Infant Grace & Giant Sin

 

Dear Madam,

Do not fear because you see so little grace in you that you have not the truth of grace; and because you see so much sin that you are all sin. For consider, grace is yet but in its infant state; and corruption, that makes against it such great opposition, is like an enraged, mighty giant. And is it any wonder to see an infant knocked down frequently, and laid for dead sensibly, by the wrathful hand of a giant, and especially by a giant, an irreconcilable enemy, that dwells with the infant, and seeks its destruction continually? No! A marvelous wonder it is that the power of sin, influenced by Satan, has not long since utterly slain the life of grace in you, in me, in all the called of God, and left it neither root nor branch!

And whence is this? Oh, it is because that little spark of the life of grace in us is in an inseparable union to an immense fullness of ever-flaming grace—life in Christ! So that, until sin and Satan can pluck Christ down from His high Throne in Heaven, they can never totally destroy the life of grace which is His life in us! Attempt it they will, and prevail against us in part, and for a time they may; but we, like Gad, though overcome by a troop, will be overcomers at last, and made more than conquerors through the love and blood of our incarnate God, our all-triumphant Head!

Therefore, dear Madam, in the Lord's name let us set up our banner against sin and Satan, and go forth to the fight as those that are already blessed with a complete victory in Christ. And to cheer our spirits, let us consider that stronger is the Lord who is in us than all the force of the enemy that can possibly be against us; that 'infant grace' is and shall be maintained in life, and raised to its perfection by an Almighty arm; and that by the omnipotence of an Infinite God, the 'giant sin' shall have a full and eternal destruction! And then to Him we will forever shout Salvation! Mercy and peace be with you.

The New Birth

 

Dear Friend,

Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. . . .

I hear you say, "I greatly want to know whether I am one of those who are born again." There are two ways whereby a soul comes to know that it is born again. The first is by the revelation of the Spirit bearing witness to the soul in some word or other where this truth is declared. The second is by His enabling the soul to discern its own acts in Divine light, and to draw conclusions from its discerned acts of grace that it has the principle; and in both these ways the Lord can give you satisfaction in an instant if it pleases Him. But, generally speaking, it is some time before a child of God can draw steady conclusions of its being new-born from its own feelings of the new life; and therefore you may be new-born though you do not know it!

A living infant, you know, when first born into the world has life, but it does not know it. It had a secret life from its first quickening in the womb, and from thence a secret motion; but as soon as it is born it begins to live visibly to others, but yet the child itself knows nothing of the matter. It cries, desires the breast, tastes the milk, and is satisfied, sees the light and feels the heat with pleasure, all of which are visible demonstrations of its life to bystanders, but the child knows nothing of it, because it is not capable of self-reflection.

And thus it is with a newborn soul; there is a secret work of God upon all the heart, a principle of life given, and from thence some secret motions and faint stirrings now and then, under begun convictions, before it is brought forth into the visible life of grace, which discovers itself as soon as ever the soul is born again, in the breath or cry of the new creature, its desires, its discernings, and its enjoyments, which, when communicated to grown Christians, they know such a soul is one of Christ's new-born babes, although this child itself is not yet capable so to reflect upon its own acts as to conclude its life from thence.

And if this be your case, that you can not pass a judgment from what you have experienced that you have the life of grace, or are newborn, then tell me, as a rational creature, how it is with you, for as such you can tell what the feelings of the soul have been, although as a new creature you may not yet be come to such an exercise of your spiritual senses as to know those feelings to be feelings of grace, and a certain demonstration of your being born again.

Well, a living child sees. What have you seen? Have you seen yourself to be a sinner by nature as well as by practice, in heart as well as life, and that you are utterly undone, and must perish forever without a saving interest in Jesus Christ, as being utterly unable to do anything to deliver yourself from the wrath to come? Have you seen your own righteousness to be but filthy rags, and your own strength to do any good but weakness? Again, have you seen as excellency in Christ, as a complete Savior, that is exceedingly suitable to your case as a lost sinner? And have you any discernings of the glory of God's free grace and mercy in Christ? You have then the new creature's eye, discerning faith, even the faith of God's elect.

