Grace Gems

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
___________________________________________

His heart is a fountain of mercy, and its streams are perpetually flowing!

("Heavenly Aspirations!" John MacDuff, 1818-1895)

A funeral procession was coming out as He approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow's only son. When the Lord saw her, His heart overflowed with compassion. 'Do not weep!' He said." Luke 7:12-13

Oh, how was His tender heart touched by the scene He witnessed on this occasion! The sight excited the liveliest emotions in His sinless bosom; and with a look beaming with pity, and in the most tender tones, He said to her, "Do not weep!"

In the Person of our adorable Redeemer, we behold mercy incarnate. This was the garb in which the whole of His other virtues were arrayed; the soft luster with which they were all surrounded and adorned.

Such was the character of Jesus in the days of His flesh, and such is it still. He with whom we have to do, whose favor we implore, and whose blessings we supplicate--far from being a harsh, unfeeling Master--is a loving Savior and compassionate Friend. His heart is a fountain of mercy, and its streams are perpetually flowing!

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
___________________________________________

That unclean donkey is yourself!

(Charles Spurgeon)

"You must redeem the firstborn donkey with a lamb. But if you do not redeem it--you must kill the donkey by breaking its neck!" Exodus 34:20

Every firstborn creature must be the Lord's--but since the donkey was unclean, it could not be presented in sacrifice to Him. What then? Should it be allowed to go free from the universal law? By no means! God admits of no exceptions. The donkey is His due--but He will not accept it; He will not abate the claim--but yet He cannot be pleased with the unclean victim. No way of escape remained, but redemption--the donkey must be saved by the substitution of a lamb in its place; or if not redeemed, it must die!

My soul, here is a lesson for you! That unclean donkey is yourself! You are justly the property of the Lord who made you and preserves you--but you are so sinful that God will not, cannot, accept you! It has come to this: the Lamb of God must stand in your stead--or you must die eternally! Let all the world know of your gratitude to that spotless Lamb who has died for you, and so redeemed you from the fatal curse of the law!

Must it not sometimes have been a question with the Israelite, as to which should die--the donkey or the lamb? Would not the man pause to estimate and compare the values of these animals? Assuredly there was no comparison between the value of a sinful man--and the spotless Lord Jesus! Yet the Lamb dies--and man the donkey is spared! My soul, admire the boundless love of God to you! Vile worms are bought--with the blood of the holy Lamb of God! Dust and ashes are redeemed--with a price far above silver and gold! What a doom would have been mine--had not plenteous redemption been found!

The breaking of the neck of the donkey was but a momentary penalty. But who shall measure the eternal wrath to come--to which no limit can be imagined! Inestimably dear is the glorious Lamb--who has redeemed me from such a doom!

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
___________________________________________

O the wonders couched in electing love!

(James Smith, "God's Special Treasure" 1860)

"For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth--the Lord your God has chosen you to be His own special treasure!" Deuteronomy 7:6

God highly prizes His people. Yes, it is impossible to say how highly He prizes them. Those are wondrous words, "For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His own special treasure!" Psalm 135:4

Did the shepherd prize his flock? God calls His people, "His flock, His beautiful flock."

Does the miser prize his wealth? God says of His people, "You shall be a special treasure unto Me above all people; for all the earth is mine."

Does the prince prize his jewels? God says of His people, "They shall be Mine, in that day when I make up My jewels!"

Does the bridegroom prize his beloved and dearly purchased bride? It is written, "As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride--so shall your God rejoice over you!"

Does the reigning monarch prize his crown? God has said, "You shall be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God."

What wondrous love, such expressions as these represent! How precious must the Lord's people be to Him! Truly they are His special treasure!

God CHOSE them to be special unto Himself. He chose them out from among others. He chose them in preference to others.

He chose them out from others, on purpose that they may be a special people unto Himself. And in so doing, He acted FREELY. It was not on account of anything He saw in them, or on account of anything He expected from them; but in the exercise of His most free and holy sovereignty, He chose them to participate in the glory of His Son!

In choosing them, He acted also DELIBERATELY. It was no hasty choice. His thoughts had been eternally filled with them. His heart had been eternally set upon them. Therefore He chose them in Christ before the foundation of the world!

In choosing them, He acted WISELY--as He really desired to have them. For each one of them is ready to confess that if God had not chosen them--that they would never have chosen Him! The nature regulates the choice; and as our nature is carnal and impure--we would never have chosen God, who is spiritual and holy.

His choice was just an early expression of His LOVE. The love which chose them--would do anything for them, and give anything to them! Therefore God spared not His own Son--but delivered Him up for them all; and in so doing, gave them the assurance that He will also freely give them all things in Christ.

