Social Media Buttons - Click to Share this Page




12 December, 2021

Oh, the infinite patience of our loving Lord



My very Dear Brother in our precious Lord,
It was the end of the Redeemer's love and death, to purify to Himself a peculiar people, zealous for good works. What a shame is it that we love Christ no more—that we can bear to think, speak, or act for any other end than His honor! Oh, what black creatures are we! And yet our Lord calls us fair—and all-fair—His fair one! Oh, stupendous grace! Wonder at it, you blessed angels! Praise Emanuel's love, you winged flames!

And let us, the objects of His heart's delight, that wound and pierce Him daily by our sins, blush and be ashamed! Let us loathe ourselves in our own sight, for all our abominations, for lo! the Lord is pacified towards us for all that we have done! Oh, let us mourn like doves in the valleys, everyone for his own iniquities, while pardoning love, through the Lamb's blood, cleanses us from all sin, and grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord. What shall be done to such backsliders in heart and ways—to such as have dealt very treacherously, aye, and do still, with our Maker, our Husband; that slight His manifested love, and practically count Him not worthy of our poor, base, little selves, who gave, who gives His great, His glorious, matchless Self for us, and to us!

If our Lord were to smite us dead, yes, to the lowest hell, we have deserved it. But oh! nothing but His love can cure us; though in ourselves unlovely, loathsome creatures. Oh, the infinite grace of our Lord's heart! Rather than lose us in the fall, Himself would take our room, our nature, our law-place, yes, and our sins too, upon His holy, harmless, spotless, glorious Self! that by His great and righteous Self, sacrificed for us, He might purge us from all iniquity, make us perfect in beauty, and exalt us in and with Him, to inherit the throne of glory! and having finished this glorious work of unparalleled love in Himself for us, He will finish it by Himself upon us.

Oh, the infinite patience of our loving Lord—a patience worthy of God—a patience that flows from, is maintained by, and resolved into, an infinity of love! But, oh! if our Lord bears with us, and does not cast us off for our great provocation, if He pities and pardons us, is not that enough? Oh, this is ten thousand times more than we deserve! It is grace worthy of Himself, that none could show but the God of all grace, that is higher than the heaven, deeper than the sea, broader than the earth, longer than time, long and boundless as eternity!

But, oh! it is not enough to answer the ends of our Lord's love, for Him only to bear with, to pity, and pardon us—for to show His glory, and vent His heart, He will kiss and embrace us! He will rest in His love with infinite complacency, and rejoice over us with joy and singing, as if we were altogether lovely, and ravishingly fair! "How fair, and how pleasant are you," says the Prince of grace, the Lord of glory—to an Ethiopian, a black sinner. O love, for delights! "You have ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse, with one of your eyes, with one chain of your neck." This is our God, our Maker, our Husband! This is His voice to the most vile, ungrateful worms, whom He loves and calls His bride! Oh, for melting, broken, loving hearts, under this all-penetrating, all-subduing, and all-surpassing love! Glory to the Lord our Lover!

And when we are made perfect in love, then we will love Him with our whole heart, soul, and strength—without weakness, without weariness—all love, all duty, all obedience. We will cast down our crowns at His royal feet—at His feet once pierced for us—adoring the Prince of life, and shouting the praises of His knowledge-passing love unto ages without end!


 

11 December, 2021

Dreams


Dear Sir,
As to the person you wrote me of, by the hints you give, I think he is erroneous. It is possible that God may give us notice of some things by dreams, but no article of faith, nor rule of practice, ought to be founded on nor drawn from dreams; for since the canon of the Holy Scriptures is complete, and God in these last days has spoken unto us by His Son, we are to have recourse thereto in all things which relate to faith and practice. And we ought to receive no intimation given us in dreams as if it was the will of God concerning us, until we have first tried it by the sacred oracles; and if it speaks not according to this word, there is no light in it, or no light of the divine Spirit given thereby, but we must conclude that it is from the evil and delusive spirit.

