Grace Gems

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God only saves the Un-People!

(Darvin Pruitt)

"When we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly!" Romans 5:6

God only saves the Un-People:
  the unprofitable,
  the ungodly,
  the unrighteous,
  the undeserving,
  the unlovable,
  the and undone!

"For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God!" 1 Peter 3:18

"Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ . . . without hope and without God in the world." Ephesians 2:12

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Let me tell you a little secret!

(Charles Spurgeon)

"Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law!" Psalm 119:18

Let me tell you a little secret: whenever you cannot understand a text, open your Bible, bend your knee, and pray over that text; and if it does not split into atoms and open itself, then try again. If prayer does not explain it, then it is one of those things that God did not intend you to know, and you may be content to be ignorant of it.

Prayer is the key that opens the cabinets of mystery. Prayer and faith are sacred picklocks that can open secrets, and obtain great treasures! There is no college for holy education like that of the blessed Spirit, for He is an ever-present tutor, to whom we have only to bend the knee, and He is at our side--the great expositor of truth!

You will frequently find fresh streams of thought leaping up from the passage before you, as if the rock had been struck by Moses' rod! New veins of precious ore will be revealed to your astonished gaze as you quarry God's Word and use diligently the hammer of prayer!

"But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth!" John 16:13


"Every text prayed over opens a mine of 'unsearchable riches,' with a light from above, more clear and full than the most intelligent exposition." (Charles Bridges)

"A humble and prayerful spirit will find a thousand things in the Bible--which the proud, self-conceited student will utterly fail to discern." (J.C. Ryle)

"There should be a definite asking Him to graciously anoint our eyes--not only that we may be enabled to behold wondrous things in His law, but also that He will make us of quick discernment to perceive how the passage before us applies to ourselves--what are the particular lessons we need to learn from it. The more we cultivate this habit, the more likely that God will be pleased to open His Word unto us." (Arthur Pink)

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The doctrine which is according to godliness!

(Arthur Pink, "Practical Christianity")

"The doctrine which is according to godliness" 1 Timothy 6:3

The doctrine which is according to godliness at once defines the nature of Divine doctrine, intimating that its design or end is to inculcate a right temper of mind and deportment of life--it is pure and purifying. It is very much more than a series of intellectual truths intended for the instructing of our brains. The doctrine which is according to godliness, is the enunciation of spiritual facts and holy principles, for the warming of the heart and the regulating of our lives.

The objects which are revealed in Scripture are not bare abstractions which are to be accepted as true, nor even sublime and lofty concepts to be admired--they are to have a powerful effect upon our daily walk. There is no doctrine revealed in Scripture for a merely speculative knowledge, but all is to exert a powerful influence upon conduct. God's design in all that He has revealed to us, is to the purifying of our affections and the transforming of our characters.

It is absurd to conclude that if my creed is sound, then it matters little how I live. Thus it is possible to deny the Faith by conduct--as well as by words. A neglect of performing our duty is as real a repudiation of the Truth, as is an open renunciation of it!

The doctrine of grace teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world (Titus 2:11, 12).  By far the greater part of the doctrine taught by Christ consisted not of the explication of mysteries--but rather that which corrected men's lusts and reformed their lives. Everything in Scripture has in view the promotion of holiness.

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Never have I been so sensible

(Jonathan Edwards)

"I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes!" Job 42:5-6

"Surely every man walks in a vain show!" Psalm 39:6

Never have I been so sensible--of how vain a creature man is, what a leaf driven by the wind, what dry stubble, what poor dust, a bubble, a shadow, a nothing, and more vain than nothing!

And never have I been so sensible--of what a vain and vile and helpless creature I am--and how much I need God's help in everything.

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

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The drop of water--and a giant being!

(Charles Spurgeon, "God's Estimate of Time" 1862)

"Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; He weighs the islands as though they were fine dust!" Isaiah 40:15

Within the compass of a drop of water we are told that sometimes a thousand living creatures may be discovered; and to those diminutive creatures, no doubt, their size is something very important. There is a creature inside that drop which can only be seen by the strongest microscope--but it is a hundred times larger than its neighbor, and it feels, no doubt, that the difference is amazing and extraordinary.

But to you and to I, who cannot even see the largest of these creatures with the naked eye, the larger animalcule is as imperceptible as his dwarfish friend--they both seem so utterly insignificant that we squander whole millions of them, and are not very penitent if we destroy them by thousands.

