Recomended Posts v2

Three Ways Movies Are Searching For The Gospel - G Ortlund - 12/8/2015

O Come Again Emmanuel - Wax - 12/3/2015

Why Celebrate Advent? - Boswell - 11/29/2015

A Prayer For The First Sunday Of Advent - S Smith - 11/29/2015

Prepare Him Room - Bloom - 11/29/2015

Only One Black Friday - Tripp - 11/27/2015

A Prayer For Thanksgiving Day - S Smith - 11/26/2015

Alone With God - Chan - 11/24/2015

A Prayer For Marinating In The "In All Things Goodness Of Jesus - S Smith - 11/21/2015

It Is Finished - Chambers - 11/21/2015

We All Need Help - Piper - 11/19/2015

Four Reasons Why Some Preachers Get Better And Others Dont - York - 11/18/2015

A Prayer Of Lament - S Smith - 11/14/2015

Its Friday...

but Sunday's coming!

Thanks to Justin Taylor: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2014/04/18/its-fridaybut-sundays-comin

The audio is from Easter meditation S.M. Lockridge (1913-2000), pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in San Diego from 1953 to 1993.

http://vimeo.com/39886827

It’s Friday
Jesus is praying
Peter’s a sleeping
Judas is betraying
But Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
Pilate’s struggling
The council is conspiring
The crowd is vilifying
They don’t even know
That Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The disciples are running
Like sheep without a shepherd
Mary’s crying
Peter is denying
But they don’t know
That Sunday’s a comin’

It’s Friday
The Romans beat my Jesus
They robe him in scarlet
They crown him with thorns
But they don’t know
That Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
See Jesus walking to Calvary
His blood dripping
His body stumbling
And his spirit’s burdened
But you see, it’s only Friday
Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The world’s winning
People are sinning
And evil’s grinning

It’s Friday
The soldiers nail my Savior’s hands
To the cross
They nail my Savior’s feet
To the cross
And then they raise him up
Next to criminals

It’s Friday
But let me tell you something
Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The disciples are questioning
What has happened to their King
And the Pharisees are celebrating
That their scheming
Has been achieved
But they don’t know
It’s only Friday
Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
He’s hanging on the cross
Feeling forsaken by his Father
Left alone and dying
Can nobody save him?
Ooooh
It’s Friday
But Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The earth trembles
The sky grows dark
My King yields his spirit

It’s Friday
Hope is lost
Death has won
Sin has conquered
and Satan’s just a laughin’

It’s Friday
Jesus is buried
A soldier stands guard
And a rock is rolled into place

But it’s Friday
It is only Friday
Sunday is a comin’!

A Crucifixion Narative

Some may have heard this before, but it is well worth its 22 minutes. Especially this weekend, as our calendars call us to pay a little closer attention to the magnitude of the Cross. May God richly bless your Good Friday / Easter weekend. And may we rejoice over what Jesus has accomplished at the Father's hand by the Spirit's power so that we might stand forgiven, cleansed, remade and alive.

Here are two excerpts:

"In that moment Jesus hears his own word of power: the word of power that holds the merciful centurion in existence, the word of power that causes the hammer to be. He’s speaking it all into being: the soldiers, the priests, the thieves, the friends, the mothers, the brothers, the mob, the wooden beams, the spikes, the thorns, the ground beneath him, and the dark clouds gathering above. If he ceases to speak they will all cease to be. But he wills that they remain. So the soldiers live on, and the hammers come crashing down."

------------------

"(Jesus) downs every drop of the scalding liquid of God’s own hatred of sin mingled with his white-hot wrath against that sin. This is the Father’s cup: omnipotent hatred and anger for the sins of every generation past, present, and future—omnipotent wrath directed at one naked man hanging on a cross.  

The Father can no longer look at his beloved Son, his heart’s treasure, the mirror-image of himself. He looks away.  

Jesus pushes himself upward and howls to heaven, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'

Silence."

