A woman's hardest lot!
(Timothy Shay Arthur, "Lovers and Husbands. A Story of Married Life" 1847)
No man is able fully to meet and reciprocate a true woman's love. The best of men, with all their willingness, with all their efforts, fail. There are deep places of her heart unreached--aching voids unfilled. And yet it is astonishing how small a return will seem to satisfy a woman, and make her heart glow with sunlight. A pleasant word, a tender look, a kiss of love--ah! these seem but small returns for the deep tenderness that ever burns in her bosom! And yet, alas! too often even these are withheld--and the selfish, reserved, cold, and at times morose "lord of creation," comes in and goes out daily--never dreaming that by this very coldness, reserve, and moroseness--he is breaking the heart of her who loves him better than her own life!
But it is ever so. Hundreds, thousands, yes, tens of thousands of wives, are performing their round of duties hourly and daily--unblessed by smiles that warm the bosom, or words that make the heart tremble with inner joy; while, all unconscious of their cruel indifference--those who provide fine houses, fine furniture, and fine garments for their victims, proudly imagine that they are the best of husbands!
Maiden--innocent, loving maiden!--do not turn away from this picture now, or else the time may come when you will seek to turn from it, and shall not be able. When one comes asking your love--know well if he is worthy of such love as you can give. Do not look alone at his attractive exterior; seek to know what ends actuate him. It is the loveliness of pure, high principles that remains verdant the longest--yes, forever verdant. These, and these alone, can make you permanently happy. Without them, an angel's grace, an angel's form would lose its attractions; with them, the plainest exterior soon grows beautiful to the eye of a loving wife. Lay this up in your heart; think of it in the morning, and when your head presses your pillow at night. It may save you from a woman's hardest lot--that of being bound for life to a man who does not even try to make her happy!
- til He comes
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Our godless society!
By Theodore Cuyler, "Wayside Springs from the Fountain of Life" 1883
"Do not be conformed to the world." Romans 12:2
The sin of modern civilization has been well described as "making more of status than it does of character." But the very essence of Bible religion, is to make character everything--and conduct the test and evidence of character.
Our godless society needs a strict, pure, honest, self-denying, godly-minded church! Conformity to the world--will never convert the world! We are not to accommodate Christianity to the thought and fashion of the times--but to keep it stoutly and steadily up to its original standards. We must stand fast, not only to the faith once delivered to the saints, but to the practices which are enjoined in God's Word.
Social life, with increase of wealth, has a trend towards demoralization. Luxury weakens morality. Popular amusements become sensualized and offer their temptations to the church. "Do not be conformed to the world" applies to the theater, the ball-room, the wine-cup, and to everything that would turn God's earth into a "Vanity Fair." Conformity to the world amounts, in the end, to more than the corruption of Christ's church. It puts out the light which Christ has kindled; it destroys the very leaven which He has prepared to purify and sweeten and save a "world lying in wickedness."
- til He comes
"Do not be conformed to the world." Romans 12:2
The sin of modern civilization has been well described as "making more of status than it does of character." But the very essence of Bible religion, is to make character everything--and conduct the test and evidence of character.
Our godless society needs a strict, pure, honest, self-denying, godly-minded church! Conformity to the world--will never convert the world! We are not to accommodate Christianity to the thought and fashion of the times--but to keep it stoutly and steadily up to its original standards. We must stand fast, not only to the faith once delivered to the saints, but to the practices which are enjoined in God's Word.
Social life, with increase of wealth, has a trend towards demoralization. Luxury weakens morality. Popular amusements become sensualized and offer their temptations to the church. "Do not be conformed to the world" applies to the theater, the ball-room, the wine-cup, and to everything that would turn God's earth into a "Vanity Fair." Conformity to the world amounts, in the end, to more than the corruption of Christ's church. It puts out the light which Christ has kindled; it destroys the very leaven which He has prepared to purify and sweeten and save a "world lying in wickedness."
- til He comes
Friday, April 6, 2012
Who Really Killed Jesus?
In honor of Resurrection Sunday, this article is presented. It was initially written to pass out at theaters to minister to moviegoers coming out of Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ. If you find any merit, please pass it on in your sphere of influence.
The PASSION: Who really killed Jesus?
