Saturday, July 26, 2008

Stand & Wonder At The Reality Of Being Called A Son!

Mr. Kettler - a very, very dear brother and small group leader here in our church sent this to me and what a great encouragement it was to my soul! Thank you sir, for always directing me to "stand and wonder" at the Cross of Christ! There are too many times I "stand and wonder" at the wrong things where there is no hope! Thank you for directing me to see through the grace of God, how my Father sees me in The Son. You are a dear friend my brother and this piece really ministered to my heart! I will take this with me on vacation as a daily exhortation of how good our Savior is! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

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Oh stand and wonder!
(Thomas Brooks, "The Crown and Glory of Christianity")

"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us—that we should be called the sons of God." 1 John 3:1

It is an infinite condescension in God, to honor us with the title of sons, and therefore we should never think of it, nor ever speak of it—but with much admiration. O sirs! what matter of admiration is this—that the great and glorious God, who has many millions of glorious angels attending Him—that He should . . .

  • look upon all holy people as His sons,
  • and love them as His sons,
  • and delight in them as His sons,
  • and clothe them as His sons,
  • and feed them as His sons,
  • and protect them as His sons,
  • and stand by them as His sons,
  • and lay up for them as His sons,
  • and lay out Himself for them as His sons; that those who have not deserved . . .
  • a smile from God,
  • a good word from God,
  • a bit of bread from God,
  • or a good look from God,
  • should be made the sons of God!

What manner of love is this—that those who have . . .

  • so highly provoked God,
  • walked so cross and contrary to God,
  • were so exceeding unlike God,
  • preferred every lust, and every toy and vanity before God,
  • fought many years under Satan's banner against God,
  • refused all the offers of mercy that have been made by God, —that those who have deserved to be reprobated by God, damned by God, and to be thrown to hell by God—that these should be made the sons of God!

Oh stand and wonder! Oh stand and admire the freeness of His grace, and at the riches of His grace!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm excited that you guys are just a state away from us here in Nebraska. Stay faithful to your calling, and thank you for your encouragement!

Matthew said...

Thank you Jon for your encouragement!