Not the Righteous

For I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Matthew 9:13

I'll be quoting J. C. Ryle often on this blog, so be prepared for that. I'll have to restrain myself from writing something he's said too often. His commentary on this verse of Scripture is classic for him:

Finally, if by the grace of God we really understand the glorious truth that sinners are those whom Christ came to call, let us take heed that we never forget it. Let us not dream that true Christians can ever attain such a state of perfection in this world, as not to need the mediation and intercession of Jesus. Sinners we are in the day we first come to Christ. Poor needy sinners we continue to be so long as we live, drawing all the grace we have every hour out of Christ's fullness. Sinners we shall find ourselves in the hour of our death, and shall die as much indebted to Christ's blood, as in the day when we first believed. ~~ J. C. Ryle

"Poor needy sinners we continue to be so long as we live." I am reminded of that every day. I hope I never cease to marvel at the love of a Savior who came to sinners. Not those who are righteous, but sinners. And since there are none righteous anyway, He only could come to sinners. Along with all the saints, I can only praise Him for not having left us in that state.

Do I See Him Who is Unseen?

There were quite a few verses from Hebrews 11 in today's sermon and one of them was verse 27 which tells us that Moses was unafraid of the king's wrath as he forsook Egypt, for he "endured as seeing Him who is invisible." Then Pastor asked us the question as to whether we see Him Who is unseen. Do I see Him Who is unseen? If my faith is real, then I must see Him, or else my faith isn't real. I hope that makes sense. I see Him in His Word and in my heart, because He is real to me.

Coronation Ceremony

So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."

There have been horrifying stories out of the country of Turkey for the past couple of weeks. There have been awful murders of Christians and there have been imprisonments. Much information can be found at Persecution Blog.com. But the story that shines like a precious glow in the darkness is that of forgiveness. A widow of one of the Christian workers who was brutally slaughtered has offered her forgiveness to her husband's killers. In this, we see Jesus.

Someone made a statement about these deaths that really touched me. A certain minister who I know little about called the killings a "'coronation ceremony' when three faithful servants of Christ were given the crowns of eternal life." Can't we view it this way, fellow saints?

The Romans Treasury

I'm quite excited to have actually completed my study in the Book of Romans for teen girls . This was my largest undertaking thus far--I can't believe it's actually ready for me to start trying to find a publisher. My pastors have given it the okay, which is important to me, and now Pastor R. is even going to help me in my publishing search! The whole work is from a Reformed Baptist perspective, so here's hoping some RB publisher (or at least a Reformed publisher) will want to take it on. If not, Speakable Press will have to try to find a way to do it! I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for bringing it thus far.

Coming to Romans 8:31-39, my most beloved portion of God's Word, I told my fictitious teen girl, Jewel, that we were standing on holy ground. How can we but marvel at these words:

"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 created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39

Behold His Glory

...and we beheld His glory... (John 1:14)

That's what I want to do here. Behold little bits of His glory. Sometimes from His Word, other times from a hymn or poem someone else wrote, or from words another person spoke. Perhaps it will be in the face of a persecuted saint. Or it could be in nature. Just a little of the magnificence of our Savior--in short clips.