Daily Gospel: Jesus is the Bread

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
(John 6:35 ESV)

The longings we experience reflect the true essence of our being. "They are who we are," says Gary Heim in True North. The child's cry to be held close, the heavy heart of a wife longing for her husband, the vacuous human heart seeking satisfaction in something. We are beings of desire, longing, and yearning.

Have you considered what Jesus is saying about himself? He says to the crowds seeking a king, seeking a daily meal, that he is the food for the human soul. Jesus says that there is life emanating from his own being - true soul food. If Jesus is the bread of life, what can we say of all other "breads" we fill the stomachs of our soul with? Can they permanently eliminate our soul's hunger and thirst? No, not  eliminate, but can the breads of life satisfy?

And all that Jesus is he is for us, for free. Let us go to the Bread of God and eat, for this brings him great glory.

Daily Gospel: Call and Response

For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace. In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me.

 - Psalm 86:5-7

Call upon God, receive his bountiful, steadfast love.
Plead for grace, he answers.

It's quite simple, you see.

Daily Gospel: A Debtor To Mercy Alone

A debtor to mercy alone,
Of covenant mercy I sing,
Nor fear, with God's righteousness on,
My person and off'rings to bring.
The terrors of law and of God
With me can have nothing to do;
My Savior's obedience and blood
Hide all my transgressions from view.The work which His goodness began,

The arm of His strength will complete;
His promise is Yea and Amen,
And never was forfeited yet.
Things future, nor things that are now,
Not all things below or above,
Can make Him His purpose forego,
Or sever my soul from His love.My name from the palms of His hands

Eternity will not erase;
Imprest on His heart, it remains
In marks of indelible grace.
Yes! I to the end shall endure,
As sure as the earnest is giv'n;
More happy, but not more secure,
When all earthly ties have been riv'n.

 - Augustus Toplady

Daily Gospel: Approach My Soul, The Mercy Seat

Approach my soul, the mercy seat
Where Holy One and helpless meet
There fall before my Judgesʼ feet
Thy promise is my only plea, O God

Send wings to lift the clutch of sin
You who dwell between the cherubim
From war without and fear within
Relieve the grief from the shoulders of crumbling men

O God –
Pour out your mercy to me
My God,
Oh what striking love to bleed.

Fashion my heart in your alchemy
With the brass to front the devilʼs purgery
And surefire grace my Jesus speaks
I must. I will. I do believe. Oh Lord.

 - Jamie Barnes / John Newton

Daily Gospel: God's "Yes" to us in Christ

In Galatians 3:29 (RSV) Paul wrote, "If you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise" (see Ephesians 3:6; Galatians 3:14, 22; Hebrews 9:15). All the promises of God for the good of his people are in Christ. He confirms them and secures them and purchases them for all who "are Christ's" - for all who believe and belong to him (Galatians 3:22). Every sinner who comes to God in Christ, with all his needs, finds God coming to him in Christ, with all his promises. When a sinful person meets the holy God in Christ what he hears is Yes. God, do you love me? Yes. Will you forgive me? Yes. Will you accept me? Yes. Will you help me change? Yes. Will you give me power to serve you? Yes. Will you keep me? Yes. Will you show me your glory? Yes.

 - John Piper, Future Grace, p. 105

Daily Gospel: John Newton on Indwelling Sin

The depravity of the heart — which impedes us when we would do good, and pollutes our best intended services with evil. We have cause, upon this account, to walk softly all our days; yet we need not sorrow as those who have no hope. The Lord has provided his people relief under those complaints, and teaches us to draw improvement from them. If the evils we feel were not capable of being overruled for good — He would not permit them to remain in us. This we may infer from his hatred to sin — and the love which He bears to his people.

As to the remedy, neither our state nor his honor are affected by the workings of indwelling sin — in the hearts of those whom He has taught to wrestle, strive, and mourn, on account of what they feel. Though sin wars in us — it shall not reign in us. And though it breaks our peace — it cannot separate from his love. Nor is it inconsistent with his holiness, and perfection, to manifest his favor to such poor defiled creatures, or to admit them to communion with himself; for they are not considered as in themselves — but as one with Jesus, to whom they have fled for refuge, and by whom they live a life of faith.

