“Glory Be Unto the Father”

"Glory Be Unto the Father"

(No. 1738)

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 9 1883, BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has
blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenlyplaces in Christ:
according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love."

Ephesians 1:3, 4.

LAST Lord's Day I finished the morning services at Exeter Hall with a
sermon upon John's choice doxology, "Unto Him that loved us and washed
us from our sins in His own blood, to Him be glory and dominion forever
and ever. Amen." [Sermon #1737, Volume 29, John's First Doxology.] I
felt, therefore, that it would be most fitting to open this series of
services with another doxology. And as the last was in praise of the
Second Person of the Divine Unity, this is to the honor and glory of
the adorable Person of the Father. May God, who gave His servants a
praiseful spirit so that their Epistles abound with doxologies, give
the same spirit of joyous thankfulness to us at this time, that we may
all say from the very bottom of our hearts, "Amen," to our text,
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Of praise, we may say what was said concerning salt in the Scripture,
"without prescribing how much." Oh to praise and pray without ceasing!
May the Holy Spirit work in us perpetual thanksgiving! Observe well
that the same words are used in reference to our wish towards God and
God's act towards us–"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed us." It is a very striking thing that our poor
pebble stones of wishes should be valued so much that the same words
should be used in reference to them as in reference to the priceless
diamonds of Grace which the Lord has bestowed upon us! We bless God
because He blesses us. "Bless the Lord, O my Soul, and forget not all
His benefits."

Now, it is easy to understand how the Father of Mercies, from whom
every good and perfect gift proceeds, really blesses us. But how can we
be said to bless Him? And what is the distinction between that and
praising Him? For there is a distinction, since we read, "All Your
works shall praise You, O Lord, and Your saints shall bless You."
Praise rises even from lifeless objects, as they display the power and
wisdom of their Creator. But intelligence, will and intent are
necessary for blessing God. Praise is the manifestation of our inward
reverence and esteem–it adores and magnifies–but in blessing God, we
think well of Him and wish Him well and desire that others may do the
same!

In blessing God there is the desire to do good to God even as He does
to us–if it were possible! We fail in the power with which to
accomplish such a desire, but it is well that it is in our hearts. God
cannot actually receive anything from us for His own enrichment or
increase–for all things that we can do for Him are His, already–and
they must be done in His strength, so that, when all is done, it must
be said, "Of Your own have we given You." Neither can we add to His
splendor or His happiness, for He is, by Nature, inconceivably glorious
and infinitely blessed! But if such an increase were within our power,
we would gladly render it. If all things were ours, we would lay them
at His feet. And such things as we have, though we cannot give them
directly to Him, yet we give them to His cause and to the poor of His
people.

What says the Psalmist? "O Lord, You are my God; my goodness extends
not to You, but to the saints that are in the earth, and to the
excellent, in whom is all my delight." We are happy that, in assisting
needy Believer, we are blessing the Lord. There is also a considerable
measure of blessing God in such prayers as these–"Hallowed be Your
name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done in earth, as it is in
Heaven." When we gladly ascribe unto the Lord, glory, power and
dominion, we are blessing Him. When we wish other men to love and serve
the Lord and do Him homage, we are blessing Him. When we desire to love
Him more, ourselves, and feel our hearts burn with aspirations after
fellowship with Him, we are blessing Him. When we are zealous to make
known the Truth of the Gospel which glorifies God, and to make known
His Son in whom especially He is revealed, we are blessing God!

In sacred silence, when the heart cannot translate her emotions into
words, and hardly into thoughts, we can bless the Lord. In rendering
unto God such things as we can render and in always asking the still
larger question–"What

shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?"–we are
blessing Him. If we cheerfully await His bidding, and count it a
delight to stand with girded loins, crying, "What would You have me to
do? Have You an errand for these willing feet? Here I am! Send me,"
then we are, in effect, blessing our Lord! Can you sing from your
soul–

"There's not a lamb among Your flock

I would refuse to feed!

There's not a foe before whose face

I'd fear Your cause to plead"?

Then are you in that state of heart in which all that is within you
blesses God's holy name! Blessed be God! We would make Him better known
and so increase His manifest glory, wishing all the while that we could
do a thousand times more!

