“We are the
circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
have no confidence in the flesh" Philippians 3:3.
If you are one of
those who have claimed for years to be a Christian, but you see little fruit in
your life, perhaps you should dig down to the root of your profession and find
out whether the seed you planted was cultivated in the barren soil of legalism.
If so, pull it up at once, and replant your soul in a fertile field-- God's
mercy. David gave an account of how he came to prosper when some who were rich
and famous suddenly withered and died: "Lo," he said, "this is
the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his
riches... But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the
mercy of God forever and ever" Psalm 52:7-8.
Not only do you
crush your grace by making it carry the burden of your salvation, but you also
deprive yourself of true comfort in Christ. Gospel-comfort springs from a
Gospel-root, which is Christ. "We are the circumcision, which worship God
in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh”
Philippians 3:3.
The first step to
receiving the Gospel comfort is to send away all comforters of our own. A
physician asks his patient to stop going to every other doctor who has been
tampering with his health, and trust him for a cure. As your spiritual
physician, the Holy Spirit asks your soul to send away all the old
practitioners--every duty, every other course of obedience-- and lean only on
Him.
Does your soul cry
out from its depths for inward peace? Then check to see what vessel you are
drawing your comfort from. If it is the vessel of your own sufficiency, the
supply is finite and will soon run dry. It is mixed, or diluted, and therefore
not very nourishing. Above all, it is stolen if you claim it as your own and do
not acknowledge it as God's gift to you. Now how much comfort can you expect
from stolen goods? And how foolish to play the thief when your Father has so
much more and better to give you than you could pilfer in a lifetime!”
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