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The Only Thing That Makes You Differ
“But by the grace of God I am what I am.” 1 Corinthians. 15:10
Christian! the only thing that makes you differ from the vilest being that pollutes the earth, or from the darkest fiend that gnaws his chains in hell, is the free grace of God! --Octavius Winslow

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Thy Name Forever Blessed
Words by: Isaac Watts Tune: There Is a Fountain

1. How is our nature spoiled by sin!
Yet nature ne'er hath found
The way to make the conscience clean,
Or heal the painful wound.
In vain we seek for peace with God
By methods of our own:
Jesus, there’s nothing but Thy blood
Can bring us near the throne.
*
2. The threat’nings of Thy broken law
Impress our souls with dread;
If God His sword of vengeance draw,
It strikes our spirits dead.
But Thine illustrious sacrifice
Hath answered these demands:
And peace and pardon from the skies
Came down by Jesus’ hands.
*
3. Here all the ancient types agree,
The altar and the lamb;
And prophets in their visions see
Salvation through His name.
'Tis by Thy death we live, O Lord,
'Tis on Thy cross we rest;
For ever be Thy love adored,
Thy name for ever blessed.

One Message to Declare!
1 John 1:3-5 “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.”
The first thing to note is that there is a message. With the employment of the definite article “the,” the message is declared to be singular. This is always the case with the Gospel. No matter the path taken, no matter the text or context, no matter where the messenger starts, the message is always the same. Though the approach that John uses has to do with fellowship as it relates to light and darkness, it is but a reiteration of what he has already declared in vv. 1-3. The fellowship we have with God is only found in this message through the faith that God gives to believe it.
This message is the declared message. The marvel and the mystery of the employment of the preached word (the Gospel) in the salvation of the elect is blessed truth to the believer and is a bane to those who believe that the new birth occurs without the preached word (Romans 10: 13-17; I Cor 1: 21; I Pet. 1: 23-25). The message that is declared is precisely what has been heard. John speaks what he has heard from the mouth of the Lord. The preacher has no new thing to declare. The Gospel is the singular message and a vast library of knowledge supports it; the entire Bible, the book in which every passage illuminates some aspect of the person and work of Christ. It is this “illumination” to which John applies the metaphors of darkness and light.
--Tim James (Studies in 1st John)

Preaching and Listening
An old preacher is reported to have said, “I preach as one who may never preach again, as a dying man to dying men.” How solemn a thought that is to those of us charged with preaching. Let us not tickle the ears of dying men with the trifles of earthly issues and vain religion. But does this principle not apply in some way to the one who listens? Ought we not say every time we come to worship, “I listen as one who may never hear again, as a dying man among dying men?” God grant us the same seriousness in hearing as we expect in preaching!
--Joseph Terrell