Hudson + Maria Taylor (possibly the longest blog ever. more quotes. lots of them. all amazing.)

I read another great  book. Another must read. I have so many pages 'dog tailed'...or is it 'dog eared'? All the following quotes or my 'mini- paraphrases' are from the book Hudson and Maria Taylor: A Match Made in Heaven, written by John Pollock.

"Maria...[writing] to her student brother Samuel in London... : 'I met a gentleman and, I cannot say I loved him at once, but I felt interested in him and could not forget him. I saw him from time to time and still this interest continued. I had no good reason to think it was reciprocated, he was very unobtrusive and never made any advances.' She said she was led to take the matter to God at once."

" ' The Lord supplies your need now, and if your need grows greater, so will the supplies.' "

(Background: while Hudson and Maria were both missionaries in China, Hudson was pursuing a relationship with a gal back in England. He wrote many letters to her and her father, requesting her hand in marriage, and permission for moving his desired wife to China. This quote is from a fellow missionary male friend whom consoles Hudson after receiving this rejection): 'I know, dear brother, something of all the experience you speak of (being rejected): the Lord Jesus made such a season to myself the occasion of much personal manifestation of Himself.' "

(So long story short, at this time in their story, Maria is working for and living with, what is essentially, in my words, a Christian convent. The woman, Miss Aldersey is this older man 'in charge' of and 'temporary guardian' to all the young women working and living there. I think Maria is 20 or so...Anywho, so what has to happen is Hudson has to request permission from Miss Aldersey to see/marry Maria, but then Hudson and Maria find out that technically her uncle, living in England, is the one who will have the ultimate say. So, (evilish) Miss Alderdsey writes this letter to Maria's uncle, explaining why Hudson is this terrible guy, but Maria, quick thinking, writes a letter to her uncle from her perspective. Here's an excerpt):

" 'I do not wish to throw myself away, which Miss Aldersey seems to think I should do by marrying Hudson Taylor. Nor would I wish to unite myself to a man such as she thinks Mr. Taylor ought to be. But I desire his character and principles to be sifted.' A closing paragraph breathed unaffected piety: 'Though I sometimes feel that the greatest earthly pleasure that I desire is to be allowed to love the individual whom I have mentioned so prominently in my letter, and to hold the closest and sweetest intercourse with him spiritually as well as temporally that two fellow mortals can hold, I desire that he may not hold the first place in my affections. I desire that Jesus may be to me the chiefest among ten thousand, the altogether lovely.' Both Maria and Hudson had been taking refuge in The Song of Songs."

(In order to be 'approved' to see each other and marry, Hudson and Maria had to receive an interview): "Maria prayed secretly that 'if it was God's will, if it was not wrong, we might have an interview.' She was tempted to concoct and encounter, 'but I preferred that it should be of God's overruling and not of my arranging.'

(Finally Hudson and Maria are allowed to see each other. Before they marry, Hudson receives opposition from others. Since he is uneducated, and simply a missionary, he is pressured to return to England in order to "remove his anomalous position either by taking his diploma as a medical man or receiving ordination." After another respected male friend and missionary told Maria this, she responded): "Maria's answer showed the spirit of a girl: 'I would wait if he went home in order to increase his usefulness. But is he to leave his work in order to gain a name for the sake of marrying me? If he loves me more than Jesus he is not worthy of me - if he were to leave the Lord's  work for the world's honour, I would have nothing further to do with him.' 'She is a noble girl,' was Hudson's comment."

(Hudson becomes very ill. To give greater background, to my understanding, he was kind of and odd ball. Not very attractive and he had a lot of health issues. He would be forced to stay in bed for months at end, where he would meditate on God's character/Word. He was especially drawn to "two Hebrew place-names which the Old Testament not only records but explains: Eben-ezer and Jehovah-jireh. These ancient, queer-sounding names were potent to Taylor. he read in the seventh chapter of the First Book of Samuel that after a great victory given in immediate answer to prayer, Samuel raised a memorial stone 'and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.' Taylor read also in the twenty-second chapter of Genesis that where the Lord had stayed Abraham from sacrificing Isaac and had provided a ram. 'Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh.' "): "If cast down, or anxious Taylor looked at his scrolls. 'My faith...often, often failed, and I was so sorry and ashamed of my failure to trust such a Father. But oh! I was learning to know Him...He became so real and intimate.' "

(There were numerous times when they literally had nothing. No food for themselves, and no funds to assist others. Here's an account from a specific night they were experiencing such lack of physical provision...until...): "On a day in November, the cupboard almost empty, a mail arrived a week early. [Hudson + another missionary, Jones] nearly wept in gratitude, 'as we saw not only our needs supplied, but the widow and orphan, the blind, lame and destitute provide for by the...bounty of Him who feeds the ravens through the liberality of dear Mr. Berger (the man who gave such a generous monetary gift).' " (my thoughts: It all belongs to God. People like Mr. Berger are merely entrusted with such gifts, which makes giving easier, realizing it's not ours to begin with, but instead, a gift entrusted to bring glory to God and further His Kingdom).

(the next paragraph after Mr. Berger's gift...) "A fortnight before the wedding date the money bag dropped to a single coin; and no mail due. After a scrappy breakfast they faced starvation. 'We could only betake ourselves to Him who is a real father, and cannot forget His children's needs...' " (realizing their great need, they sell their clock and portable stove, but still had little to nothing, paying for transportation to sell the objects.) "Famished and disconsolate, [Hudson + Maria] searched their house from top to bottom, unearthed a packet of cocoa and brewed it. They refused an urgent loan from one of their servants, telling him, 'Our Father will not forget us.' 'Though [Jones] spoke with confidence, our faith was not a little tried as we went into his study and...cried indeed unto the Lord in our trouble.' They were yet on their knees when the servant ran in. 'Teacher, Teacher! Here are letters!' Days before schedule an unexpected mail brought another gift from Berger. That night Hudson held Maria's hand specially tight and offered her freedom, 'I cannot hold you to your promise if you would rather draw back. You see how difficult our life may be at times...' 'Have you forgotten?' she replied, 'I was left an orphan in a far-off land. God has been my Father all these years. Do you think I shall be afraid to trust Him now?' "

"...significant was the influence of Maria upon her husband. Her [spiritual] development had been more orderly; she served to steady Hudson's faith while he deepened hers...Maria...was largely responsible for the common sense and balance characteristic of Taylor at the height of his powers...Her passionate nature filled his warm-blooded yearning to love and be loved. She gave him full response, a fostering and feeding affection so that together they had such a reservoir of love that it splashed over to refresh all, Chinese or European, who came near them."

