A Good Friday Thought
It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Luke 23:44-45
In the darkest hour, when the sun stopped shining, at three o’clock in the afternoon, a marvelous thing was happening. A few hundred yards away, in Herod’s Temple, the veil, our sin, was split top to bottom. The door into the glorious presence of God was flung open. The Lamb is slain, his Blood shattered the veil. The veil that hindered entrance is wide open, now welcoming repentant sinners.
In the darkest hour, when the sun stopped shining, the Light of Life, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, obliterated my sin and yours, gone forever. Blessed darkness. More blessed light. Most precious Lamb of God, slain for me.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
The Blood of Christ - Lawrence Barham
It was at a Grace Abounding Convention in London that, in 1963, Lawrence Barham, a brother whom I appreciated as a teacher for many years, gave a very brief presentation on a rather neglected topic, The Blood of Christ. Here is the text of that message. It goes right to the heart of salvation.
*
THE BLOOD OF CHRIST
By Lawrence Barham
Grace Abounding Convention, London England 1963
In John 1:14 we have the testimony of two men named 'John'. "The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." What a wonderful expression. John saw that Glory on the Mount of Transfiguration and he would never forget it.
Then John the Baptist came along. John bare witness of Him and cried saying, "This is the One I was speaking about and of His fullness have we all received and grace upon grace." Then he went on to say what this Glory meant: “The next day John saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) He wants to do that very thing for each of us - to enable us to 'behold the Lamb of God which takes away my sin, your sin, not just the guilt of it but cleansing us day by day.
Do you think that John the Baptist saw a picture when he saw the Lord Jesus walking along? We read of him that he was to be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. What a wonderful thing to be that man. And don't you think that the Holy Spirit in him was teaching him these things? Nobody else can teach us these things except the Holy Spirit. From a small boy, John was filled with the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit was lighting up God's truth to him. When he saw Jesus, I think that the whole meaning of the Old Testament flashed before him. I think that his mind went right back to the first family, to Abel. Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain. It was better because it was the shed blood, of an animal. Cain offered his produce from the garden and God didn't accept that. But Abel offered a lamb, killed it and offered it up. God accepted it and He accepted Abel. It was counted as a righteous offering. It was by faith that he did it. (Hebrews 11:4)
Cain's family grew worse until God said, 'I shall have to destroy them all except the family of Noah.' When Noah and his family came out of the ark, after that terrible destruction from the flood, what was the first thing he did? He built an altar and offered up a sacrifice as much as to say, 'God has delivered us, but we are still sinners. We did not deliver ourselves. God did it! The Lord smelled a sweet fragrance and the Lord said in His heart, 'I won't curse them again like that.' (Genesis 8: 20)
Now we go on to Abraham. He was told to leave the comfort of Ur of the Chaldees and go to a place he did not know where. And what was the first thing he did? - the Lord appeared to Abraham and said to him: 'Unto your seed will I give this land' and there he built an altar to the Lord who appeared to him. Once again Abraham said, 'I am a sinner chosen by God in His grace, but I am a sinner. It is not my goodness that caused Him to choose me. I deserve to die, but I am trusting in the blood of this animal that I am killing.' And God accepted him.” (Genesis 12:6,7)
Next we go on to Moses appearing before the King of Egypt. He delivered God's message. 'Every house must choose a lamb and kill it and sprinkle the blood upon the doorposts of the houses where you are.' If I may dare to say it, it is a silly thing to do from a human reasoning point of view. How could that help to deliver people from a strong nation like Egypt? Hopeless! And some people said that ... So the Israelites took the lamb and killed it and took its blood and sprinkled it on the doorposts and, in the morning, the firstborn was alive 'When I see the blood' God had said, 'I will pass over you.' (Ex 12:1-12)
There is such a thing as judgment. Whatever we may think about it, the word of God makes that very clear. And God says: 'When I see the blood, I will pass over you.' That was God's way of setting those Israelites free, set free by the blood of the lamb. And when they reached the wilderness, God met with them on Mount Sinai and He ordered them to offer a sacrifice. And they did. God made a covenant with them - a covenant of blood. Moses sprinkled blood on the people and on the book of the covenant and said: 'This is the blood of the covenant which I have made with you. You will be my people and I will lead you into the promised land. And they said, 'We will keep it.' But they didn't ... And God gave them all the wonderful sacrificial system. Detailed descriptions of it go on for chapter after chapter in the book of Moses. All pointed to the fact that these people though redeemed were still sinful people. They had not become perfect. They still needed those daily sacrifices, morning and evening all through the year, as much as to say there is never a time when you don't need atoning for by blood. You are that bad! And so they had this system. It was all picture language pointing forwards.