But what would one of those little imperceptible animals say if some prophet of its own kind could tell them that there is a 'giant being' living that would reckon the 'whole world of a drop of water' as nothing, and could take up ten thousand thousand of those drops and scatter them without exertion of half its power; that this 'giant being' would not be encumbered if it should carry on the tip of its finger all the thousands that live in that great world--a drop of water; that this 'giant being' would have no disturbance of heart, even if the great king of one of the empires in that drop should gather all his armies against it and lead them to battle?

Why, then the minuscule creatures would say, "How can this be? We can hardly grasp the idea?"

But when that microscopic philosopher could have gotten an idea of man, and of the utter insignificance of its own self, and of its own little narrow world--then it would have achieved an easy task, compared with that which lies before us when we attempt to get an idea of our great God.

We think of the infinite nature of God in being able to marshal all the stars, and govern all the orbs which bespangle the brow of night; but I take it to be quite as great a wonder that He should even know that such insignificant nothings as we humans are in existence, much more that He should count every hair of our heads, and not allow one of them to fall to the ground without His express decree.

The Infinite is as much known in the 'small' as in the 'magnanimous', and God may be as really discovered by us in the drop of water as in the rolling orb. But this is astonishing of God--that He even observes us!

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It is difficult to distinguish him from the unconverted man!

(A.W. Tozer)

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind!" Romans 12:2

For centuries the Church has stood solidly against worldly entertainment, recognizing it for what it was:
  a device for wasting time,
  a refuge from the disturbing voice of conscience,
  a scheme to divert attention from moral accountability.
For this she got herself abused roundly by the ungodly. But of late she has become tired of the abuse, and has given up the struggle. She appears to have decided that if she cannot conquer the great god 'Entertainment' she may as well join forces with him and make what use she can of his powers.

The average church member lives a life so worldly and careless, that it is difficult to distinguish him from the unconverted man!


"The world had absorbed the Church, and the church is content that it should be so!" Horatius Bonar

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The golden key that fits all locks!

(John MacDuff, "Thoughts for the Quiet Hour", 1895)

"If I have not love, I am nothing." 1 Corinthians 13:2

What a magic spell there is in love!--the absolute devotion
of a beautiful soul that loses itself in the hallowed mission
of radiating peace and joy and sympathy all around.

When other charmers have failed to charm, many dull,
unsusceptible ears have been arrested and won by the
music of kindness. By it . . .
  old-age renews its youth,
  sick pillows are smoothed,
  burdens are eased,
  tears are turned into smiles,
  dirges are turned into songs.

Love is, of all magical charms, the most irresistible.

Love is the golden key that fits all locks!

"Love is patient, love is kind.
 It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
 Love never fails!" 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

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LOVE IS... being willing to have your life complicated by the needs and struggles of others without impatience or anger.

LOVE IS... actively fighting the temptation to be critical and judgmental toward another while looking for ways to encourage and praise.

LOVE IS... making a daily commitment to resist the needless moments of conflict that come from pointing out and responding to minor offenses.

LOVE IS... being lovingly honest and humbly approachable in times of misunderstanding.

LOVE IS... being more committed to unity and understanding than you are to winning, accusing, or being right.

LOVE IS... a making a daily commitment to admit your sin, weakness, and failure and to resist the temptation to offer an excuse or shift the blame.

LOVE IS... being willing, when confronted by another, to examine your heart rather than rising to your defense or shifting the focus.

LOVE IS... making a daily commitment to grow in love so that the love you offer to another is increasingly selfless, mature, and patient.

LOVE IS... being unwilling to do what is wrong when you have been wronged, but looking for concrete and specific ways to overcome evil with good.

LOVE IS... being a good student of another, looking for their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs so that in some way you can remove the burden, support them as they carry it, or encourage them along the way.

LOVE IS... being willing to invest the time necessary to discuss, examine, and understand the relational problems you face, staying on task until the problem is removed or you have agreed upon a strategy of response.

LOVE IS... being willing to always ask for forgiveness and always being committed to grant forgiveness when it is requested.

LOVE IS... recognizing the high value of trust in a relationship and being faithful to your promises and true to your word.

LOVE IS... speaking kindly and gently, even in moments of disagreement, refusing to attack the other person's character or assault their intelligence.

LOVE IS... being unwilling to flatter, lie, manipulate, or deceive in any way in order to coerce the other person into giving you what you want or doing something your way.

LOVE IS... the willingness to have less free time, less sleep, and a busier schedule in order to be faithful to what God has called you to be and to do as a spouse, parent, neighbor, etc.

LOVE IS... a commitment to say no to selfish instincts and to do everything that is within your ability to promote real unity, functional understanding, and active love in your relationships.

