Grace Gems

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That irresponsible, amusement-mad paganized pseudo-religion!

(A.W. Tozer)

In many churches, Christianity has been watered down until the solution is so weak . . .
  that if it were poison--it would not hurt anyone;
  and if it were medicine--it would not cure anyone!

We must have a new reformation! There must come a violent break with that irresponsible, amusement-mad paganized pseudo-religion which passes today for the faith of Christ and which is being spread all over the world by unspiritual men employing unscriptural methods to achieve their unspiritual ends!

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The Bible!

(Thomas Guthrie)

"Oh, how I love Your Law! I meditate on it all day long!" Psalm 119:97

The Bible is . . .
  an armory of heavenly weapons,
  a pharmacy of infallible medicines,
  a mine of exhaustless wealth,
  a guidebook for every road,
  a chart for every sea,
  a medicine for every malady, and
  a balm for every wound!
Rob us of our Bible, and our sky has lost its sun!

"This is my comfort in my affliction--that Your Word has revived me!" Psalm 119:50

"Your Words were found, and I ate them--and Your Word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart!" Jeremiah 15:16

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The first lesson in the school of tribulation!

(Walter Purton, "Lessons of Peace in the School of Affliction" 1868.)

"Affliction does not come forth from the dust--neither does trouble spring out of the ground." Job 5:6

Why has this trial come? How ought I to regard affliction? These questions are natural in seasons of suffering. Pain and sorrow make us ask in earnest, the why and the wherefore of what befalls us. And so the soul finds a time of trial, to be a time of education.

The first lesson in the school of tribulation, is that affliction is the visitation of God. "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." Job 1:21

Nothing in any man's life comes to him by "chance." All things, both small and great, are under the control of God. He foresees, and limits, and disposes. What is sometimes called "good fortune"--comes not by accident; neither does trouble spring out of the ground.

Am I healthy and prosperous? It is the will of God.
Am I suffering in body or in mind? It is the Lord--let Him do what seems good unto Him. This is the only answer that can be given to the weak and sorely tempted ones, whom one trial after another afflict with increasing sorrows, "So it pleases God! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right!"

To the believer, Providence is not merely general and universal, but particular and personal. "Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered!" Matthew 10:30. The believer looks to his own particular afflictions, as the dispensations of Divine Providence. To myself, affliction comes as the special visitation of God; and, looking above second causes, the word of trust from my soul should go forth, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening."

Affliction must not therefore be received as a burden, laid on by a blind and cruel fate--it is given by my wise and loving Father! Nor must I regard it as a "misfortune"--as an unmixed evil, which comes by chance, and is to be received with unconcern. Affliction does not come forth from the dust--it is from God. It is sent in mercy and wisdom--yes, and in power. "For He bruises, but He binds up; He wounds, but His hands make whole." Job 5:18. His visitation is rich in lessons of comfort, of strength and of peace--for all things work together for good to His obedient children. Yes, ALL things!

"O Lord my God, bless this trial which You have sent. Teach me to feel that Your hand is laid upon me. Help me to know that You are speaking unto my soul. May I look on affliction as Your Fatherly visitation--a token of Your love, and wisdom, and power.

"Almighty Father, You have told me that all things are under Your control--not a sparrow falls to the ground unnoticed. Lord, teach me to believe in Your love for me. Oh, help me to feel Your wise guidance and control! Aid me to see that this affliction is sent for my good. O my God, increase my faith. Remove from me doubts and carnal-mindedness. May Your Spirit cleanse and sanctify my soul. Teach me to humbly submit to Your will. By patience and faith may I please You, submitting to sufferings because You send them for my good.

"Teach me that pain and sorrow are Your heavenly messengers. Enlighten my eyes, that so I may say of affliction--it is Your doing. To me, have You sent this. Not by chance, but in wisdom, and with loving purpose it has come. Oh, Lord, do with me what seems good to You. Help me to feel that my lot is wisely ordained. If it is in accordance with Your holy and blessed will--then remove this trial. But if You see fit still to afflict me--then teach me truly to pray, "May Your will be done!" Hear me, O God, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen."

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In that time before all time!

(Charles Spurgeon, 1864)

Meditate, dear friends, upon the whole range of God's works in Creation and Providence. There was a period when God dwelt alone--and creatures were not. In that time before all time, when there was no day but "The Ancient of Days," when matter and created mind were alike unborn, and even space was not--God, the great I AM, was as perfect, glorious, and as blessed as He is now.

