The Promise a Free Gift
‘Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises.” — 2 Peter i. 4.
OBSERVE that word ‘’givenr Peter says, “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises.” We are beholden for everything to the gift of God. We live upon divine charity. All that we have we have received as a gift, and all we are to have must come in the same way.” The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God IS eternal life.** We are unable to earn anything, but God is able to give all things. Salvation must be all a gift, a free gift, an undeserved gift, a spontaneous gift of divine love. The promise of salvation is of the same nature.
“It is more blessed to give than to receive; and he that is most blest of all, the ever-blessed God, delights to give. It is as much his nature to give as it is the nature of the sun to shine, or of a river to flow. How blessed we are in being receivers! This is emphasized greatly, when we reflect how necessary it is that we should receive; for the things that we need are such that if we do not obtain them we are lost now, and lost forever. We are without life, without light, without hope, and without peace, if we are without God. If God does not give to us according to the riches of his grace, we are then worse than naked, and poor, and miserable; we are utterly and altogether undone. It is not possible that we should deserve such rich gifts. Even if we could deserve anything, these must come to us without money and without price. A promise from God must be a boon of grace: we cannot claim that God should promise us his favor, and the priceless boons which are wrapped up in it.
This teaches us what posture to take up. Pride ill becomes dependents. He who lives upon gifts should be humble and grateful. We are beggars at the door of mercy. At the beautiful gate of the Temple we sit down every day to ask an alms, not of the worshippers, but of him whom angels worship. As often as our Lord passes by, we ask and he gives; nor are we surprised that we receive from his love; for he has promised to bestow great mercies. He taught us to say, “Give us this day our daily bread,” and therefore we are neither ashamed nor afraid to ask all things from him. Ours is a life of dependence, and we delight to have it so. It is sweet to take all things from the hands of our crucified Lord. Happy is the poverty which leads us to be rich in Christ. We earn nothing, and yet receive everything, thrice blest in being hourly partakers of the gift of God. “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises.”
Beloved, this teaching as to the promise coming of pure gift should be exceedingly encouraging to all who feel their lost estate, and own that they are spiritually bankrupt. To such it is a word of good cheer, that everything is freely given to us of God: .why should he not give to them as well as to other needy ones? Those of us who rejoice in God have received all things as a free gift; why should not others receive the like? They say, “There is nothing freer than a gift “: why should not my reader receive as well as myself? To one who is willing to give, poverty, on the part of the receiver, is a recommendation instead of an obstacle. Come, then, you who are without merit, Christ will be your merit. Come, you that have no righteousness, he will be your righteousness. Come, you who are as full of sin as an egg is full of meat, and the pardoning Lord will put away your sin. Come, you who are utterly forlorn, and be made rich in Jesus. The trade of a mendicant will suit you, and you will prosper in it; for I see you have a cruel hunger, and an empty wallet. He that cannot dig should not be ashamed to beg. A beggar needs no stock-in-trade.” Old shoes and clouted,*’ rags worn and foul — these form a fit livery for a beggar. Are you not dressed in this fashion spiritually? The poorer the wretch, the more welcome is he at the door of divine charity. The less you have of your own, the more welcome you
are to him who giveth freely and upbraideth
not.
“Come, ye needy, come and welcome,
Gfod’s free bounty glorify;
True belief, and true repentance.
Every grace that brings us nigh,
Without money,
Come to Jesus Christ and buy.”
Yes, it is all a gift. This is the gospel that we are sent to preach to you — “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” “This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son” (i John v. 1 1). On God’s part it is all giving; on our part it is all receiving. The promise is already made, and freely made: it will be fulfilled, and freely fulfilled. God does not begin with giving, and then go on to charging a price. No commission is payable upon receipt of his grace. He does not ask or receive a farthing; his love is altogether a gift. As a gift you may accept his promise: he will not degrade himself by listening to any other terms.
The word given in the text is a plain invitation to the poorest of the poor. Oh, that they would make bold to avail themselves of it! The great bell is ringing, ringing that all who will to come to the great table of infinite liberality may hear it and draw near. Freely, according to the riches of his grace, doth God promise salvation and eternal life to all who believe on his Son, Jesus Christ. His promise is firm and sure; why is it that men do not believe it?
Reader, what say you to the promise so freely given to all believers? Will you believe it and live thereby?
THE PROlynSE OF GOD A REALITY.
URELY it is a wonderful thing that the eternal God should make promises to his own creatures. Before he pledged his word he was free to do as it pleased him; but after he has made a promise, his truth and honor bind him to do as he has said. To him, indeed, this is no limiting of his liberty; for the promise is always the declaration of his sovereign will and good pleasure, and it is ever his delight to act according to his word; yet is it marvelous condescension for the free spirit of the Lord to form for itself covenant bonds. Yet he hath done so. The Lord has made a covenant of grace with men, in which he has confirmed his promises, not only by pledging his word, but by giving his oath; “that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before
us.
In that covenant there are promises many and precious, all confirmed in Christ Jesus, and established forever upon the foundation of divine truthfulness. This is our hope, even as Paul wrote to Titus: “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot He, promised before the world began.” God has promised, and on the faithfulness of that promise we build our confidence for time and for eternity. We think it no imprudent thing to rest our souFs salvation upon the promise of our faithful Creator. To help us so to trust, the promises were not only spoken but written. Men say they like to have an agreement in black and white, and we have it so in this case.” In the volume of the book it is written.*’ In the page of inspiration the record stands; and as we believe our Bibles, we are bound to rely upon the promises contained therein.
