Grace Gems

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Father knows best!

(J. R. MacDuff, "A BOOK OF PRIVATE PRAYERS" 1890)

My Father in heaven,
I approach the footstool of Your throne of grace, through the merits and mediation of Him whom You always hear. My best motives are mingled with selfishness; my best actions are marred with defilement. I feel the weakness of my faith, the coldness of my love, and the fitfulness of my holy desires. I cast myself anew on Him who has done all and suffered all and procured all for me!

I have continual need of Your grace, and of the influence of Your Holy Spirit. Protect and preserve me by Your mighty power. If at times I am prone to spiritual declension, reclaim my truant heart from its wanderings. Give me increasing tenderness of conscience, scrupulously avoiding anything that would compromise godly principle, or dim the sanctities of pure thought and holy deed. Enable me to cultivate those elevating virtues which make life truly beautiful. By simplicity of trust, consistency of obedience, and consecration of heart and life -- may I ever seek to glorify Your holy name.

Hear and accept my penitential acknowledgment of sin and unworthiness, of weakness and infirmity, of defeat and failure. Grant me Your upholding, strengthening, sanctifying grace for this day. Let me exercise a habitual jealousy over my words and actions. Purify my motives, elevate my affections. Keep me from dishonoring Your Fatherly goodness, by doing what is inconsistent with Your will. Be . . .
  my Protector in danger,
  my Counselor in perplexity,
  my Light in darkness,
  my Comforter in sorrow,
  my Guide even unto death.

Bless Your children in affliction. May it be their joy and privilege to pour their sorrows into a Father's ear. Comfort them as a tender mother comforts her distressed child -- and then they shall be truly comforted. Be the rest-giver and the rest-provider for Your weary and heavy-laden children.

Have mercy on the wide family of Your afflicted ones. May they take refuge in the very arms that are chastising them, feeling assured that their heavenly Father knows best, that they have need of all these things. May it be theirs to look beyond what is frail and fleeting and transitory -- and anticipate the time when every tear-dimmed eye shall wake up amid the brightness and glory of an unsinning, unsorrowing, tearless world!

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The Holy Spirit is the Comforter--but Jesus is the Comfort!

(Charles Spurgeon)

"The Comforter, who is the Holy Spirit." John 14:26

This age is especially the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, in which Jesus cheers us, not by His personal presence, as He shall do in glory--but by the indwelling and constant abiding of the Holy Spirit, who is evermore the Comforter of His people. It is His office to console the hearts of God's people. He convinces of sin; He illuminates and instructs--but still the main part of His work lies . . .
  in comforting the hearts of the renewed,
  in confirming the weak, and
  lifting up all those who are bowed down.

He does this--by revealing Jesus to them! The Holy Spirit consoles--but Christ is the consolation. If we may use the figure, the Holy Spirit is the Physician--but Jesus is the medicine. The Holy Spirit heals the wound--but it is by applying the holy ointment of Christ's grace. The Holy Spirit is the Comforter--but Jesus is the Comfort!

Now, with such rich provision for his need, why should the Christian be sad and desponding? The Holy Spirit has graciously engaged to be your Comforter. Do you imagine, O weak and trembling believer, that He will be negligent of His sacred trust? Can you suppose that He has undertaken what He cannot or will not perform? If it is His special work to strengthen you, and to comfort you--do you suppose He has forgotten His business, or that He will fail in the loving office which He sustains towards you? No! Do not think so harshly of the tender and blessed Spirit, whose name is "the Comforter." He delights to give beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. Trust in Him, and He will surely comfort you--until the house of mourning is closed forever--and the marriage feast has begun!

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It is radical, revolutionary, lasting!

(Arthur Pink, "The Sovereignty of God")

"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

In the new birth, God exerts a quickening influence or power upon His own elect. Regeneration is very, very much more than simply shedding a few tears because of some temporary remorse over sin. It is far more than changing our course of life, the leaving off of bad habits and the substituting of good ones. It is something different from the mere cherishing and practicing of noble ideals. It goes infinitely deeper than coming forward to take some popular evangelist by the hand, signing a pledge-card, or "joining the church." The new birth is no mere turning over a new leaf--but is the inception and reception of a new life! It is no mere reformation, but a radical transformation. In short, the new birth is a miracle--the result of the supernatural operation of God. It is radical, revolutionary, lasting!

   In the new birth:

God lays hold of one who is spiritually dead--and quickens him into newness of life!

God takes up one who was shaped in iniquity and conceived in sin--and conforms him to the image of His Son!

