Grace Gems

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The most matchless exhibition of mercy--and the most dreadful exhibition of holy wrath!

(Archibald Brown, "HIGGAION" 1873)

"The Lord is known by the judgment which He executes." Psalm 9:16

If you desire to see the most dreadful specimen of God's wrath, I ask you to come with me now, to a place called Calvary. I want you to gather together on that little spot just outside the city, and see such a sight as Moses never saw when he beheld the bush burning. I want you to see on Calvary, the Lord making Himself known by the judgment which He executes.

Who is that upon the tree in agonies and blood? The answer is, Jehovah's Son! What, His beloved Son? Yes, His beloved and only Son. But mark His agony. Do you see that ashen face, furrowed deep, turned up to Heaven? Do you hear that anguished cry that seems to pierce the clouds, 'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?'

When the Lord looked at the adorable Jesus, He saw in Him not only His own Son--but the sinner's substitute. He saw on Him my accursed sins--He saw yours also! And oh, solemn truth, although the Substitute was His own Son, He would not, He could not spare the blow! That heaving bosom of His beloved Son, was made the sheath of the sword of His inflexible justice!

God must undeify himself, before He can wink at sin or fail in the execution of His threatened wrath against iniquity. He must cease to be the Holy One, before mercy can ride rough-shod over justice and truth. But righteousness and mercy, truth and peace all meet in the sin-atoning sacrifice.

'The Lord is known by His judgment which He executes.' Above all, by His judgment of sin at Calvary!

Oh, am I speaking to any who imagine sin to be a trifle? I beg you to measure sin by the woes of Christ! If you think that iniquity is but a small thing, understand that iniquity can only be understood as it is measured by the agonies of a dying God. Probe those wounds--and fathom that depth of anguish if you can. Tell me how hot the fire burned within that loving heart; and when you have told me that--you have told me how much God hates sin!

While Calvary is the most matchless exhibition of mercy--it is also the most dreadful exhibition of holy wrath! In one and the same person, and at one and the same time--there is illimitable love to the sinner, and there is illimitable hatred to his sin. Go to Calvary, not to Sinai, to learn how much God abhors this accursed thing, sin!

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The loving heart of an actual living Christ!

(J.C. Ryle, "Holiness, Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots" 1879)

I am afraid that many Christians in our day have lost sight of Christ. They talk . . .
  more about salvation--than about their only Savior, and
  more about redemption--than the one true Redeemer, and
  more about Christ's work--than Christ Himself!

This is a great fault--one that accounts for the dry and shriveled spirit that infuses the religious lives of many who profess faith. As ever you would grow in grace, and have joy and peace in believing--beware of falling into this error!

Cease to regard the Gospel as a mere collection of dry doctrines. Look at it rather as the revelation of a mighty living Being in whose sight you are daily to live.

Cease to regard the Gospel as a mere set of abstract propositions and abstruse principles and rules. Look at it as the introduction to a glorious personal Friend.

This is the kind of Gospel that the apostles preached. They did not go about the world telling men of love and mercy and pardon in the abstract. The leading subject of all their sermons, was the loving heart of an actual living Christ!

This is the kind of Gospel which is most calculated to promote sanctification and fitness for glory. Nothing, surely, is so likely to prepare us for that Heaven where Christ's personal presence will be all, and that glory where we shall meet Christ face to face--as to realize communion with Christ as an actual living Person. There is all the difference in the world, between an idea and a person!

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Actions, words, desires

(Archibald Brown, "The Heart's Cry after God" 1879)

"My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God!" Psalm 84:2

The desires of the heart are the best proofs of salvation; and if a man wishes to know whether he is really saved or not, he can very soon find out by putting his finger upon the pulse of his desires, for those are things that never can be counterfeit.
You may counterfeit words;
you may counterfeit actions;
but you cannot counterfeit desires.

You cannot always tell a Christian by his actions.
For sometimes true Christians act in a very ugly style;
and sometimes those who are not Christians act in a very beautiful way;
and hypocrites often act the best. The whole of a hypocrite's life may be a simple counterfeit.

Nor are our words always a true test. Often the most beautiful experience, as far as language goes, is the experience that falls from the lips of a man whose heart knows nothing about the grace of God. It is possible to mix with God's children until you pick up a sort of Christian dialect, and talk of others' experiences as though they were your own. Just as a man sojourning in a foreign country will learn a good deal of the language of its inhabitants by simply hearing it spoken--so it is possible to dwell among Christians until their language is in great measure acquired. But talking a language does not constitute a nationality.