To God Alone be the Glory

A Crucifixion Narrative - link 1

A Crucifixion Narrative - link 2

(these are the same message in two different locations)

Though He Slay Me

For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake - Phil 1:29

Though he slay me, I will hope in him; - Job 13:15

I continue to be struck by the reality that suffering is not just allowed by God; it is often a gracious gift.

This reality is in stark contrast to every other message in the world around me. Success. Comfort. Retirement security. Health. Ease.

Are these things evil? No. In fact they can be gracious gifts from God as well. But consider the testimony of Scripture and of your own life. When does God speak most clearly? When do his children cry out most passionately? When are they most easily distracted and drawn into sin?

Consider the cross. On the surface there is no comfort, no success, no security, no health, no ease. Christ put all of that (and so much more) aside so that he could stand in our place. Ultimately, he purchased for us comfort, success, security, health and ease. But today we only have a taste of the glory that will be revealed. And, we still need pruning

So rejoice in God's blessings, but rejoice more as you suffer for the sake of Christ. Know that we are really simply unworthy servants, but we have been given worth in Christ and have been adopted into the family of God. And, rest in the reality that "this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison," (2Co 4:17)

It is a true faith which holds by the Lord's faithfulness when friends are gone, when the body is sick, when spirits are depressed, and the light of our Father's countenance is hidden. A faith which can say, in the direst trouble, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him," is heaven-born faith. - CH Spurgeon

To God Alone be the Glory

The Foolishness of God

We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1 Cor 1:23-25)

This weekend I have been compiling notes to go along with a video series prepared by Francis Chan. And as Chan's comments flow from biblical truth through the TV into my soul, the word that kept rising up in my mind is "paradox". Then, in reading 1 Cor 1 this morning, the paradox symphony hit its crescendo. Of all the biblical, God ordained paradoxes that exist, the cross is the ultimate.

Think about it:

• The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Why? Because true fear of God leads us to despair of self salvation and run to the cross.  
• Our righteous acts are but filthy rags. Why?  Because God's economy is fueled by love and grace and mercy and only in the cross do we see that our righteous acts have no value to save. 
• Pray for those who persecute you and if your enemy is hungry feed him. Why because agape love must extend beyond what is lovely and reach to that which is unlovely. This was done triumphantly on the cross.

So what do we do with this? Here are just a couple of personal things that the Holy Spirit is pressing into me.

Do I fully embrace the paradox of the cross? The just dying for the unjust. God's justice being satisfied for all of my sins, past present and future. My worthlessness being remade to something incredibly worthy (a whore becoming a cleansed and beautiful bride) I am able to add nothing, to earn nothing, coerce nothing to repay nothing to a God who has everything and a Savior who gave up everything to rescue me from my rebellion and my spiritual death and despair. And so much more

Do I fully grasp the paradox of the Christian life? Being a Christian is not simply acknowledging some truths. It is not simply accepting a label or checking a box on a form. It is not just being a follower of Jesus, like a duck in a long line of other ducks or a mule in a mule team in the Grand Canyon. It is a call to be an imitator (1 Cor 11:1).  It is a call to be a disciple and make disciples (Mt 28:18-20). It is call to give up what we cannot keep to receive what we cannot earn (Jim Elliot, Lk 9:23-25). It is the call to a narrow gate and a hard way (Mt 7:14). It is a call to give our lives so that the gospel may be proclaimed. (Phil 1:18,20-21). It is a call to know the love of Christ and be filled with all the fullness of God (Eph 3:19). And so much more.

To God Alone be the Glory

My Servant

I read this today with tears. Here is what our faith in Christ should really be about. Please read this slowly enough that the words can soak into your soul. May God bring us back to this bedrock, both personally and corporately.  SDG

---

Behold, my servant shall act wisely;
he shall be high and lifted up,
and shall be exalted.
As many were astonished at you—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
so shall he sprinkle many nations;
kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
for that which has not been told them they see,
and that which they have not heard they understand.

Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.

