Almighty God's Grace and Mercy unto His people in CHRIST JESUS

"And He said, I will make all My goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy." —Exodus 33:19 [KJV]

Carnal reason, pride, and unbelief, like a threefold cord, binds the soul under legal bondage; each of these mutually strengthens the other, and all combine to oppose the sovereign goodness and grace of our Lord. Instead of believing in, so as to be comforted by free-grace declarations from our God, how apt are we to consult flesh and blood! How prone to reject them, because we cannot reconcile them to our carnal reason! here is the grand source of that damning sin, unbelief. 

Marvel not, believer, though the pride of thy flesh rises and rebels against distinguishing grace and discriminating love. This, though sweet to the experience of faith, is bitter to the stomach of rebellious nature: but here is thy mercy; grace, which is sovereign in its nature, is saving in its operations; all must be resolved into this humbling acknowledgment, "I, a poor sinner, who could neither will nor run the way of salvation; the Lord wills to shew me His goodness, to proclaim His name, to bestow His grace, and comfort me with His mercy in Christ Jesus, to the salvation of my precious soul." 

Thus the Lord speaks in love; let all His children hear in faith, rejoice, and be humbled. Where, O soul, canst thou fix thy foot, but thou standest upon the ground of free grace? Hast thou faith? It is of grace. Dost thou find pardon of sin and consolation of heart in Christ Jesus? It is of grace. Dost thou "love God? It is because He has first loved thee." Dost thou hate sin as contrary to God's glory and thy soul's peace? What astonishing grace is this! Consider it on thy knees; reflect on it with meltings of soul. 

Why shouldst thou be singled out by the power of the word, marked by the grace of the Spirit for salvation, when many hundreds perish everlastingly? Why are thine eyes opened amidst a throng of blind sinners? Why art thou watered, like Gideon's fleece, while others are dry? Was thy nature better, thy desires holier? What conditions hadst thou performed to procure this? 

Grace has taught thy soul otherwise than so to think; all must be resolved into this soul-humbling, God-exalting truth, "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious." Here is an inexhaustible source of comfort; this a never-failing motive to love and obedience; that grace and mercy which God owes to no one sinner on earth, He has freely given to thee; it is thy privilege to rejoice in it, thy duty to confess it, and to lie in the dust and be humble. "If by grace, it is no more of works."—Romans 11:6.

-preacher William Mason (1724-1797 A.D.)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

JESUS - Rock of Ages

Jesus remains the same in all ages. He is the One who is constant when everything and everyone else fails. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever; the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He is our R ock [I SAMUEL 2:2 ] . In the Old Testament, in Exodus 33, Jesus is pictured as the Cleft Rock. In that chapter, verse 18 and following, Moses desired to see the glory of the Lord, but was told, "You cannot see My face; for there shall no man see My face and live.” And the Lord said, “There is a place by Me, and you shalt stand upon a rock: and it shall come to pass, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by." Notice that as Moses stood upon the rock, the Lord hid him in the cleft. This wonderfully applies to us today! Believers are both standing on and hidden in Christ [COLOSSIANS 3:3 ] . We are both in and on the Rock. As life with its many bitter events presses upon us, ...
Read more

CHRIST OUR ONLY AND PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS

" The flesh lusteth against the Spirit." —Galatians 5:17 [KJV] Christian experience fully proves this apostolic truth. Hence the children of God cannot do the things that they would: nor have we any authority from God's word to conclude this lusting ever ceased in any of the saints till they got to glory; none are delivered from it while in the flesh. For, as the renewed soul or spirit loves to enjoy spiritual and heavenly objects, so the flesh, or unrenewed part, lusts after those objects it is naturally conversant with, and from which it derives its happiness.  Here is thy conflict, O Christian. Hence the necessity of thy Lord's command, "Watch always." This is the use of the doctrine. What woeful effects have fulfilling the lusts or desires of the flesh produced in eminent saints! Thou standest by faith, be not high-minded, but fear. The conceptions of lust are the productions of sin.— see James 1:15 . The commission of sin contracts fresh s...
Read more

GLORY ALONE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

" Lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me." -Judges 7:2 [KJV] Thus the Lord reasoned with Gideon. He knows what is in man. He sees the pride of the human heart: how prone we all are to boast in an arm of flesh. The Lord is jealous of His own glory. Gideon’s army of two and thirty thousand, is brought down to three hundred. By this handful of men, and no more, did Gideon gain the victory of the Midianites. The Lord’s wisdom in this was, “Lest Israel should vaunt themselves, and say, Mine own hand hath saved me.”   But I have not transcribed the text right. There are two little words of great import, which I have omitted. Mind then, O Christian— against Me. Now remember, whenever thou dost boast of thy power, thy free-will, thy human goodness, thy works, ditties, conditions, and performances in order to be saved, thou art then, as it were, two and thirty thousand strong. Thou vauntest thyself against the Lord . Thou art gloryi...
Read more