And if any hint should be given as in a dream that agrees with the word of God, and excites our faith in Him, and obedience to Him, yet is it not to be received as a rule of our faith and practice because it was hinted to us in a dream, but as it stands in the perfect rule of the word, which alone is sufficient, and appointed of God for our direction both as to what we are to believe and what to do. And if by any dream our minds are brought to the word of God, we ought to be thankful unto Him for it. If this man thinks "that our Lord told him in a dream he should live to see His coming," it seems to me a mere delusion, for he can form no such conclusion from the Holy Scriptures. It has no support there, and therefore ought to fall to the ground and be utterly rejected. So far as he adheres to the dream as his rule what to believe and do, so far he rejects the word of God, is drawn off from the rule which God has fixed, and has cause to suspect his dream to be from a delusive spirit.

That the Lord may establish your heart in faith and holiness, preserve you blameless, and present you faultless before the presence of His glory, with exceeding joy, is my earnest desire.




 

10 December, 2021

Regeneration- In what does regeneration consist?


Dear Sir,

What shall we say to these things? Where grace and gifts meet, and God calls to ministerial work, that person should be used by Him—whether school-educated or not.

I have, dear sir, a great veneration for learning, and think it a great advantage to the gospel minister, but not that it is essentially necessary to a person's call to the gospel ministry; for let a man have ever so perfect an understanding of the original languages in which the mysteries of God are written—if he is not blessed with a spiritual, supernatural understanding—while he knows perfectly the words, he is quite ignorant of the power of the spiritual truths. This is evident from what the apostle Paul says, "The natural man receives not the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." And he spoke this by experience, for by the natural man he intended not only the profane, wicked man, nor yet the weak and ignorant man, that has but little natural capacity for understanding spiritual mysteries—but also the moral man, the learned man, the man of sagacity; with the utmost natural capacity—even this man, the man of great learning, while natural, receives not the things of the Spirit of God—for they are foolishness unto him—neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The apostle Paul was far from being a profane man, a weak, or unlearned man, while a natural man; he was a Pharisee, one of the strictest sect of the Jewish religion, perfectly taught in, and exceedingly of, the law of the Fathers; he was perfectly learned in the law of Moses, who spoke of the things which concern the Lord Jesus; he was brought up in Jerusalem, at the feet of Gamaliel, insomuch that it was said unto him after his conversion, "Much learning has made you mad." And yet this man of sagacity, of morality, of much learning—while a natural man, or in his unconverted state—was quite ignorant of Christ—until God made him a spiritual man—and in a supernatural way revealed His Son in him—or gave him a spiritual capacity to understand spiritual mysteries—and then was he fit to preach the Lord Jesus. And God may thus call and use an unlearned man—if He pleases. And most of the apostles were such when our Lord first sent them out to preach.

And on the contrary, how was it with Nicodemus—a Pharisee, a strict moralist, a learned man, a teacher of the law of Moses, a ruler in Israel, one of the Jewish Sanhedrin? Alas! yet being but a natural man, how ignorant was he of the doctrine of regeneration, when our Lord preached it to him?

And how many are there, Sir, at this day, of the masters of our Israel that have not so much as a true notion of this important doctrine of regeneration, and much less a blessed experience thereof in their hearts? How many are there that think baptism is regeneration; or, at most, a wicked man's external reformation from gross immoralities, to practice the duties of morality? Is it not for this reason that they are entirely ignorant of the work of regeneration, as it is God's work upon us? They set people to amend their lives and make themselves new creatures, "which," as a worthy clergyman well says, "is preaching a way of salvation that is impracticable to fallen man." So that a person must be born again, or be a spiritual man, and as such taught of God, whether school-educated or not, before he can spiritually know or truly preach the gospel of Christ.

But, Sir, if regeneration is thus necessary, and any should say—If we cannot make ourselves new creatures, how must we become such? And in what does regeneration consist? I answer, No man can make himself a new creature; he must be wholly beholden to the Holy Spirit for that work, in which the creature is wholly passive. It is the duty of every natural man to reform his life, and abstain from every known sin, as by every sin he commits be brings more dishonor to God, and treasures up for himself more wrath against the day of vengeance. But nothing that any natural man can do will make him a new creature. As he could not give himself a being in nature—neither can he give himself a being in grace; this is God's sole prerogative, to work by His Holy Spirit on whom He pleases; for those that are new creatures are said to be "God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works," to be by Him "begotten again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Christ from the dead."

