Spread abroad in tracts by thousands - J.C. Philpot

"That which is the peculiar, the sole privilege of the sheep of Christ; that which our Lord expressly tells us no man can do except he be specially taught and drawn of the Father; that which is the particular act of a living faith, such as is given to none but the elect; that which is intended for, and addressed to the hungry, the thirsty, the weary and heavy-laden, the outcast and ready to perish, is now made to be the duty of all men, an easy and simple act which everybody is bound to do, and which anybody can do if he likes. "Come to Jesus" is spread abroad in tracts by thousands; is printed in all types, sets, and sizes; is thrown down area steps, spread about broad-cast at fairs, horseraces, and executions; and is the standing stock-in-trade of every beardless youth who, on a Sunday afternoon, can get round him a knot of idlers to preach to in the parks." - J.C. Philpot

This is a Day of Compromise - J.C. Philpot

[quoted from the Gospel Standard Reviews by J.C. Philpot volume 2]

This is a day of compromise. The sharp, salient
edges of truth are mostly pared away with the nicest care, and rounded off
with the greatest assiduity, for fear, we suppose, lest any babe in grace should
inadvertently run against them and get a sad hurt. Should such a distressing
accident happen to any of the little ones who are just beginning to run alone,
how the tender nurses catch him up at once in their arms to soothe his
sorrows; and how they call out against that great, ugly table, or that naughty
chair, which has so hurt the little dear. "It is this ever preaching election
which does so much mischief; this telling the people that Christ died only for
just a particular few, and not throwing wide open the arms of mercy; this
always talking about a work of grace upon the heart; and how we must feel
the curse of the law and convictions of sin before we can know the comforts of
the gospel. This kind of preaching distresses the little ones, and puts a
stumbling-block in the way of those who are being drawn by love. Our way is
to preach Christ at once, and offer him, without exception, to all who will
accept him, and that immediately, without all this unnecessary bondage and
distress. No wonder there are so few rejoicing Christians. No wonder there is
so much moping, so much groaning and sighing, and hanging the head down
like a bulrush. What we like to see is, happy Christians; and the religion
which we think the best of is, cheerful piety, taking God at his word, believing
the promises, and living above doubts and fears." Now is not this just the
language of the day the in staple of scores of books and tracts, and the cry of
hundreds of popular pulpits? Need we, then, be surprised that our amiable
writers and our soft, mild, gentle preachers, with such views as these, are so
afraid of giving pain to their susceptible readers and their tender-hearted
hearers that, instead of blowing the trumpet in Zion, and sounding an alarm
in the holy mountain, they rather sing a perpetual lullaby. Nothing, they
think, is worse, or more alarming to the people, than brandishing before their
eyes a drawn sword; and the very idea of plunging it deep into the conscience
of any of their decidedly pious and most consistent and respectable hearers
fills them with the same feminine tenderness of blood and suffering as we may
suppose a recruit feels when he first screws on the bayonet, and advances to
the charge. Such writers and preachers are as tremblingly sensitive to the
tears of suffering on Christian faces as any mother whose darling boy has
fallen down and hurt himself. Deep distress of conscience, agonising fears of
the wrath to come, powerful convictions of sin, putting away of all hope or
comfort which does not come direct from the Lord, doubts, fears, and slavish
bondage under the curse of the law and the apprehended wrath of the
Almighty—such and similar experience is now almost universally set aside as
unnecessary to the new birth; and an easier path is held forth as equally safe
and far more comfortable. But, however plausible it may appear in theory,
and however pleasing it may be to the flesh, especially when dressed up with
eloquent language and enforced with strong appeals to the natural feelings,
what is all this soft and gentle preaching and writing but doing the very thing
which God has so denounced in his holy word? How he testifies against those
prophets who prophesy smooth things; who prophesy deceits; who know not
the way of the Lord, nor have walked in his counsel, but "prophesy a false
vision and divination, and a thing of nought and the deceit of their heart."
(Jer. 14:14.) How, too, the prophet Ezekiel denounces the false prophets of his
day, of whom one built up a wall, and others daubed it with untempered
mortar. How he testifies against those foolish women that sew pillows to all
armholes; and how he declares what the effect of all such smooth preaching is:
"With lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made
sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from
his wicked way, by promising him life." (Ezek. 13:10, 18, 22.)

