(Spurgeon, All of Grace. part 4)

without strength. You have heard these words hundreds of times,
maybe, and yet you have never before perceived their meaning.
There is a cheering savor about them, is there not? Jesus did not
die for our righteousness, but He died for our sins. He did not
come to save us because we were worth the saving, but because we
were utterly worthless, ruined, and undone. He came not to earth
out of any reason that was in us, but solely and only out of
reasons which He fetched from the depths of His own divine love.
In due time He died for those whom He describes, not as godly,
but as ungodly, applying to them as hopeless an adjective as He
could well have selected. If you have but little mind, yet fasten
it to this truth, which is fitted to the smallest capacity, and
is able to cheer the heaviest heart. Let this text lie under your
tongue like a sweet morsel, till it dissolves into your heart and
flavors all your thoughts; and then it will little matter though
those thoughts should be as scattered as autumn leaves. Persons
who have never shone in science, nor displayed the least
originality of mind, have nevertheless been fully able to accept
the doctrine of the cross, and have been saved thereby. Why
should not you?
     I hear another man cry, "Oh, sir my want of strength lies
mainly in this, that I cannot repent sufficiently!" A curious
idea men have of what repentance is! Many fancy that so many
tears are to be shed, and so many groans are to be heaved, and so
much despair is to be endured. Whence comes this unreasonable
notion? Unbelief and despair are sins, and therefore I do not see
how they can be constituent elements of acceptable repentance;
yet there are many who regard them as necessary parts of true
Christian experience. They are in great error. Still, I know what
they mean, for in the days of my darkness I used to feel in the
same way. I desired to repent, but I thought that I could not do
it, and yet all the while I was repenting. Odd as it may sound, I
felt that I could not feel. I used to get into a corner and weep,
because I could not weep; and I fell into bitter sorrow because I
could not sorrow for sin. What a jumble it all is when in our
unbelieving state we begin to judge our own condition! It is like
a blind man looking at his own eyes. My heart was melted within
me for fear, because I thought that my heart was as hard as an
adamant   stone. My heart was broken to think that it would not
break. Now I can see that I was exhibiting the very thing which I
thought I did not possess; but then I knew not where I was.
     Oh that I could help others into the light which I now
enjoy! Fain would I say a word which might shorten the time of
their bewilderment. I would say a few plain words, and pray "the
Comforter" to apply them to the heart.
     Remember that the man who truly repents is never satisfied
with his own repentance. We can no more repent perfectly than we
can live perfectly. However pure our tears, there will always be
some dirt in them: there will be something to be repented of even
in our best repentance. But listen! To repent is to change your
mind about sin, and Christ, and all the great things of God.
There is sorrow implied in this; but the main point is the
turning of the heart from sin to Christ. If there be this
turning, you have the essence of true repentance, even though no
alarm and no despair should ever have cast their shadow upon your
mind.
     If you cannot repent as you would, it will greatly aid you
to do so if you will firmly believe that "in due time Christ died
for the ungodly." Think of this again and again. How can you
continue to be hard-hearted when you know that out of supreme
love "Christ died for the ungodly"? Let me persuade you to reason
with yourself thus: Ungodly as I am, though this heart of steel
will not relent, though I smite in vain upon my breast, yet He
died for such as I am, since He died for the ungodly. Oh that I
may believe this and feel the power of it upon my flinty heart!  
   Blot out every other reflection from your soul, and sit down
by the hour together, and meditate deeply on this one resplendent
display of unmerited, unexpected, unexampled love, "Christ died
for the ungodly." Read over carefully the narrative of the Lord's
death, as you find it in the four evangelists. If anything can
melt your stubborn heart, it will be a sight of the sufferings of
Jesus, and the consideration that he suffered all this for His
enemies.
     
     O Jesus! sweet the tears I shed,
While at Thy feet I kneel,
     Gaze on Thy wounded, fainting head,
And all Thy sorrows feel.
     My heart dissolves to see Thee bleed,
This heart so hard before;
     I hear Thee for the guilty plead,
And grief o'erflows the more.
     'Twas for the sinful Thou didst die,
And I a sinner stand:
     Convinc'd by Thine expiring eye,
Slain by Thy piercËd hand.
     
