The Psalms
92
Praise for the LORD's Goodness
A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day.
1 It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD,
and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High:
2 to show forth thy loving-kindness in the morning,
and thy faithfulness every night,
3 upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery;
upon the harp with a solemn sound.
4 For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work:
I will triumph in the works of thy hands.
5 O LORD, how great are thy works!
And thy thoughts are very deep.
6 A brutish man knoweth not;
neither doth a fool understand this.
7 When the wicked spring as the grass,
and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish;
it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:
8 but thou, LORD, art most high for evermore.
9 For, lo, thine enemies, O LORD,
for, lo, thine enemies shall perish;
all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
10 But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of a unicorn:
I shall be anointed with fresh oil.
11 Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies,
and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me.
12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree:
he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 Those that be planted in the house of the LORD
shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age;
they shall be fat and flourishing;
15 to show that the LORD is upright:
he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
Published by The American Bible Society
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
The Joy of Jesus is Gratitude
Ephesians 1:3
Ephesians Presents the inestimable treasures of divine wisdom, the knowledge-surpassing manifestations of God’s love to His people. The book sets forth "the riches of his grace" (Eph. 1:7), yes, "the exceeding riches of his grace" (Eph. 2:7), "the riches of his glory" (Eph. 3:16), and "the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Eph. 3:8). Ephesians contains the fullest opening up of the mystery, or the contents of the everlasting covenant. Here we are shown in greater detail than elsewhere the intimate and ineffable relation of the Church to Christ. Here as nowhere else we are conducted unto and into the "heavenlies." Here are revealed depths which no finite mind can fathom and heights which no imagination can scale.
Paul Bows in Worship
Before Paul proceeded to the orderly development of his wonderful theme, he bowed in worship. As his mind was absorbed with the transcendentally glorious subject on which he was to write, as he contemplated the exceeding riches of God’s grace to His people, his soul was overwhelmed—"lost in wonder, love, and praise." The heart of Paul was too full to contain itself and overflowed in adoring gratitude. That is the highest form of worship, and only in such a spirit can we truly enter into the contents of this epistle. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (Eph. 1:3). As a prayer those words may be viewed thus: first, its nature—an ascription of praise; second, its Object—the God and Father of Christ; third, its incitement—our enrichment in Him. Were we to sermonize the verse, our divisions would be (1) The believer’s excellent portion: blessed with all spiritual blessings. (2) The believer’s exalted position: in the heavenlies in Christ. (3) The believer’s exultant praise: "blessed be the God and Father."
What It Means to Bless God.
Ephesians Presents the inestimable treasures of divine wisdom, the knowledge-surpassing manifestations of God’s love to His people. The book sets forth "the riches of his grace" (Eph. 1:7), yes, "the exceeding riches of his grace" (Eph. 2:7), "the riches of his glory" (Eph. 3:16), and "the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Eph. 3:8). Ephesians contains the fullest opening up of the mystery, or the contents of the everlasting covenant. Here we are shown in greater detail than elsewhere the intimate and ineffable relation of the Church to Christ. Here as nowhere else we are conducted unto and into the "heavenlies." Here are revealed depths which no finite mind can fathom and heights which no imagination can scale.
Paul Bows in Worship
Before Paul proceeded to the orderly development of his wonderful theme, he bowed in worship. As his mind was absorbed with the transcendentally glorious subject on which he was to write, as he contemplated the exceeding riches of God’s grace to His people, his soul was overwhelmed—"lost in wonder, love, and praise." The heart of Paul was too full to contain itself and overflowed in adoring gratitude. That is the highest form of worship, and only in such a spirit can we truly enter into the contents of this epistle. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (Eph. 1:3). As a prayer those words may be viewed thus: first, its nature—an ascription of praise; second, its Object—the God and Father of Christ; third, its incitement—our enrichment in Him. Were we to sermonize the verse, our divisions would be (1) The believer’s excellent portion: blessed with all spiritual blessings. (2) The believer’s exalted position: in the heavenlies in Christ. (3) The believer’s exultant praise: "blessed be the God and Father."
What It Means to Bless God.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
The Joy of Jesus is God's Glory
Psalm 24 & 1 Corinthians
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.
Psalm 24:7ff (Inner Cycle: Spoke 2, Cycle 2)
Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.
Psalm 24:7ff (Inner Cycle: Spoke 2, Cycle 2)
Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Monday, November 15, 2010
The Joy of Jesus is God's Goodness
The Psalms
105
The LORD's Wonders in Behalf of Israel
1 Chr. 16.7-22
1 O give thanks unto the LORD;
call upon his name:
make known his deeds among the people.
2 Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him:
talk ye of all his wondrous works.
3 Glory ye in his holy name:
let the heart of them rejoice
that seek the LORD.
4 Seek the LORD, and his strength:
seek his face evermore.
5 Remember his marvelous works that he hath done;
his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;
6 O ye seed of Abraham his servant,
ye children of Jacob his chosen.
7 He is the LORD our God:
his judgments are in all the earth.
8 He hath remembered his covenant for ever,
the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.
9 Which covenant he made with Abraham, Gen. 12.7 ; 17.8
and his oath unto Isaac; Gen. 26.3
10 and confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law,
and to Israel for an everlasting covenant:
11 saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan,
the lot of your inheritance. Gen. 28.13
12 When they were but a few men in number;
yea, very few, and strangers in it;
13 when they went from one nation to another,
from one kingdom to another people;
14 he suffered no man to do them wrong:
yea, he reproved kings for their sakes;
15 saying, Touch not mine anointed,
and do my prophets no harm. Gen. 20.3-7
16 Moreover he called for a famine upon the land:
he brake the whole staff of bread. Gen. 41.53-57
17 He sent a man before them,
even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: Gen. 37.28 ; 45.5
18 whose feet they hurt with fetters:
he was laid in iron:
19 until the time that his word came:
the word of the LORD tried him. Gen. 39.20--40.23
20 The king sent and loosed him;
even the ruler of the people,
and let him go free. Gen. 41.14
21 He made him lord of his house,
and ruler of all his substance: Gen. 41.39-41
22 to bind his princes at his pleasure;
and teach his senators wisdom.
23 Israel also came into Egypt; Gen. 46.6
and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. Gen. 47.11
24 And he increased his people greatly;
and made them stronger than their enemies.
25 He turned their heart to hate his people,
to deal subtilely with his servants. Ex. 1.7-14
26 He sent Moses his servant;
and Aaron whom he had chosen. Ex. 3.1--4.17
27 They showed his signs among them,
and wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness, and made it dark; Ex. 10.21-23
and they rebelled not against his word.
29 He turned their waters into blood,
and slew their fish. Ex. 7.17-21
30 Their land brought forth frogs in abundance,
in the chambers of their kings. Ex. 8.1-6
31 He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies, Ex. 8.20-24
and lice in all their coasts. Ex. 8.16, 17
32 He gave them hail for rain,
and flaming fire in their land.
33 He smote their vines also and their fig trees;
and brake the trees of their coasts. Ex. 9.22-25
34 He spake, and the locusts came,
and caterpillars, and that without number,
35 and did eat up all the herbs in their land,
and devoured the fruit of their ground. Ex. 10.12-15
36 He smote also all the firstborn in their land,
the chief of all their strength. Ex. 12.29
37 He brought them forth also with silver and gold:
and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.
38 Egypt was glad when they departed:
for the fear of them fell upon them. Ex. 12.33-36
39 He spread a cloud for a covering;
and fire to give light in the night. Ex. 13.21, 22
40 The people asked, and he brought quails,
and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. Ex. 16.2-15
41 He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out;
they ran in the dry places like a river. Ex. 17.1-7 · Num. 20.2-13
42 For he remembered his holy promise,
and Abraham his servant.
43 And he brought forth his people with joy,
and his chosen with gladness:
44 and gave them the lands of the heathen: Josh. 11.16-23
and they inherited the labor of the people;
45 that they might observe his statutes,
and keep his laws.
Praise ye the LORD.
Published by The American Bible Society
105
The LORD's Wonders in Behalf of Israel
1 Chr. 16.7-22
1 O give thanks unto the LORD;
call upon his name:
make known his deeds among the people.
2 Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him:
talk ye of all his wondrous works.
3 Glory ye in his holy name:
let the heart of them rejoice
that seek the LORD.
4 Seek the LORD, and his strength:
seek his face evermore.
5 Remember his marvelous works that he hath done;
his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;
6 O ye seed of Abraham his servant,
ye children of Jacob his chosen.
7 He is the LORD our God:
his judgments are in all the earth.
8 He hath remembered his covenant for ever,
the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.
9 Which covenant he made with Abraham, Gen. 12.7 ; 17.8
and his oath unto Isaac; Gen. 26.3
10 and confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law,
and to Israel for an everlasting covenant:
11 saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan,
the lot of your inheritance. Gen. 28.13
12 When they were but a few men in number;
yea, very few, and strangers in it;
13 when they went from one nation to another,
from one kingdom to another people;
14 he suffered no man to do them wrong:
yea, he reproved kings for their sakes;
15 saying, Touch not mine anointed,
and do my prophets no harm. Gen. 20.3-7
16 Moreover he called for a famine upon the land:
he brake the whole staff of bread. Gen. 41.53-57
17 He sent a man before them,
even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: Gen. 37.28 ; 45.5
18 whose feet they hurt with fetters:
he was laid in iron:
19 until the time that his word came:
the word of the LORD tried him. Gen. 39.20--40.23
20 The king sent and loosed him;
even the ruler of the people,
and let him go free. Gen. 41.14
21 He made him lord of his house,
and ruler of all his substance: Gen. 41.39-41
22 to bind his princes at his pleasure;
and teach his senators wisdom.
23 Israel also came into Egypt; Gen. 46.6
and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. Gen. 47.11
24 And he increased his people greatly;
and made them stronger than their enemies.
25 He turned their heart to hate his people,
to deal subtilely with his servants. Ex. 1.7-14
26 He sent Moses his servant;
and Aaron whom he had chosen. Ex. 3.1--4.17
27 They showed his signs among them,
and wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness, and made it dark; Ex. 10.21-23
and they rebelled not against his word.
29 He turned their waters into blood,
and slew their fish. Ex. 7.17-21
30 Their land brought forth frogs in abundance,
in the chambers of their kings. Ex. 8.1-6
31 He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies, Ex. 8.20-24
and lice in all their coasts. Ex. 8.16, 17
32 He gave them hail for rain,
and flaming fire in their land.
33 He smote their vines also and their fig trees;
and brake the trees of their coasts. Ex. 9.22-25
34 He spake, and the locusts came,
and caterpillars, and that without number,
35 and did eat up all the herbs in their land,
and devoured the fruit of their ground. Ex. 10.12-15
36 He smote also all the firstborn in their land,
the chief of all their strength. Ex. 12.29
37 He brought them forth also with silver and gold:
and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.
38 Egypt was glad when they departed:
for the fear of them fell upon them. Ex. 12.33-36
39 He spread a cloud for a covering;
and fire to give light in the night. Ex. 13.21, 22
40 The people asked, and he brought quails,
and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. Ex. 16.2-15
41 He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out;
they ran in the dry places like a river. Ex. 17.1-7 · Num. 20.2-13
42 For he remembered his holy promise,
and Abraham his servant.
43 And he brought forth his people with joy,
and his chosen with gladness:
44 and gave them the lands of the heathen: Josh. 11.16-23
and they inherited the labor of the people;
45 that they might observe his statutes,
and keep his laws.
Praise ye the LORD.
Published by The American Bible Society
Sunday, November 14, 2010
The Joy of Jesus is into Blessing You
The Psalms
104
The LORD's Care for His Creation
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul.
O LORD my God, thou art very great;
thou art clothed with honor and majesty:
2 who coverest thyself with light as with a garment:
who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:
3 who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters:
who maketh the clouds his chariot:
who walketh upon the wings of the wind:
4 who maketh his angels spirits;
his ministers a flaming fire: Heb. 1.7
5 who laid the foundations of the earth,
that it should not be removed for ever.
6 Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment:
the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At thy rebuke they fled;
at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.
8 They go up by the mountains;
they go down by the valleys
unto the place which thou hast founded for them.
9 Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over;
that they turn not again to cover the earth.
10 He sendeth the springs into the valleys,
which run among the hills.
11 They give drink to every beast of the field:
the wild asses quench their thirst.
12 By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation,
which sing among the branches.
13 He watereth the hills from his chambers:
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.
14 He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle,
and herb for the service of man:
that he may bring forth food out of the earth;
15 and wine that maketh glad the heart of man,
and oil to make his face to shine,
and bread which strengtheneth man's heart.
16 The trees of the LORD are full of sap;
the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted;
17 where the birds make their nests:
as for the stork, the fir trees are her house.
18 The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats;
and the rocks for the conies.
19 He appointed the moon for seasons:
the sun knoweth his going down.
20 Thou makest darkness, and it is night:
wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth.
21 The young lions roar after their prey,
and seek their meat from God.
22 The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together,
and lay them down in their dens.
23 Man goeth forth unto his work
and to his labor until the evening.
24 O LORD, how manifold are thy works!
In wisdom hast thou made them all:
the earth is full of thy riches.
25 So is this great and wide sea,
wherein are things creeping innumerable,
both small and great beasts.
26 There go the ships:
there is that leviathan, Job. 41.1 · Ps. 74.14 · Is. 27.1
whom thou hast made to play therein.
27 These wait all upon thee;
that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.
28 That thou givest them they gather:
thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.
29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled:
thou takest away their breath, they die,
and return to their dust.
30 Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created:
and thou renewest the face of the earth.
31 The glory of the LORD shall endure for ever:
the LORD shall rejoice in his works.
32 He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth:
he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.
33 I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live:
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
34 My meditation of him shall be sweet:
I will be glad in the LORD.
35 Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth,
and let the wicked be no more.
Bless thou the LORD, O my soul.
Praise ye the LORD.
Published by The American Bible Society
104
The LORD's Care for His Creation
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul.
O LORD my God, thou art very great;
thou art clothed with honor and majesty:
2 who coverest thyself with light as with a garment:
who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:
3 who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters:
who maketh the clouds his chariot:
who walketh upon the wings of the wind:
4 who maketh his angels spirits;
his ministers a flaming fire: Heb. 1.7
5 who laid the foundations of the earth,
that it should not be removed for ever.
6 Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment:
the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At thy rebuke they fled;
at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.
8 They go up by the mountains;
they go down by the valleys
unto the place which thou hast founded for them.
9 Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over;
that they turn not again to cover the earth.
10 He sendeth the springs into the valleys,
which run among the hills.
11 They give drink to every beast of the field:
the wild asses quench their thirst.
12 By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation,
which sing among the branches.
13 He watereth the hills from his chambers:
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.
14 He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle,
and herb for the service of man:
that he may bring forth food out of the earth;
15 and wine that maketh glad the heart of man,
and oil to make his face to shine,
and bread which strengtheneth man's heart.
16 The trees of the LORD are full of sap;
the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted;
17 where the birds make their nests:
as for the stork, the fir trees are her house.
18 The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats;
and the rocks for the conies.
19 He appointed the moon for seasons:
the sun knoweth his going down.
20 Thou makest darkness, and it is night:
wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth.
21 The young lions roar after their prey,
and seek their meat from God.
22 The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together,
and lay them down in their dens.
23 Man goeth forth unto his work
and to his labor until the evening.
24 O LORD, how manifold are thy works!
In wisdom hast thou made them all:
the earth is full of thy riches.
25 So is this great and wide sea,
wherein are things creeping innumerable,
both small and great beasts.
