Reserved Unto Judgment
"How is it," said one, "that some men go on in sin year after year - and yet they prosper in almost all they do?"
Several reasons may be given - but one solemn portion of the Scriptures comes to my mind, which may account for it. It is said of some sinners, that they are "Reserved unto judgment," (2 Peter 2:4). The Lord lets them alone now, and allows them to have their own way - intending to deal with them bye and bye. He has spoken to them in His Word - and they will not hear. He aroused their consciences - but they lulled them to sleep again. He did once put obstacles in their way by His providence - but they broke through all bounds, and were determined to have their own way, and now the Lord seems to say, "Take your own way - and we will settle the account bye and bye.
No state can be more dangerous than this, hence said the Psalmist, "Surely You place them on slippery ground; You cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors!" (Psalm 73:18-19).
"Reserved unto Judgment!" What a solemn thought! What a frightening prospect at the end of a mirthful giddy, thoughtless life - to have to appear before God's final tribunal in order to give an account of all that has been done, said, and thought through life; and to assign a reason for all our thoughts, words, and actions. "Every one of us shall give account of himself to God!"
What a sad account can we give, many of us? How can we justify our conduct, in one thing out of a thousand? How can we clear ourselves?
The Judge will know all.
Our memories will be so strong - that we shall remember all.
Our consciences will be as good as a thousand witnesses, bearing testimony against us, if we die in sin.
Our sentence will be just - so that we shall have our mouths closed forever.
Our punishment will be in exact proportion, to the nature, number, and desert of our crimes. The lightest sentence will be dreadful, for in every case - the punishment will be eternal.
Having gone on sinning to the end - our habits will have become so fixed - that we shall go on sinning forever!
Hell's punishment will never purify the damned.
God will never change.
The sentence will never be rescinded.
Our sufferings will never be mitigated.
For our Saviour has declared, "Where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched!" "The smoke of their torment ascends up forever and ever!"
Reader, this places things in a very solemn light. Our circumstances are very serious. Are you mirthful, easy, jovial, and free from all fear about the future? Are you for putting away from you, all serious thoughts, and making up your mind to enjoy carnal things while you can? If so, let me place before you one portion of God's most Holy Word, especially addressed to such as you, "Be happy, young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, BUT know that for all these things - God will bring you to judgment!" (Ecclesiastes 11:9).
You see, there is no escaping the judgment, for God pledges His Word, that He will bring you into judgment. In that judgment, the conduct of the sinner will be exposed - and all his crimes will be published. The record of his life will be opened and exhibited. Oh, how will his cheeks burn with shame; how will his heart quake with terror, and how will his soul feel ready to burst with agony - when that exposure is made, and his final sentence is about to be pronounced?
Reader, how could you endure this? But if you live in sin, you must endure it - for there is no possibility of avoiding it.
Let me then exhort you to escape while the way of salvation is open, for you may escape, you may obtain pardon, you may even be justified before God, and by God - if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. O, believe, believe in Jesus, at once! Believe that He came into the world to save sinners. Believe that He has done all that is necessary to save sinners from the wrath to come. Believe that He is both able and willing to save you. Believe, and go to Him, cry to Him, cast yourself on Him - and you shall be saved by Him; then, instead of being "reserved to judgment," you will be "kept by the power of God through faith unto eternal salvation."
~James Smith~
(The End)
Saturday, May 30, 2020
Saturday, May 23, 2020
Jesus and the Sinner
Jesus and the Sinner
The Son of God assumed the name of Jesus - to meet the sinner's case, disperse the sinner's fears, and assure the sinner's mind. And in all He has said in His word, and in all He has done, or is doing - He keeps the same end in view. TO the sinner, as a sinner - He speaks. FOR the sinner, as a sinner - He works. And the sinner, AS a sinner - He saves. He prescribes no tasks and He requires no sufferings - from us. But all that Jesus does for lost sinners - He does freely, out of pure pity, kindness, and love.
