"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:2) *****
The salvation of sinners does not mean that God casts aside His justice and instead shows mercy. Mercy is never shown at the expense of justice, but rather on the basis of justice satisfied by the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ. – Pastor Jim Byrd *****
Divine Sovereignty - Great Consolation The Lord instructed Jeremiah to visit the potter’s house and there he learned that the Lord not only has the right to do what He wills with His own, but He exercises that right. "O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel" (Jeremiah 18:6). My friends, when the people of God encounter danger, difficulty, disease and death, there is no truth that will comfort the worried mind, sooth the troubled soul and calm the anxious heart as being assured that our Lord sovereignly controls all things. Now, if we give way to carnal reason and distrust, we will quickly be discouraged, dismayed and disheartened. The hymn writer said, "Blind unbelief is sure to err and scan His work in vain." Child of God, let us confront the question God asks, "Cannot I do with you as this potter?" Are we not His property? Are we not His children, His offspring, His precious jewels? Are we not His Israel, chosen in Christ unto salvation before the world began? Did He not redeem us with the blood of His own dear Son? Has He not promised that "All things work together for good to them that love God?" These things being so, let us pray for grace to not merely submit to the sovereignty of the Lord, but to rejoice and be glad in Him who does all things well! "Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let men say among the nations, The LORD reigneth" (1 Chronicles 16:31). –Pastor Jim Byrd *****
The Glory of the Gospel "According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God." (1 Timothy 1:11) The ceremonial law contained many a type and shadow of Messiah; but the gospel is the history of His advent and mediatorial work. The ceremonial law pointed to the coming Prince of Peace; but the gospel brings Him to His throne, and puts the crown upon His head. Christ is "the brightness of the Father’s glory, and the express image of His person;" and Moses and Aaron are lost in His light, as the moon and the stars are lost in the blaze of the rising sun. The excellence of His person, the merit of His sacrifice, and the utility of His offices, give Him an immense superiority. The many prophets, priests and kings of the former dispensation, were but the shadows cast by the one great Prophet, Priest and King, which indicated His coming. A light arose from the cross of Calvary, which turned the black cloud on Sinai into a pillar of glory.
Typical blood shielded the children of Israel from the arm of the destroying angel, healed the leper, anointed to holy offices, atoned for ceremonial sins, and sealed the covenant of God with His people; but never cancelled the sinner’s debt, nor satisfied his conscience, nor sanctified his affections, nor calmed his trembling spirit in the hour of death. All these blessings, however, flow from the blood of Christ–these, and infinitely more–more than tongue can tell, or heart conceive.
The gospel is emphatically the ministration of mercy–the covenant of grace, "ordered in all things and sure"–a goodly ship, freighted with the bread of life and commanded by the Son of God, Who has steered into the harbor of our famishing world, and is dispensing the precious provision to all His people. These are the "sure mercies of David." –Christmas Evans
Older
Top
