One of the most widespread but dangerous falsehoods held in the churches today is the notion that God accepts us all just as we are. If this meant that He accepts us when by grace we come to Christ saying:
Just as I am, without one plea
But that Thy blood was shed for me
it would be a great truth. But in fact it means that there is such ‘a wideness in God’s mercy’ that no-one at all need think that God rejects him. Stated bluntly, we may be idolaters, blasphemers, swearers, Sabbath-breakers, liars, thieves, murderers, fornicators, slanderers, gossips, proud, unbelieving and even pagans, but God welcomes us all. No faith is required of us except that we believe this, and no repentance is called for except shallow apologies for hurting others.
The truth, we know, is far otherwise. Holy Scripture is not slow to assert in the strongest terms that God both rejects us as we are by nature and gives us adequate reasons for so doing. We would be foolish to ignore what it says on the matter.
In the first place, Scripture clearly teaches us that neither we nor our services are acceptable to God. To the most religious people in the world at that time God said: ‘Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with [ie I cannot accept]; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.’ (Isa 1.13). Of Cain, who offered Him the best of his produce, God said: ‘But unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect.’ (Gen 4.3,5). If neither Cain nor the Jews were acceptable to Him, what hope is there for the rest of us? Indeed, Romans 3.10-18, following Psalms 14 and 53 especially, expressly condemns us all without exception as unacceptable to God. In view of such a unilateral rejection, it is amazing that anyone should continue to cling to the false notion of universal acceptance.
Then again, God gives us good reasons why He rejects us as we are. We mention only two:
(1) It is inconsistent with His infinite holiness to accept us into His presence and favour just as we are. Because He takes no pleasure in wickedness, evil cannot dwell with Him. The foolish shall not stand in His sight. The throne of iniquity [ie wherever moral perversity reigns, as it does in us all] can have no fellowship with Him. Even the ploughing of the wicked is sin in His holy sight, and even the prayer of the wicked is an abomination to Him. What a culpable misrepresentation of God it is to imagine that those who live in sin, whether gross or refined, can be admitted into His presence! Thomas Watson the Puritan speaks of those who vainly think they can ‘leap out of Delilah’s lap into Abraham’s bosom.’ Can two whose moral natures are so diametrically opposed as God’s and ours possibly be at peace with each other? When God is good and does nothing but good, and we are evil and do nothing but evil, can we wonder that God rejects us as we are by nature?
(2) He expressly informs us that only those who receive Christ are accepted by Him. ‘But as many as received Him, to them gave He power [or entitlement] to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.’ (John 1.12). Alexander Comrie explains that this receiving involves Christ being set forth in the preaching of the Gospel and being received as the great object of faith. This receiving, he continues, includes our assent to God’s invitation to believe on Him, our heartfelt willingness to take Him, the opening of our spiritual hand to let go all other supports for salvation and our embracing Christ when we perceive that we need no more and can be satisfied with no less than Himself. This truth is solemnly confirmed in the testimony: ‘He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.’ (John 3.36). Comments George Hutcheson: “It is the prerogative of Christ above all others . . that He is the object of saving faith.” We do not perceive the excellence and fulness of Christ, he continues, till we are drawn out of ourselves and brought to close with Him by faith. All who refuse to do this are “eternally secluded” [the old word for ‘excluded’ or kept back] from God’s presence and company. God’s rejection of all ‘outside Christ’ could hardly be more forcefully stated. The awful consequence of this is that “unless God’s rejection of us is turned into acceptance we are all lost for ever.” (J.I.Packer).
A Biblical phrase that expresses the glorious truth that God’s rejection has been turned into acceptance is the term ‘accepted in the Beloved.’ (Eph 1.6). Let Calvin clarify its meaning: “We were not in God’s favour till we were in Jesus Christ... We are shut up in the bondage of death till we are ransomed by our Lord Jesus Christ... The register in which we are enrolled is our Lord Jesus Christ... Jesus Christ is the mirror in which God beholds us when He wishes to find us acceptable to Himself.” In short, it is not by ignoring our sin, nor by accepting us on the grounds of our apology for it, but by condemning it in His dearly-beloved Son and uniting believers to Him in that condemnation, that God accepts anyone.
Let us consider this. By a unique, transcendent agreement between the persons of the Godhead, God sent and dealt with His Son in our nature as if He, and not us, had been rejected. But how could He do this justly when Christ was the object of His infinite, eternal and unchangeable love and delight? By His Son consenting to be the Substitute for us who deserve eternal rejection and by making His soul [and body] the offering for His people’s sin. The Fourth Servant Song of Isaiah (52.13-53.12) is packed with details of this glorious transaction: ‘Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows... He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed...and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. . . for the transgression of my people was He stricken... He shall bear their iniquities... He bare the sin of many.’
Only by putting His people ‘in Christ’ [that is, says Charles Hodge, “in Christ as their head and representative”] could He possibly accept them; for He, and not they, gave satisfaction to God’s offended holiness and justice. As the one great propitiation provided by God Christ was accepted and justified by Him as the only Redeemer of God’s elect, according to the Messianic Third Servant Song in Isaiah 50.7-9. How wonderful that the sentence of God’s holy justice against us for breaking His holy law should be willingly borne for us by Him! (Gal 3.13). As Luther says, by having our sins reckoned to His account, Christ became the greatest transgressor the world has ever seen. It is as if God said to His dear Son: “Be thou Peter the denier, Paul the persecutor, David the adulterer...see that thou pay and satisfy for them.” And so the law, finding Christ a sinner by imputation [not by inherent moral pollution] set upon Christ and slew Him, because the wages it doles out to sin is death. All therefore who are ‘in Christ’ suffered in Him and died with Him. The same glorious truth is spelt out again in 2 Corinthians 5.21 - ‘For He [God] hath made Him [Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.’ As Richard Hooker said long ago: “Man has sinned and God has suffered... God has been made the sin of man and man is made the righteousness of God.” Thus not only are believers’ sins [or their total nonconformity and disobedience to the law of God] imputed to Christ, the Sinless One; but also His righteousness [or spotless obedience to the entire law of God] is imputed to them. In this wonderful way God shows us just how far His love and justice are prepared to go in order to glorify Himself in the salvation of His people. “It was DAMNATION,” cried John Duncan, “and He took it LOVINGLY!”