Yet we are always looking for something in ourselves - to encourage us! On the other hand, we tend to look at some sin committed by us - which discourages us. Whereas we should look only to Jesus. I want now, for a few minutes, to fix the eye of your mind on what Jesus does for sinners - how He acts toward them at the present day.
Jesus calls the sinner. He says, "Come unto Me. Come, just as you are. Come, this moment. Come, for all that you need. Come, for all that you desire. Come, and be saved. Come, and I will satisfy you. Come, and commit all your concerns to Me, and I will make all things that occur, work together for your good."
Jesus receives the sinner when he comes. He receives every sinner, however base, vile, or unworthy he may be. He receives the sinner graciously, pardoning every sin, forgiving and forgetting all that he has done amiss, and treating him with the utmost kindness.
Jesus cleanses the sinner. In the fountain of His precious blood, and in the laver of His Holy Word - He cleanses him from guilt and pollution - fitting him for holy service on earth, and for holier service in heaven.
Jesus clothes the sinner. All that is necessary for our honorable appearance in heaven among the glorified - He undertakes to provide.
Jesus employs the sinner. Having called, received, cleansed, clothes and nourished him - He sets him to WORK. He gives him a cross to carry, and a plot in his vineyard to cultivate. He sends him to speak to others of His grace. He says, "Feed them for Me, comfort them for Me, and teach them for Me."
Jesus comforts the sinner. He assures the sinner of His love for him.
Jesus restores the sinner. He reproves the sinner. And then He glorifies the sinner. Glorifies him with Himself - and confers on him an eternal weight of glory!
O wondrous grace, of a wondrous Saviour!
Reader, Jesus has called you to Him - have you attended to His call? Jesus cleanses sinners - has He cleansed you? Jesus clothes and adorns sinners; has He clothed you with His righteousness and adorned you with the Holy Spirit?
Believer, this precious Saviour is yours. You know Him, for you came when He called you, you were received when you came, and you have been cleansed and clothed. You are fed by Jesus now. You enjoy the comforts of His love, and are assured by His Spirit and word. And, O wondrous grace - He will soon glorify you!
Will you not love Him then? Will you not observe His statutes and keep His laws? Will you not come out of the world, which is peopled by His enemies, and be separated to Him? Will you not bear witness to the power and sweetness orf His love, to the joy and happiness that is found in His ways? Can you mingle with the carnal,frequent places of worldly amusement, and so bring up an evil report of the land, as if religion was not happiness, and you must go to the world to be gratified and amused? Beware how you wound your precious Saviour's loving heart! Beware how you grieve the Holy Spirit, by whom you are sealed unto the day of redemption! Beware, lest by anything you say or do - you cast a stumbling block in the way of sinners, over which they may fall into hell!
~James Smith~
(The End)
The Son of God assumed the name of Jesus - to meet the sinner's case, disperse the sinner's fears, and assure the sinner's mind. And in all He has said in His word, and in all He has done, or is doing - He keeps the same end in view. TO the sinner, as a sinner - He speaks. FOR the sinner, as a sinner - He works. And the sinner, AS a sinner - He saves. He prescribes no tasks and He requires no sufferings - from us. But all that Jesus does for lost sinners - He does freely, out of pure pity, kindness, and love.
Yet we are always looking for something in ourselves - to encourage us! On the other hand, we tend to look at some sin committed by us - which discourages us. Whereas we should look only to Jesus. I want now, for a few minutes, to fix the eye of your mind on what Jesus does for sinners - how He acts toward them at the present day.
Jesus calls the sinner. He says, "Come unto Me. Come, just as you are. Come, this moment. Come, for all that you need. Come, for all that you desire. Come, and be saved. Come, and I will satisfy you. Come, and commit all your concerns to Me, and I will make all things that occur, work together for your good."
Jesus receives the sinner when he comes. He receives every sinner, however base, vile, or unworthy he may be. He receives the sinner graciously, pardoning every sin, forgiving and forgetting all that he has done amiss, and treating him with the utmost kindness.
