He came forward.

They came with lanterns.  Certain He was hiding himself in the darkest corners of the garden on this blackest of nights.  He had to know they were after His life.

They came with weapons.  Expecting inevitable resistance from His followers if not from Him. Their fingers itched to have Him bound and taken to trial.  Then He would see who was really in charge.

But how wonderfully they were mistaken.  They stopped dead in their tracks.

He did not hide. Even though He fully and perfectly knew all that was about to happen to Him.  Even though He had just moments before been near death itself as He stared into the cup He was about to drink.  Even though He cried to the Father two times for an alternative and heard nothing but silence from heaven.  The most agonizing night.  And the greatest agony to come in merely hours.

He did not flee.  He came forward.  Though He staggered in His soul, contemplating the work He had to do.  He perfectly obeyed His Father.  He loved Him.  He was faithful to do what He had to do in order to fulfill the plan of redemption They had made together before time began. He knew His hour had come. 

He came forward. Because He loved sinners.

He did not resist.  The obedient Son asked the soldiers who they were seeking.  When they shouted His name, He came forward and said He was the One they were looking for. They did not even have to search. 

Before the men could even seize Him, they fell to the ground.  Astonished.  What? Who IS this man?  His very words made them tremble.  They could not even remain standing.

Again, He asked them who they sought. Again told them that He was the One they were after.  Once the soldiers made it to their feet again, they bound Him and led Him to face it.  Man's greatest act of injustice in all of history.  Yet God's greatest display of justice and mercy for all the world for all of time.   The cross.

Who was this Man that willingly handed Himself over to certain death? Certain wrath? The greatest human suffering possible?  Unimaginable pain and separation?  The horror and shame of the cross?

Who was He?

The only Man who was stronger than death.  The Man who was God himself in the flesh. 

The Man who saw our need. And gave Himself to be our Savior. Died in weakness, rose again in power. To be our peace. Our righteousness. Our HOPE.

And the only One who can save me.  The only One who can save you.

He is Jesus Christ.

Let us worship and be amazed.

He was willing to go to the cross.  He is willing to save sinners still!

What a Savior!

what is your life?

The first thought I had of it came in church yesterday morning.  The congregation heard the account of a woman in the hospital who was given a maximum of two days to live. She wanted a chaplain to come and talk with her. In God's merciful providence, the hospital could not get a hold of the chaplain on call. So they called the deacon from our church.  He went in to see her, and the woman, barely able to talk, told him that she wanted her sins to be forgiven. "What does it mean to be a Christian?" she asked him. By God's grace, he told her the good news of Jesus Christ and prayed with her.  This woman found the rest she was searching for - in the Savior.  Merely hours before it happened... 

That afternoon, several families from our church went to visit the local nursing home.  As I played the piano and the children sang songs about the Gospel, my heart was filled with hope.  Here we were in a room filled with so many lonely people.  Those who did have family visiting were accompanied by their guests. Even staff members were present, or would peek their head in the room out of curiosity.  I don't think I had ever seen the room that full. I could barely make my way through the maze of wheelchairs and beds.  All of them were there eager and glad to hear our songs and the message of the Gospel.  What a glorious opportunity!  After we were through singing, I made my way around to say hello to some of the residents. As I held their frail hands, and gave them a smile and  a greeting, I felt an overwhelming sense of the eternal importance of what we were doing.  I had done this countless times before, but never felt such urgency, such joy in giving joy to others.  I prayed that their eyes would not just see cute children and kind people, but the beauty of Christ and the glory of the Gospel.  This could very well have been the last time I would have seen some of these familiar faces.  Praises be to God for the opportunity to show His love and sing of the hope of the Savior.  These dear people are soon to face it...

At home that evening, my family gathered in the living room to listen to an excellent message by CJ Mahaney. One of my sisters and I had heard it given a few weeks ago at Next, but it was the first time to hear it for the rest of the family.  Pastor Mahaney spoke on a topic of first importance, the death of Christ.  He quoted Charles Spurgeon: "We cannot think of that death too often." Then he went on to proclaim the glories of the forsaken Savior and what it meant for Him to be cut off from His Father, and be left to drink the cup of God's wrath alone. "He drained the cup dry, leaving us not a drop to drink. He experienced wrath so that we might experience grace. He was forsaken so that we might be forgiven by the Father... He screamed so that we might sing nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ. He was forsaken so that we might never be forsaken."  What astounding mercy!

Then he spoke about the dying Savior.  And I was reminded again of this fact.  It comes to all men.  The repeated phrase in Genesis 5 "...and he died" will one day be said of every one of us. Will one day be said of me.  And because of the Savior's death, I need not fear death.  Why? Because when I die, "the next face [I will see], and the next voice [I will hear], will be the Savior's!" Because He drained the cup of God's wrath dry for me, I know that only grace remains.  All because of His... DEATH.

We do not know what our futures hold.  But there is one thing certain to happen to all of us... It is the one thing that happens to everyone. Yet it is the one thing we treat as if it will never happen.  Or something that is still a long way off.  Yet James tells us... "What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." (James 4:14) What does this mean?  It doesn't matter if we live to be a hundred years old, or if we died this very day.  Our lives will be over before we know it.  

So then, the question remains...

"How then shall I live?"

Are we living and breathing to display the only true and lasting treasure - Jesus Christ?  Are we people who are constantly surveying and pointing others to His wondrous cross - His death that makes all the difference in this life and the one to come? Are we counting all earthly things as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord?  Are we using our material blessings to show that these things are not our treasure - Christ is?  

