Grace Gems

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The consummate April Fool!

(Charles Spurgeon)

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world!" Psalm 19:1-4

He who looks up to the heavens and then writes himself down as an atheist, brands himself at the same moment as an idiot or a liar! The Atheist is the fool preeminently, and a fool universally! To say there is no God is . . .
  to belie the plainest evidence, which is obstinacy;
  to oppose the common consent of mankind, which is stupidity;
  to stifle consciousness, which is madness.

If the sinner could by his atheism destroy the God whom he hates, there would be some sense, although much wickedness, in his infidelity. But as denying the existence of fire does not prevent its burning a man who is in it--so doubting the existence of God will not stop the omnipotent Judge from destroying the rebel who breaks His laws. Nay, this atheism is a crime which much provokes God, and will bring down terrible vengeance on the fool who indulges it!

"The fool says in his heart: There is no God!" Psalm 14:1

The world we live in, is a world of fools! (John Jamieson)

Who in the world is a greater fool, a more ignorant, wretched person--than he who is an atheist? (Jeremy Taylor)

"Take heed, you senseless ones among the people; you fools, when will you become wise?" Psalm 94:8

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Yes, He is altogether lovely!

(William Dyer, "Christ's Famous Titles")

"Yes, He is altogether lovely!" Song of Songs 5:16

Jesus is most desirable in Himself--and all things that are desirable are in Him. Beauty is in Christ, bounty is in Christ, riches and honor are in Christ. Jesus Christ is the treasure hidden in the gospel, and the pearl of great price. He is the sun in the firmament of the Scriptures, whom to know is everlasting life. He is . . .
  a spring full of the water of life,
  a hive of sweetness,
  a storehouse of riches,
  a river of pleasures, wherein you may bathe your souls to all eternity!

Oh! He is all fullness and sweetness! "He is the chief among ten thousand!" Song of Songs 5:10

You may go to Heaven . . .
  without health,
  without wealth,
  without honor,
  without pleasure,
  without friends,
  without learning,
but you can never go to Heaven without Christ! "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6

"He loved me--and gave Himself for me!" Galatians 2:20

All that Christ did and suffered--it is for me!

All that Christ has--is mine!

Christ's love is mine to pity me!

Christ's mercy is mine to save me!

Christ's graces are mine to beautify me!

Christ's power is mine to protect me!

Christ's wisdom is mine to counsel me!

Christ's Spirit is mine to comfort me!

Christ's Word is mine to teach me!

Christ's glory is mine to crown me!

Therefore, a grain of saving grace in the heart, is better than a chain of gold around the neck!

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All-wise Providence!

(Moral and Religious Anecdotes)

A merchant was one day returning from market. He was on horseback, and his saddlebag was filled with money. The rain fell with violence, and the good old man was wet to his skin. At this he was vexed, and murmured because God had given him such bad weather for his journey.

He soon reached the borders of a thick forest. What was his terror on beholding on one side of the road a robber, with leveled gun, aiming at him, and attempting to shoot him! But the gunpowder being wet by the rain, the gun did not go off--and the merchant, giving spurs to his horse, fortunately had time to escape.

As soon as he found himself safe, he said to himself: "How wrong was I, not to endure the rain patiently, as sent by Divine Providence! If the weather had been dry and fair, I probably would not have been alive at this hour, and my little children would have expected my return in vain. The rain, which caused me to murmur, came at a fortunate moment to save my life and preserve my money!"

And thus it is with a multitude of our afflictions. By causing us slight and short sufferings--they preserve us from others far greater and of longer duration.

"We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose!" Romans 8:28

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What influence should the gifts of God have upon our hearts!

(George Lawson, "A Practical Exposition of the Book of Proverbs" 1821)

"The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord!" Romans 6:23

Gifts have a very strong influence in gaining love. They are like precious stones in the eyes of those who receive them, charming their eyes, and powerfully turning their affections to the giver. The influence of gifts is almost universal, for they work upon the heart of the wise and the benevolent, as well as of the foolish and selfish.

What influence should the gifts of God have upon our hearts! They are more numerous than the hairs upon our head, and far more precious than pearls and diamonds! Surely they must have a constraining influence upon every heart that is not harder than the nether millstone.

"Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good." Titus 2:13-14

"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" 2 Corinthians 9:15

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He who cherishes iniquity--warms the most venomous of serpents in his bosom!

(George Lawson, "A Practical Exposition of the Book of Proverbs" 1821)

"For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them!" Proverbs 1:32

The sins of men, unless pardoned through the blood of Christ, shall be their everlasting destruction. For he who turns away from God--turns his back upon eternal happiness. And he who cherishes iniquity--warms the most venomous of serpents in his bosom!

Lost sinners owe their ruin to . . .
  their willful hardness of heart,
  their abuse of divine mercy, and
  their indifference to God's salvation.

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Remember that you are a king's son!

(George Lawson, "A Practical Exposition of the Book of Proverbs" 1821)

When a young prince asked a certain philosopher to give him a directory for his conduct, all his instructions were comprised in one sentence: "Remember that you are a king's son!"

All Christians are advanced to spiritual honors of the most exalted kind. They are the children of God, and heirs of the eternal kingdom--and ought to resemble their heavenly Father, who is the God of holiness. Their dignity obliges them to a behavior worthy of it, and of Him whose grace has conferred it.

Let Christians remember who they are, and how they came to be what they are--and act in befitting character!

"As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy--so be holy in all you do; for it is written: Be holy, because I am holy." 1 Peter 1:14-16

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The touchstone of friendship!

(George Lawson, "A Practical Exposition of the Book of Proverbs" 1821)

"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." Proverbs 17:17

Adversity is commonly reputed the touchstone of friendship. That is the season when our hollow friends forsake us--but a real friend then acts the part of a brother, and reveals his friendship more than ever.

But a true friend is steady in his love and care. Times of prosperity and adversity, honor and dishonor, evil report and good report--make no more difference to him, than the changes of the air to a man of a healthy constitution.

But no friend but Christ deserves our unlimited confidence. In Him the text received, and still receives, its most glorious accomplishment. He remembered us in our low estate, and forgets us not in His own exaltation. Afflictions are the seasons when His kindness is most richly experienced--and our provocations do not alienate His affection from us. This is our Beloved, and this is our Friend. In Him we will trust, and to Him we will devote our hearts!

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Divine Sympathy!

(John MacDuff, "The Rainbow in the Clouds")

"I know their sorrows!" Exodus 3:7

These are God's own words! Man cannot say so. There are many sensitive fibers in the soul, which the best and tenderest human sympathy cannot touch. But the Prince of Sufferers, He who led the way in the path of sorrow, "knows our frame."

When crushing bereavement lies like ice on the heart--when the dearest earthly friend cannot enter into the peculiarities of our grief--Jesus can! Jesus does! He who once bore my sins--also carried my sorrows. That eye, now on the throne--was once dim with weeping!

Israel had long groaned under bondage. God appeared not to know it--or, if He did know it--not to care. He seemed, like Baal, to be "asleep". Yet at that very moment--His pitying eye was yearningly beholding His enslaved people. It was then that He said, "I know their sorrows!"

Just so, He may seem at times thus to forget and forsake us--leaving us to utter the plaintive cry, "Has God forgotten to be gracious?" When all the while, He is bending over us in tenderest love. He often allows our needs to reach their extremity--that He may stretch forth His supporting hand, and reveal the plenitude of His grace! "You can see how the Lord was kind to Job at the end--for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy!" James 5:11

And God fully "knowing" our sorrows--is a blessed guarantee that none will be sent, but those which He sees to be needful. "I will not," says He, "make a full end of you--but I will correct you in measure." Jeremiah 30:11

All the trials which He sends--are precisely meted out-- and wisely apportioned. There is nothing accidental or random or unnecessary--no excess thorn--no superfluous pang!

"You keep track of all my sorrows! You have collected all my tears in Your bottle! You have recorded each one in Your book!" Psalm 56:8. Each one is counted and recorded--drop by drop--tear by tear! Tears are sacred things among the treasures of God!

Suffering believer, the iron may have entered deeply into your soul; yet rejoice! Jesus, a sorrowing, sympathizing Jesus--"knows" your aching pangs and burning tears, and He will "come down to deliver you!"