The Incomparable Sufferings of Christ

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? 
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, 
and by night, but I find no rest  (Ps 22:1-2)

A few weeks ago, I ran across the following prayer by John Piper in his book Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ. (pg 72) As I re-read it last night, I was struck by two things (at least). One was being in awe of the shear magnitude of Jesus' suffering and dying on my behalf. I don't think any of us really comprehend the depth of our sin what it cost Jesus to pay for that sin. The second was an internal question as to how I can even read God's Word or pray or even write this blog post and not weep with joy over the immensity of the gift and grace and forgiveness I have been given in Christ?

Father, what can we say? We feel utterly unworthy in
the face of Christ’s unspeakable sufferings. We are
sorry. It was our sin that brought this to pass. It was
we who struck him and spit on him and mocked him.
O Father, we are so sorry. We bow ourselves to the dirt
and shut the mouths of our small, dark, petty, sinful
souls. O Father, touch us with fresh faith that we might
believe the incredible. The very pain of Christ that
makes us despair is our salvation. Open our fearful
hearts to receive the Gospel. Waken dead parts of our
hearts that cannot feel what must be felt—that we are
loved with the deepest, strongest, purest love in the
universe. Oh, grant us to have the power to comprehend
with all the saints the height and depth and length
and breadth of the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,
and may we be filled with all the fullness of God.
Fight for us, O God, that we not drift numb and blind
and foolish into vain and empty excitements. Life is
too short, too precious, too painful to waste on
worldly bubbles that burst. Heaven is too great, hell is
too horrible, eternity is too long that we should putter
around on the porch of eternity. O God, open our eyes
to the vastness of the sufferings of Christ and what they
mean for sin and holiness and hope and heaven. We
fear our bent to trifling. Make us awake to the weight
of glory—the glory of Christ’s incomparable sufferings.
In his great and wonderful name, amen.

I now send forth this post with a deep sense of its many defects; but with an earnest prayer that it may do some good. (Ryle, J. C. (2011-06-16). Old Paths (Kindle Location 116). Heritage Bible Fellowship. Kindle Edition. Note: I have added to my tag-line at the end. I read this at the end of an intro to a book by JC Ryle and felt it captures exactly what I think each time I submit a post.)


To God Alone be the Glory

The Reason for the Season

I know its a cliche, but even cliches are born in truth. And, I think we often need the reminder that Jesus is "the reason for the season". Of course, the danger with cliches is that they quickly touch our lips and then are gone. No connection with what they originally meant. No thought of what they might actually be trying to communicate. I think that is especially true of those who would most heartily agree with the cliche. It very easily becomes meaningless shorthand.

But Jesus is "the reason for the season". In fact I would say He is more than that. He is the reason for every season. Christmas is special because it celebrates a one time event where God became man, when he humbled himself to dwell (literally tabernacle) among us. But as the one who creates and sustains all things and as the one who owns all things, every yearly season, every season of life, every era of history belongs to Him, points to Him and gives glory to Him. Pick anything you want and you will see God's hand in it driving people to His beloved Son.

Yet, there is one moment, one season in history that outshines all of the others. As Christmas is known for the manger and the angels and the shepherds and joy and peace, this event is known for suffering and isolation and ridicule and humiliation. Blood and torture, rejection and death are not usually joyously celebrated. Yet at the cross, the real beauty and purpose of Christmas shines forth. In all reality Christmas without Good Friday and Easter is like a novel with only half the chapters.

Here is a new cliche to add to our repertoire: "Jesus was born to die". Or how about "Christmas without the Cross is only half the story" Or maybe this one (although it is a bit long) "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons." (Gal 4:4-5)

To God Alone be the Glory

The Desolate Agony of the Cross

“My God , my God, why have you forsaken me?” Mt 27:34, Ps 22:1

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied. Isa 53:10, 11

Last week I posted a quote by John Stott (read it here).  I used this same quote this weekend to close out a sermon. But as I read it out loud, one phrase stuck hard in my mind: the desolate agony of the cross. What hit me is that in one simple phrase Stott captured the real scandal, the real tragedy and the real beauty of the cross.