And they had the great Day of Atonement once a year when the High Priest was told to take the blood of an animal, of a goat, and go into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat, within the veil. Then there was the other goat. When the High Priest put his hand on the head of the goat and confessed all the sins of the people, the goat was immediately taken away into the wilderness bearing their sins in its own body so to speak. These were pictures - divinely given pictures - and they meant something. (Leviticus 16:34)
There are many references in the Prophets, but I only want to bring you that one in Isaiah 53. It is the most wonderful chapter in Isaiah. "The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent so he did not open his mouth. We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed." Who could that have referred to but our Lord Jesus?
Zechariah, another prophet, said, 'They shall look on Him who they have pierced and they shall mourn for Him and there shall be opened a fountain for sin and uncleanness.' What is in the fountain? It is the blood of Jesus. What other fountain could there be? (Zechariah 12:10)
I went quickly through these little cameos in the Old Testament, some of the things which the Holy Spirit shone into the heart of John the Baptist when he said, 'Look! There is the Lamb of God." (John 1:36)
The Lord Jesus Himself spoke about His own blood. 'This is the New Testament in my blood which is shed for the remission of sins.' He said it Himself before He had actually shed it. (Matthew 26:28)
The apostle John was at the crucifixion when the death of the Lamb of God actually took place. He saw a soldier come and pierce His side. He did not do it to the others, but he did it to the Lord Jesus because He was already dead. John saw that blood and water came out. 'I saw it and I bear witness to it', he said. He saw a spiritual significance in it. There was the blood of the Lamb of God actually being shed in his presence and he saw it ... the life blood of Jesus. The very life of Jesus the perfect Holy life of the Son of God - was poured out on the Cross for us.
In the Epistles, the various writers all refer to it. Paul says to the Romans: 'All have sinned and come short of the glory of God .. being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith' - what in? 'In His Blood - to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past.' (Romans 3:23-25)
Where else shall we go? I am only going quickly through these things so that we may see that the Blood of Jesus is not an isolated matter, but runs right through the Bible. It is the kernel of the whole plan of God for our redemption.
What about Ephesians? 'In Christ Jesus you Gentiles who once were far off have been brought near through the blood of Christ.' In Colossians, 'Having made peace' - how did He do it? - 'through the blood of His cross.' No other way. But He did it. Peace was made by the Blood of the Cross. (Ephesians 2: 13)
Hebrews - There is a lot there about the blood. Christ became a High Priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood. He entered into the Holy Place having obtained eternal redemption for us. Not a 'once a year' business; it is done forever. He offered His own Blood. His perfect life, once for ever. (Hebrews 9:12,14) We are sanctified by the Blood of Jesus, set apart, cleansed, purified, made able to stay in His presence and live with Him in fellowship. There is no other way.
