Grace Gems

[nChrist]

A faithful minister

(Thomas Brooks, "The Unsearchable Riches of Christ")

"Let the elders who rule well be accounted worthy of
 double honor, especially those who labor in the word
 and doctrine." 1 Timothy 5:17

The which is here rendered labor, signifies not simply
to labor--but to labor with much travail and toil, to labor
even to exhaustion, as he does who chops wood, or who
toils in harvest, or who fights in a battle.

Oh what an honor is it to a faithful minister, when he has . . .
  found the people dark and blind--but left them enlightened;
  found them dead--but left them alive;
  found them a proud people--but left them humble;
  found them a profane people--but left them holy;
  found them a carnal people--but left them spiritual;
  found them a worldly people--but left them heavenly;
  found them a wavering people--but left them settled and rooted.

Oh, it is an honor to faithful ministers,
when their people are like them in . . .
  knowledge,
  wisdom,
  love,
  humility,
  holiness!

"Be an example to all believers in what you
 teach, in the way you live, in your love, your
 faith, and your purity." 1 Timothy 4:12

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[nChrist]

Optimum maximum

(Thomas Brooks, "The Unsearchable Riches of Christ")

Christians serve a wonderful Master.
They serve Him who is . . .
  all ear to hear them,
  all hand to uphold them,
  all power to protect them,
  all wisdom to direct them,
  all goodness to relieve them,
  all mercy to pardon them.

They serve that God who is optimum maximum
--the best and greatest. God has within Himself
all the good of angels, men, and universal nature.
God has . . .
  all dignity,
  all glory,
  all riches,
  all treasure,
  all pleasure,
  all delight,
  all joy,
  all beatitudes.

God is . . .
  goodness,
  beauty,
  power,
  wisdom,
  justice,
  mercy, and
  love itself!

God is one infinite perfection in Himself!

"He has all--who has the Haver of all." Augustine

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[nChrist]

The cross has not become obsolete!

(Horatius Bonar, "The Surety's Cross")

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those
 who are perishing; but to us who are being saved it is
 the power of God." 1 Corinthians 1:18

The whole world looked with contempt--indignant at the
audacity of a few humble Christians, thus affronting and
defying the "public opinion" of nations and ages; assailing
the religions of earth with the cross as their only sword;
striking down their idols with this as their only hammer;
and with this, as their one lever, proposing to turn the
world upside down!

From that day the cross became "a power" in the earth;
a power which went forth, like the light--noiselessly yet
irresistibly--smiting down all religions alike, all shrines
alike, all altars alike--sparing no superstition nor philosophy.

This power remains--in its mystery, its silence, its influence,
it remains. The cross has not become obsolete! The
preaching of the cross has not ceased to be powerful and
effectual!

There are those who would persuade us that, in this modern
age--the cross is out of date and out of fashion, time-worn.
But this shakes us not. It only leads us to clasp the cross more
fervently, and to study it more profoundly, as embodying in
itself that gospel which is at once the wisdom and the power
of God.

Yet the cross is not without its mysteries.

It illuminates--yet it darkens.

It is life--yet it is death.

It is honor--yet it is shame.

It is wisdom--but also foolishness.

It is . . .
  both pardon and condemnation;
  both strength and weakness;
  both joy and sorrow;
  both love and hatred;
  both medicine and poison;
  both hope and despair.

It is Christ's humiliation--yet it is His exaltation!

It is Satan's victory--yet it is Satan's defeat!

It is the gate of heaven--and the gate of hell!

The cross is the key to God's character, His word,
His ways, His purposes. It is the summary of all
the Bible--the epitome of Revelation!

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[nChrist]

One continued dream and delusion

(Thomas Boston, "Human Nature in its Fourfold State")

"There is no one who understands." Romans 3:11

"They are darkened in their understanding and separated
 from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in
 them due to the hardening of their hearts." Ephes. 4:18

The natural man's apprehension of divine things is corrupt.
The understanding, that leading faculty, is despoiled of
its primitive glory, and covered over with confusion.

Tell them how they may advance their worldly wealth, or how
they may gratify their lusts--and they will quickly understand
these things. But it is very hard to make them know how their
souls may be saved, or how their hearts may find rest in Christ.
They are very stupid and unteachable in the matters of God.
What woeful delusions prevail over them! Do we not often see
those, who in other things are the wisest of men--yet are
notorious fools with respect to their soul's interest?

Many who are eagle-eyed in the trifles of time--yet are like
owls and bats in the light of eternal realities. Nay, truly, the
life of every natural man is but one continued dream and
delusion, out of which he never awakes, until either, by a
divine light darted from heaven into his soul, he comes to
himself--or, in hell he lifts up his eyes in torment!

Sin has closed the windows of the soul; darkness covers the
whole. The prince of darkness reigns there, and nothing but
the works of darkness are framed there. We are born spiritually
blind--and cannot be restored without a miracle of grace.

