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CI--IAPTER V
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SALVATION BY GRACE
Y REV. THOMAS SPURGEON,
•
LOND ,ON, ENGLAND
•
WHAT IS ''G ·RACE''?
•
Once u.pon a tim·e, I me.t,. on b
1
oa.rd an A.ustra]ian liner,
an aged
man
of genial
temperamen ·t,
and
of
sound and
ex
tensive learning. He
man ,aged
to dwell
in ·well-nigh
per
petual sunsl1ine, f o,r he f oll,owed the sun rot1nd the globe year
after
y,ear,
and he was
hims.,lf
so s
1
unny that
t.he
pass,eng
1
ers
made friends with
him,
and sought
information
from
him.
It
fell out that a discussion ha.ving arisen as to what ''Grace''
was, someone said, ''Le .t us ask 'The Walking Encyc lopcedia';
li
will be sure to know.'' So to him they went with their
.inquiry as to the meaning of the theo1ogica1 te .rm, ''Grace.''
They retu .rned woef u11y disappointed, for all he could say
w·as, ''I confes ,s that I do,n't ·unders ·tand it .. At th
1
e same time
·he volt1nteer
1
ed the following ,extrao ,rdinary statement: ''I
don't
think that
they understand
it either who
so
often
speak
of
it.
1
~
Like , the medical man of
who1n
the Rev. T .. Phillips told in
hi.s
Baptist World Congress sermon who sai,d of Grace, ''It i,s
utterly
meaningless to me, this well-read traveller compre
hend1d.
it
not. Some
among us. were
hard]y
as
1
tonished
at
this ,
but it
1
did occur
to
us
that
he might have allowe ,d
that
it
was
j11stpossible t'hat on this particular t'heme, at all event .s, some,
l
1
ess. learned
f
ol.k might be more enlightened than himself.
Now~
it
chanced tl1at on
th ,a.t.
same vess ,el there w,as a Christi ,an
seaman,
wh
1
0,
if h
1
e cottld not have gi,v
1
en a concise and ade
quate definition o,f· ''Grace,'' nevertheless knew pe,r·fect1y well
its
,significanc
1
e, and would
have said,
''Ay, ay,
sir;
that's it,'' '
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with hounding heart and beaming face, if one had suggested
that ''Grace is
God's
f ree, unmerited
favor, graciously
be
st~1owed upon
the
unwortl 1y
and sinful.' · And if Mr. Phi llips
himself had been on board, an.cl had preached his Co11gress ser
mon the ,re, and had declared that ''G race is something in Gold
which is at
the
heart of all His redeeming activities, . the down
v,ard stoop and reach
of
God, God
bending from the
heights
of His majesty, to touch and grasp our insignificance and
pover ·t,y,' ''
the
weath ,er-beaten
face woul
1
d have beamed
,again,
and the converted sailor .... an would have
,said
within himself,
''Oh, to Grace how great a debtor, daily I'm constrained to be.
Ve·rily,
th ,e
world
thro ,ugh its wis,do1n ]
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· own loveliness.'' Shall we hear Dr. Alexande~ Whyte her~
'ttpon? ''Grace means favor ,, mercy, pard ,on. Gr ,ac
1
e and love
are essentiall ,y the same, o,nly Grace is
love manifesting
itself
arid operating under
certain
conditions, and a,dapting
it,seif
to
certain circumstances. As, for instance ,, love ha ,s no l'imit or
Jaw such as Grace has. Love may exist between ,equals, or
i,t ,
ma,y rise to t'hose above 'US, or flow do·wn to tho ise in an,y
way beneath us. But Grace, from its nature, has only one
directio ,n
i,t
can take. GRACE ALWAYS FLOWS DOWN.
Grace is love indeed, hut it is love to creatures , humbling itself.
A king's love to his e,quals,
0
1
r to his own royal house, is love;
but his love to
h,is
st1bjects 'is.called grace ,. And thus ,
it
is
that
God's
1ove
to sinners is always called GRACE in t'he Scrip
tur 1s:.
It
is
.1ov,e
indeed,
but
it
is
),1ve
t O creatures ,and t
1
creatures who do not deserve His
Jove.
And therefore all He
does for ,
11s
in
CJ1rist,
and
all that
j.s disclos ,ed to us of His
goo,dwill i11 the Gospel, is ca,lled Grace.''
•
IS ''GRACE'' DEFINABLE?
•
•
Delightful as these
defin itions
are, we
are conscious that
the ha.If has not b,ee,n told. Oh I the e,xceeding ric'hes of His
gra
1
ce. Wher ,eunto shall we liken the mercy of God, or with
,vhat comparison shall
\ve compar ,e
it?
