Christ came to save those who are lost at last in Hell

Christ came to save those who are lost at last in Hell

(Don Fortner)

"She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He shall save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:21

The promise here given is that the Lord Jesus Christ "shall save His people from their sins." Who are His people? Who are these people specifically designated "His people," whom He came into this world specifically to save?

Paul's three-word description of what sin does to all people

             "People will be lovers of themselves" 2 Timothy 3:2

   It's the inescapable, destructive commitment of every person that was ever born. It marches down a pathway of separation from God and our ultimate doom. None of us successfully avoid it. We see it in others and it bothers us, but somehow we are blind to it in ourselves. It shapes what we think, desire, say, and do. It shapes our unwritten law for the people we live with and a host of unrealistic expectations for the situations we live in. It explains why we are so often irritated and impatient. It describes why some of us are perennially unhappy and some of us trudge through life depressed. It causes us to want what we will never, ever have and to demand what we do not deserve. It puts us at odds with one another and in endless fights with God. It is one of the deep diseases of our sin nature and a core reason for the birth of Jesus.

When the bird of thought was let go!

When the bird of thought was let go!

(A.W. Tozer)

Anyone who wishes to check on his true spiritual condition may do so, by noting what his voluntary thoughts have been over the last hours or days. 

What has he thought about, when free to think of whatever he pleased? 

Toward what has his inner heart turned, when it was free to turn wherever it desired?

When the bird of thought was let go, did it fly out like the raven to settle upon floating carcasses--or did it like the dove circle and return again to the ark of God? 

Such a test is easy to run, and if we are honest with ourselves--we can discover not only what we are, but what we are going tobecome. We will soon be the sum of our voluntary thoughts!

gracegems.org

Morality without Christ

(Charles Spurgeon)
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3

You moral and upright people without Christ--you are as surely lost as the despicable reprobate!

You chaste and respectable people without Christ--you will be as surely damned as the vile prostitute who walks the streets at midnight!

"Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish!" Luke 13:3

"This is all the comfort that can be given to a moral man--that he shall have a cooler Hell than others." Thomas Brooks

Trials are medicinal!

(John Newton)

Trials are medicinal. They are designed by God to correct or to restrain or to cure--the maladies of our souls.

Though He puts forth His hand, and seems to threaten our dearest comforts--yet when we remember that it is His hand, when we consider that it is His design, His love, His wisdom, and His power--we cannot refuse to trust Him!

Every affliction in the life of the believer--is designed by God and sovereignly implemented by Him.

"Before I was afflicted I went astray--but now I obey Your Word!" Psalm 119:67

"It was good for me to be afflicted--so that I might learn Your decrees." Psalm 119:71

"I know, O LORD, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness You have afflicted me." Psalm 119:75

Christ's suffering was punitive--the Christian's suffering is restorative. 

The cup which Christ drank, was filled with Divine wrath--the cup of suffering which God calls His children to drink, is only medicinal to promote their chief good.

Like heavy weights on a grandfather clock--trials are necessary for the Christian life to operate properly. 

God will allow nothing to grieve us--but what He intends to employ as means for our greater advantage.

(grace gems.org)