Christ is All Our Joy

But Christ is all, and in all. Colossians 3:11

Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Philippians 4:4

Christ is the appointed Savior of mankind and our eternal interests are wholly dependent upon Him. Our deliverance from the penalty and power of sin was accomplished for us, exclusively by the Savior himself, when he died upon The Cross. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4: 12. He finished all the work of redemption, bestows all the benefits, and is entitled to all the glory. Every hope which the Christian cherishes arises from this—Christ is All.

The whole misery of the guilty man, in time and in eternity, arises from his being without Christ. The whole security and comfort of the pardoned man, springs from his being in Christ. The whole blessedness of the glorified man, is comprised in the one fact, that he is with Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is himself the fountain of all blessings to the soul of man. Stephen Tyng

Christ is the great, sure, and abiding joy of his own people. He pardoned our sin, covered our guilt, vanquished death, and restored our fellowship with the Father. If we have nothing but Christ, we do not want for anything, for Christ is all. We may not have the wealth, health, gifts, employments, or honors that other men have, yet if Christ has given us himself, his blood to redeem us, his spirit to quicken us, his grace to renew us, and his peace to comfort us, we have all we need. “If a man has Christ, he has all for eternity; and if he has not Christ, he is poor, and blind, and naked, and will be miserable for ever.” (Spurgeon)

It is not what we are, not what we feel, or not what we can do, but it is what Christ has done, and what Christ is to us that blesses us. Let us have a higher view of Christ, that we may see him as all our satisfaction. Let us so know him that in our temptation, he may be our defense; in our darkness, our light; in sorrow, our joy; in despondency, our hope; in prayer and communion with God, in patient waiting upon and in active work for God, he may be our all and in all. These oft quoted words from a sermon by Edward Reynolds speak beautifully of the all-sufficiency of Christ:

All the good things that can be reckoned up here below, have only a finite and limited goodness: some can clothe, but cannot feed; others can nourish, but they cannot heal; others can enrich, but they cannot secure; others adorn, but cannot advance; all do serve, but none do satisfy; they are like a beggar’s coat made  up of many pieces, not all enough either to beautify or defend.

But Christ is full and sufficient for all his people, he ascended on high that he might fill all things (Eph. iv.10), that he might pour forth such abundance of Spirit on his church as might answer all the conditions, where-unto they may be reduced: righteousness enough to cover all their sins; plenty enough to supply all their wants; grace enough to subdue all their lusts; wisdom enough to resolve all their doubts; power enough to vanquish all their enemies; virtue enough to cure all their diseases; fullness enough to save them, and that to the uttermost.

Over and besides, there is in Christ something proportionable to all the wants and desires of his people: he is bread, wine, milk, living waters to feed them. (John vi. 55, 57). He is a garment of righteousness to cover and adorn them (Rom. xiii. 14); a physician to heal them (Matt. ix. 12); a counselor to advise them (Isaiah ix. 6); a captain to defend them (Heb. ii. 10); a prince to rule, a prophet to teach, a priest to make atonement for them, a husband to protect, a father to provide, a brother to relieve, a foundation to support, a root to quicken, a head to guide, a treasure to enrich, a sun to enlighten, and a fountain to cleanse: so that as the one ocean hath more water than all the rivers of the world, and one sun more light than all the luminaries in heaven, so one Christ is more all to a poor soul, than if it had the all of the whole world a thousand times over.   Edward Reynold

Christ alone is the object of our spiritual joy. We are united to Christ in whom all fullness dwells and we are “blessed with all spiritual blessings by God the Father in Christ.” see Ephesians 1:3. It is therefore our sweet privilege always to rejoice in Christ Jesus. If we search the scriptures, which testify of Christ; if we dwell much in meditation on his person, his offices, his blood, his righteousness, his intercession; we shall perceive never-failing springs of joy. “The great duty believers owe to Christ, is, to glory in him, and to make their boast of him; therefore he is made all in all to us, that whoso glories, may glory in the Lord.” (Matthew Henry)

Photo Credit: Tigr

Reserved Unto Fire

by Robert Candlish

If the Lord were to act according to man’s deserving, there would be no interval, and no end of his judgments. “The imagination of man’s heart being evil from his youth” –no threatenings, no terrors, no floods of wrath, can purge away his guilt, or change and amend his nature. But where judgment is impotent, grace may prevail.