Peter was another of those people who saw the glory of the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration and Peter no doubt saw the Lamb of God actually being killed on the cross. He said, 'For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.' Peter sow the meaning of that Blood he shed. (1 Peter 1:18)
John, in his epistle, said, 'If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin' - it goes on cleansing us from all sin, keeping us cleansed as we walk in the light with Him. (1 John 1:7)
When you get to the Revelation, you find that the Lamb is the favorite title of the Lord Jesus. If you go to Heaven - as you will if you are trusting in the Blood of the Lord Jesus - you will find them all talking about the Lamb of God who shed His blood for them and redeemed them. And they think, 'We would not be here but for Him. However did we get here, if it wasn't that we have been cleansed by that precious Blood of Jesus? And they sing, 'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, for He has redeemed us by His blood out of every tribe and nation and country.' (Revelation 5:12)
Do you know the blood of Jesus? Do you know the power of the Blood of Jesus in your life? First of all do you know Him as your Passover Lamb? You may be in bondage. We have all been in bondage. You may never have come out of the bondage of sin and Satan. You may not be saved and the angel of Judgment is, so to speak, hovering over you with the Sword of Judgment. If you haven't trusted in the Lord Jesus, that is what is happening. Do you know Him as the Lamb of God that takes away your sin, the guilt of it, the penalty of it, the fear of it? And do you know that cleansing in the blood of Jesus day by day? It doesn't make us wonderful people, but it makes the Lord Jesus very wonderful. He becomes precious and we begin to understand about the precious blood of Jesus. And there is victory. 'They overcame him, that is the devil, by the Blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto death. (Rev 12:11) When the blood of Christ is being applied to our hearts, how can the devil get there? He is a defeated foe. There is victory there.
God is offering us, in His beloved Son, a fullness of life that we may enjoy Him and serve Him forever. He is offering it to us. We can say, "Not I cannot accept it. Or we can say, 'Lord, I am willing. I am a sinful person. I am a failing person, but I believe the Lord Jesus is not a failure. May God open our eyes to see the Blood of Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal it to us day by day and make us willing to say,”Yes, Lord' to Jesus.
"We must know the power of the Blood if we are to know the power of God. Our knowing experimentally the power. of the Word, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the power of prayer is dependent upon our knowing the power of the Blood of Christ."
*
THE BLOOD OF CHRIST
By Lawrence Barham
Grace Abounding Convention, London England 1963
In John 1:14 we have the testimony of two men named 'John'. "The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." What a wonderful expression. John saw that Glory on the Mount of Transfiguration and he would never forget it.
Then John the Baptist came along. John bare witness of Him and cried saying, "This is the One I was speaking about and of His fullness have we all received and grace upon grace." Then he went on to say what this Glory meant: “The next day John saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) He wants to do that very thing for each of us - to enable us to 'behold the Lamb of God which takes away my sin, your sin, not just the guilt of it but cleansing us day by day.
Do you think that John the Baptist saw a picture when he saw the Lord Jesus walking along? We read of him that he was to be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. What a wonderful thing to be that man. And don't you think that the Holy Spirit in him was teaching him these things? Nobody else can teach us these things except the Holy Spirit. From a small boy, John was filled with the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit was lighting up God's truth to him. When he saw Jesus, I think that the whole meaning of the Old Testament flashed before him. I think that his mind went right back to the first family, to Abel. Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain. It was better because it was the shed blood, of an animal. Cain offered his produce from the garden and God didn't accept that. But Abel offered a lamb, killed it and offered it up. God accepted it and He accepted Abel. It was counted as a righteous offering. It was by faith that he did it. (Hebrews 11:4)
Cain's family grew worse until God said, 'I shall have to destroy them all except the family of Noah.' When Noah and his family came out of the ark, after that terrible destruction from the flood, what was the first thing he did? He built an altar and offered up a sacrifice as much as to say, 'God has delivered us, but we are still sinners. We did not deliver ourselves. God did it! The Lord smelled a sweet fragrance and the Lord said in His heart, 'I won't curse them again like that.' (Genesis 8: 20)
Now we go on to Abraham. He was told to leave the comfort of Ur of the Chaldees and go to a place he did not know where. And what was the first thing he did? - the Lord appeared to Abraham and said to him: 'Unto your seed will I give this land' and there he built an altar to the Lord who appeared to him. Once again Abraham said, 'I am a sinner chosen by God in His grace, but I am a sinner. It is not my goodness that caused Him to choose me. I deserve to die, but I am trusting in the blood of this animal that I am killing.' And God accepted him.” (Genesis 12:6,7)
Next we go on to Moses appearing before the King of Egypt. He delivered God's message. 'Every house must choose a lamb and kill it and sprinkle the blood upon the doorposts of the houses where you are.' If I may dare to say it, it is a silly thing to do from a human reasoning point of view. How could that help to deliver people from a strong nation like Egypt? Hopeless! And some people said that ... So the Israelites took the lamb and killed it and took its blood and sprinkled it on the doorposts and, in the morning, the firstborn was alive 'When I see the blood' God had said, 'I will pass over you.' (Ex 12:1-12)
There is such a thing as judgment. Whatever we may think about it, the word of God makes that very clear. And God says: 'When I see the blood, I will pass over you.' That was God's way of setting those Israelites free, set free by the blood of the lamb. And when they reached the wilderness, God met with them on Mount Sinai and He ordered them to offer a sacrifice. And they did. God made a covenant with them - a covenant of blood. Moses sprinkled blood on the people and on the book of the covenant and said: 'This is the blood of the covenant which I have made with you. You will be my people and I will lead you into the promised land. And they said, 'We will keep it.' But they didn't ... And God gave them all the wonderful sacrificial system. Detailed descriptions of it go on for chapter after chapter in the book of Moses. All pointed to the fact that these people though redeemed were still sinful people. They had not become perfect. They still needed those daily sacrifices, morning and evening all through the year, as much as to say there is never a time when you don't need atoning for by blood. You are that bad! And so they had this system. It was all picture language pointing forwards.
