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That's Not All

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John 1:16
And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.  

Roland Hill was an English preacher of yesteryear who loved to bring the love of God to the poor, and the struggling of London. On one occasion he was given a rather large sum of money to help support the pastor of a church in a low-income area. Thinking that the amount was too much to send in one lump sum he decided to send it in stages. Each week Roland Hill sent a portion of the gift with a note that simply said, "More to follow!" Within a few days the pastor received another envelope containing the same amount of money with the same message, "More to follow." Then there came a third, and then a fourth. In fact they continued with regularity, always accompanied by those comforting and cheering words, until the entire sum had been exhausted.

C.H. Spurgeon, the great London Baptist, loved to repeat that story to illustrate the fabulous fact that the good things we receive from God always come with the same prospect of more to follow. He said, "When God forgives our sins, there is more forgiveness to follow. He justifies us in the righteousness of Christ, but there is more to follow. He adopts us into His family, but there is more to follow. He prepares us for heaven, but there is more to follow. He gives us grace, but there is more to follow. He helps us in old age, but there is still more to follow." Spurgeon concluded, "Even when we arrive in the world to come, there will still be more to follow." 

"More to follow," that is a beautiful truth. God's grace toward us in Christ is incessant and inexhaustible; it comes in waves without abatement. "Grace upon grace," is how the apostle John puts it (John 1:16). We might better understand that verse as saying, "grace in the place of grace."  To help grasp what John is saying, imagine yourself standing on the bank of a fast flowing river, and you fix your attention on one spot on the river. Perhaps the spot right beneath your feet. As the river flows past, you see water replacing water, in constant action. It is a case of water being followed by more water. That is the picture, and the promise of John 1:16. God gives more grace when we need it, and how we need it (James 4:6). By trusting in Christ through the Gospel, the Christian is supplied by streams of mercy that never cease (Isa. 66:12)! God's mercies are gloriously new every morning (Lam. 3:22-25). 

Here is a great truth to live, and die by. The faucet of God's grace will never drip or run dry. Therefore we need to remind ourselves that God can do immeasurably more for us than we can imagine (Eph. 3:20). He wants us to be more than conquerors through His love (Rom. 8:31). He wants us to be more bold in our witness for Christ (Acts 9:22). He wants us to bear more fruit (John 15:2; Rev. 2:19). He wants us to know that where sin abounds grace does much more abound (Rom. 5:20-21). When we think we have exhausted God's favor, remember there is more to follow. When we think we have written our last chapter, remember there is more to follow. Because of Christ, we enjoy life, then eternal life. We experience earth, then heaven. We walk by faith, and then faith will give way to sight. There is always more to follow (Prov. 4:18; Rev. 21:4; 22:5)!