PREACHING OF THE WORD OF GOD
Hugh Brown
I suppose that each of us here this evening, even the children, would understand that this is the occasion for the preaching of the word of God. The simple contemplation of that is very wonderful because it involves that God has a word for men. This is a day when God is speaking to men. God has always spoken to men, but there never has been a day in which divine speaking has been like that of the present day. God has spoken to men in creation. The heavens attest God's eternal power and divinity, a testimony to God and His creation. I remember reading about a man who was sent by his family to America and friends took him to the Rockies and to the Grand Canyon and such places; he was so impressed with the awesomeness and the grandeur of what he saw that he began to search after God, and he found God where you will find Him: he found God in Jesus. The man let lesser interests go and held on to the greater. Wise man indeed! Will you be wise tonight? If you do not know the Lord Jesus as your Saviour, get to know Him tonight.
In reading this section of Scripture today I have been impressed with the concentration there is in these eight verses. If the preaching tonight were to persons who had no moral link or professed link with God, it would be a matter of setting out the elements of the glad tidings - the Person and work of Christ the love of God, the gift of the Holy Spirit. But where there are persons together in divine light it is a different matter; to me it is much more difficult to present the word of God to persons who are in the enjoyment of divine light and divine love. Paul, the author of this letter, had no difficulty in writing to the saints in Rome about the gospel. He does not raise moral matters with them of the kind which he raises with other assemblies; he says to them, " ... yourselves also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another", chap 15: 14. And yet the beloved apostle says, I am "ready to announce the glad tidings to you also who are in Rome", chap 1: 15. That is the position tonight.
But what a concentration there is in these eight verses! There is a reference to the power of God; there is a reference to the God who has saved us; there is a reference to our Saviour Jesus Christ; and there is a reference to the Holy Spirit. Think of that! These eight verses really involve the economy into which the blessed God has come. That economy is an all-embracing matter; there is nothing so wonderful in the universe as the economy of God; and these eight verses really involve not only the economy but God's eternal purpose. You may say, we are not fit to lace the shoes of such men as Paul, spiritual men, men that walked with God, men that knew God. They can say so much in so little, no padding required; but the very essence of the truth is compressed into eight verses.
The first thing I want to refer to is that this letter is written to a young man. That would be known to most of us here. This is a young man's day. It is the last time, the last days, and the dangerous times are upon us. That is what this conveys to me. It is a young man's day and, if the cherished testimony is to be preserved until the Lord comes, very much will depend on the young men and, of course, the young women. Where are they? I have been pretty well confined recently, but what causes me concern is a lack of interest in some of the young men. I say this feelingly, just to emphasise my point: I was in a locality recently and there were three young men there visiting and they were there at the Lord's Supper and were present also at the afternoon reading, and they took no part in those meetings. This is part of the sufferings of these perilous times. Rightly-minded people - and I am not claiming much in saying this - feel these things in their hearts; they go deep. I am not saying that that is what characterises the young men here, far from it, but what I would seek to do is to encourage them on the lines they are on, and the young sisters too. We come to this, that it is only when we are in the real joy of the glad tidings that we will be able to suffer along with the glad tidings. The thing balances itself. It is only persons who value the glad tidings that are prepared to suffer for them, and if you value the glad tidings, for sure you are in the enjoyment of them and the gain of them. To suffer along with the glad tidings is the normal portion of persons in God's testimony today, and this as I say, was written to a young man. But he says, "according to the power of God''. Ah, that is something! That is what you need; not only do you need affection for God; what you need is divine power. I reckon that that power lies in the gift of the Holy Spirit.
What is predicated of God here is that He has saved us. Is it not fine? I cannot save you. I would if I could, but I cannot save you. There is One who can save you and that is God. Centuries ago He said "there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour, there is none besides me", Isa 45: 21. For those in the joy of salvation it is a matter of God having saved them. One man said this: "I know that whatever God doeth, it shall be for ever; there is nothing to be added to it, nor anything to be taken from it", Eccles 3: 14. That is the kind of God we have, the God who has saved us, and He has saved us for eternity. What has He saved us from? We have been saved from our sins, from the penalty of our sins. Is that not wonderful? One was struck this morning by the great liberty that the new covenant has brought - wonderful liberty. It has set God free, set Christ free, set the Spirit free, set the saints free. God has saved us. Do you know anything about this? Would you like to be saved? God will save you. If you ask God to save you, God will save you. But He has not only saved us, He has called us with a holy calling. Perhaps we could extend the thought of God the Saviour. There is one thing we have been saved from, and that is this present evil world, and that is a very present salvation. You have been saved from this world. Where do you find your life? You will find it in one of two worlds. Which world? This present evil world with its temporary joys, its tinsel, its temporary pleasures, or is your life linked up with that area of which it is said, "at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore", Ps 16: 11? Do you know who is at God's right hand tonight? Jesus is there.
