The Things of God

The true people of God love those things in Jesus Christ ,which are offensive to the natural corruption of the human heart ; such as his sovereignty and justice . To hypocritical professors , the sovereignty and justice  of God , in permitting his creatures to fall into sin , appear hateful ; because of any love they may have to Christ is wholly of an interested kind . They do not love him for what he is in himself ; and so,when his interest and theirs come into collision , they cannot endure that their own interest should give way to his . They think it unreasonable and cruel that creatures should be allowed to fall , and punished forever ; and that his glory should be displayed in their punishment .But those who have truly seen the glory of Christ , have a desire for the manifestation of it , even although it should be at the cost of the creature's happiness ; and in some cases the true people  of God will feel this so strongly , as that they will desire that his glory should be manifested , even although they themselves should be eternally shut out from him . They may be so transported as to lose sight of their own interest for the sake of His glory . There are different expressions in the Word of God , uttered by saints for this purpose ; such as the words of Moses in Exodus 32: 31-33. and those of the apostle paul in Romans 9:3.  When the sovereignty and justice of God are contemplated by those who are under the lively exercise of grace , these attributes will not be disputed nor contended against , but they will be complacently acquiesed in ; and sometimes this love to his sovereignty and justice appears , even in opposition to the strongest natural affection towards friends and relations in this world .  John Love

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