Heavenly Springs

Holding Fast The Doctrines of Grace

So, what’s in a name?

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Merry Christmas, everyone! It’s been a quiet season here at Heavenly Springs, but I’m still here!  No worries. It’s all good.  Just the seasons of life.  Still, I couldn’t let the day go by without memorializing it. It’s Christmas, and I’ve been thinking about his name.  Were it possible, it would have been blotted out a long time ago by those who despise it.  But the name of Jesus will never be erased!  To the believer, it is the most beautiful name in the world.  It is more precious than any joy or pleasure this fleeting world has to offer. It is life itself. But what does it mean? What does it tell us about ourselves? What does it say about God?  J.C. Ryle, in his commentary on the first chapter of Matthew, tells us all that’s in his name! Today, we celebrate the birth of a Savior who came to save us from our sins.  And if that weren’t enough, his promise is that he will be with us forever!  We will never be alone! Today, I celebrate with you, and believers everywhere, that wonderful name of Jesus!  Merry Christmas!

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” – Matthew 1:21

“The name JESUS means “Savior.” It is the same name as Joshua in the Old Testament. It is given to our Lord because “He saves His people from their sins.” This is His special office. He saves them from the guilt of sin, by washing them in His own atoning blood. He saves them from the dominion of sin, by putting in their hearts the sanctifying Spirit. He saves them from the presence of sin, when He takes them out of this world to rest with Him. He will save them from all the consequences of sin, when He shall give them a glorious body at the last day. Blessed and holy are Christ’s people! From sorrow, cross, and conflict they are not saved. But they are saved from sin for evermore. They are cleansed from guilt by Christ’s blood. They are made fit for heaven by Christ’s Spirit. This is salvation. He who cleaves to sin is not yet saved.

Jesus is a very encouraging name to heavy-laden sinners. He who is King of kings and Lord of lords might lawfully have taken some more high-sounding title. But He does not do so. The rulers of this world have often called themselves Great, Conquerors, Bold, Magnificent, and the like. The Son of God is content to call Himself Savior. The souls which desire salvation may draw near to the Father with boldness, and have access with confidence through Christ. It is His office and His delight to show mercy. “For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.” (John 3:17.)

Jesus is a name, which is peculiarly sweet and precious to believers. It has often done them good, when the favor of kings and princes would have been heard of with unconcern. It has given them what money cannot buy, even inward peace. It has eased their wearied consciences, and given rest to their heavy hearts. The Song of Solomon speaks the experience of many, when it says, “your name is oil poured forth.” (Cant. 1:3.) Happy is that person, who trusts not merely in vague notions of God’s mercy and goodness, but in “Jesus.”

The other name in these verses is scarcely less interesting than that just referred to. It is the name which is given to our Lord from his nature, as “God manifest in the flesh.” He is called EMMANUEL, “God with us.”

Let us take care that we have clear views of our Lord Jesus Christ’s nature and person. It is a point of the deepest importance. We should settle it firmly in our minds, that our Savior is perfect man as well as perfect God, and perfect God as well as perfect man. If we once lose sight of this great foundation truth, we may run into fearful heresies. The name Emmanuel takes in the whole mystery. Jesus is “God with us.” He had a nature like our own in all things, sin only excepted. But though Jesus was “with us” in human flesh and blood, He was at the same time very God.

We shall often find, as we read the Gospels, that our Savior could be weary, and hungry, and thirsty–could weep, and groan, and feel pain like one of ourselves. In all this we see “the man” Christ Jesus. We see the nature He took on Him, when He was born of the Virgin Mary.

But we shall also find in the same Gospels that our Savior knew men’s hearts and thoughts–that He had power over devils–that He could work the mightiest of miracles with a word–that He was ministered to by angels–that He allowed a disciple to call Him “my God,”–and that he said, “Before Abraham was I am,” and “I and my Father are one.” In all this we see “the eternal God.” We see Him “who is over all, God, blessed forever. Amen.” (Rom. 9:5.)

Would you have a strong foundation for your faith and hope? Then keep in constant view your Savior’s divinity. He in whose blood you are taught to trust is the Almighty God. All power is His in heaven and earth. None can pluck you out of His hand. If you are a true believer in Jesus, let not your heart be troubled or afraid.

Would you have sweet comfort in suffering and trial? Then keep in constant view your Savior’s humanity. He is the man Christ Jesus, who lay on the bosom of the Virgin Mary, as a little infant, and knows the heart of a man. He can be touched with the feeling of your infirmities. He has Himself experienced Satan’s temptations. He has endured hunger. He has shed tears. He has felt pain. Trust Him at all times with all your sorrows. He will not despise you. Pour out all your heart before Him in prayer, and keep nothing back. He can sympathize with His people.

Let these thoughts sink down into our minds. Let us bless God for the encouraging truths which the first chapter of the New Testament contains. It tells us of One who “saves His people from their sins.” But this is not all. It tells us that this Savior is “Emmanuel,” God Himself, and yet God with us, God manifest in human flesh like our own. This is glad tidings. This is indeed good news. Let us feed on these truths in our hearts by faith with thanksgiving.”