Yet a vital question still remains. How may we, whom God naturally rejects, be accepted by Him? Let Luther answer: “Dear brother,” he writes to his friend George Spalatin, “learn Christ and Him crucified. Praise and laud His name, and despairing of self, say to Him, ‘Thou, Lord Jesus, art my righteousness, but I am thy sin. Thou hast taken what is mine, and given me what is thine. Thou hast assumed that which thou wast not, and given me what I had not.’” This is the great exchange that brought so much joy and peace in believing to so many millions at the Reformation - joy in God and peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. More concisely still, Paul directs: ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.’ (Acts 16.31). When we go to God in an accepted Christ, we too are accepted in Him.
True believers may [and should] be sure of their acceptance with God. Isaiah himself voices this assurance when he prays: ‘O Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.’ (Isa 12.1). We can say this, not because God has overlooked our sin [how could He?], nor because He has declared a general amnesty to our rebellious race, but because He has judged it to His full satisfaction when Christ our Surety-Substitute took on Himself all our legal debts and paid them off in our place. A godly woman on her death-bed in Scotland understood this. When asked what was her hope for eternity she replied: “The justice of God.” Along with Toplady she could sing:
From whence this fear and unbelief?
Has not the Father put to grief
His spotless Son for me?
And will the righteous Judge of men
Condemn me for that load of sin
Which, Lord, was charged on Thee?
If Thou my pardon hast secured
And freely in my room endured
The whole of wrath divine,
Payment God cannot twice demand
First from my bleeding Surety’s hand
And then again from mine.
And so, when we draw near to God with true faith in the precious blood of Christ [the Biblical way of summarizing His whole work as a propitiatory and expiatory sacrifice] we may be sure that our sin has been judged and our persons accepted. This is how those who fully deserve to be rejected by God are fully accepted by Him.
[Editorial Note: I am grateful for material taken from Volume One of J.I.Packer’s Collected Shorter Writings for the idea behind and some quotations used in this editorial.]
(Part One)
In an unfinished treatise entitled The Common Principles of the Christian Religion, based on the Westminster Shorter Catechism, the Scottish divine Hugh Binning informs us: ‘All that men have to know may be comprised under these two heads: what their end is, and what is the right way to attain to that end. And all that we have to do is...to seek to compass that end.’ These two points - what we need to know and how we need to practice what we know - are so important, he claims, that ‘if there be a mistake in any of these fundamentals, all is wrong.’ (Works. Edinburgh. 1839. I.7).
In his exposition of Answer 1 of the Shorter Catechism: ‘Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever’, the ever practical Thomas Boston defines man’s chief end as ‘the scope of [ie to] which all we think, or speak, or do, should tend...the point or common centre in which all should meet.’ (Works. London. 1853. I.9). On the basis of 1 Corinthians 10.31 - ‘Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God’ - he infers that man’s chief end is firstly to glorify God.
This cannot mean that we are to make Him glorious, because, God being infinitely glorious already, it is impossible to add to His glory. Boston bases this conclusion on Job 35.7 - ‘If thou be righteous, what givest thou Him? or what receiveth He of thine hand?’
Nevertheless, man may declare that God is glorious, by esteeming Him above all others, choosing Him as his portion and chief good, and loving, rejoicing and delighting in Him ‘above every other.’ For an example, he cites Asaph in Psalm 73.25.
Man may also glorify God by speaking highly of Him, according to the truth: ‘Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me.’ (Psa 50.23).
Thirdly, man may glorify God by his life: ‘Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’ (Matt 5.16). Comments Boston tellingly: ‘A holy life is a life of light; it is a shining light, to let a blind world see the glory of God.’ (Works. I. 11). The glory that shines through such a life is the glory of God’s holiness.
While it is man’s privilege to show how glorious God is, it is also his duty and responsibility. This arises from two factors:
1. ‘It is the end which God aimed at when He made man.’ Building on Proverbs 16.4 - ‘The Lord hath made all things for Himself; yea, even the wicked for the day of evil’, and Romans 11.36 - ‘For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.’ Boston concludes that, as ‘the most perfect Being’, God expressly intended to get glory from men, either ‘by them’ or ‘on them’; adding the solemn reflection: ‘Happy they who glorify Him by their actings, that they may not glorify Him by their eternal sufferings.’ (Works. I. 11).
2. To glorify God is the end for which man was best fitted at his creation. Here Boston’s supporting text is ‘God hath made man upright’ (Eccles 7.29). In other words, man’s pristine integrity made him capable of living in such a way that he could show by everything he thought, said and did that his Maker was a glorious God.
This then, in reference to God, is man’s chief end; ‘that which man should aim at, the mark to which he should direct all he does.’ This was King David’s aim, expressed in the words: ‘I have set the Lord always before me.’ (Psa 16.8).
It follows, continues Boston, that if to glorify God is man’s chief end, then all other ends we propose must be subordinate to it. This will be so
(1) when God’s glory is not jostled out of its chief place by them. If, for example, we eat and drink to nourish our bodies, we must do so in a way that glorifies God.
(2) when God’s glory is our ‘main and principal end’, outweighing all other ends. Here Boston recognizes that we cannot possibly aim to glorify God before each and every action; yet he urges us to make God’s glory our reigning principle and to bring everything under its control.
(3) when God’s glory is our ultimate end. That is, we should eat and drink to nourish our bodies; but we should nourish our bodies ‘that we may be the more capable to serve and glorify God.’ (Works. I.12).
Boston concludes the first part of his exposition by urging us to direct all our actions - natural, civil, moral and religious - towards glorifying God. ‘We must be for God (Hos 3.3), and live for Him... The great work of our life is to glorify Him.’ (Works I.13). To make ourselves or any other creature our chief end is blasphemy. (Works I.14).
What lessons may we learn from Boston’s understanding of the first part of man’s chief end?
1. First, we need to realize that ‘God’s glory is as dear to Him as Himself.’ (Binning). When He expressly says that He will not give His glory to another (Isa 42.8), He intends us to grasp the fact of His infinite aversion to our glorying in any other than Himself. ‘Thus saith the Lord: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.’ (Jer 9.23-24). Because the manifestation of the glory of these and other perfections is God’s chief end, it should also be ours. As our supreme ideal, it should regulate our thoughts, desires, aims, choices, motives, principles, character and whole way of life. How superior this is to all other ends! ‘It takes man out of himself, and bids him seek the highest good in the glory, not of his pitiful self, but of his all-glorious God.’ (B.B.Warfield).
