Grace Gems

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We owe everything to grace!

(James Smith, "The Believer's Triumph" 1862)

Glory be to God, for making us, who were once
children of wrath--and consequently heirs of hell--
children of grace--and consequently heirs of heaven!

We owe everything to grace--free grace, sovereign grace!

Our heavenly heavenly Father requires us . . .
  to believe Him without questioning,
  to obey Him without objecting,
  to follow Him without hesitating, and
  to submit to Him without murmuring or complaining.

As God's chosen, adopted, and redeemed children
--filial love, filial confidence, and filial obedience,
should characterize our lives.

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has
 appeared to all men. It teaches us to say 'No'
 to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live
 self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this
 present age, while we wait for the blessed hope
 --the glorious appearing of our great God and
 Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to
 redeem us from all wickedness, and to purify for
 Himself a people that are His very own, eager
 to do good works." Titus 2:11-14

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I myself will help you!

(James Smith)

"For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you: Do not fear; I will help you. Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself will help you," declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." Isaiah 41:13-14

Wherever the Lord leads us--He will support us; nor shall the difficulties of the way, or the weakness we feel--be too much for us. His hand is stretched out to us, and it is for faith to lay hold of it and proceed, confident of divine assistance.

His omnipotent arm is the protection of His people in danger--and the strength of His people in weakness. He is "an ever-present help in times of trouble". He is a God at hand. Are you weak, or in difficulty? Plead His Word; it is plain, positive, and sure. He cannot lie. He will not deceive. His strength is made perfect, and is glorified in your weakness. Fear not, underneath you are His everlasting arms!

He CAN help--for He is omnipotent. He WILL help--for He has given you His Word. "Trust in the Lord at all times; yes, trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength!" That strength is promised to you, and will be employed for you in answer to prayer.

Why then are you so fearful? Why cast down? He says, "I myself will help you!"

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Paul's subject!

(James Smith, "Rills from the Rock of Ages", 1860
 This one is a bit longer--but it it choice!)

Paul was . . .
  an extraordinary man,
  called to an extraordinary office, and
  being sent to perform an extraordinary work
  --he chose an extraordinary subject.

He knew history,
he was acquainted with philosophy, and
he was well versed in tradition.

There were . . .
  few subjects that he could not handle,
  few themes that he could not discuss,
  few congregations that he could not interest.

But he made the conversion of sinners the object of his life--and he chose Christ crucified to be the subject of his ministry!
No matter where he went--he took his subject with him.
No matter whom he addressed--he directed their attention to this point.

He knew what man required--and what man preferred; but it made no matter to him. As he wrote to the Corinthians, so he always acted, "Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified--a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God!" 1 Corinthians 1:22-24

Paul's subject then, was Christ Crucified!

Paul CHOSE this subject--and he had good reasons for doing so!

First, it is a most comprehensive subject,
for it is the center where . . .
  time and eternity,
  God and man,
  sin and holiness,
  life and death--meet!

It is the theater where God . . .
  displays His perfections,
  unfolds His purposes,
  maintains His rights,
  confounds His foes, and
  secures His glory!

It is the instrument by which . . .
  death is destroyed,
  sin is conquered,
  rebels are reconciled,
  saints are sanctified, and
  heaven is opened!

It is an object which . . .
  confounds reason,
  astonishes angels,
  attracts sinners,
  imparts holiness, and
  furnishes matter for endless praise!

Second, it is the most honored subject.
It tunes the harps of heaven.
It fills the sweetest songs on earth.
It is that by which the Holy Spirit works . . .
  in the conversion of sinners,
  in the consolation of saints,
  in the sanctification of believers, and
  in the establishment of the church of God.

By the preaching of Christ crucified . . .
  the oracles of the heathen were silenced,
  the altars of the heathen were cast down, and
  the temples of the heathen were transformed into houses of prayer.

By the preaching of the cross . . .
  society is elevated,
  nations are honored, and
  millions are snatched from Hell!

Third, it is a subject that is intensely hated!
Devils hate it, and try to prevent its publication.
Erroneous men hate it, and try to substitute something of their own for it.
And just in proportion as men are influenced by the prince of darkness, or yield to the pride of their own fallen natures--will they hate the doctrine of the cross!

But all Christians love it,
all the ministers of Christ glory in it,
all poor perishing sinners need it!

The more we know of God's nature and government--the more we see of man's natural state and condition.
And the more we feel of our own weakness and depravity--the more shall we prize and value the doctrine of the cross!

