Grace Gems

[nChrist]

The love of fine dress

(Gorham Abbott, "The Family at Home", 1833)

"I also want women to dress modestly, with decency
 and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls
 or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate
 for women who profess to worship God." 1 Tim. 2:9-10

To many young women, the love of fine dress is a great
snare--which leads them into a series of mistakes.

A profusion of fine bows, feathers, necklaces, and earrings
--is often the outward and visible sign of inward emptiness
and vanity!

A minister, calling to visit a lady, was detained a long time
while she was dressing. At length she made her appearance,
bedecked in all the frippery of fashion and folly. The minister
broke into tears. She demanded the cause of his grief; when
he replied, "I weep, madam, to think that an immortal being
should spend so much of that precious time which was given
her to prepare for eternity--in thus vainly adorning that body
which must so soon become a prey to worms!"

A lady once asked a minister whether a person might not
be fond of fine dress and ornaments, without being proud.
"Madam," replied the minister, "when you see the fox's tail
peeping out of the hole--you may be sure the fox is within!"

"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment,
 such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and
 fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self,
 the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is
 of great worth in God's sight. For this is the way the holy
 women of the past who put their hope in God used to
 make themselves beautiful." 1 Peter 3:3-5

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman
 who fears the Lord is to be praised." Proverbs 31:30

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

[nChrist]

Death-bed repentance

(Gorham Abbott, "The Family at Home", 1833)

"They shall look on Him whom they have pierced,
 and shall mourn." Zechariah 12:10

    Repentance is the tear of love,
    dropping from the eye of faith,
    when it fixes on Christ crucified.

Repentance begins in the humiliation of the heart, and
ends in the reformation of the heart and of the life.

Sincere repentance is never too late, but late repentance
is seldom sincere. The thief on the cross repented, and was
pardoned in the last hour of his life. We have one such
instance in scripture--that none might despair; and only
one--that none might presume.

Still, however, the probability that apparent repentance,
which comes at a dying hour, will be genuine, is very small.
The following fact will furnish an affecting illustration of this
sentiment, and a solemn warning against the too common
delusion of deferring the work of repentance to a dying bed:

The faithful and laborious clergyman of a very large and
populous parish had been accustomed, for a long series of
years, to preserve notes of his visits to the afflicted, with
remarks on the outcome of their affliction--whether life or
death, and of the subsequent conduct of those who recovered.
He stated, that, during forty years, he had visited more than
two thousand people apparently drawing near to death, and
who revealed such signs of penitence as would have led him
to indulge a good hope of their eternal safety--if they had
died at that moment. When they were restored to life and
health--he eagerly looked that they should bring forth fruits
fit for repentance. But alas! of the two thousand, only two
people manifested an abiding and saving change! The rest,
when the terrors of eternity ceased to be in immediate
prospect, forgot their pious impressions and their solemn
vows--and returned with new avidity to their former worldly
mindedness and sinful pursuits, "as the dog returns to its
vomit again, and as the sow that was washed to its
wallowing in the mire."

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

[nChrist]

Finding happiness in a miserable world

(Gorham Abbott, "The Family at Home", 1833)

"A man's life does not consist in the abundance
 of his possessions." Luke 12:15

"But if we have food and clothing, we will be
 content with these." 1 Timothy 6:8

A little simple food, and plain clothing, and humble
shelter--this is all that man really needs. Outward
things can neither make a man happy or miserable.
Ahab was discontented on a king's throne.
Paul and Silas were happy in a dungeon.

    Nature is content with little;
    grace is content with less.
    Luxury is seldom satisfied;
    lust is never satisfied.

If we have but little in this world, we may content
ourselves with the reflection, that it is safer to have
little than much. Many have been ruined by prosperity.
Many have gone to hell splendidly clothed, and who
lived each day in luxury!

Very wise was the prayer of Agur, "Give me neither
poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread."
Proverbs 30:8

Christians should be content, because time is short;
and if time is short, trouble cannot be long! "Weeping
may endure for a night--but joy comes in the morning!"
These light afflictions are but for a moment--and then
comes an eternal weight of glory! The Christian is
traveling down a rough and dirty piece of road; but
he is going home--to his glorious heavenly home!
This is the true secret of finding happiness in a
miserable world.

