A New Creation!!

Whenever anyone is saved by the sovereign grace of God and regenerated by the Holy Spirit he becomes a new creation in Christ.  This is not a mere moral improvement, nor a religious reformation, nor the adoption of a more wholesome lifestyle but a supernatural work of the Spirit, producing a new nature. Having experienced this miracle of salvation, this new man now has new views, new ambitions, new convictions, new desires, new notions, new hopes, new dreads, new pleasures, new aims, new principles, new affections, new joys, and new pursuits. Everything about him is changed. He does, as it were, live in a new world! He was once spiritually dead, enslaved to sin, governed by the flesh, blind to truth, and hostile to God!

Now, his affections are changed he loves what he once hated and hates what he once loved! Now, his mind is renewed he no longer sees life through the lens of popular culture, but through the lens of Scripture. Now, his will is liberated he longs to do the will of God, though not without struggle. Though sin still remains in his flesh, it no longer reigns in his life. The believer is brought into a new realm: from darkness to light; from death to life; from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of God. He is adopted as God's child, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and sealed for the day of redemption. In Christ, every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms is now his! 

His past is forgiven, his present is transformed, and his future is secured. But the glory of this new creation lies not in the man himself, but in the One who made him new. Just as the original creation displayed the majesty of God, so this new creation displays the greatness of His sovereignty, mercy, and grace. Christian, never forget who you are--you are not what you once were. And though you are not yet what you will be--you are already made new in Christ. Let this truth humble you, encourage you, and move you to walk in newness of life, to the glory of God! 

[Charles H. Spurgeon]

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Ephesians 1:3 ... Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 

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:

2 Corinthians 5:17 ... Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. ❤

Feeble Nature

Oh! how do I groan in this body of clay this clog of humanity!  When I would serve God with gladness, feeble nature hinders me; my strength is exhausted, and I must be again refreshed with sleep.  Grace had not only sin to fight against, but it has bodily infirmity to struggle with.  And I have no way of getting comfort under my calamities of this kind, which are so many, but by beholding with the eye of faith, through the telescope of Scripture the glories of the world above, when this mortal shall put on immortality, and death shall be swallowed up in life. 

There my weary eyes shall never seek to be refreshed with sleep, amidst the engaging glories of the higher house! The mirth of this present evil world, like an enchantress, lulls men asleep to everlasting destruction; but the songs of the inner temple rouse to all eternity. With the strength of an angel shall I step along the hills of glory and walk over the paradise of God. With greater ease shall I go on with the highest acts of adoration, than here give over the ordinary acts of devotion; for it shall be life to my soul, and vigor to all my powers, to be so employed! 

There he who pours the new wine into the saints, capacitates, strengthens, and supports the soul, to receive the eternal weight of glory. Meditation shall never tire my thoughts in tracing all the mazes of redeeming love! Everlasting hallelujahs shall dwell on my tongue; and how shall I improve in the song above, while I rest not day or night to sing, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive glory, and honor, blessings and power, dominion and praise, forever and ever!" (Revelation 5:12-13)

There is the uninterrupted vision of him, to whom when I see him, I shall be assimilated shall strengthen my eyes, that they shall be able to receive the images of all the celestial glories. No weariness there, where the exercise of worship renders happy. No weakness, where Jehovah is my strength. No lack of subject, where the Lord God and the Lamb are my song! 

Oh! shall I be able to praise and worship God through eternity? To sing his being and attributes, his love and his mercy, his righteousness and his truth, even a whole God, and a full glory! This will be my consummate happiness, and continual enjoyment! Well then, what though the hours of time steal from me unknown? I rejoice that I shall not lose one moment through weariness, while eternity rolls forever on. Oh! may I improve this to prepare for that; for if eternity is not secured before time is spent, I am undone in both. Roll on, O Day of love, to perfect strength in my weakness, and crown a poor expectant with eternal glory! 

[James Meikle]

James 1:12 ... Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

2 Timothy 4:8 ... Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

1 Peter 5:4 ... And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. ❤

Be Changed!!

 You have never gone too fat that God can't redeem you. Retore you. Forgive you.

The Lord is a God of second chances.

