Behold, His Precious Gift!!

Look at the cross! Behold His precious Gift transfixed to it, and that by His own hand, and for your sins! Then look at your present circumstances, survey your needs, your trials, your chastisements, your bereavements, your heart-sickening, heart-breaking tribulations, and know that God still is love. 

If He had love strong enough, deep enough, to give you Jesus; to tear Him, as it were, from His bosom, and to transfix Him on yonder accursed tree for your iniquities; has He not love enough to bow His ear to your cry, and His heart to your sorrow? Will He not rescue you from this difficulty, deliver you out of this trouble, shield you in this temptation, supply this need, support and comfort you in this grief? 

Oh yes, He will! Doubt it not! The cross of Calvary is a standing pledge; standing until sin and guilt, need and woe shall be known no more; that God, who "spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, will with Him also freely give us all things" necessary to our good, and promotive of His glory. 

[Octavius Winslow]

Romans 8:32 ... He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

✫❤•°*”˜˜”*°•❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫

He Prays That We May Experience It!

Paul acknowledges that the love of Jesus is too great to be fully understood, yet he prays that we may experience it! The apostle is not referring to a merely intellectual understanding, but a personal, transformative relationship with the Lord Jesus. We can only truly experience this love, through the Gospel. Christ's love is most clearly seen in the cross.  

As we meditate on Jesus' wondrous sacrifice for our sins, we are overwhelmed by the vastness of His love. Though we may never fully comprehend it, we can rest in the assurance that His love for us is infinite, and deeper than all of our sins and shame! May His measureless love for us, lead us to a life of gratitude, worship, humility, and holiness. 

We shall never know the depths of Christ's love for us, until we feel the weight of our sin, and the worth of His sin-atoning death, which delivers us from the Hell that we rightly deserve. This unsearchable love of Jesus humbles the pride of man, exalts the grace of God, and calls us to a life of holiness! 

[Charles H. Spurgeon]

Romans 5:8  ... But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

 Ephesians 3:18-19 ... May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. ❤

Deicide!

The Word of Truth declares that "the carnal mind is enmity against God" (Romans 8:7). Men do not believe it, in fact most of them pretend the very opposite. Nevertheless, at Calvary they gave proof of their hatred of God. Not only was Christ un-welcome here but men hated Him and that "without a cause" (John 15:25). He gave them every reason to admire and adore Him, but they had an inveterate detestation of Him! 

Multitudes go through the form of paying homage to God, but it is a "god" of their own imagination. They hate the true and living God and were it possible they would rid the universe of His existence! This is clear from their treatment of Christ, for He was none other than "God manifest in flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16). They hated and hounded Him to death and nothing short of His cruel death by crucifixion would appease them! 

Here at Calvary the real character of man was revealed, and the desperate wickedness of his heart was laid bare. There it was shown that man was capable of the blackest of all crimes! As evil as man had shown himself all through his history the coming of Immanuel to this earth brought sin to such a head that all that which had gone before, was relatively but a trifling thing when compared with the monstrous wickedness which was done against Love incarnate! 

In the treatment which the Son of God received at the hands of men we see sin in its true colors, stripped of a disguise, exposed in its hideous reality; revealed in its true nature as contempt of God, and rebellion against Him. Here at Calvary, we behold the climax of sin and the fearful and horrible lengths to which sin is capable of going! That sin which germinated in Eden culminated in the crucifixion! Here at Calvary, we see sin at its apex Deicide in the slaying of the Lord of Glory! 

[A. W. Pink]

Luke 23:21 ... But they cried, saying, Crucify him, crucify him.

✫❤•°*”˜˜”*°•❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫

God's Love to Us!!

The love of God to sinners is an ocean without shore, a mystery that stretches beyond the grasp of the highest angel. That the infinitely holy God--before whom seraphim cover their faces should set His heart upon those who were defiled, defiant, and dead in sin is the most humbling truth in all of Scripture. His love was not merited by anything in us, for we were altogether sinful and unlovely. Yet He loved us! 

