"And He said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning Me. Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures." (Luke 24:44-45) ********************************************************************
SING THE PRAISE OF JESUS TUNE TO "‘TIS SO SWEET TO TRUST IN JESUS" - 87.87. W/CHORUS WORDS BY JIM BYRD
1. Lo! The Son of God descended, Came to set the prisoners free; Shed His blood to seal our pardon, When He died at Calvary.
CHORUS: Jesus what a wondrous Savior, He alone is all our song; Soon in glory we shall praise Him, With the blood-bought ransomed throng.
2. With the eye of faith I see Him, Hanging on the cross of shame; Dying to redeem His people, Hail the Savior’s matchless Name. CHORUS
3. Suff’ring in the stead of sinners, See His wounds and bleeding side; Bearing our reproach upon Him, For the guilty Jesus died. CHORUS
4. Christ arose in mighty power, Then ascended, sovereign King; Praise the Name of our dear Savior, Jesus governs everything. CHORUS
SCRIPTURE READINGS TODAY: MORNING: PSALM 34:1-10 EVENING: LUKE 10:1-10
THREEFOLD CONDITION OF GOD’S PEOPLE Pay attention to the way Scripture sets forth the condition of the Lord’s people with regards to the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. Our condition by nature. Prior to the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit we were "without Christ." "That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12). To be sure, we were chosen unto salvation and our debt of sin had already been paid by the cross-death of our Savior, but we naturally had no love for Him, no interest in Him, no knowledge of Him, no faith in Him and the gospel of His redeeming blood and justifying righteousness was meaningless to us.
2. Our condition by grace. The Lord’s people are in eternal union with the Son of God. We were "sanctified in Christ" (1 Corinthians 1:2), set apart in everlasting love to be the people of God. We were "blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ," and "chosen in Him before the foundation of the world." (Ephesians 1:3-4). The children of the Lord were "sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ" (Jude 1) and this was all "to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein God hath made us accepted in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1:6). Every sinner in whose stead the Savior died and arose is "made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21) and, we "are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power" (Colossians 2:10). By the gracious, life-giving power of the Holy Spirit we "believe on the Name of the Son of God" (1 John 5:13).
3. Our condition in eternity. In heaven’s glory, all the people of God will be with Christ. Paul was "confident and willing rather to be absent from the body and present with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8). "Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him" (1 Thessalonians 5:10). Someday all of Jehovah’s chosen, redeemed and called ones will "meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words" (1 Thessalonians 4:17-18). –Pastor Jim Byrd ***
THE ANVIL AND THE HAMMERS –John Clifford I stood one evening beside the blacksmith’s door And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime, And looking in I saw upon the floor Old hammers worn with years of beating time. "How many anvils have you had," said I, "To wear and beat these hammers so?" "Just one," the blacksmith said with twinkling eye, "The anvil wears the hammers out, you know." And so I thought the anvil of God’s Word For ages skeptic blows have beat upon, And though the sound of clanging blows is heard, The anvil is unharmed, the hammers gone. ***
SALVATION IS CHRIST’S RESPONSIBILITY Christ is to be answerable for all those that are given to Him, at the last day, and therefore we need not doubt but that He will certainly employ all the power of His Godhead to secure and save all those that He must be accountable for. Christ’s charge and care of these that are given to Him extends even to the very day of their resurrection, that He may not so much as lose their dust, but gather it together again, and raise it up in glory to be a proof of His fidelity; for, saith He, "of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day" (John 6:39). –Thomas Brooks
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