His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Man thinks if he loves God he will be saved; but God shows that the only ground on which a sinner can be saved is His love. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John iii. 16.) Did men believe this, how eagerly and at once would they come to the Lord Jesus, who was crucified for sinners! They would have confidence in God, by seeing His marvellous mercy in the gift and death of His beloved Son. Thus they would know there is no other mediator between God and men than the man Christ Jesus; no other name to trust in; no foundation to build on but His death and blood-shedding; no other way to the Father than by Him; no true righteousness but the "righteousness of God, which is, by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that Instead, then, of thinking only of God as an angry judge, they would be melted by His rich mercy, bowed down by thoughts of the unutterable sufferings and atoning death of His beloved Son, and through Him, now risen and ascended, and by His precious blood, find access with confidence into God's most holy believe." presence. It is The way then, believe me, is not circuitous. simple, direct, and attractive. It is the Saviour calling, and the sinner coming to Him who said, “I am the door; by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved.” Jesus, in the depths of divine love, says, "Come;" and the sinner that hears and believes waits for nothing, looks for nothing, tries nothing, makes no excuse, but in deep, grateful response, in the obedience of faith, comes. The language of his sin-convicted soul is "Just as I am! and waiting not To Thee! whose blood can cleanse each spot, How alarming, then, is the thought, that when Jesus thus welcomes sinners to His loving heart, men should say it must be through ordinances, priests, the Virgin, or some other fancied medium, that this Saviour of sinners is approached; as if He did not love sinners, welcome sinners, and save sinners! How such thoughts dishonour Christ, tarnish the glory of His finished work, undermine the gospel, set aside the true grace of God, deceive sinners, and set up a false way! Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me." "A German Duke lay dying. Anxious about his soul and eternity, he spoke to some around him. One advised him to pray to the Virgin, another to Saint This, and another to Saint That, when a trusty, godly courtier said, 'Your Highness, straightforward makes the best runner! Go direct to Christ, and turn not aside to Virgin, Saint, or Pope.' Jesus says, "Come unto me; " and, "Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." We need no spokesman, nor saint, nor angel, between us and our Saviour. We may go on our own errands to God. He who bids us come, will bid us welcome. There is no impertinence in coming to the throne when we are called; but rather is it unmannerly to go to a servant when the Master invites to Himself." How blessed it is to have true thoughts of God! "This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." How blessed too to contemplate the posture which God now takes in the gospel concerning His beloved Son, who is the way, the alone way, and the way of perfect peace into His most blessed presence. Him God sent, God gave, God delivered up for us all, God laid on Him our iniquities, God condemned sin in the flesh, and, when thus bruising Him upon the cross, hid His face from Him, so that He cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" But Jesus bowed His head in death, and said, "It is finished!" and God, who had put Him to grief, raised Him from the dead, and gave Him glory. And that blessed Saviour, now crowned with glory and honour, is expecting to come forth and put all enemies under His feet. And blessed be God, concerning Him and His finished work, God still says, "Be it known unto you, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." (Acts xiii. 38, 39.) Dear reader! dost thou believe on the only-begotten Son of God? Is His atoning death thy ground of peace with God? Dost thou know what it is to come unto God by Him? Is Jesus crucified, risen, and ascended, thy way into God's holy presence? Then indeed thou art among the blessed; thou hast passed from death unto life; thou art a child of God; for "we are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." Then surely the Lord Jesus is precious unto thee, and His ways, His honour, and His praise, are what thou art now seeking. "THE WORKS OF THE FLESH." "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."-GAL. v. 19-21. How few think that those who are practising "the works of the flesh," whether looked at in their coarse, immoral character-such as drunkenness, and the like -or in their more quiet and refined activities—as idolatry, emulations, and heresies-are both alike exposed to the solemn doom pronounced in the divine verdict, "shall not inherit the kingdom of God!" Such conduct shows that the hearts of those who walk in these ways are ignorant of themselves, and know not God and the Saviour whom He hath sent. They are simply in their natural state; and "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Cor. ii. 14.) Vain, indeed, is it to cultivate such a corrupt tree, which can only bring forth corrupt fruit. A new life, a new nature, is what the natural man wants, however refined he may be, in order to "bring forth fruit unto God." "The works of the flesh" are one thing, "the fruit of the Spirit" another. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." A believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is born of the Spirit; for "except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." How true it is, then, that "that which is born of the flesh is flesh," can be never better than flesh, and can only do "the works of the flesh;" concerning which it is written, "that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." How solemn and decisive this is! And yet how suitably it links itself with another inspired declaration, that "they which are in the flesh cannot please God." (Rom. viii. 8.) It does not say that they that are in the flesh cannot be polite, virtuous, moral, or practise outward proprieties so as to gain the esteem of men; but that such, do what they will, "cannot please God." How sweeping is this divine statement! How clearly it shows that the natural man, whether educated or uneducated, religious or irreligious, needs life, a new nature, to be born of God, in order to bring forth fruit-to do works which can please God. For this it was that God sent His Son, not to improve man's evil nature, but to give life-eternal life. "I am come," said He, "that they might have life." the natural man needs; and we have life through, or in, our Lord Jesus Christ. God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. "He that hath the Son of God hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." Accordingly, those who are born of God know the inward conflict of "the flesh" and "the Spirit." Hence we are told in this same chapter, "the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh and these are contrary the one to the other so that ye cannot do the things that ye would," or, that ye should not do these things that ye desire. It is blessed to know the Son of God crucified, risen, and ascended, as the source of spiritual life, and, It is life that |