Christ: The Way, the Truth, and the Life — John Shaqi
Christ: The Way, the Truth, and the LifeBrown, John
Religion
Christ: The Way, the Truth, and the Life
Brown, John
Bible. John XIV, 6 -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.; Jesus Christ; Justification (Christian theology); Sanctification
True gospel holiness, then, consists in some similitude and likeness to
God, and fellowship with him founded upon that likeness. There is such
an impression of God, his glorious attributes, his infinite power,
majesty, mercy, justice, wisdom, holiness, and grace, &c., as sets him
up all alone in the soul without any competition, and produceth those
real apprehensions of him, that he is alone excellent and matchless. O
how preferable doth be appear, when indeed seen, to all things! And how
doth this light of his infinite gloriousness, shining into the soul,
darken and obscure to an invisibleness all other excellencies, even as
the rising of the sun makes all the lesser lights to disappear. Alas!
how is God unknown in his glorious being and attributes! When once the
Lord enters the soul, and shines into the heart, it is like the rising
of the sun at midnight: all these things which formerly pretended to
some loveliness, and did dazzle with their lustre, are eternally
darkened. Now, all natural perfections, and moral virtues, in their
flower and perfections, are at best looked upon as _aliquid nihil_. What
things were formerly accounted gain and godliness, are now counted loss
for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord, and the
soul cannot only suffer the loss of them all without a sob, but be
satisfied to throw them away as dung, that it may win him, and be found
in him. Now, the wonder of a Deity, in his greatness, power, and grace,
swallows up the soul in sweet admiration. O how doth it love to lose
itself in finding here what it cannot fathom? And then it begins truly
to see the greatness and evil of sin; then it is looked upon without the
covering of pleasure or profit, and loathed as the leprosy of hell. Now
the man is truly like God in the knowledge of good and evil, in the
knowledge of that one infinite good, God; and in the knowledge of that
one almost infinite evil, sin. This is the first point of likeness to
him, to be conformed to him in our understanding, that as he knows
himself to be the only self-being and fountain-good, and all created
things in their flower and perfection, with all their real or fancied
conveniences being compared with him, but as the drop of a bucket, or
nothing; yea, less than nothing, vanity (which is nothing blown up, by
the force or forgery of a vainly working imagination, to the consistence
of an appearance), so for a soul to know indeed and believe in the
heart, that there is nothing deserves the name of good besides God, to
have the same superlative and transcendent thoughts of that great and
glorious self-being God, and the same diminishing and debasing thoughts
of all things and beings besides him. And that as the Lord seeth no evil
in the creation but sin, and hates that with a perfect hatred, as
contrary to his holy will; so for a soul to aggravate sin in its own
sight to an infiniteness of evil, at least till it see it only short of
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account