Gospel
Truth #2
By His uplifted cross and
on-going priestly ministry, Christ is drawing "all men" to
repentance. His gracious love is so strong and persistent that the
sinner must resist it in order to be lost.
What
the Bible Says
E.J.
Waggoner
E.G.
White
Gospel
Truth Index
|
Jones' Message was in
Full Harmony
"Who is it that the Lord
justifies? [Congregation: 'The ungodly.'] If it were otherwise there
would be no hope for me. If He justified people who had only a little
good about them, that would leave me out. But thank the Lord, He is so
good. Because He justifies the ungodly, therefore, I have the perfect
security of His everlasting salvation. Can you imagine anything that is
going to keep me from being glad?
"'To him that worketh
not.' If it required works I could not do enough. But oh, as we read the
other night, ye have 'sold yourself for naught' and 'ye are redeemed
without money.' But not without a price. But lo, He has paid the price.
I have heard brethren say, 'I thank the Lord I have confidence in Him.'
I thank the Lord He has confidence in me. It is little enough for a man
to have confidence in the Lord, but His confidence in me I cannot grasp.
And I am thankful that the Lord had that much confidence in His risk
upon me.
"'Even as David also
describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth
righteousness without works.' Are there some in this house who know only
the distressedness of that man, who tries to get it by works?
"'That the blessing of
Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ.' When we as a
people, as a church, have received the blessing of Abraham, what then?
[Congregation: 'The latter rain.'] What is to hinder, then, the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit? [Voice: 'Unbelief.'] Our lack of the
righteousness of God, which is by faith—that is what holds it
back" (General Conference Bulletin, 1893, sermon No. 16,
condensed).
Christ did His work long ago.
"He hath made us
accepted in the Beloved.' When did He do that? [Congregation: 'Before
the foundation of the world.'] He did it all before we had any chance to
do anything—long before we were born—long before the world was made.
Don't you see that the Lord is the one that does things, in order that
we may be saved and that we may have Him?
"Then we can be sure
that He has chosen us. He says He has.
"We can be sure that He
has predestinated us unto the adoption of children.
"We can be sure that He
has made us accepted in the Beloved.
"We can be sure of all
these things, for God says so and it is so. Then isn't that a continual
feast itself?" (ibid., No. 17, condensed).
". . . All that were in
the world were included in Adam; and all that are in the world are
included in Christ. In other words: Adam in his sin reached all the
world; Jesus Christ the second Adam, in his righteousness touches all
humanity. . . .
"Here is another Adam.
Does he touch as many as the first Adam did? That is the question. . . .
It is certainly true that what the second Adam did, embraces all that
were embraced in what the first Adam did. . . .
"The question is, Does
the second Adam's righteousness embrace as many as does the first Adam's
sin? Look closely. Without our consent at all, without our having
anything to do with it, we were all included in the first Adam; we were
there. . . . Jesus Christ, the second man, took our sinful nature. He
touched us 'in all points.' He became we and died the death. And so in
Him and by that, every man that has ever lived upon the earth, and was
involved in the first Adam, is involved in this, and will live again.
There will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the
unjust. Every soul shall live again by the second Adam, from the death
that came by the first Adam. . . .
"When Jesus Christ has
set us all free from the sin and the death which came upon us from the
first Adam, that freedom is for every man; and every man can have it for
the choosing.
"The Lord will not
compel any one to take it. . . . No man will die the second death who
has not chosen sin rather than righteousness, death rather than
life" (General Conference Bulletin, 1895, pp. 268, 269). (Ellen
White's View) |