Christ, and Him crucified shall be . . .
  the subject of my ministry,
  the theme of my songs,
  the joy of my heart, and
  the foundation of my everlasting hope!

O my soul, look to Jesus--as crucified for your sins!

Think of Jesus--as dying in your stead!

Speak of Jesus--as full of grace and love!

Christians! WHAT do we preach?
We are ALL preachers--and we preach daily!
But do we preach Christ?
Do we speak of Him with our tongues?
Do we write of Him with our pens?
Do we honor Him with our lives?
Is Christ and His glory--the grand end and aim of our life?

WHY do we preach Christ?
Is it out of love to Him?
Is it that we may do good to souls?
Is it that we may please God?

Christ crucified should be preached by every Christian.
Christ crucified should be preached in all companies.
Christ crucified should be preached every day.

Beloved,
  if we would save souls from death,
  if we would rescue sinners from eternal misery,
  if we would make believers happy,
  if we would cover Satan with shame,
  if we would deprive death of its sting, and
  if we would make the road to glory plain--
we must preach Christ crucified;
we must exercise faith in Christ crucified;
and we must daily meditate on Christ crucified!

May Christ and His cross be all my theme!
May Christ and His cross be all my hope!
May Christ and His cross be all my joy!

Cross of Jesus! Jesus crucified!
To you would I look in life--and all its troubles!
To you would I look in death--and all its pangs!
To you would I look in glory--when filled with all its joys!

"God forbid, that I should glory, except in the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ!"

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O fearful state! O terrible condition! O awful doom!

(James Smith, "Rills from the Rock of Ages", 1860)

"Whoever believes in Him is not condemned--but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son!" John 3:18

The unbeliever's condemnation is for sin; but his condemnation is not merely for violating the law--but for refusing a pardon, presented to him by God as an act of infinite mercy.

Every unbeliever is presently in a state of condemnation!

He is condemned, BY WHOM? By God, the righteous Judge, the Judge of all.

He is condemned, FOR WHAT? Not merely for breaking the law--but for insulting the Lawgiver, by refusing a pardon, procured at no less a cost than the death of his Son, and presented in the everlasting gospel.

He is condemned, WHEN? Now, already! At this moment, while he reads these lines! The manacled criminal in his cell, waiting for the day of execution, is not more really condemned, than is every unbeliever!

He is condemned, TO WHAT? Ah, who can tell? His punishment is represented . . .
by blackness, darkness, and a horrible tempest!
By weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth!
By a lake of fire, a bottomless pit, and a gnawing worm which never dies!

He is condemned, WITH WHOM? The devil and his demons--and with most depraved of the human race!

He is condemned, BY WHAT? Both the law--and the gospel; both the Creator--and the Savior!

See then, every unbeliever's state--he is condemned already! Yes, however moral the life, however amiable the disposition--he is condemned already! Condemned to be driven from God, from holy angels, from blessed believers; and to be associated with devils and damned souls forever! Condemned, just because he would not believe in Jesus--he would not accept the pardon--he would not be reconciled to God.

O strange infatuation! O fearful delusion! O astonishing power of sin!

"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life--but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath abides on him!" John 3:36

O fearful state! O terrible condition! O awful doom!

Believe at once--and escape so terrible a doom!

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The Friend of His people in distress!

(James Smith)

"You have known my soul in adversities!" Psalm 31:7

Prosperity makes friends--but adversity tries them.
Many will visit and smile upon us--when the sun shines.
Few will venture out to do us good--in the wintry or stormy day!

David had been in adversity; he had been forsaken and neglected by his friends--but not by his God! His God . . .
  knew him,
  and visited him,
  and cared for him,
  and sympathized with him,
  and supplied him,
  and at length delivered him.

This honor have all His saints! We have been in adversity, we have passed through a wilderness; but our God has . . .
  led us,
  and fed us,
  and preserved us,
  and brought us out into a wealthy place.

We can witness for Him in reference to the past; and we ought calmly, quietly, and confidently to trust Him for the future. He has pledged His Word that He will deliver us in six troubles, and that in seven no evil shall touch us; and He who has promised is faithful.

He is emphatically, the Friend of His people in distress!

In our greatest trials--He will manifest His richest grace!