By Rusty Lee Thomas
"Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done." (Acts 4:25-28)
Perhaps you are leaving the movie theater somewhat overwhelmed by what you have just witnessed. Perhaps there was nothing in this world that could have prepared your heart and soul for the gut-wrenching movie "THE PASSION" that was directed by Mel Gibson. Perhaps mere words are insufficient to articulate the height and depth of human emotion that has swept through your entire being.
If you are a Christian, perhaps God has plowed your heart and used this film to call you back to your first love and your first works (Revelation 2:4,5). Perhaps your heart broke afresh over the terrible price our precious Savior paid for the redemption of our lost and wayward souls.
If you are an unbeliever and maybe a part of a religious system other than Christianity, perhaps great conviction has come upon your soul for the first time. Perhaps after viewing this film, you are seeing the claims of Christ and the veracity of His word in a more distinct light. After all, the Bible declares that Jesus is the light of the world. In fact, Jesus affirmed this truth in John 8:12, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." It is for you, my non-Christian friend, that this tract has been written.
Much controversy has surrounded this movie since its inception. All kinds of accusations have flown to and fro. Fears of anti-Semitism have arisen and spread like wild fire. Magazines, media, articles, and debates over this film have grown up like weeds and the number one question upon everyone's lips is "Who Really Killed Christ?"
This is an extremely important question, but unfortunately, our darkened world cannot supply a truthful answer. Human nature being what it is, we cannot but help to politicize the moral, ethical, and spiritual implications raised by this picture. Though we should be grateful that the question has been raised, it is only in the Bible, the Word of God, that one can safely derive authentic answers to life's perplexing questions.
God's Role In The Death Of Christ
First things first. We must major on the majors and minor on the minors to arrive at our proposed destination. Our beginning passage in Acts points the finger in the right direction, if we are to understand the nature of who killed Christ. It clearly states that Christ was first and foremost condemned to die the most agonizing death possible on that cruel cross according to what "...thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done." The hand and counsel referenced here is the hand and counsel of Almighty God.
Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, the Bible prophesied of His coming. Holy Writ foretold that God would become a man and the Word of God (Jesus) would become flesh (Isaiah 9:6, 7:14, and John 1:1-14). The Scriptures foretold the brutal manner in which Jesus would die (Psalm 22, Isaiah 53). Keep in mind, crucifixion had not been invented yet as a method of capital punishment, when King David described our Lord's suffering on a cross in Psalm 22. The prophets also pronounced Jesus' glorious resurrection, long before His miraculous incarnation (Psalm 16:10, Acts 2). In fact, there are over 300 specific prophecies in the Old Testament that concern the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The New Testament simply records how Jesus Christ fulfilled each and everyone of them.
The truth is, Jesus Christ was slain before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). Before there was a created universe, before our first parents, Adam and Eve, roamed paradise, and before man sinned and committed high treason against God to plunge this earth into death, hell, and the grave, Jesus was already slain in the heart and mind of God. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost conspired in eternity past to condemn Jesus to die a bloody, horrifying death in order to redeem lost, fallen, and sinful creatures like you and me.
It is this truth and destiny that burned in the heart of Jesus that amply supplied Him with the courage and humility to honestly proclaim that no one could take His life from Him (John 10:18). Jesus received from God the Father the command to lay down His life and the power to take it up again. Jesus knew He was born to die, to bear witness to the truth, and to unleash God's salvation upon this poor-fallen world. Jesus' death on the cross could not be avoided. It was God's eternal decree and no man, no devil, and no government on earth could prevent this most central, tragic, and historical event from taking place. Jesus settles the raging debate once and for all in Luke 24:25,26, "Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?"
Man's Role In Christ's Death
Because many have not perceived God's role in our Lord's death, some throughout history have looked for human scapegoats to blame. The Jews, traditionally, have fit the bill. Throughout history, either misguided genuine Christians or unconverted pagans masquerading as Christians have hurled the railing accusation of "Christ Killer" against the Jewish people. As a result, the Jews have suffered persecution at the hands of the Church, especially in the Middle Ages. They were terribly treated.
Even the Reformation did not completely end the Jew's mistreatment. Martin Luther, at first fought for more freedom for the Jewish people under the Reformation, but as they resisted the Gospel of the Kingdom message, he wrote scathing denunciations against them. In fact, some of his writings became familiar to Hitler. It has been said that Martin Luther later recanted. One can only hope that is true. Obviously, the Jews may have some legitimate concerns when it comes to the handling of our Lord's death in this day.
