Grace Gems

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PRAYER

( James Smith, "Sunny Subjects for All Seasons" 1858 )

"Pray without ceasing." 1 Thessalonians 5:17

How important is a spirit of prayer! It is . . .
  the proof of regeneration,
  the manifestation of grace in our hearts, and
  the evidence our title to mansions in the skies!

Prayer is . . .
  the breath of the renewed soul,
  the beating of the sanctified heart,
  the effect of the life of God within us.

O that I had prayed more!

Prayer should become a habit with us--then everything would furnish us with matter for prayer. Prayer should mingle with our pleasures and our pains, with our labor and our rest. O for more prayer!

We should never do--what we cannot pray God to bless.

We should never go--where we cannot ask God to go with us.

If we would hold fast our profession,
if we would adorn the gospel,
if we would honor Jesus,
if we would enjoy our mercies,
if we would get good by our trials,
if we would see all things working together for good,
if we would conquer Satan,
if we would overcome the world,
if we would crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts
  --we must pray!

Prayer, if it is believing prayer . . .
  opens Heaven to us,
  unveils the glorious face of God, and
  brings down foretastes of the joys of paradise,
  makes us a match for all our foes,
  enables us patiently to carry every cross, and with perseverance to climb and pass over the loftiest hills we meet with on our heaven-bound pilgrimage!

Those who pray, will, by deriving strength from Heaven, by drawing down wisdom from above--withstand every storm, and shout God's praises at last.

Tempted Christian--pray, and you will overcome every temptation.

Troubled Christian--pray, and God will deliver you out of every trouble.

Perplexed Christian--pray, and God will make your way plain before your face.

Doubting Christian--pray, and God will disperse your doubts, and chase your fears away.

Trembling Christian--pray, and God will strengthen you with strength in the soul.

Sick Christian--pray, and God will make all your bed in your affliction.

Dying Christian--pray, and death will lose all its terrors, and you will gently fall asleep in Jesus.

Lost sinner--pray, for God who heard the publican and justified him, will hear you and save you.

O for the grace of prayer, that we may in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present our requests to God.

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." Colossians 4:2

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You are precious in My sight!

(James Smith, "Daily Bible Readings for the Lord's Household")

"You are precious in My sight!" Isaiah 43:4

All of the Lord's people are precious in His sight! Never was
choice child so precious in the estimation of a fond mother
--as the poorest, weakest believer, is to the Lord Jesus!

They are precious to Him--therefore He laid down His life for them!

He will never, never part with one of them!

Their persons are precious,
their graces are precious,
their prayers and praises are precious,
their life is precious,
their death is precious--
"Precious in the sight of the Lord--is the death of His saints."

They are precious to the Father--as His choice!

They are precious to the Son--as His bride!

They are precious to the Holy Spirit--as His temple!

They are . . .
  redeemed by precious blood,
  blessed with precious faith,
  interested in precious promises,
  entitled to a precious Heaven!

"Therefore, to you who believe--HE is precious!" 1 Peter 2:7

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There, in the solitudes of that voiceless ocean--a plunge is heard!

(John MacDuff, "God's Words of Comfort to His People" 1872)

"You will trample our sins under Your feet--and throw them into the depths of the ocean!" Micah 7:19

The picture here is of an ocean--not near the shore--but far beyond sight of land, in the midst of a wide wilderness of waters--the illimitable horizon stretching on every side; and when the sounding line is let down--it cannot fathom the depth, or reach the bottom!

There, in the solitudes of that voiceless ocean--a plunge is heard! The surface is ruffled only for a moment; then the waves resume their usual calmness. The load, whatever it is--is never more seen. It is buried somewhere in these dark caverns! No spirit of the deep can ever come up from the silent caves to tell its story! Ships cross and recross where it fell--but no distinguishing marker is left on the unstable highway, to mark the spot. The sea can be tempted by no bribe, to give up the secret of its keeping--all trace is lost from sight and memory forever!

