Dec 25
15
The Unstoppable Force of God’s Grace
Grace is not merely doctrine, but an unstoppable force of God. It is never without effect! We are chosen by grace with the undeniable effect that we are His. We are redeemed by grace with the certain effect that we are free. We are called by grace with the inescapable effect that we come to Him. We are preserved by grace with the inevitable effect that we shall be with Him forever.
Joe Terrell (1955-2024)
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ (2Cor. 11:
Satan still tempts men to swerve from the simplicity that is in CHRIST, by supposing that CHRIST’S Person, work, righteousness, and blood shedding, are but procuring causes. That our faith, sincerity, repentance, and the like, must be added, in order to render the finished work of Christ effectual. And thus, the simplicity that is in CHRIST, the minds of some men are corrupted from the beautiful whole of CHRIST, in CHRIST, and from CHRIST, becomes mingled with creature-attainments.
Robert Hawker
Out of Christ’s condemnation—flows our justification!
Out of His agony—comes our victory!
Out of His pain—comes our ease!
Out of His stripes—comes our healing!
Out of His gall and vinegar—comes our honey!
Out of His curse—comes our blessing!
Out of His crown of thorns—comes our crown of glory!
Out of His death—comes our life!
O what a melting consideration is this!
Christ is not sweet—until sin is made bitter to us.
John Flavel (1628-1691)
Now then, there is but one thing with which Almighty God is satisfied – entirely satisfied – and that is THE PERSON AND WORK OF HIS SON! It is with Christ that we must be satisfied, not with ourselves, nor anything about us! When we cease from ALL our labors, and ALL our righteousness, and ENTER INTO HIS REST, pardon and peace will come without delay.
Horatius Bonar
Fear Him!
(John MacDuff)
“Who would not fear Thee, O King of nations!” Jeremiah
10:7
How reasonable it is that this glorious Being whose greatness is
unsearchable, should be regarded with feelings of the profoundest reverence. It
is indeed, His due-and as such He claims it from all His creatures.
“Concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear
of God before his eyes!” Psalm 36:1. To have no fear of God before our
eyes, is at once the greatest injustice, and the most
unutterable folly! All who have the impudence to lift up their puny
arms in rebellion against Him-are engaged in a conflict, which, if persisted
in, is sure to terminate in their utter destruction!
Reader, think of His incomprehensible greatness and majesty.
Think of Him as the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity. . .
the heavens His throne,
the earth His footstool,
the light His garment,
the clouds His chariot,
the thunder His voice!
Viewing Him thus-it will be impossible for you to treat Him with
indifference, far less with scornful disdain. If you are only brought in some
measure to realise the fact of God’s greatness and majesty-you cannot fail to
acknowledge that He is greatly to be feared, and to be held in reverence by all
His creatures.
Just so, with all the other attributes of His
nature.
Who can think of His power so mighty, so
irresistible-a power that is able to crush us into atoms with infinitely
greater ease than we can tread the crawling worm beneath our feet-and not fear
Him?
Who can think of His knowledge, nothing being hidden
from His omniscient glance, the darkness of midnight and the splendour of noon,
being altogether alike to Him-and not fear Him?
Who can think of the terrors of His avenging justice-and
not fear Him? Especially as when He proclaims from His exalted throne,
“There is no God with Me:
I kill, and I make alive;
I wound, and I heal:
Neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
If I whet my glimmering sword, and mine hand take hold on
judgement; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and I will reward them that
hate me.” Deuteronomy 32:39, 41
Our God is truly a consuming fire! It is most befitting for us,
to regard Him with a reverence and godly fear.
It is not those who can deprive us of our present life, whom we
should so much dread. Limited and of brief duration, is the power of all mortal foes
at best.
“ And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill
the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5 But I
will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath
power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.”
Luke 12:4-5
Let us
always think of the Holy Spirit with holy awe and reverence!
(C.H.Spurgeon)
Let us always think of the Holy Spirit with holy awe and
reverence, remembering that . . .
it is the Spirit who quickens us,
it is the Spirit who instructs us,
it is the Spirit who sanctifies us,
it is the Spirit who preserves us,
it is the Spirit who makes us fit to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light!
So unto the ever-blessed Spirit be glory and honour and praise,
forever and ever!
Is
there no silent lesson here for us?
(Horatius Bonar, “Bethany and Its Feast”)
Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of
Simon the leper, 7 there came unto him a
woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his
head, as he sat at meat.”
Matthew 26:6-7
Reverence, homage, love—are all embodied in this act.
She grudges no cost for Him whom she so reverently
loves.
“She has wrought a good work upon Me!” Matthew 26:10
It is Mary whom Jesus marks and commends. Her fervent
love, pouring itself out in one single act of devotion, gets
the highest notice.
Is there no silent lesson here for us? It
is not labor,
nor suffering, which get the highest commendation from
Jesus. It is love—pure, warm, ungrudging, loyal love! It
is this which gets the Master’s “Well done.” He can do
without the others—but not without this.
This is
the God whom we adore!
