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John Dickie

Grace and its Abuse

"Turning the grace of God into lasciviousness" [Jude 4]

A word of two of Andrew Fuller's, read some forty years ago, burnt itself into my very soul, and has given a coloring to my entire life ever since. It was this, "God's free grace through Christ, is the sinner's only hope, but the ABUSE OF FREE GRACE, is the professing Christian's GREATEST DANGER."

Yes, grace is free; this is a most glorious truth. But then we must not mistake wherein its freeness consists. It is perfectly free in the sense that it is given at every stage of it, without any merit, or deserving whatever, of any kind on the part of the receiver. It is for any sinner just now, and just as he is. But it is not free in the sense that though it be readily given, it can be easily taken, and use for our fleshly, worldly, wicked hearts, to make their own use of it. He who fancies the freeness of Divine Grace to be such as exempts him from the need of diligence, watchfulness, and continuous prayer, is soundly asleep in the "Devil's cradle."

It is just here where so many are deceived. The Professing church (as it seems to me) swarms with completely self-deluded professors. The perfect ease with which almost everybody takes for granted his own spiritual well-being, is, I think, one of the most astounding features of our time.

The Ble ssedness of Loving God

Will you permit me to say to you what I am constantly urging on my own heart, and that is, to seek as one seeks for NOTHING else, to be filled with the fullest possible measure of love to God. It is this love which constitutes holiness, and which floods the soul with joy. We should meditate often and deeply on the glories of the Divine character, as so clearly revealed in the lovely face of Jesus, and also on other themes fitted to foster this love; and to all, add prayer for it, WITHOUT CEASING, remembering that our Heavenly Father is infinitely more ready to bestow than we to ask. With far more loving readiness than any mother ever gave her breast to her starving child, does He give the Holy Spirit, the Creator of this love, to all who ask (Luke xi. 13).

As we love God, just as much an no more shall His love to us be our unspeakable delight; for unless we love anyone, we care nothing for his love to ourselves. Just as we love God, shall all His providential dealings, whether afflicting or comforting, bring a ceaseless joy to us; for, if we love God, we shall be perfectly pleased with all that He does. Just as we love Him shall duty be a pleasure, worship an exquisite enjoyment, and self-denial sweeter than any self-indulgence could be. Just as we love Him shall earth become like heaven; this waste, howling wilderness shall be lovelier to our vision than Eden was--it shall be a Holy of Holies, filled on all sides with the tokens of our Father's majestic presence. Let us then seek, importunately SEEK this love; and just as we open our mouths wide for it will He fill them (Ps. lxxxi. 10). The Lord direct our hearts into the love of God. (2 Thess iii. 5) --From More Words of Faith, hope & Love.

Wha t I am Not, Yet Ought to Be

It is not my doings, past or present, that trouble me most. So long as man is taken up with these, he will never know himself. Neither is it WHAT I AM that troubles me most. The thing that grieves me, even to heart-break, is this:WHAT I AM NOT while yet I SHOULD BE IT. It is this dreary margin, these miles on miles of waste, between what I ought to be and what I am not, that lays me in the dust, and makes me ofttimes feel that such a word as ABHOR myself is too feeble to express my feeling. Yet, out of all these humbling and heart-breaking experiences, come all my sweetest hours; such a frame of Spirit God so loves, that He cannot keep out of the heart where He sees it; it is His choices dwelling place (Isa. lvii. 15). Of all the services which men render Him, there is no sacrifice so acceptable as to offer Him a broken and contrite heart. (Psalm. li. 17)
--John Dickie from "More Words of Faith, Hope, & Love"

