Loved to Perfection

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Faith's Check Book, Daily Entry

C. H. Spurgeon

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December 30

Loved to Perfection

Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. (John 13:1)

This fact is essentially a promise; for what our Lord was He is, and what He was to those with whom He lived on earth, He will be to all His beloved so long as the moon endureth.

"Having loved": here was the wonder! That He should ever have loved men at all is the marvel. What was there in His poor disciples that He should love them? What is there in me?

But when He has once begun to love, it is His nature to continue to do so. Love made the saints "his own"—what a choice title! He purchased them with blood, and they became His treasure. Being His own, He will not lose them. Being His beloved, He will not cease to love them. My soul, He will not cease to love thee!

The text is well as it stands: "to the end." Even till His death the ruling passion of love to His own reigned in His sacred bosom. It means also to the uttermost. He could not love them more: He gave Himself for them. Some read it, to perfection. Truly He lavished upon them a perfect love, in which there was no flaw nor failure, no unwisdom, no unfaithfulness.

Such is the love of Jesus to each one of His people. Let us sing to our Well-beloved a song.

Morning and Evening

Charles H. Spurgeon
December 30, 2010

Morning Reading

Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.

—Ecclesiastes 7:8

Look at David's Lord and Master; see His beginning. He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Would you see the end? He sits at His Father's right hand, expecting until His enemies be made his footstool. "As He is, so are we also in this world." You must bear the cross, or you shall never wear the crown; you must wade through the mire, or you shall never walk the golden pavement. Cheer up, then, poor Christian. "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof." See that creeping worm, how contemptible its appearance! It is the beginning of a thing. Mark that insect with gorgeous wings, playing in the sunbeams, sipping at the flower bells, full of happiness and life; that is the end thereof. That caterpillar is yourself, until you are wrapped up in the chrysalis of death; but when Christ shall appear you shall be like Him, for you shall see Him as He is. Be content to be like Him, a worm and no man, that like Him you may be satisfied when you wake up in His likeness. That rough-looking diamond is put upon the wheel of the lapidary. He cuts it on all sides. It loses much—much that seemed costly to itself. The king is crowned; the diadem is put upon the monarch's head with trumpet's joyful sound. A glittering ray flashes from that coronet, and it beams from that very diamond which was just now so sorely vexed by the lapidary.. You may venture to compare yourself to such a diamond, for you are one of God's people; and this is the time of the cutting process. Let faith and patience have their perfect work, for in the day when the crown shall be set upon the head of the King, Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, one ray of glory shall stream from you. "They shall be Mine," saith the Lord, "in the day when I make up My jewels." "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof."

Evening Reading

Knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end?

—2 Samuel 2:26

If, O my reader! thou art merely a professor, and not a possessor of the faith that is in Christ Jesus, the following lines are a true ketch of thine end.

You are a respectable attendant at a place of worship; you go because others go, not because your heart is right with God. This is your beginning. I will suppose that for the next twenty or thirty years you will be spared to go on as you do now, professing religion by an outward attendance upon the means of grace, but having no heart in the matter. Tread softly, for I must show you the deathbed of such a one as yourself. Let us gaze upon him gently. A clammy sweat is on his brow, and he wakes up crying, "O God, it is hard to die. Did you send for my minister?" "Yes, he is coming." The minister comes. "Sir, I fear that I am dying!" "Have you any hope?" "I cannot say that I have. I fear to stand before my God; oh! pray for me." The prayer is offered for him with sincere earnestness, and the way of salvation is for the ten-thousandth time put before him, but before he has grasped the rope, I see him sink. I may put my finger upon those cold eyelids, for they will never see anything here again. But where is the man, and where are the man's true eyes? It is written, "In hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment." Ah! why did he not lift up his eyes before? Because he was so accustomed to hear the gospel that his soul slept under it. Alas! if you should lift up your eyes there, how bitter will be your wailings. Let the Saviour's own words reveal the woe: "Father Abraham, send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame." There is a frightful meaning in those words. May you never have to spell it out by the red light of Jehovah's wrath!

More on Walking with Jesus the Way We Received Him

Day By Day By Grace
Bob Hoekstra
December 30, 2010

As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. (Colossians 2:6-7)

The manner in which we received the Lord is the very same manner in which we are to walk in Him. "As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him." We received Him by grace, we must walk by grace. We were born again by the Spirit, we must walk by the Spirit. Furthermore, when we first received Christ, He was our only hope. Now, we are to walk with Him the same way.

