Christ stand I *
(1) " My grace." — What grace is this ? Note who it is that promises. It is Jesus who speaks; therefore it is mediatorial grace, the grace given to Jesus Christ as the covenant Head of His people, that is here intended. It is the Head, Christ, in whom all fulness dwells, speaking to one of the members of His mystical body, and saying, " The grace which God has given to Me without measure on behalf of all the members of My body is sufficient for thee as well as for the rest of them." The Lord has made over to Christ all that the whole company of His people can possibly want; even more than that, for "it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell " ; and " of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace " ; and from that fulness we hope continually to draw for evermore. This is the grace which is sufficient for us.
\ A friend once told me that long ago, amidst the strong temptations of youth, he often found great deliverance given through the simple utterance of the words, "Jesus Christ." It was no incantation ; it was a personal reliance, expressed as briefly, as urgently, as much in the concrete, as possible ; but no incantation in legend or fable could act more wonderfully.'
(2) " My grace is sufficient." — The reply is not, " I will give thee grace sufficient," but "My grace" (which thou hast now) " is sufficient for thee." That grace is given and possessed by the sorrowing heart at the moment when it prays. Open your eyes to see what you have, and you will not ask for the load to be taken away. Is not that always true ? Many a heart is carrying some heavy weight; perhaps some have an incurable sorrow; some are stricken by disease that they know can never be healed ; some are aware that the shipwreck has been total, and that the sorrow which they carry to-day will lie down with them in the dust. Be it so ! " My grace " (not " shall be," but) " is sufficient for thee." And what thou hast already in thy possession is enough for all that comes storming against thee of disease, disappointment, loss and misery. Set on the one side all possible as well as all actual
* Broirning, Savi. * H. 0. G. Moule, Temptation and Escape, 100.
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weaknesses, burdens, pains, and set on the other these two words, " My grace," and all these dwindle into nothingness and dis- appear. If troubled Christian men would learn what they have, and would use what they already possess, they would less often beseech Him with vain petitions to take away their blessings which are the thorns in the flesh. A- or.-*
^ " My grace is sufficient for thee." I have heard of a life in which that sentence was a great spiritual turning-point. In the midst of an agonizing prayer, "Let Thy grace be sufficient for me," the eyes of the overwhelmed Christian were casually raised towards a text upon the wall, where this sentence appeared. The word " is " stood out conspicuous in colour. And with the sight of it came, through the Spirit, the simple but Divine intuition that what was implored was possessed already. Eeader, have you read that " is " ? Does your experience this hour include faith that rests as well as seeks ? If so, is it not a sacred, a blessed reality ? If not so, why not ? Here is the warrant, phrased in the present tense, and the words are your Master's, your Possessor's, words. Believe them now — that is to say, practically, act upon them now.
St. Paul did so. It is a delightful " therefore " with which he pursues his story. " Most gladly therefore " — therefore, because the Lord has said this, just for tiat reason — *' will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me, may (literally) tabernacle upon me," as the Shechinah-cloud upon the camp of Israel. And further, " Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecution, for Christ's sake ; for when I am weak, then am I strong." *
(3) "My grace is sujfflciemi." — How modestly the Master speaks about what He gives 1 " Sufficient " ? Is there not a margin ? Is there not more than is wanted ? The overplus is " exceeding abundant," not only " above what we ask or think," but far more than our need. "Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient that every one may take a little" says Sense. Omnipotence says, " Bring the few small loaves and fishes unto Me " ; and Faith dispensed them among the crowd ; and Experience " gathered up of the fragments that remained " more than there had been when the multiplication began. So the grace utilized increases ; the gift grows as it is employed. " Unto him that hath shall be given." And the " sufficiency " is not a
» H. 0. Q. Moule, All in Cnr.-st, 64.
296 POWER IN WEAKNESS