2. But to aim at glorifying God in all we are and do is not merely an ideal. It is a duty. Indeed, it is our supreme duty. For God Himself expressly commands us: ‘Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.’ (1 Cor 10.31). ‘The question for us is, are we doing it?’ (Warfield). Do we go to work to make money, in order to live the hedonistic life of our worldly neighbours, or in order to glorify God in the necessary, wise and benevolent use of money? Do we plan to entertain ourselves - say, in reading, or music, or holidays - merely to gratify ourselves, or to discover more of the glory of God and to praise Him for how glorious He is? Says Warfield powerfully: ‘What God commands is - let us face it unflinchingly - that we shall do nothing without taking absolute care to see that we are trying to glorify God in the doing of it.’ (Select Shorter Writings. Nutley, New Jersey. 1970. I.133-4). So, concludes Boston, whenever any creature is caught competing with God for possession of our souls, ‘we must renounce the creature and cleave to God only. (Luke 14.33).’ (Works. I.18).
3. Furthermore, claims Boston, this chief end that God has placed before us should serve as a rule by which we must test every doctrine and practice we meet with. ‘Whatever doctrine tends to glorify God and promote His honour in the world is certainly from God, and is to be embraced. And whatever practices have that same tendency . . are good, and deserve to be imitated.’ By contrast, whatever doctrine tends to rob God of His glory, crown the creature, deny free grace and exalt free will, should be rejected. By this yardstick ‘the doctrines of the Pelagians, Papists, Arminians and others’ are ‘not from God.’ (Works. I.18).
4. Examining ourselves by this standard should lead us to bemoan the awful power of ‘reigning sin’, which has turned our souls ‘quite away’ from their ‘chief end.’ ‘How many there are’, he grieves, ‘who make themselves their chief end. They are conjured within the circle of self, and out of it they cannot move.’ Even the best of us, he adds, should be ashamed of our self-centredness. ‘O how much is God dishonoured by our hearts, lips and lives! O what self-seeking mixes itself with our best actions!’ (Works. I.16).
5. The only remedy for our having fallen short of the glory of God, claims Boston, lies in seeing our ‘absolute need of Christ, and faith in Him’, and in seeking by His grace to enter God’s ‘chamber of presence’ only ‘as introduced by Christ.’ (Works. I.18).
The Song of Songs begins with an abrupt expression of the soul breathing after Christ with intense desire. The same thing is exemplified very often in the Book of Psalms (eg 42.1-2; 63.1-2. Ed.). The best affections of a gracious soul are directed to Christ. Here they are described in their exercise. The Church is introduced allegorically under a covenant engagement as betrothed to the Lord. Though she enjoys the communion of the love of Christ as the Saviour of sinners, she must know more of the length and breadth and height and depth of this love. Experience of this is far better to the soul than of all earthly joys whatever. These strong affections all proceed from the love of Christ to her. How wonderful must that love be! The glories of the love of Christ are unpreachable, even to those who know him savingly. To the Church they are sweet and attractive glories, verse 3. So when the Saviour is to the Church the “chiefest among ten thousand” and “altogether lovely” it is not surprising that she breathes after greater nearness to him, as in the text.
Now there are two things in the text to be considered: a prayer and a resolution. “Draw me, we will run after thee.”
1. The Prayer: “Draw me.”
The first thing to consider is the believer’s perception of his own shortcoming. He sees himself at a great distance from the full measure of what is attainable. He is far behind others; he is far behind his own desires, in his knowledge and enjoyment of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The believer is never so near Christ that he cannot be nearer. He wishes to see him more clearly and feel him more palpably. Even in his best condition he is aware of the distance and the separation. He is not separated from the virtue of Christ’s presence, for he never leaves nor forsakes his own. He is not separated from his love, which is everlasting. Yet by reason of his bodily weakness, his sins, his corruption and guilt, he cannot keep as near to Christ as he would. While he is at home in the body he is absent from the Lord. He is not separated from his Spirit or grace, yet he is very far from the presence of his glory, which he expects to enjoy hereafter. So the Lord’s people see themselves behind in every attainment - faith, love, patience, sanctification. Therefore this petition flows from their sense of distance.
Secondly, the petition implies ardent love to Christ and spiritual things. This is the language of a soul firmly desirous of being delivered from sin and turned wholly from the world to the Lord. The world has its own attractions - the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the mind and the pride of life. But this soul longs to be drawn away from its wearying vanities. He counts communion with Christ his greatest and truest happiness.
Thirdly, he prays from a sense of his own inability. He is without strength. “Without me ye can do nothing.”(John 15.5). “For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not.” (Rom 7.18). Natural men call these idle complaints. “If Christians had the same troubles as others,” they say, “they might have good reason to complain. They are fabrications.” O the believer has experience of his inability and weakness that the natural man knows nothing of. Yet a sense of inability does not keep the soul from prayer. “Draw me.” Indeed, this petition has no meaning at all were it not for our own lack of power to advance.
But fourthly, the Church here acknowledges fierce resistance. O there is the resistance of the carnal mind, which is enmity against God. The Lord’s people are finding out this truth step by step on their way to everlasting glory. The spiritually dead have no tendency to spiritual motion, but rather total resistance. So the carnal mind in believers has no tendency to move towards Christ, but rather the reverse. Even a gracious soul finds that “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit.”(Gal 5.17). The new nature follows hard after Christ, but the carnal mind cleaves to the dust, and resists the new nature at every step. “I find then a law, that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man; but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind.” (Rom 7.21-23). Therefore the Church cries to the Lord, “Draw me.” She is convinced that Christ has all-sufficient grace to draw her by his effectual call.
2. The Resolution : “we will run after thee.”
The Church calls Christ to draw her, not to dispense with her own endeavours, but to make them effectual. She resolves to exert herself in the prospect of attaining more grace. This shows plainly the great sense believers have of the importance of advancing with all diligence in the way of salvation. If you see a person running, you conclude that the person is on urgent business which admits of no delay. So when the believer’s prayers have progress and practice in view, because he sees the time is short, exceedingly short, he musters every grace to run in the way of God’s commandments with perseverance. The Church’s prayers are not intended to supersede effort, either present or future.
The whole world is in motion, moving to some end. Everyone pursues his own way. The believer’s way is strait and narrow. If there is a resolution of mind to follow the Lord, or a promise to cleave to him, or an expression of hope to see him in eternity, these all add up to a felt need of making progress in the way.