God seizes a drudge of the Devil--and makes him a member of His holy family!

God picks up a destitute beggar--and makes him joint-heir with Christ!

God comes to one who is full of enmity against Him--and gives him a new heart that is full of love for Him!

God stoops to one who by nature is a rebel--and works in him both to will and to do of His good pleasure!

By His irresistible power, God transforms . . .
  a sinner--into a saint;
  an enemy--into His friend,
  a drudge of the Devil--into His beloved child!

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When we complain about the weather!

(Arthur Pink, "The Sovereignty of God")

"He spreads snow like wool;
 He scatters frost like ashes;
 He throws His hailstones like crumbs.
 Who can withstand His cold?
 He unleashes His winds, and the waters flow."
    Psalm 147:15-18

What a declaration is this! The changes of the elements are beneath God's sovereign control. It is God who withholds the rain--and it is God who gives the rain . . .
  when He wills,
  where He wills,
  as He wills, and
  on whom He wills!

"I also withheld the rain from you while there were still three months until harvest. I sent rain on one city--but no rain on another. One field received rain--while a field with no rain withered. I struck you with blight and mildew; the locust devoured your many gardens and vineyards, your fig trees and olive trees! I sent plagues like those of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword . . . says the Lord." Amos 4:7-10

"The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen. He loads the clouds with moisture; He scatters His lightning through them. At His direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth to do whatever He commands them. He brings the clouds to punish men--or to water His earth and show His love." Job 37:10-13

Truly, then, God governs the elements!

Earth and wind,
fire and rain,
hail and snow,
stormy winds and angry seas
--all obey His omnipotent word--and fulfill His sovereign pleasure! Therefore, when we complain about the weather, we are, in reality, murmuring against God!

Let His Word speak once more: "The Lord does whatever He pleases throughout all heaven and earth, and on the seas and in their depths. He causes the clouds to rise over the earth. He sends the lightning with the rain, and releases the wind from His storehouses." Psalm 135:6-7

  ~  ~  ~  ~

"All things are in the hands of God, have Him for their Author, and are directed and governed by Him to such ends as are most suitable to His wise providence. Whoever complains of the weather--complains of the God who ordains the weather!" William Law

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He will never come to Christ!

(Arthur Pink, "The Sovereignty of God")

"You will not come to Me--that you might have life." John 5:40

"No one can come to Me--unless the Father who sent Me draws him." John 6:44

Why is it, that no one can come to Christ unless he is 'drawn'? The answer is, Because his wicked heart loves sin--and hates Christ! The heart of the every man is so "desperately wicked" that if he is left to himself--he will never come to Christ!

For the sinner to come to Christ that he might have life, is for him . . .
  to realize the awful danger of his situation;
  to see that the sword of Divine justice is suspended over his head;
  to awaken to the fact that there is but a step between him and death, and that after death is the 'judgment'! And in consequence of this discovery, to earnestly strive . . .
  to flee from the wrath to come,
  to cry unto God for mercy, and
  to agonize to enter in at the 'strait gate'!

To come to Christ for life, is for the sinner . . .
  to feel and acknowledge that he is utterly destitute of any claim upon God's favor;
  to see himself as 'without strength,' lost and undone;
  to admit that he is deserving of nothing but eternal wrath, thus taking side with God against himself;
  to cast himself into the dust before God, and humbly sue for Divine mercy.

To come to Christ for life, is for the sinner . . .
  to abandon his own righteousness;
  to disown his own wisdom--and be guided by Jesus;
  to repudiate his own will--and be ruled by Jesus;
  to unreservedly receive the Lord Jesus as his Savior and Lord, as his All in all.

Such, in part and in brief, is what is implied and involved in "coming to Christ." But is the sinner willing to take such an attitude before God? No! For in the first place, he does not realize the danger of his situation, and in consequence makes no earnest attempt to escape. Instead, men are for the most part at ease, and whenever they are disturbed by the alarms of conscience or the dispensations of providence, they flee to any other refuge but Christ!

They will not acknowledge that all their 'good works' are as filthy rags but, like the Pharisee, will thank God they are not as bad as other heinous sinners.

They are not ready to receive Christ as their Lord--for they are unwilling to part with their idols! They had rather hazard their soul's eternal welfare--than give them up!

Hence we say that, if left to himself, the natural man is so depraved at heart--that he has no moral and spiritual ability to come to Christ!

"The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God!" Romans 8:7, 8

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He does as He pleases!

