Oct 22
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My hope lives, not because I am not a sinner, but because I am a sinner for whom Christ died; my trust is not that I am holy, but that being unholy, He is my righteousness. My faith rests not upon what I am, or feel or know, but in what Christ is, in what He has done, and in what He is now doing for me.
~C. H. Spurgeon
The believer’s eternal confession!
(John MacDuff, “The Night Watches“)
“By the grace of God—I am what I am!” 1
Corinthians 15:10
This is the believer’s eternal confession!
Grace found him a rebel against God—it leaves
him a son of God!
Grace found him wandering at the gates of Hell—it leaves him at the
gates of Heaven!
Grace devised the scheme of Redemption.
Justice never would; reason never could.
And it is grace which carries out that scheme.
No sinner would ever have sought God—but “by grace.” The thickets of
Eden would have proved Adam’s grave—had not grace called him
out! Saul would have lived and died the haughty self-righteous
persecutor—had not grace laid him low! The thief on the cross would
have continued breathing out his blasphemies—had not grace arrested his tongue
and tuned it for glory!
“Out of the knottiest timber,” says Rutherford, “God
can make vessels of mercy for service in the high palace of
glory!”
“I came, I saw, I conquered!” may be inscribed by the Saviour on
every monument of His grace. “I came to the
sinner; I looked upon him; and with a look of omnipotent
love—I conquered him!”
Believer, you would have been this day a wandering star, to whom is
reserved the blackness of darkness forever! You would have been Christless,
hopeless, and portionless; had not grace constrained you! And
it is grace which, at this moment, “keeps” you.
You have often been a Peter—forsaking your Lord—but brought back to
Him again. Why have you not been a Demas or a Judas? “I
have prayed for you—that your faith fail not!” Is not this your own
comment and reflection on life’s retrospect: “Yet not I—but the
grace of God which was with me!”
Seek to realise your dependence on this grace every moment.
“More grace! more grace!” needs to be your continual cry.
His infinite supply—is commensurate with your infinite need.
The treasury of grace, though always emptying—is always full.
The key of prayer which opens it—is always at hand!
And the Almighty Bestower of the blessings of grace—is always
“waiting to be gracious.”
The recorded promise can never be cancelled or reversed:
“My grace is sufficient for you.”
The grace of God is the source of lesser temporal blessings—as
well as of higher spiritual blessings. Grace accounts for the crumb
of daily bread—as well as for the crown of eternal glory!
But even in regard to earthly mercies, never forget the CHANNEL of grace: “through
Christ Jesus!” It is sweet thus to connect every blessing, even
the smallest and humblest token of providential bounty—with Calvary’s cross—to
have the common blessings of life stamped with “the print
of the nails!” It makes them doubly precious to think, “All
this flows from Jesus!”
“By the grace of God—I am what I am!”
Reader! seek to dwell much on this inexhaustible theme!
This divine and marvellous Fountain!
(Octavius Winslow,
“From Grace to Glory” 1864)
“By the grace of God I am what I am!” 1 Cor. 15:10
GRACE is one of the most precious and significant
terms of the Bible.
Grace tells of God’s free and unconditional choice
of a people, whom He everlastingly loved.
It speaks . . .
of His mercy to the miserable,
of His pardon to the guilty,
of His favor to the lost,
of His free and boundless love to poor sinners.
None are saved but those who are saved by . . .
electing grace,
sovereign grace,
free grace.
Also, all the precious streams of present . . .
sanctification,
peace,
joy,
and hope
flow from this divine and marvelous Fountain!
What a heart is His! The Lord of all grace . . .
all pardoning grace,
all accepting grace,
all sanctifying grace,
all comforting grace . . .
to the ungracious,
to the unworthy,
to the poor,
to the bankrupt,
to the vile,
to the sinful.
“By the grace of God I am what I am!”
Marvellous declaration!
An apostolic face and a Judas heart
(Letters of J. C. Philpot)
Many think that a minister is exempt from such
coldness, deadness, and barrenness, as private
Christians feel. And the hypocritical looks and
words of many of Satan’s ministers favour this
delusion. Holiness is so much on their tongues,
and on their faces, that their deluded hearers
necessarily conclude that it is in their hearts.
But, alas! nothing is easier or more common,
than an apostolic face and a Judas heart.
Most pictures that I have seen of the “Last Supper”
represent Judas with a ferocious countenance. Had
painters drawn a holy, meek-looking face, I believe
they would have given a truer resemblance.
Many pass for angels in the pulpit, who if the truth
were known, would be seen to be devils and beasts
in heart, lip, and life at home.
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the
outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion
and excess. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye
are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Matthew 23:25, 28
Beset with many difficulties
(Letters of William Tiptaft)
The way to heaven is narrow, and beset with many
difficulties, and we, at times, are almost sorry that
we ever ventured out, especially when we keep
continually meeting with the lions in the way!
But nothing so much checks and stops us as vile self!
It cleaves to everything on the way, and wants so
often to turn us out of the way.
Also, the ear is not deaf to the alluring and enticing
invitation of Demas to look into the silver mine! Blessed
are they who are only allowed to look in. For, alas! how
many glaring professors and speedy travellers to Zion,
who have been brave companions on the way for a time,
have stopped short at that mine, and never could be
seen beyond it!
