Grace Gems for March 2002
The light, frivolous, frothy literature of the day!
("The Preciousness of God's Word" by Octavius Winslow)Christian, guard against the light, frivolous,
frothy literature of the day. It will lessen your
conviction of what is true; it will depreciate the
value of what is divine; it will impair your taste
for what is spiritual; and it will bring poverty,
barrenness, and death into your soul.God speaks to you from every paragraph and
sentence of this Holy Book. It is His voice that
we hear, His signature that we behold, His ineffable
glory, which, the more it is viewed in this bright
mirror, may the more powerfully command our
wonder and praise.Oh that power might come down upon us from the
Spirit of truth and grace, and beams from the Sun
of righteousness break in upon our minds as we
contemplate the intrinsic glories of the Bible! Let
the truth and weight of these revelations sink
deep into your ears.Christian, you should have a thousand fold deeper
interest in the Bible than in any other, or all other
books. This Book offers to you that which most you
need, that which is infinitely more to you than all
other things; glory, honor, immortality, and eternal life.We cannot but look upon the prevailing indifference
with which the Word of God is regarded, as one of
the evils over which we are loudly called to mourn.You send the Bible to the ignorant and destitute,
you carry it to every cottage and waft it to every
country, and thanks to God that you do so. But to
what extent is it studied in your churches, read in
your families, taught to your children?There is no surer evidence of living without God, than
living without intimate communion with the Bible.
God's promises!
(adapted from Spurgeon's sermon, "Three Precious Things" #931)"...He has given us His very great and precious promises..."
2 Peter 1:4God's promises are precious because they tell of
exceeding great and precious things. We have
promises in the Bible which time would fail us to
repeat, which for breadth and length are immeasurable.They deal with every great thing which the soul can need:
promises of pardoned sin,
promises of sanctification,
promises of teaching,
promises of guidance,
promises of upholding,
promises of ennobling,
promises of progress,
promises of consolation, and
promises of perfection.In this blessed book you have....
promises of the daily bread of earth;
promises of the bread of life from heaven;
promises for time;
promises for eternity.You have so many promises, that all the
conditions and positions of the believer are
met. I sometimes liken the promises to the
locksmith's great bunch of keys, which he brings
when you have lost the key of your treasure chest,
and cannot unlock it. He feels pretty sure that out
of all the keys upon the ring some one or other
will fit, and he tries them with patient industry.
At last! yes! that is it, he has moved the bolt,
and you can get at your treasures!There is always a promise in the volume of
inspiration suitable to your present case.Make the Lord's promises your delight and your
counselors, and they will befriend you at every turn.Search the Scriptures, and you shall meet with a
promise which will be so applicable to you as to
appear to have been written after your trouble
had occurred! So exactly will it apply, that you
will be compelled to marvel at the wonderful
tenderness and suitableness of it.As if the tailor had measured you from head to foot,
so exactly shall the garment of the promise befit you.The promises are precious in themselves....
from their suitability to us,
from their coming from God,
from their being immutable,
from their being sure of performance, and
from their containing wrapped up within themselves
all that the children of God can ever need."...He has given us His very great and precious promises..."
2 Peter 1:4
The assemblage of graces found only in Jesus
(adapted from Spurgeon's sermon, #932.
"How God Condemned Sin" Romans 8:3)Such are the assemblage of graces found only in
Jesus, each sparkling with peerless luster, and all
blending with such exquisite gracefulness that we
are at once moved with awe and touched with love
as we contemplate Him.Such majesty, yet such meekness in His demeanor.
Such solemnity, yet such tenderness in His speech.
So impartial in judgment, yet so forgiving in temper.
So full of zeal, yet so equally full of patience.
So keen to detect malice, yet so slow to resent it.
Such a wise mentor, yet such a gentle sympathizing friend.
Jesus was perfectly....
innocent,
harmless,
gentle,
meek,
loving,
tender.All His words were love.
All His actions were kindness.