And His love was not a mere sentiment it took action. He gave His Son, His only, His beloved to bear the curse we deserved. The Father did not spare Him, but handed Him over to be mocked, scourged, and nailed to a cross! There, the spotless Lamb of God endured the sin-atoning wrath due to the very ones who hated Him. What tongue can express such love? What mind can fathom its depth? This love is not a relic of the past it is alive and active this very moment. He loves us still. 

In discipline and direction, in provision and pain His love sustains and sanctifies us. It is unchanging, invincible, and ever nearby. No failure of ours exhausts it; no affliction removes it. His love is as eternal as He is. This love is the well-spring of every spiritual blessing. Let this melt the pride of our hearts, still our restless fears, and ignite a life of glad obedience. Nothing strengthens faith, calms the soul, or drives us to holiness like the felt reality of Christ's astonishing love in dying for such vile, undeserving sinners like us! 

O believer, marvel and rejoice you are loved with a love that never began, will never fade, and can never be broken! 

[A.W Pink] 

 ✞  ✞  ✞ 

Isaiah 53:5 ... But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Ephesians 5:2 ... And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.❤

At Calvary ...

The cross is God's way to punish sin and forgive sinners at the same time.

[Adrian Rogers] 

 ✞  ✞  ✞ 

Ephesians 1:7 ...  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Colossians 1:14 ... In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

Hebrews 10:10 ...  By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. ❤

That Dagger!!

We never know the full evil of our iniquities until we see what it cost our precious Redeemer to put them away. The true Christian looks upon sin, as we would regard a knife rusted with gore with which some villain had killed our mother, our wife, or our child. Could we play with it? Could we wear it as a jewel hung around our necks? Could we even endure it in our sight? 

Accursed thing, stained with the heart's blood of my beloved, I would gladly fling you into the bottomless abyss! Sin is that dagger which stabbed the Savior's heart to death! Henceforth it must be the abomination of every man who has been redeemed by the sin-atoning sacrifice of Jesus. "A bleeding Savior I have viewed, and now I hate my sin!" 

[Charles H. Spurgeon]

Ephesians 3:18-19 ...  May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

✫❤•°*”˜˜”*°•❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫

"The Savior!"

Faith is the acknowledgment of the entire absence of all goodness in us and the recognition of the cross as the substitute for all the lack on our part. Faith saves, because it owns the complete salvation of another and not because it contributes anything to that salvation. 

Faith is not our Savior. It was not faith that was born at Bethlehem and died on Golgotha for us. It was not faith that loved us and gave itself for us; that bore our sins in its own body on the tree; that died and rose again for our sins. Faith is one thing the Savior is another. 

Faith is one thing and the cross is another. Let us not confound them, nor ascribe to a poor, imperfect act of man that which belongs exclusively to the Son of the Living God. 

[Horatius Bonar]

 ✞  ✞  ✞ 

Romans 5:10 ...  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Ephesians 2:16 ... And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

Galatians 2:20 ...  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. ❤

The Greatest Sight You Will Ever See!

Jesus has borne the penalty of sin on behalf of His people. Behold the wonder! There He hangs upon the cross! This is the greatest sight you will ever see! 

Son of God and Son of Man, there He hangs, bearing unutterable pains, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God. Oh, the glory of that sight! The innocent One, punished! The Holy One, condemned! The ever blessed One, made a curse! The infinitely glorious One, put to a shameful sin-atoning death! 

[Charles H. Spurgeon]

2 Corinthians 5:21 ...  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. ❤

Little Sins ...

If the sacrifice provided by God for human sin must be none other than the Son of God Himself then sin is a gigantic evil, and the punishment of sin is stupendous also! In the same way, the moment we begin to mitigate our thought of Hell's terrors, we also lower our idea of sin's evil, and with it we also decrease our estimate of the Savior and His sin-atoning sacrifice. 

