Grace Gems

[nChrist]

One everlasting memorial of anguish and suffering

(John MacDuff, 1818--1895)

"Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering
thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand.
They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.
In a loud voice they sang--Worthy is the Lamb who was
slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!" Revelation 5:11-12

What an anthem is this! No harp is unstrung, no voice
silent. One strain thrills on every tongue--"Worthy is
the Lamb who was slain!" What an attestation to . . .
  God's immaculate holiness,
  His burning purity,
  His unimpeachable rectitude,
  His boundless mercy!

In Heaven, there shall still be one everlasting memorial
of anguish and suffering--in a place where pain never
enters and suffering is unknown!

Accordingly, when the Redeemer puts the coronation anthem
into the lips of His worshipers, He reveals Himself, not in the
glories of Godhead--but as a slain Lamb, wearing the marks of
humiliation. He tells them to make Calvary still their meditation,
and His Cross and Passion the great center of eternity. The print
of the nails in His hands, and the spear-mark in His side, are not
the mementos of shame but of victory--remembrancers of a love
whose depths the ages cannot fathom! The vision of the text thus
becomes the mightiest of preachers, replete to the multitudes
above, with the story of grace. There is a tongue in every wound
of the glorified Sufferer--silently but expressively proclaiming the
great love that He had for us!

As the slain Lamb, Jesus proclaims that the same heart which
throbbed in anguish on the Cross--still beats on the Throne;
that He is still the Almighty Friend. Precious assurance! Jesus
unchanged and unchangeable! This same Jesus, who mingled
His tears with the widow at the gate of Nain; who wept over
the memory of a cherished friendship, and was melted in a
flood of tenderest compassion over an apostate land; this
same Jesus, who breathed balm-words of comfort on the very
eve of His own agony, and in the midst of it welcomed a dying
felon to Paradise--is now, with a heart of unaltered love and
sympathy--wielding the scepter of universal empire!

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[nChrist]

Some who read these lines

(The life and letters of John Angell James)

Consider that the eternal loss of the soul is not a rare--but a
very common occurrence! So far from being a rare thing for
a soul to go to hell--it is a much rarer thing for them to go to
heaven! Jesus tells us that the road to eternal destruction is
thronged; while the way to eternal life is traveled by few. Hell
opens its mouth wide--and swallows up multitudes in eternal
perdition! Every day brings you nearer to everlasting bliss--or
everlasting torments. You may die at any moment; and you
are as near to heaven or hell--as you are to death. Some who
read these lines will very likely spend their eternity in hell.

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad
 is the road that leads to destruction--and many enter through it.
 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life--and
 only a few find it." Matthew 7:13-14

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[nChrist]

Sunk deep in the mire

(The life and letters of John Angell James)

Most professing Christians are sunk deep in the mire
of worldly-mindedness. Mammon is the wicked and
shameful idol of the church.

Our churches are, in my opinion, far from a state of sound
healthy piety. We have but little of what constitutes the
essence of experimental religion. Everything is superficial.
Our repentance, our faith, our love, our devotional habits
--are all superficial! The world has . . .
   engrossed men's minds,
   absorbed their feelings,
   starved their piety.

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[nChrist]

The infinities of bliss and glory!

(Henry Law, "Forgiveness of Sins" 1875)

"It was the Lord's will to crush Him and cause
 Him to suffer." Isaiah 53:10

The Father of all mercies heaped on Christ the
outpourings of His wrath; that He may heap on
pardoned sinners the infinities of bliss and
glory!

"Christ died for the ungodly." Romans 5:6

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[nChrist]

Dirt, handsomely fashioned

(Thomas Brooks, "The Privy Key of Heaven" 1665)

"All your life you will sweat to produce food, until your
 dying day. Then you will return to the ground from
 which you came. For you were made from dust, and
 to the dust you will return." Genesis 3:19.

Our bodies are but dirt, handsomely fashioned. We
derive our pedigree from the dirt, and are akin to clay.
One calls the body "the soul's beast."
Another calls it "worms' food".
Paul calls it "a body of vileness".

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[nChrist]

For a moment of sinful pleasure

(Lewis Bayly, "The Practice of Piety" 1611)

O the madness of man, that for a moment of
sinful pleasure will hazard the loss of an eternal
weight of glory!