But there is one thing which cannot be picked up or counterfeited, and that is a desire. Let me know my desire--then do I know myself; for I can no more counterfeit a desire than I can counterfeit fire. One says, "Do you want to know what you are? Go ask your desires, and they will tell you. Do you wish to know where you are going? See where your desires tend."

A good action may be done without any love to that action. And, on the other hand, an evil action may be avoided--not from any hatred to that evil. The good action may be done from an impure motive; the evil action may be avoided simply from a selfish motive. But the desire of the soul--that is the immediate issue of the heart.

A caged bird cannot fly--does it therefore cease to be a bird? No; that it does not fly is because it is in a cage. Open the door--see, now, how quickly it darts through the opening, and flies, skimming through the air, heavenward. It has the bird's nature. It had the desire for flight, even when the cruel wires kept it in.

And so is it with the child of God. Often does he get caged, and if you were to judge simply by appearances, you would say, 'Surely he has not the nature of the Christian within.' Only open the door--only give him a chance of flight--and you will see then that, after all, the desire of his soul has been towards God, for, in the language of my text, he says, "My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God!"

The desire of the true Christian is after God Himself. "My heart and my flesh cry out for--for God." This desire swallows up all others!

Longing after God is a more infallible proof you are God's, than your most zealous services, or the very best of your actions. These might be counterfeit--but this longing after God cannot be.

Oh what must Heaven be! If all the desires of a saint are concentrated in God--then what must the satisfaction of Heaven be when it is all God--God on the throne, God before me, God leading me, God delighting my eyes, God in my songs--the world, its cares, its sorrows, its worries, all gone--a heavenly atmosphere of God all around! How unutterably deep the satisfaction! My heart and my flesh will no longer cry out for God--but will eternally rejoice in Him!

Do not I love thee, O my lord?
Behold my heart, and see,
And chase each idol far away,
That dares to rival thee!

Thou know'st I love thee, dearest Lord.
But, oh! I long to soar,
Above the sphere of mortal joys,
And learn to love thee more!
  Philip Doddridge

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What would you ask for?

(Joseph Alleine, "Alarm to the Unconverted" 1671)

"That night God appeared to Solomon in a dream and said: What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!" 2 Chronicles 1:7

If God would give you your choice, as He did to Solomon--what would you ask for?

Go into the gardens of pleasure, and gather all the fragrant flowers there--would these satisfy you?

Go to the treasures of mammon--suppose you may carry away as much as you desire.

Go to the towers, to the trophies of honor--and become a man of renown.

Would any of these, would all of these satisfy you, and make you to count yourself happy? If so, then certainly you are carnal and unconverted.

Converting grace turns the heart from its idols--to the living God. Before conversion, the man minded his farm, friends, pleasures more than Christ. He found more sweetness in his merry company, worldly amusements, earthly delights--than in Christ. Now he says, "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ!" Philippians 3:7-8

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Immanuel's Land!

(Gene Fedele, edited)

What can be more delightful for the weary pilgrim who is hastening to his heavenly mansion, than to meditate on the unspeakable wonders of his future home beyond the skies? There is much of Immanuel's Land to engage our hearts in sacred contemplation, even while we sojourn and toil in this world as strangers and pilgrims.

Heaven is the most cheering and attractive occupation to which we may set our hearts. Yet I wonder why many of us fail to avail ourselves of the enjoyment and spiritual strength afforded in such a holy pursuit.

Could it be that the allurements of the world keep us from recognizing how near we are to the unseen, supernatural, and eternal state? Instead of dwelling on the glorious world to come--do we focus on the mere momentary pleasures of time? We do well to examine ourselves, with judgment day honesty, that we may check the affections of our heart.

It is the influence of the future heavenly realities exercised in our hearts and lives, which gives vitality and beauty to our religion. It reveals genuine piety, as our aim is in contrast to the passing pleasures of this fleeting earth. It affords light along the path of life's dark trials, and points to the realms of bliss, where there shall be no more tears, and sorrow is banished forevermore!

The glorious rest that remains for our earth wearied souls;
the sweet consolation of the redeemed in glory;
the unending fellowship of that precious society of saints;
the incalculable riches laid up in store for us to receive on that glorious day
--are all facets of Immanuel's Land, that we might set an adoring eye towards the one object of our affections, Christ Jesus our Lord!