Now the Church does not rest in her promises or resolutions, even though she is engaged by them. No, no! This is not our rest! “Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”(Phil 3.13-14). We must go on from strength to strength, from grace to glory. That is true of every one of the Lord’s people, both great and small, that fear the Lord and love Christ.
Natural men are busy enough running in time but they are running in the broad way that leads to destruction. A career in sin and worldliness will soon bring them to eternal sorrow, far from heaven and the rest that remains for the people of God. O that the Lord would turn such sinners, that they would pursue him with equal perseverance on the way to glory!
But if others refuse, let us ourselves flee to Christ from the wrath to come. Therefore the whole of salvation is first to run to Christ and then to run after him, and not to men, which we are so prone to do. We must set the Lord always before us, as our all in all. The Lord’s people began with Christ, and him they must follow. To him the Father drew them at first by his Word and Spirit. And they having come, he draws them further after himself.
Many run from one duty to another duty, but never run after Christ. Therefore they run without salvation. Duties without faith will not carry us forward. And faith without duties is a dream which the stroke of death and the sound of the last trumpet will destroy for evermore.
But the Lord’s people, having tasted salvation, run after him to see his glory, “looking unto Jesus.” They run after Christ according to his example and in the way of his divine commandments. The grace of faith rests on Christ fully and at once for salvation. But the race of faith is from duty to duty after the example of Christ and in the way of his commandments.
Therefore you who run, make salvation sure. Remember that your own example here has much influence on others. You may be an inducement to much good or much evil to many. May the Lord grant the language and the sentiment of this portion of the Word of God to be our own in truth. “Draw me, we will run after thee.”
Charles Simeon was born at Reading on the 24th September, 1759, and in 1782 was made minister of Holy Trinity Church, in the Church of England, Cambridge. He died in November, 1836.
His conversion took place when, as a young man, he came up to King’s College, Cambridge. Bishop H. C. G. Moule relates some of the unusual details in Simeon’s experience:
“But three days after Simeon’s arrival an incident occurred which did, in the will of God, effectually modify his whole future. In itself it was a most simple thing. The Provost, Dr. William Cooke, sent from the Lodge to tell him that within a few weeks, at mid-term, the Holy Communion was to be administered in the Chapel, and that he must communicate on that day. The message was based on a college rule now long repealed, and which never should have been enacted. As a fact it took Simeon by surprise. He might have met it with a passing thought of wonder, and then accepted it as inevitable; or he might have attempted a resistance, however useless. And so the mandate would have done him nothing but harm.
But it was far otherwise; and we will hear his story in his own words, as he tells it in a private Memoir written in 1813:
‘It was about the third day after my arrival that I understood I should be expected in the space of about three weeks to attend the Lord’s Supper. What, said I, must I attend? On being informed that I must, the thought rushed into my mind that Satan himself was as fit to attend as I; and that if I must attend, I must prepare for my attendance there. Without a moment’s loss of time I bought The Whole Duty of Man (William Law’s famous book), the only religious book that I had ever heard of, and began to read it with great diligence, at the same time calling my ways to remembrance and crying to God for mercy; and so earnest was I in these exercises that within the three weeks I made myself quite ill with reading, fasting and prayer.
The first book I got to instruct me in reference to the Lord’s Supper was Kettlewell on the Sacrament; but I remember that it required more of me than I could bear, and therefore I procured Bishop Wilson on The Lord’s Supper, which seemed to be more moderate in its requirements. I continued with unabated earnestness to search out and mourn over the numberless iniquities of my former life; and so greatly was my mind oppressed with the weight of them that I frequently looked upon the dogs with envy; wishing, if it were possible, that I could be blessed with their mortality, and they be cursed with my immortality, in my stead. I set myself to undo all my former sins, as far as I could, and did it in some instances which required great self-denial, though I do not think it quite expedient to record them; but the having done it has been a comfort to me to this very hour, inasmuch as it gives me reason to hope that my repentance was genuine.
My distress of mind continued for about three months, and well might it have continued for years, since my sins were more in number than the hairs of my head; but God in infinite condescension began at last to smile upon me, and to give me a hope of acceptance with Him.
But as I was reading Bishop Wilson on The Lord’s Supper, I met with an expression to this effect: that the Jews knew what they did when they transferred their sin to the head of their offering. The thought came into my mind: What, may I transfer all my guilt to another? Has God provided an offering for me, that I may lay my sins on His head? Then, God willing, I will not bear them on my own soul one moment longer. Accordingly I sought to lay my sins upon the sacred head of Jesus; and on the Wednesday began to have a hope of mercy; on the Thursday that hope increased; on the Friday and Saturday it became more strong; and on the Sabbath morning, April 4, I awoke early with these words upon my heart and lips: Jesus is risen to-day! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! From that hour peace flowed in rich abundance into my soul; and at the Lord’s Table in our Chapel I had the sweetest access to God through my blessed Saviour. I remember on that occasion, there being more bread consecrated than was sufficient for the communicants, the clergyman gave some of us a piece more of it after the service; and on my putting it into my mouth, I covered my face with my hand and prayed. The clergyman seeing it smiled at me; but I thought, if he had felt such a load taken off from his soul as I did, and had been as sensible of his obligations to the Lord Jesus as I was, he would not deem my prayers and praises at all superfluous.’”
“From my childhood up, my mind had been full of objections against the doctrine of God’s sovereignty in choosing whom He would to eternal life, and rejecting whom He pleased. It used to appear like a horrible doctrine to me. But I remember the time very well when I seemed to be convinced and fully satisfied as to this sovereignty of God, and His justice in thus eternally disposing of men according to His sovereign pleasure. But I never could give an account how, or by what means, I was thus convinced; not in the least imagining at the time nor for a long time after, that there was an extra-ordinary influence of God’s Spirit in it; but only that now I saw further, and my reason apprehended the justice and reasonableness of it. However, my mind rested in it; and it put an end to all those cavils and objections.
And there has been a wonderful alteration in my mind with respect to the doctrine of God’s sovereignty, from that day to this; so that I scarce ever have found so much as the rising of an objection against it, in the most absolute sense, in God’s showing mercy to whom He will show mercy, and hardening whom He will. But I have often, since that first conviction, had quite another kind of sense of God’s sovereignty than I had then. I have often, since, had not only a conviction, but a delightful conviction. The doctrine has very often appeared exceedingly pleasant, bright and sweet. Absolute sovereignty is what I love to ascribe to God.”