There is no greater mark of false ministers given in the word of truth than
healing the hurt of the daughter of God's people slightly, saying, Peace, peace,
when there is no peace. (Jer. 8:11.) If we carefully read the book of Jeremiah,
we shall see that the great sin and the chief deception of all the false prophets
who sprang up in scores during the period of his ministry was to build up the
people in a false hope; to assure them that they had no reason to fear the
judgments of God, for that the Lord would not execute against them what he
threatened. They therefore hardened the people in sin and disobedience, took
them off all repentance and forsaking of their sins, led them to trifle with and
despise the judgments of God, and built them up in a false confidence that,
because they were the people of God by external profession, they were his also
by regenerating grace. Thus they took the very doctrine of God's having a
peculiar people, whom he loved and would never forsake, and abused it to the
building up of an ungodly professing people upon the foundation of God's love
and faithfulness to his own elect. If our eyes were fully open to see the effect of
the false teaching of our day, we should see it equally dishonouring to God,
and pregnant with equally awful consequences. We should see hundreds of
dead professors built up without a foundation ever having been laid in their
consciences of repentance toward God. We should see sin made a little matter
of, the awful anger of the Almighty against it, and his terrible indignation
against transgressors passed by as a thing of little moment. We should see the
strait and narrow path widened out in all directions; the promises and
invitations torn away from their connexion; the distinguishing truths of the
gospel beaten down into, and amalgamated with, the grossest errors; the
precepts of the word dislocated and distorted; and the clear revelation of
God's mind and will given in the New Testament softened and accommodated
to the reasoning mind, and the proud self-righteousness of man. And it needs
must be so; for the word of grace is such a consistent and harmonious whole
that, unless it is held by the teaching of the Spirit in the hand of a living faith,
all attempts to interpret it must issue in confusion.

But to show more clearly the emptiness and inconsistency of the current
ministry of the day, let us take one familiar instance. There is, then, as it
appears to us, no greater or more widely-spread delusive teaching both in
town and country than the constant cry both from pulpit and press, addressed
to all, without explanation or exception, "Come to Jesus." We shall therefore,
attempt briefly to show the real nature and tendency of this ever-recurring
invitation.

That which is the peculiar, the sole privilege of the sheep of Christ; that which
our Lord expressly tells us no man can do except he be specially taught and
drawn of the Father; that which is the particular act of a living faith, such as
is given to none but the elect; that which is intended for, and addressed to the
hungry, the thirsty, the weary and heavy-laden, the outcast and ready to
perish, is now made to be the duty of all men, an easy and simple act which
everybody is bound to do, and which anybody can do if he likes. "Come to
Jesus" is spread abroad in tracts by thousands; is printed in all types, sets,
and sizes; is thrown down area steps, spread about broad-cast at fairs, horseraces,
and executions; and is the standing stock-in-trade of every beardless
youth who, on a Sunday afternoon, can get round him a knot of idlers to
preach to in the parks. We may seem to be severe on this point; but to show
the fallacy and deceptiveness of this universal call to come to Jesus, at first
sight so scriptural and evangelical, let us assume that it is listened to and acted
upon. Step into that crowded chapel where, amidst the blaze of gas and
warmed with his subject, the fervid preacher is calling on his hearers to come
to Jesus, and to come at once. Assume that, wrought upon by his ardent
eloquence and his urgent appeals, the whole congregation, as if moved by an
uncontrollable impulse, at once started upon their feet, and cried aloud, as
with a universal shout, "Sir, we will do what you bid us, and we will do it now.
We will and do all of us come to Christ this very moment." Now would this
determination of theirs, or this act of coming, following upon their
determination, bring them one step nearer to heaven? If all of them, men,
women, and children, were to come to Christ in the feelings of their mind, as
well as the expression of their lips, without any divine breathing upon their
soul, without any teaching or drawing of God, without any descent of the Holy
Ghost upon their heart, as at the day of Pentecost, what would all this coming
to Christ be but an act of the natural mind, an emotion of and in the flesh, and
therefore neither pleasing to God, (Rom. 8:8,) nor of any profit to them?
(John 6:63.) Where, in all this mere mental, natural, carnal coming to Christ,
would be the new birth, without which there is neither seeing nor entering
into the kingdom of God? Where repentance unto life? Where any translation
from the power of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son? Where any
divine light, life, or power? Where any teaching or testimony, work or witness
of the Holy Ghost? Where any one of his heavenly graces or spiritual fruits? It
is, in fact, man's substitute for the work of God, an insidious way of throwing
over the new birth, and of trampling down the strait gate and the narrow way.
It is putting the special prerogative of Christ, ("The Son quickeneth whom he
will,") into the hands of every man to do for himself, and thus, in fact, make
man his own saviour. All such preaching and all such coming begin and end in
the flesh. It is at best, therefore, but a kindling a fire and walking in the
sparks of it, of which the end at God's hand, if grace prevent not, will be to lie
down in sorrow.