And they had the great Day of Atonement once a year when the High Priest was told to take the blood of an animal, of a goat, and go into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat, within the veil. Then there was the other goat. When the High Priest put his hand on the head of the goat and confessed all the sins of the people, the goat was immediately taken away into the wilderness bearing their sins in its own body so to speak. These were pictures - divinely given pictures - and they meant something. (Leviticus 16:34)
There are many references in the Prophets, but I only want to bring you that one in Isaiah 53. It is the most wonderful chapter in Isaiah. "The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent so he did not open his mouth. We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed." Who could that have referred to but our Lord Jesus?
Zechariah, another prophet, said, 'They shall look on Him who they have pierced and they shall mourn for Him and there shall be opened a fountain for sin and uncleanness.' What is in the fountain? It is the blood of Jesus. What other fountain could there be? (Zechariah 12:10)
I went quickly through these little cameos in the Old Testament, some of the things which the Holy Spirit shone into the heart of John the Baptist when he said, 'Look! There is the Lamb of God." (John 1:36)
The Lord Jesus Himself spoke about His own blood. 'This is the New Testament in my blood which is shed for the remission of sins.' He said it Himself before He had actually shed it. (Matthew 26:28)
The apostle John was at the crucifixion when the death of the Lamb of God actually took place. He saw a soldier come and pierce His side. He did not do it to the others, but he did it to the Lord Jesus because He was already dead. John saw that blood and water came out. 'I saw it and I bear witness to it', he said. He saw a spiritual significance in it. There was the blood of the Lamb of God actually being shed in his presence and he saw it ... the life blood of Jesus. The very life of Jesus the perfect Holy life of the Son of God - was poured out on the Cross for us.
In the Epistles, the various writers all refer to it. Paul says to the Romans: 'All have sinned and come short of the glory of God .. being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith' - what in? 'In His Blood - to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past.' (Romans 3:23-25)
Where else shall we go? I am only going quickly through these things so that we may see that the Blood of Jesus is not an isolated matter, but runs right through the Bible. It is the kernel of the whole plan of God for our redemption.
What about Ephesians? 'In Christ Jesus you Gentiles who once were far off have been brought near through the blood of Christ.' In Colossians, 'Having made peace' - how did He do it? - 'through the blood of His cross.' No other way. But He did it. Peace was made by the Blood of the Cross. (Ephesians 2: 13)
Hebrews - There is a lot there about the blood. Christ became a High Priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood. He entered into the Holy Place having obtained eternal redemption for us. Not a 'once a year' business; it is done forever. He offered His own Blood. His perfect life, once for ever. (Hebrews 9:12,14) We are sanctified by the Blood of Jesus, set apart, cleansed, purified, made able to stay in His presence and live with Him in fellowship. There is no other way.