There was no sun--and yet Jehovah dwelt in ineffable light.
There was no earth--and yet His throne stood fast and firm.
There were no heavens--and yet His glory was unbounded.

God inhabited eternity in the infinite majesty and happiness of His self-contained greatness. If the Lord, thus abiding in solemn solitude, should choose to create anything--the first thought and idea must come from Him, for there was no other to think or suggest. All things must be of Him in design. With whom can He take counsel? Who shall instruct Him? There existed no other to come into His council-chamber, even if such an assistance could be supposable with the Most High.

In the beginning of His way, before His works of old, eternal wisdom brought forth from its own mind the perfect plan of future creations, and every line and mark therein must clearly have been of the Lord alone.

He ordained the pathway of every planet--and fixed the abode of every star. He poured forth the sweet influences of the Pleiades, and girt Orion with its bands. He appointed the bounds of the sea, and settled the course of the winds. As to the earth, the Lord alone planned its foundations, and stretched His line upon it.

He formed in His own mind, the mold of all His creatures, and found for them a dwelling and a service. He appointed the degree of strength with which He would endow each creature, settled its months of life, its hour of death, its coming and its going.

Divine wisdom mapped this earth--its flowing rivers and foaming seas, the towering mountains, and the laughing valleys. The divine Architect fixed the gates of the morning--and the doors of the shadow of death.

Nothing could have been suggested by any other, for there was no other to suggest. It was in His power to have made a universe very different from this--if He had so pleased. That He has made it what it is, must have been merely because in His wisdom and prudence, He saw fit to do so.

"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power--for You created all things, and by Your will they were created and have their being!" Revelation 4:11

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His jewels!

(William Purton, "Lessons of Peace in the School of Affliction" 1868.)

"They will be Mine," says the LORD Almighty, "in the day when I make up My jewels!" Malachi 3:17

The promise of God is that His saints shall be as the jewels of a crown--yes, they shall shine in the Royal diadem! The Lord delights to call them His jewels!

What a price has been paid for the saints--the Son of God purchased them with His own blood! Are they not valuable in His sight? How precious are those whom Jehovah calls His jewels! Bought with such an inestimable price!

But the saints are likened unto jewels, also because our souls need cutting and purifying. A diamond seems to be a mere pebble--until the jeweler's hands give it shape and smoothness. Skill and patient toil so transform it, that everyone takes pleasure it its beauty and brightness.

Likewise is it with our souls. Divine grace removes defects, and beautifies. The sharp edge of affliction, directed by the hand of Infinite Love--makes perfect. No longer rough and unsightly, but beautiful and glorious--the precious workmanship of God becomes His delight. It is made fit for the Royal diadem, in which it will shine throughout eternity--reflecting all-gloriously the majesty of the King of Kings!

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When He has tried me--I shall come forth as gold!

(William Purton, "Lessons of Peace in the School of Affliction" 1868.)

"Look, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have purified you in the furnace of affliction!" Isaiah 48:10

To purify gold or silver, the refiner puts it into a furnace. Great heat separates the dross from the precious metal. Out of the fire, comes forth the precious substance clean and pure.

So likewise with the child of God. The character may be true gold--yet not pure gold. And so the Lord's mercy says, "I will turn my hand upon you, and purely purge away your dross. I will purify you in the furnace of affliction!" Yes, even as in great heat gold is tried--so in the sharpness of pain and sorrow, does God test and purify His redeemed children.

Let me, then, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is afflicting me. This testing of my faith is the gracious dealing of the Refiner, who seeks to cleanse me. In the furnace of affliction, God's mercy wills to purify me. May I strive to say, as righteous Job said: "When He has tried me--I shall come forth as gold!"

The pain of passing through the fire is keen. The fiery test is not easily endured. Such is our nature, that we all shrink from the furnace of affliction. Indeed, it is very hard to bear the of pain of bodily weakness.
But the Refiner's love chooses the trial!
His wisdom limits it!
His power strengthens us to bear it!