That is a picture of what God does for all His redeemed people!

"You will trample our sins under Your feet--and throw them into the depths of the ocean!"

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Market-Driven Christianity

by Don Fortner

"Am I now trying to win the approval of men--or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men--I would not be a servant of Christ." Galatians 1:10

Religion in America is big business. Scads of money, powerful personalities, huge egos, and positions of prominence, influence, and recognition are at stake in the business of religion, just as they are in any other business. There was a time when the concern of churches and preachers in this country was the glory of God and the truth of God. Today, like any business, the concern is for success.

Christianity today is market-driven. The goal of all marketing is to make both the buyer and the seller satisfied. Consequently, market-driven churches, in utter abandonment of God’s glory and God’s truth, in their insatiable quest for success and recognition--do whatever it takes to win customers and keep them.

Be warned! False doctrine and worldliness always go hand in hand. Worldliness usually leads the way. The early modernists did not aim at destroying biblical Christianity. They simply tried to make Christianity palatable to an unbelieving world. It cannot be done. When Christianity becomes acceptable to unregenerate people--it has ceased to be Christianity!

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing!" 1 Corinthians 1:18

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No one can escape from that prison!

(James Smith, "Is it Time?" 1859)

Eternity stamps a seriousness on every subject connected with it.

The soul must live forever.

Hell is eternal.

Heaven is eternal.

The immortal soul must inhabit Heaven--or Hell, forever!

Sudden death would plunge the sinner into sudden Hell--and from Hell there is no deliverance!

No one can escape from that prison!

No one can ever escape from that lake of fire!

"They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire!" Jude 1:7

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life!" Matthew 25:46

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The death of an infant

(Letters of John Newton)

My Dear Friend,
I must leave a line to tell you that we sympathize with you and your wife in your severe trial. (The death of an infant.) But, at the same time, I rejoice exceedingly in the Lord's goodness, enabling you to be resigned and satisfied with His will, despite all the feelings and pinchings of flesh and blood.

If you can now believe and say, "He does all things well"--with what transport would you say it, if the whole plan of His wisdom and love was unfolded to your view? He will condescend to unfold it to you hereafter--and it will fill you with admiration. It is an affliction, to be cordially rejoiced in, when the Lord, who cares for us--intimates His will by the event.

Healing and wounding are equally from His hand--and are equally tokens of His love and care over us! "The Lord gives--and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!" Job 1:21

You are in the wise and merciful hands of One who prescribes for you with unerring wisdom, and has unspeakably more tenderness than can be found in all human hearts taken together! He weighs all your painful afflictions with consummate accuracy! You shall not have a single grain of trouble more, nor for a single moment longer--than He will enable you to bear, and will sanctify to your good.

We know all things are dispensed to us by infinite wisdom--in number, weight, and measure--with a far greater accuracy than any doctor can adjust his medicines to the state and strength of his patients.

The flesh will feel the sharp affliction--but faith and prayer will lighten the burden, and heal the wound. Daily your sense of the Lord's goodness will increase, and the sense of pain will abate--so that you will have less sorrow, and more joy, from day to day.

What a blessing to be a Christian--to have a hiding place and a resting place always at hand! To be assured that all things work for our good, and that our compassionate Shepherd has His eye always upon us--to support and to relieve us.

I am affectionately and sincerely your friend, brother and servant,
John Newton

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Too wise to err--and too loving to be unkind!

(Arthur Pink, "The Sovereignty of God")

Because God is righteous--His judgments fall upon those who rebel against Him.

Because God is faithful--the solemn threatenings of His Word are fulfilled.

Because God is omnipotent--none can successfully resist Him, still less overthrow His counsel.

Because God is omniscient--no problem can master Him and no difficulty baffle His wisdom.

It is just because God is who He is, and what He is--that we are now beholding on earth, the beginning of His out-poured judgments! In view of His inflexible justice and immaculate holiness--we could not expect anything other than what is now spread before our eyes!