Peter was another of those people who saw the glory of the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration and Peter no doubt saw the Lamb of God actually being killed on the cross. He said, 'For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.' Peter sow the meaning of that Blood he shed. (1 Peter 1:18)
John, in his epistle, said, 'If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin' - it goes on cleansing us from all sin, keeping us cleansed as we walk in the light with Him. (1 John 1:7)
When you get to the Revelation, you find that the Lamb is the favorite title of the Lord Jesus. If you go to Heaven - as you will if you are trusting in the Blood of the Lord Jesus - you will find them all talking about the Lamb of God who shed His blood for them and redeemed them. And they think, 'We would not be here but for Him. However did we get here, if it wasn't that we have been cleansed by that precious Blood of Jesus? And they sing, 'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, for He has redeemed us by His blood out of every tribe and nation and country.' (Revelation 5:12)
Do you know the blood of Jesus? Do you know the power of the Blood of Jesus in your life? First of all do you know Him as your Passover Lamb? You may be in bondage. We have all been in bondage. You may never have come out of the bondage of sin and Satan. You may not be saved and the angel of Judgment is, so to speak, hovering over you with the Sword of Judgment. If you haven't trusted in the Lord Jesus, that is what is happening. Do you know Him as the Lamb of God that takes away your sin, the guilt of it, the penalty of it, the fear of it? And do you know that cleansing in the blood of Jesus day by day? It doesn't make us wonderful people, but it makes the Lord Jesus very wonderful. He becomes precious and we begin to understand about the precious blood of Jesus. And there is victory. 'They overcame him, that is the devil, by the Blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto death. (Rev 12:11) When the blood of Christ is being applied to our hearts, how can the devil get there? He is a defeated foe. There is victory there.
God is offering us, in His beloved Son, a fullness of life that we may enjoy Him and serve Him forever. He is offering it to us. We can say, "Not I cannot accept it. Or we can say, 'Lord, I am willing. I am a sinful person. I am a failing person, but I believe the Lord Jesus is not a failure. May God open our eyes to see the Blood of Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal it to us day by day and make us willing to say,”Yes, Lord' to Jesus.
"We must know the power of the Blood if we are to know the power of God. Our knowing experimentally the power. of the Word, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the power of prayer is dependent upon our knowing the power of the Blood of Christ."
Friday, January 8, 2010
The amazing reach of the atoning work of Jesus in a life
Chambers, in his January 7 meditation speaks to us.
Your whole spirit ...
The great mystical work of the Holy Spirit is in the dim regions of our personality which we cannot get at. Read the 139th Psalm; the Psalmist implies, "Thou art the God of the early mornings, the God of the late at nights, the God of the mountain peaks, and the God of the sea; but, my God, my soul has further horizons than the early mornings, deeper darkness than the nights of earth, higher peaks than any mountain peaks, greater depths than any sea in nature-Thou who art the God of all these, be my God. I cannot reach to the heights or to the depths; there are motives I cannot trace, dreams I cannot get at - my God, search me out."
Your whole spirit ...
The great mystical work of the Holy Spirit is in the dim regions of our personality which we cannot get at. Read the 139th Psalm; the Psalmist implies, "Thou art the God of the early mornings, the God of the late at nights, the God of the mountain peaks, and the God of the sea; but, my God, my soul has further horizons than the early mornings, deeper darkness than the nights of earth, higher peaks than any mountain peaks, greater depths than any sea in nature-Thou who art the God of all these, be my God. I cannot reach to the heights or to the depths; there are motives I cannot trace, dreams I cannot get at - my God, search me out."
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Everyone who calls
These days I am swimming in Paul's remarkable letter to the mainly Gentile church in Rome. This letter is a tribute to grace.
10:13 Therefore "Everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved." The emphasis, of course, is on the word "Everyone." That is Paul's whole argument. The Cross scrapes off all privilege. It gives everyone a new privilege - fellowship with God himself, through Jesus, made real by the Holy Spirit.
10:13 Therefore "Everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved." The emphasis, of course, is on the word "Everyone." That is Paul's whole argument. The Cross scrapes off all privilege. It gives everyone a new privilege - fellowship with God himself, through Jesus, made real by the Holy Spirit.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
To love again
Another of Wesley's hymns that causes one to pause, absorb and praise.