"For though your hearts were once full of darkness, now
 you are full of light from the Lord!" Ephesians 5:8

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[nChrist]

Afflicted, tormented, and destroyed!

    (Thomas Brooks, "Crown and Glory of Christianity" 1662)

    Let me give you a little abridgment of the sufferings of some of the early Christians, "of whom the world was not worthy."

    1. In the reign of Hadrian the emperor, there were ten thousand Christians crowned with a crowns of thorns, thrust into the sides with sharp lances, and then crucified.

    2. Others were so whipped, that their entrails were seen, and afterwards they were thrown upon sharp shells, and then upon sharp nails and thorns. And after all this cruelty, they were thrown to wild beasts to be devoured.

    3. Multitudes were banished.

    4. Others were pulled apart with wild horses.

    5. Some were beaten and racked with bars of iron.

    6. Others were cast into loathsome dungeons.

    7. Some were burnt in the fire.

    8. Others were knocked down and had their brains beaten out with staves and clubs.

    9. Some were pricked in their faces and eyes with sharp reeds.

    10. Others were stoned to death with stones, as Stephen was.

    11. Some were dashed in pieces against millstones.

    12. Others had their teeth dashed out of their jaws, and their joints broken.

    13. Some were cast down from very high places.

    14. Others were beheaded.

    15. Some were tormented with razors.

    16. Others were slain with the sword.

    17. Some were run through with pikes.

    18. Others were driven into the wilderness, where they wandered up and down, suffering hunger and cold, and where they were exposed to the fury both of wild beasts, and also to the rage of the barbarous Arabians.

    19. Some fled into caves, which their persecutors crammed up with stones, and there they died.

    20. Others were trodden to death by the people.

    21. Some were hanged on gibbets with a slow fire under them.

    22. Others were cast into the sea and drowned.

    23. Some were slain by being thrown in mines.

    24. Others were hanged by the feet, and choked with the smoke of a small fire, their legs being first broken.

    25. Some were covered with oil, and then roasted with a soft fire.

    26. Others were hung by one hand, that they might feel the weight of their whole bodies scorching and broiling over burning coals.

    27. Some were shot through with arrows, and afterwards thrown into stinking prisons.

    28. Others were stripped stark naked, and thrown out in cold, frosty nights; and burnt the next day.

    29. In Syria, a company of Christian virgins were stripped stark naked to be scorned by the multitude, then shaved, and then torn in pieces and devoured by beasts.

    30. Lastly, many women had the joints of their bodies pulled from another, and their flesh and sides clawed with talons of wild beasts to the bones, and their breasts seared with torches until they died.

    And thus you have an account of thirty different ways by which the precious sons and daughters of God have formerly been afflicted, tormented, and destroyed! What heart of stone can read over this list with dry eyes? And now tell me, sirs, whether your sufferings are worth a naming in that day, wherein the sufferings of the precious servants of God in the primitive times are spoken of? Oh, no! Well then, take heed of making molehills mountains, and of crying out, "Is there any sorrow compared to my sorrow; or any sufferings compared to my sufferings?"

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[nChrist]

God would be voted out of the world

(Thomas Boston, "Human Nature in its Fourfold State")

"Haters of God." Romans 1:30

"The carnal mind is enmity against God." Romans 8:7

Men set up for themselves, an idol of their own fancy,
instead of the true God, and then fall down and worship it.

Every natural man is an enemy to God--as He is revealed in
His word. The infinitely holy, just, powerful, and true God--is
not the God whom he loves, but the God whom he loathes!
The Pagans finding that they could not be like God in holiness,
made their gods like themselves in filthiness; and thereby they
show what sort of a god the natural man would have. God is
holy; can an unholy creature love His unspotted holiness?

There is not a man, who is wedded to his lusts--as all the
unregenerate are--but would desire to blot out the God of
justice. Can the malefactor love his condemning judge?
Can an unjustified sinner love a just God? No, he cannot!

Men naturally would rather have a blind idol--than the
all-seeing God. They no more love the all-seeing, every
where present God--than the thief loves to have the judge
witness to his evil deeds. If it could be carried by votes,
God would be voted out of the world; for the language
of the carnal heart is, "The Lord does not see us. The Lord
has abandoned the earth." Ezekiel 8:12

Every unrenewed man an enemy to the true God.

"They say unto God--Leave us alone! We have
 no desire to know Your ways!" Job 21:14

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[nChrist]

The believer's growth in grace

(Arthur Pink)

"Without Me you can do nothing." John 15:5

Just as the sinner's despair of any hope from himself
is the first prerequisite of a sound conversion; so the
loss of all confidence in himself is the first essential
in the believer's growth in grace.

