God is Sovereign
Oh my friends, though the earth be shaken, wars and rumors of wars are about, fighting is without and within, though one fears the future and things unseen and unknown, be encouraged as you read this beautiful passage extolling what your Redeemer has done for you. How great are His promises, His peace, His gifts, His reward…what glory is ours, what joy indeed!
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“O my soul, if thou couldst wear out thy fingers upon the harp, and wear thy tongue to the roots, thou couldst yet never sufficiently praise thy Redeemer.
O mine enemies! Where is now your confidence and where is your armour wherein you trusted? I will set Christ alone against all of your multitudes, and all the powers, malice, and policy, wherewith they are armed. The field is already won, and the Captain of our salvation returned, with the spoils of his enemies, having made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in his cross, Col. ii.15. And thanks be to God, who hath given us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ. I Cor. xv.57
Of whom then should I be afraid? Behold he is near that justifieth me; who shall plead with me?
O ye powers of hell! You are but chained captives, and we have a sure word, that the gates of hell shall not prevail against us, Matt. xvi.18. Though the world be in arms against us, and the devil at the head of them as their champion; yet who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? I Sam. xvii. 45-47. Behold, I am come out to thee, as the stripling against Goliath; not with sword, and with spear, but in the name of the Lord of hosts, in whose strength I am more than a conqueror.
O grave, where is now thy victory? Christ is risen, and hath broken up thy prison, and rolled away the stone, so that all the prisoners have made an escape. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; though I fall, I shall rise again; though I lie in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me, Mic. vii.8. Enlarge not they desires, O Tophet, but shut up thy flaming mouth; for there is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. Rom. viii.1
O deceitful world, thou art already overcome. John xvi.33, and the conquered enemy is become my servant, I Cor. iii.22, and I am fed with the honey taken out of the carcass of the slain lion. I fear not thy threats, nor the enchantments of the syren songs, being kept by the power of God, through a victorious faith, unto salvation. I Peter i.4, I John v 4.
O my sins; you are already buried, never to have any resurrection, and the remembrance of you shall be no more. Heb. viii.12 I see my sins nailed to the cross, and their dominion is taken away, though their lives be prolonged yet for a little season. Awake therefore, O my glory; awake psaltery and harp, and meet the deliverer with triumph; for his right hand, and his holy arm, have gotten us the victory, Psa. xcvii. 1.2, and all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.”
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Richard Alleine, Heaven Opened, The Riches of God’s Covenant Grace, The Believer’s Triumph, pp. 290, 292 [July 8, 1665]
The Best Friend!
