Dec 12
29
JESUS ONLY- (extract)
The wine-press of Divine wrath he will tread alone. The battle with the power of darkness he will fight alone. The bitter cup of Gethsemane he will drink alone. The last conflict with the power of hell he will sustain alone. The passage through the grave he will tread alone. Man’s sins and sorrow, the sinner’s curse and woe, he will endure singly and alone; “of the people there shall be none with him.” What majesty gathers around the work and conquest of Jesus, thus accomplished and achieved single-handed and alone! What an impressive view does the fact present of the inconceivable mightiness of the work, and of the unparalleled almightiness of him who wrought it! Salvation was a word distancing all created power. It could only be secured by a power essentially and absolutely Divine. Jesus undertook the work alone, and alone he accomplished it.
Believer in Jesus! Remember all your confidence, all your hope, all your comfort flows from the finished work of your Savior. “Jesus only.” See that you unwittingly add nothing to the perfection of this work. You may be betrayed into this sin and this folly by looking within yourself rather than to the person of Jesus; by attaching an importance too great to repentance and faith, and your own doings and strivings, rather than ceasing from your own works altogether, and resting for your peace and joy and hope, simply, entirely, and exclusively in the work of Jesus. Remember, that whatever we unintentionally add to the finished work of Christ, mars the perfection and obscures the beauty of that work. “If you lift up your tool upon it, you have polluted it
“It is finished!” O words, pregnant of the deepest meaning! O words, rich of the richest consolation! Salvation is finished! “Jesus only!” Look from fluctuating frames, and fitful feelings, and changing clouds, to “Jesus only.” Look from sins and guilt, from emptiness and poverty, to “Jesus only.” The veil of the temple was rent in twain, and you may pass into its holiest, and lay upon the altar the sacrifice of a broken and a contrite heart, which shall be accepted through him who “gave himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God, for a sweet-smelling savor.”
“It is finished!” Let devils hear it, and tremble! Let sinners hear it, and believe! Let saints hear it, and rejoice! All is finished. “Then, Lord, I flee to you, just as I am! I have stayed away from you too long, and ‘am nothing bettered but rather grown worse.’ Too exclusively have I looked at my unworthiness, too absorbed have I been with my penury, too bitterly have I mourned having nothing to pay. Upon your own finished work I now cast myself. “Save, Lord and I shall be saved!” Before this stupendous truth, let all creature merit sink, let all human glory pale, let all man’s boasting vanish, and Jesus be all in all. Perish forms and ceremonies – perish rites and rituals – perish creeds and churches – perish, utterly and forever perish, whatever would be a substitute for the finished work of Jesus, whatever would be attempt to add to the finished work of Jesus, whatever would tend to neutralize the finished work of Jesus, whatever would obscure with a cloud, or dim with a vapor, the beauty, the luster, and the glory of the finished work of Jesus! It was “Jesus only” in the councils of eternity – it was “Jesus only” in the everlasting covenant of grace – it was “Jesus only” in the manger of Bethlehem – it was “Jesus only” in the garden of Gethsemane – it was “Jesus only” upon the cross of Calvary – it was “Jesus only” in the tomb of Joseph – it was “Jesus only” who, “when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty of high.” And it shall be “Jesus only” – the joy of our hearts, the object of our glory the theme of our song, the Beloved of our adoration, our service, and our praise, through the endless ages of eternity. O, stand fast, in life and in death, by the FINISHED work of Jesus.
“Tis finished!” see the Victor rise, Shake off the grave, and claim the skies;
You heavens, your doors wide open fling; You angel choirs, receive your King.
“Tis finished!” – but what mortal dare In the triumph hope to share?
Savior, to your cross I flee; Say, “Tis finished!” and for me.
Then will I sing, “The Cross! The Cross!” And count all other gain but loss:
I’ll sing the cross, and to your tree Cling evermore, blest Calvary.
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MARK 15:38-41
And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the
bottom. (39) And when the centurion, which stood over against
him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.
Amidst the prodigies which distinguished the death of CHRIST, the renting the veil of the temple was not the least. I am led to view it indeed as of great moment; and as such, would request to call the Reader’s attention to it somewhat more particularly. The Reader should be told that in the temple there was a veil of separation between the holy and the most holy place, The HOLY GHOST, by his servant the Apostle, hath thought proper, to give the Church some account of it. Hebrews 9:3-12. This veil then, by some invisible hand, was rent in twain, from the top to the bottom, at the moment CHRIST cried with a loud voice and gave up the ghost. And as this was at the 9th hour, that is, three of the clock in the afternoon, which was the time of the evening sacrifice, I pause, to remark how astonished the Priest, who was at that very hour with the people present then in the outer temple, must have been to have seen it, by which the inner temple appeared at once open to his and their view!
