Small Vessels and a Great Fountain

“Our co7mmmio7i with Christ is not iiow full. There is a defect both in the pipe and in the vessel; ive caufiot contain all that he is able to give out, Jtor can the 7neans convey it all to 7ts, The 77iea7is are as 7iarrow conduits fro77t the fou7itain, or as creeks fro77i the sea. The foimtain could se7id forth 77iore water but the pipe or co7idiiit ca7i co7ivey 710 Yet the means of grace could convey much more than we are usually ready to receive, and Dr. Manton must not blame the pipe so much as the poor, cracked earthen vessel, so narrow at the mouth, and so stinted in every direction. Ministries and ordinances would be far more profitable if we were prepared to be profited. At the same time, if we dwell where outward privileges are scanty, we need not therefore be famished. Our Lord can pour his grace into us altogether apart from the means: we are not straitened in him — the straitness is in ourselves alone. We are shallow and narrow creeks, and how can the great sea of divine love pour its fulness into us? O Lord, enlarge our hearts till we shall be “filled with all the fulness of God.”