GOD’S WORD FOR SEPTEMBER 17

We are using Charles Spurgeon book, “The Risen King.”  It’s a collection of well chosen excerpts from Spurgeon’s  “Easter” sermons in devotional form, put together by Jeff Medders.   Pastor Spurgeon lived from 1834 to 1892  in London, England, and had a unique gift of understanding and showing the depth of our faith.  Thus, his reverential title as the Prince of Preachers.   Even though we’re not in or near that season, every day is a good day to focus on Christ’s sacrifice and victory for us!

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THE BELOVED SON

Matthew 3:16-17

“When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.  And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

In our text, we find that the Father not only calls Christ His Son but He says, “This is My beloved Son.”   What wondrous love there must be in the heart of each of the divine Persons in the sacred Trinity towards each other!  How blessedly they must look upon one another with divine favor and pleasure!  There could never be any division in their interests, for they are one in heart, one in purpose, one in every respect.  As Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30).

We glean from this text how God not only calls Christ His beloved Son but says He is well pleased with Him.

If you are so united to Christ as to be one with Him, God will also be well pleased with you for His dear Son’s sake.  But can a sinner ever be pleasing to God?  Not in himself or herself, apart from Christ.  But all who are IN CHRIST are accepted “IN THE BELOVED.” We find that in Ephesians 1:6.  The Father is so pleased with Jesus that all whom He represents are pleasing to God for His sake.

Maybe you are asking, “but how can I be in Christ?”  My dear friend, if you are one of the Lord’s chosen, you are already in Christ in God’s eternal purpose.  But the way in which you must get into Christ is by true faith in Him.  To trust in Jesus is to be in Jesus.  To rely upon the atoning sacrifice of Christ is to be one with Christ.  Faith is the uniting bond which binds together the Christ in whom we believe and those who believe in Him.

It does not take the Holy Spirit an hour to convert a soul.  The vital spark that regenerates a soul is kindled in an instant.  If you are truly trusting in Christ, God looks upon you as a part of Christ’s mystical body, and He is well pleased with you for Christ’s sake.  Then, you have the Son suffering for you, the Spirit applying to you the merit of His atoning sacrifice, and the Father well pleased with you because you are trusting in His beloved Son.   Or to put the Truth in another form, the Father gives the great gospel feast, the Son is the feast, and the Spirit not only brings the invitations, but He also gathers the guests around the table.  Or, to use another metaphor, God the Father is the fountain of grace, God the Son is the channel of grace, and God the Holy Spirit is the cup from which we drink of the flowing stream.  Eat and drink!

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1 John 5:8

And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.

John 17:4-5

I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.  And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

John 17:6-7

I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.  Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.

John 17:20-23

I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;  that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

John 17:24-26

Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.

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