Coconut
Member
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2005
- Messages
- 4,663
"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the
children of God; and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint
heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be
also glorified together."--Romans 8:16, 17.
My brethren, what a contrast there is between the present and future
estate of the child of God! The believer is here the brother to the worm;
in heaven he shall be next of kin to the angels. Here he is covered with
the sweat and dust which he acquired by Adam's fall; there his brow
shall be bright with the immortality which is conferred upon him by the
resurrection of Christ. Here the heir of heaven is unknown; he is in
disguise, full often clad in the habiliments of poverty, but there his
princely character shall be discerned and acknowledged, he shall be
waited upon by angels, and shall share in the admiration which the
universe shall pour upon the glorified Redeemer.
I think I need not remind you of your condition here below; you are too
conversant with it, being hourly fretted with troubles, vexed with your
own infirmities, with the temptations of Satan, and with all the
allurements of this world. You are quite conscious that this is not your
rest. There are too many thorns in your nest, to permit you to hope for
an abiding city below the skies. I say, it is utterly needless for me to
refresh your memories about your present condition; but I feel it will be
a good and profitable work if I remind you that there are high
privileges of which you are possessors even now; there are divine joys
which even this day you may taste. The wilderness has its manna; the
desert is gladdened with water from the rock. God hath not forsaken
us; the tokens of his goodness are with us, and we may rejoice in full
many a gracious boon which is ours this very day. I shall direct your
joyous attention to one precious jewel in your treasury, namely, your
adoption into the family of God.
Beloved, all that belongs to Christ belongs to
Christ's people. It is as when a man doth marry. His possessions shall
be shared by his spouse; and when Christ took his Church unto himself
he endowed her with all his goods, both temporal and eternal. He gives
to us his raiments, and thus we stand arrayed. His righteousness
becomes our beauty. He gave to us his person, it has become our meat
and our drink; we eat his flesh and drink his blood. He gave to us his
inmost heart; he loved us even to the death. He gave to us his crown;
he gave to us his throne; for "to him that overcometh will I give to sit
upon my throne, even as I have overcome, and have sat down with my
Father upon his throne." He gave to us his heaven, for "where I am,
there shall my people be." He gave to us the fulness of his joy, for "my
joy shall be in you, that your joy may be full." I repeat it, there is
nothing in the highest heaven which Christ has reserved unto himself,
"for all things are yours, and ye are Christ's and Christ is God's."
I cannot stay longer on that point, except just to notice, that we must
never quarrel with this divine arrangement. "Oh," say you, "we never
shall." Stay, brother; I have known you do so already, for when
all that is Christ's belongs to you, do ye forget that Christ once had a
cross, and that belongs to you? Christ once wore a thorny crown, and if
you are to have all that he has, you must bear the thorny crown too?
Have you forgotten that he had shame and spitting, the reproach, the
rebuke of men, and that he conceived all those to be greater riches than
all the treasures of this world? Come, I know as you look down the
inventory, you are apt to look a little askance on that cross, and you
think, "Well, the crown is glorious, but I love not the spittle, I care not
to be despised and rejected of men." Oh! you are quarreling with this
divine arrangement, you are beginning to differ with this blessed policy
of God. Why, one would have thought you would rejoice to take your
Master for better or for worse, and to be partaker with him, not only in
his glories but in his sufferings. So it must be, "If so be that we suffer
with him that we also may be glorified together." Is there a place into
which your Master went that you would be ashamed to enter? If so,
methinks your heart is not in a right state. Would you refuse to go with
him to the garden of his agony? Believer, would you be ashamed to
stand and be accused as he was, and have false witness born against
you? And would you blush to sit side- by-side with him, and be made
nothing of as he was? Oh, when you start aside at a little jest, let your
conscience prick you, and say, "Am I not a joint heir with Christ, and
am I about to quarrel with the legacy? Did he not say, "In the world ye
shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the
world?" And oh, would you be ashamed to die for Christ; methinks, if
you are what you should be, you will glory in tribulations also, and
count it sweet to suffer for Christ. I know the world turns this into
ridicule and says, "That the hypocrite loves persecution;" no, not the
hypocrite, but the true believer; he feels that though the suffering must
ever be painful, yet for Christ's sake, it becomes so glorious that the
pain is all forgotten.
Come, believer, will you be partaker with Christ to-day in the battle,
and then divide this spoil with him? Come, will you wade with him
through the deep waters, and then at last climb up the topless hills with
him? Are you prepared now to be despised and rejected of men that
you may at last ascend up on high, leading captivity captive? The
inheritance cannot be divided; if you will have the glory, you must have
the shame. He that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer
persecution. Come, men, put your face against all weathers; be ready to
come up hill, with the snow blowing in your face, be ready to march on
when the tempest howls, and the lightnings flash over head, and the
snow becomes knee-deep; nay, be ready to go into the crevasse with
him, and perish, if need be. Who quarrels with this sacred regulation?
Certainly no true child of God; he would not have it altered, even if he
might.
