Grace Gems

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It will fire the soul with unutterable love, and fill it with inexpressible joy!

(James Smith, "Precious Things from the Everlasting Hills")

"Dear friends, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is!" 1 John 3:2

Every Christian expects to have a sight of Jesus--to see Him as He really is. He will gaze with rapture and delight on His glorified body, tracing the thorn-prints on His brow, and the nail-prints on His hands!

He will realize with ecstatic delight that Jesus is his own Savior, his glorious Redeemer, his ever-living and ever-loving Lord.

The sight of Christ will eclipse the glory of everything visible, and will leave impressions on the soul which will never be erased. It will exceed all that ever was seen, conceived, or anticipated. It will fire the soul with unutterable love, and fill it with inexpressible joy!

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The biggest loser!

(James Smith, "The Safe Side!")

There are usually two sides:
the one dangerous--the other safe;
the one is uncertain--and the other is sure.

It is always the wisest--to be found on the safe side!

Look at the unbeliever:
He denies the Bible to be God's book.
He walks by his own reason.
He gratifies his senses and his lusts.
He lives in sin.
He must soon die.
He has no Savior.
He has no true hope.
If the Bible is false--then he is safe; BUT
if the Bible is true--then he is damned forever!

He is certainly not on the safe side!

There are many things in the Bible which he does not like.
He is prejudiced against it.
It never prophecies good concerning him--but always evil.
It requires him to change his present sinful course--but he loves it.
He loves sin--and the Bible condemns it.
He gratifies the lusts of the flesh--and the Bible bids him to mortify them.
In a word, there is as much opposition between the Bible and him--as between light and darkness, holiness and sin, truth and error. Therefore he hates it!

At the best, with him all is uncertain, unsatisfactory, and vexatious.

He is certainly not on the safe side!

Now look at the true Christian:
He believes the Bible to be from God. He has examined it. He has evidence of its inspiration in his heart. He fully believes it.
What the Bible says of himself as a sinner--he knows to be true.
What it says of Jesus as a Savior--he has proved to be a fact.
As guilty--he has applied to God for pardon, and obtained it.
As impure--he has sought the cleansing operations of the Holy Spirit, and has experienced them.
His guilt is gone--therefore he has no slavish fears.
His soul is justified--therefore he has peace with God.
He approves of the inspired precepts--and regulates his life by them.
He carries his cares to God--and is sustained under them.
He realizes that God is his Friend, his Father, and his everlasting Portion.
He is peaceful.
He is often happy.
To him death has no sting--and eternity has no terror.
He knows Jesus as his Savior--and trusts in Him.
He knows God as his Father--and walks with Him.
He knows the Holy Spirit as his comforting Teacher--and listens to Him.

He is, perhaps, more tried than the unbeliever--but he has supports, consolations, and pleasures--of which the unbeliever knows nothing. He lives to bless others, to honor God, to prepare for a glorious immortality.

He would not change his worst day--for the unbeliever's best day!

He is on the safe side!


If the unbeliever should be right--then the Christian is no loser.

But if the Christian is right--and he is--then the unbeliever is the biggest loser--an infinite loser!

Reader, on which side are you? There is but one safe side.

There is no safety for a sinner now--but at the Cross!

There will be no safety at death and judgment--but in Christ!

He who is on the safe side now--will be on the safe side then!

There will be no changing sides then!

"But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit upon His glorious throne! All the nations will be gathered in His presence, and He will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at His right hand--and the goats at His left.
Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed by My Father--inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world!' (the safe side)
Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, 'Away with you, you cursed ones--into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons!'  (the perilous side)
And they will go away into eternal punishment--but the righteous will go into eternal life!" Matthew 25:31-46

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Like sugar in our tea!

(James Smith, "Comfort for the Christian")

"Your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things!" Matthew 6:32

God will display His wisdom--in promoting the eternal welfare of all His children. God's ways are not our ways. They are always profoundly wise; and His wisdom will in the end stand conspicuous and glorious in His paternal dealings with all of His children.

"For what son is not chastened by his father?" Hebrews 12:7
Beloved, if God is our Father--He will chastise us!
We need it!
We deserve it!
We shall have it!

