A life-giving stream for parched pilgrims!

(Arthur Pink, "The Word of Grace")

The Word and the Spirit are so intimately conjoined, that we are scarcely warranted in thinking of the one, without the other. The Word does not operate without the Spirit's agency—and the Spirit does not work apart from the Word.

It was by the Spirit's inspiration, that the Word was first given, for "holy men of God spoke, as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21).

It is by the Spirit, that we are enlightened (Eph 1:17, 18), yet the Word is the means He employs.

It is by the Spirit, that we are sanctified (Rom 15:16), yet not apart from the Truth (John 17:17).

It is by the Spirit, that we are strengthened (Eph 3:16) as He causes the Word to dwell in us richly (Col 3:16).

It is by the Spirit, that we are comforted (Acts 9:31) as He applies the Divine promises to our hearts.

How appropriate, then, that the grand instrument employed by the Spirit of grace, should be termed "the Word of His grace."

The "Word of His grace" proclaims . . .
  rest for the weary,
  pardon to the guilty,
  justification to the ungodly,
  adoption to the outcast,
  eternal heavenly treasures for spiritual paupers!

It is "the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind" who are to be called to the feast which free grace has spread! (Luke 14:13)

"The Word of His grace" not only instructs us where grace is to be found, and how further supplies of it are to be obtained—but it is the principal medium through which grace is actually imparted to the soul. It is a life-giving stream for parched pilgrims—as they journey through this "wilderness of sin."

As its sacred pages are reverently perused—
  the mind is instructed,
  the conscience is enlightened,
  the affections are warmed,
  and the will is moved.

As its exceeding great and precious promises are meditated upon and treasured up in the heart—new strength is imparted to the soul.

As its holy precepts are turned into earnest prayer—help is obtained for the discharge of duty.

As its timely warnings and admonitions are heeded—temptations lose their power and the snares of Satan are avoided.

As its cheering revelation of what God has prepared for those who love Him is received by faith—new hope is kindled in the heart, and the trials of life are borne with greater fortitude. And as the end of the journey is neared—death loses its terrors and the call to leave this "valley of tears" becomes more desirable.

Without "the Word of His grace" we would be mariners upon the sea of life—without chart or compass!

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This incomparable book!

(Thomas Brooks, "Apples of Gold" 1660)

The whole of Scripture is but one entire love
letter, dispatched from the Lord Christ, to
His beloved spouse!

Oh! the mysteries, the excellencies, the glories 
which are in this incomparable book! There
are none so useful, none so needful, none so
delightful, none so necessary to make you
happy and to keep you happy--as this!

Ah! the Word of the Lord is . . .
  a light to guide you,
  a counselor to counsel you,
  a comforter to comfort you,
  a staff to support you,
  a sword to defend you,
  a physician to cure you!

The Word is . . .
  a mine to enrich you,
  a robe to clothe you,
  a crown to crown you.
  bread to strengthen you,
  wine to cheer you,
  a honeycomb to feast you,
  music to delight you,
  a paradise to entertain you!

Oh! therefore, before all and above all:
  search the Scripture,
  study the Scripture,
  meditate on the Scripture,
  delight in the Scripture,
  treasure up the Scripture!

There is . . .
  no wisdom like Scripture wisdom,
  no knowledge like Scripture knowledge,
  no experience like Scripture experience,
  no comforts like Scripture comforts,
  no delights like Scripture delights,
  no convictions like Scripture convictions,
  no conversion like Scripture conversion!

I exhort you to a speedy, serious, diligent,
and constant study of the Scripture.
Ah! you do not know how soon . . .
  your blind minds may be enlightened,
  your hard hearts may be softened,
  your proud spirits may be humbled,
  your sinful natures may be changed,
  your defiled consciences may be purged,
  your distempered affections may be regulated,
  and your poor souls may be saved . . .
    by searching into the Scriptures,
    by reading the Scripture, and
    by pondering upon the Scripture.

