The church is not only quickened by Christ, but quickened together
with Him... If this truth were received into the understanding
and affections, and lived upon daily by the children of God,
their very garments would smell of myrrh and frankincense, with
all powders of the merchant; and their conversation would bespeak
their heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.
To rise above the first Adam we must live in the last Adam. We
shall then be able in spirit to use the language of the 8th Psalm,
and have all things under our feet.
Our life is in Christ: therefore it is _eternal life_; for Christ
is "the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever."
God's design was not only to save us from hell, however great
that salvation, but to make us His sons and daughters, in order
that we, with Himself and the Lord Jesus, the first-born from
the dead, might dwell for ever in our Father's house.
True love has its source in Christ Himself. It is therefore bold
in defence of His truth, and knows no man after the flesh when
His honour is to be maintained or defended.
We have three chief characters to sustain—child of God; soldier;
spouse of Christ. We have to feast; to fight; and to sing. Christ
has won the victory. We gather up the spoils; and though so doing
we must fight, the victory is ours and its fruit.
To have the Lord Jesus _revealed to us_ by the Spirit of God
is enough. It sufficed Stephen amidst his persecutors, and suffices
us amidst all our difficulties and adversaries, amidst all trials,
great and small.
God's people are His witnesses; they are the light in this dark
world: they should therefore be so filled with the Spirit, as
to be Christ's epistles, known and read of all men.
The church has spiritual, heavenly, eternal life in Christ, her
risen Lord, the last Adam. His pierced side is the fountain of
life to us His _spouse_.
We are under the law of God's love and grace in our new relation
as _children_; we are under obligation to Christ as first-born
among many _brethren_; and as His _members_, to obey Him as our
_Head_.
We have often the words _members of Christ_ upon our lips; would
that they were always accompanied with reverence and love!
Col. 2:14. The forgiveness of God is like the God who grants
it—everlasting, all-comprehensive, immeasurable.... No possibility
of condemnation. The bond that was against me is now nailed up,
as it were, in the court of justice for the protection of the
debtor. I now owe everything to the love of God; I owe my whole
self. Let Christ dwell in my heart, to guide every glance of
the eye, every thought of the mind.
How strange would it seem to us to see a prince in sorry garments
seated on the alebench in company with common men! how much greater
the inconsistency when a child of the living God, a king and
a priest unto God, degrades himself to fellowship with the unregenerate!
In order of time we were in the first man Adam, the man of the
earth, first: but not so in order of purpose and decree; according
to this we were in the last Adam, the second man, the Lord from
heaven, ere we fell in the first.
Every flock bears the mark of its owner; so the sheep of Christ
have their mark, even poverty of spirit; each one is a poor needy
sinner, self-judged and self-condemned, according to the justice
of God.
For a child of God to talk of his heavenly calling, and not to
walk according to it, how sad a sight! The moment I am born of
God, I am in the world in a new relation; I am a crucified man
and that I am such should be evident to all around.
God holds us accountable for what we have, and not for what we
have not. If I have only ten minutes to read the Word, do I employ
those ten minutes according to my accountability?
Many believers, though they live in New Testament times, walk
in the Old Testament spirit.