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1 Corinthians: Chapter 2, Verse 1
“And I, brethren, when I came to you, etc.]” This account the apostle gives of himself is occasioned, either by what he had said in the latter part of the preceding chapter, concerning the choice God has made of the foolish, weak, base, and despicable things of the world, and of his calling them by his grace both to fellowship with the saints in common, and therefore he accommodated his ministry unto them, and in particular to the ministry of the word, of which he himself was a like instance and an example; or else by what he had declared in (1 Corinthians 1:17) of the same chapter, that he was sent to preach the Gospel, “not with wisdom of words;” Which he here reassumes,…
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Chapter 13: Of Preaching With And Without Notes, Considered.
The Holy Ghost hath better gifts for men in the ministry whom Christ sends, than such have yet received, who can’t so much as exhort, much less instruct without their notes. A dry paper hath been found to be a very dead assistance in the work. Sententious, premeditated forms of preaching are a Scripture-less way of preaching. And what signifies a dressed matter upon the cushion, when I find it all out of order, where it should be better dressed upon my heart? What a piece of disorder is it to read a message that is to be spoken, Tit. 2:1, 15, I Thes. 2:2, Col. 4:3, Eph. 6:19, &c., and surely, if my heart were big with my message, I need not have recourse…
Further Study
Chapter 3: Proof Of The Second Of The Three Points In This Debate; Or, The Proof Of This Proposition, That To Propound The Grace-Offer In The External Means, Is No Means Of The Spirit’s Working An Internal Ability In Sinners To Close Savingly With The Offer; Neither Doth Or Will He Set In With Offers To Any Such End.
Chapter 4: The Third Principal Point Is To Prove That An Offer Of Grace Is No Gift Of Grace; And Then Where Is Your Offer?
Chapter 2: A Disproof Of Offers, Or, The Proof Of The First Of The Three Crowning Points In This Debate; Viz., That Offers Of The Gospel, And Offers Of Salvation To Sinners, Are No Preaching Of The Gospel, Nor Preaching Salvation Unto Sinners.
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Commission Of The Twelve Apostles
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Article 12 – Spirital Faith A Grace, Not A Natural And Legal Duty
Articles Of The Faith And Order Of A Primitive Or Strict And Particular Baptist Church Of The Lord Jesus Christ, Based On The Declaration Of Faith And Practice Of John Gill, D. D., 1720 XII. Spiritual Faith not a Natural and Legal Duty. We believe that the “precious faith” of “God’s elect,” with which salvation is conjoined,[1] is “the gift of God, “obtained" by the elect “through the righteousness of God our Saviour,” wrought in the heart by “the operation of God,” and manifested by acts of spiritual belief or trust which are performed through gracious ability communicated by the Holy Ghost,[2] and that it is not a duty incumbent on men as men, which they can perform at their pleasure, but is obligatory only…
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11 The Christian Ministry
Few questions can be so vitally important to any Church, whether as relates to its own peace and prosperity, or to the success of the work it is appointed to do, as that of the kind of ministry which shall serve and lead it. No greater blessing can be granted of Heaven to a Church than a capable, judicious, pious pastor; and no greater calamity can befall one than to have an incompetent, unfaithful, secularized, and worldly minded minister. The people naturally contemplate the office with feelings of reverence, and consequently regard the incumbent with very great deference, to say the least. The young, in a special manner, consider what he says as true, and what he, does as right. The position commands high regard,…
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Article 11 – The Gospel: Its Nature And Invitations
Articles Of The Faith And Order Of A Primitive Or Strict And Particular Baptist Church Of The Lord Jesus Christ, Based On The Declaration Of Faith And Practice Of John Gill, D. D., 1720 XI. The Gospel—Its Nature and Invitations. We believe that the Gospel, or the glad tidings of the sovereign, free, and enriching grace of God to lost sinners, through Jesus Christ, by the Holy Ghost[1] is of the nature of a declaration or proclamation, and that to proffer mercy, or tender salvation, or offer Christ to the unregenerate, (as is often done, as if men had it in their own power to accept or reject the grace of God, and will augment their damnation if they refuse it,) is unscriptural, and wholly…
