Hymn of the Day
(tune: "How Firm a Foundation"p.236)
A refuge for sinners the gospel makes known,
'Tis found in the merits of Jesus alone;
The weary the tempted, the burdened by sin,
Are never exempted from entering in.
This refuge for sinners His love did ordain,
In Jesus the Lamb from eternity slain;
And if God the Spirit reveals this to you,
Take refuge in Jesus though hell should pursue.
Should conscience accuse us, as often it may,
The blood of our savior has put sin away;
In Jesus, the Savior, the sinner can view,
A city of refuge and righteousness too!
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Today's Hymns
See the Table Spread Before You - cb8
Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted - cb14
He Surrendered All – cb12
Special Dates: Dianne Vander Velde – 27
Geoffrey Schuster – 1 ~ Gary & Fonda – 1
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Our sins can never come into God's presence, inasmuch as Christ, who bore them all and put them away, is there instead. But if we sin, conscience will feel it, must feel it. Even the Holy Spirit will make us feel it. He will not allow so much as a single light thought to pass unjudged. What then? Has our sin made its way into the presence of god? No, the Advocate is there, "Jesus Christ the Righteous," to maintain an unbroken integrity and relationship in which we stand. Though sin cannot affect God's thoughts in reference to us, it can and does affect our thoughts in reference to Him. What are we to do? "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." By confession, we get our conscience cleared and the sweet sense of fellowship restored. The black cloud is dispersed and removed, and our thoughts of God set straight. This is the Divine method! -Scott Richardson
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Many religionists perceive the power of God to be something given them so that they can accomplish great things, when, in fact, the power of God is Christ, which power is exercised for us, but not by us. -Joe
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In most circles today, it is unfashionable to believe in a THE GOSPEL OF THE ATONEMENT! Modern culture has altered the Bible and theology until there is no real, effectual atonement left. Most folks today are too intellectual, too advanced, and too good to look to Christ on the cross. AS FOR ME, like Abel of old, I look to the Lamb; like Rahab, I tie the scarlet line in my window, and like Edward Mote, I say, "My hope is built on nothing less, Than Jesus' Blood and righteousness!" In the midst of a thousand "new" gospels not worth the time to mention, I hold to the gospel of God's grace in Christ, which declares, "It is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul." With Moses and Israel, I put the blood on the door. If no one else sees it, "GOD WILL! And He said, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you." -Henry Mahan
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It was not the fact that the young ruler had riches that kept him from the kingdom of God, but the fact that THE RICHES HAD HIM! Riches are like heaps of manure in the field; it is good for nothing unless it is spread around. If your treasure is on earth, you are going FROM it; if your treasure is in heaven, you are going TO it. -Copied
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Today, people are being promised an experience of the Spirit in situations where far too little is being said concerning Christ. That can be disastrous. Knowledge of Christ and fellowship with him is what the Holy Spirit's ministry since Pentecost is all about.
The Spirit focuses attention, not on himself, but on the Savior. -J.I. Packer
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"Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean"...
"I am willing." (Matthew 8:2,3)
The question that plagues most of us is not, "Is God able to save me?" but, "Is God willing to save me?" Such a question seems reasonable when we consider how terribly we have rebelled against God. If I were standing on the gallows with a noose around my neck, I may well despair of being rescued if my rescue depended on the will of the judge whose son I had killed. In like manner, when we recognize that all our sins are against the only One who is able to save, and that all our sins are full of the rebellious venom that killed His Son, we might well wonder if He is willing to save. In fact, we would not have any reason to believe that God is willing to save were it not for His own Word.
However, the very deed by which our race showed its utter contempt for God (the crucifixion) is the same deed by which God has shown His unimaginable and unexplainable love for sinners; as it is written, "God commended His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Some of you may say, "But this says nothing of me particularly. Is He willing to save me?" Listen to Paul, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief" (1 Timothy 1:15). If God was willing to save the Chief of Sinners, then no sin of yours can make Him unwilling to save you. God's willingness to save sinners is not dependent on anything sinners do or do not do. It is dependent on His own gracious nature which he reveals in His own Word, "The grace of God which bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men" (Titus 2:11). -Joe