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Sunday, October 15, 2017

Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp, 70

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:
Jesus was Possessed of Deep, Filial Affection. This was manifested in the provision He made for His precious mother at the crucifixion. All, who like Him are led and indwelt by the Spirit, will, like Him, love their kindred. His gospel turns the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents. I know of a woman who was once a loving, dutiful daughter. She gave up the gospel for the "mind cure" craze, and it froze up her affections for her saintly mother so that she treats her cruelly. A system which does this has not Jesus for its author. Union with Him expels every false affection, but intensifies every lawful love.

Jesus Lived a Life of Prayer. He taught that prayer was the key with which man unlocks the bank of divine blessings. By His example He shows us how to use it. Praying earnestly, persistently, and with pure motives, He always prevailed. Alone in the Garden of Gethsemane, and sometimes all night long on the damp mountain side, Jesus communed and interceded with the Father. One proof of His humanity is that He needed thus to pray. If He had been only Divine, with no humanity, it would not have been so. If Jesus must needs thus pray in order to fulfill His mission, much more must we. All whose lives are molded by convictions from above will, like Him, be possessed of a spirit which "prays without ceasing," and will be led to be much alone with God in prayer.

Jesus was Fearless. Bravest of earth's heroes, He faced danger in every form, and never fled for fear. Before His "time was come" He sometimes wisely evaded an issue which would have been profitless, as when His fellow-townsmen sought His life at the close of His first public address at Nazareth; but on such occasions it was for prudential reasons, and not for lack of courage that He fled. He met the treachery and infidelity of professed friends and the secret conspiracies of His open foes with the same spirit of fortitude. The heroism He manifested in the calm courage with which He met Judas and his murderous band is not surpassed in the annals of history. He was not excited, but calm and self-possessed. He knew that His life was sought. He knew that it would be taken. He had power to defeat the murderous conspiracy and destroy all who were engaged in it, yet He forbore to use it, and in the livid glare of the torch-lights which seemed to dance with fiendish glee over the triumph of wrong, He faced His foes with a majesty that struck them to the earth. He marched as self-possessed to His trial as a king to his throne. It was towards His throne in the affections of ransomed millions. The perfect love, which casts out fear, and which is a part of His legacy to all who serve Him, was enthroned within, and made Him brave to face all perils, only that He might accomplish His mission from the skies and redeem a loved but apostate race. When that love in its purity and perfection sways His followers, they, like Him, are brave to breast all storms, and are entered on the list of the HEROES of THE UNIVERSE, of whom He is the honored Leader.


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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