Christ twice passed the angels by. He sank far below them in
His humiliation; He rose far above them in His exaltation.
If Christ be the life and beauty of our days of sunshine, so
is He the brother born for our adversity; and His love shall
gild and strike through the darkest cloud. Having been once a
sufferer, He communes with His suffering members, and instructs
us to put our trials into a just balance; to call our affliction
light and momentary. (2 Cor. 4:17.18.)
Resting wholly on Christ; ceasing wholly from the works of the
flesh—is the secret of abiding in Him.
Growing acquaintance with Christ makes Him more and more precious
to our souls. If Christ were anything less than unsearchable,
He could not satisfy us—could neither fill the heart, nor
give peace to the conscience.
The strength of love is shown in great things; the tenderness
of love in little things. Christ showed the strength of His love
on the cross by dying and bearing the curse for us; the tenderness
of His love when He said, "Behold My mother!" "Children, have
ye any meat?" "Woman, why weepest thou?"
There was an immeasurable difference between the state of Christ
on the cross when He said, under the terrors of the Judge, "My
God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" and when He said, "Father,
into Thy hands I commend My Spirit."
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil.
2:5). He could not sink lower than His cross: we can no more
fathom the depths of His humiliation than comprehend the glory
of His Godhead. His exaltation answers to His cross. He cannot
rise higher than the right hand of God, nor find sweeter resting-place
from His sufferings and His toil than the bosom of the Father.
His rest and exaltation we must share, being joint-heirs with
Christ; nor will He be satisfied until His members be seated
with Him on His throne. Then let this mind rule and reign in
us which reigned in Christ Jesus (see Phil. 2:5-15); and since
the humble mind, so hard of attainment, must needs go before
honour from God, let us be thankful for all God's discipline,
however bitter, without which pride will not stoop, nor vain
man come to knowledge of himself.
May the fulness of Christ replenish our enlarged hearts day by
day. By communion with Him the soul grows more and more capacious,
and yet acquaintance with Him makes us feel more and more our
own littleness.
Let it be our habit to feed daily upon Christ in secret; thus
shall we eat and drink, discerning the Lord's body, in the assembly
for the supper of the Lord.
Would we be filled with love towards Christ—let us consider
Christ's love towards us in the death of the cross.