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

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.

Have a Dose of Calvin

“it is perverse to measure divine by the standard of human justice”

“But if it is so, (you will say,) little faith can be put in the Gospel promises, which, in testifying concerning the will of God, declare that he wills what is contrary to his inviolable decree. Not at all; for however universal the promises of salvation may be, there is no discrepancy between them and the predestination of the reprobate, provided we attend to their effect. We know that the promises are effectual only when we receive them in faith, but, on the contrary, when faith is made void, the promise is of no effect. If this is the nature of the promises, let us now see whether there be any inconsistency between the two things, viz., that God, by an eternal decree, fixed the number of those whom he is pleased to embrace in love, and on whom he is pleased to display his wrath, and that he offers salvation indiscriminately to all. I hold that they are perfectly consistent, for all that is meant by the promise is, just that his mercy is offered to all who desire and implore it, and this none do, save those whom he has enlightened. Moreover, he enlightens those whom he has predestinated to salvation. Thus the truth of the promises remains firm and unshaken, so that it cannot be said there is any disagreement between the eternal election of God and the testimony of his grace which he offers to believers. But why does he mention all men? Namely that the consciences of the righteous may rest the more secure when they understand that there is no difference between sinners, provided they have faith, and that the ungodly may not be able to allege that they have not an asylum to which they may retake themselves from the bondage of sin, while they ungratefully reject the offer which is made to them. Therefore, since by the Gospel the mercy of God is offered to both, it is faith, in other words, the illumination of God, which distinguishes between the righteous and the wicked, the former feeling the efficacy of the Gospel, the latter obtaining no benefit from it. Illumination itself has eternal election for its rule.
– John Calvin (Institutes of the Christian Religion – Book 3 Chapter 24 Section 17)

That Foolish Cross

“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” – 1 Cor. 1:18 
What a blessing is Sovereign Grace!  Believers can easily recognize themselves in the later part of the verse “unto us which are saved it [the preaching of the cross] is the power of God”, but the first part is not any less important.  Every believer should see the worthlessness of their own merit in the first clause, “the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness.”
I was once one of those that was perishing and dead in sin.  The Gospel of Christ, His suffering, and victory over death was foolishness to such a one as I.  My wisdom could not fathom the beauty of such a shameful act unless God opened my eyes and SAVED me! 
Thank God that even my faith is a gift of God’s grace!  Without it I would be mocking the foolishness of the cross.  Instead, I am left to marvel at the Grace of the Almighty God.