When I See The Blood
by C.H. Spurgeon
GOD'S PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS SAFE. But God's people are only safe through the blood of Christ. They are bought with the precious blood of Christ. Nothing can hurt them because "the blood" is upon them. It was so that night in Egypt; God spared because He saw the blood-mark on the lintel and on the two side-posts. And so it is with us.
In the case of the Israelites, it was the blood of the paschal lamb. In our case, it is the blood of a divinely appointed victim. Jesus Christ did not come into this world unappointed. He was sent by His Father.
Sinner! The blood of Christ is well pleasing to God; for God Himself did send Christ to be the Redeemer and He Himself did lay upon Him the iniquity of us all. It was God's will that the blood of Jesus should be shed. Jesus is God's chosen Saviour for men. Sinner! He is able to save you.
Christ Jesus, like the lamb, was not only a divinely appointed victim, but he was spotless. Had there been one sin in Christ, He had not been capable of being our Saviour-but He was without sin. Turn, then, your eye to the cross and see Jesus bleeding there and dying for you. Remember, "For sins not His own, He died to atone." The blood of Jesus; is able to save thee because "He died, the Just for the unjust."
But some will say, "Whence has the blood of Christ such power to save?" Not only because God appointed that blood and because it was the blood of a spotless being, but because Christ Himself was God. If Christ were man only, there would be no efficacy in His blood to save.
The blood is once shed for the remission of sin. The paschal lamb was slain every year. But Christ, once for all, hath put away sin by the offering of Himself. He has said, "It is finished." Let that ring in thine ears.
For a moment, try to picture to yourself Christ on the cross. Lift now your eyes and see the three crosses upon that rising knoll. See in the center the thorn-crowned brow of Christ. See the hands nailed fast to the accursed tree! See His face, more marred than that of any other man. See it now as His head bows upon His bosom in the agonies of death! He was a real man, remember. It was a real cross. Do not think of these things as fancies and romance. There was such a being and He died as I describe it. Sit still a moment and think: "The blood of that Man, whom now I behold dying, must be my redemption. And if I would be saved, I must put my only trust in what He suffered for me." God says, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you. "
The blood of Christ-nothing but it can ever save the soul. If some foolish Israelite had despised the command of God and had said, "I will sprinkle something else upon the door posts," or, "I will adorn the lintel with jewels of gold and silver," he must have perished. Nothing could save his household but the sprinkled blood. And, now, let us all remember that "Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." My works, my prayers, my tears cannot save me. The blood, the blood alone, has power to redeem. Sacraments cannot save me. Nothing but the blood of Jesus has the slightest saving power. O you that are trusting in baptism, confirmation or the Lord's Supper-nothing but the blood can save. I care not how right the ordinance, how true the form, how scriptural the practice: it is all vanity to you if you rely on it to save. God forbid that I should say a word against ordinances or against holy things-but keep them in their places. If you make them the basis of your soul's salvation, they are lighter than a shadow. There is not-I repeat it again-the slightest atom of saving power anywhere but in the blood of Jesus. That blood only has the power to save. The blood stands out the only rock of our salvation.
So jealous is God about this that anything you put with Christ, however good it is, becomes, from the fact of your putting it with Him, an accursed thing. And what is it that thou wouldst put with Christ? Thy good works? What! Wilt thou yoke a reptile with an angel-yoke thyself to the chariot of salvation with Christ? What are thy good works? Thy righteousnesses are "as filthy rags"-and shall filthy rags be joined to the spotless Christ? It must not be. Rely on Jesus only, and thou canst not perish. But, rely on anything with Him and thou are as surely condemned as if thou shouldst rely on thy sins. Jesus only-this is the rock of our salvation.
"Oh," says one, "I could trust in Christ if I felt my sins more." Sir, is thy repentance to be a part-Saviour? The blood is to save thee, not thy tears; Christ's death, not thy repentance. Thou art bidden this day to trust in Christ, not in thy feelings on account of sin. Many a man has been brought into great soul-distress because he has looked more at his repentance than at Christ:
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone,
Thou must save and Thou alone.
"Nay" says another, "But I feel that I do not value the blood of Christ as I ought, and, therefore, I am afraid to believe." My friend, that is another insidious form of the same error. God does not say, "When I see your estimate of the blood of Christ I will pass over you." No, but, "When I see the blood. " It is not your estimate of that blood-it is the blood that saves you. As I said before, that magnificent, solitary blood must be alone.
"Nay" says another, "but if I had more faith then I should have hope." That, too, is a very deadly shape of the same evil. You are not saved by the efficacy of your faith but by the efficacy of the blood of Christ. I bid you believe, but I bid you not to look to your believing as the ground of your salvation. No man will go to heaven if he trusts to his own faith. You may as well trust to your own good works as trust to your own faith. Your faith cannot hang upon itself-it must hang on Christ. You must not think of your faith, but of Christ. Faith comes from meditation upon Christ. Turn, then, your eye, not upon faith but upon Jesus. It is not the efficacy of your believing in Him; it is the efficacy of His blood applied to you through the Spirit.
I do not know how sufficiently to follow Satan in all his windings into the human heart. But this I know-he is always trying to keep back this great truth: The blood, and the blood alone, has power to save.
"Oh," yet says another, "If I had such-and such an experience, then I could trust." Friend, it is not thine experience-it is the blood. God did not say, "When I see your experience," but, "When I see the blood of Christ." Acquire experience, cultivate the Christian graces. But, oh, do not put them where Christ's blood ought to be.
