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Sunday, October 08, 2017

Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp, 69

In a previous excerpt, Knapp stated that there are four features of "impressions" from God. These are Scriptural; Right (consistent with good morals); Providential (in harmony with God's will); and Reasonable. His discussion of the result of living by "Convictions from Above," according to Christ's example, continues:
It is a part of God's plan that every resurrection and Pentecost shall be preceded by a Gethsemane and Calvary. The Holy Spirit fully followed will sustain in the conflict, and lead to the crown. In stead of being surprised at opposition in the path of duty, it should be remembered that our "Perfect Model" met it, and that, like Him, we are to expect, meet and conquer it.

Jesus was Patient. His patience must have been sorely tried by the stupidity, rashness and carnality of His followers, by the treachery of Judas, by the inconveniences that were inseparable from His homeless life, by the weariness and weakness that came from exposure, hunger, fasting and toilsome journeys from place to place; yet not one impatient word ever fell from His lips.

Jesus Proclaimed the Plain Truth. He insisted on the necessity of repentance and of the new birth; emphasized man's accountability, the judgment and the reality of heaven, and the awfulness and duration of the doom of the damned.

He Preached Against the Popular Sins of His Day. Neither the priesthood nor common people who were living in public or private sin escaped His denunciations. His lightning leaped upon hypocritical ecclesiastics with gleeful fury. Like their brethren today, who love the praise of men more than the praise of God, and seek more earnestly the honors of earth than the gift of the Holy Ghost, they doubtless dubbed Him a "scolding pessimist," and followed their own ways instead of His truth.


Excerpted from Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp. Original publication date, 1892. Public domain. My source is here. The previous post in the series is here.

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