Earnestness for the salvation of others - Robert Hawker

"I stay not to remark, what might otherwise be very profitably attended to in the several circumstances of this man’s case, the disease of his body; but I have so much to say in relation to the state of his soul, and the souls of GOD’s people, who are all so highly concerned in what is here said, that I fear I shall trespass, and exceed the limits I ought to observe, before that I have said all I wish to say on a subject so abundantly interesting. But otherwise, here would be ample opportunity to enlarge upon such a subject, as a misery of nature, in the painful crippled state of a poor Paralytic, and the mercy of JESUS in healing him. But it is the palsy of the soul, which this of the body became a lively emblem of, that demands our special notice; and may the LORD render our contemplation of it profitable to our hearts. Think, Reader! what a crippled, benumbed, and helpless state our whole nature is reduced to by the fall! And behold, as in the instance of this man, he had no power of himself to come to CHRIST; so neither have we. See, in proof, John 6:44. But what a beautiful lesson is read to us in the friends of this poor creature, in the earnestness with which they brought him to CHRIST. No throng, no obstructions, will they allow to stop them. Even the house-top shall be opened, but CHRIST shall have him brought before him. Oh! that the LORD’s people, who know, in their own cases, the blessedness of JESUS’ grace, would feel somewhat of the same earnestness for the salvation of others. Methinks I would bring to ordinances, and also in private approaches, to the mercy seat, the whole of my carnal, graceless relations; and do as they did by this man, lay them down before the presence of JESUS. More than this I am not able to do; but thus far I am encouraged to do. And that compassionate LORD, who hath healed my crippled soul, can cure theirs." -Robert Hawker [commentary on Mark 2]

LUTHER TAUGHT

LUTHER TAUGHT
Luther's free offer and universally sufficient atonement makes faith the obedience which causes the death of Christ to be effectual on our behalf. This implies that we are justified on the ground (or because) of our faith, rather than simply declared righteous in our conscience through faith. Luther's teaching on the atonement is contrary to the gospel of God's grace.

Luther taught - Christ offers His righteousness to all
"Christ, Like Adam, Affected All Men Isaiah here uses the word “many” for the word “all,” after the manner of Paul in Rom. 5:15. The thought there is: One has sinned (Adam), One is righteous (Christ), and many are made righteous. There is no difference between “many” and “all.” The righteousness of Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, our Lord and Savior, is so great that it could justify innumerable worlds. “He ‘shall justify many,” says he, that is to say, all. It should, therefore, be understood of all, because He offers His righteousness to all, and all who believe in Christ obtain it. (W 40 III, 738 f–E op ex 23, 523 f – SL 6, 720). Cited from: Ewald M. Plass, What Luther Says (Saint Louis, Missouri: Concordia Publishing House, 1959), 2:601. [Note: this lecture was first delivered in 1544, but only later put into print in 1550.]

