Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah . . . has conquered . . . Revelation 5:5
But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . Galatians 6:14
You have been very angry with your Anointed One. Psalm 89:38
For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 1 Corinthians 2:2
Let the motto upon your whole ministry be - "Christ is All!" - Cotton Mather

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

The Diverse Excellencies Of Christ!

In his sermon entitled, "The Admirable Conjunction of Diverse Excellencies in Christ Jesus," Jonathan Edwards preached about the amazing beauty of Christ in His diverse excellencies as both the Lion of Tribe of Judah and the Lamb Who was slain from Revelation 5:5-6:
But one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals." And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

Meditate for a while with Edwards on the beauty of Christ in His diverse excellencies:
1. There do meet in Jesus Christ infinite highness and infinite condescension.
2. There meet in Jesus Christ, infinite justice and infinite grace.
3. In the person of Christ do meet together infinite glory and lowest humility.
4. In the person of Christ do meet together infinite majesty and transcendent meekness.
5. There meet in the person of Christ the deepest reverence towards God and equality with God.
6. There are conjoined in the person of Christ infinite worthiness of good, and the greatest patience under sufferings of evil.
7. In the person of Christ are conjoined an exceeding spirit of obedience, with supreme dominion over heaven and earth.
8. In the person of Christ are conjoined absolute sovereignty and perfect resignation.
9. In Christ do meet together self-sufficiency, and an entire trust and reliance on God . . . .
10. [On the cross] . . . was Christ in the greatest degree of his humiliation, and yet by that, above all other things, his divine glory appears.
11. [On the cross] . . . He never in any act gave so great a manifestation of love to God, and yet never so manifested his love to those that were enemies to God, as in that act.
12. [On the cross] . . . Christ never so eminently appeared for divine justice, and yet never suffered so much from divine Justice, as when he offered up himself a sacrifice for our sins.
13. [On the cross] . . . Christ's holiness never so illustriously shone forth as it did in his last sufferings, and yet he never was to such a degree treated as guilty.
14. [On the cross] . . . He never was so dealt with, as unworthy, as in his last sufferings, and yet it is chiefly on account of them that he is accounted worthy.
15. Christ in his last sufferings suffered most extremely from those towards whom he was then manifesting his greatest act of love.
16. It was in Christ's last sufferings, above all, that he was delivered up to the power of his enemies; and yet by these, above all, he obtained victory over his enemies.

Jonathan Edwards, "The Admirable Conjunction of Diverse Excellencies in Christ Jesus."

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