Jared Wilson on Gospel Wakefulness
26. Apr, 2012 
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On the Confession of Sin – Octavius Winslow
12. Apr, 2012 0 Comments
‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ – 1 John 1:9.
Deal much and closely with the fullness of grace that is in Jesus. All this grace in Christ is for the sanctification of the believer. “It pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell,” for the necessities of His people; and what necessities so great and urgent as those which spring from indwelling sin? Take the corruption, whatever be its nature, directly and simply to Jesus: the very act of taking it to Him weakens its power; yes, it is half the victory. The blessed state of mind, the holy impulse that leads you to your closet, there to fall prostrate before the Lord in lowliness of spirit and brokenness of heart—the humble confession of sin, with the hand of faith on the head of Jesus, the atoning sacrifice—is a mighty achievement of the indwelling Spirit over the power of indwelling sin.
Learn to take the guilt as it comes, and the corruption as it rises, directly and simply to Jesus. Suffer not the guilt of sin to remain long upon the conscience. The moment there is the slightest consciousness of a wound received, take it to the blood of Christ. The moment a mist dims the eye of faith, so that you can not see clearly the smile of your Father’s countenance, take it that instant to the blood of atonement. Let there be no distance between God and your soul. Sin separates. But sin immediately confessed, mourned over, and forsaken, brings God and the soul together in sweet, close, and holy fellowship. Oh the oneness of God and the believer, in a sin-pardoning Christ! Who can know it?—He only who has experienced it. To cherish, then, the abiding sense of this holy, loving oneness, the believer must live near the fountain. He must wash daily in the brazen laver that is without; then, entering within the veil, he may “draw near” the mercy-seat, and ask what he will of Him that dwells between the
cherubims.
Thank God for the smallest victory gained. Praise Him for any evidence that sin has not entire dominion. Every fresh triumph achieved over some strong and easy-besetting infirmity is a glorious battle won. No victory that ever flushed the cheek of an Alexander or a Caesar may once be compared with his, who, in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, overcomes a single corruption. If “he that rules his spirit is better than he that takes a city,” then, he who masters one corruption of his nature has more real glory than the greatest earthly conqueror that ever lived. Oh, how God is glorified—how Jesus is honored—how the Spirit is magnified, in the slaying of one spiritual enemy at the foot of the cross! Cheer up, precious soul! You have every encouragement to persevere in the great business of sanctification. True, it is a hard fight—true, it is a severe and painful contest—but the victory is yours! The “Captain of your salvation” has fought and conquered for you, and now sits upon His throne of glory, cheering you on, and supplying you with all needed strength for the warfare in which you are engaged. Then, “Fight the good fight of faith, be men of courage,”—”be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus,”—for you shall at length “overcome through the blood of the Lamb,” and be “more than conquerors [triumphant] through Him that has loved us.” Here, beneath the cross, would I breathe for you the desire and the prayer once offered by the apostle of the Gentiles, in behalf of the church of the Thessalonians: “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus. Christ.” Amen and amen.
Surely There is Forgiveness With God
06. Apr, 2012 0 Comments
John Flavel
“Is Christ dead? and did he die the violent, painful, shameful, cursed, slow, and lonely death of the cross? Then surely there is forgiveness with God, plenteous redemption for the greatest of sinners, who by faith apply the blood of the cross to their poor guilty souls.
There is sufficient power in the blood of the cross to wash away the greatest sins. Before the efficacy of this blood, guilt vanishes and shrinks away as the shadow before the glorious sun. Every drop of it has a voice, and speaks to the soul that sits trembling under its guilt better things than the blood of Abel (Heb. 10:24). For having enough in it to satisfy God, it must needs have enough in it to satisfy conscience.
Can God exact satisfaction from the blood and death of his own Son, the surety of believers, and yet still demand it from believers? It cannot be.”
— John Flavel
The Fountain of Life
He is Risen!