O the wonders couched in electing love!

This act of choosing such creatures as we are, to be a special people unto Himself, displays . . .
  such grace,
  such condescension,
  such infinite wisdom and love!

God's election says, "The Lord loves you!" Loves us! Yes, and with a love that is eternal, immutable, sovereign, infinite, and free! All the love of God is lavished upon us as His special people in Christ. Oh, those wondrous words of Jesus, "You have loved them--even as You have loved Me!" John 17:23

    But few among the worldly wise,
    But few of nobler race,
    Obtain the favor of Your eyes,
    Almighty King of grace!

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
___________________________________________

This is the finger of God!

(J.C. Ryle, "This is the Finger of God!" Written during the Great Cattle Plague of England, 1865-1867.)

Look at the words which form the title of this article, and consider them well. They were spoken by heathen men more than three thousand years ago. They fell from the lips of Egyptian magicians when God sent one of the famous plagues on the land of Egypt. "Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh: This is the finger of God!" Exodus 8:19. It would be well if we all were as wise as these Egyptians!

From WHENCE does the cattle plague come?

I answer, unhesitatingly, that it comes from God! He who orders all things in Heaven and earth--He by whose wise providence everything is directed, and without whom nothing can happen--He it is who has sent this scourge upon us! It is the finger of God!

I shall not spend time in proving this point. I refer anyone who asks for proof, to the whole tenor of God's Word. I ask him to mark how God is always spoken of as the governor and manager of all things, from the very least to the greatest.

Who sent the flood on the world in the days of Noah (Genesis 6:17)? It was God!

Who sent the famine in the days of Joseph (Genesis 41:25)? It was God!

Who sent the plague on the livestock of Egypt in the reign of Pharaoh (Exodus 9:3)? It was God!

Who sent disease on the Philistines, when the ark was among them (1 Samuel 5:7; 6:3-7)? It was God!

Who sent the pestilence in the days of David (2 Samuel 24:15)? It was God!

Who sent the famine in the days of Elisha (2 Kings 8:1)? It was God!

Who sent the stormy wind and tempest in the days of Jonah (Jonah 1:4)? It was God!

I cannot understand how anyone can be called a believer of the Bible, who denies God's providence over His world. For my own part, I believe thoroughly that God has not changed. I believe that He is governing all things as much now, as He was in the Old Testament days. I believe that wars, famines, pestilences, and cattle plagues--are all His instruments for carrying on the government of this world. And therefore when I see a scourge like the cattle plague, I have no doubt as to the hand that sends it. 'Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord has not done it?' (Amos 3:6). It is the finger of God!

Can anyone give a better account of the cattle plague? I believe that the only cause that we must come to as last is: This is the finger of God!

Does anyone regard my assertion as absurd and unreasonable? I have no doubt that many do so. Many, I suspect, think that God never interferes with the affairs of this world, and that pestilences and cattle plagues are only the result of certain natural laws which are always producing certain effects. I pity the man who thinks so.

Is he an atheist? Does he believe that this wonderfully designed world came together by chance, and had no creator? If so, he is a very credulous person.

But if he does believe that God made the world, where, I ask, is the absurdity of believing that God governs the world? If he allows that God framed the universe, then why not allow that God manages it?

Away with this modern skepticism! It is offensive and revolting to common sense. They are not to be heard, who would shut out the Creator from His own creation. He who made the world at the beginning by the finger of creating wisdom--will never cease to govern the world by the finger of His providence. This cattle plague is the finger of God!

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
___________________________________________

The grand secret of daily comfort in Christianity!

(J.C. Ryle, "Do You Have a Priest?")

"We have a great High Priest who has entered Heaven, Jesus the Son of God." Hebrews 4:14

Christ, the great High Priest in Heaven, is ever doing the work of a Friend, a Protector, a Counselor, and an Advocate, on behalf of His redeemed people. He is ever watching over the interests of His people, and providing a continual supply of all that they need. To . . .
   sympathize with them in all their troubles,
   guide them in their perplexities,
   strengthen them for their duties,
   preserve them in their temptations--
all this is part of Christ's present priestly office.

Note His tenderness and sympathy--so that He can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Note His forbearance and patience--so that He can bear with our weaknesses and pity our mistakes. Note His wisdom, His faithfulness, His readiness to aid--who can describe or number up these things?

Christ, as our great High Priest, is ever interceding for us in Heaven. It is written, "He is able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by Him, because He ever lives to make intercession for them!" (Hebrews 7:25.) It is asked by Paul, "Who then is the one who condemns? No one! Christ Jesus who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us!" (Romans 8:34.) Jesus is carrying believers safely from grace to glory, by His almighty intercession!

