PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The All-Sufficiency of Christ. Miscellaneous Writings of C. H. Mackintosh, vol. I
Mackintosh, Charles Henry, 1820-1896 · 101,628 words · 151 reading sections
Part 1
Transcriber's note: Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. Variations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained except in obvious cases of typographical error. The word "over" is missing in the original: "The Father has given…
52 wordsSECTION 2MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS
of C.H.M. The All-Sufficiency of Christ _Miscellaneous Writings of_…
11 wordsSECTION 3C. H. MACKINTOSH
_Volume 1_ LOIZEAUX BROTHERS _Neptune, New Jersey_…
7 wordsSECTION 4ELEVENTH PRINTING 1966
LOIZEAUX BROTHERS, Inc., PUBLISHERS _A Nonprofit Organization, Devoted to the Lord's Work and to the Spread of His Truth_…
19 wordsSECTION 5CONTENTS
Pages…
1 wordsSECTION 6REGENERATION: WHAT IS IT? 3-32
IN THE FATHER'S HOUSE--_Poem_…
4 wordsSECTION 7FINAL PERSEVERANCE: WHAT IS IT? 3-24
A SACRED UNION--_Poem_…
3 wordsSECTION 8JOB AND HIS FRIENDS 3-70
WHAT RAISED THE WONDROUS THOUGHT?--_Poem_…
6 wordsSECTION 9LIFE AND TIMES OF JOSIAH 3-87
_The original numbering of these writings has been retained. Many of the above may be had separately in pamphlet form._…
21 wordsSECTION 10WHAT IS IT?
Oh, the blessedness! transgression forgiven--sin covered! This truly is blessedness; and without this, blessedness must be unknown. To have the full assurance that my sins are all forgiven is the only foundation of true happiness. To be happy without this is to be happy on the brink of a yawning gulf, into which I may …
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Thus at all times forgiveness of sins was known with all the certainty which the word of God could give. Any one of the cases aduced above is sufficient to overthrow the teaching of those who assert that _no one_ can know that his sins are forgiven. If I find from Scripture that any one ever knew this marvelously preci…
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And let my reader bear in mind that the question before us is not whether a person may not deceive himself and others. This would be at once conceded. Thousands, alas! have deceived themselves, and thousands more have deceived others; but is that any reason why I cannot possess the absolute certainty that what God has …
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Having thus sought to establish the fact that it is possible for one to know, upon divine authority, that his sins are forgiven, we shall now, in dependence upon the teaching of the Spirit of God, proceed to consider the subject of forgiveness of sins, as unfolded in the Word, and, in doing so, we shall present it unde…
147 wordsSECTION 14THE GROUND OF DIVINE FORGIVENESS.
It is of the very last importance that the anxious reader should understand this cardinal point. It is quite impossible that a divinely convicted conscience can enjoy true repose until the ground of forgiveness is clearly seen. There may be certain vague thoughts respecting the mercy and goodness of God, His readiness …
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Anxious reader, see, I beseech thee, that thou apprehendest the true ground of the forgiveness of sins. There is no use in our proceeding to consider the _extent_ and _style_ until thy poor troubled conscience has been led to rest upon the imperishable _ground_ of forgiveness. Let me reason with thee. What is to hinder…
236 wordsSECTION 16THE EXTENT OF DIVINE FORGIVENESS.
Very many are perplexed as to this. They do not see the fullness of the atonement; they do not grasp the emancipating fact of its application to all their sins; they do not enter into the full force of those lines, which perhaps they often sing,-- "All thine iniquities who doth Most graciously forgive." They seem to …
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Let us, by way of illustration, take the case of the thief on the cross. When he, as a convicted sinner, cast the eye of faith upon that blessed One who hung beside him, was he not, then and there, rendered fit to enter the paradise of God? Was he not furnished with a divine title to pass from the cross of a malefactor…
562 wordsSECTION 18THE STYLE OF DIVINE FORGIVENESS.
We are all conscious of how much depends upon the style of an action. Indeed, there is frequently far more power in the style than in the substance. How often have we heard such words as these, "Yes, I own he did me a favor; but then he did it in such a way as to take away all the good of it." Now, the Lord has His sty…
833 wordsSECTION 19REGENERATION: WHAT IS IT?
