PEARLS from PHILPOT - Volume 2

To bathe in the ocean of endless bliss! "Blessed are those whose strength is in You, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, ("weeping") they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, until each appears before God in Zion." Psalm 84:5-7 Every living soul that has been experimentally taught his lost condition—that has known something of a resting place in Christ—that has turned his back upon both the world and the professing church—and gone weeping Zionward, that he may . . . live in Jesus feel His power, taste His love, know His blood, rejoice in His grace; every such soul shall, like Israel of old, be borne safely through this waste howling wilderness—shall be carried through this valley of tears—and taken to enjoy eternal bliss and glory in the presence of Jesus—to bathe in the ocean of endless bliss! Your eyes will see the King in His beauty! "Your eyes will see the King in His beauty!" Isaiah 33:17 Where in heaven or on earth can there be found such a lovely Object as the Son of God? If you have never seen any beauty in Jesus . . . you have never seen Jesus, He has never revealed Himself to you, you never had a glimpse of His lovely face, nor a sense of His presence, nor a word from His lips, nor a touch from His hand. But if you have seen Him by the eye of faith—and He has revealed Himself to you even in a small measure—you have seen a beauty in Him beyond all other beauties, for it is . . . a holy beauty, a divine beauty, the beauty of His heavenly grace, the beauty of His uncreated and eternal glory. How beautiful and glorious does He show Himself to be in His atoning blood and dying love. Even as sweating great drops of blood in Gethsemane's gloomy garden, and as hanging in torture and agony upon Calvary's cross—faith can see a beauty in the glorious Redeemer, even in the lowest depths of ignominy and shame! "How is your Beloved better than others?" "My Beloved is dark and dazzling, better than ten thousand others!" Song 5:9-10 Can the Ethiopian change his skin? "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil." Jeremiah 13:23 Before the soul can know anything about salvation, it must learn deeply and experimentally the nature of sin—and of itself, as stained and polluted by sin. The soul is proud—and needs to be humbled. The soul is careless—and needs to be awakened. The soul is alive—and needs to be killed. The soul is full—and requires to be emptied. The soul is whole—and needs to be wounded. The soul is clothed—and requires to be stripped. The soul is, by nature . . . self-righteous, self-seeking, buried deep in worldliness and carnality, utterly blind and ignorant, filled with . . . presumption, arrogance, conceit, and enmity. It hates all that is heavenly and spiritual. Sin, in all its various forms, is its natural element. To make man the direct opposite of what he originally is . . . to make him love God—instead of hating Him; to make him fear God—instead of mocking Him; to make him obey God—instead of rebelling against Him; to make him to tremble at His dreadful majesty— instead of defiantly charging against Him; to do this mighty work, and to effect this wonderful change—requires the implantation of a new nature by the immediate hand of God Himself! "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil." Jeremiah 13:23 That Heavenly Teacher We do not learn that we are sinners merely by reading it in the Bible. It must be wrought— I might say, burnt into us. Nor will anyone sincerely and spiritually cry for mercy—until sin is spiritually felt and known . . . in its misery, in its dominion, in its guilt, in its entanglements, in its wiles and allurements, in its filth and pollution, and in its condemnation. Where the Holy Spirit works, He kindles . . . sighs, groans, supplications, wrestlings, and pleadings to know Christ, feel His love, taste the efficacy of His atoning blood, and embrace Him as all our salvation and all our desire. And though there may, and doubtless will be, much barrenness, hardness, deadness, and apparent carelessness often felt—still that heavenly Teacher will revive His work—though often by painful methods—nor will He let the quickened soul rest short of a personal and experimental enjoyment of Christ and His glorious salvation. Preserving grace before regeneration "To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ." Jude 1 What a mercy it is for God's people that before they have a 'vital union' with Christ—before they are grafted into Him experimentally—they have an 'eternal, immanent union' with Him before all worlds. It is by virtue of this eternal union that they come into the world . . . at such a time, at such a place, from such parents, under such circumstances, as God has appointed. It is by virtue of this eternal union that the circumstances of their lives are ordained. By virtue of this eternal union they are preserved in Christ before they are effectually called. They cannot die until God has brought about a vital union with Christ! Whatever sickness they may pass through—whatever injuries they may be exposed to—whatever perils assault them on sea or land—die they will not, die they cannot; until God's purposes are executed in bringing them into a vital union with the Son of His love. Thus, this eternal union watched over every circumstance of their birth, watched over their childhood, watched over their manhood, watched over them until the appointed time and spot, when "the God of all grace," according to His eternal purpose, was pleased to quicken their souls, and thus bring about an experimental union with the Lord of life and glory. Free! "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." John 8:36 To be made free implies a liberty from the WORLD and the spirit of covetousness in the heart. If we were to follow into their shops some who talk much of 'gospel liberty', we might find that the world's fetter had not been struck off their