Feb 12
8
“The king hath brought me into his chambers.”—Song 1: 4.
Yes, he who is King of nations, King of saints, is my God and King also; for he hath an universal empire, being one with the Father over all, blessed for ever. Amen. To him I bow the knee, and humbly and gratefully desire to put the crown of my salvation on his adorable head. And what hath this Sovereign done for thee, my soul? Oh record his praise; tell it to saints and sinners all around. This great, and glorious, and condescending King, hath not only brought thee out of darkness and the shadow of death, but hath brought thee into his chambers. What chambers? Chambers of sweet communion and fellowship; chambers of love, of grace, of mercy, of redemption, of ordinances, and of all covenant blessings. He hath taught me of his love, and my privileges in him, and so assured me of my everlasting safety in him and his finished salvation, that by and by, when from those outward chambers of grace, he hath accomplished all his blessed purposes concerning me, he will bring me home into his inner chambers of light and glory, from whence I shall go out no more, but dwell in them, and in the presence of God and the Lamb, forever and ever. Hallelujah. Hosanna to the King. Robert Hawker (the poor man’s morning and evening portions)
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“Your eyes will see the King in His beauty!” Isaiah 33:17
Where in heaven or on earth can there be found such
a lovely Object as the Son of God? If you have never
seen any beauty in Jesus . . .
you have never seen Jesus,
He has never revealed Himself to you,
you never had a glimpse of His lovely face,
nor a sense of His presence,
nor a word from His lips,
nor a touch from His hand.
But if you have seen Him by the eye of faith—and
He has revealed Himself to you even in a small
measure—you have seen a beauty in Him beyond
all other beauties, for it is . . .
a holy beauty,
a divine beauty,
the beauty of His heavenly grace,
the beauty of His uncreated and eternal glory.
How beautiful and glorious does He show Himself to be
in His atoning blood and dying love. Even as sweating
great drops of blood in Gethsemane’s gloomy garden,
and as hanging in torture and agony upon Calvary’s
cross—faith can see a beauty in the glorious Redeemer,
even in the lowest depths of ignominy and shame!
“How is your Beloved better than others?”
“My Beloved is dark and dazzling, better
than ten thousand others!” Song 5:9-10 J.C. Philpot.
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I believe, that a true servant of the Lord, is called a minister of the Spirit, a minister of Christ, a preacher of the gospel, and an ambassador of peace; a steward of grace, and an evangelist; that every one who enforces the necessity and sufficiency of the Spirit, that makes Christ Jesus the Lord all in all, as Paul did, preaches the gospel in all its branches, and makes full proof of it; that enforces peace between God and conscience, by faith in a Saviour’s blood; holds forth the word of life, as a good steward of the manifold grace of God; and who leads people unto Christ Jesus, enforces union with him, liberty in him by the Spirit, a close walk with him, heavenly mindedness, and joy and peace in believing, are the persons who have a right to the above titles, and none else. William Huntington ( Extract from the coalheaver’s confession)
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No man can learn and know the spiritual meaning of the Bible to the saving of his
soul, except he be taught of God.
This “offensive” truth Christ told the Jews; but
whenever He said anything which He knew would hurt the pride of their hearts, He
used to say: “It is written in the law, or in the prophets;- then they were not able to
answer Him a word, for they professed to believe them; as He said in this instance:
“It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man
therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me” (John
6: 45). We ministers adopt the same most excellent plan, for when we advance
truths which excite the enmity of carnal minds, we appeal to the Bible for the truth of what we say; and as you profess to believe it, you must justify us…
All by nature are “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2: 1; 1 Tim. 5. 6; 1 John 5. 12;
Rom. 8 6), with hearts at enmity against God, “deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked” (Jer. 17: 9); and not one in this state will ever seek God; for,
“The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were
any that did understand and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are altogether
become filthv: there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Psa. 14: 2, 3). And Christ
saith to His disciples: “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you” (John 15:
16); and He told them: “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent
me draw him” (John 6 44). He also saith: “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will
draw all men unto me” (John 12: 32). Therefore, none can go to Christ but those
who are chosen in Him, and are drawn. There is nothing that man can do that will
recommend him to God; for all that man does till he has faith is nothing but sin.