Jesus cleanses the sinner. In the fountain of His precious blood, and in the laver of His Holy Word - He cleanses him from guilt and pollution - fitting him for holy service on earth, and for holier service in heaven.
Jesus clothes the sinner. All that is necessary for our honorable appearance in heaven among the glorified - He undertakes to provide.
Jesus employs the sinner. Having called, received, cleansed, clothes and nourished him - He sets him to WORK. He gives him a cross to carry, and a plot in his vineyard to cultivate. He sends him to speak to others of His grace. He says, "Feed them for Me, comfort them for Me, and teach them for Me."
Jesus comforts the sinner. He assures the sinner of His love for him.
Jesus restores the sinner. He reproves the sinner. And then He glorifies the sinner. Glorifies him with Himself - and confers on him an eternal weight of glory!
O wondrous grace, of a wondrous Saviour!
Reader, Jesus has called you to Him - have you attended to His call? Jesus cleanses sinners - has He cleansed you? Jesus clothes and adorns sinners; has He clothed you with His righteousness and adorned you with the Holy Spirit?
Believer, this precious Saviour is yours. You know Him, for you came when He called you, you were received when you came, and you have been cleansed and clothed. You are fed by Jesus now. You enjoy the comforts of His love, and are assured by His Spirit and word. And, O wondrous grace - He will soon glorify you!
Will you not love Him then? Will you not observe His statutes and keep His laws? Will you not come out of the world, which is peopled by His enemies, and be separated to Him? Will you not bear witness to the power and sweetness orf His love, to the joy and happiness that is found in His ways? Can you mingle with the carnal,frequent places of worldly amusement, and so bring up an evil report of the land, as if religion was not happiness, and you must go to the world to be gratified and amused? Beware how you wound your precious Saviour's loving heart! Beware how you grieve the Holy Spirit, by whom you are sealed unto the day of redemption! Beware, lest by anything you say or do - you cast a stumbling block in the way of sinners, over which they may fall into hell!
~James Smith~
(The End)
Saturday, May 16, 2020
Dead at the Top!
Dead at the Top!
Men are like trees. The comparison holds in many regards; among others, will respect to growth. No tree starts tall, full-branched, fruit-covered - but is first only a seed, then a shoot, then a sapling, and finally a tree. It is ever growing into nobler and more beautiful proportions. Though ti lives three thousand years - every year has its own circle of growth. When it ceases to grow - then it ceases to live.
So men's bodies grow, beginning with the helplessness of infancy, and developing into strong and vigorous manhood.
So men's minds grow. All the germs of the mental faculties, of thought, and will, and feeling - are folded up in the infant. It is the work of a true education to draw out and train these faculties, which are capable of almost limitless expansion and development, and which will doubtless continue to grow in the future world.
Then there is still a higher life - the life of the soul. And no character is complete without its soul-growth. This is the part of our being on which the curse of the fall chiefly rests. The spiritual nature has been blasted by sin. Not until the new blood of redemption flows into the soul - is there life there. But provision has been made in grace, for the quickening of these dead branches. Every soul united by faith to Christ, lives. And wherever there is spiritual life - there is also spiritual growth.
But there are many men whose lower, physical natures are marked by a luxuriant growth - whose higher, spiritual nature is starved and left to die! I have seen trees which cast a wide shade. Their lower branches reached far out and were covered with leaves, and gave to the tree the appearance of great prosperity. But when I have looked up toward the top, I have seen only a bare, dead, branches, leafless trunk, rising above the greenness like the mast of a ship.
And that is a picture of many lives. In all that concerns the body or the mind - in all the lower branches of the life-tree - there is great prosperity. They are prosperous in the lower or worldly sphere. They put forth great boughs, and spread themselves out wide, and send their life-blood pulsing through great business establishments and enterprises, or through whole communities, or cities, or states, or nations. They have a marvelous growth and development - but it is all low down, close to the earth. They make a great show of prosperity before the world. Men come and rest in the shadow of their great spreading branches, and eat of the fruit of their toil and care.
