Grace Gems

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Our Arabian wilderness!

(Alexander Smellie, "The Hour of Silence" 1899)

"But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me . . . I did not consult any man, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia." Galatians 1:15-17

Paul went away from all human contact for several years, in order to spend time alone with God in the Arabian wilderness.

The newborn soul needs solitude, that, apart from the strife of tongues and the din of the world, it may meditate on those marvelous things which God has done for it. That it may frame a larger, deeper, more adequate conception of what salvation really is. That its gratitude may become more precise and more profound. That, with nothing and no one to distract, it may dedicate itself quietly and fully to its Lord.

The Bible teacher needs solitude, that he may apprehend the breadth and length and depth and height of that great, majestic, illimitable book he is to proclaim. That he may seize hold of the truth of God--and that the truth of God may seize hold of him. That the truths of Scripture may become, more than ever, his own possession and exceeding joy. And then, out of the abundance of his heart, his mouth will speak.

Every saint needs solitude, that he may shake off the dust and grime of worldliness and sin. That, waiting on the Lord, he may renew his strength. That a fresh unction from the Holy One may make him spiritually wise and strong.

In Arabia, as he came forth from the cloud, the face of Moses shone. In Arabia, the soul of Paul duly took and strongly kept the print of Heaven.

Ah, there are none of us who can venture to dispense with our Arabian wilderness!

Is it my custom and my delight to go by myself to a quiet place, and rest awhile with Jesus? (Mark 6:31)

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Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!

(Alexander Smellie, "The Hour of Silence" 1899)

"Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne!" Revelation 5:6

"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

The Lamb of God is the center of this mystic and glowing book of the Revelation.

There is the Lamb with His wounds--the Lamb that was slain. Even in Heaven He carries those scars of His passion and death. Even in Heaven I shall be perpetually reminded that I owe everything to Calvary, and to Him who was both Victor and Victim there!

There is the Lamb in His royalty--the Lamb in the center of the Throne. The Head that once was crowned with the sharp thorns--is crowned with regal glory now! I rejoice in it for Christ's sake. I rejoice in it for my own sake, for what is there which He cannot do for me--His little one? Over the world of nature and men, over unseen principalities and powers--He rules that He may befriend my soul.

There is the Lamb with His shepherding of His own people--the Lamb shall lead them. To all eternity He will shepherd me, feed me, protect me, uphold me! I shall never be able to dispense with Him. I shall never wish to stand alone, outside His keeping and His care. Through the everlasting years, I shall avow myself my dear Lord's debtor.

There is the Lamb in His triumphs--the Lamb shall overcome them. So, one day, I shall see all my enemies routed and dead. One happy day, I shall be entirely freed from the antagonism and harassment of my sins! He who is for me, is mightier than the hosts arrayed against me!

"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!"

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Your eyes will see the King in His beauty!

(Alexander Smellie, "The Hour of Silence" 1899)

"Your eyes will see the King in His beauty! They will behold a far-distant land!" Isaiah 33:17

If God is mine, then I shall dwell on high with Him forever. I am traveling to a world where I shall be fully satisfied.

My intellect will have her blessing then. Just now I am learning many glorious lessons in the school of Jesus; but there are questions of the mind which remain unanswered, and problems which are still unsolved. But by and by I shall know even as also I am known--clearly, unerringly, perfectly.

My conscience will have her blessing then. Since Christ became mine, her troublesome accusations have been stilled, and her governing power has been restored. But she has her fears even yet, and her difficulties and uncertainties. It is not quite the full noon in the realm of conscience. But, when she walks with the Lamb in white, all the shadows will be gone.

My will, too, will have her blessing then. By the grace of God, I have an obedient will now, whose delight is to run the way of the Master's commandments. Yes--but traces of the old rebelliousness linger within me, to my own sorrow and shame. When I see the King, I shall gladly serve Him day and night!

And my heart will have her blessing then. Jesus has met her craving for love; and yet she is crying out for more of His presence and Himself--more and more! But, in the far-distant land, my heart's most daring requests will find their fullest response, and she is content and at rest.

What stores of happiness, what rivers of pleasures, are at His right hand!