But He will mix mercy with every affliction. Like sugar in our tea--it sometimes lies at the bottom, and needs stirring up!

But there is always mercy there! A cup of unmixed wrath was put into the hands of Jesus--that such a cup might never be put into our hands!

There is sweetness, in the bitterest cup which our Father gives us!

Let us therefore look for the sugar--as we sip the bitter potion!

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If we could hear the awful splash!

(James Smith, "Christian Sympathy")

"Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people!" Jeremiah 9:1

Must it not rather be said of many of us--"They perish forever without anyone regarding it?"

Souls are daily, hourly perishing--but who regards it?

Hell is filling--but who regards it?

Satan is reaping a tremendous harvest--but who regards it?

Every hour, every minute, every second, souls are sinking into hell--but who regards it?

Friends, do you ever weep over perishing sinners? Is it not astonishing, that we can go to the house of God and pass multitudes of ungodly, careless creatures that throng our streets--and never shed a tear! Is it not more astonishing still, that we can preach on the torments of the lost, and the joys of the saved--and see the great mass of the people around us rejecting it, yes, refusing to listen to it--and not weep bitter, bitter tears!

We do not half believe what we preach--or what we hear! We do not half believe the infallible statements of Holy Scripture in reference to the dreadful realities of eternal hell--or else we would feel deeply, and weep frequently too.

The holy Apostle Paul, speaking of his labors at Ephesus, says, "Remember, that by the space of three years, I ceased not to warn every one day and night with tears!" (Acts 20:31). Our adorable Lord and Savior, when He came near to Jerusalem just before His death, "He beheld the city--and wept over it!" Oh, to feel as Paul felt! As Jesus felt! If we realized the danger of sinners, and the terrors of hell as they did--we would weep as they wept!

We should feel for sinners--as if we saw them suspended over the burning lake of hell, and one after another falling in! We should feel for sinners--as if we could hear the awful splash, as the lost soul takes its terrific plunge into the liquid flaming brimstone!

"Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people!"

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The pagans run after all these things!

(James Smith, "Comfort for the Christian")

"Your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things!" Matthew 6:32

Our gracious heavenly Father bids to us cast all our cares upon Him--assuring us that He cares for us!

His EYE is ever upon us! His eye is a Father's eye, which is always quick, and always affects His heart. He has set His eyes upon us for good. His eye is ever over us--fixed immediately upon us!

His EAR catches . . .
  our every sigh,
  our every groan,
  our every desire!
It is always open to our cry. He listens to us--as one most tenderly and deeply interested in us. He knows our every need--and He intends to supply us!

Our heavenly Father has forever determined--that none of His children shall lack any good thing--and that He will never withhold any good thing from them.

"So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things!" Matthew 6:31-32

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An almighty arm!

(James Smith, "Christ and the Christian" 1853)

"Hold me up--and I shall be safe!" Psalm 119:117

Is the Christian guided aright through this wilderness world?
It is by the wisdom of Christ!

He has no wisdom of his own--and he is surrounded by snares and foes! He has within him a principle of evil, which invariably prompts him to leave the right road. He is prone to miss the mark, like a broken bow. He is attracted and affected by external worldly objects, which feed the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life; and but for divine wisdom guiding him--he would stray into the fatal paths of folly and crime! To guide him aright, requires an omniscient eye, a wise intellect, and loving heart; and Jesus possesses and exercises these for the good of His people.

Is the Christian protected from the innumerable dangers and foes to which he is exposed?
It is by the power of Christ!

That power is his guard, and his defense. An almighty arm is placed beneath him--to uphold him. An almighty arm is lifted up--to defend him. He looks to it when foes assail him; he leans on it when his own strength fails him; and he trusts in it, in every hour of danger. Without the power of Jesus--he never could persevere; with it--he can never apostatize. It keeps him as a garrison keeps a town, as a shepherd keeps his flock, as a parent does his child.

Is the Christian supplied? Are his needs anticipated and met?
It is by the providence of Christ!

Jesus rules over all worlds!
He directs and controls all events!
He keeps His eye and His heart upon His people!
He is engaged to provide for them--and He sacredly keeps His engagement.

