Grace Gems

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From Grace Gems:
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A great bundle of sticks far too large for us to lift!

(John Newton)

Sometimes I compare the troubles we have to undergo in the course of a year, to a great bundle of sticks far too large for us to lift. But God does not require us to carry the whole at once. He mercifully unties the bundle, and gives us first one stick, which we are able to carry today; and then another, which we are able to carry tomorrow; and so on.

This we can easily manage--if we would only take the burden appointed for us each day. But we foolishly choose to increase our trouble, by carrying yesterday's stick over again today--and adding tomorrow's burden before we are required to bear it.

"As your days--so shall your strength be." Deuteronomy 33:25

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From Grace Gems:
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Modern church machinery!

(Charles Spurgeon)

Friends! the churches have no need for the modern machinery which has supplanted the simplicity of faith.

I truly believe, that if the Lord swept the church committees and schemes out of the universe, we would be better without them.

I hope the church will soon say, like David in Saul's clanking armor, "I cannot go with these"--and with only her sling and her stone, confident in her God, I trust she will confront her foe.

We can do all things, if we can but trust Christ. But nothing is possible to your man-made schemes and systems.

God will sweep them away yet, and happy shall be that man who shall lead the van in their utter destruction! Go up against her, take away her bulwarks, for they are not the Lord's; He did not ordain them, nor will He stand by them.

Act in faith, O people of God, and prove the power of prayer--for "all things are possible to him who believes." Mark 9:23

The fact is, God does not need our power--but our weakness.
He does not need our greatness--but our nothingness.

[nChrist]

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From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
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Look at that cold creeping worm!

(Thomas Guthrie, 1803-1873)

Look at that cold creeping worm! The playful child shudders from its touch!

Yet in a few weeks, and with merry laugh and flying feet, that same child over flowery meadow, is hunting an insect that never lights upon the ground--but flitting in painted beauty from flower to flower--drinks nectar from their cups, and sleeps the summer night away in the bosom of their perfumes.

If that is the same boy--this is also the same creature. The change most wonderful!

Yet this is but a dull, earthly emblem of the divine transformation wrought on those who are converted by God!

Fallen though he is, man is capable of undergoing a more wondrous change than the insect when, no longer a worm, no longer crawling on the ground, no longer feeding on garbage--it leaves its shell to spend its happy days in sport, flitting from flower to flower; its food their sweet juices, and its bed their tender leaves.

The spiritual change which we call conversion, is not a mere reform. It is a mighty revolution--a revolution greater than the tomes of secular history. Conversion changes the heart, the habits, and the eternal destiny of an immortal being!

Conversion does not bestow new faculties. Yet our affections, our temperament, our will, and our judgment--partake of this great and holy change. Thus, the understanding is enlightened; the will is renewed; and our whole temperament is sweetened and sanctified by the Spirit of God.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone--the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

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Weary mariner on life's tempestuous ocean!

(David Harsha)

"My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline and do not resent His rebuke--because the Lord disciplines those He loves, just as a father disciplines the son he delights in." Proverbs 3:11-12

To the children of God, afflictions are sent in mercy. They are directed by love.

They are designed . . .
  to draw us more closely to the Savior,
  to mortify indwelling sin,
  to purify our hearts,
  to wean us from earth,
  to elevate our affections to that blessed world where there shall be no more pain.

Every breeze of earthly sorrow is only wafting us to those high and heavenly abodes, where temporal ills are forever unknown!

Oh, then, when ready to sink under the accumulated ills of life--let us come to the Savior in the time of trouble.

Weary mariner on life's tempestuous ocean, when afflictions cloud your sky, and billows roar around you--then cling to the Savior in grateful, confiding love.

Amid all your difficulties and dangers, He will whisper consolation to you, and support your fainting soul with the richest consolation and the choicest promises. You will then be enabled to bear the trials of life with composure--knowing that, like the Captain of our salvation, you must also be made perfect through suffering; and that these light and momentary afflictions are working for you a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory!

You will then experience the sweetness of the divine promises--and in the midst of outward trouble, enjoy inward peace.

[nChrist]

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From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
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There are three things that earthly riches can never do!

(Thomas Brooks)

There are three things that earthly riches can never do:
  they can never satisfy divine justice,
  they can never pacify divine wrath,
  nor can they ever quiet a guilty conscience.
Until these things are done--man is undone!