We would never commit a sin, if we would but first
say to ourselves, "Would Jesus have done this?"
Alas! how we forget....
that we are but strangers and pilgrims on the earth;
that we are journeying to our home; and
that we will soon be there!
(Winslow "Present Suffering Weighed With Future Glory")
The solution of your difficulty!
(adapted from Spurgeon's sermon, "Method and Music, or
The Art of Holy and Happy Living" #913. Colossians 3:17.We should do all under the sanction of the
Lord Jesus as our example. It is an admirable
course for us all to pursue, if when we find
ourselves in circumstances of perplexity we ask
ourselves the question, "What would Jesus
have done if He were in my circumstances?"
The answer to that question is the solution of
your difficulty. Whatever He would have done
it will be safe enough for you to do.Alas! my brethren, the current holiness of the
church falls far below the scriptural standard!The royal rule for a Christian is not what is fashionable,
for we are not to be conformed to this world; nor what
is gainful, for the pursuit of gain would lead us to run
greedily in the way of Balaam for reward; nor that which
is generally prescribed in society, for full often the
prescriptions of society are antagonistic to the teachings
of Christ; nor even the conduct of professors is such
as we could safely follow.A safe example is to be found nowhere but in
the life of Jesus Christ Himself! Even the holiest
of men are only to be followed so far as they
follow Christ, but no further.My brethren, how calm will your hearts be, how serenely
will you face your afflictions if you can feel, "I have done
nothing but what my Master did before me; I have sought
to tread in the footprints of His pilgrimage!"
A heap of ostentatious service!
(edited from Spurgeon's, "Martha and Mary" #927, Luke 10:38-42.)There is a considerable tendency among
Christian people, in serving Christ, to aim
at making a fair show in the flesh.Among professing Christians, there is a desire to build
church buildings notable for their architecture and beauty.
We must have no more barns! Our meeting houses must
exhibit our improving taste! If possible, our chapels must
be correctly Gothic or sternly classical in all their details,
both without and within!As to the service, we must cultivate the musical
and the tasteful. We must not to be barely decent,
but to aim at the sublime and beautiful.Our public worship, it is thought, should be impressive
if not imposing. Care should be taken that the music
and singing be conformed to the best rules of the art,
and the preaching eloquent and attractive.Brethren, there is something better to be aimed
at than the outward and the external.We judge no man, yet we fear the tendency is to imagine
that mere externals are precious in the Master's sight.Jesus counts it a very small matter whether
your church building is a cathedral or a barn!To the Savior it is small concern whether you have
organs or whether you have not; or whether you
sing after the choicest rules of psalmody or not.
Jesus looks at your hearts, and if these ascend
to Him, He accepts the praise.Jesus would be better pleased with a grain of
love, than with a heap of ostentatious service!All that you can give to Christ in any shape
or form will not be so dear to Him as...
the offering of your fervent love;
the clinging of your humble faith;
the reverence of your adoring souls.Do not neglect the spiritual for the sake of the external;
or else you will be throwing away gold to gather to yourself
iron; you will be pulling down the palaces of marble that
you may build for yourselves hovels of clay.
Changeful and chequered.
"I will sing of mercy and judgment.
Unto You, O Lord, will I sing." Psalm 101:1The believer's life is changeful and chequered.
The path along which he is retracing his steps
back to paradise is paved with stones of
variegated hues. And yet, painfully diversified
as are often the events in his history, that very
diversity is as essential to the symmetry and
completeness of his Christian character as are
different shades of coloring to the perfection
of a picture, or as opposite notes in music are
to the creation of harmony. (Octavius Winslow)
Vegetating in selfishness?
(adapted from Winslow's, "The Sensitiveness of Christ to Suffering")Every believer, however limited and veiled from
human eye his sphere of life, will create a public
sentiment respecting his individual self. His
relations, his friends, his neighbors, will form
their opinion of his character, doings, and life.Few pass through life incognito to eternity!