Reader, let us thank God daily that Christ is doing the work of a Priest for us in Heaven. Let us be thankful for the "precious blood" of Christ--but let us not be less thankful for His precious intercession.

Christ's continual Priesthood is the grand secret of a saint's perseverance to the end. Left to ourselves, there would be little likelihood of our getting safely home to Heaven. We might begin well--and end ill.
So weak are our hearts,
so busy is the devil,
so many and ensnaring are the temptations of the world
--that nothing could prevent our making shipwreck!

But, thanks be to God, the Priesthood of Christ secures our safety. He who never slumbers and never sleeps is continually watching over our interests, and providing for our needs. While Satan pours water on the fire of grace, and strives to quench it--Christ pours on oil, and makes it burn more brightly.

Christ's continual Priesthood is the grand secret of daily comfort in Christianity. Oh, what an unspeakable comfort it is to remember that we have a great High Priest in Heaven, who never forgets us night or day, and is continually interceding for us, and providing for our safety! Christian, that great High Priest who died for you and intercedes for you--will never forget His people, or allow one lamb of His flock to perish! The merciful and faithful High Priest who began a work for you on the cross, will bring that work to a triumphant conclusion.

Reader, think of Jesus Christ as a loving Friend, to whom you may go morning, noon, and night, and  receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need. Of all the offices that Christ exercises on behalf of His people, none will repay thought and study so richly, as that of His present priesthood.

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
___________________________________________

Nature!

(Octavius Winslow, "Experimental Religion")

The spiritual mind, fond of soaring through nature in quest of new proofs of God's existence and fresh emblems of His wisdom, power and goodness--exults in the thought that it is his Father's domain which he treads! He feels that God, his God, is there.

And the sweet consciousness of His all-pervading presence, and the impress of His great perfections which everywhere meets his eye, overwhelm his renewed soul with wonder, love, and praise.

O the delight of looking abroad upon nature, under a sense of pardoning filial love in the soul, when enabled to exclaim, "This God is my God!"

"The heavens tell of the glory of God.
 The skies display His marvelous craftsmanship.
 Day after day they continue to speak;
 night after night they make Him known.
 They speak without a sound or a word;
 their voice is silent in the skies;
 yet their message has gone out to all the earth,
 and their words to all the world." Psalm 19:1-4

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
___________________________________________

The last day of the year!

("Daily Bible Readings in the Life of Christ" J.R. Miller, December 31, 1890)

"Jesus said unto him: Follow Me!" John 21:19

We have come now to the last day of the year! For a whole year in these daily readings, we have been walking with Christ. Is there any better word with which to close this book and close the year, than this last invitation of Jesus, "Follow Me!" This is the true outcome of all learning of Christ. Mere knowledge, though it be of spiritual things, avails nothing--except as it leads us to follow Christ.

We have seen Jesus in all the different phases of His life. We have heard many of His words. Now it remains only for us to follow Him. The outcome of seeing and knowing Jesus--should be holy living and doing. The last day of the year suggests also the same duty.

Who is satisfied with his life as it appears in retrospect? The past, however blotted, must go as it is; we cannot change it, and we need not waste time in regretting. But the new year is before us, and if we would make that better than the stained past, it must be by following Christ more closely.

To follow Christ is to go where He leads--without questioning or murmuring. It may be to a life of trial, suffering, or sacrifice--but it does not matter; we have nothing whatever to do with the kind of life to which our Lord calls us. Our only simple duty is to obey and follow. We know that Jesus will lead us only in right paths, and that the way He takes slopes upward and ends at the feet of God!

The new year on which we are about to enter is unopened, and we know not what shall befall us; but if we follow Christ we need have no fear. So let us leave the old year with gratitude to God for its mercies, and with penitence for its failures and sins; and let us enter the new year with earnest resolve in Christ's name to make it the holiest and most beautiful year we have ever lived.

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
___________________________________________

This is the last evening of the year!

(J.R. Miller, December 31, 1907)

This is the last evening of the year! I am trying to sum up my year's life. The days have come to me like clean, white pages--and I have tried to put upon each something beautiful to keep for me when the eternal books shall be opened.

It has been a year of opportunities. I am conscious of not having embraced them all. I have neglected duties of love, not always doing the things I should have done. I have not grown in heart-culture and spiritual life as I ought to have done. These neglects and all my sins, I humbly confess.

Yet I thank God for the past year. I cannot now change anything in it. But I want to learn lessons of experience from my failures and mistakes, and carry them forward into the new year.

