If the possession of heaven could be obtained\nwith only a single act of goodness, never to all eternity should I find it.\n\u201cWhen I would do good, evil is present with me.\u201d Oh! Then for grace to know\nThee, to love Thee, to follow Thee, as my only good; my hope, my righteousness,\nmy portion forever! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
~Robert Hawker<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Had I all the faith of the\npatriarchs, all the zeal of the prophets, all the good works of the apostles,\nall the holy sufferings of the martyrs, and all the glowing devotion of the\nseraphs; I would disclaim the whole in point of dependence, and count it all\nbut dross and dung, when set in competition with the infinitely precious death\nand the infinitely meritorious righteousness of the Lord Jesus\nChrist. \n ~James\nHervey<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My soul, learn to exercise\nan holy jealousy over thyself; for after Jesus is once truly known, all thy\ndanger begins at this place; so that the great secret is, to live out of self,\nupon His fulness; to do nothing but in his strength; to propose nothing but for\nhis glory; and in every step you take in the whole walk of life, to make The\nLord Jesus every thing, and depend upon him in every thing; and this is the way\nto find both security and comfort. ~Robert Hawker<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God’s love is revealed and made known by these six deeds of\nindescribable love!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (Don Fortner) REFORMATION? I hear a lot\n about \u201creformation\u201d in our day. There\n are reformed churches, reformed doctrine,\n reformed preachers and reformed believers,\n everything seems to be \u201creformed.\u201d The\n word \u201creform\u201d means to \u201cimprove\u201d or to\n \u201cmake better.\u201d If \u201creformation\u201d means to\nimprove myself or make myself better, then, I don\u2019t need reformation! What I\nneed is a perfect righteousness. I surely can\u2019t find any hope of eternal\n life in trying to make myself better,\n especially when God requires perfection. I don\u2019t need\n\u201creformation;\u201d I need \u201cregeneration.\u201d I don\u2019t need to get my heart right; I\nneed a new heart that is right. The lost sinner doesn\u2019t need to just change\ntheir way; they need to change their God. I don\u2019t need\n to make myself \u201cbetter;\u201d I need to\n be made \u201cperfect.\u201d I don\u2019t need reformation, I need a \u201cnew\ncreation,\u201d which can only be found in Christ. \n <\/p>\n\n\n\n DL Edmenson<\/p>\n\n\n\n A beloved child, watched over, cared for, supplied, and defended\nby your Lord! “For the Lord taketh pleasure in His people!” Psalm\n149:4 He loved\nthem unto the end.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n John 13:1<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The love\nof Christ for his elect is immutable and incessant. It is love surpassing\nthought. There is nothing like it in this world below. The narrow, self-centred\nthoughts, and words, and deeds of humanity cannot comprehend it. Our Savior\nknew that his disciples would all soon forsake him. Yet, he loved them to the\nend. His love for us is from everlasting (Jeremiah 31:3). His love for us is\nunto everlasting (Romans 8:39). Our Lord Jesus Christ delights to receive\nsinners and save them by his grace (Luke 15:2). And once he has received a\nsinner, he will never reject him or cast him away for any reason (John 6:37).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\nFortner<\/p>\n\n\n\n All for you!<\/strong>
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\n“Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we<\/em> should\nbe called the sons of God!” 1 John 3:1
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\nWe rejoice to know that “God is love!” <\/em>Love is an\nattribute of His holy Being, without which He would not be God. We know that\nGod is love, because His love is revealed and made known by His deeds<\/em>.\nLove is active. It is never dormant. Like fire, it must break out. It cannot be\ncontained. It is known only when it is experienced<\/em>-not by words,\nbut by deeds. We know the love of God is that love that “surpasses\nknowledge.” Yet, God’s love is revealed and made known by these\nsix deeds of indescribable love:<\/strong>
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\n1. <\/strong>The first act of God’s love was our ELECTION in Christ\n(Deuteronomy 7:7-8). Election is not a hard doctrine. It is a delightful<\/em> doctrine.\nWere it not for God’s electing love toward sinners, there would be no salvation\n(Ephesians 1:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:13). We would never have come to know and\nlove Christ, had He not first loved us (John 15:16; 1 John 4:19).
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\n2. <\/strong>The second act of God’s love was our REDEMPTION by Christ\n(Romans 5:8; 1 John 3:16; 1 John 4:9-10). Because He loved us, the Son of God\nassumed our nature, assumed our sin, assumed our guilt and died under the wrath\nof God as our Substitute, to put away our sins. “The Son of God loved me\nand gave Himself<\/em> for me!”
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\n3. <\/strong>The third act by which God reveals His love to sinners is His\nEFFECTUAL SAVING GRACE (Jeremiah 31:3).