But when you turn your eyes up to the higher parts of their being - you see nothing but bare branches, with no leaves nor fruit. They are like the tree, green and living below - but dead at the top, their souls stand out above all their earthly luxuriance, ghastly, bare, and dead!
Now it is well to develop one's physical nature, to draw out its powers to the utmost, and lay them on the altar for God. It is well to educate the mind, to train its power for the highest possible uses. Every one is responsible for the development and use of all the faculties God has lodged in his being.
But above both body and mind - is man's spiritual nature. It is the crown of manhood. It is the part of our being which is nearest to Heaven, which makes us akin to God, and which contains the germs of our future eternal growth toward bliss, or woe. It is on this part of the life-tree that faith, hope, love, meekness, humility, patience, and all the Christian graces grow. It is at the top, which the Master looks for fruit.
And what does it matter then, that a man has the most wondrous growth and development in the lower branches of his life - if he is dead at the top? What does it matter that body and mind are clothed in luxuriance - if the soul is starved and bare?
Men should look to their spiritual nature. They should seek, first of all - soul growth. No life is beautiful or complete in God's sight - which is leafless, fruitless, and dead or dying at the top. But the life that is crowned with foliage and fruitage here, shall be crowned with unfading glory in Heaven!
~J. R. Miller~
(The End)
Men are like trees. The comparison holds in many regards; among others, will respect to growth. No tree starts tall, full-branched, fruit-covered - but is first only a seed, then a shoot, then a sapling, and finally a tree. It is ever growing into nobler and more beautiful proportions. Though ti lives three thousand years - every year has its own circle of growth. When it ceases to grow - then it ceases to live.
So men's bodies grow, beginning with the helplessness of infancy, and developing into strong and vigorous manhood.
So men's minds grow. All the germs of the mental faculties, of thought, and will, and feeling - are folded up in the infant. It is the work of a true education to draw out and train these faculties, which are capable of almost limitless expansion and development, and which will doubtless continue to grow in the future world.
Then there is still a higher life - the life of the soul. And no character is complete without its soul-growth. This is the part of our being on which the curse of the fall chiefly rests. The spiritual nature has been blasted by sin. Not until the new blood of redemption flows into the soul - is there life there. But provision has been made in grace, for the quickening of these dead branches. Every soul united by faith to Christ, lives. And wherever there is spiritual life - there is also spiritual growth.
But there are many men whose lower, physical natures are marked by a luxuriant growth - whose higher, spiritual nature is starved and left to die! I have seen trees which cast a wide shade. Their lower branches reached far out and were covered with leaves, and gave to the tree the appearance of great prosperity. But when I have looked up toward the top, I have seen only a bare, dead, branches, leafless trunk, rising above the greenness like the mast of a ship.
And that is a picture of many lives. In all that concerns the body or the mind - in all the lower branches of the life-tree - there is great prosperity. They are prosperous in the lower or worldly sphere. They put forth great boughs, and spread themselves out wide, and send their life-blood pulsing through great business establishments and enterprises, or through whole communities, or cities, or states, or nations. They have a marvelous growth and development - but it is all low down, close to the earth. They make a great show of prosperity before the world. Men come and rest in the shadow of their great spreading branches, and eat of the fruit of their toil and care.
But when you turn your eyes up to the higher parts of their being - you see nothing but bare branches, with no leaves nor fruit. They are like the tree, green and living below - but dead at the top, their souls stand out above all their earthly luxuriance, ghastly, bare, and dead!
Now it is well to develop one's physical nature, to draw out its powers to the utmost, and lay them on the altar for God. It is well to educate the mind, to train its power for the highest possible uses. Every one is responsible for the development and use of all the faculties God has lodged in his being.
But above both body and mind - is man's spiritual nature. It is the crown of manhood. It is the part of our being which is nearest to Heaven, which makes us akin to God, and which contains the germs of our future eternal growth toward bliss, or woe. It is on this part of the life-tree that faith, hope, love, meekness, humility, patience, and all the Christian graces grow. It is at the top, which the Master looks for fruit.
