Grace Gems for AUGUST 2021

(You will find it helpful to listen to the audio above, as you read the text below.)

There is a duty of fault-finding. The Master Himself teaches it. In the Sermon on the Mount, He makes it very plain. We must note carefully, however, where the duty begins. We are to look first after our own faults. "Why do you look at the mote that is in your brother's eye-but do not consider the beam that is in your own eye?"

The form of this question suggest that we are naturally inclined to pay more attention to flaws and blemishes in others, than in ourselves; and also that a very small fault-a mere mote of fault in another person, may seem larger to us than a blemish many times greater in ourselves!

Of course it is far easier to see other people's faults, than our own. Our eyes are set in our head in such a way, that we can look at our neighbor, better than at ourselves. Yet we all have faults of our own. Most of us have quite enough of them to occupy our thought, to the exclusion of our neighbor's faults-if only we would give them our attention.

Really, too, our own faults ought to interest us, more than our neighbor's, because they are our own; and being our own, we are responsible for them. We do not have to answer for any other one's sins, but we must answer for our own sins, "Each one must give an account of himself."

Also, the responsibility for getting rid of them, is ours. No faithful friend, no wise teacher, can cure our faults for us. If ever they are taken out of our life-it must be by our own faith, our own firm, persistent effort.

It is a fact, that the faults which we usually see and criticize in others-are the very faults which are the most marked in us! In our judgment of others, we show a miniature of ourselves. If this is true, we should be careful in judging others, for in doing so we are only revealing our own faults! This should lead us also to close scrutiny of our own life, to get rid of the things in us which are not beautiful.

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life." Psalm 139:23-24
~ ~ ~ ~

Something to ponder
Arthur Pink: "To reject the terms of the Gospel in order to gratify the lusts of the flesh for a brief season, and then suffer forever and ever in the Lake of Fire, is the height of madness! Nothing can extenuate the wickedness of him who prefers the drudgery of Satan to the freedom there is in Christ."

~ ~ ~ ~

(You will find it helpful to listen to the audio above, as you read the text below.)

"Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Ephesians 5:16

"Gather up the fragments that are left over. Let nothing be wasted!" John 6:12

"Time is short!" 1 Corinthians 7:29

Time is made up of golden minutes, not one of which we should allow to be wasted! The Master said that for every idle word that men speak, they must give account. This can be no less true of idle minutes or hours.

Most of us live as if we had a thousand years to stay here in this world! We loiter away the golden hours of our little days, as if the days were never to end! We do not see how swiftly the sun is whirling toward his setting, while our work is but half done, our task perhaps scarcely begun!

We fritter away days, weeks, months-not noticing how our one little opportunity of living in this world is being worn off, as the sea eats away a crumbling bank until its last shred is gone! We set slight value on time, forgetting that we have only a hand-breadth of it-and then comes eternity!

Many of us fail to appreciate the value of 'single days'. "A day is too short a space," we say, "that it cannot make much difference if one, just one, is wasted-or idled away in pleasure!" Yet the days are links in a chain, and if one link is broken, the chain is broken. In God's plan for our life, each little day has its own load of duty.

How these lost days shame us-as they turn their reproachful eyes upon us, out of the irrevocable past!

Many people are wasteful of time. They fail to realize its value. They appear to have time in such abundance, that they dream it can never end. They do not know that a day lost, may mean misfortune or failure for them sometime in the future. They do not know that squandered hours, minutes spent in idleness-may cost them the true success of their life, bringing failure or disaster!

They should not make the mistake of imagining they have so much time, that they can afford to let days or hours or even minutes be wasted. They cannot afford to lose one golden minute of any day. We do not know what momentous issues affecting all our future, are involved in any quietest hour of any common-place day. There is 'a time for everything'-but the time is short, and when it is gone, and the thing is not done-it never can be done!

What you make of your life, you must make in a few years at the most; for the human span is short, and any day may be your last one! Every day that passes, leaves life's margin a little less for each of us. Our allotment of time is ever shortening!

There are a great many things it is not worth our while to do. Some of us spend our days in poor trivialities which bless no one, and which will add no lustre to our crown.

Therefore, waste no opportunity! Squander no moment! There is just time enough for you to live your life well-if you spend every moment of it in earnest, faithful duty. One hour lost, will leave a flaw. A life thus lived in unbroken diligence and faithfulness, will have no regrets when the end comes.

"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12

~ ~ ~ ~
Something to ponder
Charles Simeon: "Our very holiest services, no less than our grossest abominations, must be purged from guilt by the blood of Christ."

~ ~ ~ ~

(You will find it helpful to listen to the audio above, as you read the text below.)

"Work out your salvation with fear and trembling" Philippians 2:12-13

People sometimes think that salvation imparts . . .
godly virtues,
fine qualities of Christian character,
lovely traits of disposition, and
elements of spiritual beauty-
without any cost or effort to the believer himself!