It is good to recall how Jesus was the focus at the beginning of our walk with Him. When we received Him and His forgiveness, we knew He had to provide all that was needed for our salvation. We agreed with the word of God that there was no other hope than Jesus. "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me'… Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (John 14:6 and Acts 4:12). We knew that we could supply nothing ourselves. We were spiritually dead, having no righteousness at all: "dead in trespasses and sins…all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags" (Ephesians 2:1 and Isaiah 64:6). We had entered the blessed condition of being convicted of our own spiritual bankruptcy. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3). Jesus was our comprehensive focus, our only hope.

This is how we are to walk in Him today. We need the Lord Jesus as much now for living the Christian life as we needed Him at the beginning to be born again into it. For growth and victory and fruitfulness, He is the one upon whom we must focus. "As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving." We need to be rooted in Him, reaching out by faith to Him for nutrition and strength, even as the roots of a tree reach into the soil. We need to be built up in Him, having our lives developed by His work in us. We need to be established in the faith, allowing Him to stabilize us through the study of His word. This will lead us to overflowing appreciation and gratitude that "Christ is all and in all" (Colossians 3:11). Truly, we need the Lord Jesus as much now for living the Christian life as we needed Him at the beginning to be born again into it.

Lord Jesus, my all in all, You were my only hope for beginning a new life with You. Today, You are my only hope for growing in this life with You. Please remind me that my need for You never diminishes. It is constant and comprehensive. Thank You for always being available!

Neither shall any [man] pluck them out of my hand

Daily Promises
Blue Letter Bible
December 30, 2010

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any [man] pluck them out of my hand. (John 10:27-28)

If we are truly believers in Christ, then we will also be followers of Him. Because we believe in and follow Jesus, we will live eternally in heaven with Him. Once we have been saved, no one can take away our salvation!

Romans 11:29-32

A Study of The Book of Romans

Lesson 84 Chapter 11:29 – 32

By Pastor Randy Jonhson

1. Verse 29 “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”
1. In verse 28 we learned “As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes...” They became enemies of God because of their sins, God treats them as an enemy because He has basically excluded them from usage.
2. But also in verse 28 we learned “but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes.” But they are still loved of God, because of election.
3. “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” – God is not surprised at Israel; in fact He predestinated it to all come out this way.

a. What is the difference between the Israelites and the Gentiles? Are the Gentiles better at following God will? No! God simply elected to give more grace to the Gentiles to follow His word more.

b. The Israelites will recover and be used again, when God chooses to use them again.

4. The gifts and calling of God is without repentance because God foreknew all His works before the foundation of the world. – If God planned it this way why would he repent of choosing the Israelites or the Gentiles?
5. We function by the gifts and callings of God everyday, and He never desires to repent of it because He chose it this way.
6. Some will refer back to Genesis 6:6 “And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.”

a. God did not change His mind because the word repent here does not mean – a turning around – but rather it means - to sigh, that is, breathe strongly – It angered God even though He knew the world would act this way.

b. Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”

2. Verse 30 “For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:”
1. This is to the Gentiles, before grace came we did not trust God, obey God, or even want God. But not that the gifts and calling has come that has all changed.

a. Ephesians 2:2 “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:”

b. Acts 14:16 “Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.”

2. “…yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:” Mercy, love, and grace are the only reason we as Gentiles changed and repented.
3. We as Gentile believers never need to forget who we were and where we come from by Gods mercy.
2. Verse 31 “Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.”

1. “Even so have these also now not believed…” – The Jews are where we were, in the state of disobedience and unbelief.
2. They (the Jews) showed no mercy for the Gentiles, but God did, and therefore we as Christian believers show mercy to the world.

a. We show mercy because God showed us mercy.

b. God commanded that we preach the Gospel (1.) to the entire world, and (2.) to every creature – that is to every human being, even to the Jews. Mark 16:15 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”

3. “…that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.” - not through the mercy we have to share but by the mercy of God shown to us. – We are actually attempting (by preaching the gospel to the world) to share Gods mercy and we exclude no single person, not even the Israelites who crucified Christ.
3. Verse 32 “For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.”

1. The words “God hath concluded” means - to shut together, that is, include – The meaning here is that God has put both Jews and Gentiles are the very same, unbelieving and disobedient, we are all the same and in need of the same Saviour and salvation, grace, mercy, and love.
2. “…that he might have mercy upon all.” Not all the world but all the elect of the world. This word “all” is like the word “world” in John 3:16 neither include every single person in the world but all the different nations of the world.
3. God has not respect of person that He will choose one nation over another nor condemn a nation simply because they are different; God chose the Israelites in the Old Testament and the Gentiles in the New Testament, which includes the world.
4. Galatians 3:22 “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.” – Not to every single person of the world but rather to them that will believe.
5. Both Jews and Gentiles have acted the same way toward God, both are under sin, both need mercy and Jesus Christ, and both will get them.
6. Both also have an elected remnant that God has chosen to save, and both are loved of God.