I would forget the good things I have done, and try to do better things next year. No year's life, however beautiful, is beautiful enough to simply repeat--it must be improved upon. So I leave my year, with all its blots and blessings, with God, who will forget nothing worthy, and will look graciously upon my mistakes.

"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

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
___________________________________________

A New Year's Resolution!

(Matthew Henry)

"My times are in Your hand!" Psalm 31:15

Firmly believing that my times are in God's hand, I here submit myself and all my affairs for the ensuing year, to the wise and gracious disposal of God's divine providence. Whether God appoints for me . . . .
  health--or sickness,
  peace--or trouble,
  comforts--or crosses,
  life--or death
--may His holy will be done!

All my time, strength, and service, I devote to the honor of the Lord Jesus--and even my common actions. It is my earnest expectation, hope, and desire, my constant aim and endeavor--that Jesus Christ may be magnified in me.

In everything I have to do--my entire dependence is upon Jesus Christ for strength. And whatever I do in word or deed, I desire to do all in His name, to make Him my Alpha and Omega. I have all from Him--and I would use all for Him.

If this should prove a year of affliction, a sorrowful year to me--I will fetch all my supports and comforts from the Lord Jesus and stay myself upon Him, His everlasting consolations, and the good hope I have in Him through grace.

And if it should be my dying year--then my times are in the hand of the Lord Jesus. And with a humble reliance upon His mediation, I would venture into the eternal world looking for the blessed hope. Dying as well as living--Jesus Christ will, I trust, be gain and advantage to me.

Oh, that the grace of God may be sufficient for me, to keep me always in a humble sense of my own unworthiness, weakness, folly, and infirmity--together with a humble dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ for daily grace and strength.

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
___________________________________________

Consider your ways!

(Don Whitney)

Twenty-one questions to ask at the start of a New Year, or on your Birthday

Once, when the people of God had become careless in their relationship with Him, the Lord rebuked them through the prophet Haggai. "Consider your ways!" (Haggai 1:5) he declared, urging them to reflect on some of the things happening to them, and to evaluate their slipshod spirituality in light of what God had told them.

The beginning of a new year is an ideal time to stop, look up, and get our bearings. To that end, here are ten questions to ask prayerfully in the presence of God:

    1. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year--and what will you do about it?

    2. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life--and what will you do about it this year?

    3. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?

    4. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?

    5. What area of your life most needs simplifying, and what's one way you could simplify in that area?

    6. What habit would you most like to establish this year?

    7. What book, in addition to the Bible, do you most want to read this year?

    8. What one thing do you most regret about last year, and what will you do about it this year?

    9. In what area of your life do you most need growth, and what will you do about it this year?

    10. In what area of your life do you most need change, and what will you do about it this year?

If you've found these questions helpful, you might want to put them someplace--on your phone, tablet, day planner, calendar, bulletin board, etc.--where you can review them more frequently than once a year.

So let's evaluate our lives, make plans and goals, and live this new year with biblical diligence, remembering that, "The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage" (Proverbs 21:5). But in all things let's also remember our dependence on our King who said, "Apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
___________________________________________

We would all be incarnate devils!

(Thomas Brooks)

"The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time!" Genesis 6:5

There is the seed of all sins, of the vilest and worst of sins--in the best of men!

Did God leave us to act according to our sinful natures--we would all be incarnate devils, and this world would be an absolute Hell!

"He has rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins!" Colossians 1:13

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
___________________________________________

The unchangeable method of God!

(Matthew Mead, "The Almost Christian" 1661)

"I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Luke 5:32. That is--such as see themselves as sinners, and thereby in a lost condition.

God will have the soul truly sensible of the bitterness of sin--before it shall taste the sweetness of mercy. The plough of conviction must go deep, and make deep furrows in the heart, before God will sow the precious seed of grace there--so that it may have depth of earth to grow in.

This is the unchangeable method of God in bestowing grace--to begin with conviction of sin.
  First to show man his sin--then his Savior;
  first his danger--then his Redeemer;
  first his wound--then his cure;
  first his own vileness--then Christ's righteousness.

The sinner must see the worthlessness and vileness of his own righteousness--before he can be saved by Christ's righteousness. The Israelites are first stung with the fiery serpents--and then the brazen serpent is set up to heal them.