Luther taught - Christ offers a kiss of love to those who perish in hell
"In this way the Holy Spirit with one word gathers up the whole world with all its wisdom, righteousness, merits, services, adorations, and chastisements, and transposes it all into the Sons kiss. “If you kiss the Son, good. If not, you will perish in the way. For it will come to pass,” He says, “that the Son will at last be angry. Now He offers you a kiss so that He may receive your kiss in turn. Truly He embraces the whole human race with extraordinary love. For He comes in our flesh not to judge or condemn, but in order to kiss us and show us the love with which He surrounds us. If, then, you will not kiss Him in return, no religion, no righteousness, no wisdom will save you. You will simply remain under His wrath and perish in His anger." Martin Luther, “Selected Psalms,” in Luther’s Works, 12:89.

Luther taught - Christ died sufficiently for those who perish in hell
"...Christ did not effectively give His ransom for Judas and the Jews, He certainly gave it sufficiently. It is rather that they did not accept it. Therefore it should not be denied that it was given, but rather it should be denied that the benefit of the propitiation was accepted. Again, putting “man” in the accusative in place of in the nominative is more a guess than an explanation. Again, construing the “wise” here as the wise of this world does not seem to make sense, since there follows immediately the senseless and the fool shall perish together. For that reason the former explanation seems better." Martin Luther, “First Lectures on the Psalms,” in Luther’s Works 10:228.

Luther taught - That he [Luther] had power to redeem infants by baptizing them
"At the present time, thanks to the boundless kindness of God, we have the most glorious honor of Christ, as is clear from our sermons and the whole ministry. Look at Baptism, the Lords Supper, absolution, and the Gospel. These great gifts of the Holy Spirit should be praised and proclaimed by all, and in them God, who has given such power to men (cf. Matt. 9:8), should be acknowledged and praised. I am not the patriarch Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. But observe what I do. I take an infant, and by baptizing it I redeem it from death, the devil, and sins, and translate it from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. This a pastor of the church does, and in an emergency any Christian does so. Therefore it is meet and right that we should wonder at and proclaim such great mercy and goodness of God. He blesses us with an eternal and spiritual blessing, so that the devil is compelled to flee when he sees an infant being baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. For here I am not destroying the kingdom of the Turk or of Augustus or of the king of the Persians. No, I am destroying the kingdom of the prince and god of this world." Martin Luther, “Lectures on Genesis,” in Luther’s Works, 8:182.

Common Redemptive Grace Refuted - John Brine
"[Brine informs a friend about Baxterian errors] Sir, the Opinion of a Day, or Season of Grace, appointed to Men in common, supposes that God loves them, that he willed their Happiness, and has provided for it; that Christ died for them to save them, and that the Holy Spirit works upon them with the same gracious Design; but thro’ their Folly and Obstinacy, God’s Love is turned into Hatred, his Purpose to save them, is changed into a Resolution to damn them, that Christ died in vain with Respect to them, that the Holy Spirit is disappointed of the End he proposed to himself, in his benign Influences upon them. These are not, Sir, you well know the Doctrines of the free Grace of God, which this Writer [the Baxterian writer that Brine is correcting] pretends to have an Approbation of. They are as contrary to those Doctrines, as Light is to Darkness: you see that under a Pretence of maintaining the Opinion of evangelical Repentance and special Faith being the Duties of Sinners, he is for conducting us into rank Arminianism." -John Brine

