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Morning
and Evening
A Devotional By C.H. Spurgeon, Baptist Minister
"The unsearchable riches of Christ."
--Ephesians 3:8
The My Master
has riches beyond the count of arithmetic, the measurement of reason, the
dream of imagination, or the eloquence of words. They are unsearchable!
You may look, and study, and weigh, but Jesus is a greater Saviour than
you think Him to be when your thoughts are at the greatest. My Lord is
more ready to pardon than you to sin, more able to forgive than you to
transgress. My Master is more willing to supply your wants than you are to
confess them. Never tolerate low thoughts of my Lord Jesus. When you put
the crown on His head, you will only crown Him with silver when He
deserves gold. My Master has riches of happiness to bestow upon you now.
He can make you to lie down in green pastures, and lead you beside still
waters. There is no music like the music of His pipe, when He is the
Shepherd and you are the sheep, and you lie down at His feet. There is no
love like His, neither earth nor heaven can match it.
To know
Christ and to be found in Him--oh! this is life, this is joy, this is
marrow and fatness, wine on the lees well refined. My Master does not
treat His servants churlishly; He gives to them as a king giveth to a
king; He gives them two heavens--a heaven below in serving Him here, and a
heaven above in delighting in Him for ever. His unsearchable riches will
be best known in eternity. He will give you on the way to heaven all you
need; your place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks, your bread
shall be given you, and your waters shall be sure; but it is there, THERE,
where you shall hear the song of them that triumph, the shout of them that
feast, and shall have a face-to-face view of the glorious and beloved One.
The unsearchable riches of Christ! This is the tune for the minstrels of
earth, and the song for the harpers of heaven. Lord, teach us more and
more of Jesus, and we will tell out the good news to others.
"Then said Jesus, Father,
forgive them; for they know not what they do."
By Arthur
Pink
How m
How much God made known before hand of what should transpire on that day
of days! What a complete picture did the Holy Spirit furnish of our Lord’s
Passion with all the attendant circumstances! Among other things it had
been foretold that the Saviour should "make intercession for the
transgressors" (Isaiah 53:12). This did not have reference to the present
ministry of Christ at God’s right hand. It is true that "he is able also
to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever
liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25), but this speaks of
what he is doing now for those who have believed on him, whereas Isaiah
53:12 had reference to his gracious act at the time of his crucifixion.
Observe what his intercession for the transgressors is there linked with -
"and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors."
That Christ should make intercession for his enemies was one of the items
of the wonderful prophecy found in Isaiah 53. This chapter tells us at
least ten things about the humiliation and suffering of the Redeemer. It
declared that he should be despised and rejected of men; that he should be
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; that he should be wounded,
bruised and chastised; that he should be led, unresistingly, to slaughter;
that he should be dumb before his shearers; that he should not only suffer
at the hands of man but also be bruised by the Lord; that he should pour
out his soul unto death; that he should be buried in a rich man’s tomb;
and then it was added, that he would be numbered with transgressors; and
finally, that he should make intercession for the transgressors. Here then
was the prophecy - "and made intercession for the transgressors"; there
was the fulfillment of it - "Father, forgive them, for they know not what
they do". He thought of his murderers. He pleaded for his crucifiers; he
made intercession for their forgiveness.
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