Justification by Faith Alone – The Very Essence Of Christianity

“The Very Essence Of Christianity – Historic evangelicalism has therefore always treated justification by faith as a central biblical distinctive—if not the single most important doctrine to get right. This is the doctrine that makes authentic Christianity distinct from every other religion. Christianity is the religion of divine accomplishment—with the emphasis always on Christ’s finished work. All others are religions of human achievement. They become preoccupied, inevitably, with the sinner’s own efforts to be holy. Abandon the doctrine of justification by faith and you cannot honestly claim to be evangelical.
Scripture itself makes sola fide the only alternative to a damning system of works-righteousness: “Now to the one who works, his wage is not reckoned as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness” (Rom. 4:4-5, emphasis added).
In other words, those who trust Jesus Christ for justification by faith alone receive a perfect righteousness that is reckoned to them. Those who attempt to establish their own righteousness or mix faith with works only receive the terrible wage that is due all who fall short of perfection. So the individual as well as the church stands or falls with the principle of sola fide. Israel’s apostasy was rooted in their abandonment of justification by faith alone: “For not knowing about God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God” (Rom. 10:3).
Biblical justification must be earnestly defended on two fronts. No-lordship theology (the error we dealt with in the November/December issue of Pulpit) twists the doctrine of justification by faith to support the view that obedience to God’s moral law is optional. This teaching attempts to reduce the whole of God’s saving work to the declarative act of justification. It downplays the spiritual rebirth of regeneration (2 Cor. 5:17); it discounts the moral effects of the believer’s new heart (Ezek. 36:26-27); and it makes sanctification hinge on the believer’s own efforts. It tends to treat the forensic element of justification—God’s act of declaring the believing sinner righteous—as if this were the only essential aspect of salvation. The inevitable effect of this approach is to turn the grace of God into licentiousness (Jude 4). Such a view is called antinomianism.
On the other hand, there are many who make justification dependent on a mixture of faith and works. Whereas antinomianism radically isolates justification from sanctification, this error blends the two aspects of God’s saving work. The effect is to make justification a process grounded in the believer’s own flawed righteousness—rather than a declarative act of God grounded in Christ’s perfect righteousness.
As soon as justification is fused with sanctification, works of righteousness become an essential part of the process. Faith is thus diluted with works. Sola fide is abandoned. This was the error of the Galatian legalists (cf. Gal. 2:16; 5:4). Paul called it “a different gospel” (Gal. 1:6, 9). The same error is found in virtually every false cult. It’s the main error of Roman Catholicism. I’m concerned that it may also be the direction many who are enthralled with “the New Perspective on Paul” are travelling.


If doctrine as a whole has been ignored in our day, the doctrine of justification has suffered a particular neglect.

"Jesus’ Perspective on Sola Fide by John MacArthur, Copyright 2004
Related Posts:
Justification by Faith Alone in Christ Jesus – The centre of Christianity
The Importance of Justification (by Faith Alone, by Grace Alone, in Christ Alone)

All Providences Come About For The Good of Those That Are Christ’s

When God allows severe trials and afflictions come into our lives, as feeble human beings, they test our faith in God. Are trials and afflictions in fact  privileges of God's children ? From the scriptures, it is clear that God is  always on the His throne and in control. He does what He purposes for His Glory.  He acts out of His sovereign will.   The redeemed belong to Christ, He bought them by His own blood. Everything that comes into our lives does not come by chance but is all a  manifestation of God's fore knowledge and special care for his children, all them who loved God and are Christ's redeemed.  Christ  promised that He will never leave His sheep. In our journey of life as sojourners through this earth , all providences come about for the good of those that are Christ's. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
In this embedded clip  is a moving testimony of Brady, a young boy who was diagnosed with brain cancer at age of 10.  It was then God shined the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ into his heart.  He was transformed  and showed great joy through the 4 years of living  and suffering with this terminal illness. His testimony before all people who came into contact with him showed that he had a great hunger for God showing  much faith and joy in knowing that God was at work in him. Through it all, the testimony of his parents showed that their lives and that of their other two children were drawn much closer to God through the experience that Brady underwent. We may not have the answers now as to why God allowed experience such as this to come to Brady  but we can trust that such  seemingly sad experience worked for His purpose and for His Glory. God ensured that all things worked together for good for Brady and his family.




In Matthew Henry''s commentary on Rom 8:28:
The privilege of the saints, that all things work together for good to them, that is, all the providences of God that concern them. All that God performs he performs for them, Psalms 57:2. Their sins are not of his performing, therefore not intended here, though his permitting sin is made to work for their good, 2 Chron 32:31. But all the providences of God are theirs - merciful providences, afflicting providences, personal, public. They are all for good; perhaps for temporal good, as Joseph's troubles; at least, for spiritual and eternal good. That is good for them which does their souls good. Either directly or indirectly, every providence has a tendency to the spiritual good of those that love God, breaking them off from sin, bringing them nearer to God, weaning them from the world, fitting them for heaven. Work together. They work, as physic works upon the body, various ways, according to the intention of the physician; but all for the patient's good. They work together, as several ingredients in a medicine concur to answer the intention. God hath set the one over against the other (Eccl 7:14): sunergei, a very singular, with a noun plural, denoting the harmony of Providence and its uniform designs, all the wheels as one wheel, Eze 10:13. He worketh all things together for good; so some read it. It is not from any specific quality in the providences themselves, but from the power and grace of God working in, with, and by, these providences. All this we know - know it for a certainty, from the word of God, from our own experience, and from the experience of all the saints.

 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. Psalms  57:2
God left him to himself, in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart." 2 Chron 32:31
In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. Eccl 7:14

Losing Your Life For My Sake and the Gospel's

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. Mark 8:35

Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. Mark 10:29-30

Sovereignty of God: My Grace is All Sufficient Through Deep Waters I Asked You To Go

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Rom 8:28

We often do not understand why God allows trials and testings to come into our lives. We have to trust God and look beyond to a time when we shall meet Him face to face and then we will have all the answers to our perplexing questions we now face while undergoing trials and testings. In the book of James, it clearly says that God allows trials to come into our lives, to test our faith in order to produce steadfastness in us. In going through trials, we learn to trust less in ourselves and we learn to turn to, trust in and rely upon God. Our faith in God then becomes steadfast, it becomes enduring and constant. God wants every child He receives to grow and to be mature in our walk with Him and our worship. When we trust God and we remained steadfast in our faith, we are blessed. Our love for Him is proved, when we look beyond our present sufferings and pains by trusting that God’s ways are the best because He is always compassionate and merciful to His children.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. James 1:2-4, 12

As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. James 5:10-11

Josiah Grauman, a believer who experienced tremendous trials and sufferings in his life starting at an early age. Even when he is actively pursuing God’s will for his life and serving God in obedience, the God of the bible still has a purpose to work out through him, by allowing the many challenges to confront and test and strengthen his faith. Through all the many trials and testing, Josiah Grauman has learned to trust firmly in the sovereignty of God to do and purpose as He pleases. The embedded clip is a video testimony of Josiah Grauman.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

(Hymn: How Firm a Foundation)

Job: When the Righteous Suffer, Part 2 by John Piper

In life, all Christians will go through suffering and pain in varying degrees. As Christians we are urged to be steadfast under trials, tribulations and sufferings and to consider those examples in scriptures like Job, who remained steadfast in faith and triumphed.

In this second sermon from the Book of Job, John Piper urged us to study the Word of God carefully, discover and acknowledge God's Sovereignty over our lives. Our lives are totally in His hands: "man proposes and God disposes". The God of the Bible is good, He is not capricious. God can be trusted, we must put our faith in Him.

As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. James 5:10-11

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Jas 1:12



For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. Job 19:25-27

Then Job answered the LORD and said:"I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 'Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.' I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes. Job 42:1-6

For a transcript of this message by John Piper, follow this link Job: When the Righteous Suffer, Part 2

For the first sermon (1 of 2), visit this earlier post : Job: When the Righteous Suffer, Part 1 by John Piper

The Good Shepherd: Looking at, Turning to, Resting in, Listening for, Following after

"In Christianity the Lord Jesus Christ is all and in all. "

"THE catacombs are full of Christ. It was to Him that the Christians of the age of persecution ever turned: it was on Him they rested - in gladness and in sorrow; in sickness and in health; in the days of danger - and these were sadly numerous in the first two centuries and a half - and in the hour of death. It was from His words they drew their strength. In the consciousness of His ever-presence in their midst, they gladly suffered for His sake. With His name on their lips they died fearlessly, joyfully passing into the Valley of the veiled Shadow. On the tablet of marble or plaster which closed up the narrow shelf in the catacomb corridor where their poor remains were reverently, lovingly laid, the dear name of Jesus was often painted or carved."