Christ's followers are transformed-old things pass away, and all things become new. Those who believe in Him, are fashioned into His image. But these blessings do not come easily. The heavenly graces are not put into our life, as one might hang up lovely pictures on the walls to adorn a home! They must be wrought into our life in a sense, by our own hands. We must work out our own salvation-although it is God who works in us, both to will and to work.

For example, patience is not put into anyone's life, as one brings in a piece of new furniture. You cannot merely receive patience as a gift from God. Patience is a lesson to be learned, through long and watchful self-discipline. Christ is the teacher-but you are the student, and it is the student who must learn the lesson! Not even Christ will learn it for you, to spare you the effort. Nor can it be made an easy lesson for you. It costs to grow patient, and you must pay the price yourself!

The same is true of all the elements of a godly and worthy character.

We are always at school in this world. God is teaching us the things we need to learn. The lessons are not easy, sometimes they are very hard! But the hardest lessons are the best-for they bring out in us the finest qualities, if only we learn them well.

Those, therefore, who find themselves in what may seem adverse conditions, compelled to face hardship, endure opposition, and pass through struggle-should quietly accept the responsibility; and, trusting in Christ for guidance and strength, go firmly and courageously forward-conscious that they have now an opportunity to grow strong, and develop in themselves the qualities of worthy and noble character!
~ ~ ~ ~

Something to ponder
Henry Smith:
We should set the Word of God always before as our rule, and
believe nothing but that which it teaches,
love nothing but that which it prescribes,
hate nothing but that which it forbids,
do nothing but that which it commands.

~ ~ ~ ~

(You will find it helpful to listen to the audio above, as you read the text below.)

"Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them unto the end!" John 13:1

A friend is one who loves, and does not cease to love. Christ having loved His people, loves them unto the end.

One quality of true friendship, is trust. What could be more sacred than this comfort of feeling safe with a person, absolutely safe? That is the kind of friend Jesus is. You may always feel safe with Him. You may confess all your sins to Him. You may tell Him all your faults and your failures-how you denied Him the other night, how you failed to be true to Him, and all the evil thoughts of your heart; and He will be just as tender and gracious-as if you never had sinned! He loves unto the end!

None of us would want to have our hearts photographed, and the picture held up before the eyes of our neighbors! We would not want even our best friends to see a full transcript of our secret life-what goes on within us:
the jealousies,
the envyings,
the bitter feelings,
the impure thoughts,
the meannesses,
the selfishnesses,
the suspicions,
the doubts and fears!
Yet Christ sees all this unworthy inner life. He knows the worst that is in us-and loves us still! We do not need to hide our weaknesses from Him. He never withdraws His love. We may trust Him absolutely and forever!

"Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them unto the end!" John 13:1

~ ~ ~ ~
Something to ponder
Arthur Pink: How dishonoring it is unto God to have so many professing Christians eulogizing worms of the dust and using such expressions as "He is a great man," "a remarkable preacher," "a wonderful Bible teacher." What glory does the Lord get therefrom? None. No wonder the unction of the Spirit is now so generally withheld! Moreover, nothing is so apt to destroy a preacher's usefulness as to puff him up with flattery; certainly nothing is so insulting to the Spirit and more calculated to cause Him to withdraw His blessing, than such idolatrous man worship. How much better to say, "Such a preacher is highly favored of the Lord in being so gifted by Him." "The pastor was much helped by God in his sermon this morning."

(You will find it helpful to listen to the audio above, as you read the text below.)

If we only tried seriously to live up to our praying, it would have a powerful effect upon our character and conduct!

There is no prayer that most Christians make oftener, than that they may be made like Christ. It is a most fitting prayer, and one that we should never cease to make. But if we very earnestly wish to be transformed into Christ's likeness-we will find the desire growing into great intensity in our daily lives, and transforming them. It will affect every phase of our behavior and conduct. It will hold before us continually, the image of our Lord, and will keep ever in our vision-a new standard . . .
of thought,
of feeling,
of desire,
of act,
of speech.
It will keep us asking all the while, such questions as these,
"How would Jesus feel about this, if He were personally in my circumstances?
What would Jesus do, if He were here today where I am?"

There is always danger of mockeries and insincerities in our praying for spiritual blessings. The desires are to be commended. God approves of them and will gladly bestow upon us the more grace we ask for:
the increase in love,
the greater faith,
the purer heart,
the new advance in holiness.
But these are attainments which are not bestowed upon us directly, as gifts from heaven. We have much to do in securing them. When we ask for spiritual blessings or favors, the Master asks, "Are you able to pay the price, to make the self-denial, to give up the things you love-in order to reach these attainments in holiness, in grace, in spiritual beauty?"

If our lives were as good as our prayers, we would be saint-like in character.

If we find that our prayers are beyond our living, our duty is not to lower them to suit the tenor of our living-but to bring our lives up to the higher standard of our praying!

