You doubtless know what merit means. A scholar who gains a prize carries it home to show to his parents, with the card, upon which is written, that he was at the top of his class, and had passed the best in the school examination. The card has upon it the statement of what the boy deserves-it is the record of his merit. He is very proud of this card, and of the prize which he has won.
You know, too, what free favor means. A boy clambers over a wall into an orchard, and the farmer catches him. The farmer, with a tight grasp of his arm, holds the boy so that he cannot get away. The boy is very frightened, for he knows what he deserves. To the boy's astonishment, instead of punishing him, the farmer speaks solemnly, but kindly forgives him for getting over the wall into his orchard, and then gives him an apple.
The boy did not merit the apple, therefore he would not be proud of it. The possession of the apple would only make him feel how kind the farmer was. The farmer gave the boy the apple as an act of free favor, not because the boy deserved it, but to show to him what free favor or grace means.
We read several times in God's word about free favor, or grace, and also about our merit, or works.
The good news which God sends us is called-
And the way in which we obtain the benefit of the gospel is by grace.
The story we will now relate very, clearly explains this truth:-
HOW ROBERT GAINED THE REWARD.
Robert was a merry, bright-eyed boy, with rosy cheeks like cherries; his great difficulty was to be obedient, and especially when bidden to sit still.
One day a gentleman offered him a bright shilling if he would remain perfectly quiet for a quarter of an hour; but, would you believe it? though the prize was held up before his eyes, Robert could not rest. There was a power within him which, try as he would, set his arms and legs at work, and his tongue in motion. So as Robert did not comply with the terms upon which he was to gain the shilling, he lost it.
But suppose restless Robert looking at the gentleman and saying to himself, "He looks smiling and kind, I will ask him to give me the shilling," then the reward would not be of works, but of grace. It would not be of Robert's keeping still, but of the gentleman's giving; and so it happened: for seeing that Robert had lost the prize by restlessness, his kind friend gave it to the little boy because he loved him.
Now, God holds out a priceless reward for lost sinners, young or old. How is it to be had? What are the conditions? If by works, then you must do all that He bids you, and not transgress the least of His commandments. Robert lost his reward through not sitting still for one quarter of an hour, and if you have ever had one wicked thought, or said one wicked word, or done one wicked thing, you have already lost heaven. If your mother bade you go upstairs, and you went with a sulky feeling-if your brother or sister wanted your book or ball, and you were too selfish to let them have it, then you have broken some of the commandments of God, and upon the ground of works you have lost the reward. Obedience must be perfect or the prize is forfeited.
But I try to be good, yet find myself very naughty instead," you say. How is this? Ah! there is something within you which, like the restless spirit in little Robert, makes you, against your wishes, do the very thing you would not do. Can you tell me the name of this something? It is in all, old and young-it is sin.
We commit sin because sin is in us; and this shows us that we are without strength to keep God's commandments. Many foolish people still try to win the prize, although they have broken the commandments. There are many who think that they are better than others, and worthy of heaven. We find the Sunday scholar at times looking at the children who do not attend school with the thought that it is a good thing to go to the Sunday-school, and therefore that to be a Sunday scholar is to be near heaven! Ah! this is leaving out what the kind and gracious Savior has done for poor helpless sinners by dying for them on the cross.
But will you be wise? Robert knew that he did not deserve the shilling, so he began to think whether his friend, who was smiling and kind, would not give it to him. He looked trustingly at his friend, and the shilling was in his hand at once! Now, dear children, there is One who is a Friend above all others, His heart is most kind, most dear, and He loves you. Who do you think it is? It is Jesus, the beloved Son of God, who showed God's love and His own to sinners, old and young, by coming into this world and suffering for us upon the cross, so that whosoever believes in Him may have the prize. As you look up into the loving face of Jesus you shall learn God's willingness to bless you, and you shall rejoice in the possession of the reward which comes to us by grace, and not -by works-by the gift of God, and not by our doings.
One word more. I am sure you who love Jesus will never grow tired of being near to Him, and of thanking Him for His kindness. You will seek by obedience to please Him. The way to please God is to do the things which He has bidden us. God loves and saves and makes us His children; and because we are so dearly loved by God, we should seek to do the things which please Him.
H. A.
Sometimes we find persons who while they think they believe it is by God's free favor, and not by merit, that we are saved, yet all the while are mixing in their minds God's grace and their own merit. You may have seen a glass having both oil and water in it. The yellow oil swims upon the top of the water. The reason is, the oil and the water are quite different from each other-one is light, and the other heavy. So grace and merit are quite distinct from each other, and we must not try to mix them together. The scripture says-
The boy who won the prize obtained it, because he had earned it. Robert gained the reward because his kind uncle gave it to him.
God plainly tells us that no one can earn. His favor by works. We call those persons who think that they can merit heaven by their works self-righteous. Some children are self-righteous. We will tell you of one:-
GOD SAYS I'M A VERY GOOD LITTLE BOY.
I once knew a very self-righteous little boy; when he prayed at night he used to tell God about other people's sins, but never say a word about his own.
One day, when he was about three years old, he was playing in the sitting-room near his aunt, when he accidentally threw down her Bible. She said to him, " Pick it up."
" Why, what is it? " he said.
" It is God's holy book," answered his aunt.
Taking the Bible up again, and pretending to read it, he said, " God says I am a very good little boy."
You see what he thought God would say to him, and perhaps you may think He would say the same to you, so I want to tell you what God really says in His word to us -to me and to you. He says, " There is none good, no, not one." But it is not only children who think they are good; grown up people often think so too.
There was a man by name of Job; " He was perfect and upright, and feared God," and avoided evil. Now, was not that a good character? Job thought so, for he said to God, " I am clean without transgression," that means without wrongdoing. But after that Job says to God, " Behold, I am vile." What a difference from saying, " I am clean," and " Behold, I am vile."
