2 Timothy 4:22 The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen. All who desire the ministry, which Christ has established amongst them, to be useful, and wise, and successful, ought frequently to pray, "The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit." Nor is it less important in respect to their own individual piety, their growth in grace, and their preparation to go into eternity, that the Lord Jesus Christ be with their own spirits. This will appear: I. FROM A CONSIDERATION OF THE INQUIRY. In no other way, except by the presence of Jesus, can we arrive at a purifying and sanctifying knowledge of the Word of God. II. The importance of praying, the Lord Jesus be with our spirits, will be manifest FROM THE NECESSITY OF HIS PRESENCE IN OUR DEVOTIONS. This alone can cause our prayers to go up before God as a sweet savour. III. The importance of praying for the presence of Christ is manifest FROM ITS INFLUENCE ON OUR INTERCOURSE WITH THE IMPENITENT. Do we desire to set an example such as Christ set, and to have such an influence as He shed around Him, and to cause the mite of our moral power to fall into the current of that which our God, and the Lamb, and all the saints, have poured forth on an ungodly world? And shall we not desire that the Lord Jesus Christ would be with our spirits? IV. WHAT CAN WE DO IN OUR INTERCOURSE WITH THE CHURCH WITHOUT THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST? V. WHAT CAN WE DO IN SICKNESS WITHOUT THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST? Conclusion: 1. From the subject we learn the reason why so many are fluctuating in their religious characters. It is because the Lord Jesus Christ is not with their spirits. 2. The subject shows why there is so little effort for the salvation of the impenitent amongst us. It is because the Lord Jesus Christ is not enough with our spirits. 3. The subject explains some facts, which we have long witnessed but have not understood. (1) It explains why so many, who have named the name of Christ, do not appear to be Christians. (2) It explains why so many, who occasionally appear to be Christians, are generally without any evidence of piety — The Lord Jesus Christ is not with their spirit. (3) It explains why so many are changing their religious views and feelings, while they do not appear to wish to abandon religion itself — The Lord Jesus Christ is not with them. (4) It shows why the impenitent have so little respect for the Christian character amongst us — The Lord Jesus is not with us, as a Church. (5) It shows why, when so many persons in the Church and around it profess to be full of faith and love, there are few or none converted. (6) It shows what is necessary to a genuine revival of religion — That the Lord Jesus be with us. (7) It shows that all who are not labouring for one, seeking for one, and praying for one, are without Christ — He is not with them. (J. Foot, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. Amen. WEB: The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen. |
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