"I can do all things through Christ who
 strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

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[nChrist]

The ant's nest

(Thomas Boston, "Human Nature in its Fourfold State")

Never did any sin appear in the life of the vilest wretch
who ever lived; but look into your own corrupt nature,
and there you may see the seed and root that sin--and
every other sin. There is atheism, idolatry, blasphemy,
murder, adultery, and whatever is vile--in your heart!
Possibly none of these are apparent to you; but there
is more in that unfathomable depth of wickedness than
you know.

Your corrupt heart is like an ant's nest, which, while
the stone lies on it, none of them appear. But take off
the stone, and stir them up but with a straw--and you
will see what a swarm is there--and how lively they are!
Just such a sight would your heart afford you--did the
Lord but withdraw the restraint He has upon it--and
allow Satan to stir it up by temptation!

"For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil
 thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander,
 arrogance and folly." Mark 7:21, 22

Christian! the remembrance of what you are by
nature, should keep you humble.

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[nChrist]

The wrath of God

(Thomas Boston, "Human Nature in its Fourfold State")

"The wrath of God abides on him." John 3:36

    1. The wrath of God is IRRESISTIBLE, there is no standing before it; "Who can stand in Your sight, when once You are angry?" Psalm 76:7. Can the worm or the moth defend itself against him who designs to crush it? Can the worm, man, stand before an angry God? Foolish men, indeed, bid a defiance against God; but the Lord often, even in this world, opens such sluices of wrath upon them, as all their might cannot stop--they are carried away thereby, as with a flood! How much more will it be so in hell!

    2. The wrath of God is INSUPPORTABLE. What a man cannot resist, he will try to endure. But who shall dwell in devouring fire? Who shall dwell with everlasting burnings? God's wrath is a weight which will sink men into the lowest hell. It is a burden which no man can endure.

    3. The wrath of God is UNAVOIDABLE to those who continue impenitently, and die in their sinful course. "He who, being often reproved, hardens his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed--and that without remedy!" Proverbs 29:1. We may now flee from it, indeed, by fleeing to Jesus Christ. But those who flee from Christ, will never be able to avoid it. Where can men flee from the avenging God? Where will they find a shelter? The hills will not bear them. The mountains will be deaf to their loudest supplications, when they cry to them to "hide them from the wrath of the Lamb."

    4. The wrath of God is POWERFUL and FIERCE. "Who can comprehend the power of Your anger? Your wrath is as awesome as the fear You deserve." Psalm 90:11. We are apt to fear the wrath of man more than we ought; but no man can apprehend the wrath of God to be more dreadful than it really is. The power of God's wrath can never be known to the utmost; for it is infinite, and, properly speaking, has no utmost limit. However fierce it is, either on earth or in hell, God can still carry it farther. Everything in God is most perfect in its kind; and therefore no wrath is so fierce as His. O sinner! how will you be able to endure that wrath, which will tear you in pieces, Psalm 50:22, and grind you to powder! Luke 20:18.

    5. The wrath of God is PENETRATING and PIERCING wrath. It is burning wrath, and fiery indignation. There is no pain more intense than that which is caused by fire; and no fire so piercing as the fire of God's indignation, which burns unto the lowest hell, Deut. 32:22. The arrows of men's wrath can pierce flesh, blood, and bones--but cannot reach the soul. But the wrath of God will sink into the soul, and so pierce a man in the most tender part.

    6. The wrath of God is CONSTANT wrath, running parallel with the man's continuance in an unregenerate state; constantly attending him from the womb to the grave. There are few days so dark--but the sun sometimes looks out from under the clouds. But the wrath of God is an abiding cloud on the objects of it; John 3:36, "The wrath of God abides on him" who believes not.

    7. The wrath of God is ETERNAL. O, miserable soul! if you flee not from this wrath unto Jesus Christ; though your misery had a beginning--yet it will never have an end! Should devouring death wholly swallow you up, and forever hold you fast in the grave--it would be kind. But your body must be reunited to your immortal soul, and live again, and never die; that you may be ever-dying, in the hands of the ever-living God. Death will quench the flame of man's wrath against us, if nothing else does. But God's wrath, when it has come on the sinner for millions of ages, will still be the wrath to come! Matt. 3:7; 1 Thess. 1:10. While God is, He will pursue the quarrel.

    8. However dreadful it is, and though it is eternal--yet it is most JUST wrath! It is a clear fire, without the least smoke of injustice. The sea of wrath, raging with greatest fury against the sinner, is clear as crystal. The Judge of all the earth can do no wrong. "Is God unrighteous to inflict wrath? Absolutely not! Otherwise, how will God judge the world?" Romans 3:5, 6. The Judge being infinitely just--the sentence must be righteous. Therefore, stop your mouth, O proud sinner! Still your clamor against your righteous Judge!


~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~


"Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath!"
1 Thessalonians 1:10

"For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to
receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ!"
1 Thessalonians 5:9

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[nChrist]

Hold me and never let me go!

