Jesus Christ died to change a moral situation. Our great God suffered more than they suffer in hell. He suffered all that they could suffer in hell. He suffered with the agony of God, for everything that God does, He does with all that He is. When God suffered for you, my friends, God suffered to change your moral situation.
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The deeper Christian life must be understood to mean a life in the Spirit far in advance of the average, and nearer to the New Testament norm. It means indwelling Christ, acute God consciousness, rapturous worship, separation from the world, joyous surrender of everything to God, internal union with the Trinity, the practise of the presence of God, the communion of saints and prayer without ceasing.
To enter upon such a life, seekers must be ready to accept without question the New Testament as the one final authority on spiritual matters. They must be willing to make Christ the One supreme Lord and ruler in their lives.
Those who have known the sweetness of the deeper life will never complain about what they lost. They will be too well- pleased with what they have gained.
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We must practice living to the glory of God actually and determinedly.
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Faith is not a once done act but a continuous gaze of the heart at the Triune God.
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Faith looks out - away from "self," instead of in - toward self.
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As a creation of God we need to focus our gaze on our Creator. Don't be like Lucifer who said, "I will set my throne above the stars of God" (Isaiah 14:13).
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Here Is Love Vast As the Ocean
~William Rees~
Here is love, vast as the ocean,
loving kindness as the flood,
when the Prince of life, our ransom,
shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing his praise?
He can never be forgotten
throughout heaven's eternal days.
On the mount of crucifixion
fountains opened deep and wide;
through the floodgates of God's mercy
flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
poured incessant from above,
and heaven's peace and perfect justice
kissed a guilty world in love.
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I Will Sing of My Redeemer
and His Wondrous Love for me
~Philip P. Bliss~
I will sing of my Redeemer
and His wondrous love to me;
on the cruel Cross He suffered,
from the curse to set me free.
Sing, O sing of my Redeemer!
With His blood He purchased me;
on the Cross He sealed my pardon,
paid the debt, and made me free.
I will tell the wondrous story,
how my lost estate to save,
in His boundless love and mercy,
He the ransom freely gave.
I will praise my dear Redeemer,
His triumphant power I'll tell:
how the victory He gives me
over sin and death and hell.
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The Holy Spirit
~Frederick William Faber~
Fountain of Love! Thyself true God!
Who through eternal days
From Father and from Son hast flowed
In uncreated ways!
O Majesty unspeakable!
O Person all divine!
How in the Threefold Majesty
Doth Thy Procession shine!
Fixed in the Godhead's awful light
Thy fiery Breath doth move;
Thou art a wonder by Thyself
To worship and to love!
Proceeding, yet of equal age
With those whose love Thou art:
Proceeding, yet distinct, from those
From whom Thou seem'st to part.
And undivided Nature shared
With Father and with Son;
A Person by Thyself; with Them
Thy simple essence One;
Bond art Thou of the other Twain!
Omnipotent and free!
The consummating Love of God!
The Limit of the Three!
Thou limitest infinity,
Thyself all infinite;
The Godhead lives, and loves, and rests,
In Thine eternal light.
I dread Thee, Unbegotten Love!
True God! sole Fount of Grace!
And now before Thy Blessed throne
My sinful self abase.
Ocean, wide-flowing Ocean, Thou,
Of uncreated Love;
I tremble as within my soul
I feel Thy waters move.
Thou art a sea without a shore;
Awful, immense Thou art;
A sea which can contract itself
Within my narrow heart.
And yet Thou art a heaven too
Out on the shore less sea,
A harbor that can hold full well
Shipwrecked Humanity.
Thou art an unborn Breath outbreathed
On angels and on men,
Subduing all things to Thyself,
We know not how or when.
Thou art a God of fire, that doth
Create while He consumes!
A God of light, whose rays on earth
Darken were He illumes!
All things! dread Spirit! to Thy praise
Thy presence doth transmute;
Evil itself Thy glory bears,
Its one abiding fruit!
O Light! O Love! O very God
I dare no longer gaze
Upon Thy wondrous attributes,
And their mysterious ways.
O Spirit, beautiful and dread!
My heart is fit to break
With love of all Thy tenderness
For us poor sinners' sake.
Thy love of Jesus I adore;
My comfort this shall be,
That, when I serve my dearest Lord,
That service worships Thee!
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