A Holy Loving Pardon
Posted by jerrywhite on May 31, 2012
I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
Psalm 32:5 ESV
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“A soul in Christ is pardoned soul. It matters not how many sins he has committed. The iniquity of Jerusalem was very great. Its people had sinned against light and against love. All the prophets sent to them were stoned or killed. The Son of God came there; they cast Him out of the vineyard and killed Him! Their sins had grown up to heaven; yet no sooner do they turn to Christ than God says, ‘Her iniquity is pardoned’ (Isa. 40:2). And, observe, it is a present pardon. God does not say, ‘Her iniquity will be pardoned,’ but, ‘Her iniquity is pardoned.’
No sooner does a guilty, heavy-laden soul turn to Christ than this sweet word is heard in heaven—his iniquity is pardoned. ‘There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus’ (Rom. 8:1). It is no future or uncertain pardon that is offered in the gospel, but a sure and present pardon—pardon now, this instant, to all who believe in Jesus. You are as completely pardoned in the moment of believing as ever you will be.
It is a holy pardon. Your iniquity is pardoned; another has died for your sins. It is an awful way of pardon. It is a pardon to make you tremble and hate sin with perfect hatred. Oh, can you ever love that which nailed Jesus to the tree, which bowed down His blessed head? Will you take up sin again, and thus put the spear afresh into His side? Some people say, ‘I am too vile.’ Are you viler than Jerusalem? When you take a pebble and cast it into the deep sea, it sinks and is entirely covered. So are the sins of those who take refuge in Christ.
The Best of Robert Murray McCheyne, 181-182
Edited and Compiled by Stephen W. Sorenson
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“May I engage in nothing in which I cannot implore thy blessing, and in which I cannot invite thy inspection.”
The Valley of Vision, 219
Edited by Arthur Bennett
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Reason For Our Existence
Posted by jerrywhite on May 27, 2012
Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
Psalm 95:6 ESV
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“Yes, worship of the loving God is man’s whole reason for existence. That is why we are born and that is why we are born again from above. That is why we were created and that is why we have been recreated. That is why there was a genesis at the beginning, and that is why there is a re-genesis, called regeneration.
That is why there is a church. The Christian church exists to worship God first of all. Everything else must come second or third or fourth or fifth.
In Europe many generations ago, the dear old saint of God, Brother Lawrence, was on his deathbed. Rapidly losing his physical strength, he witnessed to those gathered around him: ‘I am not dying. I am just doing what I have been doing for the past 40 years, and doing what I expect to be doing for all eternity!’
‘What is that?’ he was asked. He replied quickly, ‘I am worshiping the God I love!’
Worshiping God—that was primary for Brother Lawrence. He was also dying, but that was secondary. He knew why he had been born into this world—and he knew why he had been born again.
Yes, and Brother Lawrence is still worshiping God. He died and they buried his body somewhere, but his was a living soul, created in the image of God. So, he is still worshiping with all the saints around the throne of God.
Sad, sad indeed, are the cries of so many today who have never discovered why they were born. It brings to mind the poet Milton’s description of the pathetic lostness and loneliness of our first parents. Driven from the garden, he says ‘they took hand in hand and through the valley made their solitary way.’
A W. Tozer
Whatever Happened to Worship, 56-57
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Did you worship yesterday? Are you worshiping today? Will you worship tomorrow?
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Ordering Your Priorities
Posted by jerrywhite on May 24, 2012
“Often Christians are so occupied with outward practical matters such as daily responsibilities, schedules, and needs—what Jesus calls ‘the worry of the world’ (Matthew 13:22) — that the clamor of external concerns crowds out the quiet inner voice of the Spirit. Ordering your priorities by deliberate and sometimes hard choices is absolutely essential if you want to stay in step with His Spirit. You will need regular and unhurried time alone with the Lord for worship, meditation in God’s word, and prayer. Neglecting intimate communion with your Lord guarantees spiritual failure in your walk. That is why the enemy, who walks about seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8), relentlessly pursues you in order to distract you by worldly occupations. Jealously guard your time alone with your heavenly Father like Jesus did….
