Jun 14
14
Supernatural light
(Joseph Philpot, “The Heir of Heaven Walking in
Darkness, and the Heir of Hell Walking in Light”)
“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Cor. 4:6
Until, then, this supernatural light of God enters into the soul, a man has no saving
knowledge of Jehovah. He may . . .
say his prayers, read his Bible, attend preaching, observe ordinances, bestow all his goods to feed the poor, or give his body to be burned;but he is as ignorant of God as
the cattle that graze in the fields!
He may call himself a Christian, and be thought such by others, talk much about Jesus Christ, hold a sound creed, maintain a consistent profession, pray at a prayer meeting with fluency and apparent feeling, stand up in a pulpit and contend earnestly for the doctrines of grace, excel hundreds of God’s children in zeal, knowledge and conversation.
And yet, if this ray of supernatural light has never shone into his soul, he is only twofold more the child of hell than those who make no profession!
—
CHRIST THE BELIEVER’S LIFE
by Archibald Alexander
Jesus is the believer’s life, because he has redeemed him from death. The sentence of death, eternal death, has gone forth against every sinner. “The wages of sin is death.” “Cursed is everyone that continues not in all things written in the book of the law to do them.” >From this curse all believers are delivered by Christ, who endured the curse for them. To such “there is no condemnation;” and they are adapted into the family of God, and made heirs of eternal life. They stand completely justified on account of the perfect righteousness of their Surety. This exemption from death, and title to life, could in no other way be obtained than by Christ’s making a sacrifice of his own precious life.
Christ is held forth as a Redeemer, and his great work as a redemption. The people redeemed are condemned criminals, who can be released in no other way than by the payment of a ransom. This Christ has paid, satisfying, by his “obedience unto death,” both law and justice. Thus the believer has life, not by virtue of his own obedience, but only through Christ. His union with Christ gives him a title to the life which he has procured.
Again, Christ is the source of spiritual life to the believer. By nature all men are dead in trespasses and sins. Spiritual life was lost to the whole human race by the transgression of Adam. If there were only a spark of life left in the human soul, it might be nourished, and by assiduous culture, might grow to maturity. But in man’s corrupt nature there dwells no good thing. All the thoughts and imaginations of his heart are “only evil continually.” To introduce life into the depraved soul, as much requires the exertion of omnipotence as to create man at first. God, who caused light to shine out of darkness, must shine into the heart. By the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, whom Christ sends forth, the soul is united to Christ, and from him derives life. Just as the branch derives nutriment from the vine, so the believer receives from Christ, his spiritual head, vital influences, by which he lives. This communication of life is called regeneration, or the new birth. People who experience this change are “born of the Spirit,” “born from above.”
And as Christ is the author of this life in its commencement, so he is the cause of its preservation and growth. Every kind of life requires nourishment; and this spiritual principle, called by the apostle “the new man,” must be fed. Christians are compared to “new-born babes,” who naturally thirst for the pure milk of the word, that they may grow thereby. Their growth depends very much on their increase in knowledge; the word of God, therefore, is the means of the believer’s advancement in the divine life. By the Spirit of Christ the word is made effectual; and Christ himself is the sum and substance of the word. The word testifies of him. The word exhibits Christ as “the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” As the body is supported and made to grow by bread, which is called “the staff of life,” so Christ is “the bread that came down from heaven.” The believer eats his flesh and drinks his blood, “not after a corporeal and carnal manner, but by faith.” “The flesh profits nothing.” Christ guards against any gross interpretation of his words by saying, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” Spiritual life cannot be nourished by flesh.
Another respect in which Christ is the life of the believer, is the resurrection of the body. “I am,” says he, “the resurrection and the life.” “He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” The bodies of believers are united to Christ as well as their souls. The saints do therefore wait and hope for “the redemption of the body,” and they shall not be disappointed. For we “look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”
Finally, Christ will be the source of the believer’s life through eternity. The union between Christ and his members shall never be dissolved. He will forever be the fountain from which their happiness flows. “He that has the Son, has life.” “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” “And this is the record, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” How emphatically may it then be said, that Christ is the believer’s life. He is indeed “all in all.” And they who have received the Lord Jesus, possess everything which they can really need. They are complete in him; for “of God, he is made unto them wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” “All things are theirs, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are theirs: and they are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.”