heart—that they had a 'golden' chain, though invisible to their own eyes, very closely wrapped round their heart. And there is a being made free from the power of SIN. I greatly fear, if we could follow into their holes and corners, and secret chambers, many who prattle about gospel liberty, we would find that sin had not yet lost its hold upon them, that there was some secret or open sin that entangled them, that there was . . . some lust, some passion, some evil temper, some wretched pride or other, that wound its fetters very close round their heart. And also there is a being made free from SELF . . . proud self, presumptuous self, self-exalting self, flesh-pleasing self, hypocritical self, self in all its various shapes and turns, self in all its crooked hypocrisy and windings. "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." These fugitive, transitory things "The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." 1 John 2:17 There is a reality in true religion, and indeed, rightly viewed, a reality in nothing else. For every other thing passes away like a dream of the night, and comes to an end like a tale that is told. Now you cannot say of a thing that passes away and comes to an end—that it is real. It may have the appearance of reality—when in fact it is but a shadow. Money, jewels, pictures, books, furniture, securities, are transitory. Money may be spent, jewels be lost, books be burnt, furniture decay, pictures vanish by time and age, securities be stolen. Nothing is real but that which has an abiding substance. Health decays, strength diminishes, beauty flees the cheek, sight and hearing grow dim, the mind itself gets feeble, riches make to themselves wings and flee away, children die, friends depart, old age creeps on, and life itself comes to a close. These fugitive, transitory things are then mere shadows. There is no substance, no enduring substance in them. They are for time, and are useful for a time. Like our daily food and clothing, house and home—they support and solace us in our journey through life. But there they stop—when life ends they end with it. But real religion—and by this I understand the work of God upon the soul—abides in death and after death, goes with us through the dark valley, and lands us safe in a blessed eternity. It is, therefore, the only thing in this world of which we can say that it is real. "The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." 1 John 2:17 A sad motley mixture (The following is an excerpt from Philpot's letter to a church which desired him to come as their pastor) "I am less than the least of all God's people." Ephesians 3:8 "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am the worst." 1 Timothy 1:15 Many are foolishly apt to think that a minister is more spiritual than anyone else. But I am daily more and more sensible of the desperate wickedness of my deceitful heart, and my miserable ruined state as a sinner by nature and by practice. I feel utterly unworthy of the name of a Christian, and to be ranked among the followers of the Lamb. I have no desire to palm myself off on any church, as though I were anything. I am willing to take a low place. The more you see of me, you will be sure to find out more of my infirmities, failings, waywardness, selfishness, obstinacy, and evil temper. I am carnal, very proud, very foolish in imagination, very slothful, very worldly, dark, stupid, blind, unbelieving and ignorant. I cannot but confess that I am a strange compound—a sad motley mixture of all the most hateful and abominable vices that rise up within me, and face me at every turn. When You shall enlarge my heart. "I will run the way of Your commandments, when You shall enlarge my heart." Psalm 119:32 The Word of God is full of precepts—but we are totally unable to perform them in our own strength. We cannot, without divine assistance, perform the precept . . . with a single eye to the glory of God, from heavenly motives, and in a way acceptable to the Lord, without special power from on high. We need an extraordinary power to be put forth in our hearts—a special work of the Spirit upon the conscience, in order to spiritually fulfill in the slightest degree, the least of God's commandments. None but the Lord Himself can enlarge the heart of His people. None but the Lord can expand their hearts Godwards, and remove that narrowedness and contractedness in divine things—which is the plague and burden of a God-fearing soul. When the Lord is absent, when He hides His lovely face, when He does not draw near to visit and bless, the heart contracts in its own narrow compass. But when the Lord is pleased to favor the soul with His own gracious presence, and bring Himself near to the heart, His felt presence opens, enlarges, and expands the soul—so as to receive Him in all His love and grace. Our refuge! "The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation—my stronghold." Psalm 18:2 On every side are hosts of enemies ever invading our souls—trampling down every good thing in our hearts—accompanied by a flying troop of temptations, doubts, fears, guilt and bondage sweeping over our soul. And we, as regards our own strength, are helpless against them. But there is a refuge set before us in the gospel of the grace of God. The Lord Jesus Christ, as King in Zion, is there held up before our eyes as . . . the Rock of our refuge, our strong Tower, our impregnable Fortress; and we are encouraged by every precious promise and every gospel invitation when we are overrun and distressed by these wandering, ravaging, plundering tribes—to flee unto and find a safe refuge in Him. "Keep me safe, O God, for in You I take refuge." Psalm 16:1 "O Lord my God, I take refuge in You; save and deliver me from all who pursue me." Psalm 7:1

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PEARLS from PHILPOT - Volume 2

J.C. Philpot

J.C. Philpot (1802 - 1869)

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