And from these discernings have you been made to cry unto the Lord, to lament your sinfulness before Him, and to supplicate His Throne for mercy, praying Him to give you Christ whatever He denies you of? You have then the new creature's breath, which flows from none but those that have the new creature's life.

Again, what are your desires? Are the longings of your soul after the free grace and mercy of God in Christ, as held forth in the Promises, those breasts of consolation? You have then the new creature's appetite, and are certainly born of the Word and Spirit of God.

Once more, What are your enjoyments? What satisfies and pleases your soul best? Has the free grace of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ been sweet and savory to you in a promise or in an ordinance, to the refreshing and satisfying of your soul for some moments, just so long as you have had the breast in your mouth, the grace of the promise milked out to you? Then you have tasted that the Lord is gracious, and are one of Christ's new-born babes.

And have you ever felt any refreshing warmth and comfort in the love of God, which, like fire, has warmed and heated your cold soul? You have then that sensation which is proper to a new creature, and it is evident in these respects that you are certainly born again, and as such you shall see, that is, enjoy the kingdom of God as a kingdom of grace here, which is a kingdom of power, righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit; and you shall enter into the kingdom of glory hereafter, as being made fit to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light; for he who is your God has prepared for you a city, and wrought your soul for this self-same thing, there being never a soul in the world that is thus wrought upon but is a vessel of mercy prepared unto glory, by a saving work of the Holy Spirit upon it, as well as in the purpose of God concerning it.

Go on, therefore, as a new-born babe, to desire the sincere milk of the Word—the unmixed grace of the Gospel—that you may grow thereby, for it is on purpose for you to maintain and increase the begun life of grace in your soul, until it is perfected in the life of glory. Rejoice, then, you lamb of Christ, for you are exceedingly safe under your kind Shepherd's care. He will gather you with His arm, and carry you in His bosom; He will lead you into green pastures, beside the still waters, and make you to lie down safely.

Oh the heights, depths, lengths, and breadths of grace!

 

My Dear Brother in Christ,

Grace unto you, and peace be multiplied. May the God of all grace reward you with the more abundant displays of His love—His free, undeserved, rich and endless love!

Oh, my brother, I am surely the most unworthy of love from God, of any that ever found grace in His sight. Hell, the hottest hell, is my desert! Oh, what a sinner am I! The sin of my nature, that deluge of filth and guilt which overspread all my parts and powers as soon as quickened in the womb, and in which I was born—together with my actual sins, my going astray from the womb, when I did nothing else but sin—until mighty grace laid hold of me! These sins of mine I saw, when the Lord opened my eyes, did deserve the damnation of hell—and I wondered at the infinite forbearance of God in allowing me to live so long out of hell, when I was such fit fuel for everlasting burnings! And I could have justified Him if He had sent me down to the pit the next moment.

But oh, behold, I was a vessel of mercy; and therefore the Lord made known unto me the riches of His glory, not only in sparing, but in pardoning mercy also. He not only spared me from hell, but forever delivered me from going down to the pit by the ransom which He had found—by His own Son, to bear my sin, to be made a curse, and to die for me! By this mighty ransom—this infinite price of the life of the Son of God laid down for my redemption, did the God of all grace let me go free. And oh, the riches, the exceeding riches of His grace, which He then displayed, in the forgiveness of all my sins through the Lamb's blood! Where sin had abounded grace did much more abound!

Oh, how freely did my heavenly Father receive me, a poor prodigal, when under His own drawings I came to Him by Jesus Christ! He did not upbraid me with my vile transgressions, nor deal with me in wrath according to my sins—but graciously opened His arms and let me into His bosom—His heart's love—no more to be separated from His love, nor to fall out of love's arms forever! No! having loved me with an everlasting love, and thus manifested His love through the slain Lamb, He resolved to love me forever—that He would never cast me off, nor cast me out of His free love for all that I had done. 