It defies
definition,
and beggars descriptio ,n. This is ha1·dly to, be wondered at,
f
on it is so Divine. There are som -e things of earth to which
no human pen or brush has
1
done j 'Usti
1
ce st
1
orms, rainbows,
cataracts ,, sunsets, i,cehergs, snowflakes, dewdrops, the wings
that
wanto 'n
among ,
SUmmer
flower ,s. Becaus ,e God made the(llt
man
fails
to describe
them ,.
Who,
then,,.
shall te,ll forth fully
that whjch God has and is? The definition we have quoted
from Dr:. Jowett is worthy of .his gr,eat reputati .1n, yet he
himself confesses that ''Grace'' is indefinable. Thus
choicely
t1e puts
it:
''~ome tnin .ister of the C'ross; toiling in great
.
lon,eline,s,s,, amo
1
ng a sca.,ttered and primitive people, and on the
very fringe of dark primeval forests, , sent
me
a
tittle
sample
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of his vast and wealthy environment. It was a bright and
gaily colored wing of a native bird. The color and life of
trackless leagues sampled within the confines of an envelope
And when we have made a compact little phrase to enshrine
the secret of Grace, I feel that however fair and radiant it
rnay be, we have only got a wing of a native bird, and be
wildering stretches of wealth are untouched and unrevealed.
No we cannot define it."
DESIRE FOR SALVATION
It cannot be pretended that all men desire to ·be saved.
Would to God that it were so A lack of the sense of sin
is still the most perilous omen of today, as Mr. Gladstone
declared it was in his time. Were he now alive, he would, we
believe, repeat those portentous words with added emphasis,
for this lack- this fatal lack---is approved and fostered
y
certain of those whose solemn endeavor it should be to pre
vent and condemn it. A fatal lack it assuredly is, for if ,a
sense of sin .be absent, what hope is there of a longing for
salvation, of a cry for mercy, or of appreciation of a Saviour?
So long as men imagine themselves to ·be potential Christs,
there is little likelihood that they will be sufficiently discon
tent with self to look away to Jesus, or, indeed, to suppose
that they are other than rich and increased in goods and in
need of nothing. No, no; all men ·do not desiderate salvation,
though we sometimes think that there has come to all men at
some time or other, before the process of hardening was com
plete, some consci.ence of sin, some apprehension as to the
future, some longings, faint and fitful it may be, to be right ·
with God, and assured of heaven. There is, moreover, a
tnuch larger number than we suppose of really ,anxious souls.
Deep desire is often hidden under a cloak of unconcern, and
there is sometimes a br,eaking heart under a , brazen .breast.
In addition to, and partly' in consequence of, this lao'k of a
sense of sin, there is much misconception as to the nature of
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salvation, and tl1e way to secure it. It is even possible to en
tertain some true conception of sin, and of
salvation ., without
c.omprel1ending, or, at
all events, with .out
su.bmitt .ing to Go,d s
method of salvatio
1
n. One may r
1
eali.ze that to be sav,ed f r,om
sin
is
to
o,vercome its po
1
wer a.s w
1
ell as
to
es.c.ape its
penalty,
and yet suppo ,se that this is not impossible to f alien men by
way of profound penitence,
radic ·al ref ·ormation,
and
precis1
piety. .
Rl
1
GHTEOUSNE .SS IS ESSENTIAL
One thing is eviden ·t rig.hteo11sness
i,s
essential. B
1
ut
what ·must be. the : nature and q·uality of ·that righteousne ,ss~
and how and
w
h
1
ence is it to be obtained ? Shall it be
home
r11ade,or shall it
be
of ·
God and fr ·om above?
Shall
I
go
about t,o est .ablish my own, or shall I subj1ect myself to God s?
Shall salvation be of
wor.ks,,
or
by
f aith? Is Christ · to
be
a
Substitttte fo
1
r the sinner, or will tl1e sinner be a
s,t1b
stitute
for
the Savi
1
our? Shall
the altar sme,11
of
,sacrific.e,
Go,d
appointed ,and God-pr ·ovided ., 0
1
·r ·will we prefer to d
1
eck it. with
flowers that with
1
er an ·d wi·th fruits that sl1rivel, howsoever fair
t hey seem at
first?
Is pe·rsonal goodness, or
·s God s gr ·ace,
as revealed
in Jesus
Christ,
to
bring us
to the
world
where all
is well ? The one is a ladder that we ourselves set up and
pa .infully ascend; the. othe~ is an elev.a,tor which. God provides,
into which, ind .eed, we pass by penit .ential . faith,
but
with which
the liftin .g ·po
1
wer is, God s alo
1
ne. Salvati
1
on by work ·s is t·he
choice of
the
Pharisee, salvation
by Grace
is
the
hope
of tfie
Publican. . ,
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•
Nor ca.n
these
two
p,rinciples
be
combin .ed. They · are t ~
tally distinct; nay, more, they are at variance the one with
th
1
e
other. ·A blend of the
·two is
impo,ssible. If ,it is
by
grace,
it
is no more
,of works ;
other ·wise grace
is no more
grace. One cannot
merit
me,rcy. Thi ,s
field ·
must not be
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sown with mingl ,ed s,eed. The ox of mercy, and th
1
e, ass of
.tnerit
n1us t not be yoked
tog
1
ether; indeed, they cannot be;
tl1ey are t
1
00
unequal.