On a human level, our opening passage of Scripture in the book of Acts implicates several groups that were involved in the murder of Jesus. God's Word implicates Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel. In one sense, God indited the entire known world at that time for the crucifixion of His Son. No one escaped responsibility. On the other hand, the Jews, the Romans, and the political and religious leaders of the day were mere instruments that were unknowingly carrying out the will of God. The Apostle Paul verifies this truth by stating, "Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."
Dear friend, the truth is, it was your sin and my sin that is responsible for the spilled blood and broken body of our loving Savior. The artist Rembrandt sought to convey this truth in a painting called "The Raising of the Cross." He painted it as a self-portrait. It was Rembrandt as the soldier that nailed Christ to the cross and lifted up our Lord's tortured and mangled body up as payment for the sins of the world.
Who killed Christ? Rembrandt knew and so does Mel Gibson. You did and I did! It was our idolatry, greed, lust, selfishness, lies, perversions, abominations, and immorality that nailed Him to the cross, but it was His love that held Him there. Jesus paid a debt He did not owe and we owed a debt we could not pay. Though Jesus never sinned, He died a criminal's death. Out of His great love for you and me, He became our substitute for breaking God's Law. He served our sentence for us by enduring the agonizing torture upon a cruel cross. It's by His blood shed on that cross that we can be saved, escape the wrath that is to come, and everlasting destruction. It is through Jesus' broken body that our broken relationship with God can be restored. Please don't delay. Call upon the name of the Lord, repent of your sins, believe in Jesus, be baptized, and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38). Today is the day of salvation!
- til He comes
The PASSION: Who really killed Jesus?
By Rusty Lee Thomas
"Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done." (Acts 4:25-28)
Perhaps you are leaving the movie theater somewhat overwhelmed by what you have just witnessed. Perhaps there was nothing in this world that could have prepared your heart and soul for the gut-wrenching movie "THE PASSION" that was directed by Mel Gibson. Perhaps mere words are insufficient to articulate the height and depth of human emotion that has swept through your entire being.
If you are a Christian, perhaps God has plowed your heart and used this film to call you back to your first love and your first works (Revelation 2:4,5). Perhaps your heart broke afresh over the terrible price our precious Savior paid for the redemption of our lost and wayward souls.
If you are an unbeliever and maybe a part of a religious system other than Christianity, perhaps great conviction has come upon your soul for the first time. Perhaps after viewing this film, you are seeing the claims of Christ and the veracity of His word in a more distinct light. After all, the Bible declares that Jesus is the light of the world. In fact, Jesus affirmed this truth in John 8:12, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." It is for you, my non-Christian friend, that this tract has been written.
Much controversy has surrounded this movie since its inception. All kinds of accusations have flown to and fro. Fears of anti-Semitism have arisen and spread like wild fire. Magazines, media, articles, and debates over this film have grown up like weeds and the number one question upon everyone's lips is "Who Really Killed Christ?"
This is an extremely important question, but unfortunately, our darkened world cannot supply a truthful answer. Human nature being what it is, we cannot but help to politicize the moral, ethical, and spiritual implications raised by this picture. Though we should be grateful that the question has been raised, it is only in the Bible, the Word of God, that one can safely derive authentic answers to life's perplexing questions.
God's Role In The Death Of Christ
First things first. We must major on the majors and minor on the minors to arrive at our proposed destination. Our beginning passage in Acts points the finger in the right direction, if we are to understand the nature of who killed Christ. It clearly states that Christ was first and foremost condemned to die the most agonizing death possible on that cruel cross according to what "...thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done." The hand and counsel referenced here is the hand and counsel of Almighty God.
Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, the Bible prophesied of His coming. Holy Writ foretold that God would become a man and the Word of God (Jesus) would become flesh (Isaiah 9:6, 7:14, and John 1:1-14). The Scriptures foretold the brutal manner in which Jesus would die (Psalm 22, Isaiah 53). Keep in mind, crucifixion had not been invented yet as a method of capital punishment, when King David described our Lord's suffering on a cross in Psalm 22. The prophets also pronounced Jesus' glorious resurrection, long before His miraculous incarnation (Psalm 16:10, Acts 2). In fact, there are over 300 specific prophecies in the Old Testament that concern the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The New Testament simply records how Jesus Christ fulfilled each and everyone of them.