James 2:14-26 - William Huntington

James shewed his faith by such works as these
"Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works."
James still pursues this prating fool. Before this man is
represented as saying, "I have faith;" and this report,
conveyed by sounding his own trumpet, goes abroad, and
another circulates it, and says, "Thou hast faith;" then says
James, "I have works." But "shew me thy faith without thy
works:" which is what no man can do; for faith is as a grain of
mustard seed in the heart, which is hid from all but God, and
the possessors of it. "I will shew thee my faith by my works,"
says James. Faith overcomes the world, and separates us
from it, insomuch that our old companions can see it, "and
wonder that we run not with them to the same excess of riot,
speaking evil of us." Faith centres in Christ. "We all meet in
the unity of the faith," that is, in our covenant Head; and the
believer abides in him, and abides by him, both in faith and
affection, while others despise him. Faith obtains promises,
and mixes itself with the word, which may be known by sound
doctrine, sound words, sound speech that cannot be
condemned, and by the wholesome words of our Lord Jesus
Christ, spoken in faith and love. Faith is attended with the light
of life, "for he that believeth in Christ shall not abide in
darkness, but shall have the light of life;" and this light is to
shine before men, and is attended with good works, such as
holding the mystery of faith in a pure conscience, a
willingness to live honestly, not walking in craftiness, nor
handling the word of God deceitfully; which are some of the
blackest of all crimes: by manifestation of the truth, setting it
forth in all its freeness and fullness, appealing to every man's
conscience in the sight of God; dealing faithfully with souls,
and setting light by the world; abhorring covetousness, and
willing to relieve the poor of the flock; watching over each
other for good, seeking the welfare of their souls, guarding
them against all those who lie in wait to deceive, especially
the free-willers, who hold the "leaven of the Pharisees, which
is hypocrisy;" and by a warm attachment to Christ, and a
steady adherence to truth; not like the "simple, that believeth
every word," but like a "wise man, that looks well to his way."
James shewed his faith by such works as these." -William Huntington


A bare assent of the natural mind
"Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well." This is
a bare assent of the natural mind, founded upon divine
history, which is what none but a heathen will deny. But true
faith exceeds this assent, and confession too; "it sees him that
is invisible" to the eye of the body, and to the light of nature; it
gives credit to God's word, and flies to him as to the great
rewarder of all that diligently seek him; and receives the
blessings of life, and peace, love, and comfort, that are in him,
and views him as the greatest of all treasure; such "are rich in
faith, and rich towards God." -William Huntington


Such acts are far enough above the reach of nature
"But wilt thou know, vain man, that faith without works is
dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he
had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?"
Was not this act of obedience by Abraham a full proof that
Abraham's faith was of divine origin, a faith that is of the
operation of the Spirit of God? and which always gives credit
to God's word, and yields the obedience of faith? For could
the faith of nature, or the false confidence of the most refined
hypocrite, which is nothing else but a carnal assent, ever give
credit to this, that a man's murdering his own child could be
pleasing to God, when this law was gone forth into the hearts
of the children of men ever since Cain's slaughter of Abel,
"that he that sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be
shed?" But this deed is the highest act of obedience that ever
Abraham's faith produced. This faith is of the same kind as
Jonah's was, who told the mariners that he was a Hebrew,
and one that feared God that made the sea and the dry land;
and that he had fled from his presence, and on his account
the singular storm fell upon them; and that the only remedy,
the only way to appease God, and obtain a calm, was to
drown him; which is what no natural man in his senses would
ever believe, and they themselves could not; therefore they
rowed hard; and, when all was in vain, and they were brought
to this strait, either to sink him or sink themselves, they were
obliged to cry to God, whom they had never known, not to lay
innocent blood to their charge: and they were so astonished to
see the storm and the prophet both sink together, that they did
that which they never had done before; they sacrificed to God,
and made vows. Some people talk of rational religion; they
may as well talk of human divinity; for sure I am that such a
faith as this is not the produce of nature, and such acts are far
enough above the reach of nature." -William Huntington