(Apparently Maria had a "squint" and an "incautious relative [who] suggested to Hudson and operation to cure [it]." This is Hudson's response to that relative): " 'I was very indignant! I loved her and I loved it. I loved her just as she was and everything about her. I would not have had it changed on any account. I would not have changed anything she was or did.' "

" 'The church is asleep; and armchairs and sofas and English comforts possess more attractions than perishing souls' "

(Upon another time of sever financial insecurity, with nearly all their money spent, Taylor was faithful in paying his tradesmen and servants...): "on..Sunday, when Taylor gave his normal church collection, 'in faith and as due to God,' he had nothing left but a few pennies...Prolonged embarrassments puzzled Taylor until it occurred to him that if God promises to meet all needs, 'the trial of faith is one of the needs which He ministers to and supplies.' "

(While looking at the large wall-map of China, that dominated his study...): "He viewed an Empire, 'it's vast extent, its teeming population, its spiritual destitution and overwhelming need' - four hundred million, as the population was then estimated in the West, and all but a few thousand ignorant of the name of Christ. Inland China weighed on him. The weight bore more heavily as 1863 turned to 1864, 'and prayer was often the only resource by which [my] burdened heart could gain any relief.' "

(This is a quote from Anne, another missionary woman, whose fiance, Crombie was asked to join the mission to reach inland China. Originally planning to wait until they were married, and make the journey to the inland, Crombie is requested to leave earlier, leaving his family and fiance behind. This is Anne's response to Crombie on the issue): " 'Go, George, and let the world see that you love the Lord Jesus more than me.' He was in Plymouth next evening...Unexpectedly, Anne was able to follow him out a fortnight later."

"If China had to wait for college graduates qualified to found, equip and develop full-scale stations, a century might pass before the more remote provinces so much as heard the name of Christ."

(In regards to financial support and Matthew 6:33 Seek ye first the Kingdom of God; and all these things should be added unto you.): " ' God is sufficient for God's work,' the leader of more than six hundred missionaries then active in China said: 'God chose me because I was weak enough. God does not use His great works by large committees. He trains somebody to be quiet enough, and little enough and then He uses him.' "

" 'A million a month dying in that land, dying without God. This was burned into my very soul. I scarcely slept night or day for more than an hour...These souls, and what eternity must mean for every one of them, and what the Gospel might do, would do, for all who believe, if we would take it to them!' "

(While visiting England, Hudson experienced this while attending church one Sunday): "As the full congregation rose to sing the last hymn, Taylor looked around. Pew upon pew of prosperous, bearded merchants, shopkeepers, visitors; demure wives in bonnets and crinolines, scrubbed children trained to hide their impatience; the atmosphere of smug piety sickened him. He seized his hat and left. 'Unable to bear the sight of a congregation of a thousand or more Christian people rejoicing in their own security, while millions were perishing for lack of knowledge, I wandered out on the sands alone, in great spiritual agony.' "

"To the world [Hudson Taylor] was a feeble creature - of weeby physique, without powerful friends, almost a pauper. But he had thrown himself on God, had become an instrument of the Most High. His intelligence, his will-power and sticking power, his charm, his capacity to inspire and foster affection and loyalty, had all been touched by the Divine; he had become greater than the sum of his parts. He had no  idea, in the last days of June 1865, how God planned to give him the men or means to evangelise inland China. But Hudson had not the slightest doubt that He would."

(While apart from Maria for a short time, Hudson experienced this): "His love for her invaded all of him, they were 'one flesh' indeed, each mystically a part of the other's thought, action and Christian service. Away from her he felt raw and aching; he missed her smile of encouragement, her laugh, her instinctive understanding of his feelings. In the 6 am train he scribbled to her in pencil, 'It is not pleasant for me to go to strange places and push myself forward, but the Lord helps me...Bless you,' he ended, 'and our precious little treasures. How I seem to miss their little voices, dear little loving pets. Kiss them for me.' "

(While during the same visit, as described above, Hudson was invited to speak at a Conference in England): "The evening meeting drew to its close. The Convenor arose, scanned his notes to get the name right, and announced that 'Mr. Hudson Taylor of Ningpo, China, will engage in prayer.' Taylor mounted the platform, gripped the rail to stop his hand shaking, closed his eyes on the largest audience he had ever stood before, and opened his lips. A contemporary recorded: 'I was deeply impressed with the simplicity and fervor of his prayer, and felt that he was speaking to a familiar Friend in whom he had perfect confidence and from whom real blessing was confidently expected. Hearts opened to this unknown young man who unconsciously lifted the level of the Conference by a prayer. A General invited him to stay. Many pressed round to question. The following afternoon, nervous as before, he had the great audience in the hallow of his hand.' "

(At the same conference as described above, Taylor told this story of a young Christian who had fallen overboard. Unsuccessful to aid him, Taylor looked over to see a fishing boat that had a fishing net that would be able to hook on to the man who was in desperate, immediate need. This was the dialog): 

"'Come and drag over this spot directly; a man is drowning just here!'"

"'It is not convenient!"

"'Don't talk about convenience! A man is drowning, I tell you!"

"'We are busy fishing, and cannot come."

"'Never mind your fishing," [Taylor] said, "I will give you more money than a full day's fishing will bring, only come - come at once!"

"'How much money will you give us?"

"'We cannot stay to discuss that now! Come, or it will be too late. I will give you five dollars" (then worth about thirty shillings in English money).

"'We won't do it for that," replied the men. "Give us twenty dollars and we will drag."

"'I do not possess so much; do come quickly, and I will give you all I have!"

"'How much may that be?"

"'I don't know exactly, about fourteen dollars."

'At last, but even then slowly enough, the boat was paddled over and the net let down. Less than a minute sufficed to bring up the body of the missing man. The fisherman were clamorous and indignant because their exhorbitant demand was delayed while efforts at resuscitation were being made. But all was in vain. Life was extinct.'

Taylor paused. He could sense hot indignation sweep the Scots at such callous indifference. Quietly he continued, 'Is the body, then, of so much more value than the soul? We condemn those heathen fishermen. We say they were guilty of the man's death - because they could easily have saved him, and did not do it. But what of the millions whom we leave to perish, and that eternally? What of the plain command, 'Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature'?"

(Same conference again...) "Taylor passed to the story of the ex-Buddhist merchant, and educated man, who had been baptised after attending the little church in Ningpo. 'He asked me soon afterwards, 'How long have you known this Good News in your own country?'

"'Hundreds of years.'

"'Hundreds of years! And yet you never came to tell us! My father sought the truth, sought it long, and died without finding it. Oh, why did you not come sooner?'

Taylor began his conclusion. 'Shall we say that the way was not open? At any rate it is open now. Before the next Perth Conference twelve million more, in China, will have passed forever beyond our reach. What are we doing to bring them the tidings beyond our reach. What are we doing to bring them the tidings of Redeeming Love? It is not use singing, waft, waft ye winds, the story.' The winds will never waft the story. But they may waft us..."

(Hudson speaking of the qualifications of people desiring to join the mission in China): "...workers must be satisfied that God had called them individually to labour in China for the good of the Chinese; must go forth to China on their own responsibility; and must look to God for their support and trust to Him to provide it and not lean on me (Taylor). That they must be prepared to labour without any guaranteed support from man, being satisfied that the promise of Him who has said 'Seek ye first the Kingdom,' etc...Remember this: You are going out to serve the Lord Jesus, not the China Inland Mission. The Mission might fail. Look always off unto Him. He will never fail you."

"Taylor did not rest at describing China's spiritual need and claims. He sought to deepen the spiritual life of the Church 'to such a point as to produce the missionary spirit.' 'What a power the going out of the party was in the Christian world at the time,' recalled a man who followed them next year. ' Many of course said it was madness. Others thought it was a beautiful step of faith.'"

