May 24
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If the possession of heaven could be obtained with only a single act of goodness, never to all eternity should I find it. “When I would do good, evil is present with me.” Oh! Then for grace to know Thee, to love Thee, to follow Thee, as my only good; my hope, my righteousness, my portion forever!
~Robert Hawker
Had I all the faith of the patriarchs, all the zeal of the prophets, all the good works of the apostles, all the holy sufferings of the martyrs, and all the glowing devotion of the seraphs; I would disclaim the whole in point of dependence, and count it all but dross and dung, when set in competition with the infinitely precious death and the infinitely meritorious righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. ~James Hervey
My soul, learn to exercise an holy jealousy over thyself; for after Jesus is once truly known, all thy danger begins at this place; so that the great secret is, to live out of self, upon His fulness; to do nothing but in his strength; to propose nothing but for his glory; and in every step you take in the whole walk of life, to make The Lord Jesus every thing, and depend upon him in every thing; and this is the way to find both security and comfort. ~Robert Hawker
God’s love is revealed and made known by these six deeds of indescribable love!
(Don Fortner)
“Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should
be called the sons of God!” 1 John 3:1
We rejoice to know that “God is love!” Love is an
attribute of His holy Being, without which He would not be God. We know that
God is love, because His love is revealed and made known by His deeds.
Love is active. It is never dormant. Like fire, it must break out. It cannot be
contained. It is known only when it is experienced-not by words,
but by deeds. We know the love of God is that love that “surpasses
knowledge.” Yet, God’s love is revealed and made known by these
six deeds of indescribable love:
1. The first act of God’s love was our ELECTION in Christ
(Deuteronomy 7:7-8). Election is not a hard doctrine. It is a delightful doctrine.
Were it not for God’s electing love toward sinners, there would be no salvation
(Ephesians 1:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:13). We would never have come to know and
love Christ, had He not first loved us (John 15:16; 1 John 4:19).
2. The second act of God’s love was our REDEMPTION by Christ
(Romans 5:8; 1 John 3:16; 1 John 4:9-10). Because He loved us, the Son of God
assumed our nature, assumed our sin, assumed our guilt and died under the wrath
of God as our Substitute, to put away our sins. “The Son of God loved me
and gave Himself for me!”
3. The third act by which God reveals His love to sinners is His
EFFECTUAL SAVING GRACE (Jeremiah 31:3).
Those whom the triune God loved-the Father chose to
save.
Those whom the Father chose to save-the Son redeemed.
And those whom the Son redeemed-the Holy Spirit will effectually
call by His irresistible grace to life and faith in Christ.
4. The love of God is revealed fourthly in the absolute
PRESERVATION of His elect in a state of grace (John 10:28; Romans 8:39). Can
you imagine one who is loved of God-falling from a state of grace, perishing
and suffering the wrath of God forever in Hell? Such a notion is worse than
nonsense, it is utter blasphemy! The love of God is . . .
without cause,
without beginning,
without condition,
without change,
and without end!
It is free.
It is sovereign.
It is indestructible.
It is everlasting.
5. Fifthly, God’s love for His elect is seen in our Savior’s
TENDER, PROVIDENTIAL CARE for us (John 11:35-36). Our Savior really is touched
with the feeling of our infirmities. We really are the apple of His eye.
6. But there is one act of love that goes beyond election,
redemption, effectual calling, preservation, and providential care. As great
and marvelous as those things are, there is one act of God that goes beyond
them all. If the climax of God’s love is our redemption by Christ, then
the apex of God’s love is our ADOPTION into the family of God!
(1 John 3:1-3)
By birth, we are all fallen, depraved and spiritually dead (Romans
5:12).
By our deeds, we show ourselves to be children of the devil,
sinful, deceitful, and wicked (John 8:44).
By nature, we are all children of wrath (Ephesians 1:3), a people
deserving the wrath of God.
But by grace, we who believe are the sons of God!
Election is the great fountain of grace.
Redemption is the greatest mystery of grace.
And adoption is the greatest privilege of grace.
“Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we
should be called the sons of God!”
REFORMATION? I hear a lot about “reformation” in our day. There are reformed churches, reformed doctrine, reformed preachers and reformed believers, everything seems to be “reformed.” The word “reform” means to “improve” or to “make better.” If “reformation” means to improve myself or make myself better, then, I don’t need reformation! What I need is a perfect righteousness. I surely can’t find any hope of eternal life in trying to make myself better, especially when God requires perfection. I don’t need “reformation;” I need “regeneration.” I don’t need to get my heart right; I need a new heart that is right. The lost sinner doesn’t need to just change their way; they need to change their God. I don’t need to make myself “better;” I need to be made “perfect.” I don’t need reformation, I need a “new creation,” which can only be found in Christ.
DL Edmenson
A beloved child, watched over, cared for, supplied, and defended
by your Lord!
C.H.Spurgeon
“For the Lord taketh pleasure in His people!” Psalm
149:4
How comprehensive is the love of Jesus! There is no part of His people’s
interests which He does not consider. There is nothing which concerns their
welfare which is not important to Him. Not merely does He think of you,
believer, as an immortal being-but as a mortal being
too. Do not deny it or doubt it: “The very hairs of your head are all
numbered!” It would be a sad thing for us if His mantle of love did not
cover all our concerns-for what harm might be wrought to us if any of our
matters did not come under our gracious Lord’s care!