No
linsey -woolsey garment
can 'We
weave of works
and grace.
As Hart quaintly puts it:
Everything we do we
,
Cho,se11 Jew,s
Must not use
.
,,
sin in,
S0
the
choice must be
n1ade
between
these
two
wa,ys to
heaven. ·The great ques ,tion still is,
How
can · m.an be
just .
wit .h God? and
it
app
1
ear .s that he tnust
1
either him.self be es
sentially and perfectly ho,Iy, ,or he must, by some
m·eans,
ac
quire a justnes .s which will bear the scrutiny of Omnis ,cience,
and p
1
ass
muster
in th ,e
High Court of Heaven .
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W H AT SAYS THE BOOK?
,
What , has the Word of God to
say
about this all-import
ant matter? It declares most plainly that all hav
1
e sinned, that
sin is
exceedi ·ng
sinful, that retribution follows iniq~ity as the
cart-wheel follows the footprints .
of
the ox
that
draws
it,
tltat
none
can
ma·ke his
hands clean or
r,enew his
own heart. It
tells us also that
God,
in His infinite mercy, has d·evised
a
way of s,alvation, and that none b~t Jesus can do helpless sin-
. ners good. Behold the
bleeding
victims, and
th.e smoking aita .rs
lof the ol
1
1
dispensati 1on Th
1
y ,speak of sin thiat neede
1
d to
be pu·t.away, and they fo
1
reshadowe :d a sacrifice of nobler ·n,ame
and richer
blood than the,y, th
1
e
only
Sacrifice
·whicl1
can ·mak
1
e
the comers th,ereunto perfe ,ct.
Hea ·rk,en
to, David as he cries: ,
Enter n,ot into ju ,dgm
1
en·t with Thy servant, for in Thy sight
-
shall no fles·h living
be ju s·tified. ·
The
prophets te11 t he
sel·fsame ta1e. By
the
knowledge
of
Him
shall
My righteous
Servant justify many, for He shall
· bear
their
iniquities (Isa.
53.:11 ).
Then there is that won
derful word . whic h broke the fetters that were on Luther s
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The Fundamentals
I
soul as h
1
e climbed the h.oly S
1
taircase on. his knees: ''"fl1e
j iust
shall live by faith.''
The Apostles bear similar
witness. Peter
tells
of Jesus
of Naza .reth, and declares, ''In none other is there salvat :i.on;
£or
neither
is ther ·e
any
other na·me
under
·heaven,
tha ·t
is given
among men, wherein
we
mu st be saved'' (Acts 4 :12,
R.
v.).
Paul is insistent on
justification
b.Y faith
alone. ''By the
•
d.eeds of the law th .ere s,ha ll no
flesh
be ,justi .fied in
His sight ''
(Rom. 3 :20),. ''By gra
1
ce ye are saved through
faith;
and
that
not of yourselves;
i·t
is
the ,
gift
of
God; not of workst lest a ny
man should boast'' (Eph. 2 :8 and 9). ''Not
by
works of
righteou sn-es,s
which we have do11e, but according to His mercy
H'e, sav ,ed
us,
b
1
y the washing of r
1
egeneration,
and r·e·newing
ol
thf Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundant ·ty throug r1
Jesus Chris ,t our Saviour; that being justified b
1
y
His grace,
'We
sh
1
ould be
ma
1
de h
1
eirs according
t
1
0
the ho
1
pe of
eternal
·tife''
(Ti ,tus 3:5; ,
1
6, 7).
(See .also
Gal . .
3:11,
Ph .ii.
3:8
1
and
9, Acts 13 :39,
a11d
2 Tim. 1 :9.) ·
NO THOROUGHF 'ARE
.
What nee,d ha·ve we 0
1
£. further w:tness,·? It is evjden ,t tha·t
the way of Works is close·d .. Athwart the narrow track have
fallen · the Tree of Life and the broken
t.ables
of
the
Law,
and God ha s affixed
a n,otice
there ,, large
and
legible ,,
so, that
he w·ho reads may ru.n into a
better
p
1
ath
N
1
0 TH
1
0R
1
0U
I
i -- -
FARE It ·is given '' .By Order,'' and the King's re ·d seal is
011 it.; there£ ore doth
it
stand fast for
e·ver.
Levitical instruc
tions,
Davidi ,c
confessions, Prophetic and Apostolic
declara ,
·tions are .
all
the
vo,ice
o,f
the Lo
1
rd the voice that
breaketh
•
the cedars of
Leban ,on
and strippeth
the
forests bare declar~
ing
that salvation is
by
G1 acealone ..
r
'
THE
'VERDICT
OF HISTORY
1
• I
, .