   ~  ~  ~  ~

Remember that those sins which are now as jewels sparkling in your eyes
--will at last be millstones around your necks, to sink you forever in Hell!

   ~  ~  ~  ~

He who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved--be his sins ever so many!
He who believes not on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be damned--be his sins ever so few!

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Jesus came leaping!

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

"The voice of my Beloved! Look! Here He comes, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills!" Song of Songs 2:8

The Scriptures tell us that Jesus came leaping! He came with such love--that He came leaping!
When a man goes leaping--you may know that it was with a great eagerness.

Jesus came leaping! How so? He came leaping . . .
  from the throne--to the womb,
  from the womb--to the cradle,
  from the cradle--to the cross, and
  from thence to the throne again!

This was His great leap! Oh! sirs, oh! sirs--how eagerly did Jesus suffer and die for poor believers!

"Christ loved us--and gave Himself up for us!" Ephesians 5:2

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What a comfort is this!

(Thomas Watson, "The Good Shepherd")

"I am the Good Shepherd--I know My sheep!" John 10:14
Christ knows all of His sheep.
His knowing His sheep--is His loving them. This is a great consolation.

He knows every one of their names.
"He calls His own sheep by name." John 10:3

He knows all the sighs and groans they make.
"My groaning is not hidden from You." Psalm 38:9

Christ knows every tear they shed.
"I have seen your tears!" 2 Kings 20:5
He bottles their tears as precious wine! "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

He knows all their sufferings.
"I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them." Exodus 3:9
"The Lord saw the bitter suffering of everyone in Israel." 2 Kings 14:26

Christ knows all their good works--all their works of piety and charity.
"I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance." Revelation 2:2

"I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep!" John 10:11

"He will place the sheep at His right hand--and the goats at His left. Then the King will say to those on the right: Come, you who are blessed by My Father--inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world!" Matthew 25:33-34

What a comfort is this!

[nChrist]

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I may express all my complaints in one short sentence

(John Newton's Letters)

My recent journey was very pleasant--but I ought to wish that it was profitable. I have had long experience how little I am able to improve by the most desirable advantages--and how little I am affected by a combination of the greatest mercies.

I may express all my complaints in one short sentence: "I am a poor creature!"
And all my hopes and comforts may be summed up as briefly, by saying: "I have a rich and gracious Savior!"

Full as I am in myself of inconsistencies and conflicts--I have in Him, a measure of peace. He found me in a waste howling wilderness--and He redeemed me from the house of misery and bondage. And though I have been ungrateful and perverse--He has not yet forsaken me--and never will. He is able to hold even me up--to pity, support and supply me to the end of life.

How suitable a Savior! He is made all things to those who have nothing--and is engaged to help those who can do nothing.

"Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost, those who come to God through Him--since He always lives to make intercession for them!" Hebrews 7:25

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From Grace Gems:
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This will hold you back from a thousand evils!

(Edward Griffin, 1770-1837)

"Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." 2 Corinthians 7:1

"How can a young man keep his way pure?" Psalm 119:9

Let the fear of God always be before your eyes. This will hold you back from a thousand evils! To feel that you are in the presence of your Maker, that an omniscient eye is upon you--is the best preservative against sin!

"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

"You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue--You know it completely, O Lord!" Psalm 139:2-4

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You will see the reason

(Edward Payson, 1783-1827)

"What I am doing you do not understand now--but afterward you will understand!" John 13:7

Above all, I would say to the Christian: Never distrust the kindness, the love, the wisdom and faithfulness of your Savior--but confide in Him who has promised that all things shall work together for your good. Though you may not now know what He is doing--you shall know hereafter. You will see the reason for . . .
  all the trials and temptations,
  all the dark and comfortless hours,
  all the distressing doubts and fears,
  all the long and tedious conflicts with which you are now exercised.
You will be convinced that not a sigh, not a tear, not a single uneasy thought was ever allotted to you--without some wise and gracious design.

Say not, then, like Jacob of old, "All these things are against me!"
Say not, like David, "I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul!"
For all these things are for your good--and you shall never perish, neither shall any pluck you out of Christ's hand!

Why should you, who are sons of the King of Heaven--be lean and discontented from day to day? Remember that you are the heir of God and joint heir with Christ--of an incorruptible, eternal, and unfading inheritance!