~ ~ ~ ~

(You will find it helpful to listen to the audio above, as you read the text below.)

There is a secret of victorious living which, if people knew it, would make all of life easier for them. It may be stated thus: that as we take up any duty and go forward with it, we shall receive the strength we need to do it. There are several Divine promises that give this assurance.

One reads, "As your days, so shall your strength be." Deuteronomy 33:25. This seems to mean that the help which God gives, varies according to the necessity of the particular day. God fits His blessing, to our days.
When we are faint, He increases strength.
When we are sorrowful, He gives comfort.
When we are in danger, He grants protection.
When we are weary, He gives rest.
"As your days, so shall your strength be."

Another of Christ's promises reads, "My grace is sufficient for you." Every word of this assurance shines with radiant light.

"My grace is sufficient for you." It is Christ's grace that is sufficient. We know that He has all Divine fullness, and therefore we are sure that no human need can ever exhaust His power to give help!

"My grace is sufficient for you." It is Christ's grace that is sufficient. If it were anything else but grace, it might not give us such comfort. Grace is undeserved favor, goodness shown to the unworthy. We deserve nothing, for we are sinners. But it is Christ's grace which is sufficient, and so we can claim it.

"My grace is sufficient for you." It is present tense-IS sufficient. Christ is always speaking personally to the one who is in any need, and saying, "My grace IS sufficient for you."

"My grace is sufficient for you." The word "sufficient" is one whose meaning expands and amplifies with the measure of the need. No necessity is so small as not to be included; and none is so great as to go beyond the capacity of the blessing that is promised.

"My grace is sufficient for you." The grace is sufficient for each of His redeemed children-"for you" the promise runs.

Life lies before us, with . . .
its burdens,
its duties,
its responsibilities,
its struggles,
its perplexities.
It does not come to us all in one piece. God breaks our years-into months and weeks and days, and never gives us more than just a little at a time-never more than we can bear or do for the day.

If we take up the present duty or burden, we shall always have strength to do it. If we do not have strength of our own sufficient for the work or struggle, we need not falter-but should go on, just as if we had omnipotence in our arm; for as we obey God, though the task is impossible to our ability-He will sustain us by giving us all the help we need.
~ ~ ~ ~

Something to ponder
Thomas Watson: "Take heed of abusing this mercy of God. To sin because mercy abounds, is the devil's logic! He who sins because of God's mercy, shall have judgment without mercy!"

~ ~ ~ ~

(You will find it helpful to listen to the audio above, as you read the text below.)

"Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number of them who had been practicing magic brought their books and burned them at a public bonfire. The value of the books was several million dollars!" Acts 19:18-19

One proof of the power of Christianity, was in the way these new believers at Ephesus renounced their evil ways and gave up their profitable sins. They saw the emptiness and folly of the things in which they had been trusting, and openly confessed the sinful deeds they had been doing. Many of them who had been engaged in the practice of magic arts, brought their books together and made a bonfire of them in the public square.

Always, those who follow Christ should be ready to part with whatever is sinful in their life and work, that Christ may be honored above all. Sins kept in the heart-poison the life, hide God's face, and shut out blessing. No matter what it may cost, our sins must be sacrificed, or they will destroy us!

The burning of these old Ephesian books suggests that we should have bonfires of our evil books. There are many books which ought to be burned! They carry in them Satan's poison! To read them is to debauch our own souls. To put them into the hands of others, is to ruin them.

In India, a man took down a book from the shelf-and a viper came out of the book and stung him to death! Just so, there are many books in which deadly vipers lie hidden! We should be most careful in choosing the books we read. A good book is a great blessing, but a bad book is a curse!
~ ~ ~ ~

Something to ponder
Martyn Lloyd-Jones: "I am not afraid of being charged, as I frequently am, of trying to frighten you, for I am definitely trying to do so. If the wondrous love of God in Christ Jesus and the hope of glory is not sufficient to attract you-then such is the value I attach to the worth of your soul, that I will do my utmost to alarm you with a sight of the terrors of Hell!"

~ ~ ~ ~

(You will find it helpful to listen to the audio above, as you read the text below.)

True religion will manifest itself in every phase of life. We sit down in the quiet and read our Bible, and get our lesson. We know it now-but we have not as yet got it into our life, which is the thing we must really do.

Knowing that we should love our enemies, is not the ultimate thing-actually loving our enemies is.

Knowing that we should be patient is not all-we are to practice the lesson of patience, until it has become a habit in our life.

Many know the cardinal duties of Christian life, who yet have not learned to live them.
It is living them, however, that is true religion.

It must always be our aim, to live our religion-to get Christ's love in our heart, wrought out in a blessed ministry of kindness to others. Christ lives in us, and it is ours to manifest the life of Christ in our daily living.

