"If any man cometh unto Me, and hateth not his own life, HE CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE. Whosoever doth not bear his own cross, and come after Me, CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE. Whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, HE CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE." Luke 14:26-33.
For the third time Christ speaks about bearing the cross. He gives new meaning to it when He says that a man must hate his own life and renounce all that he has. Thrice over He solemnly repeats the words that without this a man cannot be His disciple.
"If a man hate not his own life." And why does Christ make such an exacting demand the condition of discipleship? Because the sinful nature we have inherited from Adam is indeed so vile and full of sin that, if our eyes were only opened to see it in its true nature, we would flee from it as loathsome and incurably evil. 'The flesh is enmity against God"; the soul that seeks to love God cannot but hate the "old man" which is corrupt through its whole being. Nothing less than this, the hating of our own life, will make us willing to bear the cross and carry within us the sentence of death on our evil nature. It is not till we hate this life with a deadly hatred that we will be ready to give up the old nature to die the death that is its due.
Christ has one word more: "He that renounceth not all that he hath," whether in property or character, "cannot be My disciple." Christ claims all. Christ undertakes to satisfy every need and to give a hundredfold more than we give up. It is when by faith we become conscious what it means to know Christ, and to love Him and to receive from Him what can in very deed enrich and satisfy our immortal spirits, that we shall count the surrender of what at first appeared so difficult, our highest privilege. As we learn what it means that Christ is our life, we shall count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord. In the path of following Him, and ever learning to know and to love Him better, we shall willingly sacrifice all, self with its life, to make room for Him who is more than all.
(Andrew Murray - Secrets Of The Cross - Eighth Day)
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
I Will Never Tire Of The Gospel!
I will never tire of hearing the gospel preached! I am a sinner who deserves the wrath of a Just and Holy God. If He were to send me to hell, I would deserve it - for I have broken His laws, ignored his commands, rebelled against his authority and sought to establish my own throne. For most of my life I have lived for self, done what I want, when I want, with little or no regard for God or his creatures (humanity). Such anarchy, such treason, such rebellion deserves to be punished! Yet, even though I was an enemy of God, living after the pleasures of this world - he did not crush me in His anger, or cut me off in His wrath. Instead he sent His Son Jesus Christ to suffer and die on the cross in my place - to take the punishment that I deserve. Though I broke His law, I found that Jesus was willing to pay my fine! I am humbled by such love and mercy! Make no mistake - God is a just God and will not let sin go unpunished! For those who refuse to repent, to turn and call upon the Lord for salvation - there will be no hope. For those who refuse to cry out for mercy and die in their sins - there will be great suffering in hell. There will be just punishment for sinners. But for those who repent, who turn and call upon the Lord for mercy, who trust in Him to save them - there will be joy unspeakable! They will be ransomed! Christ will surely save them! They will be pardoned, set free, forgiven - and will dwell with their God forever! Can a pardoned sinner ever tire of hearing such good news preached? I can’t!
Self Denial!
"Then said Jesus unto His disciples, 'If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.'" --Matthew 16:24.
Christ had for the first time definitely announced that He would have to suffer much and be killed and be raised again. "Peter rebuked Him, saying, 'Be it far from Thee, Lord; this shall never be unto Thee.'" Christ's answer was, "Get thee behind Me, Satan." The spirit of Peter, seeking to turn Him away from the cross and its suffering, was nothing but Satan tempting Him to turn aside from the path which God had appointed as our way of salvation.
Christ then adds the words of our text, in which He uses for the second time the words "take up the cross." But with that He uses a most significant expression revealing what is implied in the cross: "If any man come after Me, LET HIM DENY HIMSELF, and take up his cross." When Adam sinned, he fell out of the life of heaven and of God into the life of the world and of self. Self-pleasing, self-sufficiency, self-exaltation, become the law of his life. When Jesus Christ came to restore man to his original place, "being in the form of God, HE EMPTIED HIMSELF, taking the form of a servant, and HUMBLED HIMSELF even to the death of the cross." What He has done Himself He asks of all who desire to follow Him: "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself."
Instead of denying himself, Peter denied his Lord: "I know not the man." When a man learns to obey Christ's commands, he says of HIMSELF: "I know not the man." The secret of true discipleship is to bear the cross, to acknowledge the death sentence that has been passed on self, and to deny any right that self has to rule over us.
Death to self is to be the Christian's watchword. The surrender to Christ is to be so entire, the surrender for Christ's sake to live for those around us so complete, that self is never allowed to come down from the cross to which it has been crucified, but is ever kept in the place of death.
Let us listen to the voice of Jesus: "Deny self"; and ask that by the grace of the Holy Spirit, as the disciples of a Christ who denied Himself for us, we may ever live as those in whom self has been crucified with Christ, and in whom the crucified Christ now lives as Lord and Master.
(Andrew Murray - Secrets Of The Cross - Seventh Day)
Christ had for the first time definitely announced that He would have to suffer much and be killed and be raised again. "Peter rebuked Him, saying, 'Be it far from Thee, Lord; this shall never be unto Thee.'" Christ's answer was, "Get thee behind Me, Satan." The spirit of Peter, seeking to turn Him away from the cross and its suffering, was nothing but Satan tempting Him to turn aside from the path which God had appointed as our way of salvation.
Christ then adds the words of our text, in which He uses for the second time the words "take up the cross." But with that He uses a most significant expression revealing what is implied in the cross: "If any man come after Me, LET HIM DENY HIMSELF, and take up his cross." When Adam sinned, he fell out of the life of heaven and of God into the life of the world and of self. Self-pleasing, self-sufficiency, self-exaltation, become the law of his life. When Jesus Christ came to restore man to his original place, "being in the form of God, HE EMPTIED HIMSELF, taking the form of a servant, and HUMBLED HIMSELF even to the death of the cross." What He has done Himself He asks of all who desire to follow Him: "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself."
