JESUS IS A PROPHET TO TEACH...

"If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." —John 13:17 [KJV]

Jesus is a Prophet to teach, a Priest to atone, and a King to reign by love in the hearts of all His subjects. So a Christian receives the Lord Jesus. Faith in Him begets an ear of love to His doctrine, and a heart of obedience to His commands. Let no one call evangelical obedience, legal bondage. For, every precept that drops from the mouth of Jesus, flows from love to us. When He saith, "Do this;" it is for thy happiness and good, O soul. "Avoid that:" love is careful of thee, "Do thyself no harm." 

This is pleasant to the renewed soul to hear, his happiness to obey. Faith in Jesus makes all things easy. "His commandments are not grievous." To know them is our privilege. To do them is our happiness. Say, O Christian, is not this thy experience? Art thou not happy in doing the will of Jesus, who died for our sins? Art thou not delighted in obeying Jesus, who hath made peace between God and thy soul? Art thou not joyful in glorifying thy Father, by bringing forth the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ? 

Verily IN keeping Thy commandments, O Lord, there is great reward of grace; in peace and happiness of soul now; and hereafter such shall hear that joyful sentence from our loving Saviour, "Come ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."—Matthew 25:34. Then shall the works of the righteous be owned and proclaimed by the Judge. They are called to inherit the kingdom. Why? Because blessed of God the Father with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. Hence the kingdom is prepared for them before the foundation of the world. But it constitutes no part of the believer's happiness, to do any work whatsoever, whereby to entitle himself to the favor of God; or to make the work of salvation more effectual than the blood and righteousness of the Son of God hath. 

No; this is to be rejected as the vilest slavery, the worst of drudgery; contrary to faith; inconsistent with Christian love; and derogatory to the salvation of JESUS. Luther was wont to say, 'if picking up a straw would save me, I would not do it; it would be an act of unbelief of my dear Lord's salvation: but being already saved by Jesus, through His grace, I would go through fire and water to obey His commands.' Where Jesus is the life of the soul, this will be manifest, in obedience to His commands. "Blessed is the man who delighteth greatly in His commandments." —Psalm 112:1.

I hear Thy word with love. 

And I would fain obey: 

Send Thy good Spirit from above 

To guide me lest I stray.

How perfect is Thy word! 

And all Thy judgments just, 

For ever sure Thy promise, Lord, 

Here I securely trust.

While of Thy works I sing, 

Thy glory to proclaim, 

Accept the praise, my God and King, 

In my Redeemer's name.

 

-preacher William Mason (1724-1797 A.D.)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

JESUS - Rock of Ages

Jesus remains the same in all ages. He is the One who is constant when everything and everyone else fails. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever; the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He is our R ock [I SAMUEL 2:2 ] . In the Old Testament, in Exodus 33, Jesus is pictured as the Cleft Rock. In that chapter, verse 18 and following, Moses desired to see the glory of the Lord, but was told, "You cannot see My face; for there shall no man see My face and live.” And the Lord said, “There is a place by Me, and you shalt stand upon a rock: and it shall come to pass, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by." Notice that as Moses stood upon the rock, the Lord hid him in the cleft. This wonderfully applies to us today! Believers are both standing on and hidden in Christ [COLOSSIANS 3:3 ] . We are both in and on the Rock. As life with its many bitter events presses upon us, ...
Read more

CHRIST OUR ONLY AND PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS

" The flesh lusteth against the Spirit." —Galatians 5:17 [KJV] Christian experience fully proves this apostolic truth. Hence the children of God cannot do the things that they would: nor have we any authority from God's word to conclude this lusting ever ceased in any of the saints till they got to glory; none are delivered from it while in the flesh. For, as the renewed soul or spirit loves to enjoy spiritual and heavenly objects, so the flesh, or unrenewed part, lusts after those objects it is naturally conversant with, and from which it derives its happiness.  Here is thy conflict, O Christian. Hence the necessity of thy Lord's command, "Watch always." This is the use of the doctrine. What woeful effects have fulfilling the lusts or desires of the flesh produced in eminent saints! Thou standest by faith, be not high-minded, but fear. The conceptions of lust are the productions of sin.— see James 1:15 . The commission of sin contracts fresh s...
Read more

GLORY ALONE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

" Lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me." -Judges 7:2 [KJV] Thus the Lord reasoned with Gideon. He knows what is in man. He sees the pride of the human heart: how prone we all are to boast in an arm of flesh. The Lord is jealous of His own glory. Gideon’s army of two and thirty thousand, is brought down to three hundred. By this handful of men, and no more, did Gideon gain the victory of the Midianites. The Lord’s wisdom in this was, “Lest Israel should vaunt themselves, and say, Mine own hand hath saved me.”   But I have not transcribed the text right. There are two little words of great import, which I have omitted. Mind then, O Christian— against Me. Now remember, whenever thou dost boast of thy power, thy free-will, thy human goodness, thy works, ditties, conditions, and performances in order to be saved, thou art then, as it were, two and thirty thousand strong. Thou vauntest thyself against the Lord . Thou art gloryi...
Read more