Little sins warrant only a little Hell. Hence only a little atonement is needed to save from this little Hell. But grant that a divine Savior, and His infinite sacrifice is needed to atone for sin then sin must be exceedingly heinous to the pure and holy God, and the eternity of future punishment is justified. 

[Charles H. Spurgeon] 

 ✞  ✞  ✞ 

1 Peter 2:24 ... Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 

Romans 4:25 ... Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

2 Corinthians 5:21 ... For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Isaiah 53:5 ... But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. ❤

Sin Always Hunts in Packs!

One sin ruined our whole race. One fruit plucked from the forbidden tree, hurled mankind from his pristine glory. The effect of that one sin, has gone on rankling in our blood through six thousand years, and will go on when years cease to be counted, destroying men throughout an eternity of woe if it is not first forgiven and purged from them. The results of this one original sin are dreadful to think about. 

See what harm sin causes. One sin has often ruined a whole church. Achan committed only one sin and caused the whole nation of Israel to be defeated. There are poisons so potent, that one drop will envenom the whole body. One leak in a ship, may be sufficient to sink it to the bottom. One lone rock may break the staunchest timbers of a gallant warship. We must realize that one sin never comes alone. Sin always hunts in packs! 

If you see one of these wolves, then you may be certain that a countless company will follow at its heels. For instance, note Adam's sin in the Garden of Eden, in taking a forbidden fruit. What was the essence of that one sin? It would not be difficult to maintain the thesis that Adam's sin was pride, or that it was discontent, or that it was lust, or unbelief, or indeed almost any other sin you would like to name. It was a many-sided transgression. That demon's name was Legion, "for they were many." (Mark 5:9) Sin's whole brood was hatched out of one egg! This original sin had all other sins in its loins. We must never think of indulging one sin, for it will bring in many others more wicked than itself. 

He who sports with one sin, will soon come to play with more, and go from bad to worse. A thief who cannot get in at the front door because he finds it locked, tries the back door, and then the windows, and then he finds a window so small, that it was not fastened because no full-grown man could enter by it. Hence, he puts a little child through it, and that is quite enough, for the little one can unlock the door and let in as many thieves as he will! 

In the same way, one sin allowed to run riot in the soul, will prepare the heart for such vile transgressions which he could never have dreamed of. There are no "little sins". They appear small in their infancy, but they will be giants when they come to their full growth. Men do not become abominable sinners all at once, but one sin opens the way for many worse sins. One sin nursed, grows into crime! 

Jesus never overlooked any one of our sins, but for every sin He wept, and groaned, and bled, and died. Our sins were His murderers, and shall we indulge them? Shall we harbor those who spit in His dear face, and pierced His blessed side? There is no argument so powerful for the Christian to mortify his sins, as the astonishing love of Christ for him. Beloved, will you grieve the Lord who bought you? Will you distress Him whose heart bled for you? By all the charms of His matchless beauty, and the flames of His quenchless love, I charge you to be chaste to your soul's Bridegroom and drive out the vile rivals which would steal your hearts and defile you. Let Calvary be the gallows of all your sins! 

[Charles H. Spurgeon]

 ✞  ✞  ✞ 

Romans 5:8 ... But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Colossians 1:13-14 ... Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:❤

He Will Bruise His Darling Son!

What are we? We are only lumps of sin and dirt! But see the eternal love of God towards sinful men. His boundless love set His infinite wisdom to work how to save these sinful and sinning creatures from the burning pit! It pleased the Lord Himself to bruise His Son. He thrust the sword of justice into the heart of His own dear Son, that mercy might flow to the "objects of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory." His dear Son must suffer, that they might be spared. 