Ah! if you do not in good earnest,
give yourself up . . .
  to the reading,
  to the studying,
  to the pondering,
  to the believing,
  to the practicing,
  to the applying, and
  to the living up to the Scripture--
Satan will be too hard for you,
the world will be too hard for you,
your lusts will be too hard for you,
temptations will be too hard for you,
deceivers will be too hard for you,
and in the end you will be miserable!

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The Holy Bible - Zechariah Chapters 1-14

Zechariah Chapter 1



Zechariah Chapter 2

The Holy Bible - John Chapters 1-5

John Chapter 1



John Chapter 2



John Chapter 3

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH by Oswald Chambers

"For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." Romans 5:10

I am not saved by believing; I realize I am saved by believing. It is not repentance that saves me, repentance is the sign that I realize what God has done in Christ Jesus. The danger is to put the emphasis on the effect instead of on the cause. It is my obedience that puts me right with God, my consecration. Never! I am put right with God because prior to all, Christ died. When I turn to God and by belief accept what God reveals I can accept, instantly the stupendous Atonement of Jesus Christ rushes me into a right relationship with God; and by the supernatural miracle of God's grace I stand justified, not because I am sorry for my sin, not because I have repented, but because of what Jesus has done. The Spirit of God brings it with a breaking, all-over light, and I know, though I do not know how, that I am saved.

The salvation of God does not stand on human logic, it stands on the sacrificial Death of Jesus. We can be born again because of the Atonement of Our Lord. Sinful men and women can be changed into new creatures, not by their repentance or their belief, but by the marvellous work of God in Christ Jesus which is prior to all experience. The impregnable safety of justification and sanctification is God Himself. We have not to work out these things ourselves; they have been worked out by the Atonement. The supernatural becomes natural by the miracle of God; there is the realization of what Jesus Christ has already done - "It is finished."

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Psalms, 13 - Keeping Our Footing

Sermons from the Psalms, 13 - Keeping Our Footing

By Clovis G. Chappell

"But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well-nigh slipped." (Psalm 73:2)

Clovis G. Chappell: This valiant climber is sharing with us some of the experiences that he has met along the pilgrim's road. He has come at last to where he walks with a certain sureness of step. He feels the road firm and solid beneath his feet because he has learned the secret and source of strength. But it has not always been so. As he looks back over his yesterdays he sees one stretch of road in particular that he found very difficult. In fact, at this spot he came very near to tripping and falling headlong. Here he escaped, by the narrowest margin, losing his footing and slipping into the chasm that skirted the way, where he might have been seen and heard no more. He recalls the experience after these years with mingled terror and gratitude. "I almost slipped. I nearly lost my footing."

This is a bit of the spiritual biography of a man who struggled and triumphed many centuries ago. Yet his story is amazingly modern and up-to-date. How thoroughly at home it is in these perplexing days in which we live! Some of us are saying sadly: "I know exactly what the psalmist is talking about. His experience differs from mine only in this: He managed somehow to keep his footing, but I lost mine altogether. I went down. I fell prostrate. Since then I have about quit trying. I have become afraid of that which is high. Christ's promises are still wonderfully beautiful and appealing, but for me at least they have not worked out, and I fear they never will. My feet have slipped, and I have given up the fight."

Then there are others for whom these words represent a present experience. Though you have not altogether lost your footing, yet you are painfully aware that you walk in slippery places. You feel that any moment may bring collapse. You have come out to God's house this morning, not with any great confidence. You are not at all sure that you will find here anything to steady you and to enable you to stand firmly upon your feet. But at any rate you are here, dimly hoping that such may be the case; that perchance there may come some word of strength; that there may be somehow a hand stretched out to help. You are in sore and desperate need and know not where else to turn. May God grant that your fainting faith may be richly rewarded, and that you may go away with a firm sense of the undergirding of the Everlasting Arms. (Deut. 33:27)


I

What was it that came so near to tripping this man of the long ago? Over what did he stumble? It is evident that he was greatly bewildered at God's perplexing ordering of things. He could not for the life of him understand how an infinite and holy God could govern the world in the manner in which he felt that the world of his day was being governed. The faith in which he had been reared and to which he clung made his difficulties in this respect only the greater. He had been taught that the good always prosper and that the wicked always go to the wall. That was the faith that was prevalent among all pious Jews at that time. It was old when this psalmist was born and continued long after he had gone to his reward.