Abraham was manifested to be a righteous person
"And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed
God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness;" the
scriptures having before asserted that, when God promised to
Abraham that his seed should be as the stars of heaven, he
believed God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness.
This testimony went long before; and, when the long looked
for and much expected seed came, he was bid to offer it up to
God; which he did; and by this his obedience it was proved,
upon trial, that the former testimony to Abraham's faith was
true, and it was fulfilled hereby, for Abraham was manifested
to be a righteous person, that yielded the real obedience of
faith. "And he is called the friend of God," being justified by
faith, he had peace with God; and, receiving by faith the
promisedMediator, his natural enmity was slain, reconciliation
took place, communion and fellowship with God followed;
peace, harmony, and friendship, succeeded, and ever
subsisted between Abraham and his God." -William Huntington


Justified freely through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus
"Moreover, to shew us that we are justified freely from all
things; if the suggestions of Satan, and the workings of
unbelief, should terrify us, that we have no screen from the
future curse of the law, and terrify us with the terrible
expectations of wrath to come, we are said to be "justified
freely through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Christ
endured the curse of the law, and the wrath of God, and
redeemed and ransomed us from both. And "God is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness;" and, as a righteous judge, to "give us the
crown of righteousness in that day." Now this ransom-price,
which Christ paid for us, is to redeem us from the pit, and from
all future demands of law and justice; hence we are said to be
"justified by his blood, and saved from wrath through him."
Faith is an eye which apprehends this righteousness.
Abraham, who was "justified by faith, saw the promised seed
at a distance," and by the hand of faith "embraced him;" and
faith has this honour of putting this robe on the sinner; it is
"revealed from faith to faith," and "is unto all and upon all that
believe;" therefore, instrumentally or applicatory,
"We are justified by faith." -William Huntington


Justified by words
"In the next place, we are "justified by words." "For by thy
words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be
condemned." A man is justified by words, when the words of
his mouth agree with the oracles of God and with God's testimony
of man, and when his heart and mouth go both together.
For instance: the publican in the temple dares not lift up his
eyes to heaven, conscious of his guilt, shame, and confusion
of face; he feels his guilt, and smites upon his breast, where
the wound lay; he confesses honestly his true state and case,
and has nothing to look to, hope in, or sue for, but the sure
mercies of David, which are in Christ; not one good work or
good word does he plead, but guilty he pleads before God.
And what was the consequence! Why he went home to his
house justified. Justified by his words, for he had confessed
the truth; and justified in his hungry soul by the imputation of
the righteousness of Christ to him." -William Huntington


Justified in Christ
"We are also said to be justified in Christ; "for in him shall all
the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory." Christ is our
covenant head, in whom we are all chosen, and in whom we
are all accepted; and to the fellowship of whom we are all
called in one hope of our calling: to this "Shiloh the gathering
of the people is to be;" and by him, and in him, the whole
family of heaven and earth are called.
And, as we all find pardon in his blood, rest in the satisfaction
he has made, and peace with God through the blood of his
cross, so in him all God's elect are to confess that "in the Lord
have I righteousness and strength," and to him shall all men
come; that is, for justification towards God, and for
acceptance with him. In this sense it is that "all the seed of
God's Israelites indeed are justified in God's sight, and in him
they shall all glory." -William Huntington

The dreadful consequences attending such errors

"He will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail." The drink of the thirsty soul is the efficacy of the Saviour's blood, or the atonement of Christ received and enjoyed under the operations of the Spirit of grace. The water of life is the quickening energy of the Spirit; and the river of God's pleasure is the love of God in Christ Jesus, which is felt under the influence of God's Spirit, and which fills the soul with joy, peace, and divine consolation, in believing. But as pardon and eternal peace with God, through the blood of the Lamb, are denied by this vile person; and as the everlasting inhabitation of the Spirit is opposed and denied also; and the doctrine of the eternal love of God reprobated; and the gift of eternal life exploded, by asserting that all these things may be forfeited and lost? the dreadful consequences attending such errors must be, that divine refreshment, the pure stream of life and peace, will be rarely found; the Spirit is grieved, and ceases to operate." - William Huntington