LOVE IS... staying faithful to your commitment to treat another with appreciation, respect, and grace, even in moments when the other person doesn't seem deserving or is unwilling to reciprocate.

LOVE IS... the willingness to make regular and costly sacrifices for the sake of a relationship without asking for anything in return or using your sacrifices to place the other person in your debt.

LOVE IS... being unwilling to make any personal decision or choice that would harm a relationship, hurt the other person, or weaken the bond of trust between you.

LOVE IS... refusing to be self-focused or demanding, but instead looking for specific ways to serve, support, and encourage, even when you are busy or tired.

LOVE IS... daily admitting to yourself, the other person, and God that you are unable to be driven by a cruciform love without God's protecting, providing, forgiving, rescuing, and delivering grace.  [By Paul Tripp. The above resource is from Paul Tripp Ministries. For additional resources, visit www.paultripp.com. Used with permission.]

"Love is patient, love is kind.
 It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
 Love never fails!" 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

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God's school for His children!

"Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered." Hebrews 5:8


"Our Savior learned obedience by the things which He suffered--and so must we. Affliction, if patiently endured, and sanctified to us--is a great purifier of our corrupted natures. It will teach us excellent things." (George Whitefield)


"Christian experience is only learned in the school of affliction." (George Whitefield)


"God loves His own children too well to exempt them from affliction. It is a blessed thing when our trials cure our earnest love for perishable worldly things." (William S. Plumer)


"Affliction is the school in which great virtues are acquired, in which holy characters are formed." (Hannah More)


"Afflictions are sent for this end, to bring us to the throne of grace, to teach us to pray, and to make the Word of God's grace precious to us. It has always been to the advantage of God's people to be afflicted. Many are taught with the briars and thorns of affliction, who would not learn otherwise." (Matthew Henry)


"No man, without trials and temptations, can attain a true understanding of the Holy Scriptures. I never knew the meaning of God's Word, until I came into affliction. I have always found it one of my best school-masters." (Martin Luther)


"If this experimental acquaintance with the Bible is the result of affliction--then welcome the discipline whose rod of correction blossoms into such golden fruit! Let God's dealings with us be ever so dark, painful, and afflicting--it is utterly impossible that anything can be against the best interests of a believer in Christ." (Octavius Winslow)


"Affliction is God's flail to thresh off our husks!" (Thomas Watson)


"Let any Christian view his own life, and see how nearly his whole spiritual progress has been made in the seasons of trial. It is by their private afflictions chiefly that individuals grow in grace." (R.L. Dabney)


"I bear my willing testimony to the blessing that affliction and trial have been to me. I owe more to God's furnace and the file, than I can ever describe!" (C.H. Spurgeon)


"There are no lessons so useful as those learned in the school of affliction." (J.C. Ryle)


"We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him!" Learn how little cause we have then to be discontented at outward trials and afflictions! What! Shall we be discontented at that which works for our good? If one friend should throw a bag of money at another, and in throwing it, should graze his head, he would not be troubled much, seeing by this means he had got a bag of money. So the Lord may bruise us by afflictions--but it is to enrich us. These afflictions work for us an exceeding weight of glory--and shall we be discontented?" (Thomas Watson)


"We are only scholars. It rests with the Great Teacher to decide which lesson shall come next--a hard one or an easy one." (William Ward)



"God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness!" Hebrews 12:10

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Everything short of Hell--is a mercy!

(James Smith, "Profitable Portions For the Lord's Day" 1865)

"All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud--but gives grace to the humble!" 1 Peter 5:5

The humble man may have anything from God. Who are the humble? Those who have a proper sense of their guilt, emptiness, and utter nothingness before God. Divine teaching has . . .
  brought them into the dust,
  stopped their boasting,
  cropped their pride, and
  softened their stony hearts.

Pride is one of the most mischievous things in creation! It appears to have been the cause of the fall of angels, and it certainly was the cause of the fall of our first parents. Pride does more evil in the world, in the church, and in the domestic circle--than anything else; while humility is one of the most beautiful, beneficial, and pleasing of the graces. Humility pleases God, approves itself to man, and prevents a world of mischief and misery!

"The humble" have low views of themselves. They see so many sad defects on the one hand, and so many glaring inconsistencies on the other--that they are obliged to lay low before God in shame and self-abhorrence. With Job, they cry, "Behold, I am vile!" Or, with Agur, "So foolish was I, and ignorant, I was as a beast before You!"

"The humble" know that . . .
  their every grace is imperfect,
  their every service is polluted and defiled, and
  even their very prayers need to be cleansed in the blood of Jesus.

