Christ is exalted — and Self is abased!

(Thomas Bradbury)

The longer a redeemed sinner lives — the more he will want to know Christ.
The brighter the revelation of Christ to his soul — the blacker SELF will be in his apprehension.
The more his heart is warmed with a sense of the love of his God — the more he will mourn because of his coldness and deadness.

This is a paradox which no hypocrite or mere professor can understand. As the child of God grows in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and . . .
  sees more of His beauty,
  enjoys more of His bounty, and
  feels more of His blessedness —
the more he is brought into a true conception of what he is in himself — as a wretched, ruined, undeserving, and Hell-deserving sinner!

Yet he discovers something else — a heart, yearning, longing, panting and desiring after communion with a glorious God, and fellowship with a precious Christ! As he grows in grace, Christ is exalted — and Self is abased!