“We love the saints because we know where they are going” – Martyn Lloyd-Jones

“A Christian is a man who has a new test for everyone and everything. When he meets a person for the first time he does not look at his clothing, he does not look at his general external appearance. That is the carnal way of judging people. He does not ask himself, Where has he come from, what school has he attended, what is his bank balance? Those are no longer his questions or his tests. He is interested in one thing only now. Is he a child of God, is he my brother in Christ? Are we related?

A good story is told in connection with Philip Henry, the father of Matthew Henry the Commentator. He and a certain young lady had fallen in love with each other. She belonged to a ‘higher’ circle of society than he did, but the young lady had become a Christian, and therefore social standing no longer counted with her or constituted any kind of obstacle to their marriage. Her parents, however, were not pleased, and expostulating with her they said, ‘This man Philip Henry, where has he come from?’, to which she gave the immortal reply, ‘I don’t know where he has come from, but I know where he is going’. We love the saints because we know where they are going. They and we are marching together to Zion. We belong to the same Father, to the same household, to the same family; we are going to the same home and we know it. Some of us are very difficult and very trying, and very unworthy, but, thank God, because we are God’s children we are travelling together towards our heavenly home; and we know that the day will come when all our faults and blemishes and spots and wrinkles will disappear and we shall all be glorified and perfected together, enjoying the same glorious eternity.”

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, sermon ‘Tests of Christian Profession’; sermon text: Ephesians 1:15,16;
an Exposition of Ephesians, volume 1: God’s Ultimate Purpose

http://www.mlj-usa.com/mlj.nsf/(PRODUCTS-BYCODE-WEB)/MLJB.2720

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