1 John 1:9 ... If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Ezekiel 36:26 ...  A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

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

The Present Time

The sufferings of the saints strike no deeper than the things of time, last no longer than the present time, are light afflictions, and but for a moment. How vastly different are the sentence of the word and the sentiment of the world, concerning the sufferings of this present time! 

Indeed, the whole creation seems to wait with earnest expectation for the period when the children of God shall be manifested in the glory prepared for them. There is an impurity, deformity, and infirmity, which has come upon the creature by the fall of man. There is an enmity of one creature to another. And they are used, or abused rather, by men as instruments of sin. Yet this deplorable state of the creation is in hope. God will deliver it from thus being held in bondage to man's depravity. 

The miseries of the human race, through their own and each other's wickedness, declare that the world is not always to continue as it is. Our having received the first fruits of the Spirit, quickens our desires, encourages our hopes, and raises our expectations. 

[Matthew Henry]

Romans 8:23 ... And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

1 Corinthians 15:22-23 ... For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. ❤

Nature Groaning

In view of the physical evil and misery prevalent in the world, the Apostle attributes a human consciousness of pain to the rest of creation. It groans and travails together, i.e., every member of it in common with its kind. The idea of travailing, as in childbirth, has reference to the future prospect of joyful delivery.  This consciousness of pain and imperfection has been continuous and unbroken, nor will it cease until an end is put to it by the Coming of Christ. 

[Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers]

John 16:21 ... A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.

Romans 8:22-23 ... For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.  ❤

Trust in Him...

Trust in the death and resurrection of Christ for forgiveness of your sins.

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:

2 Corinthians 1:9-10 ... But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:  Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;

1 Corinthians 15:2-4 ... By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:  ❤

That Unclean Donkey!!

Every firstborn creature must be the Lord's; but since the donkey was unclean, it could not be presented in sacrifice to Him. What then? Should it be allowed to go free from the universal law? By no means! God admits of no exceptions. The donkey is His due, but He will not accept it; He will not abate the claim; but yet He cannot be pleased with the unclean victim. No way of escape remained, but redemption, the donkey must be saved by the substitution of a lamb in its place; or if not redeemed, it must die! 

My soul, here is a lesson for you! That unclean donkey is yourself! You are justly the property of the Lord who made you and preserves you, but you are so sinful that God will not, cannot, accept you! It has come to this: the Lamb of God must stand in your stead, or you must die eternally! 

Let all the world know of your gratitude to that spotless Lamb who has died for you, and so redeemed you from the fatal curse of the law! Must it not sometimes have been a question with the Israelite, as to which should die the donkey or the lamb? Would not the man pause to estimate and compare the values of these animals? Assuredly there was no comparison between the value of a sinful man, and the spotless Lord Jesus! Yet the Lamb dies; and the man, the donkey is spared! 

My soul, admire the boundless love of God to you! Vile worms are bought, with the blood of the holy Lamb of God! Dust and ashes are redeemed, with a price far above silver and gold! What a doom would have been mine, had not plenteous redemption been found! The breaking of the neck of the donkey was but a momentary penalty. But who shall measure the eternal wrath to come, to which no limit can be imagined! Inestimably dear is the glorious Lamb, who has redeemed me from such a doom! 

[Charles H. Spurgeon]

Exodus 34:20 ...  But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty. ❤

Never More Glorious!!

God is as glorious in punishing sin as He is in pardoning sin. Never did God appear more glorious, than when He was pouring out His wrath on the Son of His love, for our sins. Justice and mercy, holiness and love there shone with united and transcendent splendor.  The same glory of God which shines in punishing sin in Hell appeared in His punishing it on the cross! 

Does not God deserve to be loved for the one, as well as for the other? Does He not deserve to be loved wherever and in whatever manner He causes His glorious justice to appear? That man never had true grace who does not love God for punishing sin, as well as for pardoning it. 

[Thomas Charles] 

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Isaiah 53:4-5 ... Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 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. 

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. 

 Galatians 3:13 ... Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: ❤

The Great Wilderness!

If I were not a pilgrim journeying through the wilderness, I could not know the refreshment of Elim. If I did not taste the bitterness of Marah, the pleasanter waters of Elim would lose half of their delightfulness. Therefore, I should thank God for the difficult wilderness journey, and the keen afflictions along the way. 

