I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.
Taking the cup of salvation and calling on the name of the Lord is the grateful answer to all His benefits, received with thanksgiving and praise to His name. The cup is the salvation the Lord offers in the crucified and risen Saviour, heaven's only means of rescue, given by pouring out all heaven in His only-begotten Son for hopeless sinners. Christ drank in their place the bitter cup their sins had prepared, to make a way of escape from hopeless misery and raise them to His kingdom. This receiving belongs with paying vows publicly in the presence of His people, with thank-offerings to the God who delivers from death, and with praising His mighty acts and making His deeds known. Taking it brings pardon and peace, cleansing from sin and hope of life with Him, and means refusing doubt and discouragement to keep the mind on His love and promises in faith working by love.
Thankful Response to Benefits
Taking the cup of salvation and calling on the name of the Lord is the grateful answer to the question what can be rendered for all His benefits, received with thanksgiving and with praise to His holy name. That receiving of salvation and calling upon Him belong together as the thankful response, joined to making His deeds known and praising Him. Remembering personal blessings and His goodness strengthens faith to seek and receive still more of His gifts, and encourages personal testimony of His grace.
This response belongs with paying vows to Him in the presence of His people, in public commitment before them. With it go offerings of thanksgiving to the God who delivers the soul from death and keeps the feet from falling. He draws near to the thankful receiver and gives peaceful, restful nights.
It is linked with praising Him for His mighty acts and making His works known. The redeemed soul rejoices in song and speaks of His righteousness in connection with receiving this salvation. The people who take this cup will praise Him and declare His deeds.
As one whose bonds are loosed, the saved person serves as His freed servant and constantly asks what to render for infinite love and mercy. That question is answered by giving God the first place in the affections and offering Him gifts in gratitude.
Salvation Cup Through Christ
The cup is the salvation the Lord Himself offers, and to take it is to receive the crucified and risen Saviour, heaven's only means of rescue for humanity. Receiving it is no condescension but the highest exaltation God can give. Those who have tasted the powers of the world to come understand its value.
Christ drank in sinners' place the bitter cup their sins had prepared, draining it so that a way of escape from hopeless misery is opened and they may be raised to His kingdom at His right hand. God provided this salvation for hopeless sinners by giving His only-begotten Son to bear the sins of the world. He has poured out all heaven in that one rich gift and will withhold no needed aid so that man can take salvation, and those who take it become heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.
Jesus presents this cup through His merits, and it brings pardon and peace, cleansing from sin, and the hope of life with Him in heaven. Trust in these blessings drives away despair and doubt. Jesus Himself gives the suffering believer to drink of His salvation, and His presence brings the peace He always brings. That peace makes the heart cheerful in God even after a night of much suffering from nervousness, and gives peaceful, restful nights.
One united with Christ derives nourishment from Him to bear much fruit by faith working by love in humble, earnest, implicit trust. Looking to Christ, he is strengthened and uplifted, changed into the same image and same spirit. With all sullenness and gloom gone, his experience becomes clear as sunlight, filled with joy and gladness in the consciousness that Jesus loves him and reflecting the divine image.
Taking the cup means refusing anguish of spirit and fixation on the thorns and thistles of experience, on doubt and discouragement. Instead it means going into the garden of God's Word to take its promises as lilies and roses and fragrant pinks, keeping the mind on the love and mercy and graciousness of God. It means beholding Jesus the Lamb who takes away sin, talking faith and acting faith and cultivating faith that works by love and purifies the soul. It means turning from things seen and temporal to things unseen and eternal, so that weakness and discouragement have no occasion to sink the soul and joy is brought into experience through being changed into His image.
Taking and bearing the cup means carrying it to others through sanctifying truth, not merely speaking readily on controverted subjects. Those who bear it have hearts molded after the divine likeness and filled with the spirit of Christ. Holding earnestly to God in a prayerful life mingled with persevering faith, this will make its way among gross ignorance and cut through seeming impossibilities.