.
The history of man is the history of
si·n.
lt is. one long,
·lurid
record
of
fall and failure.
Adam
had
the. best
opportun-
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it) of all.
The
law was fragmentary
a11d rud ·im
ental then.
Tl1ere was but one command a
solitary
test. B.ut it was one
t.oo
ma:n y
for
ou.· first
par ,ents~ Later,
the
fl1ood-sw1
p,t world
was soon defiled again. Lat -er still, there came a law to
Israel, holy an
1
d j ·u.st and good. Did t]1ey obey? Let the
carcasses tl1at strew tl1e wilderness
bear
witness. Is
ther ,e
a
~lerfect
life
in all Tin1e's annals? Th ,e Pharisees were p1~
e111inentas professional religionists,
y,et
Jesus said, '''Except
Your righteo ,usnes,s shall
exceed
the
righteousnes
1
s of the scribes
and Ph .a.r.i.se,es,
ye
shall in no wis,e· enter int ,o the king
1
dom o·f
heaven. They, as it were, traveled in an express train, and,
of course, fi.rst -class, but
i.t
was t·,ie ·iuron,g ,train Saul of
Tarsus
was a Pharisee of
the Pharise
1
es, and he
was
n
1
0
hypo
crite, mind
Y·OU,
bu.t he, too, was on the wron .g track, till he
c·hanged trains at Dam,asctts
J 111ction.
Ther ,e, he re1in.quished
a)] con.fidence in tl1e flesh, and thenceforth exclaimed:
''What
things wer ·e gain to, me, these have I
,count.ed
loss for
1
Christ~
Yea, verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excel
lency ,of t·he knowledge o,f· Chri st _Jesus. my Lord, for whom
I suffered the loss of ·all things,
a11d
do coun ·t them b·ut dung
that I may ,vin Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine
OWn
righteousne ss which
is of
th
1
e
law, but that whi
1
c'h
is ·
througl1 faith in Christ, the righteousness which is of
God
by
fa-tl1.'
•
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I
GRACE, NOT GRACES
Personal experience bears similar testimony. ·Our own
g~aces can ne·ver s.atisf y as does God's
Gra.ce.
He who is not
flar f'rom the kingdom, nevertl1eless inquir
1
es, ''What lac·k I
yet
r
One might as well think to lift himself by hauling at
his hoots, as, expect to win heav,en
by
tl1e deeds of the law.
The fact is, that fallen human nature is incapable of perfectly
keeping
the perfect law
of
God. It isl we11
when this
is
un- ·
derstood
a11d humbly lacknowledg ,ed ;,
it may be the dawn of
better things, even as it was with one of· whom I have heard •
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\vho was br ,ought to Christ
by
the S,pirit's application of 'the
wordst ''The heart is dec
1
eitful above all things, and desperately
v;icl
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As for the prQud Pharisee, ''God grant h.im grace to groan.'~
•
WHAT SAITH THE CROSS?
•
Grace and atonement go hand in hand r Dr. Adolph Saphir ·,
has well said: ''The world does not know what grace is. Grace
•
is not pity; grace is not indulgence nor leniency; grace is not
long-suffering. · Grace is as infinite an attribute of '
1
God as is
.Eis power, and as is His wis.dom.
1
Grace manifests itself in
righteoustless, Grace has a righteousness which is based upon
•
atone .ment or
substitution,
land
through the
whole
1
Scriptµre
there run the golden thread of grace and tl1e scarlet thread
of
ato
1
ne·me11t, wl1icl1
t
1
ogether reveal to us, for man, a
rig ·hteous-
•
ness
that comes
dow11 from heaven.'' The fact
that Christ
has died, a Sacrifice for sin, surely settles the question as to
whether salvation is
or
is
not b,y
Grace. ''If righteousness is
througl1 the law, then Christ died for nought." Yon great
Sacrifice were worse than waste, if
man can save himself.
They
who think to be saved through works of the flesh make
voi
1
d the gr ·ace of God. The unspe ,akable gift had never been
donated ; the substitutionary sacrifice had never been o:ff red,
had
any
other
way
been possible.
Calvary
says, more plainly
than anytl1ing else, ''Salvation is of the Lord.'' Away, ye
•
tnerit-mongers from the Cross, where ''the sword of Justice
i..:scabbarded in the jeweled sheath of Grace.'' Penances,
and
pieties, 3ind p,erformances
are
less
than vanity
in view
of
the
''unknown sufferings'' of the spotless Lamb of God. It is
•
impossible for self-righteousness to thrive on the slopes of the
hill cal.led Calvary.
-
.