     Surely the cross is that wonder-working rod which can bring
water out of a rock. If you understand the full meaning of the
divine sacrifice of Jesus, you must repent of ever having been
opposed to One who is so full of love. It is written, "They shall
look upon him whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for
him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness
for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn."
Repentance will not make you see Christ; but to see Christ will
give you repentance. You may not make a Christ out of your
repentance, but you must look for repentance to Christ. The Holy
Ghost, by turning us to Christ, turns us from sin. Look away,
then, from the effect to the cause, from your own repenting to
the Lord Jesus, who is exalted on high to give repentance.
     I have heard another say, "I am tormented with horrible
thoughts. Wherever I go, blasphemies steal in upon me. Frequently
at my work a dreadful suggestion forces itself upon me, and even
on my bed I am startled from my sleep by whispers of the evil
one. I cannot get away from this horrible temptation." Friend, I
know what you mean, for I have myself been hunted by this wolf. A
man might as well hope to fight a swarm of flies with a sword as
to master his own thoughts when they are set on by the devil. A
poor tempted soul, assailed by satanic suggestions, is like a
traveler I have read of, about whose head and ears and whole body
there came a swarm of angry bees. He could not keep them off nor
escape from them. They stung him everywhere and threatened to be
the death of him. I do not wonder you feel that you are without
strength to stop these hideous and abominable thoughts which
Satan pours into your soul; but yet I would remind you of the
Scripture before us--"When we were yet without strength, in due
time Christ died for the ungodly." Jesus knew where we were and
where we should be; He saw that we could not overcome the prince
of the power of the air; He knew that we should be greatly
worried by him; but even then, when He saw us in that condition,
Christ died for the ungodly. Cast the anchor of your faith upon
this. The devil himself cannot tell you that you are not ungodly;
believe, then, that Jesus died even for such as you are. Remember
Martin Luther's way of cutting the devil's head off with his own
sword. "Oh," said the devil to Martin Luther, "you are a sinner."
"Yes," said he, "Christ died to save sinners." Thus he smote him
with his own sword. Hide you in this refuge, and keep there: "In
due time Christ died for the ungodly." If you stand to that
truth, your blasphemous thoughts which you have not the strength
to drive away will go away of themselves; for Satan will see that
he is answering no purpose by plaguing you with them.
     These thoughts, if you hate them, are none of yours, but are
injections of the Devil, for which he is responsible, and not
you. If you strive against them, they are no more yours than are
the cursings and falsehoods of rioters in the street. It is by
means of these thoughts that the Devil would drive you to
despair, or at least keep you from trusting Jesus. The poor
diseased woman could not come to Jesus for the press, and you are
in much the same condition, because of the rush and throng of
these dreadful thoughts. Still, she put forth her finger, and
touched the fringe of the Lord's garment, and she was healed. Do
you the same.
     Jesus died for those who are guilty of "all manner of sin
and blasphemy," and therefore I am sure He will not refuse those
who are unwillingly the captives of evil thoughts. Cast yourself
upon Him, thoughts and all, and see if He be not mighty to
save. He can still those horrible whisperings of the fiend, or He
can enable you to see them in their true light, so that you may
not be worried by them. In His own way He can and will save you,
and at length give you perfect peace. Only trust Him for this and
everything else.
     Sadly perplexing is that form of inability which lies in a
supposed want of power to believe. We are not strangers to the
cry:
     
     Oh that I could believe,
     Then all would easy be;
     I would, but cannot; Lord, relieve,
     My help must come from thee.
     
