And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. (Genesis 2:2)

God's rest was not because he was tired, but because his work of creation was finished. There was nothing more to do. It was done and done well. Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. (Isaiah 40:28)

The Shabbat, or Sabbath, indicates a ceasing of one's labors. It was instructed in the Law of Moses as a day to set aside earthly labors to seek and worship God, to be at rest in him.

The Shabbat following the crucifixion is quiet in Scriptures. As with the Father in creation, the Son is at rest from his labors. Jesus' Shabbat is because his work of redemption is finished. There is nothing more to do. It is done and done well.

Is there a Shabbat for us? So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God… (Hebrews 4:9) Jesus fulfilled the law of Shabbat, putting an end to ongoing rite and ritual, sacrifices of bulls and goats that could not forever appease the holy and righteous God of creation. His death once and for all atoned for our sins and by faith in his accomplished work of redemption we are at rest before God. For we who have believed enter that rest… (Hebrews 4:3)

My faith has found a resting place,
Not in device nor creed;
I trust the Ever-living One,
His wounds for me shall plead.

I need no other argument,
I need no other plea;
It is enough that Jesus died,
And that He died for me.

(Eliza Edmunds Hewitt)

Posted 8:30 AM

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19:30)

It is finished; the work of redemption is complete in the death of Christ. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. (Hebrews 10:14)

It is finished; believers are saved once and for all. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

It is finished; we are at rest in the accomplished work of Jesus Christ. We no longer struggle with rite and ritual. We have given up our every effort at appeasing God on our own behalf. We trust and rely fully and completely in the life and death of Jesus. Jesus is all we have. Jesus is all we need.

Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" And having said this he breathed his last. (Luke 23:46)

Who killed him? Was it the religious leadership whose hatred boiled over into cries of "Crucify him! Crucify him!"? Was it Pilate who gave appeased the mob rather than stand on principle? Was it the Roman soldiers who beat him, mocked him and nailed him to the tree? Indeed they all bear their own guilt in the murder of Jesus.

But it was God the Father who sent the Son because he loved the world. (John 3:16) Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. (Isaiah 53:10)

And in the end it was Jesus, himself, giving his own life. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45)

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10)

In this is love. Condemned and guilty sinners, we could not make restitution before the holy and righteous God. So he gave his Son to die in our place, paying the price for our sins. And the Son gave his life in death on our behalf.

In this is love. We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

Posted 2:19 PM

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), "I thirst." (John 19:28)

He was God incarnate, the Divine in the flesh, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. He fulfilled every Scripture, every expectation of the Father. He was obedient, even to the point of death on the cross. (Philippians 2:8)

Yet he was human. He thirsted. He knows what it is to live in a body of flesh, to be tempted and tried, to be betrayed, rejected, to feel pain and even die. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)

The Son of God was on the cross thirsting physically to quench our thirsting souls. Apart from God we were spiritually parched, dry to the bones. We tried to satisfy our cravings with earthly things but found them all to turn to dust. Our hearts ached for water, living water.

The Samaritan woman came daily to the well because the water drawn there gave no lasting satisfaction. So it was with her life. With every new man and every new circumstance there was hope, but the deepest longing of her soul was never quenched. Until she met Jesus who told her, "whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:14)

Thirsting on the cross Jesus satisfied the righteous demands of God on the sinner's behalf. By his death we are granted to drink from the fountain of the water of life freely. (Revelation 21:6) In him every desire of the heart finds full and lasting satisfaction.

Posted 3:50 PM

Passion Week: Sayings from the Cross

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. (John 19:26-27)

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46; also recorded in Mark 15:34)

They have been together from Bethlehem to Cana to the cross. The thoughts that must have swept through Mary's mind as she watched her son, Jesus, die on the cross. She has wondered from the conception as to whom and what this child should be. Her perfect child had become the controversial man. And now it had all come down to this.

With great compassion Jesus sees her and provides for her immediate care. And then he dies, leaving her…for a while.

