Christ Must Have the Preeminence!

Christ Jesus is first in ALL THINGS. He must have the preeminence! He has all authority in heaven and earth. He has the glory before time, in time, and after time. He is the cause of all that’s done in this world in the world to come.

When the Scripture says, “He is the first fruits of them that rise again” (1 Cor. 15:20), it is saying that God chose Christ and then He chose us. God justified Christ by His resurrection, thereby justifying us because He bore our sins and was numbered with the transgressors (Rom. 4:25).

We will rise again because He is risen. Christ ascended and we will ascend. Christ is first loved; we are loved in the Beloved. Christ is first blessed, and we have all spiritual blessings in Him. He is the first and the last – Alpha and Omega, the author and finisher of our faith.

Pastor Henry T. Mahan (bulletin 1983)

TWO SONGS

There are two songs that are a source of comfort. One has to do with the providence of God over all things over me. And the other has to do with the atonement of Christ – what happened on the cross of Calvary. The first one is “How Firm A Foundation.” The last portion of verse four says, “The flame shall not hurt thee – I only design Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.” Think about that dear child of God. How often does a fiery trial threaten to destroy you – at least in your own eyes? The heat seems so intense you begin to think it’s going to melt your poor soul. “Their soul is melted because of trouble,” the Psalmist said (Ps.107:26). There are troubles which come and go that you and I can cope with without much thought, but there are those troubles that are deep and prolonged and melt our hearts like wax.

What if in the mist of such melting we could remember this song and really take it to heart – “This flame shall not hurt thee.” Well, this calms my fear, because that is exactly what I was thinking to myself, “This flame will hurt me, it is hurting me.” But “No” the song says, God has a purpose in putting you in the flame. He has designed it for your good and his glory – “I only design thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.” We have all this dross – this flesh and its schemes and self-will etc. and it keeps the gold of Christ’s grace and power from shining. Putting fire to it is the only way to accomplish a good end. Fire will not consume gold, only the dross. Repeat this in every trial, “This flame shall not hurt thee.”

The second song is “It Is Well With My Soul.” The third verse says, “My sin – O the bliss of this glorious thought –My sin, not in part, but the whole, Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more: Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul.” This gives me comfort to believe this because my sins often worry me. They sometime make me afraid. I have these apprehensions of the holiness and justice of God and death and the judgment to come and eternity. I have noticed there are times when these things appear awful to my thoughts – even unbearable, but I have noticed what makes them appear awful, it is the thoughts of my sins mixed with the thoughts of these things. I don’t fear God’s face or fear facing God when I remember the reality of this song; “My sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more.” If it’s my sins that are making me afraid, then fear not, “I bear them no more.” Jesus has borne them in my stead and has satisfied for them in my stead too. Let this comfort you, dear believer, as it has me.

Pastor Bruce Crabtree

I Am Come To Send Fire On The Earth

“I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?” (Luke 12:49).

Our Lord tells us about the fiery nature of the gospel of the grace of God, He says, "I am come to send fire on earth?" The gospel and the Word of God are enormous, fervent and flaming things. In Jeremiah we read, "Is not my word like a fire." It is a subject for enthusiasm, a theme for intense devotion and a matter that stirs the souls of believers to pursue its heat, comfort, joy and life. Let me give you several reasons why the gospel is called a fire.

1). A fire has an enlightening quality.

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Psalm 119:105). The gospel reveals unto us the nature and conduct of God, who is Holy in all His nature (Isa. 6.3) and sovereign in all of His conduct (Psalm 135:6; Dan.4:35). This is only revealed in the light of the gospel (Rom.3:26). The gospel reveals unto us the nature and conduct of man, who is sinful and totally depraved (Romans 3:9-19). The gospel also reveals unto us the nature and conduct of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the great I AM, the eternal God manifested in a human body (I Tim. 3:16). His conduct was in perfect harmony to the Father's will in accomplishing all the purpose of God in the redemption of His elect (John 4:34).

2).A fire is warming and comforting.

The blessed gospel of the glory of God gives real comfort to sinners who are chilled by their guilty soul before a holy God. What greater comfort and assurance can be found than to know that our Lord Jesus Christ made a victorious, effectual and eternal sacrifice to put a way our sin (Heb. 9:26). "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned" (Isaiah 40:1-3).

3).A fire is of an ascending quality.