"The catacombs are full of Christ," the Dean of Gloucester repeats in the clause succeeding that above quoted from his book. He then goes on to tell that in those "first days" "the Good Shepherd" was "the favourite symbol of the Christian life and faith." And he adds: "A great and eloquent writer (Dean Stanley) does not hesitate to speak of what he terms the popular religion of the first century as the religion of ‘the Good Shepherd.’ He says they looked on that figure, and it conveyed to them all they wanted. And then he adds sorrowfully that ‘as ages passed on, the image of the Good Shepherd faded away from the mind of the Christian world, and other emblems took the place of the once dearly loved figure.’" Yes, in those bright days the thought of the personal and living Christ "conveyed to them all they wanted."

The Church is the flock, and Ministers are to be "ensamples to the flock" - the Lord’s own provision of shepherds until the Chief Shepherd shall appear. He is the Chief Shepherd with reference to the under-shepherds. He is the Good Shepherd, because He cares for the sheep, and gave His life for them. And as brought up again from the dead He is the Great Shepherd. The significance of the imagery of the Lord’s words in (John 10) was familiar to the Hebrew Christians of Palestine, but we are apt to miss it. Within the fold, sheep have no need of the shepherd’s care. But when he leads them out to pasture they look to him for guidance, and they run to him for safety whenever danger threatens. What intensity of meaning this must have had for those early saints in days of persecution! " Sir Robert Anderson -Types in Hebrews - Chapter 14 - CHRISTIANITY IS CHRIST

So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. John 10:7-9

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. John 10:11

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. John 10:14-15

And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. John 10:16

Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." John 10:25-30

When Trials Come

When Trials Come

When trials come no longer fear
For in the pain our God draws near
To fire a faith worth more than gold
And there His faithfulness is told
And there His faithfulness is told

Within the night I know Your peace
The breath of God brings strength to me
And new each morning mercy flows
As treasures of the darkness grow
As treasures of the darkness grow

I turn to Wisdom not my own
For every battle You have known
My confidence will rest in You
Your love endures Your ways are good
Your love endures Your ways are good

When I am weary with the cost
I see the triumph of the cross
So in it's shadow I shall run
Till He completes the work begun
Till He completes the work begun

One day all things will be made new
I'll see the hope You called me to
And in your kingdom paved with gold
I'll praise your faithfulness of old
I'll praise your faithfulness of old

Keith & Kristyn Getty
Copyright © 2005 Thankyou Music

Come, people of the Risen King

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world." Joh 11:25-27

Come, people of the Risen King

Come, people of the Risen King,
Who delight to bring Him praise;
Come all and tune your hearts to sing
To the Morning Star of grace.
From the shifting shadows of the earth
We will lift our eyes to Him,
Where steady arms of mercy reach
To gather children in.

REFRAIN
Rejoice, Rejoice! Let every tongue rejoice!
One heart, one voice; O Church of Christ, rejoice!

Come, those whose joy is morning sun,
And those weeping through the night;
Come, those who tell of battles won,
And those struggling in the fight.
For His perfect love will never change,
And His mercies never cease,
But follow us through all our days
With the certain hope of peace.

Rejoice, Rejoice! Let every tongue rejoice!
One heart, one voice; O Church of Christ, rejoice!

Come, young and old from every land -
Men and women of the faith;
Come, those with full or empty hands -
Find the riches of His grace.
Over all the world, His people sing -
Shore to shore we hear them call
The Truth that cries through every age:
“Our God is all in all”!

Rejoice, Rejoice! Let every tongue rejoice!
One heart, one voice; O Church of Christ, rejoice!