There are few subjects which have given rise to more difficulty and perplexity than that of regeneration, or the new birth. Very many who are themselves the subjects of this new birth are at a loss to know what it is, and filled with doubt as to whether they have ever really experienced it. Many there are who, were the…
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How, then, we may lawfully inquire, can that which is spoken of in such a way ever be changed or improved? "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" "That which is crooked cannot be made straight." The fact is, the more closely we examine the word of God, the more we shall see that it is not the di…
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Let us, then, see clearly what regeneration is. It is a new birth,--the imparting of a new life,--the implantation of a new nature,--the formation of a new man. The old nature remains in all its distinctness, and the new nature is introduced in all its distinctness. This new nature has its own habits, its own desires, …
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However, Nicodemus had, like many beside, to unlearn a great deal ere he could really grasp the knowledge of Jesus. He had to lay aside a cumbrous mass of religious machinery ere he could apprehend the divine simplicity of God's plan of salvation. He had to descend from the lofty heights of Rabbinical learning and trad…
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What, then, is the meaning of being "born of water"? We must reply to this question by quoting two or three passages from the Word. In the opening of John's Gospel we read, "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to _them th…
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From all these quotations we learn that the word of God is the grand instrument of which the Holy Ghost makes use in calling dead souls into life. This truth is confirmed, in a peculiarly interesting manner, by our Lord's conversation with Nicodemus; for, instead of replying to the repeated inquiry, "How can these thin…
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It is most important to understand the distinction between _life_ and _peace_. The former is the result of being linked with Christ's _Person_; the latter is the result of His _work_. "He that hath the Son hath _life_," (1 John v. 12); but, "being _justified_ by faith, we have _peace_," (Rom. v. 1),--"having made peace…
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In a word, then, my reader should seek to understand, with scriptural accuracy, the distinction between _life_ and _peace_. The former is the result of the connection with Christ's _Person_; the latter is the result of believing in His finished _work_. We very frequently meet with quickened souls who are in sad trouble…
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But, be it remembered, while we are wholly unable to earn, by our works, a place in the Father's heart, or to satisfy the claims of the righteous Judge, we are, nevertheless, responsible to "believe the record which God has given of His Son." (1 John v. 9-11.) I say this lest, by any means, my reader should be one of t…
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But then, we must ever bear in mind that the discipline of our Father's hand is to be interpreted in the light of our Father's countenance, and the deep mysteries of His moral government to be contemplated through the medium of his tender love. If we lose sight of this, we shall be sure to get into a spirit of bondage …
670 wordsSECTION 29IN THE FATHER'S HOUSE
"The wanderer no more will roam, The lost one to the fold hath come, The prodigal is welcomed home, O Lamb of God, through Thee! "Though clothed in rags, by sin defiled, The Father did embrace His child; And I am pardoned, reconciled, O Lamb of God, through Thee! "It is the Father's joy to bless; His love has found f…
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It is difficult to conceive how any one who is led to expect a gradual improvement of his nature, can enjoy an hour's peace, inasmuch as he cannot but see, if he only looks at himself in the light of God's holy Word, his old self--the flesh--is the very same as when he walked in the moral darkness of his unconverted st…
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But what are we to learn from the fact that "sanctification" is placed in the group with "redemption?" We learn that what redemption _will be_ to the body, that sanctification _is_ now to the soul. In a word, sanctification, in the sense in which it is here used, is immediate, and complete, a divine work. The one is no…
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In this passage, it is worthy of notice, that nothing is said of "the flesh." Our fallen, corrupt nature is always treated as a hopelessly ruined thing. It has been weighed in the balance and found wanting. It has been measured by a divine rule and found short. It has been tried by a perfect plummet and proved crooked.…
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All this is simple to faith. The believer's standing is in Christ, and if in Christ for one thing, he is in Christ for all. I am not in Christ for righteousness, and out of Christ for sanctification. If I am a debtor to Christ for righteousness, I am equally a debtor to Him for sanctification. I am not a debtor to lega…
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"'Clean every whit,' thou saidst it, Lord; Shall one suspicion lurk? Thine, surely, is a faithful word, And Thine _a finished work_." This is divinely true. The most inexperienced believer is "clean every whit," not as a matter of attainment, but as the necessary result of being in Christ. He will, no doubt, grow in t…
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"Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy Word is truth." (Jno. xvii. 17.) And again, "The very God of peace sanctify you wholly." (1 Thess. v. 23.) In these passages, we have the grand practical side of this question. Here we see sanctification presented, not merely as something absolutely and eternally true of us in Chri…
327 wordsSECTION 36WHAT IS IT?
Dear friend: The question of final perseverance, though in our judgment a very simple one, has perplexed a great many; and the questions which you introduce to our notice, and the passages of Scripture which you adduce, furnish abundant proof that your own mind is not quite clear or settled on the point. In seeking, t…
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Here, then, most assuredly, we have final perseverance; and that, moreover, not merely the perseverance of the saints, but of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Yes, dear friend, this is the way we would have you view the matter. It is the final perseverance of the Holy Trinity. It is the perseverance of …
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1. "Will a believer be saved, no matter into what course of sin he may fall, and die in?" A true believer will, infallibly, be saved; but we consider that salvation includes, not only full deliverance from the future consequences of sin, but from the present power and practice thereof. And, hence, if we find a person l…
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We consider it a very serious mistake to set about judging the truth of God by the actings of men. All who do so must reach a false conclusion. The true way is just to reverse the order. Get hold of God's truth first, and then judge everything by that. Set up the divine standard, and test everything thereby. Set up the…
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Now, we are aware that the word "say" is constantly left out in quoting James ii. 14. Some have even ventured to assert that it is not in the original. But any one who can read Greek has only to look at the passage and he will see the word _legee_ (_say_) placed there by the Holy Ghost, and left there by all our leadin…
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2. The second passage occurs at the close of the same chapter (verses 20 and 22)--"For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.... But it is hap…
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4. Matthew xii. 45--"Then goeth he and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be unto this wicked generation." The closing sentence of this passage quite explains the whole context. Our Lor…
722 wordsSECTION 43C. H. M.
