Jesus Lives

Jesus lives, and so shall I.

Death! thy sting is gone forever!
He who deigned for me to die,
Lives, the bands of death to sever.
He shall raise me from the dust:
Jesus is my Hope and Trust.

Jesus lives, and reigns supreme,
And, his kingdom still remaining,
I shall also be with him,
Ever living, ever reigning.
God has promised: be it must:
Jesus is my Hope and Trust.

Jesus lives, and by his grace,
Vict'ry o'er my passions giving,
I will cleanse my heart and ways,
Ever to his glory living.
Me he raises from the dust.
Jesus is my Hope and Trust.

Jesus lives, I know full well
Nought from him my heart can sever,
Life nor death nor powers of hell,
Joy nor grief, hence forth forever.
None of all his saints is lost;
Jesus is my Hope and Trust.

Jesus lives, and death is now
But my entrance into glory.
Courage, then, my soul, for thou
Hast a crown of life before thee;
Thou shalt find thy hopes were just;
Jesus is the Christian's Trust.

2764 Years

After completely embarrassing myself in excitement at the museum yesterday upon finding an ancient Roman wood panel painting (Yeah, slightly obsessed....actually, not even that. I'm gone all the way.), I might as well do it again today:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROME!!!!

"I hope my passion for Rome's past has not impaired my judgment; for I do honestly believe that no country has ever been greater or purer than ours or richer in good citizens and noble deeds...."

Livy

Spurgeon hits the nail right on the head

"There is no attribute more comforting to His children than that of God's sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe trials, they believe that Sovereignty has ordained their afflictions, that Sovereignty overrules them, and that Sovereignty will sanctify them all. There is nothing for which the children ought more earnestly to contend than the doctrine of their Master over all creation - the Kingship of God over all the works of His own hands - the Throne of God and His right to sit upon that Throne.

"On the other hand, there is no doctrine more hated by worldlings, no truth of which they have made such a football, as the great, stupendous, but yet most certain doctrine of the Sovereignty of the infinite Jehovah. Men will allow God to be everywhere except on His throne. They will allow Him to be in His workshop to fashion worlds and make stars. They will allow Him to be in His almonry to dispense His alms and bestow His bounties. They will allow Him to sustain the earth and bear up the pillars thereof, or light the lamps of heaven, or rule the waves of the ever-moving ocean; but when God ascends His throne, His creatures then gnash their teeth. And we proclaim an enthroned God, and His right to do as He wills with His own, to dispose of His creatures as He thinks well, without consulting them in the matter; then it is that we are hissed and execrated, and then it is that men turn a deaf ear to us, for God on His throne is not the God they love. But it is God upon the throne that we love to preach. It is God upon His throne that we trust." (quoted in The Attributes of God by A.W. Pink)

Another Sunday blurb

One of the reasons why I love my pastor's sermons is that they inevitably get me thinking. Ok, so not always is it something that has directly to do with the topic, but it's always related. Anyways, lately we've been in the Upper Room Discourse, and the apostle Peter's been coming up. It hit me that I've always looked at him sort of as two different people. 

First, there's the Foot-in-Mouth Peter who unfailingly comes up with brilliant statements like this one during the Transfiguration: 

"Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

Then there's the Peter of Acts 2 who gives a stunning sermon ex tempore at Pentecost and goes on to write a couple books in the New Testament.

But what I find rather fascinating is the amount of time that elapses between these two different personalities: 50 days. There are only 7 weeks between Peter's denial of Christ to his sermon about Him in Acts 2. That's quite a transformation in such a short amount of time.

So of course it set me thinking, how could that happen? And then I arrived at the obvious conclusion - it was the Holy Spirit. I find that encouraging, because even though you don't see that kind of dramatic change happen too often anymore, it shows that if God can do that kind of a work in someone, He can help me in the tiniest problems I have. Which now brings me back to what the sermon today was really about - if we want to progress in sanctification, we need to rely on Christ.