Purposed Grace Articles

Reader, “If the love of relations will not afford us a just measure for the love of Christ; let us see if there be any thing else in the whole scale of nature that may furnish us with a line commensurate to it.—And we can no sooner think of making the inquiry, but we propose to ourselves the height of heaven, the breadth of the earth. ‘The heaven for height, and the earth for depth’ (Proverbs 25:3). But we must despair of finding any thing that may measure or circumscribe this love [in creation], since the apostle has assured us, that ‘the riches of Christ’ are ‘unsearchable,’ (Ephesians 3:8), such as we must expect ‘no footsteps of’ in the whole creation (Psalm 77:19). The apostle might preach it, but could not fully reach it: for ‘we know in part, and we prophesy in part’ (1 Corinthians 13:9).

His name shall be called JESUS. For what? Because He shall do His part towards saving His people, and they are to accomplish the rest? No, no; not so. What then? Because “He shall save His people from their sins.” Now, mind you, if JESUS is to save thee from thy sins, thou art not to set on to save thyself, and then come to Him to approve of thy wonderful works. The sinner who is brought by the Spirit to the Lord Jesus comes with all his sins on him, and all his sins about him. He comes as a wretched, vile, ruined, and guilty sinner. “O,” say you, “I am frightened at that!?” You may well be so; I do not wonder at it; for if God has opened your heart to your view and brought you to feel what a sinner you really are, it is enough to make you frightened.

Wherever faith is given to the soul to “receive” Christ, there will be mingled with this faith, and blessedly accompanying it, love to the Lord of life and glory; and sometimes we may know the existence of faith when we cannot see it, by discerning the secret workings and actings of love towards that Saviour, in whom God has enabled us to believe. There will be, from time to time, in living souls a flowing forth of affection towards JESUS. From time to time, He gives the soul a glimpse of His Person; He shows Himself, as the Scripture speaks, “through the lattice;” passing perhaps hastily by, but giving such a transient glimpse of the beauty of His Person, the excellency of His finished work, dying love, and atoning blood as ravishes the heart, and secretly draws forth every affection of the soul, so that there is a following hard after Him, and a going out of the desires of the soul towards Him. Thus, sometimes as we lie upon our bed, as we are engaged in our business, as we are occupied in our several pursuits of life; or at other times under the word, or reading the Scripture, the Lord is pleased secretly to work in the heart, and there is a melting down at the feet of JESUS, or a secret, soft, gentle going forth of love and affection towards Him, whereby the soul prefers Him before thousands of gold and silver, and desires nothing so much as the inward manifestations of His love, grace, and blood.

Jehovah our righteousness, is the blessed doctrine which could make a ‘good’ man say, upon the prospect of death; I am not anxious either to live or die: if I die, I shall be with GOD; and, if I live, He will be with me. Everlasting righteousness, is an undoubted title to everlasting life; and such is the righteousness of Jehovah-Jesus. Couldst thou unite all the righteousness of heaven and earth in thine own person, thou wouldst see, O Christian, that the infinite righteousness of thy Redeemer, so vastly transcends the splendid aggregate, that with the apostle, thou mightest count them all but dung and dross, in the comparison, and seek justification and glory in [our Lord’s righteousness] alone. Rejoice then in Him, who is unchangeable; and trust in His righteousness, which can never fail.

Beloved,—Labour to grow in the sound knowledge of God and of Christ, and of their all-sufficiency. Mark St Paul’s method, Colossians chapter 1, and in other places, when he would draw us from all outward things, he speaks gloriously of the fulness of Christ, “In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily,” Colossians 2:9; and, “In Him you are complete.” When he would draw them from “touch not, taste not, handle not, worshipping of angels, and from counterfeit humility,” Colossians 2:21, etc, he labours to dispossess them of these idolatrous conceits, and to possess them of the fulness of Christ.

There is nothing about me that feels complete. I always feel there is something lacking in my faith, love, repentance, sincerity or anything else. But God’s Word tells me I am complete in Him. Not I will be complete or I am in the process of being made complete, but I am, right now, complete, lacking nothing, completely filled. However complete the Christ is, that is how complete I am; “As He is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17). We have this on the authority of God’s Word. We may not feel complete, but we are complete. AMEN!

The church, considered in herself, is a weak, afflicted, defenceless society. In respect to numbers, she has been in general the fewest of all people. With respect to outward circumstances, she has been composed of a poor and an afflicted people. With respect to talents and human acquirements, not many wise men after the flesh have joined her fellowship; but God has chosen the weak things of this world to confound the things that are mighty, and the foolish things to confound the wise, and things that are not, to bring to naught things that are. But viewed in connexion with her Head, she is the most noble, most safe and happy society that ever has, or ever will exist on this side the grave.

Beloved, …the more we pray for each other, the more our hearts will be drawn together; you will be more spiritually minded, and we shall be more laborious. Oh what responsibility rests upon us to draw your prayers by instant and continual attention to your spiritual wants.

SURETY, one who gives security for another person or thing [a person who takes responsibility for another’s performance of an undertaking, for example their appearing in court or the payment of a debt [We read in Psalm 57 verse 2 “I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me.” Amen.].

When Christ arose from the dead, He walked on the earth, it is true, but above it; though in it, He was not of it; not intending to remain in it, He accepted no home in it, and made no friendship with it: in this respect, too, the resurrection life is evidenced by His consistent members; they are in the world, but not of the world, they are above it: their home is not here, neither are their congenialities; they are linked to their Elder Brother [Christ], and He is not here; He is risen; they are risen with Him, and so walk in newness of life: we have reason to think, that, after His resurrection, Christ lived almost exclusively with His disciples: so should the power of the risen life lead to holy companionship; to select association with those who are of the same body; to an avoidance of this world’s tainting, corrupting, lowering, depressing, unspiritualising influences and society