Let us, therefore, 'set our affections on things above' and fix our hearts steadfastly upon the heavenly joys and glory of Immanuel's Land!

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Hard work, and bad pay!

(Archibald Brown, "Hard Work and Bad Pay!" 1868.)

"The wages of sin is death!" Romans 6:23

What! is the reward for all that hard toil--death? Yes, death! Oh, extraordinary wages--but more astonishing still, that any should be found to work for them!

The death of the body, is but one result of sin. If sin had not found its way into God's fair earth--then death also would have been forever a stranger. Death is the dark shadow that sin casts. For six thousand years men have been receiving the wages of death. Death has passed upon all men, for all have sinned.

Think of the aggregate of sorrow that has come on this fallen world through death, the fruit of sin. Could all the groans that have burst from broken-hearted mourners since our first parents wept over their murdered son, be gathered into one--what a deep thunder-peal of anguish it would be! Were all the tears collected that death has caused to flow--what a briny ocean they would constitute! Let those call sin a trifle who dare--but to us it is clear that what could bring on man so dreadful a curse as death, must in itself be something unutterably horrible!

And yet mere physical death, is the least that is meant here. If this was all the Lord meant--if men when they die, die like dogs--there would be no occasion for the agony of soul we often have. But alas! alas! the death referred to here is a death that never dies! It is placed in contrast to "eternal life." It means eternal death; in another word, HELL! Here, poor sinner, are your wages--here is the result of a life's toil for Satan, HELL!

Let me say moreover, sin pays some of its wages now; it gives sometimes an installment of Hell on earth. The wretched debauchee often finds it so. Mark his haggard countenance, his trembling gait; follow him to the hospital--no don't--let his end remain secret; terrible are the wages he receives!

Look at the drunkard; he is paid for his sin in his home, until not a single stick remains to tell of a place that once was bright and happy. Have you ever seen a drunkard in delirium tremens? If so, you will never doubt about the wages he receives in this life. Hearken to his shrieking--listen to his raving as he imagines he is being dragged to Hell by ten thousand fiery snakes!

This is all included in the wages "death;" and yet after all, this is nothing. If the only wages for sin were those received in a lifetime, we could be calmer. But oh, Eternity, Eternity is sin's long pay-day--and the wages paid is Hell!

Suppose a person were to go to a blacksmith and say to him, 'I want you to make me a long and heavy chain--I will pay you well for it.' The blacksmith, for the sake of the money, commences it; and after toiling hard for some time, finishes it. The person calls, and says on looking at it, 'Yes, it is a good chain--but not long enough; work on it another week, I will then call and pay you for it.' Encouraged by the promise of full reward, the blacksmith toils on, adding link to link. When his employer calls again, he praises him as before--but still insists that 'the chain is too short.' 'But,' says the blacksmith, 'I can do no more; my iron is all gone, and my strength too.'

'Oh then, just add a few more links, the chain will then answer my purpose, and you shall be well paid.' The blacksmith, with his remaining strength, and last few scraps of iron, adds the last link he can. 'The chain will now do,' says the man, 'you have worked hard and long; I will now pay you your wages.' And taking the chain, he suddenly binds the blacksmith hand and foot, and casts him into a furnace of fire!

Such are the wages of sin. It promises much--but its reward is damnation!

Servants of sin and Satan, behold your future doom! Be honest, and confess that your service is hard work, and bad pay. God forbid that in this large concourse of people, there should be a single one who will ever learn by bitter, eternal experience that "the wages of sin is death!"

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O how strange--that God should love a worm, a dung-hill worm!

(The following is an excerpt from the diary of James Smith)

August 28, 1857.
If some of my congregation knew me better--they would love me less!
Yet my heavenly Father . . .
  knows me well,
  favors me much,
  and loves me wonderfully!

O how strange--that God should love a worm, a dung-hill worm--one who . . .
  was bred in sin,
  loved sin,
  felt at home in sin, and
  at times felt regret that he was debarred from some sins!

O if God had left me to myself--what would I have been, and what would I have done!
But by the grace of God--I am what I am!" 1 Corinthians 15:10

Surely, surely, I must say, that divine love and wisdom have planned my path--from first to last.
I am . . .
  out of Hell,
  on the way to Heaven,
  employed by God,
  useful to saints, and
  a blessing to sinners!
O how wonderful, how wonderful is this!