We worship God on Sunday, in order to gather strength and grace to live for God in the six days that follow. It is evident therefore, that it is in the experiences of weekday life, far more than in the quiet of the Sunday worship and the closet-that the real tests of religion come.

It is easy to assent with our mind to the commandments, when we sit in the church enjoying the services. But the assent of the life itself can be obtained, only when we are out in the midst of temptation and duty, in contact with others. There it is, alone, that we can get the commandments wrought into ways of obedience, and lines of character. This is the final object of all Christian teaching and worship-the transforming of our life into the beauty of Christ!
~ ~ ~ ~

Something to ponder
Charles Spurgeon: "Too many think lightly of sin, and therefore think lightly of the Savior. He who has stood before God, convicted and condemned, with the rope about his neck-is the man . . .
to weep for joy when he is pardoned,
to hate the evil which has been forgiven him, and
to live to the honor of the Redeemer by whose blood he has been cleansed."

~ ~ ~ ~

(You will find it helpful to listen to the audio above, as you read the text below.)

"I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day." Exodus 16:4

They were not to lay up in store, but were taught to live simply by the day. When night came, they did not have a supply of food left over for the next day-but were entirely dependent upon God's new supply to come in the morning.

In this method of providing, God was teaching all future generations a lesson. When the Master gave the disciples the Lord's Prayer, He put this same thought of life into it, for He taught us to say: "Give us this day our daily bread."

This is a most valuable lesson for every Christian to learn. We should make a little fence of trust around each day, and never allow any past or future care or anxiety to break in. God does not provide in advance for our needs. We cannot get grace today-for tomorrow's duties; and if we try to bear tomorrow's cares and burdens today-we shall break down in the attempt.

TIME comes to us, not in years, not even in weeks-but in little days. We have nothing to do with 'life in the aggregate'-that great bulk of duties, anxieties, struggles, trials and needs, which belong to a year or even to a month. We really have nothing to do even with tomorrow.

Our sole business is with the one little day now passing, and the one day's burdens will never crush us; we can easily carry them until the sun goes down. We can always get along for one short day-and that is really, all we ever have.
~ ~ ~ ~

Something to ponder
J.C. Ryle: "Is the Bible the Word of God? Then be sure you never read it without fervent prayer for the help and teaching of the Holy Spirit. Here is the rock on which many make shipwreck. They do not ask for wisdom and instruction-so they find the Bible dark, and carry nothing away from it. You should pray for the Spirit to guide you into all truth. You should beg the Lord Jesus Christ to "open your understanding," as He did that of the His disciples. The Lord God, by His inspiration the book was written, keeps the keys of the book, and alone can enable you to understand it profitably."

~ ~ ~ ~

(You will find it helpful to listen to the audio above, as you read the text below.)

"I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship." Romans 12:1

The godly life is not one of ease, pleasure and self-indulgence.

We are taught to present our bodies, as a living sacrifice unto God. Ancient offerings were brought to the altar, and presented dead. But the Christian sacrifice, instead of being poured out in a bloody oblation, is to be a living sacrifice of service, of love, of devotion.

The great sacrifice of Christ is both the model for all Christian life, and also its inspiration. We look at His six hours on the cross-as if that were its only act and expression. But the cross was not endured by Christ merely during those six hours on Calvary; it was in all His life, in every day and hour of it. Everything He did was in love, and love is always a living sacrifice. He was always sacrificing Himself. On Calvary, He only wrote the word out in capital letters!

The cross stands not merely for the sufferings of Christ endured in redeeming sinners-but also for the law of love and of sacrifice in every department of Christian living. It is not enough to have the cross on our churches, as a symbol of redemption; or to wear it as an ornament around our neck; the cross must be in the heart-and manifested in the life!

We talk a great deal about the love of Christ; but we must strive to illustrate it and reproduce in our own lives, in our own measure-the sweetness, the charity, the kindness and the helpfulness of Jesus Christ. The cross is everywhere. The more of the 'sacrificial' quality we get into our life, the diviner and the lovelier our life will be.

We do not have to be crucified on pieces of wood-to bear a cross, and make a living sacrifice. The cross must be in the lives of those who follow Christ; not branded on their bodies-but wrought into their character, their disposition, their conduct, their spirit! We cannot live a Christian life for a day, without coming to points of sacrifice.

The cross of Christ does not take our own cross from us-Christ does not bear our cross for us. His cross becomes the law of our life, and makes it all sacrificial. Every sacrificial thing we do, reveals the cross. The Beatitudes are all sacrificial. No one can live the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians, and not crucify self continually.

All sacrifice at length, blossoms into Christlike beauty, sweetness and joy.

"Take me, Lord, and use me today-as You will. I lay all my plans at Your feet. Whatever work You have for me to do, give it into my hands. If there are those You would have me help in any way-send them to me, or send me to them. Take my time, and use it just as You will."
~ ~ ~ ~

Something to ponder
Charles Spurgeon: "To suppose that temporal things are too little for our condescending God, is to forget that He observes the flight of sparrows, and counts the hairs of His people's heads. Besides, everything is so little to Him, that, if He does not care for the little, He cares for nothing."

