Constancy
Constancy in faith and trust in God leads to protection, enrichment, and being beloved by God.
Mary Wilder Tileston emphasizes the importance of being renewed in the spirit of our minds and putting on the new man, created in righteousness and true holiness after God. She encourages believers to be constant, courageous, and to persevere in their journey towards perfection, offering the most acceptable sacrifice to God. Tileston highlights the need to hear and learn from Christ, becoming His disciple and allowing His nature to replace our own, making life's challenges easier and transgressions harder. Trusting in the Lord and resisting His enemy become natural as His nature grows within us.
Text
Be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
EPHESIANS 4:23,24
BE constant, O happy soul, be constant, and of good courage; for, however intolerable thou art to thyself, yet thou wilt be protected, enriched, and beloved by that greatest Good, as if He had nothing else to do than to lead thee to perfection by the highest steps of love; and if thou dost not turn away, but perseverest constantly, know that thou offerest to God the most acceptable sacrifice. If, from the chaos of nothing, His omnipotence has produced so many wonders, what will He do in thy soul, created after His own image and likeness, if thou keepest constant, quiet, and resigned.
MIGUEL DE MOLINOS
Wouldst thou feel thy soul's rest in Christ? Thou must know His voice, hear it, learn daily of Him, become His disciple; take up, from His nature, what is contrary to thy nature. And then, as thy nature is worn out, and His nature comes up in thee, thou wilt find all easy; all that is of life easy, and transgression hard--unbelief hard: yea, thou wilt find it very hard and unnatural, when His nature is grown up in thee, either to distrust the Lord or hearken to His enemy.
ISAAC PENINGTON
Sermon Outline
- Be Renewed in the Spirit
- The Benefits of Constancy
- The Power of Constancy
- Knowing God's Voice
- The Result of Constancy
- God's omnipotence in creation
- God's power in the soul
- Beloved by God
- Easy life in Christ
- Hard transgression
- Unnatural unbelief
Key Quotes
“Wouldst thou feel thy soul's rest in Christ? Thou must know His voice, hear it, learn daily of Him, become His disciple;” — Mary Wilder Tileston
“If, from the chaos of nothing, His omnipotence has produced so many wonders, what will He do in thy soul, created after His own image and likeness, if thou keepest constant, quiet, and resigned.” — Mary Wilder Tileston
“And then, as thy nature is worn out, and His nature comes up in thee, thou wilt find all easy; all that is of life easy, and transgression hard--unbelief hard:” — Mary Wilder Tileston
Application Points
- Persevere in faith and trust in God, even in difficult circumstances.
- Take time to learn daily of God and become His disciple.
- Know that the result of constancy is an easy life in Christ, with hard transgression and unnatural unbelief.