Think about it. Sure Christ had to go through intense physical suffering. It was part of bearing our griefs and our sorrows. And yes He had to endure humiliation and rejection, since those are exactly the crimes we are most guilty of before God's holy throne. But neither the physical torture nor the psychological abuse solved our ultimate dilemma. We are a sinful, rebellious people. We are broken to the very core of who we are. We are the servant who owes his master over 5,000 lifetime salaries.(Mt 18:23-27)

Think about the garden of Gethsemane. What could possibly cause the Son of God, the one who could raise the dead, heal the sick and feed the multitudes to sweat drops of blood? What was it about the upcoming 24 hours that caused the eternal second person of the Trinity, the one who created and sustains all things, the one who was infinitely loved by the Father to say "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death"? (Mk 14:34)

The simple yet astounding reality is this. As Jesus bore our sins, God, who dwells in unapproachable light, could no longer look upon Him. The desolate agony of the cross is that in the majesty and mystery of the Trinity, the Father and the Son were ripped apart. Christ needed to endure the effects of hell, the despair, the total isolation, the unquenchable anguish and the absolute separation from God. Trust me when I say as alone as any of us may feel, we have never been as alone as Jesus was on the cross.

So today, can we bow (or kneel, or lay prostrate) before the savior who humbled himself to endure the desolate agony of the cross for us? Remember, Jesus did not do this for the fun of it or because he had to. He willingly and purposefully endured all of God's just wrath to rescue and redeem save you and me specifically. We have been on His mind and in his heart a long, long time.

To God Alone be the Glory

Three Lessons from the Cross

From the pen of John Stott:

“There are three lessons which I have learned from the cross.

1) I learned that my sin is foul beyond words. If there were no way for our sins to be cleansed and forgiven but that the Son of God should die for them, then our sins must be sinful indeed.

2) I learned that God’s love is great beyond all understanding. He could have abandoned us to perish in our sins. But He didn’t. He loved us and He pursued us even to the desolate agony of the cross.

3) I learned that salvation is a free gift. I do not deserve it. I cannot earn it. I do not need to attempt to procure it by my own merit or effort. Jesus on the cross had done everything that was necessary for us to be forgiven. He has borne our sin and curse.

What, then, must we do? Nothing! Nothing but fall on our knees in penitence and faith, and stretch out an open, empty hand to receive salvation as a gift that is entirely free”

To God Alone be the Glory

Damnation, and he took it lovingly.

 Thanks to Michael Johnson on the Desiring God blog.  Read the full post here.

Rabbi Duncan was a great old Reformed teacher in New College, Edinburgh, a hundred and more years ago. In one of his famous excursions in his classes, where he would move off from the Hebrew he was supposed to be teaching to theological reflections on this or that, he threw out the following question: “Do you know what Calvary was? What? What? What? Do you know what Calvary was?” Then, having waited a little and having walked up and down in front of them in silence, he looked at them again and said, “I’ll tell you what Calvary was. It was damnation, and he took it lovingly.” The students in his class reported that there were tears on his face as he said this. And well there might be. “Damnation, and he took it lovingly.” - J.I. Packer, Knowing Christianity

The Cross and the Resurrection. They go hand in hand. You can't have a risen Savior without a dead one and a crucified Messiah is powerless if he is still in the grave. Yet somehow I get the sense we tolerate the Cross to get to the Resurrection. We want the glory, but we want to avoid the shame. Skip the bad stuff, skip the hard stuff, skip the cruel stuff. Just give me the the empty grave and Jesus' resurrection power.

But isn't the glory and the power of the Resurrection found in the ugliness and brutality of the Cross? Do we really grasp the fact that the Cross was supposed be ours? The shame and torture and rejection by God really belonged to us? As Packer quoted above Calvary was damnation. Our damnation. But Jesus took it for us and he did so because he loved his Father and he loved his soon to be brothers and sisters.