     Many remain in the dark for years because they have no
power, as they say, to do that which is the giving up of all
power and reposing in the power of another, even the Lord Jesus.
Indeed, it is a very curious thing, this whole matter of
believing; for people do not get much help by trying to believe.
Believing does not come by trying. If a person were to make a
statement of something that happened this day, I should not tell
him that I would try to believe him. If I believed in the
truthfulness of the man who told the incident to me and said that
he saw it, I should accept the statement at once. If I did not
think him a true man, I should, of course, disbelieve him; but
there would be no trying in the matter. Now, when God declares
that there is salvation in Christ Jesus, I must either believe
Him at once, or make Him a liar. Surely you will not hesitate as
to which is the right path in this case, The witness of God must
be true, and we are bound at once to believe in Jesus.
     But possibly you have been trying to believe too much. Now
do not aim at great things. Be satisfied to have a faith that can
hold in its hand this one truth, "While we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." He laid down
His life for men while as yet they were not believing in Him, nor
were able to believe in Him. He died for men, not as believers,
but as sinners. He came to make these sinners into believers and
saints; but when He died for them He viewed them as utterly
without strength. If you hold to the truth that Christ died for
the ungodly, and believe it, your faith will save you, and you
may go in peace. If you will trust your soul with Jesus, who died
for the ungodly, even though you cannot believe all things, nor
move mountains, nor do any other wonderful works, yet you are
saved. It is not great faith, but true faith, that saves; and the
salvation lies not in the faith, but in the Christ in whom faith
trusts. Faith as a grain of mustard seed will bring salvation. It
is not the measure of faith, but the sincerity of faith, which is
the point to be considered. Surely a man can believe what he
knows to be true; and as you know Jesus to be true, you, my
friend, can believe in Him.
     The cross which is the object of faith, is also, by the
power of the Holy Spirit, the cause of it. Sit down and watch the
dying Saviour till faith springs up spontaneously in your heart.
There is no place like Calvary for creating confidence. The air
of that sacred hill brings health to trembling faith. Many a
watcher there has said:
     
     While I view Thee, wounded, grieving,
Breathless on the cursed tree,
     Lord, I feel my heart believing
That Thou suffer'dst thus for me.
     
     "Alas!" cries another, "my want of strength lies in this
direction, that I cannot quit my sin, and I know that I cannot go
to Heaven and carry my sin with me." I am glad that you know
that, for it is quite true. You must be divorced from your sin,
or you cannot be married to Christ. Recollect the question which
flashed into the mind of young Bunyan when at his sports on the
green on Sunday: "Wilt thou have thy sins and go to hell, or wilt
thou quit thy sins and go to heaven?" That brought him to a dead
stand. That is a question which every man will have to answer:
for there is no going on in sin and going to heaven. That cannot
be. You must quit sin or quit hope. Do you reply, "Yes, I am
willing enough. To will is present with me, but how to perform
that which l would I find not. Sin masters me, and I have no
strength." Come, then, if you have no strength, this text is
still true, "When we were yet without strength, in due time
Christ died for the ungodly." Can you still believe that? However
other things may seem to contradict it, will you believe it? God
has said it, and it is a fact; therefore, hold on to it like grim
death, for your only hope lies there. Believe this and trust
Jesus, and you shall soon find power with which to slay your sin;
but apart from Him, the strong man armed will hold you for ever
his bond slave. Personally, I could never have overcome my own
sinfulness. I tried and failed. My evil propensities were too
many for me, till, in the belief that Christ died for me, I cast
my guilty soul on Him, and then I received a conquering principle
by which I overcame my sinful self. The doctrine of the cross can
be used to slay sin, even as the old warriors used their huge
two-handed swords, and mowed down their foes at every stroke.