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True growth in grace!

(Archibald Brown, "He is Precious!")

"To you therefore who believe, He is precious!" 1 Peter 2:7

The word "precious" has a stronger meaning than appears on its surface; it is really "To you who believe, He is preciousness," or all-precious. Christ is . . .
  a sun which ever shines;
  a garden which is always full of flowers and fruits;
  a hive ever full of honey;
  a fountain which is always full;
  a brook which never dries;
  a rose that always blooms;
  an ocean of sweetness without a drop of gall.

To the child of God, a personal living Christ is most dear.
He is not satisfied with a mere love for . . .
  Christ's doctrines,
  Christ's promises,
  or Christ's gifts.
His affections entwine themselves round about Christ's person. Jesus is to him his brother, friend, companion, the one with whom he walks and talks.

True growth in grace consists of a personal Savior growing increasingly precious.

How sad it is that so many fall short of this experience. Their religion is entered more in a code of rules and collections of doctrines--than in the person of the dear Redeemer.

Yes, to you who believe, He Himself is precious!

Not only His house--for it is quite possible to like a person's house exceedingly, and yet have no particular love for the owner of that house.

Not only His book--for there are many books you may enjoy reading, and yet have neither knowledge of, nor affection for, the author.

Not only His gifts--for how many there are who value a man's gifts, while they despise him in their heart.

But He Himself, apart from all that He gives, will be your heart's dearest love.

"My God, I love You; not because
 I hope for Heaven thereby.
Nor because those who love You not,
 Must burn eternally.

Not with the hope of gaining anything,
 Nor seeking a reward;
But as Yourself have loved me,
 O ever-loving Lord."

"Whom have I in Heaven but You? I desire You more than anything on earth!" Psalm 73:25

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A poor, weak, and trembling creature

(John Angell James, "Christian Progress" 1853)

"He will feed His flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in His arms, holding them close to His heart." Isaiah 40:11

Dwell upon the love and tenderness of our Lord Jesus!

Notice who are the objects of His care--"the lambs," which means not only those of tender age--but also those who have been newly converted; those who are young in Christian experience; and also those whose temperament is naturally timid, whose strength is feeble, and whose danger is great.

Yes, you are the objects of Christ's special attention, care, and solicitude! You are those whom He takes up in the arms of His power--and lays on the bosom of His love! He knows . . .
  your weakness,
  your timidity,
  your dangers!

He will exert for you . . .
  His tenderest sympathy,
  His greatest vigilance,
  His mightiest power.

This expression however not only conveys the idea of great care of the weak--but the exercise of that care with a view to their preservation and growth. It means not only that He will . . .
  cordially receive them,
  provide for their safety,
  be concerned for their comfort, and
  accommodate His conduct to their needs
--but He will also nourish them through their infant existence, and raise them up to maturity and strength.

Let every lamb of the flock of Christ, therefore, go to Him by faith and prayer, and say: "Blessed Jesus, I come to you as a poor, weak, and trembling creature, doubtful of my own continuance, and alarmed at my numerous difficulties and enemies. I am but a lamb, and often fear I shall never be anything better. But was it not in regard to such weakness that You have been pleased to utter these gracious and tender words? I flee to You as the helpless lamb to its shepherd--when hungry, to feed it--or when pursued by wild beasts, that he may defend it. Lord, take me in the arms of Your power and lay me on the bosom of Your love--though I am so poor and helpless a creature. I will hope in Your nurturing power and love, that I shall continue to grow, and that You will one day rejoice in me, as one of the flock which You have purchased with Your own blood!"

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To an angel's eye, it must be the ugliest thing on earth!

(Archibald Brown, "The Pioneer of Destruction!" 1869, Stepney Green Tabernacle)

"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." Proverbs 16:18

Chrysostom has aptly called pride "the mother of Hell"--for Hell with all its horrors is its hideous offspring!

Had there been no treacherous pride, there would have been no bottomless pit! Perdition was prepared for the Devil and his angels--and pride prepared the Devil and his angels for perdition! We need fear no language we can possibly use being too strong to denounce pride, for as Aristotle says, "Pride comprehends all vice!"

Is drunkenness to be condemned with unmeasured severity? Then let pride be equally so, for it is nothing less than a spiritual drunkenness. Pride flies as wine to the brain, and produces the same result. No wretched drunkard reeling along the road is a more pitiable or disgusting sight, than the man who is intoxicated into idiocy with the alcohol of his own accursed pride!