Words and Music by Keith and Kristyn Getty and Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2008 Thankyou Music/ Copyright Control

“It’s only me” Christians

“Is that you, darling” We all know the pathetic story, and how the other child, who was not the “darling,” sadly answered, “No, mother, it’s only me.” And with too many Christians “it’s only me” expresses the response the heart makes to His appeal to them to follow Him as His “beloved children.” (Ephesians 5:1) That Enoch pleased God is the Greek Bible rendering of the Hebrew words that he “walked with God.” And both are joined in the, Apostle’s exhortation: “how ye ought to walk and to please God.” (1 Thessalonians 4:1) But such a standard of Christian life, even for a single day, is deemed visionary and unpractical. We are “only me” Christians.

Sir Robert Anderson, "Types in Hebrews" - " HIS FULL PROVISION"

Every Christian knew he might have to testify to his faith at the cost of his life

Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. Heb 13:3

"The Blood Of The Martyrs Is Seed."

The history of the expansion of Christianity has proved that "the blood of the martyrs is seed" -- the seed of new life in Christ spreading through the world. For almost three hundred years Christianity grew in soil that was wet with the blood of the martyrs. In his History of Christian Missions Stephen Neil mentions the sufferings of the early Christians as one of the six main reasons the church grew so rapidly.

Because of their dangerous situation vis-à-vis the law, Christians were almost bound to meet in secret . . . Every Christian knew that sooner or later he might have to testify to his faith at the cost of his life . . . When persecution did break out, martyrdom could be attended by the utmost possible publicity. The Roman public was hard and cruel, but it was not altogether without compassion; and there is no doubt that the attitude of the martyrs, and particularly of the young women who suffered along with the men, made a deep impression . . . In the earlier records what we find is calm, dignified, decorous behaviour; cool courage in the face of torment, courtesy towards enemies, and a joyful acceptance of suffering as the way appointed by the Lord to lead to his heavenly kingdom. There are a number of well-authenticated cases of conversion of pagans in the very moment of witnessing the condemnation and death of Christians; there must have been far more who received impressions that in the course of time would be turned into a living faith." John Piper, "Desiring God"- Chapter 10 Suffering - The Sacrifice of Christian Hedonism A short video showing the re-enactment of the persecution of Christians in the early church in Rome.

God does not chastise you? Then you are bastards and not sons !

WHY does God, as the heavenly Father, wants to chasten His children?

"for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and He scourges every son whom He receives." If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons, for what son is he whom the father does not chasten? But if you are without chastisement, of which all are partakers, then you are bastards and not sons." Heb 12:5-9

The answer from the scriptures is simply that God wants to profit His children through pruning, trials and chastening so that our faith is tested and refined. Christ said that if we follow Him, we must deny ourselves and take up OUR cross and follow Him. In all our ways, looking unto Jesus Christ, acknowledging that He is Lord. We abide in Christ, trust and lean completely on Him. We must always remember that our Heavenly Father is the Holy, Holy, Holy God. In our walk with God, we must cast aside every weight (the love of and cares for this world) and strive against the propensity to sin which could easily side-tracked us. Practically, it is to constantly immerse in His Word and submit to the Holy Spirit indwelling. In our walk with Him, lest we be weary and faint in our minds , God allows and sends chastening and does pruning so that we may bear more fruits of the Spirit (John 15:2).

God as Heavenly Father loves and scourges every son (and daughter) whom He receives. God wants His children to grow up into "trees of righteousness" (Isa 61:3) and not remained as babes. As God's children, we must trust Him that "for whom the Lord loves He chastens". We have to obey, submit, receive and endure God's chastening as that is how God deals with His children.

God loves His children, here are the scriptural teachings on the purpose of His chastening and He has said it so clearly:

"Therefore since we also are surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily besets us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right of the throne of God." Heb 12:1-2

For consider Him who endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest you be weary and faint in your minds. You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. Heb 12:3-4

And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons, "My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and He scourges every son whom He receives." If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons, for what son is he whom the father does not chasten? But if you are without chastisement, of which all are partakers, then you are bastards and not sons. Heb 12:5-9

Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh who corrected us, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For truly they chastened us for a few days according to their own pleasure, but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness. Heb 12:9-10

Now chastening for the present does not seem to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who are exercised by it. Because of this, straighten up the hands which hang down and the enfeebled knees. And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed. Heb 12:11-13

You Must Suffer - A Christian's Suffering by Pastor John Piper

If you follow Jesus Christ faithfully, you will face suffering. Jesus spoke about it and God allows it.