Instead of denying himself, Peter denied his Lord: "I know not the man." When a man learns to obey Christ's commands, he says of HIMSELF: "I know not the man." The secret of true discipleship is to bear the cross, to acknowledge the death sentence that has been passed on self, and to deny any right that self has to rule over us.
Death to self is to be the Christian's watchword. The surrender to Christ is to be so entire, the surrender for Christ's sake to live for those around us so complete, that self is never allowed to come down from the cross to which it has been crucified, but is ever kept in the place of death.
Let us listen to the voice of Jesus: "Deny self"; and ask that by the grace of the Holy Spirit, as the disciples of a Christ who denied Himself for us, we may ever live as those in whom self has been crucified with Christ, and in whom the crucified Christ now lives as Lord and Master.
(Andrew Murray - Secrets Of The Cross - Seventh Day)
Friday, May 28, 2010
Bearing The Cross!
"He that doth not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He that loseth his life for My sake shall find it." --Matthew 10:38-39.
We have had some of Paul's great words to the Galatians about the cross and our being crucified with Christ. Let us now turn to the Master Himself to hear what He has to teach us. We shall find that what Paul could teach openly and fully after the crucifixion, was given by the Master in words that could at first hardly be understood, and yet contained the seed of the full truth.
It was in the ordination charge, when Christ sent forth His disciples, that He first used the expression that the disciple must take up his cross and follow Him.
The only meaning the disciples could attach to these words was from what they had often seen, when an evil-doer who had been sentenced to death by the cross was led out bearing his cross to the place of execution. In bearing the cross, he acknowledged the sentence of death that was on him. And Christ would have His disciples understand that their nature was so evil and corrupt that it was only in losing their natural life that they could find the true life. Of Himself it was true that all His life He bore His cross -- the sentence of death that He knew to rest upon Himself on account of our sins. And so He would have each disciple bear his cross -- the sentence of death upon himself and his evil, carnal nature.
The disciples could not at once understand all this. But Christ gave them seed words, which would germinate in their hearts and later on begin to reveal their full meaning. The disciple was not only to carry the sentence of death in himself, but to learn that in following the Master to His cross he would find the power to lose his life and to receive instead of it the life that would come through the cross of Christ.
Christ asks of His disciples that they should forsake all and take up their cross, give up their whole will and life, and follow Him. The call comes to us too to give up the self life with its self-pleasing and self-exaltation, and bear the cross in fellowship with Him -- and so shall we be made partakers of His victory.
(Andrew Murray - Secrets Of The Cross - Sixth Day)
We have had some of Paul's great words to the Galatians about the cross and our being crucified with Christ. Let us now turn to the Master Himself to hear what He has to teach us. We shall find that what Paul could teach openly and fully after the crucifixion, was given by the Master in words that could at first hardly be understood, and yet contained the seed of the full truth.
It was in the ordination charge, when Christ sent forth His disciples, that He first used the expression that the disciple must take up his cross and follow Him.
The only meaning the disciples could attach to these words was from what they had often seen, when an evil-doer who had been sentenced to death by the cross was led out bearing his cross to the place of execution. In bearing the cross, he acknowledged the sentence of death that was on him. And Christ would have His disciples understand that their nature was so evil and corrupt that it was only in losing their natural life that they could find the true life. Of Himself it was true that all His life He bore His cross -- the sentence of death that He knew to rest upon Himself on account of our sins. And so He would have each disciple bear his cross -- the sentence of death upon himself and his evil, carnal nature.
The disciples could not at once understand all this. But Christ gave them seed words, which would germinate in their hearts and later on begin to reveal their full meaning. The disciple was not only to carry the sentence of death in himself, but to learn that in following the Master to His cross he would find the power to lose his life and to receive instead of it the life that would come through the cross of Christ.
Christ asks of His disciples that they should forsake all and take up their cross, give up their whole will and life, and follow Him. The call comes to us too to give up the self life with its self-pleasing and self-exaltation, and bear the cross in fellowship with Him -- and so shall we be made partakers of His victory.
(Andrew Murray - Secrets Of The Cross - Sixth Day)
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
The Flesh Crucified!
"They that are in Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof." --Galatians 5:24.
Of the flesh Paul teaches us (Romans 7:18), "In me, that is, IN MY FLESH, DWELLETH NO GOOD THING." And again (Romans 8:7), "The mind of the flesh is ENMITY AGAINST GOD; for it is not subject to the law of God, NEITHER INDEED CAN IT BE." When Adam lost the spirit of God, he became flesh. Flesh is the expression for the evil, corrupt nature that we inherit from Adam. Of this flesh it is written, "Our old man was crucified with Him" (Romans 6:6). And Paul puts it here even more strongly, "They that are in Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh."
When the disciples heard and obeyed the call of Jesus to follow Him, they honestly meant to do so, but as He later on taught them what that would imply, they were far from being ready to yield immediate obedience. And even so those who are Christ's and have accepted Him as the Crucified One little understand what that includes. By that act of surrender they actually have crucified the flesh and consented to regard it as an accursed thing, nailed to the cross of Christ.
Alas, how many there are who have never for a moment thought of such a thing! It may be that the preaching of Christ crucified has been defective. It may be that the truth of our being crucified with Christ has not been taught. They shrink back from the self-denial that it implies, and as a result, where the flesh is allowed in any measure to have its way, the Spirit of Christ cannot exert His power.
Paul taught the Galatians: "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh." "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the children of God." And only as the flesh is kept in the place of crucifixion can the Spirit guide us in living faith and fellowship with Christ Jesus.
Blessed Lord, how little I understood when I accepted Thee in faith that I crucified once for all the flesh with its passions and lusts! I beseech Thee humbly, teach me so to believe and so to live in Thee, the Crucified One, that with Paul I may ever glory in the cross on which the world and the flesh are crucified.