~ ~ ~ ~

(You will find it helpful to listen to the audio above, as you read the text below.)

(Jonathan Edwards, "Natural Men In A Dreadful Condition")

"From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it; but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores!" Isaiah 1:6

All men by nature are under the power of a mortal disease, which if it is not healed, will surely bring them to eternal death. They are under the power and dominion of sin, and sin is the mortal disease of the soul. If it is not cured, it will certainly bring them to eternal death.

The infection of the disease has powerfully seized their vital parts.
The whole head is sick, the whole heart is faint.
The infection is spread throughout the whole frame.

The very nature is corrupted, and the whole must come to ruin-if God by His mighty power does not heal the disease.

The soul is under a mortal wound; a wound deep and dreadfully ingrained.
Its roots reach the most vital parts; yes, they are principally seated there.

There is a plague upon the heart which . . .
corrupts and destroys the source of life,
ruins the whole frame of nature,
and hastens an inevitable death.

There is a most deadly poison which has been infused into, and spread over, the man.
He has been bitten by a fiery serpent, whose bite issues in a most tormenting death.

Sin is that which does as naturally tend to the misery and ruin of the soul,
just as the most deadly poison tends to the death of the body.

We look upon people far gone in a consumption, or with an incurable cancer, or some dreadful malady-as in doleful circumstances.

But that mortal disease, under whose power natural men are, makes their case a thousand times more doleful. That mortal disease of natural men does, as it were, ripen them for damnation!

The wickedness of natural men tends to sink them down to Hell,
as the weight of a stone causes it to tend toward the earth.

Natural men have, as it were, the seeds of Hell within their own hearts!

Those principles of sin and corruption, which are in them, will at length breed the torment of Hell in them, and that necessarily, and of their own tendency. The soul that remains under the power of sin will at length take fire of itself. Hell will kindle in them.
~ ~ ~ ~

Something to ponder
"No one was ever saved because his sins were small.
No one was ever rejected on account of the greatness of his sins.
Where sin abounded, grace shall much more abound." Archibald Alexander

~ ~ ~ ~

(You will find it helpful to listen to the audio above, as you read the text below.)

"Can a blind man lead a blind man?
Will they not both fall into the ditch?" Luke 6:39

I know of no surer way of a people's perishing, than by being led by one who does not speak out straight, and honestly denounce sin. If the minister halts between two opinions, do you wonder that the congregation is undecided? If the preacher trims and twists to please all parties, can you expect his people to be honest?

Like priest, like people! A cowardly preacher suits hardened sinners. Those who are afraid to rebuke sin, or to probe the conscience, will have much to answer for. May God save you from being led into the ditch by a blind guide!

And yet is not a mingle-mangle of Christ and Belial the common religion of the day?
Is not worldly piety, or pious worldliness-the current religion in England?

The people seek out a trimming teacher who is not too precise and plain-spoken, and they settle down comfortably to a mongrel faith-half truth and half error; and a mongrel worship-half dead formalism, and half orthodoxy.

God will not have a compound of world and grace. "Come out from among them," says He, "be separate; touch not the unclean thing."

"How much longer will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him! But if Baal is God, then follow Him!" There can be no alliance between the two. Jehovah and Baal can never be friends.

"No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; or you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money!" Luke 16:13

All attempts at compromise in matters of truth and purity are founded on falsehood, and falsehood is all that can come of them. May God save us from such hateful double-mindedness!

"Like people, like priests. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds!" Hosea 4:9

~ ~ ~ ~
Something to ponder
Thomas Boston: "Believing, repenting, and the like, are the product of the new nature; and can never be produced by the old corrupt nature. The heart is shut against Christ: man cannot open it, only God can do it by His grace."

Why should we conceal the truth from them?

LISTEN to audio! Download audio

(You will find it helpful to listen to the audio above, as you read the text below.)

(Jonathan Edwards, "Thoughts on the Revival of Religion in New England" 1742)

"Have I now become your enemy because I am telling you the truth?" Galatians 4:16

What has more especially given offence to many and raised a loud cry against some preachers, as though their conduct were intolerable-is their frightening poor children with talk of Hell-fire and eternal damnation. But if those who complain so loudly of this, really believe the Scriptures that all by nature are children of wrath and heirs of Hell-and that every one that has not been born again, whether he be young or old, is exposed every moment to eternal destruction-then such a complaint and cry as this betrays a great deal of weakness and inconsideration.

As innocent as children seem to us-yet if they are out of Christ, they are not so in the sight of God; but are in a most miserable condition, as well as grown up persons. They are naturally senseless and stupid, being born as the wild donkey's colt, and need much to spiritually awaken them.