The truth is, Jesus Christ was slain before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). Before there was a created universe, before our first parents, Adam and Eve, roamed paradise, and before man sinned and committed high treason against God to plunge this earth into death, hell, and the grave, Jesus was already slain in the heart and mind of God. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost conspired in eternity past to condemn Jesus to die a bloody, horrifying death in order to redeem lost, fallen, and sinful creatures like you and me.
It is this truth and destiny that burned in the heart of Jesus that amply supplied Him with the courage and humility to honestly proclaim that no one could take His life from Him (John 10:18). Jesus received from God the Father the command to lay down His life and the power to take it up again. Jesus knew He was born to die, to bear witness to the truth, and to unleash God's salvation upon this poor-fallen world. Jesus' death on the cross could not be avoided. It was God's eternal decree and no man, no devil, and no government on earth could prevent this most central, tragic, and historical event from taking place. Jesus settles the raging debate once and for all in Luke 24:25,26, "Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?"
Man's Role In Christ's Death
Because many have not perceived God's role in our Lord's death, some throughout history have looked for human scapegoats to blame. The Jews, traditionally, have fit the bill. Throughout history, either misguided genuine Christians or unconverted pagans masquerading as Christians have hurled the railing accusation of "Christ Killer" against the Jewish people. As a result, the Jews have suffered persecution at the hands of the Church, especially in the Middle Ages. They were terribly treated.
Even the Reformation did not completely end the Jew's mistreatment. Martin Luther, at first fought for more freedom for the Jewish people under the Reformation, but as they resisted the Gospel of the Kingdom message, he wrote scathing denunciations against them. In fact, some of his writings became familiar to Hitler. It has been said that Martin Luther later recanted. One can only hope that is true. Obviously, the Jews may have some legitimate concerns when it comes to the handling of our Lord's death in this day.
On a human level, our opening passage of Scripture in the book of Acts implicates several groups that were involved in the murder of Jesus. God's Word implicates Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel. In one sense, God indited the entire known world at that time for the crucifixion of His Son. No one escaped responsibility. On the other hand, the Jews, the Romans, and the political and religious leaders of the day were mere instruments that were unknowingly carrying out the will of God. The Apostle Paul verifies this truth by stating, "Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."
Dear friend, the truth is, it was your sin and my sin that is responsible for the spilled blood and broken body of our loving Savior. The artist Rembrandt sought to convey this truth in a painting called "The Raising of the Cross." He painted it as a self-portrait. It was Rembrandt as the soldier that nailed Christ to the cross and lifted up our Lord's tortured and mangled body up as payment for the sins of the world.
Who killed Christ? Rembrandt knew and so does Mel Gibson. You did and I did! It was our idolatry, greed, lust, selfishness, lies, perversions, abominations, and immorality that nailed Him to the cross, but it was His love that held Him there. Jesus paid a debt He did not owe and we owed a debt we could not pay. Though Jesus never sinned, He died a criminal's death. Out of His great love for you and me, He became our substitute for breaking God's Law. He served our sentence for us by enduring the agonizing torture upon a cruel cross. It's by His blood shed on that cross that we can be saved, escape the wrath that is to come, and everlasting destruction. It is through Jesus' broken body that our broken relationship with God can be restored. Please don't delay. Call upon the name of the Lord, repent of your sins, believe in Jesus, be baptized, and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38). Today is the day of salvation!
- til He comes
Friday, March 30, 2012
A Mighty Prayer!
O that the holy life of the blessed Jesus may be always in my thoughts, and before mine eyes, till I receive a deep sense and impression of those excellent graces that shined so eminently in Him! And let me never cease my endeavors, till that new and divine nature prevail in my soul, and Christ be formed within me.
written by Henry Scougal - The Life of God in the Soul of Man
<>< til He comes
r hagen
written by Henry Scougal - The Life of God in the Soul of Man
<>< til He comes
r hagen
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
FAITH
Faith: like a tattered flag fly
will cling to its pole and die;
rooted in Christ its banner high
till all for Him, His glory cry!