For instance, when Job was overwhelmed by one crushing blow after another, there were three men who loved him well enough to undertake to share his sorrow with him. But they assumed at once that, in spite of all appearances to the contrary, Job was being punished for his sin. "It simply cannot be otherwise," they declared emphatically. "Who ever suffered being innocent? Such a thing is simply unthinkable in a God-ordered world. Prosperity is a sure indication of the smile of God; adversity is no less a sure indication of his displeasure and biting indignation." (Job 4:7)

With this faith also the disciples of Jesus were in hearty agreement. One day, with their Master, they came upon a blind man. This man had been blind from his birth. They asked Jesus: "Who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" (John 9:2) They could not conceive of any form of calamity, any sorrow, any suffering that was not born directly of the anger and displeasure of God. They believed that without exception the good are prosperous and happy, while the wicked always fail and are always wretched.

There are those who cling to this faith in some measure to this very hour. It is often a very comfortable faith and is therefore one that dies hard. There are those still who believe that God rewards us in the here and now with material and temporal blessings for being good. If he fails to do this, they feel that they have not been treated quite fairly. When they ask for bread, they are rather shocked and disappointed because God refuses to give them a stone. I received a letter only last week telling me of a man who had been a tither all his life, but who, in spite of that fact, had been overtaken by financial disaster. The writer seemed to feel that God should have paid him in dollars and cents for his faithfulness. Now there is no doubt that honesty is in the long run the best policy, and that, all things being equal, a good man stands a better chance at worldly prosperity than a bad man. But even then the good do not always prosper, and when they do, this prosperity is not given in payment for faithful service. We seem to forget that while the devil pays wages, God never does. "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. 6:23)

Now it was when this psalmist began to test his faith by the plain facts of experience that he found himself slipping. For when he looked with open eyes upon the world he saw that it simply could not be true. Doubtless there was a neighbor of his that lived not a block away, who despised the worship of the temple and lived in utter disregard of God. This neighbor declared emphatically that he was not in business for his health, that he was in it solely for the money. And there was no denying the fact that he was succeeding amazingly. Everything he touched seemed to turn to gold. Not only so, but both he and his family enjoyed the best of health and to all appearances were finding life exceedingly livable. He was not in trouble like other men; neither was he plagued like other men.

But how about himself? He was trying desperately hard to be a good man. He was diligent in his religious duties. He tithed, he went to the synagogue, he sought earnestly to please God. But what was he getting out of it? Less than nothing. In spite of it all, he was not prosperous. On the contrary, everything he touched seemed to turn to dust and ashes. He declared in bewilderment, not mixed with hot indignation, that he was plagued all day long and that some new chastening came to him every morning. More than once, while in darkness he was sobbing out his perplexities to God, he had been disturbed and half angered by the noise of joyful revelry that had come from the house of his godless and prosperous neighbor.

"It is not fair," he cried hotly into his tear-soaked pillows. "What is the good of my loyalty to my convictions? Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart and washed my hands in innocency. Goodness does not pay, and since goodness does not pay, how can there be a God who cares about our loyalty? How can we be sure that there is a righteous God on the throne when all about us we see the good suffer and the wicked enjoying prosperity? How can any man under such circumstances be sure that because right is right, to follow right were wisdom in the scorn of consequence?' Is it not possible after all for one to gather grapes of thorns and figs of thistles? Would it not be far wiser for me to follow my neighbor, fling away from God, quit trying to be right, take the cash, and let the credit go?"

And if every one who has at times felt sympathy with the views of this psalmist were to say "Amen," it would shake like an earthquake. There are some of you as indignant over God's amazing ordering of things as was this psalmist. You, too, have tried to be right as God gave you to see the right. But there have been financial losses, sickness, death. So many have been your reverses that at times you doubt the real worth of righteousness. You have chosen to play the game fairly and have lost, while those who played unfairly are winners and are acclaimed for their victory. You had an opportunity for a questionable business adventure, but for conscientious reasons you turned it down. Others without your scruples entered the enterprise and now live in handsome residences on the avenue. "Their eyes stand out with fatness" while you are having a desperate struggle to keep the wolf from the door. Therefore, like this psalmist, you are questioning whether it pays to be true to God or not. You are even questioning whether there is a God who concerns himself about us and our petty affairs. You, too, can say: "My feet are almost gone; my steps are on the point of slipping." Yet it is heartening to know that this psalmist came safely through and ended by finding a firm footing for his feet. So may we, if we are only willing.