Elim brings supply. The oasis has its twelve springs of water one for each of the tribes in Israel. And if I am journeying under God's leadership, in fellowship with His people, towards His promised land, how many are the aids, and how varied is the provision, with which the King of the way furnishes me! Sunday worship comes week after week. The Word of life and peace is in my hands. I have the Throne of Grace, to which I can resort in all my times of need. There are golden days of peculiar privileges, and sweet fellowship with Christian friends. Never should I be without the living water. 

Elim brings shade. Above the twelve springs of water, rise straight and stately palm trees seventy of them, as many as the seventy years of man's life on earth. They come between me, and the remorseless blaze of the sun. They secure for me a welcome coolness and refreshment. Jesus, our adorable redeemer, is a shade from the blazing heat of divine justice. He is shelter from the just condemnation of my sin, shelter from the cruel onslaught of temptation, shelter from the hardening effects of sorrow, mercy to pardon, and grace to help! 

Elim also brings rest. "They camped there beside the water" and I should do likewise. It may be that the wilderness stretches on every hand, that tomorrow I shall be in the desert sun once more, that the end of my pilgrim's journey is far off. Yet, I have the cheering memory of God's supply and God's shadow to solace me. In my pilgrim journey through this wilderness, hardship cannot be avoided. Yet, I can take my Elim with me through the great wilderness, and I need never lack the "twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees." 

There is something much amiss, if ever my heart ceases to be quiet and confident, and if I ever forget to raise the song that tells of rest beneath the palm-trees and joy beside the springs of water. 

 [Alexander Smellie] 

 Exodus 15:27 ... And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters.

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Receiving Sinners

Nothing gave greater offence to the scribes and Pharisees than the divine mission of Jesus to save sinners. No greater and more virulent accusation could they allege against Him, than that, He extended His compassionate regards to the vile and the wretched, admitting the most flagrant offenders to His mercy, and inviting the most notorious sinners to His fellowship. And yet this, His greatest reproach, was His highest honor. Pluck this jewel from His mediatorial crown, and it has lost its costliest gem. Extract this note from the "joyful sound," and you have hushed its sweetest melody. Remove this object of His mission from His coming, and you have reduced His incarnation, sufferings, and death to a gigantic waste. 

Oh, with what glory does the fact that, this man receives sinners, invest the Son of God! How should our hearts glow with gratitude, praise, and love! If the individual who makes two blades of grass to grow where only one grew before, is regarded as a public benefactor; if we deck the person of him who, at the risk of his own, saves the life of another, what shall we feel towards the Son of God who, in the plenitude of His compassion and love, bowed the heavens, and came down to save countless myriads of our race from the "bitter pains of eternal death"! Yes, "He receives sinners." He receives them as sinners, lost, undone, self-destroyed sinners--sinners too vile and too helpless to save themselves, who, if He does not save them, never can be saved. He receives sinners of all conditions and of every hue, of every depth of guilt and character of crime. 

Oh, if there were a sinner out-sinning all sinners, every sin tainting, every crime attaching to him an abandoned profligate, an unbelieving scorner, a reviling blasphemer, a red-handed murderer, a profane infidel, a daring atheist, a moral parricide whose transgressions have broken a mother's heart and bowed a father's gray hairs in sorrow to the grave sins as scarlet and red as crimson as a cloud for darkness, and as the sands on the sea shore for multitude if, I say, there be such a one whom He would not save, and could not save, then would there be silence in heaven and exultation in hell at the announcement that Jesus Christ had ceased to save to the uttermost bounds of sin and guilt all who, in penitence and faith, came to God through Him. 

It follows, then, that, receiving them just as they are, He receives them freely, apart from all fitness or worthiness, of their own. "By grace are you saved." (Ephesians 2:8) "Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:24) "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved." (Acts 16:31) What a joyful sound! 

Come, then, O my soul, to Jesus, without hesitation or delay. "Just as I am I and waiting not To rid my soul of one dark blot; To Him whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God, I come." Assured of the fact that you yourself have come to Jesus and are saved, be it your aim to bring others to Him, that they may be saved too. Oh, live and labor, if need be, suffer and die for Him, whose greatest glory is, that He receives and saves sinners, who has received and saved you! He receives sinners.