(Andrew Murray - Secrets Of The Cross - Fifth Day)
Of the flesh Paul teaches us (Romans 7:18), "In me, that is, IN MY FLESH, DWELLETH NO GOOD THING." And again (Romans 8:7), "The mind of the flesh is ENMITY AGAINST GOD; for it is not subject to the law of God, NEITHER INDEED CAN IT BE." When Adam lost the spirit of God, he became flesh. Flesh is the expression for the evil, corrupt nature that we inherit from Adam. Of this flesh it is written, "Our old man was crucified with Him" (Romans 6:6). And Paul puts it here even more strongly, "They that are in Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh."
When the disciples heard and obeyed the call of Jesus to follow Him, they honestly meant to do so, but as He later on taught them what that would imply, they were far from being ready to yield immediate obedience. And even so those who are Christ's and have accepted Him as the Crucified One little understand what that includes. By that act of surrender they actually have crucified the flesh and consented to regard it as an accursed thing, nailed to the cross of Christ.
Alas, how many there are who have never for a moment thought of such a thing! It may be that the preaching of Christ crucified has been defective. It may be that the truth of our being crucified with Christ has not been taught. They shrink back from the self-denial that it implies, and as a result, where the flesh is allowed in any measure to have its way, the Spirit of Christ cannot exert His power.
Paul taught the Galatians: "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh." "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the children of God." And only as the flesh is kept in the place of crucifixion can the Spirit guide us in living faith and fellowship with Christ Jesus.
Blessed Lord, how little I understood when I accepted Thee in faith that I crucified once for all the flesh with its passions and lusts! I beseech Thee humbly, teach me so to believe and so to live in Thee, the Crucified One, that with Paul I may ever glory in the cross on which the world and the flesh are crucified.
(Andrew Murray - Secrets Of The Cross - Fifth Day)
Monday, May 24, 2010
Crucified To The World!
"Far be it from me to glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world hath been crucified unto me, and I unto the world." --Galatians 6:14.
What Paul had written in Galatians 2 is here in the end of the epistle confirmed, and expressed still more strongly. He speaks of his only glory being that in Christ he has in very deed been crucified to the world and entirely delivered from its power. When he said "I have been crucified with Christ," it was not only an inner spiritual truth, but an actual, practical experience in relation to the world and its temptations. Christ had spoken about the world hating Him, and His having overcome the world. Paul knows that the world, which nailed Christ to the cross, had in that deed done the same to him. He boasts that he lives as one crucified to the world, and that now the world as an impotent enemy was crucified to him. It was this that made him glory in the cross of Christ. It had wrought out a complete deliverance from the world.
How very different the relation of Christians to the world in our day! They agree that they may not commit the sins that the world allows. But except for that they are good friends with the world, and have liberty to enjoy as much of it as they can, if they only keep from open sin. They do not know that the most dangerous source of sin is the love of the world with its lusts and pleasures.
O Christian, when the world crucified Christ, it crucified you with Him, When Christ overcame the world on the cross, He made you an overcomer too. He calls you now, at whatever cost of self-denial, to regard the world, in its hostility to God and His kingdom, as a crucified enemy over whom the cross can ever keep you conqueror.
What a different relationship to the pleasures and attractions of the world the Christian has who by the Holy Spirit has learned to say: "I have been crucified with Christ; the crucified Christ liveth in me!" Let us pray God fervently that the Holy Spirit, through whom Christ offered Himself on the cross, may reveal to us in power what it means to "glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world had been crucified unto me."
(Andrew Murray - Secrets Of The Cross - Fourth Day)
What Paul had written in Galatians 2 is here in the end of the epistle confirmed, and expressed still more strongly. He speaks of his only glory being that in Christ he has in very deed been crucified to the world and entirely delivered from its power. When he said "I have been crucified with Christ," it was not only an inner spiritual truth, but an actual, practical experience in relation to the world and its temptations. Christ had spoken about the world hating Him, and His having overcome the world. Paul knows that the world, which nailed Christ to the cross, had in that deed done the same to him. He boasts that he lives as one crucified to the world, and that now the world as an impotent enemy was crucified to him. It was this that made him glory in the cross of Christ. It had wrought out a complete deliverance from the world.
How very different the relation of Christians to the world in our day! They agree that they may not commit the sins that the world allows. But except for that they are good friends with the world, and have liberty to enjoy as much of it as they can, if they only keep from open sin. They do not know that the most dangerous source of sin is the love of the world with its lusts and pleasures.
O Christian, when the world crucified Christ, it crucified you with Him, When Christ overcame the world on the cross, He made you an overcomer too. He calls you now, at whatever cost of self-denial, to regard the world, in its hostility to God and His kingdom, as a crucified enemy over whom the cross can ever keep you conqueror.
What a different relationship to the pleasures and attractions of the world the Christian has who by the Holy Spirit has learned to say: "I have been crucified with Christ; the crucified Christ liveth in me!" Let us pray God fervently that the Holy Spirit, through whom Christ offered Himself on the cross, may reveal to us in power what it means to "glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world had been crucified unto me."
(Andrew Murray - Secrets Of The Cross - Fourth Day)
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Crucified With Christ
"I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me." -- Galatians 2:20.
The thought of fellowship with Christ in His bearing the cross has often led to the vain attempt in our own power to follow Him and bear His image. But this is impossible to man until he first learns to know something of what it means to say, "I have been crucified with Christ."
Let us try to understand this. When Adam died, all his descendants died with him and in him. In his sin in Paradise, and in the spiritual death into which he fell, I had a share: I died in him. And the power of that sin and death, in which all his descendants share, works in every child of Adam every day.