There is nothing like faith in the sinner's Friend: it overcomes
all evil. If Christ has died for me, ungodly as I am, without
strength as I am, then I cannot live in sin any longer, but must
arouse myself to love and serve Him who hath redeemed me. I
cannot trifle with the evil which slew my best Friend. I must be
holy for His sake. How can I live in sin when He has died to save
me from it?
     See what a splendid help this is to you that are without
strength, to know and believe that in due time Christ died for
such ungodly ones as you are. Have you caught the idea yet? It
is, somehow, so difficult for our darkened, prejudiced, and
unbelieving minds to see the essence of the gospel. At times I
have thought, when I have done preaching, that I have laid down
the gospel so clearly, that the nose on one's face could not be
more plain; and yet I perceive that even intelligent hearers have
failed to understand what was meant by "Look unto me and be ye
saved." Converts usually say that they did not know the gospel
till such and such a day; and yet they had heard it for years.
The gospel is unknown, not from want of explanation, but from
absence of personal revelation. This the Holy Ghost is ready to
give, and will give to those who ask Him. Yet when given, the sum
total of the truth revealed all lies within these words: "Christ
died for the ungodly."
     I hear another bewailing himself thus: "Oh, sir, my weakness
lies in this, that I do not seem to keep long in one mind! I hear
the word on a Sunday, and I am impressed; but in the week I meet
with an evil companion, and my good feelings are all gone. My
fellow workmen do not believe in anything, and they say such
terrible things, and I do not know how to answer them, and so I
find myself knocked over." I know this Plastic Pliable very well,
and I tremble for him; but at the same time, if he is really
sincere, his weakness can be met by divine grace. The Holy Spirit
can cast out the evil spirit of the fear of man. He can make the
coward brave. Remember, my poor vacillating friend, you must not
remain in this state. It will never do to be mean and beggarly to
yourself. Stand upright, and look at yourself, and see if you
were ever meant to be like a toad under a harrow, afraid for your
life either to move or to stand still. Do have a mind of your
own. This is not a spiritual matter only, but one which concerns
ordinary manliness. I would do many things to please my friends;
but to go to hell to please them is more than I would venture. It
may be very well to do this and that for good fellowship; but it
will never do to lose the friendship of God in order to keep on
good terms with men. "I know that," says the man, "but still,
though I know it, I cannot pluck up courage. I cannot show my
colors. I cannot stand fast." Well, to you also I have the same
text to bring: "When we were yet without strength, in due time
Christ died for the ungodly." If Peter were here, he would say,
"The Lord Jesus died for me even when I was such a poor weak
creature that the maid who kept the fire drove me to lie, and to
swear that I knew not the Lord." Yes, Jesus died for those who
forsook him and fled. Take a firm grip on this truth--"Christ
died for the ungodly while they were yet without strength." This
is your way out of your cowardice. Get this wrought into your
soul, "Christ died for me," and you will soon be ready to die for
Him. Believe it, that He suffered in your place and stead, and
offered for you a full, true, and satisfactory expiation. If you
believe that fact, you will be forced to feel, "I cannot be
ashamed of Him who died for me." A full conviction that this is
true will nerve you with a dauntless courage. Look at the saints
in the martyr age. In the early days of Christianity, when this
great thought of Christ's exceeding love was sparkling in all its
freshness in the church, men were not only ready to die, but they
grew ambitious to suffer, and even presented themselves by
hundreds at the judgment seats of the rulers, confessing the
Christ. I do not say that they were wise to court a cruel death;
but it proves my point, that a sense of the love of Jesus lifts
the mind above all fear of what man can do to us. Why should it
not produce the same effect in you? Oh that it might now inspire
you with a brave resolve to come out upon the Lord's side, and be
His follower to the end!
     May the Holy Spirit help us to come thus far by faith in the
Lord Jesus, and it will be well!
     
