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Give Christ your love!
From Spurgeon's sermon, "The Best Beloved"
I beg you to give Christ your love.
It is all you can give him.
It is a poor thing, but he values it.
He would sooner have your heart than all the gold in Europe.
He would sooner have the heart of a poor servant girl,
or of a poor humble laborer upon the soil, than the queen's
diadem.
He loves love.
Love is his gem-- his jewel.
He delights to win it, and if he be indeed altogether lovely,
let him have it.
Is Christ altogether lovely?
Then do I love him?
As a child of God, do I love him as much as I ought?
I do love him.
Yes, blessed be his name, I do love him.
But what a poor, cold, chill love it is.
How few are the sacrifices I make for him.
How few are the offerings that I present to him.
How little is the fellowship that I maintain with him.
Christian, is there a 'rival' in your heart?
Do you allow anyone to come in between you and
him who is "altogether lovely"?
If so, chase out the intruder!
Christ must have all your heart, and let me tell you
the more we love him the more bliss we shall have.
A soul that is altogether given up to the love of Christ
lives above care and sorrow.
It has care and sorrow, but the love of Christ kills
all the bitterness by its inexpressible sweetness!
I cannot tell you how near a man may live to heaven,
but I am persuaded that a very large proportion of
the bliss of heaven may be enjoyed before we come there.
There is one conduit pipe through which heavenly joy will flow,
and if you draw from it you may have as much as you desire.
"Abide in me" says Christ; and if you do abide in his love you
shall have his joy fulfilled in yourselves that your joy may be full.
You will have more capacious vessels when you get to heaven,
but even now the little vessel that you have can be filled up
to the brim by knowing the inexpressible loveliness of Jesus,
and surrendering your hearts to it.
Come, let us be married to him afresh tonight!
Come, believing hearts, yield again to his charms!
Surrender yourselves to the supremacy of his affection!
Christ is so lovely that I should not live without loving him!
"Yes, he is altogether lovely." Solomon's Song 5:16.
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