—
THE GRACE OF GOD
by Don Fortner-
If you search the Scriptures you will find four things which always
characterize the GRACE OF GOD. Any doctrine that is inconsistent with
these four things is a denial of the doctrine of the grace of God.
1. THE GRACE OF GOD IS ETERNAL (II Tim. 1:9).
Grace did not originate in time, and it cannot be merited, directed,
or controlled by anything in time. All that grace does for any sinner
in time, it has done for that sinner from eternity in the infinite
mind and infallible purpose of almighty God (Rom. 8:28-30).
2. THE GRACE OF GOD IS FREE (Rom. 3:24).
When God declares in his Word that grace is free, he is telling
us that there is no cause for grace except his own purpose.
Free grace is unqualified grace.
Free grace is unconditional grace.
Free grace is unchangeable grace.
THE GRACE OF GOD IS SOVEREIGN (Rom. 3:21).
Grace reigns!
It reigns everywhere and over all things.
If grace reigns, then it reigns from a throne.
And the One who sits upon the throne is sovereign.
The throne of the sovereign God is called,
“the throne of grace” (Heb.4:16).
When the Bible declares that grace is sovereign it is declaring
that God is gracious to whom he will be gracious (Rom. 9:11-18).
Salvation and eternal life is the gift of God (Rom. 6:23).
If it is a gift, it cannot be claimed as a right.
If it is a gift, it cannot be earned by works.
If it is a gift, the Giver is free to bestow it upon whom he will.
4. THE GRACE OF GOD IS DISTINGUISHING (I Cor.4:7).
It is true, “God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10: 34). What could
a sinful man do to win the respect of the holy God? God has no respect
for anything man is, does, or gains, by which he sets himself apart from
other men. But God does have his favorites, whom he has, from eternity
singled out from the rest of Adam’s race, to whom he will be gracious.
He distinguishes them from all others by–
eternal election (II Thess. 2:13),
sovereign predestination (Rom. 8:29),
effectual redemption (Tit. 2:10), and
regenerating grace (Eph. 2:1-5).
Nothing so riles man’s hatred of God as
the declaration that his grace is–
-eternal,
-free,
-sovereign, and
-distinguishing.
This message of grace is abasing to human pride,
gives no merit to human righteousness, and makes man
utterly dependent upon the goodness of God for salvation.
Proud men hate it.
Saved men love it.
This new spiritual life
(James Smith, “The Way of Salvation Set Forth”)
By nature we are all dead in trespasses and sins. There is . . .
no breath of prayer,
no sight of God,
no listening to the voice of mercy,
no power of faith;
but we are alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in us. In this state we live — until God who is rich in mercy with the great love with which He loved us, quickens us together with Christ, and saves us by His grace. The Holy Spirit imparts a new, a divine life. In consequence of this, we . . .
discover our lost state,
feel our dangerous position,
fear the wrath of God,
desire true holiness, and
flee to Jesus for full salvation.
This life coming from God — always leads us to God.
Being holy — it produces earnest longings for holiness.
Being spiritual — it can only be satisfied with spiritual blessings.
Jesus becomes the food, the repose, the delight of the soul. To Jesus the spiritual life always tends; on Him it feeds; and of Him alone it boasts.
This new spiritual life is imparted in regeneration, and reveals itself in conversion to God. Its manifestations are . . .
repentance for sin,
faith in Jesus,
love to God, and
earnest longings for holiness of heart and life.
It is this spiritual life which distinguishes the real believer from the mere professor of religion. It makes him a new man, and leads him to prove the truth of the Apostles words, “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away; behold all things are become new!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
—
The religion which I want
(Letters of J. C. Philpot)
I am quite sick of modern religion—it is such
a mixture, such a medley, such a compromise.
I find much, indeed, of this religion in my own
heart, for it suits the flesh well—but I would
not have it so, and grieve it should be so.
The religion which I want is that of the Holy Spirit.
I know nothing but what He teaches me.
I feel nothing but what He works in me.
I believe nothing but what He shows me.
I only mourn when He smites my rocky heart.
I only rejoice when He reveals the Savior.
This religion I am seeking after, though miles and
miles from it—but no other will satisfy or content me.
When the blessed Spirit is not at work in me,
and with me, I fall back into all the . . .
darkness,
unbelief,
earthliness,
idleness,
carelessness,
infidelity, and
helplessness
of my Adam nature.
True religion is a supernatural and mysterious thing.