May the most unsparing language be employed in the denunciation of the sin of idolatry? Then let it be equally strong in the condemnation of pride, for they are one in essence. The proud man is simply one who bends the knee and worships a more hateful idol than can ever be found in the whole catalogue of heathendom; and its name is "Self!"

God loathes pride, for "everyone that is proud is an abomination to the Lord." Proverbs 16:5. To an angel's eye, it must be the ugliest thing on earth! And the saint, often deploring it, hates it with a perfect hatred.

But although universally condemned--it is too generally harbored. It is easy work to find a thousand excuses for the particular species of pride we possess, which is almost always, according to our own estimate, "only proper pride."

It is the minister's imperative duty to cry out against particular sins, and lay the axe at the root of special iniquities. I want this evening, by God's help, to strike a blow at the deadly root of pride. I have no doubt many things I may say will be considered too severe. I cannot help it if they are. The language of my text is strong and unvarnished enough; the truth it contains is put in the most uncomplimentary mode, and I would be a traitor were I to attempt to smooth it down. My work is to declare that "pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."

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A faithful minister!

(Letters of John Newton)

"Tychicus is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord." Colossians 4:7

Dear fellow pastor,
You have desired a good work--may the Lord give you the desires of your heart. May He give you . . .
  the wisdom of Daniel,
  the meekness of Moses,
  the courage of Joshua,
  the zeal of Paul, and
  that self-abasement and humility which Job and Isaiah felt--when they not only had heard of Him by the hearing of the ear--but when they saw His glory, and abhorred themselves in dust and ashes!

May you be taught of God--for none teaches like Him--and come forth an able minister of the New Covenant, well instructed to rightly divide and faithfully distribute the Word of truth.

In the school of Christ, you will have to learn some lessons which are not very pleasant to flesh and blood. You must learn to labor, to run, to fight, to wrestle--and many other hard exercises--some of which will try your strength, and others your patience.

You know the common expression, 'a jack of all trades'. I am sure a minister had need be such a one:
  a brave soldier,
  an alert watchman,
  a caring shepherd,
  a hardworking farmer,
  a skillful builder,
  a wise counselor,
  a competent physician,
  and a loving nurse.

But do not be discouraged--you have a wonderful and a gracious Master, who does not only give instructions--but power and ability! He engages that His grace shall be sufficient, at all times and in all circumstances, for those who simply give themselves up to His teaching and His service.

"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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Father and mother, if I am damned--it is by copying the example you placed before me!

(Archibald Brown, "Do Not Sin Against the Child!" 1870)

"Do not sin against the child!" Genesis 42:22

One way of sinning against a child is by bad example. The characters of the parents are carefully watched and imitated by their children.

You profess, dear friend, to be a Christian, and your child knows you are a member of this church. He has seen you partake of the Lord's supper--and then, when you have gone home, he has in a moment detected the discrepancy between your behavior at church--and your daily life at home. The angry temper--the selfish spirit--the worldly conversation--all these have been so many sins against the child! By some evil example seen by them in early life, an impression may be made upon their souls, the effects of which will remain to their dying day--and beyond!

Oh, how dreadful the thought, that by our own hypocritical lives we may be sinning against the little darlings we often feel we could die for. God forbid, that at the last great day, any of our children should turn to us with blanched cheek and say, "Father and mother, if I am damned--it is by copying the example you placed before me!"

You may also sin against the child by neglecting the means of its salvation. Do you have to confess before the Lord, that the eternal interests of your children find but a small space in your PRAYERS? O do not sin so against the child--he is worth praying for!

What are you DOING to try and bring them to Jesus? Do you ever, with the tear in your eye, tell them of the love of Jesus? Have you ever tried to show them their need of a Savior, and pointed them to Him who said, "Let the little children to come to Me?"

These are solemn questions, for I say to you dear parents in all love and from the very depths of my heart, "If you neglect the means for bringing your little ones to Christ, you are sinning against the child--and his blood will be required of you!" "If you do not teach them--the devil will."

O friends, it is a crying shame, that in our prayer meetings there are to be found men who pray as if they were dying to see the world converted--and yet never pray for their own children! It is a sad, sad fact that there are many who seem wondrously in earnest about the conversion of strangers--who yet let their own children go to Hell without a warning or entreaty!