26 There go the ships:
there is that leviathan, Job. 41.1 · Ps. 74.14 · Is. 27.1
whom thou hast made to play therein.
27 These wait all upon thee;
that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.
28 That thou givest them they gather:
thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.
29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled:
thou takest away their breath, they die,
and return to their dust.
30 Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created:
and thou renewest the face of the earth.
31 The glory of the LORD shall endure for ever:
the LORD shall rejoice in his works.
32 He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth:
he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.
33 I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live:
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
34 My meditation of him shall be sweet:
I will be glad in the LORD.
35 Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth,
and let the wicked be no more.
Bless thou the LORD, O my soul.
Praise ye the LORD.
Published by The American Bible Society
The Joy of Jesus is Great Hope
1 Peter Chapter 1:
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
5Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
7That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
8Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
9Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
10Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
11Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
12Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
13Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
15But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
16Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
17And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
18Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
20Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
21Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
22Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
23Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
24For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
25But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
King James Version (KJV)
Public Domain
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
5Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
7That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
8Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
9Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
10Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
11Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
12Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
13Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
15But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
16Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
17And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
18Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
20Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
21Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
22Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
23Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
24For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
25But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
King James Version (KJV)
Public Domain
The Joy of Jesus is Complete in Christ
COMPLETE IN CHRIST
"Ye are complete in Him." -- Colossians 2:10.
The pardoned sinner for a while is content with the one
boon of forgiveness, and is too overjoyed with a sense of
freedom from bondage to know a wish beyond. In a little
time, however, he thinks about his position, his wants, and
his prospects: what is then his rapture at the discovery
that the roll of his pardon is also an indenture of all
wealth, a charter of all privileges, a title-deed of all
needed blessings! Having received Christ, he has obtained
all things in Him. He looks to that cross upon which the
dreadful handwriting of ordinances has been nailed; to his
unutterable surprise he beholds it blossom with mercy, and
like a tree of life bring forth the twelve manner of fruits
-- yea, all that he requires for life, for death, for time,
or for eternity. Lo! at the foot of the once accursed
tree grow plants for his healing, and flowers for his
delight; from the bleeding feet of the Redeemer flows
directing love to lead him all the desert through -- from
the pierced side there gushes cleansing water to purge him
from the power of sin -- the nails become a means of
securing him to righteousness, while above the crown hangs
visible as the gracious reward of perseverance. All things
are in the cross -- by this we conquer, by this we live, by
this we are purified, by this we continue firm to the end.
While sitting beneath the shadow of our Lord we think
ourselves most rich, for angels seem to sing, "Ye are
complete in Him."
"COMPLETE IN HIM!" -- precious sentence! sweeter than
honey to our soul, we would adore the Holy Spirit for
dictating such glorious words to His servant Paul. Oh! may
we by grace be made to see that they really are ours -- for
ours they are if we answer to the character described in
the opening verses of the Epistle to the Colossians. If we
have faith in Jesus Christ, love towards all the saints,
and a hope laid up in heaven, we may grasp this golden
sentence as all our own. Reader, have you been able to
follow in that which has already been described as the "way
which leads from banishment"? Then you may take this
choice sentence to yourself as a portion of your
inheritance; for weak, poor, helpless, unworthy though you
are in yourself, IN HIM, your Lord, your Redeemer, you are
complete in the fullest, broadest, and most varied sense of
that mighty word, and you will be glad to muse upon the
wonders of this glorious position. May the great Teacher
guide us into this mystery of the perfection of the elect
in Jesus, and may our meditation be cheering and profitable
to our spirits! As the words are few, let us dwell on
them, and endeavor to gain the sweets which lie so
compactly within this little cell.
Pause over those two little words, "IN HIM" -- in
Christ! Here is the doctrine of union and oneness with
Jesus -- a doctrine of undoubted truth and unmingled
comfort. The Church is so allied with her Lord that she is
positively one with Him. She is the bride, and He the
bridegroom; she is the branch, and He the stem; she the
body, and He the glorious head. So also is every
individual believer united to Christ. As Levi lay in the
loins of Abraham when Melchizedek met him, so was every
believer chosen in Christ, and blessed with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Him. We have been spared,
protected, converted, justified, and accepted solely and
entirely by virtue of our eternal union with Christ.
Never can the convinced soul obtain peace until, like
Ruth, she finds rest in the house of her kinsman, who
becomes her husband -- Jesus the Lord. An eminent pastor,
lately deceased, [Rev. Joseph Irons, Camberwell.] said in
one of his sermons, "Now, I am as sure as I am of my own
existence that wherever God the Holy Ghost awakens the poor
sinner by His mighty grace, and imparts spiritual life in
his heart, nothing will ever satisfy that poor sinner but a
believing assurance of eternal union with Christ. Unless
the soul obtains a sweet and satisfactory consciousness of
it in the exercise of a living faith, it will never `enter
into rest' this side eternity."
It is from oneness with Christ before all worlds that
we receive all our mercies. Faith is the precious grace
which discerns this eternal union, and cements it by
another -- a vital union; so that we become one, not merely
in the eye of God, but in our own happy experience -- one
in aim, one in heart, one in holiness, one in communion,
and, ultimately, one in glory.
This manifest union is not more real and actual than
the eternal union of which it is the revelation; it does
not commence the union, nor does its obscurity or clearness
in the least affect the certainty or safety of the
immutable oneness subsisting between Jesus and the
believer. It is eminently desirable that every saint
should attain a full assurance of his union to Christ, and
it is exceedingly important that he should labor to
maintain a constant sense thereof; for although the mercy
be the same, yet his comfort from it will vary according to
his apprehension of it. A landscape is as fair by night as
by day, but who can perceive its beauties in the dark? --
even so we must see, or rather believe, this union to
rejoice in it.
No condition out of Paradise can be more blessed than
that which is produced by a living sense of oneness with
Jesus. To know and feel that our interests are mutual, our
bonds indissoluble, and our lives united, is indeed to dip
our morsel in the golden dish of heaven. There is no
sweeter canticle for mortal lips than the sweet song, "My
Beloved is mine, and I am His," --
"E'en like two bank-dividing brooks,
That wash the pebbles with their wanton streams,
And, having rang'd and search'd a thousand nooks,
Meet both at length in silver-breasted Thames,
Where in a greater current they conjoin;
So I my best Beloved's am, so He is mine."
Verily the stream of life flows along easily enough
when it is commingled with Him who is our life. Walking
with our arm upon the shoulder of the Beloved is not simply
safe, but delightful; and living with His life is a noble
style of immortality, which may be enjoyed on earth. But
to be out of Christ is misery, weakness, and death -- in
short, it is the bud, of which the full-blown flower is
damnation. Apart from Jesus we have nothing save fearful
forebodings and terrible remembrances. Beloved, there is
no Gospel promise which is ours unless we know what it is
to be IN HIM. Out of Him all is poverty, woe, sorrow, and
destruction: it is only in Him, the ark of His elect, that
we can hope to enjoy covenant mercies, or rejoice in the
sure blessings of salvation. Can we now entertain a hope
that we are really hidden in the rock? Do we feel that we
are a portion of Christ's body, and that a real union
exists between us? Then may we proceed to unfold and
appropriate the privileges here mentioned.
Ye are COMPLETE in Him. The word "complete" does not
convey the whole of the meaning couched in the original
word PEPLEIROMENOI. It is on the whole the best word which
can be found in our language, but its meaning may be
further unveiled by the addition of other auxiliary
readings.
I. YE ARE COMPLETE IN HIM. Let us consider the
meaning of the phrase as it thus stands in our own
Authorized Version. We are COMPLETE. In all matters which
concern our spiritual welfare, and our soul's salvation, we
are complete in Christ.
1. COMPLETE WITHOUT THE AID OF JEWISH CEREMONIES.
They had their uses. They were pictures wherewith the law,
as a schoolmaster, taught the infant Jewish church; but now
that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster,
for in the clear light of Christian knowledge we need not
the aid of symbols:--
"Finished are the types and shadows
Of the ceremonial law."
The one sacrifice has so atoned for us that we need no
other. In Christ we are complete without any addition of
circumcision, sacrifice, passover, or temple service.
These are not but beggarly elements. They would be
incumbrances -- for what can we need from them when we are
complete in Christ? What have we to do with moon or stars,
now that Christ hath shone forth like the sun in his
strength? Let the dim lamps be quenched -- they would but
mock the dawn, and the sunlight would deride their unneeded
glimmerings. We despise not the ceremonial law -- it was
"the shadow of good things to come," and as such we
venerate it; but now that the substance has appeared, we
are not content with guesses of grace, but we grasp Him who
is grace and truth. How much more highly are we favored
than the ancient believers, for they by daily offerings
confessed themselves to be incomplete! They could never
stay their hand and say, "It is enough," for daily sin
demanded daily lambs for the altar. The Jews were never
made complete by their law, for their rites "could never
make the comers thereunto perfect;" but this is our
peculiar and superior privilege, that we are perfected by
the one offering on Calvary.
2. WE ARE COMPLETE WITHOUT THE HELP OF PHILOSOPHY.
In Paul's time there were some who thought that philosophy
might be used as a supplement to faith. They argued,
contended, and mystified every doctrine of revelation.
Happy would it have been for them and the Church had they
heeded the words of Paul, and kept entirely to the
simplicity of the Gospel, glorying only in the cross of
Christ! The Christian has such a sublime system of
doctrine that he never need to fear the vain speculations
of an infidel science, nor need he ever call in the
sophisms of the worldly wise to prop his faith -- in Christ
he is complete. We have never heard of a dying believer
asking the aid of a worldly philosophy to give him words of
comfort in the hour of dissolution. No! he has enough in
his own religion -- enough in the comforts of the Holy
Ghost. Never let us turn aside from the faith because of
the sneer of the learned: this a Christian will not,
cannot do -- for we see THAT eternal evidence in our
religion which we may call its best proof, namely, the fact
that in it we are complete.
No man can add anything to the religion of Jesus. All
that is consistent with truth is already incorporated in
it, and with that which is not true it can form no
alliance. There is nothing new in theology save that which
is false. Those who seek to improve the Gospel of Jesus do
but deface it. It is so perfect in itself that all
additions to it are but excrescences of error; and it
renders us so complete that aught we join with it is
supererogation, or worse than that. David would not go to
the fight in Saul's armor, for he had not proved it; so can
we say, "The sling and stone are to us abundant weapons; as
for the mail of philosophy, we leave that for proud
Goliaths to wear." One of the most evil signs of our day
is its tendency to rationalism, spiritualism, and
multitudes of other means of beclouding the simple faith of
our Lord Jesus; but the Lord's chosen family will not be
beguiled from their steadfastness, which is the only hope
of an heretical generation; for they know whom they have
believed, and will not renounce their confidence in Him for
the sophistries of "the wise and prudent."
3. COMPLETE WITHOUT THE INVENTIONS OF SUPERSTITION.
God is the Author of all revealed and spiritual religion;
but man would write an appendix. There must be works of
supererogation, deeds of penance, acts of mortification, or
else the poor papist can never be perfected. Yea, when he
has most vigorously applied the whip, when he has fasted
even to physical exhaustion, when he has forfeited all that
is natural to man -- yet he is never sure that he has done
enough, he can never say that he is complete; but the
Christian, without any of these, feels that he has gained a
consummation by those last words of his Savior -- "It is
finished!" The blood of his agonizing Lord is his only and
all-sufficient trust. He despises alike the absolutions
and the indulgences of priest or pontiff; he tramples on
the refuge of lies which the deceiver has builded -- his
glory and boast ever centering in the fact that he is
COMPLETE IN CHRIST. Let but this sentence be preached
throughout the earth, and believed by the inhabitants
thereof, and all the despots on its surface could not
buttress the tottering Church of Rome, even for a single
hour. Men would soon cry out, "Away with the usurper!
away with her pretensions! There is all in Christ; and
what can she add thereto, saving her mummeries, pollutions,
and corrupt abominations?"
4. WE ARE COMPLETE WITHOUT HUMAN MERIT, OUR OWN WORKS
BEING REGARDED AS FILTHY RAGS. How many there are who,
while waxing warm against popery, are fostering its
principles in their own minds! The very marrow of popery
is reliance on our own works; and in God's sight the
formalist and legalist are as contemptible, if found in an
orthodox church, as if they were open followers of
Antichrist. Brethren, let us see to it that we are resting
alone in the righteousness of Jesus, that He is all in all
to us. Let us never forget that if we are perfect in Him,
we are perfect only in Him. While we would diligently
cultivate works of holiness, let us be careful lest we seek
to add to the perfect work of Jesus. The robe of
righteousness that nature spins and weaves is too frail a
fabric to endure the breath of the Almighty; we must,
therefore, cast it all away -- creature doings must not be
united with, or regarded as auxiliary to, divine
satisfaction.
We would be holy, even as God is, but we are still
confident that this will not be supplementing the great
righteousness which is ours by imputation. No; though
compassed with sin and surrounded by our depravity, we know
that we are so complete in Jesus that we could not be more
so, even were we free from all these things, and glorified
as the spirits of just men made perfect.
Blessed completely through the God-Man, let our
unbelief be ashamed, and let our admiration be fastened
upon this interesting and delightful state of privilege.
Arise, believer! and behold yourself "perfect in Christ
Jesus." Let not your sins shake your faith in the
all-sufficiency of Jesus. You are, with all your
depravity, still in Him, and therefore complete. You have
need of nothing beyond what there is in Him. In Him you
are at this moment RIGHTEOUS, in Him entirely clean, in Him
an object of divine approval and eternal love. NOW, as you
are, and where you are, you are still complete. Feeble,
forgetful, frail, fearful, and fickle in yourself, yet
IN HIM you are all that can be desired. Your
unrighteousness is covered, your righteousness is accepted,
your strength is perfected, your safety secured, and your
heaven certain. Rejoice, then, that you are "complete in
Him." Look on your own nothingness and be humble, but look
at Jesus, your great Representative, and be glad. Be not
so intent upon your own corruptions as to forget His
immaculate purity, which He has given to you. Be not so
mindful of your original poverty as to forget the infinite
riches which He has conferred on you. It will save you
many pangs if you will learn to think of yourself as being
IN HIM, and as being by His glorious grace accepted in
Him, and perfect in Christ Jesus.
II. YE ARE FULLY SUPPLIED IN HIM. Having Him, we
have all that we can possibly require. The man of God is
thoroughly furnished in the possession of his great Savior.
He need never to look for anything beyond, for in Him all
is treasured. Do we need FORGIVENESS for the past?
Pardons, rich and free, are with Jesus. Grace to cover all
our sin is there; grace to rise above our follies and our
faults. Is it WISDOM which we lack? He is made of God
unto us wisdom. His finger shall point out our path in the
desert; His rod and staff shall keep us in the way when we
walk through the valley of the shadow of death. In our
combats with the foe do we feel want of STRENGTH? Is He
not Jehovah, mighty to save? Will He not increase power to
the faint, and succor the fallen? Need we go to Assyria,
or stay on Egypt, for help? Nay, these are broken reeds.
Surely, in the Lord Jehovah we have righteousness and
strength. The battle is before us, but we tremble not at
the foe; we feel armed at all points, clad in impenetrable
mail, for we are fully supplied in Him. Do we deplore our
ignorance? He will give us KNOWLEDGE; He can open our ear
to listen to mysteries unknown. Even babes shall learn the
wonders of His grace, and children shall be taught of the
Lord. No other teacher is required; He is alone efficient
and all-sufficient. Are we at times distressed? We need
not inquire for COMFORT, for in Him, the consolation of
Israel, there are fats full of the oil of joy, and rivers
of the wine of thanksgiving. The PLEASURES of the world
are void to us, for we have infinitely more joy than they
can give in HIM who has made us complete.
