It is a blessed thing to be with Christ while we are here. ‘I am ever with thee.’ What is it the pious soul desires in this life? Is it not to have the sweet presence of Christ? He cares for nothing but what hath something of Christ in it; he loves duties only as they [lead] to Christ: Why is prayer so sweet, but because the soul hath private conference with Christ? Why is the word precious but because it is a means to convey Christ? He comes down to us upon the wings of the Spirit, and we go up to him upon the wings of faith. An ordinance without Christ, is but feeding upon the dish instead of the meat. Why doth the wife love the letter, but because it brings news of her husband? Here we enjoy Christ by letters, and that is sweet; but what will it be to enjoy his presence in glory? Here is that which may amaze us, we shall be with Christ. Christ is all that is desirable: nay, he is more than we can desire. A man that is thirsty, he desires only a little water to quench his thirst; but bring him to the sea, and here he has more than he can desire. In Christ there is not only a fullness of sufficiency, but a fullness of redundancy; it overflows all the banks. A Christian that is most sublimated by faith, hath neither a head to devise, nor an heart to desire all that which is in Christ. Only when we come to heaven, God will enlarge the vessel of our desire, and will fill us as Christ did the water-pots with wine, ‘up to the brim.’

John Newton

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