There is to be Blood shed which shall cleanse from all sin, and a Word of reconciliation preached, effectual to save the chief of sinners. For the shedding of that precious Blood, –for the preaching of that blessed Word, –the world is to be spared until the end come. There is to be no more any violent shock of nature, or universal destruction of life. The earth is to stand secure during all the remainder of its appointed days; and the seasons are not to cease.

But though its course is to be no more broken in the middle, it is to have a sudden and terrible termination at the last. The judgment of flood is but the type of the still more awful judgment of fire. The earth saved from water is reserved for fire. By both elements, –by the baptism both of water and of fire, –it must be purged before it can be fitted for the habitation of the Lord and His redeemed.

Meanwhile, the Lord is preparing a stronghold, an ark of safety. It is the ark of his everlasting covenant, to which all that will believe may flee. Their baptism, rightly improved as a figure of the salvation in which they believe (1 Peter 3:21), –uniting them to the Lord Jesus Christ and making them one with him in his death and in his rising again,–shuts them in within a covering of atoning righteousness, which no judgment can touch. In this ark, or in other words, in Christ, –they are now dead; they are buried; though still they have a hidden life, –a life hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). To the world, they may seem as fond and foolish as did Noah when he entered into his ark, and “the Lord shut him in.”

The men of the world, living at ease because all things continue as they were, may marvel and rage, when they see any of us, who once were of the world, moved by a wary fear of coming wrath, seriously to betake ourselves to the only hiding-place. But let us hear the word of the Lord: “Come my people, enter thou into thy chambers,” –the chambers prepared, made ready and set wide open for you, in the Lord’s ark, which is his Christ, his anointed one,–“enter into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth” (Isaiah 26:20). And who then may stand? Where shall the ungodly appear? Shut in, imprisoned, with no door of escape, while fire is devouring the earth!

But let the Lord hide us now. Let him shut us up into Christ’s blessed gospel of reconciliation; –let him shut us up into Christ himself. Let him separate us from an evil world, and make us to feel what it is to be “buried with Christ by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

Then, although the elements should melt with fervent heat, and this earth and these heavens should be dissolved, we, in Christ, shall be hidden in security, floating in air above the fiery storm. And, finally, as the judgment passes away, an olive branch will be brought to us from the renovated world; –and in the new heavens and the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness, we shall dwell for ever with the Lord, and offer the sacrifices of praise continually.

from Contributions towards the exposition of the book of Genesis

Set Your Affections on Things Above

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:17, 18

the world passeth away

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 1 John 2:15-17

The world’s pleasures are only for a transient period. Everything which men of the world lust after, and are so desirous of, is passing away. God has created us to find our happiness in himself alone. Love of the world must necessarily produce dissatisfaction and ruin. On the other hand, those who are in Christ have solid joys, considerable pleasures, riches which are durable and will outlast the world. They have an eternal inheritance; an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for them. The saints who now reside in heaven are done with the pleasures of the world. They have found something far more satisfying and replenishing. Their desire is to know more of the glory of God.

Look into the lives of men in general, and you will see that visible and temporal things appear to them the most important; unseen and eternal things the most trifling. They spend their days laying up for years to come, but take no thought for eternity. When men die, they must pass through “the gate of eternity.” The righteous man puts off the body with all its cares, temptations, and sorrows; his soul ascends to God and enters into everlasting rest, security, and joy. The sinner likewise changes temporal things for eternal things; but it is for torment and misery. The misery of hell is eternal. Our Lord, describing the day of judgment says, “The wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.”

