The following HIGHLIGHTS precede the 8 minute J. C. Philpot devotional:
Ezekiel 21:27 [ESV2011]
A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it. This also shall not be, until he comes, the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to him.
- Jesus wants our hearts and affections; therefore, every idol must go down sooner or later because these draw away the soul’s affections from Christ
- Self says, I will have a part, it wants to be honored, admired, esteemed, bowed down to; it wants to indulge itself and gratify its desires; to erect its throne in opposition to the Lord
- Jesus will not permit that; therefore, self must fall down before Christ in whatever guise it wears
- If we are continually building up self, then Jesus will be continually over throwing self
- If we are setting up our idols, He shall be casting them down
- If we think highly of our knowledge, then we must be reduced to total folly
- If we are confident of our strength, then we must be reduced to utter weakness…
- That we might stand weak before God, unable to lift a finger to deliver our souls from going down into the pit
- The lesson: Christ must be all in all
- This is taught via painful soul experience
- Every soul that longs after a manifestation of Christ…will know an utter overthrow of self
- That every plan that is not for God’s glory will be frustrated
- Are there not times when you desire that self be usurped by the Lord?
- But Oh the struggle…when our plans are frustrated and our self is cast down; when God answers such prayers; when He brings the rebellious temple of self to ruin that He might reign in the heart
- Should we then call Him cruel?
- When He reduces our self-righteousness to a heap of rubbish that we might embrace Christ as our all-in-all
- Should we then call Him cruel?
- Oh Lord, make us willing to be nothing, that upon that heap of the ruined self, the glory and beauty and preciousness of Christ may be exalted
Other similar posts in this blog can be found in the following Categories: Beatitude Life and True Kingdom Citizen, both are about the beatitudes, one is narrative and one sermon excerpts (the initial posts on poverty of spirit and mourning sin are very similar to this devotional, but much deeper).
The following link is to the J. C. Philpot devotionals at Christian Sermons and Audiobooks:
https://www.youtube.com/c/stack45ny/search?query=devotionals%20by%20j%20c%20philpot
Christian Sermons and Audiobooks has a large video collection of classic hymns, contemporary Praise and Worship songs, and the works (audio books, devotional readings, and sermons) of men greatly used of God, such as: Charles Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards, A.W. Tozer, A.W. Pink, John Owen, Oswald Chambers, Andrew Murray, E.M. Bounds, John Bunyan, George Whitefield, and many more, covering topics on many aspects of the Christian life. May your time spent here be blessed.
I highly recommend that readers subscribe to CS&A because they are a source of biblical teaching; such teachers and preachers are very rare today.