And what does it matter then, that a man has the most wondrous growth and development in the lower branches of his life - if he is dead at the top? What does it matter that body and mind are clothed in luxuriance - if the soul is starved and bare?
Men should look to their spiritual nature. They should seek, first of all - soul growth. No life is beautiful or complete in God's sight - which is leafless, fruitless, and dead or dying at the top. But the life that is crowned with foliage and fruitage here, shall be crowned with unfading glory in Heaven!
~J. R. Miller~
(The End)
Saturday, May 9, 2020
No Mind Has Imagined!
No Mind Has Imagined!
Surely there is no believer but who finds that sometimes sin interrupts his joy, and sometimes satan distrubs his joy. Sometimes the cares of the world, and sometimes the snares of the world, and sometimes the fears of the world - mar his joy.
Here on earth, our joy is mixed with sorrow; our rejoicing with trembling. The most godly have sorrow, mixed with their joy; water, mixed with their wine; vinegar, mixed with their oil; pain, mixed with their ease; winter, mixed with their summer.
But in Heaven, they shall have joy, without sorrow; light, without darkness; sweetness, without bitterness; summer, without winter; health, without sickness; honor, without disgrace; glory, with shame, and life without death.
"In His presence is fullness of joy, and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psalm 16:11).
Mark:
for quality - there are pleasures;
for quantity - fullness;
for dignity - at God's right hand;
for duration - forevermore.
And millions of years multiplied by millions, do not make up one minute of this eternity of joy which the saints shall have in Heaven! In Heaven there shall be no sin to take away your joy, not any devil to take away your joy, nor any man to take away your joy!
As they shall have in Heaven pure joy, so they shall have in Heaven fullness of joy. Here on earth all joy is at an ebb - but in Heaven is the flood of joy! Here shall be joy above joy, joy surmounting all joy. Here shall be such great joys - as no geometrician can measure; so many joys - as no arithmetician can number; and such wonderful joys - as no rhetorician can utter, had he the tongue of men and angels!
Sometimes great crosses, sometimes hard losses, and sometimes unexpected changes - turn a Christian's harping into mourning.
Here shall be joy within you, and joy without you, and joy above you, and joy beneath you, and joy about you. Joy shall spread itself over all the members of your bodies, and over all the faculties of your souls.
In Heaven, your knowledge shall be full, your love full, your visions of God full, your communion with God full, your enjoyment of God full, and your conformity to God full; and from thence will arise fullness of joy.
If all the earth were paper, and all the plants of the earth were pens, and all the sea were ink, and if every man, woman, and child, had the pen of a ready writer - yet they would not be able to express the thousandth part of those joys which saints shall have in Heaven!
All the joy which we have here in this world is but pensiveness - compared to that joy which we shall have in Heaven.
All the pleasure which we have in this world is but heaviness - compared to that joy which we shall have in Heaven.
All sweetness which we have here in this world is but bitterness - compared to that joy which we shall have in Heaven.
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Corinthians 2:9).
~Thomas Brooks~
(The End)
Surely there is no believer but who finds that sometimes sin interrupts his joy, and sometimes satan distrubs his joy. Sometimes the cares of the world, and sometimes the snares of the world, and sometimes the fears of the world - mar his joy.
Here on earth, our joy is mixed with sorrow; our rejoicing with trembling. The most godly have sorrow, mixed with their joy; water, mixed with their wine; vinegar, mixed with their oil; pain, mixed with their ease; winter, mixed with their summer.
But in Heaven, they shall have joy, without sorrow; light, without darkness; sweetness, without bitterness; summer, without winter; health, without sickness; honor, without disgrace; glory, with shame, and life without death.
"In His presence is fullness of joy, and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psalm 16:11).
Mark:
for quality - there are pleasures;
for quantity - fullness;
for dignity - at God's right hand;
for duration - forevermore.
