Complete In Christ<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And\nye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power\u201d (Col.\n2:9-10).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Christ\u2019s perfect obedience is our righteousness (Phil. 2:7-8). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His sacrifice for sin is our atonement (Heb. 2:17). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His word is our instruction (2Tim. 3:16). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His wisdom is our direction (Col. 2:3). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His power is our protection (1Peter 1:5). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His blood sacrifice is our justification (Rom. 5:9). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His grace is our salvation (Rom. 3:24). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His eternal love is our security (Rom. 8:32-39). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His everlasting mercy is our hope (Lam. 3:22-26; Titus 3:5). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His fullness is our completeness (John 1:16). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His immutability is our strength (Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His resurrection is the guarantee of our final glory (Rom. 4:25;\nRev. 1:18). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His intercession is the assurance of all our deliverance from\nsin (1 John 2:1). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me my friend, what could we possibly want for, when all the\nGodhead is engaged to make the believer complete in the Lord Jesus Christ, to\nHis eternal glory (Rom. 8:29-30; Jude 1:24-25. \n <\/p>\n\n\n\n
~Tom Harding<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His Blood Alone!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The vital thing to understand about the blood of Christ is this:\nIT IS ENOUGH! Nothing else is needed to accomplish the salvation of all for\nwhom His blood was shed. Not His blood plus my works; not His blood plus my\n\u201cdecision;\u201d not His blood plus the ordinances; not His blood plus church\nmembership; not even His blood plus my faith – His blood purchased my faith.\nHis blood alone paid the price required by his justice, and His blood alone can\nmake a sinner clean. \u201cBy His own blood He entered in once into the holy place,\nhaving obtained (not made possible) eternal redemption for us\u201d (Heb. 9:12).\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n
~Don Bell<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Satisfaction!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (Philpot, “Daily Words for Zion’s Wayfarers”, 1893)<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I will satisfy her poor with bread.” Psalm 132:15<\/p>\n\n\n\n What a sweetness there is in the word “satisfy!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The world cannot satisfy the child of God. Have<\/p>\n\n\n\n we not tried, some of us perhaps for many years,<\/p>\n\n\n\n to get some satisfaction from it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n But can wife or husband satisfy us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Can children or relatives satisfy us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Can all the world calls good or great, satisfy us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Can the pleasures of sin satisfy us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is there not in all\u2014an aching void? Do we not reap<\/p>\n\n\n\n dissatisfaction and disappointment from everything<\/p>\n\n\n\n that is of the creature, and of the flesh? Do we not<\/p>\n\n\n\n find that there is little else but sorrow to be reaped<\/p>\n\n\n\n from everything in this world? There is little else to<\/p>\n\n\n\n be gathered from the world but . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n disappointment,<\/p>\n\n\n\n dissatisfaction, and<\/p>\n\n\n\n “vanity and vexation of spirit.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The poor soul looks round upon the world and the<\/p>\n\n\n\n creature, upon all the occupations, amusements<\/p>\n\n\n\n and relations of life\u2014and finds all one melancholy<\/p>\n\n\n\n harvest; so that all it reaps is sorrow, perplexity,<\/p>\n\n\n\n and dissatisfaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now when a man is brought here, to desire satisfaction,<\/p>\n\n\n\n something to make him happy, something to fill up the<\/p>\n\n\n\n aching void, something to bind up broken bones, bleeding<\/p>\n\n\n\n wounds, and leprous sores\u2014and after he has looked at<\/p>\n\n\n\n everything\u2014at doctrines, opinions, notions, speculations,<\/p>\n\n\n\n forms, rites and ceremonies in religion; at the world with<\/p>\n\n\n\n all its charms, and at self with all its varied workings\u2014and<\/p>\n\n\n\n found nothing but bitterness of spirit, vexation and trouble<\/p>\n\n\n\n in them all, and thus sinks down a miserable wretch; why,<\/p>\n\n\n\n then when the Lord opens up to him something of the bread<\/p>\n\n\n\n of life, he finds a satisfaction in that which he never could<\/p>\n\n\n\n gain from any other quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that is the reason why the Lord so afflicts His people;<\/p>\n\n\n\n why some carry about with them such weak, suffering<\/p>\n\n\n\n bodies; why some have so many family troubles; why<\/p>\n\n\n\n others are so deeply steeped in poverty; why others have<\/p>\n\n\n\n such rebellious children; and why others are so exercised<\/p>\n\n\n\n with spiritual sorrows, that they scarcely know what will<\/p>\n\n\n\n be the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is all for one purpose\u2014to make them miserable out<\/p>\n\n\n\n of Christ, dissatisfied except with gospel food; to render<\/p>\n\n\n\n them so wretched and uncomfortable\u2014that God alone can<\/p>\n\n\n\n make them happy, and alone can speak consolation to<\/p>\n\n\n\n their troubled minds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A system of divine and unfailing consolation!