     THE INCREASE OF FAITH
     
     HOW CAN WE OBTAIN an increase of faith? This is a very
earnest question to many. They say they want to believe, but
cannot. A great deal of nonsense is talked upon this subject. Let
us be strictly practical in our dealing with it. Common sense is
as much needed in religion as anywhere else. "What am I to do in
order to believe?" One who was asked the best way to do a certain
simple act, replied that the best way to do it was to do it at
once. We waste time in discussing methods when the action is
simple. The shortest way to believe is to believe. If the Holy
Spirit has made you candid, you will believe as soon as truth is
set before you. You will believe it because it is true. The
gospel command is clear; "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved." It is idle to evade this by questions and
quibbles. The order is plain; let it be obeyed.
     But still, if you have difficulty, take it before God in
prayer. Tell the great Father exactly what it is that puzzles
you, and beg Him by His Holy Spirit to solve the question. If I
cannot believe a statement in a book, I am glad to inquire of the
author what he means by it; and if he is a true man his
explanation will satisfy me; much more will the divine
explanation of the hard points of Scripture satisfy the heart of
the true seeker. The Lord is willing to make himself known; go to
Him and see if it is not so. Repair at once to your closet, and
cry, "O Holy Spirit, lead me into the truth! What I know not,
teach Thou me."
     Furthermore, if faith seems difficult, it is possible that
God the Holy Spirit will enable you to believe if you hear very
frequently and earnestly that which you are commanded to believe.
We believe many things because we have heard them so often. Do
you not find it so in common life, that if you hear a thing fifty
times a day, at last you come to believe it? Some men have come
to believe very unlikely statements by this process, and
therefore I do not wonder that the good Spirit often blesses the
method of often hearing the truth, and uses it to work faith
concerning that which is to be believed. It is written, "Faith
cometh by hearing"; therefore hear often. If I earnestly and
attentively hear the gospel, one of these days I shall find
myself believing that which I hear, through the blessed operation
of the Spirit of God upon my mind. Only mind you hear the gospel,
and do not distract your mind with either hearing or reading that
which is designed to stagger you.
     If that, however, should seem poor advice, I would add next,
consider the testimony of others. The Samaritans believed because
of what the woman told them concerning Jesus. Many of our beliefs
arise out of the testimony of others. I believe that there is
such a country as Japan; I never saw it, and yet I believe that
there is such a place because others have been there. I believe
that I shall die; I have never died, but a great many have done
so whom I once knew, and therefore I have a conviction that I
shall die also. The testimony of many convinces me of that fact.
Listen, then, to those who tell you how they were saved, how they
were pardoned, how they were changed in character. If you will
look into the matter you will find that somebody just like
yourself has been saved. If you have been a thief, you will find
that a thief rejoiced to wash away his sin in the fountain of
Christ's blood. If unhappily you have been unchaste, you will
find that men and women who have fallen in that way have been
cleansed and changed. If you are in despair, you have only to get
among God's people, and inquire a little, and you will discover
that some of the saints have been equally in despair at times and
they will be pleased to tell you how the Lord delivered them. As
you listen to one after another of those who have tried the word
of God, and proved it, the divine Spirit will lead you to
believe. Have you not heard of the African who was told by the
missionary that water sometimes became so hard that a man could
walk on it? He declared that he believed a great many things the
missionary had told him; but he would never believe that. When he
came to England it came to pass that one frosty day he saw the
river frozen, but he would not venture on it. He knew that it was
a deep river, and he felt certain that he would be drowned if he
ventured upon it. He could not be induced to walk the frozen
water till his friend and many others went upon it; then he was
persuaded, and trusted himself where others had safely ventured.
So, while you see others believe in the Lamb of God, and notice
their joy and peace, you will yourself be gently led to believe.
The experience of others is one of God's ways of helping us to
faith. You have either to believe in Jesus or die; there is no
hope for you but in Him.
     A better plan is this--note the authority upon which you are
commanded to believe, and this will greatly help you to faith.
The authority is not mine, or you might well reject it. But you
are commanded to believe upon the authority of God himself. He
bids you believe in Jesus Christ, and you must not refuse to obey
your Maker. The foreman of a certain works had often heard the
gospel, but he was troubled with the fear that he might not come
to Christ. His good master one day sent a card around to the
works--"Come to my house immediately after work." The foreman
appeared at his master's door, and the master came out, and said
somewhat roughly, "What do you want, John, troubling me at this
time? Work is done, what right have you here?" "Sir," said he, "I
had a card from you saying that I was to come after work." "Do
you mean to say that merely because you had a card from me you
are to come up to my house and call me out after business hours?"
"Well, Sir," replied the foreman, "I do not understand you, but
it seems to me that, as you sent for me, I had a right to come."
"Come in, John," said his master, "I have another message that I
want to read to you," and he sat down and read these words: "Come
unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest." "Do you think after such a message from Christ that
you can be wrong in coming to him?" The poor man saw it all at
once, and believed in the Lord Jesus unto eternal life, because
he perceived that he had good warrant and authority for
believing. So have you, poor soul! You have good authority for
coming to Christ, for the Lord himself bids you trust Him.
     If that does not breed faith in you, think over what it is
that you have to believe--that the Lord Jesus Christ suffered in
the place and stead of sinners, and is able to save all who trust
Him. Why, this is the most blessed fact that ever men were told
to believe; the most suitable, the most comforting, the most
divine truth that was ever set before mortal minds. I advise you
to think much upon it, and search out the grace and love which it
contains. Study the four Evangelists, study Paul's epistles, and
then see if the message is not such a credible one that you are
forced to believe it.
     If that does not do, then think upon the person of Jesus
Christ--think of who He is, and what He did, and where He is, and
what He is. How can you doubt Him? It is cruelty to distrust the
ever truthful Jesus. He has done nothing to deserve distrust; on
the contrary, it should be easy to rely upon Him. Why crucify Him
anew by unbelief? Is not this crowning Him with thorns again, and
spitting upon Him again? What! is He not to be trusted? What
worse insult did the soldiers pour upon Him than this? They made
Him a martyr; but you make Him a liar--this is worse by far. Do
not ask how can I believe? But answer another question--How can
you disbelieve?
     If none of these things avail, then there is something wrong
about you altogether, and my last word is, submit yourself to
God! Prejudice or pride is at the bottom of this unbelief. May
the Spirit of God take away your enmity and make you yield. You
are a rebel, a proud rebel, and that is why you do not believe
your God. Give up your rebellion; throw down your weapons; yield
at discretion, surrender to your King. I believe that never did a
soul throw up its hands in self-despair, and cry, "Lord, I
yield," but what faith became easy to it before long. It is
because you still have a quarrel with God, and resolve to have
your own will and your own way, that therefore you cannot
believe. "How can ye believe," said Christ, "that have honor one
of another?" Proud self creates unbelief. Submit, O man. Yield to
your God, and then shall you sweetly believe in your Saviour. May
the Holy Ghost now work secretly but effectually with you, and
bring you at this very moment to believe in the Lord Jesus! Amen.
     
