Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 9:22 p.m. – This song is in my head:
Much Too High A Price / Jesus Paid It All / Phil McHugh and Greg Nelson
Your love endured the cross, despising all the shame,
That afternoon when midnight fell Your suffering cleared my name.
And that sin-swept hill became the open door to paradise
Because You paid so high a price.
You paid much too high a price for me, Your tears, Your blood, the pain –
To have my soul just stirred at times yet never truly changed.
You deserve a fiery love that won’t ignore your sacrifice
Because You paid much too high a price.
Your grace inspires my heart to rise above the sin
And all the earthly vanity that seeks to draw me in.
I want to tell a jaded world of love that truly saved my life,
A love that paid so high a price.
Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe,
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed me white as snow.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Jeremiah 8:4-20:
My Understanding: Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe!! Amen!! He paid much too high a price for me – His tears, His blood, the pain – to have my soul just stirred at times yet never truly changed. V. 4 begins with the words of the Lord saying, “When men fall down do they not get back up? When a man turns away, does he not return?” This makes sense. Who would fall on the ground and not get himself back up? Who, if he was driving the wrong direction, for instance, would not turn around and go the right way? This is logical. This is practical. It makes sense. Yet, God’s people’s behavior was not logical, it certainly was not practical and it absolutely did not make sense in light of who God is and in light of what all he had done for them. Basically, God’s people are brain damaged! They don’t get it!
The Lord continues by asking the question, “Why then have these people turned away?” In fact, he reiterates it by asking why they “always” turn away. They seem to grasp every day principles of the laws of nature, i.e. falling and getting back up, and yet they do not understand spiritual truths, i.e. God’s laws. He says they “always” turn away. So, the question begs to be answered here, “In what ways do they ‘always’ turn away?” The answer lies in the passage of scripture. They turn away by:
Source for words in (): Encarta Thesaurus
Then, he gives this indictment against his children. He tells them that even the birds know their appointed seasons and they observe the time of their migration, but God’s people do not know his requirements, though they should. It isn’t because God didn’t tell his requirements to them. He did! They just are not listening.
After this, he addresses those who are handling the word of God falsely. They have rejected the true word of the Lord. These are the religious leaders. He describes them as being all greedy for gain and that they all practice deceit. And, he explains how these false teachers handle the word of God falsely, too. He says that they “dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.” I believe this is the crux of this message in this song “Much Too High A Price.”
What is being taught in much of today’s church is this easy ticket to heaven that does not require obedience, sacrifice, repentance, etc. It tells the listeners that they can pray a prayer and have their ticket into heaven, but that everything else is optional, and it is their choice as a love response to God. They forget that James teaches us that “faith without works is dead” and that John taught us in First John that if we say we know God but we don’t obey him, that we are liars and that we don’t know him and he doesn’t know us. And, Jesus taught that anyone one who would save his own life (hold on to it) would lose it and that if anyone would come after him, he would have to deny himself and take up his cross (death to self) daily.
I see so many professing Christians still in bondage to and still living under the control of sin in their lives yet they are convinced that because at some point in their lives they prayed a sinners prayer that it guarantees them eternal life in heaven with God no matter how they live out their lives here on the earth. I just don’t see that this kind of philosophy adds up to scripture. In fact, I see much to the contrary. Even in the book of Revelation he tells the churches that IF they overcome, that he will give them eternal life, and other scriptures use that IF word as well with regard to our ultimate salvation – “if we continue…” “if you hold firmly…” “provided that you…” etc. In other words, there should be evidence that true faith exists.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary on 8:20: “God gave Judah every opportunity to repent, but she continued to rebel. Jeremiah 8:20 recorded the mournful cry of those who learned the consequences of sin too late. The harvest, representing God’s opportunities to repent, was past. By not taking advantage of God’s provision for deliverance from judgment when it had been available, the people were now without hope (we are not saved).”
Sadly, this will be the condition of many who have refused over and over again to repent. I still remember the words of a man one day who said to me, “I don’t have to repent, I just have to believe!” He was serious. He was taught that “belief” did not require anything of him. Again I say that the word of God says that “even the demons believe and they shudder.” And, it says, too, that many will come to God on that day and say that they did such and such in his name, and he will tell them, “I don’t know you. Get out of my presence!”
A day of judgment is coming, and for many it will be “too late.” Their opportunity for repentance will be gone. Contrary to what many people think, we will not live forever and tomorrow doesn’t always come. Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we could be free not just of the penalty of sin, i.e. not just so that we could go to heaven one day. I heard a preacher tell the story once that if that is all there is to salvation with nothing in between, then just save ‘em and shoot ‘em. Yet, Jesus died so that we could also be free from the bondage to and the control of sin over our lives from now to eternity. He came to give us new lives NOW, and we don’t have to wait until we get to heaven. Yes, we will be perfect then, but we can strive towards that now, not in our own strength, but in the power of the Holy Spirit at work within our hearts and lives.
I want to tell a jaded world of love that truly saved my life,
A love that paid so high a price.
Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe,
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed me white as snow.
Much Too High A Price / Jesus Paid It All / Phil McHugh and Greg Nelson
Your love endured the cross, despising all the shame,
That afternoon when midnight fell Your suffering cleared my name.