And who can create a new and spiritual nature in the heart but God? What man can beget himself unto a lively hope? And yet if he is not blessed with this work of God, he will not, cannot, be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light, having no fitness in himself for that glorious enjoyment. And as all enjoyment springs from the agreeableness of the object to the subject, and a natural man is an unholy man—what enjoyment can he have of an infinitely Holy God? How can he who loves sin, delight in a perfect conformity to God's holy image, and an entire and eternal dedication to His sole praise, which are the felicities of saints in bliss while they behold Jehovah's face? And if these holy tempers are not wrought in our hearts here, in a begun-measure, which shall be completed hereafter—our souls will be miserable forever, for no unclean person or thing shall enter into the new Jerusalem. But, Sir, to the next thing, In what does regeneration consist? Permit me to answer briefly:

Regeneration consists in a universal change wrought upon our souls in all their powers and faculties by the Spirit and word of grace—or in the gift of a new nature, a spiritual nature, in the soul's being renewed after the image of God in knowledge and true holiness, which new nature contains in it faith and love, hope and every grace—and is our fitness for converse with new and spiritual objects. And this new and spiritual principle of grace has its seat in all the powers of the soul. The understanding, which before was darkness, then is made light in the Lord. The will, that was all rebellion against God's salvation in Christ, which is all of free grace, is then made willing to trust upon free grace in Christ for all salvation-bliss. The conscience, which was full of guilt and fear, is then sprinkled with the blood of Christ, and thus blessed with peace. The affections, which were staked down to an earthly, sensual propensity, are then raised to spiritual and heavenly objects In a word, "old things are passed away; behold all things are become new"—in every man, who in Christ is a new creature.

That man can say in a spiritual respect, as the man who was born blind, whose eyes our Lord opened, "One thing I know, that whereas I was blind—I now see." Faith is the soul's new eye, to discern sin in quite another light than what the man did before; to discern heart-sin in its hateful nature and woeful consequences; to discern God's law in its spirituality, as extending to thoughts as well as acts, in the equity of its requirement of perfect obedience, and in the righteousness of its curse for every, even the least, disobedience; and hence, to discern the insufficiency of its own obedience for the soul's justifying righteousness before a God of infinite holiness; to discern by the gospel the all-sufficiency, the all-transcendent excellency of Christ. Faith which works by love to its glorious object, the altogether lovely Jesus, submits to His perfect righteousness, disclaims its own, esteems it but loss and rubbish, and desires to be found in Him, and in His righteousness alone; and approving of the Savior, as the soul's new Head, it receives Him in His Person and office unto all the ends of grace as God's free gift to the chief of sinners, and gives up itself to be entirely His in all holy obedience unto Jehovah's praise, and the soul's present and eternal bliss.

Faith bows the knee to Christ, and reveres the Savior in all His salvation-fullness; and faith in the affections wings the soul upwards unto all heavenly objects, unto all those superior delights which are to be enjoyed in God, partially here, and completely and eternally hereafter; with a "Whom have I in heaven but You? and there is none on earth that I desire besides You." The desires of that soul center in Christ, as its present and eternal portion; and delight in all things that bear His image, His word, His works, His ways and ordinances, and all His saints; and the abhorring powers of that soul resist with indignation, whatever God abhors—all sin is an abomination to that man so far as he is born again. For, Sir, the man that is a new creature in Christ is such really in all his powers and faculties, though this work as yet is but a begun-work, which is to be completed at his body's dissolution to his full salvation.