There was such love in God towards sinful men that many waters could not quench it. He did not spare His Son one iota. The Darling of Heaven cried out, "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me!" (Matthew 26:39) But that we might go eternally free, and that God might look on us in justice and holiness, with smiles and kisses. He bruised His own Son. Jesus bore thousands of hells in His own sufferings in the garden and on the accursed tree; and the Father never withdrew the sword until He cried out, "It is finished!" "Behold what manner of love the father has bestowed upon us!" (1 John 3:1) to save us from a burning pit; to bring us to the heights of bliss! O the depths of God's love! 

If He will pardon sin; if He will save a wretch, a rebel, a man damned by the law; if God will let His heart's love run out to save sinful man from what he deserves then He must part with the love of His heart, the joy of His soul His only begotten Son! But would He actually do that? Is His love so surprisingly great, boundless, full, and free that to save an enemy, a vile and a cursed sinner, He will bruise His darling Son? 

[Francis Covell] 

Isaiah 53:5-10 ... But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; 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 hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.  He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.  And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

✫❤•°*”˜˜”*°•❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫

Horrible Shocking Thing!!

I know no greater proof of man's depravity, than the fact that thousands of so-called professing Christians see nothing lovely in the cross. Well may our hearts be called stony, well may the eyes of our mind be called blind, well may our whole nature be called diseased, well may we all be called dead in sin when the cross of Christ is heard of, and yet neglected! 

Surely, we may take up the words of the prophet, and say, "Hear, O heavens, and be astonished, O earth: A horrible and shocking thing is done!" Christ was crucified for sinners, and yet many professing Christians live as if He was never crucified at all! Would I know how exceedingly sinful and abominable sin is in the sight of God? Shall I turn to the history of the flood, and read how sin drowned the world? Shall I ponder what sin brought on Sodom and Gomorrah? No! I can find a clearer proof still I look at what happened on Calvary! 

There I see that sin is so black and damnable, that nothing but the blood of God's own Son can wash it away! There I see that sin has so separated me from my holy Maker, that all the angels in Heaven could never have made peace between us. Nothing could reconcile us, short of the death of Christ. Ah, if I listened to the wretched talk of proud men, I might sometimes imagine sin was not so very sinful; but I cannot think little of sin when I look at Calvary. I find no balm for a sore conscience and a troubled heart, like the sight of Jesus dying for me on the accursed tree! 

There I see that a full payment has been made for all my enormous debts. When I look at the cross, I feel sure that there is a way to Heaven for the very vilest of men. Would I find strong reasons for being a holy man? I will look at Calvary and the crucifixion. There I see that Jesus gave Himself for me, not only to redeem me from iniquity but also to purify me. He bore my sins in His own body on the tree, that I being dead unto sin, should live unto righteousness. 

Ah, reader, there is nothing so sanctifying as a clear view of the cross of Christ! It crucifies the world unto us, and us unto the world. How can we love sin when we remember that because of our sins, Jesus died for our sin? Would I learn how to be contented and cheerful under all the cares and anxieties of life? What school shall I go to? How shall I attain this state of mind most easily? Shall I look at: the sovereignty of God, the wisdom of God, the providence of God, the love of God? It is well to do so. But I have a better argument still. 

I will look at Calvary and the crucifixion! I feel that He who did not spare His only begotten Son but delivered Him up to die for me will surely with Him, give me all things that I really need. He that endured that pain for my soul, will surely not withhold from me anything that is really good. He that has done the greater things for me, will doubtless do the lesser things also. He that gave His own blood to procure an eternal home for me, will unquestionably supply me with all that is really profitable for me along the way. Ah, reader, there is no school for learning contentment that can be compared with Calvary and the foot of the cross! 

 [J. C. Ryle]

Romans 5:8 ... But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

✫❤•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫

God Bought You With a Very High Price!

Refresh in your souls a sense of the fact that "God bought you with a very high price!" There in the midnight hour, amid the olives of Gethsemane, kneels Immanuel the Son of God. He groans, He pleads in prayer, He wrestles. See the beady drops stand on His brow drops of sweat, but not of such sweat as pours from men when they earn the bread of life, but the sweat of Him who is procuring eternal life itself for us. It is blood! It is crimson blood! Great gouts of it are falling to the ground! 