"You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore!" Psalm 16:11

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When his horse died

(J.R. Miller, "Help for the Day")

"At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised!" Job 1:20-21

There are troubles or misfortunes which have already passed--so why should we vex ourselves over these? We cannot help sorrowing when a loved one has been taken from us--but why should we refuse to acquiesce in the will of God? When some misfortune has taken money from us, or when some turn in affairs has hurt our worldly interests--why should we sit down and grieve over the loss?

Worry will not retrieve it, nor give us back the old favorable conditions! It is a great deal more sensible for us to face the fact of our diminished resources, or to accept the new and changed conditions--adjusting ourselves to them, and go right on with our life.

He was a wise traveler who, when his horse died, said, "Well, I must walk now," and traveled on with cheerful energy.

"But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus!" Philippians 3:13-14

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His infinite Majesty--His ineffable Tenderness

(Alexander Smellie, "The Hour of Silence" 1899)

"Yes, the Sovereign Lord is coming in power. He will rule with a powerful arm . . . He will feed His flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in His arms, holding them close to His heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young." Isaiah 40:10-11

The all-powerful Sovereign Lord--is loving too. I cannot part with His infinite Majesty--and just as little can I lose sight of His ineffable Tenderness.

Our omnipotent God has . . .
  measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,
  marked off the heavens with the breadth of His hand,
  held the dust of the earth in a basket, and
  weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance!
All nations are as nothing before Him! Thus . . .
  He can prevail against my fiercest temptations;
  He can satisfy my profoundest needs;
  He can deal with my foulest sins;
  He can put to flight my most persistent and remorseless enemies;
  He can perfect that which concerns me.
I rejoice in His sovereign omnipotence!

Ah, but also, "He will feed His flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in His arms, holding them close to His heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young." His graciousness is deeper, larger, more patient, more steadfast than a mother's! Thus, His compassions will never fail me. Though I am poor and needy--yet He will think upon me. I am a bruised reed, a flickering candle--but He will not break my frail strength, nor quench my flickering light. I rejoice in His measureless love!

"One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that You, O God, are strong, and that You, O Lord, are loving!" Psalm 62:11-12

The Power without the Love, would crush me to the earth.
The Love without the Power, would fail when it sought to deliver me.
I crave both in harmony and union. And He gives me both.
His omnipotence prevails over my impotence; and His gentleness fastens my heart to His.

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Oh happy, happy slave!

(Alexander Smellie, "The Hour of Silence" 1899)

"But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life!" Romans 6:22

I am freed--in order to be enthralled. I am made free from sin--to become the bond-servant of God. But whereas the old vassalage was abject slavery--the new is the highest and sweetest and best liberty.

It is the servitude of my grateful heart. God has redeemed me not with silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ His dear Son! I owe Him life and peace and everything. I cannot but surrender myself, to Him who surrendered Himself for me.

It is the servitude of my adoring and worshiping heart. The vision of God's beauty, God's perfection, God's love-worthiness, has thrown its spells and charms over me. I am smitten with the hunger and thirst to resemble Him. I am enthralled to His enchantments.

It is the servitude of my obedient heart. I have bound His precepts and injunctions around me like chains of gold! The yoke of His precepts lies upon my neck. But I do not find these commandments grievous; to keep them is my great reward.

It is the servitude of my God-occupied heart. He has come Himself and made His abode in me, through His Holy Spirit given to me. From within He rules me far more than from without. And so, rejoicingly and inevitably and eternally, I yield myself to Him!

Oh happy, happy slave! There is a perpetual song on his lips as he goes about the tasks of his Golden Prince.

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The blemishes and faults of others

(J.R. Miller)

"Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble." 1 Peter 3:8

We should learn to look at the blemishes and faults of others--only through the eyes of love, with sympathy, patience, and compassion. We do not know the secret history of the lives of others around us. We do not know what piercing sorrows have produced the scars we see in people's lives. We do not know the pains and trials which make life hard, to many with whom we are tempted to be impatient. If we knew all the secret burdens and the heart-wounds which many keep hidden beneath their smiling faces--we would be patient and gentle with all people.

