Isa. xi. 2, And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of Jesus is the faithful and true witness, Rev. i. 5; iii. 14. Ps. lxxxix. The faithful spirit is also the good spirit, Neh. ix. 20. Ps. cxliii. 10, Isa. But now it is the spirit of judgment, as it was at the crucifixion, John It is now the new spirit that was promised through Ezekiel, xi. 19; Ezek. xviii. 31. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye It is also the Spirit of grace, Heb. x. 29, and supplication, that will Grace proceeds from the Father who is called, 1 Peter v. 10, The God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal Paul was called by his grace, Gal. i. 15, which was given him, Rom. When associated with Silvanus and Timotheus in his Epistles to the Thessalonians, he calls it, Our gospel, and Our word, 1 Thess. i. 5. 2 Thess ii. 14; iii. 14, and this, I take it, is because they were put in trust with the Gospel, 1 Thess. 2. 4. Paul, speaking by the Spirit, says this grace was given us before the world began. By this we find that God had determined from the beginning, how many should be born into the world, and who should be saved. We read also that Jesus was slain from the foundation of the world, Rev. xiii. 8, because it was then determined on by the Father. See in explanation Rom. iv. 17. We being also chosen before that time, see Eph. i. 4, 5, 6, 7, when as yet there were none of us, Ps. cxxxix. 16. 2 Tim. i. 9. Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. This is agreeable to the election of grace, see Rom. xi. 5, C. 1 Peter i. 13. Be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. This Which I take to be the opening of the book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ, at the end, which will be soon. Grace is also brought unto you at the opening of the Lord's Supper. See 1 Peter i. 10. is the explanation of the gospel of the grace of God. Acts xx. 24. Eph. iii. 2. Eph. iv. 7. Unto every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ. See 2 Cor. viii. 1. 2 Cor. ix. 8. God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work. Which is to do the will of God with a willing heart. 2 Peter iii. 18. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 2 Tim. ii. 1. Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Heb. xii. 28. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and Godly fear. See Acts xi. 23. Heb. xiii. 9. وو 29. For our God is a consuming fire. See 1 Peter.v. 5. James iv. 6. Acts xiv. 26; xv. 40. grace, The gospel of the grace of God, Acts xx. 24, is the word of his xiv. 3; xx. 32, and we believe through grace, xviii. 27. For the promise to us is through the righteousness of faith, Rom. iv. 13, that it might be by grace, 16 ver. Eph. ii. 5. By grace ye are saved. 8. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God: see 1 Cor. xii. 4, 9. : Grace is designated to be the favourable influence of God on the mind, and it is exerted by means of the Spirit of Grace. Ps. lxxxiv. 11. The Lord will give grace and glory. Prov. iii. 34. He giveth grace unto the lowly. The Messiah received this grace, Ps. xlv. 2. Prov. i. 9; iii. 22; iv, 9. Luke ii. 40; iv. 22. 1 Cor. i. 4, of which he was full. John i. 14. He is the head stone, Eph. ii. 20, that will be brought forth, Zech. iv. 7, With shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. Being full of grace, we have received of his fulness and grace for grace. John i. 16. IT! Grace and faith cannot be separated. No man can come to the Son except the Father draw him. We cannot have faith without grace given us to believe; and without faith it is impossible to please God; Heb. xi. 6, therefore we are justified by grace and faith. We are justified by grace through a crucified Redeemer. Rom. iii. 24. Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, see Eph. i. 7. And this redemption was by his blood shed for us on the cross; a type of the Holy Ghost that was shed forth for us, on and after the day of Pentecost, until now; because we are redeemed to God by his blood, and justified by his blood, Rom. v. 9, the Spirit of grace. Titus iii. 5. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; པ دو 6. Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour. 7. That being JUSTIFIED by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8. This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men. But this justification by grace in a crucified Redeemer would have availed us nothing, were we not also justified by faith in a risen Saviour, which the Holy Ghost by Paul insists upon so strongly at 1 Cor. xv. 12, &c., which see. Rom. iv. 25. Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. v. 1. Therefore being JUSTIFIED by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: وو 2. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand. See 1 Peter, v. 12. In this way have we received grace for grace: John i. 16, the grace wherein we stand through faith in a risen Saviour, for the grace given us to believe in a crucified Redeemer and the Old Testament Scriptures. John v. 46; xi. 9. Both are gifts together with faith. 1 Cor. xv. 17. If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 20. But now is Christ risen from the dead, The Jews knew the importance of the Messiah rising from the dead, Matt. xxvii. 64, and therefore requested Pilate, who allowed them, to seal the stone, and set a watch, 66 ver. The grace to believe in a risen Saviour is great grace, because it is the most important and valuable gift, by which we are saved. Acts iv. 33. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all This is the abundant grace. 2 Cor. i. 12; iv. 15; ix. 14. Rom. v. 15, 17, 20; vi. 1. It is the exceeding riches of his grace; Eph. ii. 7, the former through redemption in his blood being the riches of his grace. Eph. i. 7. In the case of Paul this grace was exceeding abundant. 1 Tim. i. 14. Through this grace we have everlasting consolation and good hope, 2 Thes. ii. 16, and it is a gift, Rom. xii. 6. Eph. iii. 7. Col i. 6. 1 Peter iv. 10, that bringeth salvation and hath appeared to all men, Titus ii. 11, and some have been called into his grace, Gal. i. 6, but some have failed of it, as is implied at Heb. xii. 15. 2 Cor. vi. 1, and by some it is frustrated, Gal. ii. 21. Heb. x. 29. Jude 4. Paul wrote 1 Cor. xv. 10. By the grace of God I am what I am and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Our speech must be in simplicity and godly sincerity by the grace of God, 2 Cor. i. 12, and seasoned with salt, Col. iv. 6. Mark ix. 50, ministering grace to the hearers, Eph. iv. 29, and one to another; (see Acts ii. 46,) as good stewards of this gift, and of the manifold grace of God. 2 Cor. i. 15; viii. 6, 7, 19. Col. iii. 16. 1 Peter iv. 10. Grace and peace are multiplied unto us through the knowledge of God and Jesus. 1 Peter i. 2. 2 Peter i. 2. Isa. liii. 11. This knowledge is only to be had in the Scriptures, and the gifts we receive differ according to the grace given us. Rom. i. 11; xii. 6. The Romans, and they who think to merit heaven by their works, are fallen from grace, like the Galatians, v. 4. To him that worketh is the reward reckoned not of grace, but of debt. Rom. iv. 4. The law was a yoke, that neither the Jews nor their fathers were able to bear ; Acts xv. 11. Jas. ii. 10, but we are not under the law but under grace; Rom. vi. 14, therefore we are not to continue in sin that grace may abound; 1 ver., nor to sin willingly, 15 and 16 ver., for such turn the grace of God into lasciviousness. Jude 4. The righteous sin, but unwillingly, when snared by the devil; for there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth goo, and sinneth not. Eccles. vii. 20. 1 John i. 8. Therefore as it is against their will, and having the answer of a good conscience toward God, 1 Peter iii. 16, 21. Heb. x. 22; xiii. 18, we read that they cannot sin, because they are born of God. 1 John iii. 9. Paul had a thorn in the flesh for which grace was sufficient. 2 Cor. xii. 9. The expression that we are under grace, Rom. vi. 14, 15, signifies that the Spirit of God rests upon us, which has been already alluded to. That we may not fall from grace, we are recommended to continue in the grace of God. Acts xiii. 43. See 1 Cor. x. 12. Some are weak in the faith, Rom. xiv. 1, 2; xv. 1. 1 Cor. viii. 7, 10, 12; ix. 22. 1 Thes. v. 14, and some are strong. Rom. xiv. 2 ; iv. 20; xv. 1. Heb. xi. 34. 1 John ii. 14. 1 Cor. xvi. 13. Eph. vi. 10. 2 Tim. ii. 1. In this last we are told to be strong in grace; approaching to Paul, who became all things to all men that by all means he might save some; 1 Cor. ix. 22, therefore he had no objection to eat what was offered in sacrifice unto heathen idols, and sit down, when invited, with unbelievers at a feast, asking no question for conscience sake; 1 Cor. x. 27, 28, because the meat belonged to the Lord, 26 and 28 ver., and was not unclean of itself, Rom. xiv. 14, and he gave thanks for it, and was a partaker thereof by grace. 30 ver. See Luke x. 7. This was part of his Christian liberty. 