Our Souls Married to Christ

Reflections on Isaac Ambrose in his book, Looking Unto Jesus:

“Worldly honour keeps many back from Christ. But why must we look off [look away from] everything that diverts our looking unto Jesus?” (Ambrose).

As I ponder this I’m reminded that Jesus says (Mark 4:18 – 19), “And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”

John writes concerning those in positions of power (John 12:42 – 43), “Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.”

We have a fundamental choice to make, and by the grace of God we will make it in favor of Jesus Christ. Peer pressure is great. The fear of man can be paralyzing, if we do not seek the grace of Christ, if we do not submit to Christ, if we do not, by His grace, obey the Word of Christ. We can live in the prison of peer pressure, of pleasure, of temporal safety – or we can live as captives of Jesus Christ. Captivity to Christ is a greater freedom than the freest of the free outside of Christ – for the freest of the free outside of Christ is a prisoner of himself, while those who are captive to Christ have eternal and vibrant freedom in Him.

“Because whilst we look on these things, we cannot see the beauty that is in Christ.” (Ambrose).

This is such a fundamental principle that I don’t understand why we don’t understand it. If our eye is single our body will be filled with light (Matthew 6:22).

“Because all other things, in comparison of Christ, are not worthy a look... "I count all things but loss,” saith St. Paul, “For the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord – I count them but dung that I may win Christ.” (Ambrose).

Shouldn’t we live on earth as we will live in heaven? Shouldn’t we desire and yearn for greater dimensions in our relationship with Jesus Christ? Deeper love? Higher delight? Greater wonder? (Ephesians 3:14 – 21).

“Because it is according to the very law of marriage: “Therefore shall a man leave father and mother, and cleave unto his wife.” The Lord Christ marries himself to the souls of his saints; and for this cause the soul must forsake all, and cleave unto Christ. [Italics mine]. (Ambrose).

“Because Christ is a jealous God. Now jealousy is a passion in the soul, that will not endure any sharing in the object beloved.” (Ambrose).

Paul writes (2 Corinthians 11:2 – 3), “For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.”

Do we live as if our souls are married to Christ? Or are we promiscuous in our affections? Do we put our wedding rings to Christ on for an hour or two on Sunday, and take them off as we leave our weekly gatherings? Do those who watch us, who live with us, who work with us, know by our words and actions and decisions that we are married to Jesus Christ, that we are devoted to Him, that we love Him with all that we have and all that we are?

What about our churches?

“Because all other things can never satisfy the eye. “All things are full of labour,” saith Solomon, “man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing”: it is but wearied with looking on divers objects, and yet still desires new ones; but once admit it to that glorious sight of Christ, and then it rests fully satisfied.” (Ambrose).

We live in a culture of seduction. We are seduced into thinking that Christ is not enough for us. We are seduced into thinking that our churches must reflect the world in order to attract the world. We are seduced into watering-down the Gospel. We are seduced into thinking that God will lower the glory of His holiness to accommodate our hedonism. We are seduced to believe that “just a little bit more” of this world will be enough to satisfy us.

O Lord Jesus, by Your grace, teach us to see You, desire You, pant after You as the deer pants for the water brooks, to be faithful to You, to live our lives looking unto You and only unto You.

May we live as those whose souls are married to Jesus Christ.

The Bride or the Whore?

From Isaac Ambrose in his book, Looking Unto Jesus:

“Just so much as the world prevails in us, so much is God’s love abated both in us and towards us. ‘Ye adulterers and adulteresses,’ saith St. James, ‘know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?’ When we have [had] enough of God and Christ, and yet desire to make up our happiness in the creature [the things of fallen humanity, the things of this age which is passing away], this is plain spiritual whoredom.

“We must look off [away from] the world in respect of its honours. What is this desire to be well thought of, or well spoken of? As if a man should run up and down after a feather flying in the air. It is a question whether ever he get it; but if he do, it is but a feather: such is honour, it is hard to obtain it, but, if obtained, it is but the breath of a few men’s mouths but what is worst of all, it hinders our sight of Christ.”

The language and syntax may be archaic, but the truth of what Isaac Ambrose writes remains with us today. Jesus teaches us that we cannot serve two masters, and that if our eye is single that our entire body [being] will be full of light. Paul teaches that we are to fix our minds on that which is above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God.

(I think the idea that God’s love towards us is “abated” is perhaps problematic. Is the shepherd’s love for the lost sheep abated? Does the shepherd not leave the ninety-nine sheep and go after the one lost sheep? As for whether God’s love “in us” is also abated, as Ambrose writes above, I’m not certain what he means by “in us”. If Ambrose means God’s love expressed in us and through us towards Him in worship and obedience, and through us to others, then he is right – the spirit of this age cannot worship Him nor can it truly love others).