What is referred to here is "our Saviour Jesus Christ". It is presented here as a title - "our Saviour Jesus Christ". So if you cry to God to save you, He will point you to Jesus: He is your Saviour. He is at God's right hand. God has raised Him up and He has made Him Lord and Christ. Is Jesus your Saviour tonight? Is that true? Do you know Jesus as your Saviour? He in very truth is the salvation of God. Is that not what that dear man said that day when he held the infant Jesus in his arms: "mine eyes have seen thy salvation", Luke 2: 30? Does that not touch your heart? That man discerned in "the holy thing" that was born in Bethlehem and cradled in a manger that "mine eyes have seen thy salvation". Have you seen it? I shall tell you how you will see it. You will see it on the principle of faith.
Well, God has saved us and called us with a holy calling. Elsewhere it is said to be a heavenly calling . It has nothing to do with this world. This world, this present evil world, has neither a holy feature nor yet a heavenly one. What is this holy calling? It is sonship. You say, What do you mean by that? God will call you with this holy calling; He is calling tonight. We sing:
'O come to the Saviour, He's calling today' (Hymn 324).
God would call you into this holy calling which is sonship, to know God as your Father. Does that appeal? Oh the sweetness of the relation of father and son, the ineffable sweetness of that relation! That is what God is after - to bring you into relationship with Himself. This calling is holy and, as I have said already in reference to God's purpose, the sons of God are persons who have availed themselves of the divinely-provided Saviour. In eternity they are going to be before God, holy and without blame, such is the greatness of the work of Christ, such is the efficacy of His precious blood, and both Christ and His blood are presented as objects of faith for you tonight. "Through faith in his blood" (Rom 3: 25): what an involvement that was for Jesus! What was involved was the laying down of His life, the shedding of His blood. We speak about the sufferings along with the glad tidings. It is immaterial who the martyr is, none has suffered like Jesus, the infinitely holy One, the intrinsically holy One. We are not speaking about the sufferings that He received from men which were very dreadful. In Matthew and Mark it says that they spit on Him. In Matthew it says they "spit upon him" (chap 27: 30); then it says, "they spit in his face" (chap 26: 67). Have you ever been spat upon? It is a sombre experience, I can tell you that. Man spat on the Saviour and ultimately a Roman soldier pierced His side. Man's last act to the divinely-provided Saviour was in the spirit of murder. That is the name for it. Crucified and murdered - the Lord Jesus Christ, your Saviour and mine, if you will have Him. The Lord has called us, not according to our works. You do your best, but if you try doing your best you are playing a losing game. It is a hopeless task. You will only get grieved and frustrated if you are trying to do your best. You might do comparatively well today, and then tomorrow you have failed again. Why not give it up and come to the Saviour? It is not of works that we have done. The first covenant was very blessed. It could not be otherwise for it came from God; and if man had been able to answer to the ten words in Exodus he would have had a millennium immediately, the reign of God. Man is a sinner. As a sinner constitutionally he could not answer to the first covenant. What could have been for man's blessing, had he been able for it, turned out to be for his condemnation because he was unable for it: "not on the principle of works which have been done in righteousness which we had done", Tit 3: 5. The first man has been set aside entirely in the death of Jesus. The first man is out of God's sight for ever in the burial of Jesus. God has no place for the first man. He has gone from before God for ever. There is only one Man before God. There will only be one Man in the presence of God for eternity. That Man is Christ, Christ personally, and all who have sprung from Him:
'Out of Thy death has sprung
A wondrous living throng' (Hymn 152)
Christ personally and Christ characteristically before the blessed God for eternity. We marvel at God thinking about man; we marvel at God troubling about man. Think of God, the Eternal One. They used to teach us the Shorter Catechism at school. These Westminster divines were godly men and they had the right thing before them even if sometimes they came short. They could only speak from where they were in their own souls. One of the questions in the Shorter Catechism is, What is God? The answer was, 'God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His Being, Wisdom, Power, Holiness, Justice, Goodness and Truth' . I remember being taught that at school and I have never forgotten it, but there is one thing these Westminster divines forgot and it is a vital thing, and that is that God is love. It is all true what they said, but they missed the vital thing: God is love. Does that attract your heart to God tonight? God is love. It is wonderful! God is infinite, eternal and unchangeable. You can only come to one conclusion as you contemplate God and that is that God must have tremendous satisfaction in Himself. You could not think of God otherwise and yet a God, such a God as that, had longings and desires and He brought in man, and God from the beginning was set to bless man by having him in his presence. God may appear to men to have been thwarted, but there are going to be men in the presence of God for eternity and that sinless and in perfect suitability to the blessed God. God can know no defeat, dear friends, and if you have any doubts about it you had better get that truth into your soul right now if you mean to go through.
