grace.

"when the life of grace first begins in the soul, we instinctively draw near to God, but it is with great fear and trembling. the soul, conscious of guilt and humbled by it, is over-awed with the solemnity of its position; it is prostrated by a sense of the grandeur of God, in whose presence it appears. with sincere humility it takes the lowest room.

but later on, as the Christian grows in grace, although he will never forget the solemnity of his position and will never lose that holy awe that must encompass a gracious man when he is in the presence of the God who can create or destroy, yet his fear has all its terror taken out of it; it becomes a holy reverence, and no longer an overshadowing dread. he is called up higher, to greater access to God in Christ Jesus. then the man of God, walking among the splendors of Deity and veiling his face like the glorious cherubim with those twin wings, the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, will, reverent and bowed in spirit, approach the throne, and seeing there a God of love, goodness, and mercy, he will realize the covenant character of God rather than His absolute Deity. he will see in God His goodness rather than His greatness, and more of His love than of His majesty. then the soul will bow just as humbly as before and enjoy a more sacred liberty of intercession; for while prostrate before the glory of the Infinite God, it will be sustained by the refreshing awareness of being in the presence of unlimited mercy and infinite love and by the realization of acceptance in the Beloved. in this way, the believer is invited to come up higher and is enabled to exercise the privilege of rejoicing in God and drawing near to Him in holy confidence, crying, Abba, Father."

[charles spurgeon]

come, Lord Jesus, come.

advent.

"in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. he was in the beginning with God. all things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. in him was life, and the life was the light of men...

the true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. he was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. he came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. but to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God...

and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth...

and from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace...

for the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. for the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. for we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

for in this hope we were saved."

come, Lord Jesus, come.

thanksgiving.

if we complained less and were more thankful, we would be happier, and God would be more glorified. if we know what redemption means, let us not withhold our hymns of thanksgiving.

[spurgeon]

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then king david went in and sat before the Lord and said, "who am i, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? and yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God. You have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God! and what more can david say to you? for you know your servant, O Lord God! because of your promise, and according to your own great heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. therefore you are great, O Lord God."

[2 samuel 7:18-22]

love.

I will love them freely, the prophet hosea writes.

this sentence is a body of divinity in miniature...the sense hinges upon the word 'freely.' this is the glorious, the suitable, the divine way by which love streams from heaven to earth, a spontaneous love flowing out to those who neither deserved it, purchased it, nor sought after it. it is, indeed, the only way in which God can love such as we are.

the text is a death-blow to all sorts of fitness: "I will love them freely." now, if there were any fitness necessary in us, then He would not love us freely; at least, this would be a hindrance and a drawback to the freeness of it. but it stands: "I will love them freely."

we complain, "Lord, my heart is so hard." "I will love them freely." "but I don't feel my need of Christ as I ought to." "I will not love you because you feel your need; I will love you freely." "but I do not feel that softening of spirit that i should desire." remember, the softening of your spirit is not a condition, for there are no conditions; the covenant of grace has no conditionality whatever. so we without any fitness may rest upon the promise of God that was made to us in Christ Jesus when He said, "whoever believes in him is not condemned."

it is blessed to know that the grace of God is free to us at all times, without preparation, without fitness, without money, and without price! "I will love them freely." these words invite apostates to return: indeed, the text was specially written for such--"I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely."

this is the joy we have today--that we are saved in Him.

[charles spurgeon]

joy.

you drove me from the fruitless joys, you who are the true, the sovereign joy. [augustine]

one day, i will blog again. but not today--the fourth amendment awaits.

hope.

and still He seeks the fellowship of His people and sends them both joy and sorrow to detach their hands from the things of this world, to attach those hands to Himself.
[j.i. packer]

tuesday goodness.

costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.

such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. it is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. it is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: 'ye were bought at a price,' and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. costly grace is the Incarnation of God...

when we are called to follow Christ, we are summoned to an exclusive attachment to his person. the grace of his call bursts all the bonds of legalism. it is a gracious call, a gracious commandment. it transcends the difference between the law and the gospel. Christ calls, the disciple follows: that is grace and commandment in one. 'i will walk at liberty, for I seek thy commandments.'

discipleship without Jesus Christ is a way of our own choosing. it may be the ideal way. it may even lead to martyrdom, but it is devoid of all promise. Jesus will certainly reject it.
[dietrich bonhoeffer]