The work is perfect as to kind, and perfect as to parts, extending to all his powers and faculties—but is not yet perfect as to degree—as an infant has all the parts of a man, though it is not arrived at the full stature of the perfect man. And thus it is with souls that are new-born, which made a worthy divine say, "every regenerate man is two men"—that is, he has a new nature in him, which is wholly for God, and an old nature still in part remaining, which is wholly for sin. And these two natures residing in the same soul and in all of its faculties, which are but in part sanctified—the corrupt nature, the flesh, lusts against the spirit, or holy nature in his heart—and the spirit against the flesh; and these being contrary, the one to the other, souls that are born again cannot do perfectly the things that they desire, because of sin that dwells in them. This made holy Paul say, "When I would do good, evil is present with me." And how did he groan under this misery, with an "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" And these groans under the remaining power of sin are peculiar to the new-born; to those who have a holy, spiritual nature in them, by virtue of regeneration. And this new and holy nature in them is their fitness for discerning spiritual things, which can be known by no natural man—for begun-communion with God in Christ, and a solemn dedication to His praise, as its completion, will fit them for the beatific vision of His face unto endless ages!

Happy, thrice happy then, are those who are born again! They are heirs of that glorious inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for them!


 

09 December, 2021

Of refuges for sinners


My Dear Sister in our precious Lord Jesus,

I compassionate you in the affections of Christ; and oh, that the Lord by me would strengthen your weak hands, and say to your fearful heart, Fear not! As to the fear which abides in you, "lest you have not true faith," consider that the Lord has convinced you of your lost state by nature, of the insufficiency of your best performances to help or save you, and has revealed His dear Son in you, as the only remedy, the city of refuge, for a perishing sinner to flee unto, where only the soul can be safe. And have you fled to Christ now, or have you not? Some refuge or other your soul certainly has, else you could have no peace from your pursuers—from the curses of God's righteous law which stand in His book against sinners, from His strict justice which is out against lawbreakers, from the devil, who has the power of death, and from that fearful storm of God's vindictive wrath which in fire and brimstone and a horrible tempest is to be rained down upon the wicked at the approaching terrible day of the Lord. There is no soul that is convinced of its danger in these respects but sees that it needs a refuge, and for conscience-peace, to a refuge the soul runs.

Of refuges for sinners, there are but two—self and Christ—the man's own obedience, or the obedience of the Son of God. The refuge of self has two parts—purposed repentance and religious performance. To the first, his design to amend his ways, or to his "Lord, have mercy on me," at last the profane sinner flies, and there he hopes to be safe. To his good intentions, his prayers and alms, his knowledge and practice of God's revealed will, the pharisaical sinner runs, and there, as in his house, he rests secure and fearless of danger.

But self, the man's own obedience, in both these its parts, is a refuge of lies, a deceptive, delusive refuge. And the storm of God's indignation shall overflow this hiding place, and sweep away the miserable souls that are found therein into the abyss of endless misery. There is but one refuge more for sinners, and that is Christ, the Person and obedience of the Son of God. And this is a refuge of God's providing, and of His revealing, a safe, a sure, a complete, a glorious, an everlasting refuge. And into it every sinner that sees his need of it runs. "Oh," says such a soul, "I would not be found out of Christ for a thousand worlds." And if this is your case, my dear sister, you, even you, have fled unto Christ for refuge, and are entered into Him as your hiding-place, where you are and shall be forever safe from the wrath to come.

And the desire of your soul after Christ, you soul's motion unto and into Him as your resting-place, is true faith—the faith of the operation of God, the faith of His elect, precious faith, whether you are assured of this or not. It is one thing to have true faith, and another thing to know that the faith we have is true and saving. For though the soul cannot be without the knowledge of its own acts, that it does look to Christ as the only Savior, and flee to Him for all salvation, yet it may not know that these acts are true and saving acts of faith, because the trembling sinner, from the greatness of his sins and unworthiness, may fear that Christ will not receive and save him, and that the motions of his soul towards Christ are not true and saving faith.

