"I will praise Thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto Thee among the nations. For Thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and Thy truth unto the clouds." (Psalm 57:9-10) **********************************************************
UNCHANGING LOVE
TUNE TO "MY FAITH HAS FOUND A RESTING PLACE" CM with Chorus WORDS BY JIM BYRD
1. Christ is our gracious Lord and King, Our sympathetic Friend; His love for all His chosen ones, Will never change or end.
CHORUS: O love of Christ so rich and free, A never-ending flame; Sing praise to Jesus for His love, O magnify His Name.
2. His love is deeper than the sea, Its breadth cannot be found; That love for all His chosen bride, Shall evermore abound. CHORUS
3. What love that He would bleed and die, Upon the curs-ed tree; To satisfy the broken law, And set the captives free. CHORUS
4. Redeeming, gracious, saving love, Surpasses human thought; How free and sovereign is that love, By sinful men unsought. CHORUS
5. Throughout the endless years of bliss, The saints shall sing above; And evermore we’ll bless the Lord, For His unchanging love. CHORUS ________________________________________________ CONGREGATIONAL SCRIPTURE READINGS TODAY: MORNING: HABAKKUK 3 EVENING: LUKE 7:36-50 ________________________________________________ Daily Readings- Oct. 16-22 Sunday - Mark 6-7 Monday - Mark 8-9 Tuesday - Mark 10-11 Wednesday- Mark 12-13 Thursday - Mark 14-16 Friday - Luke 1 Saturday- Luke 2-3 ________________________________________________ OBEDIENCE AND DEATH "And being found in fashion as a Man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:8). The law of God required one thing, exact obedience to its precepts. That standard has not been lowered through the passing of time. God can never be satisfied with anything less than perfection. "Be ye holy for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:16). Moreover, the penalty for transgressing His law – death – has not changed either. When the Lord Jesus came in the stead of His chosen people, He lived His life in perfect conformity to the law’s requirements. "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were under the law" (Galatians 4:4-5). When the Savior was circumcised the eighth day, He obligated Himself to keep the entire law. "For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law" (Galatians 5:3). As the perfect Man, He loved God with all His heart, mind, soul and strength and loved His neighbor as Himself. "...I do always those things that please Him" (John 8:29).
His obedience to God would not be complete, however, apart from His substitutionary death. The penalty for the sins of His people must be carried out; justice demanded satisfaction for our transgressions which had been imputed to the Savior. We know that the Son of God had assumed responsibility for the salvation of His people in the covenant of grace and the law’s demand was clear: "the soul that sinneth shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4). The Substitute of sinners must suffer the just retribution for the sins of His people. It was, therefore, by His death that sins were removed. It is written that everlasting righteousness was brought in when Messiah was cut off, not for any sins of His own, but for the sins of those in whose stead He laid down His life (Daniel 9:24-26). We are made the righteousness of God in Him by His death (2 Corinthians 5:21). The sacrifice of Christ was the culmination of His obedience to the Father. He willingly laid down His life, "the Just for the unjust to bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18). The sword of vengeance pierced His heart; divine wrath was poured out upon His soul so that God could justify the ungodly without the least compromise to His holy demands. Was His "obedience unto death" effectual to the putting away of sin? Did He make full compensation to offended law and justice? The resurrection, ascension and enthronement of the Son of Man stand as lasting testimonies that He finished the work of redemption and completely satisfied the legal demands of the Father for the salvation of His people. --Pastor Jim Byrd *************************************************************************** THE RELIGION OF CHRIST IS THE RELIGION OF JOY Christ came to take away our sins, to roll off our curse, to unbind our chains, to open our prison house, to cancel our debt; in a word, to give us the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Is not this joy? Where can we find a joy so real, so deep, so pure, so lasting? There is every element of joy; deep, ecstatic, satisfying, sanctifying joy in the gospel of Christ. The believer in Jesus is essentially a happy man. The child of God is, from necessity, a joyful man. His sins are forgiven, his soul is justified, his person is adopted, his trials are blessings, his conflicts are victories, his death is immortality, his future is a heaven of inconceivable, unthought of, untold and endless blessedness. With such a God, such a Savior and such a hope, is he not, ought he not, to be a joyful man? –Octavius Winslow
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