He is . . .
  observant of all our wants,
  attentive to our cries, and
  ready to supply our needs.

With Jesus for our provider--we are strengthened, supplied, and supported.

O Jesus! what would we be without You?
Dead in our sins!
Under eternal condemnation!
Slaves of our lusts!
Poor condemned criminals!
Depraved and polluted wretches!
Lost and wandering sheep!
Captives of Satan!
Wild and lawless rebels!
Miserable and starving paupers!
Exposed to the just wrath of Almighty God!

"Hold me up--and I shall be safe!" Psalm 119:117

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Nothing feeds, nothing refreshes, nothing delights my soul

(James Smith, "Precious Things from the Everlasting Hills")

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

The Lord Jesus is the subject of my meditations. Not a day passes but my
thoughts are occupied with Him. Forget whom I may--I never forget Him.
Nothing feeds, nothing refreshes, nothing delights my soul--like
vigorous meditations on Jesus. I dwell at times on . . .
  the glories of His person,
  the riches of His grace,
  the merit of His blood,
  the transcendent glory of His righteousness,
  the tenderness of His sympathy,
  the constancy of His love,
  the vastness of His resources,
  the greatness of His power,
  the glory of His offices,
  the prevalence of His intercession, and
  the grandeur of His second coming--
until I am enamored with His beauty, and enraptured with His love!

My meditation of Jesus is sweet! I think of Him upon my bed, and
meditate on Him through the watches of the night.

Jesus is the solace and joy of my soul.
When all is dark within me,
when all is dreary around me,
when all is discouraging before me--
He fills me full of joy with His countenance.
One look from His eye,
one word from His lips,
one breath breathed on my soul--
relieves, restores, and makes me happy.

He is the river of pleasure--in which I sometimes bathe!
He is the Eden of delights--in which I sometimes walk!

Take away Jesus--and my soul droops, desponds, and dies!
Give me Jesus--and the enjoyment of His presence, and I can do without any other heaven!

He is the joy of my brightest days, and my solace in my dreariest nights!

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Under Divine teaching and guidance

(James Smith, "The Spirit of Wisdom" 1853)

"Show me your ways, O Lord,
 teach me your paths;
 guide me in your truth and teach me."
    Psalm 25:4-5

Under Divine teaching and guidance:

SIN is our daily burden.

HOLINESS is our constant pursuit.

The FEAR of God is placed as sentinel of the soul, to watch the approach of the enemy.

GODLY SORROW is appointed the messenger to carry confessions, petitions, and desires to the throne of grace.

ZEAL is armed with a sword to cut off the sinful right hand, or pluck out the sinning right eye.

HOPE is placed on the watchtower to look out for the coming of the Lord--when sin shall expire in His presence, and holiness be perfected in the rays of His glory.

FAITH is engaged to work for God and man, having . . .
  the promises for its support,
  the precepts for its guide,
  and love for its handmaid.

PATIENCE is appointed to keep all quiet and calm within--let the burden ever so heavy, and the trial ever so severe. Patience will call submission and resignation into active employment, if fretfulness, murmuring, or dissatisfaction should attempt to stir.

PEACE is placed as a garrison, to keep the heart and mind from anxiety, foreboding, and fault-finding with the Lord's dealings.

JOY is directed to run backwards and forwards to the wells of salvation, to supply the soul with the reviving, invigorating, and strengthening waters of life! Thus evil is prevented, good is secured, God is glorified, Satan is foiled, and the soul is saved!

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It leaves earth for Heaven--or for Hell!

(James Smith, "CONSIDER!" 1859)

"This is what the Lord Almighty says: Consider your ways!" Haggai 1:7

God commands you to consider--and you cannot neglect to do so, but you sin. Your circumstances require it of you--and you cannot neglect to do so, but you must be losers thereby. God complains, "My people do not consider!"

Inconsideration has ruined thousands--and will ruin thousands more. But shall it ruin you? It will--if you give way to it. Let me entreat you to do so no longer.