Love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit

All creation is one immense manifestation of stupendous love, redemption is an unspeakably more wonderful exhibition of love on a still grander scale. Providence, though we are not able to trace its marvels, is nothing but love. And glory shall be love made perfect, when the saint shall love even as he is beloved. For God is love. Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Whom does the Father love? Even this sinful, lost and wicked world---a world that hated, and still hates Him (John xv. 24; Rom 1:30). And how much does He love this wicked race? So much that He gave His dearly beloved Son to the agonies of that wonderful life and death to save us (see John iii. 16). And the Son loves, but whom does He love? EVEN ME, EVEN ME. And how much does He love me? So much that He gave Himself for me (Gal. ii. 20). And the Holy Spirit loves--loves us just as tenderly as either the Father or the Son, for the three are ONE. Oh, when we look with faith, we can see that we are surrounded with, plunged into the deep profundities of an ocean of Divine love. The arms of love are spread out beneath us (Deut. xxxiii. 27). Loving arms clasp us to the loving bosom (Song ii. 6). On this loving bosom Jesus lays us to rest, in perfect peace (Isa. xl. 11; xxvi. 3). Above us floats a banner of love (Son ii. 4), and ruond about us crowd hosts on hosts of unnumbered mercies on every side (Ps. xxxii. 10).

May the Lord reveal more of the wonders of His love to us by His Holy Spirit, and increase our enjoyment of them. And we may rest assured in view of all this wonderful grace, that having such a Father, He will do all that love and wisdom can devise for His helpless child. And it is the place of one, who is the child of such a Father, to lie meekly and quietly in the Father's hand, trusting Him utterly, and obeying Him implicitly. [From "Words of Faith, hope and Love]

The Boundless Love of God

God Is Love [John 4:8]

I have just been musing to my great refreshment, on the most beautiful words which have ever been presented to my mind: the words, "God is LOVE." We need, of course, other and apparently incompatible words, else with these alone, our wicked hearts would be sure to pervert them. Still, we cannot afford to abate the joy which the whole-hearted faith in the love of God to ourselves is fitted to give.

Amid the troubles of one's outward life, and the still more harassing perplexities of our inward life, how inexpressibly sweet to lie down, wearied and exhausted, on this confidence of the Heavenly Father's infinite Love to us in Jesus Christ, as on a soft bed and fall into a sound sleep of faith, with which God refreshes His beloved. (Psa. cxxvii. 2; iv. 8).

God made us in His first creation, in holy, pure love, that He might find in us objects of His own love, and might enjoy the delight of expending on us the plentiful tokens of His love. Not to get out of us, but to give to us, was His end in making us at all. And though sin has come between Him and us, and has completely broken up the original holy intercourse, which was so delightful to Him, and to His obedient creatures, yet sin, even an UTTER DEATH IN SIN, has not rooted out God's love to us the sinners; nay, it has not diminished in the slightest degree, the greatness of His unspeakable love to us.

O, how delightful to have the deeply-convicted heart, resting in sweetest peace, O the assured faith of this.

Our sin itself, He hates, with His WHOLE heart's WHOLE power of UNRELENTING HATRED, and He tells us this in the plainest of words; but ourselves the guilty sinners, He loves as tenderly as ever. In this aspect, His love takes the form of rescuing us from that which had destroyed us, and which He unspeakably abhors. In proceeding to carry out His holy and loving purpose in attaining this rescue, He has shewn in an unmistakable way, both His infinite HATRED of our sin, and His infinite LOVE of ourselves. He has done this at a cost which it overpowers us to look at, when the Holy Spirit helps us to an adequate vision of it.

And now the revelation of the glorious fact that "GOD IS LOVE" which is made through the new creation, surpasses immeasurably all that had been seen in the old creation.

It is "in Christ" that the "exceeding riches" of Divine Love are manifested, and when angels would expand their Spirits with the enrapturing vision, it is t other marvels of human redemption that they turn (1 Pet. i. 12; Eph iii. 17, 19).

And as the workings of Divine Grace are carried on in a soul, ever successive stage, is a fresh evidence that God is LOVE. O, the unwearied patience! O, the inexhaustible mercy!

And now in the case of that soul, he being "in Christ" (Eph. 1. 2), and the Holy Spirit in him (1 Cor. vi. 19), the man is more than ever Adam could have been, the object of God's unrestrained love. He ought to fill his heart with the joyous assurance of this. So condescending in the amazing love of the Father, that He now years for our love in return, and it is a joy to Him when we give Him that return. In truth, He has given us HIS WHOLE HEART, and He wants us to love Him so, that we shall give Him ours in return. And this is precisely what faith does. It both accepts the immense gift of God's infinite love, rejoicing unspeakably in the possession of it, while in delighted response it gives back to God all its heart love again. [From "The Unsearachable Riches of Christ]

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Andrew Bonar