Spurgeon: August PM
* 08/16/PM
"Ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit."
--Romans 8:23
Present possession is declared. At this present moment we
have the first fruits of the Spirit. We have repentance, that
gem of the first water; faith, that priceless pearl; hope, the
heavenly emerald; and love, the glorious ruby. We are already
made "new creatures in Christ Jesus," by the effectual working
of God the Holy Ghost. This is called the firstfruit because it
comes first . As the wave-sheaf was the first of the harvest,
so the spiritual life, and all the graces which adorn that life,
are the first operations of the Spirit of God in our souls. The
firstfruits were the pledge of the harvest . As soon as the
Israelite had plucked the first handful of ripe ears, he looked
forward with glad anticipation to the time when the wain should
creak beneath the sheaves. So, brethren, when God gives us
things which are pure, lovely, and of good report, as the work
of the Holy Spirit, these are to us the prognostics of the
coming glory. The firstfruits were always holy to the Lord ,
and our new nature, with all its powers, is a consecrated thing.
The new life is not ours that we should ascribe its excellence
to our own merit; it is Christ's image and creation, and is
ordained for His glory. But the firstfruits were not the
harvest , and the works of the Spirit in us at this moment are
not the consummation--the perfection is yet to come. We must not
boast that we have attained, and so reckon the wave-sheaf to be
all the produce of the year: we must hunger and thirst after
righteousness, and pant for the day of full redemption. Dear
reader, this evening open your mouth wide, and God will fill it.
Let the boon in present possession excite in you a sacred
avarice for more grace. Groan within yourself for higher degrees
of consecration, and your Lord will grant them to you, for He is
able to do exceeding abundantly above what we ask or even think.