A Word for Preachers...John Brown on the Doctrine of the Atonement

"Let a man preach with the greatest ability and zeal everything in the Bible but the Cross, he shall, as to the great end of preaching, preach in vain. While, on the other hand, the honest preaching of the Cross — though in great weakness, and even when accompanied with great deficiencies as to a full declaration of the counsel of God on some other subjects — has usually been accompanied with the divine blessing. The doctrine of the atonement ought not to be the sole theme of the Christian ministry, but every doctrine, and every precept, of Christianity should be exhibited in their connection with this great master principle; and the leading object of the preacher should be to keep the mind and heart of his hearers steadily fixed on Christ Jesus — Christ Jesus crucified."

John Brown
An Exposition of the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians
  
(HT: Of First Importance)

Faith Reviving by Augustus Toplady

Recently I came across the words to the hymn Faith Reviving by Augustus Toplady, who also more famously penned Rock of Ages.  I have no idea to what tune it Faith Reviving is sung, but I was struck by the poignancy of the great message of Christ's atonement for his Church.  What comfort we who are in Christ find in the fact that he not only died to make our salvation possible, but to make it sure!


From whence this fear and unbelief?
Hath not the Father put to grief
     His spotless Son for me?
And will the righteous Judge of men
Condemn me for that debt of sin
     Which, Lord, was charged on thee?

Complete atonement thou hast made,
And to the utmost farthing paid
     Whate’er thy people owed;
How then can wrath on me take place
If sheltered in thy righteousness,
     And sprinkled with thy blood?

If thou hast my discharge procured,
And freely in my room endured
     The whole of wrath divine,
Payment God cannot twice demand—
First at my bleeding Surety’s hand,
     And then again at mine.

Turn then, my soul, unto thy rest!
The merits of thy great High Priest
     Have bought thy liberty;
Trust in his efficacious blood,
Nor fear thy banishment from God,
     Since Jesus died for thee.

Don't Forget the Blood

I suppose it has always been the case, but it seems especially prevalent in our day. Many people love the message of Jesus (or at least what they think this message might be), they just don’t love the message of the cross. To put it another way, they simply can’t abide by the idea that a holy God requires payment for my sins and yours, and that Jesus provided this payment when he shed his blood as an atoning sacrifice. We long to love Jesus for who we want him to be, as opposed to loving him for who he was and is.

I’ve been reading through Your Jesus is Too Safe by Jared Wilson, and I came across a passage yesterday that does a great job of capturing this idea:

The cross of Christ is foolishness to those who are perishing, which is a stinging indictment of so many self-appointed “Christian” spokespeople who have conveniently forgotten all about the cross. The cross is a foreign concept to the religious hucksters on television, and those in the pulpits and in publishing, who would ask you to take Jesus without taking his cross.

My friends, Jesus is not a pop song, snuggly sweater, affectionate boyfriend, a poster on your wall, self-help book, motivational speech, warm cup of coffee, ultimate fighting champion, knight in shining armor, or Robin to your Batman. He is blood.

And without blood, you die.