Few slide through society unseen, unnoticed, unfelt.
Each individual Christian should especially live
for an object. He should so live as to make his
talents, influence, and example tell upon the
present and eternal well being of all with whom
He comes in contact."No man lives to himself."
As a "light," He is to shine!
As "salt," He is to influence!
As a "witness," He is to testify for Christ.
In a world like this, where there is....
so much evil to correct,
so much temptation to resist,
so much sorrow to soothe,
so much need to supply,
so much misery to counteract,
so much ignorance to instruct,
so much good to be done,
none need be all the day idle, dreaming
away existence, vegetating in selfishness,
not living for man or laboring for God.Oh, be an earnest, active Christian!
Be up and doing!
Life is too real, too solemn, too responsible,
for sluggishness, inactivity, and selfishness!We are gliding down the
stream onward to eternity!Shall we spend our fleeting moments in grasping
at the floating straw, when for every moment and
act of our present course we shall soon be cited at
Christ's bar for scrutiny and judgment?Souls are perishing!
Ignorance of the gospel is prevailing!
Iniquity is abounding!
Satan is unslumbering!
Death plies its scythe, and the grave yawns
each moment, and an eternity of bliss or of
woe is gathering at every stroke of the
pendulum, deathless beings to its bosom!Shall we not, then, be active and earnest in a world like this?
A filthy, stinking bag of worms!
(the following is by Martin Luther)"I desire above all things that my name should be
concealed, and that none be called by the name of
Lutheran; but of Christian. What is Luther? My
doctrine is not mine, but Christ's. I was not crucified
for any. How comes it to pass, that I, who am but
a filthy, stinking bag of worms; that any of the
sons of God should be denominated from my name?
Away with these schismatical names! Let us be
denominated from Christ, from whom alone we
have our doctrine."
Baptized dead heads?
(Spurgeon, "Method and Music, or the Art of
Holy and Happy Living" #913. Colossians 3:17)Too many church members do very little for Jesus!
It is frightfully true that numbers of professors
are just so many baptized dead heads! They are
of no use. They are not working. Perhaps grumbling
is the only sign of life they have. But they are
neither giving of their substance nor laying out
any other talents in the cause of Christ.
How can you save souls without a committee?
(Spurgeon, "Martha and Mary" Luke 10:38-42. #927)The idea of sending out a missionary with a few dollars
in hand is set down in many quarters as absurd. How
can you save souls without a committee? Don't you
know that without a committee you can do nothing?O for apostolical simplicity, going everywhere preaching
the word, and consecrating the labor of every believer to
soul winning! The power of deep piety is the one
essential qualification for holy work.
Mr. Evans?
(adapted from Mary Winslow's, "Life in Jesus")I never knew a man who seemed to find his way
to one's heart as Mr. Evans does in his preaching.
He arrests your attention, instructs your mind,
and captivates your heart. Oh, what a precious
gospel we hear; doctrinal, practical, and
experimental religion beautifully blended!
Without a bottom?
(adapted from Spurgeon's sermon,
"Away with Fear" #930. Isaiah 41:10.)"Look," said the ambassador of France to the
Spanish ambassador as he took him into the
French king's treasury, "Look at my master's
gold; how rich he is!"The Spanish ambassador took his walking
stick and began to thrust it down into the
bags and into the money chest."What do you do that for?" said the Frenchman.
"I want to see if there is a bottom to it," said he.
"Oh!" said the French ambassador, "of course there is a bottom."
"Ah!" said the Spaniard, "my master's treasury has no
bottom, for he has all the mines of Mexico and Peru."Now, what the Spaniard said boastfully, we may say truthfully.
The treasury of our God is without a bottom, it is fathomless!"And since we are His children, we will share His treasures;
for everything God gives to His Son, Christ, is ours, too."
Romans 8:17
A mother may forget
(by Mary Winslow)Oh, how faintly do we realize the wondrous
blessings that await us; the fulness of joy,
and the pleasures that are at God's right hand!Would that we lived up to them!