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." Colossians 3:12

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How much better is it to get wisdom than gold!

(Alexander Smellie, "The Hour of Silence" 1899)

"How much better is it to get wisdom than gold!" Proverbs 16:16

How much better--for wisdom buys what gold cannot procure. Wisdom--the mind which hearkens to God and the heart which yields to Him--brings me . . .
  His divine favor,
  His forgiving grace,
  His power to shield me,
  His guidance to lead me,
  His knowledge to inspire me,
  His glory to crown me!

Wisdom secures for me a wealth beside which the greatest treasures of the world are but dross!

Wisdom penetrates where gold cannot go. It carries pardon and peace into the deepest recesses of my spirit--while gold can do nothing but deck my body and my home. It gives me the strongest and the tenderest influence over others--while gold cannot dispel their griefs and answer their doubts. It lifts me into communion with the Most High God--and gold is powerless to lead me there, to that glorious country far beyond the stars!

Wisdom endures when gold is gone. This world's riches take to themselves wings and flee away--almost every day furnishes me with a new instance of how fleeting and perishable they are. But wisdom makes mine the possessions which never perish, which are never withdrawn, which through life and death and eternity, are certain to gladden my soul!

"Wisdom is supreme--so get wisdom!" Proverbs 4:7

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This was how he grew in spiritual strength and nobleness!

(Alexander Smellie, "The Hour of Silence" 1899)

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others!" Philippians 2:3-4

Did Paul live a depressed and dismayed life, because he was perpetually denying himself out of love for others? Not at all. The very reverse is true. This was how he grew in spiritual strength and nobleness!
The discipline prospered his own soul.
It gave him wisdom and insight.
It gave him courage and endurance.
It gave him sympathy and considerateness.
It gave him deep restfulness and glowing joy.
By it he gained inward vigor, and the glow of spiritual health, and spiritual life in its fire and force and fullness.

And this was how he won the hearts of men and women. They saw that his was a yearning tenderness for them, which made him unconcerned for his own comforts. And so others were conquered, and melted, and led willing prisoners to the Lord Jesus. He drew them by the magnetism of his love for them--and they followed on.

And this was how he learned the secret of fellowship with Jesus. "Even Christ did not please Himself" Romans 15:3. The servant Paul came very close to the Master, and the Master to the servant, just as the servant took up his cross and gloried in it as he carried it in his arms. His little lamp was lighted from the flame around the Savior's sacrifice.

So Paul lived in a noble place, because he looked perpetually not on his own interests--but on the interests of others. Let me master this truth. I shall never regret the surrender and sacrifice of my desires and interests. It is for my own good, as well as my Lord's wish and will.

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He loved them to the uttermost!

(Alexander Smellie, "The Hour of Silence" 1899)

"Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the uttermost!" John 13:1

This is . . .
  love in its essence,
  love in its consummate blossom and fruit,
  love in its ultimate and final perfection.

The love of Jesus bends very low. It travels from Heaven to earth--and there is no science which can compute that distance. It seeks out the chief of sinners--and all human philanthropy is as nothing compared to His all-surpassing love. It is not ashamed even of me--me in all my depravity and my sin.

The love of Jesus gives very much. It wins my pardon, although my transgressions are scarlet in their dye, and countless in their multitude. It brings me holiness, although I am prone to evil. It fills my cup to overflowing with the rich and gladdening wine of Heaven!

The love of Jesus suffers very deeply. It was not by some word of kingly majesty alone--it was not easily and in a moment--that He made me the possessor of these incalculable blessings. God spared not His own Son. The Son spared not Himself. There was no bitterness from which He shrank--there was no punishment which He did not bear, for me!

The love of Jesus lasts very long. What shall separate me from it?
Life will not, with its manifold trials and temptations.
Death will not, with its icy chill.
Eternity will not, with its unending years!

"I pray that you may grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge!" Ephesians 3:17-19

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There never was a fountain like this!

(Alexander Smellie, "The Hour of Silence" 1899)

"On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity!" Zechariah 13:1

"The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin!" 1 John 1:7

There is another river, the streams of which make glad the City of God. It is a river whose waters are crimson red, rather than crystal clear. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin--His life-blood, shed for our redemption on the shameful tree.