Paul, who was one of the strictest Pharisees before his conversion, saith: “We
ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts
and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But after
that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us” (Titus
3: 3-5). Paul told the saints at Ephesus that God had “predestinated us unto the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his
will” (Eph. 1: 5); and Timothy, “not according to our works, but according to his
own purpose and grace” (2 Tim. 1: 9).
If you believe the Scriptures, you must believe that you can do nothing to
recommend yourself to God’s favour; for if you have not faith, which is the gift of
God, you cannot please Him; for “they that are in the flesh cannot please God”
(Rom. 8: 8), and “in my flesh dwelleth no good thing” (Rom. 7: 18). “Who can
bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one” (Job 14: 4). Those that are “dead in
trespasses and sins” must be first quickened by the Spirit before the Lord will
receive anything from them. “You hath he quickened,” saith Paul, “who were dead
in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2: 1).
Faith is a precious gift; but what way has the Lord appointed to
confer it upon His chosen people? By the preaching of the Gospel; for “faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom.10: 17). Go ye and “preach the
Gospel to every creature; he that believeth and is baptised shall be saved; but he
that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16: 15, 16). The plan which the Lord
hath appointed to gather His people is by sending ministers to preach His Gospel;
and some of His chosen people may be persecutors of the true Church, as Paul was;
or hardened sinners, like the thief, who even reviled Christ, whilst himself in agony…
The true ministers of the Gospel humble the pride of man, and make him as
nothing; they show him the wickedness and deceitfulness of his own heart, and
bring his life and conduct to a comparison with the pure and holy law of God. They
inquire deeply into his hope of salvation, and see what foundation he is building
upon. “The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be
bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day” (Isa. 2: 11). When
men who are endeavouring to obtain salvation by their works, who are very
charitable to the poor, very regular in attending church and sacrament, and seem
very rich in what they think good works, and whose religion is such as the world
highly approves and commends, hear the Gospel preached, they find that Christ is
not the rock upon which they are building; and all their good works and all their
pride are levelled to the ground at one stroke. “Though I bestow all my goods to
feed the poor; and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it
profiteth me nothing” (I Cor. 13: 3). Now charity is love, which is the gift of God. William Tiptaft ( Extract He shall save His people.)
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Who Is Jesus Christ?
Matthew 24:22-24
Satan is a master deceiver. His methods of destroying the souls of men are numerous, but none is more successful than false religion.He transforms his ministers into angels of light and preachers of righteousness (I Cor. 1:13-15). He invents false christs, builds a refuge of lies,and persuades people to trust a christ he has invented and make lies a refuge for their souls. Then he gives his captives peace and assurance with which he drags them to hell.Salvation is to be had only by trusting the Christ of Holy Scripture. Any other christ is a false christ,antichrist. “The One who is to be enshrined in our minds and hearts must be the true Christ of the Bible. Otherwise we have an idol at the center of our faith” (John Legg). We must know who Jesus Christ is and what he has done if we are to trust him and be saved by him. Faith in a false christ, (no matter how sincere,life changing and comforting it is), is a false faith that will drag your soul to hell at last. I do not say that a sinner must have any depth of theological knowledge and understanding before he can believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That would be to preach a subtle form of works salvation. There are no preconditions to be met by the sinner before he may believe on Christ. However, I do say, true faith must have the true Christ for its object.You cannot be saved trusting a false christ! Many false prophets have gone out into the world in the spirit of antichrist preaching a false christ (I John 4:1-4).It is therefore vital that God’s servants clearly identify the Christ of Holy Scripture.JESUS CHRIST IS THE SOVEREIGN GOD (Rom. 9:5). Being himself God, our Savior has absolute power, dominion, and control over all creation. He always does what he will. He cannot fail to accomplish his will to any degree. A god who fails is no God at all! JESUS CHRIST IS THE EFFECTUAL REDEEMER OF HIS PEOPLE (Gal.3: 13). By his incarnation, obedience to God and death upon the cross as their Substitute, Christ has established perfect righteousness and fully satisfied the justice of God for his elect. By effectual redemption he secured the eternal salvation of all his people. JESUS CHRIST IS THE SUCCESSFUL SAVIOR (Matt. 1:21). All whom he purposed to save in eternity and died to save at Calvary he will save at his appointed time. All who trust him do so because he is a successful Savior! Don Fortner