Go to Jesus, the compassionate Savior of sinners, who heals the broken in heart, who gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. Go, I say, to Him!
Tell Him all your griefs and sorrows!
Tell Him that your souls cleave to the dust!
Tell Him that iniquities, doubts, and fears prevail against you!
Tell Him that you are poor and miserable and wretched and blind and naked.

Go to His mercy-seat, where He sits as a merciful High Priest. Go and embrace His feet, lay open your whole hearts--and you will find Him infinitely more gracious than you can conceive; infinitely more willing to grant your requests, than you are to make them. He is love itself--it is His very nature to pity.

Have you a hard heart? Carry it to Him--and He will soften it.

Have you a blind mind? Carry it to Him--and He will enlighten it.

Are you oppressed with a load of guilt? Carry it to Him--and He will remove it.

Are you defiled and polluted? He will wash you in His own blood.

Have you backslidden? "Turn unto Me," says He, "O backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings."

How great are the privileges which result from an ability to say, "Christ is mine!"
If Christ is yours--then all that He possesses is yours!
  His power is yours--to defend you!
  His wisdom and knowledge are yours--to guide you!
  His righteousness is yours--to justify you!
  His Spirit and grace are yours--to sanctify you!
  His Heaven is yours--to receive you!

You will never live happily or usefully--until you can feel that Christ, and all that He possesses, are yours--and learn to come and take them as your own!

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From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
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Father knows best!

(John Newton's Letters)

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

This world seems all uncertainty--yet all is under the unspeakably gracious and infallibly wise direction of our Heavenly Father.

Oh! This is the great thing to be desired--to be savingly interested in the promise which engages that all things shall work together for our good--to give us a fitness for the inheritance of the saints in light, so that at last we may attain to His eternal joy. That will make rich amends for all the trials we can meet with along the way.

Our heavenly Father knows best, what is good for us. Oh, for grace to yield ourselves simply and cheerfully to His wise management. Hitherto He has helped us, and all His paths have been mercy and truth. What reasons have we to praise Him for the past--and to trust Him for the rest!

The Lord knows, and He permits me to tell Him what I feel or fear or wish. But when I have done so, it befits me to submit all to Him and to say, "Not my will--but may Your will be done." I aim to say this from my heart, and to account it not only my duty--but my privilege to prefer His choice to my own.

The Lord graciously adjusts all our concerns--and it is our privilege to peaceably and thankfully submit to His judicious management. Our times are in His hands. Vastly more than we are aware of, depends upon the Lord's wise controlling of all our affairs. Is it not a comfort to a blind man, to have an unfailing guide whom he may fully and safely trust?

May we be willing to leave all our concerns in His skillful and faithful hands--to live to Him and for Him today, and to trust Him for the events of tomorrow.

Oh how happy we are--when we can leave all in His nail-pierced hands!

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From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
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http://www.gracegems.org/19/literature.htm
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When believers die!

(John Newton's Letters)

"Father, I want those whom You have given Me--to be with Me where I am, and to see My glory!" John 17:24

Health and sickness, life and death--will always be in the hands of the Lord.

When believers die--whatever the accident or the illness may be--they are only the means, but not properly the cause of their death. They die because the time has come when He who loves them best, will have them with Him to behold His glory!

Until then, they are immortal. They recover from sickness, however threatening, and are preserved unhurt--in defiance of the greatest dangers! But when His appointed hour arrives--then they must depart. When He will have them with Him--we cannot detain them; nor ought we to wish it, though the flesh will feel the parting stroke.

None of us can be perfectly happy in this poor fleeting world. It is a state in which sin and sorrow will hunt us and pain us to the last step of life! Therefore, though we wish to keep those whom we love with us as long as we can--it is well both for us and them, that we cannot live here always. We are in the Lord's hands--and He does all things wisely and well, at the right time and in the right manner.

Death is but a temporary separation. Those who are gone before us, are waiting for us. Oh! It will be a happy meeting before the throne of the Lamb--out of the reach of sin and sorrow, to meet and part no more!

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We are all living monuments of God's goodness and patience!