This passing world engrosses too much our
thoughts and time, that we forget the Lord
is caring for us, ordering all our concerns in
such a way as that we need be anxious for
nothing; and all we have to do is to rest
upon Him as little helpless children would
do upon the tenderest mother.A mother may forget, yet He will not forget us!
Lay your head on His bosom, and
disclose your deepest sorrow.
(adapted from Octavius Winslow's, "Morning Thoughts")"Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows."
Isaiah 53:4In order to the perfection of His character as the High Priest
of His people, as the Brother born for adversity, in order to
be "touched with the feeling of our infirmities," He must
Himself suffer. He must know from painful experience what
sorrow meant; what a wounded spirit and a broken bleeding
heart, a burdened and a beclouded mind, were. In this school
He must be taught, and disciplined, and trained; He must
"learn obedience by the things which He suffered;" He must
be made "perfect through sufferings."And oh, how deeply has He been taught, and how thoroughly
has He been trained, and how well has He learned thus to
sympathize with a suffering Church!You have gone, it may be, with your trouble to your earthly
friend; you have unfolded your tale of woe, have unveiled
every feeling and emotion. But, ah! how have the vacant
countenance, the wandering eye, the listless air, the cold
response, told you that your friend, with all his love, could
not enter into your case! The care that darkened your
brow had never shaded his; the sorrow that lacerated
your heart had never touched his; the cup you were
drinking he had never tasted.What was lacking?
Sympathy, growing out of an identity of circumstance.
You have gone to another; He has trod that path before you,
He has passed through that very trouble, His spirit has been
accustomed to grief, His heart schooled in trial, sorrow in
some of its acutest forms has been His companion; and
now He is prepared to bend upon you a melting eye, to
lend an attentive ear and a feeling heart, and to say,
"Brother, I have known all, I have felt all, I have passed
through all; I can sympathize with all."That Friend of friends, that Brother of brothers, is Jesus.
He has gone before you; He has left a fragrance on the brim
of that very cup of sorrow you are now drinking. He has
bedewed with tears and left the traces of His blood on that
very path along which you are now walking. He has been
taught in that very school in which you are now learning.Then what encouragement to take your case, in the sweet
simplicity of faith, and lay it before the Lord! To go and tell
Jesus, confessing to Him, and over Him, the sin which has
called forth the chastisement, and then the grief which that
chastisement has occasioned.What a wonderful High Priest is Jesus!
As the bleeding Sacrifice, you may lay your hand of faith
upon His head, and acknowledge your deepest guilt.And, as the merciful Priest, you may lay your head
on His bosom, and disclose your deepest sorrow.O my precious Savior! must You sink to this deep
humiliation, and endure this bitter suffering, in order
to enter into my lonely sorrow!
"Every Christian family ought to be, as it were,
a little church consecrated to Christ, and wholly
influenced and governed by His rules." Jonathan Edwards
Weep not! Grieve not! Fear not! Tremble not!
"There remains, then, a rest for the people of God."
Hebrews 4:9.(adapted from Octavius Winslow's "Morning Thoughts")
Not yet come to the heavenly rest, we still
are approaching it, and, oh ecstatic thought!
We shall reach it at last!Are you bereaved? Weep not! Earth has one
tie the less, and heaven has one tie more!Are you impoverished of earthly substance? Grieve
not! Your imperishable treasure is in heaven!Are you sailing over dark and stormy waters? Fear
not! The rising flood but lifts your ark the higher and
nearer the mount of perfect safety and endless rest!Are you battling with disease, conscious that life is
ebbing and eternity is nearing? Tremble not! There
is light and music in your lonely and shaded chamber;
the dawn and the chimings of your heavenly home!"I am going home! Transporting thought! True, I leave
an earthly one, all so sweet and attractive, but I exchange
it for a heavenly one infinitely brighter, more sacred and
precious. I am going to Jesus! to the Church Triumphant!
to Apostles, Prophets, and Martyrs! to my dear saved ones
who line the shore on the other side, prepared to welcome
me there. Death, from which I have so often recoiled, is but
the triumphal arch through which I pass into 'my Father's
house.' Oh, how bright a risen Christ has made it!""There remains, then, a rest for the people of God."
