Tag Archives: Gospel

“He abounds more in grace than thou in sinning” by Thomas Goodwin

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“When the name of God and Christ are simply and alone apprehended they may be sufficient ground for faith to rest upon and nothing can be more comfortable to a poor distressed believer.

Because the name of God, that is, God’s attributes, and Christ’s righteousness, do sufficiently, and adequately, and fully answer all wants and doubts, and all objections and distresses that we can have, or can be in.

Whatsoever our want or temptations be, He hath a name to make supply.

For example, to take that His name in pieces, mentioned Exodus 34:5-6, consider every letter in that His name, and every letter answers to some temptation may be made by us.

Art thou in misery and great distress?

He is merciful; ‘The Lord merciful.’ The Lord, therefore able to help thee; and merciful, therefore willing.

Yes, but thou wilt say, ‘I am unworthy; I have nothing in me to move Him to it.‘

Well, therefore, He is gracious; now grace is to show mercy freely.

Yes, but I have sinned against Him long, for many years; if I had come in when I was young, mercy might have been shown me.

To this He says, ‘I am long-suffering.’

Yes, but my sins every way abound in number, and it is impossible to reckon them up, and they abound in heinousness; I have committed the same sins again and again; I have been false to Him, broke promise with Him again and again.

His name also answers this objection: He is abundant in goodness. He abounds more in grace than thou in sinning.

And though thou hast been false again and again to him, and broke all covenants, yet He is abundant in truth; also better than His word, for He cannot to our capacities express all that mercy that is in Him for us.

Yes, but I have committed great sins, aggravated with many and great circumstances, against knowledge, and willfully.

He forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin; sins of all sorts.

Yes, but there is mercy thus in Him but for a few, and I may be none of the number.

Yes, there is mercy for thousands. And He keeps it; treasures of mercy lie by Him, and are kept, if men would come and take them.”

–Thomas Goodwin, The Works of Thomas Goodwin, Volume 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage, 1861/2006), 3: 326, 328.

“The Living Lord is with us” by William Milligan

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“Our Lord Himself connected both the obligation and the encouragement of Christian work with the thought of His condition now, when after His resurrection He said to the disciples:

‘All authority hath been given unto Me both in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ (Matthew 28:18-20)

Once before He had sent them forth, but it was in other terms, ‘Go not into any way of the Gentiles, and enter not into any city of the Samaritans; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ (Matthew 10:5-6)

The time had not yet come for the practical work of the Church to be presented to her in all its extent. Now it has come, and every limitation has disappeared. The Kingdom of God, no longer realised, though imperfectly, in one nation, is to be realised in its highest perfection among all nations.

The love of God is revealed in its fulness in a Redeemer who, exalted in spiritual glory, is equally near to men, whatever be the clime or the age in which they live.

The eye of the Church’s Head travels to every corner of the world—no spot so remote but He is there; no labourer so apparently unnoticed amidst the throng of universal life but He is beside him; no home so poor but He is ready, in the power of His Spirit, to illuminate its darkness and to heal its sorrows.

“Lo, I am with you always,’ is His language— ‘I, to whom all authority has been given both in heaven and on earth, who have alike the power and the right to rule, whose grace shall be sufficient for thee, and whose strength shall be perfected in weak- ness.’

In fulfilling His great commission we need have no fear that we may be out of harmony with God’s eternal plan, and none that our task may prove too much for us to accomplish.

The Living Lord is with us, who once knew every such disappointment as we experience, and every such cause of despondency as weakens us; who once sighed over the stubbornness of men more deeply than we can sigh, and shed more bitter tears for those who refused to listen to Him than we can weep.

Yet He triumphed; and He comes to us now that He may communicate to us His joy of victory, and that, in doing so, He may afford us an earnest of our own.

Thus it is, then, that everything most distinctive of the Church of Christ, alike in her inward and outward life, in her relation to her various members and to the world, flows out of the fact that she is the representative not only of the humbled and suffering but of the Exalted and Glorified Lord.