Our hearts are very closely knit with everything that the
world loves and admires. David said, “My soul cleaves to
the dust;” and so do all God’s children say it now, at
times, if they know the plague of their own hearts.
Brazen Hypocrisy
John 13:2
Nothing in all the world is more corrupt or more callous than the heart of a hypocrite. There sat Judas at the table with the Son of God and his disciples. But he had already struck his deal with the Jews’ priests to betray the Saviour. — What brazen hypocrisy! Judas stands as a beacon to warn us of what deep corruption may be found in the hearts of very religious people. Still, we must not be overly disturbed when we find such hypocrites among God’s saints. Not all who are washed in the waters of baptism have been washed in the blood of Christ (John 13:10). — “They are not all Israel which are of Israel” (Romans 9:6).
Don Fortner
The matchless wisdom of God which devised this system of
salvation!
(Charles Spurgeon)
“Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it!”
Ephesians 5:25
The more I consider the doctrine of substitution–the more is my
soul enamoured of the matchless wisdom of God which devised this system
of salvation. As for a hazy atonement which atones for everybody in
general, and for nobody in particular–an atonement made equally for Judas and
for John–I care nothing for it. But a literal, substitutionary
sacrifice, Christ vicariously bearing the wrath of God on my behalf–this calms
my conscience with regard to the righteous demands of the law of God, and
satisfies the instincts of my nature which declare that, as God is just, He
must exact the penalty of my guilt!
“I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd giveth His life for
the sheep!” John 10:11
“THE GRACE OF GOD” I Corinthians 15:10
Most everyone talks about salvation by grace. But what they mean by grace and what the Word of God teaches about grace are exact opposites. Here are six characteristics of the grace of God, as it is set forth in the Scriptures.
1. THE GRACE OF GOD IS SOVEREIGN GRACE (Rom. 9:11-18). Grace belongs to God. He can do with it what he will. It is God’s prerogative to give or withhold grace as it pleases him, and he always does. Grace is in no way determined by, earned by, or dependent upon the will and works of man.
2. THE GRACE OF GOD IS ETERNAL GRACE (Eph. 1:3-6). God alone determines to whom he will be gracious; and God made that determination before the world was made. In eternal election God chose a people to whom he would be gracious (II Tim. 1:9; II Thess. 2:13-14).
3. THE GRACE OF GOD IS REDEEMING GRACE (Rom. 3:24). Grace chose to redeem. Grace provided the Redeemer. Grace chose who would be redeemed. Grace accomplished redemption. And grace applies redemption. Those who were chosen by God in eternity were redeemed by Christ at Calvary, and are called by the Spirit in time. Grace is bestowed only upon God’s elect.
4. THE GRACE OF GOD IS EFFECTUAL GRACE (Rom. 8: 28-35). Grace always accomplishes its purpose. Grace always saves its object. Grace is always effectual, irresistible, and unfailing.
5. THE GRACE OF GOD IS UNDESERVED, UNCONDITIONAL, FREE GRACE (Rom. 6:23). Man is totally depraved, totally undeserving of God’s grace, totally dead in sin, totally without ability to change his condition or do anything pleasing to God. He cannot earn God’s grace by works of righteousness, or win God’s grace by an act of his will.
6. THE GRACE OF GOD IS IMMUTABLE GRACE (Mal. 3.6; John 10:27-29). Of this you can be sure – Grace, once it is bestowed, cannot be lost or taken away. God’s saints are secure, because we are kept by his grace. And his grace is in no way dependent upon us! We did not earn it by our works. We cannot improve it by our works. And we cannot lose it by our works.
Don Fortner
Rejoicing in Infirmities
When the Apostle Paul prayed three times for God to remove the thorn in his flesh, the answer which God gave him was satisfactory to him. “My grace is sufficient for you.” (2 Cor. 12:7-9) The Lord has a purpose for these earthly trials and will fulfill that purpose for His glory and our good!
One thing I know; the Lord Himself is more glorified, and His grace and strength more manifest and more appreciated, in our weaknesses. When I have nothing to say, nothing to contribute, and nothing in which to find comfort and joy, I will look to the Lord Jesus and find in Him all that I need.
If infirmities and trials serve to make me look more fully to Christ, have less confidence in the flesh, and wait upon Him, then I will rejoice in infirmities. ~Henry T. Mahan
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Monsters of iniquity! Spurgeon’s, “Spots in Our Feasts of Charity” Oh, the depths of human sin! Sin is an incomprehensible thing! There is no water so deep but fish will swim in it; no pond so foul but frogs will live in it; no mire so filthy but swine will wallow in it, and no sin so damnable but man will commit it. Men will even seek out ways and means of making themselves more and more proficient in the most filthy of vices. If in these times there should arise monsters of iniquity, we must not be astonished, for long practice of sin makes men proficient therein. The earth is ripening, and men’s characters are rotting to the uttermost degree of corruption. We must expect to see more and more of the boilings over of the sink of iniquity, which lies in human nature. Christian, what might you have been, but for God’s distinguishing grace to you? Why, might not you have been Judas? Christian, is there any betterness in your heart beyond the heart of Judas? Judas was an apostle, mark you, a preacher, a miracle-worker; he dipped his hand with Jesus in the dish, and yet he sold him; and why not you? “Let him that thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall.” What another man has done you may do; and there are no depths of wickedness into which you might not have plunged had not the preventing grace of God stopped your course. |