I See The Crowd In Pilate's Hall

by Horatius Bonar

I see the crowd in Pilate's hall;
Their furious cries I hear;
Their shouts of "Crucify!" appall,
Their curses fill my ear.
And of that shouting multitude
I feel that I am one,
And in that din of voices rude
I recognize my own.

I see the scourgers rend the flesh
Of God's belovèd Son;
And as they smite I feel afresh
That I of them am one.
Around the cross the throng I see
That mock the Sufferer's groan,
Yet still my voice it seems to be,
As if I mocked alone.

'Twas my sins shed the sacred blood,
That nailed Him to the tree;
I crucified the Christ of God,
I joined the mockery.
Yet not the less that blood avails
To cleanse me from my sins,
And not the less that cross prevails
To give me peace within

To God Alone Be The Glory

The Centrality of the Cross

A followup / addendum to my previous post.  SDG

"For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." - 1 Cor 2:2

"In him (Christ) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace" - Eph 1:7

"He (Christ) entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of goats and calves but by the means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption." - Heb 9:12

"You were ransomed...with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot." - 1 Pet 1:18-19

"Christ crucified is the burden of our preaching and the substance of our belief, from first to last. At no time in the saint's life does he cease to need the cross" - Horatius Bonar

"The underlying foundation of the Christian faith is the undeserved, limited miracle of the love of God that was exhibited on the Cross of Calvary; a love that is not earned and can never be" - Oswald Chambers

"Herein is love, which led the Redeemer to lay down His life for His enemies!  It is not enough, however, to admire the spectacle of the innocent bleeding for the guilty; we must make sure of our interest in it. The special purpose of the Messiah's death was the salvation of His church." - C.H. Spurgeon

The Strength of our Faith - Horatius Bonar

   With a weak faith and a fearful heart, many a sinner stands before the altar.  But it is not the strength of his faith, but the perfection of the sacrifice, that saves; and no feebleness of faith, no dimness of eye, no trembling of hand, can change the efficacy of our burnt-offering.  The vigor of our faith can add nothing to it, nor can the poverty of it take anything from it.  Faith, in all its degrees, still reads the inscription, 'The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin;' and if at times the eye is so dim that it cannot read these words, through blinding tears or bewildering mist, faith rests itself on the certain knowledge of the fact that the inscription is still there, or at least that the blood itself (of which these words remind us) remains, in all its power and suitableness, upon the altar unchanged and unaffected.  - from The Everlasting Righteousness pg 23