The great Head from whom she draws all that is most characteristic of her being and her duties is no longer upon earth; He is in heaven,—His humiliation over.

His cup of sorrow drained, His eternal and glorious reign begun. To that Head the Church is united in the bonds of closest fellowship.

She is one with Him who in all His Divine majesty, in all His heavenly power, with all the influences of His Spirit, is at the right hand of the Father, that she may dwell in Him, and may produce even here below the fruits of that tree of life which grows by the river of the water of life, which bears its fruits throughout the year, and the leaves of which are for the healing of the nations.

The Church of Christ is not an institution of this world’s policy, nor does she exist for this world’s ends.

It is presumption on the part of men clothed with mere worldly power to think that they can lend her strength or that they can save her when she is in danger.

She can lend strength to them and save them; they can do none of these things for her.

Her spirit, her strength, her life are from above.

She is the child of heaven upon earth, that she may witness to the heaven which she now partially introduces, and for the full manifestation of which she prepares and waits.”

–William Milligan, The Resurrection of our Lord (New York: Macmillan, 1917), 220-223.

“What transformed the weak and cowardly disciples into the spiritual conquerors of the world?” by J. Gresham Machen

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“The disciples of Jesus had evidently been far inferior to their Master in every possible way; they had not understood His lofty spiritual teaching, but even in the hour of solemn crisis had quarreled over great places in the approaching Kingdom.

What hope was there that such men could succeed where their Master had failed? Even when He had been with them, they had been powerless; and now that He was taken from them, what little power they may have had was gone.

Yet those same weak, discouraged men, within a few days after the death of their Master, instituted the most important spiritual movement that the world has ever seen.

What had produced the astonishing change? What had transformed the weak and cowardly disciples into the spiritual conquerors of the world?

Evidently it was not the mere memory of Jesus’ life, for that was a source of sadness rather than of joy.

Evidently the disciples of Jesus, within the few days between the crucifixion and the beginning of their work in Jerusalem, had received some new equipment for their task.

What that new equipment was, at least the outstanding and external element in it (to say nothing of the endowment which Christian men believe to have been received at Pentecost), is perfectly plain.

The great weapon with which the disciples of Jesus set out to conquer the world was not a mere comprehension of eternal principles; it was an historical message, an account of something that had recently happened, it was the message, “He is risen.”

But the message of the resurrection was not isolated. It was connected with the death of Jesus, seen now to be not a failure but a triumphant act of divine grace; it was connected with the entire appearance of Jesus upon earth. The coming of Jesus was understood now as an act of God by which sinful men were saved.

The primitive Church was concerned not merely with what Jesus had said, but also, and primarily, with what Jesus had done. The world was to be redeemed through the proclamation of an event.

And with the event went the meaning of the event; and the setting forth of the event with the meaning of the event was doctrine. These two elements are always combined in the Christian message.

The narration of the facts is history; the narration of the facts with the meaning of the facts is doctrine.

“Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried”—that is history. “He loved me and gave Himself for me”—that is doctrine.

Such was the Christianity of the primitive Church.”

–J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1923/2009), 24-25.

“Freedom of thought” by J. Gresham Machen

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“A public-school system, in itself, is indeed of enormous benefit to the race. But it is of benefit only if it is kept healthy at every moment by the absolutely free possibility of the competition of private schools.

A public-school system, if it means the providing of free education for those who desire it, is a noteworthy and beneficent achievement of modern times; but when once it becomes monopolistic it is the most perfect instrument of tyranny which has yet been devised.

Freedom of thought in the middle ages was combated by the Inquisition, but the modern method is far more effective.

Place the lives of children in their formative years, despite the convictions of their parents, under the intimate control of experts appointed by the state, force them then to attend schools where the higher aspirations of humanity are crushed out, and where the mind is filled with the materialism of the day, and it is difficult to see how even the remnants of liberty can subsist.