We must see the leprosy of our righteousness, and be brought to cry out, "Unclean, unclean!" We must mourn for Him whom we have pierced--and then He sets open for us "a fountain to cleanse us from all sin and impurity." Zechariah 12:10, 13:1

Be convinced of the evil of sin--the filthy and heinous nature of it. Sin is the greatest evil in the world--
  it wrongs God;
  it wounds Christ;
  it grieves the Holy Spirit;
  it damns a precious soul!
All other evils cannot be compared with this. Though to DO sin is the worst work--yet to SEE sin is the best sight!

Sin discovered in its vileness--makes Christ to be desired in His fullness!

Alas! it is Christ's infinite righteousness which must atone for our sins--for it is an infinite God whom we have sinned against!

If ever your sin is pardoned--it is Christ's infinite mercy which must pardon it!

If ever you are reconciled to God--it is Christ's infinite merit which must do it!

If ever your heart is changed--it is Christ's infinite power which must effect it!

If ever your soul escapes Hell, and is saved at last--it is Christ's infinite grace which must save it!

"For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost." Luke 19:10

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
___________________________________________

A new impulse--a nobler bent!

(Hannah More, "Practical Piety")

In salvation, the Holy Spirit operates on the human character to produce a new heart and a new life. By this operation the affections and faculties of the man receive a new impulse . . .
   his dark understanding is illuminated,
   his rebellious will is subdued,
   his irregular desires are rectified,
   his warped judgment is informed,
   his vile imagination is chastised,
   his sinful inclinations are sanctified, and
   his hopes and fears are directed to their true and adequate end. Heaven becomes the object of his hopes--and eternal separation from God the object of his fears.

His love of the world, is transformed into the love of God.

The lower faculties are pressed into the new service.

The senses have a higher direction.

The whole internal frame and constitution receive a nobler bent . . .
  the intents and purposes of the mind acquire a sublimer aim;
  his aspirations gain a loftier flight;
  his vacillating desires find a fixed object;
  his vagrant purposes attain a settled home;
  his disappointed heart has a certain refuge.

That heart, no longer the worshiper of the world, now struggles to overcome it.

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
___________________________________________

A solemn sham and an impudent mockery!

(Charles Spurgeon)

"Rend your heart--and not your garments!" Joel 2:13

Garment-rending and other external signs of religious emotion, are easily manifested, and are frequently hypocritical. True repentance is far more difficult, and consequently far less common. Unsaved men will attend to the most multiplied and minute religious ceremonies and regulations--for such things are pleasing to their flesh. But true godliness is too humbling, too heart-searching, too spiritual for the tastes of carnal men! They prefer something more ostentatious, flimsy, and worldly.

External religious rituals are temporarily comfortable; eye and ear are pleased; self-conceit is fed, and self-righteousness is puffed up. But they are ultimately delusive, for at the day of judgment, the soul needs something more substantial than religious ceremonies and rituals to lean upon.

Apart from vital godliness--all religion is utterly vain! When offered without a sincere heart, every form of religious worship is a solemn sham and an impudent mockery of the majesty of God!

Heart-rending is divinely wrought--and solemnly felt. It is a secret grief which is personally experienced, not in mere form--but as a deep, soul-moving work of the Holy Spirit upon the inmost heart of each believer. It is not a matter to be merely talked of--but keenly and sensitively felt in every living child of the living God. It is powerfully humiliating and sin-purging! But also, it is sweetly preparative for those gracious consolations which proud unhumbled souls are unable to receive! This heart-rending  distinctly belongs to the elect of God--and to them alone.

The text commands us to rend our hearts--but they are naturally as hard as marble! How then, can this be done? We must take them to Calvary! A dying Savior's voice rent the rocks once--and it is just as powerful now. O blessed Spirit, let us effectually hear the death-cries of Jesus--and our hearts shall be rent!

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
___________________________________________

Both apostles are right!

(William Bacon Stevens, "Waiting and Watching!")

"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?" James 2:14

The religion of Jesus Christ is made up of two parts--faith and works.
Faith is the root of works.
Works are the fruit of faith.

A belief, however true and pure, if it is accepted only by the intellect, and is not carried out into practice--translating the faith held by the mind, into active duties--is a barren faith, which will not be accepted by God, and which will not secure salvation.

On the other hand, works, however good, which do not spring out of faith in the Lord Jesus, but which are done merely from human and worldly motives--are of no avail before God, because "whatever is not of faith, is sin."

Thrice has James told us, "Faith without works is dead!"
And just as distinctly has Paul declared, "By the works of the law, shall no flesh be justified in His sight."

Both apostles are right!

Works without faith--have no living root.
Faith without works--has no authenticating fruit.

They are the two parts of the one tree, namely, the root and the fruit. They are the two halves of the one whole--together they make up the true Christian.

"In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by works, is dead!" James 2:17