The Contemplation Of God # 3 (and others)

 The Contemplation Of God # 3 (and others)

"At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward Heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified Him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of Heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to Him - "What have You done?" (Daniel 4:34-35).

A creature, considered as such, has no rights. He can demand nothing from his Maker; and in whatever manner he may be treated, has no right to complain. Yet, when thinking of the absolute dominion of God over all, we ought never to lose sight of His moral perfections. God is just and good, and ever does that which is right. Nevertheless, He exercises His sovereignty according to His own imperial and righteous pleasure. He assigns each creature his place as seems good in His own sight. He orders the varied circumstances of each according to His own counsels. He molds each vessel according to His own uninfluenced determination. He has mercy on whom He will, and He hardens whom He will. Wherever we are, His eye is upon us. Whoever we are, our life and everything is held at His disposal. To the Christian, He is a tender Father; to the rebellious sinner He will yet be a consuming fire. "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." (1 Timothy 1:17).

~A. W. Pink~

(The End)

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Are You As A Bruised Flower?

It is in times of soul abasement that the love, the tenderness, and the grace of the Holy Spirit are better known.

As a Comforter, as a Revealer of Jesus, we are, perhaps, more fully led into an acquaintance with the work of the Spirit in seasons of soul abasement than at any other time. The mode and time of His divine manifestation are thus beautifully predicted. "He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass - as showers that water the earth." (Psalm 72:6).

Observe the gentleness, the silence, and the sovereignty of His operation. "He shall come down as rain." How characteristic of the blessed Spirit's grace!

Then mark the occasion on which He descends. It is at the time of the soul's deep prostration the waving grace is mowed, the lovely flower is laid low, the fruitful stem is broken, that which was beautiful, fragrant, and precious is cut down ... the fairest first to fade, the loveliest first to die, the fondest first to depart.

Then, when the blessing is gone, and the spirit is bowed, when the heart is broken, the mind is dejected, and the world seems clad in wintry desolation and gloom, the Holy Spirit, in all the softening, reviving, comforting, and refreshing influence of His grace, descends, speaks of the beauty of Jesus, leads to the grace of Jesus, lifts the bowed soul, and reposes it on the bosom of Jesus!

Precious and priceless, then, beloved, are the seasons of a believer's humiliation. They tell of the soul's emptiness, of Christ's fullness; of the creatures insufficiency, of Christ's sufficiency; of the world's poverty; of Christ's affluence.

They create a necessity which Jesus supplies, a void which Jesus fills, a sorrow which Jesus soothes, a desire which Jesus satisfies.

They endure the cross of the incarnate God, they reveal the hidden glory of Christ's humiliation, they sweeten prayer, they lift the soul to God.

Are you as a bruised flower? Are you as a broken stem? Does some heavy trial now bow you in the dust? Oh, never, perhaps, were you so truly beautiful; never did your grace send forth such fragrance, or your prayers ascend with so sweet an odor, never did faith and hope and love develop their hidden glories so richly, so fully as now!

In the eyes of a wounded, a bruised, and a humbled Christ, you were never more lovely, and never more precious to His heart than now... pierced by His hand, smitten by His rod, humbled by His chastisement, laid low at His feet, condemning yourself, justifying Him, taking to yourself all the shame, and ascribing to Him all the glory!

~Octavius Winslow~

(The End)