Jan 11
16
God Promises
“[I] will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:18). “Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26).
“Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting” (Isaiah 63:16). “But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand” (Isaiah 64:8).
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Beloved, now are we the sons of God” (1John 3:1, 2).
“Ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel” (Hebrews 12:22-24). “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:3). “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:28, 29).
“To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:4, 5).
“The LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance” (Psalm 94:14).
“Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me” (Isaiah 49:14-16). “As I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee” (Isaiah 54:9, 10).
“I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgement, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD” (Hosea 2:19, 20).
The shadows of night have again fallen around us in peace. We thank You for the continuance of health and strength, and many outward blessings. We thank You for the crowning mercy of all–Jesus, Your unspeakable gift! Thousands of needy, outcast sinners have repaired to Him, yet still the Fountain of His grace is as free as ever. This is still His name and memorial, “Mighty to save!” Lord, we come to You, with all our sins, casting ourselves on His infinite and all-sufficient righteousness. Wash every guilty stain away.
John MacDuff, 1885.
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Atonement defined
Atonement is the result of Christ’s work of making his people holy and without sin so that we are made one with God. Some have hyphenated the word to show the meaning in the spelling of the word itself: “At-one-ment.” God is holy. God’s elect are sinners. Before God will accept a sinner into union with him God must make that sinner holy to be accepted. He entrusted this work to his Son, Christ Jesus. Christ said, “It is finished.” The Holy Spirit creates life in us, guides us into the truth that it is finished. Therefore the believer rejoices in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement (Rom 5: 11.)
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“Through the preaching of the Gospel God gathers and unites His people together as One Body in Christ , as a pool of light separated from, divided from, the darkness of the world around them. The Adversary, however, constantly seeks to do the opposite. He loves to keep God’s people united with the world, and with the world’s religion, and divided from one another, and from the truth. So may God give us grace to recognise what is the rightful separation of light from darkness, of truth from error, of the Body of Christ from the world, and what is the true unity of the saints in the Gospel of God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ… and to stand fast therein.”
Ian Potts (21st May 2007)
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The BROTHERLY Spirit of the Lord’s Prayer (extract)
“Our Father.” Matthew 6:6
But the Lord Jesus came to gather together His people of all nations and tongues around one mercy-seat, teaching them to say–“OUR Father;” thus uniting in the one “household of faith” Jew and Gentile, male and female, bond and free–all one in Christ, and all one with each other. Let us now proceed to illustrate the universal spirit of this beautiful formula.
The foundation truth is–the one Father of us ALL. I speak now only of the election of grace–the family of God. We who through grace believe, have not many, but one Father. “Have we not all one Father?” By one and the same act of predestinating grace God has adopted all His children. “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has made us accepted in the beloved.” Still more emphatically does the apostle state this truth in another place–“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in earth and in heaven is named.”
What a family-uniting truth, then, is this–OUR Father. The very breathing of the word seems to diminish the magnitude of those minor differences that separate the children of God; while its influence upon the heart draws forth the sweetest charity and the deepest love towards all who bow their knees with us in prayer, and say–“OUR Father!” Again, I ask, should not the one Fatherhood of “the adoption of grace” be more distinctly recognised, and constitute a more uniting truth among the true children of God? To know that whatever partition separates, or polity divides, or forms distinguish the saints; the moment persecution is awakened, or affliction befalls the Church, all arise and give themselves to prayer; and, travelling to one mercy-seat–converging as lines to a common center–find that, after all, they are children of one family, brethren one of another, and that into the ears of one Father all pour the breathings of their hearts.
Surely this divine, sanctifying, cementing truth, attended with the anointing of the Holy Spirit, must promote more visible union among the saints of the most high God. Let us study it more closely, get it in-wrought in our hearts, realise fully our personal adoption, learn to call God “Father” with a less faltering tongue, then will our hearts be drawn forth with a deeper fraternal affection towards all who worship in spirit and in truth the same Father, and whom that Father recognises as His.