Believer, rest assured that the heart of Jesus cares about your smaller
affairs. The breadth of His tender love is such that you may resort to Him in
all matters; for as a father pities his children-so does He pity you, His
redeemed child. The smallest interests of all His saints-are all borne upon the
broad bosom of the Son of God. Oh, what a heart is His, that does not merely
comprehend the salvation of His people-but comprehends also, all their diverse
and innumerable concerns!
Do you think, O Christian, that you can measure the love of
Christ? Think of what His love has brought you-justification, adoption,
sanctification, eternal life! The riches of His goodness are unsearchable; you
shall never be able to tally them-or even conceive them.
Oh, the breadth of the love of Christ!
Shall such a love as this have half our hearts? Shall it have
a cold love in return? Shall Jesus’ marvellous loving-kindness
and tender care, meet with but faint response and tardy acknowledgment?
O my soul, you are no desolate wanderer-but a beloved child, watched
over, cared for, supplied, and defended by your Lord!
“able to comprehend with all
saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to
know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with
all the fulness of God.“ Ephesians
3:18-19
He loved them unto the end.”
John 13:1
The love of Christ for his elect is immutable and incessant. It is love surpassing thought. There is nothing like it in this world below. The narrow, self-centred thoughts, and words, and deeds of humanity cannot comprehend it. Our Savior knew that his disciples would all soon forsake him. Yet, he loved them to the end. His love for us is from everlasting (Jeremiah 31:3). His love for us is unto everlasting (Romans 8:39). Our Lord Jesus Christ delights to receive sinners and save them by his grace (Luke 15:2). And once he has received a sinner, he will never reject him or cast him away for any reason (John 6:37).
Don Fortner
All for you!
(MacDuff, “Encouragements to Patient Waiting“)
Take a pilgrimage in thought, to Gethsemane
and Calvary! Gaze upon His sufferings! He knew
all the sorrows that await Him–the shame, the
suffering, the anguish–but He takes the bitter
cup, and, with His heart set on the salvation
of His people–with His heart set on you–the
blessed Savior drains it to the very dregs!
See Him on Calvary . . .
unpitied by the crowd;
deserted by His disciples;
forsaken by His Father;
the Lamb led to the slaughter;
and all for you!
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Because he loved her! (From Octavius Winslow’s, “The Coming of the Lord in its Relation to Nominal Christianity”) “Behold, the Bridegroom comes!” Jesus sustains no relation to his Church more expressive than this. From all eternity he forever betrothed her to himself. He asked her at the hands of her Father, and the Father gave her to him. He entered into a covenant that she should be his. The conditions of that covenant were great, but not too great for his love to undertake. They were, that he should…. assume her nature, discharge her legal obligations, endure her punishment, repair her ruin, and bring her to glory! He undertook all, and he accomplished all, because he loved her! The love of Jesus to his Church is the love of the most tender husband. It is…. single, constant, affectionate, matchless, wonderful. Jesus…. sympathizes with her, nourishes her, provides for her, clothes her, watches over, and indulges her with the most intimate and endearing communion. |
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The astonishing, the
marvelous love! (From Winslow’s, “Love at the Foot of the Cross”) The cross of Jesus inspires our love to Him. It would seem impossible to be brought by the Holy Spirit to the foot of the cross, and not feel the inspiration of love. Surely a believing apprehension of the amazing, the unparalleled love of Jesus, bending His look of forgiveness upon us from the cross, will thaw our icy hearts into the warmest glow of affection. Believe that Jesus loves you, and your heart shall glow with a love in return which will bear it on in a willing obedience and unreserved surrender, in faithful service and patient suffering, enwrapped, consumed amid the flames of its own ‘heaven inspired’ and ‘heaven ascending’ affection. The astonishing, the marvelous love, He has exhibited in giving you His beloved Son to die in your stead, are cords by which He would draw your loving heart to Himself. |
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Unquenched, unquenchable! (J. C. Philpot “Love in its Priceless Value and Unquenchable Strength“, 1862) “Many waters cannot quench love; neither can the floods drown it.” Song of Solomon 8:7 The bride uses a figure which shall express the insuperable strength of divine love against all opposition; and she therefore compares it to a fire which burns and burns unquenched and unquenchable, whatever be the amount of water poured upon it. Thus the figure expresses the flame of holy love which burned in the heart of the Redeemer as unquenchable by any opposition made to it. How soon is earthly love cooled by opposition! A little ingratitude, a few hard speeches, cold words or even cold looks, seem often almost sufficient to quench love that once shone warm and bright. And how often, too, even without these cold waters thrown upon it, does it appear as if ready to die out by itself. But the love of Christ was unquenchable by all those waters. Not all the ingratitude, unbelief, or coldness of His people could quench His eternal love to them! He knew what the Church was in herself, and ever would be . . . how cold and wandering her affections, how roving her desires, how backsliding her heart! But all these waters could not extinguish His love! It still burnt as a holy flame in His bosom, unquenched, unquenchable! “Many waters cannot quench love; neither can the floods drown it.” Song of Solomon 8:7 |