Ah! my reader, whatever exigencies may arise, we
shall never need to say, "We have searched, but cannot find
what we require; for it is, and ever shall be, found in the
storehouse of mercy, even in Jesus Christ." "It hath
pleased the Father that in Him should ALL fulness dwell;"
and truly none of the saints have ever complained of any
failure in Him. Tens of thousands of them have drawn from
this sacred well, yet is it as full as ever, and all who
come to it are supplied with the full measure of their
necessities. Jesus is not one single sprig of myrrh, but
"a BUNDLE of myrrh is my Beloved unto me;" [Song of Sol.
1:13,14] not one mercy, but a string of mercies, for "my
Beloved is unto me as A CLUSTER of camphire." "In Christ
is a cluster of all spiritual blessings; all the blessings
of the everlasting covenant are in His hands and at His
disposal; and saints are blessed with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Him. He is the believer's
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
There is not a mercy we want but is in Him, or a blessing
we enjoy but what we have received it from Him. He is the
believer's `ALL IN ALL.'" [Dr. Gill] The word
translated "complete" is used by Demosthenes in describing
a ship as fully manned -- and truly the Christian's ship,
from prow to stern, is well manned by her Captain, who
Himself steers the vessel, stills the storm, feeds the
crew, fills the sails, and brings all safe to their desired
haven. In every position of danger or duty Christ Himself
is all-sufficient for protection or support. Under every
conceivable or inconceivable trial, we shall find in Him
sufficient grace: should every earthly stream be dried,
there is enough in Him, in the absence of them all. His
glorious person is the dwelling-place of all-sufficiency.
"In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily;"
as the fulness of Deity is sufficient to create and sustain
a universe of ponderous orbs, and whole worlds of living
creatures, can it be supposed that it will be found unable
to supply the necessities of saints? Such a fear would be
as foolish as if a man should tremble lest the atmosphere
should prove too little for his breath, or the rivers too
shallow for his thirst. To imagine the riches of the
incarnate God to fail would be to conceive a bankrupt God,
or a wasted infinite. Therefore, let us set up our banners
in His name, and exceedingly rejoice.
III. A third reading is -- YE ARE SATISFIED IN HIM.
Satisfaction is a jewel rare and precious. Happy is the
merchantman who finds it. We may seek it in RICHES, but it
does not lie there. We may heap up gold and silver, pile
on pile, until we are rich beyond the dream of avarice,
then thrust our hands into our bags of gold, and search
there for satisfaction, but we have it not. Our heart,
like the horse-leech, cries, "Give, give!" We may erect
the palace and conquer mighty nations, but among the
trophies which decorate the hall, there is not that
precious thing which worlds cannot buy. But give us
Christ, let us be allied to Him, and our heart is
satisfied. We are content in poverty -- we are rich; in
distress we have all, and abound. We are full, for we are
satisfied in Him.
Again, let us explore the fields of KNOWLEDGE; let us
separate ourselves, and intermeddle with all wisdom; let us
dive into the secrets of nature; let the heavens yield to
the telescope, and the earth to our research; let us turn
the ponderous tome, and pore over the pages of the mighty
folio; let us take our seat among the wise, and become
professors of science; but, alas! we soon shall loathe it
all, for "much study is a weariness of the flesh." But let
us turn again tot he fountain-head, and drink of the waters
of revelation: we are then satisfied. Whatever the pursuit
may be, whether we invoke the trump of fame to do us
homage, and bid our fellows offer the incense of honor, or
pursue the pleasures of sin, and dance a giddy round of
merriment, or follow the less erratic movements of
commerce, and acquire influence among men, we shall still
be disappointed, we shall have still an aching void, an
emptiness within; but when we gather up our straying
desires, and bring them to a focus at the foot of Calvary,
we feel a solid satisfaction, of which the world cannot
deprive us.
Among the sons of men there are not a few of restless
spirit, whose uneasy souls are panting for an unknown good,
the want of which they feel, but the nature of which they
do not comprehend. These will hurry from country to
country, to do little else but attempt a hopeless escape
from themselves; they will flit from pleasure to pleasure,
with the only gain of fresh grief from repeated
disappointments. It were hard indeed to compound a
medicine for minds thus diseased. Verily, the aromatics
and balms of Araby, or the islands of the sea, might be
exhausted ere the elixir of satisfaction could be
distilled, and every mystic name in the vocabulary of the
wise might be tried in vain to produce the all-precious
charm of quiet. But in the Gospel we find the inestimable
medicine already compounded, potent enough to allay the
most burning fever, and still the most violent palpitations
of the heart. This we speak from experience, for we too
were once, like the unclean spirit, "seeking rest and
finding none;" we once groaned for an unseen something,
which in all our joys we could not find, and now, by God's
great love, we have found the water which has quenched our
thirst -- it is that which Jesus gives, "the living water"
of His grace. We revel in the sweets of the name of Jesus,
and long for nought beside. Like Naphtali, we are
satisfied with favor, and full of the blessing of the Lord.
Like Jacob, we exclaim, "It is enough." The soul is
anchored, the desire is "satiated with fatness," the whole
man is rich to all the intents of bliss, and looks for
nothing more. Allen, in his "Heaven Opened," represents
the believer as soliloquizing in the following joyous
manner: -- "O happy soul, how rich art thou! What a booty
have I gotten! It is all mine own. I have the promises of
this life and of that which is to come. Oh! what can I
wish more? How full a charter is here! Now, my doubting
soul may boldly and believingly say with Thomas, `My Lord
and my God.' What need we any further witness? We have
heard His words. He has sworn by His holiness that His
decree may not be changed, and has signed it with His own
signet. And now return to thy rest, O my soul! for the
Lord has dealt bountifully with thee. Say, if thy lines be
not fallen to thee in a pleasant place, and if this be not
a goodly heritage? O blasphemous discontent! how absurd
and unreasonable an evil art thou, whom all the fulness of
the Godhead cannot satisfy, because thou art denied in a
petty comfort, or crossed in thy vain expectations from the
world! O my unthankful soul, shall not a Trinity content
thee? Shall not all-sufficiency suffice thee? Silence, ye
murmuring thoughts, for ever. I have enough, I abound, and
am full. Infiniteness and eternity are mine, and what more
can I ask?"
Oh, may we constantly dwell on the blissful summit of
spiritual content, boasting continually in the completeness
of our salvation IN HIM, and may we ever seek to live up
to our great and inestimable privilege! Let us live
according to our rank and quality, according to our rank
and quality, according to the riches conveyed to us by the
eternal covenant. As great princes are so arrayed that you
can read their estates in their garments, and discern their
riches by their tables, so let our daily carriage express
to others the value which we set upon the blessings of
grace. A murmur is a rag which is ill-suited to be the
dress of a soul possessed of Jesus; a complaining spirit is
too mean a thing for an heir of all things to indulge. Let
worldlings see that our Jesus is indeed a sufficient
portion. As for those of us who are continually filled
with rejoicing, let us be careful that our company and
converse are in keeping with our high position. Let our
satisfaction with Christ beget in us a spirit too noble to
stoop to the base deeds of ungodly men. Let us live among
the generation of the just; let us dwell in the courts of
the great King, behold His face, wait at His throne, bear
His name, show forth His virtues, set forth His praises,
advance His honor, uphold His interest, and reflect His
image. It is not becoming that princes of the blood should
herd with beggars, or dress as they do; let all believers,
then, come out from the world, and mount the hills of high
and holy living; so shall it be proved that they are
content with Christ, when they utterly forsake the broken
cisterns.
IV. The text bears within it another meaning -- YE
ARE FILLED IN HIM: --so Wickliffe translated it, "AND ZE
BEN FILLID IN HYM." A possession of Jesus in the soul is a
filling thing. Our great Creator never intended that the
heart should be empty, and hence He has stamped upon it the
ancient rule that nature abhors a vacuum. The soul can
never be quiet until in every part it is fully occupied.
It is as insatiable as the grave, until it finds every
corner of its being filled with treasure. Now, it can be
said of Christian salvation, that it, and it alone, can
fill the mind. Man is a compound being, and while one
portion of his being may be full, another may be empty.
There is nothing which can fill the whole man save the
possession of Christ.
The man of hard calculation, the lover of facts, may
feast his head and starve his heart; -- the sentimentalist
may fill up his full measure of emotion, and destroy his
understanding; -- the poet may render his imagination
gigantic, and dwarf his judgment; -- the student may render
his brain the very refinement of logic, and his conscience
may be dying: -- but give us Christ for our study, Christ
for our science, Christ for our pursuit, and our whole man
is filled. In His religion we find enough to exercise the
faculties of the most astute reasoner, while yet our heart,
by the contemplation, shall be warmed -- yea, made to burn
within us. In Him we find room for imagination's utmost
stretch, while yet His kind hand preserves us from wild and
romantic visions. He can satisfy our soul in its every
part. Our whole man feels that His truth is our soul's
proper food, that its powers were made to appropriate HIM,
while HE is so constituted that He is adapted to its every
want. Herein lies the fault of all human systems of
religion -- they do but subjugate and enlist a portion of
the man; they light up with doubtful brilliance one single
chamber of his soul, and leave the rest in darkness; they
cover him in one part, and allow the biting frost to benumb
and freeze the other, until the man feels that something is
neglected, for he bears a gnawing within him which his
false religion cannot satisfy. But let the glorious Gospel
of the blessed Jesus come into the man; let the Holy Spirit
apply the word with power, and the whole man is filled --
every nerve, like the string of a harp, is wound up, and
gives forth melody -- every power blesses God -- every
portion is lighted up with splendor, and the man exclaims,
"There rest, my long divided soul,
Fixed on this mighty centre, rest."
"Shaddai," the Lord all-sufficient, is a portion large
enough to afford us fulness of joy and peace. In Him, as
well as in His house, "there is bread enough and to spare."
In the absence of all other good things, He is an
overflowing river of mercy, and when other blessings are
present, they owe all their value to Him. He makes our cup
so full that it runneth over, and so He is just what man's
insatiable heart requires. It is a fact which all men must
acknowledge, that we are never full till we run over -- the
soul never has enough till it has more than enough; while
we can contain and measure and number our possessions, we
are not quite so rich as we desire. PAUPERIS EST NUMERARE
PECUS -- we count ourselves poor so long as we can count
our wealth. We are never satisfied till we have more than
will satisfy us. But in Jesus there is that
superabundance, that lavish richness, that outdoing of
desire, that we are obliged to exclaim, "IT IS ENOUGH --
I'M FILLED TO THE BRIM."
How desirable is that state of mind which makes every
part of the soul a spring of joys! The most of men have
but one well of mirth within them; according to their
temperament, they derive their happiness from different
powers of the mind -- one from bold imagination, another
from solitary meditation, and a third from memory; but the
believer has many wells and many palm-trees, for all that
is within him is blessed by God. As the waters cover the
sea, so has divine grace flooded every portion of his
being. He has no "aching void," no "salt land, and not
inhabited," no "clouds without rain;" but where once were
disappointment and discontent, there are now "pleasures for
evermore," for the soul is "filled in Him."
Seek then, beloved Christian reader, to know more and
more of Jesus. Think not that you are master of the
science of Christ crucified. You know enough of Him to be
supremely blessed; but you are even now but at the
beginning. Notwithstanding all you have learned of Him,
remember you have only read the child's first primer; you
are as yet on one of the lower forms; you have not yet a
degree in the sacred college. You have but dipped the dole
of your foot in that stream wherein the glorified are now
swimming. You are but a gleaner -- you have not at present
handled the sheaves with which the ransomed returned to
Zion. King Jesus has not showed you ALL the treasures of
His house, nor can you more than guess the value of the
least of His jewels. You have at this moment a very faint
idea of the glory to which your Redeemer has raised you, or
the completeness with which He has enriched you. Your joys
are but sips of the cup, but crumbs from under the table.
Up then to your inheritance, the land is before you, walk
through and survey the lot of your inheritance; but know
this, that until you have washed in Jordan, you shall be
but as a beginner, not only in the whole science of divine
love, but even in this one short but comprehensive lesson:
"COMPLETE IN HIM."
TO THE UNCONVERTED READER.
FRIEND, -- We will venture one assertion, in the full
belief that you can not deny it -- YOU ARE NOT ENTIRELY
SATISFIED. You are one of the weary-footed seekers of a
joy which you will never find outside of Christ. Oh! let
this chapter teach you to forgo your vain pursuit, and look
in another direction. be assured that, as hitherto your
chase has been a disappointment, so shall it continue to
the end, unless you run in another manner. Others have dug
the mines of worldly pleasure, and have gained nothing but
anguish and despair; will you search again where others
have found nothing? Let the experience of ages teach you
the fallacy of human hopes, and let your own failures warn
thee of new attempts.
But hark! sinner, all you need is in Christ. He will
fill you, satisfy you, enrich you, gladden you. Oh! let
your friend beseech you, "Taste and see that the Lord is
good."
"Ye are complete in Him." -- Colossians 2:10.
The pardoned sinner for a while is content with the one
boon of forgiveness, and is too overjoyed with a sense of
freedom from bondage to know a wish beyond. In a little
time, however, he thinks about his position, his wants, and
his prospects: what is then his rapture at the discovery
that the roll of his pardon is also an indenture of all
wealth, a charter of all privileges, a title-deed of all
needed blessings! Having received Christ, he has obtained
all things in Him. He looks to that cross upon which the
dreadful handwriting of ordinances has been nailed; to his
unutterable surprise he beholds it blossom with mercy, and
like a tree of life bring forth the twelve manner of fruits
-- yea, all that he requires for life, for death, for time,
or for eternity. Lo! at the foot of the once accursed
tree grow plants for his healing, and flowers for his
delight; from the bleeding feet of the Redeemer flows
directing love to lead him all the desert through -- from
the pierced side there gushes cleansing water to purge him
from the power of sin -- the nails become a means of
securing him to righteousness, while above the crown hangs
visible as the gracious reward of perseverance. All things
are in the cross -- by this we conquer, by this we live, by
this we are purified, by this we continue firm to the end.
While sitting beneath the shadow of our Lord we think
ourselves most rich, for angels seem to sing, "Ye are
complete in Him."
"COMPLETE IN HIM!" -- precious sentence! sweeter than
honey to our soul, we would adore the Holy Spirit for
dictating such glorious words to His servant Paul. Oh! may
we by grace be made to see that they really are ours -- for
ours they are if we answer to the character described in
the opening verses of the Epistle to the Colossians. If we
have faith in Jesus Christ, love towards all the saints,
and a hope laid up in heaven, we may grasp this golden
sentence as all our own. Reader, have you been able to
follow in that which has already been described as the "way
which leads from banishment"? Then you may take this
choice sentence to yourself as a portion of your
inheritance; for weak, poor, helpless, unworthy though you
are in yourself, IN HIM, your Lord, your Redeemer, you are
complete in the fullest, broadest, and most varied sense of
that mighty word, and you will be glad to muse upon the
wonders of this glorious position. May the great Teacher
guide us into this mystery of the perfection of the elect
in Jesus, and may our meditation be cheering and profitable
to our spirits! As the words are few, let us dwell on
them, and endeavor to gain the sweets which lie so
compactly within this little cell.
Pause over those two little words, "IN HIM" -- in
Christ! Here is the doctrine of union and oneness with
Jesus -- a doctrine of undoubted truth and unmingled
comfort. The Church is so allied with her Lord that she is
positively one with Him. She is the bride, and He the
bridegroom; she is the branch, and He the stem; she the
body, and He the glorious head. So also is every
individual believer united to Christ. As Levi lay in the
loins of Abraham when Melchizedek met him, so was every
believer chosen in Christ, and blessed with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Him. We have been spared,
protected, converted, justified, and accepted solely and
entirely by virtue of our eternal union with Christ.
