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This is a post from before that I’m reposting for the sake of others who did not get it.
NC
When the light first breaks in on the soul, it is sweet to it, to the new life nature. It is the work of the Spirit (Jhn 3:5, 6, 8); but in order to promote it, and to enjoy what the light confers, I must practically prefer it to everything else. If I do not give it first place and absolute attention, it remains inactive (this inactivity does not interfere with being saved, but does interfere with spiritual-growth—NC), like a light in a dark lantern; hence it is said to take heed how you hear (Heb 2:1).
If you have had a glimpse of the unsearchable riches of Christ, have you been diverted by it from other things which claimed your attention and interest, or have you gone on as usual? Can you sit and talk as usual, dress as usual, read the books you used to read? In a word, though you have tasted something great, has it no particular effect on you? Has it produced no marked alteration in your feelings about things? If not, it really does not control you, and this is the secret of why you do not advance.
If it (the knowledge of the Lord Jesus) controlled you, in spite of yourself and without perceiving it, you would retire daily more and more from usual things, because more and more engrossed with Him. You would not make any arrangements to break away from this or that thing, but in seeking to know more of Christ, like a bird ascending to the sky, you would leave earthly things behind. The sky and air would be more beautiful to you as you ascend, and the things you had separated from would not be accounted of.
What is the good of things if they are not used? As you use them you must distance yourself from the lower associations. If you do not break from the common you will never enjoy the uncommon. It is here where so many are detained. They wish for wings—they admire flying, but the moment they find that flying will distance them from the old haunts and old tastes, they are content to hop and not fly; they are sluggards, they desire and have nothing (yet saved, but no growth yet—NC).
The fact is, the more we grow up in the knowledge of Lord Jesus (Eph 4:15—NC), the more we must separate from that which is contrary to Him. The babe in Christ can mix with those (contrarieties to Christ—NC), and can do things with impunity, which would make a father in Christ miserable. Spiritual sensitivity increases with growth. The babe can endure an atmosphere which would be insupportable to a young man in Christ. It is the contrary way with the new creation and the old. In the latter, the young require the most attention, care and delicate nursing; but in the new, it is as there is growth that one must be increasingly watchful of every incongruity, because the organization is so high and holy that the more it is developed, the more it is necessary to ward off everything that would grieve and hinder it.
When fruit trees are in blossom that is the most precarious time, and the moment they are nearest having fruit, is the one in which they must be best sheltered from ungenial weather, far more so than at any other period of their existence. You have thought you could enjoy the uncommon and yet retain the usual, but you cannot (often we feel uncomfortable from the growth, which we are not used to, and having desire for what was prior; but God keeps us satisfied in seeing and living by this truth, which brings true joy in the Lord Jesus—NC). In proportion as you hold to the one you weaken the other.
—J B Stoney
MJS daily devotional excerpt for June 7
“The Spirit convicts us of sins that we may be convinced of God’s cleansing. We do not deserve to be forgiven, but the Lord Jesus deserves to be trusted.” -MJS
“We find the greatest difficulty often in bringing our sorrow to God. How can I do so, some may be saying, as my sorrow is the fruit of my sin? How can I take it to God? If it was suffering for righteousness’ sake, then I would, but I am suffering for my sin; and can I, in the integrity of my heart towards God, take my sorrows to Him, knowing I deserve them?
“Yes: the Lord Jesus has been to God about them. This, then, is the ground on which I can go. There has been perfect atonement for all my sins; Christ has been judged for them. Will God judge us both? No; I go to Him on the ground of atonement, and God can justly meet me in all my sorrow, because Christ’s work has been so perfectly done.” John Nelson Darby (1800-1882)
NC
From Common to Uncommon
When the light first breaks in on the soul, it is sweet to it, to the new life nature. It is the work of the Spirit (Jhn 3:5, 6, 8); but in order to promote it, and to enjoy what the light confers, I must practically prefer it to everything else. If I do not give it first place and absolute attention, it remains inactive (this inactivity does not interfere with being saved, but does interfere with spiritual-growth—NC), like a light in a dark lantern; hence it is said to take heed how you hear (Heb 2:1).
If you have had a glimpse of the unsearchable riches of Christ, have you been diverted by it from other things which claimed your attention and interest, or have you gone on as usual? Can you sit and talk as usual, dress as usual, read the books you used to read? In a word, though you have tasted something great, has it no particular effect on you? Has it produced no marked alteration in your feelings about things? If not, it really does not control you, and this is the secret of why you do not advance.
If it (the knowledge of the Lord Jesus) controlled you, in spite of yourself and without perceiving it, you would retire daily more and more from usual things, because more and more engrossed with Him. You would not make any arrangements to break away from this or that thing, but in seeking to know more of Christ, like a bird ascending to the sky, you would leave earthly things behind. The sky and air would be more beautiful to you as you ascend, and the things you had separated from would not be accounted of.
What is the good of things if they are not used? As you use them you must distance yourself from the lower associations. If you do not break from the common you will never enjoy the uncommon. It is here where so many are detained. They wish for wings—they admire flying, but the moment they find that flying will distance them from the old haunts and old tastes, they are content to hop and not fly; they are sluggards, they desire and have nothing (yet saved, but no growth yet—NC).
The fact is, the more we grow up in the knowledge of Lord Jesus (Eph 4:15—NC), the more we must separate from that which is contrary to Him. The babe in Christ can mix with those (contrarieties to Christ—NC), and can do things with impunity, which would make a father in Christ miserable. Spiritual sensitivity increases with growth. The babe can endure an atmosphere which would be insupportable to a young man in Christ. It is the contrary way with the new creation and the old. In the latter, the young require the most attention, care and delicate nursing; but in the new, it is as there is growth that one must be increasingly watchful of every incongruity, because the organization is so high and holy that the more it is developed, the more it is necessary to ward off everything that would grieve and hinder it.
When fruit trees are in blossom that is the most precarious time, and the moment they are nearest having fruit, is the one in which they must be best sheltered from ungenial weather, far more so than at any other period of their existence. You have thought you could enjoy the uncommon and yet retain the usual, but you cannot (often we feel uncomfortable from the growth, which we are not used to, and having desire for what was prior; but God keeps us satisfied in seeing and living by this truth, which brings true joy in the Lord Jesus—NC). In proportion as you hold to the one you weaken the other.
—J B Stoney
MJS daily devotional excerpt for June 7
“The Spirit convicts us of sins that we may be convinced of God’s cleansing. We do not deserve to be forgiven, but the Lord Jesus deserves to be trusted.” -MJS
“We find the greatest difficulty often in bringing our sorrow to God. How can I do so, some may be saying, as my sorrow is the fruit of my sin? How can I take it to God? If it was suffering for righteousness’ sake, then I would, but I am suffering for my sin; and can I, in the integrity of my heart towards God, take my sorrows to Him, knowing I deserve them?
“Yes: the Lord Jesus has been to God about them. This, then, is the ground on which I can go. There has been perfect atonement for all my sins; Christ has been judged for them. Will God judge us both? No; I go to Him on the ground of atonement, and God can justly meet me in all my sorrow, because Christ’s work has been so perfectly done.” John Nelson Darby (1800-1882)