Like a flower. Beautiful, very beautiful; fragrant, very fragrant, are the summer flowers. But they wither away. So fades the world from before our eyes. While we are looking at it, and admiring it, behold, it is gone! No trace is left of all its loveliness but a little dust! O man, can you feed on flowers? Can you dote on that which is but for an hour? You were made for eternity; and only that which is eternal can be your portion or your resting place. The things that perish with the using only mock your longings. They cannot fill you; and even if they filled, they cannot abide. Mortality is written on all things here; immortality belongs only to the world to come,-to that new heavens and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.

Like a ship at sea. With all its sails set, and a fresh breeze blowing, the vessel comes into sight, passes before our eye in the distance, and then disappears. So comes, so goes, so vanishes away this present world, with all that it contains. A few hours within sight, then gone! The wide sea o’er which it sailed as calm or as stormy as before; no trace anywhere of all the life or motion or beauty which was passing over it! O man, is that vanishing world thy only dwelling-place? Are all thy treasures, thy hopes, thy joys laid up there? Where will all these be when thou goest down to the tomb? Or where wilt thou be when these things leave thee, and thou art stripped of all the inheritance which thou art ever to have for eternity? It is a poor heritage at the best, and its short duration makes it poorer still. Oh, choose the better part, which shall not be taken from thee!

THE WORLD PASSETH AWAY. This is the message from heaven. All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof as the flower of the field.
THE WORLD PASSETH AWAY. But God ever liveth. He is from everlasting to everlasting; the King eternal and immortal.
THE WORLD PASSETH AWAY. But man is immortal. Eternity lies before each son of Adam as the duration of his lifetime. In light or in darkness for ever! In joy or in sorrow for ever!
THE WORLD PASSETH AWAY. What then? This is the question that so deeply concerns man. If the world is to vanish away, and man is to live for ever, of what importance is it to know where and what we are to be for ever! Horatius Bonar

treasures in Christ

It is the duty of all men to keep their hearts in heaven. Jesus commanded, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matthew 6: 19-21 Let us set our hearts upon Him who remains faithful forever.

Our Savior exhorted his disciples not to labor to be rich, not to set their hearts on the world. “He exhorts us rather to lay up our treasures in heaven. What does He mean by this? A treasure signifies something that is laid up and preserved with care for a future day. In a larger sense it signifies any riches, temporal or spiritual, which men regard as their portion. The meaning of the injunction is, Neither seek overgrown estates, nor regard your worldly possessions as your chief good; but seek first and most earnestly the kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof.

Secure for yourselves the happiness of heaven, and consider God, and the light of His countenance, and the graces of His Spirit, as your most valuable treasure. Make them the supreme object of your desire and pursuit. Value as your treasure those perfections and manifestations of God which are called “the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God,” “the riches of his glory,” “the riches of his goodness,” “the exceeding riches of his grace,” “the unsearchable riches of Christ.”

Esteem the service of God your wealth, and count the very reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. Value as a treasure all the graces of the Spirit; not only the “riches of the full assurance of understanding,” but “the full assurance of hope.” Secure for yourselves that heavenly country which Abraham sought and found, that “house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens,” that “better and  enduring substance” which is “the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,” “an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.” This is the treasure in heaven…

If you consider heavenly things your chief riches, if you have, and know you have, stores of eternal happiness laid up for you above,—your heart will follow your treasure; your love, your desire, your care, your joy, trust, hope, and fear will center in God. Your soul will tend heavenward, and will keep heaven in its eye, as men are inclined to watch diligently their most valuable treasure. But, if your treasure is on earth, if you consider worldly things your chief good,—then your thoughts, your desires, your cares, joys, hopes, and fears will be earthly.” (Edward Dorr Griffin)

i will never leave thee

In Hebrews 13:5, God gives us a commandment and a promise, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” It is easy to talk of contentment in the day of health and prosperity; very few of us can remain content in the midst of poverty, sickness, disappointments, trouble, and losses.

