“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in
heaven.” (Matthew 7:21)
How few there are, among the
many professing Christ, who yet know anything by experience of the great and
wondrous life of faith! Only those who are taught by the Spirit the plague of
their own hearts can possibly know it. How few there are who appear to possess
vital religion in their souls! How few choose Christ with His cross! The great
mass of professors are aiming to separate them. They would sincerely bear the
name of Christ, and be accounted as the followers of Christ, and do something
for the cause of Christ; but they hide His cross, they are ashamed of His
cross, they shrink from His cross. Christ and His outward lowliness, Christ and
His poverty, Christ and His humiliation, Christ and the world’s despising, form
no part of their creed nor their religion. But Christ and the world, Christ and
the popular opinion, Christ and the slavery of sin, Christ and an unhumbled
spirit, Christ and a love of money, and ease, and self-indulgence, make up the
religion of vast numbers who yet profess and call themselves Christians.
Awful
fact! How forcibly does it remind us of the solemn words of Jesus, “Not every
one that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but
he that does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Let us, in view of this
solemn truth, search our hearts, and ask the searching of God’s Spirit; and in
ascertaining the real state of our souls, let us take nothing for granted, rest
not in past experience, nor in gifts, nor usefulness, but be satisfied only
with the present, inward witness of the Holy Spirit.
Octavius Winslow (1808-1878)
1 comment:
Gregg a wonderful post, how true not to live in the past but the present, It's a thing I have had to come to terms with recently. Thanks for sharing.
Yvonne.
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