And millions of years multiplied by millions, do not make up one minute of this eternity of joy which the saints shall have in Heaven! In Heaven there shall be no sin to take away your joy, not any devil to take away your joy, nor any man to take away your joy!
As they shall have in Heaven pure joy, so they shall have in Heaven fullness of joy. Here on earth all joy is at an ebb - but in Heaven is the flood of joy! Here shall be joy above joy, joy surmounting all joy. Here shall be such great joys - as no geometrician can measure; so many joys - as no arithmetician can number; and such wonderful joys - as no rhetorician can utter, had he the tongue of men and angels!
Sometimes great crosses, sometimes hard losses, and sometimes unexpected changes - turn a Christian's harping into mourning.
Here shall be joy within you, and joy without you, and joy above you, and joy beneath you, and joy about you. Joy shall spread itself over all the members of your bodies, and over all the faculties of your souls.
In Heaven, your knowledge shall be full, your love full, your visions of God full, your communion with God full, your enjoyment of God full, and your conformity to God full; and from thence will arise fullness of joy.
If all the earth were paper, and all the plants of the earth were pens, and all the sea were ink, and if every man, woman, and child, had the pen of a ready writer - yet they would not be able to express the thousandth part of those joys which saints shall have in Heaven!
All the joy which we have here in this world is but pensiveness - compared to that joy which we shall have in Heaven.
All the pleasure which we have in this world is but heaviness - compared to that joy which we shall have in Heaven.
All sweetness which we have here in this world is but bitterness - compared to that joy which we shall have in Heaven.
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Corinthians 2:9).
~Thomas Brooks~
(The End)
Saturday, May 2, 2020
Love Put To The Proof
Love Put To The Proof
It is not every man's religion, which will stand the test. Many a man's profession has looked fair enough - until it has been tried, and then it has proved to be counterfeit. How important then is self-examination - and looking well to our foundation. Unless grounded on Christ - the fabric will fall. Unless our religion is the work of God - it will fail us in the day of trial. God's religion captures the heart for Him, devotes the life to Him, and prepares us to part with whatever is called for by Him.
Such was Abraham's religion, which God put to so severe a test; and to whom when he was tried, the angel said, "Now I know that you fear God - seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son from Me!" (Genesis 22:12).
The principle. Godly fear. "You fear God."
In order to fear God, with a holy, filial fear - we must KNOW Him. Know Him as a gracious, merciful, covenant God. Know Him as revealed in Jesus. Know Him as a Father - the Father of mercies, the God of all grace.
We must BELIEVE Him. In order to which we must have His Word, especially His precious promises. Exercising faith in them - we shall have confidence in Him, and trust Him to make them good.
We must LOVE Him. Our love to Him will be regulated by our knowledge of Him, and our faith in Him. Just in proportion as we receive into our minds, the lovely representations of Himself which God has given in His Word, and by His Son, and according to the degree of faith we exercise in Him - will be our love to Him.
Love will lead us to FEAR Him, filling our hearts with profound reverence, and making us afraid to offend Him, or grieve Him, or disobey Him, or withhold anything from Him - and that, just because we love Him. The one ruling desire of our souls will be to PLEASE God!
The proof. "You have not withheld your son - your only son from Me." God requires proof of the sincerity of our profession, when we profess to prefer Him to all besides.
The testimony. "Now I know that you fear God - seeing that you have not withheld your son from Me." I have proved you now. You have manifested your sincerity.
God will try our principles! Sooner or later He will bring us to the test. Let us therefore seek grace to prepare us to stand the test as Abraham did. Let us therefore promptly do whatever appears to us to be the will of God. Let us imitate David, who said, "I made haste, and delayed not, to keep your precepts!"
Let us now turn the subject, and standing before Calvary's Cross, look up to God, and say, "Now I know that You love me - seeing You have not withheld Your son, Your only Son from me!"