So, as we rejoice one day removed from Easter, let us celebrate that Jesus is no longer in the tomb. But let us also celebrate that the tomb is empty because the cross did its job and the One who hung on the cross did so willingly and lovingly. And let us celebrate that the damnation that was ours became his and is now completely removed from the mind of God.

To God Alone be the Glory

Contemplation of the Cross

From Desiring God

The whole value of the meditation of the suffering of Christ lies in this, that man should come to the knowledge of himself and sink and tremble. If you are so hardened that you do not tremble, then you have reason to tremble. Pray to God that he may soften your heart and make fruitful your meditation upon the suffering of Christ, for we ourselves are incapable of proper reflection unless God instill it. - Martin Luther, Originally adapted from Martin Luther's Easter Book

To God Alone be the Glory

If He had faltered even once

Copied in its entirety from Desiring God blog As noted by the author, the last lines are the crux (pun intended) SDG

A poem to ponder during Lent:

They spit upon His meekness, 
And struck Him in the face. 
Their floggers swung with hatred; 
They stripped Him in disgrace. 
Deep worked the Roman anger 
That tortured Him, a Jew; 
Yet this His contemplation: 
“They know not what they do.” 

His people cheered “Hosanna,” 
Then had Him crucified. 
They freed corrupt Barabbas; 
To sentence Him, they lied. 
He hung outside their city, 
Where leaders mocked Him too; 
Yet this, the hurt He carried: 
“I would have gathered you.” 

No angels came to help Him 
When Heaven on Him fell. 
The Devil tried to reach Him 
Through ev’ry lie in hell. 
Unthinkable the anguish 
As Father crushed the Son, 
Yet this His firm conviction: 
“Thy will, not mine, be done.” 

No selfishness, no hatred, 
No spitefulness was there. 
No unbelief, no cursing, 
No pity from despair. 
One sinful thought; one failure, 
And Love would not succeed. 
The ransomed souls of hist’ry 
Must His perfection plead. 

If He had faltered even once, 
In flames of hell would men abide. 
Then ponder Christ, and praise at length 
The strength of Him there crucified. 

               - K. Hartnett, May 2007

Kevin comments:

I wrote this one backwards, i.e. having the idea for the last four lines before writing the rest. Verse one highlights Christ's physical sufferings; verse two, his emotional/mental and verse three, his spiritual. The colossal irony that the very men who tempted him to failure were among those He died in perfection to save captures my imagination— and praise.

Kevin Hartnett works for NASA at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, overseeing the science operations activities of the mission. He was selected in 2003 from a thousand candidates as the “Poet of the Year” by the Fellowship of Christian Poets.

The Answer to the Biggest Blunder

"The cross is the answer to the biggest blunder in human history, and it is more than sufficient for any blunders we can make. In fact, the Redeemer of sinners loves to redeem the mistakes forgiven sinners make. He loves to remind us we’re not God. And he wants to teach us from the mistakes we make so we don’t continually break important things that don’t need to be broken."

found on Desiring God blog by Dave Harvey

To God Alone be the Glory

The Impartial Power of God

We trample the blood of the Son of God underfoot if we think we are forgiven because we are sorry for our sins. The only reason for the forgiveness of our sins by God, and the infinite depth of His promise to forget them, is the death of Jesus Christ. Our repentance is merely the result of our personal realization of the atonement by the Cross of Christ, which He has provided for us.

No matter who or what we are, God restores us to right standing with Himself only by means of the death of Jesus Christ. God does this, not because Jesus pleads with Him to do so but because He died. It cannot be earned, just accepted. All the pleading for salvation which deliberately ignores the Cross of Christ is useless. It is knocking at a door other than the one which Jesus has already opened. We protest by saying, “But I don’t want to come that way. It is too humiliating to be received as a sinner.” God’s response, through Peter, is, “. . . there is no other name . . . by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). What at first appears to be heartlessness on God’s part is actually the true expression of His heart. There is unlimited entrance His way. “In Him we have redemption through His blood . . .” (Ephesians 1:7).  -- My Utmost (12/8)

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