- rich hagen
<><
Until He comes...
will cling to its pole and die;
rooted in Christ its banner high
till all for Him, His glory cry!
- rich hagen
<><
Until He comes...
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Whistleblower exposes Planned Parenthood fraud, lies to government
As Obama moves forward crushing religious liberty to pay back his child-killing cronies at Planned Parenthood, more condemning evidence surfaces exopsing this murderous, lying beast. Rusty
Whistleblower exposes Planned Parenthood fraud, lies to government
by Joel McDurmon on Feb 15, 2012
Fraud may seem like petty crime for an organization whose business is legalized murder, but this could be an important development toward at least stripping Planned Parenthood of all government funding. Lifenews.com reports, Karen Reynolds, a former Health Center Assistant at the Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast (PPGC), in Lufkin, Texas, talked recently with the Lufkin, Texas newspaper about what she saw: . . .
[Her] suit alleges that, in addition to falsifying patient records, billing the government for unwarranted services and services not covered by Medicaid, Planned Parenthood tacked on services patient did not receive.
An example given in the suit is Medicaid being billed for birth control counseling. The suit states almost all Women's Health Program and Medicaid patients were handed a bag of at least two birth control devices despite the fact the items were not needed or requested by the patient.
"Pursuant to corporate policy and instructions from clinical directors, after merely handing the patient a bag of condoms and vaginal film on the way out the door, clinic employees then entered billing codes to be submitted to the government" at an average billed cost of $57.85. . . .
And it adds up to more than small change: a current Congressional investigation has discovered Planned Parenthood overcharging the government to the tune of $5 million in California and $17 million in New York alone.
But the most important allegation is even more damning:
The fraud was allegedly not limited to birth control and contraception, the former employee said in her complaint. Reynolds alleges that Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast would falsify medical charts for patients having or who had had abortions to make it appear as if their visit was primarily for some other reason so Planned Parenthood would receive federal reimbursement.
If this is true, then current legislation forbidding the use of government funds to perform abortions has proven totally ineffective. Criminal charges need to come, as well as much stronger measures to prevent opponents of abortion from funding it through taxation.
But again, we should not be surprised that an organization that justifies murder would also lie, cheat, and steal to carry it out
May the Lord have mercy, if mercy still He has...
- til He comes
Whistleblower exposes Planned Parenthood fraud, lies to government
by Joel McDurmon on Feb 15, 2012
Fraud may seem like petty crime for an organization whose business is legalized murder, but this could be an important development toward at least stripping Planned Parenthood of all government funding. Lifenews.com reports, Karen Reynolds, a former Health Center Assistant at the Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast (PPGC), in Lufkin, Texas, talked recently with the Lufkin, Texas newspaper about what she saw: . . .
[Her] suit alleges that, in addition to falsifying patient records, billing the government for unwarranted services and services not covered by Medicaid, Planned Parenthood tacked on services patient did not receive.
An example given in the suit is Medicaid being billed for birth control counseling. The suit states almost all Women's Health Program and Medicaid patients were handed a bag of at least two birth control devices despite the fact the items were not needed or requested by the patient.
"Pursuant to corporate policy and instructions from clinical directors, after merely handing the patient a bag of condoms and vaginal film on the way out the door, clinic employees then entered billing codes to be submitted to the government" at an average billed cost of $57.85. . . .
And it adds up to more than small change: a current Congressional investigation has discovered Planned Parenthood overcharging the government to the tune of $5 million in California and $17 million in New York alone.
But the most important allegation is even more damning:
The fraud was allegedly not limited to birth control and contraception, the former employee said in her complaint. Reynolds alleges that Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast would falsify medical charts for patients having or who had had abortions to make it appear as if their visit was primarily for some other reason so Planned Parenthood would receive federal reimbursement.
If this is true, then current legislation forbidding the use of government funds to perform abortions has proven totally ineffective. Criminal charges need to come, as well as much stronger measures to prevent opponents of abortion from funding it through taxation.
But again, we should not be surprised that an organization that justifies murder would also lie, cheat, and steal to carry it out
May the Lord have mercy, if mercy still He has...
- til He comes
Monday, February 13, 2012
"In the Lord have I righteousness"
As we pray for Felix and for Phil's work in the prisons, my thoughts run a little further into the bigger picture when you mention in one breath both the impressive passion and wisdom and yet the vehemence with which these orthodox Jews protest against Jesus and particularly other Jews that preach Him.
