Let not a libation of tears be the only offering at the shrine of Jesus; let us also rejoice with joy unspeakable. If we have need to lament our sin, how much more to rejoice at our pardon! If our previous state moves us to tears, shall not our new condition cause our hearts to leap for joy? Yes, we must, we will praise the Lord for His sovereign, distinguishing grace. We owe Him an eternal song for this change in our position; He has made us to differ, and this from mere unmerited mercy, since we, like others, "esteemed Him not." He certainly did not elect us to the high dignity of union with Himself because of any love we had toward Him, for we confess the very reverse. It is said of the writer's sainted predecessor, Dr. Rippon, that when asked why God chose His people, he replied, "Because He chose them;" and when the question was repeated, he answered yet again, "Because He did choose them, and if you ask me a hundred times I can give you no other reason." Verily it is "even so Father, because so it seemed good in thy sight." Let our gratitude for divine grace leap forth in praise; let our whole man be vocal to His honor Who has elected us in sovereignty, redeemed us by blood, and called us by grace.
Spurgeon
posted by Marcian @ 1:08 PM
1 Comments:
I am more and more convinced that if, for even one second, we saw ourselves as Jesus sees us, we would be utterly ashamed at the viewpoints that we have wrongly attributed to Him based up-on our feeble perceptions. For me, the only life in Christ is a life of fullness in joy, health, and love. This is what He sees in us, not the hellish crap that we continue to remind ourselves about (and subsequently wallow in).
The real question that this raises is, "what is the function of this remembrance?" Self control, belief in our worthlessness, some vain attempt to improve by not loosing sight of our own weakness? Isn't all this self-effort designed to control for ourselves what He is already doing in love - making us more like Him? Many of us would be well served to get out of His way and let Him work in us than continue to troll this road in these old and tired patterns.
The key to tranformation in the Christian life is not a greater knowledge about Jesus, but greater intimacy WITH Jesus. Just spending time wrestling Him to tell us how He sees us would yield INCREDIBLE change in the life of the average Christian. Unfortunately, few of us ever really ask...
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