True excellency! | SermonIndex

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HeartSong Mar 8, 2009

~~[b]~~True excellency![/b]
~~[i]~~by Jonathan Edwards[/i]

Jesus Christ has true excellency, and so great an excellency,
that when you come to truly see him, you look no further,
but your mind rests there.

There is a transcendent glory and an
ineffable sweetness in Christ.

You see that you had been pursuing shadows,
but now you have found the substance.

You realize that you had been seeking happiness in the stream,
but now you have found the ocean.

The excellency of Christ is an object adequate to the natural
cravings of the soul, and is sufficient to fill its capacity.

Christ has an infinite excellency, such as the mind desires,
in which it can find no bounds; and the more the mind
contemplates Him, the more excellent does He appear.

Each new discovery of Christ makes His beauty appear more
ravishing, and the mind can see no end to His excellency.
There is room enough for the mind to go deeper and deeper,
and never come to the bottom.

Christ's excellency is always fresh and new, and will as much
delight us, after we have beheld Him a thousand, or ten thousand
years, as when we have seen him the first moment.

The soul is exceedingly ravished when
it first looks on the beauty of Christ.
It is never weary of Him.

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MJones Mar 8, 2009

True words.

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HeartSong Mar 8, 2009

This is the part that really caught my attention.

You realize that you had been seeking happiness in the stream, but now you have found the ocean.

One time, when I went scuba diving, the boat caught on fire. Actually I think it was the engine, but in any case, there we sat for hours as they were trying to fix it. So there we all were, sitting in this tiny little boat, while these humongous rolling waves moved below us, and above us. It was truly captivating and gave one a clear sense of just how small and insignificant we really are. I love contemplating the vastness of the Lord, and this scene comes to mind often when I do - realizing of course, that even the size of the ocean is small in comparison to all that He is. Oh, the vastness of His great love.

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MJones Mar 8, 2009

HeartSong wrote:
This is the part that really caught my attention.

You realize that you had been seeking happiness in the stream, but now you have found the ocean.

That is good. I especially like -

'You see that you had been pursuing shadows,
but now you have found the substance.'

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HeartSong Mar 8, 2009

You see that you had been pursuing shadows, but now you have found the substance.

I liked that part also.

It is sometimes hard to imagine how life used to be - that is, life before life. Where what appeared to be full was actually empty, and what appeared to be empty was actually full.

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MJones Mar 8, 2009

HeartSong wrote:
It is sometimes hard to imagine how life used to be - that is, life before life. Where what appeared to be full was actually empty, and what appeared to be empty was actually full.

Good way to put it.

B

BrokenOne Mar 10, 2009

HeartSong,

I have come back to read this several times over the last few days and each time it has made my heart soar to think of the excellency of our Saviour. Thank you for posting this.

Danielle

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HeartSong Mar 11, 2009

Hi Danielle,

Thank you for bringing it back to the surface. I needed to read it again myself.

Today during my devotions I read:

"Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted." - Isaiah 49:13

Oh how I love to praise my Lord!