Required reading
The Works (Vol 4) by William Bates (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Sermon IX (The marriage feast).
My summary
Today we read the fourth of five sermons on the text 'And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled' (Luke 14:23).
The first three sermons focused on Bates first main point: the averseness in men from consenting to the terms of salvation offered in the gospel.
Today Bates expounds his second main point: the means by which they are wrought on, and induced to come to the celestial feast.
Broadly speaking there are two means:
(i) the inward means (grace of God, Holy Spirit);
(ii) the external means (preached word).
What grabbed me
In this sermon Bates clearly taught the total depravity of man: 'There is no principle of recovery left in fallen man. The conversion of him from sin to holiness, and from the creature to God, is a miracle of grace : if he converted himself, it were super-miraculous. God can by his commanding power bring light out of darkness; but it is plainly impossible that darkness should produce light.'
Light certainly does not come out of darkness. Which means we are totally helpless and in need of light from another place.
Next week's reading
Read Sermon XI (The marriage feast).
Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
No comments:
Post a Comment