CALL TO WORSHIP

(Tune: ‘Doxology’- Words by Benjamin Beddome, 1717-1795)

reat God!  My Maker and my King,

Of Thee I’ll speak, of Thee I’ll sing;

All Thou hast done, and all Thou dost,

Declare Thee good, proclaim Thee just.

Thy ancient thoughts and firm decrees;

Thy threatenings and Thy promises;

The joys of heaven, the pains of hell,

What angels taste, what devils feel;

Thy terrors and Thy acts of grace;

Thy threatening rod, and smiling face;

Thy wounding and Thy healing word;

A world undone, a world restored;

While these excite my fear and joy,

While these my tuneful lips employ,

Accept O Lord, the humble song,

The tribute of a trembling tongue.

TRUE ISRAEL

“For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:  Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac [Christ] shall thy seed be called,” Romans 9:7

n the world today we have been hearing a lot about the nation of Israel.  Whether it is in the political realm or in the religious realm, the nation of Israel has been the center of attention for some time now.  Yes, God did establish the physical nation but that is not the true people of God today.  The true Israel is the nation that was established by God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ by His eternal covenant of grace.  I am talking about the nation of people that God the Father gave His Son in electing grace and justified them upon the completion of His righteous work that was preformed on their behalf at the cross.  Apart from Christ there is not a true nation of Israel. It is just another group of heathen God-haters meeting and living together.  Christ is the difference in the equation.  Scripture says that the true Israelite is one whom Christ has bought with a price unto God the Father, just as Boaz had to pay to redeem Naomi and Ruth, (Ruth 4: 1-7).  These blessings are not the rewards of believing, but are the evidences of His redeeming grace on their behalf.  All spiritual blessings that the believer receives are a direct by-product of the work that Christ has done in his stead.  If physical Israel was kept and blessed, it was in view of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s true Israel- (Gal. 3: 6-9 with Isaiah 42:1).

DARON CHARLES, Lake Charles, LA

THE LAMB SLAIN FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD

“…whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,” Revelation 13:8 

his verse is often misconstrued to mean that Christ was already slain before the world began.  However, He did not yet have a body, and therefore, no blood to shed then.  A closer look at this verse reveals one of two possible meanings.  It may be a reference to the book of life of the Lamb slain, as a description as to whose book it is, and ‘from the foundation of the world’ referring back to when the names were written, in other words, already written from the foundation of the world, in the now slain Lamb’s book.  The alternative meaning may be that ‘from the foundation of the world’ means ‘since the foundation (creation) of the world, He is the Lamb slain, with reference to type, picture and promise, but ultimately fulfilled since the world’s foundation at Calvary.  One thing is certain; the verse does not say that He was slain BEFORE the world’s foundation. 

Perhaps one of the clearest passages of Scripture showing the relationship between God’s purpose in eternity to save by Christ, and the outworking of salvation in time is found in Psalm 40:6-8 with Hebrews 10:5-10.  In the volume of the book (either God’s eternal will or the inspired word) it is written and therefore purposed, but then…’a body hast thou prepared me,’ v. 5.  It was absolutely necessary that Christ should place himself under the law to pay the penalty that we deserved and to merit eternal life for the elect, which they could never merit for themselves (Psalms 40:8; John 10:11; Galatians 1:4; 4:4-5). On behalf of the elect he assumed and fully discharged all violated conditions and incurred liabilities of the covenant of works (Matthew 5:17-18).  He accomplished this by rendering a perfect obedience to the precept of the law (Psalms 40:8; Isaiah 42:21; John 9:4-5; 8:29; Matthew 19:17), and thereby once for all justified His people, having suffered the full penalty incurred by the sins of his people (Isaiah 53; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 5:2). 

The Scriptural definition of God foreordaining all things is found in Acts 4:28- “For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.”  The death of the Lord Jesus was determined before to be done (fulfilled and accomplished fully) at the cross.  All of Scripture is given in order to reveal the unfolding of God’s eternal purpose, show its fulfillment at Calvary, and call lost sinners by the same Spirit, to submit to the Lamb slain, by whom God has once for all redeemed, justified, and sanctified them unto Himself upon completion of Christ’s obedience unto death.                                                                                                                  KEN WIMER