Purposed Grace Articles

I must tell you, my fellow sinners, when you conceive religion to be some great difficulty above your power, when you say you cannot repent, you cannot believe, that you do not think of Christ as you ought, but of yourself, as if you were the fountain from whence these good things should flow. I will tell you, in the Lord’s name, that to believe imports no more than to take Christ for all; it is to think you have nothing, and can do nothing, but that He hath all, and can do all, and therefore you will take Him for all.

What think ye of His treasures; His unsearchable riches that are stored up in Him for the benefit of poor sinners, having received these gifts for men? All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid in Him; all, and infinitely more than we lost in the first Adam, is treasured up in the second Adam.

We read in Revelation 18 verse 4, “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, ‘Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.’” Of course, this is in reference to the Whore of Babylon, the Harlot of all false religion, ‘Come out of her!’ The only way any of us can come out of her, beloved, is by God’s grace...

The angel’s message to Joseph was a message of grace, redemption, and salvation to sinners. By God’s command, He was named, “JESUS,” Savior, because He was sent by God to save His people from their sins. What He is called, that He is—Jesus, our Savior.

By this action the Lord God did preach to Adam, and to his wife, the meaning of that promise that you read of in verse fifteen, namely, that by the means of Jesus Christ, God himself would provide a sufficient clothing for those that [receive] of His grace by the gospel: the coats here, being a type of that blessed and [eternal] righteousness.

We read in 1st Corinthians chapter 1 verse 30 “… of Him are ye in Christ Jesus.” What does this mean? It is the same gospel report that we read in type and shadow in Genesis chapter 3 verse 21, “… the LORD God [made] coats of skins, and clothed them.” This verse testifies of the Gospel of Christ. It testifies that salvation is of the LORD—all of it.

What is the heresy of [the Roman Catholic Church], but the addition of something to the perfect merits of Jesus Christ, the bringing in of the works of the flesh, to assist in our justification? And what is the heresy of [Free-will Religion] but the addition of something to the work of the Redeemer? Every heresy, if brought to the touchstone [that is Christ and His doctrine], will discover itself here. I have my own private opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified, unless we preach what nowadays is called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else.

Beloved! “Lift up your eyes to the heavens and look upon the earth beneath, for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old as a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner; but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished” (Isaiah 51:6).

The miracle of the Lord turning five loaves and two fishes into an abundant, seemingly never ending, provision of food, shows us the never-ending provision He supplies for the wants of the body and soul of His people. After the people had their fill, the disciples gathered up what was left and filled twelve baskets. There was abundance for all, and perhaps what the lad had given, was returned to him two, or three fold, to take home to his family; of a truth “The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself” (Proverbs 11:25).

One of the readers of our bulletin recently asked me, “I was wondering if you could post an article in your next bulletin that outlines the steps of salvation.” Now, immediately upon reading that, what leapt to my heart and mind was this: Beloved, salvation is not found in our steps, but rather in a person, in the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.