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Hope Maketh Not Ashamed
Manchester, 20 February 1835 I am glad to find that the Lord now and then affords you a few moments' sweet intercourse with himself. This is one of the greatest blessings we can enjoy. The comforts of this life are great blessings; but to enjoy the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and our God, our Portion, and our eternal All, is a blessing indeed. O my dear friend, what an indescribable mercy it is for such poor sinners as we to be raised up to the sweet enjoyment of Christ! This is entering blessedly into the solemn truth contained in that portion of the Word of God: “The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the…
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Thy Love Is Better Than Wine
Manchester, November 1830 My dear Friends,—I received your very kind letter, for which I am thankful. I assure you it often affords me pleasure to find that I have a place in the hearts of God's dear family; for, next to union with my dear Lord and Master, I esteem union to his blood-bought, heaven bound family. Among the blessings in which your soul delights you have also your sorrows; for both of which may you be thankful, since they are all tokens of our dear Lord's love, and a proof that he has not forgotten you. “The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposal thereof is of the Lord.” These are eventful times, but the dear children of God have no…
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Christ Only
Manchester, August 14, 1834 Dear Brother in Jesus, the Lord of Zion,—I wish to have nothing to do with party spirit; but I cannot, I dare not, sacrifice truth and a good conscience; and I hope no one will wish me to do so. Through the matchless riches of God's grace, I have been taught a little of the glorious importance of divine truth in all its bearings; and as far as I know my own heart, I had rather die than shrink back from the truth of God. The Lord keep me! When I visit you I wish to know nothing among you but Christ and his cross, as couching in it all the glorious gospel of God from the springhead of electing love,…
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Our Schoolmaster
“The law is our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ.” So it reads; but if you will refer to your Bibles you will see the words “to bring us” are in italics, showing that they are not in the original. “The law worketh wrath,” therefore cannot bring us to Christ. It rushes up to a man, if I may so speak, takes him by the throat, and says, “Pay me what thou owest!” And the poor quickened sinner thinks he will; but the more he strives the deeper in debt he feels himself to be. The Holy Spirit teaches him that “every evil thought is a sin,” to say nothing of his evil doings, and that “he that offends in one point is guilty of…
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Gadsby’s Catechism
Q. 1. Who is the only self-existent Being? A. God is the only self-existent Being. (Ex 3:14; Ps 90:2; Is 45:5, 22; Jn 8:58) Q. 2. Ought everyone to believe that there is a God? A. Everyone ought to believe that there is a God, and it is their great sin and folly who do not. (Ps 9:17; Ecc 12:13; Mk 16:16; Jn 8:24 & 16:8-9; 2 Thess 2:11-12) Q. 3. How may we know that there is a God? A. The works of creation and providence plainly declare that there is a God, but His Word and Spirit only do it effectually to the salvation of His people. (Job 38 & 39; Ps 19; Jn 16:8-14 & 17:8; 1 Cor 2:10) Q. 4. What…
Further Study
Gadsby’s Catechism: Preface
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1 The Covenant Borders of the Gospel Law
Jesus described a man preaching the gospel to sinners, as a farmer ploughing a field—Luke 9:62: “And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for [preaching] the kingdom of God.” The idea is, a Christian who takes up the Bible, for the purpose of preaching it to others, must be like the farmer who takes up the plough for the purpose of preparing the soil for planting seed—just as no farmer is fit to be a farmer if he looks back with carelessness after beginning his work, so no Christian is fit to be a preacher of the gospel if he looks back with carelessness after beginning his work. The analogy, therefore, comes down…
