The infinities of bliss and glory!
(Henry Law, “Forgiveness of Sins” 1875)

“Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him;
he hath put him to grief:” Isaiah 53:10

The Father of all mercies heaped on Christ the
outpourings of His wrath; that He may heap on
pardoned sinners the infinities of bliss and
glory!

“Christ died for the ungodly.” Romans 5:6

Jesus, the Enthroned King

by J. C. Philpot

In our past Meditations we have, though in scanty measure and with feeble pen, attempted to set before our readers a few leading features of that surpassing grace and glory which the Lord Jesus Christ bears as anointed of the Father to be the interceding High Priest and the teaching Prophet of his Church and people. We now approach the consideration of that still greater and more glorious title which he wears as Zion’s enthroned King.

But O, at the very outset, how unworthy, as well as unable, do we feel ourselves to be to set forth in any suitable, any befitting manner the glory of that exalted Sovereign who sits at the right hand of the Father as Head over all things to the Church! When the sun veils its rays behind a cloud we can look upon its milder glories with undazzled eye. But who can gaze on its meridian beams in all their undimmed splendor? Thus when the Son of God veiled the brightness of his eternal glory by assuming a tabernacle of flesh, faith can view him as a suffering yet sacrificing High Priest in the garden and on the cross with undazzled, though with sympathizing, eye. In a similar way, when Jesus still speaks as a Prophet in the word of his grace—”Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart,” faith can now sit at his feet and hear his words without being overwhelmed with his glory.

But when we look up and attempt to view him sitting at the right hand of the Majesty on high in all his exalted dignity and power as King of kings and Lord of lords—then we feel as if dazzled and overborne with a sight and sense of his surpassing glory. In the days of his flesh, the beloved disciple could lean on the bosom of Jesus and stand by his cross; but when in Patmos’ lonely isle he appeared in his majesty so that “his eyes were as a flame of fire,” and “his countenance was as the sun shines in his strength,” John fell at his feet as dead! Yet if he has made us willing in the day of his power, has brought us to his feet in all humility to touch the scepter of his grace and own him Lord of all, we may, in company with his saints, “speak of the glory of his kingdom and talk of his power, to make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.” (Psalm 145:11, 12.)

This is the greatest sight you will ever see!

(Charles Spurgeon)

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

Jesus has borne the penalty of sin on behalf of His people.

Behold the wonder!

There He hangs upon the cross!

This is the greatest sight you will ever see!

Son of God and Son of Man—there He hangs, bearing unutterable pains, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God.

Oh, the glory of that sight!

The innocent One, punished!
The Holy One, condemned!
The ever-blessed One, made a curse!
The infinitely glorious One, put to a shameful sin-atoning death!

The Sun of righteousness

(Spurgeon, “The Sun of Righteousness” #1020)

“But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.”
    Malachi 4:2

The golden tressed sun is the most glorious
object in creation; and in Jesus the fullness
of glory dwells.

The sun is at the same time the most influential
of existences, acting upon the whole world; and
truly our Lord is, in the deepest sense, of this
great world both eye and soul. He with benignant
ray sheds beauty, life, and joy from above.

The sun is, moreover, the most abiding of creatures;
and therein it is also a type of Him who remains
from generation to generation, and is the same
yesterday, today, and forever.

The ‘king of day’ is so vast and so bright that
the human eye cannot bear to gaze upon him.
We delight in his beams, but we would be blinded
should we continue to peer into his face. Even yet
more brilliant is our Lord by nature, for as God he
is a consuming fire, but He deigns to smile upon
us with milder beams as our brother and Redeemer.

Jesus, like the sun, is . . .
  the center and soul of all things,
  the fullness of all good,
  the lamp that lights us,
  the fire that warms us,
  the magnet that guides and controls us.

Jesus is the source and fountain of all . . .
 life,
   beauty,
   fruitfulness,
   and strength.

Jesus is . . .
  the fosterer of tender herbs of penitence,
  the quickener of the vital sap of grace,
  the ripener of fruits of holiness, and the life of
everything that grows within the garden of the Lord.

Whereas to adore the sun would be idolatry;
it is treason not to worship ardently the divine
Sun of righteousness.

As the sun is the center, so is Christ to His people.

As the sun is the great source of power,
so is Christ to His people.

As the sun is the fountain from which
light, life, and heat perpetually flow,
so is the Savior to His people.

As the sun is the fructifier by which fruits
multiply and ripen, so is Christ to His people.

Enthrone Jesus as the central sun of your hearts.
Bask in his beams, and let Him rule your entire
being; enlightening your understanding; warming
your hearts; filling all your powers, passions, and
faculties with the fullness of his presence. Come
and lay your souls beneath His divine influence.

Come, plunge into this sea of sweetness,
dive deep into this abyss of happiness!

“He will keep the feet of His saints.” 

     1 Samuel 2:9

The Lord sees His poor scattered pilgrims 

traveling through a valley of tears—journeying 

through a waste-howling wilderness—a path 

beset with baits, traps, and snares in every 

direction. 

How can they escape? 

