475
THE K I NG ' S B U S I N E S S appearance of glory is when 'Christ comes. At th e first advent, we saw the glory as of the only begotten of the F a th er. A t the second Advent we shall see th e final unveiling of grace. 1 Pet. 1:13. The church of th e first-born lives between th e ligh t of these two advents. The first advent saw th e setting of the sun in blood. The second advent will see the rising of the sun in glory. The dynam ic th a t comes from th e croiss and th e inspiration th a t comes from the crown are both necessary in the plan and programme of redemption. The crucifixion is historic. The coron ation is prophetic b u t th e la tte r will be as literal as th e former. Luke 1: 31-33. TUESDAY, May 13. Jo h n 1:9-18. Grace Through Christ. To become acquainted w ith any force, we have to study it a t the point of its m anifestation. No man h ath seen g rav itation a t any time, bu t th e falling apple, th e rolling, stars, th e flowing rivers, these have declared it. No man h ath seen heat a t any time, b u t the burning coal, the roaring furnace the red hot iron, these have declared it. No man h ath seen electricity a t any time, bu t the click of telegraphy, th e sw iftly moving train , th e flash of a million lights, these have declared it. No man h ath seen God a t any time, th e only begotten Son who is in th e bosom of th e F a th e r He hath declared Him. We can know God even though we have no t seen Him. Christ is His point of m anifestation. Deity like gravitation and electricity is everywhere. He can only be known in his self-revelation in th e life and character of Jesus. “No man cometh unto th e F a th e r b u t by me.” To tu rn ones back on Jesus is to close th e door which leads into the F a th e r’s presence and to cut oneself off forever from the presence and th e fel lowship of God. WEDNESDAY, May 14. Eph. 2:1-10. Saved by Grace. Grace is unm erited, unrecompensed favor. Mix th e sm allest conceivable am ount of work or hum an effort and “ grace is no more grace.” If I have a particle of goodness of any sort, I am disqualified as a candidate for grace. If th e re is any question of u tte r help lessness and u tte r guilt, grace has no chance. Therefore before grace can even make a beginning, th e law must
reduce/ us to speechless guilt. Rom. 3:19. The law is holy and ju st and good. Rom. 7:12. It heartily approves goodness and unsparingly condemns badness. Grace on the o ther hand is no t looking for righteous men whom it may approve. This would be justice ra th e r th a n grace. It is looking for guilty, condemned and u tte rly undone sinners whom it can justify, sanctify and glorify. Grace is God’s “ kindness toward us” who were dead in trespasses and sins. Modify or minimize the grace of God in th e smallest degree and there is no longer a Gospel. A Gospel is good news and th e law is not good news. The law has bu t one message. It pronounces all the world, good, bad and indifferent, guilty. The only way to escape is to get ou t of th e world and grace opens th a t way of escape. THURSDAY, May 15. 2 Cor. 8:1-9. Grace of Christ Manifested. I t was an act of unspeakable con descension for the Son of God to stoop to tak e into personal and perpetual union w ith H imself a n atu re infinitely lower th a n His own. P ictu re to your self the noblest man conceivable, one who stand s a t th e acme of physical, m ental and moral manhood. Then im a gine if. you can th is man tak ing the form and n atu re of the meanest tin iest worm th a t wriggles in the dust beneath his feet. The supposition is prepos terous and incredible. Nevertheless th e distance th a t separates the man and the worm is proxim ity and cohe sion compared to the distance from the th ron e of th e living God to the womb of th e virgin. It can only be measured by celestial diameters. The W estm in ster stand ard declared th a t “ C h rist’s hum iliation consisted in His being born and th a t in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing th e m iseries of th is life, th e w rath of God, and th e cursed death of th e cross; in being buried and continuing under the power of death for a tim e.” When we consider w hat He left behind Him when He came to earth and w hat He voluntarily suffered while here, Phil. 2:5-8, we are th e better able to apprehend and appreciate the m anifestation of Divine grace. FRIDAY, May 16. 2 Cor. 9:1-11. Abounding Grace. In th e eighth verse of th is rem a rk able passage th ere are four “ alls” which are m utually related and depend-
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter