Grace Gems

[nChrist]

I am not what I once was

(John Newton)

I am not what I ought to be.
Ah, how imperfect and deficient.

I am not what I wish to be. I abhor what
is evil, and I would cleave to what is good.

I am not what I hope to be. Soon I shall put
off, with mortality--all sin and imperfection.

Though I am not what I ought to be, nor what
I wish to be, nor what I hope to be--I can truly
say that I am not what I once was--a slave
to sin and Satan. And I can heartily join with the
apostle and say that "by the grace of God I am
what I am!" 1 Corinthians 15:10

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

[nChrist]

Time for taunt, and insult, and cruelty!

(Horatius Bonar, "The Surety's Thirst")

"The soldiers mocked Him, too, by offering
 Him a drink of sour wine." Luke 23:36

This is the last venting of man's enmity against God;
the last drop of the old serpent's venom poured upon
the holy Jesus! "This is the heir; come, let us kill Him!"
Man has got God into his power; he has got the
Son of God hanging helplessly on a tree; and his enmity
to God now gives full vent! He can mock God safely
now. Thus man's hatred of God comes out in all its
bitterness; and it does so, just at the very point where
God's love was coming out in its fullness. Never did love
and hatred, kindness and enmity--so meet together.
Never was love so requited, and kindness so mocked,
as here.

That very thing, which ought to have softened them,
and drawn out their profoundest sympathies--is that
which calls forth insult, which extinguishes pity, which
steels them against the Sufferer's cry, which rouses all
hell in their bosoms! Towards God they are as devils!

Now is their time for taunt, and insult, and cruelty!
So long as Jesus is going about, doing miracles, they are
afraid to touch Him. But now, when He is dying on a cross,
they may hate and mock Him as they please! Now, when
the lion of the tribe of Judah is in chains, and expiring of
His wounds--they may trample on Him at will.

O man, such is your heart! Such is the extent of
your enmity to the God in whom you live, and move,
and have your being!

Herein is love; not man loving God, but God loving man;
so loving man as to persist in His great work of grace,
notwithstanding man's utmost hatred and rejection! Here
is God's provision, not only for man's pardon--but for his
fullest joy. The Surety thirsted that we might not thirst!
He drank of the vinegar--that we might not drink it!
He drained the cup of wrath--that we might never taste it!
He was wounded that--we might be healed! What love!
The love of the Just to the unjust;
the love of the Holy to the unholy;
the love of the Heavenly to the earthly;
the love of the Creator to the creature;
the love of Jesus--infinite and divine!

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

[nChrist]

Man acting as a devil!

(Horatius Bonar, "The Surety's Cross")

In the cross, we see what is in man. In the cross, man
has spoken out. He has exhibited himself, and made
unconscious confession of his feelings, especially in
reference to God--to His Being, His authority, His
character, His law, His love. It was man who erected
the cross, and nailed the Son of God to it! Permitted
by God to give vent to the feelings of his heart, and
placed in circumstances the least likely to call forth
anything but love--he thus expressed the feelings of
his heart in hatred to God and to His incarnate Son!

Reckoning the death of the cross, the worst of all deaths
--man deems it the fittest for the Son of God! Thus, the
enmity of the natural heart speaks out, and man not only
confesses publicly that he is a hater of God--but he takes
pains to show the intensity of his hatred! More--he glories
in his shame, crying aloud, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"

The cross thus interprets what is in man's heart. The
cross rips the mask of pretended religion from his face;
and exhibits man overflowing with the malignity of hell!

You say, "I don't hate God! I may be indifferent to Him.
He may not be in all my thoughts; but I don't hate Him!"

Then, what does that cross mean?

Love, hatred, indifference--which? Does love demand
the death of the loved One? Does indifference crucify
its objects? Look at your hands! Are they not red with
blood? Whose blood is that? The blood of God's own
Son! No--neither love nor indifference shed His blood.
It was hatred that did it! Enmity--the enmity of the
carnal heart!

You say that I have no right to judge you. I am not
judging you. It is yon cross which judges you, and I
am asking you to judge yourselves by it. It is yon
cross that interprets your purposes, and reveals the
thoughts and intents of your heart!