II

How did he keep from falling? What was it that steadied him?

He did not find new strength by abandoning all religious faith. He did not find it by flinging away from God altogether. It may be that in your perplexity you feel sorely tempted to do this. It may be that you feel that there is no hope, even in God. But, even assuming that you are right, this is surely true: If there is no hope in him, there is none anywhere. There is certainly nothing to steady us in the thought of a godless world. There is a poem that I have often heard quoted with appreciation, and I am not denying that it has a quantity of desperate courage about it, yet to my mind it is of the very essence of despair.

The Great Things God has Done for His People

William Gadsby

"The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad." (Psalm 126:3)

There are three things in the great mysteries of salvation that many professors of religion seem almost alarmed at. One is that God really saves sinners. If a minister of Jesus Christ is led to describe a sinner half as he really is, for to the bottom of him he never can, he shocks their delicate minds, and they are almost paralyzed, and call it the high road of licentiousness to suppose that God saves such naughty sinners as those; whilst a poor soul under the quickening, enlightening, teaching energy of God the Spirit, fears that his case is desperate, and if God sends a minister of truth, who hits upon such a desperate case, and points it out as one that the Lord has in hand, the poor creature is astonished, and wonders where he has been; for he never heard that.

Another branch of truth that men seem almost alarmed at, is the method that God takes in saving those sinners. If we come to trace salvation to its spring-head, God's electing love--"O! This is horrifying. We must not talk about election in these polite days. If we believe in it, we must put other words for it, and say, 'The Lord's people,' and 'The Lord's family,' and 'The pious;' but never talk about 'election;'" and thus the doctrine of God's discriminating, electing love is discarded. And then another branch of divine truth, that men seem alarmed at, is the power of God the Spirit in making this salvation known to the conscience, and bringing it with divine power and majesty to the heart and maintaining it there as the poor sinner sojourns in this wilderness. Some people are alarmed at all the three, and some only at the last; some of them will chatter about election till their tongues almost cleave to the roof of their mouth; but if you insist upon vital godliness, the power of God the Holy Ghost in the conscience producing a corresponding conduct, they will call you an enthusiastic legalist. And thus divine things are set at nought on one hand or the other. But God will vindicate his own honour, and "make bare his arm," and bring his loved ones at some period or other to adopt the language of our text: "The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad."

No doubt the psalmist had in view, in the first instance, God delivering Israel out of a dreadful national captivity; and here we are told of them that they were "like them that dreamed," and they began in wonder to "laugh" in the sweet enjoyment of God's dealings with them. But Israel of old being a typical nation and God's spiritual family being amongst that nation, the Lord has something more in view than this; he has in view a spiritual captivity, that his people are delivered from; and when delivered from it, and brought feelingly and experimentally to know it, then they sing, "The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad."

Now from this passage, as far as God shall assist me, I shall consider,

I. Who the us are, who have any right to adopt the language of our text, and say, "The Lord hath done great things for us."
II. Point out some few of the great things that God has done for them.
III. endeavour to notice that whenever God makes manifest these "great things," or a measure of them, in their hearts, it is sure to make them glad. "The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad."