Contentment is learned at the feet of Jesus Christ. He who has God for his friend and heaven for his home, can wait for good things, and be content with little here below. God gave us this sweet promise, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” I, the eternal Father, the mighty God, the King of kings, “will never leave thee.” The English language fails to give the full meaning of the Greek. It implies, “never—no, never—no, nor ever!” Earthly good things leave us. Health, money, property, friendship; all make themselves wings, and fly away. They are here today, and gone tomorrow. But God says, “I will never leave thee.”

The relationship between Christ and the sinner that trusts in him never ends. The apostle Paul said, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38, 39 Truly, God will never leave us. Let every believer grasp these words, and store them up in his heart. Keep them ready, and have them fresh in your memory; you will want them one day.

The great truth upon which Paul constantly dwelt, and which was to him spiritual meat and drink, was Christ and His salvation. The things of Christ are what is meant by things unseen and eternal. Paul loved the Lord Jesus Christ, and the thought of Christ gave him indescribable comfort. He declares ‘I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord.’ ‘And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.’

But how is it that the unseen Christ gives such comfort and strength and joy? In the first place because He reminds us of the wonderful love of God which has been manifested through Him. We should never grow weary of hearing the great truth, ‘God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.’ What a marvellous assurance He brought of divine love for fallen man! This love doubtless could only have been appreciated by us when conveyed through Christ.

Looking at the troubles of life, at our perishing and afflicted bodies, at the disappointments and sorrows connected with this world, who can rejoice or be satisfied? But looking at the unseen Christ and seeing Him as Paul did, who can sorrow? Is there not in Him the promise of all things? Is He not afflicted in all our afflictions? Are we required in the line of God’s providences to endure anything He has not endured? Does He not know the way and is He not able to guide us through all life’s perplexities? Has He not secured for us a right to the Tree of Life; and is He not the door through which we may go into the very presence of God and into the glories of heaven? What greater feast can be partaken of, or what higher joy than that which faith secures in the Lord Jesus Christ? John Craig Havemeyer

Put your all in Christ; set all your affections on His person, all your hope in His merit, all your trust in His efficacious blood, and all your joy in His presence. Join your heart to Him who will never leave you. Trust all your concerns to Him who can never be taken from you, who will never leave you, even Jesus who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Image credits: jam343; Mara ~earth light~

Our Great God

1 John 4:1-6 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Almighty God

The Spirit of God that is in the hearts of His children is infinitely greater than Satan, the god of this world. Yes, Satan is mighty, but God is the Almighty, the King of Creation. “Our enemy is Satan; but our friend is Jehovah, God in Christ. Satan knows much, but God knows all. Satan is powerful, but God is Almighty. Satan is cunning, but God is the all-wise. The wiles are Satan’s, but the armour is God’s. His will is that we should stand; and He has said, ‘My grace is sufficient for thee.’ (2 Corinthians 12:9)” Francis Bourdillon

Satan has made himself god of this world and set himself up to be God’s rival. (see 2 Corinthians 4:4)  He continually strives to extend the empire of evil in the universe of God. He and his cohorts, all the “principalities and powers of darkness”, plotted and perpetrated Christ’s death in order to reduce him, as they imagined, to the lowest abyss of sorrow, suffering, and shame; and as they vainly supposed, to conquer and crush him forever. They erected a Cross and nailed Him to it. “As he was suspended there, bound hand and foot to the wood in apparent weakness, they imagined they had him at their mercy, and flung themselves upon him with hostile intent…but he grappled with them and mastered them.” F.F. Bruce

The Cross was selected as the battle-field on which to decide the great controversy between heaven and hell. On one hand was the Almighty God, on the other the combined armies of Satan. Just when it appeared that Satan had won the most decisive victory in history, Christ uttered the final word in the redemption of mankind, “It is finished!” This was “the greatest note of triumph ever sounded in the ears of a startled universe…” Oswald Chambers

Satan had early been warned of his coming defeat. He had, no doubt, observed the movements of Providence, and perceived that some mighty scheme was in operation. He might even have suspected, that eventually it would burst on his own head; but long success had made him confident. He almost fancied that, with his puny arm, he could ward off the blows of the Almighty. Hence, no sooner had the Son of God appeared in our nature, than Satan attacked him with all his forces, determined to make one universal, and, if possible, successful onset.