(John Newton)
“For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is
above all gods. Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, in earth,
in the seas and all deep places!” Psalm 135:5-6
God rules all! And though He is
concealed by a veil of second causes from common eyes, so that
they can perceive only the means, instruments, and contingencies by which He
works, and therefore think He does nothing; yet, in reality, He does all
according to His own counsel and pleasure, in the armies of heaven, and among the
inhabitants of the earth.
Who can enumerate all the beings and events which
are . . .
incessantly before His eye,
adjusted by His wisdom,
dependent on His will,
and regulated by His power!
If we consider the heavens, the work of His fingers,
the moon and the stars which He has ordained; if we call in the assistance of
astronomers to help us in forming a conception of the number, distances,
magnitudes, and motions of the heavenly bodies – the more we search, the more
we shall be confirmed that these are but a small portion of His ways! Without
His continual energy upholding them – they would rush into confusion, or sink
into nothing! They are all dependent upon His power, and obedient to His
command.
To come nearer home, and to speak of what seems more suited to
our scanty apprehensions – still we may be lost in wonder. With respect
to mankind, He reigns with uncontrolled dominion over every
kingdom, family and individual. Before this blessed and only Potentate, all the
nations of the earth are but as the dust upon the balance, and the small drop
of a bucket – and might be thought (if compared with the immensity of His
works) scarcely worthy of His notice! Yet here He presides, pervades, provides,
protects, and rules! All changes, successes, and disappointments – all that is
memorable in the annals of history, all the risings and falls of empires, all
the turns in human life – take place according to His sovereign plan!
In Him His creatures live, move, and have their
being. From Him, is their food and preservation. The eyes of all are upon Him;
what He gives, they gather – and can gather no more! And at His word they sink
into the dust!
There is not . . .
a worm which crawls upon the ground,
or a flower which grows in the
pathless wilderness,
or a shell upon the sea-shore –
but bears the impress of His wisdom, power, and goodness!
He preserves man and beast,
sustains the young lion in the forest, feeds the birds of
the air, which have neither storehouse or barn, and adorns the insects and
the flowers of the field with a beauty and elegance beyond all
that can be found in the courts of kings!
All things serve Him, and are in His hands – as clay in the
hands of the potter. Great and marvellous are Your works, Lord God Almighty!
Just and true are Your ways, O King of saints!
This is the God whom we adore! This
is He who invites us to lean upon His almighty arm, and promises to guide us
with His unerring eye!
FAITH IN CHRIST
He that heareth my Word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life (John 5:24.
There are many false religious refuges in which men hide, and many false claims to a hope of glory which will be shattered at the judgment. One such refuge is religious orthodoxy and sound theology without a personal faith in—and commitment to the Lord Jesus.
Saul of Tarsus was a student of the Scriptures, a man of high morality and integrity, a believer in the sovereignty of God and election (he believed the Jews were Gods elect). He fought for what he believed. But Saul had never been brought to a personal knowledge of Christ Jesus, an understanding of His person and work, and a genuine, open committal to Christ. The fact that he was one of the elect, that he would one day preach the gospel, that he would one day seal his testimony with his blood, did not alter the fact that he was a lost sinner who must hear the voice of God in His Word and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
You may be as orthodox as an old, studious Puritan and as sincere in your contention for the doctrines of grace as Calvin himself; but, if the Holy Spirit has not brought the Word of the gospel to your heart in conviction of your sin, sins, and righteous rags; if the Holy Spirit has not revealed (through the Word of God) Christ to your heart in faith, committal, and love, you will hear Christ say to you, “Depart from Me, I never knew you” (Matt. 7:23).
It is not faith in doctrine that saves, nor even faith in God’s power to save, but faith in Christ! Anyone who believes there is a God knows that being God enables Him to do what He will! But what will God do? He will redeem men in Christ; He will love men in Christ; He will accept men in Christ; He will save all who are in Christ; and that not by election alone, but by faith!
“Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb. 11:6). “He that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16)
Once more I set before you the gospel of Jesus Christ and call upon you to believe Him, look to Him, and confess Him publicly as your Lord and Saviour!
Henry Mahan
“Walk in love, as Christ also loved us, and gave himself for us as offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour”.
(Ephesians 5:2)
(1) Christ gave Himself. He didn’t give the wealth of this world for us, He gave himself. He gave Himself, His life, his time, his reputation, and all the comforts of life. He gave Himself, He gave his life. (2) Christ gave Himself for us. That means that He gave himself as our substitute. How are the us described in Romans 5:6-8? Look at the us for whom Christ gave Himself as described in Romans 5:6-8. Christ gave Himself for those who were: without strength. We were strength-less, we had no power or ability to reconcile ourselves to God. Christ gave himself for those who were ungodly, even though created in His image, by our sin we were un-like God. Christ gave Himself for those who are were sinners. We missed the mark and came short of the glory of God. (3) Christ gave Himself for us to God. It was God who was propitiated by His sacrifice. It was God against whom we had sinned and His justice must be satisfied that He might be “A Just God, and a Saviour”.
David Pledger