Christ came as the second Adam. In His death on the cross all who believe in Him had a share. Each one may say in truth, "I have been crucified with Christ." As the representative of His people, He took them up with Him on the cross, and me too. The life that He gives is the crucified life, in which He entered heaven and was exalted to the throne, standing as a Lamb as it had been slain. The power of His death and life work in me, and as I hold fast the truth that I have been crucified with Him, and that now I myself live no more but Christ liveth in me, I receive power to conquer sin; the life that I have received from Him is a life that has been crucified and made free from the power of sin.
We have here a deep and very precious truth. Most Christians have but little knowledge of it. That knowledge is not gained easily or speedily. It needs a great longing in very deed to be dead to all sin. It needs a strong faith, wrought by the Holy Spirit, that the union with Christ crucified -- the fellowship of His cross -- can day by day become our life. The life that He lives in heaven has its strength and its glory in the fact that it is a crucified life. And the life that He imparts to the believing disciple is even so a crucified life with its victory over sin and its power of access into God's presence.
It is in very deed true that I no longer live, but Christ liveth in me as a Crucified One. As faith realizes and holds fast the fact that the crucified Christ lives in me, life in the fellowship of the cross becomes a possibility and a blessed experience.
(Andrew Murray - Secrets Of The Cross - Third Day)
The thought of fellowship with Christ in His bearing the cross has often led to the vain attempt in our own power to follow Him and bear His image. But this is impossible to man until he first learns to know something of what it means to say, "I have been crucified with Christ."
Let us try to understand this. When Adam died, all his descendants died with him and in him. In his sin in Paradise, and in the spiritual death into which he fell, I had a share: I died in him. And the power of that sin and death, in which all his descendants share, works in every child of Adam every day.
Christ came as the second Adam. In His death on the cross all who believe in Him had a share. Each one may say in truth, "I have been crucified with Christ." As the representative of His people, He took them up with Him on the cross, and me too. The life that He gives is the crucified life, in which He entered heaven and was exalted to the throne, standing as a Lamb as it had been slain. The power of His death and life work in me, and as I hold fast the truth that I have been crucified with Him, and that now I myself live no more but Christ liveth in me, I receive power to conquer sin; the life that I have received from Him is a life that has been crucified and made free from the power of sin.
We have here a deep and very precious truth. Most Christians have but little knowledge of it. That knowledge is not gained easily or speedily. It needs a great longing in very deed to be dead to all sin. It needs a strong faith, wrought by the Holy Spirit, that the union with Christ crucified -- the fellowship of His cross -- can day by day become our life. The life that He lives in heaven has its strength and its glory in the fact that it is a crucified life. And the life that He imparts to the believing disciple is even so a crucified life with its victory over sin and its power of access into God's presence.
It is in very deed true that I no longer live, but Christ liveth in me as a Crucified One. As faith realizes and holds fast the fact that the crucified Christ lives in me, life in the fellowship of the cross becomes a possibility and a blessed experience.
(Andrew Murray - Secrets Of The Cross - Third Day)
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
The Fellowship Of The Cross
"Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus." --Philippians 2:5.
Paul here tells us what that mind was in Christ: He emptied Himself; He took the form of a servant; He humbled Himself, even to the death of the cross. It is this mind that was in Christ, the deep humility that gave up His life to the very death, that is to be the spirit that animates us. It is thus that we shall prove and enjoy the blessed fellowship of His cross.
Paul had said (ver.1): "If there is any comfort in Christ," -- the Comforter was come to reveal His real presence in them -- "if any fellowship of the Spirit," -- it was in this power of the Spirit that they were to breathe the Spirit of the crucified Christ and manifest His disposition in the fellowship of the cross in their lives.
As they strove to do this, they would feel the need of a deeper insight into their real oneness with Christ. They would learn to appreciate the truth that they had been crucified with Christ, that their "old man" had been crucified, and that they had died to sin in Christ's death and were living to God in His life. They would learn to know what it meant that the crucified Christ lived in them, and that they had crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts. It was because the crucified Jesus lived in them that they could live crucified to the world.
And so they would gradually enter more deeply into the meaning and the power of their high calling to live as those who were dead to sin and the world and self. Each in his own measure would bear about in his life the marks of the cross, with its sentence of death on the flesh, with its hating of the self life and its entire denial of self, with its growing conformity to the crucified Redeemer in His deep humility and entire surrender of His will to the life of God.
It is no easy school and no hurried learning -- this school of the cross. But it will lead to a deeper apprehension and a higher appreciation of the redemption of the cross, through the personal experience of the fellowship of the cross.
(Andrew Murray - Secrets Of The Cross - Second Day)
Paul here tells us what that mind was in Christ: He emptied Himself; He took the form of a servant; He humbled Himself, even to the death of the cross. It is this mind that was in Christ, the deep humility that gave up His life to the very death, that is to be the spirit that animates us. It is thus that we shall prove and enjoy the blessed fellowship of His cross.
Paul had said (ver.1): "If there is any comfort in Christ," -- the Comforter was come to reveal His real presence in them -- "if any fellowship of the Spirit," -- it was in this power of the Spirit that they were to breathe the Spirit of the crucified Christ and manifest His disposition in the fellowship of the cross in their lives.
As they strove to do this, they would feel the need of a deeper insight into their real oneness with Christ. They would learn to appreciate the truth that they had been crucified with Christ, that their "old man" had been crucified, and that they had died to sin in Christ's death and were living to God in His life. They would learn to know what it meant that the crucified Christ lived in them, and that they had crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts. It was because the crucified Jesus lived in them that they could live crucified to the world.
And so they would gradually enter more deeply into the meaning and the power of their high calling to live as those who were dead to sin and the world and self. Each in his own measure would bear about in his life the marks of the cross, with its sentence of death on the flesh, with its hating of the self life and its entire denial of self, with its growing conformity to the crucified Redeemer in His deep humility and entire surrender of His will to the life of God.
It is no easy school and no hurried learning -- this school of the cross. But it will lead to a deeper apprehension and a higher appreciation of the redemption of the cross, through the personal experience of the fellowship of the cross.
