Grace Gems

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More choice pithy sayings of William Tiptaft (1803-1864)

    ~  ~  ~  ~

Some have a clear knowledge of the doctrines--but are evidently void of saving grace.

    ~  ~  ~  ~

Has your religion cost you anything?
If it has cost you nothing, it is worth nothing.

    ~  ~  ~  ~

Have you ever experienced the new birth?
If not, dying in your present state--to Hell you must go.

    ~  ~  ~  ~

Lord, look upon those who mourn in Zion--put their tears into Your bottle, and listen to their sighs and groans.

    ~  ~  ~  ~

Six feet by two-and-a-half, is all the ground that the richest man in England will shortly occupy.

    ~  ~  ~  ~

When the Lord finds His rod--His people find their knees.

    ~  ~  ~  ~

If not washed in Christ's blood and clothed in His righteousness--then no Heaven for you, no Heaven for me.

    ~  ~  ~  ~

How awful to die out of Christ!
How blessed to die in Christ!

    ~  ~  ~  ~

The least work of grace in the heart is worth a thousand worlds!

    ~  ~  ~  ~

The cross is not to be escaped--if we are to enter into glory.

    ~  ~  ~  ~

If you have one grain of grace--you must die to know how rich you are!

    ~  ~  ~  ~

You cannot touch pitch and not be defiled.
Sin is of a defiling nature.

    ~  ~  ~  ~

Sinning will stop praying--or praying will stop sinning.

    ~  ~  ~  ~

There is nothing worth living for in this vain world.
Vanity is stamped upon all created good.

    ~  ~  ~  ~

Show me a man's books and show me a man's companions--and I will tell you what sort of a man he is.

    ~  ~  ~  ~

Children take more notice of what their parents do, than what they say. Actions speak louder than words.

    ~  ~  ~  ~

We cannot jump out of Delilah's lap--into Abraham's bosom!

    ~  ~  ~  ~

Dead fish go with the stream--living ones go against it.

    ~  ~  ~  ~

O what a narrow way is that which leads to eternal life!

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Here we see what is in every human heart by nature!

(Don Fortner)

"What shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked.
They shouted back, "Crucify Him!" Matthew 27:22

Oh, what a revelation of man the cross is!
Man hating God, and hating Him most when God displayed His love most fully.
Man acting like the devil, taking Satan's side against God!

Yes, the cross was a public declaration of man's hatred for God and His Son.

The cross is proud man spitting in God's face and saying, "I am holy. I need no Savior. To Hell with God and His Son!"

Our Savior asked, "What do you think you of Christ?"
Man's answer was, "Crucify Him!"

Man's heart, his hands, his tongue all combine to scream out hatred for God and His Son.

Calvary's hill displays man's utter hatred for God!

How deep, bitter, universal, and vile is the hatred of the human heart for God! Oh, how fallen man hates God!

The arrest, the scourging, the mockery, the spitting, the smiting, the cries, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!", the wagging the heads, the cruel nails, the thieves' railing--everything was but the outpouring of man's utter hatred for God.

Here we see what is in every human heart by nature!

Man declared his heart, in the crucifixion of God's darling Son.

God seems to have said, "Vent the feelings of your heart." And he did, taking God by the throat, as it were, man snatched the only begotten Son from His Father's heart and crucified Him with hellish delight.

Reckoning the death of the cross the worst of all deaths, man said, "This is the best way to show my contempt for God. This is exactly what I think of the Son of God!" Thus, the enmity of the natural heart speaks out, and man not only confesses publicly that he is a hater of God, but he takes pains to show the intensity of his hatred.

The cross interprets what is in man's heart.

The cross rips the mask of pretended religion off of the face of our race.

The cross of Christ exhibits man's heart as a cesspool overflowing with the malignity of Hell.

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We must in some degree tread the path He trod

(Octavius Winslow, "The Tried Believer Comforted")

"He was despised and rejected--a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief!" Isaiah 53:3

Jesus' life was one continuous trial. From the moment He entered our world He was leagued with suffering. He identified Himself with affliction in its almost endless forms. He seemed to have been born with a tear in His eye, with a shade of sadness on His brow. From the moment He touched the horizon of our earth, from that moment His sufferings commenced.

