Tag Archives: Forgiven
If you meet that poor wretch who thrust his spear into My side!
June 1, 2018 
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If you meet that poor wretch who thrust his spear into My side!
(Benjamin Grosvenor, “The Temper of Jesus Christ towards His Enemies, and His Grace to the Chief of Sinners”)
“Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Luke 24:47
It is very affecting that the first offers of grace should be made to those who, of all people in the world—had done it the most harm! One would rather have expected the apostles should have received another kind of charge, and that Christ should have said, “Let repentance and forgiveness of sins be preached—but do NOT carry it to Jerusalem, that wicked city, that has been the slaughter-house of my prophets, whom I have often sent. Last of all, I myself, the Son, came—and with wicked hands, they have crucified and murdered Me! They may do the same to you! Do not let the gospel enter those wicked gates, through which they led Me, its Author, to crucifixion!”
But Christ singles out exactly these—to make monuments of His mercy, and commands the first offer of eternal life to be made to them! As if our Lord had said: “Lest the poor house of Israel should think themselves abandoned to eternal despair—as cruel and vile as they have been—go, make the first offer of grace to them! Let those who spilled My blood—be welcome to its healing virtue. Tell them that there is repentance and forgiveness, even for them!”
“Nay, if you meet that poor wretch who thrust his spear into My side, tell him that there is another way, a better way of coming to My heart—even My heart’s love! Tell him, that if he will repent, and look upon Me whom he has pierced, and will mourn—then I will cherish him in that very bosom which he has wounded! Tell him that he shall find the blood which he has shed—to be an ample atonement for the sin of shedding it! And tell him from Me, that he will put Me to more pain and displeasure by refusing this offer of My blood—than when he first drew it forth!”
“For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance!” Matthew 9:13
SIN
May 22, 2018 1 Comment
SIN
The following is from Spurgeon’s sermon,
“The Smoke of Their Torments”
No. 602. Genesis 19:27, 28.
See the blackness of your sin by the light of hell’s fire!
Hell is the true harvest of the sowing of iniquity.
Come, lost sinner, I charge you to look at hell–
Hell is what sin brings forth.
Hell is the full-grown child.
You have dandled your sin.
You have kissed and fondled it.
But see what sin comes to.
Hell is but sin full-grown, that is all.
You played with that young lion; see how it roars and how
it tears in pieces now that it has come to its strength.
Did you not smile at the azure scales of the serpent?
See its poison; see to what its stings have brought those
who have never looked to the brazen serpent for healing.
Do you account of sin as a peccadillo, a flaw
scarcely to be noticed, a mere joke, a piece of fun?
But see the tree which springs from it.
There is no joke there- no fun in hell.
You did not know that sin was so evil.
Some of you will never know how evil it is until the
sweetness of honey has passed from your mouth,
and the bitterness of death preys at your vitals.
You will count sin harmless until you
are hopelessly stricken with its sting!
My God, from this day forward help me to see through the
thin curtain which covers up sin, and whenever Satan tells
me that such-and-such a thing is for my pleasure, let me
recollect the pain of that penalty wrapped up in it. When
he tells me that such a thing is for my profit, let me know
that it can never profit me to gain the whole world and lose
my own soul. Let me feel it is no sport to sin, for only a
madman would scatter firebrands and death, and say it is sport.
Tears Of Repentance
July 3, 2017 0 Comments
Tears Of Repentance
(Charles Spurgeon)
“As she stood behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them!” Luke 7:38
O that our eyes were as ready with tears of repentance as were hers! O that our hearts were as full of love as hers and our hands as ready to serve the forgiving Lord!
If she has exceeded some of us in the heinousness of her sin–yet she has exceeded all of us in the fervency of her affection!
A Bag, a Book, and a Bottle!
October 31, 2016 0 Comments
God takes great care to comfort His people in their many trials and sorrows in this world. One of the goals which He commands His preachers to have, is the comfort of His people. He says, “Comfort, comfort My people.” Here are three things described in the Word of God that should be of great comfort to every believer.
1. God has made A BAG FOR OUR SINS. Job said, “My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and you sew up my iniquity.” In ancient times when men died at sea, their bodies were placed in a weighted bag which was sewn together and sealed. Then they were cast into the depths of the sea.
That is what God has done with our sins. They are cast “into the depths of the sea.” When Christ died for our sins which were imputed to Him, He put them all away. They were buried in the sea of God’s infinite forgiveness, put away never to be brought up again. God almighty will never charge us with sin, impute sin to us, remember our sins against us, or treat us any less graciously because of our sin. That is the forgiveness of God! “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”
2. The Lord has written A BOOK FOR OUR NAMES. Take heart child of God. Your name is written in the book of God! Before the worlds were made, the Lord God inscribed the names of His elect in the Lamb’s book of life. In that book God has recorded, not only the names of the chosen heirs of Heaven, but also all things pertaining to them. The Lamb’s book of life is the book of God’s eternal purpose of grace, predestination, and election. The fact that our names are written in that book means that our salvation is a matter of absolute certainty, and that all things work together for our good by God’s arrangement to secure our predestined end, which is perfect conformity to Christ. When our Lord says, “Rejoice because your names are written in Heaven,” He is telling us that we have nothing to fear. All is well with those whose names are written in Heaven.
3. Moreover, the Lord God keeps A BOTTLE FOR OUR TEARS. “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in Your bottle. You have recorded each one in Your book.” It was customary at ancient Egyptian funerals for mourners to have a small cloth or sponge to wipe away their tears. Then they were squeezed into a small vial, a tear bottle, and placed in the tomb with the dead, symbolizing the care the mourners had for the one who had died. Even so, the Lord our God, our heavenly Father, our almighty Savior, and our holy Comforter tenderly cares for us. We are the very apple of His eye.