To thee I lift my mournful eye;
Why am I thus? – O, tell me why
I cannot love my God?
The hindrance must be all in me;
It cannot in my Savior be;
Witness that streaming blood.
It cost thy blood my heart to win,
To buy me from the power of sin,
And make me love again;
Come, then, my Lord, thy right assert,
Take to thyself my ransomed heart;
Nor bleed, nor die in vain.
To thee I lift my mournful eye;
Why am I thus? – O, tell me why
I cannot love my God?
The hindrance must be all in me;
It cannot in my Savior be;
Witness that streaming blood.
It cost thy blood my heart to win,
To buy me from the power of sin,
And make me love again;
Come, then, my Lord, thy right assert,
Take to thyself my ransomed heart;
Nor bleed, nor die in vain.
Friday, July 3, 2009
A Precious Wesley Hymn
A few years ago I bought a book containing all of John Wesley's hymns. Here is one I read today that I found especially meaningful. It is a window into the heart of God.
HYMN 85.
1 SPIRIT of Faith, come down,
Reveal the things of God;
And make to us the Godhead known,
And witness with the blood:
'Tis thine the blood to' apply,
And give us eyes to see,
Who did for every sinner die,
Hath surely died for me.
2 No man can truly say
That Jesus is the Lord,
Unless thou take the veil away,
And breathe the living word:
Then, only then, we feel
Our interest in his blood,
And cry, with joy unspeakable,
"Thou art my Lord, my God!"
3 O that the world might know
The all-atoning Lamb!
Spirit of faith! descend, and show
The virtue of his Name:
The grace which all may find,
The saving power, impart;
And testify to all mankind,
And speak in every heart.
HYMN 85.
1 SPIRIT of Faith, come down,
Reveal the things of God;
And make to us the Godhead known,
And witness with the blood:
'Tis thine the blood to' apply,
And give us eyes to see,
Who did for every sinner die,
Hath surely died for me.
2 No man can truly say
That Jesus is the Lord,
Unless thou take the veil away,
And breathe the living word:
Then, only then, we feel
Our interest in his blood,
And cry, with joy unspeakable,
"Thou art my Lord, my God!"
3 O that the world might know
The all-atoning Lamb!
Spirit of faith! descend, and show
The virtue of his Name:
The grace which all may find,
The saving power, impart;
And testify to all mankind,
And speak in every heart.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Ted McJunkin message in Wales in 2008
You will no doubt be challenged by Ted's penetrating and purifying insight into what is probably our most prominent sin - hypocrisy. Read, absorb, meditate and mind the Spirit who is Holy.
Don
**********
The following is an excerpt from the message Ted shared at the Wales Fellowship Retreat last year. I was very moved by it and saw that this “Pharisee attitude” is a sin of which I have often to repent. It is based on one of the parables in Luke 15.
In His Love, Betty
I had always seen this story of the prodigal son being about the prodigal but Jesus says in Luke 12:1, ‘Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy.’ Hypocrisy is acting a part, putting on religion like a garment, insincerity toward God. The key verse to me in this passage is verse 3 where it says that Jesus told this parable to the Pharisees who were criticizing him. This is a beautiful picture of God’s love to a repentant sinner, but we forget there was another son and Jesus puts a little hook in the story. He often did that to the Pharisees – saying things like ‘a doctor comes to help the sick and not the healthy’ – they had to decide whether they were sick or healthy. Or ‘those who are forgiven most love most.’ If you live the life of a Pharisee like I did and do, you ask in amazement and astonishment, ‘Why does he bother? Why does he reach out to these critical people who thought they had it altogether?’ He is reaching out to his enemies in this parable. A self-righteous spirit is deadly because it is so close and yet so far away. The son who stayed home was close to his father; he never left him, but he might as well have been a thousand miles away. It makes me wonder if the self-righteous spirit isn’t the deepest of sins.
The elder brother accuses the younger brother of being wasteful and recklessly extravagant (that is the definition of prodigal). He then accuses the father of being wasteful and recklessly extravagant. Amazing! Self-righteousness can hide as a virtue and we commend it oftentimes in others and in ourselves. Not long ago, Betty told me, “You’re no fun to work with.” Why? Because I am a nit-picker. It is also called a perfectionist. I have been proud of being called that, but it can hide the sin of self-righteousness. I fold towels in a single fold and put them in the cupboard so the fold it facing outward. That way I can count all the towels that are there. I learned that in the Army and I thought that if you didn’t do it that way, you were stupid. I didn’t say that to my wife, but she felt it. It hurts. I like to call it a subtle thought, but I can’t repent of that very well but when it is called deceit, I can repent of that. Praise the Lord, she calls me on it and I can repent.
John Fischer has written a book called Twelve Steps of a Recovering Pharisee Like Me. The following is an excerpt from that book. “Astonishment comes from being surprised. It comes from the unexpected. A degree of astonishment is related to our personal knowledge of sin. If I am not facing the sin in my life, I am not likely to be very impressed with salvation. It is a nice thing for God to do this for me and all, but I don’t really get it. The Pharisees are so far removed from their sin and their salvation that it would have little effect on them. Tell a Pharisee that Christ died for him and he will say, ‘He what? What did he do that for?’
In our recent form of astonishment is full of amazement both over who God is and over why given who he is he would be interested in associating with us at all. To stand in his presence and not be struck blind like Paul is pretty remarkable. It is the astonishment of the vagabonds and street people who were ushered into a lavish banquet because the invited guests had better things to do. It is the astonishment of workers who got paid a full day’s wage for an hour’s work.’ My pharasitical mind says, ‘That’s not fair!’ It is only when I see myself as a sinner that I really get it. ‘It is the astonishment of Sarah who laughed a real laugh no longer cynical as the boy, Isaac, was placed in her old withered arms, chalky white, screaming from birth.
It is the thing that will cause us to proclaim when we reach our final destination and first lay our eyes on the glory of heaven, ‘What could I possibly have done to deserve this?’ We can’t help but be amazed. This is Ebenezer Scrooge after discovering the amazing ghosts have gone all in one night and he still has Christmas Day to make up for all the Christmases he missed.’ (Isn’t that a delightful scene when Ebenezer Scrooge wakes up in the morning and hops and dances around in astonishment? He is laughing at himself, that he is still there.)
‘It is the Pharisee laughing perhaps for the first time in his life. He is laughing at himself, laughing to think he could actually do it and then to find it has already been done. It is the Pharisee hugging a tax-collector, sinner to sinner, crying over the unbelievable joy of belonging to such a group. Claiming as friends these people who he once despised and finding out that he actually likes them. This is a Pharisee with his old Pharisee friends looking on and judging him as a fool gone off the deep end and not caring one iota what they think. This is a Pharisee lifting the hem of his robe and dancing. This is the amazing grace of Isaiah 1:18 where he says, ‘Come, let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.’ The amazing thing is why does he want to reason with me? It is amazing. It is the blood of Jesus that covers my sin and makes me white as fresh snow.
Ephesians 1:7 says, ‘In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.’ He lavished his grace on him and he keeps lavishing on us! John Newton wrote, ‘I am more wicked than I ever imagined but I am more loved than I ever dared to hope.’ We can add to that, ‘I am more wastefully, recklessly wicked than I ever imagined but I am more lavishly extravagantly loved than I ever dared to hope.’
Don
**********
The following is an excerpt from the message Ted shared at the Wales Fellowship Retreat last year. I was very moved by it and saw that this “Pharisee attitude” is a sin of which I have often to repent. It is based on one of the parables in Luke 15.
