Accepted

Having spoken on prayer on Sunday I find myself in the middle of the week already struggling to get down to praying properly...again. And as usual it's Satan's well worn trick of telling me that God doesn't love me because I'm too bad. What an encouragement to read Charles Spurgeon this morning talking about Ephesians 1v6. There the Apostle Paul tells us that we are accepted in Jesus, or accepted in the beloved as he puts it. Spurgeon then takes us on a tour of our own stupidity thinking that how we feel makes us more or less accepted by God.

"When their spirit is lively, and their hopes bright, they think God accepts them, for they feel so high, so heavenly-minded, so drawn above the earth! But when their souls cleave to the dust, they are the victims of the fear that they are no longer accepted. If they could but see that all their high joys do not exalt them, and all their low despondencies do not really depress them in their Father's sight, but that they stand accepted in One who never alters, in One who is always the beloved of God, always perfect, always without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, how much happier they would be, and how much more they would honour the Saviour! Rejoice then, believer, in this: thou art accepted "in the beloved." Thou lookest within, and thou sayest, "There is nothing acceptable here!" But look at Christ, and see if there is not everything acceptable there. Thy sins trouble thee; but God has cast thy sins behind His back, and thou art accepted in the Righteous One. Thou hast to fight with corruption, and to wrestle with temptation, but thou art already accepted in Him who has overcome the powers of evil. The devil tempts thee; be of good cheer, he cannot destroy thee, for thou art accepted in Him who has broken Satan's head."

If you have time and want to listen to the sermon then the link is below:


http://www.babc.org.uk/sermons/Ephesians%206v18-20.mp3