And of this divine sympathy, we are also assured in the New Testament, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tested in every way, just as we are!" Hebrews 4:15. What an elevating truth! We have the Sympathy of the God-Man-Mediator in our sorrows! What a source of exalted joy, to the stripped and desolate heart! What a green pasture to lie down upon, amid the windy storm and tempest, or in the dark and cloudy day!

The sympathy of man is cheering and comforting--but "thus far shall you go, and no farther." Man's sympathy is finite--limited--and often selfish! There are nameless and numberless sorrows on earth, which are far beyond the reach of all human alleviation!

The sympathy of Jesus alone, is . . .
  exalted,
  pure,
  infinite,
  removed from all taint of selfishness!

Jesus has Himself passed through every experience of woe. There are no depths of sorrow or anguish into which I can be plunged--but His everlasting arms are lower still! He has been called "The great sympathetic nerve of His Church, over which the afflictions and oppressions, and sufferings of His people continually pass!"

Child of Sorrow! A human heart beats on Heaven's Throne--and He has your name written on that heart! He cares for you as if no other claimed His regard--as if you were the only object of His care!

He "has been tested in every way, just as we are!" Blessed assurance! I never can know a sorrow into which the "Man of Sorrow" cannot enter. Ah rather, in the midst of earth's most lacerating trials--let me listen to the unanswerable challenge from the lips of a suffering Savior, "Was there ever any sorrow, like unto My sorrow!" Yet He willingly drank the cup of wrath! He did not shrink back from the appointed cross! And even when He hung upon the bitter tree--He refused the sour wine which would have assuaged the rage of thirst and mitigated physical suffering.

Are we tempted at times to murmur under God's afflicting hand? "Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart!" Shall we hesitate to bear any cross which our Lord and Master sees fit to lay upon us--when we think of the infinitely weightier Cross He so meekly and willingly carried for us?

Jesus has some wise and gracious purpose in every mysterious chastisement. His language is, "Hear the rod--and Him who has appointed it!" Micah 6:9. He has too kind and loving a heart--to cause us one needless or superfluous pang to His redeemed children!

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A far-off Hell is the dread of no man!

(Charles Spurgeon, "Flowers from a Puritan's Garden" 1883)

"The stars, those vast globes of light, by reason of the great distance between us and them--seem but as so many sparks in the sky. Just so, we have but a weak sight of things which are at a great distance, and their effect on us is usually but small."

Hence the need of faith, by which spiritual realities are brought near to us, and made to stand out in their reality.

A far-off Hell is the dread of no man--and a far-off Heaven is scarcely desired by anyone. God Himself, while thought of as far away--is not feared or reverenced as He should be. If we did but ponder upon the matter, we would soon see that a mere span of time divides us from the eternal world, while the Lord Almighty is nearer to us than our souls are to our bodies!

Strange that the brief time which intervenes between us and eternity, should appear to the most of men to be so important--while eternity itself they regard as a trifling matter. They use the microscope to magnify the small concerns of time. O that they would use the telescope of faith upon the vast matters of eternity!

How differently would they order their lives, if the day of judgment were felt to be at their doors! How eagerly would they seek to escape from infinite wrath, if they felt it to be near!

Lord, arouse me to a due estimate of eternal matters! Enable me to project my soul into the infinite. Break me free of this narrow present--and launch my soul upon the wide and open sea of the infinite ages to come. You are in eternity, and let my soul even now dwell there with You.

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal!" 2 Corinthians 4:18

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One of the most loathsome sights in the world!

(Don Fortner)

"This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals--but you do not take care of the flock!" Ezekiel 34:2-3

One of the most loathsome sights in the world, is a self-serving preacher!

No work is so great,
no labor is so noble,
no burden is so heavy,
no honor is so humbling--
as preaching the gospel of the grace of God to eternity bound sinners!

Let every man called of God to preach the Gospel, disentangle himself from the affairs of this world--with determined consecration to Christ, His Gospel and His Church, addicting himself to prayer, study and preaching.

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

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O, it was one word that I saw in your book which troubles me!

(George Burder, "Heaven and Hell!")

"And these shall go into eternal punishment--but the righteous into eternal life!" Matthew 25:46

The very word ETERNITY ought to fix our attention on this great subject! O that it may have as good an effect upon you, as it had upon the following lady:

A lady, who was fond of gaiety, spent the whole afternoon and evening at a card party and other vain amusements. Returning home late at night, she found her maid diligently reading a religious book. Happening to look over her shoulder, she saw what it was, and said: "Poor melancholy soul, why do you sit here so long poring over your book?"