And the doubting believer may think that if his faith in Christ were right, surely his love to Him would be greater, that he should have more strength against corruptions and temptations, etc. Whereas if the soul looks, if it comes, if it flees as a lost sinner to the great Savior, He will never cast out such a soul, but most certainly save it to the uttermost; and there can be no looking, coming, fleeing unto Christ that is wrong, whatever Satan and unbelief suggest. If the soul looks, if it comes, if it flees to Christ, the all-sufficient Savior, as a lost sinner, for all salvation in and through Him, the soul looks, comes, and flees unto Christ aright, and these its acts of faith are true and saving, whether it knows them to be such or not.


08 December, 2021

Oh, free, rich, glorious grace!



My Dear and Honored Brethren,
Great things has the Lord done for your souls, in showing you your misery by sin, your lost and undone state by nature, in revealing Christ the glorious remedy, and in drawing your hearts to cleave unto Him by faith and love, as the only Savior. And not a soul of you who look and come to Christ for life—shall ever die—shall die eternally. No, my dear brethren, you who have believed in Jesus, who have trusted your souls in the Savior's hands, have passed from death to life, and shall not come into condemnation. Your state in Christ is forever secure. No death—not the first death as a curse, as penal, nor yet the second death—shall ever light upon you who are entered by faith into Christ as your life. You who look to the once-dying Savior for all salvation, shall live by His death. You who feast upon the sacrificed Lamb, shall live and reign with Him, as the Lamb's bride, forever and ever. Thus shall it be done unto you, my brethren, whom the King of Glory delights to honor. Oh, free, rich, glorious grace!

What? did the Lord of all love us, and give Himself for us? For us creatures, for us sinners, rebels against His crown, His enemies, and haters of His ways, who deserved to be companions with devils, and were fit fuel for everlasting burnings! What, my brethren, could the King of glory see in us to attract His love? Were we not in His foreview most loathsome, abominable objects? And yet we, even we, found grace in His sight. O! He loved us freely from the infinite grace of His own heart, and the sovereign good pleasure of His will. And He so loved us, that rather than we should die, Himself would die for us—that rather than we should perish in our guilt and pollution, Himself, His righteous, holy Self, would bear our sins, be made a curse for us, and endure all that flaming wrath that we had deserved! Oh, never was there such a lover as our dear Lord Jesus.

He loved and lived, loved and died, loved and rose for us, loves and sits at God's right hand for us, to save us to the uttermost by His prevailing intercession, in the virtue of His infinite satisfaction, even all those that come unto God by Him. Oh, glorious Lover! He ever lives, He ever loves, and from His love and life He will raise us from all sin and misery, unto all grace and glory, and crown us with Him to reign in life eternal. And in all, will He rejoice over us to do good, with His whole heart and His whole soul, yes, delight to honor us, to lift us beggars from the ash-heap, to set us among princes, and make us inherit the throne of glory!

What love and honor, then, my dear brethren, are due from saved souls unto God the Savior! O for hearts all-enkindled with His love, to love and honor Him, who first, who thus has loved us! Let us forget the things that are behind, and press forward towards the mark—perfect holiness and glory—for this prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. By faith and patience, in all holy obedience, let us run the race that is set before us, and strive who shall outstrip each other, while we look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who leads on the foremost and brings up those behind, yes, has said to the weakest soul, "with the last, I am He."

Wishing all increase of grace here, and a weighty crown of glory at Christ's appearing, I commit you to Him on whom you have believed.





 

07 December, 2021

A spiritual appetite


My Dear Brother in the Lord,
A spiritual appetite, to relish spiritual things, is a distinguishing favor bestowed upon none but those who are Christ's own. "The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God—for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." And spiritual men, who have an appetite, a capacity to relish spiritual things, can have no actual relish thereof, without the immediate influences of the Holy Spirit. It is He who takes of the things of Christ, and of the Father, and shows them unto us.

It is the spirit of truth, in His special operations as the Comforter, who guides His people into all truth. It is He who, enlightening our minds, guides us into the doctrinal knowledge of every truth, and enkindling our souls with the truths known, that gives us heart fellowship therewith. Without the actual presence of the Holy Spirit giving us insight, not the least spiritual truth can we know, nor the least degree of spiritual knowledge thereof can we attain. Oh, it is the actual presence of the Holy Spirit as our Comforter that, by His light and heat, irradiates our mind, and inflames our souls with the knowledge of divine truth. Let the truth shine ever so brightly or warmly round about us, unless the Holy Spirit shines into our minds, unto the knowledge of the truth in its glory and efficacy, we neither see its light, nor feel its heat.