Faith endures "as seeing Him who is invisible." (Hebrews 11:27) Faith endures the disappointments, the hardships, and the heart-aches of life--by recognizing that all comes from the hand of Him who is too wise to err--and too loving to be unkind. So long as we are occupied with any other object than God Himself, there will be neither rest for the heart, nor peace for the mind. But when we receive all that enters our lives as from His hand--then, no matter what may be our circumstances or surroundings--whether in a hovel, a prison-dungeon, or a martyr's stake--we shall be enabled to say, "The lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places!" (Psalm 16:6). But that is the language of faith--not of sight or of sense.

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Pains, infirmities, loss of sleep, the failure of sight and hearing

(Letters of John Newton)

"Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone." Psalm 71:9

I am drawing nearer and nearer to the season which the Psalmist either expected or felt. Many reasons teach the aged believer the need of this prayer. As his graces are still imperfect, so his powers are feelingly upon the decline. It was but little he could do at his best--and now less and less.

He feels other props and comforts dropping off apace. When he was young he had warm spirits and pleasing prospects; but now what a change of the friends in which he once delighted! In some he has found inconstancy--they have forsaken and forgotten him; and others have been successively taken away by death. They have fallen like the leaves in autumn--and now he stands almost a naked trunk. If any yet remain, he is expecting to lose them likewise--unless he is first taken from them.

Old age abates, and gradually destroys, the relish of such earthly comforts as might be otherwise enjoyed. Pains, infirmities, loss of sleep, the failure of sight and hearing, and all the senses--are harbingers, like Job's messengers, arriving in close succession to tell him that death is upon his progress, and not far distant!

If youth has no security against death--then old age has no possibility of escaping the grim monster. But though friends fail, cisterns burst, gourds wither, strength declines, and death advances--if God does not forsake me--then all is well.

"Even to your old age and gray hairs--I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you!" Isaiah 46:4

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Our wisest plans and best endeavors

(Letters of John Newton)

We are disciples--Jesus is our Master. The world we live in is His school--and every person and event is under His management, designed to forward us in the great lessons which He would have us to learn--such as . . .
  self-denial,
  a distrust of creatures, and
  an absolute dependence upon Himself.

In this view,
  afflictions--are mercies,
  losses--are gains,
  hindrances--are helps,
  and all things, even those which seem most contrary--are working together for our good.

Creatures smile--or frown, caress--or disappoint us,
friends grow cool, and enemies become kind--
just as His wisdom sees most expedient to promote our spiritual progress.

Where we look for most blessing--it often comes to little;
where we look for nothing--we often obtain most benefit.

Our wisest plans and best endeavors at one time produce great troubles!
At another time, what we do at random, and what we account the most trifling incidents--are productive of happy, lasting, and extensive consequences.

It is well for us if, by a long train of such changing, checkered experiences--we at length attain to some proficiency, and can say with David, "My soul, wait only upon God; for my expectation is from Him."

The heart possession of two maxims of Matthew Henry, is well worth all that the acquisition can cost us:
1. Every creature is to us--only what God makes it.
2. We cannot expect too little from man--nor too much from God.

In this school I am placed--and these lessons I am aiming to learn. But I am a poor scholar and indeed any master but He who condescends to be my teacher--would turn me out as an incorrigible dunce!

Yet I sincerely wish to be willing to be what, and where, and how the Lord would have me be--to cast all my cares simply upon Him, and to be always satisfied in my mind that He assuredly cares for me!

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I am very sorry about your accident!

(Letters of John Newton)

My dear friend,
I am very sorry about your accident--but I am thankful that you were not hurt. Such catastrophes, as this may properly be called, have often been attended with dislocated or broken bones, a fractured skull, or instant death--so frail is man!

Often, when he thinks himself safe, and is dreaming of his own importance, as if he were a necessary part in the complicated movements of Divine Providence--he falls like grass before the scythe! And not by the hands of a giant, or the fangs of a tiger--but the smallest trifle is sufficient to destroy him!