Why should we conceal the truth from them? Will those children who have been dealt overly tender in this respect, and lived and died insensible of their misery till they come to feel it in Hell, ever thank parents and others for their tenderness in not letting them know their danger? If parent's love towards their children were not blind, it would affect them much more to see their children every day exposed to eternal burnings, and yet senseless of their doom; than to see them suffer the distress of that awakening which is necessary in order to escape from Hell, and which tends to their being eternally happy as the children of God.

A child that has a dangerous wound may need the painful lance, as well as grown persons; that would be a foolish pity in such a case, which should hold back the lance, and throw away the life!

I have seen the happy effects of dealing plainly and thoroughly with children in the concerns of their souls, without sparing them at all. I never knew any ill consequence of it, in any one instance!
~ ~ ~ ~

Something to ponder
J.C. Philpot: "The pulpit has its accomplished actors, as well as the playhouse!"

~ ~ ~ ~

Losses and gains!

(William Nicholson, "HEAVEN!" 1855) LISTEN to audio! Download audio

(You will find it helpful to listen to the audio above, as you read the text below.)

"You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand!" Psalm 16:11

Paul might well say, "To die is gain!"

Most men are desirous of gain. Some make it the great object of their life, and will barter away their precious souls, for the perishable riches of the world.

Gain is the believer's great object; but remember, his gain is durable riches and righteousness.

He loses nothing by his espousal of true religion, but that which is evil and afflicting.

He loses sin, his greatest plague, his vilest incendiary, which has robbed him in every duty, and marred every pleasure.

He loses Satan.
Grace puts a child of God out of Satan's possession.
Glory puts a child of God out of Satan's temptation.

He loses his fears, which have armed him against himself, and seated deep melancholy on his brow.

He loses his tears, the effect of those clouds of sorrow which have gathered in his heart, and dropped from his eyes.

He loses his crosses, the weight of which has so pressed him down, that he has not been able to look up.

He loses his poverty, which was his dishonor among men, and deprived him of many comforts.

He loses his sicknesses, which incapacitated him for duty.

He loses his cares, which wasted his spirits, and broke his rest. He loses his spiritual desertions, which were his heaviest mental sorrows, that his God for a moment should forsake him.

And he loses the weariness of lie pilgrimage, occasioned by the clouds and darkness, and storms, and enemies, which encompassed his path.

Oh yes! he loses them all! He shall see them no more, forever.

But his gains-who can reckon them? Paul was caught up into the third Heaven; but he informs us that the glories, the joys, the beauties, the society, the employments-are all unspeakable! Yet this we know, that the presence of Christ is the handkerchief which wipes away all tears. Yes, Christ's presence shall turn his sinful deformity into spotless purity, and his doleful lamentations into everlasting hallelujahs. Then he shall exchange . . .
his pilgrim's staff, for a palm of victory,
his helmet of salvation, for a crown of glory,
his perishing tabernacle, for an incorruptible inheritance,
and the day of his dissolution, for the day of his coronation!

~ ~ ~ ~

My meditation of Him shall be sweet!

(William Bridge, 1600-1670, "The Sweetness and Profitableness of Divine Meditation")

LISTEN to audio! Download audio

(You will find it helpful to listen to the audio above, as you read the text below.)

"My meditation of Him shall be sweet!" Psalm 104:34

By meditation . . .
your knowledge is raised;
your memory is strengthened;
your hearts are warmed;
you will be freed from sinful thoughts;
your hearts will be tuned to every duty;
you will grow in grace;
you will fill up all the chinks and crevices of your lives, and know how to spend your spare time and improve that for God;
you will draw good out of evil;
you will converse with God, have communion with God, and enjoy God.

And I ask, is not here profit enough to sweeten the voyage of your thoughts in meditation?

As meditation is the sister of reading, so it is the mother of prayer. Though a man's heart is much indisposed to prayer, yet if he can but fall into meditation on God and the things of God-his heart will soon come off to prayer.

Begin with reading;
go on with meditation;
and end in prayer.

Reading without meditation is unfruitful;
meditation without reading is hurtful.
To meditate and to read without prayer upon both, is without blessing.

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night." Psalm 1:1-2
~ ~ ~ ~

Something to ponder
Charles Spurgeon: "Meditation puts the telescope to the eye, and enables us to see Jesus after a better sort than we could have seen Him if we had lived in the days of His flesh. Would that our meditation were more in Heaven, and that we were more taken up with the person, the work, the beauty of our incarnate Lord."

~ ~ ~ ~

We make Him to be an infinite monster!

(Stephen Charnock, 1628-1680, "The Existence and Attributes of God")

LISTEN to audio! Download audio

(You will find it helpful to listen to the audio above, as you read the text below.)