(At the end of a public lecture in England, the Chairman rose to announce that a collection would take place in order to raise funds for Hudson, and this was Hudson's response): "If you all feel burdened, as the Chairman says, then that is one of the strongest reasons against a collection. I do not want your burden to be relieved by making a contribution here and now under present emotions. Go home burdened with the deep need of China. Ask God what He would have you do. If you give money, give it to any missionary society with agents in China...But in many cases God may want, not money, but yourself, or giving up a son or daughter to His service, or prayer. A collection leaves the impression that the object of the meeting has been obtained. But no amount of money can convert a single soul.'"

(Due to differing views on how to interact with the Chinese, specifically how to dress - western or authentic Chinese wear - there was a great dividing line that grew between those involved in the Mission): "The split must be healed or the Mission collapse. These months of spring and summer, 1867, brought full Maria and Hudson. 'I have known him under all circumstances,' Jennie [one of the young missionary women] told her father, 'and if you could see him daily you would indeed admire his self abnegation, his humility and quiet never flagging earnestness. very few in his place would have shown the forbearing loving spirit that he has done. No one knows how much he has felt these troubles nor how much he has suffered from depression. If he were not in the habit  of casting his burdens upon the Lord, I quite believe that what he has passed through he would have sunk under. Grace, not natural temperament, supported him.'"

"At thirty years of age Maria had reached her prime. She was worn with privation and recurrent illness; she had been tubercular since 1865. Thinness accentuated her height, and suffering would have left her pale had her complexion not been naturally rather dark.

The younger missionaries were slightly in awe of her. She was so obviously a lady, and she had sharp intellect and powers of concentration. They admired her skill in the language, literary, and colloquial, and the way she got close to the Chinese. They admired her strength of will, 'a woman of indomitable perserverance and courage, through troubles of every kind.'

This awe was tempered by affection. 'Ever since we left England she cared for me and treated me as one of her own family,' said James Williamson. 'Such a mother to us who were young in years and young in grace,' recalled one of the recruits of 1868. Like Hudson, 'she always sympathised with everyone and everybody. It showed often in little things.

She was bright and animated in matter and conversation but never impatient or ruffled, always serene whatever might stir without - or within her...Hudson could lean hard on her, drawing vigour from her spiritual maturity, her tranquility and faith, her unwavering affection. Ten years after their engagement they were still passionately in love with each other. She gave him and their work all she had, every ounce of strength, every thought that crossed her intelligent mind, all the force of her love. She allowed him to drain her, and if sometimes his demands were unconsciously selfish, she was no more aware of it than he was."

"Of the five children, Gracie, the eldest, aged eight, was the apple of the Taylor's eyes. She was the one link with their...life in China. She was bright and happy, she was able to understand more than her brothers what their parents were doing and why. Like most missionary children she was a passport to the hearts of the natives, she could prattle about religious in a way that might seem precious to a less sentimental generation, but which was sincere."

(Upon becoming critically, water on the brain, Gracie becomes unconscious and soon dies at the young age of eight. Because of the great hurt they were dealing with, the Mission, once split due to issues of attire, came together to support and comfort Hudson and Maria): "Gracie had saved the [China Inland Mission]."

"It was symbolic of her life. Maria loved Hudson fiercely, protectively, with instinctive awareness of his need. She did not fear for him...Her mind was in perfect peace because in perfect accord with her Saviour, her closest Companion, the source of her courage and wholeheartedness and her astounding ability to ignore physical weakness and fatigue."

(From Hudson to Maria): "'I do thank God, darling, for having given you to me, and for so long sparing you to me. May he long do so! But O! may he ever give us both to love him best, most constantly and with unfailing constancy. Then we shall not love one another too much.'" 

(Hudson): "'I hated myself, I hated my sin; and yet I gained no strength against it.'" the summer months intensified Hudson Taylor's inward conflict. He prayed, agonised, fasted, made resolutions, read the Bible more, without effect. 'Every day, almost every hour, the consciousness of failure and sin oppressed me.' He knew that in Christ lay the answer. 'I began the day with prayer, determined not to take my eye from Him for a moment; but pressure of duties, sometimes very trying, constant interruptions, sometimes so wearing, often caused me to forget Him. then one's nerves get so fretted in this climate that temptations to irritability, hard thoughts, and sometimes unkind words are the hardest to withstand.'

The more he struggled for holiness, for inward vitality that hope gave outward serenity, 'the more it eluded my grasp, till hope itself almost died out'. He never doubted that 'in Christ was all I needed, but the practical question was how to get it out...I prayed for faith but it came not. What was I to do?'"

(Still afflicted by spiritual battles such as the one above, Hudson receives a letter from John McCarthy, a dear friend and brother in Christ): "It was a long letter. He read on and on, attention riveted. 'I seem,' McCarthy wrote, 'as if the first glimmer of the dawn of a glorious day has risen upon me...I seem to have sipped only of that which can satisfy.' McCarthy had found the secret they sought. Hudson looked at the letter again. 'To let my loving Saviour work in me His will...Abiding, not striving or struggling...'

Hudson came to the last paragraph. 'Not a striving to have faith, or to increase our faith but a looking at the faithful one seems all we need. A resting in the loved one entirely, for time, for eternity. It does not appear to me as anything new, only formerly misunderstood.'

Hudson was amazed at his own blindness. His eyes opened wide...'If we believe not, He abideth faithful.' And I looked to Jesus and saw (and when I saw, oh, how joy flowed) that He had said, "I will never leave you".' In shorter time than it took to describe afterwards, Hudson grasped that he must not struggled to have strength or peace but rest in the strength and peace of Christ. 'I have striven in vain to abide in Him. I'll strive no more. For has not He promised to abide with me - never to leave me, never to fail me?' The effort to 'get it out' was a mistake. 

'I am one with Christ,' he cried as he explained the glorious discovery to the whole...household, hastily gathering them together and reading McCarthy's letter. 'It was all a mistake to try and get the fullness out of Him, I am part of Him. Each of us is a limb of His body, a branch of the vine. Oh, think what a wonderful thing it is to be really one with a risen Saviour.'"

"'Things may not be, in many respects, as I would wish them; but if God permits them to be, or so orders them, I may well be content.'" -Hudson

"'God reigns, not chance.'" -one of the young missionaries

(At the end of this book, Maria becomes deathly ill. In order to aid in comforting her while she died, Hudson began to cut off the long locks of hair, giving some relief to the heat that wracked Maria's body. Upon losing her locks, Hudson asks if she wants each of the children to receive a lock. Her response): "'Yes, and tell them to be sure to be kind to dear Miss Blatchley (their nanny/caregiver during this time of Maria's illness)...and...and...and to love Jesus.'

When he stopped cutting she put a hand to her head.

'That's what you call thinning out?' she smiled. 'Well, I shall have all the comfort and you have all the responsibility as to looks. I never do care what anyone else  thinks as to my appearance. You know, my darling, I am altogether yours,' she said. 'And she threw her loving arms, so think around me, and kissed me in her own loving way for it.'"

(After an extremely rough night, after the hair cutting incident, from above): '...it was dawn, and the sunlight revealed what the candle had hidden, the death-like hue of her countenance. Even my love could not deny, not her danger, but that she was actually dying. As soon as I felt sufficiently composed I said to her, "My darling, are you conscious that you are dying?"

'She replied with evident surprise. "Dying? Do you think so? What makes you think so?"

"'I can see it, darling."

"'What is making me die?"

"'Your strength is giving way."

"'Can it be so? I feel no pain, only weariness."