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A LOVING PURPOSE

(John MacDuff, "The Rainbow in the Clouds")

"Let the Lord be exalted, who delights in the prosperity of his servant." Psalm 35:27

What is "prosperity?" Is it threads of life weaved into a bright outcome? a full cup? ample riches? worldly applause? an unbroken circle? No! these are often a snare; received without gratitude; dimming the soul to its nobler destinies. Often spiritually, it rather means God taking us by the hand into the lowly Valleys of Humiliation; leading us as He did His servant Job of old; out of his sheep, oxen, camels, health, wealth, children; in order that we may be brought before Him in the dust, and say, "Blessed be His holy name!"

Yes! The very reverse of what is generally known in the world as Prosperity--forms the background on which the Rainbow of Promise is seen. God smiles on us through these rainbows and teardrops of sorrows! He loves us too well. He has too great an interest in our spiritual welfare to permit us to live on in what is misnamed "Prosperity." When He sees duties languidly performed, or coldly neglected, the heart deadened, and love to Himself congealed by the absorbing power of the present world--He puts a thorn in our nest to drive us to the wing--and prevent our being grovelers forever!

I may not be able now to understand the mystery of these dealings. I may be asking through the tears, "Why this unkind arrest on my earthly happiness? Why so premature a lopping of my boughs of promise? Why such a speedy withering of my most cherished gourd?" The answer is plain. It is your soul's prosperity which He has in view. Believe it--your true Ebenezers will yet be raised close by your Zarephaths (the place of furnace).

His afflictions are no arbitrary appointments. There is righteous necessity in all that He does. As He lays His chastening hand upon you, and leads you by ways you know not, and which you never would have chosen--He whispers the gentle accents in your ear, "Beloved I wish above all things that you would prosper--even as your soul prospers."

Rest in the quiet consciousness that all is well. Murmur at nothing which brings you nearer to His own loving Presence. Be thankful for your very cares, because you can confidently cast them all upon Him. He has both your temporal and eternal "prosperity" too much at heart--to appoint one superfluous pang, one needless stroke. Commit therefore, all that concerns you to His safe keeping, and leave it there!

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THE REASON FOR CHASTISEMENT

(John MacDuff, "The Rainbow in the Clouds")

"For whom the Lord loves--He chastens." Hebrews 12:6

What! God loves me--when He is discharging His quiver upon me--when He is emptying me from vessel to vessel--when He is causing the sun of my earthly joys to set in clouds? Yes! O afflicted, tempest-tossed one, He chastens you--because He loves you! This trial comes from His own tender, loving hand--from His own tender, unchanging heart!

Are you laid on a sickbed--with sorrowful months and wearisome nights appointed unto you? Let this be the pillow on which your aching head reclines: It is because He loves me!

Is it bereavement which has swept your heart and desolated your dwelling? He appointed that chamber of death--because He loves you! As it is the suffering child of the family which claims a mother's deepest affections and most tender solicitude--so have you at this moment embarked on your side, the most tender love and solicitude of your heavenly Father. He loved you into this sorrow--and will love you through it. There is nothing capricious in His dealings. LOVE is the reason for all that He does. There is not one drop of wrath--in that bitter cup you are called to drink!

Says one, "He has purchased these afflictions for us, as well as everything else. Blessed be His name, it is part of His covenant to visit us with the rod." What does our adorable Lord Himself say? The words were spoken, not when He was on earth, a sojourner in a sorrowing world--but when enthroned amid the glories of Heaven. "As many as I love--I rebuke and chasten." Believer! rejoice in the thought that the rod, the chastening rod--is in the hands of the living, loving Savior who died for you!

Tribulation is the King's Highway--and yet that highway is paved with love. As some flowers require crushing before shedding their fragrance--so does your God think it suitable to bruise you. As some birds are said to sing their sweetest notes when the thorn pierces their bosom--so does He appoint affliction to lacerate--that you may be driven to the wing, singing, in your upward soaring, "My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed!"

Be it ours to say, "Lord, I will love You not only despite Your rod--but because of Your rod! I will rush into the very arms that are chastening me!"

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DIVINE SYMPATHY

(John MacDuff, "The Rainbow in the Clouds")

"I know their sorrows!" Exodus 3:7

Man cannot say so. There are many sensitive fibers in the soul, which the best and most tender human sympathy cannot touch. But the Prince of Sufferers, He who led the way in the path of sorrow, "knows our frame." When crushing bereavement lies like ice on the heart, when the dearest earthly friend cannot enter into the peculiarities of our grief--Jesus can, Jesus does! He who once bore my sins--also carried my sorrows. That eye, now on the throne, was once dim with weeping! I can think in all my afflictions--"He was afflicted;" in all my tears--"Jesus wept."

