Jul 24
15
He prayed till He groaned, He groaned till He wept, He wept till He sweat, He sweat till He bled, He bled till He died; and all to make us a warm bath wherein our cold and foul souls might be washed pure and clean. Never was anything washed at so high a rate as the Christian soul.
Thomas Adams
Our Lord Came on Purpose
Our Lord came on purpose, to save a particular people, and He
accomplished what He came to do! If you are one of those particular
people, and if He accomplished salvation for you, then He will notify
you of it through the preaching of His Word. In His notification, He will
convince you of the fact that you are a sinner; the worst sinner you’ve
ever known! That is the very reason why He had to die! It was to save
you from your sins. His death was God the Father’s free gift to you.
And in His free gift, you are completely redeemed! It was all appointed
by the Father, and obtained by the son. To Him be glory forever!
Pastor Gabe Stalnaker
For one hundred and twenty years, Noah built the ark. Every stroke of the hammer pronounced God’s judgment of sin, but it also sounded out the mercy of redemption. If you stay outside the Ark (Christ) you will die. If you get in the Ark (Christ) you will live.
At Calvary, on the day of the Lord’s crucifixion, the hammer of the Roman soldier again sounded the same message. “The wages of sin is death,” God is so holy, just and righteous that He will not excuse sin, even when it is found on His beloved Son. Yet the hammer also sounded the message of mercy and grace, “But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) God’s hammer will either break you to pieces in your unbelief, or in faith believing, by the substitution of our Savior will break Christ the Rock into pieces in your room and stead. (Jeremiah 23:29) Which message is God’s hammer sounding out to you?
David Eddmenson
“But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” I Corinthians 1:24
Many religionists perceive the power of God to be something given to them so that they can accomplish great things, when, in fact, the power of God is Christ, which power is exercised for us, but not by us. ~Joe Terrell
ARE YOU ONE OF THEM?
In the Lord Jesus’s high-priestly prayer to His Father found in John
chapter 17, verse 9 it is revealed who Christ prayed for. “I pray for
them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me;
for they are thine. In this glorious chapter Christ tells us repeatedly.
• They are them that God the Father gave to Christ. (Vs. 9)
• They are them to whom He gave eternal life. (Vs 2)
• They are them who know Him and His Father. (Vs. 3)
• They are them to whom Christ manifested God’s name. (Vs.6)
• They are them God gave to Christ out of the world. (Vs.6)
• They are them that have kept his Word. (Vs. 6)
• They are them who have received His Word. (Vs.8)
• They are them who know that Christ came from God. (Vs.8)
• They are them who believe that God sent Christ. (Vs. 8)
• They are them that belong to Christ. (Vs.8)
• They are them that belong to God. (Vs. 8)
• They are them in whom Christ is glorified. (Vs. 10)
• They are them who are in the world. (Vs. 10)
• They are them who God keeps. (Vs. 10)
• They are them that God makes one with Him and Christ. (Vs.11)
• They are them who have the joy of Christ. (Vs. 13)
• They are them who the world hates. (Vs. 14)
• They are them who are no longer of the world. (Vs. 14)
Are you one of “them” for whom Christ prays? If not, do you desire to
be? Our Father has never turned down one yet. You can be one of
them if you so desire. ~David Eddmenson
There is one glaring thing that believers and unbelievers have in common. They both want THEIR righteousness to be exalted. For the unbeliever, it is something they have produced by their Will, their Works, or their Wisdom. For the child of God, it is Christ, who alone is ALL their wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
Greg Elmquist
“It Is Expedient For You”
John 16:7
Our Lord had just told his disciples that he must suffer, die, rise from the dead and ascend back to his Father in heaven, that there he would prepare a place for them, and that at the time appointed he would come again to receive them unto himself. Then he assured them that upon his ascension back into heaven he would send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to minister to them.
