Snagged this from Keller’s Counterfiet Gods. “It is finished,” oh the depth of gospel truth contained in those three words. My favorite lines are the ones Keller quotes, the lines of the last stanza, “cast your dealdy ‘doing’ down…”.
It is Finished by James Proctor
Nothing, either great or small—
Nothing, sinner, no;
Jesus died and paid it all,
Long, long ago.
Refrain
“It is finished!” yes, indeed,
Finished, ev’ry jot;
Sinner, this is all you need,
Tell me, is it not?
When He, from His lofty throne,
Stooped to do and die,
Ev’rything was fully done;
Hearken to His cry!
Refrain
Weary, working, burdened one,
Wherefore toil you so?
Cease your doing; all was done
Long, long ago.
Refrain
Till to Jesus’ work you cling
By a simple faith,
“Doing” is a deadly thing—
“Doing” ends in death.
Refrain
Cast your deadly “doing” down—
Down at Jesus’ feet;
Stand in Him, in Him alone,
Gloriously complete.
One of my favorite modern hymns is In Christ Alone by Keith Getty. I started reading Sinclair Ferguson’s book by the same title and it opens with his translation of a passage in Calvin’s Institutes that ministered to me. I would encourage you to read both the song and the passage slowly and several times, meditate on Christ – look nowhere else.
(21st Century Version)
In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev’ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.
There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow’r of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand.
When we see salvation whole,
its every single part
is found in Christ,
And so we must beware
lest we derive the smallest drop
from somewhere else.
For if we seek salvation, the very name of Jesus
teaches us
that he possesses it.
If other Spirit-given gifts are sought–
in his anointing they are found;
strength–in his reign;
and purity–in his conception;
and tenderness–expressed in his nativity,
in which in all respects like us he was,
that he might learn to feel our pain:
Redemption when we seek it, is in his passion found;
acquiital–in his condemnation lies;
and freedom from the curse–in his own cross is given.
If satisfaction for our sins we seek–we’ll find it in his sacrifice;
and cleansing in his blood.
If reconciliation now we need, for this he entered Hades,
To overcome our sins we need to know
that in his tomb they’re laid.
Then newness of our life–his resurrection brings
and immortality as well comes also with that gift.
And if we also long to find
inheritance in heaven’s reign,
his entry there secures it now
with our protection, safety, too, and blessings that abound
–all flowing from his royal throne.
The sum of all this:
For those who seek
this treasure-trove of blessings of all kinds,
in no one else can they be found
than him,
for all are given
in Christ alone.
– John Calvin (Translated by Sinclair Ferguson in In Christ Alone)
Here is a hymn to go with our upcomming study of 2 Timothy at The Still. Read 2 Timothy a couple of times and then read the hymn again. Convicted? I was.
I first heard this hymn at T4G 08. I remember it deeply moving me. When I slow down and listen and contemplate it has a deeply profound effect of mixed joy and humility.
How Sweet and Aweful Is This Place
by Isaac Watts
How sweet and aweful is this place
With Christ within the doors,
While everlasting love displays
The choicest of her stores!
Here every bowel of our God
With soft compassion rolls;
Here peace and pardon bought with blood
Is food for dying souls.
While all our hearts and all our songs
Join to admire the feast,
Each of us cry, with thankful tongues,
“Lord, why was I a guest?
“Why was I made to hear Thy voice,
And enter while there’s room,
When thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?”
’Twas the same love that spread the feast
That sweetly drew us in;
Else we had still refused to taste,
And perished in our sin.
Pity the nations, O our God!
Constrain the earth to come;
Send Thy victorious Word abroad,
And bring the strangers home.
We long to see Thy churches full,
That all the chosen race
May with one voice, and heart and soul,
Sing Thy redeeming grace.
I love the deep, rich, vision of a God who is an overflowing fountain in this song, not a lonely watering trough. I especially love how the first stanza speaks of His aseity, that is His self-sufficiency and independence. What do you think?
Thou Wast, O God: And Thou Wast Blest
By John Mason
Thou wast, O God: And thou was blest
Before the World begun;
Of thine Eternity possest
Before Time’s Glass did run.
Thou needest none thy Praise to sing,
As if thy Joy could fade.
Could’st thou have needed any thing,
Thou could’st have nothing made.
Great and Good God, it pleased Thee
Thy God-Head to declare;
And what thy Goodness did decree,
Thy Greatness did prepare:
Thou spak’st, and Heav’n and Earth appear’d,
And answer’d to thy Call;
As if their Maker’s Voice they heard,
Which is the Creatures’ ALL.
