Ancient Hymn
Jesus is the chiefest good;
He has saved us by His blood;
Let us value nought but Him
Nothing else deserves esteem.
Jesus, when stern Justice said,
"Man his life has forfeited,
Vengeance follows by decree,"
Cried, "Inflict it all on Me."
Jesus gives us life and peace,
Faith, and love, and holiness;
Every blessing, great or small,
Jesus for us purchased all.
Jesus therefore let us own.
Jesus we'll exalt alone.
Jesus has our sins forgiven.
Jesus' blood has bought us heaven.
(Tune: "When I Survey" #118)
Christ is physician and medicine, priest and victim, Redeemer and
redemption, law maker and law, Doorkeeper and door, sower and seed. For the
gospel itself is nothing else than Christ incarnate, born, preaching, dying,
rising, and sending the Holy Spirit, collecting the church, and sanctifying
it and guiding it. Salmeron
CHRIST MUST HAVE THE PREEMINENCE Col. 1:18
Christ Jesus is first in ALL THINGS. He must have the pre-eminence! 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 and in the
world to come. When the Scripture says, "He is the first fruits of them that
rise again" (I 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. 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. "All hail the power of Jesus'
name!"
- Pastor Henry Mahan
Perfect
Perfect, complete, without blemish, holy, blameless, spotless, these are
just a few of the words the scriptures uses to describe Gods saints.
We do not feel that we are any of these things in ourselves, but feelings
does not change what God says about us. Do we believe what we see in
ourselves or what God says about us?
God describes us with these glorious words because of what our Lord Jesus
Christ accomplished for us by his holy sinless life and his sacrificial
death for us on the cross.
God word describes us as what we are in Christ. Thanks be unto God for his
unspeakable gift. Pastor
"He that believeth on the Son HATH EVERLASTING LIFE" Jn. 3:36
The text does not say, "He that believeth on the Son SHALL HAVE LIFE", but
rather..."HATH LIFE". He that believeth already has eternal life. That is
why he believeth! Faith is proof of life. Just as a dead man cannot breathe,
neither can a dead sinner believe. Just as a dead man cannot speak, neither
can a dead sinner call on the Lord. Just as a dead man cannot see, hear nor
feel, neither can a dead sinner see God's glory, hear God's Word, nor feel
his need of Christ. Just as natural life begins at conception, even so,
spiritual life begins when the Seed or Word of God is conceived in the heart
by the Spirit of God. And that Word is of Christ, the Word incarnate. That
Word planted in the heart is the life-giving gospel of Christ. That gospel
takes root in the heart, breaks the heart over sin, fills the heart with
"new things", i.e.. love for God, love for Christ, longings for God, Christ,
salvation; yes, SPIRITUAL LIFE has begun, "a new creature" has been formed
much like that new fetus in a mother's womb.
You see, faith is not life giving, but proof of life. Faith is not a work
for salvation, but a work of salvation. Faith is not what saves us, but is
certain proof God has saved us. Faith is not a condition we meet, but the
condition God's Spirit puts in us to "make us meet" (Col. 1:12). Is all this
important? Do we split theological hairs here? NO! NO! For the Glory of God
is at stake! That other (false) gospel says faith is man's work, man's will.
But no, faith is "not of yourselves, but the gift of God" (Eph. 2:8). Faith
is "according to the working of His mighty power" (Eph. 1:19). Therefore, it
is "to the praise of the glory of His grace" (Eph. 1:6)... and not rather
"to the praise of our faith."
- Pastor Paul Mahan |
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