"'Yes, you are going Home. you will soon be with Jesus."

"'I am so sorry."

"'You are not sorry to go to be with Jesus?"

"'Oh no! (I shall never forget the look she gave me, as looking right into my eyes, she said:) 'It's not that. you know, darling, that for ten years past there has not been a cloud between me and my Saviour.' (I know that what she said was perfectly true.) 'I cannot be sorry to go to Him,' she whispered. 'But it does grieve me to leave you alone at such a time. Yet...He will be with you and meet all your need[s].'"

(Maria then kisses Hudson and the children. The household gathers quietly and watches as she grows weaker. When asked if she had any pain, she responds saying "no." She sinks into unconsciousness, and spasms.) "In the unforgettable words of Hudson's daughter-in-law long after: 'The summer sun rose higher and higher over the city, the hills, and the river. The busy hum of life came up and around them for many a court and street. But within one Chinese dwelling, in an upper room from which the blue of God's own Heaven could be seen, there was the hush of a wonderful peace.'

Soon after nine the breathing sank lower. Hudson knelt down. With full heart, one of the watchers wrote, he 'committed her to the Lord; thanking Him for having given her, and for the twelve and a half years of happiness they had had together; thanking Him, too, for taking her to His own blessed Presence, and solemnly dedicating himself anew to His service.'

The breathing stopped at 9:20. 'When she was really gone,' wrote Rudland, 'he just went out into another room - some time before he returned. It seemed that as though the victory had been won - alone with God. He seemed calmer then until the end.'

The great heat compelled that she should be buried that evening. Hudson went himself to buy the coffin. As they coffined her he spoke the words, 'The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.'

Rudland was beside him. 'At the very last when she was in her coffin he stood taking the last long look. He had to rush away again upstairs to be alone for a time.'

His baby. His wife. 'My heart wells up with joy and gratitude for their unutterable bliss, though nigh to breaking. 'Our Jesus has done all things well.'" (These are the literal last words - and paragraphs - of this book. How amazing.)

Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die | No. 3

Reason No. 3 | To Learn Obedience and Be Perfected

Although he was a son, he learned obedience

through what he suffered.

Hebrews 5:8

For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist,

in brining many sons to glory,

should make the founder of their salvation

perfect through suffering.

Hebrews 2:10

• "Christ was sinless. Although he was the divine Son of God, he was really human, with all our temptations and appetites and physical weaknesses. There was hunger (Matthew 21:18) and anger and grief (Mark 3:5) and pain (Matthew 17:12). But his heart was perfectly in love with God, and he acted consistently with that love: 'He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth' (1 Peter 2:22)."
• "...when the Bible says that Jesus 'learned obedience through what he suffered,' it doesn't mean that he learned to stop disobeying. It means that with each new trial he learned in practice - and in pain - what it means to obey. When it says that he was 'made perfect through suffering,' it doesn't mean that he was gradually getting rid of defects. It means that he was gradually fulfilling the perfect righteousness that he had to have in order to save us."
• "The point is this: If the Son of God had gone from incarnation to the cross without a life of temptation and pain to test his righteousness and his love, he would not be a suitable Savior for fallen man. His suffering not only absorbed the wrath of God. It also fulfilled his true humanity and made him able to call us brother and sisters (Hebrews 2:17)."

All quotes from John Piper's book, Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die.

Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die | No. 2

Reason No. 2 | To Please His Heavenly Father

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;

he has put him to grief.

Isaiah 53:10

Christ loved us and gave himself up for us,

a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Ephesians 5:2

• "[Jesus suffering and dying] was a breathtaking strategy, conceived even before creation, as God saw and planned the history of the world."
• "...[the] substitution of Christ for sinners...was God's idea...This explains the paradox of the New Testament. On one hand, the suffering of Christ is an outpouring of God's wrath because of sin. But on the other hand, Christ's suffering is a beautiful act of submission and obedience to the will of the Father.
• "Oh, that we might worship the terrible wonder of the love of God! It is not sentimental. It is not simple."
• "The wrath-bearer was infinitely loved."

From Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die by John Piper

New Book | More Quotes

New book time! This has become a 'classic' for me, as much as John Pipes (read: John Piper), still living, can be classic. I've read it before and I'm so excited to be reading it again. It's great. So get excited. And ready. About to blow you away with some quotes from 50 Reasons Why Jesus Came To Die:

Introduction:

• Jesus was "very God of very God."
• The Gospels (Matthew-John) are "the testimony of those who knew him and were inspired by him to explain who he is."
• "I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again" (John 10:17-18).
• "The controversy about which humans killed Jesus is marginal. He chose to die. His heavenly Father ordained it. He embraced it.
• "True Christian love humbly and boldly commends Christ, no matter what it costs, to all people as the only saving way to God." 
• "The death of Jesus Christ is the most important event in history, and the most explosive political and personal issue of the twenty-first century.
• (Speaking of those who ran the Jewish concentration camps): "They never knew the Christ who, instead of killing to save a culture, died to save the world."
• "God himself was the chief Actor in the death of his Son, so that the main question is not, 'Which humans brought about the death of Jesus?' but 'What did the death of Jesus bring about for humans - including Jews and Muslims and Buddhists and Hindus and nonreligious secularists - and all people everywhere?"

Reason No. 1 | To Absorb the Wrath of God

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a

curse for us - for it is written,

"Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree."

Galatians 3:13

God put [Christ] forward as a propitiation by his blood,

to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness,

because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

Romans 3:25

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us

and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

1 John 4:10

• "If God were not just, there would be no demand for his Son to suffer and die. And if God were not loving, there would be no willingness for his Son to suffer and die. But God is both just and loving. Therefore his love is willing to meet the demands of his justice.
• "God's law demanded, 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might' (Deuteronomy 6:5). But we have all loved other things more. This is what sin is - dishonoring God by preferring other things more than him, and acting on those preferences."
• "We glorify what we enjoy most."
• "The Creator of the universe is infinitely worthy of respect and admiration and loyalty. Therefore, failure to love him is not trivial - it is treason. It defames God and destroys human happiness."
• "The meaning of the word "propitiation" (from Romans 3:25 -see above)...refers to the removal of God's wrath by providing a substitute. The substitute is provided by God himself. The substitute, Jesus Christ, does not just cancel the wrath; he absorbs it from us to himself."
• "We will never stand in awe of being loved by God until we reckon with the seriousness of being loved by God until we reckon with the seriousness of our sin and the justice of his wrath against us. But when, by grace, we waken to our unworthiness, then we may look at the suffering and death of Christ and say, 'In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the [wrath-absorbing] propitiation for our sins.' (John 4:10)."

In Grace I Stand

This will be the last post from Jerry Bridges I Exalt Thee, O God. Finished it this morning. So. Good. Please read it.

"All true believers acknowledge that we're saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). Paul tells us furthermore that we also stand in grace (Romans 5:1-2). On a day-to-day basis we stand accepted by God in the same grace by which we were saved.

And the same definition of grace - God's favor through Christ to people who deserve His wrath - applies in our continuing relationship with God as believers...Each day we deserve God's wrath, but each day we stand before Him in grace, accepted by Him only through the merit of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As B.B. Warfield said, "Though blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ, we are still ourselves, just 'miserable sinners': 'miserable sinners' saved by grace to be sure, but 'miserable sinners' still, deserving in ourselves nothing but everlasting wrath." Our best deeds are polluted with sin and are made acceptable to God only through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5). Even as Christians we never earn favor with God by our performance. All His favor still comes to us through Christ.