Our sins!
(adapted from Spurgeon's sermon, "The
Putting Away of Sin" #911. Hebrews 9:26.)"He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to
do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself." Hebrews 9:26Our sins trail their horrid length athwart many years.
Our sins are aggravated, they are 'piled up' sins.
Our sins are against light and knowledge, against
conscience, against vows and resolution.Our sins are sins repeated after we had tasted of
their bitterness.Our sins are foul sins, sins it may be of the sort
which bring the blush to the cheek.Our sins made us toss on our beds as we remembered
them with dread, and yet sins that we returned to as
the dog returns to its vomit.Oh! our monster sins, our horrible sins, our damnable sins!
Hell itself cannot put our sins away! There
are the devil and his angels for whom hell
was made, for whom the fire was first kindled,
and its pit first digged; but they are as great
sinners after these six thousand years as they
were when first they were cast down from heaven!And so those lost ones whose spirits have
been in hell since the time of Noah's flood,
they are still sinners, and after all the ages
of suffering they have endured, not a sin less
is upon them now than there was at first!Ah, dreadful thought!
If you are ever cast into hell, though ages
on ages may lapse, and the wrath of God be
poured out upon you to the uttermost, there
will never be the destruction of a single sin
or particle of a sin by it all.Sin cannot be put away until the penalty is borne
to the end, and that can never be by finite man.What a work was here, then, for the only begotten
Son of God to do! Speak of the labors of Hercules!
they were nothing compared with the labors of Emmanuel.
Speak of miracles! to tread the sea, to hush the billows,
to heal the sick, to raise the dead, these are all bright
stars, but their light is hidden when compared with this
miracle of miracles, when the Sun of Christ's righteousness
arises with healing beneath his wings, and thick clouds
of our sins are put away by him!All the sins of His people were made to meet in one
tremendous mass. On the cross, Jesus endured the
penalty due for all the sin of His people! He put away
our sins, the whole mass, the whole mountainous mass
of the sin of all those for whom He stood as a substitute,
and for whom He suffered the penalty. Our sins were
completely put away, everlastingly put away!All of our sins, of every size, shape, form, hue, degree,
or fashion, are altogether gone! Crimson sins, black sins,
crying sins, every sort of iniquity from your childhood until
now, and right on till you enter into the rest of the Beloved,
they were all taken and laid upon Christ, and he made an
end of them all when he offered up His great expiatory
sacrifice! He has put away sin as a whole for His chosen ones!"All praise to Him who loves us and has freed us from our
sins by shedding His blood for us. He has made us His kingdom
and His priests who serve before God His Father. Give to Him
everlasting glory! He rules forever and ever! Amen!" Rev. 1:5-6
We would rather be infidels than Christians!
(adapted from Spurgeon's sermon "Method and Music, or
the Art of Holy and Happy Living" #913. Colossians 3:17.Some professors' lives dishonor the Christian religion.
The world observes them and says, "Are these Christians,
these covetous, quarrelsome, domineering, or boastful
people? If so, we would rather be infidels than Christians!"Oh, you caricatures of godliness! How dreadful will
be your punishment if you die in your present state!
Repent of your sin, and ask of God grace to make
your profession sincere.And if you will not do this, at least be honest enough to
give up your false profession, for you do but degrade it.Why must you pretend to serve Christ?
What do you gain by your hypocrisy?
If you must serve mammon and the devil, serve them!
O man, plunge into this river!
(adapted from Spurgeon's sermon,
"Precious, Honorable, Beloved" #917.)"I have loved you." Isaiah 43:4.
Come, heir of heaven, listen a moment.