If every attribute of the Deity were a distinct member, holiness would be the soul to animate them.
Without holiness . . .
His patience would be an indulgence to sin,
His mercy would be a fondness,
His wrath would be a madness,
His power would be a tyranny,
His wisdom would be an unworthy subtlety.
Holiness gives balance to them all.

The holiness of God is His glory and crown.
Holiness is the blessedness of His nature.
Holiness renders Him glorious in Himself, and glorious to His creatures.
"Holy" is more fixed as an epithet to His name than any other.
Holiness is His greatest title of honor.

He is pure and unmixed light-free from all blemish in His essence, nature and works.
He cannot be deformed by any evil.

The notion of God cannot be entertained without separating from Him whatever is impure and staining. Though He is majestic, eternal, almighty, wise, immutable, merciful, and whatsoever other perfections may dignify so sovereign a being-yet if we conceive Him destitute of this excellent perfection, and imagine Him possessed with the least contagion of evil, we make Him to be an infinite monster, and sully all of His perfections.

It is a contradiction for Him to be God and to have any darkness mixed with his light. To deny his purity, makes Him no God. He who says God is not holy, speaks much worse than if he said there is no God at all. Where do we read of the angels crying out Eternal or Faithful Lord God? But we do hear them singing Holy, Holy, Holy!

God swears by His holiness (Psalm 89:35).
His holiness is a pledge for the assurance of His promises.

Power is His hand,
omniscience is His eye,
mercy is His heart,
eternity is His duration,
and holiness is His beauty!

Holiness renders Him lovely and gives beauty to all His attributes.
Every action of His is free from all hints of evil. Holiness is . . .
the crown of all His attributes,
the life of all His decrees, and
the brightness of all His actions.

Nothing is decreed by Him and nothing is acted by Him, that is not consistent with the beauty of His holiness.
~ ~ ~ ~

Something to ponder
Thomas Watson, 1620-1686:
"God is intrinsically holy, being holy in His nature without limits.
God is primarily holy, being the perfect and the only true pattern of holiness.
God is efficiently holy, being the cause of all holiness in angels and saints.
God is transcendently holy, being far above the capacity of holy angels and glorified saints to behold, much less fallen man."

~ ~ ~ ~

You are the objects of the blessed Redeemer's particular care

(William Nicholson) LISTEN to audio! Download audio

(You will find it helpful to listen to the audio above, as you read the text below.)

Christians! The Redeemer with all His glorious salvation, in all His offices, and under all the characters which He sustains-is yours! You may say with the fullest assurance, "My beloved is mine, and I am His!" You are the objects of the blessed Redeemer's particular care, given into His hands by His and your Father, to be saved by Him . . .
from the guilt and dominion of sin,
from all the powers of darkness, and
from the vengeance of eternal fire!

He executes all of His offices on your behalf:

As a Priest, He has made an atonement for your sin and reconciled you to God.

As a Prophet, He teaches you from His Word, all that you need for life and godliness.

As a King, He reigns in His Church, and rules in the heart of every believer.

He is a Physician to heal the diseased.

He is a Shepherd to feed and guide His flock.

He is a Counselor to direct them in all the intricate paths of life.

He is a Friend that sticks closer than a brother, and whose friendship is unchangeable and everlasting.

He is an Advocate to plead His people's cause.

He is a Redeemer to emancipate their souls from sin's bondage.

He is . . .
a Sun to enlighten you,
a Shield to defend you,
a Door to admit you to Heaven,
a Tree for fruit to nourish you,
a Balm of Gilead to heal your soul maladies!

Well may Christ be called "the Consolation of Israel," for . . .
His unchangeable grace and mercy,
His perfect obedience unto sin-atoning death,
His constant divine intercession,
are replete with comfort to the lost and undone sinner.

By the power of Christ's grace . . .
our unbelief receives a death-wound,
our distracting fears are hushed to silence and
we are filled with joy unspeakable and full of glory,
while in ecstasy we exclaim, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world!"

I have found Him whom my soul loves!

I've found the Pearl of greatest price!

My Christ is first, my Christ is last, my Christ is all in all!

Look, Christians, to your Redeemer, and listen to the gracious words that proceed from his mouth:

"As the Father has loved me-so have I loved you."

"You are my friends, if you do what I command you."

"The Father himself loves you, because you have loved me!"

"I am the Good Shepherd. My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish-ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand."

What more could your Lord say? Here he opens his heart to you, and declares that no good thing will He withhold from you who are united to him. Oh! contemplate the great object of your devout desires, and look to the glorious Friend who utters these promises, and guides your feeble steps.
~ ~ ~ ~

Something to ponder
William Nicholson: "Heaven is not to be trifled with! Hell is not to be trifled with!"

~ ~ ~ ~

There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary are at rest!

(William Nicholson, "HEAVEN!" 1855) LISTEN to audio! Download audio

(You will find it helpful to listen to the audio above, as you read the text below.)