Hear it, you that are afar off, wandering in ignorance and sin. Hear it, you who, amid the tortures of a guilt-oppressed conscience, are inquiring, "What must I do to obtain mercy and forgiveness?" Hear it, you who once walked in the way of holiness, but have turned aside to sin and folly. Hear it, you who are resigning yourselves to dark despair, tempted to terminate a present misery by the self-infliction of a future, a more fearful and interminable one. Oh, hear it, all you poor and wretched, you humble and penitent, you are broken-hearted and burdened "This man receives sinners, and eats with them." (Luke 15:2) "Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

 [Octavius Winslow] 

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The Precious Blood

Only one thing can wash away sin. Only one thing can make someone whole again. Only one thing can cover you, restore you, heal you, and cause you to stand in righteousness, victory, and freedom. Nothing else. Nothing but the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

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:

Romans 3:25 ... Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

1 John 1:7 ... But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. ❤

He Conquers and Cleanses

The Holy Spirit is the administrator of God's grace. Without the gracious operation of the Holy Spirit in conversion, no sinner would ever become a beneficiary of saving grace. The blessed Spirit quickens all whom the Father chose in eternity past,  leads to Jesus, all the sheep for whom the dear Shepherd laid down His life,  conquers the stoutest hearts, and cleanses the foulest spiritual leper,  opens sin-blinded eyes, and unstops sin-closed ears!

Redemption was effectually accomplished for God's elect by Christ at Calvary; and it is effectually applied to all the redeemed by the Holy Spirit in effectual calling. The Spirit applies Christ's work of redemption, in calling, convicting, regenerating, sanctifying, and preserving all for whom Christ died.

Every one whom God chose in Christ, is effectually drawn by the Spirit to Christ. Everyone predestined to be saved, is called by the Spirit in time, justified in time, and will be glorified in eternity when time will be no more!

[C. D. Cole]

Titus 3:5 … Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 🕊

Sin Is ...

Man is made up of divers lusts and passions! Pride, ambition, envy, vanity, resentment, anger, covetousness, immorality, cruelty, these and many evil appetites and emotions besides, flow through all his nature in fierce and malignant currents, and are his very being's poisoned blood and fevered pulse! They break out in oaths and curses, in fights and violence, in debauchery and orgy; in spoken falsehood and acted lies, in words of lewdness and deeds of shame!

Sin is earth's great burden, humanity's deforming blot, the enemy of God, the transgressor of His law, the great soul-poison and heart-plague, the only thing which really defiles man, pollution, misery, guilt, incipient Hell, the only thing to which we can give, in its fullest sense, the emphatic name of evil.

Jesus could not look on sin without abhorrence. The sight of that cursed thing which had insulted His heavenly Father and filled a happy world with woe and horror, kindled His zeal and revenge; and while the Lamb's gentleness encouraged the sinner, the Lion's fury still flashed upon the sin.

[James Hamilton]

Job 22:5 … Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?

Proverbs 20:9 … Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?

Romans 6:23 … For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 John 1:9 … If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.❤

The Knife!

If I do indeed believe that my sin has cost the blood of Christ then certainly my sin is a dreadful evil.  Oh, let me never have to do with such sin as was the cause of such sufferings to my Savior which shed His precious blood.  If you saw the knife that had cut the throat of your dearest child, would not your heart rise against that knife?

Suppose you come to dine, and there is a knife laid by your plate, and it was told to you that this is the knife which cut the throat of your dear child could use that knife to eat your dinner?  Oh with what detestation would you fling away such a knife!   And with the like detestation it is required that you should renounce sin for your sin was the cause of the death of Christ!

So when a temptation comes to sin, you must think, "This is the knife which cut the throat of Christ, which pierced His side, which was the cause of all His sufferings, which made Christ to be a curse!"  Now you will look upon your sin as a cursed thing, which made Christ to be a curse!

"A bleeding Savior I have viewed, And now, I hate my sin!"

[Jeremy Burroughs]

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.

1 John 1:7 … But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Ephesians 2:13 … But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.❤

Sin!