"I know their sorrows!" He may seem at times thus to forget and forsake us; leaving us to utter the plaintive cry, "Has God forgotten to be gracious?" when all the while He is bending over us in the most tender love. He often allows our needs to attain their extremity, that He may stretch forth His succoring hand, and reveal the plenitude of His grace! "The Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy."

And "knowing" our sorrows, is a guarantee that none will be sent--but only what He sees to be needful. "I will not," says He, "make a full end of you--but I will correct you in measure." All that He sends is precisely meted out; wisely apportioned. There is nothing accidental--no unneeded thorn; no superfluous pang. He "puts our tears in a bottle." Each one is counted, drop by drop, tear by tear, they are sacred things among the treasures of God!

Suffering believer, the iron may have entered deeply into your soul--yet rejoice! Jesus--a sorrowing, sympathizing Jesus--"knows" your aching pangs and burning tears, and He will "come down to deliver you!" Exodus 3:8

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are!" Hebrews 4:15

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THE TENDER SOLICITUDE

(John MacDuff, "The Words of Jesus")

"The very hairs of your head are all numbered!" Matthew 10:30

What a promise is this! All that befalls you, to the very numbering of your hairs--is known to God! Nothing can happen by accident or chance. Nothing can elude His inspection. The fall of the forest leaf--the fluttering of the insect--the waving of the angel's wing--the annihilation of a world--all are equally noted by Him! Man speaks of great things and small things--but God knows no such distinction.

How especially comforting to think of this tender solicitude with reference to His own covenant people--that He metes out all  their joys--and all their sorrows! Every sweet--and every bitter--is ordained by Him. Even "wearisome nights" are "appointed." Not a pang I feel, not a tear I shed--but is known to Him. What are called "dark dealings," are the ordinations of undeviating faithfulness. Man may err--his ways are often crooked; "but as for God--His way is perfect!" He puts my tears into His bottle. Every moment His everlasting arms are underneath and around me. He keeps me "as the apple of His eye." He "bears" me as a man bears his own son!

Do I look to the FUTURE? Is there much of uncertainty and mystery hanging over it? It may be, much foreboding of evil. Trust Him! All is marked out for me. Dangers will be averted; bewildering mazes will show themselves to be interlaced and interweaved with mercy. "He keeps the feet of His saints." Not a hair of their head will be touched.

He leads sometimes darkly, sometimes sorrowfully; most frequently by cross and circuitous ways, which we ourselves would not have chosen; but always wisely, always tenderly. With all its mazy windings and turnings, its roughness and ruggedness--the believer's is not only a right way--but the right way--the best which covenant love and wisdom could select.

"Nothing," says Jeremy Taylor, "does so establish the mind amid the rollings and turbulence of present things--as both a look above them and a look beyond them; above them--to the steady and loving hand by which they are ruled; and beyond them--to the sweet and beautiful end to which, by that hand, they will be brought." "The Great Counselor," says Thomas Brooks, "puts clouds and darkness round about Him, bidding us follow at His beck through the cloud, promising an eternal and uninterrupted sunshine on the other side." On that "other side" we shall see how every apparent rough blast has been hastening our boats nearer the desired haven.

Well may I commit the keeping of my soul to Jesus in well-doing--as unto a faithful Creator. He gave Himself for me. This transcendent pledge of love--is the guarantee for the bestowment of every other needed blessing. Oh, blessed thought! my sorrows are numbered--by the Man of Sorrows; my tears are counted--by Him who shed first His tears, and then His blood for me! He will impose no needless burden, and exact no unnecessary sacrifice. There was no unnecessary drop in the cup of His own sufferings; neither will there be in that of His people. "Though He slays me--yet will I trust in Him!" "Therefore comfort one another with these words."

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The voice of Jesus in the storm!

(John MacDuff, "The Words of Jesus")

"Take courage! It is I--do not be afraid!" Mark 6:50

Jesus lives! His people may dispel their misgivings--for Omnipotence treads the waves! To sense it may seem at times to be otherwise-- accident and chance may appear to regulate human allotments; but not so! "The Lord's voice is upon the waters!" He sits at the helm, guiding the tempest-tossed bark--and guiding it well.

How often does He come to us as He did to the disciples in that midnight hour, when all seems lost, "in the fourth watch of the night,"--when we least looked for Him; or when, like the shipwrecked apostle, "When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved!"--how often just at that moment, is the word of Jesus heard floating over the billows, "Take courage! It is I--do not be afraid!"