How much are we debtors to Him, as our Guide into all truth, for every degree of our spiritual knowledge. Oh, the infinite grace of the Holy Spirit!

It is a great thing to be thoroughly sensible of the nothingness of the creature, both with respect to ourselves and others; that the creature is nothing, less than nothing, and vanity, and the Lord all, and in all; that all the excellency, comfort, and usefulness of the creature, is wholly derived from, and dependent upon, its Creator.

I shall be glad to know the frame of your soul, to hear from you when you have leisure, and to have an interest in your prayers.


 

06 December, 2021

Religious parentage and education

 



Dear Madam,
It is indeed a very great privilege to be favored with a religious parentage and education, but if this were our greatest felicity, we would sink, nevertheless, into eternal misery. But the vessels of mercy—of God's free, rich, sovereign mercy—in order to their preparation for eternal glory, are blessed by Him, with His Holy Spirit sent down into their hearts, as the spirit of regeneration, conviction, and conversion.

And this blessed Spirit, in His saving work on the heart, when He first begins it, finds the sinner dead in sin, under total darkness, as to spiritual things, in his understanding; in an entire alienation from them, and aversion to them, in his will and affections; and so, afar off from God in Christ, without any apparent right to the covenant of promise, and without any good hope through grace.

And at such a time as this, He is pleased, by His almighty and all-gracious energy, to produce a new and holy principle of spiritual life in that soul which lay entirely under the power of spiritual death. This principle, which is instantaneously given, and as to the exact moment of it to us unknown, contains in it all graces, which are afterwards drawn out into their various exercises, under the Spirit's influence, unto the regenerate soul's various privileges. And this gracious work of the Holy Spirit of the heart discovers itself to the soul that is the subject of it, and to others, by a supernatural light set up in the understanding, whence the soul sees itself to be utterly lost and undone by sin, by heart and life-sin, under the curse of God's law, and in danger of the wrath which is to come, that it neither has, nor can, by self-power, attain a perfect righteousness of its own for justification.

And also, in the soul's discerning, upon the Spirit's revealing, the infinite glory and transcendent excellency of Christ as the great Savior, in His Person and offices, blood and righteousness, and in all His grace-fullness, as God's great provision for the chief of sinners' salvation, and as in the gospel held forth to be received of them by faith.

And further, the Spirit's saving work on the will and affections discovers itself by that soul's approbation of the Savior beheld, its desires after Him, its approaches to Him, its laying hold of Him, and casting itself, under the Spirit's sweet and strong attraction, with the whole weight of its everlasting salvation upon Christ alone for all holiness and all happiness, to the present and eternal praise of the God of all grace, and to the soul's present and eternal bliss; upon which, that soul becomes declaratively and apparently a child of God, an heir of God, through Christ, as the God of grace and glory, and is more or less sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

And now, dear Madam, if you are blessed with a precious experience of this happy work on your heart, you are most certainly a new creature in Christ, and a true believer in Him, and "shall be saved in the Lord, with an everlasting salvation," notwithstanding the greatest inward or outward opposition. You are forever safe in the hands of Jesus, and none of the powers of darkness, with all their subtlety and force, shall ever be able to pluck you thence. "Your refuge is the eternal God, and underneath, for your support, are the everlasting arms!" And as an inhabitant of the Rock—the Rock of Ages, who is your strong defense—you may sing and shout salvation from the top of the mountains.

You tell me, Madam, "that your heart grows worse and worse." To this I reply—The unrenewed part of your heart, in which resides the principle of sin, has in it such a fullness of evil, such heights and depths of wickedness, such putrefaction and rottenness, that it cannot admit of greater degree. "It is deceitful above all things, and so desperately wicked" that none but the Lord Himself can find it out, or search the amazing depths of this bottomless gulf.