These things are all recorded in John 13, 14, and 15. They should have flooded the disciples’ hearts with joy. The disciples should have been full of questions about these great, mysterious and wonderful things. Instead, sorrow filled their hearts. Then the Saviour spoke to quieten their fears and show them the necessity of his going away, his death upon the cross, resurrection, ascension and heavenly exaltation. He said, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”
Pause a moment and learn a lesson – Those things that appear to be most grievous in their experience are often most expedient in their end. Thank God that he does not deal with us according to the folly of our own wills, but graciously gives us what he knows is good for us!
An expedience is that which is, being constrained by necessity, the best course to follow. Our Lord, in this place, is essentially saying, “It is both necessary and good for you that I should suffer, die, rise from the dead, and go back to my Father in heaven.”
The expedience should be obvious – Had he not gone away, had he not suffered and died as our Substitute upon the cursed tree and ascended back to heaven, we could not have been saved.
(1.) He could not have finished the work which he had come to do (Heb. 10:5-10).
(2.) God could not be just and yet justify them that believe (Rom. 3:24-26).
(3.) There would have been no atonement for sin (Heb. 9:22).
(4.) We could never have obtained the forgiveness of sin, reconciliation to God, peace, pardon and righteousness (Col. 1:20-22).
(5.) We would have no Forerunner, High Priest and Advocate in heaven (I John 2:1-2).
(6.) There would have been no way of access to God for guilty sinners (Heb. 10:19).
(7.) Christ could never have saved his people from their sins (Matt. 1:21).
Don Fortner
Let us always think of the Holy Spirit with holy awe and
reverence!
(Charles Spurgeon)
Let us always think of the Holy Spirit with holy awe and reverence,
remembering that . . .
it is the Spirit who quickens us,
it is the Spirit who instructs us,
it is the Spirit who sanctifies us,
it is the Spirit who preserves us,
it is the Spirit who makes us fit to be partakers of
the inheritance of the saints in light!
So unto the ever-blessed Spirit be glory and honour and praise, forever and
ever!
The Spirit’s work in salvation
(Charles Spurgeon)
And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness,
and of judgment John
16:8
The Holy Spirit lays bare his heart, lets him see the loathsome cancer that is
there eating away his life, uncovers to him all the blackness and defilement
of that sink of Hell—the human heart!
And then the man stands aghast, “I never thought I was like this! Oh!
those sins I thought were little, have swelled to an immense stature. What I
thought was a mole-hill, has grown into a mountain; it was a hyssop on the wall
before, but now it has become a cedar of Lebanon.”
Then the man says to himself, “Oh, I will try to reform; I will do
enough good deeds to wash these black deeds
out.”
Then the Holy Spirit comes and shows him that he cannot do this, takes away all
his ‘fancied’ power and strength; so that the man falls down on his knees in
agony and cries, “Oh! once I thought I could save myself by my good works,
but now I find that:
Could my tears forever flow,
Could my zeal no respite know,
All for sin could not atone,
You must save, and You alone!”
Then his heart sinks, and the man is ready to despair. He says, “I can
never be saved. Nothing can save me.”
Then the Holy Spirit comes and shows the sinner the cross of Christ,
gives him eyes anointed with heavenly eye-salve, and says, “Look to yonder
cross! That Man died to save sinners! You feel you are a sinner; He died to
save you.”
And then the Holy Spirit enables the heart to believe, and come to Christ.
That Heavenly Teacher
J.C.Philpot
We do not learn that we are sinners merely by reading it in
the Bible. It must be wrought, I might say, burnt into us.
Nor will anyone sincerely and spiritually cry for mercy, until sin is
spiritually felt and known . . .
in its misery,
in its dominion,
in its guilt,
in its entanglements,
in its wiles and allurements,
in its filth and pollution, and
in its condemnation.
Where the Holy Spirit works, He kindles . . .
sighs,
groans,
supplications,
wrestlings, and
pleadings
to know Christ, feel His love, taste the efficacy of His atoning
blood, and embrace Him as all our salvation and all our desire.