Because of this we can be assured of God's to us throughout this life and for eternity. We've done nothing to earn His love and we can do nothing to forfeit it. His love in Christ is eternal and unconditional. Nothing can separate us from His love, as the apostle Paul put it so eloquently (Romans 8:35-39).

...Do we believe that nothing - not even our own sin - can separate us from God's love? This doesn't mean God winks at our sin like the proverbial indulgent grandfather. Rather it means that He has forgiven our sins because of the atoning sacrifice of His Son. God proved His love to us by sending Christ to suffer in our place. Therefore to doubt His love because of our sin is an affront to Him. It says in effect that the merit of Christ's death is not sufficient to cover the demerit of our sin. What an insult to God!

...As we grow in our understanding of God's love for us in Christ, we will more and more 'delight in the fear of the LORD' (Isaiah 11:3)...He loved us when we did not love Him. Therefore we have no excuse for not loving one another.

Certainly there are people who are difficult to love. The fact is, we all are to some degree. We don't have the power in ourselves to love the unlovable, but that also is no excuse. We do have the Holy Spirit enabling us to love others as we look to Him.

So we have no excuse not to love one another, and we have the direct command to do so, based on God's love for us. In fact Paul urges us to 'live a life of love' - our entire life, seven days a week, is to be characterized by love. Like John, Paul bases that exhortation on Christ's love for us (Ephesians 5:1-2). Our love is to be a reflection of His love."

The Gospel. When we were unlovable, Christ loved us. We not only are saved by grace. We stand in grace.

Thank you for always pointing me to the Cross, Jerry Bridges.

Rich in Grace, Rich in Mercy | Jerry Bridges

The following is a chapter in Jerry Bridges book I Exalt You, O God. It's kind of lengthy, but so good.

"In Ephesians 2:1-3 the apostle Paul presents a dismal picture of us before we trusted Christ as Savior:

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins

in which you used to live when you followed the ways of

this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the 

spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying 

the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires

and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects

of wrath.

Paul says we were spiritually dead, unable to help ourselves or do anything about our plight. We were not drowning people needing a life buoy - we were dead people in need of life. Further, we were slaves to the world, to the devil, and to our sinful nature. And as we've already seen, we were by nature objects of God's holy wrath. Dead slaves, objects of wrath - what a desperate condition!

Against this dark backdrop of sin and misery, Paul gives the solution (verses 4-5):

But because of his great love for us, God who is rich

in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were

dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.

Three words stand out in this passage: love, mercy, and grace. Note Paul's superlative language: great love, rich in love, mercy and in verse 7, "the incomparable riches of his grace." What a sharp contrast Paul draws between our pitiful condition and God's glorious remedy. God is rich in mercy and rich in grace, and He bountifully bestows both on us because of His great love.

How should we understand the words grace and mercy as Paul uses them? Think of them as the two arms with which God reaches out in His love to save us. His grace is His arm of reaching out to us in our guilt, while His mercy is His love reaching out to save us in our pitiful condition because of our sin. Both grace and mercy contemplate our sin - grace its guilt, and mercy its misery.

Grace is God's favor through Christ to people who deserve His wrath. It is more than the oft-quoted definition of "unmerited favor." God's grave addresses not only our lack of merit, but also our positive demerit. It is blessing bestowed in the presence of demerit. 

When I was a small child, homeless men (then called hobos) would sometimes appear at our front door and ask my mother for a meal. Without receiving any work in return, mother would prepare a plate of food for them to eat on our front porch. She was granting an unmerited or unearned favor, but it was not grace. If, however, a hobo appeared at our door whom my mother recognized as a man who had previously robbed us, a new element is introduced. Now the food is given despite demerit. Not only is the man undeserving of food in the sense of earning it; he actually deserves punishment instead because of his crime.

We all stand before God with innumerable counts of demerit against us. It isn't an overstatement to use Ezra's words: "Our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached the heavens" (Ezra 9:6). We deserve God's wrath. Instead we receive favor, bountiful favor - we're blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). Why?

The answer is in the two words through Christ in our definition of grace. Through Christ and His atoning death, we're delivered from the wrath we deserve. And through Christ and His life of obedience for us, we receive the boundless favor we don't deserve.

This favor comes to us in many forms. We're first of all saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9), but it doesn't stop there. Grace is God's power enabling us to cope with life's difficulties (2 Corinthians 12:9). It supplies the strength we need to live the Christian life (2 Timothy 2:1). Grace provides the spiritual gifts by which we serve in the body of Christ (Romans 12:6). Every blessing you receive, every answer to prayer you experience, is an expression of God's grace to you.

All these favors come to us because of the sinless life and sin-bearing death of our Lord. A popular definition of grace is the acronym, God's Riches At Christ's Expense. Jesus suffered in our place and paid for our sins. He also lived in our place and earned all our blessings.

While grace contemplates our guilt, mercy has regard to our misery, which is the consequence of our sin. God's mercy is more than compassion for someone in need. It is compassion in spite of demerit. If the hobo-robber in the above illustration ended up in a wretched condition in prison, and my mother in various ways sought to relieve his distress, that would begin to picture God's mercy.

But it would be only a faint picture. No misery in this life can begin to compare with the misery of those suffering eternally under the wrath of God. Even the Nazi Holocaust, awful as it was, pales by comparison to the lake of fire of God's judgement.

God is sovereign in extending His mercy. He said to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion" (Exodus 33:19, Romans 9:15). Sovereign in this sense refers not to God's power but to His right to do as He pleases. Paul is getting at this when he asks, "Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?" (Romans 9:21). We should therefore always be amazed that God extended His mercy to us. 

God is likewise sovereign in extending His grace. He was under no obligation to forgive our sins. He could have plunged us into hell as He did the angels who sinned (2 Peter 2:4). Instead He sent His Son to turn aside His wrath by satisfying His justice. And He did even more: He also called us by His gospel and through His spirit to trust in Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14). If you're a believer and your neighbor isn't, this is not due to your superior wisdom or greater insight into the issues of life. It's because of God's grace in calling you to Christ. 

The gospel invitation is wide open to all: "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13). "Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life" (Revelation 22:17). And yet when we come, we discover that we were chosen in Christ before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). That is grace."

So good. We were dead. We were destined for eternal separation from God - enduring His justice, what we deserve. Yet, through Christ and His love, we are made right through His grace and ultimate sacrifice. Praise God!

Exclusive Match - Jesus Died for Me

The following is from Jerry Bridge's I Exalt Thee, O God:

"Suppose you had an urgent need for a person-to-person blood transfusion and your best friend happens to have your blood type. He or she would gladly donate, and it would be a routine matter. Suppose, however, that your blood type was extremely rare, and the president of the United States was one of the few people who happened to have it as well. If the president flew on Air Force One to your city and donated blood to you, it would be a nationally newsworthy event.

One person gives you blood and no one notices. Another gives you blood, and it makes the evening news. What's the difference?

The difference is in the dignity of the person's position or office. The dignity and prestige of the presidency sets the second person apart, making his donation of blood to you or me and extraordinary event.

