LINCOLN QUOTE OF DAY:

ARTICLE XVIII of the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion of the Reformation Church of England

 

 Quote of President John Tyler:

 DAILY BREAD

The Difference between the Law and the Gospel.

The contents of Holy Scripture are twofold: Law and Gospel. Both are necessary for us. The Law teaches what we are to do; the Gospel teaches what God has done, and still does, for our sal­ vation. The Law teaches knowledge of sin; the Gospel shows us our Savior. The Law condemns us for our sins, terrifies and hum­ bles us before the holy God, so that we learn to despair of being able to save ourselves; the Gospel promises, gives, and seals unto us, forgiveness, life, and salvation. The Law does not promise heaven to you; on the contrary, it tells you very plainly, that you will go to hell; it works wrath and kills; it tells you that you must love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself; and you must acknowledge and confess that such a perfect love is not in your heart. What, then, does the Law teach but the wrath of God because you have not fulfilled its precepts? But what does the Gospel do? It invites and draws us to Christ, kindles faith in our hearts, and thus works spiritual life in us. It teaches righteousness. It tells us that we are righteous in the sight of God by faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that for the sake of His dear Son, who bled and died for us on the cross, God will not lay a single sin to our charge.

These two doctrines, Law and Gospel, faith and works, must not be confused or blended together; if that is done, the way of salvation is obscured. Whoever says that man must do his part, whereupon God will also do His, or that man is justified and saved by faith and works, obliterates the proper distinction between Law and Gospel, faith and works, grace and merit. The distinction between Law and Gospel, therefore, is of paramount importance.

Prayer.

Lord God, this twofold doctrine of Thy holy Word, Law and Gospel, affects our principles, sentiments, motives, aims, and all our works and doings. Let us well understand and rightly divide them in every situation of our lives. We entreat Thee of Thy fatherly goodness, let the curse of the Law make us despair of our own ability to merit Thy favor and eternal life, so that we shall gratefully accept the Gospel, the message of Thy grace through Jesus Christ, Thy dear Son, and thereupon willingly lead a Chris­tian life, prepare for a blessed departure, and, finally, fall asleep and rest in peace and joy, until Thou wilt call us forth again unto life; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness 

My beauty are, my glorious dress;

 In these Thy precious gifts arrayed, 

With joy shall I lift up my head.

 THE FAMILY ALTAR:

May 1.

"They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth

and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again

with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." Ps. 126:5. 6

"How," says one, "shall God wipe away my tears in heaven if

I shed none on earth? And how shall I reap in joy if I sow

not in tears? I was born with tears and I shall die with tears;

and why, then, should I live without them in this vale of tears?"

But mark the words of the Psalmist. He does not say : They

that sow tears — as if the tears in themselves were precious seed.

It is a vain hope many entertain who think, because they suffered

so much here, God is in duty bound to reward them with ever-

lasting joy there. But no ! Not the tears, but the sowing is

what decides. He that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap

corruption, bitter tears and sorrow. "Tears are not always fruitful ;

their hot drops Sometimes but scorch the cheek and dim the eye;

Despairing murmurs over blackened hopes, Not the meek spirit's

calm and chastened cry !" To him, however, who engages in "God's

husbandry," who sows seeds for eternity, who earnestly strives to

save himself and others, to him a joyful harvest is promised. He

must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

He will sow tears of repentance over his own sins and the sins

of his fellow-men. He will sow in prayerful weeping, often seeking

God's face for help and comfort in his sorrows. He will sow in

tears of burning longing to be delivered from this present evil

world and to be at home with the Lord. As his sowing was in

tears, so his reaping shall be in joy. In heaven his eyes shall

see that his believing, and tearful praying, and laboring for Christ

were not in vain, but ripened into bountiful sheaves of eternal joy,

and peace, and bliss that knows no end. Then shall he be like

them that dream, and his mouth shall be filled with laughter,

and his tongue with everlasting praise.

Yonder in joy the sheaves we bring,

Whose seed was sown on earth in tears;

There in our Father's house we sing

The song too sweet for mortal ears.

Sorrow and sighing all are past,

And pain and death are fled at last;

There with the Lamb of God we dwell,

He leads us to the crystal river,

He wipes away all tears forever;

What there is ours no tongue can tell.