Gathered with an assembly of God's people yesterday (Easter Sunday), how the tears did flow while singing the wonderful hymn of Charles Wesley (1707-1788), Christ the Lord is Risen Today! Listen to the fourth verse:
Lives again our glorious King,
Where, O death, is now thy sting?
Once He died our souls to save,
Where's thy victory, boasting grave?
Why would there not be "tears" of joy when singing that? Why not "joy" and "shouts" of praise? How can we possibly contemplate the glory of the resurrection of Christ without high emotions and wondrous praise of our glorious God? It is beyond me how many "church" people can be so "stoic" in emotion about the glory of the gospel, yet go absolutely crazy over who wins a football game! There is no comparison whatsoever. When the women who went to the tomb of Christ first realized and grasped that Christ had "risen indeed," here is what the text says: "And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and GREAT JOY; and DID RUN to bring his disciples word" (Matthew 28:8). What has happened to us, beloved? Have we lost this excitement and joy and thrill of Christ being raised from the dead? Wesley's line is correct, Lives again our glorious King!
What joy also yesterday to see my two youngest grandsons follow the Lord in believer's baptism, baptized by my son, their father! All six of my precious grandchildren (three girls, three boys) have now professed faith in the living Christ. What wonderful fellowship our family has in the things of God! How glorious to read God's Word together in family gatherings, offer prayer in praise for God's goodness to us, and rejoice as a family in truly knowing the living, risen Savior! Death has lost its sting! The grave has lost its victory! Why are we all not shouting right now? "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Corinthians 15:57). Hallelujah! We need "a thousand tongues" to sing our great Redeemer's praise!
QUOTE FOR THE DAY
“The two aspects, if I may use the expression, of our gracious Lord, in which are wrapped up all our faith, and hope, and love, are a dying Jesus and a risen Jesus; Christ in his sufferings and death, Christ in his resurrection and life. This is the Christ of God; this is the Son of God in whom we believe unto life eternal, as he is presented to our view in the Scriptures of truth, and by the inward teaching and testimony of the Holy Spirit. If, then, you do not believe in a dying Christ and in a risen Christ, your faith is not the faith of a Christian.” J. C. Philpot on Romans 4:25
Lives again our glorious King,
Where, O death, is now thy sting?
Once He died our souls to save,
Where's thy victory, boasting grave?
Why would there not be "tears" of joy when singing that? Why not "joy" and "shouts" of praise? How can we possibly contemplate the glory of the resurrection of Christ without high emotions and wondrous praise of our glorious God? It is beyond me how many "church" people can be so "stoic" in emotion about the glory of the gospel, yet go absolutely crazy over who wins a football game! There is no comparison whatsoever. When the women who went to the tomb of Christ first realized and grasped that Christ had "risen indeed," here is what the text says: "And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and GREAT JOY; and DID RUN to bring his disciples word" (Matthew 28:8). What has happened to us, beloved? Have we lost this excitement and joy and thrill of Christ being raised from the dead? Wesley's line is correct, Lives again our glorious King!
What joy also yesterday to see my two youngest grandsons follow the Lord in believer's baptism, baptized by my son, their father! All six of my precious grandchildren (three girls, three boys) have now professed faith in the living Christ. What wonderful fellowship our family has in the things of God! How glorious to read God's Word together in family gatherings, offer prayer in praise for God's goodness to us, and rejoice as a family in truly knowing the living, risen Savior! Death has lost its sting! The grave has lost its victory! Why are we all not shouting right now? "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Corinthians 15:57). Hallelujah! We need "a thousand tongues" to sing our great Redeemer's praise!
QUOTE FOR THE DAY
“The two aspects, if I may use the expression, of our gracious Lord, in which are wrapped up all our faith, and hope, and love, are a dying Jesus and a risen Jesus; Christ in his sufferings and death, Christ in his resurrection and life. This is the Christ of God; this is the Son of God in whom we believe unto life eternal, as he is presented to our view in the Scriptures of truth, and by the inward teaching and testimony of the Holy Spirit. If, then, you do not believe in a dying Christ and in a risen Christ, your faith is not the faith of a Christian.” J. C. Philpot on Romans 4:25
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