04. Apr, 2012 0 Comments
One of my favorite authors, Michael Horton of the White Horse Inn sent out the following today. Just want to pass on the good word and helpful resources to all of you. Enjoy!
Christianity is unique among all the world religions in our dependence upon history. In the Apostles’ Creed, we confess that Jesus “suffered under Pontius Pilate” and in the Nicene Creed, we confess that Jesus was “crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.” How did a second rate governor of a backwater district of the Roman Empire make it into two of the foundational Creeds of Christianity? Simply because we believe that Jesus lived, died, and was raised in real time and space. History matters to the central tenets of our faith.
As Easter approaches, the historicity of Christianity will come under assault in television specials, magazine cover stories, and perhaps even in casual conversations with your family and friends. I hope that White Horse Inn can be a resource to you in times like these so that you can “know–and share–what you believe and why you believe it.”
Here are several resources for you to read, listen to, and use in the coming days:
- We recently concluded an important series that is available for streaming from our website: The Messiah. This four-part series unpacks the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ: why did the Second Person of the Trinity need to become Incarnate man and “suffer for us under Pontius Pilate”?
- Last year, I wrote up a brief list of the facts that help prove that Jesus of Nazareth not only lived and died, but also rose again.
- The March/April issue of Modern Reformation takes up the tragic stories of individuals leaving evangelicalism for Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, or even atheism and agnosticism. This issue is filled with insights into why people are leaving our churches and how to talk with people who may seem hostile to the truth claims of Christianity.
I hope that these resources are helpful to you. Please feel free to pass them along to other friends and colleagues who may be looking for resources to help them “know what they believe and why they believe it.” You can help bring about a modern reformation just by sharing the information that has been helpful to you!
All the staff and the usual Cast of Characters from the White Horse Inn join me in wishing you and your family a joyous Lord’s Day this Sunday as we celebrate Easter.
The Lord is Risen!
Michael Horton
“Know what you believe and why you believe it.”
The Work is Finished (Martyn Lloyd-Jones on John 17)
29. Mar, 2012 0 Comments
I’m enjoying reading The Assurance of Our Salvation (Studies in John 17): Exploring the Depth of Jesus’ Prayer for His Own by Martyn Lloyd-Jones. I’ll include a few quotes as I go. Great gospel preaching here:
I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. - (John 17:4 ESV)
” ‘I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do,’ he says, and as we go on from that we see that he has done certain things for us which none other could ever do for us and which we can never do for ourselves. He has been telling his disciples about it in the earlier chapters, and here he sums it up. What he has done for us is that he has satisfied the law and all its demands. It is amazing to me how people can look at and preach about Christ, his life and death and never mention the law. But unless the law of God is satisfied, there is no salvation. The law is opposed to us; it stands there and demands a perfect, absolute obedience and it threatens us with death if we fail in any one respect. If Christ has not fulfilled the law, we are yet in our sins, we are undone, we are damned and we are lost; but he has finished the work, the books have been cleared, the law has been satisfied, there is therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.
Do you know that? Are you rejoicing in it?
Are you ready to take your stand with Toplady and say:
The terrors of law and of God
With me can have nothing to do,
My Saviour’s obedience and blood
Hide all my transgressions from view.
What a wonderful thing it is that here, just before he actually goes to the cross, he anticipates it all. He knows what he is going to do, and there is no uncertainty about it. He says, ‘I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.’ It is already done, it is complete. We preach, therefore, a completed salvation. There is nothing left for us to do but to receive it; there is nothing that we must add to it; there is no good work or any merit that we must provide: it is all in Christ and in Christ alone.”
Jeff Ling
“If you find me short in things, impute that to my love of brevity. If you find me besides the truth in anything, impute that to my infirmity. But if you find anything here that serves to your furtherance and joy of the faith, impute that to the mercy of God bestowed on you and me. Yours to serve you with what little I have.”
- John Bunyan (Works, 1:336)
