- Mar 21, 2003
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Abide With Me by James Smith
From Grace Gems - Free and Public Domain:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
http://www.gracegems.org/19/literature.htm
___________________________________________
Abide with Me
James Smith, 1859
"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine — neither can you, unless you abide in Me." John 15:4
Union with Christ is one of the greatest privileges of the believer; and to be one with Christ is the privilege of every believer. Nor ought anyone who professes religion to be satisfied without knowing, and daily realizing — that he is one with Christ. Our comfort, our stability, and our usefulness, very much depend on this.
The union between Christ and His people is represented by Himself by the figure of a vine and its branches; teaching us that our union with Him is as real, as close, and as necessary — as the union of the branch with its parent stem. O what a glorious privilege to be one with Christ! Thus . . .
receiving all our supplies from Christ,
partaking of the nature of Christ,
bearing fruit like Christ,
being absolutely dependent on Christ for all our spiritual life, vigor, and strength. Being one with Christ, our Beloved Lord gives us this gracious and necessary direction, "Abide in Me."
Let us make this the great object of our lives, and keep it constantly before our minds. And in order that we may be enabled and encouraged to abide in Jesus — let us consider . . .
what it supposes,
what it requires, and
what it secures.
Holy Spirit, as the glorifier of Jesus — be our teacher:
unfold the truth to our understandings,
apply it to our hearts, and
write it in large characters upon our memories.
What does abiding in Christ suppose? Of course, that we are engrafted into Him by a true and living faith, and that we rest alone on Him for our acceptance with God; for unless we are in union with Christ — we cannot abide in Him. But being in Christ, in order to our actual and experimental abiding in Him — we must daily feel our need of Him. One great part of the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart is to . . .
empty us,
strip us of self,
lead us to feel our own weakness,
and bring us as poor sinners to look to Jesus alone, as our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
And just in proportion as we feel our need of Christ, and realize our absolute nothingness without Christ — shall we prize Him, enjoy Him, and exercise dependence upon Him.
As we must daily feel our need of Christ — so also we must have a scriptural knowledge of Christ. Just in proportion as we know Christ — shall we make use of Him, cleave to Him, and rejoice in Him. Well did the Apostle know how necessary the knowledge of Christ was, and therefore he prayed for the Ephesians, who knew so much of Christ already, "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, would give unto them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him." And giving expression to the desire of his own soul, he exclaimed, "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto his death."
O how little do many of us know of Christ, and therefore it is that we make so little use of Christ, receive so little from Christ, and do so little for Christ! Our sense of our need of Christ, if it is deep and increasing — will lead us to seek to know more of Christ; and knowing more of Christ, we shall daily come to Christ for all our supplies.
This is the next prerequisite to our abiding in Christ, we must come to Him. We come to Him at first — as poor, lost, helpless sinners, that we may be saved by his merit and mercy. And as believers, we must continually come to Him . . .
with all our burdens — that He may bear them;
with all our cares — that He may manage them;
with all our sorrows — that He may sanctify them;
with all our foes — that He may conquer them;
with all our sins — that He may cleanse them;
and with all our needs — that He may supply them.
All that we need is in Christ — and it is in Christ, for us. Our deep necessity fits us for Christ — and His infinite fullness fits Him for us! Our trials, troubles, temptations, disappointments, and vexations — are to teach us our need of Christ; and what we receive from Christ is to make all these things blessings to us.
Fellowship with Christ is necessary to our abiding in Christ. Peter describes the Christian life thus: "Coming to Him as to a living stone . . . you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 2:4-5
If therefore we would abide in Jesus, we must more and more feel our need of Him; we must increase in our knowledge of Him; we must seek all our supplies from Him; and realize that we are in union with Him!
What does abiding in Christ require? Many things — and we will notice a few of them. We must think of Him, or exercise the intellect upon Him. As we are capable of thinking, and have the power of fixing our thoughts upon an object — we must make Christ the great object of our thoughts, and think of Him. That we think of Christ so little, so seldom — is one great reason why we enjoy Christ so little.
Beloved, we should think . . .
of His glorious person;
of His free and abounding grace;
of His infinite and everlasting merit;
of His deep and tender sympathy;
of His authority and unlimited dominion;
and of His eternal and changeless love!
