Word Worth Weighing

"The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God." (Psa 14.1)... The words in the original are thus "The fool hath said in his heart, no God." The words there is are not in the original, but were put in by the translators. Now, if we read the words so, "The fool hath said in his heart, no God," they will perhaps show the Psalmist's meaning more fully than as they are now translated. "The fool hath said in his heart, no God." That is: 'I would have none, I do not desire any, I wish there was none; that would suit my inclination best.' That is the language of the inclinations of a natural man: no God. 'Let there be no God for me, let me have no God; let the world be emptied of a God, He stands in my way.'

And hence he is an atheist in his heart, he is ready to think there is none. Consider that Christ is a remedy at hand. You need not wish for the wings of a dove that you may fly afar off and be at rest, but Christ is nigh at hand, if you were but sensible of it. Romans 10.6,7,8... There is no need of doing any great work to come at this rest; the way is plain to it; it is but going to it, it is but sitting down under Christ's shadow. Christ requires no money to
purchase rest of Him, He calls us to come freely and for nothing. If we are poor and have no money, we may come. Christ sent out His servants to invite the poor, the maimed, the halt and the blind. Christ does not want to be hired to accept of you and to give you rest. It is His work as Mediator to give rest to the weary, it is the work that He was anointed for, and in which He delights.
What cause have they to bless God, and to live to His glory, who have received such a privilege as is implied in the influence of the Holy Spirit working saving grace in the heart. If we do but seriously consider the state of the
godly...we cannot but be astonished at the wonderful grace bestowed upon them.

And the more we consider it, the more wonderful and inexpressible it will appear. When we read in the Scriptures of the great privileges conferred on the virgin Mary, and on the apostle Paul when he was caught up into the third heaven, we are ready to admire such privileges as very great. But after all, they are as nothing compared with the privilege of being like Christ, and having His love in the heart.

The joy of hypocrites is in themselves; hence it comes to pass that in their rejoicings and elevations they are wont to keep their eyes upon themselves. Having received what they call spiritual discoveries or experiences, their minds are taken up about them, admiring their own experiences. What they are principally taken and elevated with is not the glory of God, or beauty of Christ, but the beauty of their experiences. They keep thinking with themselves, "What a good experience is this! What a great discovery is this! What wonderful things have I met with!" And so they put their experiences in the place of Christ and His beauty and fulness... They take more comfort in their discoveries than in Christ discovered.

True believers do not have such a spirit of discernment that they can determine with certainty who are godly and who are not. For though they know by experience
what true religion is, they can neither see nor feel the hearts of others. Those who are quick to determine other people's spiritual state, vaunting their imagined extra-ordinary powers of discernment, are usually poor judges and dangerous counsellors in matters of the heart. They betray one of three things: they have either little experience, or a weak judgment, or a great deal of pride
and self-confidence; and so they are ignorant of themselves. Wise and experienced men will proceed with great caution in the business of judging the spiritual state of others.

And now shall be the marriage of the Lamb... And when Christ shall bring His Church into His Father's house in heaven, after the judgment, He shall bring her thither as His Bride, having there presented her, whom He loved and gave Himself for, to Himself without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. The Bridegroom and the Bride shall then enter into heaven, both having on their wedding robes,
attended with all the glorious angels. And there they enter on the feast and joys of their marriage before the Father; they shall then begin an everlasting wedding day. This shall be the day of the gladness of Christ's heart, wherein He will greatly rejoice, and all the saints shall rejoice with Him. Christ shall rejoice over His Bride, and the Bride shall rejoice in her Husband, in the state
of her consummate and everlasting blessedness.