(Arthur Pink, "The Sovereignty of God")

"For the Lord Almighty has purposed--and who can thwart Him? His hand is stretched out--and who can turn it back?" Isaiah 14:27

To say that God is sovereign, is to declare that He is the Almighty, the Possessor of all power in heaven and earth--so that none can . . .
  defeat His counsels,
  thwart His purpose,
  or resist His will.

Whatever takes place in time--is but the outworking of that which He has decreed in eternity.

The sovereignty of the God of Scripture, is . . .
  absolute,
  irresistible
  and infinite!

We insist that God does . . .
  as He pleases,
  only as He pleases,
  always as He pleases!

"But our God is in the heavens--He has done whatever He has pleased!" Psalm 115:3

"The Lord does whatever pleases Him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths!" Psalm 135:6

"All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to Him: What have you done?" Daniel 4:35

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Academic studies

(Letters of John Newton)

Dear friend,
I truly pity those who rise early and study late--with no higher prize and prospect in view, than the obtaining of academic honors! Such pursuits will before long appear (as they really are) as vain as the foolish games of children! May the Lord impress them with the noble ambition of living to and for Him. If these scholars, who are laboring for pebbles under the semblance of goodly pearls, had a discovery of the Pearl of great price--how quickly and gladly would they lay down their admired attainments, and become fools--that they might be truly wise! Their academic studies, if taken in the aggregate, are little better than splendid trifles!

Friend, what a snare have you escaped! You would have been nothing but a scholar--had not God visited your heart and enlightened you by His grace! Now I trust you account your former academic gains, but loss--compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus. What you have attained in the way of learning, will be useful to you--if sanctified, and chiefly so by the knowledge which you have of its insufficiency to any valuable purpose in the great concerns of life--knowing God and walking with Him!

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His sheep feed in the midst of wolves!

(Letters of John Newton)

"The Lord is my Shepherd; I have everything I need!" Psalm 23:1

The Lord is my Shepherd! This is a comprehensive word. The sheep can do nothing for themselves. The Shepherd must guide, guard, feed, heal and recover. It is well for us--that our Shepherd is the Lord Almighty! If His power, care, compassion and fullness were not infinite--the poor sheep would be forsaken, starved and die! But we have a Shepherd full of care, full of kindness, full of power, who has said, "I will search for My lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak!" Ezekiel 34:16. How tender are these expressions, and how well fulfilled! His sheep feed in the midst of wolves--yet are safely preserved; for, though they cannot see Him--His eye and His heart are ever upon them!

Which of God's children have not cause to say, "My soul is among lions!" But our Shepherd stops their mouths, or only permits them to gape and roar, and show their teeth. He does not allow them to bite and tear us at their will. Let us trust our Shepherd--and all shall be well.

As to daily occurrences, it is best to trust that a daily portion of comforts and crosses--each one the most suitable to our case--is adjusted and appointed by the hand which was once nailed to the cross for us! We must trust, that where the path of duty and prudence leads us--that there is the best situation we could possibly be in, at that time.

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The fight!

(Letters of John Newton)

September 1764
My dear Madam,
I understand something of your warfare. Paul describes his own case in few words, "Conflicts on the outside, fears on the inside." Does not this comprehend all you would say? And how are you to know experimentally, either your own weakness--or the power, wisdom and grace of God, seasonably and sufficiently afforded--but by frequent and various trials? How are the graces of patience, resignation, meekness and faith, to be discovered and increased--but by the exercise of trials?

The Lord has chosen, called, and armed us for the fight! Shall we wish to be excused from the battle? Shall we not rather rejoice that we have the honor to appear in such a cause, under such a Captain, such a banner and in such a company?

God has graciously provided:
a complete suit of armor,
formidable weapons,
precious balm to heal us--if we receive a wound, and
precious cordials to revive us--when we are in danger of fainting!

Further, we are assured of the victory beforehand! O what a crown of glory is prepared for every conqueror, which Jesus, the righteous Judge, the gracious Savior--shall place upon every faithful head with His own hand!

So let us not be weary and faint, for in due season we shall reap! The time is short! In a little while, the struggle of indwelling sin, and all the conflicts surrounding us, shall be known no more! "Be faithful, even to the point of death--and I will give you the crown of life!" Revelation 2:10

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He has a numerous and necessitous family!