And this "purpose and grace" - not only this purpose, this holy quality of purpose - but grace. Someone has said:
'Grace! 'tis a charming sound,
Harmonious to the ear,
Heaven with the echo shall resound,
And all the earth shall hear.'
Do you know tonight, dear friend, that the grace of God is of such magnitude that it is going to take the eternal ages to declare it? That is scripture: "that he might display in the coming ages the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus", Eph 2: 7. That is the grace of God: it is going to take the ages to show it. But will you be there? Do you prefer the temporary things to the eternal things? Weigh it up in the balance now. Weigh it rightly. The temporary things are for a little while; the enjoyment of divine love is for eternity:
'Like Jesus in that place'.
Does that appeal? That is God's purpose. It is in that purpose that He is going to demonstrate in the coming ages "the surpassing riches of his grace". Here is another glorious prospect . These statements are spiritual mountains, well worth scaling. Here is another: "His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages of time". Can you take it in? "Before the ages of time". This was no afterthought. This was no temporary experiment. The counsels of God were before the ages of time, God having a purpose and counselling in relation to how He was going to accomplish it. Three statements in Scripture speak of what was before the world. What did Jesus say to the Father? "Thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world", John 17: 24. What did Peter say? Jesus was the divinely-provided One; that is what he told the Jewish saints of the dispersion: "ye have been redeemed, not by corruptible things, as silver or gold ... but by precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, the blood of Christ, foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world", 1 Pet 1: 18-20. Then there is that statement in the opening verses of the first chapter of Ephesians: "before the world's foundation". I will tell you this, dear friends, there is nobody like God. God is not only the eternal and the infinite, He is the Incomparable. That is God. That is our God. That is my God tonight. Do you know anything about joying in God? No wonder persons who had light as to God in their souls exclaim "when shall I come and appear before God?" (Ps 42: 2), "unto the God of the gladness of my joy", Ps 43: 4. Is that the way it is with you tonight? Is God your exceeding joy? His own purpose and grace before the ages of time have been made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Are you in that "our" tonight? Are you in the OUR tonight? Is He yours? Is He your Saviour? Are you His property? Think of that! All God is in His desires and disposition towards men came in "by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ" and this Saviour has annulled death. There are other things He has annulled but that is the first thing. He has annulled death: death has no terrors for persons who know the Lord Jesus as their Saviour. He has annulled it: its power is broken. God is the living God. I think it was Mr Raven who said about the Lord Jesus in John's gospel that death could not exist in the presence of the Son of God. He has annulled death, and not only annulled death but annulled him that has the might of death . What an annulment! If you are afraid that the devil will get you eventually, there is One who has annulled death and He has annulled him who has the might of death and He is prepared and ready and waiting to be your Saviour tonight if you will have Him.