We should think. . .
of what He was in glory;
of what He became on earth;
of what He did while here below;
of what He suffered on our behalf; and
of what He is now doing at the right hand of God.
We should think of . . .
His nature,
His offices,
His relations, and
His glorious second advent!
Oh, how much there is in Jesus to occupy our thoughts, and feast our souls! Is it not astonishing that we do not think of Him more? Never, never, shall we enjoy deep spirituality; or rise ahove our doubts and fears; or rejoice in God; or be very useful among our fellow-men — unless we think of Christ more!
As we must think of Christ — so we must hear and read of Christ. The senses should be employed on Christ, as well as the intellect. If we can hear at all — we should go where we can hear of Christ, not only on the Lord's day — but on other days too. If we can read at all, we should read of Christ; and as Christ is the most important subject, and as we are more deeply interested in Him than in anything else — we should read of Him most. It is one thing to read religious books — and quite another thing to read of Christ; for many religious books have very little of Christ in them. Nor should we so much read what man says of Christ — as what God says. God's own book should be our book, and we should read it, that we may know more of Christ, and become more like Christ.
We shall never abide in Christ as we ought, unless we hear more of Christ, read more of Christ, and think more of Christ. But we must not stop at thinking, hearing, or reading of Christ — we must actually commune with Christ. There is often much prayer — and yet little communion with Christ. We should realize that Christ is present with us. That we are alone with Him. That he is giving us His whole attention. That he expects us to tell Him . . .
all that troubles us,
all that grieves us,
all that pleases us,
all that we need, and
all that we desire.
We should keep back nothing from Him — but speak to Him freely on every subject, and every circumstance. And realizing that Christ is with us, listening to us, and by sympathy entering into all our circumstances — we should expect to receive . . .
intimations of His will,
proofs of His approbation,
communications of His grace, and
the consoling influences of His love.
Our thoughts should ascend to Jesus, and His thoughts should descend and take possession of our minds. Without more direct, sensible, and secret communion with Christ — we shall not much enjoy our union with Christ, or attend to the admonition to abide in Him.
Having communion with Christ — we must trust Him. He requires us . . .
to treat Him with confidence;
to believe what He says;
to expect what He promises;
to do what He bids us.
Abide With Me by James Smith
From Grace Gems - Free and Public Domain:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
http://www.gracegems.org/19/literature.htm
___________________________________________
Abide with Me
James Smith, 1859
"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine — neither can you, unless you abide in Me." John 15:4
Union with Christ is one of the greatest privileges of the believer; and to be one with Christ is the privilege of every believer. Nor ought anyone who professes religion to be satisfied without knowing, and daily realizing — that he is one with Christ. Our comfort, our stability, and our usefulness, very much depend on this.
The union between Christ and His people is represented by Himself by the figure of a vine and its branches; teaching us that our union with Him is as real, as close, and as necessary — as the union of the branch with its parent stem. O what a glorious privilege to be one with Christ! Thus . . .
receiving all our supplies from Christ,
partaking of the nature of Christ,
bearing fruit like Christ,
being absolutely dependent on Christ for all our spiritual life, vigor, and strength. Being one with Christ, our Beloved Lord gives us this gracious and necessary direction, "Abide in Me."
Let us make this the great object of our lives, and keep it constantly before our minds. And in order that we may be enabled and encouraged to abide in Jesus — let us consider . . .
what it supposes,
what it requires, and
what it secures.
Holy Spirit, as the glorifier of Jesus — be our teacher:
unfold the truth to our understandings,
apply it to our hearts, and
write it in large characters upon our memories.
What does abiding in Christ suppose? Of course, that we are engrafted into Him by a true and living faith, and that we rest alone on Him for our acceptance with God; for unless we are in union with Christ — we cannot abide in Him. But being in Christ, in order to our actual and experimental abiding in Him — we must daily feel our need of Him. One great part of the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart is to . . .
empty us,
strip us of self,
lead us to feel our own weakness,
and bring us as poor sinners to look to Jesus alone, as our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
And just in proportion as we feel our need of Christ, and realize our absolute nothingness without Christ — shall we prize Him, enjoy Him, and exercise dependence upon Him.