Oh, what a revelation! Man hating God--and hating
most, when God is loving most! Man acting as a
devil--and taking the devil's side against God!

The cross, then, was the public declaration of man's
hatred of God, man's rejection of His Son, and man's
avowal of his belief that he needs no Savior!

"What do you think of Christ?" was God's question.
Man's answer was, "Crucify Him!"

O what must man be--when he can hate, condemn,
mock, scourge, spit upon, crucify, the Lamb of God;
when coming to him clothed in love, and with the
garments of salvation?

And what must sin be--when, in order to expiate it,
the Lord of glory must die upon the tree--an outcast,
a criminal, a curse!

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

[nChrist]

A Christian and yet a worldling?

(Horatius Bonar, "The Risen Christ and the Things Above")

Go on in your worldliness; fling yourselves headlong into
the torrent of earth's vanities; but know that the end of
these things is death! "Do not love the world or the things
that belong to the world. If anyone loves the world, love
for the Father is not in him." (1 John 2:15) "You adulterers!
Don't you realize that friendship with this world makes you
an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy
this world, you can't be a friend of God." (James 4:4)

The point is settled. The Christian cannot take part with
the world in its follies, and gaieties, and sins!
What! A Christian and yet a worldling--singing its
idle songs, hurrying through its mazy dance, partaking
in its mirth and revelry! Impossible!

We have ceased to be citizens of earth's polluted cities;
we are citizens of heaven! We have a home--but not in
the palaces or haunts of the world. We have a house
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens!

"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await
 a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ!" (Phil. 3:20)

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

[nChrist]

A sea of sweetness

(John Flavel, "Christ Altogether Lovely")

"Yes, He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved,
 and this is my Friend." Song of Songs 5:16

As if she had said, "Look on Him in what respect or
particular you wish; cast your eye upon this lovely One,
and view Him any way; consider His person, His offices,
His works, or any other thing belonging to Him. You will
find Him altogether lovely, there is nothing disagreeable
in Him, there is nothing lovely without Him."

Jesus Christ is the loveliest person souls can set their eyes
upon. He is the very essence of all delights and pleasures,
the very soul and substance of them! As all the rivers are
gathered into the ocean, which is the meeting-place of all
the waters in the world--so Christ is that ocean in which
all true delights and pleasures meet!

Christ infinitely transcends the most excellent and loveliest
of created things. The excellencies our altogether lovely
Christ are pure and unmixed. He is a sea of sweetness
without one drop of gall.

"Yes, He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved,
 and this is my Friend." Song of Songs 5:16

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

[nChrist]

From head to toe

(Horatius Bonar, "Consecration by Blood", 1867)

"And he brought the other ram, the ram of consecration:
 and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of
 the ram. And he slew it; and Moses took of the blood of it,
 and put it upon the tip of Aaron's right ear, and upon the
 thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his
 right foot." Leviticus 8:22-23

The tip of the right ear was the first place the blood was to
be sprinkled, denoting that his hearing was now set apart for
God, and that he was to be ever in the attitude of one listening
to God alone--hearing no words but His, heeding no instructions
but His. Our ears are thus set apart to God. And if so, how wide
open should they be to hear His voice; how thoroughly closed
against all sinful sounds.

The thumb of the right hand was the next place sprinkled,
indicating the consecration of all bodily skill, and energy,
and power, to the service of Jehovah.

The great toe of the right foot was the third place touched
with blood, signifying that his feet were to be ever ready for
priestly service, that his limbs were to be employed for God,
and their strength or swiftness solely dedicated to bearing His
burdens or running His errands. Our feet are set apart for Him;
let us run the errands of no other master, nor use our limbs in
the service of the flesh, or the world, or the devil.

The whole man, in all its faculties and powers of soul and body,
was to be thus set apart for God. Our ears, our hands, our
feet, are thus wholly His; not our own, not the world's, not
Satan's. As those who have died and risen with Christ, we hear
Him always, and listen for His words and commands, ready to
put forth hands and feet, every power and faculty of soul and
body--in His service, to whom we are thus solemnly set apart.