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

[nChrist]

Christ is . . .

(J. C. Ryle)
"Christ is all." Colossians 3:11

True Christians have trustful thoughts of Christ.
They daily lean the weight of their souls upon
Him by faith--for pardon and peace.
They daily commit the care of their souls to Him
--as a man commits a treasure to a safe keeper.
They daily cling to Him by faith--as a child in
a crowd clings to its mother's hand.

They look to Him daily for . . .
  mercy,
  grace,
  comfort,
  help,
  strength,
  guidance.

Christ is . . .
  the rock under their feet,
  the staff in their hands,
  their ark and their city of refuge,
  their sun and their shield,
  their bread and their medicine,
  their health and their light,
  their fountain and their shelter,
  their portion and their home,
  their advocate and their physician,
  their captain and their elder brother,
  their life,
  their hope,
  their all.

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

[nChrist]

God's hatred of sin

(J. A. James, "The Practical Believer Delineated" 1852)

The death of Christ, apprehended by faith, presents
the strongest motives to holiness--by setting forth in
the most vivid and striking manner . . .
  the evil nature of sin;
  the holiness and justice of God;
  His determination to punish transgression;
  the fearfulness of falling into the hands of the living God.

Not all the judgments God ever inflicted--nor all
the threatenings He ever denounced, give such an
impressive warning against sin, and admonition
to righteousness--as the death of Christ.

The torments of the bottomless pit are not so
dreadful a demonstration of God's hatred of sin,
as the agonies of the cross!

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

[nChrist]

A weeping creature

(Thomas Watson, "Harmless as Doves")

"Open to Me, My sister, My darling, My dove,
 My flawless one." Song of Songs 5:2

Christ calls His spouse His "dove". The dove is a
weeping creature. Grace dissolves and liquefies
the soul, causing a spiritual thaw. The sorrow of
the heart, runs out at the eye.

A godly heart grieves that it is not more holy.
It troubles him that he falls short of the rule and
standard which God has set. "I should", he says,
"love the Lord with all my heart. But how defective
my love is! How far short I come of what I should
be, no, of what I might have been!"

A godly man sometimes weeps out of the sense
of God's love. Gold is the finest and most solid of
all the metals, yet it is soonest melted in the fire.
Gracious hearts, which are golden hearts--are the
soonest melted into tears, by the fire of God's love.

A godly person weeps because the sins he commits
are in some sense worse than the sins of other men.
The sin of a justified person is very odious, because
it is a sin of unkindness. Peter's denying of Christ was
a sin against love. Christ had enrolled him among the
apostles. He had taken him up into the Mount and
shown him the glory of heaven in a vision. Yet after
all this mercy, it was base ingratitude that he should
deny Christ. This made him go out and 'weep bitterly.'
He baptized himself, as it were, in his own tears.

The sins of the godly, go nearest to God's heart.

The sins of the wicked--anger the Lord.
The godly man's sins--grieve Him.

The sins of the wicked--pierce Christ's side.
The sins of the godly--wound His heart.

How far from being godly--are those
who scarcely ever shed a tear for sin!

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

[nChrist]

It is in these storms

(Philpot, "Christ Jesus the Lord Received and Walked In")

The very storms through which the believer passes,
will only strengthen him to take a firmer hold of Christ.
As the same wind that blows down the poplar tree, only
establishes the oak tree; so the very storms which
uproot the shallow professor, only root the child of
God more firmly in Christ.

Though these storms may shake off some of his
leaves, or break off some of the rotten boughs, they
do not uproot his faith--but rather strengthen it.

It is in these storms that he learns . . .
  more of his own weakness, and of Christ's strength;
  more of his own misery, and of Christ's mercy;
  more of his own sinfulness, and of superabounding grace;
  more of his own poverty, and of Christ's riches;
  more of his own desert of hell, and of his own title to heaven.