Never can the convinced soul obtain peace until, like
Ruth, she finds rest in the house of her kinsman, who
becomes her husband -- Jesus the Lord. An eminent pastor,
lately deceased, [Rev. Joseph Irons, Camberwell.] said in
one of his sermons, "Now, I am as sure as I am of my own
existence that wherever God the Holy Ghost awakens the poor
sinner by His mighty grace, and imparts spiritual life in
his heart, nothing will ever satisfy that poor sinner but a
believing assurance of eternal union with Christ. Unless
the soul obtains a sweet and satisfactory consciousness of
it in the exercise of a living faith, it will never `enter
into rest' this side eternity."
It is from oneness with Christ before all worlds that
we receive all our mercies. Faith is the precious grace
which discerns this eternal union, and cements it by
another -- a vital union; so that we become one, not merely
in the eye of God, but in our own happy experience -- one
in aim, one in heart, one in holiness, one in communion,
and, ultimately, one in glory.
This manifest union is not more real and actual than
the eternal union of which it is the revelation; it does
not commence the union, nor does its obscurity or clearness
in the least affect the certainty or safety of the
immutable oneness subsisting between Jesus and the
believer. It is eminently desirable that every saint
should attain a full assurance of his union to Christ, and
it is exceedingly important that he should labor to
maintain a constant sense thereof; for although the mercy
be the same, yet his comfort from it will vary according to
his apprehension of it. A landscape is as fair by night as
by day, but who can perceive its beauties in the dark? --
even so we must see, or rather believe, this union to
rejoice in it.
No condition out of Paradise can be more blessed than
that which is produced by a living sense of oneness with
Jesus. To know and feel that our interests are mutual, our
bonds indissoluble, and our lives united, is indeed to dip
our morsel in the golden dish of heaven. There is no
sweeter canticle for mortal lips than the sweet song, "My
Beloved is mine, and I am His," --
"E'en like two bank-dividing brooks,
That wash the pebbles with their wanton streams,
And, having rang'd and search'd a thousand nooks,
Meet both at length in silver-breasted Thames,
Where in a greater current they conjoin;
So I my best Beloved's am, so He is mine."
Verily the stream of life flows along easily enough
when it is commingled with Him who is our life. Walking
with our arm upon the shoulder of the Beloved is not simply
safe, but delightful; and living with His life is a noble
style of immortality, which may be enjoyed on earth. But
to be out of Christ is misery, weakness, and death -- in
short, it is the bud, of which the full-blown flower is
damnation. Apart from Jesus we have nothing save fearful
forebodings and terrible remembrances. Beloved, there is
no Gospel promise which is ours unless we know what it is
to be IN HIM. Out of Him all is poverty, woe, sorrow, and
destruction: it is only in Him, the ark of His elect, that
we can hope to enjoy covenant mercies, or rejoice in the
sure blessings of salvation. Can we now entertain a hope
that we are really hidden in the rock? Do we feel that we
are a portion of Christ's body, and that a real union
exists between us? Then may we proceed to unfold and
appropriate the privileges here mentioned.
Ye are COMPLETE in Him. The word "complete" does not
convey the whole of the meaning couched in the original
word PEPLEIROMENOI. It is on the whole the best word which
can be found in our language, but its meaning may be
further unveiled by the addition of other auxiliary
readings.
I. YE ARE COMPLETE IN HIM. Let us consider the
meaning of the phrase as it thus stands in our own
Authorized Version. We are COMPLETE. In all matters which
concern our spiritual welfare, and our soul's salvation, we
are complete in Christ.
1. COMPLETE WITHOUT THE AID OF JEWISH CEREMONIES.
They had their uses. They were pictures wherewith the law,
as a schoolmaster, taught the infant Jewish church; but now
that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster,
for in the clear light of Christian knowledge we need not
the aid of symbols:--
"Finished are the types and shadows
Of the ceremonial law."
The one sacrifice has so atoned for us that we need no
other. In Christ we are complete without any addition of
circumcision, sacrifice, passover, or temple service.
These are not but beggarly elements. They would be
incumbrances -- for what can we need from them when we are
complete in Christ? What have we to do with moon or stars,
now that Christ hath shone forth like the sun in his
strength? Let the dim lamps be quenched -- they would but
mock the dawn, and the sunlight would deride their unneeded
glimmerings. We despise not the ceremonial law -- it was
"the shadow of good things to come," and as such we
venerate it; but now that the substance has appeared, we
are not content with guesses of grace, but we grasp Him who
is grace and truth. How much more highly are we favored
than the ancient believers, for they by daily offerings
confessed themselves to be incomplete! They could never
stay their hand and say, "It is enough," for daily sin
demanded daily lambs for the altar. The Jews were never
made complete by their law, for their rites "could never
make the comers thereunto perfect;" but this is our
peculiar and superior privilege, that we are perfected by
the one offering on Calvary.
2. WE ARE COMPLETE WITHOUT THE HELP OF PHILOSOPHY.
In Paul's time there were some who thought that philosophy
might be used as a supplement to faith. They argued,
contended, and mystified every doctrine of revelation.
Happy would it have been for them and the Church had they
heeded the words of Paul, and kept entirely to the
simplicity of the Gospel, glorying only in the cross of
Christ! The Christian has such a sublime system of
doctrine that he never need to fear the vain speculations
of an infidel science, nor need he ever call in the
sophisms of the worldly wise to prop his faith -- in Christ
he is complete. We have never heard of a dying believer
asking the aid of a worldly philosophy to give him words of
comfort in the hour of dissolution. No! he has enough in
his own religion -- enough in the comforts of the Holy
Ghost. Never let us turn aside from the faith because of
the sneer of the learned: this a Christian will not,
cannot do -- for we see THAT eternal evidence in our
religion which we may call its best proof, namely, the fact
that in it we are complete.
No man can add anything to the religion of Jesus. All
that is consistent with truth is already incorporated in
it, and with that which is not true it can form no
alliance. There is nothing new in theology save that which
is false. Those who seek to improve the Gospel of Jesus do
but deface it. It is so perfect in itself that all
additions to it are but excrescences of error; and it
renders us so complete that aught we join with it is
supererogation, or worse than that. David would not go to
the fight in Saul's armor, for he had not proved it; so can
we say, "The sling and stone are to us abundant weapons; as
for the mail of philosophy, we leave that for proud
Goliaths to wear." One of the most evil signs of our day
is its tendency to rationalism, spiritualism, and
multitudes of other means of beclouding the simple faith of
our Lord Jesus; but the Lord's chosen family will not be
beguiled from their steadfastness, which is the only hope
of an heretical generation; for they know whom they have
believed, and will not renounce their confidence in Him for
the sophistries of "the wise and prudent."
3. COMPLETE WITHOUT THE INVENTIONS OF SUPERSTITION.
God is the Author of all revealed and spiritual religion;
but man would write an appendix. There must be works of
supererogation, deeds of penance, acts of mortification, or
else the poor papist can never be perfected. Yea, when he
has most vigorously applied the whip, when he has fasted
even to physical exhaustion, when he has forfeited all that
is natural to man -- yet he is never sure that he has done
enough, he can never say that he is complete; but the
Christian, without any of these, feels that he has gained a
consummation by those last words of his Savior -- "It is
finished!" The blood of his agonizing Lord is his only and
all-sufficient trust. He despises alike the absolutions
and the indulgences of priest or pontiff; he tramples on
the refuge of lies which the deceiver has builded -- his
glory and boast ever centering in the fact that he is
COMPLETE IN CHRIST. Let but this sentence be preached
throughout the earth, and believed by the inhabitants
thereof, and all the despots on its surface could not
buttress the tottering Church of Rome, even for a single
hour. Men would soon cry out, "Away with the usurper!
away with her pretensions! There is all in Christ; and
what can she add thereto, saving her mummeries, pollutions,
and corrupt abominations?"
4. WE ARE COMPLETE WITHOUT HUMAN MERIT, OUR OWN WORKS
BEING REGARDED AS FILTHY RAGS. How many there are who,
while waxing warm against popery, are fostering its
principles in their own minds! The very marrow of popery
is reliance on our own works; and in God's sight the
formalist and legalist are as contemptible, if found in an
orthodox church, as if they were open followers of
Antichrist. Brethren, let us see to it that we are resting
alone in the righteousness of Jesus, that He is all in all
to us. Let us never forget that if we are perfect in Him,
we are perfect only in Him. While we would diligently
cultivate works of holiness, let us be careful lest we seek
to add to the perfect work of Jesus. The robe of
righteousness that nature spins and weaves is too frail a
fabric to endure the breath of the Almighty; we must,
therefore, cast it all away -- creature doings must not be
united with, or regarded as auxiliary to, divine
satisfaction.
We would be holy, even as God is, but we are still
confident that this will not be supplementing the great
righteousness which is ours by imputation. No; though
compassed with sin and surrounded by our depravity, we know
that we are so complete in Jesus that we could not be more
so, even were we free from all these things, and glorified
as the spirits of just men made perfect.
Blessed completely through the God-Man, let our
unbelief be ashamed, and let our admiration be fastened
upon this interesting and delightful state of privilege.
Arise, believer! and behold yourself "perfect in Christ
Jesus." Let not your sins shake your faith in the
all-sufficiency of Jesus. You are, with all your
depravity, still in Him, and therefore complete. You have
need of nothing beyond what there is in Him. In Him you
are at this moment RIGHTEOUS, in Him entirely clean, in Him
an object of divine approval and eternal love. NOW, as you
are, and where you are, you are still complete. Feeble,
forgetful, frail, fearful, and fickle in yourself, yet
IN HIM you are all that can be desired. Your
unrighteousness is covered, your righteousness is accepted,
your strength is perfected, your safety secured, and your
heaven certain. Rejoice, then, that you are "complete in
Him." Look on your own nothingness and be humble, but look
at Jesus, your great Representative, and be glad. Be not
so intent upon your own corruptions as to forget His
immaculate purity, which He has given to you. Be not so
mindful of your original poverty as to forget the infinite
riches which He has conferred on you. It will save you
many pangs if you will learn to think of yourself as being
IN HIM, and as being by His glorious grace accepted in
Him, and perfect in Christ Jesus.
II. YE ARE FULLY SUPPLIED IN HIM. Having Him, we
have all that we can possibly require. The man of God is
thoroughly furnished in the possession of his great Savior.
He need never to look for anything beyond, for in Him all
is treasured. Do we need FORGIVENESS for the past?
Pardons, rich and free, are with Jesus. Grace to cover all
our sin is there; grace to rise above our follies and our
faults. Is it WISDOM which we lack? He is made of God
unto us wisdom. His finger shall point out our path in the
desert; His rod and staff shall keep us in the way when we
walk through the valley of the shadow of death. In our
combats with the foe do we feel want of STRENGTH? Is He
not Jehovah, mighty to save? Will He not increase power to
the faint, and succor the fallen? Need we go to Assyria,
or stay on Egypt, for help? Nay, these are broken reeds.
Surely, in the Lord Jehovah we have righteousness and
strength. The battle is before us, but we tremble not at
the foe; we feel armed at all points, clad in impenetrable
mail, for we are fully supplied in Him. Do we deplore our
ignorance? He will give us KNOWLEDGE; He can open our ear
to listen to mysteries unknown. Even babes shall learn the
wonders of His grace, and children shall be taught of the
Lord. No other teacher is required; He is alone efficient
and all-sufficient. Are we at times distressed? We need
not inquire for COMFORT, for in Him, the consolation of
Israel, there are fats full of the oil of joy, and rivers
of the wine of thanksgiving. The PLEASURES of the world
are void to us, for we have infinitely more joy than they
can give in HIM who has made us complete.
Ah! my reader, whatever exigencies may arise, we
shall never need to say, "We have searched, but cannot find
what we require; for it is, and ever shall be, found in the
storehouse of mercy, even in Jesus Christ." "It hath
pleased the Father that in Him should ALL fulness dwell;"
and truly none of the saints have ever complained of any
failure in Him. Tens of thousands of them have drawn from
this sacred well, yet is it as full as ever, and all who
come to it are supplied with the full measure of their
necessities. Jesus is not one single sprig of myrrh, but
"a BUNDLE of myrrh is my Beloved unto me;" [Song of Sol.
1:13,14] not one mercy, but a string of mercies, for "my
Beloved is unto me as A CLUSTER of camphire." "In Christ
is a cluster of all spiritual blessings; all the blessings
of the everlasting covenant are in His hands and at His
disposal; and saints are blessed with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Him. He is the believer's
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
There is not a mercy we want but is in Him, or a blessing
we enjoy but what we have received it from Him. He is the
believer's `ALL IN ALL.'" [Dr. Gill] The word
translated "complete" is used by Demosthenes in describing
a ship as fully manned -- and truly the Christian's ship,
from prow to stern, is well manned by her Captain, who
Himself steers the vessel, stills the storm, feeds the
crew, fills the sails, and brings all safe to their desired
haven. In every position of danger or duty Christ Himself
is all-sufficient for protection or support. Under every
conceivable or inconceivable trial, we shall find in Him
sufficient grace: should every earthly stream be dried,
there is enough in Him, in the absence of them all. His
glorious person is the dwelling-place of all-sufficiency.
"In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily;"
as the fulness of Deity is sufficient to create and sustain
a universe of ponderous orbs, and whole worlds of living
creatures, can it be supposed that it will be found unable
to supply the necessities of saints? Such a fear would be
as foolish as if a man should tremble lest the atmosphere
should prove too little for his breath, or the rivers too
shallow for his thirst. To imagine the riches of the
incarnate God to fail would be to conceive a bankrupt God,
or a wasted infinite. Therefore, let us set up our banners
in His name, and exceedingly rejoice.
III. A third reading is -- YE ARE SATISFIED IN HIM.
Satisfaction is a jewel rare and precious. Happy is the
merchantman who finds it. We may seek it in RICHES, but it
does not lie there. We may heap up gold and silver, pile
on pile, until we are rich beyond the dream of avarice,
then thrust our hands into our bags of gold, and search
there for satisfaction, but we have it not. Our heart,
like the horse-leech, cries, "Give, give!" We may erect
the palace and conquer mighty nations, but among the
trophies which decorate the hall, there is not that
precious thing which worlds cannot buy. But give us
Christ, let us be allied to Him, and our heart is
satisfied. We are content in poverty -- we are rich; in
distress we have all, and abound. We are full, for we are
satisfied in Him.
Again, let us explore the fields of KNOWLEDGE; let us
separate ourselves, and intermeddle with all wisdom; let us
dive into the secrets of nature; let the heavens yield to
the telescope, and the earth to our research; let us turn
the ponderous tome, and pore over the pages of the mighty
folio; let us take our seat among the wise, and become
professors of science; but, alas! we soon shall loathe it
all, for "much study is a weariness of the flesh." But let
us turn again tot he fountain-head, and drink of the waters
of revelation: we are then satisfied. Whatever the pursuit
may be, whether we invoke the trump of fame to do us
homage, and bid our fellows offer the incense of honor, or
pursue the pleasures of sin, and dance a giddy round of
merriment, or follow the less erratic movements of
commerce, and acquire influence among men, we shall still
be disappointed, we shall have still an aching void, an
emptiness within; but when we gather up our straying
desires, and bring them to a focus at the foot of Calvary,
we feel a solid satisfaction, of which the world cannot
deprive us.