O soul, your Savior speaks to you from Gethsemane at this hour, and He says: "Here and thus I bought you with a price!" Come, stand and view Him in the agony of the olive garden, and understand at what a cost He procured your deliverance! Track Him in all His path of shame and sorrow until you see Him at Gabbatha. Mark how they bind His hands and fasten Him to the whipping-post. See, they bring the scourges and the cruel Roman whips; they tear His flesh; the ploughers make deep furrows on His blessed body, and the blood gushes forth in streams; while rivulets from His temples where the crown of thorns has pierced them, join to swell the purple stream. 

From beneath the scourges, He speaks to you with accents soft and low, and says, "My child, it is here and thus I bought you with a very high price!" But see Him on the cross itself when the consummation of all has come. His hands and feet are fountains of blood, His soul is full of anguish even to heartbreak; and there, before the soldier pierces His side with a spear, bowing down He whispers to you and to me, "It was here and thus, I bought you with a very high price!" 

O by Gethsemane, by Gabbatha, by Golgotha, by every sacred name collected with the passion of our Lord; by sponge and vinegar, and nail and spear, and everything that enlarged the pain and increased the anguish of His death I implore you, my beloved brethren, to remember that you were "bought with a very high price," and that "you are not your own." 

[Charles H. Spurgeon] 

 ✞  ✞  ✞ 

1 Peter 1:18-19 ...  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

1 Corinthians 6:20 ... For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Acts 20:28 ... Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Titus 2:14 ... Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. ❤

One Drop of Redeeming Love!

O worldly professor, if you would enter Heaven at last, then you must begin at the cross of Christ! Count all your good works as dung and dross before the holy God. Fling away your vain hopes, and self-righteous confidences. Give up your fond idea of securing both earth and Heaven. 

Go straight to Calvary! There be crucified to the world, and the world to you, by the cross of Christ! (Galatians 6:14) Go at once to Him who died for the ungodly, and drink into His love! 

One draught, nay, one drop of redeeming love, will forever quench your love of sin, and be the death of that worldliness which threatens to be your eternal ruin! 

[Horatius Bonar] 

Romans 5:6-10 ... For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

✫❤•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫

The More Bloody --- The More Lovely!

Lost men cannot see the stupendous beauty of Christ. All sparkling beauties are found in Him—but they lack eyes! He is infinitely and superlatively lovely! All that we could ever say about Jesus falls infinitely short of His matchless worth. He is pure, unspotted beauty! There is an infinite resplendency, a sparkling luster to His beauty! Jesus is most lovely in His sufferings, when He made an atonement for our sins. What, lovely in His sufferings? Lovely when He was buffeted, spit upon, and besmeared with blood? Oh yes, He was most lovely upon the cross, when He showed most love to us!  He bled love at every vein! Those drops were love drops! The more blood the more lovely! 

Oh, how lovely ought a bleeding Savior be to our eyes! Let us wear this blessed crucifix always in our heart! The cross of Christ is the key that opens paradise to us! How beautiful is Christ on the cross! The ruddiness of His blood took away the redness of our guilt! Christ's crucifixion is our coronation! He left His Father's bosom, that hive of sweetness to come and live in this poor world. Truly, He exchanged the palace for the dunghill! "The unsearchable riches of Christ!" (Ephesians 3:8)

Not even the angels can dig to the bottom of this mine! They adore Christ, being ravished with His amazing beauties! Jesus is the very extract and quintessence of beauty. He is a whole paradise of delights! 

[Thomas Watson]

Song of Solomon 5:16 ...  His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. ❤

The Cross ...

The Cross was never designed to expose your sin, it was designed to remove your sin and EXPOSE your value.

1 Corinthians 15:3 ... For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

John 3:16-17  ... For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. ❤

The Cross!!