"There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary are at rest!" Job 3:17

In Heaven, the Righteous will enjoy an uninterrupted repose. "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them." "There remains a rest for the people of God." It is not however, the repose of apathy, or of indolence, or of selfishness, to which the righteous are destined in their final glorification. It is . . .
a rest from the burden of sin,
a rest from the toil of labor,
a rest from the dangers of warfare,
a rest from the anguish of guilt,
a rest from the torment of fear,
a rest from the power of temptation,
a rest from internal disquietude,
a rest from external assault from the world.

In Heaven:
   the passions that have agitated the bosoms of mankind in the present world, will be unknown;
   the follies that have torn their very heart-strings asunder, will eternally cease;
   the woes that have depopulated empires and filled them with blood and carnage, will be no more;
   rebellion will have spent all its force;
   the iron rod of oppression will be broken;
   the battle trumpet will have blown its final blast;
   calamities will have come to a perpetual end;
   the olive branch of peace shall be continually waved on the wall of mount Zion;
   and the Prince of peace Himself shall secure its perfect tranquility.

"There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary are at rest!"

   ~ ~ ~ ~

They play with fire, and wonder why they are burned!

(J.R. Miller, "The Way of Safety", 1912) LISTEN to audio! Download audio

(You will find it helpful to listen to the audio above, as you read the text below.)

"Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression." Psalm 19:12, 13

Here the Psalmist prays to be kept from committing presumptuous sins. He knows the danger there is in such sins, and so pleads to be held back from them-that is, from willful, conscious, high-handed sins.

Mark the teaching, too, that these presumptuous sins spring out of the minute hidden faults. From hidden, obscure, undiscovered faults-come presumptuous sins.

A slight moral weakness-grows into an evil tendency;
and the evil tendency indulged-develops into a loathsome vice;
and the loathsome vice-ripens into a presumptuous sin!

We need to guard against carelessness concerning 'little sins'.
The hidden fault lurking in the nature, may grow into a presumptuous sin!

   Sow a thought-and you will reap an act;
   sow an act-and you will reap a habit;
   sow a habit-and you will reap a character;
   sow a character-and you will reap a destiny!

The course of sin is terrible! The little beginnings of sin, grow into appalling consequences! Be afraid of little sins and temptations.

There are some people who are always courting danger. Sin seems to have a fascination for them. One of the petitions of the Lord's Prayer is, "Lead us not into temptation." To expose ourselves needlessly to temptation, is presumption! Yet there are many who do this. They play with fire, and wonder why they are burned! They dally with 'little sins', and end in shameful degradation at the last! They pay the penalty in moral and spiritual ruin.

   ~ ~ ~ ~

If you were to meet yourself on the street some morning

(J.R. Miller, 1912) LISTEN to audio! Download audio

(You will find it helpful to listen to the audio above, as you read the text below.)

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way!" Psalm 139:23-24

It will be worth our while to think seriously of the things in us, that only God can see. There are sins which are hidden from ourselves, of which our conscience is not aware-our unknown errors. The evil in us which lies too deep to be discovered. There is a SELF in us, which even we ourselves do not see! There are depths of our being, into which our own eyes cannot pierce. You may say that you know of no sins, errors, or faults in yourself-and you may be sincere; still this is not evidence that you are sinless.

Our conscience is not the final court. It is not enough to have the approval of our own heart. There are errors and evils in the holiest life on earth, which only God's eye can detect. We must ask God to search us, if we would be made clean.

We cannot see our own faults, even as our neighbors can see them. There is wisdom in the wish that we might see ourselves, as others see us-for it would free us from many a blunder and foolish notion.

We are prejudiced in our own favor.
We are disposed to be charitable toward our own shortcomings.
We make all sorts of allowances for our own faults.
We are wonderfully patient with our own weaknesses.
We are blind to our own blemishes.
We look at our good qualities through magnifying glasses; and at our faults and errors with the lenses reversed-making them appear very small.
We see only the best of ourselves.

If you were to meet yourself on the street some morning-that is, the person God sees you to be, you would probably not recognize yourself!

We remember the little story that the prophet Nathan told King David, about a rich man's injustice toward a poor man-and how David's anger flamed up. "This man must die!" cried the king. He did not recognize himself in the man he so despised, until Nathan quietly said, "You are the man!"

We are all too much like David.

If the true chronicle of your life were written in a book, in the form of a story, and you were to read the chapters over-you probably would not identify the story as your own!

We do not know our real self. We do not imagine there is so much about us that is morally ugly and foul, that is positively wicked. But God searches and knows the innermost and hidden things of our heart!

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way!"
~ ~ ~ ~

Something to ponder
Henry Scougal, 1650-1678:
"Humility is a deep sense of our own baseness, with a hearty and affectionate acknowledgment of our owing all that we are to the divine bounty; which is always accompanied with a profound submission to the will of God, and great deadness to the glory of the world, and the applause of men."