The Drowning Man

This is an excerpt from the article linked below.  It is well worth the very short read,  SDG

http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/drowningman2.html

"The Bible plainly teaches that God would be perfectly just if he saved no one. Any good gift we have is better than we deserve, and is granted by sheer mercy, in spite of ourselves. We are not His children by nature (Eph 2:3) but are adopted as children by grace. God is in no way obligated to to cancel anyone's debt, but because He is loving and merciful Jesus paid the debt by absorbing the full wrath of God for those He came to save and applied salvation to them according to His sovereign good pleasure (Eph 1:4, 5). To those who are His children (Rom 9:7-8; Gen 21:10), He will do whatever it takes to make sure they are delivered from the jaws of death." - John Hendryx

The Wine Jesus Drrank

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The Wine Jesus Drank

May 27, 2010  |  By: David Mathis  |  Category: Commentary

Twice Jesus was offered wine while on the cross. He refused the first, but took the second. Why so?
The first time came in verse 23, “they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.” William Lane explains,

According to an old tradition, respected women of Jerusalem provided a narcotic drink to those condemned to death in order to decrease their sensitivity to the excruciating pain . . . . When Jesus arrived at Golgotha he was offered . . . wine mixed with myrrh, but he refused it, choosing to endure with full consciousness the sufferings appointed for him (The Gospel of Mark, p. 564)

This first wine represented an offer to ease the pain, to opt for a small shortcut—albeit, not a major one in view of the terrible pain of the cross, but a little one nonetheless. But this offer Jesus refused, and in doing so, chose “to endure with full consciousness the sufferings appointed for him.”

The second time came in verse 35. After some bystanders thought he was calling for Elijah, “someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, ‘Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.’” Lane comments,

A sour wine vinegar is mentioned in the OT as a refreshing drink (Numbers 6:13; Ruth 2:14), and in Greek and Roman literature as well it is a common beverage appreciated by laborers and soldiers because it relieved thirst more effectively than water and was inexpensive . . . . There are no examples of its use as a hostile gesture. The thought, then, is not of a corrosive vinegar offered as a cruel jest, but of a sour wine of the people. While the words “let us see if Elijah will come” express a doubtful expectation, the offer of the sip of wine was intended to keep Jesus conscious for as long as possible” (Ibid., 573-574).

So the first wine (mixed with myrrh) was designed to dull Jesus’ pain, to keep him from having to endure the cross with full consciousness. This wine he refused.

And the second (sour) wine was given to keep him “conscious for as long as possible,” and thus have the effect of prolonging his pain. This is the wine Jesus drank.

Other condemned criminals would have taken the first (to ease their torment) and passed on the second (so as not to prolong their horrific pain). But Jesus would take no shortcuts on the way to our redemption.

At the cross, he drank the wine of his Father’s wrath down to its very dregs, and he did so for us—that we might enjoy the wine of his Father’s love, join him at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and live redeemed forever in the glorious presence of the one who took no shortcuts in saving us.

David Mathis works for both Desiring God and Bethlehem Baptist Church as the Executive Pastoral Assistant for John Piper.

Before The Throne of God Above

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong, a perfect plea
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me
My name is graven on His hands
My name is written on His heart
I know that while in heaven He stands
No tongue can big me there depart
No tongue can bid me there depart
When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end to all my sin
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me

Behold Him there the risen Lamb
My perfect spotless righteousness
The great unchangeable I AM
The Kind of glory and of grace
One with Himself I cannot die
My soul is purchased by His blood
My life is hid with Christ on high
With Christ my Savior and my God!
With Christ my Savior and my God! 


-- Charitie L. Bancroft

The Great Adjectives of 1 Peter 1

His great mercy
Our living hope
An inheritance that is:
   imperishable
   undefiled
   unfading
A faith that is:
   tested
   genuine
   more precious than gold
   results in praise, glory and honor to Jesus
A joy that is:
   inexpressable
   filled with glory
A ransom by the precious blood of Christ
A love that is:
   brotherly
   sincere
   earnest
   pure
The Word of God is:
   living
   abiding

This is the good news that was (and is!) preached to you

SDG

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

What's the point?

Can we have the gospel without the cross?  Can we have righteousness without the righteous One?  Can we have assurance that we are more than conquerors without the one who died and rose again?  Can we stand in the battles and the storms of life without the armor that God himself provides?  And, in the end, can we appear before God's throne without the robe that Christ provides and has washed in His own blood?

The answers are emphaticly No!  Christ is not just the centerpiece, not just the leader or the teacher.  He is everything.  Whether we are looking at our salvation or our sanctification, it is all about Christ. He is the one who saves us and He is the one who sanctifies us.  When we worship, it is the love of God in Christ that we praise.  When we pray, it is only through the blood of Christ that we are able to draw near to the throne of grace. And when we live our daily lives, when we eat, when we work, when get up, when we lie down, when we travel, when we play, Christ is the one who makes it all possible.  He sustains us, He provides for us and He enables us to do all the things we do.  As I read this morning: "O man, all your excellencies are borrowed from Christ"

My point?  "Look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith."  "Christ Jesus is the one who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us."  "I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."  SDG

Psalm 51

In reading this psalm today, I was reminded again that God operates outside of us, especially in securing our salvation.  SDG

Psalm 51 (English Standard Version)

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

 ¹ Have mercy on me, O God,
   according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
    blot out my transgressions.
² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
   and cleanse me from my sin!  ³ For I know my transgressions,
   and my sin is ever before me.
⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned
   and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
   and blameless in your judgment.
⁵Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
   and in sin did my mother conceive me.
⁶Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
   and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
 ⁷Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
⁸Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
⁹ Hide your face from my sins,
   and blot out all my iniquities.
¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God,
   and renew a right spirit within me.
¹¹ Cast me not away from your presence,
   and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
¹²Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
   and uphold me with a willing spirit.
 ¹³Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
   and sinners will return to you.
¹⁴Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
   O God of my salvation,
   and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
¹⁵O Lord, open my lips,
   and my mouth will declare your praise.
¹⁶ For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
   you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
   a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
 ¹⁸ Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
    build up the walls of Jerusalem;
¹⁹then will you delight in right sacrifices,
   in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
   then bulls will be offered on your altar.