ALL OUR MERCIES COME FROM ABOVE

"Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: Thou hast the dew of Thy youth." —Psalm 110:3 [KJV]

When sovereign grace reacheth the heart, it casts out that son of the bond-woman, natural free-will. This had long usurped the throne, and subjected the poor sinner to nothing but pride and evil. Yet all the while the sinner vainly boasted of his liberty; though he was a servile slave to the worst of drudgery. Free indeed to do evil; but to do good without power. Such is the natural will of every sinner, that it is as averse to turn to Jesus as the will of the devil is. 

But because of the free-will offering of Jesus His members are made willing, by the Spirit, to come to Him as their only hope. To HIM they bring free-will offerings, with holy worship. Thus Jehovah the Father speaks to the Son of His love, and gives a glorious display of the effects of everlasting election and covenant love, under the energy of the divine Spirit. See, believer, behold and adore the equal love of the glorious trinity. Is thy WILL towards Jesus? is the language of thy heart none but Jesus, all other saviours I disclaim? 

Verily, where this WILL is given by the Spirit in a day of power, the affections are attracted to Jesus in the beauties of holiness. Dost thou not choose the sceptre of His love to rule over thee as well as the atonement of His blood to obtain thy pardon? These are inseparable. Let no soul deceive himself. Every believer is washed in the blood of Jesus, and made a priest unto God. As the high-priest under the law "put on the breastplate of judgment; the urim and thummim,"—Exodus 28:30, so every anointed one is endued with LIGHT and PERFECTION—The light of the knowledge of Jesus, and the perfection of grace which dwells in Him, is communicated to His members. 

Hence in the exercise of faith, their souls obey willingly, serve cheerfully, and delight in Jesus continually. This is a soul-affecting consideration: all is of grace. Conceived in the womb of the morning of eternity, and its rich profusion freely poured forth in time, like the pearly dew upon the vegetable creation, produces its verdure, refreshment, and fruits. So, disciple, all thy mercies come from above. Freely thou hast received an understanding to know, a will to choose, and affections to cleave unto Jesus: "Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's." 

Do thou take all the shame of thy sinful, free-will and nature-state to thyself, and be humbled: "But unto God the things that are God's." By His grace "I am what I am," should be thy daily confession; and this the sweet exercise of thy grateful heart, to glory in the Lord alone, and devote thyself to His service. "Ye are not your own."—I Corinthians 6:19.

-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