Now take that illustration and apply it to our Lord Jesus Christ. Though He comes in humility, He is in fact no ordinary citizen. His status is something that not even the Roman emperor can match. He's the One who created the universe and sustains it by His powerful word (Hebrews 1:1-3). And He has come all the way from heaven's glory to live and die for you and me because of His love...This is what makes Christ's death so amazing - that this Holy One before whom Isaiah is totally devastated should come and die for sinful men and women who are the very antithesis of holiness."

*Italics, mine.

This floors me. That my heart was so diseased, full of sin, and death bound, that the only One who could save my soul was the very One who exclusively knit me together in my mother's womb. The very One who exclusively spoke creation into being. The very One who is exclusively holy. My heart was so decayed, it was dead, bound for eternal separation from the God who exclusively knew me, loved, me and created me. Yet, while I was still a sinner, Christ died for me. Because of His great exclusive love, He endured scorn, mockery, and ultimately death on a cross, to bring me, a sinful, undeserving sinner, into His exclusive presence. Into His exclusive family. He was the only match my heart would take. There was no other way. He isn't just a perfect match. He is my exclusive match. And he gave His blood as an exclusive ransom for many. What exclusive wondrous love is this!

Undeserving + the love of Christ

I'm reading about the events leading up to the Crucifixion, found in Mark 14. Here are a couple verses that stood out to me this morning:

"As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying 'Take it, for this is my body.' And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them, and they drank from it. And he said to them, 'This is my blood, which confirms the [new] covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice for many.' ...Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives. On the way, Jesus told them, 'All of you will desert me.' "

Here are my thoughts/processing. I'm not sure how significant the first few words are, "As they were eating," but to me, it was honestly the first time it hit me that the Lord's Supper was not just bread and wine. They were already eating, enjoying each other's fellowship. Jesus incorporated this pivotal and important event into an every day occurrence: a meal. For some reason, that just blows my mind. Jesus was truly a humble servant.

Jesus blessed it and gave thanks to God for it. Prayer before meals can seem like a "to-do list" item or legalistic accomplishment at times. But to be reminded that Jesus, the very human form of the Most High, was aware of the Source of everything, gave thanks to the giver and owner of everything.

This is my body and this is my blood. I am reminded of the requirements set before in the Old Testament. When an offering or sacrifice was to be made, both the body and blood (death) of an animal was required to make the people right with God again. Jesus was...is...our Ultimate Sacrifice, confirming a new covenant between God and his people that no longer depended on the people's need for a physical sacrifice and offering.

Sacrifice for many, this is a controversial subject, but how clear the Word is here that while yes, God desires to be in a relationship with all that He has created, not all, but many would accept the sacrifice of Jesus as their only way to be made right with God. It's both difficult and beautiful to hear.

Then they sang a hymn...and went to [pray]. How beautiful. After they shared this intimate meal together, taking in the bread and wine as illustrations of God's soon-to-come death, they sang together and went to pray together at the Mount of Olives. I love how community here is centered on worship to God through sacraments.

And while it's hard to end this way, Jesus' prophesy of the disciples deserting Him is a reality of life. We are human and sinful. I think of the words of the hymn Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing: "Prone to wander, Lord I feel it; Prone to leave the God I love." The reality is that our hearts are sinful. Our nature is flawed. Even though we share in such an intimate meal with our Savior, accepting His offering as our ultimate, atoning payment to be made right with God, there is the reality that we will prone to wander. We will desert the One whom was considered 'guilty' on our behalf. The One who lived the life we should have lived and died the death we deserved. Later on in Mark 14, when Jesus stands before the high priest, and claims, "I Am." To which the crowd responds, "Guilty! ...He deserves to die." Jesus was receiving the undeserving sentence that we deserve. We are guilty. We deserve to die. Yet Jesus, not guilty. Jesus, not deserving to die, stood in our place. Endured the mockery in our place. Died in our place. So that we might share in his death, accepting His as our own. A gift. One in which we will not have to endure.

Blows my mind. He was so undeserving, yet because of His great love for us, while I was still a sinner, deserving of death, not the undeserving gift, Jesus died for me. To make me right with Himself. There was no other way. All other ways lead to death. Deserved punishment. Eternal separation from Him.

I will never understand. Lord, may every day that I have in the land of the living, be a day that I become more aware of my undeserving estate and your undeserving death, in order to make me right. It is only through Your body and blood, that I become deserving to stand before the throne of God above because I am seen as spotless and righteous, solely because Your blood, Your grace, Your love cover me. May I never lose the wonder of the Cross.

"Though the Father sent the Son, the Son came voluntarily. Though He is indeed God, the second person of the Trinity, He took upon Himself our nature and suffered in our place on the cross because of His love for us."

"It isn't enough to know Christ died for sinners; I must believe He died for me. Then as I see more of my sinfulness, I appreciate more the love of Christ as He bore those sins in my place."

I stand amazed in the Presence

Of Jesus the Nazarene,

And wonder how He could love me,

A sinner, condemned, unclean.

"When we stand amazed at the Savior's love, we find ourselves motivated to live for Him. 'For Christ's love compels us' (2 Corinthians 5:14)....To live no longer for ourselves, but for Him who died for us and was raised again (verse 15).

"Our obedience is closely linked to - in fact is a tangible expression of - our fear and worship of God."

"[Jesus] has come all the way from heaven's glory to live and die for you and me because of His love."

"This is what makes Christ's death so amazing - that this Holy One before whom Isaiah is totally devastated should come and die for sinful men and women who are the very antithesis of his holiness."

-quotes from I Exalt Thee, O God by Jerry Bridges

Exclusive Grace + Provision

Currently reading Numbers 11:1-23, and I am amazed at how the Lord responds to the complaining and whining coming from the Israelites. From my safe spot on the sofa, with Bible in hand, already knowledgeable on what the outcome will be, I often find myself rolling my eyes at the Israelites. Were they not just walking across the dry floor of the ocean with walls of water surrounding. Did they not just watch their enemies swallowed up in those same walls? Have they not been travelling, led by a cloud of God's presence? Come on Israelites?! How easily I am quick to judge and be prideful, when in all reality, I relate with them so well.

The very first word of this passage is soon. It didn't take much time for the people of Israel, God's chosen and promised people, to "Soon...beg[i]n to complain about their hardship." Yet the next few words are so powerful, "and the LORD heard everything they said." He is a God who hears! But let's be real. He is a God who loves His people and listens, even to their whining, yet he is also just, "Then the LORD's anger blazed against them, and he sent a fire to rage among them." The people scream for help, and Moses intercedes, pleading for God to stop. God stops and the people, in awe of the power of the One who hears them, name that place Taberah ("the place of burning"). God's fire burned among them there. Scary to us, yes. But so powerful. God was revealing Himself and His power to them!

But then, in the very next paragraph, after God sent fire among the people, and even "destroyed some of the people in the outskirts of the camp," the Israelites "began to crave the good things of Egypt....'Oh, for some meat!' they exclaimed." They 'reminded God' of the fish, and fresh, sweet, and savory produce they had for free in Egypt. "But now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is this manna!" And so, yet again, God hears and becomes "extremely angry." Moses then begins to feel the pressure and anxiety rise, as he is the one to interceede between the people and God. After listing off question after question about why he should bear their burdens alone, God hears. Now I'm not a Biblical scholar, but it seemed like to me in verses 11-14 that Moses is complaining. He, like the Israelites is whining about the whining. Such shallow people we are! Yet God hears him and provides. He instructs Moses to gather seventy men to be elders and leaders. He shares His Spirit amongst them, "They will bear the burden of the people along with you, so you will not have to carry it alone." Even though Moses was complaining, God reminds him, and us, that we weren't made to be alone. We weren't made to do everything by ourselves.

