"But God, who
is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us...hath quickened us
together with Christ” Ephesians 2:4-5.
Do not sin just because
the promises of mercy exceed your sins as far as God in His greatness surpasses
the creature. It is as if your servant should find your cellar of strong wines
and become drunk, when you keep them only to help those get well who are sick.
Be careful not to misuse the holy vessels of the sanctuary of God's mercy. It
is the sorrowing soul, not the sinning soul, which this wine of consolation
belongs to.
Faith provides
witness to whom God's promise has been fulfilled. God verifies His fulfilled
promises by working through the weaknesses of the faithful cloud of witnesses.
He would never have left the saints' great blots in the Scriptures open to the
inspection of all succeeding generations if He had not intended to help tempted
souls overcome this fearful temptation to doubt His promise of mercy.
Paul gives this
very reason why such acts of pardoning mercy to great sinners are recorded. He
shows first what filthy creatures he and other believers were before they were
made partakers of Gospel grace. "Among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh" Ephesians 2:3. Then
he magnifies the rich mercy of God, which rescued and took them out of that
damned state. "But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith
He loved us... hath quickened us together with Christ" Ephesians 2:4-5.
But God designed
His plan of mercy to cover more generations then the contemporaries of Paul.
"That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace
in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus" Ephesians 2:7. Wherever
the Gospel comes, even to the end of the world, the records of God's mercy will
stop the mouth of unbelief. And this arrow on Satan's string will be made
headless and harmless.”
Quoted material from, ”The Christian in Complete Armour Daily Readings
in Spiritual Warfare” by Gurnall and James S Bell. http://www.moodypublishers.com/pub_productDetail.aspx?id=41823&pid=53617
Artwork by William Hallmark http://williamhallmarkartist.com
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