J.C. Ryle

The Weary World Rejoices

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I won’t lie friends. My heart is heavy. The local and national events of the day trouble me in inexpressible ways.  I have seen and tasted the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living, yet the words of Joshua 3:4 ring afresh, “You have not passed this way before.”  I won’t muster anything false, light my own fire, or kindle my own torch.  Instead, I cling to the doctrines of grace.  I cleave to the glorious Sovereignty of God. Though I cannot see, I am content to wait in darkness because I know it is Him who created the darkness. “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create calamity: I the LORD do all these things” (Isaiah 45:7).   The ground of my consolation is the good, and glorious Providence of God and I pray for the quiet trust – the eyes of faith to look beyond all secondary circumstances, agents, and human instruments to the Primary cause who is God alone. “See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc” (Isaiah 54:16).

And so with a sad, but trusting heart I celebrate the Light of the World that pierces the darkness with true hope.  Everlasting hope.  And yes, praise you Jesus! A weary world, burdened and weighed down with sin, rejoices!  Christ is come!  Praise be to God!

Christmas Bloodline: Notorious Women in Jesus’s Family

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Jon Bloom, at Desiring God, points to Matthew chapter one to show us what a geneology of grace looks like. This post is beautiful – so, so beautiful…I plan to share it with the young women at our next meeting. How about you?  Is there a woman in your world who needs to hear this message of hope in Christ? He came to seek and save disgraceful sinners – just like ones in his lineage. To God be the glory!

“Buried in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew chapter one is a gospel treasure. That treasure is five women. Their inclusion in the list is notable because it’s a patrilineal genealogy — a record of fathers and sons. Their inclusion is also notable because they were among the most notorious women in biblical history.

Tamar

The first mentioned is Tamar (Matthew 1:3). Remember her? Tamar entered the royal bloodline of the Messiah by disguising herself as a prostitute and seducing her father-in-law, Judah, so he would make her pregnant. Honestly, Judah had it coming because he had denied her justice, but it was an ugly affair all around (see Genesis 38).

Rahab

The second is Rahab (Matthew 1:5). She didn’t have to disguise herself. She had been a prostitute. And a Gentile! A Canaanite, no less. Not a desired pedigree. She and her family were the only survivors of Israel’s conquest of Jericho because she hid the Jewish spies and helped them escape. Once integrated into Israel, she married Salmon (wouldn’t you like to know that story?) and became King David’s great, great grandmother.

Ruth

Ruth is the third (Matthew 1:5) and she too was a Gentile. A Moabite. Her ancestry had its origin in the incest committed between Lot and his oldest daughter. Ruth’s people were polytheistic pagans, occasionally offering human sacrifices to idol-gods like Chemosh. Through personal tragedy and loyalty she wound up at Bethlehem and in the arms of Boaz.

We simply can’t move on without mentioning the staggering fact that Ruth has a book of the Bible named after her! How did that happen? Jews were prohibited from intermarrying with Moabites (Ezra 9:10–12) — unless a Moabite renounced all that being a Moabite meant and became all that it meant to be a Jew. In the fact that one of the canonical books of the Old Covenant is named after a Moabite woman, God is shouting something about his grace.

Bathsheba

The fourth woman mentioned in the list is “the wife of Uriah” (Matthew 1:6), Bathsheba. This woman suffered sexual abuse and the murder of her husband by Israel’s greatest king. And as a result she became an ancestor of Jesus.

Mary

Mary, the mother of Jesus, is the fifth (Matthew 1:16). She became pregnant with Jesus before her wedding, and the Child’s father was not her betrothed, Joseph. This scandal would have lingered like a cloud in the whispers and suspicions of her wider family and fellow Nazarenes for many years.

Highlights of Grace

All five of these women share something in common: disgrace. These women either committed or suffered disgrace. They had tainted reputations. They likely would have endured the contempt of others. And at least the first four would have struggled with very painful, even sordid memories.

And here’s the thing. Most of us want to conceal the more disgraceful events and people in our families. But not Jesus. He goes out of his way here to draw attention to these women whose very names call to mind scandalous things. Why? I think to remind us, before Matthew even begins the story of his birth, why he came.

Even in the genealogies God weaves his grace. He loves to redeem sinners. He loves to produce something beautiful out of sordid family backgrounds. He loves to make foreigners his children. He loves to reconcile his enemies. He loves to make all things work together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

Each of these women are beautiful Old Covenant illustrations of what God would later say to Peter when clarifying that his grace is extended to all peoples: “What God has made clean, do not call common” (Acts 10:15).

And that’s his word to you and me. The amazingly good news of Christmas is that Jesus came to make notorious unclean sinners and foreigners like us — people with disgraceful pasts who believe in his name (John 1:12) — clean.”

For Unto Us a Child is Born

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For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. – Isaiah 9:6

“This Child was born for the benefit of us men, of us sinners, of all believers, from the beginning to the end of the world. Justly is he called Wonderful, for he is both God and man. His love is the wonder of angels and glorified saints.

He is the Counsellor, for he knew the counsels of God from eternity; and he gives counsel to men, in which he consults our welfare. He is the Wonderful Counsellor; none teaches like him. 

He is God, the mighty One. Such is the work of the Mediator, that no less power than that of the mighty God could bring it to pass. He is God, one with the Father.

As the Prince of Peace, he reconciles us to God; he is the Giver of peace in the heart and conscience; and when his kingdom is fully established, men shall learn war no more. The government shall be upon him; he shall bear the burden of it. Glorious things are spoken of Christ’s government. There is no end to the increase of its peace, for the happiness of its subjects shall last for ever.”  

– Matthew Henry

Merry Christmas all!