Jonathan Edwards.
“Another thing to which I found a great inward opposition was the sovereignty of God. I could not bear that it should be wholly at God’s pleasure to save or damn me, just as He would. That passage, Romans 9:11-23, was a constant vexation to me, especially verse 21. Reading or meditating on this always destroyed my seeming good frames. For when I thought I was almost humbled and almost resigned, this passage would make my enmity against the sovereignty of God appear. When I came to reflect on my inward enmity and blasphemy, which arose on this occasion, I was the more afraid of God and driven from any hopes of reconciliation with Him. It gave me such a dreadful view of myself that I dreaded more than ever to see myself in God’s hands, at His sovereign disposal, and it made me more opposite than ever to submit to His sovereignty; for I thought God designed my damnation.
All this time the Spirit of God was powerfully at work with me; and I was inwardly pressed to relinquish all self-confidence, all hopes of ever helping myself by any means whatsoever. The conviction of my lost estate was sometimes so clear and manifest before my eyes that it was as if it had been declared to me in so many words, ‘It is done, it is done; [it is] forever impossible to deliver yourself.’
For about three or four days my soul was thus greatly distressed. At some turns, for a few moments, I seemed to myself lost and undone; but then would shrink back immediately from the sight, because I dared not venture myself into the hands of God as wholly helpless and at the disposal of His sovereign pleasure... It was the sight of truth concerning myself, truth respecting my state as a creature fallen and alienated from God, and that consequently could make no demands on God for mercy, but must subscribe to the absolute sovereignty of the Divine Being; the sight of the truth, I say, my soul shrank away from and trembled to think of beholding... And though, some time before, I had taken much pains, as I thought, to submit to the sovereignty of God, yet I mistook the thing... For I had ever hoped that when I had attained to that humiliation, which I supposed necessary to go before faith, then it would not be fair for God to cast me off. But now I saw it was so far from any goodness in me to own myself spiritually dead and destitute of all goodness that, on the contrary, my mouth would be forever stopped by it; and it looked as dreadful to me to see myself and the relation I stood in to God - I a sinner and criminal, and He a great Judge and Sovereign - as it would be to a poor trembling creature to venture off some high precipice.
And hence I put it off for a minute or two, and tried for better circumstances to do it in: either I must read a passage or two, or pray first, or something of the like nature; or else put off my submission to God’s sovereignty with an objection that I did not know how to submit. But the truth was: I could see no safety in owning myself in the hands of a sovereign God, and that I could lay no claim to anything better than damnation.
But after a considerable time spent in such-like exercises and distresses, one morning, while I was walking in a solitary place as usual, I at once saw that all my contrivances and projects to effect or procure deliverance and salvation for myself were utterly in vain. I was brought quite to a stand as finding myself totally lost. I had thought many times before that the difficulties in my way were very great; but now I saw, in another and very different light, that it was forever impossible for me to do anything towards helping or delivering myself... I saw that I had been heaping up my devotions before God, fasting, praying, pretending, and indeed really thinking sometimes that I was aiming at the glory of God; whereas I never once truly intended it... Then, as I was walking in a dark, thick grove, unspeakable glory seemed to open to the view and apprehension of my soul. I do not mean any external brightness, for I saw no such thing. Nor do I intend any imagination of a body of light somewhere in the third heavens, or anything of that nature; but it was a new inward apprehension or view that I had of God, such as I never had before, nor anything which had the least resemblance of it...
My soul rejoiced with joy unspeakable to see such a God, such a glorious Divine Being; and I was inwardly pleased and satisfied that He should be God over all for ever and ever.”
David Brainerd.
The same blessed volume which calls them [ie true believers] Christ’s “little ones,” styles them God’s “hidden ones” (Psa 83.3). In what sense are they hidden?
Not from the knowledge of God surely. The Lord knows them that are His. All things are naked and open unto Him.
Nor are they hidden from the care of God. It is unbelief which suspects such a thing. “Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, my way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God?” (Isa 40.27). Jehovah says, “I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from Me” (Hos 5.3). Every heir of grace may sing: “Lord, all my desire is before Thee, and my groaning is not hid from Thee” (Psa 38.9). Saints are not hidden from the care of God.
Nor are they hidden from the watch of angels. They are a spectacle to angels. “Their angels do always behold the face of God in heaven” (Matt 18.10); yea, they come forth and minister to all them who shall be the heirs of salvation (Heb 1.14).
Nor are God’s people hidden in the sense of being covert, guileful and cunning. Though they are not ostentatious, they are not deceitful.
Nor do they make a secret of their love to Christ. They do not blush to own Him.
Nor do they try to hide their iniquities from the eye of God. They have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, and do not walk in craftiness.
Nor do they pass through the world without any mark upon them, by which they might be known. They are the light of the world. A city, set upon a hill, cannot be hid.
In none of these senses are God’s people “hidden ones.” How then are they hidden? They are hidden in God. Every perfection of the Almighty is a chamber of refuge to the humble. Thus David says: “Thou art my hiding place; Thou shalt preserve me from trouble; Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance” (Psa 32.7). Again: “Thou art my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Thy word” (Psa 119.114). And Solomon says: “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it and is safe” (Prov 18.10). Eternal wisdom, power, justice, love, mercy and faithfulness, in short all divine perfections, are towers of strength, where the chosen of the Lord find shelter. He hides “them in the secret of His presence from the pride of man”; He keeps them “in a pavilion from the strife of tongues” (Psa 31.20).
They are God’s hidden ones also, inasmuch as they have meat to eat which the world knows not of. They feed upon the hidden manna. The kingdom of heaven in all their hearts is like unto leaven which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
They are hidden because their true character is not known to the world. Their Master was unknown and so are they. As His glory was veiled, so is theirs. The world sees their strictness, their zeal, their humility, their imperfections, but not their glory.
To the pious every ordinance of God is a hiding place. Thus says David: “In the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion: in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me upon a rock” (Psa 27.5). None but those who have felt it can tell the peace and comfort of a child of God, rejoicing in the ordinances of prayer, praise, preaching and the sacraments of God’s house.
God’s people are also hidden ones, as the book of life, where their names are entered, is kept in secret. It is in heaven. It is not exposed to the gaze of the curious and profane. The enrollment is made by God Himself.