''Oh bring no price;
God s
grace
Te Paul, to
Magdale11e,
to
me '
1
'
•
ALL OF GRACE
...
.
is free
•
•
Salvation, the~, is necess~rily a.11of
1
Grace. Man's . fall is
-.
.
so complete, God's justic
1
e is so
inexora·ble,
heaven is so
holy,
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The Fundamental'
that nothing short
of Omni·potent lov,e
can
·tift
the sinner, mag
nify
the law
which he has
mutilated~ ancl make
him pure
enough to dwell in Lig 'ht. Tl1e thought of s,aving si,nners is
God's, born, in the secret places of His
great loving '
·heart.
' 'Grace first contrived
the way
to
s.ave
r
1
ebellio,us man.w''
The
accomplishment
of
the wondrous plan
reveals God's
Grace
tliroughollt.
He sent His
Son to
be tl1e Saviour o.f
the World.
He
freely delivered Him up
for
us all. He acknow]edged Him
in
Hi ·s
11u1niliation
as,
Hi ,s
beloved
Son,
but
fors ,ook
Him
on
the t.ree, 'because He was made sin f
o,r us.
Moreover, He
brought ·.
again -· f'rom
rthe
dead our Lord Jesus,
that ·
great
•
Shepl1erd of
the
s11eep,
and
enthroned Him at the right
hand
Qf the Majesty on high. There followed the shedding
forth
of the S,pir it to
convict the world
of
sin,
and
of
r.igh,t,eou,sness,
_and
of
ju ,dgment .
He re is grace at
every
turn.
f
, ''THROUGH FAITI1:''
•
-
,
· A Work
of G1~ace, oo, has been
eff
ec·ted
in
each believing
~heart.. · We
are .
not
saved merely becaus ,e Cl1rist
died.
Tl1e
•
good news would be to us as rain
upon Sah.ara,
did not
Grace
i11cli.ne
to penitence and
pra}rer
and faith. ·
•
•
...
•'Grace ta .ugh.t my soul to pray,
And made my eyes o'e ,rfiow.''
..
Salvation by
grac e
is
appropriated
by
faith : ·
Grace is the
fountain, but faith is the
channel.
,Grace is the life -line, but
faith is
tlie ·hand
tha t
,clutcl1es it. And, thoroughly
and
final.ly
t.o
exclude all
boasting,
it is
declared
tl1at
the
salvation and ·
the faith
are
botl;i the gift of God. '' And
t.hat not
of your-
selves,
it
is the
gift of
God. T'hat salvation is
Go,d's
gif ·t is
e,vident. ''Tl1e gift 0 1 God is
eternal
life through ,Christ~'' '
''The free gift,'' ''The gift of grace,''
''The
gift of righteous
ness''
these
phrases det ,errri'ine
the f'act tha 't
s.a]·vation is
itself ·
a
Divi·ne
pre sen t
t.o
ma·n.. ''Salvation,''
1
cried
C1'
H. Sp
1
urgeon
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jn the great co11gregation, '' ·is every thing f or not hing J Christ
f·ree
·
Pa rdon free
Heaven free '' Thanks
be
·to ,
God for
a gratuitous salvation I
But is faith, also, the gift o.f God ?
As,,ur ,edly it is, ii
enly
because it is one of the most precious faculties of the human
h
1
eart. What have
,ve
that we have not ~eceived ?
But
f
1
aitb
in
Christ is, in
a very special sense, a Divine gift.
''Not
that
something
is given
us
which is
different
from
abs ,olute trust
as exercised · in.
other
cases , but that such trust
is
divinely
guided
and
fixed
upon
the right object.
Gracious manifesta- · .
tio .ns
of
t·he soul's ne·ed,
a11d
of
tl1e
Lord's glory , prevail upon
the will to repose tru st upon . that
1objec.t.''
To trust is natura,Jt
but to trust Christ, rather · than self,
O·r
ceremonies,
is
sup er
natural it is ·the gift of God , More ,over , faith, to be worthy
-
o ·f 'the name, must not he
1
dry-ey .ed, and wh ,o can melt tb
1
e
heart
and turn the flint into ,a fountain of water s b11t the God of al)
G
i)
1race.
•
''The Grace · that made me feel
my
sin,
1·t
·taught me
to believe;
•
•
Then, in believin g, peace I f·ound,
•
And now I live,
I Jive.,"
•
•
l
Nor is
it to be
supposed tha .t
Grace
has
1
done with 11s ~as
soon as we have believ ·e·d. The · mighty call of Grac
1
e that rie-
sults in ou ·r awake ,ning , is bttt ·the
begin~ing
of good
things .
•
Grace k,eeps us to the
end . .
It will no.t
Jet.
us g
1
0 ·.. t is
the
..
n1orning and the · evening Star of Christ ·ian
exp,erienc~
It
puts
•
us in the
way,
helps us by the ,vay, and takes us qll the way,;
•
..