So many have proved the potency of this blessed fountain--a great multitude which no man can number! From the East and the West, the North and the South; from the early dawn of Christ, and the modern home--they have pressed to its brink, and they are pressing still. Whoever is willing, may stoop down and drink and live!

Such continuous and permanent efficacy resides in the fountain. It is not like the Pool of Bethesda, endowed with a strange and vitalizing virtue only at intervals. The dear dying Lamb never loses His power to save. The Cross is at every moment, the instrument of pardon. The blood cleanses--retains its capacity of cleansing perennially, age after age.

And so universally and omnipotently successful these blood-red waters are. From all my sin they will purge me:
  my secret sins--and my presumptuous sins,
  my sins of youth--and my sins of old age,
  my sins against others--and my sins against myself,
  my sins when I was a stranger to God--and my darker and more hateful sins since I came home to Him.

There never was a fountain like this! Exploration has not discovered its like, nor has imagination ever conceived it! It is peerless, matchless, unique. Surely I have washed and am daily washing in it, that I may be clean!

    There is a fountain filled with blood
    drawn from Emmanuel's veins;
    and sinners plunged beneath that flood
    lose all their guilty stains!

    The dying thief rejoiced to see
    that fountain in his day;
    and there may I, though vile as he
    wash all my sins away!

    Dear dying Lamb, Your precious blood
    shall never lose its power
    till all the ransomed church of God
    be saved, to sin no more!

    E'er since, by faith, I saw the stream
    Your flowing wounds supply,
    redeeming love has been my theme,
    and shall be till I die!

    When this poor lisping, stammering tongue
    lies silent in the grave,
    Then in a nobler, sweeter song,
    I'll sing Your power to save!
(William Cowper, 1731-1800)

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Are we Christians? Or are we worldlings?

(Horatius Bonar, "Self-Denial Christianity")

"Woe to those who are at ease in Zion!" Amos 6:1

What do we say to . . .
  our self-indulgence,
  our spiritual sloth,
  our love of ease,
  our avoidance of hardship,
  our luxury,
  our pampering of the body,
  our costly feasts,
  our silken couches,
  our brilliant furniture,
  our gay attire,
  our jeweled fingers,
  our idle mirth,
  our voluptuous music,
  our jovial tables, loaded with every variety of rich viands?

Are we Christians? Or are we worldlings?

Where is the self-denial of the New Testament days?

Where is the separation from a self-pleasing luxurious world? Where is the cross, the true badge of discipleship, to be seen--except in useless religious ornaments for the body, or worse than useless decorations for the sanctuary?

"Woe to those who are at ease in Zion!" Is not this the description of multitudes who name the name of Christ? They may not be "living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry." But even where these are absent, there is 'high living'--luxury of the table or the wardrobe--in conformity to 'this present evil world.'

"At ease in Zion!" Yes! there is the shrinking . . .
  from hard service;
  from 'spending and being spent;'
  from toil and burden-bearing and conflict;
  from self-sacrifice and noble service;
for the Master's sake.

There is conformity to the world, instead of conformity to Christ!
There is a laying down, instead of a taking up of the cross.
Or there is a lining of the cross with velvet, lest it should gall our shoulders as we carry it!
Or there is an adorning of the cross, that it may suite the taste and the manners of our refined and intellectual age.

Anything but the bare, rugged and simple cross!

We think that we can make the strait gate wider, and the narrow way broader, so as to be able to walk more comfortably to the heavenly kingdom. We try to prove that 'modern enlightenment' has so refined 'the world and its pleasures', that we may safely drink the poisoned cup, and give ourselves up to the inebriation of the Siren song.

"At ease in Zion!" Even when the walls of our city are besieged, and the citadel is being stormed!

Instead of grasping our weapons, we lie down upon our couches!

Instead of the armor, we put on the silken robe!

We are cowards, when we should be brave!

We are faint-hearted, when we should be bold!

We are lukewarm, when we should be fervent!

We are cold, when we should be full of zeal!

