The Word of ANGUISH Matthew 27:46, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" This anguishing cry pierces time and eternity. It echoes with a depth of sorrow which no human mind can fully grasp. It was not the physical pain of His torture, nor the mockery of men--but the awful withdrawal of the Father's presence that wrung this cry of torment from the Savior's heart. This was not loss of faith, but the deepest agony of love, deprived of its joy. Never had the Son known such a moment. From all eternity, He had dwelt in perfect fellowship with the Father--one in essence, joy and will. Yet here, at Calvary's apex, Jesus was forsaken. Not as a sinner, for He was sinless. But as our sin-bearer. "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us" (2 Corinthians 5:21). The absolutely Holy One, stood in the place of vile sinners. The Beloved One became accursed, that the cursed ones might become beloved. In this forsaking, Hell's horror was compressed into a moment--and endured by One Who could not sin and would not turn away. Here we behold the infinite cost of our redemption. Christ endured the wrath of the Father, so that we might have communion with Him. He was abandoned that we might be adopted. He was plunged into darkness so that we could walk in the light of God's favor. Let us tremble at this dreadful picture. Sin is no light thing. It required the cross. Not moral reformations. Not religious rituals. But the wrath-bearing death of the spotless Lamb. If the Father did not spare His own Son when sin was imputed to Him, then how can any presume to escape judgment apart from Jesus? Yet let us also adore. For this cry--as agonizing as it was--marks the very foundation of

O Sirs! In the grave it is all the same--to one who has had all, and to another who has had nothing. What folly is it to lay up goods for many years, when we cannot lay up one day for the enjoyment of our goods! Jesus, who never miscalled any, calls him "fool!" who had much of the world in his hands--but nothing of God in his heart. All the world is not proportionate to the precious soul. All of its riches cannot pacify conscience, nor secure eternity, nor prevent death, nor help you in the day of judgment. Therefore be contented with a little. All the good things of this world, are but cold comforts. They cannot stretch to eternity, they will not go with us into the eternal world. Therefore why should the lack of such things either trouble our thoughts, or break our hearts? The whole world is but . . . a paradise for fools, a beautiful but deceitful harlot, a dreamed sweetness an ocean of gall. There is nothing to be found in it, which has not mutability and uncertainty, vanity and vexation stamped upon it. And therefore he cannot be truly happy who enjoys it; nor can he be miserable who lacks it. And why then should not he be contented--who has but a little of it? The greatest outward happiness is but honeyed poison; and therefore do not mutter or murmur because you have but little of the world. Ah, what fools are they who spend their time and strength in following after these butterflies--the honors, profits, and pleasures of this world--which will all perish in the using! He who makes the world his god, shall find it to be a broken cistern, a shadow, a shell, a nothing. But he who finds contentment in having little of the world, and much of Jesus, has

Song of Songs 2:16, "My Beloved is mine, and I am His!" What a sweet and wondrous relationship exists between the believer and the Lord Jesus! What a privilege to call Him my Beloved! He is not only my Savior, but my daily Bread, my hourly Companion, my constant Joy. The more I know Him, the more I love Him. This short verse is a wellspring of soul-satisfying truth. It is the language of holy intimacy, breathed from the heart of a redeemed sinner who has been saved from eternal perdition by Jesus. Here the sincere Christian speaks with the warmth of experiential knowledge: "My Beloved is mine, and I am His!" "My Beloved is mine!" Who is this Beloved? He is the altogether lovely One, the fairest of ten thousand, the eternal Son of God. The believer dares to say that this glorious Person--this Prince of Heaven--is his! The One who reigns over angels, who upholds all creation by the word of His power--has freely given Himself to His redeemed people. All that He is, and all that He has, becomes theirs. His righteousness covers them. His intercession sustains them. His Spirit indwells them. His love surrounds them. His promises anchor them. Oh what infinite condescension, that such a Savior would belong to such unworthy and Hell-deserving sinners. "And I am His!" The believer belongs to Jesus--not merely by profession, but by redemption. He is bought with a price, sealed with His Spirit, and set apart for His glory. The Christian is not his own. His heart, his will, his time, his affections, his very life--are bound up in the One who gave Himself for him. What a glorious blessing it is to wholly belong to the tender, faithful, wise, and holy One, who loves us perfectly.

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." This is the desire of a man who has been saved from sin and damnation by Jesus, and now lives only for Him. Paul's dilemma is not born of doubt, but of devotion. His heart is stretched between two holy desires: to serve Jesus on earth--or to see Jesus in Heaven. "For to me, to live is Christ" meant that Paul viewed Jesus as his absolute Lord and Master. His life was not his own. Whether preaching in synagogues, writing letters in prison, or suffering beatings and rejection--he counted it all as "fruitful labor" for his Savior. He did not crave ease, pleasure, or honor. So long as his heart beat, it would beat for the Lord Jesus. Yet "to die is gain." Not because Paul saw death as an escape from trouble, but because he saw death as the entrance to endless joy. Death for him was not the end of life--it was the beginning of glory. He does not speak of death with hesitation, but with longing. "To depart and be with Christ... which is better by far!" Not just better, but far better! His heart was not attached to this fleeting and disappointing world. Paul realized that on the day of his death, he would behold King Jesus in all of His beauty! Still, Paul says, "it is more necessary for you that I remain." This is the heart of a true shepherd of souls. Though he yearned for Heaven, he willingly delays his crown for the sake of God's flock. What an example of selfless devotion. Dear believer, are you living in Paul's dilemma? Does your heart long for Jesus above all, yet remain gladly willing to labor on for His name's sake? The Christian life is marked by a holy tension: a life fully yielded here, and a soul homesick for Hea