Consider that you are immortal--and must live forever.
Your BODY will die--and perhaps soon.
But not so your SOUL--it never dies.
Death changes its place--but not its nature.
It leaves earth for Heaven--or for Hell! It lives as much when the body is dead--as it did before. It is conscious--and capable of enjoying the highest pleasures--or of enduring the most dreadful torments! And one or the other will be its lot.

Heaven--or Hell,
happiness--or misery,
always follows upon death!

Surely an immortal being ought to consider:

  Where shall I be after death?

  What shall I be?

  Among whom shall I have my eternal portion?

Is it rational to confine our attention to the present time, and the present world--when time bears no comparison to eternity; and our stay in this present world must be brief?

Consider that you are a sinner.
You have broken God's law.
You have incurred God's displeasure.
You are condemned by God's Word.
You deserve God's wrath.
Your heart is alienated from God.
You act in opposition to God.
You lie absolutely at God's mercy--and at any moment He could cut you down, and send you to Hell.
You have no right to expect anything but justice at His hands! And if He dealt with you after your sins, and rewarded you according to your iniquities--your doom would be indescribably dreadful!

Reader! "Consider your ways!"

Consider that you are immortal--and that you must live somewhere forever!

Consider that you are a sinner--and that you cannot live in Heaven as such!

Consider that you may be saved--for the Lord Jesus Christ is both able and willing to save sinners!

Consider that you can only be saved by sincere faith in Christ!

Consider that you must denounce your own righteousness, and rely solely on His finished work!

Consider that if you are saved by Christ--you will live to Christ.
He will be your Lord--as well as your Savior.
He will be your example--as well as your atoning sacrifice!

Consider that faith is the root of holiness, and a holy life alone proves our faith to be genuine.

"This is what the Lord Almighty says: Consider your ways!"

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If a man had to wade breast deep through a thousand hells!

(Charles Spurgeon)

"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" 2 Corinthians 9:15

Jesus is God's indescribable gift!

Heaven itself is nothing, as compared with Him!

If a man had to wade breast deep through a thousand hells to obtain Christ--it would be well worth the venture, if at the last he might but say, "My Beloved is mine--and I am His!"

Jesus is so precious--that He cannot be matched! There is none like Him. The most lovely of the lovely--are vile and deformed, when compared with Him. As Rutherford would say, "Black sun, black moon, black stars--but, O bright, infinitely bright Lord Jesus!"

If you ransacked time and space--eternity and immensity--you could find none that could even be compared unto Him--He is so precious!

He is all that your souls can desire; yes, He Himself is all.

You could not buy Christ in any market--if you gave the price of heaven and earth for Him.

"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" 2 Corinthians 9:15

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Only fully understood in hell

(John Flavel)

"How will you escape being condemned to hell!"
    Matthew 23:33

Condemnation is the judgment or sentence
of God--condemning a man to bear the just
punishment of His eternal wrath for his sins.

Condemnation is a word of deep and dreadful
signification. It is a word whose profound sense
and intensity are only fully understood in hell.

"There is now no condemnation for those who
 are in Christ Jesus!" Romans 8:1

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Christ's  presence--and sin's presence

(Arthur Pink, "Sin's Presence" 1948 )

There are two sides to a Christian's life: a light side--and a dark one; an elevating side--and a depressing one. His experience is neither all joy--nor all grief; but a mingling of both. It was so with the apostle Paul: "As sorrowful--yet always rejoicing" (2 Corinthians 6:10). When a person is regenerated, he is not immediately taken to heaven. Nor is sin then eradicated from his being, though its dominion over him is broken. It is indwelling corruption which casts its dark shadow over his joy!

The varied experiences of the believer, are occasioned by Christ's presence--and sin's presence. If, on the one hand, it is blessedly true that Christ is with him all his days, even unto the end; on the other hand, it is solemnly true that sin indwells him all his days, even unto the end of his earthly history! Said Paul, "evil is present with me"; and that, not only occasionally--but sin "dwells in me" (Romans 7:20-21). Thus, as God's people feed upon the Lamb, it is "with bitter herbs that they eat it" (Exodus 12:8 ).

