JESUS CHRIST, PERFECT GOD AND PERFECT MAN
". . . When Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, . . . He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied . . ." (Isaiah 53:10,11)
It is true that He emptied Himself. He laid aside the outward appearance of Deity. His Godhead was veiled. But it was there! Again and again His Godhead shows itself. As man, He slept in the boat. As God, He calmed the waves. As man, He wept. As God, He cried, "Lazarus, come forth!" (John 11:43) As man, He was laid in the tomb--as God, He arose! A. E. Hughes.
Calvary has no date. "The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." (Revelation 13:8)
Oh, the love that drew salvations's plan,
Oh, the grace that brought it down to man,
Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span At Calvary!
Mercy there was great, and grace was free,
Pardon there was multiplied to me,
There my burdened soul found liberty, At Calvary! (W. R. Newell)
"Calvary stills all questions."
The cross spells two stories: one in black--ugly black--the story of sin. Sin carpentered the Cross, and wove the thorns, and drove the nails--our sin! And a story too, in red--bright-flowing red--the story of LOVE, HIS LOVE that yielded to the cross and nails and shame for us! And only the passion of His love burning within will make us hate sin, as only HIS BLOOD can wash it out.
The hill of the Cross is the highest hill on earth in its significance. There hate's worst and love's best met. "AND LOVE WON." Dr. S. D. Gordon
N.J. Hiebert - 20284
April 20
"BUT HE ROSE AGAIN"
He is not here: for He is risen, as He said. . . . Matthew 28:6
I was going down a street in Chicago, when in a window I saw a very moving picture of the crucifixion. As I gazed spellbound at the vividly pictured story, I suddenly became conscious that at my side stood a street urchin. He, too, was gazing, and his tense expression made me know that "The Crucifixion" had really gripped his little soul.
Touching him on the shoulder, I said, "Sonny, what does it mean?" "Doncha know?" he asked, his face full of marvel at my ignorance. "That there man is Jesus, and them others is Roman soldiers, and the woman that's cryin' is His mother, and," he added, "they killed Him."
I was loathe to leave that window, but I could not tarry always at the world's tragedy, so I turned and walked quietly down the street. In a moment I heard pattering footsteps at my heels, and there stood my little street urchin. "Say, Mister," he breathlessly announced, I fergot to tell yer, He rose again!"
The sign of our faith is an empty Cross, and empty tomb--He is not here: for He is risen!
REDEMPTION
A mother and her Child; a wondrous Boy, a dead man raised to life;
A few poor fishermen, an Upper Room, a feast, a garden and a judgment hall.
A crown of thorns, a scourge, a bitter cross; a great stone rolled away and tears;
A springtime morning and an empty tomb; a feast a Blessing and a Risen Christ.
Mary Winter Ware
Oh, let me live as If He died but yestertide;
And I myself had seen and touched His pierced side.
20285
N.J. Hiebert - 20285
April 21
REDEEMED (Being set free - Bought Back)
Your redemption draweth nigh. . . . Luke 21:28
REDEMPTION FROM SIN has been accomplished already. All who avail themselves of what was wrought on Calvary have been bought in the market, bought out of the market, never again to be on sale in the market.
The redemption of our bodies awaits the resurrection when all who have been redeemed through faith in Christ shall be transformed and take their new bodies fashioned like His glorious body. Then follows the redemption of all creation.
When the saints rule over the earth set free from the blight of decay and death, man and beast will be at peace. God has set His face to redeem man and nature from the havoc wrought by the devil. "Lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh!" All The Days - Vance Havner
Redeemed-how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed thro' His infinite mercy, His child, and forever, I am.
Redeemed and so happy in Jesus, No language my rapture can tell;
I know that the light of His presence With me doth continually dwell.
I think of my bless-ed Redeemer, I think of Him all the day long;
I sing, for I cannot be silent; His love is the theme of my song.
I know I shall see in His beauty The King in whose word I delight;
Who lovingly guardeth my footsteps, and giveth me songs in the night.
Chorus: Redeemed, . . Redeemed, . . Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed, . . redeemed, . . His child, and forever I am. Fanny J. Crosby
N.J. Hiebert - 20286
April 22
Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee. . . 2 Timothy 1:6
Having expressed his love for and confidence in Timothy, Paul passes on to exhortation, encouragement and instruction. First, he exhorts him to stir up "the gift of God" which had been imparted to him for the service of the Lord.
In the presence of difficulties, dangers and general unfaithfulness, when there would appear to be little result from the ministry, there is the danger of thinking it is almost useless to exercise gift. Therefore we need the warning against letting the gift fall into disuse. We are to stir it up; and, in a day of ruin, to be all the more insistent in its use. A little later the Apostle can say, "Preach the word; be instant (urgent) in season, out of season" (2 Timothy 4:2).
Having spoken of gifts that are special to the individual, the Apostle passes on to remind Timothy of the gift that is common to all believers. To some God gives a special gift for the ministry of the word, to all His people He gives the spirit of power, and of love, and of wise discretion. It is the state and spirit of the believer that is the result of the work of the Holy Spirit and therefore partakes of the character of the Spirit, as the Lord said, "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit." (John 3:6)
By nature Timothy may have been timid, and retiring in disposition, but the Holy Spirit does not produce the spirit of cowardice, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. In the natural man we may find power without love, or love degenerating into mere sentiment. With the Christian, under the control of the Spirit, power is combined with love, and love expressed with a wise discretion. Thus, however difficult the day, the believer is well equipped with power to do the will of God, to express the love of God, and to exercise a sober judgment in the midst of the ruin.
Hamilton Smith - Expository Outline of Second Timothy
N.J. Hiebert - 20287
April 23
April 24
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