The sound is brief but it presents a dark abyss of thought.  No mind can trace its birth, no eye can see its death.  Before the worlds it scaled the heavens, and dragged angels down.  In life's first dawn it entered Eden and slew innocence.

It ends not with the end of time.  It ever rolls on in its ever-deepening course.

Reader, think much of sin! It is earth's death-blow.  It marred the beauty of a beauteous world, and stripped it of its lovely robe.  It caused the soil to harden, and the leaves to wither and decay.  It turned fertility into weeds, and armed the brier with its bristling thorns. It made the clouds to blacken, and the storm to rage.  It raised the tempest's roar, and plumed the lightning with its forked wings.  It placed its foot upon a perfect workmanship, and left it a disordered wreck!

Reader, think much of sin! It is man's ruin.  Its most tremendous blight fell on our inner life.  It drove the soul from peaceful fellowship with God.  It changed the loving child into a hardened rebel.  It robbed the mind of light.  It rendered reason a bewildered maze.  It made the heart a nest of unclean birds; a spring of impure streams; a whirlpool of tumultuous passions; a hot-bed of ungodly lusts; a den of God-defying schemes!

It is the malady, the misery, the shame of our whole race!  It is the spring of every tear!  Each sigh which rends the bosom; each frown which ploughs the brow; each pain which racks the limbs are cradled in its arms.  It is the mother of that mighty monster; death!  It digs each grave in every grave-yard.  Each widow and each orphan tastes its gall. It fills each hospital with the sick. It strews the battlefield with the slain. It is the core in every grief.

It is the worm which gnaws the root of peace.

Reader, think much of sin!  Its terrible destructions do not die in the grave. There is a region where its full-blown torments reign. It built the prison-house of Hell.  It kindled quenchless flames. It forged the chains which bind lost sinners to their burning beds.  It sharpened the undying sting of an upbraiding conscience.   It arms the jailer, Satan, with his scourge.   It bars the hopeless in that outer darkness, where weeping ever weeps,  and wailing ever wails,  and teeth forever gnash, and all is woe, which knows neither respite nor end.

Reader, think much of sin!  It works this bitter and eternal anguish, because God's curse attends it.  It raised a rebel-hand against His will. It dared to violate His holy law. It strove to lay His honor in the dust.  It trampled on the statute-book of heaven. Therefore God's anger fiercely burns against it. Hence every misery follows in its succession.  He must be wretched, who has God against him!

Reader, here is a picture in which all horrors meet! Regard it with an earnest eye. No fiction colors it. No power can over-paint the terrible reality.  No artist's skill can represent a flame.  The dreadful truth exceeds description. The lost writhe out eternity in fully learning the deserts of sin!

Reader, receive the soul-reviving voice: Though sin is death, the sinner need not die. There is a fortress of escape. There is a remedy to heal these wounds. What though your sins are as countless as the sands? They all may disappear. What though the dye of each sin is double crimson? Each may be washed away.

The filth may all be cleansed. The debts may be wiped out. The soul may meet Jehovah's eye without one stain. There is a way, by which the vilest may stand pure.  God's love decreed a plan.  He willed a ransom, and His Son achieved it.

Let us draw nearer to the amazing sight!  Each sin must bear its merited load of woe.  Each curse must be endured. Each violation of the holy law must drink the dregs of condemnation.

Jesus comes forth to help!  The guiltless One takes the guilty place. The God-man represents His chosen flock.  He stands as their complete sin-offering.  He pays in anguish and in blood, their every due.  Their wrath is endured.  Their penalties are paid.  Their sufferings are suffered.  Their agonies are agonized. The saving work requires infinity of woe. Infinity of woe is borne by Him. His Deity enables His manhood qualifies.  Thus their sin is fully punished thus the redeemed are fully saved!

[Henry Law]

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Leviticus 4:3 … If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the Lord for a sin offering.

Romans 6:23 … For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Hebrews 9:12 … Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.❤

Redeemed From Eternal Misery

If I am redeemed from eternal misery by the death of Jesus; and if He is now preparing a glorious mansion for me near Himself, that I may drink of the rivers of pleasure at His right hand for evermore, then the question is not (at least ought not to be), "How may I pass through life with the least inconvenience?"