They are also [hidden] in the esteem of many [by being] often buried under the slanders and outcries of the wicked. The smoke of calumny often obscures their solid worth. Their best qualities are misnamed and their best acts misjudged. But let them not fear. God will bring forth their righteousness as the light, and their judgment as the noonday. Their motives and principles are not understood by the world; but the Lord is their Judge. He will wipe off from their names every foul aspersion.
The highest excellency of being a hidden one is found in a union with Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. To the Colossians Paul says: “Your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory” (Col 3.3-4). Thus is wondrously fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “A man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place; as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land” (Isa 32.2). This hiding place has been sung and celebrated and resorted to by the saints ever since the days of righteous Abel, and shall be to all eternity.
God’s people are also hidden by His providence. David prays: “Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of Thy wings” (Psa 17.8). All God’s people are hidden by Him. In vain does Pharaoh seek the death of the infant Moses, when God protects him. In vain do Jerahmeel and Seraiah and Shelemiah seek to destroy Baruch and Jeremiah when God hides them. His kingdom rules over all.
Strange to tell, though God’s people are unknown, yet they are well known, and in due time their characters shall be fully revealed. “The good works of some are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid” (1 Tim 5.25). The day will declare it. Blessed be God! He knows well the difference between chaff and wheat. He will manifest His hidden ones. Now but few discern the difference between the righteous and the wicked, but by and by the most dull shall perceive it. The day is not distant when shouts and alleluiahs from the righteous shall call forth groans, curses and screams from their enemies. The ungodly will soon be saying to the mountains and rocks: “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb” (Rev 6.16). But such a cry is desperate, and can bring no relief. For there is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. The hail shall sweep away their refuges of lies, and the waters shall overflow their hiding places. But not so the righteous. They are safe, come what will. God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, has blessed them with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. They are secured against all perils. They are sure of all mercies. Nothing shall ruin, nothing shall damage them. The everlasting God is their exceeding great reward and their unfailing portion.
In current usage the word ‘probable’ refers to something that may reasonably be expected to happen, something more likely to happen than not. Whether we realize it or not, the concept of probability as applied to the revealed promises of God may be ranged under a philosophy of chance. Yet, as Crabb reminds us in his English Synonymes, ‘chance’ neither forms, orders nor designs; neither knowledge nor intention is attributed to it; its events are uncertain and variable.
By contrast, the word ‘certain’ refers to what is determined, fixed, and in no way variable. When applied to God’s promises it speaks of the inevitability of their fulfilment; they are sure to come to pass, because their Maker is absolutely reliable. From the viewpoint of our faith, therefore, they are not to be doubted.
Why then do we hover around them as though their fulfilment was in doubt? Why do we not simply take God at His word? Why do we question their certainty?
1. One reason is because God’s dealings with us seem to contradict His promises to us. It was sheer unbelief drawing merely improbable, if not impossible, conclusions that made Sarah (Gen 18.12), Moses (Num 11.21-22) and Zachariah (Luke 1.20) question God’s truthfulness. So it is with us. Yet surely God’s ways are not our ways. No sooner was Sarah convinced that there is nothing too hard for the Lord than she believed God and was delivered into a state of certainty (Gen 18.14).
2. Another reason is because we question whether or not the promises belong to us. If we have no assurance that we are God’s children we shall have no certainty that His promises are ours. No sooner does the psalmist ask: “Is His mercy clean gone?” than he asks again: “Doth His promise fail for evermore?” (Psa 77.8). Until we are sure that God is merciful to us, and that we are Christ’s and Christ is ours, it will remain impossible for us to believe the promises.
3. A third reason why we reduce the fulfilment of God’s promises to probability rather than assure ourselves of its certainty is because we fail to reckon with God’s sovereignty in the time and way they will be fulfilled. Some have dreamt, for instance, that no sooner have they believed a promise than God will fulfil it immediately. But between our believing any promise and God’s accomplishment of it much trial, darkness and conflict with sin usually intervenes. The gracious reward of eternal life which Christ promises His self-denying disciples is preceded by persecutions (Mark 10.29-30). As the suffering Scottish Covenanters often remind us: those who have the seed of God’s promises planted in their hearts must resolve to face a hard winter before the spring blossoms and summer fruits appear. Abraham had to wait years before the promise to make him the progenitor of numerous children even began to be fulfilled. How we need to learn that in every instance God’s time and way are the best!
4. A further reason why we doubt the truth of the promises is because we feel ourselves utterly unworthy to receive anything from Him whom we have offended so much and for so long. This was the state of heart that God addresses in Zechariah 8. Having repeatedly shown His people their sins and remonstrated with them, God then promised to return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem, to fill the streets with men and women, boys and girls, to save them, to restore them to their true home, to be their God and make them His people. Seeing their astonishment, springing from a sense of unworthiness, He then pre-empts their unbelief by assuring them that this amazing work of grace would be marvellous in His eyes as well as theirs (8.6). Grace to the unworthy is marvellous.
5. One last reason why we imagine the fulfilment of God’s promises to be uncertain rather than certain is because between the promise and its accomplishment we fall into some terrible sin. This darkens our hope and weakens our faith in the promise, and makes us believe that because we have broken God’s covenant then God too will break it. Yet here again we need to remind ourselves that though we believe not, yet God abides faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
And so we must assure ourselves that there is not the least probability about the fulfilment of God’s promises. Their accomplishment is more certain than the stability of heaven and earth. How can we be so sure?
First, because God is all-powerful. There is not a thing He has promised which He cannot bring to pass. How often have we stood at the grave of a loved one and thought on His promise: “and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6.54). Rest assured, grieving saint, it shall be so. A bereaved congregation had just laid their minister’s earthly remains in the grave. As the company turned away to leave, the presiding minister cried out: “Good night, brother, we shall see you in the morning.”
Second, because God is wise. Even before making the promise He had already contrived how to fulfil it. His covenant is well-ordered and sure. Infinite wisdom assures us of the fulfilment of every covenant promise.
Third, because God is love. Though there is nothing in us that can compel Him to fulfil His promise, yet His unfailing love will ensure its fulfilment. Poor, struggling saint, the Lord chose you and loved you because He loved you. Therefore the Lord your God, the faithful God, will mercifully keep His covenant promises to you who love Him and keep His commandments. (Deut 7.7-9).
Fourth, because God is unchangeable. So we see in Exodus 3 that while giving Moses many precious promises, God strengthens His servant’s faith with the assurance that He is I AM, the unchangeable One. (3.14).