I hear Thy welcome voice
That calls me, Lord, to Thee
For cleansing in Thy precious Blood
That flowed on Calvary.
All hail, Atoning Blood!
All hail, Redeeming Grace!
All hail, the Gift of Christ, our Lord,
Our Strength and Righteousness.
-C. H. SPURGEON
A vision for ministry in Gustav's wake
Allie Martin - OneNewsNow - 9/8/2008 4:00:00 AM
Teams with World Vision are assisting Hurricane Gustav evacuees.
Ministry workers are coordinating with churches and other community groups, taking care of displaced children and families. At the same time, World Vision is shipping relief supplies from storehouses in Mississippi and Texas. World Vision's Casey Calumusa is helping coordinate the relief efforts. He says some who evacuated remain in shelters because many cities still do not have all power restored. He explains that people in the areas that were hit by Gustav have needs for basic items such as food, water, diapers, and toiletries. The effort, he says, will be a long-term project. "For the damage that's done, there's some rebuilding efforts that need to be done -- and it's much more of a long-term response," says Calumusa. "Even our Katrina response is still ongoing. So we'll continue to help these people as they go back home, and [we'll] assess what their needs are and how we can help them." Since Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, upwards of 350 churches, schools, and other faith-based and community groups in Mississippi and Louisiana have partnered with World Vision.
FDA: Infant formula from China tainted by chemical September 11, 2008 - 5:31pm By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Tainted infant formula from China may be on sale at ethnic groceries in this country, even though it is not approved for importation, federal officials warned on Thursday. However, the Food and Drug Administration stressed that the domestic supply of infant formula is safe. FDA officials are urging U.S. consumers to avoid all infant formula from China, after several brands sold in that country came under suspicion of being contaminated with melamine, a chemical used in plastics. Officials said there have been reports from China of babies developing kidney stones as a result. There have been no reports of illnesses in the U.S. "We're concerned that there may be some infant formula that may have gotten into the United States illegally and may be on the ethnic market," said Janice Oliver, deputy director of the FDA's food safety program. "No infant formula from China should be entering the United States, but in the past we have found it on at least one occasion." After hearing of the latest food safety scandal in China, the FDA checked with formula manufacturers who have approval to market here. But none receive formula or ingredients from China. Formula manufacturers get close scrutiny from the government. They are required to register with the FDA and comply with specific nutritional standards. "We want to assure the American public there is no threat of contamination to the domestic supply," said Oliver. But officials are concerned that some Chinese formula may be on sale at Asian groceries, particularly in places like New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston that have large numbers of Chinese immigrants. The FDA is working with state officials to spread the word in immigrant communities to remove any Chinese formula from store shelves and to warn consumers not to feed it to their children. "We want people in those communities, if they are in the habit of buying those Chinese products, not to use them," said FDA spokeswoman Judy Leon. "We are doing this to be proactive." Melamine is the same chemical involved in a massive pet food recall last year. It is not supposed to be added to any food ingredients, but unscrupulous suppliers in China sometimes mix it in to make foodstuffs appear to be high in protein. Melamine is nitrogen rich, and standard tests for protein in bulk food ingredients measure levels of nitrogen. http://wtop.com/?nid=106&sid=1476544 Another link to the story http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-09-12-china-babyformula_N.htm
Ministers feud over IRS, politics from the pulpit
The group of 55 religious leaders from Ohio, Indiana, Iowa and other states said Monday the actions by the Alliance Defense Fund jeopardize the constitutional separation of church and state
"Pastors have a right to speak about biblical truths from the pulpit without any fear of punishment," said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the alliance. "They shouldn't be intimidated into giving up those constitutional rights."
The defense fund says it's looking for a lawsuit to challenge a 1954 IRS restriction that led to the prohibition against pastors endorsing candidates at the risk of losing their churches' tax exempt status.
A message seeking comment left Monday at the IRS was not immediately returned.
The nonprofit alliance has about 40 staff attorneys and about 1,200 volunteer lawyers around the country who handle the group's lawsuits pro bono.
The group has filed lawsuits challenging California's gay marriage law, in defense of an Illinois student's right to wear a T-shirt with an anti-gay message, and in defense of allowing a judge to hang a portrait of Jesus in a Louisiana courthouse.
Three former IRS officials, including Mortimer Caplin, the agency's commissioner under President Kennedy, also asked the IRS on Monday to investigate the Alliance Defense Fund's initiative.
Marcus Owens, a former director of the IRS exempt organizations division, questioned the ethics of lawyers encouraging ministers to break the law.
"It is the role of attorneys to assist their clients in understanding the law," Owens said. "It is not at all clear, under any set of ethical rules applicable to members of the bar, that one can actively aid, assist and encourage a violation of the law."
According to defense fund's promotional materials about its initiative, "Each pastor will prepare the sermon with the legal assistance of the ADF to ensure maximum effectiveness in challenging the IRS."
Stanley said that information is being misinterpreted.
"What we're doing here is working within the framework of American law that allows for these types of civil rights challenges, and allows an individual who believes their constitutional rights are violated to have their day in court," he said.
Many of the ministers signing the complaint against the ADF are members of the liberal United Church of Christ.
The IRS investigated the denomination earlier this year over allegations it violated IRS rules when it hosted Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama at its convention in Hartford, Conn., in 2007. The tax agency ultimately found no violations had occurred.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-09-10-pulpit-IRS_N.htm
Interesting website has alot of varied information on different cities, here are a couple of exampleshttp://www.bestplaces.net/docs/studies/
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