O Lord God, sanctify this trial according to Your wisdom. From pride and self-will; from earthliness of temper; from carnal lusts and sensual imaginations--purify my soul. Make me humble, trustful, gentle, heavenly-minded. In suffering, may I know that You are blessing me. Free my soul from earthly baseness, and beautify it with holiness. Make me, O Lord, like unto pure gold--a vessel fit for Your use and bright with Your glory!

Almighty God, You sent this affliction--You measured it. O bless it, for Christ's sake. Amen.

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The half-converted cowboy!

(A.W. Tozer)

There is grief in my spirit when I go into the average church, for we have become a generation rapidly losing all sense of divine sacredness and reverence in our worship. God has been abridged, reduced, modified, edited, changed and amended--until He is no longer the God whom Isaiah saw, high and lifted up!

We've reduced the God of Abraham and Jacob, to a "stuffed God" that can be appealed to by anybody at any time. The religious clown on the radio can break into his fun and say, "Now we will have a minute of prayer." In the religious concert, the half-converted cowboy dressed like an idiot will say after he's twanged out some catchy numbers, "Now I'll do a holy number for you."

The God of today's Christianity is a weakling--a little cheap, palsy God that you can pal around with. He's "the man upstairs." He's the fellow that can help you when you're in difficulty--and not bother you too much when you're not.

It is a major tragedy in the life of any man, to live in a church from childhood to old age with nothing more than some synthetic God compounded of sentimentality and logic--but having no eyes to see, no ears to hear and no heart to love the holy God of Scripture!

In the majority of our church meetings, there is scarcely a trace of reverent thought, little sense of the divine Presence, no moment of stillness, no solemnity, no wonder, no holy fear. But so often there is a dull or a breezy song leader full of awkward jokes, in an effort to make everything hold together.

The most pressing need just now is that we who call ourselves Christians should frankly acknowledge to each other and to God that we are gone far astray. We should confess . . .
  that we are worldly,
  that our moral standards are low,
  and that we are spiritually cold and lethargic.

We need to cease our multitude of unscriptural activities, and cease trying to sanctify carnal and worldly projects by promoting them "in the name of the Lord" and "for the glory of God."

We need to return to the message, methods and objectives of the New Testament!

We need boldly and indignantly to cleanse the temple of all who sell cattle in the holy place, and overthrow the tables of the money-changers! This must be done in our own lives first--and then in the churches of whom we are a part!

We need men and women who love the Savior, until adoration becomes the music of their soul--until they don't have to be fooled with  entertainment and amusement!

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He cannot err--and He cannot be unkind!

(William Purton, "Lessons of Peace in the School of Affliction" 1868.)

"Tribulation works patience, and patience experience, and experience hope." Romans 5:4

When great sorrows came upon righteous Job, he did not complain. There was no word of rebellion against God, when messenger after messenger brought tidings of evil. All his property lost, his servants slain, his sons dead! Yet the good man did not sin, nor charge God foolishly. Dark and mysterious was the painful visitation. Why sore distress came to his house, and grievous sickness to himself--he could not understand. But, out of the depths arose the word of trust; in the midst of his woe, and pain, and loneliness--the bereaved and sorely-stricken soul felt that affliction was the Divine messenger. Job received his burdens from the hand of God. "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." Job 1:21

We, for whose comfort Job's experience was written, know how it was that the patriarch was afflicted. There was a purpose to be fulfilled--an end to be brought about. We learn that however mysterious our sufferings may be--they are not sent without a wise and loving purpose. Afflictions may be mysterious--but never purposeless.

Oh, for faith to realize that all my troubles come to me in mercy! He cannot err--and He cannot be unkind!

And as I read the Holy Scriptures, may I see how true this verse is, "All whom the Lord loves, He chastens." So may I learn to take up my cross--and to endure the trials of my lot. And if I am to be an example of suffering affliction--then may God's will be done--in His way--and in His time!

From restlessness, and impatience, and doubts, and selfishness--good Lord, deliver me!

"Loving Father, show me the mercy of afflictions. Cleanse me from earthly and sensual desires--and strengthen me with trust and heavenly rest. Graciously accept my prayers, O heavenly Father, and help me with true thankfulness to praise You. For Your dear Son Jesus Christ's sake. Amen."

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Evangelicalism has been smothered to death by extra-Scriptural rubbish!