In His Love, Betty
I had always seen this story of the prodigal son being about the prodigal but Jesus says in Luke 12:1, ‘Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy.’ Hypocrisy is acting a part, putting on religion like a garment, insincerity toward God. The key verse to me in this passage is verse 3 where it says that Jesus told this parable to the Pharisees who were criticizing him. This is a beautiful picture of God’s love to a repentant sinner, but we forget there was another son and Jesus puts a little hook in the story. He often did that to the Pharisees – saying things like ‘a doctor comes to help the sick and not the healthy’ – they had to decide whether they were sick or healthy. Or ‘those who are forgiven most love most.’ If you live the life of a Pharisee like I did and do, you ask in amazement and astonishment, ‘Why does he bother? Why does he reach out to these critical people who thought they had it altogether?’ He is reaching out to his enemies in this parable. A self-righteous spirit is deadly because it is so close and yet so far away. The son who stayed home was close to his father; he never left him, but he might as well have been a thousand miles away. It makes me wonder if the self-righteous spirit isn’t the deepest of sins.
The elder brother accuses the younger brother of being wasteful and recklessly extravagant (that is the definition of prodigal). He then accuses the father of being wasteful and recklessly extravagant. Amazing! Self-righteousness can hide as a virtue and we commend it oftentimes in others and in ourselves. Not long ago, Betty told me, “You’re no fun to work with.” Why? Because I am a nit-picker. It is also called a perfectionist. I have been proud of being called that, but it can hide the sin of self-righteousness. I fold towels in a single fold and put them in the cupboard so the fold it facing outward. That way I can count all the towels that are there. I learned that in the Army and I thought that if you didn’t do it that way, you were stupid. I didn’t say that to my wife, but she felt it. It hurts. I like to call it a subtle thought, but I can’t repent of that very well but when it is called deceit, I can repent of that. Praise the Lord, she calls me on it and I can repent.
John Fischer has written a book called Twelve Steps of a Recovering Pharisee Like Me. The following is an excerpt from that book. “Astonishment comes from being surprised. It comes from the unexpected. A degree of astonishment is related to our personal knowledge of sin. If I am not facing the sin in my life, I am not likely to be very impressed with salvation. It is a nice thing for God to do this for me and all, but I don’t really get it. The Pharisees are so far removed from their sin and their salvation that it would have little effect on them. Tell a Pharisee that Christ died for him and he will say, ‘He what? What did he do that for?’
In our recent form of astonishment is full of amazement both over who God is and over why given who he is he would be interested in associating with us at all. To stand in his presence and not be struck blind like Paul is pretty remarkable. It is the astonishment of the vagabonds and street people who were ushered into a lavish banquet because the invited guests had better things to do. It is the astonishment of workers who got paid a full day’s wage for an hour’s work.’ My pharasitical mind says, ‘That’s not fair!’ It is only when I see myself as a sinner that I really get it. ‘It is the astonishment of Sarah who laughed a real laugh no longer cynical as the boy, Isaac, was placed in her old withered arms, chalky white, screaming from birth.
It is the thing that will cause us to proclaim when we reach our final destination and first lay our eyes on the glory of heaven, ‘What could I possibly have done to deserve this?’ We can’t help but be amazed. This is Ebenezer Scrooge after discovering the amazing ghosts have gone all in one night and he still has Christmas Day to make up for all the Christmases he missed.’ (Isn’t that a delightful scene when Ebenezer Scrooge wakes up in the morning and hops and dances around in astonishment? He is laughing at himself, that he is still there.)
‘It is the Pharisee laughing perhaps for the first time in his life. He is laughing at himself, laughing to think he could actually do it and then to find it has already been done. It is the Pharisee hugging a tax-collector, sinner to sinner, crying over the unbelievable joy of belonging to such a group. Claiming as friends these people who he once despised and finding out that he actually likes them. This is a Pharisee with his old Pharisee friends looking on and judging him as a fool gone off the deep end and not caring one iota what they think. This is a Pharisee lifting the hem of his robe and dancing. This is the amazing grace of Isaiah 1:18 where he says, ‘Come, let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.’ The amazing thing is why does he want to reason with me? It is amazing. It is the blood of Jesus that covers my sin and makes me white as fresh snow.
Ephesians 1:7 says, ‘In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.’ He lavished his grace on him and he keeps lavishing on us! John Newton wrote, ‘I am more wicked than I ever imagined but I am more loved than I ever dared to hope.’ We can add to that, ‘I am more wastefully, recklessly wicked than I ever imagined but I am more lavishly extravagantly loved than I ever dared to hope.’
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