The whole man, from head to toe, becomes a sacred thing,
dedicated to the service of the living God. As God's consecrated
priests, His true Aarons, His true Levites, His true Israel--whether
we eat or drink, or whatever we do, let us do all to the glory of God.

Follow the Master fully.

Give Him no divided heart.

Serve Him wholly.

Give Him no half service.

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

[nChrist]

I fall at Your feet, my Jesus

(The diary of Ruth Bryan)

A poor, weak, guilty, hell-deserving creature--
I fall at Your feet, my Jesus. You have redeemed
me by Your blood; I am Yours! Oh, use me for Your
glory! Reveal Yourself still more unto me. By faith
I would embrace You for more . . .
  gratitude,
  love,
  faith,
  submission,
  patience,
  courage,
  and all I need,
while in this dreary desert--which You alone
can cheer--for all must come from You.

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

[nChrist]

The endless, blissful theme!

("The letters of Ruth Bryan" August, 1857)

"Yes, He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved,
 and this is my Friend!" Song of Songs 5:16

There are heights and depths in the love of Christ
of which the most favored have no conception. And
there are beauties and glories in His person which
none have yet beheld! Oh! I would have none rest
short of the revelation of His person.

His benefits indeed are all precious: His atoning
blood and sacrifice, His justifying righteousness, and
the effects flowing therefrom--pardon, justification,
peace in the conscience, etc., etc. But it is a further
and sweeter privilege to know and enjoy Himself!
Salvation is sweet--but the Savior crowns all!

I must cease, though I seem to have said nothing
of the endless, blissful theme--the love and
loveliness of our dear Redeemer, the Redeemer
of worms!

May He favor you with His precious presence!

"May you experience the love of Christ, though
 it is so great you will never fully understand it!"
    Ephesians 3:19

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

[nChrist]

The immeasurable riches of His grace

(Horatius Bonar, "The God of Grace")

"Where sin abounded, grace did much more
 abound!" Romans 5:20

The history of our world has been the story of
abounding sin--and far more abounding grace!

What was Abraham's history--but one of
abounding sin and super-abounding grace?

What was Rahab's history--but a history of
abounding sin and super-abounding grace?

What was David's history--but a history of
abounding sin and super-abounding grace?

What was Manasseh's history--but a history
of abounding sin and super-abounding grace?

What was the history of Saul of Tarsus, but one
of abounding sin and super-abounding grace, as
he himself declares, "The grace of our Lord was
poured out on me abundantly." 1 Timothy 1:14

What is all this world's long history--but a history
of abounding sin and super-abounding grace?

God not merely allowed sin to enter--but to spread;
not only to spread--but to increase in heinousness;
not only to increase in heinousness--but to vary itself,
and take every conceivable shape that man's wicked
heart could devise--all in order to demonstrate that
His resources of grace were adequate to meet it all.

Sin might widen its circle age after age--but grace
widened its circle and still went far beyond man's
transgression. For age after age sin ascended a higher
pinnacle of rebellious ungodliness; but grace ascended
along with it, and took its station far above it, like
a bright canopy of heavenly azure. Age after age
descended to lower and lower depths of hateful
pollution; grace went down along with it. And when
the soul found itself at the very bottom of the horrible
pit, and expected to meet nothing there but hell itself,
it found the hand of grace still beneath it, as mighty to
save, as willing to bless as ever. "So that in the coming
ages He might display the immeasurable riches of
His grace, in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus."
Ephesians 2:7

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

[nChrist]

Worldly men varnished over with religion

(Horatius Bonar, "Christ and the World")

"Having a form of godliness but denying its power."
    2 Timothy 3:5

There are many religious professors, whose object
seems to be, to get hold of both worlds. They want
as much of worldly comfort and pleasure as will
gratify their carnal tastes. Their life is a
compromise. Their object is . . .
  to balance between two adverse interests;
  to adjust the conflicting claims of this world
    and of the world to come;
  to please and to serve two masters;
  to gratify two tastes;
  to walk in two opposite ways at once;
  to secure the friendship of the world without
    losing the friendship of God.