     REGENERATION AND THE HOLY SPIRIT
     
     YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN." This word of our Lord Jesus has
appeared to flame in the way of many, like the drawn sword of the
cherub at the gate of Paradise. They have despaired, because this
change is beyond their utmost effort. The new birth is from
above, and therefore it is not in the creature's power. Now, it
is far from my mind to deny, or ever to conceal, a truth in order
to create a false comfort. I freely admit that the new birth is
supernatural, and that it cannot be wrought by the sinner's own
self. It would be a poor help to my reader if I were wicked
enough to try to cheer him by persuading him to reject or forget
what is unquestionably true.
     But is it not remarkable that the very chapter in which our
Lord makes this sweeping declaration also contains the most
explicit statement as to salvation by faith? Read the third
chapter of John's Gospel and do not dwell alone upon its earlier
sentences. It is true that the third verse says:
     Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto
thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of
God.
     
     But, then, the fourteenth and fifteenth verses speak:
     And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even
so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in
him should not perish, but have eternal life.
     
     The eighteenth verse repeats the same doctrine in the
broadest terms:
     He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that
believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
     
     It is clear to every reader that these two statements must
agree, since they came from the same lips, and are recorded on
the same inspired page. Why should we make a difficulty where
there can be none? If one statement assures us of the necessity
to salvation of a something, which only God can give, and if
another assures us that the Lord will save us upon our believing
in Jesus, then we may safely conclude that the Lord will give to
those who believe all that is declared to be necessary to
salvation. The Lord does, in fact, produce the new birth in all
who believe in Jesus; and their believing is the surest evidence
that they are born again.
     We trust in Jesus for what we cannot do ourselves: if it
were in our own power, what need of looking to Him? It is ours to
believe, it is the Lord's to create us anew. He will not believe
for us, neither are we to do regenerating work for Him. It is
enough for us to obey the gracious command; it is for the Lord to
work the new birth in us. He who could go so far as to die on the
cross for us, can and will give us all things that are needful
for our eternal safety.
     "But a saving change of heart is the work of the Holy
Spirit." This also is most true, and let it be far from us to
question it, or to forget it. But the work of the Holy Spirit is
secret and mysterious, and it can only be perceived by its
results. There are mysteries about our natural birth into which
it would be an unhallowed curiosity to pry: still more is this
the case with the sacred operations of the Spirit of God. "The
wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound
thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, or whither it
goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit." This much,
however, we do know--the mysterious work of the Holy Spirit
cannot be a reason for refusing to believe in Jesus to whom that
same Spirit beareth witness.
     If a man were bidden to sow a field, he could not excuse his
neglect by saying that it would be useless to sow unless God
caused the seed to grow. He would not be justified in neglecting
tillage because the secret energy of God alone can create a
harvest. No one is hindered in the ordinary pursuits of life by
the fact that unless the Lord build the house they labor in vain
that build it. It is certain that no man who believes in Jesus
will ever find that the Holy Spirit refuses to work in him: in
fact, his believing is the proof that the Spirit is already at
work in his heart.
     God works in providence, but men do not therefore sit still.
They could not move without the divine power giving them life and
strength, and yet they proceed upon their way without question;
the power being bestowed from day to day by Him in whose hand
their breath is, and whose are all their ways. So is it in grace.
We repent and believe, though we could do neither if the Lord did
not enable us. We forsake sin and trust in Jesus, and then we
perceive that the Lord has wrought in us to will and to do of His
own good pleasure. It is idle to pretend that there is any real
difficulty in the matter.
     Some truths which it is hard to explain in words are simple

(continued in part 5...)



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