Charles Spurgeon
"Ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit."
Romans 8:23
Present
possession is declared. At this present moment we have the first fruits
of the Spirit. We have repentance, that gem of the first water; faith,
that priceless pearl; hope, the heavenly emerald; and love, the glorious
ruby. We are already made "new creatures in Christ Jesus," by the
effectual working of God the Holy Ghost.
This is called the firstfruit
because it comes first. As the wave-sheaf was the first of the harvest,
so the spiritual life, and all the graces which adorn that life, are the
first operations of the Spirit of God in our souls. The firstfruits
were the pledge of the harvest. As soon as the Israelite had plucked the
first handful of ripe ears, he looked forward with glad anticipation to
the time when the wain should creak beneath the sheaves.
So, brethren,
when God gives us things which are pure, lovely, and of good report, as
the work of the Holy Spirit, these are to us the prognostics of the
coming glory. The firstfruits were always holy to the Lord, and our new
nature, with all its powers, is a consecrated thing. The new life is not
ours that we should ascribe its excellence to our own merit; it is
Christ's image and creation, and is ordained for his glory.
But the
firstfruits were not the harvest, and the works of the Spirit in us at
this moment are not the consummation--the perfection is yet to come. We
must not boast that we have attained, and so reckon the wave-sheaf to be
all the produce of the year: we must hunger and thirst after
righteousness, and pant for the day of full redemption.
Dear reader,
this evening open your mouth wide, and God will fill it. Let the boon in
present possession excite in you a sacred avarice for more grace. Groan
within yourself for higher degrees of consecration, and your Lord will
grant them to you, for he is able to do exceeding abundantly above what
we ask or even think.
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