Looking Firmly at the Cross

[Davies]

Good Day,

When you see a cross driving down the road, what do you think of? Do you think of the suffering Jesus, dying, paying for your sins? I liked February 19th’s grace gem because Ryle said, “I believe that holiness is nowhere learned so well as on Calvary.†God can forgive sinners and be tenderly merciful while at the same time maintaining His justice. No one is ‘holier than thou,’ but holiness can be learned if we keep the cross firmly in our eye. We may have great sins, but it only proves we have a great Savior!


Looking firmly at the cross of Christ!

(J.C. Ryle, "The Cross of Christ!")

"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world!" Galatians 6:14

Look at the cross, think of the cross, meditate on the cross--and then go and set your affections on the world if you can!

I believe that holiness is nowhere learned so well as on Calvary.

I believe you cannot look much at the cross--without feeling your will sanctified, and your tastes made more spiritual.

As the sun gazed upon makes everything else look dark and dim--so does the cross darken the false splendor of this world. As the taste of honey makes all other things seem to have no taste at all--so does the cross seen by faith, take all the sweetness out of the pleasures of the world.

Keep on, everyday, looking firmly at the cross of Christ!


-Davies

 

[farouk]

Great thoughts! It's a case of: 'looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame...'. (Hebrews 12.2)

 

[Davies]

I've been in a bad habit of staying up late, so I thought I'd get a jump on this morning's Spurgeon devotional. This is really wonderful.

Monday, April 16, 2012

This Morning's Meditation

C. H. Spurgeon

"The precious blood of Christ."—1 Peter 1:19.
STANDING at the foot of the cross, we see hands, and feet, and side, all distilling crimson streams of precious blood. It is "precious" because of its redeeming and atoning efficacy. By it the sins of Christ's people are atoned for; they are redeemed from under the law; they are reconciled to God, made one with Him. Christ's blood is also "precious" in its cleansing power; it "cleanseth from all sin." "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." Through Jesus' blood there is not a spot left upon any believer, no wrinkle nor any such thing remains. O precious blood, which makes us clean, removing the stains of abundant iniquity, and permitting us to stand accepted in the Beloved, notwithstanding the many ways in which we have rebelled against our God. The blood of Christ is likewise "precious" in its preserving power. We are safe from the destroying angel under the sprinkled blood. Remember it is God's seeing the blood which is the true reason for our being spared. Here is comfort for us when the eye of faith is dim, for God's eye is still the same. The blood of Christ is "precious" also in its sanctifying influence. The same blood which justifies by taking away sin, does in its after-action, quicken the new nature and lead it onward to subdue sin and to follow out the commands of God. There is no motive for holiness so great as that which streams from the veins of Jesus. And "precious," unspeakably precious, is this blood, because it has an overcoming power. It is written, "They overcame through the blood of the Lamb." How could they do otherwise? He who fights with the precious blood of Jesus, fights with a weapon which cannot know defeat. The blood of Jesus! sin dies at its presence, death ceases to be death: heaven's gates are opened. The blood of Jesus! we shall march on, conquering and to conquer, so long as we can trust its power!

I wanted to bold the whole thing but tried to just bold the highlights. I hope these words are comforting to you.

- Davies

 

[God's_gift]

Amen

 

[Davies]

Whenever I'm feeling a little down, I ask myself, can you hear the Master's call? Tonight, in the wee hours of the morn, I decided to read some John Bunyan. This is good to lay your head on.

Then I saw in my dream, that the Interpreter took Christian by the hand, and led him into a place where was a fire burning against a wall, and one standing by it, always casting much water upon it, to quench it; yet did the fire burn higher and hotter.

Then said Christian, What means this?

The Interpreter answered, This fire is the work of grace that is wrought in the heart; he that casts water upon it to extinguish and put it out, is the devil: but in that thou seest the fire notwithstanding burn higher and hotter, thou shalt also see the reason of that. So he had him about to the back side of the wall, where he saw a man with a vessel of oil in his hand, of the which he did also continually cast (but secretly) into the fire.

Then said Christian, What means this?

The Interpreter answered, This is Christ, who continually, with the oil of His grace, maintains the work already begun in the heart; by the means of which, notwithstanding what the devil can do, the souls of His people prove gracious still. And in that thou sawest, that the man stood behind the wall to maintain the fire; this is to teach thee, that it is hard for the tempted to see how this work of grace is maintained in the soul.

