Jan 12
6
Christ Crucified – All The Counsel Of God
Without question, the Apostle Paul is the pattern for preachers. He was the Apostle to the Gentiles, miraculously called and gifted for the work of the gospel. God honored him with revelations made to no other man on earth and used him mightily. Fourteen of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament were written by Paul! His message, his ministry and his methods should be carefully studied by all who preach the gospel. Every preacher should strive to pattern himself after Paul.
This man, Paul, summed up his entire ministry in two statements, one made to the elders of the church at Ephesus,and one written to the church at Corinth. These two statements summarize all that Paul ever preached or sought to accomplish in the work of the ministry.
To the Ephesian elders he said, “I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). Neither the fear of man, nor covetousness, nor the love of money, nor desire for approval, nor personal ambition could keep Paul from preaching the full purpose, counsel and redemptive glory of God revealed in the Holy Scriptures.
To the church at Corinth Paul wrote, “I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (I Cor. 2:2). In both places he was declaring the same thing. Christ crucified is all the counsel of God!To preach Christ crucified is to declare all the counsel of God, for all that God almighty has purposed, decreed, revealed, required from and given to the sons of men is in Jesus Christ and him crucified. No text of Scripture in the Old Testament or the New has any message, meaning, or relevance apart from Christ crucified. The Doctrine of the Bible is Jesus Christ and him crucified (Luke 24:44-46). The motive, the inspiration, the example, and the reward of all Christian service is Jesus Christ. The basis of unity, love, and forgiveness among God’s saints is Christ crucified. And the glory of heaven is Christ crucified. Don Fortner
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“From the end of the earth will I cry unto you. When my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” Psalm 61:2
There is something in this expression in our text, “rock,” which seems, to my mind, to throw a sweet and blessed light upon what Jesus is to the poor and needy. The rock must go down to the bottom of the deep waters, as well as rise out of them, to be a sufficient place of refuge for the shipwrecked mariner! If the rock did not go to the bottom of the deep, it would not be firm; it would be but a quicksand. Is not this agreeable to the Spirit’s testimony concerning the humanity of Christ? How deep that went into all our sorrows, into all our sufferings, into all our sins, into all our shame! However deep the waters may be, the rock is deeper than all; however deep the sufferings, sins, and sorrows of the Church may be, the sufferings and sorrows of “Immanuel, God with us,” were infinitely deeper. But the waves and billows beat in vain against the rock; they cannot move it from its place. So it is with the rock, Jesus. All the sins, temptations, sufferings, and sorrows of the elect, with the wrath of God, and the fury of hell, beat against that rock, but they never moved it from its place.
But this rock is spoken of in our text as “higher than I.” There we have the Godhead. For if Jesus were not God as well as man, the God-man, what support could he be to the sinking soul? what efficacy could there be in his atoning blood? what power and glory in his justifying righteousness? what suitability in him as a Savior to the utterly lost? But being God as well as man, yes, the God-man, the great and glorious Immanuel, he could descend in his human nature into the very depths of the fall, and rise up in his divine nature to the throne of the most High; and thus, like Jacob’s ladder, the bottom of it was upon the earth, but the top exalted to the clouds. Then will not, must not, this be ever, as the Lord is pleased to raise it up, the cry of our soul, “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I?” No salvation anywhere else; no peace anywhere else; no consolation anywhere else. Buffeted by the waves, and well-near drowned by the billows, away from that rock; but if led there, brought there, kept there by the blessed Spirit, finding it a safe and sure standing for eternity. And what else but such a rock can save our souls, or what else but such a Savior and such a salvation, without money and without price, can suit such ruined wretches? J.C.Philpot.
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STRENGTH IN THE WEAK
“He will not break a bruised reed, and He will not quench a smoldering wick!” — Matthew 12:20
Will Jesus accept such a heart as mine? — this erring, treacherous, vile heart? The PAST — how many forgotten vows — broken covenants — prayerless days! How often have I made new resolutions, and as often has the reed succumbed to the first blast of temptation!
Oh! my soul! you are low indeed — the things that remain, seem “ready to die.” But your Savior-God will not give you “over unto death.” The reed is bruised — but He will not pluck it up by the roots. The wick is reduced to a smoldering ember — but He will fan the decaying flame.
Why wound your loving Savior’s heart — by these repeated declensions? He will not — cannot give you up! Go, mourn your weakness and unbelief. Cry unto the Strong for strength.
Weary and faint one! You have an Omnipotent arm to lean on. “He never grows faint or weary!” Listen to His own gracious assurance: “Do not be afraid — for I am with you. Do not be discouraged — for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with My victorious right hand!” Leaving all your false props and refuges, let this be your resolve, “I will trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock!” MacDuff.