Did Abraham sacrifice his own son, with his own hand, at least in intention? God did so in reality and in fact! It pleased the Lord to bruise Him! He has put Him to grief. It was His own sword, in His own hand - which pierced His beloved Son to His heart! Therefore Jesus cried, "Father, if it is possible - let this cup pass from Me!" O what love! O what a costly proof of God's love!
As God has not withheld from us His Son - but has sacrificed Him for our sins, and by His death made an atonement for our transgressions - can He then withhold from us any inferior good? Will He not with Him also - will He not after having given Jesus - freely give us all things. O Holy and ever blessed Spirit, impress this glorious truth upon my mind, and daily bring it to my remembrance - that my heavenly Father, having given His Son to die for me - will withhold no good thing from me! Well, well may I say - as I stand on Calvary, and gaze on the slaughtered Lamb, "Now I know that You love me - seeing You have not withheld Your Son, Your only Son from me!"
~James Smith~
(The End)
It is not every man's religion, which will stand the test. Many a man's profession has looked fair enough - until it has been tried, and then it has proved to be counterfeit. How important then is self-examination - and looking well to our foundation. Unless grounded on Christ - the fabric will fall. Unless our religion is the work of God - it will fail us in the day of trial. God's religion captures the heart for Him, devotes the life to Him, and prepares us to part with whatever is called for by Him.
Such was Abraham's religion, which God put to so severe a test; and to whom when he was tried, the angel said, "Now I know that you fear God - seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son from Me!" (Genesis 22:12).
The principle. Godly fear. "You fear God."
In order to fear God, with a holy, filial fear - we must KNOW Him. Know Him as a gracious, merciful, covenant God. Know Him as revealed in Jesus. Know Him as a Father - the Father of mercies, the God of all grace.
We must BELIEVE Him. In order to which we must have His Word, especially His precious promises. Exercising faith in them - we shall have confidence in Him, and trust Him to make them good.
We must LOVE Him. Our love to Him will be regulated by our knowledge of Him, and our faith in Him. Just in proportion as we receive into our minds, the lovely representations of Himself which God has given in His Word, and by His Son, and according to the degree of faith we exercise in Him - will be our love to Him.
Love will lead us to FEAR Him, filling our hearts with profound reverence, and making us afraid to offend Him, or grieve Him, or disobey Him, or withhold anything from Him - and that, just because we love Him. The one ruling desire of our souls will be to PLEASE God!
The proof. "You have not withheld your son - your only son from Me." God requires proof of the sincerity of our profession, when we profess to prefer Him to all besides.
The testimony. "Now I know that you fear God - seeing that you have not withheld your son from Me." I have proved you now. You have manifested your sincerity.
God will try our principles! Sooner or later He will bring us to the test. Let us therefore seek grace to prepare us to stand the test as Abraham did. Let us therefore promptly do whatever appears to us to be the will of God. Let us imitate David, who said, "I made haste, and delayed not, to keep your precepts!"
Let us now turn the subject, and standing before Calvary's Cross, look up to God, and say, "Now I know that You love me - seeing You have not withheld Your son, Your only Son from me!"
Did Abraham sacrifice his own son, with his own hand, at least in intention? God did so in reality and in fact! It pleased the Lord to bruise Him! He has put Him to grief. It was His own sword, in His own hand - which pierced His beloved Son to His heart! Therefore Jesus cried, "Father, if it is possible - let this cup pass from Me!" O what love! O what a costly proof of God's love!
As God has not withheld from us His Son - but has sacrificed Him for our sins, and by His death made an atonement for our transgressions - can He then withhold from us any inferior good? Will He not with Him also - will He not after having given Jesus - freely give us all things. O Holy and ever blessed Spirit, impress this glorious truth upon my mind, and daily bring it to my remembrance - that my heavenly Father, having given His Son to die for me - will withhold no good thing from me! Well, well may I say - as I stand on Calvary, and gaze on the slaughtered Lamb, "Now I know that You love me - seeing You have not withheld Your Son, Your only Son from me!"
~James Smith~
(The End)
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