Over the past year I’ve been downsizing; included in the downsizing are awards and mementos of recognition I received during my business career in the form of plaques and framed documents. I also had some issues of a publication that had articles I’d written, a speech I’d made, and photos of yours truly. While they meant a lot to me at the time, and while I hope I used my career as a platform to witness for Jesus and to help others – the fact is that that season of life has passed and were all of these things to be found in an attic by someone decades from now they would mean nothing. I’ve saved a future someone the trouble of disposing of these items by placing them in the trash can. Do not misunderstand, I am thankful for God’s blessing on my career, and I am thankful that I had positions where I could help people – but the platform I had was given to me by our Lord Jesus for His glory, not mine – and the lasting elements of my career will only be known in eternity, they will not be found in publications, on plaques, or written on framed certificates.

Perhaps Ambrose offends our religious sensibilities when he points out that when we look for fulfillment and meaning and satisfaction beyond our Lord Jesus; that when we say, “I’ve had quite enough of Jesus for the moment, let me put Jesus on hold and seek additional sources of fulfillment,” that we engage in “plain spiritual whoredom.” Should Isaac Ambrose offend us, how would we react to what God says through Ezekiel (Ez. Chapter 23)?

Jesus says, concerning His followers, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John 17:16). “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you” (John 15:18-19).

Is Jesus enough? Is He truly our Bread from heaven? Are we looking for more than Jesus when we gather on Sundays? Have we imported the world into our churches? Are we seeking the honor and approbation of the world? Am I? Are you?

In eternity we shall see the face of Jesus Christ, we will be in His Presence, and we will know the glory of the Trinity in such a fashion as is beyond our comprehension. Isaiah had a glimpse and taste of this glory when he saw, “…the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple,” (Isaiah 6:1).

In the Day when we see the fulness of Him (Christ) who fills all in all we will wonder how we could have ever desired anything other than Jesus Christ, anything in addition to Jesus Christ, any honor but the honor and glory that belong to Jesus alone. We will wonder (I speak with human speculation) how we could have been so foolish as to desire and value the approval of this world, which is passing away.

Should we not live now, as we shall live on that Great Day? Should we not be married to Jesus Christ now, as we shall be married to Him on that Great Day? Should we not speak of Him now, glorify Him now, as we shall do on that Great Day? Should we not see “plain spiritual whoredom” for what it is now, as we shall see it on that Great Day? Shall we be ashamed of Jesus on that Great Day? No! A thousand times No! Then why are we ashamed of Him now? If we will fall on our faces on that Great Day, then how can we resist falling on our faces now?

“But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life; and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” (Revelation 3:4 – 5).

“Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.” Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying,

“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.

Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

Then he *said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” And he *said to me, “These are true words of God.” (Revelation 19:6b – 9).

Looking Away and Looking Unto

From Isaac Ambrose in his book, Looking Unto Jesus:

“In the text [Hebrews 12:1 – 2] we have the act and object. The act in the original [Greek] is very emphatical, but the English doth not fully express it; it signifies a drawing of the eye from one object to another: there are two expressions; the one signifies a turning of the eye from all other objects; the other a fast fixing of the eye upon such an object, and only upon such. So it is both a looking off, and a looking on…This indeed is the glad tidings, the gospel, the gospel privilege, and our gospel duty –looking unto Jesus.”

Jesus tells us that if our eye is single that our whole body will be filled with light – surely our eye is to be centered on Him, surely He alone is to be the focus of our vision, the apple of our eye, the center of our heart’s desire.

And yet we seem to allow our vision to be drawn away from Him, allowing ourselves to substitute cheap imitations for Jesus Christ; we seem to insist that Jesus Christ is not enough, in and of Himself, to be our all in all.

And what of those who cling to Jesus? Those who love Jesus? Those who demonstrate no desire to know anything or anyone other than Jesus Christ as their Author and Finisher? We say that they are “simple”. We pity their backwardness. We shake our heads at their refusal to be more pragmatic and practical.

Perhaps I am mistaken, but I think it was Paul who wrote, “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”

Christ the Sun and Centre

Christ the Sun and Centre

This is from Looking Unto Jesus, by Isaac Ambrose (1604 – 20 January 1664, an English Puritan).

“Christ is the sun and centre of all divine and revealed truths; we can preach nothing else as the object of our faith, which doth not some way or other either meet in Christ, or refer to Christ. Only Christ is the whole of man’s happiness; the sun to enlighten him, the physician to heal him, the wall of fire to defend him, the friend to comfort him, the pearl to enrich him, the ark to support him, the rock to sustain him under the heaviest pressures; 

‘As a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, as rivers of waters in a dry place, and as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.’ 

Only Christ is that ladder between earth and heaven, the Mediator betwixt God and man; a mystery which the angels of heaven desire to pry into.”