Seite 56 - Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing (1896)

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52
Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing
of the mystical body. Therefore he says, “As the church is subject
unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and
gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the
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washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a
glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but
that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their
wives.”
Ephesians 5:24-28
.
The grace of Christ, and this alone, can make this institution what
God designed it should be—an agent for the blessing and uplifting of
humanity. And thus the families of earth, in their unity and peace and
love, may represent the family of heaven.
Now, as in Christ’s day, the condition of society presents a sad
comment upon heaven’s ideal of this sacred relation. Yet even for
those who have found bitterness and disappointment where they had
hoped for companionship and joy, the gospel of Christ offers a solace.
The patience and gentleness which His Spirit can impart will sweeten
the bitter lot. The heart in which Christ dwells will be so filled, so
satisfied, with His love that it will not be consumed with longing to
attract sympathy and attention to itself. And through the surrender
of the soul to God, His wisdom can accomplish what human wisdom
fails to do. Through the revelation of His grace, hearts that were once
indifferent or estranged may be united in bonds that are firmer and
more enduring than those of earth—the golden bonds of a love that
will bear the test of trial.
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“Swear not at all.”—Matthew 5:34.
The reason for this command is given: We are not to swear “by
the heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by the earth, for it is the
footstool of His feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great
King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, for thou canst not make
one hair white or black.” R.V.
All things come of God. We have nothing that we have not re-
ceived; and, more than this, we have nothing that has not been pur-
chased for us by the blood of Christ. Everything we possess comes
to us stamped with the cross, bought with the blood that is precious
above all estimate, because it is the life of God. Hence there is nothing