''LEST
ANY MAN .SHOU{J) BOAST'; . •
•
..
It is di·ffic,ult to imagine by what ot.h,er pro ,cess salvati .on
co,uld have been secur ,ed, consistently ,vith God's honor. Sup
i,ose, fo,r a moment, that salvation
·by
works were a possibJo
a]ternat .ive. Boasting, so fa:r f
r,om
being ex·eluded, ~oufti
Ile
ir..vited. Man
would boast
n
p -ospect.
How proud .
hC
Would
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beof hislpur ,pose,,
and hopes. On such
a
task
as this, he
w,ould
embark with bands playing and
C
1
0l
1
ors flying~ Th
1
ere
would
be credit and eclat from the first. A]as
1
vain
ma,n;
this can
only end disastrously. Thou art building o,n the sand. This
is not of
1
God, and ,must th ,erefo ,re
1
come to naught. The Divine
Spirit hum b]es m,en to conviction and ,deep
1
repentance ; H
1
e.
never prompts to self '-righteousness and p,ride; as Hart's
simp'le, stanza
bas it : · . ·
'' 'He never moves a man to say,
·Thank God, 'I
am so,
good,'
But
turns
his eye another way
To , Jesus and
His
bilood.''
•
He would bo,as
1
t in progress. How his meanest achieveme ,nt
would e,J,ate him? What crowing there would be over tl1e
slightest advance
TI1ere
would be no need for indebtedness
to G,od,. The ne,w birth, the , cleansing bl,ood,, the conve ,rting
Spirit w·hat call for thes ,e? The self ,-made man, they say,
v1orships
'his creator, and t'he self-rigl1teous
,man a.dores
his
saviour,
that
is to
s,ay, himse.lf.,
While the
Pharisee
is brag
ging of what he doe s the publican mourns over wh ,at he
is.
Because his
l1eart
smites ·him, he smites his heart; he cannot
look up
1
, for he has
looked
within,
but 'be,cause he
cries f
1
or
niercy he is justified.
This
is as God wou]d have it, for
He
hath S1id: ''My glo,ry will I not . give u.nto an,other.''
He would boast
w .lien
perfect. If real peace an ,d lasti ,ng
joy
could
come to him, he w
1
ould 'boast
ane,w·.
''I have made
my
heart
cleanj,
and washed my
hands
in innocency,"
'he
w.ould
cry.
The ,re would
be
n
1
0
room
for
God, and for His
sovereign
cla ,im to th ,e wh
1
ole, praise of
0
1
Ur salvati
1
on. Ins ,tead of the
sweet ~iming ' of the bells of St~ Saviou ,r's,
''I forgave
thee I
-
f'orgave thee I forgave thee all t'hat debt,'' we s'hould be
d,eafened with the ho~rse brass of every man's own trumpet .
blaring
about the good
some
wi,Jl even dare to
say,,
the God
th t· • • 11 ...
~ a ,
5
1n a
1
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I know which
music
I
p1·efer.
t.o that pardoning word, like
h
1
ells
soul has scor ned a]l other .strains.
,
bells .
Since first I hearkened
at ·ev
1
ening pealing,
my
Ring on,
ring on.,
sweet
•
Again .,
he
would
boast in Paradise.
Think of
it Heaven
as it is,. is. full . of perfect prais .e to
1
God. Its every song
is in hono ,r of F .ather, , .Son, or Spirit. ''Unto Him that loved
us and w.ashed us, from ,our sins in His own blood, and hath
n1ade u.s
kings and
prie ,sts unto
God and His Father,
to Him
be g·,ory and
do
1
minio ,n for
1
ever
and ever.'' That i.s tl1e chorus
,
f tl1e skies, the sweet r,efrain of tl1e
e.verl.a"sting
song,.
'·Worthy
is, the
Lamb,'' they cry
.and ,again
tl1ey s,a.y,
''Ha .Jle
luj ah ''
Bu t we·re
salva ti.on.by w·orks
inst
1
ead of
by
Grace ·,
th,e
songs
'"r,ould be in praise of man. Ea ,ch w,oul,d
laud
his
f
1
ellow
or
himself, and et
1
ernity · ·would be: s,p,ent in re·c:o·u11ting perso
1
11a1
,~irtt1es and victories. Oh what a tir ·esome et,ernity · that
would be·. ·
· Ah it is better as it is,
With
the Lamb in the mid st of the
throne ,
and tl1e har ps all ·tuned to
Jesus'
praise. ·There will
be no self-admiration tl1ere, a·nd, co·nsequently, no, co1npari
sons and no rivalry, unless, indeed, we vie one with the other
•
..
as to who shall honor
Grace
the most. 'The
motto of each ·
will be, ''He t'hat
gloriet11t let
hitn glory in the
Lord.''