And here it was ordered, in the wisdom of God, that—as in all his other attempts—he should appear to succeed. He had pursued Jesus with persecutions through life, and had brought him even to the very borders of the grave. But now, when, to the eye of men and devils, the victory was complete, when they were almost ready to raise the shout of hellish triumph, behold, to their everlasting confusion, they perceive that, with all their malice, they had only been fulfilling the counsel of God, for their own destruction! The time had now come, fixed in the purposes of eternity; and they were now on that spot on which he had determined their final defeat, and but a single word from the lips of the expiring Saviour, flashed anguish unutterable into the hearts of these dark spirits of despair. He said, “It is finished,” and the powers of darkness lay prostrate at his feet. He said, “It is finished,” and principalities and powers were spoiled—a show of them was openly made, and they were triumphed over in the cross.   The Evangelical Repository

A Defeated Foe

We have the advantage of fighting a defeated foe. Christ vanquished and triumphed over all our enemies, he overcame the world, he conquered the devil, he spoiled hell, he weakened sin, and he destroyed death. 1 John 3:8 says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” Hebrews 2:14 says the same thing, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” He accomplished all this on the Cross.

The grand plot of hell was to ruin the works of God, to disturb the creation, to deface the image of God, and to set up his [Satan’s] empire in these lower regions: being cast out of heaven, he would set up his throne upon earth, and reign without control as the god of this world. But now, the purpose of the Son of God was to counteract the enemy, to sap and overturn the foundation of his usurped kingdom, and to set up and establish his own and his Father’s authority among the sons of men…

[Jesus Christ] is one that is successful in all his enterprises; he never lost a battle, victory follows him in his train and retinue. Wherever he goes, he stains his raiment with the blood of his enemies, like one that treadeth in the wine-fat; for he “treads them in his anger, and tramples them in his fury.” When death the king of terrors encounters him, he cries, “O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction.” When the armies of hell encounter him, he spoils them, and leads them about in triumph, and makes his ignominious cross a triumphant chariot, to which he ties them as so many trophies of his victory; he “casts death and hell into the lake of fire and brimstone.” And hence it comes, that this very name is the terror of hell; for “things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, bow at the name of Jesus.” Ebenezer Erskine

If Christ stands with us, our triumph is certain. If we  stand alone against Satan, we are doomed to utter despair. Unassisted flesh and blood cannot withstand the fierce wrath of the devil. Although our adversary has been defeated, he has not yet conceded defeat. He is busy sowing tares among the wheat and ruling hostile principalities and powers. He knows his time is limited, so his wrath is fierce. To stand against him, we must put on our spiritual armour, which God prepares and bestows.

So long as we muster in as munitions of war our intellect, self-sufficiency, egotism, etc., the cohorts will laugh at our delusion. There is but One who can out-general his maneuvers, silence his thunderings, checkmate his diabolical acumen, know his oily, snaky approaches, penetrate his angelic beneficence, understand his insidious schemes: that One knew him from the beginning, -and outranked him in heaven and conquered him on earth. Charles Franklin Wimberly

God Abides in Us

The security for our full and final victory over Satan and all the “principalities and powers of darkness” lies in the emphatic declaration: “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” He that is in you is the Spirit of God; for “hereby we know that God abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.” We are able to overcome the assaults of all lying spirits because we are taught and kept by the Spirit of Christ, who is far greater than the evil spirit, “which still worketh in the children of disobedience.” (see Ephesians 2:2)

We who have trusted in Christ are safe in the love, and covenant, and arms of an Almighty God, who is our refuge. Our trials are many, but our God is great. He that made all things, and sustains all things, and governs all things, and possesses all things, is our God. Surely his grace is sufficient for us and his arms can bear us up: The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Deuteronomy 33:27 Let us rejoice, then, not only in the goodness, but also in the greatness of that God whom we have chosen for our portion.

