Free Access to the Royal Fountain.
"For by Grace are ye saved through Faith." Eph. 2:8. This is God's means of saving men. It is by grace that we are saved; it is by or through faith that the grace is brought to us. Grace is defined as "unmerited favor." It sets forth in the above text God's unmerited favor to man. It is, in fact, the revelation to man of what God is and of what he wants to be to every soul. God desires to make man like himself. He chose us in Christ "before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." Eph. 1:4. The character desired in man is "after God," "created in righteousness and true holiness." Eph. 4:24. As stated in other places: "But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation [conduct]; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." 1 Peter 1:15, 16. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Matt. 5:48. Therefore, as God desires that man shall be like himself, he must reveal himself to man, and grace is that revelation of himself. He is a Being of absolute infinity and eternity. He is omnipotent; all power is his. "He doeth according to his will;" "None can stay his hand;" "Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places," are expressions used of his eternal might. He is "the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth." "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." "For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and they stood fast." He possesses all knowledge and all wisdom. He not only knows all things, but he knows how to use all things to his glory. "There is no searching of his understanding." That which is "deceitful above all things," the human heart, God knows perfectly. "Thou understandest my thought afar off." "Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!" Truly, "great is our Lord, and of great power; his understanding is infinite." He is infinite in power and knowledge and wisdom. Well might we fear and tremble before such a Being if these were all of the attributes revealed to us. But the character which sways the mighty power and exercises the infinite wisdom is the character of infinite love. It is infinite power ruled by infinitely wise love. Such a Being is infinite perfection, and the glory of the perfection is the moral element—love. God's glory is his character; and that character or glory is goodness or love. Moses prayed, "I beseech thee, show me thy glory;" the Lord answered, "I will make all my goodness pass before thee." "And the Lord descended . . . and proclaimed the name of the Lord, . . . the Lord God, merciful and gracious; long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth," etc. (See Ex. 33:18, 19; 34:5, 6.) Truly "God is love," and everything that he has done for man, or will do, or can do, is done in love. In love God created the earth for the home of man. In love he made man a free agent, to choose or refuse the good. In love he made life the result of righteousness and death the end of sin. God's glory is always for man's highest good; and man can only enjoy the highest happiness by voluntary choice of the way which leads to happiness, by choosing to coöperate with God in the work of character building. Man sinned and fell, and met the fruit of sin,—death. But God did not leave man in this sad condition. He revealed to man more of his grace. All that God could reveal of his love to man under his sinless condition he had revealed. Now when man had sinned, had broken truce with God, had lost connection with the Source of life and power, had sold himself to Satan and the bondage of sin, God revealed more of his favor. He even placed man on a better footing than before, "for when sin abounded, grace did superabound." Grace triumphed over sin; God's love furnished a substitute. Christ, the Creator, gave himself, that man might live. "But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." Titus 3:4-7.
This is God's grace, the revealing of himself, of his infinite love, which withheld not the best of heaven's treasures, of the infinite desire to save man shown in these manifestations of love, of the infinite power and wisdom by which this love may be directed and made effectual to save every soul which will be saved. Grace is, then, the manifestation of God to us. The glad tidings is "the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24); God's word is "the word of his grace" (Acts 20:32); Christ's sacrifice for us was "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 8:9); it was "the grace of God" (Heb. 2:9), which gave him to die; Christ as priest sits now upon a "throne of grace," to which we may "come boldly" (Heb. 4:16); the Holy Ghost is "the Spirit of grace" (Heb. 10:29); it is the grace of God "that bringeth salvation" (Titus 2:11)—but it is all of grace, and our God is "the God of all grace." God's favor is extended by his providence to all. "He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust," and abundance of other blessings, in order that the goodness, or grace, of God may thus lead them to repentance. (See Acts 14:16, 17; 17:24-30; Rom. 2:4.) But that this grace may be effectual, it must be abundant, must reign in our lives. Rom. 5:17, 21. We must be connected with the fountain of the riches of grace; and this connection comes by faith; "for by grace are ye saved through faith." It is not the faith of itself which saves; it saves by bringing us into connection with God. Faith is not mere belief, nor assent to a proposition or fact. It is a principle, a power of will, of choice, which brings man into connection with God, and which is always based upon God's word. It is, in other words, submission to God's will, as expressed in his word, whether by precept or promise. Is it a precept?—faith submits, to obey implicitly. Is it a promise?—faith accepts it and the conditions on which it is based. And the words of God's grace to which faith submits always possess the potency of its performance, the power to do what the word commands. "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." John 6:63. The word of God is a living word. Its life runs in the channels of infinite power, wisdom, and love; and when we in simple386faith submit to that word, we place ourselves in the channel of its working. Our will is laid aside; we have accepted of God's will; and God "worketh all things according to the counsel of his own will." Faith is to the human soul what the trolley is to the electric car. The track is all laid; the car stands on the track with perfect machinery; overhead runs a "live wire," charged with a plentitude of power, but the car does not move. But make connection with the trolley, the car is vitalized by the mysterious power, and becomes a thing of life. Just so the Christian lives by reaching up the arm of faith and grasping God by simple submission to his will; and life comes from the great Source of life. Read Rom. 5:12; Eph. 3:17; Gal. 2:20; Rom. 8:9. Willingly submit to God. It is not submission to Providence to say, "I might as well bear it;" "I'll grin and bear it;" or, "I suppose I will have to do it or be lost." Only those who "receive" Christ will be truly sons of God. John 1:12. Not only receive him, but seek him, choose him first of all and above all,—Christ the way, the truth, and the life. By faith we connect with God, and are justified from sin through Jesus Christ, the One in whom "all fullness" of grace dwells. By continued faith we have continued and constant access to the Fountain of grace. Rom. 5:2. But while in this fountain is "abundance of grace," the "exceeding riches of grace," we may draw from it only what we need. It is given "in all wisdom and prudence." God does not give grace to waste; to use a homely expression, he does not give a bushel of grace for a spoonful of need. He always gives just enough. Was Paul's trial great?—"My grace is sufficient for thee," is God's message. Do we need all things?—"God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work." Does sin abound within?—By faith open the Fountain, and grace will much more abound. The grace will exceed the sin, the trial, the need. The "exceeding riches of his grace" will supply all need here, and throughout all the eternal "ages to come" God will be continually revealing to those who are his the inexhaustible treasures. Sinner, God calls you by his grace, that he may make you "to the praise of the glory of his grace." His grace is the revelation of his character. His character is his glory; and, if you will trust him, "God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."