Better it is to go sickly with Lazarus to heaven;
than full of mirth and pleasure, with the rich man
to hell. Better it is to mourn for a time on earth,
than to be tormented forever with devils.

Without Christ you are but . . .
  a slave of sin,
  death's vassal,
  the food of worms,
  whose thoughts are vain,
  whose deeds are vile,
  whose pleasures have scarcely a beginning,
  whose miseries never know an end.

What wise man would incur these hellish torments,
though he might, by living in sin, purchase to himself
for a time the empire of Augustus, the riches of Croesus,
the pleasures of Solomon, the voluptuous fare and fine
apparel of the rich man? For what should it avail a man,
as our Savior says--to win the whole world for a time,
and then to lose his soul in hell forever?

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[nChrist]

The bitter pill of affliction

(Lewis Bayly, "The Practice of Piety" 1611)

Nothing will more arm you with patience in your
sickness, than to see that it comes from the hand
of your heavenly Father, who would never send it
but that He sees it to be to you both needful and
profitable. For God, like a skillful physician, seeing
the soul to be poisoned with the settling of sin,
administers the bitter pill of affliction, whereby
the remains of sin are purged, and the soul more
soundly cured; the flesh is subdued, and the spirit
is sanctified. O the odiousness of sin, which causes
God to chasten so severely His children, whom
otherwise He loves so dearly!

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[nChrist]

Man sins--and God dies!

(Lewis Bayly, "The Practice of Piety" 1611)

"Christ died for the ungodly." Romans 5:6

What had You done, O my sweet Savior, and ever-blessed
Redeemer--that You were thus betrayed by Judas, sold to
the Jews, apprehended as a malefactor, and led bound as
a lamb to the slaughter? What evil had You committed,
that You should be thus openly arraigned, falsely accused,
and unjustly condemned? What was Your offence? Whom
did You ever wrong? that You should be thus . . .
  woefully scourged with whips,
  crowned with thorns,
  reviled with words,
  buffeted with fists,
  beaten with staves?

O Lord, what did You do to deserve to have Your blessed
face spit upon, and covered as it were with shame; to have
Your hands and feet nailed to the cross; to be lifted up on
the cursed tree; to be crucified among thieves, and made
to taste gall and vinegar; and in Your deadly extremity, to
endure such a sea of God's wrath, that made You cry out,
as if You had been forsaken by God Your Father; yes, to
have Your innocent heart pierced with a cruel spear, and
Your precious blood spilt before Your blessed mother's eyes?
Sweet Savior, how much were You tormented to endure all
this--seeing I am so much amazed even to think upon it!

What is the cause, then, O Lord, of this Your cruel
ignominy, passion, and death? I, O Lord--I am the
cause of these Your sorrows!

My sins wrought Your shame;
my iniquities are the occasion of Your injuries;
I have committed the fault--and You are punished for the offence;
I am guilty--and You are arraigned;
I committed the sin--and You suffered the death;
I have done the crime--and You hung on the cross!

Oh, the deepness of God's love!

Oh, the amazing profoundness of heavenly grace!

Oh, the immeasurable measure of divine mercy!

The wicked transgress--and the just is punished;
the guilty set free--and the innocent is arraigned;
the malefactor is acquitted--and the harmless condemned;
what the evil man deserves--the holy God suffers!

What shall I say? Man sins--and God dies!

O Son of God! who can sufficiently . . .
  express Your love, or
  commend Your pity, or
  extol Your praise?

I was proud--and You are humble;
I was disobedient--and You became obedient;
I ate the forbidden fruit--and You hung on the cursed tree;
evil lust drew me to eat the pleasant apple--
  and perfect love led You to drink of the bitter cup;
I tasted the sweetness of the fruit--
  and You tasted the bitterness of the gall.

O my God, here I see . . .
  Your goodness--and my vileness;
  Your justice--and my injustice.

And now, O blessed Lord, You have endured all this for
my sake; what shall I render unto You for all Your benefits
bestowed upon me, a sinful soul? What shall I render to
You, for giving Yourself in Your infinite love, to so cruel
a death, to procure my redemption?