God has loved you eternally. Before the stars
began to shine, and before the sun knew his
place and poured forth his oceans of light,
God loved you in particular!He has loved you actively and effectually,
giving the unspeakable gift of His Only Begotten
Son for you! He has given you everything in Him;
a boundless ocean of love!He has loved you supremely, better than the angels.
He has loved you unchangeably, never less,
and never more. In all your sin the same;
in all your sorrow still the same.He has loved you immeasurably. You can never know
the heights and depths of your God's love to you.O man, plunge into this river!
If you have hitherto gone wading into it up
to the ankles, now get heart high into it!
Yes, commit yourself to the fathomless
stream, and swim in it as in a sea of bliss!"I have loved you."
Let that dwell richly in your heart, and ring out
celestial music for your comfort and delight!
Is Jesus increasingly precious to you?
I am often grieved in meeting some, professing
godliness, who seem to be standing still in the same
place for years, and know no more of God than at the
first. Is Jesus increasingly precious to you?
(adapted from Mary Winslow's, "Life in Jesus")
Very precious!
(adapted from Spurgeon's sermon, "Three Precious Things"
#931. This quote is a bit longer, but it is 'precious'.)"Yes, He is very precious to you who believe." 1 Peter 2:7
Jesus Christ is most precious to every believer.
O that I had power to speak of His preciousness
as it ought to be spoken of! He is worthy of an
angelic speaker to tell out all His worth!He is essentially precious. He possesses an intrinsic
worth. He must be precious who is infinite God.To every sinner who feels his sin, Christ is precious.
To every child of God who is saved, the Savior must
forever be fairest among the fair.To every heir of heaven who has experienced
the sweetness of His saving grace, Christ must
appear to be "the chief among ten thousand,
and the altogether lovely One." Had not been
for our Savior dying on the cross, we would
forever have been cast into hell.Christ is so precious that He cannot be bought.
If a man should give all the substance of his
house to purchase an interest in Christ, it would
be utterly condemned. Rich men might gather
together all their goodly things; yes, India might
be exhausted of its wealth, Peru drained of its
silver, and California of its gold; but no part nor
lot in Christ could be bought, even with sapphires
and diamonds!He gives Himself away right freely, according to the
riches of His grace, but He is utterly unpurchasable,
for He is so precious that He cannot even be priced!A whole world can never weigh against Him,
any more than a single grain of dust would
weigh against the universe.Christ is so precious because He is unmeasurable!
There is no measuring line with which to form a
unit for calculation with which to measure Him;
He is infinite, and finite judgments will never
be able to comprehend His unutterable value!He is God's unspeakable gift. Heaven itself is
nothing as compared with him, and if a man had
to wade breast deep through a thousand hells to
come to Christ, it were well worth the venture,
if at the last he might but say, "My Beloved is
mine, and I am His."Jesus is so precious that He cannot be matched!
There is none like Him! The fairest of the fair are
unlovely and deformed when compared with Him!You shall find none that can be compared to
Him, even if you ransack time and space!Miss him as your Savior, and you have lost the
only salvation possible! Gain him, and you will
need no other. Jesus is our "wisdom, righteousness,
holiness, and redemption."He all your souls can want!
If heaven and earth were sold, you
could not match Christ in any market!If you search eternity, and ransack immensity,
there shall never be found one fit to be second
to Him, He is so precious.Jesus is precious to us, because He cannot be lost.
All the precious things in this world are loseable.
The jewels may be stolen, the house may be broken
into by the thief, and the treasure may be taken away.
But Christ is such a jewel that even Satan himself
can never rob the soul of Him when once it has Him.Is not Jesus a priceless, precious
jewel, since He cannot be lost!Though men have tried to focus all the heat of
persecution upon the Christian, they have never
been able to separate him from the love of Christ;
and though earth and hell have stirred up their
malice, and the furnace has been heated seven
times hotter, and the child of God has been tossed
into it, and apparently deserted to the fury of his
enemies, yet never in a single case has the precious
gem of Christ Jesus in the heart been destroyed!See the preciousness, then, of Christ; the intrinsic
preciousness, the essential preciousness:
He cannot be bought!