(Andrew Murray - Secrets Of The Cross - Second Day)
The Chief Of Excuses
Here's a conversation between the Chief of Excuses (CE) arguing with God about going on a missions trip...
CE: God what about my house, and paying my...
God: Well sell your house. Seek first My kingdom and righteousness and these things will be given to you as well.
CE: But God, what about my Job...
God: Well quite your job, I am your provider.
CE: But my children's education, they...
God: Well home school them.
CE: But how do I know you really want me to go...
God: It is already written, I said 'Go'
CE: But I’m not qualified, how can I...
God: Lean not on your own understanding, trust in me
CE: But God, it might cost me my...
God: Well make the payment!
(I read this on a mates blog and had to re-post it! He is due to arrive in Thailand in about 11 hours with his family to begin work with orphaned children. Please keep them in your prayers... you can follow their journey here: http://missionthailand.yolasite.com)
CE: God what about my house, and paying my...
God: Well sell your house. Seek first My kingdom and righteousness and these things will be given to you as well.
CE: But God, what about my Job...
God: Well quite your job, I am your provider.
CE: But my children's education, they...
God: Well home school them.
CE: But how do I know you really want me to go...
God: It is already written, I said 'Go'
CE: But I’m not qualified, how can I...
God: Lean not on your own understanding, trust in me
CE: But God, it might cost me my...
God: Well make the payment!
(I read this on a mates blog and had to re-post it! He is due to arrive in Thailand in about 11 hours with his family to begin work with orphaned children. Please keep them in your prayers... you can follow their journey here: http://missionthailand.yolasite.com)
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
The Redemption Of The Cross
"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us." --Galatians 3:13.
Scripture teaches us that there are two points of view from which we may regard Christ's death upon the cross. The one is the REDEMPTION OF THE CROSS: Christ dying for us as our complete deliverance from the curse of sin. The other, THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE CROSS: Christ taking us up to die with Him, and making us partakers of the fellowship of His death in our own experience.
In our text we have three great unsearchable thoughts. The law of God has pronounced a curse on all sin and on all that is sinful. Christ took our curse upon Him -- yea, became a curse -- and so destroyed its power, and in that cross we now have the everlasting redemption from sin and all its power. The cross reveals to us man's sin as under the curse, Christ becoming a curse and so overcoming it, and our full and everlasting deliverance from the curse.
In these thoughts the lost and most hopeless sinner finds a sure ground of confidence and of hope. God had indeed in Paradise pronounced a curse upon this earth and all that belongs to it. On Mount Ebal, in connection with giving the law, half of the people of Israel were twelve times over to pronounce a curse on all sin. And there was to be in their midst a continual reminder of it: "Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree" (Deuteronomy 21:23, 27:15-20). And yet who could ever have thought that the Son of God Himself would die upon the accursed tree, and become a curse for us? But such is in very deed the gospel of God's love, and the penitent sinner can now rejoice in the confident assurance that the curse is forever put away from all who believe in Christ Jesus.
The preaching of the redemption of the cross is the foundation and center of the salvation the gospel brings us. To those who believe its full truth it is a cause of unceasing thanksgiving. It gives us boldness to rejoice in God. There is nothing which will keep the heart more tender towards God, enabling us to live in His love and to make Him known to those who have never yet found Him. God be praised for the redemption of the cross!
(Andrew Murray - Secrets Of The Cross - First Day)
Scripture teaches us that there are two points of view from which we may regard Christ's death upon the cross. The one is the REDEMPTION OF THE CROSS: Christ dying for us as our complete deliverance from the curse of sin. The other, THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE CROSS: Christ taking us up to die with Him, and making us partakers of the fellowship of His death in our own experience.
In our text we have three great unsearchable thoughts. The law of God has pronounced a curse on all sin and on all that is sinful. Christ took our curse upon Him -- yea, became a curse -- and so destroyed its power, and in that cross we now have the everlasting redemption from sin and all its power. The cross reveals to us man's sin as under the curse, Christ becoming a curse and so overcoming it, and our full and everlasting deliverance from the curse.
In these thoughts the lost and most hopeless sinner finds a sure ground of confidence and of hope. God had indeed in Paradise pronounced a curse upon this earth and all that belongs to it. On Mount Ebal, in connection with giving the law, half of the people of Israel were twelve times over to pronounce a curse on all sin. And there was to be in their midst a continual reminder of it: "Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree" (Deuteronomy 21:23, 27:15-20). And yet who could ever have thought that the Son of God Himself would die upon the accursed tree, and become a curse for us? But such is in very deed the gospel of God's love, and the penitent sinner can now rejoice in the confident assurance that the curse is forever put away from all who believe in Christ Jesus.
The preaching of the redemption of the cross is the foundation and center of the salvation the gospel brings us. To those who believe its full truth it is a cause of unceasing thanksgiving. It gives us boldness to rejoice in God. There is nothing which will keep the heart more tender towards God, enabling us to live in His love and to make Him known to those who have never yet found Him. God be praised for the redemption of the cross!
(Andrew Murray - Secrets Of The Cross - First Day)
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Have You Received Him?
"Yet to all who received Him . . . He gave the right to become children of God" John 1:12
Some in their understanding, assent to the way of salvation--yet do not consent to it with their will. In judgment they are for Christ--but in affection they are for other things. There is only a part of their soul that is for Christ. Others would have the benefits that are from Christ--but have no love for the person of Christ.
Some would have Christ only as a Savior--but not as a Lord. They desire Him only as a Priest to offer a sacrifice for their sins--but not as a Prophet to instruct them, nor as a King to rule over them. So that it is but part of Christ, that they would receive.
But both of these courses are equally dangerous; for, if we would be saved, we must cleave to Christ with all the faculties of the soul--with will, judgment, affection, etc. And so, again, we must cleave to the whole of Christ--Christ in His natures, person, offices, etc. If, therefore, you would rightly receive Christ, see that your whole soul receives a whole Christ.