29 ver. ; viii. 9. Gal. ii. 4. Cor. iii. 17. Gal. v. 1, 13. Jas. i. 25; ii. 12. But rather than give offence to any man that was weak in the faith, he would abstain from eating, 28 and 32 ver. Ch. viii. 7, &c. Rom. xiv. 15, 21, not seeking his own profit but the profit of many that they might be saved, 1 Cor. x. 33; viii. 10, 12, 13; xv. 1, 2, having faith to himself before God. Rom. xiv. 22. 2 Paul cared not for the idol, because it is nothing, 1 Cor. viii. 4, as the devil is compared to nothing, Isa. xli. 11, 12, 24: xxxiv. 12; xl. 23, whose image it is; and his people (the earth) that depend upon him, are like him. Gal. vi. 3. Isa. xl. 17; xli. 24, 29. They hang upon nothing, Job xxvi. 7, like our planet the Earth, that revolves in space, which is a vacuum, and darkness, John i. 5, in which the planets perform their revolutions. But to us there is but one God the Father, 1 Cor. viii. 4, 6, to whom all things belong, therefore Paul had a right to the meat by faith, because the heathen had no right to offer it to an imaginary deity. Some believe that they may eat all things, and some that are weak eat herbs. Rom. xiv. 2. yet neither of them is to despise the other nor judge him 3 ver. Matt. vii. 1, 2. Luke vi. 37, because he who is weak and eateth, is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith, and whatsoever is not of faith is of sin. Rom. xiv. 14, 23... Paul is evidently speaking of a feast in the idols' (1 Chron. xvi. 26,) temple, I Cor. viii. 10; x. 19, 20, (We have our feast of the passover) of which the strong in faith might partake; x. 27, &c., but they were recommended to abstain, viii. 10, &c., lest it should be a stumbling block to the weak brother, who would thereby perish; because he thought it sin, and that the idol was something, while the other knew it was nothing, and valued the meat only which was given for sustenance, by God. Both were to be judged by the law of liberty, because all was to be of faith. In Paul's time the heathen came in to spy out this Christian liberty of ours. Gal. ii. 4; v. 1. 2 Cor. iii. 17. We are predestinated to God by Jesus Christ, to the praise of the glory of his grace, Eph. i. 6, and we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, Acts xv. 11, since the day, we heard of the Gospel, and knew the grace of God in truth. Coli. 6. ali The Epistles of the Apostles generally, but not always, open with the salutation of Grace and peace from the Father and the Son, and conclude sometimes with wishing the grace of the Son upon them, and at other times only grace is mentioned. At the commencement of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the seven Spirits are included, from whom also, as well as the Father and the Son proceed grace and peace. This is the grace we find to help in time of need, by going boldly to the throne of grace, Heb. iv. 16. The grace of the rich man will soon pass away. Jas. i. 11. The grace of God that has hitherto been spoken of includes also the favour and kindness of the giver. The last distinction is more largely treated of in the Old Testament: and the former one in the New; because the New was a larger gift to mankind of which the prophets in quired and searched diligently after. 1 Pet. i. 10. 1 For the first grace spoken of in the Old Testament Scriptures, see the following passages. Gen. vi. 8. xix. 19. xxxii. 5. xxxiii. 8, 10, 15. xxxiv. 11; xxxix. 4; xlvii. 25, 29; 1. 4. Exod. xxxiii. 12, 13, 16, 17; xxxiv. 9. Numb. xxxii. 5. Ruth ii. 2, 10. Sam. i. 18; xx. 3. 2 Sam. xiv. 22; xvi. 4. Jer. xxxi. 2. It has been seen that we are justified by his grace. also sanctified, the latter will be first looked at. SANCTIFICATION, SEE 1 THES. iv. 3, 4. But as we a are God sanctifies us by the Scriptures, the word of God, John xvii. 17. 19. Eph. v. 26, which are the truth and the life; the same with Jesus and the Spirit, who are the truth and the life, together with the Fat ther; consequently we are sanctified by the three that are one, because Jesus spoke the words of God by the Spirit given him without measure; and by taking the words of his Father he sanctified himself, John xvii. 19, that he might sanctify us after. God being all, and in all... sesda Heb. ii. 11. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctfied are all of one for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren. In this light we are sanctified by God, 1 Thes. v. 23, and by his Son, 1 Cor. vi. 11. 1 Cor. i. 30. Heb. ii. 11; xiii 12, and by the Holy Ghost. Rom. xv. 16. 1 Cor. vi. 11. Heb xiii 12; ix. 13, 14; x. 2 Thes. ii. 13. 1 Pet. i. 2. But this sanctification was only rendered effectual by the death of the Messiah on the cross, when he sanctified the people by his blood and the |