Why, the Lord ‘keeps their feet’. He carries them 

through every rough place—as a tender parent 

carries a little child. When about to fall—He 

graciously lays His everlasting arms underneath 

them. And when tottering and stumbling, and 

their feet ready to slip—He mercifully upholds 

them from falling altogether. 

But do you think that He has not different ways 

for different feet? The God of creation has not 

made two flowers, nor two leaves upon a tree 

alike—and will He cause all His people to walk 

in precisely the same path? No. We have . . .

  each our path, 

  each our troubles,

  each our trials,

  each peculiar traps and snares laid for our feet. 

And the wisdom of the all-wise God is shown by His 

eyes being in every place—marking the footsteps of 

every pilgrim—suiting His remedies to meet their 

individual case and necessity—appearing for them 

when nobody else could do them any good—watching 

so tenderly over them, as though the eyes of His 

affection were bent on one individual—and carefully 

noting the goings of each, as though all the powers 

of the Godhead were concentrated on that one 

person to keep him from harm . 

J C Philpot

FOR WHOM DID CHRIST DIE?

For WHOM did Christ die? We answer, Christ died for “God’s elect”!

“Strangest thing in the world for me is for men to contend that Christ made an effort on the Cross to save the whole world, and then turned around and said, “I pray not for the world!” – Pastor Henry Mahan

“And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save HIS people from THEIR sins [Mt. 1:21]. Christ died not simply to render sins pardonable, but “to PUT AWAY SIN by the sacrifice of Himself” [Heb. 9:26].

As to WHO’S “sin” has been “put away”, Scripture leaves us in no doubt—it was that of the elect. “For the transgressions of MY PEOPLE was He stricken [Isa. 53:8]. Again the Lord’s own words are, “I lay down My life for the SHEEP” (not the goats)! [John 10:15]

“Christ did not intend to save those He knew He would not save. If He intended to and NOT FOR THE WORLD. It was the elect that Christ came to save. Since God eternally decreed not to save others Christ would not be engaged in a FOOL’S errand.” [Jonathan Edwards]

Men’s fanciful delusion of an Unlimited Atonement is reduced to this – “IF the sinner believes, then Christ died for him; if the sinner does not believe, then Christ did not die for him; thus the sinner’s act is made the cause of its own object, as though his believing WOULD MAKE THAT TO BE WHICH OTHERWISE WAS NOT”. A.W. Pink

THE GOD OF THE AVERAGE PULPIT

“Men imagine the Most High is moved by sentiment, rather than by principle. They suppose His omnipotency is such an idle fiction that Satan can thwart His designs on every side. They think that if He has formed any plan or purpose at all, then it must be like theirs, constantly subject to change. They openly declare that whatever power He possesses must be restricted, lest He invade the citadel of man’s free will and reduce him to a machine. They lower the all-efficacious atonement, which redeems everyone for whom it was made, to a mere remedy, which sin-sick souls may use if they feel so disposed. They lessen the strength of the invincible work of the Holy Spirit to an offer of the Gospel which sinners may accept or reject as they please.The god of this century no more resembles the Sovereign of Holy Writ than does the dim flickering of a candle the glory of the midday sun. 

The god who is talked about in the average pulpit, spoken of in the ordinary Sunday school, mentioned in much of the religious literature of the day, and preached in most of the so-called Bible conferences, is a figment of human imagination, an invention of maudlin sentimentality. The heathen outside the pale of Christendom form gods of wood and stone, while millions of heathen inside Christendom manufacture a god out of their carnal minds. In reality, they are but atheists, for there is no other possible alternative between an absolutely supreme God, and no God at all. A god whose will is resisted, whose designs are frustrated, whose purpose is checkmated, possesses no title to deity, and far from being a fit object of worship, merits nothing but contempt.”  [A.W. Pink]

“And so the way is prepared for that caricature of gospel preaching, that consists chiefly in begging the sinner to come to Jesus before it is too late, leaves the false impression that it is quite in his power to come today or tomorrow, or whatever time may be convenient to him, and that presents a very willing but powerless Jesus, that would ever be pleased to save the sinner, but is incapable to do so unless the sinner gives his consent. The “whosoever will may come” is presented as meaning: “All men can will to come whenever they please.” And instead of the truth of the gospel that no man can come to Christ unless the Father draw him, we now hear; “No, Christ cannot come to the sinner, unless the sinner permit him!”

Here is a fair example of it: “God is ready, God is willing, God is eager, God is anxious, God is pleading for the privilege of washing away the sins of every soul in the precious blood of His son and heir. But His hands are tied, His power is limited, His grace is constrained by you. If you want to be saved, God is willing to save you. If you don’t want to be saved, there isn’t anything that even God can do to rescue you from that pit of eternal burning.” 

That is what becomes of the preaching of the gospel when the truth of God’s sovereign grace is either forgotten or denied. Call it the gospel, if you like; to me it is nothing short of blasphemy of the name of the living God! An anxious and pleading God, whose power is limited, and whose hands may be tied by the proud and stubborn sinner, who is less than dust of the balance, is no God, but a miserable idol!”  (Herman Hoeksema (1886-1965) in “Whosoever Will”). 

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