This video from Pastor John Piper is good reminder on what the Lord Jesus Christ has said: "Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also." Jn 15:10

Upon watching the video, I went back to re-read John Piper’s book “Desiring God” Chapter 10 on “Suffering”:

This is God’s universal purpose for all Christian suffering: more contentment in God and less satisfaction in self and the world.

I have never heard anyone say, “The really deep lessons of life have come through times of ease and comfort.” But I have heard strong saints say, “Every significant advance I have ever made in grasping the depths of God’s love and growing deep with him, has come through suffering.”

So suffering clearly is designed by God not only as a way to wean Christians off of self and onto grace, but also as a way to spotlight that grace and make it shine. That is precisely what faith does; it magnifies Christ’s future grace.

The deep things of life in God are discovered in suffering. So it was with Jesus himself. “Although he was a Son, Jesus learned obedience through what he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8).

The pearl of greatest price is the glory of Christ. Thus Paul stresses that in our sufferings the glory of Christ’s all-sufficient grace is magnified. If we rely on him in our calamity, and he sustains our “rejoicing in hope,” then he is shown to be the all-satisfying God of grace and strength that he is. If we hold fast to him “when all around our soul gives way,” then we show that he is more to be desired than all we have lost. Christ said to the suffering apostle, “My grace is sufficient for you, for [my] power is perfected in weakness.”

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More scriptural verses .....

"Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household. Matt 10:16-26


So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Mat 10:32-36

And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Mat 10:37-38

Jesus Christ is Immanuel, God with us

700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, the prophecy came to Prophet Isaiah:Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

The Annunciation

Rogier van der Weyden 1399/1400 – 1464

oil on panel (86 × 92 cm) — ca. 1440
Musée du Louvre, Paris

Rogier van der Weyden biography

Luk 1:26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
Luk 1:27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.
Luk 1:28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
Luk 1:29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
Luk 1:30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
Luk 1:31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
Luk 1:32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
Luk 1:33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Luk 1:34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
Luk 1:35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy–the Son of God.
Luk 1:36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
Luk 1:37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”

How Big is God ?

There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, ……..(Of God, and of the Holy Trinity -WCF Chapter II -I)

The God of the Bible is a big God. He is not contained by space, scripture is clear even “the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain” Him (1Ki 8:27). God fills His entire creation, they cannot contain Him (Jer 23:23 - 24). It is important to keep in mind, God is immensely bigger than anything existing or what you can even imagine. This truth about the attributes of God offers great peace and comfort when we are seized with doubt or fear, we must remember that no one or anything is bigger than God. AMEN - God is BIG. God is near, never fear !

When God is near, who else but God do we need to fear ? If God stands on our side, do we need fear anything ? It gives great joy, peace and comfort to know that this immensely big God, Jehovah my God is near His people and hears the prayer of those who cry out to Him (1Ki 8:28-30). Scriptures says “And You shall listen to the cry of Your servant” and “and hear in Heaven Your dwelling-place, and when You hear, forgive!”.

Never Fear! He Is Near!
Never fear! He is near!
Look to no man, Care not what the world may plan;
Only trust in the Lord, All the way to Beulah Land.

不要怕只要信

不要怕，只要信，不要看人，不看环境与外面，

只要仰望耶稣，一路跟主到天家。

John Sung Choruses, trans. by Tow

1Ki 8:27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this house which I have built?

Jer 23:23 - 24 “Am I a God near, says Jehovah, and not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him? says Jehovah. Do I not fill the heavens and earth? says Jehovah.”

1Ki 8:28 -30 Yet, O, Jehovah my God, You have turned toward the prayer of Your servant and to his request, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You today; for Your eyes to be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, My name shall be there; to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place. And You shall listen to the cry of Your servant, and of Your people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place, and hear in Heaven Your dwelling-place, and when You hear, forgive!

An Unchangeable God

There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable,.. ……..(Of God, and of the Holy Trinity -WCF Chapter II -I)

Our God is immutable. God is not capable of or susceptible to change. He is an unchangeable God. He does not change. Mal 3:6 “For I the LORD do not change;…”.