For example--how many loose stones do we see in the road; it seems no great matter where they lie. Yet any one of them, by changing the direction of a wheel--is sufficient to confound all the plans of this mighty creature! One stone stumbles him down; he falls with his head upon another--in that very moment all his future plans perish! But the Lord gave His angels charge over you; therefore you fell unhurt, and are still alive to praise and serve Him.

I see so much of the uncertainty of life, and how little I can either foresee or prevent what the next moment may bring forth--that I would be a very great coward--afraid not only of riding in a coach--but of walking across a room--if I was not in some degree enabled to confide in the Lord's protection!

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

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Oh to grace how great a debtor!

(Letters of John Newton)

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

It is a part of my daily habit to look back to my slavery in Africa, and to retrace the path by which the Lord has led me, for about forty-seven years, since He called me from infidelity and madness!

My astonishing unsought deliverance from the hopeless wickedness and misery into which I had plunged myself, taken in connection with what He has done for me since--make me say, with peculiar emphasis, "Oh to grace how great a debtor, daily I'm constrained to be!"

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see!

Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come!
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home!

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine!
(by John Newton)

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Dear Miss Medhurst

(Letters of John Newton)

"Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith!" Hebrews 12:2

Dear Miss Medhurst,
The best advice I can send, or the best wish for you, is, that you may have an abiding and experimental sense of those words of the apostle which are just now upon my mind, "Looking unto Jesus!" The duty, the privilege, the safety, the unspeakable happiness, of a believer--are all comprised in that one sentence! Let us first pray that the eyes of our faith and understanding may be opened and strengthened; and then let us fix our whole gaze upon Him!

But HOW are we to behold Him? I answer, in the looking-glass of His written Word! There He is represented to us in a variety of views. The wicked world can see no form nor loveliness in the portraiture He has given of Himself. Yet blessed be God, there are those who can "behold His glory as the glory of the only begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth!" And while they behold it--they find themselves "changed into His image, from glory to glory," by the transforming influence of the Spirit.

In vain do we use our reasonings and arguments, and resolutions--to beat down our sins and corruptions, and to silence our fears; but a believing view of Jesus does the business!

When heavy trials in life are appointed to us, and we are called to give up, or perhaps to pluck out, a right eye--it is an easy matter for a bystander to say "Be comforted;" and it is as useless as easy; but a view of Jesus by faith comes home to the point.

When we can fix our thoughts upon Him, as laying aside all His honors, and submitting for our sakes to drink off the bitter cup of the wrath of God to the very dregs; and when we further consider: that He who thus suffered for our sins, knows and sympathizes with all our weaknesses; that He is now the Supreme Disposer of all that concerns us; that He numbers the very hairs of our heads, appoints every trial we meet with in number, weight, and measure; and will allow nothing to befall us but what shall contribute to our good--this view, I say, is a medicine suited to the disease, and powerfully reconciles us to every cross!

When Jesus is upon our thoughts, either in His humbled--or His exalted state; either as bleeding on the cross--or as worshiped by all the host of heaven--then we can ask the apostle's question with a befitting disdain, "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid!" What! shall I sin against my Lord, my Love, my Friend--who once died for my sins, and now lives and reigns on my behalf! What! shall I sin against my Redeemer who supports, and leads, and guides, and feeds me every day? God forbid! No! I would rather wish for a thousand hands and eyes, and feet, and tongues--for ten thousand lives--that I might devote them all to His blessed service!

"Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith!" Hebrews 12:2

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Is this all I get--after so much trouble?

(Letters of John Newton)

"Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." John 16:33

Dear Brother,
Blessed be God for the news of a better world, where there will be no sin, trouble, nor defect forever!

What shall it be--when the Lord shall call us up to join with those who are now singing before the eternal throne!

What shall it be--when all the children of God, who in different ages and countries have been scattered abroad--shall be all gathered together, and enter into that glorious and eternal rest provided for them!