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“Without a knowledge of the plague, there can be no experience of the cure. Without sin and judgment being inwritten, so that one believes and trembles, then all need of the cross, all necessity of Golgotha, remains but a theory in the head.”John Metcalfe From the book “Saving Faith”.
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“Seven elements which distinguish the real gospel, the new covenant, from imitations:
the free grace of God as the cause of salvation;
peace with God as the result of salvation;
Christ as the heart of salvation;
Christ’s death and resurrection as the means of salvation;
deliverance as the hallmark of salvation;
the will of God as the source of salvation
the glory of God as the purpose of salvation.”
“The gospel is of divine origin, made known to Paul ‘through the revelation of Jesus Christ’. It is revealed, unique, Christ-centred, perfect, complete and eternal in its conception, validity and effects. This revealed gospel differs from all ‘gospels’ of human origin in that its purpose is to glorify God, rather than to please man.”
Edgar Andrews Extracts from the book “Free in Christ”.
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Losses? by Spurgeon—
Losses are frequently the means God uses
to fetch home His wandering sheep.
Like fierce dogs, they bring wanderers
back to the Shepherd.
When the Christian grows wealthy, and in good repute,
and has good health and a happy family,
he too often wanders away from the Shepherd.
If he is a true child of God, there is a rod prepared for him.
Sooner or later every bar of gold must pass through the fire.
This will deliver you from clinging to the present world,
and make you long for those eternal things which are so
soon to be revealed to you.
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Counting the cost
| Nothing is clearer to me in the scriptures than the total inability of fallen men to do anything spiritual. He must be born again and given what he could never produce of himself. These facts alone ought to convince me that the Lord is not here telling me to take inventory to see if I have in myself what it takes to be a disciple of Christ. When he tells us to count the cost of the tower and consult as to our power to overcome greater odds it is not to muster in ourselves what is needed but rather to convince us that we cannot do what is demanded. To build this tower and fight this battle I must depend and look to Christ alone. |
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For the Love of the Gospel
From the Scriptures and from my own experience, I must say that God’s people delight in gospel preaching. By gospel preaching, I mean setting forth Christ in His wonderful Person, His glorious work and His eternal exaltation. (Romans 8.34; 1 Corinthians 15.3, 4) There is no sweeter message for the child of God, no more needful word than that Word of God which, when he heard it, gave him faith; that living and active Word that reveals his heart; that eternal Word of God by which he was born again and by which he continues to be nourished on the inner man; that Word which, by the gospel, was preached to him (Romans 10.17; Hebrews 4.12; 1 Peter 1.25). Give the believer the message of Christ, and do not waste his time with religious trivialities!
As with all things, there is no perfection in this life on this matter. There are times – even extended periods – when a true child of God may find no joy in hearing the gospel. But he will not look for the desired joy from another source. Instead, he will cry out with David, “Let me hear joy and gladness that these bones which you have broken may rejoice… Restore to me the joy of Your salvation.”
A believer may also be distracted by the glories of fleshly religion and find some excitement in the passing fads of human religion. He is yet flesh and such religion appeals to the flesh. But you can be certain that the excitement will fade and the hunger for the gospel will return. Believers must have Christ!
We may judge accurately of a man’s profession by this standard: Does he love the gospel of Jesus Christ? If he does not love the preaching of Christ, it can only be he does not love the Christ that is preached.
Joe Terrell.
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He Stood Alone; No Other Man Stood With Him
Drew Dietz
‘And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren’ (Genesis 45:1).
Oh blessed revelation of the gospel in one verse; how simple, how straight forward and clear! Our lovely and omnipotent Redeemer must stand alone before the justice and wrath of God on our behalf, and no one stood with Him as He took my shame and blame before His heavenly Father.
As He cried, “my God, my God why hast thou forsaken me,” such was His solitary position for all His elect. He was very much alone on Calvary’s tree, bearing and shouldering all the pressing burdens that our sins required. The law is against us, our sins are upon us, Satan accuses us, and the world despises us.
Who then will speak peace to the church? Who then will comfort all those who mourn? None other that the one who stood alone to deliver us from all things against us!
Not only is He THE man who stood alone for His elect but He must make himself known to His chosen people. Such He does by His sovereign free eternal grace. Blessed are you who have had the Son revealed to you. In this revelation we can not boast, for He ‘makes himself known’ to whomsoever He will by the singular and supreme workings of grace!
Do you know why I despise free will religion so much? It proclaims that:
1) Christ did not do everything for the salvation of His people ‘by himself’ but the sinner must help in said salvation in some manner and
2) The sinner cooperates in divine revelation, thus Christ did not solely make Himself known without the consent of man.
Rubbish! ‘And there stood no man with him, while he (Christ) made himself known unto HIS brethren (the elect). End of story!