They have been together forever. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1) There had never been a moment that the Father's face had not shown upon the Son. The Son was the one by whom all things were made. He was the ever existent Word, or expression, of who God is. The communion of the Godhead was eternally unbroken.

And then darkness. The Father's face turned from the Son. The Holy Father could not watch as the perfect Son bore the penalty for our sin. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

See the tenderness of Jesus as he looks upon his mother. See the compassion of Jesus as his Father looks away. See the love that held him to the cross for you and for me. See him and worship him this Passion season.

Posted 8:10 PM

And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34)

And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." (Luke 23:43)

He has just been lied about, mocked and cursed. He has been accused, beaten and sentenced to death. He has borne his cross, stumbled beneath its load and then nailed to it. He is now hanging upon the cross, bloody, naked, put to shame before the world. Surrounded by criminals, he is dying a criminal's death.

Yet he is innocent. Not just "not guilty". Innocent.

And what is his response to the religious who accused, Pilate who acquiesced and the soldiers who scourged and then crucified him? He who taught forgiveness, forgives. They did not ask for it. They did not deserve it. But he gives it, just as he taught his disciples to do.

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:44-45)

The others hanging beside him? They were guilty. They were criminals paying the price for their choices. And when one of them asks to be remembered by Jesus, what is his response? Forgiveness, again. With a past deserving judgment and no time or ability to make up for it, Jesus pardons him in heaven's court. How? By taking the wrath of God in his own death on the criminal's behalf.

That's you, too. The sins of your past deserve the eternal judgment of God and you do not have the time or capability to make up for them. Your hope of forgiveness is found only in the atoning substitutionary death of Jesus Christ.

So forgiven, forgive. In fact, make forgiveness a Passion Week priority. Empowered by the mercy and grace of Jesus in your own life, let go of the hurt and harm others have caused you. And in so doing find the freedom to enjoy the resurrected life.

Posted 4:46 PM

As he was drawing near--already on the way down the Mount of Olives--the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out." (Luke 19:37-40 ESV)

It is Sunday, Palm Sunday. And Jesus must be praised.

He must be praised for who he is. He is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.

He must be praised for his mighty works. No one has ever done such things.

And when the critics demand the enforcement of a noise ordinance, Jesus explains that if his disciples were silent the stones would cry out.

It is Sunday. And Jesus must be praised.

Let the critics be silenced.

Let us praise him!

Posted 7:52 PM

Dear church member,

This past Sunday evening Bro. Michael Weatherford, our pastor of music and media, resigned to take a position on the staff at Victory Baptist Church in Russellville, Arkansas. Because we love Michael and his family, his departure saddens our hearts. But our love for him also causes us to acknowledge the will of God in His life and rejoice at what he has meant to us and for what he will mean to Victory Baptist Church.

This occurs at the same time the Personnel Committee has begun the search for a pastor of student and family ministry to take the place of Bro. Ed Byrnes. As you know, the church will be sending Ed and Crystal to Oregon as our missionary with Ed transitioning from church staff to missions this summer.

All of this means there is a lot of change going on at Faith. Yet in the midst of that change the faithfulness and truth of God remain unchanged and the ministry and mission of the church remain constant. And we are confident that as God moves one man to the mission field and one to another church, God has men already chosen to join us in ministry at Faith. With that assurance, let us proceed together with prayer and patience.

Together we pray for the pastors God will bring our way. We are not seeking our man, but God's man. We are not looking for the first available, but the man God calls. So we pray, seeking God's leadership to the right man.

And we do so patiently. While we must move proactively, we must not move ahead of God. Not only does God have the right man, God also has the right time. So do not be alarmed by rumors. The personnel committee will be acting with discretion for the sake of potential candidates.

Though the personnel committee must act with discretion, the church will be kept informed of progress and when a candidate comes in view of a call, the church will be given extensive access to the candidate. We cannot know too much about a man to whom we are committing the spiritual wellness of the church.

If you have any questions, please feel free to talk with someone from the personnel committee or myself. And please pray.

Brent

Posted 2:54 PM