Basic HTML Version
Repent Today, and Receive Christ’s Robe of Righteousness,
December 5
So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find;
knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives,
and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will
be opened.
Luke 11:9, 10
, NRSV.
We are to surrender our hearts to God, that He may renew and sanctify us, and
fit us for His heavenly courts. We are not to wait for some special time, but today
we are to give ourselves to Him, refusing to be the servants of sin. Do you imagine
you can leave off sin a little at a time? Oh, leave the accursed thing at once! Hate
the thing that Christ hates, love the thing that Christ loves. Has He not by His death
and suffering made provision for your cleansing from sin?
When we begin to realize that we are sinners, when we fall on the Rock and are
broken, the everlasting arms are placed about us, and we are brought close to the
heart of Jesus. Then we shall be charmed with His loveliness and disgusted with
our own righteousness.
We need to come close to the foot of the cross. The more we humble ourselves
there, the more exalted will God’s love appear. The grace and righteousness
of Christ will not avail for those who feel whole, for those who think they are
reasonably good, who are contented with their own condition. There is no room for
Christ in the heart of those who do not realize their need of divine light and aid.
Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
There is fullness of grace in God, and we may have His Spirit and power in large
measure. Do not feed on the husks of self-righteousness, but go to the Lord; He has
the best robe to put upon you, and His arms are open to receive you....
You are proved of God through His Word. You are not to wait for wonderful
emotions before you believe that God has heard you; feeling is not to be your
criterion, for emotions are as changeable as the clouds. You must have something
solid for the foundation of your faith. The Word of the Lord is a word of infinite
power, upon which you may rely; and He has said, “Ask, and ye shall receive.”
Look to Calvary. Has not Jesus said that He is your Advocate? Has He not said
that if you ask anything in His name, you shall receive?
You are to come to God as a repenting sinner, through the name of Jesus, the
divine Advocate; to a merciful, forgiving Father, believing that He will do just as
He has promised. Let those who desire the blessing of God knock, and wait at the
throne of mercy with firm assurance.—
The Bible Echo, April 1, 1893
.
[358]
362