The Christian's consciousness of indwelling sin,
his mourning over its defiling influence,
his sincere efforts to strive against its solicitations,
his penitent confessions to God of his failure to master this inveterate foe
--are among the unmistakable evidences that he is a regenerate person. For it is certain--that no one who is dead in trespasses and sins, realizes that there is a sea of iniquity within his heart, defiling his very thoughts and imagination; still less does he make conscience of the same and lament it!

It is cause for fervent praise--if your eyes have been opened to see "the sinfulness of sin," and your heart to feel its obnoxiousness. Since it was not always thus, a great change has taken place--you have been made the subject of a miracle of grace!

But the continuance of indwelling sin presents a sore and perplexing problem to the Christian. He is fully assured that nothing is too hard for the Lord.
Why then, is evil allowed to remain present with him?
Why is he not rid of this hideous thing--which he so much loathes and hates?
Why should this horrible depravity be allowed to disturb his peace and mar his joy?
Why does the God of all grace not rid him of this harassing tyrant?

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

For the answers to these difficult questions, be sure to read the whole of Pink's insightful and helpful 3 page article, "Sin's Presence".

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When a man's tongue is extensively wrong

(J. C. Ryle)

Let it be a settled principle again in our religion, that when a man's general conversation is ungodly--his heart is graceless and unconverted. Let us not give way to the foolish notion, that no one can know anything of the state of another's heart, and that although men are living wickedly--they have good hearts at the bottom. Such notions are flatly contradictory to our Lord's teaching. Is the general tone of a man's speech carnal, worldly, godless or profane? Then let us understand, that this is the state of his heart! When a man's tongue is extensively wrong, it is absurd, no less than unscriptural, to say that his heart is right!

"No good tree bears bad fruit; nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart; and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart--his mouth speaks!" Luke 6:43-45

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Reader, how is it with you?

(James Smith, "MARY" 1859)

"Mary sat at Jesus' feet, listening to what He taught" Luke 10:39

Let us notice Mary's POSITION. She was sitting at the feet of Jesus. Most probably He was reclining on the couch, and she went and took her place behind Him, where she could hear what He said, and occasionally get a glimpse of His face.

It is the posture of HUMILITY--she took the lowest place. She had no wish to be seen, nor did she regard her own ease--she was intent on getting good from Jesus.

It was the posture of ATTENTION--she wished to catch every word, and to understand all that the Lord was saying. If Jesus is teaching--then Mary will attend and listen.

It was the posture of a LEARNER--she was a disciple of Jesus, therefore she sat down at His feet, that she may receive of His words. He need not now say unto her, "Learn of Me," for she was most anxious to do so.

It was the posture of SATISFACTION--if she could but be within the sound of His voice, within the sight of His eye--it was enough for Mary. Anywhere with Jesus--would satisfy her!

It was also the posture of REPOSE--here at the feet of Jesus, she found rest unto her soul. Her desires were satisfied, her love was gratified, her hungry soul was fed. It was enough.

Being at the feet of Jesus was to her--a kind of earthly heaven.

Mary sat at the feet of Jesus in a humble cottage.
She now sits by His side in the heavenly mansion!

Reader, how is it with you?

Are you humble enough to take a seat at the feet of Jesus?

Is it your delight to listen to His words?

Are you like a little child desiring to learn of Him, and be taught by Him?

Are you satisfied--if you can but get near to Jesus?

Do you find sweet and refreshing repose in His presence?

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Strength for the Day

(James Smith, "Strength for the Day" 1859)

"As your days--so shall your strength be." Deuteronomy 33:25

This promise which ensures us suitable and sufficient strength for all future days--is made by One who loves us dearly. Loves us--but who shall describe, who can suitably represent His love!
It is Infinite love--and cannot be comprehended!
It is Eternal love--and cannot be measured!
It is Unchangeable love--and cannot be diverted from its objects!
It is Sovereign love--and was fixed on them without anything in them to attract or draw it toward them!
It is Divine love--
  deeper than a father's love;
  more tender than a mother's love;
  stronger than a husband's love.

This Divine love is . . .
  a fire that cannot be quenched,
  an ocean that cannot be exhausted,
  a sun that will never set!