Monthly Archives: April 2011

Sing the 46th!

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I am not alone in considering the Protestant Reformation the greatest move of God in Church history (outside of the New Testament), yet it came with a great price. It was not uncommon for precious saints to be rounded up and burnt at the stake, as Roman Catholic authorities sought to prevent the spread of the gospel.

On such occassions, as men and women were marched through the streets and facing certain death in the flames, sympathizers in the crowd would shout out words of courage. An oft repeated refrain was “Sing the 46th!” – a reference to Martin Luther’s hymn “A Mighty Fortress” which was based on Psalm 46. It became the battle cry of the Reformation. For many saints of God now in their heavenly rest, the words of this hymn were their last recorded words on earth.

Unlike the very superfical songs which fill the landscape of the visible Church in our day, this is a hymn with depth and passion, inspiring courage to stand for the truth of God in a day of much milktoast, politically correct, spineless Christianity. As many of our departed saints would no doubt testify, this, in contrast, is a hymn to die to.

A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD
1. A mighty fortress is our God,
a bulwark never failing;
our helper he amid the flood
of mortal ills prevaling.
For still our ancient foe
doth seek to work us woe;
his craft and power are great,
and armed with cruel hate,
on earth is not his equal.

2. Did we in our own strength confide,
our striving would be losing,
were not the right man on our side,
the man of God’s own choosing.
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is he;
Lord Sabaoth, his name,
from age to age the same,
and he must win the battle.

3. And though this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God hath willed
his truth to triumph through us.
The Prince of Darkness grim,
we tremble not for him;
his rage we can endure,
for lo, his doom is sure;
one little word shall fell him.

4. That word above all earthly powers,
no thanks to them, abideth;
the Spirit and the gifts are ours,
thru him who with us sideth.
Let goods and kindred go,
this mortal life also;
the body they may kill;
God’s truth abideth still;
his kingdom is forever.

Build your nest in no tree here…

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The heart conquered by His love is a heart filled with strong desire. Above all else, the saint longs to see the smiling face of Jesus, and the visible, tangible manifestation of His Sovereign Kingly rule in a new heaven and a new earth.

In light of this future hope, may we always know and remember this: Babylon, with all its wealth and power; with all its commerce and false religion; every last vestage of it, will one day be no more. When it falls (and fall it will), let us not be seen to be weeping, in dismay because all our heart’s investments are now vanished away. Instead, on that day, may each of us be able to say without even a moment’s hesitation, “Hallelujah, for the Lord God almighty reigns.”

In the words of Samuel Rutherford, “Build your nest in no tree here… for the Lord of the forest has condemned the whole woods to be demolished.” Continue reading →

Friday Round Up

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Ligonier has a few excellent deals in this week’s $5 Friday sale, including books and teaching series by R.C. Sproul. It’s a good day to stock up on some of these for yourself or your church library here.

(Remember, if you do decide to purchase material, you can claim a 10% discount as a reader of this blog by using the coupon code: EGRACE10)

I read this today by Kevin DeYoung… I agree entirely. Its an article worth reading a few times and absorbing:

Though few would put it this way, it’s easy for Christians to think the cross is where love overcame holiness. Or to put it more prosaically: God saved us because he loves us so much he decided to look past our sins. God is love and he loves to forgive our sins.

But that’s not exactly how justification works. We are not justified because God’s mercy triumphed over God’s justice. We are justified because in divine mercy, God sent his Son to the cross to satisfy divine justice. Mercy triumphs over judgment, but it does not remove the need for justice. We were saved not by the removal of justice, but by the satisfaction of it.

A Loud Declaration
The resurrection, then, is the loud declaration that there is nothing left to pay (cf. Rom. 4:25). Peter says in Acts 2:24, “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” Why was it impossible for Jesus to remain dead? Because God is more powerful than death and the devil? That’s certainly true, but there’s another reason. The grave could not hold the Son of Man because it had no claim on him. The wages of sin is death. So when sin is paid for, there is no obligation to pay the wages of sin.

Here’s how Charles Hodge puts it: Our sins were the judicial ground of the sufferings of Christ, so that they were a satisfaction of justice; and his righteousness is the judicial ground of our acceptance with God, so that our pardon is an act of justice.

Think about that. Our justification is not an act of legal fiction, but an act of justice. God would be unjust if he did not pardon those who belong to Christ. It would be a denial of his name, his character, his own justice.

I believe many of us have not begun to grasp just how good the good news is, just how secure our salvation is, just how completely and unalterably justified we are through faith in Christ. Mark this: God did not set aside the law in judging us; he fulfilled it. Christ bore the curse of the law so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Not because we possess this righteousness, but because God credits it to our account. So that, in one sense, at the moment when Christ died, it was what he deserved (by imputation). And now by faith, blessing and mercy and favor are what we deserve (by imputation).

Justice is shot through the entire plan of redemption. People go to hell because God is just, and people go to heaven because God is just. We are not forgiven and justified because God waved his magic wand and decided to whitewash your faults. He has not overlooked the smallest speck of your sin. He demands justice for all of your iniquities. He demands justice for every last lustful look and proud thought and spiteful word. He demands justice for all of it. But praise God: the resurrection of the crucified Son of God assures us the demands of justice have been met.

The Resurrection Gospel
The resurrection is not a sentimental story about never giving up, or the possibility of good coming from evil. It is not first of all a story about how suffering can be sanctified, or a story of how Jesus suffered for all of humanity so we can suffer with the rest of humanity. The resurrection is the loud declaration that Jesus is enough–enough to atone for your sins, enough to reconcile you to God, enough to present you holy in God’s presence, enough to free you from the curse of the law, enough to promise you there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Something objectively happened on the cross, and that objective work was broadcast to the whole world by an empty tomb. The good news is not a generic message of love for everyone or hope for all. The gospel is the theological interpretation of historical fact. You might put the good news like this: Faith will be counted to us as righteousness when we believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification (Rom. 4:24-25).