May our hearts be, at this time, filled with high ideas of the goodness
and greatness of the Lord–and so may our souls be ready to burst forth
in praise, eager for service, and bowed in reverent adoration. "Bless
the Lord, O house of Israel: bless the Lord, O house of Aaron: bless
the Lord, O house of Levi: you that fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
Blessed be the Lord out of Zion which dwells at Jerusalem. Praise the
Lord." May we be stirred up to bless the Lord by the teaching of our
text!

I. Here we have, first of all, GOD THE FATHER VIEWED ARIGHT. "Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." When the Divine Father
is viewed aright, He becomes the object of our gratitude, not of our
dread. Instead of trembling before Him as before an austere judge, we
rejoice in Him as a tender Father. He is no more to us the Thunderer of
Sinai, but the Father of our spirits. Among the ignorant, it is too
much the custom to ascribe every mercy to the Lord Jesus Christ and to
think that He is all kindness and gentleness, while the Father is full
of stern justice and severity–but it is not so! God is Love and that
Love dwells equally in each of the sacred Three. Our Lord Jesus Christ
comes to us by reason of the love of the Father–"thanks be unto God
for His unspeakable Gift." "God so loved the world, that He gave His
only-begotten Son."

In every act of the Lord Jesus, He reveals the tenderness and Grace of
the Father to us. He says, "He that has seen Me has seen the Father,"
and, "I say not that I will pray the Father for you, for the Father
Himself loves you." "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed
upon us." The love of the Father is, in all respects, equal to the love
of the Son! We must never, for a single moment, set one Person of the
Holy Trinity before another in our minds. We must believe in "the love
of the Spirit," and speak of, "our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God,
even our Father which has loved us." Let us never fall into the
mistaken idea that the atoning Sacrifice of Christ was intended to make
an angry God willing to be merciful! Far otherwise–Jesus dies not to
create mercy in God's heart, but to open a way for the exercise of the
mercy which was there from all eternity!

To our apprehension, God may seem changed when we realize the great
reconciliation, but in very deed He was always full of Grace. God's
love went forth towards His chosen before the Savior died and because
He loved them, therefore He gave His Son to die for them. Let us see,
in this death of our Redeemer, not the cause, but the result of God's
love! And let us magnify the Father who spared not His own Son, but
freely delivered Him up for us all. "Herein is love, not that we loved
God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for
our sins." Is not the Father, from this point of view, the object of
our love, praise and blessing? "Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ." Let us cast out the fear which has torment–let us
no longer stand afar off, but draw near unto God with childlike
confidence and hearts aglow with ardent love. May the Lord direct our
hearts into the love of God!

Next, if we would view the Father aright we must regard Him as the God
of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a wonderful title. We often sing
–"Praise the God of Abraham"–and truly it is blessed to view God as
the God of Abraham, but how much more as the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ! Jesus, after His resurrection, called Him, "My Father, and your
Father: my God, and your God." And when He was in the act of expiring,
He cried, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" To our Lord Jesus
as Man, the Father was God, and He worshipped Him and served Him. How
frequently Jesus drew near to God in prayer! How constantly He rendered
obedience to Him!

Our Lord also says of Himself in the 22nd Psalm–"I will declare Your
name unto My brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise
You." Thus did our Mediator bow before the Throne of God and admit to
the Truth of God then present, "My Father is greater than I." I delight
to think that God is now dealing with His people as the God of our Lord
Jesus Christ, for what blessings are there which God would not give to
the Son of the Highest, that holy Thing that

was born of Mary? How greatly must God bless Him, the perfect Man,
Christ Jesus, of whom it is written in the Psalm: "You loves
righteousness and hate wickedness: therefore God, Your God, has
anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your fellows."

God, I say, is dealing with His own chosen as He deals with the
perfectly obedient One! By the obedience of Jesus, many are made
righteous and treated as such–and we are among the many who are
accepted in the Beloved! It is the God of Jesus Christ who has blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, and to Him Paul
prayed for the Ephesians, "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation
in the knowledge of Him." You remember how the tribes of Israel were
blessed by the God of Jacob for their father's sake? Even so are we
blessed by the God of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to the measure in
which He would bless His spotless Son, Jesus! Think, then, of the
infinite Jehovah as the God of our Lord Jesus and, therefore, the God
of His redeemed people.

