Sep 20
13
William Huntington
Is the law glorious, holy, just, good, spiritual, true, and eternal? Let it be so. Christ is the”express image of the Father’s person, and the brightness of his glory.”
Is the law holy? Christ is the holy one.
Is the law just? Christ is the just one.
Is the law good? Christ is the good shepherd.
Is the law spiritual? Christ is the Lord from heaven, the quickening spirit; yea, the resurrection, and the life.
Is the law true? Christ is the true God and eternal life.
Is the law eternal? Christ is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.
Does the law say thou shalt fear thy God? here is a servant on whom the spirit of the fear of the Lord rested.
Does it say thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart? Here is a person that is really God, and God is love;
does the law say, thou shalt be holy, for I the Lord thy God am holy? here is one that is holy as God, holy as man, and holy as Godman, who was born a holy thing, never conceived an unholy thought, never spoke an unholy word, nor made an unholy slip with his feet; “which of you convinceth me of sin; and if I speak the truth, why do ye not believe me?”
The devil himself justified him, when he said, “I know thee who thou art, the holy One of God;” Judas justified him also, when he said, “I have sinned against innocent blood;”
Pilate justifed him, when he “washed his hands and said, I am innocent of the blood of this just person, see ye to it.”
His wife justified him when she said, “have thou nothing to do with that just person, for I have suffered many this night in a dream because of him;”
the company of murderers justified him, when “they smote on their breasts, and said, Truly this was the Son of God.”
The soldiers justified him, when they declared the “angels from heaven had rolled away the stone and sat upon it;” and
the rulers justified him, when they said, “Take this money and say that his disciples came by night and stole him away; and if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him, and secure you;”
God the Father justified him by raising him from the dead, and us with him;
God the Holy Ghost justifies him by testifying of his resurrection, and of his righteousness to every believer; and the Saviour justified himself by confounding every false witness at his trial, and striking his adversaries to the ground when they came to take him; (to fulfil the words of the Psalmist “when they came to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.”)
“And his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 1:19, 20
It is no great mystery that the Son of God should be exalted to the throne of power. It is but a step from the bosom of the Father to his right hand. But that one in our nature should be exalted to that seat of pre-eminence and power; that the Mediator between God and man should be the man Christ Jesus; that the hands which once were nailed to the cross should now hold the scepter, and that the feet which once walked on Lake Gennesaret, which were weary and dust-soiled at Jacob’s well, which were washed with a sinful woman’s tears and kissed in penitential grief and love with polluted lips–that these very feet should now have all things put under them both in heaven and earth–there is the mystery.
And yet what food for faith. The living family of God need a living Savior, one who can hear and answer prayer, deliver out of soul-trouble, speak a word with power to the heart when bowed down with grief and sorrow, sympathize with them under powerful temptations, support them under the trials and afflictions of the way, maintain under a thousand discouragements his own life in their soul, sustain under bereavements the mourning widow, and be a father to her fatherless children; appear again and again in providence as a friend that loves at all times and a brother born for adversity, smile upon them in death, and comforting them with his rod and staff as they walk through the valley of its dark shadow, land them at last safely in a happy eternity.
J.C.Philpot
How solemn is the reflection that with a new cycle of time commences, with each traveler to Zion, a new and untrodden path! New events in his history will transpire- new scenes in the panorama of life will unfold- new phases of character will develop- new temptations will assail- new duties will devolve- new trials will be experienced- new sorrows will be felt- new friendships will be formed- and new mercies will be bestowed. How truly may it be said of the pilgrim journeying through the wilderness to his eternal home, as he stands upon the threshold of this untried period of his existence, pondering the unknown and uncertain future, “You have not passed this way heretofore!”
Reader! if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus, you will enter upon a new stage of your journey by a renewed surrender of yourself to the Lord. You will make the cross the starting-point of a fresh setting-out in the heavenly race. Oh, commence this year with a renewed application to the “blood of sprinkling.” There is vitality in that blood; and its fresh sprinkling on your conscience will be as a new impartation of spiritual life to your soul. Oh, to begin the year with a broken heart for sin, beneath the cross of Immanuel! looking through that cross to the heart of a loving, forgiving Father. Do not be anxious about the future; all that future God has provided for. “All my times are in Your hands.” “Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” “Cast your burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain you.” Let it be a year of more spiritual advance. “Speak to the children of Israel that they go forward.” Forward in the path of duty- forward in the path of suffering- forward in the path of conflict- forward in the path of labor- and forward in the path to eternal rest and glory. Soon will that rest be reached, and that glory appear. This new year may be the jubilant year of your soul- the year of your release. Oh spirit-stirring, ecstatic thought- this year I may be in heaven!
Octavius Winslow
Wrought with divine power
(J. C. Philpot, “The Veil Taken Away” 1844)
“Our gospel came to you not simply with words,
but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and
with deep conviction.” 1 Thessalonians 1:5
Most men’s religion is nothing else but
‘a round of forms’ . . .
some have their ‘doings’,
some have their ‘doctrines’,
and others have their ‘duties’.