Such a tyranny, supported as it is by a perverse technique used as the instrument in destroying human souls, is certainly far more dangerous than the crude tyrannies of the past, which despite their weapons of fire and sword permitted thought at least to be free.”

–J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1923/2009), 11-12.

“The really important things” by J. Gresham Machen

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“Clear-cut definition of terms in religious matters, bold facing of the logical implications of religious views, is by many persons regarded as an impious proceeding.

May it not discourage contribution to mission boards? May it not hinder the progress of consolidation, and produce a poor showing in columns of Church statistics?

But with such persons we cannot possibly bring ourselves to agree. Light may seem at times to be an impertinent intruder, but it is always beneficial in the end.

The type of religion which rejoices in the pious sound of traditional phrases, regardless of their meanings, or shrinks from ‘controversial’ matters, will never stand amid the shocks of life.

In the sphere of religion, as in other spheres, the things about which men are agreed are apt to be the things that are least worth holding.

The really important things are the things about which men will fight.”

–J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009), 1-2.

“Beware the fumes of intoxicating success” by Charles Spurgeon

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“When God’s children prosper one way, they are generally tried another, for few of us can bear unmingled prosperity.

There is a constant revolution; many who are in the dust today shall be highly elevated tomorrow; while those who are now aloft shall soon grind the earth.

Prosperity had evidently turned the Psalmist’s head, or he would not have been so self-confident. He stood by grace, and yet forgot himself, and so met with a fall.

Reader, is there not much of the same proud stuff in all our hearts?

Let us beware lest the fumes of intoxicating success get into our brains and make fools of us also.”

–Charles H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 27-57, vol. 2 (London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 43, 45. Spurgeon is commenting on Psalm 30.

“I am swallowed up in God” by Thomas Goodwin

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Thomas Goodwin died in London at age eighty. His son wrote this about his father’s final days:

“In February 1679, a fever seized my dear father, which in a few days put an end to his life.

In all the violence of it, he discoursed with that strength of faith and assurance of Christ’s love, with that holy admiration of free grace, with that joy in believing, and such thanksgivings and praises, as he extremely moved and affected all that heard him.

He rejoiced in the thoughts that he was dying, and going to have a full and uninterrupted communion with God.

‘I am going,’ said he, ‘to the three Persons, with whom I have had communion: they have taken me; I did not take them. I shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye; all my lusts and corruptions I shall be rid of, which I could not be here; those croaking toads will fall off in a moment.’

And mentioning those great examples of faith, Heb. 11,

‘All these,’ said he, ‘died in faith. I could not have imagined I should ever have had such a measure of faith in this hour; no, I could never have imagined it. My bow abides in strength.

Is Christ divided? No, I have the whole of His righteousness; I am found in Him, not in my own righteousness, which is of the law, but in the righteousness which is of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.

Christ cannot love me better than He doth; I think I cannot love Christ better than I do; I am swallowed up in God.’

Directing his speech to his two sons, he exhorted them to value the privilege of the covenant. ‘Now,’ said he, ‘I shall be ever with the Lord.’

With this assurance of faith and fulness of joy, his soul left this world, and went to see and enjoy the reality of that blessed state of glory, which in a discourse on that subject he had so well demonstrated.

He died February 1679, and in the eightieth year of his age.”

–Thomas Goodwin, Memoir of Thomas Goodwin, D.D., Composed Out of His Own Papers and Memoirs, By His Son, The Works of Thomas Goodwin, Volume 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage, 1861/2006), 2: lxxiv–lxxv.

“The Spirit prays in you, because Christ prays for you” by Thomas Goodwin

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“Let us consider what Christ did when He was come to heaven and exalted there: how abundantly did He there make good all that He had promised in His last sermon!