\nThose whom the triune God loved<\/em>-the Father chose <\/em>to\nsave.
\nThose whom the Father chose <\/em>to save-the Son redeemed<\/em>.
\nAnd those whom the Son redeemed<\/em>-the Holy Spirit will effectually\ncall<\/em> by His irresistible grace to life and faith in Christ.
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\n4. <\/strong>The love of God is revealed fourthly in the absolute\nPRESERVATION of His elect in a state of grace (John 10:28; Romans 8:39). Can\nyou imagine one who is loved of God-falling from a state of grace, perishing\nand suffering the wrath of God forever in Hell? Such a notion is worse than\nnonsense, it is utter blasphemy! The love of God is . . .
\n without cause,
\n without beginning,
\n without condition,
\n without change,
\n and without end!
\nIt is free.
\nIt is sovereign.
\nIt is indestructible.
\nIt is everlasting.
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\n5. <\/strong>Fifthly, God’s love for His elect is seen in our Savior’s\nTENDER, PROVIDENTIAL CARE for us (John 11:35-36). Our Savior really is touched\nwith the feeling of our infirmities. We really are the apple of His eye.
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\n6. <\/strong>But there is one act of love that goes beyond election,\nredemption, effectual calling, preservation, and providential care. As great\nand marvelous as those things are, there is one act of God that goes beyond\nthem all. If the climax of God’s love is our redemption by Christ, then\nthe apex<\/em> of God’s love is our ADOPTION into the family of God!\n(1 John 3:1-3)
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\nBy birth<\/em>, we are all fallen, depraved and spiritually dead (Romans\n5:12).
\nBy our deeds<\/em>, we show ourselves to be children of the devil,\nsinful, deceitful, and wicked (John 8:44).
\nBy nature<\/em>, we are all children of wrath (Ephesians 1:3), a people\ndeserving the wrath of God.
\nBut by grace<\/em>, we who believe are the sons of God!
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\nElection is the great fountain<\/em> of grace.
\nRedemption is the greatest mystery<\/em> of grace.
\nAnd adoption is the greatest privilege<\/em> of grace.
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\n“Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we\nshould be called the sons of God!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\n<\/strong>C.H.Spurgeon<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\nHow comprehensive is the love of Jesus! There is no part of His people’s\ninterests which He does not consider. There is nothing which concerns their\nwelfare which is not important to Him. Not merely does He think of you,\nbeliever, as an immortal <\/em>being-but as a mortal <\/em>being\ntoo. Do not deny it or doubt it: “The very hairs of your head are all\nnumbered!” It would be a sad thing for us if His mantle of love did not\ncover all our concerns-for what harm might be wrought to us if any of our\nmatters did not come under our gracious Lord’s care!
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\nBeliever, rest assured that the heart of Jesus cares about your smaller\naffairs. The breadth of His tender love is such that you may resort to Him in\nall matters; for as a father pities his children-so does He pity you, His\nredeemed child. The smallest interests of all His saints-are all borne upon the\nbroad bosom of the Son of God. Oh, what a heart is His, that does not merely\ncomprehend the salvation of His people-but comprehends also, all their diverse\nand innumerable concerns!
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\nDo you think, O Christian, that you can measure <\/em>the love of\nChrist? Think of what His love has brought you-justification, adoption,\nsanctification, eternal life! The riches of His goodness are unsearchable; you\nshall never be able to tally <\/em>them-or even conceive <\/em>them.\nOh, the breadth of the love of Christ!
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\nShall such a love as this have half <\/em>our hearts? Shall it have\na cold <\/em>love in return? Shall Jesus’ marvellous loving-kindness\nand tender care, meet with but faint response and tardy acknowledgment?
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\nO my soul, you are no desolate wanderer-but a beloved child, watched\nover, cared for, supplied, and defended by your Lord!
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\n“<\/strong>able to comprehend with all\nsaints what is<\/em> the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;<\/strong> <\/sup><\/strong>and to\nknow the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with\nall the fulness of God.<\/strong>“<\/strong> Ephesians\n3:18-19<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\n(MacDuff, “Encouragements to Patient Waiting<\/a>“)
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\nTake a pilgrimage in thought, to Gethsemane
\n<\/strong>and Calvary! <\/strong>Gaze upon His sufferings! He knew
\nall the sorrows that await Him–the shame, the
\nsuffering, the anguish–but He takes the bitter
\ncup, and, with His heart set on the salvation
\nof His people–with His heart set on you<\/strong>–the
\nblessed Savior drains it to the very dregs!
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\nSee Him on Calvary . . .
\n unpitied by the crowd;
\n deserted by His disciples;
\n forsaken by His Father;
\n the Lamb led to the slaughter;
\nand all for you!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n