Fifth, because God is righteous or just. Observe how His promise to forgive confessed sin is based on His justice: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1.9).
Last, because God is faithful. He cannot lie. He will not deceive. But He will make good His promise. “Thy word, O Lord, is forever settled in heaven.” Why? “For Thy faithfulness is unto all generations.” (Psa 119.89-90). He is faithful that promised.
So then, God’s love and justice make the promises, His power and faithfulness accomplish them, while His wisdom decides the best time and way to fulfil them.May we all seek His grace to banish our unbelief and to turn our faith in probability into a faith of absolute, invincible certainty.
[Considerably adapted from an old writer.]
What is like Thy Word, our Lord, who endures in Himself without becoming old, and makes all things new?
I inquired what iniquity was, and found it to be no substance, but the perversion of the will, turned aside from Thee, O God.
Do what He has commanded, and hope for what He has promised.
Let us not seek in this earthly beauty what it has not received... But for the beauty it has received let us praise God.
You should not see in order to believe, but believe in order to see.
Those who...being most empty, think they are full, are not converted.
The fact that it is God who gives the increase is no reason why we need not plant and water.
How many common objects are trodden under foot, which, if carefully examined, would amaze us!
You enter your house to dwell in it; you enter God’s house to be dwelt in.
We are not to despair of anyone as long as the patience of God leads the ungodly to repentance.
What is that righteousness by which the devil was conquered? What but the righteousness of Jesus Christ?
We serve Him, not for His benefit, but for ours.
There is no need of a commandment for each man to love himself!
We should always be thinking of God, yet we can never think worthily of Him.
The Atonement Controversy in Welsh Theological Literature and Debate 1707-1841 by Owen Thomas, transl. John Aaron. 391pp. Hdbk. £18.95.
This reviewer left this volume feeling extremely sad, for it reminded him just how much poison religious controversy has drawn out of men. What should be the great unifying factor among Christians - namely, our Saviour’s glorious atonement - has become through misrepresentation, prejudicial blindness and sheer vindictiveness the occasion of endless divisions. Were the matter not so serious it would be amusing. For we have here, after a superb corrective from the translator, a narrative not only of necessary controversy between Calvinists and Arminians, but also of unnecessary fighting between Calvinists and Calvinists. The list of opposing pugilists in the Calvinist-Arminian controversy reads like a poster advertising a series of boxing matches: John Wesley versus Howell Harris, Thomas Jones versus an Anglican, the Arminian versus the Calvinistic Methodists, Christmas Evans versus John Wesley, Benjamin Jones versus John Wesley, Thomas Jones versus Owen Davies, Samuel Davies versus Evan Evans, Thomas the Collier versus David the Miner, etc, etc! What an insight into the author and his fellow countrymen’s penchant for pursuing perceived ramifications into the minutest theological corners, including the sad admission that even an agreed Confession of Faith could not end the controversy! And what a revelation of the state of men’s hearts, when their actual working faith spurns all exegetical accuracy, confessional orthodoxy and even common human courtesy! With charge and counter-charge pouring vitriol on each combatant, little wonder that true religion went into rapid decline during the period considered. Truly a “fascinating” but not an “edifying” volume, though the wise will draw many valuable lessons from it.
1 and 2 Timothy and Titus by Patrick Fairbairn. 451pp. Hdbk. £13.95.
This scholarly commentary on the Pastoral Epistles nobly defends their divine inspiration and Pauline authorship against Higher Critical theories. Its learned author also shows a keen awareness of the Platonic, Gnostic and Jewish environment into which the early church was thrust. His vindication of the atonement and of sound doctrine as necessary to salvation, his understanding of the clause ‘husband of one wife’ and of slavery in the New Testament, and his excursions (eg as to whether or not preachers should allude in the pulpit to their own experiences) are most valuable. However, his preference for Tischendorf’s text over the Textus Receptus, his occasionally unnecessary departure from the AV and his frequent inclusion of grammatical and critical minutiae make the commentary more suitable to ‘advanced students’ for the ministry rather than others. For understanding the Greek text this reviewer prefers E.K.Simpson and for clear practical guidance John Calvin.
Let’s Study Hebrews by Howell R. Jones. 169pp. Pbk. £5.95.
Putting a case for non-Pauline authorship and the spiritual indolence of the first Jewish Christians, the author shows little awareness of their exposure to persecution, even to death, though he does hold to the central thrust of the epistle: namely, of persevering in the faith, looking only to Jesus. He gives a poor definition of ‘glory’, but fine explanations of ‘the Word of God’, ‘only-begotten’ and ‘first-born.’ In short: while being sound in doctrine and sober in tone, this commentary contains little experiential application. Even Tryon’s abridgment of John Owen’s magnificent commentary is preferable to this rather ordinary exposition.
A Call to Prayer by J.C.Ryle. 32pp. Pbk. £1.25.
Originally a chapter in Ryle’s Practical Religion, this booklet is a timely call to this active but largely prayer-less generation of Christians.
Justification Vindicated by Robert Traill. 77pp. Pbk. £3.75.
Extracted from Volume 1 of Traill’s works [also B o T], this splendid defence of the Protestant doctrine against the charge of Antinomianism (and to a lesser extent, Arminianism) re-affirms the great Reformation re-discovery that the true Biblical doctrine of Justification lies at the heart of the true Christian Gospel. In this edition, Traill’s original continuous print is divided into short chapters and given a larger type face and clearer format. An excellent publication, especially in view of the current widespread identification of Justification with Sanctification.
The Free Offer of the Gospel by John Murray. 30pp. Pbk. £1.25.
Despite the strictures of our friends in the Gospel Standard churches, this booklet exposes to us a mystery which hide-bound logic cannot accept; namely, that God’s preceptive will does not always reveal His decretive will. Doubtless the current re-issue of Professor Murray’s pamphlet will not end the long-standing controversy, yet we believe its root cause lies in ‘the intruding of rationalistic speculations, the passion for systematic consistence, a reluctance to recognize the existence of mystery and to let God be wiser than men, and a consequent subjecting of Scripture to the supposed demands of human logic.’ Its solution will be found only in a fair-minded exegesis of every part of Scripture bearing on it, coupled with a firm refusal to do anything but let the truths of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility lie side by side in our minds, as they do in Scripture.