He cannot be priced!
He cannot be matched!
He cannot be lost!
He cannot be destroyed!Happy and rich beyond expression are they who can
truly say, "Yes, He is very precious to us who believe!"
The greatest religious deception
this world has ever known!
(by Don Fortner)We are living in perilous times!
We are living in the midst of the greatest
religious apostasy ever known. Freewill,
works religion is the greatest religious
deception this world has ever known.
This man centered, man exalting, man
pleasing; God debasing, God hating
religion seems to engulf the entire world
and all religious sects. The world, for the
most part, has accepted the doctrines of
antichrist.Any religion that is man centered; any religion
that has for its foundation man's will, man's
works, or man's rights; any religion that promotes
the honor, dignity, and pride of man; any religion
that pampers and cultivates self righteousness,
self esteem, and self worth is antichrist.These are indeed perilous times!
"For a time is coming when people will no longer
listen to right teaching. They will follow their own
desires and will look for teachers who will tell them
whatever they want to hear. They will reject the
truth and follow strange myths." 2 Tim. 4:3-4"And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom
the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his
mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.
The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance
with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of
counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in
every sort of evil that deceives those who are
perishing. They perish because they refused to
love the truth and so be saved. For this reason
God sends them a powerful delusion so that they
will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned
who have not believed the truth but have delighted
in wickedness." 2 Thes. 2:8-12
Hell is full of the Divine holiness!
(Winslow, "Holiness, the Fruit of the Chastening of Love")Hell is full of the Divine holiness; holiness
in the manifestation of justice; holiness in
its most glorious exercise.How fearfully are the lost now learning this truth!
Think it not a trifling matter, unconverted reader,
to look into the bottomless pit, and to know that
there is but a step and you are there! You walk to
the end of the treacherous plank, and you are gone!O solemn thought! but one step between you and
the quenchless flame! but one step between you
and endless torment!Throughout eternity the lost soul will be testifying
to this truth: "God is holy; I was a sinner; I rejected
His salvation, I turned my back upon His gospel,
I despised His Son, I hated God Himself, I lived in
my sins, I loved my sins, I died in my sins, and now
I am lost! to all eternity lost! And God is righteous
in my condemnation!"
Like a viper to the heart!
(Jonathan Edwards, "Safety, Fullness, and
Sweet Refreshment in Christ" Isaiah 32:2)The unregenerate man loves sin.
Sin is his delight.
He hides sin as a sweet morsel under his tongue.
But sin is the most evil and odious thing.
Sin is most mischievous and fatal.
Sin is the most mortal poison.
There is hell in sin.
Sin above all things....
hazards life,
endangers the soul,
exposes to the loss of all happiness,
subjects to the suffering of all misery,
and brings the wrath of God.All men have this dreadful evil hanging about
them, cleaving fast to the soul, and ruling over
it, and keeping it in possession, and under
absolute command.Sin hangs like a viper to the heart!
Sin captivates as a lion does his prey!
The filthiness of sin and its evil nature, is an
offense to a holy, gracious, and glorious God.But yet there are multitudes, who are not sensible
of their misery. They are in such a sleep that they
are not very disturbed in this condition, it is not
very burdensome to them.They are so sottish that they do not know what their
state is, nor what is likely to become of them.
I see what a viper it is!
(adapted from Spurgeon's sermon, #932.
"How God Condemned Sin" Romans 8:3)The Christian is at enmity against the
sin which caused the suffering of Christ."What, did sin make my beloved Redeemer suffer?
Then away with it! It must be a foul, vile thing, to
put such a blessed One as Him to death! I will not
tolerate it! Revenge! Bring out the gallows, and
let sin be hanged thereon! The dearest idol I have
known, bring out the hammer and the axe, and let
it be broken in pieces. The fondest transgression
I have ever nurtured in my bosom, I see what a
viper it is, and I shake it into the fire; away with it."
