EXTRACTS

The obedience (1 Peter 1: 2) is of Jesus Christ. The truth is, once Christ has been under the eye of God, nothing inferior can be acceptable to God; all must be of that character. There was no legality in Christ, you could not conceive it. He walked in the light of love, and so it is too in regard of us. There is nothing now for God but the new man; the first man is gone for God though a good deal of it hangs about us. The moment the Spirit came and took possession of the vessel which Christ had prepared, there and then there was the sanctification of the Spirit. There was then a company set apart for God, and the great activity of the Spirit is to put us in the reality of this sanctification. In Hebrews 10 the Spirit comes in as witness, and the sanctification is by the will of God. The Lord was here entirely for the will of God; so a Christian delights in His will. Commandments, to a Christian, are like signposts on the road; he is very glad to come to them; they confirm him; they are welcome guides to him for the road, though he may have been pretty sure he was right. If the will is not at work, and you are not quite sure, a commandment comes in very acceptably. I want to go that road, and all that comes in to help me I am thankful for, if my face is Zionward.

F. E. Raven (Vol. 4, p.4).

The most eminent Christian is one of whom no one has ever heard speak, some poor labourer or servant, whose all is Christ, and who does all for His eye, and His alone.

J. N. Darby (Quoted in ‘Pilgrim Portions’, p.191)