He did not come to indulge in a life of tranquility and ease.
He did not come to quaff the cup of earthly pleasures.
He came to suffer,
He came to bear sin's curse,
He came to drain the deep cup of wrath,
He came to weep, to bleed, to die!

Our Savior was a cross-bearing Savior. Our Lord was a suffering Lord. Is it to be expected that those who link their destinies with His, who avow themselves to be His disciples and followers--should walk in a dissimilar path from their Lord's?

There can be no true following of Christ as our example, if we lose sight of Him as a suffering Christ--an afflicted Savior. There must be fellowship with Him in His sufferings.

We must in some degree tread the path He trod. "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you--leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps." 1 Peter 2:21

Here is one reason why He ordained that along this rugged path His saints should all journey. They must be like their Lord--they are one with Him, and this oneness can only exist where there is mutual sympathy.

Our great and glorious Redeemer sought not, and found not, repose here--this world was not His rest. He turned his back upon the pleasures, the riches, the luxuries, and even the common comforts of this world--preferring a life of obscurity, penury, and suffering. His very submission seemed to impart dignity to suffering, elevation to poverty, and to invest a life of suffering, need, and trial--with an air of holy sanctity.

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That restless, invisible, subtle, experienced enemy!

(J.C. Ryle, "The Gospel of Luke" 1858)

"Simon, Simon--Satan Satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat!" Luke 22:31

We learn here--what a fearful enemy the devil is to believers.
Satan was near Christ's flock--though they saw him not.
He was longing to accomplish their ruin--though they knew it not.

The devil desires the destruction of souls, more than the wolf craves the blood of the lamb!

The personality, activity, and power of the devil are not sufficiently thought of by Christians.
This is he who brought sin into the world at the beginning, by tempting Eve.
This is he who is described in the book of Job as "going to and fro in the earth."
This is he whom our Lord calls "the prince of this world," a "murderer," and a "liar."
This is he whom Peter compares to a "roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."
This is he whom John speaks of as "the accuser of the brethren."
This is he who is ever . . .
  working evil in the churches,
  catching away good seed from the hearts of hearers,
  sowing tares amid the wheat,
  stirring up persecutions,
  suggesting false doctrines,
  and fomenting divisions!

The world is a snare to the believer.
The flesh is a burden and a clog.
But there is no enemy so dangerous as that restless, invisible, subtle, experienced enemy--the devil!

If we believe the Bible, let us not be ashamed to believe that there is a malicious devil who is ever on a deadly prowl. It is a solemn proof of the hardness and blindness of unconverted men--that they can jest and speak lightly of Satan.

If we profess to have any real religion, let us be on our guard against the devil's evil schemes. The enemy who overthrew David and Peter, and assaulted Christ Himself--is not an enemy to be despised. He is very subtle and malicious. He has studied the heart of man for six thousand years. He can approach us under the garb of an "angel of light." We have need to watch and pray, and put on the whole armor of God.

It is a blessed promise, that if we resist him--then he will flee from us.

It is a still more blessed thought that when the Lord comes--He will bruise Satan under our feet, bind him in eternal chains and cast him into the lake of fire! "The devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever!" Revelation 20:10

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He is too wise to err--and too good to be unkind!

(James Smith, "The Love of Christ! The Fullness, Freeness, and Immutability of the Savior's Grace Displayed!")

Jesus is both our Advocate and Counselor.

Every believer has a powerful, crafty, and malignant foe who tempts him to sin--and then turns to be his accuser before God! "But if any man sins--we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous!" 1 John 2:1.

All the glory of His person and the perfection of His work--is thrown into His plea. He pleads . . .
  the Father's love,
  His own blood,
  the promises of grace, and
  the weakness of His people;
and so pleading--He must prevail.

His people have fled to Him under the greatest difficulties, and have received counsel which has delivered them from the greatest perplexities. He is always in office for us--and always at liberty to listen to us.

What ails you, poor tried believer? Flee to your Advocate and Counselor!

He is a wonderful Counselor! He never . . .
  mistakes a case,
  despises a poor client,
  or charges a fee!