All glorious and loving heavenly Father,
You are worthy of no other gift than my complete abandonment to You every day. I cannot live worthy of Your Name except as I experience Your Spirit’s fullness and follow His leading. When You gave me new life, You planted in me the desire to become like Jesus, and I cannot be satisfied except as I know that I am growing in His likeness. I long to be like You, not only in character, but also by being an expression of Your compassionate love to those You give to me. I need Your fullness. Oh, how I need Your fullness in order to accurately represent Jesus by ministering His life. Please use me as Your instrument to increase Your kingdom in this world. Teach me Your ways, my Lord, and lead me in all the paths You have for me. I want, as strongly as I know how, for all of my life to bring glory and honor to You forever and ever. Amen!
JRW
The Spirit And Presence of Christ, 131-132
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And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
Mark 4:18-19 ESV
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God’s Fellowship Lost
Posted by jerrywhite on May 20, 2012
“When the believer sins, fellowship is interrupted and joy is lost until he comes to the Father in self-judgment, confessing his sins. Then the believer knows that he is forgiven, for God’s Word declares him so in 1 John.
Always remember that there is nothing as strong as the link of relationship and nothing so tender as the link of communion. All the power on earth cannot sever the relationship, but an impure motive or a word spoken out of turn will break the fellowship.
When you find that you have lost the joy of your salvation, humble yourself before God, find out what has caused you to lose your joy, and confess that sin to God your Father. However, you should never confuse your safety with your joy.
We may illustrate this truth thusly: The moon was full and shining with more than ordinary silvery brightness. A man was gazing intently at a deep, still pond, where he saw the moon reflected. He remarked to a friend, ‘How beautiful the moon is tonight! Did you ever see it so bright and full?’
Suddenly the friend tossed a small pebble into the pond. Then the man exclaimed, ‘Hey, something has happened! The moon is broken into pieces!’
‘Don’t be silly,’ his friend remarked. ‘Look up, man! The moon hasn’t changed a bit. It’s the condition of the pond that reflects it that has changed.’
Apply this simple illustration. Your heart is the pond. When there is no evil, God reveals to you the glories and wonders of Christ for your comfort and joy. But the moment a wrong motive comes to you or an idle word escapes your lips unjudged, the Holy Spirit begins to disturb the pond, your heart. Then your happy experiences are smashed to pieces, and you are restless and disturbed until you come to God and confess your sin. Only then can you be restored to the calm, sweet joy of fellowship with God.”
George Cutting
His Victorious Indwelling, 188-189
Nick Harrison, Editor
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Applying God’s Word
Posted by jerrywhite on May 17, 2012
“We have seen that bringing ourselves under the transforming influence of the Word of God means much more than just acquiring knowledge about the contents of Scripture. In fact, the mere acquisition of Bible facts or doctrinal truth without application to one’s life can lead to spiritual pride. As Paul said, ‘Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up’ (1 Corinthians 8:1). By contrast Paul also spoke of ‘the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness’ (Titus 1:1).
What is the difference between these two concepts of Bible knowledge? In the first instance the Corinthians were using their knowledge in a selfish and prideful way. They were ‘looking down their noses’ at people with different convictions from theirs. On the other hand, the knowledge that leads to godliness is knowledge of the Scriptures that is being applied to one’s life and results in godly behavior.
One of the banes of present-day evangelical Christianity is the way we sit every week under the teaching of God’s Word, or even have private devotions and perhaps participate in a Bible study group, without a serious intent to obey the truth we learn. The indictment of the Jewish people God made to Ezekiel could well be said of us today:
‘My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice….Indeed to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice.’ (Ezekiel 33:31-32)
Our tendency seems to be to equate knowledge of the truth, even agreement with it, with obedience to it. James said when we do this we deceive ourselves (James 1:22). This is especially true when we focus on the more scandalous sins ‘out there’ in society to the neglect of the more ‘refined’ sins we commit.
We can not develop Bible-based convictions merely by storing up Bible knowledge in our heads. We do not even develop them by personal Bible study and Scripture memorization, though those practices certainly help us get started. As we begin to meditate on Scripture consistently we come closer. But convictions are really developed when we begin to apply the teachings of Scripture to real-life situations.”
Jerry Bridges
The Discipline of Grace, 181-182
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