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (From Octavius Winslow’s, “The Voice of the Charmer”)<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a system of divine and unfailing consolation,<\/p>\n\n\n\n there is a charm in the gospel of Jesus of<\/p>\n\n\n\n indescribable sweetness. Originating with that<\/p>\n\n\n\n God, not only whose name and whose perfection,<\/p>\n\n\n\n but whose very essence is love, and who Himself<\/p>\n\n\n\n is the “God of all comfort,” it must be a gospel of<\/p>\n\n\n\n “strong consolation,” commensurate with every<\/p>\n\n\n\n conceivable sorrow of his people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let a Christian be placed in circumstances<\/p>\n\n\n\n of the deepest grief and sorest trial…<\/p>\n\n\n\n the bread and the water of affliction his food;<\/p>\n\n\n\n the iron entering his soul;<\/p>\n\n\n\n the heart bereaved;<\/p>\n\n\n\n the mind perplexed;<\/p>\n\n\n\n the spirit dark;<\/p>\n\n\n\n all human hopes blighted,<\/p>\n\n\n\n and ‘creature cisterns’ failing him like<\/p>\n\n\n\n a spring in the summer’s drought; then let the<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spirit of God, the Divine Comforter, open this<\/p>\n\n\n\n gospel box of perfume, breathing into his soul….<\/p>\n\n\n\n the rich consolations,<\/p>\n\n\n\n the precious promises,<\/p>\n\n\n\n the strong assurances,<\/p>\n\n\n\n the divine counsels, and<\/p>\n\n\n\n the glowing hopes which it contains,<\/p>\n\n\n\n and in a moment the light of love appears in his<\/p>\n\n\n\n dark cloud, his fainting spirit revives, and all is peace!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh! that must be a charming gospel which can<\/p>\n\n\n\n meet the necessities of man at every point;<\/p>\n\n\n\n whose wisdom no human perplexity can baffle,<\/p>\n\n\n\n and whose resources of sympathy and comfort,<\/p>\n\n\n\n no case of suffering or of sorrow can exhaust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tried soul! repair to this unfailing spring of comfort!<\/p>\n\n\n\n God speaks to you in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is the unsealing of the heart of Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is the still small voice of the Spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It speaks to you. It bids you…. “cast your burden<\/p>\n\n\n\n on the Lord, and he will sustain you;” “Call upon<\/p>\n\n\n\n him in the day of trouble, and he will answer you.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n It assures you that amid all your perplexing cares,<\/p>\n\n\n\n “He cares for you.” It promises you that for your<\/p>\n\n\n\n flint paved path, your “shoes shall be iron and\nbrass;”<\/p>\n\n\n\n and that “as your days are, so shall your strength\nbe.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n It tells you that a “woman may forget her nursing child,<\/p>\n\n\n\n yet God will not forget you;” that in all your assaults,<\/p>\n\n\n\n you shall dwell on high, your place of defence shall<\/p>\n\n\n\n be the munitions of rocks;” and that though hemmed<\/p>\n\n\n\n in on every side by a besieging foe, and all other<\/p>\n\n\n\n supplies cut off, yet “your bread shall be given you,<\/p>\n\n\n\n and your water shall be sure.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n It invites you to lay your griefs and weep out your<\/p>\n\n\n\n sorrows upon the bosom of Jesus, and so “leaning<\/p>\n\n\n\n upon your Beloved, ascend from the wilderness.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n O to be led into the heart felt experience of these truths!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Weaned from feeding on husks and ashes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (J. C. Philpot, “Zion’s Blessings” 1843)<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I will satisfy her poor with bread.” Psalm 132:15<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Lord has given a special promise to Zion’s<\/p>\n\n\n\n poor\u2014”I will satisfy her poor with bread.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nothing else? Bread? Is that all?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes! That is all God has promised\u2014bread,<\/p>\n\n\n\n the staff of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But what does He mean by “bread”?