The Gospel is for the Brokenhearted
Per Dan Weber (friend), per Of First Importance
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“The Law is for the proud and the Gospel for the brokenhearted.”
- Martin Luther
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I don’t know about you, but my heart sure could be more broken than it is. I have so much pride that God is yet to bring the hammer to (but it will happen sure enough).
Our Sins Put Him There
Per The Cross of Christ by John Stott, p. 18:
“For, whether we like it or not, we are involved. Our sins put him there. So, far from offering us flattery, the cross undermines our self-righteousness. We can stand before it only with a bowed head and a broken spirit. And there we remain until the Lord Jesus speaks to our hearts his word of pardon and acceptance, and we, gripped by his love and full of thanksgiving, go out into the world to live our lives in his service.”
And Can It Be
Words by Charles Wesley; Music by Thomas Campbell
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And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain,
For me, who Him to death pursued.
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
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He left His Father’s throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace!
Emptied Himself and came in love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race!
‘Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For, O my God, it found out me.
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Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night.
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray:
I woke the dungeon flamed with light!
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
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No condemnation now I dread:
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Adding to Jesus Detracts from Jesus
The following quote comes from Josh Moody, pastor of College Church in Wheaton, IL. The sermon was on Galatians 3 and was unbelievable. I encourage you to listen to it – 30 minutes of awesome. You can get it here.
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Adding anything to Jesus detracts from Jesus because this effectively says that He is not enough. He simply becomes a stage on ones journey, rather than the destination itself.
The legalist and the licentious have this in common, they both in their own way undervalue the seriousness of sin and the sufficiency of Christ. The one attempts to do only what Jesus can do and the other acts as though Jesus didn’t need to do it. Instead, we are to realize that it is all Christ.
Resisting Rest
The following quote succinctly describes the disease that many of us have.
“I resisted rest, fearing that if I stopped, I would fail – fail to earn “A”s, to earn enough money, to earn approval from friends and professors, to keep in shape… to please God. As hard as I worked, I was haunted by a deep, deep sense that I was never good enough and could never measure up to God’s standard for me. I knew in my head that my relationship with God relies more on His faithfulness than mine, but I was so fearful of spiritual complacency that I could not rest in His grace. I appended a string of “ifs” to “My grace is sufficient for you.” -Amanda Holm from the TEDS Graduate Scrawl
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Our souls resist rest. We cling to our futile efforts.
Rom 7:24-25 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
Words: Isaac Watts, 1707. Music: Lowell Mason, 1824.
When I survey the wondrous cross,
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
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Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ, my God;
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
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See, from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down;
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
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Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Because He Has Already Loved Us
“We try to live so that He will love us, rather than because He has already loved us.”
Lloyd Ogilvie
It Is Well with My Soul
When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot Thou hast taught me to say
“It is well, it is well with my soul.”
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It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
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Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control:
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And has shed His own blood for my soul.
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My sin-O the bliss of this glorious thought,
My sin-not in part, but the whole
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord O my soul.
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And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend,
“Even so” – it is well with my soul.
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Words by Horatio Spafford, Music by Phillip Bliss