He possesses . . .
  all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge;
  all the kindness of sinless humanity,
  and all the love of Deity!

What a wonderful lover is Jesus! He . . .
  assumes any office,
  stoops to any service,
  and fills any relation--
so that He may but do His people good, and manifest His love unto them.

My soul, employ this Advocate, repair to this Counselor in every season of difficulty, and follow His advice in every circumstance and situation! He is too wise to err--and too good to be unkind!

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A holy antipathy against sin!

(Thomas Watson, "Doctrine of Repentance")

There is no better sign of true repentance--than a holy antipathy against sin.
Sound repentance begins in love to God--and ends in the hatred of sin.

How may true hatred of sin be known?

1. When a man's HEART is set against sin. Not only does the tongue protest against sin--but the heart abhors it. However lovely sin is painted, we find it odious--just as we abhor the picture of one whom we mortally hate, even though it may be well drawn.

Suppose a dish is finely cooked--yet if a man has an antipathy against the meat, he will not eat it. Just so, let the devil cook and dress sin with pleasure and profit--yet a true penitent has a secret abhorrence of it, is disgusted by it, and will not meddle with it.

2. True hatred of sin is UNIVERSAL. There is a dislike of sin not only in the judgment--but in the will and affections. Many a one is convinced that sin is a vile thing, and in his judgment has an aversion to it--yet he tastes sweetness in it, and has a secret delight in it. Here is a disliking of sin in the judgment--and an embracing of it in the affections! Whereas in true repentance, the hatred of sin is in all the faculties, not only in the mind--but chiefly in the will.

He who truly hates one sin--hates all sins. He who hates a serpent--hates all serpents. "I hate every false way!" (Psalm 119:104). Hypocrites will hate some sins which mar their credit. But a true convert hates all sins--gainful sins, besetting sins, the very stirrings of corruption.

3. A holy heart detests sin for its INTRINSIC POLLUTION. Sin leaves a stain upon the soul. A regenerate person abhors sin not only for the curse, but for the contagion. He hates this serpent not only for its sting, but for its poison. He hates sin not only for Hell--but as Hell.

Those who have no antipathy against sin, are strangers to gospel repentance. Sin is in them--as poison in a serpent, which, being natural to it, affords delight. How far are they from repentance who, instead of hating sin--love sin! To the godly--sin is as a thorn in the eye; to the wicked--sin is as a crown on the head! "They actually rejoice in doing evil!" (Jeremiah 11:15).

Loving of sin is worse than committing it. What is it which makes a swine love to tumble in the mire? Its love of filth. O how many there are, who love the forbidden fruit! They love their sin--and hate holiness.

There should be a deadly antipathy between the heart and sin.

What is there in sin, which may make a penitent hate it?

Sin is the accursed thing--the most deformed monster! Look upon the origin of sin, from whence it comes. It fetches its pedigree from Hell: "He who commits sin is of the devil!" (1 John 3:8). Sin is the devil's special work. How hateful is it to be doing that which is the special work of the devil--indeed, that which makes men into devils!

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The Great Physician and His patients!

(George Everard, "The Great Physician and His Patients" 1874)

"Those who are well have no need of a Physician, but those who are sick." Luke 5:31

Our Great Physician possesses the most perfect skill to discern the peculiar needs of each case. He sees the working of all this sin and corruption and hardness of heart--and He can counteract it all by His all-sufficient grace. Before you have spoken a word, when you kneel down and cast yourself upon His mercy--He is prepared to forgive and save. Christ knows beforehand all that you are, and cannot fail to support His tempted or afflicted child.

In Christ there is not only Divine wisdom to discern every case of spiritual disease--but He also has Divine power completely to effect a cure. When He was upon earth, none were sent away unhealed. The blind and the lame, the deaf and the dumb, the palsied and the lepers, those possessed with demons and the dead--all alike were healed immediately by the touch of Jesus. "The whole multitude sought to touch Him--for virtue went out of Him, and healed them ALL."