As we must daily feel our need of Christ — so also we must have a scriptural knowledge of Christ. Just in proportion as we know Christ — shall we make use of Him, cleave to Him, and rejoice in Him. Well did the Apostle know how necessary the knowledge of Christ was, and therefore he prayed for the Ephesians, who knew so much of Christ already, "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, would give unto them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him." And giving expression to the desire of his own soul, he exclaimed, "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto his death."
O how little do many of us know of Christ, and therefore it is that we make so little use of Christ, receive so little from Christ, and do so little for Christ! Our sense of our need of Christ, if it is deep and increasing — will lead us to seek to know more of Christ; and knowing more of Christ, we shall daily come to Christ for all our supplies.
This is the next prerequisite to our abiding in Christ, we must come to Him. We come to Him at first — as poor, lost, helpless sinners, that we may be saved by his merit and mercy. And as believers, we must continually come to Him . . .
with all our burdens — that He may bear them;
with all our cares — that He may manage them;
with all our sorrows — that He may sanctify them;
with all our foes — that He may conquer them;
with all our sins — that He may cleanse them;
and with all our needs — that He may supply them.
All that we need is in Christ — and it is in Christ, for us. Our deep necessity fits us for Christ — and His infinite fullness fits Him for us! Our trials, troubles, temptations, disappointments, and vexations — are to teach us our need of Christ; and what we receive from Christ is to make all these things blessings to us.
Fellowship with Christ is necessary to our abiding in Christ. Peter describes the Christian life thus: "Coming to Him as to a living stone . . . you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 2:4-5
If therefore we would abide in Jesus, we must more and more feel our need of Him; we must increase in our knowledge of Him; we must seek all our supplies from Him; and realize that we are in union with Him!
What does abiding in Christ require? Many things — and we will notice a few of them. We must think of Him, or exercise the intellect upon Him. As we are capable of thinking, and have the power of fixing our thoughts upon an object — we must make Christ the great object of our thoughts, and think of Him. That we think of Christ so little, so seldom — is one great reason why we enjoy Christ so little.
Beloved, we should think . . .
of His glorious person;
of His free and abounding grace;
of His infinite and everlasting merit;
of His deep and tender sympathy;
of His authority and unlimited dominion;
and of His eternal and changeless love!
We should think. . .
of what He was in glory;
of what He became on earth;
of what He did while here below;
of what He suffered on our behalf; and
of what He is now doing at the right hand of God.
We should think of . . .
His nature,
His offices,
His relations, and
His glorious second advent!
Oh, how much there is in Jesus to occupy our thoughts, and feast our souls! Is it not astonishing that we do not think of Him more? Never, never, shall we enjoy deep spirituality; or rise ahove our doubts and fears; or rejoice in God; or be very useful among our fellow-men — unless we think of Christ more!
As we must think of Christ — so we must hear and read of Christ. The senses should be employed on Christ, as well as the intellect. If we can hear at all — we should go where we can hear of Christ, not only on the Lord's day — but on other days too. If we can read at all, we should read of Christ; and as Christ is the most important subject, and as we are more deeply interested in Him than in anything else — we should read of Him most. It is one thing to read religious books — and quite another thing to read of Christ; for many religious books have very little of Christ in them. Nor should we so much read what man says of Christ — as what God says. God's own book should be our book, and we should read it, that we may know more of Christ, and become more like Christ.
We shall never abide in Christ as we ought, unless we hear more of Christ, read more of Christ, and think more of Christ. But we must not stop at thinking, hearing, or reading of Christ — we must actually commune with Christ. There is often much prayer — and yet little communion with Christ. We should realize that Christ is present with us. That we are alone with Him. That he is giving us His whole attention. That he expects us to tell Him . . .
all that troubles us,
all that grieves us,
all that pleases us,
all that we need, and
all that we desire.
We should keep back nothing from Him — but speak to Him freely on every subject, and every circumstance. And realizing that Christ is with us, listening to us, and by sympathy entering into all our circumstances — we should expect to receive . . .
intimations of His will,
proofs of His approbation,
communications of His grace, and
the consoling influences of His love.
Our thoughts should ascend to Jesus, and His thoughts should descend and take possession of our minds. Without more direct, sensible, and secret communion with Christ — we shall not much enjoy our union with Christ, or attend to the admonition to abide in Him.
Having communion with Christ — we must trust Him. He requires us . . .
to treat Him with confidence;
to believe what He says;
to expect what He promises;
to do what He bids us.