Before I realized it, my desire had set me among the royal chariots of my people.Without realizing it, my desire set me with my royal people’s chariots.Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib.Before I was aware, my soul set me Among the chariots of my princely people.
4 sermons cite this verse
Then our Lord next proceeded to reveal Himself. Being present—which He might have been, you know, and yet they might not have known Him—He now went to reveal Himself and make them see Him. This is what He did. "Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I, Myself; handle Me and see, for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see I have." Then He proves His kinship with earth, His real Manhood, for He took a piece of broiled fish and of a honeycomb, and did eat before them all. Now even so will He do tonight. If He were here tonight, it were no use to you if these scales were upon your eyes—He will take them off! Those harder scales on an earthbound heart, He will take them off. Oh, I have been amazed, my Brothers and Sisters, I bear witness I have sometimes been amazed when the Lord has taken away the stone out of my heart, to feel my own sudden tenderness! I have even sat at that Table, sometimes, and dealt out the bread and wine to you, and longed to be but a dog beneath the table, to eat but a crumb that fell from it—and all of a sudden I have felt His nearness and rejoiced with unspeakable joy! And oftentimes in preaching, when my spirit has felt like a frozen brook, His Grace has thawed my heart! Is not this what the Spouse meant when she said, "Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Ammi-nadib"? Now it is the Presence of Christ that quickens us. Let the prayer be put by each one, "Quicken You me, O Lord, according to Your Word. Yourself, the Word, draw near to me and I shall be quick to perceive You, to embrace You, to rejoice in You this night." …
Charmed to obey the voice Divine." God, in this, preceded us with the blessings of goodness! He taught us to desire when we neither willed nor ran, and so fulfilled the text, "it is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy." Then, besides this, God also precedes us in endeavor. Brothers and Sisters, you and I have been endeavoring to grow in Grace and, notwithstanding the little progress we have made, yet, on the whole, God has given us a great deal more than our exertions might have led us to expect. When I look on the little zeal which some of us exhibit in private prayer and upon the little diligence which some of us have in studying the Word of God, it is amazing that we should have been enabled to have so much joy and to have so much knowledge of Divine things as we have! We have sown but little and reaped but little compared with what we might have done, but our harvest has been of infinitely greater value than the sowing might have led us to expect. Christian, you are now more advanced in the Divine Life than you might have been, or would have been on the mere ground of your own exertions! You have not advanced far because you have strived with but little earnestness, but you have had a far greater result than you might have expected. Sometimes I have found in my own soul that I have longed to have communion with Christ. I have thought that if I could but get a whisper from Him, I would be content—and before I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib! I heard no whisper fall on my outward ears, but His voice to my soul was clear and sweet! I had no vision of Christ granted to my bodily eyes, but before my faith, there stood my Beloved near to me and my heart was charmed by His Presence long before I thought I could ever reach such a state! Christ came and seconded my endeavors, no, carried me far beyond all my endeavors! When, on the other hand, I lay like a dull, dead log, and my spirit seemed unable to move, suddenly the wheels of my soul began to whirl until the axles grew hot with speed! …
I want you to clearly understand that as the Holy Spirit rested upon Christ, so He rests upon all who are in Christ. Indeed, when the Spirit rested upon Christ, He rested upon the whole Church that was represented by Christ. You remember that David says the unity of brethren is "like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments." So the anointing that Christ received from the Holy Spirit ran down to the very lowest, least and last of the members of that Church of which He is the Head! When the Holy Spirit descended from Heaven like a dove and lighted upon Christ, that descent was intended to teach us several lessons which we will now try to learn. Consider, first, the swiftness of that descent. The heavens were opened—there was no delay, but swiftly as a flash of lightning the Spirit descended and lighted upon Christ. Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, do you feel dull and heavy tonight? Are you depressed in spirit? There is no reason why, within the next second, you should not be in quite a heavenly frame of mind, for the Spirit of God can descend upon you like a dove and immediately you shall be lifted up out of your dullness and despondency! The Spirit needs no time in which to work. The motions of matter are necessarily tardy—matter can only move at a certain rate and there are many things that slow it down. But as you know, the motion of mind is far more rapid—your thoughts can fly to America and back again more swiftly than I can describe their flight! In a flash your mind can be soaring away up among the stars millions and millions and millions of miles away! Now, the mind of the Spirit is the highest order of mind, for He is Divine and, therefore, His motions are swift as light—no, they are incomparably swifter than that! He descended like a dove in order to set forth the rapidity of His flight. You remember that expression in the Song of Solomon, "Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib." So is it when the Spirit comes to us—our soul is, as it were, borne along in a swiftly-driven chariot! It does not take the Holy Spirit an hour to convert a soul. The vital spark that regenerates a soul is kindled in an instant! Instantaneous conversion is not the exception, it is the rule—there cannot be any conversion but that which is instantaneous! The growth, the development of the work of Grace in the heart and life is gradual, but there is a moment in which the soul passes from death unto life, from slavery to liberty, from sin to righ- …
But someone objects, "I am so unworthy of Christ. I can understand eminent saints and beloved disciples being greatly indulged, but I am a worm and not a man, utterly below such condescension!" Say you so? Know you not that the worthiness of Christ covers your unworthiness and He is made of God unto you wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption? In Christ, the Father thinks not so meanly of you as you think of yourself! You are not worthy to be called His child, but He does call you so and reckons you to be among His jewels! Listen, and you shall hear Him say, "Since you were precious in My sight, you have been honorable, and I have loved you. I gave Egypt for your ransom; Ethiopia and Seba for you." Thus, there remains nothing which Jesus cannot leap over if He resolves to come to you and reestablish your broken fellowship! To conclude, our Lord can do all this IMMEDIATELY. As in the twinkling of an eye the dead shall be raised incorruptible, so in a moment can our dead affections rise to fullness of delight! He can stay to this mountain, "Be you removed and be you cast into the midst of the sea," and it shall be done. In the sacred emblems now upon this Supper Table Jesus is already among us. Faith cries, "He has come!" Like John the Baptist she gazes intently on Him and cries, "Behold the Lamb of God!" At this Table Jesus feeds us with His body and blood. His corporeal Presence we have not, but His real spiritual'Presence we perceive. We are like the disciples when none of them dared ask Him, "Who are You?" knowing that it was the Lord. He is come! He looks forth at these windows—I mean this bread and wine—showing Himself through the lattices of this instructive and endearing ordinance. He speaks. He says, "The winter is past, the rain is over and gone." And so it is. We feel it to be so—a heavenly spring-tide warms our frozen hearts. Like the spouse, we wonderingly cry, "Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib." Now in happy fellowship we see the Beloved and hear His voice! Our heart burns! Our affections glow! We are happy, restful, brimming over with delight! The King has brought us into His banqueting house and His banner over us is love. It is good to be here! …