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Charles Spurgeon's Daily DevotionalThis morning devotional prepared for November, 8th.
"As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord."--Colossians 2:6
The life of faith is represented as _receiving-- an act which
implies the very opposite of anything like merit_. It is simply
the acceptance of a gift. As the earth drinks in the rain, as
the sea receives the streams, as night accepts light from the
stars, so we, giving nothing, partake freely of the grace of
God. The saints are not, by nature, wells, or streams, they are
but cisterns into which the living water flows; they are empty
vessels into which God pours His salvation. The idea of
receiving implies _a sense of realization_, making the matter a
_reality_. One cannot very well receive a shadow; we receive
that which is substantial: so is it in the life of faith, Christ
becomes real to us. While we are without faith, Jesus is a mere
name to us--a person who lived a long while ago, so long ago
that His life is only a history to us now! By an act of faith
Jesus becomes a real person in the consciousness of our heart.
But receiving also means _grasping or getting possession of_.
The thing which I receive becomes my own: I appropriate to
myself that which is given. When I receive Jesus, He becomes my
Saviour, so mine that neither life nor death shall be able to
rob me of Him. All this is to receive Christ--to take Him as
God's free gift; to realize Him in my heart, and to appropriate
Him as mine.
Salvation may be described as the blind receiving sight, the
deaf receiving hearing, the dead receiving life; but we have not
only received these blessings, we have received CHRIST JESUS
Himself. It is true that He gave us life from the dead. He gave
us pardon of sin; He gave us imputed righteousness. These are
all precious things, but we are not content with them; we have
received _Christ Himself_. The Son of God has been poured into
us, and we have received Him, and appropriated Him. What a
heartful Jesus must be, for heaven itself cannot contain Him!
This afternoon devotional prepared for November, 8th.
"The Master saith, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat
the passover with My disciples?"--Mark 14:14
Jerusalem at the time of the passover was one great inn; each
householder had invited his own friends, but no one had invited
the Saviour, and He had no dwelling of His own. It was by His
own supernatural power that He found Himself an upper room in
which to keep the feast. It is so even to this day--Jesus is not
received among the sons of men save only where by His
supernatural power and grace He makes the heart anew. All doors
are open enough to the prince of darkness, but Jesus must clear
a way for Himself or lodge in the streets. It was through the
mysterious power exerted by our Lord that the householder raised
no question, but at once cheerfully and joyfully opened his
guestchamber. Who he was, and what he was, we do not know, but
he readily accepted the honour which the Redeemer proposed to
confer upon him. In like manner it is still discovered who are
the Lord's chosen, and who are not; for when the gospel comes to
some, they fight against it, and will not have it, but where men
receive it, welcoming it, this is a sure indication that there
is a secret work going on in the soul, and that God has chosen
them unto eternal life. Are you willing, dear reader, to receive
Christ? then there is no difficulty in the way; Christ will be
your guest; His own power is working with you, making you
willing. What an honour to entertain the Son of God! The heaven
of heavens cannot contain Him, and yet He condescends to find a
house within our hearts! We are not worthy that He should come
under our roof, but what an unutterable privilege when He
condescends to enter! for then He makes a feast, and causes us
to feast with Him upon royal dainties, we sit at a banquet where
the viands are immortal, and give immortality to those who feed
thereon. Blessed among the sons of Adam is he who entertains the
angels' Lord.
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