Thou spak’st the Word, most mighty Lord,
Thy Word went forth with speed;
Thy Will, O Lord, it was thy Word,
Thy Word it was thy Deed.
Thou brought’st forth Adam from the Ground,
And Eve out of his Side;
Thy Blessing made the Earth abound
With these Two multiply’d.
Those three great Leaves, Heav’n, Sea and Land;
Thy Name in Figures show;
Brutes feel the Bounty of thy Hand,
But I my Maker know.
Should not I here thy Servant be,
Whose Creatures serve me here?
My Lord, whom should I fear, but Thee,
Who am thy Creatures Fear?
To whom, Lord, should I Sing, but Thee,
The Maker of my Tongue?
Lo! Other Lords would seize on me,
But I to Thee belong:
As Waters haste unto their Sea,
And Earth unto its Earth;
So let my Soul return to Thee,
From whom it had its Birth.
But Ah! I’m fallen in the Night,
And cannot come to thee;
Yet speak the Word, Let there be Light,
It shall Enlighten me:
And let thy Word, most Mighty Lord,
Thy Fallen Creature raise;
O make me o’er again, and I
Shall sing my Maker’s Praise.
I probably should have preached this chapter in three segments, one on justification, one on covenant, and one on how both of these relate to Abram not being afraid. I went straight to the third one because I wanted you to see how fear dispelling and courage generating these truths are. Theology is for life. We do not dive into doctrines like justification by faith and covenant to gain intellectual superiority. We dive into it to know our God, to understand His mighty salvation, and then to live properly in light of it. If the gospel is true then fears are stupid. Why should Christians not fear? God. The more we know God, the less room there is for fear, of anything else. As Richard Baxter said, “If He be thine enemy, it is no matter who is thy friend; for all the world cannot save thee, if He do but condemn thee.”
I say your fears are stupid, my fears are stupid, not to insult you, but to free you. If you are in Christ here these words from your sovereign heavenly Father, “Fear not.” It is a command, but it comes so gently you don’t recognize it as one. We will have fears, but our God speaks to us in His Word, He whispers to us of His might, faithfulness, love, sovereignty, and wisdom. God deals gently with Abram’s fears as He tries to live in obedience. As a father hugging his son in the scariest of moments know that the father hugs you. The hug is soft on the inside but hard as iron from without. You need not fear, He is your shield (Genesis 15:1).
One saint who was plagued with fears, loneliness, and depression all His life was William Cowper, a contemporary of John Newton, and William Wilberforce. What gave Cowper hope and life was the gospel. God spoke gently to Him, and now God speaks gently through him still through his hymns. When full of fears and doubts, like Cowper, reflect on the cross and the blood of the new covenant.
There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood
By William Cowper
There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
Lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day;
And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.
Washed all my sins away, washed all my sins away;
And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.
Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.
Be saved, to sin no more, be saved, to sin no more;
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.
E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.
And shall be till I die, and shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.
Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I’ll sing Thy power to save,
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.
Lies silent in the grave, lies silent in the grave;
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.
Lord, I believe Thou hast prepared, unworthy though I be,
For me a blood bought free reward, a golden harp for me!
’Tis strung and tuned for endless years, and formed by power divine,
To sound in God the Father’s ears no other name but Thine.
God Moves in a Mysterious Way
By William Cowper
God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.
Come, my soul, thy suit prepare:
Jesus loves to answer prayer;
He Himself has bid thee pray,
Therefore will not say thee nay;
Therefore will not say thee nay.
Thou art coming to a King,
Large petitions with thee bring;
For His grace and power are such,
None can ever ask too much;
None can ever ask too much.
With my burden I begin:
Lord, remove this load of sin;
Let Thy blood, for sinners spilt,
Set my conscience free from guilt;
Set my conscience free from guilt.
Lord, I come to Thee for rest,
Take possession of my breast;
There Thy blood bought right maintain,
And without a rival reign;
And without a rival reign.
As the image in the glass
Answers the beholder’s face;
Thus unto my heart appear,
Print Thine own resemblance there,
Print Thine own resemblance there.
While I am a pilgrim here,
Let Thy love my spirit cheer;
As my Guide, my Guard, my Friend,
Lead me to my journey’s end;
Lead me to my journey’s end.
Show me what I have to do,
Every hour my strength renew:
Let me live a life of faith,
Let me die Thy people’s death;
Let me die Thy people’s death.