Whence came the tree from which the cross was made? What has become of the particles of which it was composed? What hands were employed in preparing this instrument of a cruel death? To such questions no answer can be given--and none is needed.  The cross was a common mode of punishment among several nations, and among the Romans was reserved for the punishment of slaves and the vilest malefactors. It was never made use of by the Jews. If they had had the power of execution in their hands when Christ suffered, the punishment for the offence alleged against him would have been stoning. But by the ordering of divine Providence, our Lord was put to death in that way, which was accursed, according to the Jewish law; for it was written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree." (Galatians 3:13)

 The death of Christ on the cross may well be reckoned mysterious, for it was at the same time a cursed and a blessed death. Christ was "made a curse for us," that he might deliver us from the curse of the law.  And yet Christ's death on the cross is the most blessed event which ever occurred in the world; for on the cross the price of our redemption was paid. Christ "bore our sins in his own body on the tree." He died, "the just for the unjust," to bring us unto God. This led Paul to say, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Galatians 6:14)

The cross is a center in which many lines of truth meet. The cross is an incomprehensible mystery. That God should be manifest in the flesh, is the great "mystery of godliness." (1 Timothy 3:16) That the Prince of life should be crucified, was an event which caused the angels to stoop from their celestial thrones, that they might gaze in amazement upon it. The prophets who predicted these events were perplexed at their own prophecies, "They inquired into what time or what circumstances the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating, when He testified in advance to the messianic sufferings and the glories that would follow." (1 Peter 1:11)

The truths which are exhibited in a clear and strong light by the crucifixion of Christ, are such as these: 

1. The infinite evil of sin, which in order to its pardon required such a sacrifice. 

2. The holiness and justice of God, which would not allow sin to pass without full evidence of the divine disapprobation, and his inflexible purpose to visit it with deserved punishment. 

3. The wisdom of God, in contriving a method of salvation by which his own glory would be promoted in the eternal salvation of hell-deserving sinners. This wisdom is chiefly manifest in the incarnation of the Son of God, by which the divine and human natures are united in one person. 

4. But the most wonderful exhibition of the cross is the mercy of God, the love of God to sinners such love as never could have been conceived of, had it not been manifest by the gift of his own Son! "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

[Archibald Alexander]  

"None can perish that are clinging to the cross."

  Charles Spurgeon

✫❤•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫

Handel's Messiah

With what sentiments may it be supposed that the Son of God beholds the scenes of His suffering life, sin-atoning death, and final appearance in judgment blended with all the hilarity of a musical festival, and sung by graceless men and women, for the entertainment of the multitude! 

Let those whose spiritual vision is not quite obscured by their musical taste, compare the scenes of when "Handel's Messiah" is being performed and those of the house of God when the Lord's supper is celebrated; and remembering that the subject is the same in both let them ask if both can be right?  Is the cross on which the Savior loved and died rightly appropriated, when it is used for the purposes of amusement, gaiety and fashionable vanity? 

The subject of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures, is given: for the purpose of bringing men to repentance, faith and salvation; to be the great means, through faith, of overcoming the world with all of its lusts of the flesh, lusts of the eye, and the pride of life; to give a death blow to the love of the world in the heart of man; and to subjugate the senses and the imagination to unseen and eternal realities. While in "Handel's Messiah" the cross of Christ, instead of crucifying us to the world, and the world to us is employed as an amusement to add new attractions to earth, and to yield new gratifications to sense; and thus, to make man more effectually the captive of that world, of which he should seek by faith to be the conqueror. 

For what purpose is this "sacred music" performed? It is for amusement! Purely for amusement! Is it then, done for the glory of God to convert the most solemn and sacred topics of divine truth, into a source of public entertainment? No! It is done to draw people together to hear the sufferings of the Lord Jesus set forth for much the same purpose as they are called to be entertained by a dramatic representation of the sorrows of Hamlet or Romeo! 

[John Angell James] 

Revelation 5:12-13 ... Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.  And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

✫❤•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫

What Had He Done?