The text title is, "The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," which may
respect the double affiliation of Christ. First, as to His
Godhead–there is that mysterious Sonship which we cannot understand,
but which is, nevertheless, clearly revealed. He is the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ as Jesus is God. And then there is that second
Sonship which belongs to Christ as Man, in which, again, He is said to
be the Son of God. "God sent forth His Son, made of a woman." The
Father thrice said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased." The great work of expiation is over and, "now is the Son of
God glorified." And the Father manifests His unbounded love to His
Son–let it, then, be a matter of great joy to us that the Father loves
His people even as He loves His Son–and blesses us as He blesses Him!

Even as Jacob blessed Ephraim and Manasseh because of his love to
Joseph, even so, the great Father lays His mighty hand in benediction
upon all His chosen and blesses the very least Believer as He blesses
His Son Jesus! He who has highly exalted His Son, Jesus, to whom He
stands in a double sense in the relation of a Father, has also prepared
a throne in Glory for all who are in Christ. "The Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ!" How endearing and attractive is the name! If we can view
the Father in that light, we shall be able to approach Him with firmer
confidence! We shall rejoice in Him with greater joy!

Note that the text contains a possessive pronoun–it says, not, "The
God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ," but, "of our Lord Jesus
Christ," who is ours in this particular sense, that He is our federal
Head, just as the first Adam, even the Adam who headed up the race and
in whom we stood or fell. Jesus Christ, the second Adam, headed up and
comprehended within Himself all the chosen–and we who can claim that
Christ is ours are, for that reason, able to claim all that belongs to
Christ, for our heavenly Bridegroom endows us with all His possessions.
"It pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell; and of
His fullness have we all received, and Grace for Grace." Jesus says,
"All things that the Father has are Mine," and the Spirit says, "All
things are Yours" and, therefore, we may rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory!

Believers, are you not one with Christ? Then Christ's God is your God,
Christ's Father is your Father! "You are members of His body, of His
flesh and of His bones." For this cause did He leave His Father and
cleave unto the Church, that He might be one flesh with her. All
Believers are heirs of God, joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. This is the
true view of the Father–He is our Father, our God, our Savior's
Father, our Savior's God! Let us delight ourselves in Him and magnify
and bless His name!

II. We come, secondly, to notice THE BLESSING WHICH COMES FROM THE
FATHER AS VIEWED BY FAITH. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in
heavenly places in Christ." The blessing of God the Father has fallen
from all eternity upon all who are in Christ, and that in the most
copious manner, for the one blessing includes "all spiritual
blessings." This is a very pleasant thing to me because there can be no
blessing like that of God. "I know," said one of old, "whom He blesses
is blessed." Satan may curse you; you may already be suffering the
curse of the Fall; but, if God blesses you, what of all that? Let the
Lord say, "I have blessed Him," and who can stop it, or who can reverse
it?

The blessing of God makes you rich, safe, happy. When He commands the
blessing, it is life forevermore. Why, it means an infinite blessing,
the blessing of one Omnipotent to fulfill His Word; Omniscient to carry
it out in every place; Immutable, so that it never can be reversed;
eternal, so that it shall stand forever and ever! The blessing of God!
What must it be? As is God, such is His blessing! Who that dives
deepest into it, can fully comprehend all its meaning? The

blessing of God the Father is a true and real blessing–He speaks not a
lie nor a vanity. Has He said, and shall He not do it? Has He
commanded, and shall it not stand fast? The blessing of God! How sure,
how effectual! Oh, to receive it!

He that has it, though he is in poverty, he is rich! Though he is in
sorrow, he is consoled! Though in shame, he has honor! Though he lie
dying, he shall revive–though he were dead, yet shall he live! Such a
blessing as this is enough to turn a dungeon into a paradise, a Hell
into Heaven–and if it falls upon the most desponding and despairing,
it must make their hearts dance for joy!

I have already told you this is the blessing of the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and I would remind you that it was the custom of
fathers to give blessings to their sons. All through the Old Testament
we find patriarchs, when about to die, calling their children together,
and pronouncing a blessing upon them. I should have liked to have
received the blessing of Abraham, or Isaac, or Jacob–but what must be
the blessing of the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as He lays His hand
upon each one of our poor unworthy heads and says, "Surely, blessing I
will bless you"? Jacob could not bless the beloved Joseph after the
fashion in which the Lord blesses His beloved Son and those who are in
Him! You could not desire a greater blessing than you have at this day,
for the text says, "He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in
heavenly places in Christ."

