"Elect, according to fore-knowledge of God the Father, through
sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience, and sprinkling of the
blood of Jesus Christ." - I Pet. i. 2.
Of all blessings, surely this is the highest, and the best, which holds
forth to a poor sinner the assurance of redemption, as the united
result of the love, grace, and mercy of all the persons in the Godhead.
My soul, pause over the glorious truth, and sweetly mark the testimony
of each cooperating and acting together in the great work of salvation.
Behold thy God and Father setting apart, from all eternity, the chosen
vessels of mercy, foreknowing and fore- appointing every event, in his
own counsel, purpose, and will. What a blessed thought, in the mind of
the redeemed, is this, to live upon, to cherish, and keep alive in the
soul, from day to day, to call up the unceasing fruits of adoration,
love, duty, and praise, in grace here, and in glory to all eternity. Go
on, my soul, to the contemplation of the second chapter in his holy
volume of grace and mercy; and mark what the apostle hath here said of
"the sanctification of the Spirit." So that the blessed hand of the
Holy Ghost is as much engaged in this beneficent act of redemption, in
the existence of every individual, as the foreknowledge and appointment
of God the Father, or of the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ. Yea, all the glory of redemption, in the grace provided
by the Father, and the merits of the Son's blood and righteousness,
depend, for the personal enjoyment of it, in the case of each believer,
upon the Holy Ghost's revelation of it in the soul. Oh! it is blessed
to see, to feel, to know, and to enjoy those gracious communications of
God's Christ in the soul, which God the Holy Ghost awakens, and
excites, and brings home to the mind. And no less, as the meritorious
cause of all, (the third chapter in this wonderful volume) do thou
contemplate, my soul, the two united branches of thy redemption; the
obedience, and atonement in the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus
Christ. How comprehensive, yet how full and satisfactory! It is Jesus,
as God's righteous servant, who, by his perfect obedience hath
justified his people. And it is the death of the cross which hath fully
atoned for their transgression; "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth
from all sin." Behold then, my soul, in these three glorious chapters
of redemption how all the great charter of grace is summed up and
contained. Take it with thee as thine evening portion; let it lie down
with thee, and arise with thee; and carry it about with thee, for thine
unceasing meditation during the whole of thy day of grace, until grace
is swallowed up in eternal glory!
No comments :
Post a Comment