They are accepted in the Beloved. They act from a principle of love. They aim at no less than his glory. Their habitual desires are supremely fixed upon himself. There is a difference in kind between the feeblest efforts of faith in a real believer, while he is covered with shame at the thoughts of his sins — and the highest and most splendid attainments of those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight.

Nor shall this conflict remain long, or the enemy finally prevail over them. They are supported by almighty power — and led on to certain victory. They shall not always be — as they are now; yet a little while, and they shall be freed from this vile body, which, like the leprous house, is incurably contaminated, and must be entirely taken down. Then they shall see Jesus as He is, and be like him, and with him forever.

 - John Newton, Indwelling Sin and Believer

Via Ben Terry

Daily Gospel: God Leads Sinners

Good and upright is the LORD;
        therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
    He leads the humble in what is right,
        and teaches the humble his way.
    All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness,
        for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
    For your name's sake, O LORD,
        pardon my guilt, for it is great.
    Who is the man who fears the LORD?
        Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
    His soul shall abide in well-being,
        and his offspring shall inherit the land.
    The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him,
        and he makes known to them his covenant.

 - Psalm 25:8-14

A few things:

• God instructs sinners in the way of life, the way of righteousness, God's path. Does this not manifest his goodness, that one who is holy and perfect would teach and lead the dirty and guilty?
• Being humiliated does not equal being humbled. The humble man realizes his sorry estate apart from God and then flees to God for direction, help, and forgiveness from the guilt of sin.
• All the paths of the LORD are "love and faithfulness". All of them. He will never stray into sin and thus man can never bring a valid charge against him.
• It is immeasurably freeing to petition God to forgive our sins for his name's sake. This is a recurring theme in the Bible. God's people ask him to wash away their sins on account of the mercy that God is known for showing. It is indeed proper to ask God to forgive us so that he will forever prove himself to be merciful and loving.
• God's friendship is for those who fear him. The fear of the LORD (a topic worthy of many more posts) is the proper framework in which man relates to God. The man who knows God fears him and so God unites the man to himself in an everlasting covenant and calls the God-fearer his friend.

Daily Gospel: Kiss My Backside, Devil

It is the supreme art of the devil that he can make the law out of the gospel. If I can hold on to the distinction between law and gospel, I can say to him any and every time that he should kiss my backside. Even if I sinned I would say, ‘Should I deny the gospel on this account?’ … Once I debate about what I have done and left undone, I am finished. But if I reply on the basis of the gospel, ‘The forgiveness of sins covers it all,’ I have won.

 - Martin Luther, via OFI

This was too good to pass up. "Kiss my backside" + "if I reply on the basis of the gospel" = Martin Luther gold.

Daily Gospel: The One Whose Opinion Most Matters

Sin itself turns you in on yourself, blinding you to God. Guilt also tends to turn you in on yourself. Self-laceration exalts your opinion of yourself as supremely important; shame exalts the opinion of other people. But living repentance and living faith turn outward to the one whose opinion most matters. What God chooses to “remember” about you will prove decisive. Your conscience, if well-tuned, is secondary and dependent on the stance He takes. If the Lord is merciful, then mercy has final say. It is beyond our comprehension that God acts mercifully for His sake, because of what He is like. Wrap your heart around this, and the typical aftermath of sin will never be the same. You will stand in joy and gratitude, not grovel in shame. You’ll be able to get back about the business of life with fresh resolve, not just with good intentions and some flimsy New Year’s resolutions to do better next time. This is our hope. This is our deepest need. This is our Lord’s essential, foundational gift. You know people who need to know this. They typically mishandle the aftermath of sin with further forms of the God-lessness that also manufactured sin. You, too, need to know how faith in Christ’s mercy decenters you off of yourself and recenters you onto the living God’s promise and character. The one with whom we have to do freely offers mercy and grace to help us by the lovingkindness of the Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:13-16).