I would call your attention very particularly to the fact that it is
here stated that God has already given the blessing. Strictly speaking,
I suppose it should be read, "God blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in Christ Jesus" and He continues to do the same. Do you seek
a blessing from God? He has pronounced it already upon you! Do you
require anything? You have it–it is given to you in the Covenant of
Grace! Like when the Lord blessed Abraham, He gave him the land of
Canaan, so has He given to you all Covenant blessings. You have only to
ask of the Lord and He will give you to enjoy each blessing according
as it will be for your good. No good thing will the Lord withhold from
you! All you now have to do is, by prayer and faith, to grasp and enjoy
the mercy, for He has said–"For this good thing will I be enquired of
by the house of Israel to do it for them."

"Alas!" says one, "I have some blessings, but need many more." This is
your unbelief, for all spiritual blessings are pronounced upon you.
Yours are the precious things of Heaven, the dew and the deep, which
couches beneath. The chief things of the ancient mountains and the
precious things of the everlasting hills are yours and no part of your
inheritance shall be torn away from you. The Eternal Father has
pronounced a boundless blessing upon you as you are in Christ Jesus! He
has spoken it and He will make it good! When, therefore, you are in
need, bow the knee and say, "My Father, You have given me this already
in Christ. Now, therefore, fulfill this word unto Your servant, whereon
You have caused me to hope." When Jacob rose up from his father's
bedside, he knew that Isaac's blessing was upon him, and even so the
benediction of the Father is on every Believer.

Rise up, you heir of Heaven! Shake yourself from the dust, for the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed you out of the fullness
of His heart and you are blessed, indeed! The benediction is as
comprehensive as your needs–if you lack all things, behold, all things
are here! Notice the Apostle, here, dwells mainly upon all spiritual
blessings. Does he, therefore, exclude temporal mercies? No, Brothers
and Sisters, the greater secures the lesser! Doubtless Paul thought the
comforts of time and sense to be so secondary compared with spiritual
blessings in heavenly places that he thought it no wrong to omit them
or consider them to be included while he lifted up his praise in this
verse to the Father for His spiritual gifts–for He that gives us the
gold of spiritual blessings will never deny us the silver of temporal
blessings!

He that gives us Heaven will surely give us all that is necessary on
the road there. Abraham gave gifts to his sons by Keturah and sent them
away. But to Isaac, he gave the inheritance which is described as, "all
that he had." Spirituals are the best gifts–the heritage given to the
first-born. Delight yourselves in spiritual things, for this will mark
the distinction between you and the carnal man who has his portion in
this life, whereas the Believer's motto is, "The Lord is my portion."
Look at the worldling. If his barns are full of corn and his presses
bursting with new wine, then he is happy, for he cares not for
spiritual things and his soul's poverty does not trouble him. You and I
are of another quality–spirituals are our first demand and without
them we are undone! Our covetousness is for much of the Spirit's gifts
and Graces– much love, much faith, much holiness, much communion with
the Father and the Son! The temporals we can leave with our heavenly
Father, who knows that we have need of all these things.

We shall have enough spending money on the road to Glory, for He who
has guaranteed to bring us there will not starve us on the way!
Spiritual blessings are such as concern our spirit, which is our nobler
part. They have a fullness about them which can never dwell in the
disappointing riches of earth. And they are of a substantial and
enduring nature which widely separates them from the shadows of mere
carnal delight. Every mouth may eat of the bread of the body, but truly
blessed are they that eat bread in the Kingdom of God! Every dog, as he
runs, may drink of the Nile, but to drink of the river of the Water of
Life is another matter! Spiritual blessings are for spiritual men, for
they only can appreciate or even perceive them–they are a prepared
portion for a prepared people! They range from the first painful sense
of sin up to the sinless perfection of eternal Glory–and all these
blessings are pronounced upon the head of each heir of salvation! Shall
we not praise and magnify the Father for this?

These are the good and perfect gifts which are from above–and come
from the unchanging Father of Lights–to Him be glory in the Church
throughout all ages forever and ever. These blessings are ours,
personally, for He has blessed us. It is not upon the clouds that the
blessing falls, but upon individuals. "He loved me and gave Himself for
me." The Lord has said to His people, "You are the blessed of the Lord
and your offspring with you." Personal appropriation is the main thing
that we need; all else lies ready to our hand. Nothing more could be
provided, nothing more needs to be desired. We need faith to take to
ourselves the heavenly provision and, for lack of it, we go hungering
in the midst of plenty!

