Tag: Gospel

Christmas Collection

On By BrianIn Holidays, PASSION Collections

Here are some good posts for Christmas:

God’s Passion for God at Christmas – John Piper (Crossway)

Even as a Secular Holiday, Christmas Makes the Gospel Accessible – Tim Keller (TGC)

How to Love Hard People at Christmas – David Mathis (DG)

An Open Letter to the Depressed Christian at Christmas – David Murray (Crossway)

Christmas for the Weary– Sam Allberry (TGC)

Far as the Curse Is Found  Nancy Guthrie (DG)

Hope you have a merry Christmas!

Consider His Victory

On By BrianIn Book of Isaiah

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
– Isaiah 53:10-12

Consider Jesus Our Savior. Consider his victory. Jesus rose victoriously. It is not stated in so many words in these verses, but is everywhere implied. After he has made an offering for guilt (by dying), he yet will see his offspring, his days will be prolonged, and the will of God will prosper in his hands (v10). Again, he will see and be satisfied (v11). And then he will receive the victor’s prize in v12. All of these things require his resurrection in order to happen in any realistic meaningful way.

And yet his victory is not simply found in his resurrection, but in what he accomplished through his death and resurrection:

  • By making an offering for guilt, he brings about an offspring (v10), a people for God who have had their sins paid for so that they might have a relationship with God.
  • By his perfectly righteous life, death, and resurrection, he makes God’s people to be accounted righteous (v11), so that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
  • He intercedes on our behalf (v12), through his payment of sin on the cross, and now in heaven, so that no accusation of the devil against us can stand.
  • Finally, he conquered death and lives forevermore (v10), that in Christ we too might have the sure hope of our own resurrection someday through him.

Consider Jesus our Savior. Consider his victory in his resurrection and for our salvation.

Father, thank you for the good news of the resurrection of Jesus.
May we live in gratitude and hope as we ponder the many saving benefits
of your salvation purchased for us.

Sermon Songs: Isaiah 13-24

On By BrianIn Isaiah Hymns

Our God reigns and punishes sin
Rejoice – just is the Lord
Repent, receive his salvation
Proclaim his love outpoured

We deserve judgment for our sins
Instead mercy and grace
His justice and compassion wins
For Jesus took our place

– From a sermon on Isaiah 13-24
(To the tune of “O God Our Help In Ages Past”)

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

In Evil Long I Took Delight – John Newton (via Trevin Wax)
In evil long I took delight, Unawed by shame or fear,
Till a new object struck my sight, And stopped my wild career.
I saw One hanging on a tree, In agonies and blood,
Who fixed His languid eyes on me, As near His cross I stood…

Why Are You Afraid of Humility? – Chrysostom (via Trevin Wax)
Before he humbled himself, only the angels knew him.
After he humbled himself, all human nature knew him.

Free Me From My Need To Exalt Myself – Prayers For Today (via Trevin Wax)
Lord, free me from my need to exalt myself.
Where I am prone to seek things for myself,
help me to seek the best things for You and others…

John Calvin’s 4 Rules of Prayer – Joel Beeke (via Ligonier)
For John Calvin, prayer cannot be accomplished without discipline. He writes, “Unless we fix certain hours in the day for prayer, it easily slips from our memory.” He goes on to prescribe several rules to guide believers in offering effectual, fervent prayer…

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day humbly worshiping our great Savior!

Preach the Gospel to Yourself

On By BrianIn Miscellaneous1 Comment

How can we grow up in Jesus?  Part of the answer is that we need to preach the gospel to ourselves.  We need to constantly remind ourselves of what God has done for us, of the many blessings of salvation that should change the way we live.  In Romans 12:1 we read, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God….”  These words mark a huge transition in the book.  Everything before these words deals with God’s mercy in giving us a great salvation.  Everything after these words deals with how we should live in response.  It is because of the gospel that we should now live differently.  And so we need to preach the gospel to ourselves.  Let me take just two elements of the gospel to illustrate this point.

Remember the cross so you don’t want to sin.  Part of the God’s mercy is that he became a man and took the judgment we deserved for our sins upon himself on the cross.  Consider all that our Savior endured because of our sins.  The whipping.  The beatings.  The mockings.  The crown of thorns pressed into his head.  The nails piercing his hands and feet.  The agony hanging on the cross.  As we consider what he endured to pay for our sin, how could we have any desire to sin?  When the temptation to sin looks so alluring, place the picture of Jesus hanging on the cross next to the temptation, and the temptation will lose much of its tempting power.  As we consider the cross, it motivates us to live for him.  We remember the cross so we don’t want to sin.

Consider your new life that means you don’t have to sin.  In Romans 6, Paul talks about the reality that we have died to sin and been raised to a new life in Christ.  We are no longer slaves to sin.  And so he tells us in verse 11 to “consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”  He has already established that we have a new life.  In verse 11 he wants us to consider this reality.  To think about it.  To remember it.  He wants us to preach the gospel to ourselves.  We have a new life.  God has enabled us to say no to sin.  We don’t have to sin anymore.  Too often we hear people say (and we might say ourselves) after sinning, “Well, I just couldn’t help it.”  But if we are true Christians, we have been given a new life.  We can help it.  In the face of temptation, remind yourself that you are no longer a slave to sin, and you don’t want to act like a slave anymore.  You can say no.  We consider our new life to remind us that we don’t have to sin.

Remember the cross so you don’t want to sin.  Consider your new life that means you don’t have to sin.  Preach the gospel to yourself.

Passion Points

On By BrianIn Idolatry, PASSION Points1 Comment

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

Christ Is All – Charles Spurgeon (via Trevin Wax)
This is our soul’s grandest desire, that Jesus’ name be lifted high,
and His throne be set up among the people, to the praise of the glory of His grace.

The Gospel of the Holy Spirit – Trevin Wax
Too many evangelicals see the good news that we are saved from sin and from God’s wrath and stop there. We forget that we are saved for a relationship with God (to know Him and love Him) and for His mission (His redeeming work to seek and save the lost). And it’s the Holy Spirit that enables that relationship and empowers us for mission.

What Sanctification Is and Is Not – J. C. Ryle (via Tim Challies)
An inward spiritual work which the Lord Jesus Christ works in a man by the Holy Ghost, when He calls him to be a true believer.

The Church and Idolatry – Jared Wilson (via Ligonier Ministries)
On Sundays, our sanctuaries fill with people seeking worship, and not one person comes in set to neutral. We must take great care, then, not to assume that even in our religious environments, where we put the Scriptures under so many noses, that it is Jesus the exalted Christ who is being worshiped.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day truly worshipping our great God!

Passion Points

On By BrianIn Idolatry, PASSION Points

Here are some good reads for your weekend:

Gospel

Mark Altrogge ponders the suffering of our Savior.  Meanwhile, here is another post refuting the idea that we are worth dying for.  (See my post from earlier this week here.)

Idolatry

Here is a helpful interaction with Johan Herman Bavinck’s thoughts on three common idols – money, honor, and pleasure.

Family

Matthew Barrett gives us an interesting look at Martin Luther’s marriage to Katherine Von Bora as he brings out the idea that marriage is a context for growth in character.

Church

Finally, R.W. Glenn shares nine things you should pray for your pastor.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day worshipping the Lord with your church family!