(Letters of John Newton)

What a multitude of eyes and hearts wait at the Throne of Grace! He has a numerous and necessitous family--but He is rich enough to supply them all--and His tender compassions extend to the poorest and most unworthy of them! Like the sun--He can cheer and enlighten millions of His poor pensioners at once! He gives to each one as bountifully--as if there were no others to partake of His favor!

His best blessings are not diminished--by being shared among many. The greatest earthly monarch would soon be poor--if he was to give but a pittance to all his subjects. But Jesus has unsearchable, inexhaustible riches of grace to bestow!

The innumerable assembly around the Eternal Throne are all continually supplied from His fullness; and yet there is enough and to spare for His earthly children also--and for all who shall come after us! May He give us an eager appetite--a hunger and thirst that will not be satisfied with anything short of the Bread of Life. We may confidently open our mouths wide--for He has promised to fill them!

"Let us therefore approach the Throne of Grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need!" Hebrews 4:16

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Mr. Cox's Museum

(Letters of John Newton)

August, 1772
My dear Miss,
I received some instruction where I little expected it--at Mr. Cox's Museum. The efforts of his ingenuity amazed me--while at the same time I was struck with their insignificance. His fine things were curious beyond all I had any idea of; and yet what are they better than toys and amusements, suited to the taste of children! And notwithstanding the variety of their motions, they were all destitute of life.

There is unspeakably more wisdom and skill in the mechanism of a butterfly or a bee which flutters unnoticed in the fields--than in all his fancy apparatus put together! But the works of God are disregarded, while the feeble imitations of them which men can produce gain universal applause! If you and I could make self-moving lions and elephants, what would it profit us?

Blessed be God, that He has given us some glimpses of His wisdom and love--by which our hearts, more hard and lifeless by nature than the stones in the street--are constrained and enabled to move upwards, and to seek after Him. He has given us in His Word, a greater treasure than all that we ever beheld with our eyes, and a hope which shall flourish when the earth and all its works shall be burnt up! What will all the fine things of men's devising be worth on that day?

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Then they hiss and spit their venom!

(Letters of John Newton)

"I know, O Lord, that Your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness You have afflicted me!" Psalm 119:75

"God disciplines us for our good--that we may share in His holiness." Hebrews 12:10

In Scripture, we read much concerning the emptiness, vanity and uncertainty of the present world.

When our minds are enlightened by the Holy Spirit--then we receive and acknowledge what His Word declares to be truth. Yet if we remain long without changes and trials, and when our path is very smooth--we are for the most part but faintly affected with what we profess to believe. But when some of our dearest friends die, or we ourselves are brought low with pain and sickness--then we not only say, but feel that this world must not, cannot be our rest!

We know by experience, that though afflictions in themselves are not joyous--but grievous--yet in due season they yield the peaceful fruits of righteousness. Various are the blessed fruits which afflictions produce:

By affliction, prayer is quickened--for our prayers are very apt to grow languid and formal in a time of ease.

Affliction greatly helps us to understand the Scriptures, especially the promises; most of which are made to times of trouble. We cannot so well know their fullness, sweetness and certainty--as when we have been in the situation to which they are suited, have been enabled to trust and plead them, and found them fulfilled in our own case.

We are usually indebted to affliction--as the means or occasion of the most signal discoveries we are favored with--of the wisdom, power, and faithfulness of the Lord. These are best observed by the evident proofs we have--that He is near to support us under trouble, and that He can and does deliver us out of it.

Likewise, many of our graces cannot thrive or manifest themselves, without trials--such as resignation, patience, meekness and long-suffering. Strength of grace is not ordinarily acquired by those who sit still and live at ease.

Afflictions do us good likewise, as they make us more acquainted with what is in our own hearts, and thereby promote humiliation and self-abasement. There are abominations which, like nests of vipers, lie so quietly within our hearts, that we hardly suspect they are there--until the rod of affliction rouses them! Then they hiss and spit their venom! This discovery is indeed very distressing--yet, until it is made, we are prone to think ourselves much less vile than we really are, and cannot so heartily abhor ourselves and repent in dust and ashes.

I must write a sermon rather than a letter--if I would enumerate all the good fruits which, by the power of sanctifying grace, are produced from this bitter tree of affliction!

While we have such a depraved nature, and live in such a polluted world; while the roots of pride, vanity, self-dependence and self-seeking, are so strong within us--we need a variety of sharp afflictions to keep us from cleaving to the dust!

"Before I was afflicted I went astray--but now I obey Your Word." Psalm 119:67

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Stupid creature!