P. S.--Paley observes that "we should never suffer what we know to be disturbed by what we know not." And Butler remarks nearly the same when he says, "If a _truth_ be established, _objections_ are nothing. The one is founded on our _knowledge_, and the other on our _ignorance_." (See Jay's Autobiography, p. 170.)…
55 wordsSECTION 44A SACRED UNION
"'Twixt Jesus and the heavenly race Subsists a bond of sovereign grace-- A tie which hell's tremendous train Can ne'er dissolve or rend in twain. "Life's sacred bond shall never break, Though earth should to its centre shake: We rest in hope, assured of this; For God has pledged His righteousness. "By Him 'twas couns…
185 wordsSECTION 45NOW AND THEN; OR, TIME AND ETERNITY
The principles of truth laid down in Luke xii. are of the most solemn and searching character. Their practical bearing is such as to render them, in a day like the present, of the deepest importance. Worldly-mindedness and carnality cannot live in the light of the truth here set forth. They are withered up by the roots…
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But not only is hypocrisy utterly subversive of spiritual progress, it also fails in attaining the object which it proposes to itself; "for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known." Every man will find his level, and every thought will be brought to light. What the trut…
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The poor unbelieving heart may however inquire, If I thus rise above human thoughts and human opinions, how shall I get on in a scene where those very thoughts and opinions prevail? This is a very natural question, but it meets its full and satisfactory answer from the Master's lips; yea, it would even seem as though H…
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While the Lord Jesus was in the act of pouring forth these unearthly principles, a true child of earth intrudes upon Him with a question about property.--"And one of the company said unto Him, 'Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.'" How marvelously little did he know of the true characte…
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Hence, then, a person going to law is not governed, in so doing, by the principles of the kingdom of God, but by the principles of the kingdom of Satan, who is the prince of this world. It is not a question as to his being a Christian, but simply a question as to the principle by which he is governed in the act of goin…
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But some may say that it is bringing us down from the high ground of the Church, as set forth in Paul's epistles, to press thus the principles of the kingdom. By no means. We belong to the Church, but we are in the kingdom; and while we must never confound the two, it is perfectly plain that the ethics--the moral habit…
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But how difficult to define this "covetousness"! how hard to bring it home to the conscience! It is, as some one has said of worldliness, "shaded off gradually from white to jet black;" so that it is only as we are imbued with the spirit and mind of heaven, and thoroughly schooled in the principles of eternity, that we…
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The grand object in God's future is Christ; and true wisdom will lead us to fix our eye on Him, and make Him our undivided object for time and eternity--_now_ and _then_. But this, in the judgment of a worldly man, is nonsense. Yes, Heaven's wisdom is nonsense in the judgment of earth. Hearken to the wisdom of earth, a…
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"And He said unto His disciples, 'Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.'" "Be careful for nothing," says the Spirit by the apostle. Why? Because God is caring for you. There i…
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It is important to understand that we are either leaning on God or on circumstances. It will not do, by any means, to say that we are leaning on God _and_ circumstances. It must be God _only_, or not at all. It is all very well to talk of faith when our hearts are, in reality, leaning on the creature in some shape or f…
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But why need I hoard up for my children? If I can trust God for myself, why not trust Him for them likewise? Cannot the One who has fed and clothed me feed and clothe them also? Let not the truth be misunderstood or misinterpreted. I am bound, by the powerful obligations of the word and example of God, to provide for m…
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Finally, if this paper should fall into the hands of one who has not yet found rest of conscience in the perfected atonement of the Son of God, I would say to such an one, You will surely lay this paper down and say, "This is a hard saying, who can hear it?" You may be disposed to ask, "What would the world come to, if…
475 wordsSECTION 57THE ALL-SUFFICIENCY OF CHRIST
When once the soul has been brought to feel the reality of its condition before God--the depth of its ruin, guilt, and misery--its utter and hopeless bankruptcy, there can be no rest until the Holy Spirit reveals a full and an all-sufficient Christ to the heart. The only possible answer to our total ruin is God's perfe…
433 wordsSECTION 58THE WORK OF CHRIST AS THE ONLY RESTING-PLACE FOR THE CONSCIENCE.
In considering this great subject, two things claim our attention; first, what Christ has done for us; secondly, what He is doing for us. In the former, we have atonement; in the latter, advocacy. He died for us on the cross: He lives for us on the throne. By His precious atoning death He has met our entire condition a…
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I am not writing as a theologian; if I were, it would be a very easy task indeed to bring an unanswerable array of Scripture evidence in proof of the solemn truth of eternal punishment. But no; I am writing as one who has been divinely taught the true desert of sin, and that desert, I calmly, deliberately, and solemnly…
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Again, in chapter iv, speaking of Abraham's faith being counted to him for righteousness, the apostle adds, "Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we _believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our o…
447 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.