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

Sharper than a Two-Edged Sword?

Dane Ortlund comments on a common interpretation of Hebrews 4:12 and its shortcomings. Here's a quote:

I think Hebrews 4:12 is really getting at the same core idea expressed in Jesus' quote of Isaiah 6 in Matthew 13 to the effect that God's revealed truth does not leave people where they were: it either further hardens them or opens their eyes. To some the gospel is the aroma of life, to others the aroma of death (2 Cor. 2:15-17; again the logos of God, v. 17). Which is precisely what is meant in the context of Hebrews 4--the good news of promised rest for God's people landed on some to their hardening and on others to their rejoicing

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)

All My Delight

In the quiet, in the stillness
I know that You are God
In the secret of Your presence
I know there I am restored

When You call I won’t refuse
Each new day again I’ll choose
There is no one else for me
None but Jesus
Crucified to set me free
Now I live to bring Him praise

In the chaos, in confusion
I know You’re Sovereign still
In the moment of my weakness
You give me grace to do Your will
All my delight is in You Lord
All of my hope, all of my strength
All my delight is in You Lord Forevermore

 - Hillsong United, "None But Jesus"

May this be the song of my heart and lips: All my delight is in You Lord.

Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

 - Psalm 73:25

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.

Public Schools: Fields of Harvest

Drue Warner, director of Live, Work and Play Ministries at Atlanta’s Perimeter Church (PCA):

"We may have cared about our communities evangelistically, but we haven’t cared holistically about the needs of our communities. If we want to see God do a work of transformation in our communities, it really starts by building relationships with families, because there’s a lot of breakdown in families. And one of the best places to build a relationship with families is in our public schools. They’re the hubs of our communities."

HT: byFaith

I tutored children at a local middle school once a week for a semester a few years back as part of required service for an organization I was in. I did not get to know the children from that school closely but I can clearly see that messengers of the gospel are needed to minister to these children and by connection, their families. The brokenness of families in this world is certainly far worse than I realize and likely a problem (perhaps one of the most significant problems in this world) that has few people working to solve it.

Will we go to these fields of harvest or let them languish and die?

Go to a local school. Discover the places to serve. Bring the gospel on ready feet. Ask around in your local church to find connections to the schools. Connect with people!

Here's one more quote from the article:

"We can preach the gospel in the public schools, and the way we’re going to do that is through our lives, by allowing teachers, students, families, and administrators to experience the love of Christ through our actions, with a goal of provoking them to ask questions, provoking them to curiosity.’ Once that happens, you can talk about whatever you want."

(One of the main reasons I share this is because I travel past two schools on my way to work every day. I need to get connected!)

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.