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[nChrist]

That wonderful medicine!

(Letters of J. C. Philpot)

"He forgives all my sins and heals all my
 diseases." Psalm 103:3

What a mass of . . .
  filth and folly,
  blindness and ignorance,
  deceit and hypocrisy,
  carnality, sensuality, and devilism are we!

Prone to all that is bad, utterly averse to all
that is good--bent upon sin--hating holiness,
heavenly-mindedness, and spirituality--what
earthly wretches, guilty monsters, abominable
creature are we!

And if our minds are sometimes drawn upwards
in faith and affection, and we pant after the living
God--how soon, how almost instantly, do we drop
down again into our earthly self, whence we are
utterly unable to rise until the Blessed Spirit lifts
us out again! What fits of unbelief, shakings of
infidelity, fevers of lust, agues of carelessness,
consumptions of faith, hope, love and zeal; yes,
what a host of diseases dwell in our poor soul!

But they all admit of a twofold cure--that wonderful
medicine which John saw run from the wounded side
of the Redeemer--blood and water; the one to heal,
the other to wash; the one to atone, the other to
cleanse; justification by blood, and sanctification
by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the
Holy Spirit.

"The blood of Jesus, cleanses us from every sin."
    1 John 1:7

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[nChrist]

The city was full of idols!

(William S. Plumer, "The Ten Commandments")

"Abominable idolatries" 1 Peter 4:3

Men never do a more vain and empty thing, than
when they make or serve an idol. It is as foolish and
as unproductive of good, as when one beats the air.

Idolatry is both absurd and criminal. Idolatry, in all its
forms, is a sin so gross, and expressive of so much folly
and stupidity, that it is bewildering that men could ever
commit it. To inspired writers it is a theme of just and
severe ridicule; not the less pungent because a simple
statement of its grossness is all that is required to show
its absurdity.

"Their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands.
 They have mouths, but cannot speak; eyes, but cannot
 see. They have ears, but cannot hear; noses, but cannot
 smell. They have hands, but cannot feel; feet, but cannot
 walk. They cannot make a sound with their throats. Those
 who make them are just like them, as are all who trust
 in them." Psalm 115:4-8

In all this ridicule there is no caricature, no exaggeration. It
is all fair, because it is simple truth. Yet, as absurd as idolatry
is, there is no science, literature, philosophy, civilization, which
can show its silliness so plainly, as to banish it from among men.

"While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly
 distressed to see that the city was full of idols!" Acts 17:16

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[nChrist]

The most devouring idol in all the world!

(Richard Baxter "The Sinfulness of Flesh-Pleasing")

"Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach,
 and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly
 things." Philippians 3:19

Flesh-pleasing is the grand idolatry of the world. The flesh
is the greatest idol that ever was set up against God.

That is a man's God, which he . . .
  takes for his chief good,
  and loves best,
  and is most desirous to please.
And this is the flesh, to every sensualist.

He "loves pleasure more than God." He "minds the things
of the flesh," and "lives" for it, and "walks after it." He
"makes provision for it, to satisfy its appetite and lusts."
He "sows to the flesh, and fulfills its lusts."

It is not primarily the bowing of the knee and praying
to a thing--which constitutes idolatry. It is the loving,
and pleasing, and obeying, and seeking, and delighting
in a thing--which is idolatry.

So the loving of the flesh, and pleasing it, and serving
it, and obeying it, and seeking and delighting in its
pleasures--is the grand idolatry--more than if you
offered sacrifices to it!

And so the flesh is God's chief enemy, because it has
the chief love and service which are due to Him. The
flesh robs Him of the hearts of all people who are
carnal and unsanctified. All the Baals, and Jupiters,
and Apollos, and other idols of the world put together,
have not so much of the love and service due to God,
as the flesh alone has. If other things are idolized by
the sensualist, it is but as they subserve his flesh, and
therefore they are made but inferior idols.

The flesh is not only the common idol--but the most
devouring idol in all the world! It has not, as inferior,
flattered idols have--only a knee and compliment, or now
and then a sacrifice or ceremony--but it has the heart,
the tongue, the body to serve it!

