its purity and power, their earnest desires, their budding hopes, their anxious fears, their honesty and simplicity making them jealous over themselves lest they be deceived or deluded, their separation from the world, their humility, meekness, quietness, and general consistency often putting to shame louder profession and higher pretensions–these and similar evidences mark many as children of God who cannot read their title clear to such a privilege and such a blessing.
But whether the waymarks be high or low, shining in the sun or obscure in the dawn, the virgin of Israel is still bidden to “set them up,” and to “set also her heart toward the highway, even the way by which she came.”
“That they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” John 17:21
J.C.Philpot
The Apostle declares, “He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit” (1 Cor. 6:17). If, then, we are joined to the Lord, in other words, have a union with him, this is the closest of all unions. A man and his wife are one flesh, but Jesus and the saint are one spirit. If possessed of this we are one spirit with him; we understand what he says; we have the mind of Christ; we love what he loves, and hate what he hates. But out of this spiritual union, flows communion with him, communion with him, communications from him, and the whole of that divine work upon the heart whereby the two spirits become one.
The Spirit of Christ in his glorious Person and the Spirit of Christ in a believing heart meet together, and meeting together as two drops of rain running down a pane of glass, or two drops of oil, kiss into each other, and are no longer two but one. Now if you have been ever blest with a manifestation of Christ, your spirit has melted into his, and you have felt that sweet union and communion with him that you saw as with his eyes, heard as with his ears, felt as with his heart, and spoke as with his tongue.
“THERE IS ONE BODY…”
Ephesians 4:4
The church of Christ is one body. Christ is its only Head. The Word of God is its only Law. The Cross is its only Banner. The Gospel is its only Weapon. And the Glory of God is its only Goal. The church of which I speak is no religious denomination, or material building, or local assembly. It is the church which is built upon the Rock, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the “general assembly and church of the firstborn”, the family of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of God, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of heaven, the body of Christ, and the bride of Christ. This ONE BODY is composed of every true believer from Adam to the last of God’s elect who shall be called. Every man, woman, and child who has been chosen by God the Father, redeemed by God the Son, and regenerated by God the Holy Spirit is in this church. This is the church which our Lord loved and purchased with his own blood.
And this church is ONE BODY. All who are in this church are Loved by the same Love. All are Redeemed by the same Blood. All are Called by the same Grace. All are Sanctified by the same Spirit. All are Partakers of the same Covenant. All are Given the same Promises. All are Going to the same Home. All Worship at the same Altar. And all are Anticipating the same Reward. If a person is in Christ he is in the church of Christ. And in Christ, Jew and Gentile, black and white, male and female, rich and poor, learned and unlearned, all are ONE BODY.
In this ONE BODY Christ is All and in All. He is the Foundation, the Door, the Hope, the Head, the Glory, the Righteousness, and the Reward of his body the Church.
Don Fortner
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1
Octavius Winslow
HOW strong the consolation flowing from this truth to the believer in Jesus! No condemnation is the ground of all comfort to the suffering Christian. What a mighty breakwater is this condition to the rolling surge of sorrow, which else might flow in upon and immerse the soul! Let it be your aim to improve it on every occasion of suffering and trial. God may afflict, but He will never condemn you. Chastisements are not judgments; afflictions are not condemnations. Sickness, bereavement, and low estate, based upon a condition of non-condemnation, you can welcome and patiently bear, since they are not the forecastings of a coming storm, but the distillings of a mercy-cloud sailing athwart the azure sky of a soul in Christ. The fiery trials which purify our faith have not a spark in them of that “unquenchable fire” that will consume the condemned hereafter. Oh, what are crosses and the discomforts of this present world, if at last we are kept out of hell! and oh, what are the riches, and honours, and comforts of this life, if at last we are shut out of heaven! At the bottom of that cup of sinful pleasure which sparkles in the worldling’s hand, and which with such zest and glee he quaffs, there lies eternal condemnation; the death-worm feeds at the root of all his good. But at the bottom of this cup of sorrow, now trembling and dark in the hand of the suffering Christian, bitter and forbidding as it is, there is no condemnation; eternal glory is at the root of all his evil. And in this will you not rejoice? It is not only your holy duty, but it is your high privilege to rejoice. Your whole life not only may be, but ought to be, a sweetly-tuned psalm, a continual anthem of thanksgiving and praise, pouring forth its swelling notes to the God of your salvation; since beyond the cloudy scene of your present pilgrimage there unveils the light and bliss of celestial glory, on whose portal you read as you pass within—No Condemnation. Unless, then, you either distrust or disparage this, your joyous condition and blessed hope, you must, in the gloomiest hour, and from the innermost depths of your soul, exultingly exclaim—”He is near that justifies me; who will contend with me? Let us stand together. Who is mine adversary? let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God will help me! who is he that shall condemn me
It is good to live near the grave for it is in the light of the grave that we see this life as it really is – vanity. No matter the kind of life a person lives, it comes to the grave. The grave also teaches us that our hope must lie beyond what is found in this world: If everything here is vanity, then things of value and substance must be found elsewhere. The grave also teaches us how to live this present life: We must live our lives in the pursuit of Christ and the things concerning Him. Even as we enjoy the transient things of this life, let our eyes be fixed on things above, where Christ is.
For the one whose heart is in this world, the grave puts an end to all he hoped for. But for the one whose heart is set on the world beyond the grave, the grave is merely the portal to the realisation of all he has hoped for.
Joe Terrell (1955-2024)