These are, in fact, worldly men varnished over
with religion--that is all. There are many of these
in our day, when religion is fashionable. They have
never broken with sin, nor crucified self, nor taken
up the cross. Their heart is not right with God.

Some of these are people who have been brought
up in worldliness, and who have, as they grew up,
added a little religion to their worldliness--to
make it respectable. They have merely 'religionized
the outer man'--leaving the inner man unmelted,
unbroken, and unrenewed. They have passed
through a certain religious process--but not
experienced the heavenly change, without
which they cannot enter the kingdom of God.
There has been . . .
  no broken-heartedness;
  no breaking off from sin;
  no surrender of the soul to God;
  no crucifixion of the old man;
  no resurrection to newness of life.

After a while, in such cases, a deep and fixed
'formalism' settles in. Earnestness has faded away,
and left nothing but its dregs. The soul has become
sapless and insensible. The edge of feeling, both
upon heart and conscience, has become blunted.
The 'routine of religion' is still gone through, and
the 'profession' still kept up; but all within is dried
up and withered . . .
  there is no enjoyment of spiritual things;
  the service of God is a burden;
  praise and prayer are irksome;
  sermons and sacraments are wearisome;
and the poor professor moves on in his heartless
career. Outwardly he is still religious--but at heart
he is unspiritual and worldly.

These are the 'ambiguous disciples' of our age,
who belong to Christ only in name. These are the
stony-ground or thorny-ground hearers. Such a
man's whole religious life is one grand delusion;
and every step he takes in it is a blunder, and a
stumble, and a snare. Let such a man know that,
in his present half-worldly, half-religious condition,
he has no real religion at all. It is a fabrication,
a delusion.

O worldly formalist, fling away your vain hopes!
Give up your fond idea of securing both earth and
heaven. Go straight to Calvary; there be crucified
to the world, and the world to you, by the cross of
Christ. Go straight to Him who died and rose again,
and drink into His love. One draught, no, one drop
of that love will forever quench your love of sin,
and be the death of that worldliness which
threatens to be your eternal ruin!

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

[nChrist]

Jesus is . . .
  the infinity of all excellence,
  the vast treasure-house of all we can desire,
  the perfection of all perfection,
  the beauty of all beauty,
  the glory of all glory.

(Horatius Bonar, "The Divine Banquet")

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

[nChrist]

Just give me Jesus!

He is enduringly strong.

He is entirely sincere.

He is eternally steadfast.

He is immortally gracious.

He is imperially powerful.

He is impartially merciful.

He is the greatest phenomena that has
  ever crossed the horizon of the globe.

He is God's Son.

He is the sinner's Savior.

He is the captive's ransom.

He is the breath of life.

He is the centerpiece of civilization.

He stands in the solitude of Himself.

He is august, and He is unique.

He is unparalleled, and He is unprecedented.

He is undisputed, and He is undefiled.

He is unsurpassed, and He is unshakable.

He is the loftiest idea in philosophy.

He is the highest personality in psychology.

He is the supreme subject in literature.

He is the fundamental doctrine of theology.

He is the corner-stone, the cap-stone,
  the stumbling-stone of all religion.

He is the miracle of the ages.

Just give me Jesus!

(Anne Lotz)

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

[nChrist]

A new creature

(Horatius Bonar, "Christ and the New Creation")

"If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature:
 old things have passed away; behold, all things
 have become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17

What condemnation do these words pronounce upon
the shallow, meager religion so common among
us--making us feel that hardly any description of its
professors could be more exaggerated or unreal,
than that of being "new creatures."

Take yon member of the church. He wears the
garb and bears the name of Christ. He is a fair
average specimen of a large class. He has the
profession of being a Christian; yet . . .
  he is fond of the world;
  he grasps at its gold;
  he loves its fashionable gaiety;
  he reads its novels;
  he frequents its haunts of amusement;
  he enjoys its company;
  he relishes its foolish talking and jesting.