It is a cause of much weakness to many that they do not treat the promises oi God as realities. If a friend makes them a promise, they regard it as a substantial thing, and look for that which it secures; but the declarations of God are often viewed as so many words which mean very little. This is most dishonoring to the Lord, and very injurious to ourselves. Rest assured that the Lord never trifles with words: “Hath he said, and will he not do it? *’ His engagements are always kept. David said of the Lord’s promises to him, “Yet hast thou made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure.” God speaks deliberately, in due order and determination, and we may depend upon it that his words are sure, and will be fulfilled as certainly as they are uttered. Have any who have trusted in the Lord been confounded? Can an instance be found in which our God has been false to his word? The ages cannot produce a single proof that the promise-making Jehovah has run back from that which he has spoken.
We admire fidelity in men, and we cannot imagine it to be absent from the character of God, and therefore we may safely reckon upon his being as good as his word. It is said of Blucher, that when he was marching to help Wellington at Waterloo, his troops faltered. “It can’t be done,** said they.” It must be done,** was his answer. “I have promised to be there — -promised do you hear? You would not have me break my word.** He was at Waterloo to good purpose: he would not be hindered, for his promise was given. We praise such faithfulness; we should think little of one who did not exhibit it. Shall the Lord God Almighty fail in his promise? No, he will move heaven and earth, and shake the universe, rather than be behindhand with his word. He seems to say —” It must be done. I have promised — promised, do you hear? Sooner than his promise should fail, he spared not his own Son. Better Jesus die than the word of the Lord be broken. I say again, — depend upon it, the Lord means what he says, and will make good every syllable. Yet none but the chosen seed will believe him. Reader J will you?
God must be true, whoever else may deceive. If all the truth in the whole world could be gathered together, it would be but as a drop in the bucket compared with the truthfulness of God. The veracity of the most just of men is vanity itself compared with the sure truth of God. The faithfulness of the most upright of men is as vapor, but the faithfulness of God is as a rock.
If we trust in good men we ought infinitely more to trust in the good God. Why does it seem a singular thing to rest on the promise of God? Somehow it looks to many to be a dreamy, sentimental, mystical business; and yet if we view it calmly it is the most matter of fact transaction that can be. God is real: all else is shadowy. He is certain: all else is questionable. He must keep his word, and this is an absolute necessity: how else could he be God? To believe God should be an act of the mind which needs no effort. Even if difficulties could be suggested, the simple and pure in heart should spontaneously say, “Let God be true and every man a liar.” To give God less than an implicit faith is to rob him of an honor justly due to his spotless holiness.
Our duty to God demands that we accept his promise, and act upon it. Every honest man has a right to credence, and much more does the God of truth deserve it. We ought to treat the promise as in itself the substance of the thing promised, just as we look upon a man’s check or note of hand as an actual payment. Promises to pay are passed from hand to hand in daily business, as if they were current money of the merchant; and God’s promises should be regarded in the same light. Let us believe that we have the petitions which we have asked of him. He warrants our so doing, and promises to reward such faith.
Let us regard the promise as a thing so sure and certain that we act upon it, and make it to be a chief figure in all our calculations. The Lord promises eternal life to those who believe in Jesus; therefore if we really believe in Jesus, let us conclude that we have eternal life, and rejoice in the great privilege. The promise of God is our best ground of assurance; it is far more sure than dreams and visions, and fancied revelations; and it is far more to be trusted than feelings, either of joy or sorrow. It is written,” He that believeth in him is not condemned.** I believe in Jesus, therefore I am not condemned. This is good reasoning, and the conclusion is certain. If God has said so, it is so, beyond all doubt. Nothing can be more certain than that which is declared by God himself; nothing more sure to happen than that which he has guaranteed by his own hand and seal.
When a soul is under conviction, it perceives the threatenings of the Lord with an intensity of belief which is very noticeable, since its awe-stricken faith breeds, within the heart overwhelming terror and dismay. Why should not the promises be accepted with a similar realization? Why not accepted with the same certainty? If it be made true in the conscience that he that believeth not shall be damned, it may be accepted with equal assurance, that he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, since the latter is as much the word of God as the former. The tendency of the awakened mind, is to dwell upon the dark side of God*s word, and feel the full force of it; and at the same time to neglect the brighter
50 According to tfie Promise.
portion of the record, and cast a doubt upon it, as though it were too good to be true. This is folly. Every blessing is too good for us to receive if we measure it by our unworthiness; but no blessing is too good for God to give, if we judge of it by his surpassing excellence. It is after the nature of a God of love to give boundless blessing. If Alexander gave like a king, shall not Jehovah give like a God?
We have sometimes heard persons say, “As sure as death ;** we suggest that we might as fitly say,” As sure as life.** Gracious things are as sure as “terrible things in righteousness.*’” Whosoever believeth in Jesus shall not perish, but have everlasting life.** It must be so, for God*s word hath said it, and there can be no mistake about it.
Yes, the Lord means what he says. He never mocks men with barren words and empty sounds. Why should he deceive his creatures, and ask from them a barren confidence? The Lord may go beyond his word in giving more than it might be thought to mean; but he can never fall short of it. We may interpret his promises upon the most liberal scale. He never falls below the largest rendering which expectation can give to the promise. Faith never yet outstripped the bounty of the Lord. Let us embrace the promise, and rejoice that it is substance and not shadow. Let us even now rejoice in it as being the reality of that for which we are hoping.