Thus completely and surely does Jesus restore all who come to Him. He can . . .
  open the eyes long closed in the night of ignorance,
  strengthen those who have yet had no power to walk in God's ways,
  unstop the ear long deaf to the sweet voice of the Gospel,
  teach the prayerless lips to plead with God,
  remove the paralysis of a careless indifference,
  cleanse souls from the leprosy of debasing lusts,
  cast out the evil spirits of envy, and hatred and unbelief,
  save men from the fever of covetousness, and every evil temper.

His power, when on earth, reached to the very worst cases of disease! The man full of leprosy, and the woman whom other physicians had tried in vain to cure--both came, and others just as hopeless, and all were alike healed. Yes, and I see Jesus day by day saving such as man might reckon beyond the reach of His saving arm.

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30

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An excessive anxiety about the innocent things of this life

(J.C. Ryle, "The Gospel of Luke" 1858)

"Be on your guard, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and the cares of life--or that day will come on you unexpectedly like a trap!" Luke 21:34-35

The exhortation before us should teach us the great importance of an unworldly heart. The "cares of this life" are placed side by side with carousing and drunkenness.

Excess in eating and drinking, is not the only excess which injures the soul. There is an excessive anxiety about the innocent things of this life--which is just as ruinous to our spiritual prosperity, and just as poisonous to the soul.

Never, never let us forget--that we may make spiritual shipwreck on lawful things--as really and truly as on open vices! Happy is he who has learned to hold the things of this world with a loose hand, and to believe that seeking first the kingdom of God, "all other things shall be added to him!" Matthew 6:33

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What could an unsanctified man do in Heaven?

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

"Without holiness, no one will see the Lord!" Hebrews 12:14

Most men hope to go to Heaven when they die; but few, it may be feared, take the trouble to consider whether they would enjoy Heaven if they got there.

Heaven is essentially a holy place;
its inhabitants are all holy;
its occupations are all holy.
To be really happy in Heaven, it is clear and plain that we must be somewhat trained and made ready for Heaven while we are on earth.

We must be saints before we die--if we are to be saints afterwards in glory.
We need the work of the Holy Spirit--as well as the work of Christ;
we need renewal of the heart--as well as the atoning blood;
we need to be sanctified--as well as to be justified.

What could an unsanctified man do in Heaven, if by any chance he got there?

No man can possibly be happy in a place where he is not in his element, and where all around him is not congenial to his tastes, habits and character.
When an eagle is happy in an iron cage,
when a sheep is happy in the middle of a lake,
when a fish is happy on the dry land--
then, and not until then, will I admit that the unsanctified man could be happy in Heaven!

The book of Revelation says expressly, "Nothing impure will ever enter it." Revelation 21:27

Suppose for a moment, that you were allowed to enter Heaven without holiness.
What would you do? What possible enjoyment could you experience there?

Now perhaps, you love the company of . . .
   the vain and the impious,
   the worldly-minded and the profligate,
   the reveler and the pleasure-seeker,
   the ungodly and the profane.
There will be none such in Heaven!

Now perhaps you think the that saints of God too strict and particular and serious. You rather avoid them. You have no delight in their society. But there will be no other company in Heaven.

Now perhaps you think that praying and Scripture reading and hymn singing--are dull and melancholy and foolish; a thing to be tolerated now and then--but not enjoyed. You reckon the worship a burden and a weariness. But remember, Heaven is never-ending worship. The inhabitants thereof rest not day or night, saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty," and singing the praise of the Lamb. How could an unholy man find pleasure in occupation such as this?

It seems clear that Heaven would be a miserable place to an unholy man! We must be heavenly-minded and have heavenly tastes in the present life--or else we will never find ourselves in Heaven in the life to come!

"Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong;
 let him who is vile continue to be vile;
 let him who does right continue to do right;
 and let him who is holy continue to be holy." Revelation 22:11

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A glance into heavenly bliss!

("Solitude Sweetened" by James Meikle, 1730-1799)

All at once I find myself in an unbounded flood of bliss, a spacious sea of glory--lost in wonder amidst ineffable delights, and transported with the raptures of seraphic harmony! While all His saints rejoice in His excellent glory--what ardor glows in every soul, and what rapture swells in every song! O the wondrous displays of His perfections--the manifestations of His goodness--the outlettings of His love!