Or are we storing up for ourselves treasures on earth? Things that may bring us temporary pleasure, but in the end mean nothing when we come to stand before God?

Don't waste your life!

Owen on The Means of Mortifying Sin

"Let, then, your soul by faith be exercised with such thoughts and apprehensions as these:

I am a poor, weak creature; unstable as water, I cannot excel. This corruption is too hard for me, and is at the very door of ruining my soul; and what to do I know not. My soul is become as parched ground, and an habitation of dragons. I have made promises and broken them; vows and engagements have been as a thing of naught. Many persuasions have I had that I had got the victory and should be delivered, but I am deceived; so that I plainly see, that without some eminent succor and assistance, I am lost, and shall be prevailed on to an utter relinquishment of God. But yet, though this be my state and condition, let the hands that hang down be lifted up, and the feeble knees be strengthened. Behold, the Lord Christ, that has all fullness of grace in his heart [John 1:16], all fullness of power in his hand [Matt. 28:18], he is able to slay all these his enemies. There is sufficient provision in him for my relief and assistance. He can take my drooping, dying soul and make me more than a conqueror [Rom. 8:37].

'Why do you say, O my soul, my way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God? Have you not known, have you not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. He gives power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint." (Isa. 40:27-31).'

He can make the 'dry, parched ground of my soul to become a pool, and my thirsty, barren heart as springs of water'; yea, he can make this 'habitation of dragons', this heart, so full of abominable lusts and fiery temptations, to be a place for 'grass' and fruit to himself (Isa. 35:7).

So God staid Paul, under His temptation, with the consideration of the sufficiency of his grace: 'My grace is sufficient for you' (2 Cor. 12:9)

Post-Election True and False Quiz

I first saw this on the Founders Ministries Blog (founders.org/blog) and thought it was a very fitting reminder of where our hope must lie both now and forever... Not in any man or any power of man, but in Christ alone and in the power of His gospel!

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, Jesus will still be King.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, our responsibilities as Christians will not have changed one iota.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, the greatest agent for social change in America will still be winning the hearts and minds of men and women through the gospel, not legislation.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, my primary citizenship will still be in this order - (1) the Kingdom of God, (2) America, not vice-versa.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, the tomb will still be empty.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, the cross, not the government, will still be our salvation.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, our children will still be more concerned with whether or not we spend time with them than with who is President.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, my neighbor will still be my neighbor, and loving him/her will still be the second greatest commandment. (Do you know the first?)

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, the only way to see abortion ultimately overturned will still be winning men and women to a high view of life through the gospel of Christ.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, the only way to see gay marriage ultimately defeated will still be winning men and women to a biblical view of marriage through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, my retirement will still not match my treasure in Heaven.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, "Jesus Is Lord" will still be the greatest truth in the Universe.

True/False: The day after the election, regardless of who wins, we will still know that God is in control.




Thanks be to our great God! Although the days ahead seem grim and uncertain, we need not despair. Our God will never change, and He rules faithfully over all. Lift up your eyes and behold the wondrous Savior! His glorious Word is our only certainty and the foundation of our hope in the midst of these storms and shifting sands.

"Neither need we fear crosses, or sigh, or be sad for anything that is on this side of heaven, if we have Christ."
"The floods may swell and roar, but our ark shall swim above the waters; it cannot sink, because a Savior is in it."
-Samuel Rutherford "The Loveliness of Christ






P. S. Please remember to pray for our nation, our president-elect, and the unborn children who are being slaughtered every day. It is every indication that nothing will be done to stop abortion or reduce it in any way while we have a President Obama. He has promised Planned Parenthood to lift all restrictions that are currently placed on abortions, as well as enact the Freedom of Choice Act. We must continue to speak for those who have no voice and fight against this horrendous "silent holocaust" that is taking place. May God hear our cries for justice and mercy upon these children!

Paul's Prayer for the Ephesians

Covenant Life Church of Gaithersburg, Maryland is currently doing a sermon series on the book of Ephesians. I have been listening to them on Sundays via podcast, and I must say they have been very helpful and a great blessing. I have even been working on memorizing Ephesians 1. This past sunday, I listened to Jeff Purswell's excellent message on Eph. 1:15-23. I just wanted to share some of my notes on Paul's prayer. In his prayer, he asks God to deepen the Ephesians' knowledge of Him, and that the Spirit of wisdom and revelation would continue to work in their hearts. Here are 3 ways Mr. Purswell points out that God reveals Himself to His children:

(These are my notes from the sermon, hence they are not quotes, but not my words either.)
1. The hope of His calling (v. 18) - If you are a believer, you are called! You have a glorious hope! (1 Cor. 2:9 "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him"). Lord, show us what awaits! Life forever in Your presence! On that day we will see how every single second in our lives worked to our good! "When our hope lies ahead, our lives will follow." The Spirit produces this hope in our hearts. Let us pray for more of this hope!

2. The riches of His inheritance - (Deut. 4:20 "But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of His own inheritance, as you are this day.") WE are GOD'S treasured possession! And it is all because of God's choosing, calling, and redemption. Not by any merits of our own. But rather in spite of our demerits! God has loved us! He has chosen sinners as His treasure! I am His and He is mine! This is the noblest and highest calling.

3. The greatness of His power (v. 19) - What is this greatness of God like? Look at v. 20. The power at work in us is the very same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead! We are new creatures in Christ! There is no power so great but Christ is above it ALL! Therefore we have nothing to fear. God's power is greater than all our uncertainties.


Let Paul's prayer and desire be that of our own hearts! Oh that we might know our Lord as we ought!