Hymns for service: “I Love To Tell the Story” – p. 431 “Sweet Hour of Prayer” – p. 361
None reverence the Lord but they who know Him in His redemptive glory as both a just God and a Savior in Christ Jesus.
– Copied
If we could peer into heaven and see that great number of departed saints, I think we would see Abraham and his nephew Lot, Joshua and Rahab the harlot, Samuel and Samson, the penitent thief and the apostle Paul, ALL dressed in the very same raiment – that beautiful garment of salvation, the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ which was freely given them (Isa. 61:10). After all, nothing less will make a sinner acceptable in God's sight and qualified for heaven! What more is there? Can anything be added to the righteousness of Christ? Can anything make a sinner more approved of God? The Lord Jesus Christ is ALL the believer's justifying righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:21). – Copied
“My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:18)
O how we should strive to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, and how we should do our very best to love our brethren in the faith! What a struggle it is within us because of the remaining presence, influence, contamination, and power of our own self-love. And there are a thousand ways we can and should express this love to others, from helping them with the simple necessities of life when the occasion arises, to standing in the truth of the Gospel and praying for their salvation. But always know that true godly love can never be expressed in any way or to any degree without truth as it is revealed in the Gospel of God’s grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot love our lost and dying neighbors while telling them a lie about their salvation and how God saves sinners. Although it is true that the natural man will not see the love we have for him in telling him the truth (1 John 3:1-2), this does not change things. Christ said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me” (John 14:6). The Lord Jesus Christ is the standard both of love and of truth, and we cannot be so brazen as to think we have a better way. – Pastor Bill Parker
WITH OR WITHOUT CHRIST?
From the sermon “Without Christ,” by William Gadsby, preached on 11/17/1842
“That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the com monwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12). If we have Christ, we have His blood for pardon, His righteousness for justification, His fulness to supply all our needs, His promises to cheer us, His strength to support us, His wisdom to guide us in all our ways. We have Him in all the offices He sustains, as Prophet to teach and instruct us, as Priest to atone and plead for us, and as King to rule over us and in us. We have Him in all the blessed characters He bears, as our Shepherd, our Captain, our Bread of Life, Water of Life and the Wine of God to cheer us. We have Him in the endearing relationship He sustains as our Elder Brother. And, which is more endearing than all, we have Him as our Husband; and He does not take His bride as we are in the habit of taking ours, for better or for worse. O no! He knew she would have no “better” about her; it would be all “worse;” therefore He took her with all her sin and guilt and stood answerable for all her debts. Cannot some of you recollect a time when you were without Christ? Up to the time that I was nearly eighteen years of age, I was without Christ; but just before I was eighteen, Christ, in distinguishing love, revealed Himself to me. I am now within a few weeks of seventy and I feel up to this moment as much necessity of Christ as ever. I have not gained a bit of ground here. Since that time I have preached many thousands of sermons about Christ, I have travelled many thousands of miles to preach about Him and in this respect I think I may say I have labored more abundantly than many. But, if you would take away Christ, I would as soon trust the devil as all my doings; and the devil would have as good a hope as I should have; for all my hope comes from, and is centered in, a precious Christ. If we are without Christ, we have nothing but sin and wretchedness; nothing but what will lead us to ruin.
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