“Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see Me: because I live, ye shall live also.”
Oh, brethren, if we really believed, not as an article of our creed, which has become so familiar to us that it produces little impression upon us; but as a vital and ever-present conviction of our souls, that with us there was ever the real presence of the real Christ, how all burdens and cares would be lightened, how all perplexities would begin to smooth themselves out and be straightened, all the force would be sucked out of temptations, and how sorrows and joys and all things would be changed in their aspect by that one conviction intensely realized and constantly with us! A present Christ is the Strength, the Righteousness, the Peace, the Joy, and as we shall see, in the most literal sense, the Life of every Christian soul.
So this is what every Christian life may and should be-the continual sight of a continually-present Christ. It is His part to come. It is ours to see, to be conscious of Him who does come.
"The world seeth Me no more." Why? Because it is a world. "Ye see Me." Why? Because, and in the measure in which you have "turned away your eyes from seeing vanity." If you want the eye of the soul to be opened, you must shut the eye of sense. And the more we turn away from looking at the dazzling lies with which time and the material universe befool and bewilder us, the more shall we see Him whom to see is to live for ever.
Oh! Brethren, does that strong word "see" in any measure express the vividness, the directness, the certainty of our realization of our Master's presence? Is Jesus Christ as clear, as perceptible, as sure to us as the men round us are?
In your own life: "Which are the shadows and which are the realities?" Is Christ the shadow and the world your reality? If that is your case, your eyes have not been opened.
The things which are seen, which the senses crown as "real," or the things which cannot be seen because they are so great, and tower above us, invisible in their eternity? Which world are our eyes most open to, the world where Christ is, or the world here? When it is He who opens our eyes; our happy eyes may behold and our blessed hands may handle the Word of Life which was manifested to us. Let us beware that we turn not away from the one thing worthy to be looked at, to, instead gaze upon a desolate and dreary world.
If your eyes are still fascinated by the things of this world, pray that the Lord will open your eyes to see Him. Once you have seen a diamond, in all of it's beauty and splendor--the cheap imitation sparkle of cut glass will hold no allure in your eyes, whatsoever. You will be free from (even the temptation to glance at) the meaningless and empty cheap imitations that this world has to offer; for you will see them for what they truly are -- because, you will see them through the eyes of Christ.
(Original Author - Unknown)
Oh, brethren, if we really believed, not as an article of our creed, which has become so familiar to us that it produces little impression upon us; but as a vital and ever-present conviction of our souls, that with us there was ever the real presence of the real Christ, how all burdens and cares would be lightened, how all perplexities would begin to smooth themselves out and be straightened, all the force would be sucked out of temptations, and how sorrows and joys and all things would be changed in their aspect by that one conviction intensely realized and constantly with us! A present Christ is the Strength, the Righteousness, the Peace, the Joy, and as we shall see, in the most literal sense, the Life of every Christian soul.
So this is what every Christian life may and should be-the continual sight of a continually-present Christ. It is His part to come. It is ours to see, to be conscious of Him who does come.
"The world seeth Me no more." Why? Because it is a world. "Ye see Me." Why? Because, and in the measure in which you have "turned away your eyes from seeing vanity." If you want the eye of the soul to be opened, you must shut the eye of sense. And the more we turn away from looking at the dazzling lies with which time and the material universe befool and bewilder us, the more shall we see Him whom to see is to live for ever.
Oh! Brethren, does that strong word "see" in any measure express the vividness, the directness, the certainty of our realization of our Master's presence? Is Jesus Christ as clear, as perceptible, as sure to us as the men round us are?
In your own life: "Which are the shadows and which are the realities?" Is Christ the shadow and the world your reality? If that is your case, your eyes have not been opened.
The things which are seen, which the senses crown as "real," or the things which cannot be seen because they are so great, and tower above us, invisible in their eternity? Which world are our eyes most open to, the world where Christ is, or the world here? When it is He who opens our eyes; our happy eyes may behold and our blessed hands may handle the Word of Life which was manifested to us. Let us beware that we turn not away from the one thing worthy to be looked at, to, instead gaze upon a desolate and dreary world.
If your eyes are still fascinated by the things of this world, pray that the Lord will open your eyes to see Him. Once you have seen a diamond, in all of it's beauty and splendor--the cheap imitation sparkle of cut glass will hold no allure in your eyes, whatsoever. You will be free from (even the temptation to glance at) the meaningless and empty cheap imitations that this world has to offer; for you will see them for what they truly are -- because, you will see them through the eyes of Christ.
(Original Author - Unknown)
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