Believer, are you in trouble? Listen to the voice in the storm, "It is I--do not be afraid!" He seems to say: "It was I--who roused the storm! It is I--who when it has done its work, will calm it, and say, 'Peace, be still.' Every wave rolls at My bidding--every trial is My appointment--all have some gracious end; they are not sent to dash you against the sunken rocks--but to waft you nearer to Heaven!"

Is it sickness? "I am He who ordained your sicknesses! The weary wasted frame, and the nights of languishing--were sent by Me!"

Is it bereavement? "I am 'the Brother' born for adversity! Your loved and lost were plucked away by Me!"

Is it death? "I am the 'Abolisher of death,' seated by your side to calm the waves of ebbing life! It is I--about to fetch My pilgrim home. It is My voice that speaks: the Master has come--and calls for you!"

Reader, you will have reason yet to praise your God for every such storm! This is the history of every heavenly voyager, "SO He brings them to their desired haven."

And what, then, should your attitude be? "Looking unto Jesus!" Looking away from self, and sin, and human props, and earthly refuges and confidences--and fixing the eye of unwavering and unflinching faith on a reigning Savior! Ah, how a real quickening sight of Christ--dispels all guilty fears! "Take courage! It is I--do not be afraid!"

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THE BEATIFIC VISION

(John MacDuff, "The Words of Jesus")

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God!" Matthew 5:8

Here is Heaven! This promise of Jesus represents the future state of the glorified to consist not in locality--but in character; the essence of its bliss is the full vision and fruition of God! Our attention is called away from all vague and indefinite theories about the circumstantials of future happiness. The one grand object of contemplation, the "glory which excels"--is the sight of God Himself! The one grand practical lesson enforced on His people, is the cultivation of that purity of heart, without which none could see, or (even could we suppose it possible to be admitted to see Him) none could enjoy God!

What will Heaven be--but the entire surrender of the soul to Him, without any bias to evil, without the fear of corruption within, echoing to temptation without; every thought brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ; no contrariety to His mind; all in blessed unison with His will! And the whole being, impregnated with holiness:
the intellect--purified and ennobled, consecrating all its powers to His service;
the memory--a holy repository of pure and hallowed recollections;
the affections--without one competing rival, purged from all the dross of earthliness;
the love of God--the one supreme animating passion;
the glory of God--the motive principle interfused through every thought, feeling, and action of the life immortal!
In one word, the heart a clear fountain--no sediment to dim its purity!

Yes, this is Heaven: purity of heart--and "God all in all!" Much, doubtless, there may and will be of a subordinate kind, to intensify the bliss of the redeemed: communion with saints and angels; re-admission into the society of death-divided friends. But all these will fade before the great central glory: "God Himself shall be with them, and be their God! They shall see His face!"

Believers have been aptly called 'sunflowers'--turning their faces as the sunflower, towards the Sun of Righteousness; and hanging their leaves in sadness and sorrow--when that Sun is away. It will be in Heaven, that the emblem is complete. There, every flower in the heavenly garden will be turned God-wards, bathing its tints of loveliness in the all-excelling glory of God! Reader, may it be yours, to know all the marvels contained in these few glowing words, "We shall be like Him--for we shall see Him as He is!" "I shall be satisfied--when I awake with Your likeness!"

"And every man who has this hope in Him--purifies himself, even as He is pure."

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RESTRAINING GRACE

(John MacDuff, "The Faithful Promiser")

"Satan has desired to have you--that he may sift you as wheat.
 But I have prayed for you--that your faith may not fail." Luke 22:31, 32

What a scene does this unfold!
Satan tempting--Jesus praying!
Satan sifting--Jesus pleading!
"The strong man assailing"--"the stronger than the strong" beating him back!

Believer! here is the past history and present secret of your safety in the midst of temptation! An interceding Savior was at your side, saying to every threatening wave, "Thus far shall you go--and no farther!" God often permits His people to be on the very verge of the precipice, to remind them of their own weakness; but never farther than the brink! The restraining hand and grace of Omnipotence is ready to rescue them, "Although he stumbles--yet he shall not be utterly cast down." And why? "For the Lord upholds him with His right hand!"

The wolf may be prowling for his prey; but what can he do, when the almighty Shepherd is always there, tending with the watchful eye that "neither slumbers nor sleeps!"

Who cannot subscribe to the testimony, "When my foot slipped, Your mercy, O Lord, held me up!" Who can look back on his past pilgrimage, and fail to see it crowded with Ebenezers, with this inscription: "You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling!" My soul, where would you have been this day--had you not been "kept" by the power of God?