But though sin as a principle, in the unregenerate part of your heart, cannot grow worse, the ebullitions, or boilings up of corruptions, may be more or less, as they have more or less advantage to show their rage against the God of grace and holiness, and against us as bearing His image. The workings of corruptions have less advantage when we are under present divine influence; but when this is in measure withdrawn from us, they instantly boil over with rage against the principle of grace, and by their subtlety and force, under Satan's influence, entice or hurry us away with rapidity into sinful acts, to God's dishonor and our soul's distress.

But all the rage of hell and sin within and without us, with all those hellish waters which they cast forth as a flood to swallow us up, shall never quench that spark of heavenly fire, that little grace which is wrought in our hearts by the hand of Omnipotence. No! this, by the same almighty power which enkindled it, shall be maintained and increased amid and by the greatest opposition, until it is raised into a full and eternal flame. The triumphant Captain of our salvation has vanquished all the powers of hell and sin; He has led captivity captive, and dragged all the legions of devils at His chariot wheels, when God, the Redeemer, went up to glory with a shout, the Lord, with the sound of a trumpet, amid thousands and tens of thousands of His holy angels, who saw His triumphs and sung His victories.

And as for sin, our worst enemy—the old man, the whole body of sin—it was crucified with Him, and thence, by omnipotent grace—by sin-pardoning and sin-subduing grace—it shall be shortly, totally, and finally destroyed in us. And meanwhile, as our begun holiness increases, we shall see corruptions in their horrid ebullitions, under advancing displays of reigning grace, which gives them greater aggravations, to be worse and worse, and our new hearts shall be to all sin more and more averse, until a complete victory is won, and we are blessed with an immortal crown.

As to our heart-idolatry, it is a very great iniquity of which the Lord's own people are deeply guilty. But since this is the promise of His rich, free grace, "Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols?" let us plead it before His throne, and bring our every idol unto Him to be entirely slain, so shall our hearts be separated from them, and our admiration of, and sinful affection to, all glittering glow-worm glories sink and die before the rising attracting display of His all-transcendent and infinite excellences.

Be assured, dear Madam, that that work of God upon the heart which brings the soul to an entire dependence on Christ, a whole Christ, is no illusion, but shall end in a full and eternal salvation. And as to the 'hope of the hypocrite', which shall perish, that is always founded upon self-worthiness; but that hope which has for its foundation God's free grace, in and through what Christ has done and suffered for us, and is made of God unto us, is good hope that shall not make ashamed, but shall be, in its glorious fruits, to the righteous, gladness unto endless ages.

As to those precious promises which you so earnestly desire to experience, they are fulfilled in you already, partially and initially, and shall be, shortly, completely and eternally.

I wish you a rich increase of all grace unto all joy, peace, and holiness, and a massive crown of immortal bliss.


05 December, 2021

Soon your little crosses



My Dear Friend,
Think it not strange, my dear friend, that troubles beset you on every side. The world, since sin entered, has been a place of sorrow to the saints, from the beginning until now. Remember that our dear Lord has said of His followers, in the world they shall have tribulation, but that in Him they shall have peace. Flee, my dear child, as a poor, helpless, perishing sinner in yourself, unto Christ the mighty Savior, and commit your soul daily into His hands, to be saved by Him from all sin and misery, unto all grace and glory, and He will never cast you out, but receive and embrace you, to save you to the uttermost. In Him you shall have peace—a delightful calm, when storms and tempests beat around you. The dear Lord Jesus is "a hiding-place from the wind, a covert from the tempest, the shadow of a great rock in a weary land; and as rivers of water in a dry place" will He be to your thirsty soul.

All is peace between God and that soul which believes in Jesus, that looks unto Him for all salvation—all is peace even in the midst of trouble. All things come from the God of peace, shall end in peace, and work together for the good of that soul, to enrich it with grace here, and to enhance its crown of glory hereafter. Therefore, my dear sister, believing the love of God towards you in Christ, submitting to His dear will, and blessing His holy name under all trials, labor to glorify God upon the earth, and soon your little crosses shall be turned into a great, an immortal crown in heaven.