[Editor's note: "extra-Scriptural" simply means "outside of Scripture"]

(A.W. Tozer, 1897-1963)

Those Christians who belong to the Evangelical wing of the Church have over the last half-century shown an increasing impatience with invisible and eternal things--and have demanded and gotten a host of visible and temporal things to satisfy their fleshly appetites.

The temptation to introduce "new" things into the work of God, has always been too strong for some people to resist. The Church has suffered untold injury at the hands of well-intentioned but misguided persons, who have felt that they know more about running God's work, than Christ and His apostles did! A solid train of boxcars would not suffice to haul away the religious gimmicks which has been brought into the service of the Church with the hope of improving on the original pattern. These things have been, one and all, great hindrances to the progress of the Truth, and have so altered the divinely planned structure that the apostles, were they to return to earth today, would scarcely recognize the misshapen thing which has resulted!

Every generation is sure to have its ambitious amateur to come up with some shiny gadget which he proceeds to urge upon the church. That the Scriptures do not justify its existence--does not seem to bother him at all. It is brought in anyway and presented in the very name of orthodoxy. Soon it is identified in the minds of the Christian public, with all that is good and holy. Then, of course, to attack the gadget is to attack the Truth itself. This is an old familiar technique so often and so long practiced by the devotees of error, that I marvel how the children of God can be taken in by it!

We of the evangelical faith are in the rather awkward position of criticizing Roman Catholicism for its weight of unscriptural impediments--and at the same time tolerating in our own churches a world of religious fribble as bad as holy water or the adored host. Heresy of method may be as deadly as heresy of message! Evangelicalism has been smothered to death by extra-Scriptural rubbish! Unless we in gospel churches wake up soon, we shall most surely die by the same means!

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Behold the creeping worm!

(Thomas Guthrie, 1803-1873)

Behold the creeping worm--it is bred in corruption--it crawls on the ground--its food is the coarsest fare.

But in time, it undergoes its wonderful metamorphosis. The wriggling caterpillar--becomes a winged and painted butterfly! And at this change, along with its old skin--it casts off its old habits and instincts. Now, it has a will as well as wings to fly. Now . .  .
 its bed is the bosom of a flower,
 its food is the honeyed nectar,
 its home is the sunny air, and
 new instincts animate its frame.
The change within, corresponds to the change without. It now spurns the ground--and, as you may gather from its merry, mazy dance--the creature is happy, and delights in the new duties which it is called to perform.

Just so it is in that change which grace works in sinners!
Their nature is now so accommodated to their redeemed state,
their wishes are so fitted to their wants,
their hopes are so fitted to their prospects,
their aspirations are so fitted to their honors,
and their will is so fitted to their work--
that they would be less content to return to their old polluted pleasures--than the beautiful butterfly would desire to be stripped of its silken wings, and condemned to pass its days amid the old, foul garbage, its former food!

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When we become magnetized by Jesus' beauty and adore Him!

(A.W. Tozer)

"Yes, He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved--and this is my Friend!" Song of Songs 5:16

Perhaps the most serious charge that can be brought against modern Christians, is that we are not sufficiently in love with Christ. The Christ of evangelicalism is strong, but hardly beautiful. It is rarely that we find anyone aglow with love for Christ. I trust it is not uncharitable to say that a great deal of praise in conservative circles is perfunctory and forced and downright insincere.

When we become magnetized by Jesus' beauty and adore Him--we will want to pour ourselves out at His feet. We don't have to be urged to do it.

No one who knows Jesus intimately, can ever be flippant in His presence.

"If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed!" 1 Corinthians 16:22

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As if we saw two shining eyes looking on us out of the darkness!

(Thomas Guthrie, 1803-1873)

"Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to Heaven--You are there. If I make my bed in the depths--behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea--even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me. Even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You!" Psalm 139:7-12

We cannot shake off the presence of God! When our doors are shut, and curtains drawn, and all is still, and darkest night fills our chamber, and we are left alone to the companionship of our thoughts--it might keep them pure and holy to say, as if we saw two shining eyes looking on us out of the darkness, "You, O God, see me!"

The world called that man mad, who imagined that he saw God's eye looking on him . . .
 out of every star of the sky,
 and every flower of the earth,
 and every leaf of the forest,
 from the ground which he trod upon,
 from the walls of his lonely chamber,
 and out of the gloomy depths of night!
Mad! It was a blessed and holy imagination!

May God help you to feel yourselves at all times in His presence!