-by C. H. SPURGEON
2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
Mar 10:21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
children of God; and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint
heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be
also glorified together."--Romans 8:16, 17.
My brethren, what a contrast there is between the present and future
estate of the child of God! The believer is here the brother to the worm;
in heaven he shall be next of kin to the angels. Here he is covered with
the sweat and dust which he acquired by Adam's fall; there his brow
shall be bright with the immortality which is conferred upon him by the
resurrection of Christ. Here the heir of heaven is unknown; he is in
disguise, full often clad in the habiliments of poverty, but there his
princely character shall be discerned and acknowledged, he shall be
waited upon by angels, and shall share in the admiration which the
universe shall pour upon the glorified Redeemer.
I think I need not remind you of your condition here below; you are too
conversant with it, being hourly fretted with troubles, vexed with your
own infirmities, with the temptations of Satan, and with all the
allurements of this world. You are quite conscious that this is not your
rest. There are too many thorns in your nest, to permit you to hope for
an abiding city below the skies. I say, it is utterly needless for me to
refresh your memories about your present condition; but I feel it will be
a good and profitable work if I remind you that there are high
privileges of which you are possessors even now; there are divine joys
which even this day you may taste. The wilderness has its manna; the
desert is gladdened with water from the rock. God hath not forsaken
us; the tokens of his goodness are with us, and we may rejoice in full
many a gracious boon which is ours this very day. I shall direct your
joyous attention to one precious jewel in your treasury, namely, your
adoption into the family of God.
Beloved, all that belongs to Christ belongs to
Christ's people. It is as when a man doth marry. His possessions shall
be shared by his spouse; and when Christ took his Church unto himself
he endowed her with all his goods, both temporal and eternal. He gives
to us his raiments, and thus we stand arrayed. His righteousness
becomes our beauty. He gave to us his person, it has become our meat
and our drink; we eat his flesh and drink his blood. He gave to us his
inmost heart; he loved us even to the death. He gave to us his crown;
he gave to us his throne; for "to him that overcometh will I give to sit
upon my throne, even as I have overcome, and have sat down with my
Father upon his throne." He gave to us his heaven, for "where I am,
there shall my people be." He gave to us the fulness of his joy, for "my
joy shall be in you, that your joy may be full." I repeat it, there is
nothing in the highest heaven which Christ has reserved unto himself,
"for all things are yours, and ye are Christ's and Christ is God's."
I cannot stay longer on that point, except just to notice, that we must
never quarrel with this divine arrangement. "Oh," say you, "we never
shall." Stay, brother; I have known you do so already, for when
all that is Christ's belongs to you, do ye forget that Christ once had a
cross, and that belongs to you? Christ once wore a thorny crown, and if
you are to have all that he has, you must bear the thorny crown too?
Have you forgotten that he had shame and spitting, the reproach, the
rebuke of men, and that he conceived all those to be greater riches than
all the treasures of this world? Come, I know as you look down the
inventory, you are apt to look a little askance on that cross, and you
think, "Well, the crown is glorious, but I love not the spittle, I care not
to be despised and rejected of men." Oh! you are quarreling with this
divine arrangement, you are beginning to differ with this blessed policy
of God. Why, one would have thought you would rejoice to take your
Master for better or for worse, and to be partaker with him, not only in
his glories but in his sufferings. So it must be, "If so be that we suffer
with him that we also may be glorified together." Is there a place into
which your Master went that you would be ashamed to enter? If so,
methinks your heart is not in a right state. Would you refuse to go with
him to the garden of his agony? Believer, would you be ashamed to
stand and be accused as he was, and have false witness born against
you? And would you blush to sit side- by-side with him, and be made
nothing of as he was? Oh, when you start aside at a little jest, let your
conscience prick you, and say, "Am I not a joint heir with Christ, and
am I about to quarrel with the legacy? Did he not say, "In the world ye
shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the
world?" And oh, would you be ashamed to die for Christ; methinks, if
you are what you should be, you will glory in tribulations also, and
count it sweet to suffer for Christ. I know the world turns this into
ridicule and says, "That the hypocrite loves persecution;" no, not the
hypocrite, but the true believer; he feels that though the suffering must
ever be painful, yet for Christ's sake, it becomes so glorious that the
pain is all forgotten.
Come, believer, will you be partaker with Christ to-day in the battle,
and then divide this spoil with him? Come, will you wade with him
through the deep waters, and then at last climb up the topless hills with
him? Are you prepared now to be despised and rejected of men that
you may at last ascend up on high, leading captivity captive? The
inheritance cannot be divided; if you will have the glory, you must have
the shame. He that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer
persecution. Come, men, put your face against all weathers; be ready to
come up hill, with the snow blowing in your face, be ready to march on
when the tempest howls, and the lightnings flash over head, and the
snow becomes knee-deep; nay, be ready to go into the crevasse with
him, and perish, if need be. Who quarrels with this sacred regulation?
Certainly no true child of God; he would not have it altered, even if he
might.
-by C. H. SPURGEON
2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
Mar 10:21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