As
McC'heyne puts it, we shall be ''dressed in
'beauty
not our
awn.
T liat is the beauty of
it
So,
sa]vation
is of Grace.
and
of Grace
alone. God
will
have no
man
boasting,
and
boast
h
1
e assuredly
wou1d,
were
he
saved,
even
in
part, , by the works
of
his own hands. It is
admittedI ,y a hun1bling
doctrine ,.
We
wonder
not
that
it
is
not popu]ar.
Truth
seldom is. ''Truth is unwe1come, how~ver .
Divine.,, But is it not well to be humbled? · We are not dis•
posed to favor
any teaching
whi
1
ch
be-littles
God:t or magni
fies ma ·n,.
It
has been well
and truly
said that
''the
.man
who
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has been snat
1
che
1
d f r ·o1m helplessness and despai :r
by un,merited
grace,
will
never
forg ·et
to
carry
himself
as
a
fo:r,given
man. ' '
(Rev ~T.
Phil]ips.)
He ,vill not fail to
look
back to
the
rock
whence he was hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence he
v;,as digged. Gipsy Smith
keeps
the hedge row at the fo ,o·t
0
1
f. his Camb ·rid,ge gard .en that he may enjoy u.ninterrupted
view of the Common on Which his, fatl1er's tent was ·pitched,
and
whenc -e
he us
1
ed
to eally
forth as a
young timber-merchant.
(He
sold clothes -pegs, you remember.) We love him
for
this.
Lifted to
honor and
usef ulnes s by Grace,
he
·gives God
the
praise. Grac
1
e Divine make s graci ,ous men. Good works and
g·races
are b,y
no means .
excluded from believ
1
ers.'
lives. They
are the produ ct of gratuitous salvation, the eviden ce of saving
faith,
the acknowledgment of grateful hearts.
Tl1e Grace
,saved si.nner
W
1
orks ou,t th ,e
s.alvation
th.at has
been
wr
1
o·ught
iL him. He i.s his Savio ·ur's willi,ng bon ,d-slave. He cannot
be c:ointent witl1 trium ,phing in Cl1ris,t's grace; he must grace
His triumph, too. It
is,
with him as
it
is with the
inhabita~ts
of the city of B.ath, who r·ecord
their
,appreciation
of
its
heal
ing waters
on
a tablet
inscribed
as follows :
•
•
''Thes ,e healing
1
waters have
flow ,e·d
on
r ·om tim
1
e ,imme ,mor .ial,
Thei ·r virtu
1
e animpai ·red, their
heat
undimini .s·hed,
Their volume unabated;
they
explain the origin,
Account for
th e progress, and
demand the gratitude
Q,f
the City of B,ath .. ·
•
The analogy
i . nearly
perfect. Go,d'
1
s,
grac
1
e may well b
1
e
lik ,ened t.o
flowing
waters,
t
1
0 streams hot
and
h,ealth-giv ·i,ng,
to
streams th.at never cool
nor fai]. Moreover, '''they account
for
our
origin
and
progress,''
that is, we
owe
our spiritual
being
and we,]1-being to them.
And
as for
demanding gratitude ·
weJJ, '' 1Str
1
eams of m
1
er
1
cy nev
1
r c
1
easi·ng cal.I for so11gsof lou
1
d-
.
s,t praise. · ·
Oh, Jet us preach up · Grace, even if it be not gracio ,usly ,
received. ''If the peepJe d,on't like
the
doctrine
of
Grace,''
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said C. H. Spur ,geon, ''give them the more of it.'' Not what
they wa~t; but what they need we must supp]y. If the age
•
is
pleasure-loving,
unbelieving,
self-satisfied,
the more call for
faithful
testimony
as to the nature of sin, God's attitude
to
wards 1t
1
and the terms on which He offers salvation. We
must aim the more at heart , and consci
1
ence. We m,ust seek
to ar ,ous,e and evc,n alarm the sinner, while we invite as ,vvoo
ingly as ever
to
the one Mediator. A full-orbed Gospel treats
. -
alike of ab~unding sin,
and
of
much
more
abounding Grace.
· Si'urely
Dr. Wat ·ts san ,g
truly
when he,
pictured
the ,r,an ...
somed
recountin ,g
their experie .nces of .G:race:
''Then all the chose ,n. s,eed
Shall m
1
eet around , the throne, ·
Shall
ble '.SS
th
1
e
conduct
1
0f
His
grac ,e,,
. And mak ,e His glories known.''
