Again I say, let me not be misunderstood, as though I wished to make
all Christianity consist in giving up money, time, and talents,
unless they are the expressions of love to the Lord, and flow from a
desire to meet His mind and promote his glory, they are but sounding
brass and tinkling cymbals. Yet surely, they are the natural external
expressions of internal love; and although they be insincerely
assumed by Hypocrisy, it is her homage to truth; and although the
self-righteous Pharisee may present the semblance of devotion, as a
vain and hateful barter for heaven, yet it requires very little
spirituality of mind to discern that this arises in a different
source and terminates in a different object: the one begins in self
and ends in self; the other begins in Christ, and ends in Christ.
When, therefore, the Lord requires his Church to be careful for
nothing, it is only that He might display his watchfulness and
carefulness over her. Surely it is a most unspeakable privilege to be
allowed to cast all our cares upon God; and to feel that we are
thereby delivered from the slavery of earthly expectations, and made
free to speak the truth m love, without fear or apprehension? What is
the glorious liberty of the children of God, but to be dependent only
upon One, "who giveth liberally and upbraideth not,"--who
says,--"Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock,
and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh,
receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth: and to him that knocketh it
shall be opened." God, in pity to our weakness and unbelief,
condescends to reason with us thus:--"What man is there of you, whom,
if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish,
will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give
good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father, which
is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him?" (Matthew 7. 7,
etc.). Let us therefore do the will of such a Father to the utmost of
our ability now, and trust him for the future: "for he hath said, 'I
will never leave thee, nor forsake thee'; so that we may boldly say,
'The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear, what man shall do unto
me'" (Heb. 13. 6). "Trust therefore in the Lord, and do good; and
verily thou shalt be fed" (Ps. 37. 3). Oh! if every one, who believed
himself ransomed by the precious blood of Christ, felt himself so
entirely the purchased possession of Him, who thus so dearly bought
him, as to determine henceforth to know nothing save Jesus Christ and
him crucified; nor to labour for anything, but that the unspeakably
glad tidings of salvation through Him might be spread throughout the
world, till every heart of the ransomed family drank of the same
overflowing cup of consolation; how soon would the wants of the whole
habitable earth be answered by thousands crying out,--"Here am I,
send me"; while those sheep to whom the glad tidings would be borne,
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