Among the sons of men there are not a few of restless
spirit, whose uneasy souls are panting for an unknown good,
the want of which they feel, but the nature of which they
do not comprehend. These will hurry from country to
country, to do little else but attempt a hopeless escape
from themselves; they will flit from pleasure to pleasure,
with the only gain of fresh grief from repeated
disappointments. It were hard indeed to compound a
medicine for minds thus diseased. Verily, the aromatics
and balms of Araby, or the islands of the sea, might be
exhausted ere the elixir of satisfaction could be
distilled, and every mystic name in the vocabulary of the
wise might be tried in vain to produce the all-precious
charm of quiet. But in the Gospel we find the inestimable
medicine already compounded, potent enough to allay the
most burning fever, and still the most violent palpitations
of the heart. This we speak from experience, for we too
were once, like the unclean spirit, "seeking rest and
finding none;" we once groaned for an unseen something,
which in all our joys we could not find, and now, by God's
great love, we have found the water which has quenched our
thirst -- it is that which Jesus gives, "the living water"
of His grace. We revel in the sweets of the name of Jesus,
and long for nought beside. Like Naphtali, we are
satisfied with favor, and full of the blessing of the Lord.
Like Jacob, we exclaim, "It is enough." The soul is
anchored, the desire is "satiated with fatness," the whole
man is rich to all the intents of bliss, and looks for
nothing more. Allen, in his "Heaven Opened," represents
the believer as soliloquizing in the following joyous
manner: -- "O happy soul, how rich art thou! What a booty
have I gotten! It is all mine own. I have the promises of
this life and of that which is to come. Oh! what can I
wish more? How full a charter is here! Now, my doubting
soul may boldly and believingly say with Thomas, `My Lord
and my God.' What need we any further witness? We have
heard His words. He has sworn by His holiness that His
decree may not be changed, and has signed it with His own
signet. And now return to thy rest, O my soul! for the
Lord has dealt bountifully with thee. Say, if thy lines be
not fallen to thee in a pleasant place, and if this be not
a goodly heritage? O blasphemous discontent! how absurd
and unreasonable an evil art thou, whom all the fulness of
the Godhead cannot satisfy, because thou art denied in a
petty comfort, or crossed in thy vain expectations from the
world! O my unthankful soul, shall not a Trinity content
thee? Shall not all-sufficiency suffice thee? Silence, ye
murmuring thoughts, for ever. I have enough, I abound, and
am full. Infiniteness and eternity are mine, and what more
can I ask?"
Oh, may we constantly dwell on the blissful summit of
spiritual content, boasting continually in the completeness
of our salvation IN HIM, and may we ever seek to live up
to our great and inestimable privilege! Let us live
according to our rank and quality, according to our rank
and quality, according to the riches conveyed to us by the
eternal covenant. As great princes are so arrayed that you
can read their estates in their garments, and discern their
riches by their tables, so let our daily carriage express
to others the value which we set upon the blessings of
grace. A murmur is a rag which is ill-suited to be the
dress of a soul possessed of Jesus; a complaining spirit is
too mean a thing for an heir of all things to indulge. Let
worldlings see that our Jesus is indeed a sufficient
portion. As for those of us who are continually filled
with rejoicing, let us be careful that our company and
converse are in keeping with our high position. Let our
satisfaction with Christ beget in us a spirit too noble to
stoop to the base deeds of ungodly men. Let us live among
the generation of the just; let us dwell in the courts of
the great King, behold His face, wait at His throne, bear
His name, show forth His virtues, set forth His praises,
advance His honor, uphold His interest, and reflect His
image. It is not becoming that princes of the blood should
herd with beggars, or dress as they do; let all believers,
then, come out from the world, and mount the hills of high
and holy living; so shall it be proved that they are
content with Christ, when they utterly forsake the broken
cisterns.
IV. The text bears within it another meaning -- YE
ARE FILLED IN HIM: --so Wickliffe translated it, "AND ZE
BEN FILLID IN HYM." A possession of Jesus in the soul is a
filling thing. Our great Creator never intended that the
heart should be empty, and hence He has stamped upon it the
ancient rule that nature abhors a vacuum. The soul can
never be quiet until in every part it is fully occupied.
It is as insatiable as the grave, until it finds every
corner of its being filled with treasure. Now, it can be
said of Christian salvation, that it, and it alone, can
fill the mind. Man is a compound being, and while one
portion of his being may be full, another may be empty.
There is nothing which can fill the whole man save the
possession of Christ.
The man of hard calculation, the lover of facts, may
feast his head and starve his heart; -- the sentimentalist
may fill up his full measure of emotion, and destroy his
understanding; -- the poet may render his imagination
gigantic, and dwarf his judgment; -- the student may render
his brain the very refinement of logic, and his conscience
may be dying: -- but give us Christ for our study, Christ
for our science, Christ for our pursuit, and our whole man
is filled. In His religion we find enough to exercise the
faculties of the most astute reasoner, while yet our heart,
by the contemplation, shall be warmed -- yea, made to burn
within us. In Him we find room for imagination's utmost
stretch, while yet His kind hand preserves us from wild and
romantic visions. He can satisfy our soul in its every
part. Our whole man feels that His truth is our soul's
proper food, that its powers were made to appropriate HIM,
while HE is so constituted that He is adapted to its every
want. Herein lies the fault of all human systems of
religion -- they do but subjugate and enlist a portion of
the man; they light up with doubtful brilliance one single
chamber of his soul, and leave the rest in darkness; they
cover him in one part, and allow the biting frost to benumb
and freeze the other, until the man feels that something is
neglected, for he bears a gnawing within him which his
false religion cannot satisfy. But let the glorious Gospel
of the blessed Jesus come into the man; let the Holy Spirit
apply the word with power, and the whole man is filled --
every nerve, like the string of a harp, is wound up, and
gives forth melody -- every power blesses God -- every
portion is lighted up with splendor, and the man exclaims,
"There rest, my long divided soul,
Fixed on this mighty centre, rest."
"Shaddai," the Lord all-sufficient, is a portion large
enough to afford us fulness of joy and peace. In Him, as
well as in His house, "there is bread enough and to spare."
In the absence of all other good things, He is an
overflowing river of mercy, and when other blessings are
present, they owe all their value to Him. He makes our cup
so full that it runneth over, and so He is just what man's
insatiable heart requires. It is a fact which all men must
acknowledge, that we are never full till we run over -- the
soul never has enough till it has more than enough; while
we can contain and measure and number our possessions, we
are not quite so rich as we desire. PAUPERIS EST NUMERARE
PECUS -- we count ourselves poor so long as we can count
our wealth. We are never satisfied till we have more than
will satisfy us. But in Jesus there is that
superabundance, that lavish richness, that outdoing of
desire, that we are obliged to exclaim, "IT IS ENOUGH --
I'M FILLED TO THE BRIM."
How desirable is that state of mind which makes every
part of the soul a spring of joys! The most of men have
but one well of mirth within them; according to their
temperament, they derive their happiness from different
powers of the mind -- one from bold imagination, another
from solitary meditation, and a third from memory; but the
believer has many wells and many palm-trees, for all that
is within him is blessed by God. As the waters cover the
sea, so has divine grace flooded every portion of his
being. He has no "aching void," no "salt land, and not
inhabited," no "clouds without rain;" but where once were
disappointment and discontent, there are now "pleasures for
evermore," for the soul is "filled in Him."
Seek then, beloved Christian reader, to know more and
more of Jesus. Think not that you are master of the
science of Christ crucified. You know enough of Him to be
supremely blessed; but you are even now but at the
beginning. Notwithstanding all you have learned of Him,
remember you have only read the child's first primer; you
are as yet on one of the lower forms; you have not yet a
degree in the sacred college. You have but dipped the dole
of your foot in that stream wherein the glorified are now
swimming. You are but a gleaner -- you have not at present
handled the sheaves with which the ransomed returned to
Zion. King Jesus has not showed you ALL the treasures of
His house, nor can you more than guess the value of the
least of His jewels. You have at this moment a very faint
idea of the glory to which your Redeemer has raised you, or
the completeness with which He has enriched you. Your joys
are but sips of the cup, but crumbs from under the table.
Up then to your inheritance, the land is before you, walk
through and survey the lot of your inheritance; but know
this, that until you have washed in Jordan, you shall be
but as a beginner, not only in the whole science of divine
love, but even in this one short but comprehensive lesson:
"COMPLETE IN HIM."
TO THE UNCONVERTED READER.
FRIEND, -- We will venture one assertion, in the full
belief that you can not deny it -- YOU ARE NOT ENTIRELY
SATISFIED. You are one of the weary-footed seekers of a
joy which you will never find outside of Christ. Oh! let
this chapter teach you to forgo your vain pursuit, and look
in another direction. be assured that, as hitherto your
chase has been a disappointment, so shall it continue to
the end, unless you run in another manner. Others have dug
the mines of worldly pleasure, and have gained nothing but
anguish and despair; will you search again where others
have found nothing? Let the experience of ages teach you
the fallacy of human hopes, and let your own failures warn
thee of new attempts.
But hark! sinner, all you need is in Christ. He will
fill you, satisfy you, enrich you, gladden you. Oh! let
your friend beseech you, "Taste and see that the Lord is
good."
Saturday, November 13, 2010
The Joy of Jesus is God The Father
God is the Father of all men naturally, being their Creator. "Have we not all one Father? hath not one God created us?" (Mal. 2:10). "But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and Thou our Potter; and we all are the work of Thy hand" (Isa. 64:8). The fact that such verses have been grossly perverted by some holding erroneous views on "the universal fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man," must not cause us to utterly repudiate them. It is our privilege to assure the most ungodly and abandoned that, if they will but throw down the weapons of their warfare and do as the prodigal did, there is a loving Father ready to welcome them. If He hears the cries of the ravens (Ps. 147:9), will He turn a deaf ear to the requests of a rational creature? Simon Magus, while still "in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity," was directed by an apostle to repent of his wickedness and to pray to God (Acts 8:22, 23).
Friday, November 12, 2010
The Joy of Jesus is Love
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge -- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:16-19
Ephesians 3:16-19
The Joy of Jesus is Being Blessed
Praise for the LORD's Benefits
A Psalm of David.
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul:
and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits:
3 who forgiveth all thine iniquities;
who healeth all thy diseases;
4 who redeemeth thy life from destruction;
who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies;
5 who satisfieth thy mouth with good things;
so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.
6 The LORD executeth righteousness
and judgment for all that are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways unto Moses,
his acts unto the children of Israel.
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, Jas. 5.11
slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
9 He will not always chide:
neither will he keep his anger for ever.
10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins;
nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heaven is high above the earth,
so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
12 As far as the east is from the west,
so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
13 Like as a father pitieth his children,
so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
14 For he knoweth our frame;
he remembereth that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are as grass:
as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone;
and the place thereof shall know it no more.
17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting
upon them that fear him,
and his righteousness unto children's children;
18 to such as keep his covenant,
and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
19 The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens;
and his kingdom ruleth over all.
20 Bless the LORD, ye his angels,
that excel in strength,
that do his commandments,
hearkening unto the voice of his word.
21 Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts;
ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.
22 Bless the LORD, all his works
in all places of his dominion:
bless the LORD, O my soul.
Published by The American Bible Society
A Psalm of David.
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul:
and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits:
3 who forgiveth all thine iniquities;
who healeth all thy diseases;
4 who redeemeth thy life from destruction;
who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies;
5 who satisfieth thy mouth with good things;
so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.
6 The LORD executeth righteousness
and judgment for all that are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways unto Moses,
his acts unto the children of Israel.
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, Jas. 5.11
slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
9 He will not always chide:
neither will he keep his anger for ever.
10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins;
nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heaven is high above the earth,
so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
12 As far as the east is from the west,
so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
13 Like as a father pitieth his children,
so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
14 For he knoweth our frame;
he remembereth that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are as grass:
as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone;
and the place thereof shall know it no more.
17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting
upon them that fear him,
and his righteousness unto children's children;
18 to such as keep his covenant,
and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
19 The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens;
and his kingdom ruleth over all.
20 Bless the LORD, ye his angels,
that excel in strength,
that do his commandments,
hearkening unto the voice of his word.
21 Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts;
ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.
22 Bless the LORD, all his works
in all places of his dominion:
bless the LORD, O my soul.
Published by The American Bible Society
Thursday, November 11, 2010
The Joy of Jesus is The Power of God
The Power of God: "Who are kept by the power of God through faith.. . ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Pet. 1:5). "Kept from what? Ah, what mortal is capable of returning a full answer? A whole section might profitably be devoted to this one aspect of our subject. Kept from the dominion of sin which still dwells within us. Kept from being drawn Out of the narrow way by the enticements of the world. Kept from the horrible heresies which ensnare thousands on every side. Kept from being overcome by Satan, who ever seeks our destruction. Kept from departing from the living God so that we do not make shipwreck of the faith. Kept from turning His grace into lasciviousness. Weak as water in ourselves, yet enabled to endure as seeing Him who is invisible. This "is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes."
Sin is a mighty monarch which none of his subjects can withstand. There was more in Adam while innocent to resist sin than in any other since, for sin has an ally within the fallen creature that is ever ready to betray him into temptation from without. But sin had no such advantage over Adam, nevertheless it overwhelmed him. The non-elect angels were yet better able to withstand sin than Adam was, having a more excellent nature and being nearer to God, yet sin prevailed against them, and threw them out of heaven into hell. Then what a mighty power is required to subdue it! Only He who "led captivity captive" can make His people more than conquerors.
"As the providence of God is a manifestation of His power in a continued creation, so the preservation of grace is a manifestation of His power in a continued regeneration. God’s strength abates and modifies the violence of temptations, His staff supports His people under them, His might defeats the power of Satan. The counterworkings of indwelling corruptions, the reluctancies of the flesh against the breathings of the spirit, the fallacies of the senses and the rovings of the mind would quickly stifle and quench grace if it were not maintained by the same all-powerful blast that first inbreathed it. No less power is seen in perfecting it, than implanting it (2 Peter 1:3); no less in fulfilling the work of faith, than in engrafting the word of faith (2 Thess. 1:11)."—S. Charnock.
The preservation of God’s people in this world greatly glories the power of God. To preserve those with so many corruptions within and so many temptations without magnifies His ineffable might more than if He were to translate them to heaven the moment they believed. In a world of suffering and sorrow, to preserve the faith of His people amid so many and sore testings, trials, buffetings, disappointments, betrayals by friends and professed brethren in Christ, is infinitely more wonderful than if a man should succeed in carrying an unsheltered candle alight across an open moor when a hurricane was blowing. To the glory of God the writer bears witness that but for omnipotent grace he had become an infidel years ago as the result of the treatment he had received from those who posed as preachers of the Gospel. Yes, for God to supply strength to His fainting people, and enable them to "hold the beginning of their confidence stedfast unto the end" (Heb. 3:14), is more marvelous than though He were to keep a fire burning in the midst of the ocean.
How the contemplation of the power of God should deepen our confidence and trust in Him: "Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength" (Isa. 26:4). The power of God was the ground of Abraham’s assurance (Heb. 11:19), of the three Hebrews’ in Babylon (Dan. 3:17), of Christ’s (Heb. 5:7). Oh, to bear constantly in mind that "God is able to make all grace abound toward us" (2 Cor. 19:8). Nothing is so calculated to calm the mind, still our fears, and fill us with peace as faith’s appropriation of God’s sufficiency. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. 8:3 1). His infallible promise is, "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness" (Isa. 41:10). He who brought a nation through the Red Sea without any ships, and led them across the desert for forty years where was neither bread nor water, still lives and reigns!