The grace of Christ be with your spirit.



 

04 December, 2021

The most weak and unfit instruments


Dear Sir,
I am glad you can say, concerning the work of the ministry, "My God would have me go, and go I must." And though you think yourself to be the weakest and vilest of all the Lord's people, and the least and most unworthy of all His ministers, and that you are not fit to preach the gospel, yet, since the Lord spoke by His blessed word to your heart, and persuaded you that it was His mind you should engage in this great work, fear not, for out of weakness you shall be made strong. Your iniquity your great High Priest has caused to pass from you, and He has clothed you with change of clothing—with the glorious robe of His righteousness—having taken off your own filthy garments; and a fair mitre will be set upon your head, or put a fresh beauty and glory upon you in your work, as you are therein made a priest unto God by the Lamb's blood.

And, remember, that the Lord is a Sovereign, and that He may take the least and last, the most unfit and unworthy of all, to send about this great work, the more to exalt the infinite freedom of His boundless grace, to display its exceeding riches, to His endless praise, by men and angels, and to exclude all creature-boasting—that no flesh should glory in His presence. Say, therefore, with your once-rejoicing Lord, "I thank You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them unto babes; even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight."

And when God sends the most weak and unfit instruments to do great work, He does not leave them to their own weakness and unfitness, but abundantly supplies all their needs, according to His riches in glory by Jesus Christ—Himself the great, all-wise, and almighty agent, takes them into His own hand, and effectually works by them to answer His great designs. The servants of Christ in the ministry do not "go to war at their own expense;" they do not, should not, go to that great work in 'their own little strength', but abide in Christ by faith for the continual supplies of His Holy Spirit, to fit them for, and carry them through, all their appointed service, to the glory of God, the good of souls, and their own present and eternal bliss. Fear not, therefore, for the Lord who sent you will certainly be with you, and you shall save Israel and smite her enemies, clad with Jehovah's might.

All supplies of sin-pardoning, sin-subduing, all-assisting, and all-persevering grace are from Him, and unto His glory.

That you may be thus endued with power from on high, is my hearty desire.


 

03 December, 2021

Overcome us! Melt us! Draw us!

 




Dear Sir,
Oh! the infinite love, the boundless grace of God—that though we are bent to backsliding from Him, and are every day guilty of it more or less—He will still call us His people, and, according to His promise, will heal our backslidings and love us freely—us who by nature were a sea of vileness, a hell of iniquity, a mass of black and horrid antithesis to His infinite purity—us who by practice were transgressors from the womb—and, which is most amazing, us who since the display of His infinite, all-attracting grace, in the forgiveness of our sins, and in the admission of us into all the royalties and privileges of the sons of God, have, nevertheless, slighted His love, despised His commandments, forsaken the Lord, and gone after other lovers!

And yet, oh yet, God loves us! Us who are guilty of such ingratitude as is not to be found even among the damned—and this, notwithstanding He knew beforehand how treacherously we would deal with Him; how rebellious, how abominable we would be. Oh, this was free love indeed! We have tried it by innumerable provocations, by most aggravated transgressions, all of our sins, being of a deep dye, an extensive guilt, a bloody color; and yet, all glory to infinite, unchanging love—our Jehovah consumes not the sons of Jacob, but loves them freely still!

Oh, free, invincible, everlasting love! Overcome us! Melt us! Draw us! Then returning, under Your healing influence, we will say repeatedly, after all our heart, lip, and life-backslidings, "Behold, we come unto You, for You are the Lord our God." Oh, what an unspeakable privilege is it, that such poor backsliding children as we are, have such a merciful Father, that will not cause His anger to fall upon us, though we have done as many evil things as we could!

Surely it is our wisdom to come to the Savior daily, as being in ourselves poor sinners, and to abide in Him continually by faith, to receive of His fullness and grace—and all supplies of grace for multiplied pardon, abundant peace, full joy, renewed strength, and increasing holiness.