Salvation

The Setting: It is morning and the family is busy preparing for work and school. Though the hour is running late, the father insists on reading a portion from the Bible before leaving the house:

FATHER: Come, my dear, bring me the Bible.

CHILD: Father, it is now nine o’clock, and if I stop while you read and pray I shall get scolded, for I ought to have been at school before now.

FATHER: True, child, you ought to have been at school by this time; but I have been detained this morning, and I am not willing you should go before I have read part of God’s word, and taken up a little…

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The Substance of a Sermon preached at Zoar Chapel, London, in April 1842

“And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him, and he became a captain over them.” (1 Samuel 22:2)

These words contain something more than a literal meaning of the circumstances which are mentioned. And the order in which they have been laid upon my mind is as follows:

I. In many respects, David was an eminent type of the Lord Jesus Christ.
II. The men that went down to the Cave of Adullam, and the circumstances in which they were placed, were typical of all who really go unto Christ for salvation.

I. The psalmist, the sweet singer of Israel, was an eminent, a soul-comforting type of our spiritual David, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Two or three observations here must suffice…

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Having not been able to complete the scheduled Bible study for the mid-week service, I threw together some notes on the ninth chapter of Romans. It is not often I go ‘old school’ by scribbling on the nearest blank piece of paper. After teaching the study, I proceeded to broaden my notes for future reference. As the notes set forth a statement on High-Calvinism, I’ve chosen to include them with the online resources of the AHB. There are two sets of notes—the handwritten scribble is what I used in the pulpit (I haven’t bothered typing them out); the typed notes are what I jotted down after teaching the study.

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Cowper, “The Task,” Book III.

I was a stricken deer that left the herd
Long since. With many an arrow deep infixed
My panting side was charged, when I withdrew
To seek a tranquil death in distant shades.
There was I found by One who had Himself
Been hurt by the archers. In His side He bore
And in His hands and feet the cruel scars.
With gentle force soliciting the darts,
He drew them forth, and healed, and bade me live.
Since then, with few associates, in remote
And silent woods I wander, far from those
My former partners of the peopled scene;
With few associates, and not wishing more.

The salvation of a sinner is the result of divine arrangements which were made before the foundation of the world. The chosen of the Father were ransomed by the blood of the Son; and the power of the Spirit is…

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We have been considering the attributes which belong to God as a spirit—because He is uncreated, so He is spiritual, simple, immutable, infinite, immense, omnipresent and eternal; because He is active, so He is living and omnipotent; because He is rational, so He is omniscient and wise; because He is volitional, so He has a will and it is sovereign. We now proceed to look at those perfections which affirm God is an affectionate spirit—therefore, He is joyful, loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, as well as hating and angry. We turn now to the love of God.

When we say God is an “affectionate” spirit, we do not mean He has feelings in the same way that His creatures feel. For God, being a most pure and simple act, is free from all confusion and disorder. Nevertheless, as there are some things said and done by Him, which are similar to the affections in intelligent beings, so such feelings as love, pity, hatred, anger, &c., are ascribed to Him. However, everything that is carnal, sensual or has any degree of imperfection in it is…

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