I find this portrait of Jesus Christ to be marvelous. In contrast to our imperfection and sinful ability, the work of Christ overcomes not only our sin, but also the work of Satan and his children who would have us make light of the grace of God, and put the burden of the law on our backs. I hope you will be encouraged to obey God because of what He has done for you.

I've been reading bits and pieces of The Pilgrim's Progress. I think I'll be reading it again from the beginning.

- Davies

 

[God's_gift]

nice, thanks Mr. Davies i've been reading your posts....

 

[Davies]

nice, thanks Mr. Davies i've been reading your posts....

God's_gift,

That's very nice of you to say. Thank God for His goodness.

- Davies

 

[ivorhughjarse]

Spurgeon has such a gift with words....he was wonderfully inspired

 

[Davies]

Monday, April 23, 2012

This Morning's Meditation

C. H. Spurgeon

"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us."—Romans 8:37.
WE go to Christ for forgiveness, and then too often look to the law for power to fight our sins. Paul thus rebukes us, "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" Take your sins to Christ's cross, for the old man can only be crucified there: we are crucified with Him. The only weapon to fight sin with is the spear which pierced the side of Jesus. To give an illustration—you want to overcome an angry temper, how do you go to work? It is very possible you have never tried the right way of going to Jesus with it. How did I get salvation? I came to Jesus just as I was, and I trusted Him to save me. I must kill my angry temper in the same way? It is the only way in which I can ever kill it. I must go to the cross with it, and say to Jesus, "Lord, I trust Thee to deliver me from it." This is the only way to give it a death-blow. Are you covetous? Do you feel the world entangle you? You may struggle against this evil so long as you please, but if it be your besetting sin, you will never be delivered from it in any way but by the blood of Jesus. Take it to Christ. Tell Him, "Lord, I have trusted Thee, and Thy name is Jesus, for Thou dost save Thy people from their sins; Lord, this is one of my sins; save me from it!" Ordinances are nothing without Christ as a means of mortification. Your prayers, and your repentances, and your tears—the whole of them put together—are worth nothing apart from Him. "None but Jesus can do helpless sinners good;" or helpless saints either. You must be conquerors through Him who hath loved you, if conquerors at all. Our laurels must grow among His olives in Gethsemane.

Often times I do not want to admit my helpless state. After all, how many years have I been serving the Lord? Shouldn't I have progressed down the sanctification path much further? When I resist acknowledging that I haven't progressed as much as I thought I did, it becomes easy to see my pride. I think the sanctification process begins with cross, and progression in sanctification doesn't lose site of the cross. Perhaps this is the reason why we don't progress in our walk with the Lord because we give in to our weaknesses, jump to conclusions because of our failures instead of looking to the cross where our joy began.

- Davies

 

[farouk]

Monday, April 23, 2012

This Morning's Meditation

C. H. Spurgeon

"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us."—Romans 8:37.
WE go to Christ for forgiveness, and then too often look to the law for power to fight our sins. Paul thus rebukes us, "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" Take your sins to Christ's cross, for the old man can only be crucified there: we are crucified with Him. The only weapon to fight sin with is the spear which pierced the side of Jesus. To give an illustration—you want to overcome an angry temper, how do you go to work? It is very possible you have never tried the right way of going to Jesus with it. How did I get salvation? I came to Jesus just as I was, and I trusted Him to save me. I must kill my angry temper in the same way? It is the only way in which I can ever kill it. I must go to the cross with it, and say to Jesus, "Lord, I trust Thee to deliver me from it." This is the only way to give it a death-blow. Are you covetous? Do you feel the world entangle you? You may struggle against this evil so long as you please, but if it be your besetting sin, you will never be delivered from it in any way but by the blood of Jesus. Take it to Christ. Tell Him, "Lord, I have trusted Thee, and Thy name is Jesus, for Thou dost save Thy people from their sins; Lord, this is one of my sins; save me from it!" Ordinances are nothing without Christ as a means of mortification. Your prayers, and your repentances, and your tears—the whole of them put together—are worth nothing apart from Him. "None but Jesus can do helpless sinners good;" or helpless saints either. You must be conquerors through Him who hath loved you, if conquerors at all. Our laurels must grow among His olives in Gethsemane.

Often times I do not want to admit my helpless state. After all, how many years have I been serving the Lord? Shouldn't I have progressed down the sanctification path much further? When I resist acknowledging that I haven't progressed as much as I thought I did, it becomes easy to see my pride. I think the sanctification process begins with cross, and progression in sanctification doesn't lose site of the cross. Perhaps this is the reason why we don't progress in our walk with the Lord because we give in to our weaknesses, jump to conclusions because of our failures instead of looking to the cross where our joy began.