Mark 8:36, "What will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and loses his soul?" When a lost man dies: his relatives scramble for his money; the worms scramble for his body; and the demons scramble for his soul. What a fearful and sobering picture this is. The world may dress death in velvet and flowers, but God reveals its true horror for the unregenerate soul. The instant a man without Christ breathes his last, everything he loved is torn from him. His money is left behind, becoming a point of contention and greed among his relatives. The body he once adorned and pampered, is claimed by corruption and decay. And his soul--the most precious part of his being--is cast into eternal Hell. The world's goods, its riches, its pleasures, its pomp, its fame--what are all these without Jesus? They are a painted pageantry to go to Hell in! They are a mockery to an immortal spirit. They are like a mirage in the desert, deluding the traveler, but not yielding one substantial drop of joy. "I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind!" (Ecclesiastes 1:14). Yes! This poor world is a heap of chaff; the only enduring treasure is to be found in Jesus. If you neglect Him, you neglect all that is worth having. For the lost, death is not an escape--it is the doorway to everlasting punishment. Jesus spoke more often of Hell than of Heaven, warning us with great compassion: "Fear Him who, after killing the body, has power to throw you into Hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him!" (Luke 12:5). The man who lives for himself and dies without Jesus, does not rest in peace. He awakens to eternal torment, where hope never

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"Do not love the world or anything in the world." 1 John 2:15 There are two ways in which a person may attempt to displace the love of the world from the heart: 1. By a demonstration of the world's vanity, so that the heart shall be prevailed upon simply to withdraw its regards from an object that is not worthy of it. "When I surveyed all that I had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve-everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun!" Ecclesiastes 2:11 "This world is passing away along with its desires!" 1 John 2:17 2. By setting forth another object, even Christ, as more worthy of its attachment, so that the heart shall be prevailed upon to exchange an old affection for a new one. The best way to overcome the world, is not with morality or self-discipline. Christians overcome the world by seeing the beauty and excellence of Christ. They overcome the world by seeing something more attractive than the world-the Lord Jesus Christ! "Yes, He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend!" Song of Songs 5:16

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us--that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" 1 John 3:1 Those whom Jesus loves, being chosen of God to holiness here on earth, and happiness in eternity--are predestined to the adoption of His children--to the praise of the glory of His grace. They are predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son--they are to . . . partake of His nature, receive of His spirit, wear His image, and be associated with Him in honor and glory forever! Jesus calls them: His brethren, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Himself! Being His redeemed children, they . . . have a saving interest in Him, are eternally loved by Him, are in eternal union with Him, and shall never be separated from Him! O wondrous mercy! That God should condescend to make up a family of such vile, polluted, and wretched beings as we are! O wondrous mercy! That He should write our names in His book of life, give us the gift of the Holy Spirit, privilege us as His children at His throne, and associate us with Jesus as fellow-heirs. O wondrous mercy! That all this should have been fixed upon and settled--before the beginning of time, and all for the praise of His glorious grace!

Psalm 119:117, "Hold me up, and I shall be safe!" There is a glorious humility in this brief prayer. It is the cry of one who knows both his weakness, and his heavenly Father's ability. The psalmist does not say, "I will hold myself up!" or "I will stand in my own strength!" He knows better. He has learned the painful lesson of his own weakness and instability, and proneness to wander from God. Instead, he casts himself entirely upon the Lord: "Hold me up, and I shall be safe!" Only God can uphold His redeemed people, with corruption in their hearts, in a world full of spiritual dangers and deceits. This verse is a declaration of the utter necessity of God's sustaining grace. The redeemed are not kept by their own will-power, intelligence, or resolve--they are "kept by the power of God through faith" (1 Peter 1:5). It is sovereign grace that chose them, grace that effectually called them, grace that redeemed them, and grace that will preserve them to the end. Were it not for God's moment-by-moment upholding grace, no believer could endure to the end. The world entices, the flesh rebels, the devil accuses--and divine grace alone keeps the feet from slipping. The Lord's people shall not fall away finally or totally. They may fall foully, but they shall not fall finally. He who began the good work in them, will carry it on until He completes it. The same hand which gave us spiritual life, must preserve that life. Grace in the heart, is like a spark in the ocean; it would be utterly quenched, unless the Lord kept it alive. Yet God's sustaining grace is not merely a necessity--it is a comfort beyond all measure. What greater security could the believer have, than to be uph

These petty troubles and vexations! George Everard, "Little Foxes, and How to Catch Them!" 1878 (You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.) We must see our heavenly Father's hand in our lesser trials and cares, as much as in the greater ones. David recognized the hand of God, in Absalom rising against him in rebellion--but he saw it no less in Shimei throwing stones and dust and casting bitter words at him. Just so, let us see God's hand in everything. These petty troubles and vexations are a part of our schooling for Heaven. They are just as much sent from above, as the fierce storm that wrecks our home and leaves us desolate in a cold world. They all come . . . to prove us, to humble us, to draw out the grace which God has given us, to break the tie that binds us too closely to earth, to knit the tie that draws us nearer to Heaven. Let us ever fix this in our minds. Let us say to ourselves: "My Father has sent this trial!  Not a sparrow falls to the ground without Him.  The very hairs of my head are numbered by Him.  So I will trust His heart, where I cannot trace His hand.  He is too wise to be mistaken--and too good to be unkind!"