May 27

Of his fulness have all we received. - John 1:16.

WE may observe the reception here acknowledged. We are all naturally destitute; what the apostle said of himself-“In me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing”-will apply to all naturally. The fall left us without strength,-without righteousness, wisdom, peace, and joy. We are all in ourselves as so many cells of emptiness, and neither creatures nor angels can fill us. We can say, with Newton,-

“The help of men and angels join’d

Can never reach my case;

Nor can I hope relief to find

But from thy boundless grace.”

First, let us particularly observe that there is, according to this language, a real communication from him to us. There are some religious professors who say, “We are for everything in Christ.” So are we too; but here is the difference:-they are for every thing in Christ to remain there, while they remain the same in themselves: but the true believer is seeking every thing in him as the source, for we must receive from him in order that we may be made new creatures; and from him we receive wisdom to guide us, strength to aid us, and peace to tranquillize us, according to the promise of the Saviour:-“The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life;” and according to the promise of the new covenant:-“ Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean. From all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them.” The tree conveys its prolific juices into the branches. What branches? Those branches in it, and no other. And, says the Saviour, “I am the vine, ye are the branches. Pie that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me- that is, separate from me-ye can do nothing.”

Secondly, We may observe the extensiveness of it. “All we have received.” It is the language of all the people of God in every age and country, and under whatever dispensation they may be found. There has been only one fountain of living waters; therefore all who have been supplied were supplied from that fountain. It was here that Abraham drank, and the prophets, and the apostles, and the noble army of martyrs. The dying thief drank of it too; all the illustrious characters on the brow of the hill, and all the inferior ones at its side and in the vale; all these, if they were collected together, would bear their united testimony to him. Well, this will be the case by-and-by, “when he comes to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe.” In that day each will say, “I was blind, and he opened my eyes; I was dead, and he quickened me to life; I was a slave, and he redeemed me by his precious blood;” and though ten thousand times ten thousand will unite in the song and swell the chorus, there will not be one discordant note, but each and all will say, “Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, to him be glory forever and ever.”

But, though all receive from his fulness, all do not receive equally. Even the good ground yielded some thirty, some sixty, and some an hundred fold. All Christians are trees of righteousness, but all are not of the same size. How tall some of these trees are! What a space they occupy! What a shadow they stretch around them! and how the birds lodge in the branches thereof! But others are shrubs; yet they too are in the garden of the Lord.

What a difference we see between the centurion who was satisfied with the Saviour’s word, and poor Thomas, who could believe no further than he could see and hear! What a difference between Abraham and his nephew Lot! and yet Lot is called “just Lot” too.