Rather it should be: "How may my little span of life be made most subservient to the praise and glory of Him who loved me, and gave Himself for me?"

[John Newton]

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1 Peter 1:17-19 ... And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:  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:

John 14:2-3 ...  In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Ephesians 5:15-16 ... See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,  Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.❤

He Redeemed Me!

The tears of a slave girl just going to be put up for sale, drew the notice of a gentleman as he passed through the auction mart of a southern slave state. The other slaves of the same group, standing in a line, for sale like herself, did not seem to care about it while each knock of the hammer made her shiver.

The gentleman stopped to ask why she wept, and was told that the others were used to such things, and might even be glad for a change from a hard, harsh master but that she had been brought up with much kindness by a good owner, and she was terrified to think who might buy her.

"What is her price?" the stranger asked. He stood a moment in deep thought when he heard the greatness of the ransom, but paid it nevertheless.

But no joy came to the poor slave girl's face when he told her that she was free. She had been born a slave, and knew not what freedom meant. Her tears fell fast on the signed parchment which her deliverer brought to prove it to her. She only looked at him with fear. At last he prepared to go on his way, and as he told her what she must do when he was gone, it began to dawn on her what freedom was.

With sudden joy, she cried out, "I will follow him! I will serve him all my days!" And to every reason urged against it, she only cried, "He redeemed me! He redeemed me! He redeemed me!"

When strangers afterwards visited that master's house, and noticed, as all did, the loving, constant service of the glad-hearted girl, and asked why she was so eager with unbidden service night and day she had but one answer, and she loved to give it: "He redeemed me! He redeemed me!"

So may it be with us. When any note the joy in our looks, the love in our voice, the freedom of our service, we have but one answer, "He redeemed me!"

[The Preachers Book]

 ✞✞✞

Psalm 71:23 ... My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee; and my soul, which thou hast redeemed.

Galatians 3:13 ... Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

Revelation 5:9 ... And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;❤

The Most Beautiful Thing I Ever Heard

What could be better than the divine plan of substitutionary atonement? God must punish sin.  He could not be God unless He did. It is a necessity of His nature, that He should hate sin with an infinite hatred, and must punish it!

Yet, as He had loved His people with an everlasting love, how could He better show His love to them and His hatred of sin than by giving up His well-beloved Son to die instead of them! This seems to me to be the most beautiful thing I ever heard of and it delights my soul to preach it!

[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.

Galatians 3:13 ... Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

Romans 5:11 ... And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.❤

May Our Thoughts Seldom Wonder From The Cross

We take our stand at Calvary.  The Cross is erected.  Jesus, the God-man, our substitute, our Redeemer, hangs there.  We look, and we receive assurance that truly He is bearing our curse,   drinking to the dregs our cup of wrath, receiving into His inmost soul the sword of justice, and  suffering the extremities of anguish as the penalty for our sins.  Oh! what a sight of wonder!

Views of redemption, lead to grateful love. It is far easier to count ocean's drops, than to portray the Savior's love,  His matchless worth,  His righteousness, and the glories which He has purchased.  How precious is that expiating blood! Let us ponder its worth, and the marvels it has wrought until our hearts become one blaze of love, and our lips one note of praise!

[Henry Law]

Psalm 22:1 ... My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?


Galatians 6:14 ... But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.


Luke 9:23 ... And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.❤

Way of Peace

A great many people think that the Christian life is hard and unpleasant, that it is a rough and steep road; but truly it is a way of pleasantness and peace.

The only really happy people in the world, are those who are following Christ along the way of redemption. They have their share of troubles, disappointments, sorrows but all the time in the midst of these, they have a secret peace of which the world knows nothing.

There are paths in the low valleys, among the great mountains, which are sweet pictures of the Christian's way of peace. High up among the peaks and crags the storms sweep in wild fury but on these valley-paths no breath of tempest ever blows. Flowers bloom and springs of water gurgle along the wayside, and trees cast their grateful shadow, and bird-songs fill the air. Such is Christ's "way of peace" in this world.

[J. R. Miller]

John 14:27 ... Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.



Galatians 3:14 ... That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.


Philippians 4:7 ... And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. ❤