“It is a principle of the gospel never to be lost sight of,
that gracious affections, both in their commencement and progress, are all
exercised in view of truth.
‘Sanctify them through thy truth.’
One of the more obvious ways in which truth is presented to
the mind, is the direct contemplation of it, by the increase of divine
knowledge. The Apostle Paul, in writing to the Colossians, says,
‘We do not cease to pray for you and to desire that ye may be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; so that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work.’
The Apostle Peter expresses
the same sentiment when he says,
‘Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ;’
and also when he enjoins,
‘As new-born babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.’
The knowledge of divine truth is, to the renewed mind, what
food is to the body; it is the native and proper aliment of every gracious
affection. There is high and holy joy in a clear perception of the nature,
connections, consequences, and glory of the truth of God. The sensations of a
devout mind in the contemplation of divine truth are like those of a hungry man
when he sets down to a feast; he is fed; his hungering and thirsting after
righteousness are gratified. Let him possess enlarged views of God, and just
conceptions of his excellence and loveliness; let his thoughts be turned toward
the ineffable glory of the divine nature, as it is manifested in the works of
creation, providence, and redemption; let him dwell on the glory of God as it
shines in the face of Jesus Christ; let him become more and more acquainted
with the harmony and beauty of the divine design, and the great end which God
has in view in all that he does, and his holy desires will be enkindled and
flow out, his heart will become enlarged, his affections elevated, and his
piety will become manly.
One reason why Christians are not more holy, is that they do not read and converse, and think enough about the great truths of the Bible. There may be excitement and fervor without Christian knowledge; but there can be little growth in piety. By confining the thoughts to a narrow circle of truths, the mind becomes impoverished, and its piety languid and declining; while if we would raise the tone of spirituality and devotedness, we must raise the standard of Christian knowledge, and become more deeply imbued with the precious truths of the gospel. It is thus that the soul, instead of starving and pining away, is nourished; it lives in holiness, and is comforted in hope, and advances toward the stature of the perfect man in Christ Jesus.”
One reason why Christians are not more holy, is that they do not read and converse, and think enough about the great truths of the Bible. There may be excitement and fervor without Christian knowledge; but there can be little growth in piety. By confining the thoughts to a narrow circle of truths, the mind becomes impoverished, and its piety languid and declining; while if we would raise the tone of spirituality and devotedness, we must raise the standard of Christian knowledge, and become more deeply imbued with the precious truths of the gospel. It is thus that the soul, instead of starving and pining away, is nourished; it lives in holiness, and is comforted in hope, and advances toward the stature of the perfect man in Christ Jesus.”
Spring, Gardiner. First Things: Lectures in the First
Lessons God Revealed to Mankind. Vestavia Hills: Solid Ground Christian
Books, 2004. 113-15. Print.