We compromise and shuffle and make excuses, when we should lift up our voice like a trumpet! We pare down truth, or palliate error, or extenuate sin--in order to placate the world, or suit the spirit of the age, or 'unify' the Church.

Learn self-denying Christianity. Not the form or name, but the living thing. Let us renounce the lazy, luxurious, self-pleasing, fashionable religion of the present day!

A self-indulgent religion has nothing in common with the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ; or with that cross of ours which He has commanded us to take up and carry after Him--renouncing ease and denying self.

Our time,
our abilities,
our money,
our strength--
are all to be laid upon the altar.

"Woe to those who are at ease in Zion!" Amos 6:1

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God makes no mistakes in dealing with His children!

(J.R. Miller, "Daily Bible Readings in the Life of Christ" 1890)

"Here a great number of disabled people used to lie--the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years!" John 5:3-5

That was a long time to be sick! It is very hard to be an invalid year after year!

This day's lesson may come to some who have been thus afflicted, and we should stop a minute to think about their case. Christian invalids have many comforts, if they will but take them to heart. God makes no mistakes in dealing with His children! He knows in what school they will learn the best lessons--and in what experiences they will grow best.

The furnace-fires of sickness burn off many a chain of sin and worldliness! Many who are now in Heaven, will thank God forever for their invalidism in this life--which kept them from sin. We may be sure that God never calls any of His children into sickness without a purpose of blessing them. There is . . .
  some spiritual lesson which He wants to teach them;
  some new glimpse of His love which He wants to show them;
  some Christian virtue or grace which He wants to develop in them.

Sick-rooms should always be to us sacred places, as we remember that God has summoned us there for some special work upon our souls.

We need to be very careful lest we miss the good which He wants us to receive. It is only those who trust Christ and lie upon His bosom--who are blessed by sickness. Too many invalids grow discontented, unhappy, sour and fretful. Sickness ofttimes fails to do good to those who suffer. There are few experiences in which we so much need to be watchful over ourselves, and prayerful toward God. Be sure to keep the sickness out of your heart--and keep Christ there with His love and peace!

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To the uttermost!

(Alexander Smellie, "The Hour of Silence" 1899)

"He is able to save to the uttermost!" Hebrews 7:25

My Lord Jesus Christ is able to save me to the uttermost!

He is able to save me the uttermost depth of my need. Science is now sounding the lowest abysses of the ocean; but there is no science, nor thought, nor imagination, which can send its plummet to the bottom of Christ's unsearchable grace!
Down to my sharpest sorrow He goes,
down to my profoundest loneliness,
down to my keenest temptation,
down to my foulest sin!
He traveled from Heaven to Calvary to atone for my sin; and I know of no descent which He will not make today.

He is able to save me the uttermost limit of my nature. And such a many-faceted nature mine is! The intellect has its demands, and the memory, and the conscience, and the imagination, and the will, and the heart--each of them cries out for a separate satisfaction. And each of them finds it in Jesus!
He answers the questions of my intellect.
He plucks the deepest sorrows from my memory.
He cancels the accusations of my conscience.
He paints  the noblest pictures in my imagination.
He renews and directs my will.
He fills my heart with His love.

He is able to save me to the uttermost verge of my life.
My various conditions and experiences,
my conflict and my calm,
my work and my rest,
my gladness and my grief--
He blesses me through them all. Lo, He is with me all the days, even unto the end, and through the end, and beyond the end forever and ever! Death cannot part me from Him. Eternity will only draw me closer to Him. To the ages of the ages--He is mine, and I am His!

Christ's uttermost leaves me no more to desire!

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To be a Christian

(J.R. Miller)

Consecration to God is nothing less than doing the will of Christ, rather than our own will--doing it always, whatever . . .
  the cost,
  the sacrifice,
  or the danger.

There is too much mere pretense in our religion. We say that we believe in Christ; but if we truly do, we must follow Him wherever He leads, though we don't know where. We say we love Christ, and from His lips comes the crucial test: "If you love Me--keep My commandments."

To be a Christian is to be devoted utterly, and irrevocably, to Christ!

"And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple!" Luke 14:27