Brothers and Sisters, there is no need for this! We do not do well to
sit with the lepers at Samaria's gate when we have but to awaken
ourselves and find abundant provision for ourselves and all the King's
household. Furthermore, note well that our heavenly Father has blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Spiritual
blessings are heavenly things–they come from Heaven, they lead to
Heaven–they are of a heavenly nature and are such as are enjoyed in
Heaven itself! You may read the text either as heavenly places or
heavenly things, and be equally correct. It is a wonderful thing that,
even here on earth, the saints enjoy and experience heavenly blessings,
for a new nature is a heavenly thing–love, joy in God, rest, safety
and acceptance in the Beloved are all heavenly things. If you read it,
"places," it is equally true that Heaven and all its mansions are ours
and we have already taken possession of them in Christ Jesus, our
Representative and Forerunner!

When God made the Covenant with Abraham which gave him the land of
Canaan, Abraham had not yet a foot of land that he could call his
own–and when he died, he only possessed a cave for burial! But yet, in
truth, according to the decrees of Heaven, the land of Canaan belonged
to Abraham and his seed, for had not the Lord said, "Unto your seed
have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river,
the river Euphrates?" They had the title-deeds of it, though, for a
while, the Canaanites held it as tenants upon lease. Now, all the
spiritual blessings which belong to the heavenly estate at this moment
are the property of the heirs of Heaven–and God has said to each one
of them–"Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are,
northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land
which you see, to you will I give it."

The blessings laid up in reserve for those who love God are secured to
them in the Covenant made with Christ and we wait only for the time
when the Lord our God shall surely bring us into the purchased
possession. All things necessary for the heavenly life are already
secured to the people of God in Christ Jesus, in whom, also, they have
obtained an inheritance. My Brothers and Sisters, does not this lift
you up and make you feel yourself to be a different person? You thought
you had only a little Divine Grace, but all spiritual and heavenly
blessings are yours! You never dreamed that you could touch Heaven so
closely–but Heaven has a wide sweep and is to be found not only in
Glory above, but in Grace be-low–for God has made us kings even now!
We are already in the kingdom of Heaven and upon heavenly manna we are
fed at this day! Where Christ is, there is Heaven, and He is in our
hearts!

The sun is above, but inasmuch as his light and heat are here, we say
that we sit in the sun and bask in the sun. Even so, though the
Presence of Jesus is in Glory, yet we enjoy on earth that sacred
Revelation of God which is the center and essence of Heaven! Present
Grace is Heaven begun in the soul–he that dwells in love, dwells in
God and God in him– what more can Heaven be? Even now, "He has raised
us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus." That which God has given to us is not bounded by the narrow
horizon of this present visible world, but He has given to us all
heavenly things most richly to enjoy! The boundless glories of eternity
even now belong to us by virtue of the Father's benediction which He
has pronounced on us in Christ Jesus!

Here let me enquire whether you belong to the company upon whom the
Divine blessing rests. Are you seeking to be saved by your own works?
Then you are not saved by Grace through Christ Jesus! Are you without
faith in Christ? Then the heavenly blessing does not belong to you. The
inheritance is secured to a seed who are, by faith, the children of
faithful Abraham, born not after the flesh but after the Spirit. Can
you say, I believe in Jesus Christ and fix my trust upon the promises
of a faithful God? Then take possession of the Covenant provision and
be glad in the Lord. We must not fail to note that the plenitude of
spiritual and heavenly blessings only comes to us in Christ. It is not
in ourselves that these gifts are vested–we hold them by virtue of our
union with the Lord Jesus. He is that golden case in which the
treasures of the Covenant are enclosed and secured.

He is our Trustee, holding the heritage for us and this is the form of
our tenure–"joint-heirs with Christ." How precious, then, is our union
with Him! Of what vital importance is it to be bound up in the bundle
of life with Him! As without Him we can do nothing, without Him we can
possess nothing. In Him we have already received a thousand blessings
in actual experience and in Him there is laid up a boundless supply for
future enjoyment. At the thought of this let our hearts sing
hallelujahs! In the spirit of sonship let us reverence the Father of
our spirits who is also the Father of mercies and the God of all
consolation. Blessed, forever blessed, be the Lord God of Heaven and
earth, for His unutterable goodness to His chosen in the Person of His
dear Son. Let us sing unto Him–

"O measureless might!

Ineffable love!

While angels delight

To hymn You above,

The humbler creation,

Though feeble their lays,

With true adoration

Shall lisp to Your praise."