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Lord Himself explains what bread is. He says,<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I am the Bread of life. He who comes to Me will<\/p>\n\n\n\n never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will<\/p>\n\n\n\n never be thirsty. I am the living Bread who came<\/p>\n\n\n\n down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread,<\/p>\n\n\n\n he will live forever.” John 6:35,51<\/p>\n\n\n\n The bread, then, that God gives to Zion’s poor is<\/p>\n\n\n\n His own dear Son\u2014fed upon by living faith, under<\/p>\n\n\n\n the special operations of the Holy Spirit in the heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I will satisfy her poor with bread.” Psalm 132:15<\/p>\n\n\n\n But must not we have an appetite before we can<\/p>\n\n\n\n feed upon bread? The rich man who feasts continually<\/p>\n\n\n\n upon juicy meat and savoury sauces, would not live upon<\/p>\n\n\n\n bread. To come down to live on such simple food as bread<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014why, one must be really hungry to be satisfied with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So it is spiritually. A man fed upon ‘mere notions’ and a<\/p>\n\n\n\n number of ‘speculative doctrines’ cannot descend to the<\/p>\n\n\n\n simplicity of the gospel. To feed upon a crucified Christ,<\/p>\n\n\n\n a bleeding Jesus!\u2014he is not sufficiently brought down to<\/p>\n\n\n\n the starving point, to relish such spiritual food as this!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before, then, he can feed upon this Bread of life he must<\/p>\n\n\n\n be made spiritually poor. And when he is brought to be<\/p>\n\n\n\n nothing but a mass of wretchedness, filth, guilt, and misery<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014when he feels his soul sinking under the wrath of God,<\/p>\n\n\n\n and has scarcely a hope to buoy up his poor tottering heart<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014when he finds the world embittered to him, and he has no<\/p>\n\n\n\n one object from which he can reap any abiding consolation<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014then the Lord is pleased to open up in his conscience,<\/p>\n\n\n\n and bring the sweet savour of the love of His dear Son<\/p>\n\n\n\n into his heart\u2014and he begins to taste gospel bread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Being weaned from feeding on husks and ashes, and<\/p>\n\n\n\n sick “of the vines of Sodom and the fields of\nGomorrah,”<\/p>\n\n\n\n and being brought to relish simple gospel food, he begins<\/p>\n\n\n\n to taste a sweetness in ‘Christ crucified’ which he never<\/p>\n\n\n\n could know\u2014until he was made experimentally poor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Lord has promised to satisfy such.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I will satisfy her poor with bread.” Psalm 132:15<\/p>\n\n\n\n Savory food such as their soul loves<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n J.C.Philpot<\/p>\n\n\n\n “For My flesh is meat (food) indeed, and My blood is drink\nindeed.” John 6:55<\/p>\n\n\n\n This food is specially for the elect\u2014blood shed for their sins,\nand for their sins only\u2014righteousness brought in for them, and for them\nonly\u2014love bestowed upon them, and upon them only\u2014promises revealed for their\ncomfort, and for their comfort only\u2014an eternal inheritance reserved in heaven\nfor them, and for them only. The elect are the only people who hunger after\nit\u2014who have an appetite for it\u2014who have a mouth to feed upon it\u2014who have a\nstomach to digest it. They are the only people whose eyes are really open to\nsee what “food” is. All others feed upon shadows\u2014they know nothing of\nthe savoury food of the gospel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.” Jesus’\nfood was\u2014the hidden communications of God’s love\u2014the visitations of His\nFather’s presence\u2014the divine communion that He enjoyed with His Father. So, for\nthe children of God, there is food in Christ\u2014and this food the Lord gives them\na hunger after. He not only sets before their eyes what the food is, but He\nkindles inexpressible longings in their soul to be fed with it. God’s people\ncannot feed upon husks\u2014nor upon ashes\u2014nor upon chaff\u2014nor upon the wind\u2014nor upon\ngrapes of gall and the bitter clusters of Gomorrah. They must have real\nfood\u2014savoury food such as their soul loves\u2014that which God Himself communicates,\nand which His hand alone can bring down and give unto them\u2014so that they may\nreceive it from Him as their soul-satisfying portion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wrought with divine power!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (J.C. Philpot, “The Veil Taken Away” 1844)<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n in power,<\/p>\n\n\n\n in the Holy Ghost and<\/p>\n\n\n\n much assurance.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Thessalonians 1:5<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most men’s religion is nothing else but ‘a round of forms’ . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n some have their ‘doings’,<\/p>\n\n\n\n some have their ‘doctrines’,<\/p>\n\n\n\n and others have their ‘duties’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And when the one has performed his doings, the other learned his\ndoctrines, and the third discharged his duties\u2014why, he is as good a Christian,\nhe thinks, as anybody. While all the time, the poor deceived creature is thoroughly\nignorant of the kingdom of God, which stands not in simply in word, but in\npower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But as the veil of ignorance is taken off the heart, we begin to\nsee and feel that there is a power in vital godliness, a reality in the\nteachings of the Spirit\u2014that religion is not to be put on and put off as a man\nputs on and off his Sunday clothes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Where vital godliness is wrought with divine power in a man’s\nheart, and preached by the Holy Spirit into his conscience it . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n mingles, daily and often hourly with his thoughts;<\/p>\n\n\n\n entwines itself with his feelings; and<\/p>\n\n\n\n becomes the very food and drink of his soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now when a man comes to this spot: to see and feel what a\nreality there is in the things of God made manifest in the conscience by the\npower of the Holy Spirit\u2014it effectually takes him out of dead churches, cuts\nhim off from false ministers, winnows the chaff from the wheat, and brings him\ninto close communion with the broken-hearted family of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, in\nthe Holy Ghost and much assurance.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Thessalonians 1:5<\/p>\n\n\n\n Come and eat!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (Horatius Bonar, “The Bread of Immortality”)<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I am the bread of life.” John 6:48<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I am the living bread.” John 6:51<\/p>\n\n\n\n All food is for the sustaining of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus announces Himself as the bread which will sustain<\/p>\n\n\n\n the life of the soul. Not merely some doctrine–but Himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He is the bread; not merely bread–but the bread–the one<\/p>\n\n\n\n true bread; without whom the soul cannot grow, nor its life<\/p>\n\n\n\n be sustained. For only by this life-sustaining bread, can<\/p>\n\n\n\n such sickly souls be nourished. As such, Jesus is necessary<\/p>\n\n\n\n to the soul as its food–its bread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Outside of Him, there is no nourishment, no sustenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He feeds–He alone. He feeds us on Himself! All else is<\/p>\n\n\n\n husks, or mere air and vapour. Jesus, in His glorious person,<\/p>\n\n\n\n is our food–the true bread and sustenance of the soul;<\/p>\n\n\n\n the hidden manna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus applies various names to it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “bread from heaven”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “true bread”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “the bread of God”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “bread of life”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “living bread.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n All these are names indicative of its excellence, its power,<\/p>\n\n\n\n its suitableness. It is the very bread we need; no other<\/p>\n\n\n\n would do. Jesus is the soul’s eternal food. This<\/p>\n\n\n\n storehouse is inexhaustible–and ever accessible!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Come as you are, poor prodigal, starving on husks–come<\/p>\n\n\n\n and eat! Eat, O friends! Eat, and live! Eat, and be strong!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eat, and be in soul health!<\/p>\n\n\n\n He has a numerous and necessitous family!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (Letters of John Newton)<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Let us therefore come boldly unto the Throne of Grace,\nthat we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need!” Hebrews\n4:16<\/p>\n\n\n\n What a multitude of eyes and hearts wait at the Throne of Grace!\nHe has a numerous and necessitous family \u2014 but He is rich enough to supply them\nall \u2014 and His tender compassions extend to the poorest and most unworthy of\nthem! Like the sun \u2014 He can cheer and enlighten millions of His poor pensioners\nat once! He gives to each one as bountifully \u2014 as if there were no others to\npartake of His favor!<\/p>\n\n\n\n His best blessings are not diminished \u2014 by being shared among\nmany. The greatest earthly monarch would soon be poor \u2014 if he was to give but a\npittance to all his subjects. But Jesus has unsearchable, inexhaustible riches\nof grace to bestow!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The innumerable assembly around the Eternal Throne are all\ncontinually supplied from His fullness; and yet there is enough and to spare\nfor His earthly children also \u2014 and for all who shall come after us! May He\ngive us an eager appetite \u2014 a hunger and thirst that will not be satisfied with\nanything short of the Bread of Life. We may confidently open our mouths wide \u2014\nfor He has promised to fill them!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Complete In Christ \u201cFor in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power\u201d (Col. 2:9-10). Christ\u2019s perfect obedience is our righteousness (Phil. 2:7-8). His sacrifice for sin is our atonement (Heb. 2:17). His word is our instruction (2Tim. 3:16). 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