Bulletin Edition #221 July 2014

My grace is sufficient for you

(J. C. Philpot, “Strength Made Perfect in Weakness”)

My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is
made perfect in your weakness.”  2 Corinthians 12:9

Not your strength,
not your wisdom,
not your prayers,
not your experience;
but “My grace”—My free, My matchless grace,
independent of all works and efforts, independent of
everything in the creature—flowing wholly and solely,
fully and freely, out of the bosom of Jesus to . . .
the needy,
the guilty,
the destitute,
the undone.
You who are tried in worldly circumstances,
who have to endure the hard lot of poverty
—”My grace is sufficient for you.”

You who are tempted, day by day, to say
or do that which conscience testifies against
—”My grace is sufficient for you.”

You who are harassed with family troubles
and afflictions, and are often drawn aside into
peevishness and fretfulness—”My grace is
sufficient for you.”

Our weakness, helplessness, and inability
are the very things which draw forth the power,
the strength, and the grace of Jesus!

Believer, your case is never beyond the reach
of the words—”My grace is sufficient for you!”

The free, the matchless, sovereign grace of God,
is sufficient for all His people—in whatever state,
or stage, or trouble, or difficulty they may be in!

My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is
made perfect in your weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

The Sufficiency of Grace

James Smith, 1842
“My grace is sufficient for you; for my strength is made perfect in weakness!” 2 Corinthians 12:9

The grace of Jesus fixed on a sinner — is the cause of all His communications to that sinner. He gives grace to us, because we have found favor in His eyes. He who has once realized the power, sweetness, and glory of divine grace, is always desirous of enjoying more of it. Grace has supplied all the needs of the Lord’s family in every age.

“What shall I do?” cries the distressed and bewildered soul. Do? Look to Jesus. He has a fullness of grace, and His grace is sufficient for you — sufficient to enable you to bear your afflictions with patience; to rejoice in the midst of the furnace; and to cry out, “In all these things I am more than a conqueror, through Him that loved me.”

Remember His marvelous works that He has done; His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth. He has ever been the strength of the poor, and the strength of the needy in his distress. His grace will . . .
pardon your sins;
rectify your mistakes;
control your enemies;
justify your person;
sanctify your soul, and
supply all your needs.

He is gracious. He has abundance of grace. He will give grace. Fear not, you may feel weak, unworthy, and question your right to the grace of Jesus; but remember, grace is always free. “Not for your sakes, do I this, O house of Israel — but for my holy name’s sake. I will not give my glory to another.” Jesus gets glory by . . .
relieving the poor,
befriending the unworthy,
filling the empty,
strengthening the weak, and
leading the lame to take the prey.

He asserts His right, “May I not do as I will with my own?” He displays His authority, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious.” He manifests His benevolence, “Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.” He gets glory, “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us — but unto your name give glory, for your mercy, and for your truth’s sake. Our God is in the heavens; he has done whatever He has pleased.”

The grace of Jesus is for whoever will; if you have a willing mind — then you are the very person for whom grace was treasured up in Jesus; and upon you it will be bestowed. This one scripture is enough to carry you safely through time, and to land you in eternal glory. It is for your consolation and salvation; claim it as God’s free gift; plead it as your warrant to expect a supply of every good thing; and trust it, with all possible confidence — for you cannot be deceived. You have a thorn in your flesh as Paul had — and you have the same promise from the same faithful God. The thorn and the promise go together in God’s dispensations; do not attempt to separate them; but go to the Lord as the Psalmist, “Remember the word unto your servant; upon which you have caused me to hope.”

I hear my Lord, my Savior say,
Strength shall be equal to your day;
Now I rejoice in deep distress,
Leaning on all sufficient grace.

I glory in infirmity,
That Christ’s own power may rest on me;
When I am weak, then I am strong,
Grace is my shield, and Christ my song.

I can do all things, or can bear
All sufferings, if my Lord be there;
Sweet pleasures mingle with the pains,
While His strong arm, my heart sustains.

—-

We need grace, free grace

(Philpot, “Precious Faith, with its Benefits and Blessings”)

“May grace and peace be multiplied unto you.”
2 Peter 1:2

When we see and feel how we need grace every
moment in our lives
, we at once perceive the beauty in
asking for an abundant, overflowing measure of grace.

We cannot walk the length of the street without sin.