Sin is a mighty monarch which none of his subjects can withstand. There was more in Adam while innocent to resist sin than in any other since, for sin has an ally within the fallen creature that is ever ready to betray him into temptation from without. But sin had no such advantage over Adam, nevertheless it overwhelmed him. The non-elect angels were yet better able to withstand sin than Adam was, having a more excellent nature and being nearer to God, yet sin prevailed against them, and threw them out of heaven into hell. Then what a mighty power is required to subdue it! Only He who "led captivity captive" can make His people more than conquerors.
"As the providence of God is a manifestation of His power in a continued creation, so the preservation of grace is a manifestation of His power in a continued regeneration. God’s strength abates and modifies the violence of temptations, His staff supports His people under them, His might defeats the power of Satan. The counterworkings of indwelling corruptions, the reluctancies of the flesh against the breathings of the spirit, the fallacies of the senses and the rovings of the mind would quickly stifle and quench grace if it were not maintained by the same all-powerful blast that first inbreathed it. No less power is seen in perfecting it, than implanting it (2 Peter 1:3); no less in fulfilling the work of faith, than in engrafting the word of faith (2 Thess. 1:11)."—S. Charnock.
The preservation of God’s people in this world greatly glories the power of God. To preserve those with so many corruptions within and so many temptations without magnifies His ineffable might more than if He were to translate them to heaven the moment they believed. In a world of suffering and sorrow, to preserve the faith of His people amid so many and sore testings, trials, buffetings, disappointments, betrayals by friends and professed brethren in Christ, is infinitely more wonderful than if a man should succeed in carrying an unsheltered candle alight across an open moor when a hurricane was blowing. To the glory of God the writer bears witness that but for omnipotent grace he had become an infidel years ago as the result of the treatment he had received from those who posed as preachers of the Gospel. Yes, for God to supply strength to His fainting people, and enable them to "hold the beginning of their confidence stedfast unto the end" (Heb. 3:14), is more marvelous than though He were to keep a fire burning in the midst of the ocean.
How the contemplation of the power of God should deepen our confidence and trust in Him: "Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength" (Isa. 26:4). The power of God was the ground of Abraham’s assurance (Heb. 11:19), of the three Hebrews’ in Babylon (Dan. 3:17), of Christ’s (Heb. 5:7). Oh, to bear constantly in mind that "God is able to make all grace abound toward us" (2 Cor. 19:8). Nothing is so calculated to calm the mind, still our fears, and fill us with peace as faith’s appropriation of God’s sufficiency. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. 8:3 1). His infallible promise is, "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness" (Isa. 41:10). He who brought a nation through the Red Sea without any ships, and led them across the desert for forty years where was neither bread nor water, still lives and reigns!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
The Joy of Jesus is Life
"For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world" (John 6:33). The Father’s provision for a dying world was to send from heaven His only begotten Son. There is another suggestive contrast here, yea, a double one. The manna had no power to ward off death—the generation of Israel that ate it in the wilderness died! How, then, could it be the "true bread"? No; Christ is the "true bread," for He bestows "life." But again: the manna was only for Israel. No other people in the desert (the Amorites, for instance) partook of the manna; for it fell only in Israel’s camp. But the true Bread "giveth life unto the world." The "world" here does not include the whole human race, for Christ does not bestow "life" on every descendant of Adam. It is not here said that the true Bread offereth "life unto the world," but He "giveth life." It is the "world" of believers who are here in view. The Lord, then, designedly employs a word that reached beyond the limits of Israel, and took in elect Gentiles too!
"For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world." Three different expressions are used by our Lord in this passage, each having a slightly varied meaning; the three together, serving to bring out the fulness and blessedness of this title. In verse 32 He speaks of Himself as the "true bread from heaven": "true" speaks of that which is real, genuine, satisfying; "from heaven" tells of its celestial and spiritual character. In verse 33 He speaks of Himself as "the bread of God," which denotes that He is Divine, eternal. Then, in verse 35 He says, "I am the bread of life": the One who imparts, nourishes and sustains life.
"Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread" (John 6:34). This was but the outcome of a fleeting impression which had been made by His words. It reminds us very much of the language of the woman at the well, "Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw" (John 4:15), and those who recall our comments on that verse will remember the motive that prompted her. The words of these men but served to make their rejection of Him more manifest and decisive when they fully grasped His meaning: verse 36 proves this conclusively"But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not."
"And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life" (John 6:35). The Lord places Himself before us under the figure of bread. The emblem is beautifully significant, and like all others used in Scripture calls for prolonged and careful meditation. First, bread is a necessary food. Unlike many other articles of diet which are more or less luxuries, this is essential to our very existence. Bread is the food we cannot dispense with. There are other things placed upon our tables that we can do without, but not so with bread. Let us learn the lesson well. Without Christ we shall perish. There is no spiritual life or health apart from the Bread of God.
"For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world." Three different expressions are used by our Lord in this passage, each having a slightly varied meaning; the three together, serving to bring out the fulness and blessedness of this title. In verse 32 He speaks of Himself as the "true bread from heaven": "true" speaks of that which is real, genuine, satisfying; "from heaven" tells of its celestial and spiritual character. In verse 33 He speaks of Himself as "the bread of God," which denotes that He is Divine, eternal. Then, in verse 35 He says, "I am the bread of life": the One who imparts, nourishes and sustains life.
"Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread" (John 6:34). This was but the outcome of a fleeting impression which had been made by His words. It reminds us very much of the language of the woman at the well, "Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw" (John 4:15), and those who recall our comments on that verse will remember the motive that prompted her. The words of these men but served to make their rejection of Him more manifest and decisive when they fully grasped His meaning: verse 36 proves this conclusively"But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not."
"And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life" (John 6:35). The Lord places Himself before us under the figure of bread. The emblem is beautifully significant, and like all others used in Scripture calls for prolonged and careful meditation. First, bread is a necessary food. Unlike many other articles of diet which are more or less luxuries, this is essential to our very existence. Bread is the food we cannot dispense with. There are other things placed upon our tables that we can do without, but not so with bread. Let us learn the lesson well. Without Christ we shall perish. There is no spiritual life or health apart from the Bread of God.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
The Joy of Jesus is Compassion
Matthew 14: 13-21
And when he went ashore he saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and he healed their sick. And when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a lonely place and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves. Jesus said, They need not go away; you give them something to eat".
When we read the synoptic gospels, we are struck by the fact that Jesus was always followed by large crowds of people. He attracted crowds in his public ministry. Listen to what Mark says:
Jesus and his disciples went away to Lake Galilee and a large crowd followed him. They had come from Galilee, from Judea, from Jerusalem, from the territory of Idumea, from the territory on the east side of Jordan, and from the cities of Tyre and Sidon. All these people came to Jesus because they had heard of the things he was doing. The crowd was so large that Jesus told his disciples to get a boat ready for him, so that the people would not crush him. He had healed many sick people, and all those who were ill kept pushing their way to him in order to touch him. And whenever those who had evil spirits in them saw him, they would fall down before him and scream, "You are the Son of God." (Mark 3:7-11)
Wherever Jesus went he was in the midst of people. "When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room for them, not even about the door..." (Mark 2:1)
Jesus among the multitude, Jesus among the crowd, Jesus with the people, this is one of the themes of the Gospel story. We often think of Jesus as a solitary preacher, a religious recluse or a hermit. He was not an arm-chair rabbi or a theological professor. He was a man of the people.
And when he went ashore he saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and he healed their sick. And when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a lonely place and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves. Jesus said, They need not go away; you give them something to eat".
When we read the synoptic gospels, we are struck by the fact that Jesus was always followed by large crowds of people. He attracted crowds in his public ministry. Listen to what Mark says:
Jesus and his disciples went away to Lake Galilee and a large crowd followed him. They had come from Galilee, from Judea, from Jerusalem, from the territory of Idumea, from the territory on the east side of Jordan, and from the cities of Tyre and Sidon. All these people came to Jesus because they had heard of the things he was doing. The crowd was so large that Jesus told his disciples to get a boat ready for him, so that the people would not crush him. He had healed many sick people, and all those who were ill kept pushing their way to him in order to touch him. And whenever those who had evil spirits in them saw him, they would fall down before him and scream, "You are the Son of God." (Mark 3:7-11)
Wherever Jesus went he was in the midst of people. "When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room for them, not even about the door..." (Mark 2:1)
Jesus among the multitude, Jesus among the crowd, Jesus with the people, this is one of the themes of the Gospel story. We often think of Jesus as a solitary preacher, a religious recluse or a hermit. He was not an arm-chair rabbi or a theological professor. He was a man of the people.
Monday, November 8, 2010
The Joy of Jesus is God's Love
THE CHRISTIAN’S ASSURANCE
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."
Romans 8:28
How many of God’s children have, through the centuries, drawn strength and comfort from this blessed verse. In the midst of trials, perplexities, and persecutions, this has been a rock beneath their feet. Though to outward sight things seemed to work against their good, though to carnal reason things appeared to be working for their ill, nevertheless, faith knew it was for otherwise. And how great the loss to those who failed to rest upon this inspired declaration: what unnecessary fears and doubtings were the consequence.
"All things work together." The first thought occurring to us is this: What a glorious Being our God be, who is able to make all things so work! What a frightful amount of evil there is in constant activity. What an almost infinite number of creatures there are in the world. What an incalculable quantity of opposing self-interests at work. What a vast army of rebels fighting against God. What hosts of super-human creatures over opposing the Lord. And yet, high above all, is GOD, in undisturbed calm, complete master of the situation. There, from the throne of His exalted majesty, He worketh all things after the counsel of His own will (Eph. 1:11). Stand in awe, then, before this One in whose sight "all nations are as nothing; and they are counted as less than nothing, and vanity " (Isa. 40:17). Bow in adoration before this "high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity" (Isa. 57:15). Lift high your praise unto Him who from the direct evil can educe the greatest good.
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."
Romans 8:28
How many of God’s children have, through the centuries, drawn strength and comfort from this blessed verse. In the midst of trials, perplexities, and persecutions, this has been a rock beneath their feet. Though to outward sight things seemed to work against their good, though to carnal reason things appeared to be working for their ill, nevertheless, faith knew it was for otherwise. And how great the loss to those who failed to rest upon this inspired declaration: what unnecessary fears and doubtings were the consequence.
"All things work together." The first thought occurring to us is this: What a glorious Being our God be, who is able to make all things so work! What a frightful amount of evil there is in constant activity. What an almost infinite number of creatures there are in the world. What an incalculable quantity of opposing self-interests at work. What a vast army of rebels fighting against God. What hosts of super-human creatures over opposing the Lord. And yet, high above all, is GOD, in undisturbed calm, complete master of the situation. There, from the throne of His exalted majesty, He worketh all things after the counsel of His own will (Eph. 1:11). Stand in awe, then, before this One in whose sight "all nations are as nothing; and they are counted as less than nothing, and vanity " (Isa. 40:17). Bow in adoration before this "high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity" (Isa. 57:15). Lift high your praise unto Him who from the direct evil can educe the greatest good.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Praise God with The Joy of Jesus
Psalm 100
A Psalm of Thanksgiving.
1 Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!
2 Serve the LORD with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
3 Know that the LORD, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;[a]
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
5 For the LORD is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.
Footnotes:
Psalm 100:3
A Psalm of Thanksgiving.
1 Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!
2 Serve the LORD with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
3 Know that the LORD, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;[a]
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
5 For the LORD is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.
Footnotes:
Psalm 100:3
Saturday, November 6, 2010
The Joy of Jesus is Blessing People
Praise God in Christ Jesus for all people with the blessings of The Lord. In Jesus Name: 1.) Access to God's Grace.....(Ephesians 2:8+18) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
2.) We are adopted by God....(Ephesians 1:5) Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, (Galatians 4:5) To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
3.) We get an Inheritance....(Ephesians 1:11) In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
4.) We are elected (saved)...(1 Peter 1:2) Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
5.) We become a child of God...(John 1:12) But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
6.) We get a heavenly citizenship...(2 Timothy 4:18) And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
7.) We become a servant....(Romans 6:22) But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
8.) We are heirs of God, joint heirs with Jesus...(Romans 8:17) And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (Galatians 3:29) And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
9.) We become a new creature...(2 Corinthians 5:17) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (Galatians 6:15) For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
10.) We become priests....(1 Peter 2:9) But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: (Revelation 1:6) And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
11.) We are reconciled to God....(Romans 5:10) For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
12.) We are Sanctified......(1 Corinthians 6:11) And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
13.) We are accepted in the Beloved...(Ephesians 1:6) To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
14.) We are Baptized into the body of Christ.....(1 Corinthians 12:13) For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
15. ) We are buried with him.....(Romans 6:4) Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
16. ) We have put on Christ....(Galatians 3:27) For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
17. ) We have eternal life...(John 10:28) And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
18. ) We have peace with God...(John 14:27) Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
19. ) We became a friend of God....(John 15:15) Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
20. ) We get in the Lamb's book of life...(Revelation 21:27) And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.
21. ) We receive imputed righteousness....(Romans 4:6) Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
22. ) Our names are written in heaven.....(Luke 10:20) Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
23. ) We are given a blessed hope of Christ's returning....(Titus 2:13) Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
24. ) We are seated in heavenly places.....(Ephesians 2:6) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
25. ) We have fellowship with the trinity.....(1 John 1:3) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. (Philippians 2:1) If
there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
26. ) We have a mansion in heaven...(John 14:2) In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
27. ) We are born again with a spiritual re-birth.....(John 3:3-6) Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
28. ) We have received an annointing....(1 John 2:27) But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
29. ) The Holy Spirit will live with us now and forever....(John 14:16) And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
30. ) We've been sealed by the Holy spirit unto the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30) And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31. ) Our bodies become the temple of the Holy Ghost.....(1 Corinthians 6:19) What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
32. ) We are forever forgiven.....(Luke 7:48) And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.(1 John 2:12) I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.
33. ) We are justified in God's sight.....(Romans 5:1) Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
34. ) We are redeemed....(Revelation 5:9) And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
35. ) Indwelt by the Holy Spirit.....(Romans 8:9) But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
36. ) We have an advocate with Christ...(1st John 2:1) My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
37. ) We now have the possibility to have victory over sin....(Romans 6:14) For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
38. ) We become Christ's ambassadors.....(2nd Corinthians 5:20) Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
39. ) We are blessed with spiritual blessings..... (Ephesians 1:3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ:
40. ) Our every need will be supplied by God....(Philippians 4:19) But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
41. ) Given an inner strength to accomplish necessary things(Philippians 4:13) I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
42. ) A good work has been done in us....(Philippians 1:6) Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
43. ) The Lord becomes our helper instead of our judge..(Hebrews 13:6) So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
44. ) We get abounding grace...(2 Corinthians 9:8) And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
45. ) We get eternal love....(Romans 8:38-39) For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
46. ) Everthing that happens to us will be for our own good....(Romans 8:28) And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
47. ) A promised faithfulness regardless of our faithlessness....(2 Timothy 2:13) If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself
48. ) A promise given to be able to resist temptation....(1 Corinthians 10:13) There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
49. ) We are made kings...(Revelation 1:6) And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
50. ) We became saints....(1 Corinthians 1:2) Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
51. ) We have been delivered from the power of darkness....(Colossians 1:12-13) Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
52. ) Our hearts are unblamable....(1 Thessalonians 3:13) To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
53. ) We get the power of a sound mind....( (2 Timothy 1:7) For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
2.) We are adopted by God....(Ephesians 1:5) Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, (Galatians 4:5) To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
3.) We get an Inheritance....(Ephesians 1:11) In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
4.) We are elected (saved)...(1 Peter 1:2) Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
5.) We become a child of God...(John 1:12) But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
6.) We get a heavenly citizenship...(2 Timothy 4:18) And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
7.) We become a servant....(Romans 6:22) But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
8.) We are heirs of God, joint heirs with Jesus...(Romans 8:17) And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (Galatians 3:29) And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
9.) We become a new creature...(2 Corinthians 5:17) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (Galatians 6:15) For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
10.) We become priests....(1 Peter 2:9) But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: (Revelation 1:6) And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
11.) We are reconciled to God....(Romans 5:10) For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
12.) We are Sanctified......(1 Corinthians 6:11) And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
13.) We are accepted in the Beloved...(Ephesians 1:6) To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
14.) We are Baptized into the body of Christ.....(1 Corinthians 12:13) For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
15. ) We are buried with him.....(Romans 6:4) Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
16. ) We have put on Christ....(Galatians 3:27) For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
17. ) We have eternal life...(John 10:28) And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
18. ) We have peace with God...(John 14:27) Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
19. ) We became a friend of God....(John 15:15) Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
20. ) We get in the Lamb's book of life...(Revelation 21:27) And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.