The people were many and the cry was loud “Crucify, crucify!” came out from the crowd.  The faint sound, a whisper, ran fast through the streets, “What has He done? Why won’t He speak?” Thrice, then the cock crowed, His last friend was gone, Still the crowd mocked, but what had He done? 

On His head a thorn crown was placed, all human likeness had hence been erased. A robe of purple was given to wear. They tore from his beard, great handfuls of hair. Once more from the mob came out the fierce call, “Crucify! Crucify up on Mount Skull!” 

Up the steep road He carried the cross, knowing today His life would be lost. They pierced through His hands with old rusty nails. Then through His feet. Oh, the pain that prevailed! With all of His weight and the weight of the cross, the sound of flesh tearing as it plunged in the rocks. 

The earth trembled ’neath the darkening skies, The mocking ceased as they looked in his eyes. Not hatred or madness from Him did ascend, but love and kindness from a heart-broken friend. With one final breath, “It’s finished!” He cried, He gave up the ghost and willingly died. 

“Oh, what has He done?” I cried with a shout. “And where is this paradise He told me about?” The cold over-whelmed me, but now I’m so warm, for now I’m in Heaven, this thief’s been reborn. 

[Ben Andrews]

 ✞  ✞  ✞ 

Mark 15:12-14 ... And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews? And they cried out again, Crucify him. Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him.

John 19:30 ... When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

Luke 23:42-46 ... And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.  And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.  And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.  And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.  And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. ❤

Pierced!!

Pierced! WHO pierced Him? WE did and pierced Him to the heart! Nor were we satisfied with piercing Him once, for we have pierced Him often, and pierced Him through and through! Our unbelief pierces Him; our ingratitude pierces Him; the coldness of our love pierces Him; our forgetfulness pierces Him; our preferring the world to Him pierces Him; our disobedience to His Word pierces Him; and our doubting of His love pierces Him! 

It was WE who pierced Him on Calvary! We put the nails and the hammer into the hands of the executioners! We put the spear into the hand of the Roman soldier! Yes, it was we who gathered the thorns, picked out the sharpest, formed them into a mock crown, thrust it on His head, and with the staff beat the thorns into His temples! See, see, there He hangs! Pierced in His head, hands, feet, and side, pierced for us, pierced by us! Look, my soul, at the pierced One! God's holy Son hangs on that cross! 

O my soul, look at Jesus! He is your Substitute. He is there for you! He is suffering death for you! He is bearing the desert of your sins in His body on the tree! He is enduring your curse, being made accursed for you! He is revealing what is in man's nature, what is in God's heart, and what He is willing to do and suffer, rather than I should perish! Yes, Jesus is there for me! He represents my person! He answers for my crimes! He dies in my stead! 

O Savior, was ever any love, was ever any agony, was ever any death like Yours! Look, my soul, look to Jesus, the pierced One! Look, and mourn, because your sins degraded, disgraced, and put Him to grief! Look, and rejoice, for you shall have dignity, by His degradation, honor, by His disgrace, and life, by His death! Look, and be sorry that you have ever sinned, and so caused Jesus to suffer! Look, and rejoice that you shall live forever to glorify and praise His name! 

O my soul, Jesus was wounded for your transgressions, and bruised for your iniquities! His blood has made your peace with God, His righteousness gives you a title to eternal life, and His death delivers you from dying! I fix my eye intently on Jesus on the Hill Calvary and marking all His tears, wounds, and agonies I feel that I was the cause of all. I myself did it! Yes, I MYSELF bruised Him, scourged Him, spit on Him, crowned Him with thorns, smote Him with the fist, and nailed Him to the cursed tree! I inflicted it all! 

Yet, O wonder of wonders! I derive pardon, holiness, and eternal life from it! 

[James Smith]

Isaiah 53:5 ... But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

 Zechariah 12:10 ... And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

1 John 5:13 ... These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. ❤