"The humble" have a vivid and abiding sense of their deserts. They know that if God were to deal with them in pure justice--they must be sent to Hell. They deserve nothing better. Everything short of Hell--is a mercy! They realize this, and it humbles them, it makes them willing to take the lowest place. They feel that all the difference between them and the most depraved person on earth--is to be traced to the free, sovereign, and distinguishing grace of God. "By the grace of God--I am what I am!" 1 Corinthians 15:10

They have a humility of disposition, so that they do not complain of the Lord. He tries them. He strips them. He weans them from the world. He . . .
  baffles their schemes,
  frustrates their designs, and
  often cuts off their hopes!
But they justify Him, and say, "It is the Lord! Let Him do what seems good unto Him!"

"The humble" do not cavil at God's Word. They receive the doctrines, promises, and precepts of the Word, just as God has revealed them.

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Running to and fro like ants upon a heap!

(J.C. Ryle, "Riches and Poverty" 1878.)

"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side.
 The rich man also died and was buried." Luke 16:22

Observe how all classes alike come to the grave. Lazarus died--and the rich man also died. As different and divided as they were in their lives--they had both to drink of the same cup at the last. Both went to the 'house appointed for all living'. Both went to that place where rich and poor meet together. Dust they were--and unto dust they returned.

This is the lot of all men. After all our scheming, and contriving, and planning, and studying--after all our inventions, and discoveries, and scientific attainments--there remains one 'enemy' we cannot conquer and disarm--and that is Death!

The chapter in Genesis, which records the long lives of Methuselah, and the rest who lived before the flood, winds up the simple story of each, by two expressive words, "He died." And now, after thousands of years, what more can be said of the greatest among ourselves? The histories of Washington, and Napoleon, and Shakespeare arrive at the same humbling conclusion. The end of each, after all his greatness, is just this, "He died."

Death is a mighty leveler! He spares none, he waits for none! He will not tarry until you are ready. He will not be kept out by doors, and bars, and bolts. The Englishman boasts that his home is his castle--but, with all his boasting, he cannot exclude death. An Austrian nobleman forbade death to be named in his presence. But named or not named, it matters little--in God's appointed hour, death will come!

One man rolls lazily along the road in the smoothest and handsomest carriage which money can procure; another toils wearily along the path on foot--yet both are sure to meet at last in the same long home!

One man, like Absalom, has fifty servants to wait upon him and do his bidding; another has none to lift a finger to do him a service--but both are traveling to a place where they must lie down alone!

One man is the owner of millions; another has scarcely a dollar that he can call his own property--yet neither one nor the other can carry one penny with him into the unseen world.

One man is the possessor of half a county; another has not so much as an inch of land--and yet 'six feet' of dirt will be amply sufficient for either of them at the last!

One man pampers his body with every possible delicacy, and clothes it in the richest and softest apparel; another has scarcely enough to eat, and seldom enough to put on--yet both alike are hurrying on to a day when "ashes to ashes, and dust to dust," shall be proclaimed over them!

Fifty years hence, none shall be able to say, "This was the rich man's bone--and this the bone of the poor man."

Reader, I know that these are ancient things. I do not deny it for a moment. I am writing stale old things that all men know--but I am also writing things that all men do not feel. Oh, no! if they did feel them, they would not speak and live as they do.

We see 'death' gradually thinning our congregations; we miss face after face in our assemblies; we know not whose turn may come next! We only know as the tree falls--there it will lie, and that "after death comes the judgment!"

Oh, that men would learn to live--as those who must one day die! Truly it is poor work to set our affections on a dying world and its short-lived comforts--and lose a glorious immortality! Here we are toiling, and laboring, and wearying ourselves about trifles, and running to and fro like ants upon a heap--and yet after a few years we shall all be gone, and another generation will fill our place!

Live for eternity, reader! Seek a portion which can never be taken from you!

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I am my Beloved's--and my Beloved is mine!

(Archibald Brown, "This God Our God!")

"I am my Beloved's--and my Beloved is mine!" Song of Songs 6:3

There are two passages in the Scripture which ought never to be separated.

One is "The LORD's portion is His people." Deuteronomy 32:9. That is God's side.

And the other passage is this: "The LORD is my portion." Lamentations 3:24

God and I possess each other. God finds His portion in His people--and His people find their portion in God.

His heart is mine--for He loves me.
His ear is mine--for I may pour into it all my tales of sorrow and all my songs of joy.
His eyes are mine--for they watch me from morning until night.
His hand is mine--for it is stretched out to uphold me.
This God is mine--in all His glorious perfections!

