Take Up the Cross

Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
— 1 Peter 2:6-7

Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
— Romans 3:24-26

And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
— Luke 22:44

The More Bloody, the More Lovely, by Thomas Watson. The following contains excerpts from his work, “The Loveliness of Christ.”

Yes, he is altogether lovely. Song of Solomon 5:16 b, c

Lost men cannot see the stupendous beauty of Christ. All sparkling beauties are found in him, but they lack eyes. He is infinitely and superlatively lovely. All that we could ever say about Jesus falls infinitely short of his matchless worth. He is pure unspotted beauty. There is an infinite resplendency, a sparkling luster to His beauty. Jesus is most lovely in His sufferings when He made an atonement for our sins. What lovely in His sufferings! Lovely when He was buffeted, spit upon, and besmeared with blood. Oh yes, He was most lovely upon the cross when He showed most love to us. He bled love at every vein.

Those drops were love drops. The more bloody, the more lovely. Oh, how lovely ought a bleeding Savior be to our eyes! Let us wear this blessed crucifix always in our heart. The cross of Christ is the key that opens paradise to us. How beautiful is Christ on the cross! The ruddiness of His blood took away the redness of our guilt is our coronation. He left his father’s bosom, that hive of sweetness, to come and live in this poor world. Truly, he exchanged the palace for the dunghill. The unsearchable riches of Christ, not even the angels can dig to the bottom of this mine. They adore Christ, being ravished with his amazing beauties. Jesus is the very extract and quintessence of beauty is a whole paradise of delights.

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