THERE is nothing like the gospel, because it is the revelation of the heart of God. The Church displays His counsels and His purposes; the gospel His nature and His heart. The latter unfolds what He would like to have, and therefore goes out to all men; the former shows what He is determined to have, and therefore it is more limited than the other. In plain language, the nature of God which is love, is deeper, wider, fuller, more extensive and more comprehensive than His purpose, which, however messed and large, is to a certain extent limited. The remembrance and the maintenance of these two truths would preserve all the Lord’s servants right, for it would keep them fresh in the gospel, which is the expression of God’s nature, and also delighted with His purpose, in the blessed assurance that what He has purposed in Christ will be yet effected, to His own eternal glory. These two aspects of God’s truth it is of the last importance to preserve in their due balance; otherwise we become lop-sided.
W. T. P. W.