"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account!" Hebrews 4:13

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I take my good works and my bad works!

(Thomas Guthrie, 1803-1873)

I remember reading the response of a godly man, when on his deathbed, to his friends who spoke of the many good works he had performed.

"Good works! good works!" said the dying man, "I take my good works and my bad works, and cast them into one heap out of my sight, and turn to my only hope--the Cross of Christ!"

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God's love is revealed and made known by these six deeds of indescribable love!

(Don Fortner)

"Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God!" 1 John 3:1

We rejoice to know that "God is love!" Love is an attribute of His holy Being, without which He would not be God. We know that God is love, because His love is revealed and made known by His deeds. Love is active. It is never dormant. Like fire, it must break out. It cannot be contained. It is known only when it is experienced--not by words, but by deeds. We know the love of God is that love that "surpasses knowledge." Yet, God's love is revealed and made known by these six deeds of indescribable love!

The first act of God's love was our ELECTION in Christ (Deuteronomy 7:7-8.). Election is not a hard doctrine. It is a delightful doctrine. Were it not for God's electing love toward sinners, there would be no salvation (Ephesians 1:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:13). We would never have come to know and love Christ--had He not first loved us (John 15:16; 1 John 4:19).

The second act of God's love was our REDEMPTION by Christ (Romans 5:8; 1 John 3:16; 4:9-10). Because He loved us, the Son of God assumed our nature, assumed our sin, assumed our guilt and died under the wrath of God as our Substitute, to put away our sins. "The Son of God loved me and gave Himself for me!"

The third act by which God reveals His love to sinners is is EFFECTUAL SAVING GRACE (Jeremiah 31:3).
Those whom the triune God loved--the Father chose to save.
Those whom the Father chose to save--the Son redeemed.
And those whom the Son redeemed--the Holy Spirit will effectually call by His irresistible grace to life and faith in Christ.

The love of God is revealed fourthly in the absolute PRESERVATION of His elect in a state of grace (John 10:28; Romans 8:39). Can you imagine one who is loved of God falling from a state of grace, perishing and suffering the wrath of God forever in Hell? Such a notion is worse than nonsense--it is utter blasphemy! The love of God is . . .
  without cause,
  without beginning,
  without condition,
  without change,
  and without end!
It is free.
It is sovereign.
It is indestructible.
It is everlasting.

Fifthly, God's love for His elect is seen in our Savior's TENDER, PROVIDENTIAL CARE for us (John 11:35-36). Our Savior really is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. We really are the apple of His eye.

But there is one act of love that goes beyond election, redemption, effectual calling, preservation, and providential care. As great and marvelous as those things are--there is one act of God that goes beyond them all. If the climax of God's love is our redemption by Christ--then the apex of God's love is our ADOPTION into the family of God! (1 John 3:1-3)

By birth, we are all fallen, depraved and spiritually dead (Romans 5:12).
By our deeds, we show ourselves to be children of the devil, sinful, deceitful, and wicked (John 8:44).
By nature, we are all children of wrath (Ephesians 1:3), a people deserving the wrath of God.
But by grace, we who believe are the sons of God!

Election is the great fountain of grace.
Redemption is the greatest mystery of grace.
And adoption is the greatest privilege of grace.

"Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God!"

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Religious entertainment!

(A.W. Tozer)

A great company of evangelical churches have already gone over into the area of religious entertainment, so that many churches are tramping on the doorstep of the theater!

The tragic results of this spirit are all about us:
  shallow lives,
  hollow religious philosophies,
  the preponderance of the element of fun in gospel meetings,
  the glorification of men,
  trust in religious externalities,
  quasi-religious fellowships,
  salesmanship methods,
  the mistaking of dynamic personality for the power of the Spirit.

These and such as these, are the symptoms of an evil disease--a deep and serious malady of the soul.

Religious entertainment has so corrupted the Church, that millions don't know that it's a heresy. Millions of evangelicals throughout the world have devoted themselves to religious entertainment. They don't know that it's as much heresy, as the "counting of beads" or the "splashing of holy water" or something else. To expose this, of course, raises a storm of angry protest among the people.

Isn't there a difference between worship and entertainment?

The church that can't worship, must be entertained. And men who can't lead a church to worship, must provide the entertainment. That is why we have the great evangelical heresy here today--the heresy of religious entertainment!