•
•
•
To me it h.a.s been what the same
poet
calls ''a drop of
heaven, to review God's plan fo,r my salva .tion, and to try to
•
s
1
e:t it f·orth. Toward , t'he stou t ,ships that have
C,a,r1·ied
me
acr ,0
1
ss
't.he
seas
I have
ever
cherished a
grateful
fee],i:ng.l How
•
n1uch more do
1
I
10
ve the, good ship of Grace th ,at has born
1
e
tne thus far on
.my way
'to th
1
e Fair Hav ,ens. An 'Unttstta1
opportunity was once
o·£fered
me
of
viewing
the v·essel on
which I was a passenger, before the voyage was quite com-
•
plete. After nearly three months in a sailing ship, we were
greeted by a:harbor tug, whose n1aster doubtless hoped for
the task of towing us into poft. There was, however, a
favorable breeze which,
though
light, promised to
hold
steady.
So ·the tng's . services w
1
ere dec,Jined. Anxious t,o e,arn an hon-
•
est pennyJ l1er master ranged alongsid
1
e the clipper, and trans - ·
shipped such passengers as
cared
to get a view from another
deck of the good ship that had brought them some fifteen
thousand ,nii1es. Y
1
ou may be sure that I was one of the,se. A
delightful
experience it was to
draw away from our floating
home, to mark her graceful ·
lines·,
her towering masts, her
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T he undament,aJs
ta ,per .ing ya r,ds, her sW,elling sails th
1
e white wave curling
at
h
1
er for
1
e-foo ,t,, and th,e
green
wak ,e win
1
ding ast
1
ern ,.
From
our new
view-point
items that
had
,grovvn familiar
were
in..,
vested with fresh interest. Tl1ere was the wheel to which we
had se
1
en six seamen lasl1ed in time ,of storm, and there the
binnacle, who se sheitet"ed compa ss had bee11 s.o constantly
studied
Sr,nce
the
S,tart,
and tl1ere the ,ch,am·,-11
0USe
with
its
treasur
1
es of wisdom, and yonder the l1uge-flul{edanchors, and
over al.I the
netw ,ork
of ropes a
tangle
to
the uninitiated ,.
Even the smok
1
e from the galley fire inspired
respect,
as we
remembered tl1e many meals that
·appetite ,s,
sharpened by
the
keen ·air of tl1e Sou ·thern S,eas, had dem
1
olished. And ·yond
1
er
•
is the port
of
one
1
s own cabin I What marvelous things had
been view
1
ed thr ·o
1
ugh that narro ,w peep,hole., and what sweet
sleep
had been
etijoyed beneath
it,
''rocked in tl1e
cradle
of
the
. deep.'' Oh it was a
brave
sight, that full-rigged ship,so long our
ocean home, which, despite contrary winds ·and
cross-cur1·ents,
and terrifying gales and t .antalizing calms, had ha'lf compassed
the
globe, and
had
bro,ught
her
11umerous,
passengers and
·val
uable freig .ht across , the trackl
1
es,s, l,eagu,es in ·safety. Do you
wonder that we cheer ,e,d the staunch ves ,,el, a,nd her skilful
co1nman,1e.r.,
and the ,ship's com.pany again
and
again?
I
1
can
hear the echoes of thos ,e hurrahs today .. Do you wonder that
we ,g~ve thanks for a prosperous voyage
by
the will of God,
and presently stepped back from the tug-boat to the ship
with
out question that what remained of the
journey
would
be soon
and
succeslsf
ully ,a,c
1
o·mplishe
1
d? . .
Let
me
apply
this incident. The good
ship is
FREE
GRACE,, an,d
I have taken
my
readers aboard
my
tug-boat
to
give them opportunity to view the means by which they have
already come so near (
how
near
we
know not) to
the
Haven ·under , the hill. . We
have
sailed ar ,ound
abotit her ',
and
told the tow,ering ' masts tl1ereof, and m,arked W e I her 1:pul
warks. We
h .ave
seen the breath of God fil,ling h
1
et
sails
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brightened by the smile of His love. We have noted the
scarlet thread in all her rigging, and the crimson flag flying
at the fore . We have seen at the stern the wheel of God's
sovereignty by which the great ship is turned whithersoever
the Governor listeth, and on the prow the sinner's sheet
anchor: "Him that cometh unto Me, I will in no wise cast
out." The chart-house is the Word, and the compass is the
Spirit,
and there are well-plenished store-rooms , and spacious
saloons, and never -to- be-forgott en chambers wherein He has
given His beloved precious things in sleep, and outlooks
whence they have seen His wonders in the deep. Through
stress of storn1 and through dreary doldrums; through leagues
of entangling weed, and past many a chilling and perilous
iceberg, with varying speed and zigzag course, and changing
clime, FREE GRACE has brought us hitherto. We have, per
chance, a few n1ore leagues to cover . We may even stand off
·and on a while, near the harbor mouth, but , please God, we
shall have abundant entrance at the last. We have circled the
ship, and I call on every passenger to bless her in the name of
the Lord, and to shout the praise of Him who owns and
navigates her. All honor and blessing be unto the God of
Grace and unto the Grace of God Ten thousand, thousand
thanks to Jesus And to the blessed Spirit equal praise
t