While everything else change around us, God remains the same. Everything around us can fall apart, God is still the same. When our bodies grow weak with age and sick with pain, we look to our unchanging God who has promised sufficient grace to meet our every need. There is real peace and joy that God does not change what He has promised. What a comfort that our unchanging God is on our side.

Jas 1:17 “.. the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
“Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.”

“So Send I You” Missionary Hymn of the Twentieth Century

So Send I You

So send I you to labor unrewarded,
To serve unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown,
To bear rebuke, to suffer scorn and scoffing-
So send I you to toil for Me alone.

So send I you to bind the bruised and broken,
O’er wand’ring souls to work, to weep, to wake,
To bear the burdens of a world aweary-
So send I you to suffer for My sake.

So send I you to loneliness and longing,
With heart ahung’ring for the loved and known,
Forsaking home and kindred, friend and dear one-
So send I you to know My love alone.

So send I you to leave your life’s ambition,
To die to dear desire, self-will resign,
To labor long, and love where men revile you-
So send I you to lose your life in Mine.

So send I you to hearts made hard by hatred,
To eyes made blind because they will not see,
To spend, tho’ it be blood, to spend and spare not-
So send I you to taste of Calvary.

History

This hymn, So Send I You, has been called the greatest missionary hymn of the twentieth century. The hymn has been labelled by many evangelical leaders as the finest missionary hymn of the twentieth century. It was first published in 1954 after having been written sixteen years earlier by a Canadian school teacher, Margaret Clarkson.

“Margaret Clarkson, who was born in 1915, was a teacher in a gold-mining camp in northern Ontario, Canada. It was a lonely life for this woman, but she also knew that this is where God wanted her to serve Him. She had a great desire to be a missionary on a foreign field but because of her health was unable to go. One day she was reading again the verse John 20:21, “Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.” While meditating on this verse she wrote the words to a hymn that has become a favorite during missionary conferences, “So Send I You.”

“In 1935 teaching jobs were so scarce that I had to take my first job as a teacher in a lumber camp some 1400 miles from home, out in the Rainy River District of northwestern Ontario. From there I moved to the gold mining camp of Kirkland Lake, 450 miles north of Toronto. In all, I spent seven years in the north. I experienced loneliness of every kind; mental, cultural, but particularly spiritual, for in all of those seven yeaars I never found real Christian fellowship - churches were modern and born-again Christians almost non-existent.

I was studying the Word one night and meditating on the loneliness of my situation and came in my reading to John 20, and the words ‘So send I you’. Because of a physical disability I knew that I could never go to the mission field, but God seemed to tell me that night that this was my mission field, and this was where He had sent me. I was then twenty-hree, in my third year of teaching. I had written and published verse all of my life, so it was natural to put my thoughts into verse.”

Sources:

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/bio/c/l/a/clarkson_m.htm

http://songsandhymns.org/people/detail/e.margaret-clarkson

http://www.wheaton.edu/learnres/ARCSC/exhibits/clarkson/

Raging Financial Storm: Does Jesus Care ?

We are now in a midst of a frightening global financial storm in a scale never seen before , billions of dollars disappear as the stock market continue to slide downward. Suddenly, no one has absolute confidence in their banks anymore. When you could not trust your bank anymore, you suddenly demand politicians you don't trust to provide guarantee to your banks . As believers, God's word is clear that we do not pursue and long after worldly things (Matt 6:18-19). We should fixing our eyes upon Jesus (Heb 12:2) and knowing that God will take care of us and we should not lose faith that He is in control of our lives, as the storm rages on and on, many personal fortunes including my own savings from years of frugal living and prudent investment evaporated into thin air, we often think within ourselves: Does Jesus Care?

In the Gospels, we have another storm raging in the Sea of Galilee. Jesus asked his disciples to get into the boat, they obeyed Him and set sail to cross the lake. Jesus, weary from the day activities, left the disciples to themselves and rested at the stern of the vessel. Just then, the weather turned adversely and quickly into a "windstorm": very strong winds and raging seas. The boat was swallowing up water and tossed from side to side and was in real danger of sinking, the disciples were hanging on to their dear lives as they fought the risk of drowning in this storm.

Mar 4:35-41
"On that day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." And leaving the crowd, they took Him with them in the boat, just as He was. And other boats were with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion."