What shall it be--when there shall not be one trace of sin or sorrow remaining--not one discordant note to be heard, nothing to disturb or defile, or alleviate the never-ceasing joy!

Many a weary step we have taken, since the Lord first drew us to Himself; but we shall not have to tread the past way over again. Some difficulties may remain--but we know not how few. Perhaps before we are aware, the Lord may cut short our conflict and say, "Come up hither!" At the most, it cannot be very long! He who has been with us thus far--will be with us to the end. He knows how to cause our consolations to exceed our greatest afflictions!

And when we get safely home--we shall not complain that we have suffered too much along the way. We shall not say, "Is this all I get--after so much trouble?" No! When we awake in that glorious world, we shall in an instant--be satisfied with His likeness. One sight of Jesus as He is--will fill our hearts, and dry up all our tears!

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." Romans 8:18

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If a toad or a serpent was put in my food or in my bed!

(John Newton, Indwelling Sin and the Believer)

"The evil which I would not do--that I do." Romans 7:19

Permit me to tell you a little part, (for some things must not, cannot be told,) not of what I have read--but of what I have felt, in illustration of the above passage.

I would not be the sport and prey of wild, vain, foolish, and vile imaginations--but this evil is present with me! My heart is like an open highway--like a city without walls or gates. Nothing is so false, so frivolous, so absurd, so impossible, or so horrid--but it can obtain access, and that at any time, or in any place! Neither the study, the pulpit, nor even the Lord's table--exempt me from their intrusion.

But if this awful effect of heart-depravity cannot be wholly avoided in the present state of human nature--yet, at least, I would not allow and indulge it--yet this I find I do! In defiance of my best judgment and best wishes--I find something within me, which cherishes and cleaves to those evils, from which I ought to be horrified by, and flee from--as I would if a toad or a serpent was put in my food or in my bed! Ah! how vile must the heart (at least my heart) be--that can hold a parley with such abominations, when I so well know their nature and their tendency.

Surely he who finds himself capable of this, may, without the least affectation of humility (however fair his outward conduct appears), subscribe himself less than the least of all saints, and the very chief of sinners! But the Lord knows how this dead fly taints and spoils my best services, and makes them no better than splendid sins.

This is only a faint sketch of my depraved heart. But though my disease is grievous, it is not desperate; I have a gracious and infallible Physician. I shall not die--but live, and declare the works of the Lord.

But I shall not always be--as I am now! Yet a little while, and I shall be freed from this vile body--which, like the leprous house, is incurably contaminated, and must be entirely taken down. Then I shall see Jesus as He is, and be like Him, and with Him forever!

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A plain book designed for plain people

(Letters of John Newton)

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness--so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work!" 2 Timothy 3:16-17

"When the Spirit of truth comes--He will guide you into all the truth." John 16:13

A few minutes of the Spirit's teaching will furnish us with more real, useful and experimental knowledge--than toiling through whole folios of commentators and expositors! It will be our wisdom to deal less with the streams--and be more close in applying to the fountain-head. The Scripture itself, and the Spirit of God--are the best and the only sufficient expositors of Scripture. Whatever men have valuable in their writings--they got it from Scripture; and the Scripture is as open to us--as to any of them. There is nothing required but a teachable, humble spirit; and academic learning, as it is commonly called, is not necessary in order for this.

As a minister, I endeavor to avoid all panaceas, singularities, 'hidden truths' and 'new discoveries' in Scripture. I wish to advance nothing which I cannot maintain upon the authority of the Bible in our English language--which I deem sufficient to make us and our hearers wise unto salvation.

The New Testament is a plain book designed for plain people. The gospel is to be preached to the poor and simple, who are just as capable of receiving it as the educated--and in some sense more so. I therefore lay little stress upon any academic learning--which depends upon a knowledge of original Greek and Hebrew languages, or requires a larger degree of capacity and genius to be understood.

"From a child, you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus!" 2 Timothy 3:15