Man A Nothing

Oh LORD,

                                 I am a shell full of dust,

but animated with an invisible rational soul

                    and made anew by an unseen power of grace;

Yet I am no rare object of valuable price,
                                 but one that has nothing and is nothing,
although chosen of thee from eternity,
        given to Christ, and born again;

      I am deeply convinced
                            of the evil and misery of a sinful state,
                                                        of the vanity of creatures,
                                                                but also of the sufficiency of Christ.

When thou wouldst guide me I control myself,

When thou wouldst be sovereign I rule myself.

When thou wouldst take care of me I suffice myself.

When I should depend on thy providings I supply myself,

When I should submit to thy providence I follow my will,

When I should study, love, honour, trust thee, I serve myself;

I fault and correct they laws to suit myself,

Instead of thee I look to a man's approbation,
             and am by nature an idolater.

                             LORD, it is my chief design to bring my heart back to thee.

Convince me that I cannot be my own God, or make myself happy,

nor my own Christ to restore my joy,

nor my own Spirit to teach, guide, rule me.

Help me to see that GRACE does this by providential affliction,

for when my credit is good thou dost cast me lower,
          when my riches are my idol thou dost wing them away,
                      when pleasure is my all thou dost turn it into bitterness.

Take away my roving eye, curious ear, greedy appetite, lustful heart;

show me that none of these things

can heal a wounded conscience,

or support a tottering frame,

or uphold a departing spirit 

then take me to the cross

and leave me there.

Man A Nothing 

- from - The Valley of Vision

Ephesians 3:14-21

Just for fun. :)

Ephesians 3:14-21 - 1894 Scrivener Textus Receptus

14 - τουτου χαριν καμπτω τα γονατα μου προς τον πατερα του κυριου ημων ιησου χριστου
15 - εξ ου πασα πατρια εν ουρανοις και επι γης ονομαζεται
16 - ινα δωη υμιν κατα τον πλουτον της δοξης αυτου δυναμει κραταιωθηναι δια του πνευματος αυτου εις τον εσω ανθρωπον
17 - κατοικησαι τον χριστον δια της πιστεως εν ταις καρδιαις υμων
18 - εν αγαπη ερριζωμενοι και τεθεμελιωμενοι ινα εξισχυσητε καταλαβεσθαι συν πασιν τοις αγιοις τι το πλατος και μηκος και βαθος και υψος
19 - γνωναι τε την υπερβαλλουσαν της γνωσεως αγαπην του χριστου ινα πληρωθητε εις παν το πληρωμα του θεου
20 - τω δε δυναμενω υπερ παντα ποιησαι υπερ εκ περισσου ων αιτουμεθα η νοουμεν κατα την δυναμιν την ενεργουμενην εν ημιν
21 - αυτω η δοξα εν τη εκκλησια εν χριστω ιησου εις πασας τας γενεας του αιωνος των αιωνων αμην

Ephesians 3:14-21 - Isaac Translation Beta

14 - On account of this I am bending my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

15 - Out of whom every family in heavens and on earth is being named,

16 - That He would give to ya’ll, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,

17 - Christ to have an abode/be at home in your hearts through faith;

18 - in order that ya’ll, in love having been rooted and having been grounded/established, may be able to grasp/understand with all the saints what the breadth and length and depth and height,

19 - And to know the love of Christ that is surpassing knowledge, in order that ya’ll may be filled into all the fullness of God.

20 - Now to Him who is able to do above over-and-above above all that we are asking for ourselves or are conceiving, according to/in proportion to the power of the one who is active in us,

21 - To Him the glory in the church in Christ Jesus into all the generations of the age of the ages. Amen.

Greek scholars, nosemopes, and others, did I miss anything?

Let This Mind…

Philippians 2:5-8 - Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

There are so many remarkable things about this passage.  No human mind can grasp the full weight of the fact that the God of the universe, in the Divine person of Christ, was made “a little lower than the angels” and humbled as a man.  Creators are supposed to show themselves powerful over their creations, yet Christ chose to become like His creation. 

However, the fantastic thing about Christ as seen in this passage is not simply His humility.  Humility is great, but it is never an end unto itself.  Humility is for a purpose, and that purpose is living life for another.  It is to give the glory to something else.  It is the submitting of oneself to a higher authority.  Christ, during His life on earth, was the perfect example of humility through His absolute submission to the authority of God the Father and perfect dependence on the Holy Spirit.

Christ was willing, at the will of the Father, to obey by leaving the glory of His own heavenly kingdom in exchange for a humble life on earth.  He was willing to submit Himself to the Father by becoming a man.  Not only a man, but He was humbled as a servant of His own creation.  Christ obeyed the will of the Father all the way to the point of dying on the cross to pay the sin-debt for those who were His enemies.  On the night of His death His prayer to the Father was “not my will, but thine, be done.”

So here we are with the charge to “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”  What a charge!  Such a state of humility is impossible without the complete empowering of the Holy Spirit and the willingness to yield our own will to God and say “I’ll go where you want me to go…I’ll be what you want me to be…I’ll do what you want me to do.”


Credit to L.S. Chafer for the inspiration and the closing quote.