And that sin-swept hill became the open door to paradise
Because You paid so high a price.
You paid much too high a price for me, Your tears, Your blood, the pain –
To have my soul just stirred at times yet never truly changed.
You deserve a fiery love that won’t ignore your sacrifice
Because You paid much too high a price.
Your grace inspires my heart to rise above the sin
And all the earthly vanity that seeks to draw me in.
I want to tell a jaded world of love that truly saved my life,
A love that paid so high a price.
Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe,
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed me white as snow.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Jeremiah 8:4-20:
My Understanding: Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe!! Amen!! He paid much too high a price for me – His tears, His blood, the pain – to have my soul just stirred at times yet never truly changed. V. 4 begins with the words of the Lord saying, “When men fall down do they not get back up? When a man turns away, does he not return?” This makes sense. Who would fall on the ground and not get himself back up? Who, if he was driving the wrong direction, for instance, would not turn around and go the right way? This is logical. This is practical. It makes sense. Yet, God’s people’s behavior was not logical, it certainly was not practical and it absolutely did not make sense in light of who God is and in light of what all he had done for them. Basically, God’s people are brain damaged! They don’t get it!
The Lord continues by asking the question, “Why then have these people turned away?” In fact, he reiterates it by asking why they “always” turn away. They seem to grasp every day principles of the laws of nature, i.e. falling and getting back up, and yet they do not understand spiritual truths, i.e. God’s laws. He says they “always” turn away. So, the question begs to be answered here, “In what ways do they ‘always’ turn away?” The answer lies in the passage of scripture. They turn away by:
- Clinging to (hugging; hanging on to; sticking to; clutching) deceit
- Refusing (saying ‘no’ to; rejecting; snubbing) to return
- Not saying what is right (correct; true; accurate; righteous)
- Not repenting of (turning away from) their wickedness
- Pursuing (chasing after; hunting down; following after) each his own course
- Not knowing (recognizing; identifying) the requirements of the Lord
Source for words in (): Encarta Thesaurus
Then, he gives this indictment against his children. He tells them that even the birds know their appointed seasons and they observe the time of their migration, but God’s people do not know his requirements, though they should. It isn’t because God didn’t tell his requirements to them. He did! They just are not listening.
After this, he addresses those who are handling the word of God falsely. They have rejected the true word of the Lord. These are the religious leaders. He describes them as being all greedy for gain and that they all practice deceit. And, he explains how these false teachers handle the word of God falsely, too. He says that they “dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.” I believe this is the crux of this message in this song “Much Too High A Price.”
What is being taught in much of today’s church is this easy ticket to heaven that does not require obedience, sacrifice, repentance, etc. It tells the listeners that they can pray a prayer and have their ticket into heaven, but that everything else is optional, and it is their choice as a love response to God. They forget that James teaches us that “faith without works is dead” and that John taught us in First John that if we say we know God but we don’t obey him, that we are liars and that we don’t know him and he doesn’t know us. And, Jesus taught that anyone one who would save his own life (hold on to it) would lose it and that if anyone would come after him, he would have to deny himself and take up his cross (death to self) daily.
I see so many professing Christians still in bondage to and still living under the control of sin in their lives yet they are convinced that because at some point in their lives they prayed a sinners prayer that it guarantees them eternal life in heaven with God no matter how they live out their lives here on the earth. I just don’t see that this kind of philosophy adds up to scripture. In fact, I see much to the contrary. Even in the book of Revelation he tells the churches that IF they overcome, that he will give them eternal life, and other scriptures use that IF word as well with regard to our ultimate salvation – “if we continue…” “if you hold firmly…” “provided that you…” etc. In other words, there should be evidence that true faith exists.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary on 8:20: “God gave Judah every opportunity to repent, but she continued to rebel. Jeremiah 8:20 recorded the mournful cry of those who learned the consequences of sin too late. The harvest, representing God’s opportunities to repent, was past. By not taking advantage of God’s provision for deliverance from judgment when it had been available, the people were now without hope (we are not saved).”
Sadly, this will be the condition of many who have refused over and over again to repent. I still remember the words of a man one day who said to me, “I don’t have to repent, I just have to believe!” He was serious. He was taught that “belief” did not require anything of him. Again I say that the word of God says that “even the demons believe and they shudder.” And, it says, too, that many will come to God on that day and say that they did such and such in his name, and he will tell them, “I don’t know you. Get out of my presence!”
A day of judgment is coming, and for many it will be “too late.” Their opportunity for repentance will be gone. Contrary to what many people think, we will not live forever and tomorrow doesn’t always come. Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we could be free not just of the penalty of sin, i.e. not just so that we could go to heaven one day. I heard a preacher tell the story once that if that is all there is to salvation with nothing in between, then just save ‘em and shoot ‘em. Yet, Jesus died so that we could also be free from the bondage to and the control of sin over our lives from now to eternity. He came to give us new lives NOW, and we don’t have to wait until we get to heaven. Yes, we will be perfect then, but we can strive towards that now, not in our own strength, but in the power of the Holy Spirit at work within our hearts and lives.
I want to tell a jaded world of love that truly saved my life,
A love that paid so high a price.
Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe,
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed me white as snow.
