THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
460 “ th rough grace” by faith w ithout works.—McIntosh. Grace is the foun ta in and the stream . F a ith is th e acque- duct along which th e flood of mercy flows to refresh th e th irsty souls of men.— Spurgeon. Through faith . Even th e faith by which we appropriate th is gift is itself w rought by God by th e in strum en tality of His Word (Rom. 1 0 :1 7 ), ahd by th e persuasion and power of th e Holy Spirit (Phil. 1 :29 ; 2 Cor. 4 :1 3 ; John 1 :1 3 ).— Torrey. I t is th e g ift o f God. Is it faith th a t is th e g ift of God or g ratu itou s salvation? Which is th e g ift? Even th e act of believing is a g ift of God, th u s precisely th e one link in th e process where th e man m ight have th o u g h t th a t he acted alone, and where th erefo re he m ight claim to boast his claims for God.— Moule. T h at faith is a m a tte r of divine g ift is clear from 2 Cor. 4 :1 3 ; Phil. 1:29. Not a new faculty of tru s t is implanted, b u t gracious m anifestations of th e soul’s need and the Saviour’s glory. P revail upon th e will to choose to repose tru s t in the rig h t object.— Cam. Bible. F a ith is th e work of God’s grace in us. No man can say th a t Jesus is th e Christ h u t by th e Holy Ghost. F a ith is th e resu lt of divine draw ing. “No man cometh unto me except th e F a th e r draw him .” Grace is th e first and la st moving cause of salvation.— Spurgeon. v. 9. Not of works. The formula of all hum an religions is “ do and live,” bu t of C h ristian ity “ live and do.”— . McConkey. We work from th e cross b u t no t to it.—Neighbor. Moral life may belong to all men. Sp iritual life belongs only to those who are born again th rough acceptance of th e fin ished work of Christ.— Sel. All mor ality w ithou t Christ can do for man is to give him th e best room and the easiest bed th a t hell affords.— Echoes. T itus 2:11. Grace of God h a th appeared. Three appearances are seen in vs. 11-13: v. 11, Christ’s appearance in grace to suffer; in v. 12, in godli
ness in th e lives of H is people now; in v. 13, in glory a t His re tu rn .—-Stillion. v. 12. Teaching us. L i t e r a l l y , “ train ing us.” Have we sa t sufficiently long in th e school of grace th a t our gentle Teacher may in stru c t us how to live?— Meyer. The Gospel is essen tially an in stru ction in life, and its g reat object is to produce characters of a certain kind now.— Cen. Bible. These are th e A B C’s of th e school of grace: A— denying ungodliness, leav ing the old life; B—-live soberly, living th e new life; C— looking for. th a t blessed hope (v. 13).— Parsons. Live soberly, righteously, godly, Christian duties in th ree aspects, to ourselves, to others and to God.— E llicott. v. 13. Looking fo r th a t blessed hope. The world hopes for th e best, b u t he who cherishes th e blessed hope has “ th e best hope.” This is tru e optim ism.— Tucker. G lorious appearing of th e g re a t God an d o u r Saviour. Where are they who say th a t th e Son is less th a n th e F a th e r?— Chrysostom. I IS? God’s grace is His unm erited good ness. It is th e solution of all H is deal ings w ith His people in th e Old T esta m ent and is th e cen tral though t of the New Testam ent be- MY CLASS cause it was th e prin- OF GIRLS ciple of Christ’s life. C lara SiUiman God’s grace is th e only possible rem edy for th e sin of th e world. God’s grace does no t stop th e re for it is sufficient unto every need. In th e v ariety of scrip tu re which we study today, we see th e extent of God’s grace. God’s Abounding Love. The g rea t calam ity of th e ancient world was th e flood. Mankind had become so sinful as to deserve to be wiped ou t of existence and so God sent th e flood. One man, Noah, w ith his fam ily was preserved because he tru sted in God and obeyed Him. He had faith
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