Author: arevans

Begone, unbelief;
my Savior is near,
and for my relief
will surely appear;
by prayer let me wrestle,
and he will perform;
with Christ in the vessel,
I smile at the storm.

Though dark be my way,
since he is my guide,
’tis mine to obey,
’tis his to provide;
though cisterns be broken
and creatures all fail,
the word he has spoken
shall surely prevail.

His love in time past
forbids me to think
he’ll leave me at last
in trouble to sink;
while each Ebenezer
I have in review
confirms his good pleasure
to help me quite through.

Why should I complain
of want or distress,
temptation or pain?
He told me no less;
the heirs of salvation,
I know from his word,
through much tribulation
must follow their Lord.

How bitter that cup,
no heart can conceive,
which he drank right up
that sinners might live;
his way was much rougher
and darker than mine;
did Jesus thus suffer,
and shall I repine?

Since all that I meet
shall work for my good,
the bitter is sweet,
the med’cine is food;
though painful at present,
’twill cease before long;
and then, O how pleasant
the conqueror’s song!

John Newton

“He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets.”  Matthew 12:19

This little verse speaks volumes – to me at least.  The Lord God, the Almighty, has a rather quiet disposition.  Gentle.  All-powerful, to be sure.  Yet gentle, even humble.

“Oh come, let us sing to the LORD.  Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.”  Psalm 95:1

Oh, come!  These two words seem to capture the spirit of the gospel invitation.  They are found throughout Scripture. 

“Come, let us reason together.”  Isaiah 1:18
“Come, all you who are weary and hevay laden.”  Matthew 11:28
“Whosoever will, may come”.  Luke 9:24

They are spoken without condition.   It is not, “Come all you of noble status”, or “Come all you with financial means”.  It is just – come.  Come.  Oh come!

“He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.”  John 1:10

How is that?

“He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”  Romans 4:25

For our sins.  For our justification.  For us.

“Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.”  Matthew 6:13

Forever.  And Today.

‘Why are you crying out to me?  Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch …”  Exodus 14:15

This is how I feel today.  Sometimes I feel like praying isn’t enough.

 

“He is… the God who gives life to the dead.”  Romans 4:17

We are lifeless without God.  There is no hope of life everlasting without Him.  He is life itself.  What else did the apostle mean when he said, ‘For me to live is Christ’?

“But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.  This righteousness from God comes through fatih in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”  Romans 3:21, 22

Romans is full of verses that sum up the essence of the gospel.  This is certainly one of them.  Read it again, slowy.

“God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement… he did this to demonstrate his justice.”  Romans 3:25

We usually associate the sacrifice of Christ on the cross with God’s love.  “For God so loved the world…”  But here the apostle Paul clearly says that there was something else involved – God’s justice.  God’s love and mercy, his holiness and justice, are met at the cross.  That is the gospel.