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

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NEEDFUL GRACE

(John MacDuff, "The Faithful Promiser")

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

God does not give grace--until the hour of trial comes. But when it does come--the amount of grace, and the nature of the special grace required--is granted. My soul! do not dwell with painful apprehension on the future. Do not anticipate coming sorrows, or perplexing yourself with the grace needed for future emergencies. Tomorrow will bring its promised grace--along with tomorrow's trials.

God, wishing to keep His people humble, and dependent on Himself--does not give a stock of grace. He metes it out for every day's exigencies, that they may be constantly traveling between . . .
  their own emptiness--and Christ's fullness;
  their own weakness--and Christ's strength.

But when the exigency comes, you may safely trust an Almighty arm to bear you through!

Is there now some "thorn in the flesh" sent to lacerate you? You may have been entreating the Lord for its removal. Your prayer has, doubtless, been heard and answered; but not in the way, perhaps, either expected or desired by you. The "thorn" may still be left to goad, the trial may still be left to buffet; but "more grace" has been given to endure them! Oh! how often have His people thus been led to glory in their infirmities, and triumph in their afflictions--seeing that the power of Christ rests more abundantly upon them! The strength which the hour of trial brings--often makes the Christian wonder to himself!

[nChrist]

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ALL-SUFFICIENT GRACE

(John MacDuff, "The Faithful Promiser")

"God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all sufficiency in all things--may abound to every good work." 2 Corinthians 9:8

All-sufficiency in all things! Believer! Surely you are "thoroughly equipped for every good work!"

Grace is no scanty thing, doled out in pittances!
It is a glorious treasury, which the key of prayer can always unlock--but can never empty!
It is a fountain--full, flowing, ever flowing, over flowing!

Mark these three ALL'S in this precious promise. It is a three-fold link in a golden chain, let down from the throne of grace, by the God of grace. "All grace!" "all-sufficiency!" in "all things!" and these to "abound."

Oh! precious thought! My need cannot impoverish that inexhaustible treasury of grace! Myriads are hourly hanging on it, drawing from it--and yet there is no diminution. Out of that fullness we, too, may all receive, "grace upon grace!"

My soul, do you not love to dwell on that all-abounding grace! Your own insufficiency in everything, met with a divine "all-sufficiency in all things!"
Grace in all circumstances and situations!
Grace in all vicissitudes and changes!
Grace in all the varied phases of the Christian's being!
Grace in sunshine--and in storm!
Grace in health--and in sickness!
Grace in life--and in death!
Grace for the old believer--and the young believer.
Grace for the tried believer, and the weak believer, and the tempted believer.
Grace for duty--and grace in duty.
Grace to carry the joyous cup with a steady hand--and grace to drink the bitter cup with an unmurmuring spirit!
Grace to have prosperity sanctified--and grace to say through tears, "May Your will be done!"

"God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all sufficiency in all things--may abound to every good work." 2 Corinthians 9:8

[nChrist]

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LOVE IN CHASTISEMENT

(John MacDuff, "The Faithful Promiser")

"As many as I love--I rebuke and chasten!" Revelation 3:19

Sorrowing Believer! what could you wish more than this? Your furnace is severe; but divine love is the fuel that feeds its flames! Its every spark is love! It is kindled by your heavenly Father's hand--and designed as a pledge of His special love.

How many of His dear children has He so rebuked and chastened; and all, all for one reason, "I love them!" The myriads in glory have passed through these same furnace-fires--there they were chosen--there they were purified, sanctified, and made "vessels fit for the Master's use;" the dross and the alloy purged--that the pure metal might remain.

And are you to claim exemption from the same discipline? Are you to think it strange concerning these same fiery trials that may be purifying you? Rather exult in them--as your adoption privilege! Do not envy those who are strangers to the refining flames--who are "without chastisement."

You should surely rather have the severest discipline--with the Father's love; than the fullest earthly cup--without the Father's smile. Oh! for grace to say, when the furnace is hottest, and the rod sorest, "Yes, Father, for this was Your good pleasure!"

And what, after all, is the severest of your chastisements, in comparison with what your sins have deserved? Do you murmur under a Father's correcting love? What would it have been to have stood the wrath of an un-propitiated Judge, and that, too, forever? Surely, in the light of eternity, the heaviest pang of earth--is indeed "a light affliction!"

"When He has tried me--I shall come forth as gold!" Job 23:10