I. Now what persons are these? Who are the us? They are God's spiritual Zion--that family he has predestinated to eternal life, "predestinated to the adoption of children," (Eph. 1:5) "predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son," (Rom. 8:29) and brought, by his spiritual power and grace, to know their own ruined condition and the mercy of God in Christ Jesus towards them--who have felt themselves in captivity and felt themselves brought out of it. Some people tell us that there is no cause now-a-days for a sinner to have "the letter" brought into the conscience, no cause for a law-work in their hearts. But that is a heaven that was invented in Italy; it is not God's heaven, it is a kind of purgatorial heaven. For God has solemnly declared that "the law was given that every mouth might be stopped and all the world become guilty before God." (Rom. 3:19) And if God's law does not stop your mouth, is not brought to your conscience, does not destroy all your false projects, and bring you in guilty and condemned at the feet of the Lord--if you never feel that, I believe you will be damned, as sure as God is in heaven. Let your profession be what it may, let you be as tall as you may in a profession of religion, you will never enter into God's blessed place above, if you have never been brought to know your ruined condition below. Why, you might as well talk about a man praising a physician, as one who had cured him of a disease, when he never had an illness in his life; you might as well talk about a man speaking of a skillful surgeon, who had set his bones, when he never had a broken bone since he drew breath. "The whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." (Luke 5:31) I do not mean that all God's people are led into the same depth in this. Here the Lord works as a sovereign; but the law must stop their mouths, the law must bring them in guilty, the law must make them feel that they are in bondage, that they are "under tutors and governors," and under such tuition that they are bound by the ties of the law either to fulfill it or be damned by it, and that they cannot fulfill it, and that therefore they can feel no ground of hope upon law principles.

Now when the Lord the Spirit brings a poor soul to this, he finds himself in dreadful captivity. I cannot exactly say how it is in London; but I know in our way we have a great many who begin in election, and go on with election, and never get one step either below or above high-seasoned election; and if you ask them what they know about "the plague of their own hearts," or what they know about "the sentence of death," "O! They do not meddle with such low things as that; they live upon high ground." Ah! And the devil will never disturb you there. If God does not, you will find that such an arrogant presumptuous profession is nothing more nor less than the devil's chariot to carry men to hell in delusion; and, if God does not upset them and bring them to know their ruined condition, they will never enter into the mysteries of God's blessed kingdom, that kingdom that stands in God's own power. But now, when a poor sinner feels the bondage of the law and feels "the sentence of death," he finds himself in a captivity, from which he cannot deliver his own soul. He feels himself without might and without power, and feels the truth of what God says, that he is "not sufficient of himself" (2 Cor. 3:5) so much as "to think" a good thought, or to pray; as says the apostle, "We know not what to pray for as we ought." (Rom. 8:26) I often think, why what fools the disciples and apostles were to the great men of our time; for they have found out how to pray for themselves and to make prayers for other folks for a thousand years to come; but the disciples asked the Lord to teach them how to pray, and the apostle was brought to confess that he was "not sufficient of himself" and did not know even how to pray "as he ought." And so God's people will be brought to this, when the Lord brings them to know their spiritual bondage and captivity. And then, when he brings peace to the conscience and pardon to the heart, and sets the soul at liberty, then they are the people that can say, "The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad."