 

Oh, astonishing! That abundant pardon which my heavenly Father then granted, and I received, carried in the bosom of it not only the forgiveness of my past and present sins, but of my future sins also—of all my transgressions, even to my life's end. He forgave me all trespasses—resolved to be merciful to my unrighteousness and to remember my sins no more. He took away my filthy garments and clothed me with change of clothing—put a ring on my hand and shoes on my feet—set me with Him at His table—made a feast for me of the flesh and blood of His own Son—and rejoiced over me with singing! Oh, the heights, depths, lengths, and breadths of grace!

And with this wondrous love of God He melted my hard heart, revived my dying soul, put a new song of joy and praise into my mouth, and drew me to give up myself unto Him, to be entirely His forever. Oh, then I said I would not transgress, when He had thus broken my yoke and burst my bonds, and brought me into liberty—the glorious liberty of the sons of God!

But ah! I have not rendered to the Lord according to all the great things which He has done for me, but have ill-requited Him for all His kindness. I am indeed bent to backsliding from God, and have dealt very treacherously with my gracious Father. I see, to my shame and grief, the seeds of all sin in my vile heart—a hell of iniquity there! I feel that my carnal mind is enmity, entire and irreconcilable enmity, against God—and such are the ebullitions of this unsearchable deep, this horrid fountain, that I am frequently struck with amazement that I am not sent down to hell—that my life is not among the unclean—that so vile a sinner has not a portion among the damned, in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone!

Ah, not because I do not deserve a place there am I spared—but because Jehovah will be gracious unto whom He will be gracious, and show mercy on whom He will show mercy. Oh, if the love of God was not free, sovereign, and independent of my goodness—which as the morning cloud and the early dew quickly passes away—I would perish still, and sink into the pit with the additional weight of 'abused kindness'.

Oh, my sins, since the Lord manifested His love to me, I see to be of a greater guilt, a deeper dye, than all that I was guilty of before I knew the Lord, or rather was known of Him. And these, in a special manner, break my heart and humble me before the Lord, when He breaks in upon my soul with the displays of His infinite favor.

For lo! the love of God and the blood of Christ are depths that infinitely surpass and swallow up all my sin! Oh, what are my vast, numberless, aggravated transgressions, to the boundless depth of Jehovah's love—to the infinite merit of the blood of the Son of God? Here, through the blood and righteousness of Jesus, grace reigns and triumphs gloriously over all my abounding sin. It not only began to reign thus in the first glorious displays thereof made to my poor soul when just ready to perish, but it reigns still—and will reign on in its infinite, majestic state, until all my sins, which are now pardoned, shall be fully subdued and utterly destroyed out of my nature—until all sin and death are swallowed up in the victory of eternal life to the praise of its own glory. Oh, glorious grace!

Thus, my dear brother, according to this grace has my God hitherto dealt with me. He has followed me with His kindness, His rich, free, everlasting kindness. And thus He will deal with you. According to His own heart has He done, will He do, great things for you; and not according to 'your worthiness'. Your God did not wait for your goodness before He fixed His love on you, nor seek it as a motive thereof—but from His own free heart took all His motives from within Himself to love you. And therefore they must needs be strong and invariable like Himself, who is the Lord that changes not.

And this great, free, and invariable love of God was fixed upon you in the Beloved of His Soul, who is Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. So that, as long as God's love abides, which is as permanent as His being; as long as Christ endures, who is the same, and whose years fail not; and as long as Christ stands in the love of God for you, and you stand in the love of God in Him—so long will Jehovah love you!

In every crumb of blessing

 

Dear Brother,

God is the God of His people collectively, and yet He is the God of every one of them individually, as entirely as if there was never another that shared the same privilege, when yet there is an innumerable multitude as equally and entirely interested in His great Being! And as every saint, even to the least, has a God, and all in God for his own, so in every mercy cast upon him, to the very least, he has God's great Self. He says to every one of His children, I am your God; and in every favor He bestows upon us we have Himself as such. Oh, I see with pleasure, I feel to soul-satisfaction, that the least favors are exceedingly great and weighty as our great God is in them. In every crumb of blessing, if we saw the God of mercy, and all the fullness of God therein, oh, how full, rich, and glorious would every mercy appear to be; and how abundantly thankful would we be for the very least!