That is the negative side. Now we come to the positive side: He has "brought to light life and incorruptibility". There are various presentations of life in the Scriptures, and the title that is given depends on the context in which it is said. There is eternal life; that is life presented in the sphere where all lies in the shadow of death. One dear man, Mr Raven, suffered for the truth of eternal life and we have something of the gain of his ministry. Eternal life involves an environment that is altogether outside of this world. It is that environment that we speak of as over Jordan: that is the area of eternal life. It involves a company and it involves the presence of the Persons of the Godhead. Then again life is referred to in 1 Timothy 6: 19 - "lay hold of what is really life". That is real life, and it is said in a context where persons might be laying hold of the substance of this present world. Well, that is all right under God's hand, but the prime matter is to lay hold of what is really life. Then finally life as referred to here in verse 10 which I think involves every facet of the presentation of life in the Scriptures. In Ephesians it says of certain people that they are alienated from the life of God: "estranged from the life of God by reason of the ignorance which is in them", chap 4: 18. That is a sober statement: ignorant of God and of the life of God. I think all these different facets of life can be included in this as a final matter: "the life of God"; that is to say, it is the life that God had in mind for man before the ages of time. There in that day - and, indeed, by the Spirit today - we are going to find our life where God is.
Ah, "incorruptibility"! Do you know of any incorruptibility out there in the world today? Show us anything out there marked by incorruptibility! Is it not true that this world is more corrupted now than ever? There is corruption all around: corrupt business, corrupt activities, corrupt political activities all over the place, in all the western nations - corruption. Corruption is death in finality. Man dies; his body becomes corrupt. But think of this: "brought to light life and incorruptibility"! Death and corruption have been met, met in the death of Jesus. He has introduced life and incorruptibility. Are you for it tonight? You can have it! If you accept this tonight you will be numbered amongst those persons who love the Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption. Is that so? Do you love the Lord Jesus? Is the Lord Jesus your Saviour and your Lord and do you love Him in incorruption? Wonderful matter! There are persons here in this hall who love the Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption. Glorious, blessed reality!
I just want to refer to verse 12. Paul says he knows whom he has believed and is persuaded that He is able to keep for that day the deposit that he had entrusted to Him. I think Paul's committal of the deposit was what the Lord sovereignly committed to him as an apostle, the Pauline line; I think that is Paul's deposit. But then I want to come to this: "Keep, by the Holy Spirit which dwells in us". There you have the basis of divine power: "the Holy Spirit which dwells in us". Have you consciously received the Holy Spirit? If you have not, I can tell you how you can get this unspeakable gift. That is what scripture says about this gift. That is what Paul said: "Thanks be to God for his unspeakable free gift" (2 Cor 9: 15): the Holy Spirit. You will get it on simple yet testing terms. God will give you the Holy Spirit if in faith you ask Him for it; He will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask for it (see Luke 11: 13). But there is another condition, a testing one: He gives His Holy Spirit to those who obey Him (see Acts 5: 32). How are you going to obey God? You begin by the "obedience of faith" Rom 1: 5.
Well, I think I have covered the ground as best I can. One must say there is a tremendous concentration, the scope of the truth is my judgment, in these eight verses. If that is so, what must eternity be, having to do with God and to dwell with God in eternity and being with God in perfect suitability as one of God's lovers:
'Like Jesus in that place'?
Man's highest gift: to be like Jesus. What God is at is to conform us to the image of His Son:
'Like Jesus in that place' -
"so that he should be the firstborn among many brethren", Rom 8: 29. Oh the grandeur, the attractiveness of eternity to be with God, know God as your Father, to be with the Lord Jesus. Will you have it? If you miss it, you may miss it for eternity by not coming to the Saviour tonight. Why not come to the Saviour now?
CUMNOCK
24 May 1981
WIFELY CARE
Walter Patterson
This scripture came a little into my mind, beloved brethren, as we came together on Thursday evening, taking on matters of care, particularly taking on responsibility as to matters that fall within our gates. From a human viewpoint there might have been certain arguments presented to avoid accepting responsibility, but I had an impression of the glory of the assembly moving forward in dignity and power to take these matters up. How Christ values that! What a valuation the Lord Jesus must have as He sees persons in the testimony caring for His matters!
As we know, the normal order in human matters is the bride and bridegroom first, then the working out of the relationship of husband and wife; but in the divine order the time of what is bridal is future. This is presented later to us in this book: "the holy city ... prepared as a bride adorned for her husband", chap 2 : 2. The time that we are in is the time of testimony, the time for what is wifely. We anticipate in our affections what it will be for the Lord Jesus to be united to what is of Himself, but in the present testimony, in the time of the Spirit, what is being worked out is this great matter of the assembly in her wifely relations with Christ.