Taking the cup of salvation and calling on the name of the Lord is the grateful answer to all His benefits, received with thanksgiving and praise to His name. The cup is the salvation the Lord offers in the crucified and risen Saviour, heaven's only means of rescue, given by pouring out all heaven in His only-begotten Son for hopeless sinners. Christ drank in their place the bitter cup their sins had prepared, to make a way of escape from hopeless misery and raise them to His kingdom. This receiving belongs with paying vows publicly in the presence of His people, with thank-offerings to the God who delivers from death, and with praising His mighty acts and making His deeds known. Taking it brings pardon and peace, cleansing from sin and hope of life with Him, and means refusing doubt and discouragement to keep the mind on His love and promises in faith working by love.
Thankful Response to Benefits
Taking the cup of salvation and calling on the name of the Lord is the grateful answer to the question what can be rendered for all His benefits, received with thanksgiving and with praise to His holy name. That receiving of salvation and calling upon Him belong together as the thankful response, joined to making His deeds known and praising Him. Remembering personal blessings and His goodness strengthens faith to seek and receive still more of His gifts, and encourages personal testimony of His grace.
This response belongs with paying vows to Him in the presence of His people, in public commitment before them. With it go offerings of thanksgiving to the God who delivers the soul from death and keeps the feet from falling. He draws near to the thankful receiver and gives peaceful, restful nights.
It is linked with praising Him for His mighty acts and making His works known. The redeemed soul rejoices in song and speaks of His righteousness in connection with receiving this salvation. The people who take this cup will praise Him and declare His deeds.
As one whose bonds are loosed, the saved person serves as His freed servant and constantly asks what to render for infinite love and mercy. That question is answered by giving God the first place in the affections and offering Him gifts in gratitude.
Salvation Cup Through Christ
The cup is the salvation the Lord Himself offers, and to take it is to receive the crucified and risen Saviour, heaven's only means of rescue for humanity. Receiving it is no condescension but the highest exaltation God can give. Those who have tasted the powers of the world to come understand its value.
Christ drank in sinners' place the bitter cup their sins had prepared, draining it so that a way of escape from hopeless misery is opened and they may be raised to His kingdom at His right hand. God provided this salvation for hopeless sinners by giving His only-begotten Son to bear the sins of the world. He has poured out all heaven in that one rich gift and will withhold no needed aid so that man can take salvation, and those who take it become heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.
Jesus presents this cup through His merits, and it brings pardon and peace, cleansing from sin, and the hope of life with Him in heaven. Trust in these blessings drives away despair and doubt. Jesus Himself gives the suffering believer to drink of His salvation, and His presence brings the peace He always brings. That peace makes the heart cheerful in God even after a night of much suffering from nervousness, and gives peaceful, restful nights.
One united with Christ derives nourishment from Him to bear much fruit by faith working by love in humble, earnest, implicit trust. Looking to Christ, he is strengthened and uplifted, changed into the same image and same spirit. With all sullenness and gloom gone, his experience becomes clear as sunlight, filled with joy and gladness in the consciousness that Jesus loves him and reflecting the divine image.
Taking the cup means refusing anguish of spirit and fixation on the thorns and thistles of experience, on doubt and discouragement. Instead it means going into the garden of God's Word to take its promises as lilies and roses and fragrant pinks, keeping the mind on the love and mercy and graciousness of God. It means beholding Jesus the Lamb who takes away sin, talking faith and acting faith and cultivating faith that works by love and purifies the soul. It means turning from things seen and temporal to things unseen and eternal, so that weakness and discouragement have no occasion to sink the soul and joy is brought into experience through being changed into His image.
Taking and bearing the cup means carrying it to others through sanctifying truth, not merely speaking readily on controverted subjects. Those who bear it have hearts molded after the divine likeness and filled with the spirit of Christ. Holding earnestly to God in a prayerful life mingled with persevering faith, this will make its way among gross ignorance and cut through seeming impossibilities.