GRACE, AGE OF
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteh will let, until he be taken out of the way.
—II Thess. 2:7
2092 Unexpected Gift In Paris
Just before Christmas in 1974 four Paris garbage collectors were working along the Avenue Marigny behind the Elysee Palace when their truck was stopped by a policeman who told them they were being offered breakfast by President Valery Giscard d’ Estaing. The president gave each garbageman a Christmas present of a turkey and a bottle of champagne, and wished them an enjoyable day.
2093 Most Wicked Man In Edinburgh
Alexander Whyte, the great Scottish preacher, once stood up in his pulpit in Edinburgh and said: I have discovered the most wicked man in Edinburgh … ” Then he paused, while the congregation eagerly awaited the name; whereupon the preacher continued—”Alexander Whyte.”
—Eugene A. Hessel
2094 Knox’ Terrible Dream
During his last hours, John Knox woke from a slumber sighing, and told his friends that he had just been tempted to believe that he had “merited Heaven and eternal blessedness, by the faithful discharge of my ministry. But blessed be God who has enabled me to beat down and quench the fiery dart, by suggesting to me such passages of Scripture as these: “What hast thou that thou didst not receive?” “By the grace of God I am what I am.” “Not I, but the grace of God which was with me.””
—Christian World Pulpit
2095 Three Wonders In Heaven
John Newton said, “When I get to heaven I shall see three wonders there. The first wonder will be, to see many people there whom I did not expect to see—the second wonder will be, to miss many people whom I did expect to see; and the third and greatest wonder of all, will be to find myself there.”
2096 Prayer Prelude Of Newton
Two or three years before the death of John Newton, when his sight was so dim that he was no longer able to read, a friend and brother in the ministry called to have breakfast with him. Their custom was to read the Word of God following mealtime, after which Newton would make a few short remarks on the Biblical passage, and then appropriate prayer would be offered. That day, however, there was silence after the words of Scripture “by the grace of God I am what I am” were read.
Finally, after several minutes, Newton spoke, “I am not what I ought to be! How imperfect and deficient I am! I am not what I wish to be, although I abhor that which is evil and would cleave to what is good! I am not what I hope to be, but soon I shall be out of mortality, and with it all sin and imperfection. Though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor yet what I hope to be, I can truly say I am not what I once was: a slave to sin and Satan. I can heartily join with the apostle and acknowledge that by the grace of God I am what I am!” Then, after a pause, he said. “Now let us pray!”
—Daily Bread
2097 The Grace of God
When the learned, and wealthy John Selden was dying he said to Archbishop Usher, “I have surveyed most of the learning that is among the sons of men, and my study is filled with books and manuscripts (he had 8000 volumes in his library) on various subjects. But at present I cannot recollect any passage out of all my books and papers whereon I can rest my soul, save this from the sacred Scriptures:
“’The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and wordly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purity unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works’ “ (Titus 2:14).
2098 Always A Conqueror
On the afternoon of May 24, 1738, John Wesley attended St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. The anthem was Psalm 130, “out of the depths have I cried unto thee O Lord, hear my voice.”
That evening in a society meeting at Aldersgate Street, Wesley’s heart was strangely warmed as he heard a reading of Luther’s preface to his Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans. Like Luther, John Wesley described the change which overtook him. “I was striving, yea, fighting with all my might under the law, as well as under grace. But then I was sometimes, if not often, conquered; now, I am always conqueror.”
—Marvin W. Anderson
2099 Creeping In
When the father of Dr. Harry Ironside lay dying, the descending sheet which Peter saw in a vision was dominant in his mind. Over and over he mumbled, “A great sheet and wild beasts, and … and … and.” Seemingly he could not recall the next words and would start over again. A friend whispered, “John, it says, “creeping things.”” “Oh, yes, that is how I got in! Just a poor, good-for-nothing creeping thing! But I got in—saved by grace!”
—Walter B. Knight
2100 Court Could Not Give Mercy
Judge Kaufman presided at the trial of the Russian spies, the Rosenbergs. They were charged with and convicted of treason against the United States and sentenced to death.
In his summation at the end of the long and bitter trial, the lawyer for the Rosenbergs said animatedly, “Your Honor, what my clients ask for is justice.”
Judge Kaufman replied calmly, “The court has given what you ask for—justice! What you really want is mercy. But that is something this court has no right to give.”
—Selected
2101 Only Grace Could
There is a tradition that Jonathan Edwards, third president of Princeton and America’s greatest thinker, had a daughter with an ungovernable temper. But, as is so often the case, this infirmity was not known to the outside world.
A worthy young man fell in love with this daughter and sought her hand in marriage. “You can’t have her,” was the abrupt answer of Jonathan Edwards. “But I love her,” the young man replied. “You can’t have her,” said Edwards. “But she loves me,” replied the young man.
Again Edwards said, “You can’t have her.” “Why?” said the young man. “Because she is not worthy of you.” “But,” he asked, “she is a Christian, is she not?” “Yes, she is a Christian, but the grace of God can live with some people with whom no one else could ever live.”
2102 A President’s Favor
Felix Jardio, 60, a Filipino farmer had been saving his money for years to buy a carabao. He finally saved P1,300 and went out looking for the work animal, which he soon found. But alas, he did not know that the government had ordered all Philippine paper bills exchanged for the “Bagong Lipunan” issue, and his savings stashed up in the old currency issue were useless.
And so in 1975, he sent a letter—with the help of some schoolboys—to the President. After all, he was only a poor, ignorant rice farmer. The answer came back. It said: “The law must be followed. Because the deadline for exchanging bills has already passed, the government can no longer change your bills with the new ones. Even the President of the Philippines is not exempt from this rule.”
The letter did not end there. It added: “However, because I believe that you really worked hard to save this money. I am changing them with the new ones from my own personal funds. I hope that you will be able to buy your carabao.” The letter was signed: “Your friend, Ferdinand E. Marcos, President of the Philippines.”
See also: Salvation ; Matt. 25:19; Rom. 2:4.