- Davies

Davies:

Good old Spurgeon.

As always, very practical.

Blessings.

 

[Davies]

Talking about Jesus:

"His wisdom is our direction, His knowledge our instruction, His power our protection, His justice our surety, His love our comfort, His mercy our solace, and His immutability our trust. He makes no reserve, but opens the recesses of the Mount of God and bids us dig in its mines for the hidden treasures. "All, all, all are yours," saith He, "be ye satisfied with favour and full of the goodness of the Lord." Oh! how sweet thus to behold Jesus, and to call upon Him with the certain confidence that in seeking the interposition of His love or power, we are but asking for that which He has already faithfully promised." Spurgeon

Now, if I can only realize these things beyond just a surface level understanding, I would think my faith would be become super faith.

- Davies

 

[Aardverk]

When you see a cross driving down the road, what do you think of?

I think of PizzaMan in his Crossfire :biglol




(Please don't take offense Davies, that really is how I read it initially. A cross with wheels on)

 

[Davies]

I think of PizzaMan in his Crossfire :biglol




(Please don't take offense Davies, that really is how I read it initially. A cross with wheels on)

I see Aardverk that you have stopped posting, so, I'll write this just in case you might come back again and find this thread. I remember we had difficulty keeping peace between us, the details I can't remember. I would just confess to you, that life is till difficult. Nothing has changed since the last time I talk to you. I'm still tripping over my feet and falling flat on my face even though the path has been relatively smooth. I try hard to do what's right, but I fail constantly. Someone might tell me, trust in the Lord, and I say, 'Help me Lord to trust You.' Like the man who Jesus asked, 'Do you believe?' The man replied, 'I believe. Lord help my unbelief.' Jesus has the words of life.

I never did reply to tell you no offense was taken.

- Davies

 

[Mitspa]

Good Day,

When you see a cross driving down the road, what do you think of? Do you think of the suffering Jesus, dying, paying for your sins? I liked February 19th’s grace gem because Ryle said, “I believe that holiness is nowhere learned so well as on Calvary.†God can forgive sinners and be tenderly merciful while at the same time maintaining His justice. No one is ‘holier than thou,’ but holiness can be learned if we keep the cross firmly in our eye. We may have great sins, but it only proves we have a great Savior!


Looking firmly at the cross of Christ!

(J.C. Ryle, "The Cross of Christ!")

"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world!" Galatians 6:14

Look at the cross, think of the cross, meditate on the cross--and then go and set your affections on the world if you can!

I believe that holiness is nowhere learned so well as on Calvary.

I believe you cannot look much at the cross--without feeling your will sanctified, and your tastes made more spiritual.

As the sun gazed upon makes everything else look dark and dim--so does the cross darken the false splendor of this world. As the taste of honey makes all other things seem to have no taste at all--so does the cross seen by faith, take all the sweetness out of the pleasures of the world.

Keep on, everyday, looking firmly at the cross of Christ!


-Davies

Great post!
My thoughts, only when the natural life and efforts have died, can that life that comes from the Spirit, be allowed to have its will and bring with it its fruits.
The Cross is the place where we may take that which is natural and let it die also with our Beloved Lord.
Its a place of trust. we let go of earthly things at the Cross, so that we may be hungry for things of heaven.

I doubt any man, unless it be Paul, has seen its true power?

 

[Aardverk]

I see Aardverk that you have stopped posting, so, I'll write this just in case you might come back again and find this thread. I remember we had difficulty keeping peace between us, the details I can't remember. I would just confess to you, that life is till difficult. Nothing has changed since the last time I talk to you. I'm still tripping over my feet and falling flat on my face even though the path has been relatively smooth. I try hard to do what's right, but I fail constantly. Someone might tell me, trust in the Lord, and I say, 'Help me Lord to trust You.' Like the man who Jesus asked, 'Do you believe?' The man replied, 'I believe. Lord help my unbelief.' Jesus has the words of life.

I never did reply to tell you no offense was taken.

- Davies

Thank you Davies for expressing your concern, I also trip over and fall flat on my face so we are both human.

I tend to argue a case robustly but I hold no grudges and, despite how it may appear sometimes, I try hard to keep an open mind. I would genuinely love to share your faith and beliefs but unfortunately I do not.

Without in any way wishing to point my finger at you or any specific individual, both as a Christian and as a semi-detached Christian (i.e.now) I have always been astounded at the strange things some people believe and at the complete ignorance that some show. Rightly or wrongly, I find it difficult to keep quiet when I see others suffering because of that. I hope that explains a little of my motivation.

