No need to Pay Twice!

Following on from Easter and the death and resurrection of Jesus this old hymn came to mind, and what a hymn it is – I’ve lightly modernised it – it contains a powerful declaration of the glorious liberating truth of the cross.

If you are doubting, lacking assurance, wondering whether you’ve done enough, or whether Jesus has done enough, then….

From where this fear and unbelief?
Has 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 You have made,
And to the utmost penny paid
All that Your people owed;
How then can wrath on me take place
If sheltered in Your righteousness,
And sprinkled with Your blood?

If You have my release obtained,
And freely in my place 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 your rest!
The merits of your great High Priest
Have bought your liberty;
Trust in His most effective blood,
Nor fear your banishment from God,
Since Jesus died for you!

Augustus Toplady adapted by Richard Burgess

In the words of Paul – there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ (Romans 8:1)!

Hallelujah!

The Scarlet Beast and the Harlot

This chapter like much of Revelation has intrigued many - what is it about, who is the Beast? who is the harlot? Is it past or future?

Having been taught and myself taught a dispensational, pretribulation, premillenial rature (wow that's a mouthful!) this was all about to come, or already taking place before our very eyes (I remember the excitement, these were the last days, any moment now Jesus would come and we would be gone!) - a revived Roman Empire (the Common Market come European Union) and Roman Catholicism or the World Council of Churches, or some such church that was in league with the powers that be.

Time has a way of proving one right or wrong, and how frequently those who held such approaches have had to reasses and adapt, only to reassess and adapt again, and again - something which mars the witness of the church, and demoralises the saints. As I have studied Revelation it's been interesting to read of a number of dispensational Bible teachers and preachers who've become disillusioned with this approach and begun to ask whether they were interpreting it correctly, and as a result of ufrther study, adopting a partial fulfillment approach.

And this is where I'm at, and when we do, chapters like this are no longer a matter of specultion, or puzzles to be solved, but a realisation of the fulfillment of the prophetic words of Jesus regarding unfaithful Jerusalem (Matthew 23 and 24).

The Beast can be no other than Rome, the city of seven mountains or hills (17:7, 9), and the harlot who sits astride the beast (therefore diferrent from the beast) is Jerusalem, unfaithful Israel.

God had no trouble referrring to his people as a harlot in the Old Testament (see Jeremiah and Hosea). And logically it doesn't make sense to use the phrase of a heathen nation. It has to do with a people who have been unfaithful and played the harlot - exactly what Israel had done both in Old Testament days and at the time Revelation ws written.

This alone make's sense of John's words, "When I saw her, I was greatly astonished" (17:6) - to have said that of Rome just wouldn't. It was the unexpected one, the one who belonged to the Lord, who had defiled herself and become enamoured with and cosied up to Rome. The one who had conspired to crucify Jesus her Messiah, had persecuted his church, and become drunk as John puts it "on the blood of the saints and the witnesses of Jesus."

The angel said to John, "she will be hated," and "made desolate and naked," solemn, serious words. Her house had been left emplty (Matt. 23:38), and judgment had come. Read the history, watch the documentaries - it happened literally.

The prophetic word given to John, was never about speculative ideas regarding the end times, but prophetic diagnosis and remedy which could lead to one of two responses, repentance or rejection.

Unfaithful Israel rejected and were rejected and judged.

What God says he means.

Scripture repeatedly shows God's patience and mercy, but it will not last forever. Thoughout Revelation is a gospel theme, and an opportunity for response, but there comes a day when the door will close.

The Wrath of God & Rebellion of Humanity

Revelation is a gripping book.

There are heights and there are depths. It shows you the glory of God and the the depths of human sin. It's a book of blessing and of judgment, and a word that frequently occurs is 'wrath' or more specifically the wrath of God, unveiled in the seven seals, seven trumpets and seven bowls, in increasing measures.

The word is mentioned 11 times and sometimes qualified as 'great wrath' or 'the fury of his wrath' - hardly words we like to hear.

To be frank it's not a subject we warm to, it is much easier to talk about the love of God. But.... if we cannot talk about the love and wrath of God in the same breath are we really talking about the right thing when it comes to either?

LOVE
Love for many today is no more than an insipid, sentimental feeling. It's gushy and slushy, and when it's not there, it's not there. It's also seen as 'tolerance' (of the politically correct form), where, 'if it makes them happy let them do it,' is the standard. 'I mean, whose to judge? They've gotta work these things out for themselves,' as they say!

The problem is when we put our modern day interpretations of love on to God we find it just doesn't fit, and rather than asking whether we've got it right, we say God's got it wrong - as if we should tell God what he should be like!

That's where we need to go back and read our Bibles. There we discover that God is not on our level - never was, never will be. He is holy, holy, holy - we certainly are not, and the fact of the matter is that a holy, loving, and just God has every right to be angry - we have rebelled against him, we have messed up our own lives and those of others too, and spoiled and soiled the world he created and declared was very good.

A BIG 'BUT'
BUT, like a good father (for that is what he is), he cannot simply ignore rebellion, and allow it to go on, turn a blind eye to it and hope it will rectify itself, or go away - it doesn't. It usually gets worse.

It is in this context that the good news comes in and makes sense, the good news that God has done just that in Jesus, who willingly came and took all our sin, and bore it's judgment on the cross - the holy wrath of a just God. "You were dead.... under wrath.... But God who is rich in mercy, because of his great love..." (Eph 2:1-4) - wonderful words!

As an aside it never ceases to amaze me how many who deny God want justice. The logic is in an evolutionary world there can be no such thing as justice.

When you know the holiness of God and the depth of our sin, that line of Stuart Townends, In Christ Alone, is so soul stirring, and heart warming, "Till on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied...."

No wonder Charles Wesley could write, "No condemnation now I dread, Jesus, and all in him, is mine; alive in him, my living head, and clothed with righteousness divine. Bold I approach the eternal throne...."

Yes Revelation speaks of the wrath of God, but it also has a parallel message of the gospel, providing the opportunity to repent in the face of such judgments. Sadly they all to frequently would not repent and turned on God and blasphemed his name, even preferrring to lose their lives than turn to God (6:16, 17; 9:20, 21; 16:9, 11).

NOW
Humanities rebellion runs deep, but God's love runs deeper still. All the while the earth remains the words of Paul apply, "Now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:2). What will you do? Will you repent and believe the good news of Jesus Christ and be saved from the wrath to come?

You can listen to Wesleys grand hymn here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQeIGbKqiw8