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November 11 Daily Devotional

CIV: The Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Abraham Kuyper

Bible Reading:

2 Corinthians 13:14:

14The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

Devotional:

The apostle from whose hand the richest epistolary legacy has come to us was in the habit of beginning and ending his epistles with a benediction-prayer.

The benediction-prayer with which he began was almost always: "Grace be with you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ;" and the prayer with which he ended mostly read: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all."

Only by way of exception Paul departed from this custom at the end of his Second Epistle to the Corinthians, where he expanded his prayer, and said: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with you all." A closing prayer which is particularly noteworthy, because the Church of Christ has used it almost everywhere as the Apostolic benediction at the close of public worship. Millions and millions of times these sacred words, so rich of content and so tender of import, have been repeated, after Paul's departure, and for the most part it is still under the influence of these words that congregations of believers from the place of prayer turn homeward.

In this habit of Paul, of beginning and ending his epistles with such a benediction-prayer, one can see the aftermath of the manner of the East, and on this ground see nothing in it but a phrase, nothing but a formula of politeness, which, as such, is devoid of all spiritual significance, at least for us. But is not this superficial?

The people of the East had from of old, and still have to this day, the habit in meeting and taking leave of one another, of using fairly lengthy formulas of greeting and valediction; and it is true that this greeting and this valediction mostly consist of wishes for blessing from above.

But how can it follow from this that such an expression of desire could merely be an empty phrase? And is not this practice the same all through Scripture? Did not the Lord Himself after His resurrection appear to His disciples with the benediction-prayer: "Peace be unto you!" And, again, is it not by constant use in apostolic writings that this ancient custom has been adopted as a real integral part in mutual Christian fellowship? Adopted not merely in the Church of the East, but transferred to the Church of the West, and there consecrated by the custom of almost twenty centuries?

And if, moreover, as for instance in Jacob's blessings of his sons, even prophetic revelation has employed this benediction-prayer to throw light upon the future, is it then not superficial and thoughtless, to see in such an expression of desire for God's blessings nothing but words and sounds, and to empty it of all real significance?

Over against the blessing stands the curse, and to the curse also in Scripture cleaves such serious significance.

Not to every curse. Not to the curse of hatred and anger. Not to base-hearted meanness, which employs the curse as a poisonous weapon wherewith to wound. But truly to the curse of him who is justified in its use, to the curse of a father, of a mother, of him who is clothed with spiritual authority.

Then such a curse was valid as spoken under supreme responsibility, under inspiration from Above, and such a curse was fulfilled.

And where over against this curse there stood an equally sharply defined address of blessing, and this address of blessing likewise borrowed its words and significance from the person, the place, and the occasion through which and under which it took place, it is evident that in this most noteworthy phenomenon of blessing and curse there lies concealed a spiritual avowal, for which in our Western lands and in our unspiritual times the sense and the receptivity have all too far been lost.

Of the curse there is almost nothing more left among us than the blasphemous language of profane persons who abuse the holy name of the Lord by using it as an expletive and in the outpouring of wrath; and of the benediction-prayer little else remains but the good wishes at the entrance of a new year, at a birthday or at a wedding.

Just in this mighty difference between a wish and the ancient address of blessing the weakened and abated character-trait of our utterance of life depicts itself.

Even upon the death-bed, little more is heard of such a blessing of one's children. The only thing that is now noticed at a death-bed is, whether one passed away quietly and calmly, without any perceptible death struggle.

In most cases nothing more is heard.

Yet in spite of all this, the Churchly usage has been maintained, and the congregation of believers comes together under the holy salutation, and turns homeward under the address of the blessing of the Lord. For this closing benediction the congregation even kneels, or stands with head reverently bowed, and in all seriousness listens to the words of this address of blessing, closing with the word: Amen.

This is highly encouraging, and the minister of the Word does well to heighten this last act of dismissal by restful calm and stateliness of tone.

The preceding use of the words: "And now, receive the blessing of the Lord," is an introduction that tunes the heart, and anoints and uplifts.

What expresses itself in salutation and in final benediction but the glorious sense that the Church of the living God stands in living contact with a higher order of things than this world offers, and with Him Who in this higher order of things has established His Throne?

He who stands in the faith knows that he lives in a twofold world. In the common world togetherwith unbelievers; and in that higher world together with the saints around God's Throne, with the good angels, with his Saviour and King, and in his Christ with his Father and his God.

These two worlds are dove-tailed one with the other. From the higher order grace, peace and life, power and mightiness, have come down into this visible world, have attached themselves, and now in Christian lands cleave to all sorts of Christian ordinances and usages. But the real, the actual merging of these two spheres only takes place in believers, who, while they live in this visible world, carry the higher world in their heart; the latter expressing itself in their fellowship with the Holy Ghost.

And as often as this preponderance of holiness in believers comes to clear expression through the word, there is the holy salutation, and presently, at parting the address of blessing.

But thereby arises in our life a two-fold sphere. The one sphere of the unbelieving world, the other the sphere that is breathed in from the higher order of things.

You feel this at once, from the difference in your sensation as you find yourself in the company of God's children or in the company of the children of the world. In both circles, in both spheres, a different tone prevails, a different language, a different love. Among the children of the world the flower of your inner life inclines to close itself up; among the children of God this calyx opens of itself.

This gives you no cause to withdraw yourself from the visible world. On the contrary, in it God has given you your calling, your work. You should even be on your guard not to lift yourself up in spiritual pride before the children of the world. What better were you than they, and what is your higher life more than pure grace? Indeed, you should never forget your calling to give yourself like your Saviour, to this world, to minister unto it, to bless it with your love and to influence it for good.

But the salvation of your spiritual life is and remains, that you continue to feel deeply and keenly the antithesis between the world and the higher order of things, and continuously cherish, strengthen and feed your fellowship with that higher order of things, removing everything out of the way that might hinder or weaken your fellowship with it.

This does not come to you from yourself, nor from your brothers, but only from God.

What maintains your vital relation with that higher world is exclusively the grace of Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost.

And therefore it is, that as often as the congregation comes together, the minister of the Word salutes it with the promise of this, and at parting dismisses it with the same, in the name of the Lord.

To be near unto God is the strength of the life of all believers. This alone; nothing else. He who wanders away from his God, and estranges himself from Him, weakens himself, spoils his inner life and becomes absorbed again in the world. On the other hand, he who remains with God and lives in His hidden walk, drinks in anew every morning the powers of the kingdom, thrives in spiritual things, and is breathed in upon from on High.

And now, this salutation with blessing and that parting with blessing is always the repeated assurance of the Triune God, that His grace, His love and His fellowship shall continue to incline itself towards you; that He wills to be near unto you in order that you may be near unto Him; and that it is your sin alone that makes you lack this blessed fellowship.

* * * * * * *

This devotional classic offers 110 meditations on a single thought from Psalm 73: "As for me, it is good to be near to God." The author states, "The fellowship of being near unto God must become reality ... it must permeate and give color to our feeling, our perceptions, our sensations, our thinking, our imagining, our willing, our acting, our speaking. It must not stand as a foreign factor in our life, but it must be the passion that breathes throughout our whole existence."

The meditations reflect the blending of spiritual vigor with doctrinal loyalty so consistently expressed in the life of Abraham Kuyper. These are devotions with true substance, avoiding the extremes about which Kuyper adds a word of caution: "Stress in creedal confession, without drinking from the Living Fountain, runs dry in barren orthodoxy, just as truly as spiritual emotion, without clearness in confessional standards, makes one sink in the bog of sickly mysticism."

Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920) was a Dutch political leader and Calvinist theologian. Elected to parliament in 1874, he became Prime Minister in 1901 and served in that capacity until 1905. As a theologian, he revived a systematic, orthodox Calvinism. He founded the Free Reformed Church and the Free University of Amsterdam. His other works include Principles of Sacred Theology, Lectures on Calvinism, and The Work of the Holy Spirit

Further information about Abraham Kuyper's life can be seen in the translator's "Biographical Note"; further information about To Be Near Unto God can be Abraham Kuyper's "Preface" to that book.

 

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