COME, FOR HOLINESS.

 

AUGUST 18
 

COME, FOR HOLINESS.
 

Him hath God exalted with his right hand
   to be a Prince and a Saviour,
   for to give repentance to Israel,
    and forgiveness of sins.            Acts 5:31
 
You are not only guilty, but impure.
 
As you cannot atone for your sins,
   so you cannot purify your polluted nature.
 
David prayed, "Create in me a clean heart,
   O God, and renew a right spirit within me."
 
"Blessed are the pure in heart;
   for they shall see God."
 
They shall
  see him with joy,
    stand accepted in his presence,
        and be filled with his infinite love.
 
But no purity, no pleasant sight of God.
 
Heaven would afford no happiness
  to those who are not prepared for it.
 
 "Except a man be born again,
   he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
 
The Corinthians were filthy, guilty, and depraved;
   but when they heard the gospel,
    they came to Jesus, and the apostle testifies
     that they were washed, they were sanctified,
     they were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus;
          and by the Spirit of our God.
 
Reader, your heart must be purified, for it is foul.
 
Your nature must be renewed, for it is depraved.
 
No one can cleanse your heart,
  or renew your nature,
     but the Holy Spirit, and
      no one can give you the Holy Spirit but Jesus.
 
He has received the Spirit in all it fullness,
 And he is willing to bestow it on every
   poor and needy sinner.
 
Water is the common emblem of the Holy Spirit
  in the Word of God; and using this emblem, Jesus,
  at the well of Jacob, said to the guilty woman who
   refused him a drop of water,
     "If thou knewest the gift of God,
      and who it is that saith unto thee give me to drink,
       thou wouldst have asked and
         he would have given thee living water."
 
Yes, he gives to every one that asks him.
 
 Bring, then, your filthy heart to Jesus, he will cleanse it.
 
Lay yourself, in all your vileness, at the footstool of Jesus,
 and he will make you meet to partake
   "of the inheritance of the saints in light."
 
A new heart also will I give you,
  and a new spirit will I put within you:
                       Ezekiel  36:26

 James Smith 1855