After this she retired to bed, but could not sleep--she lay sighing and weeping for several hours. Being repeatedly asked by her maid what was the matter, she burst into tears and said, "O, it was one word that I saw in your book which troubles me--there I saw the word ETERNITY!"


O that we could impress upon you a lasting idea of Eternity!

Suppose all the vast ocean to be distilled by single drops, and a thousand years to pass between every drop--how many millions of years would it take to empty it.

Suppose the whole world to be made up of grains of sand, and one grain only to be taken away in a thousand years--how many millions of years would it take to remove the whole? We cannot count how long--yet we suppose it may be done in a most immense length of time.

Suppose it done. Suppose the ocean emptied, drop by drop. Suppose the globe reduced, grain by grain, to the last sand. But would eternity be lessened? No, not at all. It is a whole eternity still--and the torments of the damned would be as far from an end, as when they began!

A minute bears some proportion to a million years--but millions of millions of years bear no proportion to eternity.

O how would the damned in Hell rejoice, if ten thousand years might finish their miseries! But it is for ETERNITY! Do you startle at the word? It is Christ's word. Christ says in the text, "These shall go away into eternal punishment!"

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Endeavor to realize the solemn scene!

(George Burder, "Death and Judgment!")

"If anyone's name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the Lake of Fire!" Revelation 20:15

Retire a little from the hustle and bustle of the world, and from the company of the mirthful. Endeavor to realize the solemn scene! O think of the tremendous day, and the poor miserable state of poor Christless sinners. Those who are then found Christless--will also be speechless, helpless, and hopeless! How will their heads hang down, and their knees knock together! O what pale faces, quivering lips, and fainting hearts! O dreadful day, when . . .
  the earth shall be trembling,
  the stars falling,
  the trumpet sounding,
  the dead rising,
  the elements melting,
  and the world on fire!

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Our trials!

(Don Fortner)

"We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." Romans 5:3-4

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,  because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything!" James 1:2-4

Our trials teach us the vanity of this life.

Our trials prove our faith.

Our trials give us patience.

Our trials make Christ precious to us.

Our trials have a way of detaching us from this world.

Our trials teach us to pray.


"Trials make the promise sweet,
 Trials give new life to prayer;
 Trials bring me to His feet,
 Lay me low and keep me there!"

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All the Hell that you shall ever have!

("The Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod" or, "The Silent Soul with Sovereign Antidotes" by Thomas Brooks, 1659)

Consider Christian, that all your . . .
  trials and troubles,
  calamities and miseries,
  crosses and losses,
which you meet with in this world--is all the Hell that you shall ever have!

Here and now, you have your Hell.
Hereafter, you shall have your Heaven!

This life is the worst of your condition--the best is yet to come!

Lazarus had his Hell first--and his Heaven last.
Dives had his Heaven first--and his Hell at last.

You have all your pangs, and pains, and throes here--that ever you shall have!
Your ease, and rest, and pleasure--is yet to come.

Here you have all your bitters--your sweets are yet to come!

Here you have your sorrows--your joys are yet to come.

Here you have all your winter nights--your summer days are yet to come!

Here you have your evil things--your good things are yet to come.

Death will put an end to all your sins--and to all your sufferings!

Death will be an inlet to those joys, delights, and comforts--which shall never have an end!

Who can seriously meditate upon this, and not be silent under God's most smarting rod?

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These are not suggestions about what God's people ought to be

(Don Fortner)

"We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:10

Since God has ordained that His people walk in good works, we are assured that God will graciously cause them to do so by the sweet constraint of His grace.

Grace experienced, makes Christians gracious.

Mercy tasted, makes Christians merciful.

Faith bestowed, makes Christians faithful.

Kindness known, makes Christians kind.

Forgiveness enjoyed, makes Christians forgiving.

Love felt, makes Christians loving.

These are not suggestions about what God's people ought to be, but statements of fact about what all true believers are.

Believers are a people who, being saved by grace, ruled by love, and motivated by gratitude--seek the will and glory of God in all things.

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age" Titus 2:11-12