For, first, He instantly poured out His Spirit, and that ‘richly’ (as the apostle to Titus speaks), and He ‘being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this which you now see and hear,’ says the apostle in his first sermon after, Acts 2:33.

He then received it, and visibly poured Him out. So Eph. 4:8, it is said, ‘He ascended up on high, and gave gifts unto men … for the work of the ministry (4:15), and for the jointing in of the saints to the increase of the body of Christ’ (4:16), that is, for the converting of elect sinners, and making them saints.

And the gifts there mentioned (some of them) remain into this day, in ‘pastors and teachers,’ &c. And this Spirit is still in our preaching and in your hearts, in hearing, in praying, and He persuades you of Christ’s love to this very day; and is in all these the pledge of the continuance of Christ’s love still in heaven unto sinners.

All our sermons and your prayers are evidences to you, that Christ’s heart is still the same towards sinners that ever it was, for the Spirit that assists in all these comes in His name, and in His stead, and works all by commission from Him.

And do none of you feel your hearts moved in the preaching of these things, at this and other times? And who is it that moves you?

It is the Spirit who speaks in Christ’s name from heaven, even as Himself is said to ‘speak from heaven,’ Heb. 12:25.

And when you pray, it is the Spirit that indites your prayers, and that ‘makes intercession for you’ in your own hearts, Rom. 8:26, which intercession of His is but the evidence and echo of Christ’s intercession in heaven.

The Spirit prays in you, because Christ prays for you. He is an intercessor on earth, because Christ is an intercessor in heaven.

As He did take off Christ’s words, and used the same that He before had uttered, when He spake in and to the disciples the words of life, so He takes off Christ’s prayers also when He prays in us; He takes but the words as it were out of Christ’s mouth, or heart rather, and directs our hearts to offer them up to God.

He also follows us to the sacrament, and in that glass shews us Christ’s face smiling on us, and through His face His heart; and thus helping of us to a sight of Him, we go away rejoicing that we saw our Saviour that day.”

–Thomas Goodwin, The Heart of Christ in Heaven, The Works of Thomas Goodwin, Volume 4 (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage, 1861/2006), 4: 107-108.

“His love cost Him dearly” by John Owen

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“They know nothing of the life and power of the gospel, nothing of the reality of the grace of God, nor do they believe aright one article of the Christian faith, whose hearts are not sensible of the love of Christ.

The Lord Christ placed His love on us, that love from whence He died for us, when we were sinners and ungodly; that is, everything which might render us unamiable and undeserving.

Though we were as deformed as sin could render us, and more deeply indebted than the whole creation could pay or answer, yet did He fix His love upon us, to free us from that condition, and to render us meet for the most intimate society with Himself.

Never was there love which had such effects— which cost Him so dear in whom it was, and proved so advantageous unto them on whom it was placed.

In the pursuit of it He underwent everything that is evil in His own person, and we receive everything that is good in the favor of God and eternal blessedness.”

–John Owen, “Χριστολογια: A Declaration of the Glorious Mystery of the Person of Christ,” The Works of John Owen, Volume 1 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1684/2000), 1: 166-167, 168.

“The unsearchable riches of our inheritance in Him” by Alexander MacLaren

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“You cannot have Christ’s blessing unless you take Christ. And so, dear brethren, ‘abide in Me and I in you.’ (John 15:4)

There is nothing else that will make us blessed; there is nothing else that will meet all the circumference of our necessities; there is nothing else that will quiet our hearts, will sanctify our understandings.

Christ is yours if ‘ye are Christ’s.’ (1 Cor. 3:23) ‘Of His fulness have all we received,’ (John 1:16) for it all became ours when we became His, and Christian growth on earth and heaven is but the unfolding of the folded graces that are contained in Him.

We possess the whole Christ, but eternity is needed to disclose all the unsearchable riches of our inheritance in Him.”

–Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture: Ephesians, Volume 14 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1984), 14: 17. MacLaren is commenting on Ephesians 1:3.