How could this be? If Job was perfect and upright, how could he be vile? I will try and explain it. If you see a book upon the table with a beautiful leather cover, you may say, " What a nice book, how perfect it is; but supposing you open it and find the inside all black, greasy, and dirty, you would say, "Who would have thought that such a beautiful cover could have such a dreadful inside! " If the book were not opened no one would know what the inside was, because no light would shine on it, but when the light shines on it, it shows what is in it.
Now, when people looked at the outside of Job, and saw all his ways, they could say he was perfect, and when Job looked on it he thought so too. You will ask, how was it that Job changed his thought of himself? It was when he saw God he said, " I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear but now mine eye seeth Thee, wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." (Chapter 42:5, 6.) What a lesson Job had learned; and the little boy of whom I have told you must learn it too, and I hope that some day he will say, " I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing." You see now how very opposite was this little boy's thought of what God would say to him, from what God really says, "There is none good."
C. E. H.
We all also know of King David. He was the man after God's own heart. (Acts 13:2222And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will. (Acts 13:22).) Yet, good as King David was, he was not saved by his works, but by God's favor. It is thus that "David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered." (Rom. 4:6, 76Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, 7Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. (Romans 4:6‑7).)
Abraham believed God; David believed God, and their faith was counted for righteousness, and so shall righteousness be counted to us, If we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead-; who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification." (Rom. 4:24, 2524But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. (Romans 4:24‑25).)
Now when anyone, old or young, really believes how good God is, how kind He is to love and to save us notwithstanding all that we are and all that we have done, it is impossible not to love God. And God sheds abroad His love in our hearts by His Holy Spirit, Who is given to us when we indeed believe on Him.
The grace of God to us makes our hearts grateful to Him, and as we think of God's free favor to us, we long and pray that we may do such things as please Him, and we earnestly desire to avoid our old evil ways. Nothing breaks the hard heart like the free favor of God toward us. So it was with
SINFUL NED.
There was a boy in our village named Ned Johnson; he was an orphan, and had been brought up from his birth by people who did not love him, and who took no trouble to teach him anything that is good.
At the time I first knew Ned he was ringleader of all the bad boys in the neighborhood, and the first in any piece of mischief they committed. Having heard the sad story of his life, I was much interested in him, and so determined with God's help to try and lead him to the Savior; hoping, at the same time, to win some of his companions also. It was a difficult task, but I knew that " there is nothing too hard for the Lord," so I did not despair of success. I watched for an opportunity of speaking with Ned alone, and, after talking to him kindly for some time, I asked him if he would come to my class on Sunday afternoon.
Ned laughed, and said I need not expect to catch him inside the Sunday-school, for that he would never go there, and, before I could say another word, he had jumped over the wall, and was gone.
For some time after that, my efforts to see him again were quite useless, but one morning having gone for a walk before breakfast, through a neighboring wood, I thought I heard a groan, so I turned from the path to discover whence it came. At the foot of a tall old tree I saw a boy lying upon the ground, and going up to him, found a broken bird's nest crushed in his hand, and guessed what had happened to him. The injured lad was Ned Johnson. I found that I could not carry him, so I called a man who was working in a field close by to help me. We took him to the cottage of dear old Matty, a Christian woman, who I knew would nurse him kindly, and then I went for a doctor.
Ned's injuries were great, and it was very long before he was even well enough to talk, or to listen to me. I was with him a great deal, and often sat up with him at night to rest old Matty.
One night Ned opened- his eyes, after a long term of unconsciousness. He recognized me, and asked me how I came there, but seemed too weak to say more. The next day, when I went in to see him, he said old Matty had been telling him what care I had taken of him; and he said he could not °think why I should do so much for a bad boy like him.
I told him that there was One who had done far more for him than I had.
" Who is that? " he asked.
" You have been lying at death's door for the past few weeks," I replied, " and God has been very good to you; He knew you were not prepared to die, so He has spared you yet a season, that you may turn to Him."
"Yes," he answered, "that was good of Him, and it was more than you could do."
"But He has done more than that," I said.
"What? " he asked, looking up at me wonderingly.
" He has given His own only Son to die for sinners, to bear their punishment, that they may be forgiven, and go and live with Him in His own bright home in heaven."
" No, surely that's a mistake; He don't want the likes of me there," answered Ned.
I did not reply to him, but took my Bible and read passage after passage to prove what I had said, and when I had finished, Ned's eyes were full of tears, and he had evidently understood it all.
"Can you not believe that He loves you?" I asked; but there was no answer, so I went on reading.
When I stopped again, he said, " It seems too good to think that Jesus should do so much for such a fellow as me; " then, turning to me, he said, " I never knew before all that you have been telling; I don't think I should have been so wicked if I had known it all, but I will live for Him now if He will help me." J. S.
The result of this and other conversations was that Ned really repented of his sinful ways and turned to the Lord. And when he became well and strong again his changed life showed the reality of his faith in his Savior.
There is nothing like God's free favor for melting the sinner's hard heart. Sinful and guilty as we all are by nature, yet God loves us, and gave His Son to die for us. " God commendeth His love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. v. -8.) And repentance-turning to God and turning from sin must accompany faith.
JESUS' LOVE.
How loving is Jesus,
Who came from the sky,
In tenderest pity,
For sinners to die;
His hands and His feet were nailed to the tree,
And all this He suffered for sinners like me.
How precious is Jesus
To all who believe,
And out of His fullness
What grace they receive!
When weak He supports them, when erring He guides,
And everything needful He kindly provides.
How gladly does Jesus
Free pardon impart
To all who receive Him
By faith in their heart;
His glory is for them, their home is above,
And Jesus will fetch them to dwell in His love.