What comes on to view here is that there is a certain thing given to her: that she should be "clothed in fine linen, bright and pure: for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints". How affecting to think of that in the present time when there is so much sorrow surrounding us, so many difficult circumstances. I was thinking of an impression at the prayer meeting, as we prayed about matters of concern and exercise. Dear brethren, it is through these very exercises, these very matters of difficulty, that this matter of "righteousnesses" will be secured. I think this is a tremendous encouragement for us, to see that what the Lord is looking for is that the saints, if I might put it this way, should rise to the occasion. He is looking for that in each local assembly - what will provide for the "righteousness of the saints". By the Spirit it is our privilege to be able to provide for what is to be brought out in display, brought out to be for the satisfaction of the heart of Christ, brought out to display the wonderful character of what has been here in wifely consideration for Him at the present time.
Psalm 45 presents the thought of the king's daughter being "brought unto the king in raiment of embroidery" (v 14). We know that detail is suggested in this, and that these stitches involve the Spirit's work, His work in the hearts of the saints, and also in relation to what is collective. These stitches are being worked out in matters of sorrow. Think of that dear brethren, divine Persons coming so near. These stitches involve the detail of divine Persons working in our lives. Now, do you know that? Do you know that in your own life? Can you say that in my spiritual history, in my soul history, I can see those stitches, I can see where I have had to do with the Lord Jesus, I have had to do with the Spirit? Then, this wonderful thought that it is all going to be gathered up, it is going to be given to the Lamb's wife. Think of the divine joy in that moment, when righteousnesses are bestowed on the assembly, to shine in all their glory. We should get an impression of these shining qualities that are being secured now - "bright and pure".
We are often taken up on Lord's day with the thought of what is bridal, what there is that is fresh, pure, virginal for the heart of Christ, and His own joy in that. But dear brethren, we should also have the sense of the joy that the Lord has in what is wifely. In 1 Corinthians we get the thought that "he that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit" (chap 6: 17) - that is union in the testimony. This is very encouraging, that in the testimony here we can have a sense of union with Christ in relation to His matters here. May we be found more in the way of righteousness, and encouraged to see that in days of breakdown there is that which is going to be for His heart's pleasure. May it be more with us, for His Name's sake.
GLASGOW
3 January 1989
KNOWING THE TIME
Ron Plant
Just a word, beloved brethren, as to this interesting section of scripture, the language of which is very expressive and would surely be a concern for us in our own day. I would particularly draw attention to the expression "The time is not come, the time that Jehovah's house should be built", and it may be that in some way we may say today that - "it is not the time". I have heard it said that because of exercises and sorrows and pressures amongst the saints that it is not the time for certain things. We need to be careful of that! Time is a very precious thing, none of it is wasted in God's arranging; in Ecclesiastes it says "To everything there is a season, and a time" (chap 3: 1), and certain things are set out there, including that there is "A time to be born, and a time to die". It is not the early days of the recovery of the truth now; but what time is it we live in, beloved brethren? Is it marked by the state of things that is described here as prevalent amongst God's people? I believe we would have to say that we can recognise something of that character as he says "Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but are not satisfied· ye drink but are not filled with drink; ye clothe yourselves, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages for a bag with holes". It describes persons who go on, earnestly maybe, with a certain outward order of things in connection with God and find little satisfaction in it, and that may be any one of us. It may be that we recognise in our selves that we have fallen into a mere routine of religion, perhaps into a mere round of meetings and into an outward form of Christianity without exercise.