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God SO loved!

(Archibald Brown)

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son." John 3:16

"God SO loved!" No plummet has ever yet been found capable of sounding the depths of that 'so'--"God SO loved."

When the Holy Spirit wants us to know the great depth of God's love, He points us to Calvary. Standing at the foot of that cruel tree and gazing at that glorious Sufferer--you learn the deep love of God as it can be learned in no other spot!

Mercy came down from Heaven--and picked up a poor vile sinner lying at the gate of Hell!

"Herein is love, not that we loved God--but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins." 1 John 4:10

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If we were directing the affairs of our own lives!

(J.R. Miller, "The Lesson of Love" 1903)

We often think we could do better--if we were directing the affairs of our own lives.
We think we could get more happiness and greater good out of life--if things were in our hands.
We would at once eliminate all that is painful and unpleasant in our lot.
We would have only prosperities, with no adversities; only joys, with no sorrows.
We would exclude all pain and trouble from our life.
Our days would all be sunny, with blue skies--and no clouds or storms.
Our paths would all be soft and easy, and strewn with flowers--without thorns or any rough places.
Would we not be happier--if we could direct our own affairs, and leave out the painful, the bitter, the adverse, and the sorrowful?

So most of us would probably say at first, before we have thought of the question deeply and looked on to the end. But really the greatest misfortune that could come to us in this world--would be to have the direction of the affairs, and the shaping of the experiences of our lives, put into our own hands!

We have no wisdom to know what is best for ourselves. Today is not all of life--there is a long future, perhaps many years in this world, and then immortality hereafter. What would give us greatest pleasure today--might work us harm in days to come. Present gratification might cost us untold loss and hurt in the future.

We want pleasure, plenty, and prosperity--but perhaps we need pain, self-denial, and the giving up of things that we greatly prize.

We shrink from suffering, from sacrifice, from struggle--but perhaps these are the very experiences which will do the most good for us, which will best mature our Christian graces, which will fit us for the largest service to God and man.

We should always remember that the object of living in this present world, is not merely . . .
  to have unlimited pleasure and comfort,
  to get along with the least trouble,
  to gather the most we can of the world's treasures,
  to win the brightest fame.
We are here to grow into the beauty of Christ, and to do the portion of God's will that belongs to us!

There is something wonderfully inspiring in the thought, that God has a plan and a purpose for our lives, for each life. We do not come drifting into this world--and do not drift through it like waves on the ocean. We are sent from God, each one of us with a divine plan for his life--something God wants us to do, some place He wants us to fill. All through our lives, we are in the hands of God, who chooses our place and orders our circumstances, and makes all things work together for our good--and His glory.

It is the highest honor that could be conferred upon us, to occupy such a place in the thought of God. We cannot doubt that His way for us is better than ours--since He is infinitely wiser than we are, and loves us so. It may be painful and hard--but in the pain and the hardness, there is blessing.

Of course we may not know all the reasons there are in the divine mind, for the pains and sufferings that come into our lives, or what God's design for us in these trials is. Yet without discovering any reasons at all, however, we may still trust God, who loves us with an infinite love--and whose wisdom also is infinite!

When we get to heaven, we shall know that God has made no mistake in anything He has done for us, however He may have broken into our plans--and spoiled our pleasant dreams!

It should be reason for measureless gratitude, that our lives are not in our own poor foolish hands--but in the hands of our infinitely wise and loving Father!

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

[nChrist]

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Allured by the magnetic power of His love!

(Archibald Brown, "The Birth-day of Blessing!" 1870, Stepney Green Tabernacle)

The day of conversion is termed the "day of espousals" in Song of Solomon 3:11. It is the day in which Jesus, our Heavenly Bridegroom, wins the heart of His bride. He . . .
  reveals His love to her,
  shows His beauties to her,
  tells her of His sufferings for her sake.
He woos her by His sighs and tears and agonies, and lays siege to her heart on every side--while His lips drop honey-words of loving affection. Unable to resist such heavenly importunity, she finds her prejudices melting fast away. One barrier after another is broken down, and at last, allured by the magnetic power of His love, she gives herself to Him, and with tears of joy exclaims, "My Beloved is mine--and I am His!"

Oh, happy day, when the soul is espoused to Christ. All Heaven looks on and rings a marriage peal, while the sweetest music fills the new-born heart!