Abide With Me

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word;
But as Thou dwell’st with Thy disciples, Lord,
Familiar, condescending, patient, free.
Come not to sojourn, but abide with me.

Come not in terrors, as the King of kings,
But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings,
Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea—
Come, Friend of sinners, and thus bide with me.

Thou on my head in early youth didst smile;
And, though rebellious and perverse meanwhile,
Thou hast not left me, oft as I left Thee,
On to the close, O Lord, abide with me.

I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

Henry F. Lyte, 1847

Prepare to Meet Thy God

… There is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return:  ‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’ Isaiah 45:22,23

An Allotted Season

God has allotted to each one of us a short season to prepare for eternity. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, so it is imperative that we act today on His promptings. In Amos 4:12 we are given the command: “Prepare to meet thy God.”  Romans 14:10-12 says, “For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’ So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.”

To the unholy man, the very thought of meeting his Maker is dreadful. Men by nature are not ready to meet God, nor do they have any desire or willingness to come before Him. Nonetheless, God “commands all people everywhere to repent,  because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”  Acts 17:30,31

Soon the Lord Jesus will come a second time, and then the blaze of his throne will supplant the mild radiance of his cross: the Judge will be seen rather than the Redeemer. Now he saves, but then he will destroy. Let us hear his voice at this moment. He hath limited a day, let us be eager to avail ourselves of the gracious season. Let us believe in Jesus this day, seeing it may be our last. These are the pleadings of one who now falls back on his pillow in very weakness. Hear them for your souls’ sakes and live. Charles Spurgeon

The Lord Our Righteousness

Romans 5:19 “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”

Philippians 2:7-11 “[Christ]made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Unfallen man had no greater joy than walking with God. It was heaven on earth to meet in converse tender and sublime with the great Father of Spirits. No marriage bells ever rang out a sweeter or more joyous melody than these glad words as they were heard amid the myrtle bowers and palm groves of Eden by our first parents in the heyday of their innocence, “Prepare to meet thy God.” Then when Jehovah walked in the garden in the cool of the day, he had no need to say aloud, “Adam, where art thou?” This happy creature whom he had made to have dominion over all the works of his hands was waiting for him as a child waiteth for his father when the day’s work is done, watching to hear his father’s footfall, and to see his father’s face. Oh, yes! those were words in fullest harmony with Eden’s joys, “Prepare to meet thy God.” Charles Spurgeon

Man had fellowship and open communication with God, before Adam disobeyed Him in the garden. After the fall, that which was his wonder and joy, and the fulfillment of his need, became the reason for his fear. “He was going to meet God face to face! Once man had shaken his fist in the face of God, what had been so wonderful became a just reason for fear, because God was really there.” Francis Schaeffer

All mankind has been marked by Adam’s sin. Without Christ, you and I are enemies of God and alienated from Him. Each one of us has been the rebel and disobedient. “As it is written: None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” Romans 3:10-12

The God of heaven and earth demands righteousness of all His creatures.  But, in the sight of God “we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.” Isaiah 64:6-7 Righteousness is an impossible attainment by man. We can never gain favor with God through our own merits.