I love what God then tells Moses to relay on to the people, "You were whining, and the LORD heard you when you cried, 'Oh, for some meat! We were better off in Egypt!' Now the LORD will give you meat and you will have to eat it...You will eat it for a whole month until you gag and are sick of it. For you have rejected the LORD who is here among you, and you have whined to him saying, 'Why did we ever leave Egypt?'" Then Moses, caught up in logistics asked God how in the world to feed meet to 600,000 soldiers...for an entire month? "Even if I butchered all our flocks and herds, would that satisfy them? Even if we caught all the fish in the sea, would that be enough?" Then God responds powerfully, "Has my arm lost its power? Now you will see whether or not my word comes true!"

He exclusively provides and gives grace to the people...even when they are undeserving. And this God is the same today, exclusively providing and bestowing grace to people like me, who also whine and complain about the "wilderness" or lack of food and supply. He hears. He answers. He reveals His power and character. His grace and provision is exclusive, because He is grace and provision. He owns and is everything.

Exclusive Justice + Mercy + Forgiveness

Exclusive mercy + forgiveness. That is what I think when I read Psalm 51:

Have mercy on me, O God,

because of your unfailing love.

Because of your great compassion,

blot out the stain of my sins.

Wash me clean from my guilt.

Purify me from my sin...

Against you, and you alone, 

have I sinned;

I have done what is evil in your sight.

You will be proved right in what

you say,

and your judgement against me is just.

But you desire honesty from the heart,

teaching me wisdom even there.

Purify me from my sins, and I will 

be clean;

wash me, and I will be whiter than snow...

Don't keep looking at my sins.

Remove the stain of my guilt.

Create in me a clean heart, O God.

Renew a loyal spirit within me.

Do not banish me from your presence,

and don't take your Holy Spirit

from me.

Restore to em the joy of your

salvation,

and make me willing to obey you...

Unseal my lips, O Lord,

that my  mouth may praise you.

You do not desire a sacrifice, or I 

would offer one.

You do not want a burnt offering.

The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.

You will not reject a broken and

repentant heart, O God.

He is the One who shows mercy and unfailing love. He alone. He is the One is shows compassion and is able to blot out our sins. He is the One who is able to cleanse me from my guilt. He is the One who is able to purify me from my sin. He is the One that I have sinned against. He is the One who is just towards me. He is the One who, despite all my sin, desires to teach me wisdom in the deepest and most intimate places. He is the One who desires to purify me from my sin, washing me whiter than snow. He is the One who gives me joy. He is the One who no longer looks at my sin, removing the guilt as well. He is the One who creates a clean heart and a loyal spirit within me. He is the One who does not banish His presence from me. He is the One who restores the joy of the salvation in Him to me. He is the One who makes me willing to obey. He is the One who unseals my lips. He is the One who does not require offerings, but desires the only thing I can give - a broken, repentant heart and spirit.

He ALONE is the One. Exclusive: Forgiver. Justifier. Mercy giver.

Exclusive Beauty, Love, and Justice

So ever since hearing about God's exclusive wealth, I've been on a search to find the other exclusives of God's character. Hello, self. Every characteristic of God is exclusive. Today I was amazed by His exclusive love and beauty.


Exclusive beauty:

"From Mount Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines in glorious radiance." Psalm 50:2

Exclusive love:

"God's greatness, holiness, and wisdom, attributes that convey the great distance between us and God...[His] love drawing us near, that our hearts might be lifted up in wondrous adoration."

"God sacrificed His Son to save an unloving people who by nature are hostile to Him and rebellious against Him. Scripture says that God 'did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all' (Romans)...What amazing unfathomable love, that the eternal, sovereign, holy God should sacrifice His Son for sinners such as you and me!"

"Thank you, mighty God, for loving me into Your salvation."

"It is not enough...to appreciate God's love only in terms of initial salvation. We should be growing each year in our awareness of the depth of His love for us in Christ - as we become more aware of the reality of our own sin even as believers. An increasing understanding of God's holiness, of one's own sin, and the value of Christ's death will always mark a person who's growing as a Christian...'If you read about the experiences of Christians who progressed in their relationship with the Lord Jesus beyond the norm, you will note the combination of a deep sense of sin and failure together with a deep appreciation for what God accomplished in Christ Jesus' (Lutheran pastor Don Matzat)."

"Some years ago I prayed that God would show me more of His love. He answered that prayer by showing me more of my sin - not just specific sins I'd committed, but the sinfulness of my heart. Then i began to appreciate more His love for me. This is when we really start to enjoy fearing and worshiping God: when we realize in the depth of our being that we justly deserve the wrath of God, then see that wrath poured on Jesus instead of on ourselves. We're both awed by His wrath and astonished at His love."

Exclusive Justice:

"[Jesus bore] the wrath that was justly due to us. This is the meaning of the atonement. Only as we come to grasp with the fact that we truly were objects of God's wrath do we begin to appreciate this good news of the gospel."

"NIV translation explains 'atoning sacrifice' as that which turns aside God's wrath, taking away our sins...to satisfy His justice and thus turn aside His wrath from us."

Etc. (something to ponder...)

"The pretty newborn baby girl weighing seven pounds six ounce and measuring eighteen inches long comes into the world an object of God's wrath - not because of her own sin, but because of her identity with Adam in his. All of us then aggravate our condition by daily adding to it our own personal sin, which by its nature would provoke God's wrath if we were not in Christ."

**Post-thoughts: Yesterday when I read the above the part where Bridges said, "not because of her own sin, but because of her identity with Adam in his," I wasn't sure what to think. I totally agree with his thought that we are sinful in nature, and maybe I'm reading into this too much, but to say that the baby "comes into the world an object of God's wrath - not because of her own sin," my head tilts in confusion. And maybe this is true, as he does follow those words with "because of her identity with Adam in his," saying that we are sinful by nature and not just action. Well, whether I read into it incorrectly or not, I was encouraged by God's answering when I was reading Psalm 51, "For I was born a sinner - yes, from the moment my mother conceived me" (vs. 5). We are sinners because we are conceived and born of sinners. It's our nature. Apart from cross we are in a helpless estate, desperately in need of full dependence on a Savior.

He never ceases to amaze me!

After reading Psalm 49 (see last post), I read about physical offerings made to God and the woman who gave everything she owned monetarily. While I don't completely understand the passage in Numbers, what I kept thinking about when I read the detail of each day's offerings, I couldn't help but think that the Lord has no need or use for any of these things, yet by the people giving them to Him, they showed their thankfulness and praise in the provider of all things in life and godliness. I also just so admire the poor woman, who gave not only quietly and humbly, but generously. Beautiful.

Exclusive Wealth

The past two weeks at Redeemer Fellowship, Kevin has taught about God's Economy. I love what he said a couple weeks ago, "God is exclusively wealthy because is the only One who owns it all." He taught from Psalm 50 and 2 Corinthians 9. You can listen to these sermons here and here.