(Letters of John Newton)

"What a wretched man I am!" Romans 7:24

January 27, 1778
My dear friend,
At present it is January with me--both within and without. The outward sun shines and looks pleasant--but his beams are faint, and too feeble to dissolve the frost.

Is it just so in my heart. I have many bright and pleasant beams of truth in my mind's view--but they have but little power to warm my heart--and cold predominates in my frost-bound spirit!

I could tell a stranger something about Jesus, which would perhaps astonish him--such a glorious person is He! Such wonderful love! Such humiliation! Such a life! Such a death! I could tell of what He is in Himself, and what He is to His people! What a sun! What a shield! What a fortress! What a friend! My tongue can run on upon these themes sometimes; and could my heart keep pace with it--I would be the happiest fellow in the country! Stupid creature! to know these things so well--and yet be no more affected with them!

Indeed, I have reason to be upon ill terms with myself! It is strange that pride should ever find anything in my experience to feed upon--but this completes my character for folly, vileness, and inconsistency--that I am not only vile--but proud! And though I am convinced I am a very wretch, and nothing before the Lord--yet I am prone to go forth among my fellow-worms, as though I were wise and good!

You ask me what I am doing. I must admit, that too much of my time passes in busy idleness, too much in waking dreams. I aim at something--but hindrances from within and without--make it difficult for me to accomplish anything! I dare not say that I am absolutely idle, or that I willfully waste much of my time. I have seldom one hour free from interruption: letters come that must be answered, visitors who must be received, and business which must be attended to. I have a good many sheep and lambs to look after--sick and afflicted souls, dear to the Lord--and these must not be neglected. Among these various avocations, night comes before I am ready for noon!

O precious, irrecoverable time! O that I had more wisdom in redeeming and improving you!

I beg you to pray for me. I am a poor creature--and full of needs. I seem to need . . .
  the wisdom of Solomon,
  the meekness of Moses, and
  the zeal of Paul--
to enable me to fulfill my ministry.

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I would have carried the whole human race to hell with me!

(Letters of John Newton)

"By the grace of God--I am what I am!" 1 Corinthians 15:10

October 27, 1778
My dear friend,
How industriously is Satan served! I was formerly one of his most active under-tempters! Not content with running down the broad way which leads to destruction by myself--I was indefatigable in enticing others! And, had my influence been equal to my wishes--I would have carried the whole human race to hell with me! And doubtless some have already perished, to whose destruction I was greatly instrumental, by tempting them to sin, and by poisoning and hardening them with principles of infidelity. And yet I was spared! When I think of the most with whom I spent my ungodly days of ignorance, I am ready to say, "I alone have escaped alive!"

Surely I have not half the activity and zeal in the service of Him who snatched me as a brand out of the burning--as I had in the service of His enemy! Then the whole stream of my endeavors and affections went one way; now my best desires are continually crossed, counteracted, and spoiled, by the sin which dwells in me! Then the tide of a corrupt nature bore me along; now I have to strive and swim against it.

Had my abilities and opportunities been equal to my heart desires--I would have been a monster of profaneness and profligacy! A common drunkard or harlot is a petty sinner--compared to what I once was! I had unabated ambition, and wanted to rank in wickedness among the foremost of the human race!

"O to grace how great a debtor--daily I'm constrained to be!"

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Filled with folly, vanity, and vexation!

(Letters of John Newton)

August 28, 1779
My dear friend,
The days speed away apace! Each one bears away its own burden with it--to return no more. Both pleasures and pains which are past--are gone forever! What is yet future will likewise, soon be past.

Our final end will shortly arrive! O to realize the thought, and to judge of things now in some measure suitable to the opinion which we shall form of them, when we are about to leave them all! Many things which now either elate or depress us--will then appear to be trifles as light as air!

Only one thing is needful--
to have our hearts united to Jesus in humble faith;
to set Him always before us;
to rejoice in Him as our Shepherd and our portion;
to submit to all His appointments, not of necessity, because He is stronger than us--but with a cheerful acquiescence, because He is wise and good, and loves us better than we do ourselves;
to feed upon His truth;
to have our understandings, wills, affections, imaginations, memory--all filled and impressed with the great mysteries of His redeeming love;
   to do all for Jesus;
   to receive all from Jesus;
   to find all in Jesus!

I have mentioned many things, but they are all comprised in one--a life of faith in Jesus!

We are empty vessels in ourselves--but we cannot remain empty. Unless Jesus dwells in our hearts, and fills them with His power and presence--they will be filled with folly, vanity, and vexation!