February 4, 2007

 

The salvation accomplished by Christ, the salvation God gives is a salvation that God himself cannot improve and a salvation that all the powers of hell cannot mar.

 

Daily Readings for the Week of February 4-11

            Sunday                      Leviticus 12-13                                            Thursday                   Leviticus 22-23

           Monday                     Leviticus 14-15                                            Friday             Leviticus 24-25

            Tuesday                    Leviticus 16-18                                            Saturday                    Leviticus 26-27

            Wednesday  Leviticus 19-21                                            Sunday                      Numbers 1-2

 

·      The Lord willing, Pastor Henry Mahan will preach for us Friday, Saturday, and Sunday — March 16-18.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Don York-5th Faith Hacker-7th Rachel Coleman-9th

 

NURSERY DUTY THIS WEEK

Today: Shante’ Birchum (AM) Laura Peterson (PM) Tuesday: Shelby Fortner

 

Christ Made Sin — Don Fortner

(Tune: #42 — All Hail the Power CM)

 

1.    Th’ enormous load of all my guilt

Was on my Savior laid,

When He, Who knew and did no sin,

For sinners, sin was made!

 

2.    “Awake, O sword,” in furious wrath,

Jehovah cried; and He,

(The Lamb of God, my Substitute!),

Was sacrificed for me!

 

3.    In that same way, by grace and truth,

My ransomed soul is made

“The righteousness of God in Him,”

And I from sin am freed!

 

4.    This wondrous mystery of grace! —

Salvation, full and free,

Shall be the subject of my songs

Throughout eternity!

 

“Christ could not have borne our sorrows, unless they had been transferred to him; neither could he have borne our sins, unless they also had been transferred to him. Accordingly we are taught, that he bore our sins as well as their effects. — ‘By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, because he hath poured out his soul unto death, he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bare the sin of many’ (Isaiah 53:11).                      — William Rushton - 1831

 

13

No Assistance Needed

 

““Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save...I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment” (Isaiah 63:1-3).

 

The thing that immediately jumps out from this third verse is the fact that the whole work of redemption and grace is the work of Christ alone. — “I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me.” In God’s great work of grace, in the salvation of our souls, no assistance is wanted, needed, required, or allowed. It is altogether the work of our Lord Jesus Christ, “traveling in the greatness of his strength, mighty to save.”

 

A Mighty Savior

 

That is exactly what Isaiah tells us in the opening verse of this chapter. — Our Lord Jesus Christ is “mighty to save.” If we read the last two verses of chapter 62, it is obvious that the Holy Spirit is here giving us a prophetic description of our Lord Jesus Christ and our salvation in and by him seven hundred years before his incarnation. In those two verses the prophet of God declared Christ’s coming to redeem and save his people. Here in chapter 63 the prophet describes how he would accomplish that salvation.

 

      He seems to have in his mind’s eye a vision of the incarnate God, our Savior, as he was performing the work. When he saw him covered with blood, as one coming up out of a great battle, yet full of great strength, he cried, as though he was astonished by what he saw, — “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah?”

 

      Edom and Bozrah are, I think, an allusion to the ancient enmity of Esau, the head of the house of Edom, against Jacob, his brother. They are set before us here, and throughout the Scriptures, as the unrelenting enemies of God’s elect. Edom and Bozrah are all those who are born after the flesh, the persecutors of those who are born after the Spirit (Galatians 4:29).

 

      “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah?” — Do you see him, as he comes “in the greatness of his strength”? Behold, the Man of God’s right hand, coming up as the Captain of our Salvation, returning from war; but he appears not as one who is tired, weary with battle. He comes forth to his redeemed “in the greatness of his strength.” That is how Christ always comes to his people, “in the greatness of his strength” (See John 17:2).

 

Glorious in Apparel

 

And he is “glorious in his apparel.” He comes in the apparel of a servant, but he is “glorious in his apparel.” His garments are the garments of one who is a lowly servant. Yet, he is glorious in his garments. They are “dyed garments,” drenched in blood, drenched in his own blood, yes; but here Isaiah sees him coming forth as one glorious in his apparel, because his garments are drenched in the blood of his enemies and ours, and drenched in the blood of his redeemed! Oh, what a gallant man our Lord Jesus Christ is as he goes forth “conquering and to conqueror (Revelation 6:2). He is Jehovah’s Servant, that righteous Servant who was sent to deliver his people from the hands of their enemies. He is glorious in his apparel, because he has delivered us, having conquered all our enemies.

 

Speaks in Righteousness

 

The astonished prophet asked, “Who is this?” Immediately, the Man who is both Jehovah and Jehovah’s Servant answered in great grace, — “I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save!” It is as though he said, “Fear not, little flock, I come not to hurt but to heal. I come not to do battle, but from battle. I come to you as he who is mighty to save!”

 

      He speaks in righteousness by the gospel (Romans 3:24-26). He speaks in righteousness as our Advocate and Mediator in heaven (1 John 2:1-2). He speaks in righteousness when he speaks peace to believing sinners. He will speak in righteousness when he says, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

 

Mighty to Save

 

Our Lord Jesus Christ is a mighty Savior; and because he speaks in righteousness, our all-glorious Christ is “mighty to save” (Psalms 89:19; Hebrews 7:25). An impotent savior is no Savior at all. Those who cry up a god who cannot save without the consent of man’s free-will or the assistance of man’s works, cry up a god who is nothing but the useless figment of man’s perverted imagination. An impotent god is no God at all. An impotent god is as useless as a bucket without a bottom. If your god wants to save everyone, if your jesus died to redeem everyone, if your divine spirit tries to save everyone, and some people go to hell in spite of all that your god has done to keep them out, you need another God, a God who is God!

 

            We worship, trust, and preach an almighty, all-sufficient, effectual Savior. Our Savior is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. And he is “mighty to save!” He does not merely provide salvation, offer salvation, or try to get sinners to be saved. He saves his people from their sins by his almighty, irresistible grace (Matthew 1:21; 11:27; John 17:2; Romans 9:15-16). He cannot fail to do so (Isaiah 42:4). — No assistance needed!

 

 

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