Realising our personal interest in God’s love, and remembering that He loves alike all the children of His family, with what holy guardedness should we respect the feelings, and shield the reputation, and promote the happiness of all the sons and daughters of God! Oh, how can I look coldly upon him on whom God smiles? How dare I disown one whom Christ accepts? Where is the evidence of my own sonship if I unite not in heart and voice with my brother in saying, “OUR Father, who art in heaven?”–and while I breathe the filial words, feel not a brother’s love glowing in my heart?
And have we not one and the same Elder Brother–the Lord Jesus Christ? What a uniting truth is this! He is “the first-born among many brethren”–the Elder Brother of the Christian brotherhood. How often, and with what tenderness of tone and expressiveness of meaning, did these words fall from His lips–“My brethren!” And how ready He ever was to acknowledge the one Father of Himself and His brethren; thus taking His place at the head of the family as the First-Born of the many sons whom the Father is bringing to glory.
Through the one mediation, then, of this our Elder Brother, we all approach “OUR Father in heaven.” We plead alike His personal merits; we present alike His atoning blood; we breathe alike His endearing name; we appear before our Father clad in the garment of the Elder Brother, in whom, and for whose sake, the Father smiles pleased alike upon all. Here we stand side by side on an equality with each other. No national hate, no political creed, no ecclesiastical distinction, no social caste, nor learning, nor rank, nor wealth should be allowed for one moment to interpose a barrier to Christian recognition, fellowship, and service between those who, washed in the blood and robed in the righteousness of the Elder Brother, are members of Him, “of whom the whole Church in heaven and earth is named.”
Christ our Brother! how close and endearing the relationship! How sweet to travel to Him as to a brother, calling His Father our Father, His God our God! A Brother, though divine, made flesh like unto His brethren! A Brother, the heir of all things, and making us, His brethren, co-heirs with Himself! A brother born for His brethren’s adversity! Contemplate Christ as such. Go to Him as such. Deal with Him as such. At all times and in all places are you welcome
And does not the same Spirit of Adoption dwell alike in all the children of God? Most assuredly, if they are indeed His children. It is by this same Holy Spirit that each one cries, “Abba, Father,” when he approaches the mercy-seat. “For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” He it is who seals the uniting word upon our lips–“Our Father,” and so binds us all in one fraternal chain of holy brotherhood. Refusing, then, to recognise a professing disciple of Jesus as a brother because he belongs not to my sect, and kneels not at my altar, and sees not eye to eye with me in all things, I grieve the one indwelling Spirit, wound the Savior in the house of His friends, bring barrenness into my soul, and go far to ignore my own fraternal relation to the family of God.
Yes, beloved, God is “our Father.” He enshrines us all in one parental heart, accepts us all in His beloved Son, seals us all with one Spirit of adoption–cares for us all, provides for us all, protects us all, sympathises with us all alike. And who are you, and who am I, that we should denounce and despise one of these whom God our Father claims as His child?
And what a brotherly-uniting truth is this, that our Father is bringing us all to one parental and eternal home. A part of the family is already there–“the family in heaven.” Those who once shared our earthly home, sat with us at the family table, clustered with us around the domestic hearth, and who departed in the faith of Jesus, are not lost–they are housed in the Home of the Father in heaven, and are gathered around the Lamb, basking in the sunshine of His ineffable glory. What a soothing thought is this! how sanctifying, how uniting!
“Must I my brother keep, And share his pains and toil; And weep with those that weep, And smile with those that smile; And act to each a brother’s part, And feel his sorrows in my heart?
“Must I his burden bear As though it were my own, And do as I would care Should to myself be done; And faithful to his interests prove, And as my neighbor love?
“Must I reprove his sin, Must I partake his grief, And kindly enter in And minister relief; The naked clothe, the hungry feed, And love him not in word, but deed?
“Then, Jesus, at Your feet A student let me be, And learn as it is meet My duty, Lord, of Thee; For You did come on mercy’s plan, And all Your life was love to man.
“Oh, make me as You art, Your Spirit, Lord, bestow; The kind and gentle heart That feels another’s woe, That thus I may be like my Head, And in my Savior’s footsteps tread.”
“Oh then the glory and the bliss, When all that pained and seemed amiss Shall melt with earth and sin away; When saints beneath their Saviour’s eye, Filled with each other’s company,Filled with each other’s company, Shall spend in love the eternal day.”
Octavius Winslow
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