(Thomas Sherman, "Aids to the Divine Life--A Series of Practical Christian Contemplations" 1680)
Some in their understanding, assent to the way of salvation--yet do not consent to it with their will. In judgment they are for Christ--but in affection they are for other things. There is only a part of their soul that is for Christ. Others would have the benefits that are from Christ--but have no love for the person of Christ.
Some would have Christ only as a Savior--but not as a Lord. They desire Him only as a Priest to offer a sacrifice for their sins--but not as a Prophet to instruct them, nor as a King to rule over them. So that it is but part of Christ, that they would receive.
But both of these courses are equally dangerous; for, if we would be saved, we must cleave to Christ with all the faculties of the soul--with will, judgment, affection, etc. And so, again, we must cleave to the whole of Christ--Christ in His natures, person, offices, etc. If, therefore, you would rightly receive Christ, see that your whole soul receives a whole Christ.
(Thomas Sherman, "Aids to the Divine Life--A Series of Practical Christian Contemplations" 1680)
Saturday, May 1, 2010
You Must Look To Christ Alone!
Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation - Luke 2:28-30
Here we see a physical expression of a spiritual truth. As Simeon took up Christ in his arms and gazed upon him, so also must we lay hold of Christ and look to him and him alone for our salvation - as it were - through our eyes of faith.
I remember when I was desperately searching for the answer to the question echoed in Acts 16 by the Jailer at Philippi - What must I do to be saved?
Unlike Simeon, who set his eyes solely upon the Saviour, I thought surely there are a great many things I must do to present myself acceptable to the Lord. I tried to satisfy the laws requirements. I tried to increase in virtue and good character. I tried to present myself acceptable before a just and holy God. I tried, as Charles Finney says, “to build dams of sand across the current of my own corruption”. Just when I thought I’d stopped up one vile stream, the dam wall would burst and greater river of sin would spill forth. I would cry out to God for help - for help to overcome this one sin or another so that I might be saved. And there would be no answer. I was trying to save myself by keeping the righteous requirements of the law of God!
But the law of God can do only one thing. Kill a fallen man! Condemn him to die! And slowly but surely, like a man hanging on the cross with his life draining away, I found myself nailed to the rigid, inflexible law of God slowly dying to self - all hope and confidence in my flesh bleeding out and draining away.
I can’t tall you how many times I went to services where they would have an alter call, and go forward and say the “sinners prayer” as it is commonly called. Unlike Simeon who’s hope and confidence were in the Lord, I put my hope and confidence in going forward, in saying the sinners prayer, in the sincerity of how I prayed, in the plea bargains I would make with God, in the preacher preaching, in my many tears… I looked to so many things to save me - but no one ever told me to look to Christ! I never looked to Christ!
It is vitally important that this point is understood! You must look to Christ and Christ alone for salvation! He is the only one who can save you, and it is only through faith (a complete dependence upon, a complete trust) in Christ that you will be saved!
Friday, April 30, 2010
I So Needed To Read This!
Today's email from Grace Gems could not have arrived at a more opportune time!
Poor in self--rich in Jesus!
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3
The Lord's people are all poor; they see and feel that sin has stripped them of every excellence; and has left them wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked. They can do nothing of themselves, they can procure nothing for themselves; but free grace has made ample provision for them, and the Gospel informs them that Jesus has everything they need--and that all that He has, is for them!
When they look at, or into themselves--they are discouraged; but when they look to Jesus--they rejoice! He has riches of grace--and riches of glory; and He says, "Every one who asks--receives." He gives liberally, and upbraids not. Here then is the present blessedness of the Lord's poor: Jesus has all they need! And He is their Redeemer and Friend! Those who seek Him shall not lack any truly good thing.
Am I poor? If so, Jesus bids me come to Him--and buy gold, clothing, wine, and milk without price--all that is necessary to comfort and support in time, and render me happy throughout eternity! Poor in self--rich in Jesus! Poor at present--rich in eternity! "For theirs is the kingdom of heaven!"
"All things are yours!" 1 Corinthians 3:21
"And my God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus!" Philippians 4:19
(James Smith, "The Pastor's Morning Visit")
Poor in self--rich in Jesus!
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3
The Lord's people are all poor; they see and feel that sin has stripped them of every excellence; and has left them wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked. They can do nothing of themselves, they can procure nothing for themselves; but free grace has made ample provision for them, and the Gospel informs them that Jesus has everything they need--and that all that He has, is for them!
When they look at, or into themselves--they are discouraged; but when they look to Jesus--they rejoice! He has riches of grace--and riches of glory; and He says, "Every one who asks--receives." He gives liberally, and upbraids not. Here then is the present blessedness of the Lord's poor: Jesus has all they need! And He is their Redeemer and Friend! Those who seek Him shall not lack any truly good thing.
Am I poor? If so, Jesus bids me come to Him--and buy gold, clothing, wine, and milk without price--all that is necessary to comfort and support in time, and render me happy throughout eternity! Poor in self--rich in Jesus! Poor at present--rich in eternity! "For theirs is the kingdom of heaven!"
"All things are yours!" 1 Corinthians 3:21
"And my God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus!" Philippians 4:19
(James Smith, "The Pastor's Morning Visit")
Thursday, March 11, 2010
You Say You Want To Be Like Christ?
The art of photography is now so advanced, that a whole page of a newspaper can be taken in miniature so small--as to be carried on a little button, and yet every letter and point be perfect.
Just so, the whole life of Christ is photographed in this one little phrase, "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." Matthew 20:28
He did not come to be served--if this had been His aim, He would never have left heaven's glory, where He lacked nothing, where angels praised Him and ministered unto Him. He came to serve. He went about doing good. He altogether forgot Himself. He served all He met, who would receive His service. At last He gave His life in serving--He gave it to save others, to redeem lost souls.
