My dear readers,

(Extracts from Daily Remembrancer by Pastor James Smith, edited by Dr SH Tow)

1. "The place which is called Calvary" Lk 23:33 (January 9 EVENING)

WE visited Gethsemane this morning; let us visit Calvary tonight. There Jesus suffered from the hand of a holy God; here He suffered by the hands of wicked men. He is led as a lamb to the slaughter. See Him passing through the gates of Jerusalem, weary, worn and faint; His cross laid on His shoulders. He ascends the mound, the common place of execution. The cross is laid on the ground, He is stretched upon it, His arms and legs are strained, and the nails are driven through flesh and bone. Then the cross raised up and thrust into its socket in the ground with a violent jerk; all His bones are out of joint, and He hangs a spectacle of condemnation and shame. See His helpless frame, His ashen cheeks, His sunken eyes, His thorn-crowned brow, His death-stricken countenance. Then hear Him cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" He is accursed, He is made sin for us; He suffers, the innocent for the guilty; He dies, the just for the unjust. It is the Shepherd, dying for His sheep; the Bridegroom redeeming His bride; and the Head ransoming His body. He died for us, in our stead, that we might never die. For us Jesus went to Calvary.

When the dread scene of death, the last
Receding hour draws near,
Then, with my closing eyes, I'll cast
A look on Calvary.

2. "They crucified him" Mt 27:35 (June 14 EVENING)

“HE WAS DESPISED AND REJECTED OF MEN.” He was oppressed and afflicted, wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him. The Father delivered Him up, Judas betrayed Him, and the soldiers crucified Him. Let us consider the design of God in His death. It was to satisfy the claims of justice, to uphold His holiness in the salvation of the people, to display His wisdom, to manifest His mercy, to put away our sins, and to disclose the wonders of His love. Let us notice what Jesus displayed when He was crucified. Here we see His filial obedience to His Father, His implicit trust in God, His surpassing patience under suffering, His meek forgiving spirit, His astonishing love to His people, and His entire submission to the divine will. Let us observe what man discovered in this transaction. What base ingratitude! What brutal cruelty! What insolent pride! What folly in ignorance! Judas betrayed his treachery and greed; the Pharisees revealed their envy and cruelty under the cloak of self-righteousness; Pilate the coward retreated under the fear of man; the disciples showed the weakness which resides in cowardly hearts. Here, Jehovah’s love is most clearly revealed. The sinfulness of sin is set forth. Go to the cross and look to the Saviour. Repent, believe, and be saved. This is God’s way of salvation: one way and no other.

In the cross, in the cross,
Be my vision glorious;
All my sins are washed away,
In the blood of Jesus.

3. "Precious blood" 1 Pet 1:19 (February 5 MORNING)

The blood of Jesus is the price of our redemption. It is the object of our faith, the ground of our peace, the subject of our meditation, our only plea at the throne of grace. It satisfies divine justice and speaks peace to the humble sinner's heart. Only the Saviour’s blood cleanseth from all sin and purges the conscience from dead works. On it we build our foundation; to it we flee for refuge, our only cure for sin, and of it we sing with joy in the heart. The blood alone has wrought our perfect atonement. No sinner can perish who washes in it and pleads it before God. How precious is the blood! Whenever assailed by guilt of conscience, fears rising in your mind, flee to the Saviour and hide under the blood of Jesus. There at the mercy seat find peace, cleansing, healing and sanctification. Only the precious blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin. To this alone we must look as the foundation of our hope, and ground of our peace; for without shedding of blood is no remission.

There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.
Dear dying Lamb! Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its power,
Till all the ransomed church of God
Be saved to sin no more.

4. "It is finished" Jn 19:30 (October 14 EVENING)

 “BY ONE OFFERING HE PERFECTED FOREVER THEM THAT ARE SANCTIFIED.” On the cross our Lord gave Himself, the only sufficient sacrifice for our sins. He died the death that we might live. On the cross the sufferings of Christ were finished. His work below was accomplished, the debts of His people were cancelled, the price of their redemption was paid. The righteousness by which they were justified was perfected. All the requirements of the law were met, the demands of justice were satisfied. Satan was defeated and destroyed. Sin was forever put away, and the curse lifted once for all. The flock was purchased, redeemed by the Shepherd's blood. The foundation of peace, joy, and everlasting salvation was laid. The sin-cleansing fountain was opened to dying sinners everywhere. Death was abolished, and everlasting life was freely offered to all. In a word, the Saviour had finished the work which the Father gave Him to do: He had redeemed the pledge which He gave in the covenant of peace. He had ransomed His beloved bride. He had perfected the Father’s plan for man's salvation. He had glorified the Father on earth, and manifested His name everywhere. At Calvary it was finished.

'Tis finished, the Messiah dies
For sins, but not His own;
The great redemption is complete,
And Satan's power o'erthrown.

God bless all readers.

Yours faithfully in the Saviour’s Service,
Dr SH Tow, Founding Pastor