Oh, He is a God of infinite glory. Abased in the very dust, and half bewildered by the thought, I yet dare to look up, and say, "This God is my God forever and ever! He will be my guide even until death!" Psalm 48:14

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The name of the LORD is a strong tower!

(Ralph Erskine, 1685-1752)

"The name of the LORD is a strong tower!
 A righteous person runs to it and is safe!" Proverbs 18:10

Jesus has a name suiting every want, every need.

Do you need wonders to be wrought for you? His name is Wonderful; look to Him so to do, for His name's sake.

Do you need counsel and direction? His name is the Counselor; cast yourself on Him and His mighty name for this.

Have you mighty enemies to engage? His name is the Mighty God; seek that He may exert His power for His name's sake.

Do you need His fatherly pity? His name is the everlasting Father; as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him. Plead His pity, for His name's sake.

Do you need peace--external, internal, or eternal? His name is the Prince of Peace; seek for His name's sake, that He may create peace.

O sirs, His name is Jehovah-Rophi, the Lord, the healer and physician; seek, for His name's sake, that He may heal all your soul diseases.

Do you need pardon? His name is Jehovah-Tsidkenu, the Lord our righteousness; seek for His name's sake, that He may be merciful to your unrighteousness.

Do you need defense and protection? His name is Jehovah-Nissi, the Lord your banner; seek, for His name's sake, that His banner of love and grace may be spread over you.

Do you need provision in extreme want? His name is Jehovah-Jireh, in the mount to the Lord it shall be seen, the Lord will provide.

Do you need His presence? His name is Jehovah-Shammah, the Lord is there; Immanuel, God with us; look to Him to be with you, for His name's sake.

Do you need an audience of prayer? His name is the Hearer of Prayer.

Do you need strength? His name is the Strength of Israel.

Do you need comfort? His name is the Consolation of Israel.

Sit down and ponder your wants and needs--and you will find He has a name suitable for your supply; He has . . .
  all wisdom to guide you,
  all power to keep you,
  all mercy to pity you,
  all holiness to sanctify you,
  all righteousness to justify you,
  all grace to adorn you,
  and all glory to crown you!

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This rocking-horse type of spiritual life

(Vernon J. Charlesworth)

"Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!" 2 Peter 3:18

Once, entering the house of one of his congregation, Rowland Hill saw a child on a rocking-horse. "Dear me," exclaimed the aged minister, "how astonishingly like some Christians--there is motion, but no progress!"

This rocking-horse type of spiritual life is still characteristic of too many Church members in the present day. "Grow in grace" is an exhortation but little regarded.

"As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby." 1 Peter 2:2

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Choice quotes on AFFLICTION

"Affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble spring from the ground!" Job 5:6

"Affliction does not rise out of the dust or come to men by chance; but it is the Lord who sends it, and we should own and reverence His hand in it!" (Thomas Boston)

"Those who dive into the sea of affliction, bring up rare pearls!" (Charles Spurgeon)

"The furnace of affliction is a good place for you, Christian; it benefits you; it helps you to become more like Christ, and it is fitting you for Heaven!" (Charles Spurgeon)

"Most of the grand truths of God have to be learned by trouble; they must be burned into us with the hot iron of affliction, otherwise we shall not truly receive them." (Charles Spurgeon)

"The Lord gets his best soldiers out of the highlands of affliction." (Charles Spurgeon)

"There is no attribute of God more comforting to His children than the doctrine of Divine Sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe troubles--they believe that Sovereignty has ordained their afflictions, that Sovereignty overrules them, and that Sovereignty will sanctify them all." (Charles Spurgeon)

"Afflictions tend to wean us from the world--and to fix our affections on things above." (John Angell James)

"Poverty and affliction take away the fuel that feeds pride!" (Richard Sibbes)

"The winter prepares the earth for the spring; so do sanctified afflictions prepare the soul for glory." (Richard Sibbes)

"When I am in the cellar of affliction, I look for the Lord's choicest wines." (Samuel Rutherford)

"Whoever brings an affliction, it is God who sends it. It is one heart-quieting consideration in all the afflictions that befall us--that God has a special hand in them: "The Almighty has afflicted me!" Ruth 1:21. Instruments can no more stir until God gives them a commission--than the axe can cut of itself without a hand. Job eyed God in his affliction; therefore, as Augustine observes, Job does not say, "The Lord gave, and the devil took away," but "the Lord has taken away." (Thomas Watson)

"Afflictions add to the saints glory. The more the diamond is cut, the more it sparkles; the heavier the saints cross is, the heavier will be their crown." (Thomas Watson)