At that point, they looked to their leader for direction and when they saw Jesus sound asleep, they woke and questioned Him: "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" Mar 4: 38. RC Sproul commented, "Their question was not really a question. It was an accusation. The suggestion was thinly veiled. They were actually saying, "You don't care if we drown", they were charging the Son of God with a lack of compassion. This outrageous attack on Jesus is consistent with mankind's customary attitude towards God. God has to listen to complaints like these from an ungrateful humanity every day. Heaven is bombarded with repeated charges of angry people. God is called "unloving" "cruel", and "aloof", as if He has not done enough to prove His compassion for us." (page 51 - The Trauma of Holiness, The Holiness of God).

Was God not aware that the storm was raging and His disciples greatly feared for their lives ? Was God the Father also "aloof" and "unloving" thus did not ensure that His elect will be cushioned from the going through storm? "And He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?" And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" We see our Lord Jesus woke up and merely told the wind: stop ! The "wind ceased" and the sea stopped raging and "there was a great calm" However Jesus appeared to be disappointed with the level of faith that His disciples had in Him: Where is your faith?

Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6). It can be inferred that Jesus telling us through these verses : Do not look at the raging storm, have faith, turn and look at me ! I am in control. You are my sheep, I am the good Shepherd. I have already laid down my life for my sheep, I will take care of you. I am in control. Just let go and trust me fully.

Can we take comfort from Jesus' miracle of calming the storm and His rebuke and heed His disciple , Peter's exhortation: "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." 1 Peter 5:7. Does Jesus Care ?

Does Jesus care when my way is dark
With a nameless dread and fear?
As the daylight fades into deep night shades,
Does He care enough to be near?

Oh yes, He cares, I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Savior cares.

Jesus Christ the “Root of Jesse”

Who was Jesse ? King David’s father was “Jesse” or Yishai (Hebrew: יִשַׁי, Yíšay, meaning “God’s gift”). King David was sometimes simply referred to as “Son of Jesse” (Ben Yishai) - (Luke:3:31-32). Jesse was the son of Obed, and the grandson of Ruth (Luke 3). Jesse was a Bethlehemite.(1 Samuel 16:1). God specifically told Prophet Samuel to choose a king from the sons of Jesse.

David, son of Jesse, was anointed by God to be the second King of Israel. In 1 Sam 16:1: And the LORD said unto Samuel, ….fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. God guided Samuel to David, His choice. Unlike man, looking at the outside, the “LORD looketh on the heart.” 1 Sam 16:12-13 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. ….”. With and through David, God established the Davidic Covenant whereby God established the Kingdom through David and his seed forever. (see here What is the Davidic covenant?)

More than 700 years before the birth of Christ in David’s home town in Bethlehem, the prophet Isaiah revealed the prophecy on the “Root of Jesse” ? In Luke 3, we see the genealogy of Jesus Christ traced down through Joseph (Jesus’ earthly father) and then right down to King David (Luke:3:31-32)- “David, Which was the son of Jesse”. In Isaiah 11, we see clearly the “Root of Jesse”, Jesus Christ as King, will rule and reign over the earth with righteousness, justice and power.

Isaiah 11:1-5, 10
1. There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins……..In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

“Root of Jesse” stood as a sign for the people. All people, Jews and Gentiles will look to Jesus Christ, “of him shall the nations inquire”.

Paul re-stated Isaiah in Romans 15 and pointed to Jesus Christ as the “Root of Jesse”. In Rom 15:12 “And again Isaiah saith, “There shall be a Root of Jesse, and He that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, in Him shall the Gentiles trust.” Paul reminded Christians, as non-Jews were not the original receivers of the Abraham’s Covenant, by faith trusting in the “Root of Jesse”, we are now saved from His wrath and graciously grafted by Jesus Christ to into His body: “you,although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree” Rom 11:17. All born again Christians are baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ and are the spiritual children of Abraham and by God’s sovereign grace enjoy God’s blessings promised to Abraham.

Rom 11:8 “Now I say, that Jesus Christ was a minister of the Circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy; as it is written: “For this cause I will confess to Thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto Thy name.” And again he saith, “Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with His people.” And again, “Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles, and laud Him, all ye people.”

Lets be always thankful to God for His Grace in revealing and giving us the faith in the “Root of Jesse”: our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.