The flesh is loved and served by the sensualist, "with all
his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his strength."
They forsake God for the flesh. They forsake Christ, and
heaven, and their salvation for it. They forsake all the
solid comforts of this life, and all the joys of the life to
come for it. They sell all that they have, and lay down
the price at its feet. Yes, more than all they have, even
all their hopes of what they might have to all eternity!
They suffer in the flames of hell forever, for their flesh!

How vile an idol is the flesh! It is a great a madness to
serve an idol of silver, or gold or stone, or wood. But is
it any better to serve an idol of flesh and blood--which
is full of filth and excrement within, and the skin itself,
the cleanest part, is ashamed to be uncovered? Is this
a god to sacrifice all that we have to? and to give all
our time, and care, and labor, and our souls, and all to?

Consider how impious and horrid an abasement it is of
the eternal God--to prefer so vile a thing before Him!
You say continually by your practice, "This filthy, nasty
flesh, is to be preferred before God--to be more loved,
and obeyed, and served. It deserves more of my time
than God. It is more worthy of my delight and love!"

It is but a few days until all their most adorned, pampered
flesh will be turned into worms' food! A few days will turn . . .
 their pleasure into anguish,
 their jollity into groans,
 their ostentation into lamentation,
 all their pride into shame.

When the skull is cast up with the spade, to make room for
a successor--you may see the hole where all the food and
drink went in; but you will see no signs of mirth or pleasure.

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[nChrist]

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain

(William S. Plumer, "The Ten Commandments")

A great design of true religion is to bring men to habitual reverence
for God's divine majesty. The very moment men cease to treat God
as holy--that moment their worship becomes polluted.

"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain;
for the Lord will not hold him guiltless, who takes His name in vain."
    Exodus 20:7

Anything relating to the true God--His being, His nature, His will,
His works, His worship, His service, or His doctrine--pertains to
God's name. This commandment extends to the state of men's
thoughts and hearts--as well as to their speech.

To take God's name in vain, is to use it in any frivolous, false,
inconsiderate, irreverent, or otherwise wicked manner. The
scope of this commandment is to secure the holy and reverent
use of all that by which God makes Himself known to His people;
and so to guard His sacred name against all that is calculated
to make it contemptible.

The manner of taking His name is to be grave, solemn, intelligent,
thoughtful, sincere, and with godly fear.

"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain;
for the Lord will not hold him guiltless, who takes His name in vain."
    Exodus 20:7

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[nChrist]

Snowmen!

(Matthew Meade, "The Almost Christian”)

What pains do children take to scrape and
roll the snow together to make a snowman.
But soon after it is done, the heat of the sun
dissolves it, and it comes to nothing.

The greatest treasures of worldly people are
but snowmen! When death and judgment
come, they melt away, and come to nothing!

"The world with its lust is passing away."
    1 John 2:17

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[nChrist]

A bad example

(William S. Plumer, "The Ten Commandments")

"In everything he followed the example of
 his father." 2 Kings 14:3

Children are the most imitative creatures in the world.

Parents should so walk before their children as that
they may safely follow in their footsteps. Set a good
example in all things. He who delivers good precepts,
scatters good seed. He who adds good example,
ploughs in that seed.

A bad example will destroy the good which might be
expected from sound instruction. "Do as I say--and not
as I do," is a sentence which converts the best teaching
into poison, and dreadfully hardens the heart.

Precepts give the theory, but example instills principle.

Words impart notions, but example carries conviction.

You need special wisdom and grace to preserve you from
error, and sin, and folly. If you practice any sin before
your child--you cannot fail to teach him to do the same.

"In everything he followed the example of
 his father." 2 Kings 14:3

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[nChrist]

Never nurse a child for the devil

(William S. Plumer, "The Ten Commandments")

The heart of your child is corrupt, and all your
teaching and example will be lost without God's blessing.
You cannot change the heart, renew the will, or wash
away the sins of your child. God alone can impart to him
a love of the truth, or give him repentance. You may use
your best endeavors--but all will be in vain without God's
Spirit.

A mother of eleven pious children, who being asked how
she came to be so much blessed, said, "I never took one
of them into my arms to give it nourishment, that I did
not pray that I might never nurse a child for the devil."

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