(Ralph Venning, "The Plague of Plagues!" 1669)

"The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease--for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning! Great is Your faithfulness!" Lamentations 3:22-23

If sin is so exceedingly sinful--so contrary to, and displeasing to God--then surely . . .
  His patience is exceedingly great,
  His goodness is exceedingly rich, and
  His long-suffering is exceedingly marvelous
--even such as to cause astonishment!

We are all living monuments of God's goodness and patience! It is of the Lord's mercies that all of us are not altogether and utterly consumed--and that in eternal Hell!

Such is . . .
  the power of His patience,
  the infiniteness of His mercy and compassion,
  and the riches of His unsearchable grace!

Consider the multitude of sinners in the world. If it were only one or two sinners--then they might be winked at and passed by. But all the world lies in wickedness (1 John 5:19). There is none righteous--no, not one! If there had been only ten righteous ones--then God would have spared Sodom, although ten thousand sinners might be there. Yet there is not a single man to be found who does not sin. All have sinned--and that continually. What grace, then--what patience is this!

Consider the multitude of sins committed by every sinner. Every sinner commits innumerable sins! If all men had sinned only once--it would have mitigated the matter. Sin, however, has grown up with men. Not a single good thought is to be found in their hearts! (Genesis 6:5) Sin grows up faster than men do--they are old in sin, when still young in years. They are adding iniquity to iniquity, and drawing sin on with cords and ropes, committing it with both hands greedily, as if they could not sin enough! They dare God Himself to judge them. They drink down iniquity like water, as if it was their element and nourishment and pleasure also. Yet, behold, how miraculously patient is God!

God sees sin--He is sensible of it and angered about it--for it grieves and vexes Him. God is able to avenge Himself whenever He pleases--yet He forbears with sinners. Be astonished at it!

It is a wonder that men are spared so long--especially if we consider how quickly God cast the angels that sinned down to Hell!

O the wonder of sovereign grace!

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From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
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http://www.gracegems.org/19/literature.htm
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The time is short--our obligations are unspeakably great--and Heaven will make amends for all!

(John Newton's Letters)

"Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows." John 16:33

Every step we take, brings us nearer to our Father's house! We shall soon be at Home--where the wicked cannot trouble, and where the weary are at rest.

How wisely the Lord varies His dispensations!

They are not all painful--lest we should be too much cast down.

Nor are they all pleasant--lest we should forget what and where we are.

Nor do our troubles come all at once. They are parceled out at different intervals, that one wound may be well healed before another is inflicted.

The Lord has wise reasons for all that He does--and we shall, before long, know them more clearly. In short, He does all things well! May we even now be thankful and yield a sweet submission to His holy will. He has a sovereign right to dispose of us as He pleases--and He has promised that He shall work all together for our good.

He has promised us peace in Himself--but in the world, He bids us to expect many trials and sorrows. The same or equal or greater afflictions--are common to all His people. We would never say, "This is too hard!" if we considered that we are sinners, and therefore always suffer less than we deserve.

The time is short--our obligations are unspeakably great--and Heaven will make amends for all! Surely then we should cheerfully, yes thankfully, take up our crosses, and follow our Lord--since we are assured that if we suffer with Him and for Him, we shall also reign with Him. Time flies apace, and past troubles will return no more. Every pulse we feel, beats a sharp moment of the pain away--and the last stroke will soon come. Then sorrow and sighing shall flee away--and joy and gladness shall come forth to conduct us Home! That time will come--yes, it is drawing nearer every hour!

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From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
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http://www.gracegems.org/19/literature.htm
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They were once like us--sorrowing, suffering, sinning!

(John Newton's Letters)

"Oh magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together!" Very wonderful have His dealings been with me, since the day when He took me by the hand to bring me out of Egypt.

We have nothing that we can properly call our own--but sin and misery!

I wish to be more thankful for what the Lord has been to me--but I long to rise a step higher still, to be enabled to contemplate His character, as displayed by the cross of Christ, so that I may continually admire and adore Him for what He is in Himself. He would have been great and glorious, wise, powerful, holy, and gracious--though I had never been brought into existence, or had been left to eternally perish in my sin as I deserved.

The redeemed before the throne--look how they shine! Hark how they sing! They were not always as they are now. They were once like us--sorrowing, suffering, sinning! But He has washed them from their sins in His own blood--and wiped away their tears with His own nail-pierced hands!

"All glory to Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding His blood for us! All glory and power to Him forever and ever! Amen." Revelation 1:5-6