 - David Powlison, "Making All Things New: Restoring Purity to the Sexually Broken"

Via CCEF

Daily Gospel: Satisfactory Blood

The Israelites at the time of the exodus knew they had escaped the night of God’s judgement through trusting in the blood of the Passover lambs on their doorposts.

Notice that the blood was to be placed on the outside of their houses. The blood was for God to see, not for their benefit. The blood was not to make them feel good or feel safe. The blood was not for their feelings at all. The blood was to satisfy God. It was for his eyes alone. God said, ‘When I see the blood I will pass over you’ (Exodus 12:13).

We have peace, not because we feel good, but because God is satisfied with the blood. Only he can evaluate the worth of the lamb. Because he is satisfied, we have peace.

Terry Virgo, God's Lavish Grace, (Oxford, UK: Monarch Books, 2003), 45

Borrowed shamelessly from OFI

Daily Gospel: The Water and The Blood

Lord we confess our many faults And how great our guilt has been
Foolish and vain were all of our thoughts
No good could come from within

But by the mercy of our God
All our hopes begin
And by the water and the blood
Our souls are washed from sin

Itʼs not by the works of righteousness
Which our own hands have done
But we are saved by our Fatherʼs grace
Abounding through His Son

 - Isaac Watts

Sojourn Community Church has recently put out an album titled "The Water and The Blood" based off this hymn. Go get it.

Daily Gospel: Hearts and Hopes in Heaven

In the strength of Divine grace their souls shall ascend above the world. They shall run the way of God's commandments cheerfully. Let us watch against unbelief, pride, and self-confidence. If we go forth in our own strength, we shall faint, and utterly fall; but having our hearts and our hopes in heaven, we shall be carried above all difficulties, and be enabled to lay hold of the prize of our high calling in Christ Jesus.

 - Matthew Henry, Commenting on Isaiah 40:27-31

Daily Gospel: "But"

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved

Ephesians 2:4-5

TableTalk Magazine notes: "Mercy - unexpected love and generosity - cannot be showered upon us as something owed, because mercy that is owed is not mercy but obligation."

Daily Gospel: Washed Robes

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

 - Revelation 7:13-14, Emphasis added.

What robes are washed? Only dirty ones. But how are robes made clean by washing them in blood? How can something so red make something so white?

Daily Gospel: No Other Blood or Name

Who but the soul that’s led to know
How just and holy is the law,
Will to the cross of Christ repair,
And seek salvation only there?

[Jesus, my soul’s compelled to flee
From all its wrath and curse to thee;
Though oft, through pride, my stubborn will
To Sinai feels a cleaving still.]

Sinner, if thou art taught to see
How great thy guilt and misery,
In every thought and act impure,
The blood of Christ thy soul can cure.

Daily to feel thyself undone,
Will make thee haste to kiss the Son,
And on thy knees for pardon sue,
And praise, and bless, and love him too.

[To feel thy shame and nakedness,
Will make thee love that glorious dress
That sets from condemnation free,
And from the curse delivers thee.

Without a seam this garment’s wove,
Bequeathed in everlasting love;
Ere time began, designed to be
A royal robe to cover thee.]

We seek no other blood or name,
To cleanse our guilt and hide our shame,
But that wrought out by Christ the Son,
Which God imputes, and faith puts on.

J. Kent, Gadsby's Hymns, #113

Daily Gospel: Wise, Kind, Tender

Let me not be at my own disposal,
  but rejoice that I am under the care of one
  who is too wise to err,
    too kind to injure,
    too tender to crush.

  - The Valley of Vision, "Jesus My Glory", p. 43

Daily Gospel: Blest Be The Lamb

When I can read my title clear
To mansions beyond this life,
I'll bid farewell to every fear,
And wipe my weeping eyes.

Then I will bathe my weary soul
In seas of heav'nly rest,
And not a wave of trouble will roll
Across my peaceful breast.