Our carnal minds, our vain imaginations, are all on the
lookout for evil. Sin presents itself at every avenue, and
lurks like the prowling night-thief for every opportunity
of secret plunder. In fact, in ourselves, in our fallen nature,
except as restrained and influenced by grace, we sin with
well near every breath that we draw. We need, therefore,
grace upon grace, or, in the words of the text, grace to be
“multiplied” in proportion to our sins. Shall I say in
proportion? No! If sin abounds, as to our shame and sorrow
we know it does, we need grace to much more abound!

When the ‘tide of sin’ flows in with its muck and mire,
we need the ‘tide of grace’ to flow higher still, to carry
out the slime and filth into the depths of the ocean,
so that when sought for, they may be found no more.

We need grace, free grace . . .
grace today,
grace tomorrow,
grace this moment,
grace the next,
grace all the day long.

We need grace, free grace . . .
healing grace,
reviving grace,
restoring grace,
saving grace,
sanctifying grace.

And all this multiplied by all our . . .
wants and woes,
sins,
slips,
falls, and
unceasing and aggravated backslidings.

We need grace, free grace . . .
grace to believe,
grace to hope,
grace to love,
grace to fight,
grace to conquer,
grace to stand,
grace to live,
grace to die.

Every moment of our lives we need . . .
keeping grace,
supporting grace,
upholding grace,
withholding grace.

“May grace and peace be multiplied unto you.”
2 Peter 1:2

—-

Free Grace Tommy Robbins
“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” 1Co 2:12

“Free Grace” is a term we often use but I wonder how many understand its true meaning by experience. To really appreciate something it is of necessity we must experience it. To give an example; we may believe with all our being there is warmth by the fireside, yet if we remain bound outside in the subzero cold we will never experience and appreciate the warmth of the fire inside.

So it is with the grace of God. It is only those who have been brought by God’s omnipotent, sovereign, irresistible grace to Christ that bask in the enjoyment and comfort of the reality of the freeness of the same. There is nothing that we can do to merit or earn God’s wondrous favor of grace. Salvation is solely owning to the pleasure and purpose of God. God, constrained only by His everlasting love for His children, freely sent His blessed Son into the world. The Lord Jesus Christ, God’s dear Son, freely, gladly, joyfully, without reservation, suffered and gave His life a ransom for us. We had absolutely nothing to do with the great work of redemption.

What God did in Christ for His people, He did freely. Then, thanks be unto God, in His time He sent His Word by the power of His Holy Spirit and brought us to Christ. This He did freely, giving us life, revealing Himself to us in the experience of grace. Now, having experienced the grace of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, the believer’s life is an experience of free grace.

Some may conclude that I place too much emphasis upon experience. Judge my words however you must. I agree it is truth that we are not saved by experience. However, it is equally of a truth that where there is no experience there is no life. There is a vast difference of thoughts in our head and believing with our heart.

—-

ALL-SUFFICIENT GRACE

(John MacDuff, “The Faithful Promiser”)

“God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all sufficiency in all things — may abound to every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8

All-sufficiency in all things!
Believer! Surely you are “thoroughly equipped for every good work!”

Grace is no scanty thing, doled out in pittances!
It is a glorious treasury, which the key of prayer can always unlock — but can never empty!
It is a fountain — full, flowing, ever flowing, over flowing!

Mark these three ALL’S in this precious promise. It is a three-fold link in a golden chain, let down from the throne of grace, by the God of grace. “All grace!” “all-sufficiency!” in “all things!” and these to “abound.”

Oh! precious thought! My need cannot impoverish that inexhaustible treasury of grace! Myriads are hourly hanging on it, drawing from it — and yet there is no diminution. Out of that fullness we, too, may all receive, “grace upon grace!”

My soul, do you not love to dwell on that all-abounding grace! Your own insufficiency in everything, met with a divine “all-sufficiency in all things!”
Grace in all circumstances and situations!
Grace in all vicissitudes and changes!
Grace in all the varied phases of the Christian’s being!
Grace in sunshine — and in storm!
Grace in health — and in sickness!
Grace in life — and in death!
Grace for the old believer — and the young believer.
Grace for the tried believer, and the weak believer, and the tempted believer.
Grace for duty — and grace in duty.
Grace to carry the joyous cup with a steady hand — and grace to drink the bitter cup with an unmurmuring spirit!
Grace to have prosperity sanctified — and grace to say through tears, “May Your will be done!”

“God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all sufficiency in all things — may abound to every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8

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