(A Puritan Prayer)

O God of love,
Preserve . . .
  my understanding from error,
  my affections from love of idols,
  my lips from speaking deceit,
  my conduct from stain of vice,
  my character from appearance of evil;
that I may be
  harmless,
  blameless,
  rebukeless,
  exemplary,
  useful,
  light-giving,
  prudent,
  zealous for Your glory and the good
    of my fellow-men.

Cast Your cords of love around my heart,
then hold me and never let me go!

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[nChrist]

They stick there like glue!

(Thomas Boston, "Human Nature in its Fourfold State")

The memory bears evident marks of sin and corruption.
What is good and worthy to be remembered, makes but
slender impression, so that impression easily wears off; the
memory, as a leaking vessel, lets it slip. As a sieve that is
full when in the water, lets all go when it is taken out--just
so is the memory with respect to spiritual things.

But how does the memory retain what ought to be forgotten!
Sinful things so bear in themselves upon it, that though men
would sincerely have them out of mind--yet they stick there
like glue! However forgetful men are in other things, it is
hard to forget an injury. So the memory often furnishes new
fuel to old lusts; makes men in old age remember the sins of
their youth, while it presents them again to the mind with
delight, which thereupon returns to its former lusts.

Thus the memory is like a riddle--which lets through the
pure grain, and keeps the refuse.

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[haley123]

My Father's Love

My Father's love for me is based
Upon the wonders of His grace
No merit mine. No claim to make
No deed to put His love at stake

I am not hidden from His sight
He knows each triumph, peril and plight
He knows full well my inner being
My hurts and fears His eyes have seen

And furthermore the Lord my God
Has made me His own special charge
Before creations call He knew
Who I would be. What I would do

He fashions me throughout my days
He is the Potter to my clay
He sees the me I will become
Wrought by the power of His Son

His love for me transcends my birth
He gave His Son to give me worth
I trust myself to His own care
My Father's numbered all my hair

And I will be what He will make
There is no surer, safer place.

Haley

[airIam2worship]

Such a friend

(Thomas Brooks, "Apples of Gold" 1660)

"There is a friend who sticks closer than
 a brother." Proverbs 18:24

Such a friend is Jesus. He is so a friend
to every one of His people, as if He were
a friend to none besides. Jesus is . . .
  an omnipotent friend;
  an omniscient friend;
  an omnipresent friend;
  an indeficient friend;
  a sovereign friend;
  an immutable friend;
  a watchful friend;
  a loving friend;
  a faithful friend;
  a compassionate friend;
  a close friend,
  a universal friend—a friend in
     all cases and in all places,
  our first friend,
  a constant friend—"Whom He loves,
    He loves to the end." John 13:1


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[nChrist]

The death of our dear friend Elmore

(The life and letters of John Angell James)

In the death of our dear friend Elmore, the church has
lost a very valuable member, and I a most affectionate friend.
Cut off in the prime of his life--his death speaks loudly to us all.
What now is the world, or any of its concerns, to him? Let our
hearts be more in heaven! We are too earthly and sensual.
We are too much elated by the comforts of life; and too much
depressed by the sorrows of life--forgetting how close at hand
is the event which will render them both alike indifferent to
us--and us to them. Eternity, eternity is before us--and what
earthly trifle should greatly affect those who are speedily
traveling to eternity?

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[nChrist]

A lion! a dragon! a serpent!

(Henry Law, "Gleanings from the Book of Life")

"I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish;
 no one can snatch them out of My hand." John 10:28

The good Shepherd protects His sheep.

Many and mighty are their foes.

In themselves they are weak and tremulous as a broken reed.

The wild boar out of the forest marks them as his prey.

The roaring lion watches to devour.

Savage dogs would mangle.

The wind, the rain, the tempest, threaten to destroy.

The Shepherd knows these perils, and protects from all.

Satan is the arch enemy of the flock.
For strength--he is a lion,
for fierceness--he is a dragon,
for twisting deviousness--he is a serpent.

His might almost reaches almightiness.

His many vassals, as legion, are a universal swarm.

His vigilance never slumbers.

His skill is barbed by world long experience.

His wrath is vehement, because his time is short. He
wars with desperation because a hopeless doom is near.

How is it that the sheep are not all
driven to Satan's prison cell?

There must be a Shepherd almighty to protect.

He who delivered David "from the paw of the lion, and
from the paw of the bear" is the same rescuing Lord.

Paul seemed to be in the jaws of ruin, but he testifies,
"The Lord stood at my side and gave me strength,
 and I was delivered from the lion's mouth."

In direst extremity let the believer cry, "Rescue me
from the mouth of the lion; save me from the horns
of the wild oxen!"

A protecting arm will speedily be outstretched.

Thus His sheep never perish, and no one can
snatch them out of His hands.

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