Prayer, Praise and Prophecy. The Theology of the Book of Psalms. by Geoffrey Grogan. 336pp. Hdbk. £14.99.
Here is a study that one can thoroughly recommend. The former principal of Glasgow Bible Training Institute (now the International Christian College) is well-qualified to write on this most beloved portion of Holy Scripture. Having learnt the psalms from his youth up until they have become assimilated into his spiritual blood-stream, Dr Grogan moves from psalm to psalm with the ease of a veteran in exemplifying the various doctrines of the Psalter. Following a Theological Introduction and a consideration of the Psalter’s General Features, he handles one great theme after another, keeping the unique and glorious God of the psalmists ever before us. Nor does he shirk contentious issues, such as the imprecatory psalms, the meaning of ‘sheol’, the Christian use of the psalms, their testimony to Christ and their insistence on public as well as private righteousness. Many of his comments, for example on the structure of the psalms, and on the psalmists’ recognition of God in creation, providence and redemption (the latter viewed in covenant terms), are very enlightening. Similarly his appreciation of their prime place in Christian as well as Jewish worship comes strongly to the fore. And where else may we read such a sentence as this: “The Book [of Psalms] is deeply theological and perfectly blends worship and theology.”? Indeed, Dr Grogan’s definition of true worship, drawn from the psalms themselves, as “the response of all that I am to all that God is”, is one of the finest we have seen. Now, since the psalms are a devotional microcosm of the whole Bible, when will English Christians incorporate them into their public worship services? And when will they make them the topic of their spiritual conversation, as Paul enjoins in Colossians and Ephesians? They cannot fail to be enriched by so doing. We recommend our readers to buy this title, and then painstakingly read through its contents, looking up every psalm to which reference is made, turning their discoveries into praise, prayer and instruction, as the divine Author of the Psalter intended. The exercise may take a year or more, but with God’s blessing it will be labour well repaid.
Systematic Theology by John Brown of Haddington. 576pp. Hdbk. £19.99.
This magnificent work is divided into 7 books, comprising ‘A Compendious View of Natural and Revealed Religion.’ And compendious it is! Placing the entire scheme of Christianity in its covenant context, it contains some excellent features:
(1) It reveals a vigorous and fertile theological mind. (Remember, Brown was the shepherd boy who walked to Edinburgh to buy a Greek Testament. On his arrival in the bookshop, a university professor who overheard his request promised to buy it for him if he could read it. The boy duly obliged and got his free Testament!)
(2) It discriminates between things that really differ. (For example, Hyper-Calvinists would have no problem with the term ‘condition’ as applied to faith if they saw how Biblical Brown’s explanation of it is.)
(3) It buttresses every major statement with numerous Scripture proof texts. (Brown gives 22 for the universal prevalence of sin! This is typical.)
(4) It sheds great light on many passages of Scripture through the author’s profound and extensive knowledge of the inspired languages.
(5) It candidly acknowledges the author’s perplexity when faced with difficult passages.
(6) It contains the most searching practical ‘Reflections’ at the close of each section. (In this respect it strongly resembles Wilhelmus a Brakel’s Christian’s Reasonable Service.)
(7) It exudes the aroma of godliness that filled its author’s great pastoral heart. (For example, Brown soliloquizes with his heavenly Father as “My God and my All”, and is broken-hearted over the fact that Adam chose not to love God, who is so worthy of our love.)
In short, it shows an astonishing grasp of Biblical theology coupled with a deep acquaintance with its divine Subject. We recommend that it be read in small doses (perhaps on a daily basis) and turned into prayer.
Faith and Salvation by Thomas Halyburton. 417pp. Hdbk. £12.99 (incl. p & p. 6+ copies @ £10.50 each.
Those who are unfamiliar with the name of Thomas Halyburton may gain some idea of his spiritual worth by the fact that both John ‘Rabbi’ Duncan and Dr John Macleod (author of Scottish Theology) considered him to have been one of Scotland’s leading pastor-theologians. Halyburton expressly desired to be buried in St Andrews next to Samuel Rutherford, so that there would be “a wee bonny knot o’ dust” in the resurrection.
This beautifully-produced second volume of a projected series of Halyburton’s Works (Volume 1 is entitled Faith and Justification) is as valuable as its predecessor. In his Preface, Prof. Leahy notes its lucid directness, thorough exposure of man’s sin, fine balance between Law and Gospel, free offer of Christ in a covenant context and sound practical counsel. Your reviewer well remembers his astonishment 30 years ago when he read, in the opening of Halyburton’s sermon on Romans 3.23, that the great business of our life lies in three important questions: “What have I done?” (Jer 8.6); “What must I do?” (Acts 16.30); and “What shall I render?” (Psa 116.12). The whole volume bears this earnest tone. Yet while Halyburton’s diagnosis of the evil in our hearts is devastating to pride and self-righteousness, his setting forth of God’s way of recovery through faith in Christ is glorious. This main body of the book is preceded by a superb summary of what should be a congregation’s aims in calling a minister (O that every church would act on its principles!), and is followed by a searching Biblical survey of what personal and family religion should be. The contents, layout and modest price of this volume place it among the best of recent Christian titles.
Regrettably several titles sent by Soli Deo Gloria and Evangelical Press cannot be reviewed for lack of space.
Dear -----------,
We shall experience all truth to be truth according to our measure of faith and the gracious purposes of God in Christ towards us. Miserable as I may be, I must still confess that in the dealings of our great Redeemer with us, in gradually causing everything to be taken from the creature and restored to God whereby every ground of confidence and expectation from ourselves is destroyed, God alone becomes our sole support, expectation and eternal salvation. I see more and more, and at times I might almost say I taste something extremely sweet, desirable and heavenly. How excellent this is! How ought it to delight our hearts! Were it possible to find in ourselves any ground of trust, how reasonable to wish for its overthrow, to have the happiness of trusting in God alone.
Receiving salvation as a mere free gift is, I think, alone salvation. But O Lord, which of us understands this as it ought to be understood? As it respects ourselves, we know in our measure that the way of the Lord that leads us to it is not always according to our ideas and taste. O how ought this to induce us to resign ourselves blindly, nakedly and unconditionally to God! Without regarding ourselves, let our dear Redeemer deal with us as seemeth Him good. Well, it is He who must grant it to us, and He will work in us that to which we are called. Blessed be His name to all eternity! Amen.
Gerhard Tersteegen.
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