Bottomless, boundless, endless love!

 

My Dear Sister in our precious Lord,

What was there in us that God should set His heart upon us? Were we better than those that perish under His wrath? No, in no way! For myself, I must say that I am the most vile and ungrateful of all, and not worthy to be put among the children. And yet, how goodly has been my portion—how pleasant my heritage—because grace reigns, and Jehovah's love is free! Help me, my dear sister, to praise the Lord for His free grace, which has been so exceeding abundant towards me, and also to mourn before Him for all my poor returns to my kind Father, my dear Lord Jesus, and the blessed Comforter.

No man, no angel, no finite being could bear with my provocations, but they would have cast me from off all favor as an object of their just hatred. But oh, behold, though I am a lump of sin, a mass of uncleanness, a hell of iniquity—though my neck is an iron sinew and my brow brass—though I am bent to backsliding from God and have done evil things, yet Jehovah has not, will not cast me off, no, not for all that I have done! Yes, so far is He from casting me out of His favor as an object of His wrath, which I have justly deserved, that He still rest in His love towards me, rejoicing over me with singing; and all this, through a crucified Jesus, consistent with His strict justice and flaming holiness. Oh, infinite love!—bottomless, boundless, endless love!

Oh, love passing knowledge, the knowledge of men and angels in both worlds, through all time and unto all eternity! It has the heights, depths, lengths and breadths of the Godhead in it; and into this vast sea of glory shall all the vessels of mercy be cast when unclothed of mortal, sinful flesh, and there we shall take our fill of new delights unto ages without end, but shall never be able to comprehend incomprehensible love!

The gift of the Holy Spirit as a Comforter, to shed abroad the love of God in our hearts, is a pledge of that eternal love-communion we shall have with Him when sin, sorrow and time shall flee away. And all those sweet emanations of divine love which are poured out through Christ upon our souls here, unto joy unspeakable and full of glory, are so many sweet foretastes of that fullness of joy—those rivers of pleasure—we shall have in His presence at His right hand for evermore!

We live in a world of snares and sins

 

Honored Sir,

We live in a world of snares and sins, with which our feet are often entangled and defiled. Have you been caught in any evil net? Jesus, who loved and died for you, will set you free. Have you gotten defiled? Your Savior, in sympathizing love, in condescending grace, with a joyful readiness, will wash your feet. And are you under present rebuke? As many as He loves He chastens. Since the rod is in your Father's hand, to answer all the ends of His most gracious heart towards you, there will be glorious deliverance from it, in the best way and time. The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations, as He delivered just Lot out of Sodom, whose righteous soul was vexed with seeing and hearing of their wicked deeds.

These cross-providences

 

 Dear Sir,

I am sometimes apt to be grieved at how things happen; but when I think that God fulfills His sure purposes for His glory and His people's good, by things which to us seem contingencies, and that He who shuts up our way in one place opens it in another—my spirit is at rest.

You will like these cross-providences well, when you see them overruled by infinite wisdom and grace to meet in their designed center—the glory of God, and your greatest advantage. We must believe now; we shall see before long. Meanwhile, O for a meek and humble, a patient, Christ-like spirit!

Trials do us no harm, nor will they much afflict us, if we are enabled to behave well under them. But if we foolishly look off from the 'supreme hand of God' therein, unto 'creatures', and our spirits fret and chafe at instruments—that wounds us instantly, and weakens our hands exceedingly. In patience let us possess our souls, and we shall see that our all-wise and all-gracious Lord has done, does, and will do, all things well. Most surely every man disquiets himself in vain—God's counsel shall stand, and He will do all His pleasure. Would we have things go otherwise than well—any better than best of all? And thus all things always go well for us in Christ—for us who are the delight, the care, and charge of Prince Emanuel—upon those mighty shoulders the whole weight of government is devolved by His and our Father!

