“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen”
Hebrews 13:20-21
I’ve been meditating much lately on the life of Christ – specifically how settled and perfect the gospel narratives of Christ’s life are. From the moment our Savior was born incarnate every moment of His life was sure. Nothing was in question – there was never a moment in reading any of the narratives that there might be an inkling of a moment of even the hint of failure. As I think about the life of Christ time and time again the leaders wanted to trap Him in a saying and to kill Him and time and time again with absolute surety the gospels tell us that He slipped out of their reach “because His time had not yet come”. There was no touching the King of kings.
It was not until Christ willingly gave up His life into the hands of wicked men that we see His time coming and even then they are able to do nothing more to Him than was was predetermined by God before time began. There was also absolutely nothing coming in the way of His atoning, sacrificial death. What God promised before the foundation of the world and what He promised to Adam and Eve, to Abraham, to Moses and all the great prophets came to absolute perfection without even a hint of something possibly causing the plan to fail.
Now we come to the promise of Christ’s second advent. We come to scenes of comfort even in martyrdom knowing that the souls of those in Christ who die are safe and secure in Him. And yes, a promise just as secure as the very promise of His atoning death and resurrection. We also see later on in Revelation how the world led by Satan tried with all its might to destroy the very Prince of Peace – the very King of kings and in one small verse we read that Christ slaughters the very world that is trying so desperately to kill the Lamb and His bride. (Rev. 17:14)
There is no shifting sand in Christ. He truly is the Rock that does not move, nor sleep nor shake. The world is constantly in flux – turning here and there in desperate attempts to satisfy the flesh and the lusts of the mind and heart. The soul happy in Christ is satisfied with His very presence. He is everything. Just like the feeding of the multitudes who were satisfied the very Bread from heaven is our true sustenance and food that fully satisfies and causes us to see the world as it is – a passing vanity fair able to give nothing but pain, disappointment and death.
I am amazed at the absolute perfection and surety of God in Christ. May we cling to these promises setting our minds on things above and not on things of the earth. May we rejoice in knowing that our God does not change (Malachi 3:6) and that He is faithful and true and everything He says will take place in His perfect timing. This allows us to truly understand the importance of being anxious for nothing does it not? (Philippians 4:6) What a joy to have our eyes opened to these glorious truths and to give all glory to God for shining in our hearts the knowledge of His glory in the face of His precious Son by the power of the Holy Spirit of truth and grace. (2 Corinthians 4:6)
Soli Deo Gloria
There is no doubt that one of the most misunderstood things in the Christian life is prayer. What is it? How is it done? Do we actually hear from God when we pray? Does prayer itself have power? Are demons afraid of prayer? The list goes on. Dan Phillips over at Team Pyro has thrown together a very straight forward article on prayer. It’s sure to make some angry and others to slap your forehead and say, “now I understand!”
So check it out and head back and let me know what you think of his view on prayer! And while you’re at it, take the poll question on prayer over to your right.
“I am quite aware that when a man expresses such opinions as those I have just brought forward there are many ready to say, “He is no Churchman.” I hear such accusations unmoved. The day of judgment will show who were the true friends of the Church of England and who were not. I have learned in the last thirty-two years that if a clergyman leads a quiet life, lets alone the unconverted part of the world, and preaches so as to offend none and edify none, he will be called by many “a good Churchman.”
And I have also learned that if a man studies the Articles and Homilies, labors continually for the conversion of souls, adheres closely to the great principles of the Reformation, bears a faithful testimony against popery, and preaches as Jewell and Latimer used to preach, he will probably be thought a firebrand and “troubler of Israel,” and called no Churchman at all! But I can see plainly that they are not the best Churchmen who talk most loudly about Churchmanship.”
- J.C. Ryle from The Fallibility of Ministers
“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” – Jude 24-25
“But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3:7-11
From Desiring God by John Piper:
“Sometimes the slogan “All truth is God’s truth” is used to justify dealing in any sphere of knowledge as an act of worship or stewardship. The impression is given that just knowing God’s truth and recognizing it as such is a good thing, even a worthy end. But the problem with this is that the devil does it.
“If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.” (1Corinthians 8:2-3). Which I take to mean that until we know in such a way that we love God more because of it, we do not yet know as we ought to know.”
This is Bob Jennings in such a wonderful presentation on purity of devotion to Christ in 2 Cor. 11:2. This is such a powerful message and delivered with such godly love.
Yep, the English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible is now available (I’m guessing for a limited time) for free for several platforms including online, for the Kindle, eSword and the iPhone/iPod Touch. This is one of the best translations of Scripture out there and way to go Crossway for making this available for free.
To download it for your platform, check out this post: http://theologica.blogspot.com/2009/03/free-esv.html
“Oh the excellency of the doctrine of election, and of the saints’ final perseverance, to those who are truly sealed by the Spirit of promise! I am persuaded, till a man comes to believe and feel these important truths, he cannot come out of himself; but when convinced of these, and assured of the application of them to his own heart, he then walks by faith indeed, not in himself but in the Son of God, who died and gave himself for him. Love, not fear, constrains him to obedience.”
- George Whitefield (1714-1770)
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