And though there may, and doubtless will be, much barrenness, hardness,
deadness, and apparent carelessness often felt; still that heavenly
Teacher will revive His work, though often by painful methods; nor
will He let the quickened soul rest short of a personal and experimental
enjoyment of Christ and His glorious salvation.
His secret power and influence
J.C.Philpot
“No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him.”
John 6:44
“I have loved thee with an everlasting love.
Therefor with lovingkindness have drawn thee.”
Jeremiah 31:3
None can really come to Jesus by faith, unless this drawing power is
put forth.
The Holy Spirit-that gracious and blessed Teacher, acts upon the soul by His
secret power and influence, puts ‘cords of love’ and ‘bands of mercy’
around the heart, and by the attractive influence that He puts
forth, draws the soul to Jesus’ feet; and in due time reveals
Him as the chief among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely one.
As the Spirit reveals and manifests these precious things of Christ to the
soul, He raises up a living faith whereby Jesus is sought unto, looked unto,
laid hold of, and is brought into the heart with a divine power, there to be
enshrined in its warmest and tenderest affections.
All through its Christian pilgrimage, this blessed Spirit goes on to deepen His
work in the soul, and to discover more and more of the suitability, beauty, and
blessedness of the Lord Jesus, as He draws the soul more and more unto Him.
There is no maintaining of the light, life, and power of God in our souls,
except as we are daily coming unto Jesus as the living stone, and continually
living upon Him as the bread of life.
Holy Spirit Conviction
John 16:8-11
Holy Spirit conviction is essential to saving faith in Christ. I do not say that Holy Spirit convic- tion is a prerequisite, or condition that must be met before a person can trust Christ. That is a dreadful mistake in the thinking of many. Our Lord never calls upon sinners to be convicted and then believe on him. You must simply trust Christ. Trust him, and you are saved, forgiven of all sin, and have eternal life. There are no conditions to faith. There are no prerequisites for you to meet, doctrinally, experimentally, or emotionally, before you can believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
However, our Lord does tell us plainly that one distinguishing characteristic of saving faith is that it is always accompanied by Holy Spirit conviction. Where there is no conviction, there is no conversion. Where there is no conviction, there is no faith. Where there is no conviction, there is no knowledge of and union with Christ. Wherever there is true, saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is Holy Spirit conviction. And wherever there is true Holy Spirit conviction, there is true, saving faith in Christ. The two always go together.
The question that must be answered is this: What is Holy Spirit conviction? I have heard and read many answers given by men to that question, which have no foundation in the Word of God. Most people think that Holy Spirit conviction is a feeling of deep remorse for sin, a dreadful sense of one’s lost condition, a terrifying fear of God’s wrath, and an ardent desire to be saved. These things may, and very often do, accompany Holy Spirit conviction. But nowhere in the Word of God is conviction described in such terms.
If we would know what Holy Spirit conviction is we must look to the Word of God alone, putting out of our minds the opinions of men. What you, or I may think and feel about the matter is of no importance. We only want to know what God says. And this is the way God our Savior describes Holy Spirit conviction. “When he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment; of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” So Holy Spirit conviction deals with these three things: sin, righteousness, and judgment.
Don Fortner
He has a healing balm for all!
John MacDuff
“The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities.” Romans 8:26
You cannot live without the Holy Spirit!
There cannot be . . .
one heavenly aspiration,
one breathing of love,
one upward glance of faith
without His gracious influences.
Apart from Him, there is . . .
no preciousness in the Word,
no blessing in ordinances,
no permanent, sanctifying results in affliction.
The Holy Spirit . . .
directs His people to the waters of comfort,
gives new glory to the promises, and
invests the Saviour’s character and work, with new loveliness and
beauty.
Come, then, with your affliction!
Come with your infirmity!
Come with your need!
Come with your wounded spirit!
Come with your broken heart!
Whatever, then, be your present situation, seek the promised help of the Holy
Spirit.
He has a healing balm for all . . .
the weak,
the tempted,
the sick,
the sorrowing,
the bereaved,
the dying.
“The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities.” Romans 8:26