SUNDAY READING,

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13289, 22 September 1906, Page 4 (Supplement)

SUNDAY READING,

SEVEN ASPECTS OF GRACE'. ■ BY THE* REV. W. H. GRIFFITH THOMAS, D.U., PRINCIPAL OF WYCLIFFE HALL, OXFORD. ■ In speaking on the subject of Grace I shall do little else than suggest outlines for further meditation and study. Grace is undoubtedly one of the outstanding words in Holy Scripture—referring to outstanding realities of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There are at least seven words in the original that come from the same root, the Greek word for grace*— I. What is the meaning of grace? I have read that the root idea of the Greek word means "illuminated by the sun." We are on safer ground when we say that grace means that which gives pleasure and causes joy. The very root of the idea of grace is joy. Then it seems to branch out in two directions; and the first thought I want to suggest to you is this: Grace'means God's attitude of favour towards guilty man. You remember how the angel 'Gabriel said:, "Thou hast found favour in the sight of the Lord," and the word rendered "favour" is the Greek word for grace. It is the idea of God's goodwill towards us, and the absence of all merit on our part. It is easy to distinguish between God's mercy and His grace. His mercy is His attitude toward the misery of man, but His grace is His attitude toward the ill-deserving. This i attitude is spontaneousthere arc no .'■ promptings; it is freethere are no conditions ; it is full— is no stint; it is lastingthere is no cessation. It is God's attitude of favour, and is contrasted with and opposed to His wrath. His wrath is manifested toward sin; His favour is manifested toward the sinner. From this truth, and arising out of.it, comes another' aspect and another ■ line of teaching ;-.':.it -means," also, God's action to needy man. You speak of a man's attitude as gracious, and it that attitude is proved by something he does you get a real idea of God's grace in the New Testament—God's attitude as proved by His action, God's favour as proved by His gift. This you find in Rom. v. 15, the charisma by the eharis. Grace is at once the cause and effect His attitude and His action. THE SOURCE AND ACTION OF GRACE. 11. We pass now to the second aspect The source of grace. It is evident that grace is associated with each person of the Blessed Trinity. "The God of all grace" (I. Pet. v. 10); "The Grace of God" (Acts xx. 24); " The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (11. Cor. xiii. 14); "The spirit of grace" (Heb. x. 29), probably a reminiscence of Zech. xii. —"The spirit of grace-and of supplications." So when we think of the Father, Son, and Holy. Ghost we have the source of grace in God himself. This revelation of God as the God of all grace is a characteristic of Christianity. You will not find grace associated with the gods and deities of any pre-Christian religions or any religions of the present day. ■ For instance, think of the ugliness of the idols of Indiathere is no grace in their character. You never hear of the heathen praying that their gods would give them good things; they pray that their gods will not give them evil things. They "pray off" evil by purifications and asceticisms. But. ours is "the God of all grace," and in our Christian work we shall keep near the heart of the Gospel if we always think of Him as such. 111. The third aspect of this subject raises the question, What does grace do? It is grace that elects (Rom. xi. 5). calls (Gal. i. 15), elucidates faith (Acts xviii. 27), justifies freely (Rom. iii. 24), save.? (Ephes. ii. 5), and it is grace into whose school we are sent (Titus ii. 11-15). There are also several texts which deal with grace as equipping us, such as 11. Tim. ii. 1 and I. Cor. xv. 10. You remember that when Paul and Barnabas returned from their first missionary journey they came from the place where they had been "commended to the grace of God." literally where they had been " handed over to the grace of God" for the work they had to perform. Then there is the thought of grace ruling us: "Not under the law but under grace" (Rom. vi. 15); and when grace rules the heart and life then wo know what the Gospel means. It is also grace that cheers us (11. Thes. v. 19) and inspires us (11. Thes. ii. 16). So when we think of the first element of the Christian lifeelection—and the last—hope—we see the., whole chain of opportunity and privilege of Christian service is linked together with this one thought of the grace of God. IV. What, shall we say concerning the measure, of His grace? "My grace is sufficient for tbee." In this manifold grace we may find sufficient, for each and every need. Many passages of Scripture tell us of this abundant grace, and one of its superabundance: "Good measure, pressed down, shaken together,, and running over;" and another tells of grace and peace being multiplied. Grace is not subtraction or addition, but multiplication, for when grace comes into the heart it always multiplies. When we put these passages together, and realise what God has provided for us in Christ, we are right in thinking of Him as " the God of all grace." CONTRASTS AND COMPARISONS. V. Another aspect to be noticed is the reception of grace; how is grace received? It is not received by works, or it would not be grace. Works and grace are always contrasted. If a man works for a thing he does not receive it by grace. We read of the wages of sin and the gift of God. It is also contrasted with debt. We owe God everything, but He bestows upon us His grace. Further, it is opposed to law. It: is not received by works, by law, or by selfrighteousness. In certain theological circles there is a contention that • we can prepare ourselves a little way for tho reception of God's grace, and then Ho will come to us, and there will be a certain merit in what we have done to prepare ourselves for it. But that is an impossible position. Where there is merit there.is no grace, and where there is grace there is no merit. You have probably heard of the catechist who explained to his brethren in this way how the Lord Jesus differs from Buddha and Confucius: "Buddha discovered a man lying helpless at the bottom of a pit into which he had fallen, and looking down said: ' I am very sorry for you. Take care in the future not to fall in again.' Confucius comes along and says: ' If you can come up half way I will reach you and draw you to the top.' But when Jesus came He went down into the depths of the pit, placed His arms underneath tho wounded, miserable man, and brought him up." That is grace. People have said to me: "It all seems too simple; if. only there was something 1 had to do' myself!" Yes, that is it. You want to do something; but God offers His grace as a free gift. There is always this desire tor. merit. If we aro not trying, to be saved