You say that you want to be like Christ. You ask Him to print His own image on your heart. Here then, is the image: "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many."
It is not a vague dream of human greatness which we are to think of, when we ask to be like our Master.
The old monks thought that they were becoming like Christ--when they went into the wilderness, away from men, to live in cold cells. But surely, such a dream of uselessness is not the thought which this picture suggests. "To serve--to give our life" that is the Christ-like thing! Instead of fleeing away from people--we are to live with others, to serve them, to live for them, to seek to bless them, to do them good, to give our lives for them--that is the meaning of the prayer for Christ-likeness.
(J. R. Miller, "Devotional Hours with the Bible" 1909)
Just so, the whole life of Christ is photographed in this one little phrase, "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." Matthew 20:28
He did not come to be served--if this had been His aim, He would never have left heaven's glory, where He lacked nothing, where angels praised Him and ministered unto Him. He came to serve. He went about doing good. He altogether forgot Himself. He served all He met, who would receive His service. At last He gave His life in serving--He gave it to save others, to redeem lost souls.
You say that you want to be like Christ. You ask Him to print His own image on your heart. Here then, is the image: "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many."
It is not a vague dream of human greatness which we are to think of, when we ask to be like our Master.
The old monks thought that they were becoming like Christ--when they went into the wilderness, away from men, to live in cold cells. But surely, such a dream of uselessness is not the thought which this picture suggests. "To serve--to give our life" that is the Christ-like thing! Instead of fleeing away from people--we are to live with others, to serve them, to live for them, to seek to bless them, to do them good, to give our lives for them--that is the meaning of the prayer for Christ-likeness.
(J. R. Miller, "Devotional Hours with the Bible" 1909)
Friday, February 26, 2010
Is This Not Enough?
"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him." 1 John 4:9
Can anyone ever say to God - you didn't do enough to save me! You didn't do enough to turn my heart! What more could he have done for you? Is the atoning sacrifice of His beloved Son on account of your wickedness and rebellion not enough to move you? Is your heart so hard that His selfless, sacrificial love does not even melt it to its rotten core?
Are you one of the many who would say, "I'd know that He loves me if he gives me this such a thing or that - some earthly benefit or delight, or some easing of a great pain!"
What more do you need from God? Is what he did for you through the cross not enough? Does the washing away of your sins by the blood of His dear Son not cause you to cry out - "Lord, you have loved SO much!"
God has done all that need be done in order to demonstrate His great love for us! But if that is not enough for you then you are to be sorely pitied, for if the love of His dear Son cannot reach your heart - nothing will!
Can anyone ever say to God - you didn't do enough to save me! You didn't do enough to turn my heart! What more could he have done for you? Is the atoning sacrifice of His beloved Son on account of your wickedness and rebellion not enough to move you? Is your heart so hard that His selfless, sacrificial love does not even melt it to its rotten core?
Are you one of the many who would say, "I'd know that He loves me if he gives me this such a thing or that - some earthly benefit or delight, or some easing of a great pain!"
What more do you need from God? Is what he did for you through the cross not enough? Does the washing away of your sins by the blood of His dear Son not cause you to cry out - "Lord, you have loved SO much!"
God has done all that need be done in order to demonstrate His great love for us! But if that is not enough for you then you are to be sorely pitied, for if the love of His dear Son cannot reach your heart - nothing will!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Two Young Street Preachers Murdered
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.
Revelation 6:9-11
The murder of two young street preachers in Florida by a teenager whom they shared the Gospel with is “alarming,” said a spokesperson for a religious freedom watchdog group.
Eighteen-year-old Jeriah Woody, whose street name is “Plug,” is charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Woody allegedly shot and killed Tite Sufra, 24, and Stephen Ocean, 23, on Jan. 30 after they shared about Christ with him during the 15 minutes they talked.
Woody’s phone reportedly rang and he turned and walked away to take the call. But then he turned around again and started walking towards the street preachers. Sufra approached him and Woody allegedly shot him in the head. Ocean tried to run away, but police said Woody allegedly shot him in the back and then walked up to him and shot him again in the head at point-blank range.
The police account is based on the third street preacher that was with Sufra and Ocean when they talked to Woody. The unidentified third minister had escaped by running in the opposite direction.
Woody turned himself in on Feb. 3 and remains in jail without bond.
“We are concerned that the hate crimes against Christians could be increased in the United States,” said Jonathon Racho, regional manager for Africa and South Asia at International Christian Concern, to The Christian Post Monday. “This is very alarming.”
He added, “We hear this kind of thing happening in other countries like India, Nigeria, China, North Korea, where Christians are being killed, imprisoned and so forth. But for Christians to be killed for preaching the Gospel here in the United States, it is very, very alarming.”
Several Christian organizations have wondered out loud why there has been so little media coverage despite the incident occurring more than two weeks ago.
"If this had been two Muslims out sharing the Quran and talking to people about Mohammad and they were shot and killed, there would be marches, there would be protest, there would be 24-hour coverage,” said Todd Nettleton, a spokesperson for the Voice of the Martyrs, to Mission Network News. “As a Christian, that's a frustrating thing that the media doesn't seem to want to pay attention to incidents where Christians are targeted."
Police have not identified Woody’s motive for killing the street preachers.
(From http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100216/watchdog-murder-of-street-preachers-in-florida-is-alarming/)
Revelation 6:9-11
The murder of two young street preachers in Florida by a teenager whom they shared the Gospel with is “alarming,” said a spokesperson for a religious freedom watchdog group.
Eighteen-year-old Jeriah Woody, whose street name is “Plug,” is charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Woody allegedly shot and killed Tite Sufra, 24, and Stephen Ocean, 23, on Jan. 30 after they shared about Christ with him during the 15 minutes they talked.