The heart!
(George Swinnock)The heart is the great workshop where all sin
is produced before it is exposed to open view.The heart is the mint where evil thoughts are
coined, before they are current in our words and
actions: "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts"
The heart is the nest in which those hornets breed.The heart is the source of sinful words as well as
sinful thoughts. They were in the heart before they
were ever on the tongue. Every sinner conceives at
the heart what he brings forth at the mouth. The
heart is the vessel of poisonous liquor, the tongue
is but the tap to let it out: "Out of the abundance
of the heart the mouth speaks."The heart is the forge also where all our evil works,
as well as words, are hammered out: "Out of the
heart proceed murders, thefts, and adulteries, and
fornications." You will say that murders and thefts
are hand sins, and that adulteries and fornication
belong to the eye and outward parts of the body;
but alas! the heart is the womb wherein they are
conceived and bred. The outward parts are but the
midwives to deliver the mother of those monsters,
and to bring them into the world; "An evil man, out of
the evil treasure in his heart, brings forth evil things."There is no sin but it is dressed in the drawing room
of the heart, before it appears on the stage of the life.It is vain to go about a holy life until the heart be made holy.
The pulse of the hand beats well or ill, according to
the state of the heart and the inward vital parts.
A fair show in the flesh!
(edited from George Swinnock)There are several things which may help to make the
life fair in the eyes of men; but nothing will make it
amiable in the eyes of God, unless the heart be changed
and renewed.Indeed, all the medicines that can be applied,
though they may cover sin, they can never cure
the corruptions and diseases of the soul.Some insects lie in a deep sleep all the winter. They stir
not, make no noise, and one would think them dead. But
when the weather alters, and the sun shines, they revive
and show themselves. So though lusts may seem dead
in an unregenerate man, they are only laid asleep, and
when opportunity comes, they will reveal themselves.Shame may hide sin, but it will not heal sin. Corruption
often lies secret in the heart, when shame hinders it from
breaking out in scabs and blotches in the life.Fear may do somewhat to curb a corrupt nature, but it
cannot cure it. The bear dares hardly touch his desired
honey for fear of the stinging of the bees. The dog refrains
from the food on the table, not because he does not like it,
but because he is afraid of the cudgel. Many leave some
sin in their outward actions, for fear they should starve if
they kept it; yet are still fond of their sin.This inward love of sin is indeed its life, and that
which is most dangerous and deadly to the soul.Sin reigning in the heart, is oftentimes more hurtful
than when it rages in the life. Such civil people go to
hell without much disturbance, being asleep in sin.
They are so far from being awaked that they are many
times praised and commended.Example, custom, and education, may also help a man
to make a fair show in the flesh. They may prune and lop
sin, but never rip it up by the roots. All that these can do,
is to make a man like a grave, green and flourishing on
the surface and outside, when within there is nothing but
rottenness and corruption.If the chief fault were not in the vital parts, then outward
applications might be effectual. When the fault is in the
foundation of a house, it cannot be mended by plastering
or painting.
Spiritual change flows out of an
intimate relationship with Jesus.We want to please those we love, and
we are grieved when we offend them.
The more we love Jesus, the greater
will be our motivation to obey Him and
to make the choices that please Him.The ultimate issue in life is what or whom we worship.
The process of true change takes place as
we are weaned from our love and worship of
self, pleasure, and this world; and our hearts
become wholly devoted to Christ. (N. L. DeMoss)
The hard things
"Once we agree with God that we exist for
His pleasure and His glory, we can accept
whatever comes into our lives as part of His
sovereign will and purpose. We will not resent,
resist, or reject the hard things, but embrace
them as friends, sovereignly designed by God
to make us more like Jesus and to bring glory
to Himself." (N. L. DeMoss)