We are almost home!

 

My very Dear Sister in the Lord,

We are almost home! A few more trials, and then farewell, trials, forever! The bosom of Christ, the glory of the heavenly state is ready for us. In a little while, we shall be fully made fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. Do not grieve that you are left alone, and have few friends that you can open your heart to, for your dear Lord Jesus will never leave nor forsake you; and He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. You have had sweet experience of Christ's friendship ever since you were first acquainted with Him; and His love towards you, His care for you, and His power to save you are still as great as ever.

Time has not altered Christ's heart; no, nor all the weaknesses and provocations He has seen in you, but having loved you anciently, freely, and fully, He will love you eternally. Your Jesus, your best Friend, who has cared for you all along, will never cast you off. He has engraved you upon the palms of His hands, and your walls are continually before Him. Creatures may forget—the tenderest mother may forget her nursing child—but your Jesus, in His boundless compassions, will not, cannot forget you. He will know your soul in adversity, when all other refuges fail you, and no man cares for your soul.

As birds flying to support and defend their young, so will the Lord make haste to help you, for His care for you is infinite, and He will keep you as the apple of His eye. You are one of Christ's jewels, and His heart is the cabinet in which He will keep you; and from His heart-care of you, His providential care for you shall be shown. And as to the power of Christ, He is the Lord Almighty, and His everlasting arms will never grow weary of bearing you and all your burdens. The Lord well knew that His people would need to be dandled by Him and carried by Him for a long while—that they would at times be subject to fears, from their own weakness and unworthiness, and from the occurrence of new difficulties; and from hence that they would be anxious how they would get the rest of their way through the wilderness. And therefore he says, ""Listen to me, all you who are left in Israel. I created you and have cared for you since before you were born. I will be your God throughout your lifetime—until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you." (Isaiah 46:3, 4).

Oh, my dear sister, there is grace enough in this promise to carry you safely and comfortably through all your remaining trials, even down to death and up to glory. Therefore, trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. He is your ever-living and ever-loving Friend. Live upon Him for all in all, and as your all, and in all things labor to live to Him; so shall the name of our Lord Jesus be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the Will of God and our Father.

Our dear Lord is exceedingly kind to unworthy me. He heaps favors upon me, and surrounds me with mercies, because He will be gracious—even to me, a poor, vile, hell-deserving sinner. Oh, it is well for us that grace reigns through the righteousness of Jesus, and that we, receiving abundance of grace, shall reign with Him. Oh, bless the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together for all His great goodness, and His wonderful works for poor, sinful me. And pray for me, that I may be made holiness unto the Lord, very fruitful to the glory of His name, and very useful to His dear and tender lambs. All glory to my dear Lord! Oh, how great and many have been the precious thoughts of God's kindness towards me of old, which daily open in new wonders to my view!

I wish you a rich increase of all grace and peace, through the once slain, now reigning Lamb!

When we are in the furnace

 

Dear Sister,

Grace unto you, and peace be multiplied, from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, by the blessed Comforter.

I understand that you are exercised both with affliction of body and darkness of soul, and I sympathize with you herein. But think it not strange, my dear sister, concerning the fiery trials you meet with, as if some strange thing had happened unto you. Remember the Lord has His fire in Zion, and His furnace in Jerusalem (Isa. 31:9), to refine, not to destroy His people. God sends afflictions upon His children for their good. Sin and Satan indeed aim at our destruction herein, but God bounds their rage and overrules their malice to issue in His own glory and our salvation.

The design of Sin and Satan is the destruction of our graces as well as of our persons, and therefore they blow up the fire of affliction to the utmost, and would continue it until we are consumed. But "Hold," says the Lord, "My children are my gold, precious in my esteem, and they must pass through the fire to be refined, but not lie there until they suffer loss."