by works many of us, I tear, are trying t» be sanctified by them- And that, leads mn to say that the reception of _ grace is through the Gospel (Acts xiv. 3), and comes to us for faith (Ephes. ii. 8). ; Sixty or seventy years ago a young man who was just finishing his course at Christ . Church, Oxford, entered a church in the town whilo the Second Lesson was being read. The chapter was Ephesians ii., and as the clergyman read this verso he made some staccato pauses: "By grace—are ye saved— through faith." The text, read in this impressive and striking way, appealed to the heart and mind of this young man, who was Joseph Charles Ryle (the late Bishop of Liverpool), and led to his conversion. That is how he came to give us those wonderful tracts and books which we value so much. Faith is our reception of God, and implies the renunciation of our own merits, and absolute ■''dependence upon Someone else. If I work for a thing I do it myself; but if I trust someone else for it I distrust myself. I trust ■someone else, and that is why faith is the only adequate response of man to the grace of God. ' ~"*,• ■ VI. Yet another aspect is found in the responsibility of grace. This brings the subject home very closely to us as Christians. The teaching of it is so very clear in God's Word.- Let us look at some of the passages which tell of the use of grace by the Christian. We are said to "stand in grace" (Rom. v. 2); we are told to "grow in grace" (11. Pet." iii. 18): also to " continue" in it (Acts xiii. 43). All these have to do with our .position and character—standing, growing, continuing. Not only so, but we have to use this grace. In John i. 16 we have the familiar words, "Of His fulness have nil we received grace for grace"—literallv "grace in return for grace," or "grace instead of grace," which means that if I use the grace God gives me I thereby create an opportunity for receiving more grace for that which I have used. But if we do not use the grace we have our lives will become useless. Our Lord again and again referred to that great principle of the spiritual life: "To him that hath shall be given; and whosoever hath not from him shall be .taken away even that which ho seemcth to have. In other words, when you use what you have you get more; misuse or disuse what von have and you lose it as the result, /You often hear people pray for the Holy Spirit, and express a longing for more power. It they would oulv use the power they have Ooc would answer their prayers and give thorn more. You remember what our Lord said to the disciples who pleaded: " Lord, increase our faith." He replied that if they would use the faith they already had He would meet their request. KNOWLEDGE AND FAITH. The more we know of God the more certain will be our faith. So with grace. He does not send down panels of grace,, for He wants us to keep in constant touch with Him, that He may supply us daily. There are two methods by which electric vehicles are propelled. T-he one method is for suffi- , cient electricity for the journey to be carried within the vehicle. You start out in the hope that the power will last, and when it is exhausted you simply put in some more. But suppose there is not sufficient to carry the car to tho end of the journey? The passengers would be stranded. How many Christians live like that. You kneo! down in the morning and/ get some storage, and you hope it will last until the evening. But suppose there is some special demand during the day and the storage is not sufficient* There is a -bettor way than that; the power outside tho car, the connection between the two being unbroken. And that is how God wants us to live; not ask for a> storage of grace, but keep in constant touch with Him, that His grace may come to us moment by moment. . We have got to pass on this grace to others, to dispense it as good stewards (J. Pet. iv. 10). Many other passages remind us of this necessity, showing that grace is no spiritual luxury for a few, but is universal and free to every Christian. But our responsibility is connected with the misuse of grace as well as the disuse of it. It is a very solemn thought that there are at least five passages in the New Testament in which ' the misuse of grace is mentioned. " We beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain" (11. Cor. vi. 1). Wo may come short of His grace as well as His glory; we may.also." frustrate the grace of God (Gal. ii. 21), and make, of none effect by not allowing it to exercise its power and influence over, our lives. Then it, is possible to fall 1 from grace" (Gal. v. 4). But the worst danger is the awful possibility referred to in Jude 4: "Changing tho grace of God into lusciviousness." How terrible is the condition of the man who says he has the -grace ; .of.,God and yet, is v; living . the lascivious life! Good for "that man if he had never been born. ,- /." ..'■,/ V';"".■/ VII. We turn now to the outcome of grace. What is to bo the outcome (1) in ourselves? I will only mentior one result— joy. Grace should always bo associated with joy, never with gloom. Those who do not know what grace means are always gloomy Christians. What is the predominant feature of the Acts of the Apostles? Gladness from the Day of Pentecost onward; and wherever the Gospel has been preached and lived in its fulness joy has been its outstanding characteristic. Look at the Reformation, and if one thing more than; another stands out it is the presence of joy. Look also at the Evangelical Revival; Joy sprang up as Wesley, -White-field,' and others preached the Gospel. The same ought to be true of our Christian life to-day. If-we are living to God there will be gladness; if wo are ' under tho law there will be an absence of gladness and plenty of gloom. .We hear people speak of pensiveness and wistfulness; but you find neither of these terms mentioned in the New Testament. You get brightness and buoyancy, because God's grace was such a reality to the writers. What is the outcome of this grace to bo (2) to others? If God's grace is, in our hearts it will show itself in liberality, sympathy, and help tor others; and our Christianity is worth little unless it finds expression in this way. Last of all, what is the outcome to be (3) to God? Simply this: If grace comes to us from God and flows out to others in liberality it will go back to God in praise and thanksgiving. /,