III. Thirdly and briefly, let us observe THE FIRST OUTFLOW OF THESE
HEAVENLY BLESSINGS. The fountain of eternal love bursts forth in our
election–"According as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world." Consider these words, one by one. The first is, He has
chosen–God has a will and a choice in the matter of salvation! Some
people do not like this doctrine, but they must have it whether they
like it or not, or else they must reject the Words of Inspiration! Is
man's will to be deified? Is the whole result of the scheme of
salvation to depend upon the creature's choice? God forbid! The Father
has made a choice of some men unto eternal life–these He has given to
His Son Jesus–all these the Lord Jesus has redeemed with His own blood
and pledged Himself to bring them to Glory. Has He not said, "All that
the Father gives Me shall come to Me?"

God has made a choice, then, and you who are Believers in Christ may
rest assured that you are the objects of this choice. The Lord Himself
gave you your faith and brought you into living union with Jesus! Do
you not bless Him for this? It seems to me that here is something for
which to praise and bless the Father world without end! Carefully note
that election shapes everything–the Father has blessed us with all
spiritual blessings. "According as He has chosen us in Christ." All the
Grace of earth and the glory of Heaven come to us in accordance with
the eternal choice. There is not a single gift that comes from the
blessed hand of the Divine Redeemer but is stamped with the mark of
God's electing love! We were chosen to each mercy and each mercy was
appointed for us. If we will not have the Father's election, we cannot
have His blessing, for His gifts are plainly stated to be according to
His choice–they come because of the choice and they prove the
choice–they should, therefore, remind us of our election and call
forth our sweetest songs. They should make us ask with David "Why all
this to me?" A man who is elect of God ought to sing the praises of God
both day and night, for he is chosen to show forth the praises of
Jehovah!

The next words are, "He has chosen us." Herein is Grace, indeed! What
could there be in us that the Lord should choose us? Some of us feel
ourselves the most unworthy of the unworthy and we can see no trace of
a reason for our being chosen. So far from being choice men in our own
esteem, we feel ourselves, by nature, to be the very reverse. But if
God has chosen us, then let our hearts love Him, our lips extol Him,
our hands serve Him and our whole lives adore Him–

"Loved of my God, for Him again With love intense I burn! Chosen of You
before time began,

I choose You in return."

Then we are told He has chosen us in Christ Jesus. He first chose
Christ as the Head and then looked through Christ upon us and chose us
to be members of Christ's mystical body. We are, none of us, chosen
apart from Jesus Christ, but we are chosen in Christ, loved in Christ,
given to Christ, united to Christ and accepted in Christ. This is a
blessed way of being chosen, for none can separate us from Christ and,
consequently, till the Father changes His choice of Christ, He cannot
and will not reverse His choice of His people! Until Christ ceases to
be God's elect, the Father can never cast away those who are chosen in
Christ Jesus!

Moreover, we are told the time when this choice was made–"Before the
foundation of the world." This is the earliest conceivable period. When
this earth was fitted up for man, we know, for the Scriptures inform
us, but how many ages elapsed before it was furnished for our race, we
do not know. Yet long before that period the Father had chosen His
people! The foundation of the world may mean its first creation, when
it was spoken out of nothing–that must be ages of ages ago, but before
that the Father chose us! Remember those Words, "who has saved us, and
called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and Grace, which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began." Before sun and moon had been created, or
any of the visible things were formed, God had set His heart upon His
people in Christ and ordained them to eternal life in Him!

God's love is no novelty. His choice is no sudden act. Blessed
doctrine! I know of none, which, if rightly considered, has a greater
tendency to draw out the intense affection and reverent admiration of
human hearts. Did the Lord of Glory choose me from before the
foundation of the world? Then, by His Grace, I choose Him with all my
heart to be my Lord, my All! Did He love me from of old? Then, by His
Grace, I will love Him with all my soul and strength– and pray that my
heart may be enlarged to love Him more! This is mentioned here in order
that you may bless the Father–let there now flow from your hearts a
mighty stream of gratitude which shall cover your whole being and bear
your lives along in the channel of obedience. Come, my Heart, bless the
Father at this moment and never cease from His praise while life and
being last, or immortality endures!