Who then can be saved? Christ answered this question in Luke 18:27, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” In fact, it was Christ who came to give us the righteousness which God’s law demands. Jeremiah prophesied of Christ, “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth… and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”  Jeremiah 23:5-6

When we believe in Christ, by faith we receive our justification. Just as the merit of his blood takes away our sin, so the merit of his obedience is imputed to us for righteousness. We are considered, as soon as we believe, as though the works of Christ were our works. God looks upon us as though that perfect obedience, of which I have just now spoken, had been performed by ourselves,—as though our hands had been busy at the loom, as though the fabric and the material which have been worked up into the fine linen, which is the righteousness of the saints, had been grown in our own fields. God considers us as though we were Christ—looks upon us as though his life had been our life—and accepts, blesses, and rewards us as though all that he did had been done by us, his believing people…

“This is the name by which he shall be called, the Lord our righteousness.” Let us call him by this great name, which the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has named. Let us call him—poor sinners!—even we, who are today burdened with grief on account of sin. I want this text to be fulfilled in your ears and in your case today. You are guilty. Your own conscience acknowledges that the law condemns you, and you dread the penalty. Soul! he who trusts Christ Jesus is saved, and he who believes in him is not condemned. To every trustful spirit Christ is “the Lord our righteousness.” Call him so, I pray you. Do you say, “I have no good thing of my own?” Here is every good thing in him. Do you say, “I have broken the law?” There is his blood for you. Believe in him; he will wash you. “But then I have not kept the law.” There is his keeping of the law for you. Take it, sinner, take it. Believe on him. “Oh, but I dare not,” one says. Do him the honour to dare it. “Oh, but it seems impossible.” Honour him by believing the impossibility then. “Oh, but how can he save such a wretch as I am?” Soul! Christ is glorified in saving wretches…Christ cures incurable sinners; so I now say that he accepts unacceptable sinners. He receives sinners who think they are not fit to be received. Only do trust him and say, “He shall be my righteousness today.” “But suppose I should do it and be presumptuous?” It is impossible. He bids you; he commands you. Let that be your warrant. “This is the commandment, that you believe on Jesus Christ whom he has sent.” If you cannot say it with a loud voice, yet with the trembling silence of your soul let heaven hear it. Yes, Jesus, “All unholy and unclean, I am nothing else but sin; yet I dare with fervent attempt of these quivering lips to call you, and to call upon you now, as the Lord my righteousness.” Charles Spurgeon

Blameless Before God

While most men and women are loath to meet their God, there is another group who longs to be in His presence. Jude 24, 25 says, “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy…” Christians are going to stand before the throne of God as blameless. We have been clothed in the righteousness of Christ and our sins have been forgiven. Now we are eagerly anticipating our Lord’s coming.

1 Corinthians 1:7,8 Waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Colossians 1:20-22 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled  In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight…

The Puritan minister and author, Thomas Vincent, wrote the following anticipatory words in his book, Christ’s Certain and Sudden Appearance to Judgment. Those who belong to Christ look forward to his return with unspeakable joy.

Look for the appearance of the Lord, look with an eye of hope, labor to abound in hope, by the power of the Holy Ghost, and let this hope be an anchor fastened within the veil, to stay your sinking hearts in the midst of these fierce storms, which do, or may beat upon you in the world, and look with the eye of desire. Look and long for Christ’s appearance; dart up your wishes often to heaven. O when shall we see the heaven opened, and behold our Lord in his glory? When shall we hear the trumpet sound, and be gathered by the angels from all quarters of the earth? When shall we put off this dust and corruption, and be clothed with robes of immortality? When shall the Lord Jesus come down and shew us his glory, and receive us to himself, that where he is, there we may be also? Christ hath spoken from heaven to earth, Surely, I come quickly; let there be an echo back from earth to heaven in your desires to this voice: Amen, even so come LORD JESUS, come quickly.

…Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise GOD, our SAVIOR, be glory and majesty, dominion, and power, now and ever, Amen.  Thomas Vincent

To learn more about salvation in Christ, see my post: Christ the Only Saviour.

Photo Credits:
Kevin Tiqui, GreyBlueSkies, Moondole