There are precious things in Judaism that are excellent and much to be approved. Yet this is the paradox of the mystery. The great tragedy, which should be so instructive for the church is how amazingly close, yet so far.
Once in NY when Art and I had been in and out of the home of a precious family of the most ultra orthodox of Crown Heights, he asked if I did not agree that they were the closest to the kingdom of any we had met. After a moment's thought, I said, "you know, Art, they are indeed the 'closest', but that's precisely why they're the farthest." That is why, as you point out, there is such a shocking vehemence and antipathy against Jesus among these pious, much more than Jews in general. It is a paradox that holds much instruction if the church would lean in to understand.
When such nobility of soul can succeed so far in every appearance of excellence in righteousness, how will they be convinced that all of this counts for nothing when it comes to eternal salvation? But such is Paul's radical gospel, as particularly anticipated in Jesus' remarkable reply to the rich young ruler. All such righteousness, however impressive, has one fatal flaw; it is 'their own'.
This was Paul's anguish. It was also his pathos and pity, since he knew that apart from a sovereign revelation, he too would never have known what he would later call, "the mystery of the gospel."
It is no wonder then that Paul, who had built up this kind of righteousness nearly to heaven, understood as few others that the righteousness revealed in the gospel is an 'apocalyptic righteousness,' which is to say, a righteousness that can only be known by the revelation of the Spirit, as wholly other.
This raises the question for the church. How far have we distinguished between these two kinds of righteousness? All the crisis of the end time in the calculated offense of the controversy of Zion in the finishing of the mystery of God has this as its greatest purpose and design. This is what the corporate election of Israel, the city, and the Land is designed to flush into the foreground. This is how the issue of the Jew will embody again the scandal of the gospel.
What an offense it will be to the self-righteous that a hated nation that has brought the world to the brink of Armageddon is in travail to be "born in one day" by a sudden and supernatural revelation of Him whom they pierced. What a scandal that God has built the end of the age around this great act of sovereign revelation, as gloriously anticipated in the conversion of Paul.
The corporate election of Israel will be the offense that will flush out every demon of hell. It will discover, more than any creed or doctrine. how each one has understood for themselves the grace by which they stand, the kind of righteousness that Paul calls, "the righteousness of faith." Luther called it an 'alien iustitia'. It is the righteousness of another. One kind is possible to man; the other is not.
How can the church communicate this point of covenant contention with Israel if it has not understood it for itself? This is the "everlasting righteousness" promised in the prophets (Jer 32:40 with Dan 9:24), which has come already to the church, as first fruits, but must at length include 'all Israel', so that Israel might at last and forever "lie down in safety and none make them afraid' (Lev 26:6; Deut 33:28-29; Isa 14:29-32; Mic 4:3-4; Jer 23:6; 32:37; 33:16; Eze 34:25, 28; Hos 2:18; Zeph 3:13; Zech 14:11).
That is the climax of the covenant, which guarantees a future earthly millennium of actual 'Jewish' fulfillment (the 'natural branches') for its ultimate vindication (Eze 39:21-29). But behind and aback of all this great drama of the end time travail of Zion is the great divine contention concerning the only single source of acceptable righteousness, which alone perfectly fulfills and satisfies all the demand of the law. The presumption to stand in any other in that day will end in shock and terror (Mt 22:12-13). This is the righteousness that has absolutely no point of intersection with the flesh; it is not possible to man, and THAT is the offense of the gospel.
The further end time extension of this same essential offense is Israel's irrevocable election of God, as central to the covenant of promise, which says that just as miraculously as Paul was arrested on the road to Damascus, a surviving remnant from among the natural branches will come to faith in one day (Isa 66:8; Eze 39:22, 28-29; Zech 3:9,12:10). Why MUST this be? Because, "this is my covenant unto THEM" (Isa 59:21; Ro 11:26-29).
That is why we say, in order for the church to be what it must to Israel, it must know for itself the power and the glory that redeemed Israel will one day confess when the nation of the Jews will come to say, "in the Lord have I righteousness" (Isa 45:24), even as God will say of them, "their righteousness if of me" (Isa 54:17).
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