Is he "a new creature" in Christ Jesus?

Is it possible that, with . . .
  so much worldliness,
  so much selfishness,
  so much self-indulgence,
  so much pleasing of the flesh,
he can have been "born again,"
whatever his profession may be?

"A new creature!" Then . . .
  old feelings,
  old habits,
  old tastes,
  old hopes,
  old joys,
  old sorrows,
  old haunts,
  old companionships
--all are gone! Old things have passed
away, all things have become new!

Formerly, I sought the things of this world.
So now, by the necessity of my new nature,
I seek the things above. Sin has become
hateful, holiness supremely attractive.

My vision has been purged, so that now I see
everything as with a new eye; the evil, with an
eye which loathes it; the holy, with an eye which
loves it. I approach everything with . . .
  new feelings,
  new tastes,
  new sympathies,
  new antipathies.
I behold everything in a new light, and from a new
point of view. Myself, this world, the world to come,
God, Christ, and the everlasting joys--all these are
to me now, what they have never been before! My
whole inner man has changed respecting them.
There has been a new creation! What, then, have I
to do with sin, with the flesh, with the vanities of so
vain a life, as the men of this world are leading?

Oh, the unimaginable blessedness of those on whom
this new creation has taken place! Oh, the unutterable,
the endless misery of those on whom no change has
passed--in whom old things still remain!

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

[nChrist]

But God

(William Plumer, "Theology for the People")

No two things are more contrary to each other,
than the vileness of man and the purity of God.

Sin is hateful to God.
It has dug every grave.
It fills hell with groans.

"From the sole of your foot to the top of your
 head there is no soundness--only wounds
 and welts and open sores." Isaiah 1:6

The whole nature of man is affected by sin:
  the understanding is darkened;
  the will is corrupt;
  the conscience is defiled;
  the memory is polluted;
  the imagination is depraved;
  the throat is an open sepulcher;
  the tongue is deceitful;
  the mouth is full of cursing and bitterness;
  the feet are swift to shed blood;
  the eyes are full of adultery;
  the heart is deceitful above all things,
    and desperately wicked.

The whole head is sick,
the whole heart is faint!

Man is by nature ruined. He is lost.
Men are . . .
  sinners,
  wicked,
  ungodly,
  unrighteous,
  corrupt,
  deceitful,
  vile,
  ungrateful,
  children of the devil,
  slaves of iniquity.

"But God, who is abundant in mercy, because
 of His great love that He had for us, made us
 alive with the Messiah even though we were
 dead in trespasses. By grace you are saved!
 He also raised us up with Him and seated us
 with Him in the heavens, in Christ Jesus, so
 that in the coming ages He might display the
 immeasurable riches of His grace in His
 kindness to us in Christ Jesus." Eph. 2:4-7

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

[nChrist]

Helpless, hopeless, friendless, portionless

(John MacDuff, "Family Prayers" 1885)

O Eternal, Everlasting God, Fountain of all happiness,
God of all grace--we desire to acknowledge anew with
grateful hearts, Your undeserved mercies. You have
made our cup to overflow with blessings. From the very
threshold of our being, You have been our Protector and
Guardian. You have shielded us from unknown dangers.
You have warded off unseen calamities. No earthly friend
could have loved us and cared for us, like You!

Helpless, hopeless, friendless, portionless by nature, we
cast ourselves on Him who is help and hope and friend
and portion--to all who seek Him. We have no trust but in
His work. Sprinkle these polluted hearts with His pardoning,
peace-speaking blood. Hide us in the clefts of the smitten
Rock. Safely sheltered there, we can make the triumphant
challenge, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?"

We mourn . . .
  our distance and estrangement from You,
  our guilty departures,
  our coldness and insensibility.
Let Your wondrous patience and kindness lead us to repentance.
Turn us, Lord, and we shall be turned! Draw us and we shall run
after You! May every thought, and affection, and feeling, and
temper--be brought into captivity to the obedience of Jesus. May
we love what He loves, and hate what He hates. May we know
the happiness of true holiness; and rejoice in doing Your holy will.

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________