This veil was not simply torn, or separated in part, but rent in twain, and that from the top to the bottom. Yes! by the death of CHRIST, the separation between GOD and his people was now forever removed. JESUS had then opened a new and
living way by his blood. Before this, the veil of separation kept back the people. It was impossible to go in; yea, dangerous to LOOK in: and the High Priest himself, could not enter without blood, and that only once in a year. Hence, therefore,
the SON of GOD having now accomplished redemption by his blood, he hath himself entered as our forerunner, and opened a new and living way for all his redeemed to follow; and the vail of separation, both to Jew and Gentile can be found no
more. Precious LORD JESUS! I would say for myself, and all his redeemed; blessed forever be thy name; thou hast removed by thy death all veils which stood in the way of our access to GOD. And thou wilt remove all the remaining veils of darkness,
sin, and corruption, which are in us. The veil of death, and the covering, cast over all faces, thou wilt utterly do away, now thou hast swallowed up death in victory, and the rebuke of thy people thou hast taken away from off all the earth, for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. Isaiah 25:7, 8. Robert Hawker poor mans commentary
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“It is finished!” (John 19:30)
Has Christ perfected and completely finished all His work for us? How sweet a relief is this to against all the defects and imperfections of all the works which are wrought by us. There is nothing finished that we do. All our duties are imperfect duties; they come off lamely and defectively from our hands. O there is much sin and vanity in the best of our duties. But Jesus Christ has finished all His work, though we
can finish none of ours. And so, even though we are defective, poor, imperfect creatures in ourselves, yet we are complete in Christ. His complete obedience being imputed to us, makes us complete, and without fault before God. –John flavel
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For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified (I Corinthians 2:2)
The apostle Paul declared to a heathen world, and a church being led astray by foolish pride and worldly wisdom, that he preached Christ and Him crucified. The gospel is a person. He was a person in eternity, as the Son of God, the second person of the Godhead. He was appointed as a mediator and surety of an everlasting covenant and as such stood as a person. In every Old Testament prophecy He is set forth as a person. When He appeared on this earth in Bethlehem’s manger he was a person. He lived as a servant under the law of God and was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin as a person. His suffering was real. He hung on a cross and died a real death. He was raised the third day as a person who ate and drank. He had scars to prove himself to be the resurrected Christ. The disciples watched as He ascended into glory as our Great High Priest where He sits at the right hand of God.
Faith lays hold of the person who loved them and gave himself for him. Faith rests in Him as it is persuaded of the greatness of His person. Salvation is not a system or a plan or an offer: It is the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. “Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God and there is none else.” (Isaiah 45: 22) Darvin Pruitt
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What is Your Comfort?
Henry T. Mahan
Are you happy? Yes! But I am not without times of sorrow. Like any human, I weep over loved ones, friends, sickness, death, and disappointment. But I sorrow not as those who have no hope. CHRIST IS MY HOPE! He loved me, gave Himself for me, and will make ALL THESE THINGS work together for my eternal good.
Are you at rest in your soul? Yes! But I am not free from concern and conviction over my sins and my infirmities. I love Christ but not as I should or as I desire. I am satisfied with Him, His mercy, His grace, and His love; but I will never be totally satisfied until I wake with His likeness.
Do you have peace? Yes! But that peace with God, peace of conscience, and peace in any situation or condition is not based on my merit, feelings, nor religious duties. CHRIST IS MY PEACE! He said, “In ME ye have peace. In the world ye shall have trouble.”
Any man or woman who claims continual, uninterrupted joy, rest, and peace in this world is either not telling the truth or has no connection with reality! True joy, rest, and peace are things we enjoy in Christ IN THE MIDST of troubles, afflictions, and infirmities.
Paul’s exhortation was “rejoice in the Lord.” When I am conscious of my weakness, failures, and sins, I rejoice in Christ, my righteousness. When I am concerned about food, clothing, and shelter, I rejoice in Christ, my provider. When I am sick, Christ is my healer. When I am grieved, Christ is my comfort. When I am faced with death, Christ is my life! So it is not necessary to put on a false face and deceive others. We are still human; but our peace, rest, and joy is Christ.”Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee.”