And therefore, when we are in the furnace our God sits by to see that the fire be not too hot, nor continued too long upon us, as the refiner watches his gold, manages it while in the furnace, and takes it out thence when it is fully purified. "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver." Malachi 3:3

Well, then, my dear sister, since you are one of those who are precious in the sight of the Lord you must pass through the fire of affliction, but since it is the Lord's fire, which He has appointed, which He manages, and which he will restrain at His pleasure, trust yourself in the hands of your infinitely wise and gracious Refiner and you shall come out of it both with present and eternal advantage. This affliction, as an instrument in the hand of God the Almighty agent, is at work upon you, and for you, to exercise and increase your graces here, and to prepare you for your future crown. Therefore, endure the trial, for, "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." James 1:12

But it may be you will say, "Aye, if I was sure I was one that loved God, I would patiently wait for and expect a happy outcome, but I am afraid lest I should deceive myself, deceive others, and at last come short of that rest which remains for the people of God."

As for these your fears, and ten thousand more of a like nature which may arise in your heart in a time of darkness, they are altogether groundless, and though they may rob you of your comfort they cannot rob you of your safety in Christ, nor of that inheritance which is reserved for you in Heaven. No, blessed be God, you are still just where free grace set you; God has fixed you in His Son, and laid you, by faith, upon Him, the Rock of Ages; and now your salvation stands as immovable as the rock on which it is founded. The rain may descend, the floods come, and the winds blow, all kinds of afflictions and temptations together may beat vehemently against your faith of safety in Christ, but your security in Him shall never fall, because founded upon a rock which is able to bear the greatest weights which are laid upon it, and to secure the building from all danger in the greatest stress of weather which can possibly befall it. The rock of immutability is still beneath you, and unless Christ could sink, the salvation of your soul—that leans upon Him can never fall. You may fall as to your frames, but you can never sustain one shake as to your state. No, "The foundation God has laid in Zion is a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation, and he who believes on Him shall not be confounded" (Isa. 28:16, 1 Peter 2:6). And now, let all the objections be brought out that all the legions of devils and armies of corruptions combined can raise against the salvation of that sinner that looks unto Christ for life, and down they must fall before the grace of this promise—God's word shall stand, to the eternal salvation of that soul and the confusion of all its enemies!

Into His arms I commit you, earnestly desiring that happy morning of Divine favor which shall arise upon your soul when the short night of your present weeping is over; Christ will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and "your joy shall no man take from you." And meanwhile, though clouds and darkness cover you, commotions and tempests shake your mind, yet all is clear as to your state in the upper region of Christ's love!

My ingratitude unkindness and unfruitfulness

My Dear Brother,

Oh, the sweet whispers of God's free distinguishing kindness which I hear at times melt my soul down. Sometimes the Lord draws near to my spirit and talks with me about His love, and of the great things He has done and will do for me. And then I fall down in the dust before Him, acknowledge my iniquity, bewail my subtlety, and loath myself in my own sight for all my abominations, when I see that He is pacified towards me for all that I have done. Oh, it is well for me that not only the salvation of my soul, but all the work the Lord has designed me to do for Him in this world, stands alone upon His free sovereign grace! Oh, not an inch of service would ever have been laid out for me, if rich, free grace had not cast the lot! I wonder that the Lord should do anything for me, above all His children, because I am so vile, so unfit and unworthy! But the grace of God is His own; like Himself, infinite; and a sovereign right He has to bestow it where he pleases; He may do what He will with His own!

But oh, my ingratitude, unkindness, and unfruitfulness breaks my heart; and often I groan under an insensibility of divine kindness. And glad am I that, when rid of a body of sin and death, I shall give free grace all the glory, and never sin against it to the days of eternity! Meantime, pray for me, my brother, that I may love God greatly, increasingly, and serve Him much in the little I have aimed to do for him, and in that very little which yet may remain to be done before I enter into everlasting rest.

That the grace of Christ may be with your spirit, and His hand with you in your work, to the glory of His name, the good of His people, and your own present joy and future crown, is my hearty desire.