“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Rock That Stands Forever Author: Paul Gerhardt Tune: The Church's One Foundation (Samuel S. Wesley) * 1. A Rock that stands forever Is Christ, my Righteousness! In Him I stand unfearing, In everlasting bliss! Christ is my boast and glory-- All wrath for me is o'er; The judgment of the sinner Affrighteth me no more. * 2. There is no condemnation, There is no hell for me! The torment and the fire- My eyes shall never see! For me there is no sentence, For me there is no sting, For Christ, my Lord, who saved me, Will shield me with His wing!
* 3. No hunger, Lord, nor thirsting, No danger, fear, nor fight, No foe, no tribulation, No throne, nor pow'r, nor might, No height, no depth, no creature That has been or can be. Can pluck me from Thy bosom- Can sever me from Thee! * 4. My heart in joy upleapeth- Grief cannot linger there! O Jesus, Lord in glory, Thou art my Sunshine fair! The Source of all my singing Is Jesus there above, The Sun that shines upon me Is Jesus and His Love! ****************** Very Precious “Unto you therefore which believe He is precious:” 1 Peter 2:7 Jesus is precious to believers as the Bread of God coming down from heaven, and giving everlasting life to their souls. By Him they are really, constantly, and daily supported, fed and sustained. As bread is sweet and precious to a hungry man-so is Christ sweet and precious to those who live by Him. The entertainment that He gives to them-is a divine, a spiritual feast!
Jesus is precious to believers as the Sun of Righteousness. The beams of His grace are healing, enlightening, cheering, and full of consolation. If natural light is sweet, if it is a pleasant thing to behold the sun, how much more pleasant to experience the irradiating influences of the Light of life! Jesus is precious to believers as the Fountain where they bathe their weary souls, and in which they are cleansed from all sin and impurity. He is the tree of life, under the shadow of which they sit with great delight, and His fruit is sweet to their taste. He is a rock, a strong tower, a hiding place, where they find protection from every storm, and security from every foe. He was precious to the Psalmist under all these views- “I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.” Psalm 18:1-3
It is, therefore, the delight of their lives to know Him, to love and honor Him with their whole hearts, and to aspire after conformity to His blessed image, and His holy will.
O blessed Redeemer, I find in you all that my poor helpless soul stands in need of. Though I have the greatest reason for shame and humiliation, on account of what I am in myself; yet in You I behold everything to elevate my hopes, and to afford me relief and encouragement! May my soul magnify the Lord, and my spirit rejoice in God my Savior! The characters and relations in which You have revealed Yourself to me in Your Word exhibit a balm for every wound, and a cordial for every fear. - If I am naked-You are the Lord my righteousness. - If I am soul-sick-You are my physician. - If I am weak and helpless-You are my strength. - If I am neglected and despised-You are my compassionate and faithful Friend. - If I am ignorant-You are made unto me wisdom. - If I am polluted and enslaved-You are made unto me sanctification and Redemption. - If I am nothing but emptiness and vanity-You are full of grace and truth." “Unto you therefore which believe – He is precious:” 1 Peter 2:7 --John Fawcett ************************* The Eternity of God Try, for a moment, to conceive of a Being without a beginning - a Being who does not become older as ages roll away. Fly back, in imagination, millions of millions of millions of years, until reason is confounded and imagination is wearied in the flight. God then existed, and what may at first appear paradoxical, He had then existed as long as He has now; you would then be no nearer the beginning of His existence than you are now, for it has no beginning, and you cannot approach to that which does not exist. Nor will His being ever come to an end. Add together ages of ages; multiply them by the leaves on the trees, the sand on the sea shore, and the dust of the earth - still you will be no nearer the termination of Jehovah's existence, than when you first began your calculation. --Edward Payson
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