July 5, 2020
Hymn of the Day
As on the cross of Christ I thought, It seemed I heard one cry,
"Is all this nothing in your eyes, You who this day pass by?"
""Is not such suff'ring greater than, That which you've seen before?"
"And was there ever any man, Who grieved or suffered more?"
I looked again, and what I saw, I cannot fully tell;
It seemed within His very bones, There raged the fire of hell.
"What caused your grief?" I asked the man,
What crimes could you have done?
"That God, Jehovah, struck you down, And left you all alone?"
His answer cut my heart like steel, And left me void of breath;
"'Tis for your sins this pain I feel, For you I go to death!"
"Your soul, before my Father's throne, Could find no place to hide."
"This is the way God can be just, And you be justified."
Jehovah's mercies never fail, Each morning they are new;
Great is His faithfulness and love, Therefore, we're not consumed!
Jehovah God, in Christ the Son, Shall all my portion be,
My soul shall, therefore, wait for Him, And live eternally.
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Today's Hymns: Amazing Grace #236,
My Hope Is in the Lord #cb-5, Revive Us Again #485
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Our Lord is both WILLING to save sinners and ABLE to save them. If He is willing but not able, we have no hope; or if He is able but not willing, the result is the same. But if He is both willing to save and able, by His perfect sin-offering, there is no reason for me to despair. -unknown
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When the dust of division settles, those who are true followers of Christ will be made manifest. They may waver in the confusion; but God's saints will not be moved away from the hope of the Gospel. When the sowers of discord have had their last fling, the cause of Christ will not be hindered, and believers will still cling to Christ with stronger faith than ever before. -Don Fortner
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Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. -Colossians 2:8-10
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In Romans 3.10-18, Paul gives a very condemning description of natural man – us without the grace of God. It is a very dark picture and leaves us no hope at all for any of "Adam's helpless race" to lift themselves from their native condition to a state of "without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless."
But, once we compare Paul's description of us with the Scripture's description of Christ, hope revives!
Among men, "There is none righteous, no, not one;"
Christ is our righteousness. -1 Corinthians 1.30
Among men, "There are none who understand;"
Christ is the wisdom of God. -1 Corinthians 1.24
Among men, "There are none who seek God;"
Christ is God come to seek and save the lost. -Luke 19.10
Among men, "They have all have turned aside" (to his own way);
Christ is the way to the Father. -John 14.6
Among men, "They have, together, become unprofitable;"
Christ is treasury of the fullness of God's blessing. -Ephesians 1.3
Among men, "There are none who do good, no, not one;
Christ did nothing but good. -John 10.38
Among men, "Their throat is an open tomb;"
Christ came forth from an open tomb speaking words of life.
Among men, "With their tongues, they have practiced deceit;
Christ is the truth of God. -John 14.6
Among men, "The poison of asps is under their lips;"
Christ crushed The Serpent under His foot. -Genesis 3.15
Among men," Their mouths, "are full of cursing and bitterness;"
Christ's mouth was full of grace and truth. -John 1.17
Among men, "Their feet are swift to shed blood;"
Christ's blood was shed as His feet and hands were nailed to the cross.
Among men, "Destruction and misery are in their ways;"
Salvation and blessedness are in the way of Christ. -Matthew 1.21
Among men, "the way of peace they have not known;"
Christ made peace by the blood of His cross. -Colossians 1.20
Among men, "There is no fear of God before their eyes;"
Christ was full of the fear of the Lord and so His prayer was heard and He and His people were received by God. -Hebrews 5.7
-Joe
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In our first paradise in Eden there was a way to go out - but no way to go in again. But as for the heavenly paradise, there is a way to go in- but no way to go out. -Richard Baxter
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If it be not farmed for God, the soul will yield its natural produce; and what is the natural produce of land if left to itself? What but thorns and nettles, or some other useless weeds? What is the natural produce of your heart and mine? What but sin and misery? What is the natural produce of your children, if you leave them untrained for God? What but unholiness and vice? What is the natural produce of this great city if we leave its streets, and lanes, and alleys without the Gospel? What but crime and infamy? Some harvest there will be, and the sheaves will be the natural produce of the soil, which is sin, death, and corruption. -C.H. Spurgeon