And when the one has performed his doings,
the other learned his doctrines, and the third
discharged his duties—why, he is as good a
Christian, he thinks, as anybody. While all the
time, the poor deceived creature is thoroughly
ignorant of the kingdom of God, which stands
not in simply in word—but in power.
But as the veil of ignorance is taken off the heart,
we begin to see and feel that there is a power in
vital godliness—a reality in the teachings of the
Spirit—that religion is not to be put on and put
off as a man puts on and off his Sunday clothes.
Where vital godliness is wrought with divine power
in a man’s heart, and preached by the Holy Spirit into
his conscience—it mingles, daily and often hourly,
with his thoughts—entwines itself with his feelings
—and becomes the very food and drink of his soul.
Now when a man comes to this spot—to see and feel
what a reality there is in the things of God made
manifest in the conscience by the power of the Holy
Spirit—it effectually takes him out of dead churches,
cuts him off from false ministers, winnows the chaff
from the wheat, and brings him into close communion
with the broken-hearted family of God.
“Our gospel came to you not simply with words,
but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and
with deep conviction.” 1 Thessalonians 1:5
GOD’S WORD
by Spurgeon
“He sends forth his commandment upon earth:
His word runs very swiftly” (Psalm 147:15).
No language ever stirs the deeps of my nature like the Word of
God, and none produces such a profound calm within my spirit.
As no other voice can,
it melts me to tears,
it humbles me in the dust,
it fires me with enthusiasm,
it fills me with pleasure,
it elevates me to holiness.
Every faculty of my being owns the power of the sacred Word.
It sweetens my memory,
it brightens my hope,
it stimulates my imagination,
it directs my judgment,
it commands my will, and
it cheers my heart.
The word of man charms me for the time,
but I outlive and outgrow its power.
It is altogether the reverse with the Word of the King of kings;
it rules me more sovereignly, more practically, more habitually,
more completely every day. Its power is for all seasons–for
sickness and for health, for solitude and for company, for
personal emergencies and for public assemblies.
I had sooner have the Word of God at my back than all the
armies and navies of all the great powers, aye, than all the
forces of nature; for the Word of the Lord is the source of
all the power in the universe, and within it there is an infinite
supply in reserve.
A peculiar, indescribable, invincible power
(Philpot, “The Word of Men and the Word of God”)
“Our gospel did not come to you in word only,
but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and
with deep conviction.” 1 Thes. 1:5
The gospel comes to some in word only. They
hear the word of the gospel, the sound of truth;
but it reaches the outward ear only—or if it touches
the inward feelings, it is merely as the word of men.
But where the Holy Spirit begins and carries on
His divine and saving work, He attends the word
with a peculiar, an indescribable, and yet an
invincible power.
It falls as from God upon the heart. He is heard to
speak in it—and in it His glorious Majesty appears
to open the eyes, unstop the ears, and convey a
message from His own mouth to the soul.
Some hear the gospel as the mere word of men,
perhaps for years before God speaks in it with a
divine power to their conscience. They thought
they understood the gospel—they thought they
felt it—they thought they loved it. But all this
time they did not see any vital distinction between
receiving it as the mere word of men, and as the
word of God.
The levity, the superficiality, the emptiness stamped
upon all who merely receive the gospel as the word
of men—is sufficient evidence that it never sank
deep into the heart, and never took any powerful
grasp upon their soul.
It therefore never brought with it any real separation
from the world—never gave strength to mortify the least
sin—never communicated power to escape the least snare
of Satan—was never attended with a spirit of grace and
prayer—never brought honesty, sincerity, and uprightness
into the heart before God—never bestowed any spirituality
of mind, or any loving affection toward the Lord of life and
glory. It was merely the reception of truth in the same way
as we receive scientific principles, or learn a language, a
business, or a trade. It was all . . .
shallow,
superficial,
deceptive,
hypocritical.
But in some unexpected moment, when little looking
for it, the word of God was brought into their conscience
with a power never experienced before. A light shone in
and through it which they never saw before . . .
a majesty,
a glory,
an authority,
an evidence
accompanied it which they never knew before. And
under this light, life, and power they fell down, with
the word of God sent home to their heart.
When then Christ speaks the gospel to the heart—
when He reveals Himself to the soul—when His word,
dropping as the rain and distilling as the dew, is
received in faith and love—He is embraced as the
chief among ten thousand and the altogether lovely
one—He takes His seat upon the affections and
becomes enthroned in the heart as its Lord and God.
Is there life in your bosom?
Has God’s power attended the work?
Is the grace of God really in your heart?
Has God spoken to your soul?
Have you heard His voice, felt its power,
and fallen under its influence?
“And we also thank God continually because,
when you received the word of God, which you
heard from us, you accepted it not as the word
of men, but as it actually is, the word of God,
which is effectually at work in you who believe.”
1 Thes. 2:13