21. ) We receive imputed righteousness....(Romans 4:6) Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
22. ) Our names are written in heaven.....(Luke 10:20) Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
23. ) We are given a blessed hope of Christ's returning....(Titus 2:13) Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
24. ) We are seated in heavenly places.....(Ephesians 2:6) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
25. ) We have fellowship with the trinity.....(1 John 1:3) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. (Philippians 2:1) If
there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
26. ) We have a mansion in heaven...(John 14:2) In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
27. ) We are born again with a spiritual re-birth.....(John 3:3-6) Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
28. ) We have received an annointing....(1 John 2:27) But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
29. ) The Holy Spirit will live with us now and forever....(John 14:16) And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
30. ) We've been sealed by the Holy spirit unto the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30) And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31. ) Our bodies become the temple of the Holy Ghost.....(1 Corinthians 6:19) What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
32. ) We are forever forgiven.....(Luke 7:48) And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.(1 John 2:12) I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.
33. ) We are justified in God's sight.....(Romans 5:1) Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
34. ) We are redeemed....(Revelation 5:9) And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
35. ) Indwelt by the Holy Spirit.....(Romans 8:9) But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
36. ) We have an advocate with Christ...(1st John 2:1) My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
37. ) We now have the possibility to have victory over sin....(Romans 6:14) For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
38. ) We become Christ's ambassadors.....(2nd Corinthians 5:20) Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
39. ) We are blessed with spiritual blessings..... (Ephesians 1:3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ:
40. ) Our every need will be supplied by God....(Philippians 4:19) But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
41. ) Given an inner strength to accomplish necessary things(Philippians 4:13) I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
42. ) A good work has been done in us....(Philippians 1:6) Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
43. ) The Lord becomes our helper instead of our judge..(Hebrews 13:6) So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
44. ) We get abounding grace...(2 Corinthians 9:8) And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
45. ) We get eternal love....(Romans 8:38-39) For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
46. ) Everthing that happens to us will be for our own good....(Romans 8:28) And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
47. ) A promised faithfulness regardless of our faithlessness....(2 Timothy 2:13) If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself
48. ) A promise given to be able to resist temptation....(1 Corinthians 10:13) There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
49. ) We are made kings...(Revelation 1:6) And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
50. ) We became saints....(1 Corinthians 1:2) Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
51. ) We have been delivered from the power of darkness....(Colossians 1:12-13) Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
52. ) Our hearts are unblamable....(1 Thessalonians 3:13) To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
53. ) We get the power of a sound mind....( (2 Timothy 1:7) For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Friday, November 5, 2010
The Joy of Jesus is Faith
2 Timothy 4:7 (New International Version)
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Commentary: Verses 1-8 Observe, I. How awfully this charge is introduced (v. 1): I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. Observe, The best of men have need to be awed into the discharge of their duty. The work of a minister is not an indifferent thing, but absolutely necessary. Woe be to him if he preach not the gospel, 1 Co. 9:16. To induce him to faithfulness, he must consider, 1. That the eye of God and Jesus Christ was upon him: I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ; that is, "as thou tenderest the favour of God and Jesus Christ; as thou wilt approve thyself to God and Jesus Christ, by the obligations both of natural and revealed religion; as thou wilt make due returns to the God who made thee and the Lord Jesus Christ who redeemed thee.’’ 2. He charges him as he will answer it at the great day, reminding him of the judgment to come, which is committed to the Lord Jesus. He shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom, that is, when he appears in his kingdom. It concerns all, both ministers and people, seriously to consider the account that they must shortly give to Jesus Christ of all the trusts reposed in them. Christ shall judge the quick and the dead, that is, those that at the last day shall be found alive, and those who shall be raised to life out of the grave. Note, (1.) The Lord Jesus Christ shall judge the quick and the dead. God hath committed all judgment unto the Son, and hath appointed him the Judge of quick and dead, Acts 10:42. (2.) He will appear; he will come the second time, and it will be a glorious appearance, as the word epiphaneia signifies. (3.) Then his kingdom shall appear in its glory: At his appearing and kingdom; for he will then appear in his kingdom, sitting on a throne, to judge the world. II. What is the matter of the charge, v. 2-5. He is charged, 1. To preach the word. This is ministers’ business; a dispensation is committed to them. It is not their own notions and fancies that they are to preach, but the pure plain word of God; and they must not corrupt it, but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, they speak in Christ, 2 Co. 2:17. 2. To urge what he preached, and to press it with all earnestness upon his hearers: "Be instant in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort; do this work with all fervency of spirit. Call upon those under thy charge to take heed of sin, to do their duty: call upon them to repent, and believe, and live a holy life, and this both in season and out of season. In season, when they are at leisure to hear thee, when some special opportunity offers itself of speaking to them with advantage. Nay, do it out of season, even when there is not that apparent probability of fastening something upon them, because thou dost not know but the Spirit of God may fasten upon them; for the wind bloweth where it listeth; and in the morning we must sow our seed, and in the evening not withhold our hand,’’ Eccl. 11:6. We must do it in season, that is, let slip no opportunity; and do it out of season, that is, not shift off the duty, under pretence that it is out of season. 3. He must tell people of their faults: "Reprove them, rebuke them. Convince wicked people of the evil and danger of their wicked courses. Endeavour, by dealing plainly with them, to bring them to repentance. Rebuke them with gravity and authority, in Christ’s name, that they may take thy displeasure against them as an indication of God’s displeasure.’’ 4. He must direct, encourage, and quicken those who began well. "Exhort them (persuade them to hold on, and endure to the end) and this with all long-suffering and doctrine.’’ (1.) He must do it very patiently: With all long-suffering. "If thou do not see the effect of thy labours presently, yet do not therefore give up the cause; be not weary of speaking to them.’’ While God shows to them all long-suffering, let ministers exhort with all long-suffering. (2.) He must do it rationally, not with passion, but with doctrine, that is, "In order to the reducing of them to good practices, instil into them good principles. Teach them the truth as it is in Jesus, reduce them to a firm belief of it, and this will be a means both to reclaim them from evil and to bring them to good.’’ Observe, [1.] A minister’s work has various parts: he is to preach the word, to reprove, rebuke, and exhort. [2.] He is to be very diligent and careful; he must be instant in season and out of season; he must spare no pains nor labour, but must be urgent with them to take care of their souls and their eternal concerns. 5. He must watch in all things. "Seek an opportunity of doing them a kindness; let no fair occasion slip, through thy negligence. Watch to thy work; watch against the temptations of Satan, by which thou mayest be diverted from it; watch over the souls of those who are committed to thy charge.’’ 6. He must count upon afflictions, and endure them, make the best of them. Kakopatheson, endure patiently. "Be not discouraged by the difficulties thou meetest with, but bear them with an evenness of spirit. Inure thyself to hardships.’’ 7. He must remember his office, and discharge its duties: Do the work of an evangelist. The office of the evangelist was, as the apostles’ deputies, to water the churches that they planted. They were not settled pastors, but for some time resided in, and presided over, the churches that the apostles had planted, till they were settled under a standing ministry. This was Timothy’s work. 8. He must fulfil his ministry: Make full proof of it. It was a great trust that was reposed in him, and therefore he must answer it, and perform all the parts of his office with diligence and care. Observe, (1.) A minister must expect afflictions in the faithful discharge of his duty. (2.) He must endure them patiently, like a Christian hero. (3.) These must not discourage him in his work, for he must do his work, and fulfil his ministry. (4.) The best way to make full proof of our ministry is to fulfil it, to fill it up in all its parts with proper work. III. The reasons to enforce the charge. 1. Because errors and heresies were likely to creep into the church, by which the minds of many professing Christians would be corrupted (v. 3, 4): "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. Therefore improve the present time, when they will endure it. Be busy now, for it is seedtime; when the fields are white unto the harvest, put in the sickle, for the present gale of opportunity will be soon over. They will not endure sound doctrine. There will be those who will heap to themselves corrupt teachers, and will turn away their ears from the truth; and therefore secure as many as thou canst, that, when these storms and tempests do arise, they may be well fixed, and their apostasy may be prevented.’’ People must hear, and ministers must preach, for the time to come, and guard against the mischiefs that are likely to arise hereafter, though they do not yet arise. They will turn away their ears from the truth; they will grow weary of the old plain gospel of Christ, and then they will be greedy of fables, and take pleasure in them, and God will give them up to those strong delusions, because they received not the truth in the love of it, 2 Th. 2:11, 12. Observe, (1.) These teachers were of their own heaping up, and not of God’s sending; but they chose them, to gratify their lusts, and to please their itching ears. (2.) People do so when they will not endure sound doctrine, that preaching which is searching, plain, and to the purpose; then they will have teachers of their own. (3.) There is a wide difference between the word of God and the word of such teachers; the one is sound doctrine, the word of truth, the other is only fables. (4.) Those that are turned unto fables first turn away their ears from the truth, for they cannot hear and mind both, any more than they can serve two masters. Nay, further, it is said, They shall be turned unto fables. God justly suffers those to turn to fables who grow weary of the truth, and gives them up to be led aside from the truth by fables. 2. Because Paul for his part had almost done his work: Do thou make full proof of thy ministry, for I am now ready to be offered, v. 6. And, (1.) "Therefore there will be the more occasion for thee.’’ When labourers are removed out of the vineyard, it is no time for those to loiter that are left behind, but to double their diligence. The fewer hands there are to work the more industrious those hands must be that are at work. (2.) "I have done the work of my day and generation; do thou in like manner do the work of thy day and generation.’’ (3.) The comfort and cheerfulness of Paul, in the prospect of his approaching departure, might encourage Timothy to the utmost industry, and diligence, and seriousness in his work. Paul was an old soldier of Jesus Christ, Timothy was but newly enlisted. "Come,’’ says Paul, "I have found our Master kind and the cause good; I can look back upon my warfare with a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction; and therefore be not afraid of the difficulties thou must meet with. The crown of life is as sure to thee as if it were already upon thy head; and therefore endure afflictions, and make full proof of thy ministry.’’ The courage and comfort of dying saints and ministers, and especially dying martyrs, are a great confirmation of the truth of the Christian religion, and a great encouragement to living saints and ministers in their work. Here the apostle looks forward, upon his death approaching: I am now ready to be offered. The Holy Ghost witnessed in every city that bonds and afflictions did abide him, Acts 20:23. He was now at Rome, and it is probable that he had particular intimations from the Spirit that there he should seal the truth with his blood; and he looks upon it now as near at hand: I am already poured out; so it is in the original, ede spendomai; that is, I am already a martyr in affection. It alludes to the pouring out of the drink-offerings; for the blood of the martyrs, though it was not a sacrifice of atonement, was a sacrifice of acknowledgment to the honour of the grace of God and his truths. Observe, [1.] With what pleasure he speaks of dying. He calls it his departure; though it is probable that he foresaw he must die a violent bloody death, yet he calls it his departure, or his release. Death to a good man is his release from the imprisonment of this world and his departure to the enjoyments of another world; he does not cease to be, but is only removed from one world to another. [2.] With what pleasure he looks back upon the life he had lived (v. 7): I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, etc. He did not fear death, because he had the testimony of his conscience that by the grace of God he had in some measure answered the ends of living. As a Christian, as a minister, he had fought a good fight. He had done the service, gone through the difficulties of his warfare, and had been instrumental in carrying on the glorious victories of the exalted Redeemer over the powers of darkness. His life was a course, and he had now finished it; as his warfare was accomplished, so his race was run. "I have kept the faith. I have kept the doctrines of the gospel, and never betrayed any of them.’’ Note, First, The life of a Christian, but especially of a minister, is a warfare and a race, sometimes compared to the one in the scripture, and sometimes to the other. Secondly, It is a good fight, a good warfare; the cause is good, and the victory is sure, if we continue faithful and courageous. Thirdly, We must fight this good fight; we must fight it out, and finish our course; we must not give over till we are made more than conquerors through him who hath loved us, Rom. 8:37. Fourthly, It is a great comfort to a dying saint, when he can look back upon his past life and say with our apostle, "I have fought, etc. I have kept the faith, the doctrine of faith and the grace of faith.’’ Towards the end of our days to be able to speak in this manner, what comfort, unspeakable comfort, will it afford! Let it then be our constant endeavour, by the grace of God, that we may finish our course with joy, Acts 20:24. [3.] With what pleasure he looks forward to the life he was to live hereafter (v. 8): Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, etc. He had lost for Christ, but he was sure he should not lose by him, Phil. 3:8. Let this encourage Timothy to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ that there is a crown of life before us, the glory and joy of which will abundantly recompense all the hardships and toils of our present warfare. Observe, It is called a crown of righteousness, because it will be the recompence of our services, which God is not unrighteous to forget; and because our holiness and righteousness will there be perfected, and will be our crown. God will give it as a righteous Judge, who will let none love by him. And yet this crown of righteousness was not peculiar to Paul, as if it belonged only to apostles and eminent ministers and martyrs, but to all those also that love his appearing. Observe, It is the character of all the saints that they love the appearing of Jesus Christ: they loved his first appearing, when he appeared to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself (Heb. 9:26); they love to think of it; they love his second appearing at the great day; love it, and long for it: and, with respect to those who love the appearing of Jesus Christ, he shall appear to their joy; there is a crown of righteousness reserved for them, which shall then be given them, Heb. 9:28. We learn hence, First, The Lord is the righteous Judge, for his judgment is according to truth. Secondly, The crown of believers is a crown of righteousness, purchased by the righteousness of Christ, and bestowed as the reward of the saints’ righteousness. Thirdly, This crown, which believers shall wear, is laid up for them; they have it not at present, for here they are but heirs; they have it not in possession, and yet it is sure, for it is laid up for them. Fourthly, The righteous Judge will give it to all who love, prepare, and long for his appearing. Surely I come quickly. Amen, even so come, Lord Jesus.
