ALL OF GOD—ALL FROM GOD—ALL TO GOD.
The sentiment of the true child of God, the disciple of simple faith, is expressed in the following words of the psalmist:— “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,
But unto Thy name give glory,
For Thy mercy, and for Thy truth’s sake.” The boast of the true Christian is not in man, nor in any combinations or confederations of men; his confidence is not in himself, nor is it in aught he has done or can do. Believing God’s Word, he knows that all things come of God through Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 8:6. He knows that “all flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.” Isa. 40:6. He knows that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked,” and only God can know it; hence He only can control it and make it what it ought to be. Jer. 17:9, 10. Believing God’s Word, man knows that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” that “by the deeds of the law shall no man be justified in His sight;” and that the only righteousness man can obtain, a righteousness to which the law bears witness, is the righteousness wrought out by obedience in the perfect life of Jesus Christ, and revealed to us in the Gospel, and given to us if we believe. See Rom. 3:20-23; 1:16, 17; 5:19. Believing God’s Word, the child of faith knows that the Creator of all things is the mighty Creator or Saviour, “who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption; that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” 1 Cor. 1:30, 31. Believing God’s Word, he knows that the Creator-Redeemer creates us anew “in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Eph. 2:10. “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” Phil. 2:13. But God will not by His Spirit work out a different character, or perfect obedience to a different law, in the children of Jesus Christ than He did in Jesus Himself over eighteen centuries ago. In both instances it is God’s pleasure, God’s will; and He changeth not. All good is of God through Jesus Christ the Creator. All good is from God through Jesus Christ the Redeemer. To His name be all the glory through Jesus Christ, world without end. For His mercy’s sake; for His truth’s sake. It is in mercy He calls us. It is in mercy He pardons. It is in mercy and by His truth that He strengthens and establishes. It is in mercy that He gives us a7part in His work. It is all of mercy and grace and truth on His part; it is all of faith in His Word of truth, on ours. And therefore let every Christian say, as he contemplates God’s work wrought through godly men or organizations of men:— “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,
But unto Thy name give glory,
For Thy mercy, and for Thy truth’s sake.” The language of unbelief and apostasy is:— “Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad.” “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?” But the language of faith is:— “Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what He hath done for my soul.” “My soul shall make her boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.”