 

[Yah1]

I think of his mercy, love and meekness. Mostly his mercy. Thank the Lord.

 

[Davies]

I think of his mercy, love and meekness. Mostly his mercy. Thank the Lord.

Hi Yah1,

I often find that after coming to faith in Jesus that it is easier to believe in a holy God who doesn't allow any sin to go unpunished because the fear of wrath has been removed. An area of concern is after we come to faith, some people(I'm not talking about you), don't think they ever deserved to be punished for their sin despite knowing that that Jesus died on the cross in their place. God is not merciful outside of the boundaries of justice. God is good.

-Davies

 

[Yah1]

Hi Yah1,

I often find that after coming to faith in Jesus that it is easier to believe in a holy God who doesn't allow any sin to go unpunished because the fear of wrath has been removed. An area of concern is after we come to faith, some people(I'm not talking about you), don't think they ever deserved to be punished for their sin despite knowing that that Jesus died on the cross in their place. God is not merciful outside of the boundaries of justice. God is good.

Hey Davies, what's new. Hey, good points you made here. The one thing we have to understand is when God convicts you he teaches you and strengthens your walk with him. I rather be convicted NOW so i can grow more holy in HIM. We should be PRAYING that he comes to us and convicts us. Don't be scared to be convicted in the spirit. His yoke is easy, merciful, good, meek and gentle and perfect..so don't ever be scared of him. That's the last thing he wants. There should be a yearning in our hearts to seek after him. He's teaching you how to walk in holiness. Finding excuses to sin is basically the same has if you we're never saved at all. If people don't think sin isn't affecting you in your faith walk then, that's a lie. Even if you're saved and you don't repent it WILL catch up to you. When you do sin, come back to him and pray over your mistakes. We're all human, and it's ok to make mistakes. That's how we learn, would you rather pray over your weaknesses or keep making excuses. When someone comes to faith and understands what God's traits really are, we become more sensitive to the cross..or at least we should.

 

[Davies]

Hey Davies, what's new. Hey, good points you made here. The one thing we have to understand is when God convicts you he teaches you and strengthens your walk with him. I rather be convicted NOW so i can grow more holy in HIM. We should be PRAYING that he comes to us and convicts us. Don't be scared to be convicted in the spirit. His yoke is easy, merciful, good, meek and gentle and perfect..so don't ever be scared of him. That's the last thing he wants. There should be a yearning in our hearts to seek after him. He's teaching you how to walk in holiness. Finding excuses to sin is basically the same has if you we're never saved at all. If people don't think sin isn't affecting you in your faith walk then, that's a lie. Even if you're saved and you don't repent it WILL catch up to you. When you do sin, come back to him and pray over your mistakes. We're all human, and it's ok to make mistakes. That's how we learn, would you rather pray over your weaknesses or keep making excuses. When someone comes to faith and understands what God's traits really are, we become more sensitive to the cross..or at least we should.

Hi Yah1,

Your post reminded me of a Roger Miller song. I don't know if you know who he is; he was a country music star from Texas back when country music was country music. The song Husbands and Wives sings, "It’s my belief pride is the chief cause in the decline of the number of husbands and wives." The reason why I think people won't look at the cross is because of pride. Who wants to be told they are wrong, and a life time of it to boot. I know when I'm wrong, but sometimes I still struggle with confession. But when I come back to the cross, and feel my sin and see that God loves me, pride falls to the way side, and I can say I'm sorry. It's all by God's grace.

Zechariah 4:6

New King James Version (NKJV)

<sup class="versenum">6 </sup>So he answered and said to me:
“This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel:
‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’
Says the Lord of hosts.


Thank you for your encouraging words. It gives one a lot to pray about.


- Davies

 

[Yah1]

The reason why I think people won't look at the cross is because of pride. Who wants to be told they are wrong, and a life time of it to boot. I know when I'm wrong, but sometimes I still struggle with confession. But when I come back to the cross, and feel my sin and see that God loves me, pride falls to the way side, and I can say I'm sorry. It's all by God's grace.

Zechariah 4:6

New King James Version (NKJV)

<sup class="versenum">6 </sup>So he answered and said to me:
“This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel:
‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’
Says the Lord of hosts.

It is pride, you're right. 'FEEL MY SIN' WOW i really like that. When you're AWARE of your sin, it makes it that much easier to repent. Roger Miller, never heard. He sounds pretty wise though. ;)