I would just like to say a word about exercise. I do not think exercise is worry. You may worry about a thing, but that does not mean you are exercised about it, does it? At the cross of Jesus certain persons went away "beating their breasts", Luke 23: 48. You can imagine them saying, What a terrible thing, what an awful shame, what a sad sight it was! And they went away, slipped out of history, with little apparent movement of soul. It could be in these days in which we are, in which the Lord is passing us through such unusual circumstances - a way that we have not passed before beloved brethren - that He may be saying to us, to me, "Go up to the mountain and bring wood". Be exercised about things as they are. And you say 'how do we do it?' I do not think we merely worry about it or speak about it. What did Gideon do when all the food was being taken by the Midianites in the book of Judges. Did he just worry about it ? The children of Israel did; they retreated into dens and caves in the mountains and were "greatly impoverished" (Judges 6: 16) - slowly starving to death because the Midianites were taking the food. But one man , what did he do in his exercise? He beat out a little food; that is what you do in exercise. You see something that is happening amongst the saints that is a concern and in your small way and in dependence on God, you seek to do something directly in relation to what there is. If you feel that the food supply is missing, then you thresh out a little food. If you see that there is some shortcoming in conduct as to worldliness and such things, then seek God's help that in a priestly and unpretentious way you may demonstrate what is right and better. This, I think, is what exercise involves, "Go to the mountain and bring wood and build the house". I do not want to go into the detail of it, but that we might be exercised in the position we are at at the present moment. What time is it in our localities? It says in Romans chapter 13 "knowing the time" and it is unique, beloved brethren. The time of the opening up of the body of the teaching may be behind us largely, and yet the Spirit still speaks to the assemblies. If we have faith at all we hold to that, that the Spirit is still speaking to the assemblies. What a wonderful thing! The power that was available and known by our fathers is unchanged and is here today. It is available to those who are exercised to work at God's house. I do not think this is pretentious, but it involves that in whatever measure we have, we go up to what the mountain speaks of and bring wood, something that is durable, something that can be useful in the house. In twenty-four days the whole situation was transformed, think of that. If you look at the dates it was twentyfour days, and the prophets helped them. The prophets did not just point out all the deficiencies, but they worked with them. What a wonderful thing to work together, beloved brethren, young and old. What a place this is here, in the local assembly. Young people, older persons, brothers and sisters, all of us passing through some stage of the School of God. What a thing it is, we can work at the house, we can know what it is to bring something that is being built in permanently and not have this experience of having a "bag with holes". What have you substantially from perhaps twenty years in fellowship? Have you lost the good of it through a bag with holes? Have you only the shell, the outline of the truth and very little by way of substance? I have said this before but I trust the brethren will bear with it again, the young people will remember you if the Lord has not come in ten, fifteen or twenty years time, not by what you may have said, but they will remember what kind of person you are and that is substance. That is how the ministry and the exercises and the joys and sorrows and the difficulties of the day are all to work in me, by the Spirit, to produce something which is substantial, something which is Christ. May we be exercised as to this beloved brethren, and be concerned as to the time we are in. It is a unique time, a time of opportunity that we have never known before, but I believe it may be that we need to ask ourselves as to the character of this time that we are in, and to seek to be with God in relation to our part in it, for His Name's sake.
GLASGOW
3 January 1989
THE CHILDREN'S SALVATION
Early in the so-called Great War a fund of money was set up by contribution so as to 'save' children who were in need or in danger owing to the terrors of the time. The fund still exists in peace-time and altogether it must have been a help to a very large number of children. What it cannot do, however, is to provide for the salvation of the souls of those benefitted by it. There is no fund of money, hope, love and even of prayer, however greathearted, which could of itself bring about this blessing. Salvation is to be enjoyed only by those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and in the merits of His shed blood.
It is God's desire that all persons should be saved and know the truth; in fact a great prophet said that God would come Himself to save us. This became true when Jesus was born a Saviour. Both Peter and Paul wrote of Him as our "God and Saviour Jesus Christ", so He is ever divine. John even says that He was sent as Saviour of the world so that no one need ever feel overlooked in blessing. Then in love Jesus came to save those lost through a sinful nature - children as well as older persons - while He even seeks those who in self-will stray like sheep. As a glorified Saviour His coming is looked for to change our bodies like unto His own.
The Person of the Saviour gives value to the work which He came to fulfil so that the believer should be righteously saved. The Passover lamb without blemish amongst the Jews, and its shed blood, are a sign of this. There must be judgment for sins and Jesus endured this on the cross in a suffering body and in deep agony of soul. Older children should be able to trace at the close of the Gospels the seven speakings of Jesus from the cross and the order in which they were uttered. The cry "It is finished" before yielding up His spirit shows a work completed for ever to the glory of God. Is this where your hope is?
J.C.Evershed