Spiritual Breathings of the Quickened Soul
"The
election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded."-ROMANS
11:7 [KJV]
Those
that are blinded by the god of this world, have no knowledge of what
power and feeling and savour and dew are; they see not these things,
they are blind to their reality, they are dead to their importance;
but the living family of God, who are brought by His blessed Spirit
into some apprehension of eternal realities, have eyes to see what
power is, and hearts too, to desire to feel its manifestation.
Nay,
it is the very seeing what reality and power are which makes them
desire to experience the savour of eternal things in their
conscience; and because they do not feel them as they wish, it makes
them often fear that they are blind altogether [ISAIAH
59:10]. But the
very inquiry, the very anxious cry, the very groaning desire, the
very fervent supplication to the Lord that He would not let them live
and die without a testimony from Himself, that He would lift up the
light of His countenance and grant them the life of His favour—these
very cries are a proof of life.
Were
you blind, you would not see these things; were you deaf, you would
not spiritually hear these things; were you dead, you would not feel
these things. And, therefore, that which you seem to take as an
evidence against you, is, in reality, an evidence for you; and the
very sensations of trepidation, anxious inquiry, godly fear, and the
crying out before the Lord that He would search and try you and
really make your heart right in His sight—these very things are the
symptoms of life, the evidences of a work of grace upon the heart,
and are the spiritual breathings of the quickened soul, the Lord
Himself having communicated these feelings unto it.
-Gospel
report by preacher J.C. Philpot (1802-1869 A.D.)
April
19th, EARS FROM HARVESTED SHEAVES
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