Here we received out of His fullness--grace upon grace. and glory upon glory.
Our heavenly possession is worthy of our liberal Giver. We have . . .
  a kingdom which cannot be moved,
  an undefiled inheritance, which does not fade away,
  a city with foundations, whose builder and maker is God,
  garments of glory,
  a crown of righteousness,
  the tree of life to feed upon,
  the fountain of life to drink of,
  the garden of God to walk in,
  life above the reach of death,
  health secured from sickness,
  eternal pleasure without pain!

Our bodies are immortal,
our souls are immaculate,
our senses are sanctified,
our conceptions are spiritualized,
our faculties are enlarged, and
our whole soul is glorious!

Our past bliss is with us in the sweet remembrance,
our present bliss enchants us in the enjoyment, and
our future bliss is present with us in the full assurance of our eternal felicity.

Thus we are forever blessed to the highest degree. We are . . .
  above all fear,
  beyond anxiety and doubt,
  and fixed above all change!

Our service is sincere,
our adorations are ardent,
our knowledge is profound and satisfying.

Rapture rushes in at every part!

Our eyes are ravished with seeing the King in His beauty;
our ears are ravished with hearing the songs of the inner temple;
our nostrils are ravished with the fragrance of the Rose of Sharon, the plant of renown;
our feet are ravished with standing in His holy place;
our hands are ravished with handling of the word of life; and
our mouths are ravished with the wine of our Beloved, which goes down sweetly--causing our souls to shout aloud, and our lips to sing and never cease.

Our experience of His fullness, our vision of His perfections and glory--constitute our most exalted bliss, and are the heaven of heavens!

O what torrents of eternal love teem from the glorious throne into our souls!

O the pleasure that is in His presence!

O the exuberant rivers of joy that flow at His right hand!

O love! never to be forgotten--which has brought me safely through so many winding labyrinths and crooked paths, in sight of so many enemies--in spite of . . .
  a tempting devil,
  the accusations of my sins,
  the rebellion of my lusts,
  the carnality of my affections, and
  the weakness of all my graces--
to dwell at last forever in heavenly bliss!

O eternity! Once the comfort of our longing expectations--now the transport of our enlarged souls! For we are . . .
  forever with the Lord,
  beholding His unclouded face,
  wearing His divine name,
  drinking at the streams of His pleasures,
  eating of His hidden manna,
  sitting beneath the Tree of Life,
  basking under the beams of the Sun of Righteousness,
  singing hallelujahs to Him who loved us, who washed us from our sins in His blood, and brought us here to be with Him forever!

O state of complete happiness and consummate bliss!

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Sinners in Hell are not the fools they were on earth!

(Charles Spurgeon)

"Then He will say to those on His left: Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels!" Matthew 25:41

Sinners in Hell are not the fools they were on earth!

In Hell, they do not laugh at everlasting burnings.

In the pit, they do not despise the words, "eternal fire!"

The worm that never dies, when it is gnawing, gnaws out all joke and laughter.

You may despise and mock God now--but death will change your note!

"Remember, you can laugh your way into Hell--but you can never laugh your way out of Hell!"

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life!" Matthew 25:46

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We fritter away days, weeks, months!

(J.R. Miller, "The Sacredness of Opportunity")

"Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Ephesians 5:16

"Gather up the fragments that are left over. Let nothing be wasted!" John 6:12

"Time is short!" 1 Corinthians 7:29

Time is made up of golden minutes--not one of which we should allow to be wasted! The Master said that for every idle word that men speak--they must give account. This can be no less true of idle minutes or hours.

Most of us live as if we had a thousand years to stay here in this world! We loiter away the golden hours of our little days--as if the days were never to end! We do not see how swiftly the sun is whirling toward his setting, while our work is but half done, our task perhaps scarcely begun!

We fritter away days, weeks, months--not noticing how our one little opportunity of living in this world is being worn off, as the sea eats away a crumbling bank until its last shred is gone! We set slight value on time, forgetting that we have only a hand-breadth of it--and then comes eternity!

Many of us fail to appreciate the value of 'single days'. "A day is too short a space," we say, "that it cannot make much difference if one, just one, is wasted--or idled away!" Yet the days are links in a chain, and if one link is broken--the chain is broken. In God's plan for our life--each little day has its own load of duty.