Woody’s phone reportedly rang and he turned and walked away to take the call. But then he turned around again and started walking towards the street preachers. Sufra approached him and Woody allegedly shot him in the head. Ocean tried to run away, but police said Woody allegedly shot him in the back and then walked up to him and shot him again in the head at point-blank range.
The police account is based on the third street preacher that was with Sufra and Ocean when they talked to Woody. The unidentified third minister had escaped by running in the opposite direction.
Woody turned himself in on Feb. 3 and remains in jail without bond.
“We are concerned that the hate crimes against Christians could be increased in the United States,” said Jonathon Racho, regional manager for Africa and South Asia at International Christian Concern, to The Christian Post Monday. “This is very alarming.”
He added, “We hear this kind of thing happening in other countries like India, Nigeria, China, North Korea, where Christians are being killed, imprisoned and so forth. But for Christians to be killed for preaching the Gospel here in the United States, it is very, very alarming.”
Several Christian organizations have wondered out loud why there has been so little media coverage despite the incident occurring more than two weeks ago.
"If this had been two Muslims out sharing the Quran and talking to people about Mohammad and they were shot and killed, there would be marches, there would be protest, there would be 24-hour coverage,” said Todd Nettleton, a spokesperson for the Voice of the Martyrs, to Mission Network News. “As a Christian, that's a frustrating thing that the media doesn't seem to want to pay attention to incidents where Christians are targeted."
Police have not identified Woody’s motive for killing the street preachers.
(From http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100216/watchdog-murder-of-street-preachers-in-florida-is-alarming/)
Thursday, February 11, 2010
The Death Of Evolution!
You'd think that a process capable of evolving irreducibly complex biological functions without blueprints would have surely solved this little dilemma by now!
But after nearly four billion years of trying, evolution has still failed to come up with a workaround for death! Now that's a bit disappointing!
Mr & Mrs Evolutionist, you'd better hope that it finds a solution in the next 50 odd years or you're stuffed!
But after nearly four billion years of trying, evolution has still failed to come up with a workaround for death! Now that's a bit disappointing!
Mr & Mrs Evolutionist, you'd better hope that it finds a solution in the next 50 odd years or you're stuffed!
Monday, February 8, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
God Himself Directs His Word!
"Do not be led away with the error of the wicked but "grow in the grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18).
Light is the chariot which carries the influence of the sun. So the knowledge of Christ brings with it influences of His grace into the heart. And how did Peter expect people to grow in the knowledge of Christ unless they read Scripture, the only book where it can be found? How wrong for teachers to want the people to learn this knowledge solely from their preaching, and not from the Bible! How can a congregation be sure they are hearing truth unless they have Scripture, the only touchstone to try the purity of the doctrine? God Himself directs His Word not to any one honored group-not to a select few-but to every man (Romans 1:7; 2 Corinthians 1:1). Why are laws made if they cannot be declared? And why was Scripture ever written if not to be read and known of all men? By the same authority with which the apostle wrote his epistles, he commanded them to be read in the church. Did ministers of the early church hide God's word from the people instead of encouraging them to hide it in their hearts?
It is true that some men wrest Scripture to their own destruction, just as occasionally somebody chokes on a piece of bread if he is not careful when he eats. But must everyone starve for fear of getting choked? Some hurt themselves with sharp weapons; must the whole army then be disarmed, and only a few officers be allowed to wear the sword? If this argument were enough to seal up the Bible, we must deny it to intellectuals as well as to common men; for it is a known fact that the grossest heresies have bred in the finest minds. Whenever proud men insist on being wiser than God, their foolish minds get darker and darker until they become so accustomed to the blackness that they can no longer see His sovereignty.
From The Christian In Complete Armour by William Gurnall First Published in 1665 Published by Moody Press Chicago, IL 1994
Light is the chariot which carries the influence of the sun. So the knowledge of Christ brings with it influences of His grace into the heart. And how did Peter expect people to grow in the knowledge of Christ unless they read Scripture, the only book where it can be found? How wrong for teachers to want the people to learn this knowledge solely from their preaching, and not from the Bible! How can a congregation be sure they are hearing truth unless they have Scripture, the only touchstone to try the purity of the doctrine? God Himself directs His Word not to any one honored group-not to a select few-but to every man (Romans 1:7; 2 Corinthians 1:1). Why are laws made if they cannot be declared? And why was Scripture ever written if not to be read and known of all men? By the same authority with which the apostle wrote his epistles, he commanded them to be read in the church. Did ministers of the early church hide God's word from the people instead of encouraging them to hide it in their hearts?
It is true that some men wrest Scripture to their own destruction, just as occasionally somebody chokes on a piece of bread if he is not careful when he eats. But must everyone starve for fear of getting choked? Some hurt themselves with sharp weapons; must the whole army then be disarmed, and only a few officers be allowed to wear the sword? If this argument were enough to seal up the Bible, we must deny it to intellectuals as well as to common men; for it is a known fact that the grossest heresies have bred in the finest minds. Whenever proud men insist on being wiser than God, their foolish minds get darker and darker until they become so accustomed to the blackness that they can no longer see His sovereignty.
From The Christian In Complete Armour by William Gurnall First Published in 1665 Published by Moody Press Chicago, IL 1994
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
The Deceitfulness Of Sin!
"Lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin!" Hebrews 3:13
First sin startles him,
then it becomes pleasing,
then easy,
then delightful,
then frequent,
then habitual,
then confirmed!
Then the man is impenitent,
then obstinate,
then resolves never to repent,
and then he is damned!
"For the wages of sin is death!" Romans 6:23
- Jeremy Taylor
First sin startles him,
then it becomes pleasing,
then easy,
then delightful,
then frequent,
then habitual,
then confirmed!
Then the man is impenitent,
then obstinate,
then resolves never to repent,
and then he is damned!
"For the wages of sin is death!" Romans 6:23
- Jeremy Taylor
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