I read Psalm 49 today in my One Year Bible and love how it leads up to Psalm 50 in talking about how God is truly the only source of life and fulfillment:

Why should I fear when trouble comes,

when enemies surround me?

They trust in their wealth

and boast of great riches.

Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death

by paying a ransom to God...

Those who are wise must finally die,

just like the foolish and senseless

leaving all their wealth behind.

The grave is their eternal home,

where they will stay forever.

They may name their estates after themselves,

but their fame will not last.

They will die just like animals.

This is the fate of fools, though they are remembered

as being wise.

...But as for me, God will redeem my life.

He will snatch me from the power of the grave.

So don't be dismayed when the wicked grow rich

and their homes become ever

more splendid.

For when they die, they will take nothing

with them.

Their wealth will follow them

into the grave.

In this life they consider themselves fortunate

and are applauded for their success.

But they will die like all before them

and never again see the

light of day.

People who boast of their wealth

don't understand;

they will die just like animals.

"Nothing is mine. Everything I've been entrusted with should reflect and honor my Master."

"The only thing we bring to God is our sin and our need for Him."

"We need a reorientation of the gospel and God's generosity."

"Infinite Exclusive kindness and generosity."

"God demands our affections."

"What we're doing with our money on the outside reveals what we're doing with God on the inside."

"You alone awaken generosity in the human heart."

"The Gospel provides us to be generous."

"Biblical generosity can be summed up: 'give cheerfully...because its based on believing God will provide all things and that He is able to make all grace abound to you."

"Sufficiency = contentment."

"God wants the totality of our lives...including money."

"Giving is not optional...[and] should be strategic."

His Exclusive Wisdom + Love

Yet again, wise, inspiring, Christ-centered words from Jerry Bridges via I Exalt You, O God.


Wanting My Trust - Not My Advice

Who has understood the mind of the LORD,

or instructed him as his counselor?

Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him,

and who taught him the right way?

Who was it that taught him knowledge

or showed him the path of understanding?

(Isaiah 40:13-14)

Who instructed God? Whom did he consult? Think of...the design of the human body - the amazing intricacy and efficiency of a single cell, the sheer magnitude of the connecting fibers between nerve cells in the brain. Who could have served as the Lord's consultant on a design task like that? Could you or I?

It's an absurd question, isn't it? Yet we continually want to be God's adviser in His providential workings. We continually wan to tell Him how certain circumstances should be changed. Or worse, we question God's wisdom when we can't understand what He's doing.

God's ways are mysterious. But when Paul we can learn to exult in this with praise:

How fathomless the depths of God's resources, wisdom,

and knowledge! How unsearchable His decisions, and how

mysterious His methods! For who has ever understood the 

thoughts of the Lord, or has ever been His adviser?...

Glory to Him forever! 

(Romans 11:33-36, Charles B. Williams translation)

To this end may the following words from J. L. Dagg encourage us:

It should fill us with joy that infinite (or better yet, exclusive) wisdom guides the

affairs of the world. Many of its events are shrouded in

darkness and mystery, and inextricable confusion sometimes 

seems to reign. Often wickedness prevails, and God seems

to have forgotten the creatures that he has made. Our own

path through life is dark and devious, and beset with 

difficulties and dangers. How full of consolation is the

doctrine that infinite (again, exclusive) wisdom directs every event, brings...

light out of darkness, and, to those who love God, causes

all things, whatever be their present aspect and apparent

tendency, to work together for good.

So with joy and consolation let us stand in awe of the infinite (exclusive) wisdom of God manifested in creation, providence, and redemption. But let's do more. One of the marks of a God-fearing person is trust in the Lord: "The LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love" (Psalm 147:11). To hope in His unfailing love is to trust Him. As we stand in awe, let us trust Him, even when we don't understand what He is dong.

I trust in You, O Lord; I praise You, and I give thanks to You, for You are my light and my salvation and the stronghold of my life. "I love you, O LORD, my strength. Psalm 27:1, 18:1 I love You, O Lord. Help me not to depend on the wisdom of the world, for it is foolishness in Your sight. Help me to embrace instead Your wisdom, "the wisdom that comes from heaven," the wisdom that "is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere." 1 Corinthians 3:19; James 3:17

For Your Love, O Lord, I Exalt You

O infinite (exclusive) God! Who has understood Your mind or instructed You as Your counselor? Before the universe was created it existed in all its intricate complexity in Your vast mind. Even the tiny cells in our bodies testify to the sheer brilliance of Your creative genius.

...there's something about the love of God that should astound us as sinners. His greatness causes us to stand in awe. His holiness lays us prostrate in the dust. His wisdom calls forth our admiration. But His love, rightly understood, causes us to gasp in amazement. It's not without reason that Charles Wesley penned those memorable words, "Amazing love! How can it be that Thou my God shouldst die for me?" We can understand God's love to a worthy object, but it's the fact that He loves sinners that so astonishes us.

In the physical realm there are two opposing forces called centrifugal and centripetal. Centrifugal force tends to pull away from a center of rotation, while centripetal forces pull towards the center...These two opposing forces can help us understand something of our relationship with God. The centrifugal force represents those attributes of God such as His holiness and soverignty that cause us to bow in awe and self-abasement before Him. They hold us revenrently distant from the One who, by the simple power of His word, created the universe out of nothing.

The centripetal force represents the love of God. It surrounds us with grace and mercy and draws us with cords of love into the Father's warm embrace. To properly fear and worship God we must understand and respond to both these forces.

The fear of God certainly denotes the only fitting response to His awesome greatness and transcendent majesty. It's also a recognition of our own frailty, weakness, and sinfulness in the presence of His sovereign power and infinite holiness. At the same time, the fear of God also denotes the love and humble gratitude of the person who, conscious of his own sinfulness and exposure to divine wrath, has experienced the grace and mercy of God in the forgiveness of his sins.

This aspect of the fear of God is beautifully expressed in Psalm 130:3-4.

If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins,

O Lord, who could stand?

But with you there is forgiveness;

therefore you are feared.

Here it is not the dread of divine wrath, but rather gratitude for divine forgiveness that draws forth from the psalmist the response he calls fear.

But these attributes -awe and gratitude- are necessary to a proper expression of the fear of God. Just as the centrifugal and centripetal forces cannot exist interdependently, so neither awe nor gratitude alone can represent adequately the biblical meaning of the fear of the Lord. Sometimes we will sense one more strongly than the other. We may on occasion experience overwhelming awe as God reveals Himself to our hearts in His majesty, or we may experience inexpressible gratitude as we encounter His mercy. Cherish those moments, but seek to maintain a balance between awe and gratitude. 

There should always be a healthy tension between the confidence with which we come before God as His children and the reverntial awe with which we behold Him as our soverign Lord. There's a difference between holy familiarity and unholy familiarity with God. We have indeed received teh Spiritu of adoption, the Spirit by whom we cry, "Abba, Father" (Romans 8:15). This expression conveys the warmth and confidence with which we may come into His presence.

Soverign God of all creation, I come to You today through Jesus Christ, and through Him I call You Father. I acknowledge that in myself I'm the worst of sinners, but through Christ Jesus I'm your son.

Loving Father, I worship You as the source of every single blessing in my life. "You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing." "All my fountains are in you." I have nothing that I did not receive from You. Psalm 16:2; 87:7; 1 Corinthians 4:7