Light Rising in the Darkness: Take Heart, friends...
"Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness." -Psalm 112:4 [KJV]
We
often get into such dark paths, that we seem altogether out of the
secret, and feel as if there were no more grace in our souls, than in
one altogether dead in trespasses and sins. And whether we look back at
the past, or view the present, or turn our eyes to the future, one dark
cloud seems to rest upon the whole; nor can we, with all our searching,
find to our satisfaction that we have one spark of true religion, or one
atom of grace, or one grain of vital godliness, or any trace that the
Spirit of God has touched our consciences with His finger.
Now, when
we are in this dark, benighted state, we want light; we want the blessed
Sun of righteousness to arise; we want the south wind to blow a
heavenly gale, and drive the mists away; we want the clouds to part, and
the light of God's countenance to shine into our souls, so as to shew
us where we are, and what we are, and make it clear, that base and vile
as we are, yet that we are interested in the love of the Father, the
blood of the Son, and the teachings of the Holy Ghost.
And when His word begins to distil like the rain and to drop like the dew, when the Lord Himself is pleased to speak home one sweet testimony, one little word, one kind intimation—what a change it makes! The clouds break away, the fog clears off, the mists dissolve, and the soul becomes sweetly persuaded of its interest in the blood and love of the Lamb.
-preacher J.C. Philpot (1802-1869 A.D.)
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