Blest be the Lamb, my dearest Lord,
Who bought me with his blood,
And quenched his Father's flaming sword
In his own vital flood

Should earth a war against me wage,
And hellish darts be hurled,
Then I can laugh at Satan's rage,
And face a frowning world

The Lamb, He freed my captive soul
From Satan's heavy chains,
And sent the lion down to howl
Where hell and horror reign.

Let cares like a deluge come,
And storms of sorrow fall,
May I but safely reach my home,
My God, my heav'n, my all!

 - Sojourn, "Blest Be The Lamb" (Link to PDF)

Daily Gospel: 5/18/11 - Psalm 18 & Jesus' Reign

As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me;
foreigners came cringing to me.
Foreigners lost heart
and came trembling out of their fortresses.

 - Psalm 18:44-45

This post is going to be a little strange. How in the world does one see gospel truth in the verses above?

When I was reading Psalm 18 last night and came to these verses, I immediately focused on the words "obeyed" and "foreigners". Before David describes the response of the foreign nations around Israel to his deliverance from Saul and all his enemies (see the title of the Psalm), he speaks of how he has brought destruction to his enemies. He "pursued [his] enemies and overtook them" and "beat them like fine dust" and "cast them out like the mire of the streets". Those are powerful words describing David's actions towards his enemies. Naturally, David did not literally pulverize his opponents to dust physically or throw them into the street like sewage in a bucket, but we can get a poetic sense of the severity with which David's enemies were dealt.

How does this relate to the gospel?

Jesus triumphed over death, sin, and Satan, as many have preached. Indeed, these are all true. Additionally, if all the words of the scriptures testify of Jesus, and they do according to Jesus who said so on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24), then this psalm must somehow point to Christ.

I am far from an expert on prophecy, OT/NT connections, and writing exegetically in general, but let me offer some thoughts.

• Jesus was a descendant of David and ultimately the climatic figure in that royal line. Jesus is the recipient of God's steadfast love because he is the anointed one - the Messiah (Ps. 18:50).
• If foreign nations came to David with trembling fear after hearing of his conquests, how much more should we revere and fear Jesus, who had a far greater conquest than David, a conquest over death itself?
• Just as foreigners came to David in trembling fear, so will people from every nation come to Jesus because of his blood by which they are ransomed (Rev. 5:9).
• David tells of how he will sing praises to the LORD "among the nations" (Ps. 18:49). Jesus is the divine King who calls people from every tribe to himself in joyful worship (Rev. 7:9).

Daily Gospel: 5/17/11

As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;
when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.

 - Psalm 17:15

From my interpretation of Psalm 17, David is contrasting beholding God's face in righteousness and being satisfied with the earthly abundance and happiness that the wicked enjoy (17:4). The one who finds his satisfaction in God is directly contrasted with those "whose portion is in this life" (17:4).

I'm writing to myself here - let's not find our portion in this world for "the world is passing away along with desires". All Christian hope (in the biblical meaning, not the anxious 21st-century "hope") is to be directed heavenward. All future longings and fuel for present living is to come from seeking "the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God" (Col. 3:1).

Those are just some things I am learning, the application is yours to discern.

Daily Gospel: 5/12/11

Give praise to King Jesus, the blessed Son
Victorious, glorious resurrected One
To Him belongs the power, glory and honor
Ascended where He sits at the right hand of the Father
At the cross He made atonement- His people He saved
After three days He was raised in defeat of the grave
By faith the elect behold Him, His scepter is golden
He must have been hot or slippery because death couldn’t hold Him
The spotlight is on today’s icons
In a thousand years, nobody will care- their light’s gone
But at that time, Christ will still shine bright
He’s not in the limelight- He IS the limelight
Criminal minded, you’ve been blinded
Looking for the body of Jesus? You won’t find it
We never lack spirit, letting you cats hear it
Because His tomb is empty like most secular rap lyrics

 - Shai Linne, "Jesus Is Alive (House of Tea Remix)", The Atonement

I love me some good gospel-centered rap. The Atonement is one of the finest examples of such art. I commend it to you.