"From his fullness we have all received one gracious gift after
another." (John 1:16)
All plenitude is in Christ, to answer all the needs of His people. In
Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, that out of His
fullness I may receive all spiritual blessings!
Have I destroyed myself by sin? I have deliverance from Him who is
mighty to save from sin and wrath!
Is my foolish mind darkened? Am I a guilty, polluted, and ruined
wretch? Jesus is my wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption!
Is my life fleeting—and passing away like a shadow? Jesus is the
Ancient of days, and endures for evermore!
Are my days short-lived and full of trouble? Jesus is my life, the
length of my days, and the joy of my heart!
Am I exposed to contempt? Jesus shall be my crown of glory, and diadem
of beauty!
Am I traveling through the wilderness? Jesus is my staff, and on Him I
lean all the way!
Am I on my last journey to my long home? Jesus is my leader, and my
rewarder!
Am I a sheep? Jesus is my pasture, and my green pasture too!
Am I hungry and thirsty? Jesus is my heavenly manna, and gives me to
drink of the water of life!
Am I weary? Jesus is my rest and refreshing!
Am I weak? Jesus is my strength!
Am I oppressed and wronged? Jesus is my judge, and my avenger!
Am I reproached? The reproach of His people, Jesus will wipe away!
Am I a soldier? Jesus is my Captain and shield!
Must I fight in the field of battle? Jesus is my armor in the day of
war!
Do I sit in darkness? Jesus is my light!
Do I have doubts? Jesus is my counselor!
Am I ignorant? Jesus is my wisdom!
Am I guilty? Jesus is my justification!
Am I filthy? Jesus is my sanctification!
Am I dead in sin? Jesus is my life, and quickens those who are dead in
trespasses and sins!
Am I poor? Jesus is the pearl of great price, and has immeasurable
riches!
Am I blind? Jesus, and none but He can open the eyes of one born blind!
Am I naked? Jesus has white clothing to cover the shame of my
nakedness!
Am I in the very utmost necessity? Jesus is a very present help in time
of trouble!
Am I exposed to the hurricanes of adversity? Jesus is a refuge from the
storm; a shelter from the blast; rivers of water in a desert; the shadow
of a great rock in a weary land!
Am I afraid of being left alone? Jesus will never leave me, nor forsake
me!
Do friends and brethren prove false? Jesus is the friend who sticks
closer than a brother!
Am I in danger from diseases and death; or from sin and Satan? My life
is hidden with Christ in God! When He shall appear, I shall appear with
Him—immortal in my body, and glorious in my soul!
Is my case considered in the court of heaven? There Jesus is my
Advocate!
Do I offend the Father? Jesus is my Intercessor!
Do I suffer in my body, and am I grieved in my mind? Jesus bore my
infirmities, and carried my griefs!
Is my mind disquieted, and my soul debarred from peace? Jesus is my
sympathetic High Priest! He was tempted in all points, and knows how to
support those who are tempted!
Am I poor in my circumstances? Jesus, the heir of all things! Though He
was rich, yet for my sake He became poor, that I through His poverty might
be made rich!
Do I suffer in my character? Jesus was numbered with transgressors,
called a Samaritan, a glutton, a drunkard, and a devil!
Am I bereaved or alone? Well, Jesus in the fatal night was left alone;
all the disciples forsook Him and fled! Jesus, my only friend, can never
die!
Must I undergo death and be laid in the grave? Jesus has taken away the
sting of death, and robbed the grave of its victory!
Must I rot in the grave? Jesus shall be my resurrection, and raise me
to immortality and bliss!
Would I go to God and to glory? Jesus is my way, and must admit me into
the palace of the great King, where I shall abide forever!
In summary, Jesus is . . .
my brother,
my physician,
my prophet,
my priest,
my king,
my father,
my head,
my husband!
In eternity, when I shall dwell in the land of bliss, in the city of
God—Jesus will be the light thereof! And since I am to worship there
forever, He will be the temple of all the redeemed!
My needs are many, but His fullness is infinitely more!
The morning dews and fructifying showers water the fields, and refresh
the parched furrows. But what are they, compared to the exhaustless ocean
of Jesus?
What is all that I enjoy here below, compared to the exuberant fullness
of the heavenly bliss? O! then, how shall my soul be replenished—when
possessed of this infinite All, through eternity itself!