II. But having thus gone over this description, let us look now at some of the great things that God has done for us.

And we must take into the account each glorious Person in the one undivided Jehovah,--God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. For in the "great things," that the eternal Trinity has done for the church of God, each distinct Person has a solemn part, a part that redounds to the glory of all and the blessedness of them that are brought to trust in God. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, as one blessed Triune Jehovah, hath entered into a solemn covenant before all worlds to bring an infinite number of mortals to glory. In this solemn contract, this covenant of grace, the eternal Trinity took a survey of all their sins, and all their weaknesses, and all their misgivings, and all their backslidings, and all their temptations, and all their besetments, and all their slips, and all their falls, and all their tumblings, that this body would have from the beginning to the end of time; and in this immortal covenant God made provision to meet it all, and so to meet it as to be glorified in saving them all from all the horrors and consequences of sin. Now is that not a "great thing?" Why, if we make a provision, as we think, for our children, and make it over to them, one gets proud and profligate, sets up to be a gentleman, and soon destroys the provision; and the others do the same thing in some other way; so that by and by the mistaken provision we made for them has been a kind of means of leading them into deeper ruin than they would have been in if they had been obliged to work for every penny they have. But our God made no mistake of that nature. One "great thing" he did in his council and covenant was to make the provision sure--" the sure mercies of David;" (Isa. 55:3) certain mercies, "ordered in all things." (2 Sam. 23:5) Why, he saw all thy temptations, before ever thou didst. When he gave thee to Christ, he saw all thy besetments, all thy bewilderments, all thy hard-heartedness, all thy darkness, all thy coldness, all thy barrenness; and in the eternal purpose of his grace, he made such a provision for thee that it is not possible for Satan himself to drive thy poor bewildered soul into any place where God's provision will not reach thee and be sufficiently powerful to bring thee out. Is not this a "great thing," a matchless thing? It was this that made David so sweetly and solemnly sing, "Although my house be not so with God, yet he that made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure." (2 Sam. 23:5) David's house "not so with God!" Not how? Why, if you read the context, he is speaking about a "morning without clouds," without anything that seems gloomy, when the sun arises upon it, and about the "tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after the rain;" and he says, "My house is not so." Poor creature! He felt clouds and darkness, and often sharp biting frosts that seemed to nip the tender herb. There seemed no sweet going forth of faith, of love, of prayer, of thanksgiving; there seemed a bewilderment in the conscience. But, says he, this is my salvation and all my desire--new covenant blessings stand sure, "ordered in all things (not in one thing only) and sure." This is the strength of divine grace, when God is pleased to give it to a poor sinner to realize such immortal blessings; and this is one of the "great things" that God the Eternal Trinity in Unity has done for his people.

But we must come to retail it out a little. I am a kind of retail preacher; as a friend of ours, who lived in a country place, used to say, "I like to hear our friend, when he retails it out. Sometimes our parson wholesales it, and we poor folks cannot go to a wholesale shop; it suits me to have it retailed out, for those are the shops we poor folks can go to." And so the people of God are continually brought into such a state that they want to have it retailed out in little parcels, as we may say, that God may be glorified and themselves made glad through his grace.

1. Then if we endeavour to look a little at this blessed covenant, we first of all notice that "herein is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and gave his Son, and chose us in his Son;" so that in the purpose and councils of God, God fixed Christ and the church in his eternal heart together, the church in Christ and Christ in the church, and God in Christ and Christ in God. And thus the church was made the special charge and care of God the Son before the world was; and, I speak with reverence, God the Father looked to Christ to bring them all to heaven. "Thine they were and thou gavest them me." (John 17:6) And "all that the Father giveth me shall"--shall what? Have a chance of coming? No, not so. Have an offer of mercy? No, not so. Have conditions proposed to them--easy terms? No, nor so either. Well, then, how is it? "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me." (John 6:37) Unbelief says they shall not, and pride says they shall not, and the devil says they shall not, and their hearts say they will not, for they love sin, and after it they will go; but God has taken his stand and Christ has taken his stand upon eternal fixtures, and God and Christ have said, "They shall come." Yes, poor souls! And when he comes with invincible power to the heart, he will make them glad to come as poverty-stricken sinners, and be glad to be made partakers of the riches of his Son; and "him that cometh," says Christ, "I will in no wise cast out." This is the reason why the apostle so sweetly sums up: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places,"--where? "In Christ." (Eph. 1:3) When God created man, he created him holy, in his own image; and it appears he put man in the care of this holiness and this image; he gave the key into his own hands, and man unlocked the door of his heart and let the devil in and all that was holy out, and God will never trust to man again while the world stands. No; he has secured all spiritual blessings "in Christ," and given him the key of the house; and he opens and no man shuts, and shuts and no man opens. (Isa. 22:22; Rev. 3:7) "It pleases the Father that ALL fullness" should dwell there; (Col. 1:19) and therefore there is nothing but emptiness anywhere else. And he is said to be "full of grace and truth;" (John 1:14) and "of his fullness we receive, and grace for grace." (John 1:16) So then the Father, in his great part in this solemn economy of salvation, gave his Son to be the Head and Representative of the church, the grand repository of heaven; and God locked up his honour, his truth, his grace, and "all spiritual blessings" in the heart of Christ, and Christ pledged his honour to save all securely, and to magnify all the honours of God in making this mystery known by the power of his Spirit to the hearts and consciences of his people. And this is a "great thing," that God has done for them.