How these lost days shame us--as they turn their reproachful eyes upon us, out of the irrevocable past!

Many people are wasteful of time. They fail to realize its value. They appear to have time in such abundance--that they dream it can never end. They do not know that a day lost--may mean misfortune or failure for them sometime in the future. They do not know that squandered hours, minutes spent in idleness--may cost them the true success of their life, bringing failure or disaster!

They should not make the mistake of imagining they have so much time--that they can afford to let days or hours or even minutes be wasted. They cannot afford to lose one golden minute of any day. We do not know what momentous issues, affecting all our future--are involved in any quietest hour of any common-place day. There is 'a time for everything'--but the time is short, and when it is gone, and the thing is not done--it never can be done!

What you make of your life--you must make in a few years at the most; for the human span is short--and any day may be your last one! Every day that passes--leaves life's margin a little less for each of us. Our allotment of time is ever shortening!

There are a great many things it is not worth our while to do. Some of us spend our days in poor trivialities which bless no one, and which will add no lustre to our crown.

Therefore, waste no opportunity! Squander no moment! There is just time enough for you to live your life well--if you spend every moment of it in earnest, faithful duty. One hour lost--will leave a flaw. A life thus lived in unbroken diligence and faithfulness, will have no regrets when the end comes.

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A high esteem of yourself?

(Charles Spurgeon)

A high esteem of yourself?

You are not a mature Christian, if you have a high esteem of yourself.

He who boasts in himself is but a babe in Christ--if indeed he is in Christ at all.

Young Christians may think much of themselves.

Growing Christians think themselves nothing.

Mature Christians know that they are less than nothing.

The more holy we are, the more we mourn our infirmities, and the humbler is our estimate of ourselves.

"Though I am nothing." 2 Corinthians 12:11
"Although I am less than the least of all God's people . . ."  Ephesians 3:8
"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst." 1 Timothy 1:15
Wonderful was the grace that taught the once proud Pharisee thus to speak!

Pride may be set down as "the sin" of human nature.

The demon of pride was born with us--and it will not die one hour before us!

We are never so much in danger of being proud--as when we think we are humble.

There is no sin into which the heart of man so easily falls as pride--and yet there is no more vice which is more frequently, more emphatically, and more eloquently condemned in Scripture.

We are all proud. Pride can hide under a beggar's rags--as well as under a minister's robes. Pride is a weed that will grow on a dunghill--as well as in a palace garden; but it ought never to be allowed to grow in the heart of a Christian!

No matter how dear you are to God--if pride is harbored in your heart, He will whip it out of you!

[nChrist]

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From Grace Gems - Free and Public Domain:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
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Among the wonders in Heaven, shall be these three

(Charles Spurgeon)

Among the wonders in Heaven, shall be these three:

  The first wonder is that we shall see so many there, whom we did not expect to see.
 
  The second is that we shall miss so many there, whom we did expect to see.

  But the third wonder will be the greatest wonder of all--to see ourselves there!

        And can it be, that I should gain
        An interest in the Savior's blood?
        Died He for me, who caused His pain?
        For me, who Him to death pursued?

        Amazing love! how can it be
        That Thou, my God, should die for me?
        Amazing love! how can it be
        That Thou, my God, should die for me?

        Tis mercy all, immense and free
        For O my God, it found out me!
        Amazing love! How can it be,
        That Thou, my God, should die for me?

[nChrist]

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From Grace Gems - Free and Public Domain:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
http://www.gracegems.org/19/literature.htm
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http://www.gracegems.org/
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He who believes shall be saved, be his sins ever so many

(Charles Spurgeon)

"He who believes in the Son has everlasting life!
 He who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him!" John 3:36

He who believes shall be saved, be his sins ever so many.
He who does not believe shall be damned, be his sins ever so few.
 
There is no sin which can damn the one who sincerely believes.
There is absolutely nothing which can save the one who does not believe.

"The only way to be saved is by faith in Christ. Apart from faith in Him--no one, anywhere, at any time, in any culture, at any period in history, at any age, is saved."