IV. Fourthly and lastly, our text reminds us of another cause for
praise, namely, the DESIGNED RESULT OF ALL THIS BLESSING–"That we
should be holy and without blame before Him in love." It is God's
eternal design that His people should be holy–and He has pursued this
purpose at infinite cost. This is the design of all the blessings which
the Father has given us in Christ. All these favors are a call to us to
be holy–and each one has a tendency to promote our sanctification.
When you grow in Grace, faith, hope, joy–all that growth is towards
holiness. Always think of that and bless God for your Graces by
manifesting their influence in your conduct. Bless God for increased
knowledge and deepened experience, for He has designed, by these, to
sanctify you more fully to Himself!

There is something practical in every gift that comes from the Father's
hands and you should pray to Him that you may, by each one, conquer
sin, advance in virtue and perfect holiness in His fear. The ultimate
end of election is the praise of the glory of Divine Grace, but the
immediate and intermediate end is the personal sanctification of the
chosen. We are chosen unto holiness! The Father chose us to Himself
that we might be without blame before Him in love. He would have us
blameless, so that no man can justly find fault with us. He would have
us harmless, so that our lives may injure none but bless all. Holiness
is, however, more than this. We are called to be made whole by being
healed of the disease of sin and by having all our broken powers
reunited into one harmonious whole. This restored nature is to be
wholly consecrated to God and thus to become holy before God. Oh that
we may realize God's objective in election even at this time and so
make our calling and election sure! Let us mightily strive after this
and never rest till we have it.

But notice where and what kind of holiness this is–holy and blameless
before Him. I have met with several people who say they are perfectly
holy, but I believe they are under a delusion! And I feel sure that
those who watch them will not long think them perfect. This perfection
of theirs is according to their own vain ideas and conceited
notions–not according to the judgment of the Lord who searches the
heart! Perfection in the flesh is a lie! I believe it to be one of the
grossest falsehoods ever palmed on foolish minds! It would be something
to be holy and blameless before the devil as Job was. It would be
something to be perfect before the eyes of men who are so ready to
criticize us–but to be blameless before Him who reads our thoughts and
sees our every failure in a moment–this is an attainment of a far
higher order!

Oh, to be spotless and faultless! Let us bless God that He is aiming,
every day, to make us holy and blameless before Himself! And He will do
it, for His purpose never fails. He has worked it, in a large measure,
in all His saints, and He will

perfect that which He has begun! This is the goal towards which we are
running, that we may attain to the complete likeness of Christ.
Courage, Brothers and Sisters, it is yet beyond us, but He that has
begun the good work in us will perform it unto the day of Christ! We
shall, one day, be without fault before the Throne of God!

To conclude, we are to be holy and blameless before Him in love. Love
is the anointing oil which is to be poured on all the Lord's
priests–when He has robed them in their spotless garments they shall
partake of the unction of love. When He has delivered us from all sin,
one choice thing shall be seen in us, and that is love, abounding love.
"God is Love; and He that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in
Him." As we love, we live unto God. Perfect life will be perfect love.
Judge of your sanctification by this–Do you grow in love to God? Do
you also increase in love to the Brethren? If your heart grows hard
with the proud notion that you are somebody by reason of your high
attainments, and that the poor little saints around you are unworthy,
even, to unloose the laces of your shoes, you are not growing in
holiness!

Do you love poor sinners? For if your heart does not grow tender, you
are not growing holy. What a blessed thing it would be to be saturated
with love! They said of Basil, that he was a pillar of fire because of
his zeal. I wish it could be said of us that we were flames of fire
because of our love. Oh, to love our neighbor as ourselves, thinking no
evil! "Oh," says one, "we would be taken advantage of!" That would be
no harm compared with being hardened by selfishness. "But we should be
ill-treated and defrauded." Suppose we were? It would be better than
being miserly and cruel. The worst of ills is hate–the best of
blessings is love. When we become incapable of selfishness and get
right away from unkindness of heart and uncharitableness of thought,
Christ will be living in us and we in Him–and then we shall be
fulfilling the purpose of electing love and the design of the
innumerable spiritual blessings which are already given us in Christ
Jesus.

To this let us all aspire. Let brotherly love continue. Let us love
each other more than we have ever done and join our hands anew in a
firm league of concord. Let us love the universal Church of Christ. Let
our hearts burn with ardent affection towards the perishing multitudes
of men, that we may bring them to put their whole trust in Jesus and
live! May the Father deal with us according to His riches in glory by
Christ Jesus, and to Father, Son and Holy Spirit be glory forever and
ever. Amen.