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Commentary: Verses 1-8 Observe, I. How awfully this charge is introduced (v. 1): I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. Observe, The best of men have need to be awed into the discharge of their duty. The work of a minister is not an indifferent thing, but absolutely necessary. Woe be to him if he preach not the gospel, 1 Co. 9:16. To induce him to faithfulness, he must consider, 1. That the eye of God and Jesus Christ was upon him: I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ; that is, "as thou tenderest the favour of God and Jesus Christ; as thou wilt approve thyself to God and Jesus Christ, by the obligations both of natural and revealed religion; as thou wilt make due returns to the God who made thee and the Lord Jesus Christ who redeemed thee.’’ 2. He charges him as he will answer it at the great day, reminding him of the judgment to come, which is committed to the Lord Jesus. He shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom, that is, when he appears in his kingdom. It concerns all, both ministers and people, seriously to consider the account that they must shortly give to Jesus Christ of all the trusts reposed in them. Christ shall judge the quick and the dead, that is, those that at the last day shall be found alive, and those who shall be raised to life out of the grave. Note, (1.) The Lord Jesus Christ shall judge the quick and the dead. God hath committed all judgment unto the Son, and hath appointed him the Judge of quick and dead, Acts 10:42. (2.) He will appear; he will come the second time, and it will be a glorious appearance, as the word epiphaneia signifies. (3.) Then his kingdom shall appear in its glory: At his appearing and kingdom; for he will then appear in his kingdom, sitting on a throne, to judge the world. II. What is the matter of the charge, v. 2-5. He is charged, 1. To preach the word. This is ministers’ business; a dispensation is committed to them. It is not their own notions and fancies that they are to preach, but the pure plain word of God; and they must not corrupt it, but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, they speak in Christ, 2 Co. 2:17. 2. To urge what he preached, and to press it with all earnestness upon his hearers: "Be instant in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort; do this work with all fervency of spirit. Call upon those under thy charge to take heed of sin, to do their duty: call upon them to repent, and believe, and live a holy life, and this both in season and out of season. In season, when they are at leisure to hear thee, when some special opportunity offers itself of speaking to them with advantage. Nay, do it out of season, even when there is not that apparent probability of fastening something upon them, because thou dost not know but the Spirit of God may fasten upon them; for the wind bloweth where it listeth; and in the morning we must sow our seed, and in the evening not withhold our hand,’’ Eccl. 11:6. We must do it in season, that is, let slip no opportunity; and do it out of season, that is, not shift off the duty, under pretence that it is out of season. 3. He must tell people of their faults: "Reprove them, rebuke them. Convince wicked people of the evil and danger of their wicked courses. Endeavour, by dealing plainly with them, to bring them to repentance. Rebuke them with gravity and authority, in Christ’s name, that they may take thy displeasure against them as an indication of God’s displeasure.’’ 4. He must direct, encourage, and quicken those who began well. "Exhort them (persuade them to hold on, and endure to the end) and this with all long-suffering and doctrine.’’ (1.) He must do it very patiently: With all long-suffering. "If thou do not see the effect of thy labours presently, yet do not therefore give up the cause; be not weary of speaking to them.’’ While God shows to them all long-suffering, let ministers exhort with all long-suffering. (2.) He must do it rationally, not with passion, but with doctrine, that is, "In order to the reducing of them to good practices, instil into them good principles. Teach them the truth as it is in Jesus, reduce them to a firm belief of it, and this will be a means both to reclaim them from evil and to bring them to good.’’ Observe, [1.] A minister’s work has various parts: he is to preach the word, to reprove, rebuke, and exhort. [2.] He is to be very diligent and careful; he must be instant in season and out of season; he must spare no pains nor labour, but must be urgent with them to take care of their souls and their eternal concerns. 5. He must watch in all things. "Seek an opportunity of doing them a kindness; let no fair occasion slip, through thy negligence. Watch to thy work; watch against the temptations of Satan, by which thou mayest be diverted from it; watch over the souls of those who are committed to thy charge.’’ 6. He must count upon afflictions, and endure them, make the best of them. Kakopatheson, endure patiently. "Be not discouraged by the difficulties thou meetest with, but bear them with an evenness of spirit. Inure thyself to hardships.’’ 7. He must remember his office, and discharge its duties: Do the work of an evangelist. The office of the evangelist was, as the apostles’ deputies, to water the churches that they planted. They were not settled pastors, but for some time resided in, and presided over, the churches that the apostles had planted, till they were settled under a standing ministry. This was Timothy’s work. 8. He must fulfil his ministry: Make full proof of it. It was a great trust that was reposed in him, and therefore he must answer it, and perform all the parts of his office with diligence and care. Observe, (1.) A minister must expect afflictions in the faithful discharge of his duty. (2.) He must endure them patiently, like a Christian hero. (3.) These must not discourage him in his work, for he must do his work, and fulfil his ministry. (4.) The best way to make full proof of our ministry is to fulfil it, to fill it up in all its parts with proper work. III. The reasons to enforce the charge. 1. Because errors and heresies were likely to creep into the church, by which the minds of many professing Christians would be corrupted (v. 3, 4): "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. Therefore improve the present time, when they will endure it. Be busy now, for it is seedtime; when the fields are white unto the harvest, put in the sickle, for the present gale of opportunity will be soon over. They will not endure sound doctrine. There will be those who will heap to themselves corrupt teachers, and will turn away their ears from the truth; and therefore secure as many as thou canst, that, when these storms and tempests do arise, they may be well fixed, and their apostasy may be prevented.’’ People must hear, and ministers must preach, for the time to come, and guard against the mischiefs that are likely to arise hereafter, though they do not yet arise. They will turn away their ears from the truth; they will grow weary of the old plain gospel of Christ, and then they will be greedy of fables, and take pleasure in them, and God will give them up to those strong delusions, because they received not the truth in the love of it, 2 Th. 2:11, 12. Observe, (1.) These teachers were of their own heaping up, and not of God’s sending; but they chose them, to gratify their lusts, and to please their itching ears. (2.) People do so when they will not endure sound doctrine, that preaching which is searching, plain, and to the purpose; then they will have teachers of their own. (3.) There is a wide difference between the word of God and the word of such teachers; the one is sound doctrine, the word of truth, the other is only fables. (4.) Those that are turned unto fables first turn away their ears from the truth, for they cannot hear and mind both, any more than they can serve two masters. Nay, further, it is said, They shall be turned unto fables. God justly suffers those to turn to fables who grow weary of the truth, and gives them up to be led aside from the truth by fables. 2. Because Paul for his part had almost done his work: Do thou make full proof of thy ministry, for I am now ready to be offered, v. 6. And, (1.) "Therefore there will be the more occasion for thee.’’ When labourers are removed out of the vineyard, it is no time for those to loiter that are left behind, but to double their diligence. The fewer hands there are to work the more industrious those hands must be that are at work. (2.) "I have done the work of my day and generation; do thou in like manner do the work of thy day and generation.’’ (3.) The comfort and cheerfulness of Paul, in the prospect of his approaching departure, might encourage Timothy to the utmost industry, and diligence, and seriousness in his work. Paul was an old soldier of Jesus Christ, Timothy was but newly enlisted. "Come,’’ says Paul, "I have found our Master kind and the cause good; I can look back upon my warfare with a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction; and therefore be not afraid of the difficulties thou must meet with. The crown of life is as sure to thee as if it were already upon thy head; and therefore endure afflictions, and make full proof of thy ministry.’’ The courage and comfort of dying saints and ministers, and especially dying martyrs, are a great confirmation of the truth of the Christian religion, and a great encouragement to living saints and ministers in their work. Here the apostle looks forward, upon his death approaching: I am now ready to be offered. The Holy Ghost witnessed in every city that bonds and afflictions did abide him, Acts 20:23. He was now at Rome, and it is probable that he had particular intimations from the Spirit that there he should seal the truth with his blood; and he looks upon it now as near at hand: I am already poured out; so it is in the original, ede spendomai; that is, I am already a martyr in affection. It alludes to the pouring out of the drink-offerings; for the blood of the martyrs, though it was not a sacrifice of atonement, was a sacrifice of acknowledgment to the honour of the grace of God and his truths. Observe, [1.] With what pleasure he speaks of dying. He calls it his departure; though it is probable that he foresaw he must die a violent bloody death, yet he calls it his departure, or his release. Death to a good man is his release from the imprisonment of this world and his departure to the enjoyments of another world; he does not cease to be, but is only removed from one world to another. [2.] With what pleasure he looks back upon the life he had lived (v. 7): I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, etc. He did not fear death, because he had the testimony of his conscience that by the grace of God he had in some measure answered the ends of living. As a Christian, as a minister, he had fought a good fight. He had done the service, gone through the difficulties of his warfare, and had been instrumental in carrying on the glorious victories of the exalted Redeemer over the powers of darkness. His life was a course, and he had now finished it; as his warfare was accomplished, so his race was run. "I have kept the faith. I have kept the doctrines of the gospel, and never betrayed any of them.’’ Note, First, The life of a Christian, but especially of a minister, is a warfare and a race, sometimes compared to the one in the scripture, and sometimes to the other. Secondly, It is a good fight, a good warfare; the cause is good, and the victory is sure, if we continue faithful and courageous. Thirdly, We must fight this good fight; we must fight it out, and finish our course; we must not give over till we are made more than conquerors through him who hath loved us, Rom. 8:37. Fourthly, It is a great comfort to a dying saint, when he can look back upon his past life and say with our apostle, "I have fought, etc. I have kept the faith, the doctrine of faith and the grace of faith.’’ Towards the end of our days to be able to speak in this manner, what comfort, unspeakable comfort, will it afford! Let it then be our constant endeavour, by the grace of God, that we may finish our course with joy, Acts 20:24. [3.] With what pleasure he looks forward to the life he was to live hereafter (v. 8): Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, etc. He had lost for Christ, but he was sure he should not lose by him, Phil. 3:8. Let this encourage Timothy to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ that there is a crown of life before us, the glory and joy of which will abundantly recompense all the hardships and toils of our present warfare. Observe, It is called a crown of righteousness, because it will be the recompence of our services, which God is not unrighteous to forget; and because our holiness and righteousness will there be perfected, and will be our crown. God will give it as a righteous Judge, who will let none love by him. And yet this crown of righteousness was not peculiar to Paul, as if it belonged only to apostles and eminent ministers and martyrs, but to all those also that love his appearing. Observe, It is the character of all the saints that they love the appearing of Jesus Christ: they loved his first appearing, when he appeared to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself (Heb. 9:26); they love to think of it; they love his second appearing at the great day; love it, and long for it: and, with respect to those who love the appearing of Jesus Christ, he shall appear to their joy; there is a crown of righteousness reserved for them, which shall then be given them, Heb. 9:28. We learn hence, First, The Lord is the righteous Judge, for his judgment is according to truth. Secondly, The crown of believers is a crown of righteousness, purchased by the righteousness of Christ, and bestowed as the reward of the saints’ righteousness. Thirdly, This crown, which believers shall wear, is laid up for them; they have it not at present, for here they are but heirs; they have it not in possession, and yet it is sure, for it is laid up for them. Fourthly, The righteous Judge will give it to all who love, prepare, and long for his appearing. Surely I come quickly. Amen, even so come, Lord Jesus.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
The Joy of Jesus is The Word of God
Prayer: O' Praise Thee in Jesus Names,
God of Our Salvation we Praise Thee for the Holy Spirit.
We pray for all people to know The Joy of Jesus.
Bless us as we move forward in the light of Thy love.
A-men.
In Jesus Names We Pray.
CHRIST, THE ETERNAL WORD
John 1:1-13
In the last chapter we stated, "Each book of the Bible has a prominent and dominant theme which is peculiar to itself. Just as each member in the human body has its own particular function, so, every book in the Bible has its own special purpose and mission. The theme of John’s Gospel is the Deity of the Savior. Here, as nowhere else in Scripture so fully, the Godhood of Christ is presented to our view. That which is outstanding in this fourth Gospel is the Divine Sonship of the Lord Jesus. In this book we are shown that the One who was heralded by the angels to the Bethlehem shepherds, who walked this earth for thirty-three years, who was crucified at Calvary, who rose in triumph from the grave, and who forty days later departed from these scenes, was none other than the Lord of glory. The evidence for this is overwhelming, the proofs almost without number, and the effect of contemplating them must be to bow our hearts in worship before ‘the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ’ (Titus 2:13)."
That John’s Gospel does present the Deity of the Savior is at once apparent from the opening words of the first chapter. The Holy Spirit has, as it were, placed the key right over the entrance, for the introductory verses of this fourth Gospel present the Lord Jesus Christ in Divine relationships and unveil His essential glories. Before we attempt an exposition of this profound passage we shall first submit an analysis of its contents. In these first thirteen verses of John 1 we have set forth: —
1. The Relation of Christ to Time—"In the beginning," therefore, Eternal: John 1:1.
2. The Relation of Christ to the Godhead—"With God," therefore, One of the Holy Trinity: John 1:1.
3. The Relation of Christ to the Holy Trinity—"God was the Word"—the Revealer: John 1:1.
4. The Relation of Christ to the Universe—"All things were made by him"—the Creator: John 1:3.
5. The Relation of Christ to Men—Their "Light": John 1:4, 5.
6. The Relation of John the Baptist to Christ—"Witness" of His Deity: John 1:6-9.
7. The Reception which Christ met here: John 1:10-13.
(a) "The world knew him not": John 1:10.
(b) "His own (Israel) received him not": John 1:11.
(c) A company born of God "received him": John 1:12, 13.
"In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made" (John 1:1-3). How entirely different is this from the opening verses of the other Gospels! John opens by immediately presenting Christ not as the Son of David, nor as the Son of man, but as the Son of God. John takes us back to the beginning, and shows that the Lord Jesus had no beginning. John goes behind creation and shows that the Savior was Himself the Creator. Every clause in these verses calls for our most careful and prayerful attention.
God of Our Salvation we Praise Thee for the Holy Spirit.
We pray for all people to know The Joy of Jesus.
Bless us as we move forward in the light of Thy love.
A-men.
In Jesus Names We Pray.
CHRIST, THE ETERNAL WORD
John 1:1-13
In the last chapter we stated, "Each book of the Bible has a prominent and dominant theme which is peculiar to itself. Just as each member in the human body has its own particular function, so, every book in the Bible has its own special purpose and mission. The theme of John’s Gospel is the Deity of the Savior. Here, as nowhere else in Scripture so fully, the Godhood of Christ is presented to our view. That which is outstanding in this fourth Gospel is the Divine Sonship of the Lord Jesus. In this book we are shown that the One who was heralded by the angels to the Bethlehem shepherds, who walked this earth for thirty-three years, who was crucified at Calvary, who rose in triumph from the grave, and who forty days later departed from these scenes, was none other than the Lord of glory. The evidence for this is overwhelming, the proofs almost without number, and the effect of contemplating them must be to bow our hearts in worship before ‘the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ’ (Titus 2:13)."
That John’s Gospel does present the Deity of the Savior is at once apparent from the opening words of the first chapter. The Holy Spirit has, as it were, placed the key right over the entrance, for the introductory verses of this fourth Gospel present the Lord Jesus Christ in Divine relationships and unveil His essential glories. Before we attempt an exposition of this profound passage we shall first submit an analysis of its contents. In these first thirteen verses of John 1 we have set forth: —
1. The Relation of Christ to Time—"In the beginning," therefore, Eternal: John 1:1.
2. The Relation of Christ to the Godhead—"With God," therefore, One of the Holy Trinity: John 1:1.
3. The Relation of Christ to the Holy Trinity—"God was the Word"—the Revealer: John 1:1.
4. The Relation of Christ to the Universe—"All things were made by him"—the Creator: John 1:3.
5. The Relation of Christ to Men—Their "Light": John 1:4, 5.
6. The Relation of John the Baptist to Christ—"Witness" of His Deity: John 1:6-9.
7. The Reception which Christ met here: John 1:10-13.
(a) "The world knew him not": John 1:10.
(b) "His own (Israel) received him not": John 1:11.
(c) A company born of God "received him": John 1:12, 13.
"In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made" (John 1:1-3). How entirely different is this from the opening verses of the other Gospels! John opens by immediately presenting Christ not as the Son of David, nor as the Son of man, but as the Son of God. John takes us back to the beginning, and shows that the Lord Jesus had no beginning. John goes behind creation and shows that the Savior was Himself the Creator. Every clause in these verses calls for our most careful and prayerful attention.
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