The Lord our God has . . .
put our sins in a bag and buried them,
written our names in a book to remember them, and
placed our tears in a bottle to show His tender care for us.
Could anything be more comforting in this world of sin, sorrow, and death?
(Don Fortner)
There is no Life without Death!
September 27, 2016 1 Comment
“So in case someone left it out or forgot to mention it when they explained what it meant to be a Christian, let me be clear: There is no forgiveness without repentance. There is no salvation without surrender. There is no life without death. There is no believing without committing.”
Kyle Idleman, Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
⇧ Music “Once And For All” by Lauren Daigle
May 26, 2015 3 Comments
God I give You all I can today
These scattered ashes that I hid away
I lay them all at Your feet
From the corners of my deepest shame
The empty places where I’ve worn Your name
Show me the love I say I believe
Oh Help me to lay it down
Oh Lord I lay it down
Oh let this be where I die
My lord with thee crucified
Be lifted high as my Kingdom’s fall
Once and for all, once and for all
There is victory in my Saviors loss
And In the crimson flowing from the cross
Pour over me, pour over me yes
Oh let this be where I die
My lord with thee crucified
Be lifted high as my Kingdom’s fall
Once and for all, once and for all
Oh Lord I lay it down
Oh Lord I lay it down
Help me to lay it down
Oh Lord I lay it down
Oh let this be where I die
My Lord with thee crucified
Be lifted high as my Kingdom’s fall
Once and for all.
You Are My King (Amazing Love) by Christy Nockels
April 3, 2015 2 Comments
“You Are My King”
I’m forgiven because you were forsaken.
I’m accepted, You were condemned.
I’m alive and well, your spirit is within me. Because you died and rose again.
I’m forgiven because you were forsaken.
I’m accepted, you were condemned.
I’m alive and well, your spirit is within me. Because you died and rose again
Amazing love, how can it be?
That you, my king. would die for me
Amazing love, I know it’s true
Its my joy to honor you
Amazing love how can it be?
That my king would die for me
Amazing love I know it’s true
Its my joy to honor you
In all I do
I honor you
Lasting Pleasures
March 5, 2014 3 Comments
One of the most lasting pleasures you can experience is the feeling that comes over you when you genuinely forgive an enemy- whether he knows it or not.
O. A. Battista
Salt & Light
February 10, 2014 11 Comments
We come on our own, we come together. We come with our excitement and with our lack of expectation.
We come with our lamps burning brightly and with our lamps hidden.
We come with our longing and with our pride.
We come with our words and with our silence.
We come with our music and with our resentments.
We come to you, God of truth, with our hands open
and ask that you reach out to us afresh.
Lord forgive our hardness of heart
Forgive us for those times when we think we can do it without you
Forgive us for our coldness towards you and others
Melt the ice of our coldness and breathe your new life into us
Generous God,
we thank you that a small amount of salt
can season a whole meal;
a small candle can light a whole room,
a small act of kindness inspire a whole life,
a small community transform a whole city,
a small prayer bring near a whole kingdom.
We thank you, Lord, we thank you.
Please show me the areas of my life which have become flavourless?!
Show me in what ways can I be salt in my world?
We pray, gracious God, for your Church throughout the world, for your Church in this nation, in this place, that we would be light bearers and truth bearers. May we shed the light of encouragement where there is disappointment; the light of integrity where there is corruption; the light of clarity where there is uncertainty; the light of challenge where there is complacency; the light of acceptance where there is rejection. And may we always walk and pray and serve in the light of humility and in the strength of your name, that others may see you in us and give you the glory.
We pray in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
May you be as salt where there is staleness;
light where there is darkness;
truth where there is unbelief
and love where there is great need.
And may you know the blessing of God the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit,
close to you each moment and each day.
Seeking HIS Face
January 20, 2014 7 Comments
2 Chronicles 7:14 King James Version
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
The Bible And The TV Guide
November 23, 2013 15 Comments
On the table side by side,
The Holy Bible and the TV Guide.
One is well worn and cherished with pride,
No, not the Bible, the TV Guide.
One is used daily to help folks decide,
No it isn’t the Bible it’s the TV Guide.
As the pages are turned what shall they see?
Oh, it doesn’t matter, just turn on the TV!
And so they open the book in which they confide,
Not the Bible the TV Guide!
The word of God is seldom read;
Well, maybe a verse e’er they fall into bed.
Exhausted and sleepy and tired as can be,
Not from reading the Bible but watching TV.
So back to the table side by side,
The Holy Bible and the TV Guide.
One is cherished and well worn with pride,
Not the Bible, the TV Guide!
The plan of salvation is seldom heard,
(Nor the love of God, or encouraging words,)
Forgiveness of sin so full and free
Is found in the Bible not on TV!!
I heard Jarrod Cooper (Days of wonder) read this poem on UCB UK
Resentment
November 18, 2013 7 Comments
The word resentment means to re-feel…to feel again. Someone wrongs or wounds you; in resenting it, you re-feel the injury. And you re-hurt yourself. The Hebrew Talmud says that a person who bears a grudge is “Like one who, having cut one hand while handling a knife, avenges himself by stabbing the other hand.”
Norman Vincent Peale
The Bridge Of Forgiveness
July 24, 2013 9 Comments
He who doesn’t forgive another, Breaks down the bridge over which he must cross himself!
iChristian 
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