It is in these storms that the same blessed Spirit who
began the work carries it on; and goes on to engrave
the image of Christ in deeper characters upon his heart;
and to teach him more and more experimentally--the
truth as it is in Jesus.

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

[nChrist]

What is the chief end of man?

(Thomas Watson, "Body of Divinity")

Question: What is the chief end of man?

Answer: Man's chief end is to glorify God,
and to enjoy Him forever.

"My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When
 can I go and meet with God?" Psalm 42:2

Is the enjoyment of God in this life so sweet? How
wicked are those who prefer the enjoyment of their
lusts, before the enjoyment of God! 'The lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eye, the pride of life,' is the
evil trinity they worship.

Lust is an inordinate desire or impulse, provoking the
soul to that which is evil. Lust, like a feverish heat, puts
the soul into a flame. Aristotle calls sensual lusts, brutish,
because, when any lust is violent--reason and conscience
cannot be heard. These lusts besot and brutalize the man.

How many make it their chief end, not to enjoy God--but
to enjoy their lusts! Lust first bewitches with pleasure--and
then comes the fatal dart! This should be a flaming sword
to stop men in the way of their carnal delights--Who, for
a drop of pleasure, would drink a sea of wrath?

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

[nChrist]

The best friend--but the worst enemy!

(Thomas Watson, "Body of Divinity")

Woe to all such, as have God against them. He lives
forever to be avenged upon them. "Can your heart
endure, or can your hands be strong in the day that
I shall deal with you?" Such as oppose His people,
trampling these jewels in the dust; and such as live
in contradiction to God's Word--engage the Infinite
Majesty of heaven against them! How dreadful will
their case be! "As surely as I live, when I sharpen
My flashing sword and begin to carry out justice,
I will bring vengeance on My enemies and repay
those who hate Me!"

If it is so dreadful to hear the lion roar, what must
it be when he begins to tear his prey? "Consider
this, you who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces!"
Oh that men would think of this--who go on in sin!
Shall we engage the great God against us? God
strikes slow--but heavy! "Have you an arm like
God?" Can you strike such a blow? God is the best
friend--but the worst enemy! If He can look men
into their grave, how far can He throw them? "Who
knows the power of His wrath?" What fools are they,
who, for a drop of pleasure--drink a sea of wrath!

Paracelsus speaks of a craze some have, which
will make them die dancing. Just so--sinners
go dancing to hell!

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

[nChrist]

God sees through these fig-leaves!

(Thomas Watson, "Body of Divinity")

"My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden
 from Me, nor is their sin concealed from My eyes!"
     Jeremiah 16:17

If God is a God of infinite knowledge, then see the
folly of hypocrisy. Hypocrites carry it fair with
men--but care not how bad their hearts are; they
live in secret sin. "They say--How can God know?
Does the Most High have knowledge?" "What does
God know? Can He judge through thick darkness?"
"God has forgotten, He hides His face, He will
never see it!"

But, "His understanding is infinite!" He has a window
to look into men's hearts! He has a key to open up the
heart. "Your Father who sees in secret." God sees in
secret. As a merchant enters debts in his book, so God
has His debt-book, in which He enters every sin!

The hypocrite thinks to disguise and juggle with God--but
God will unmask him. "God shall bring every work into
judgment, with every secret thing." "For they have done
outrageous things . . . I know it and am a witness to
it--declares the Lord." Jeremiah 29:23

The hypocrite hopes he shall color over his sin, and
make it look very good. Absalom masks over his
treason with the pretense of a religious vow. Judas
cloaks his covetousness, with the pretense of "charity
to the poor." Jehu makes religion a cloak for his selfish
design. But God sees through these fig-leaves!

He who has an eye to see--will find a hand to punish!

Since God is infinite in knowledge, we should always feel
as under His omniscient eye. "I have set the Lord always
before me." The consideration of God's omniscience would
be preventive of much sin. The eye of man will restrain
from sin; and will not God's eyes much more?

"Will he even assault the queen right here in the palace,
before my very eyes? the king roared." Esther 7:8. Will
we sin when our Judge looks on? Would men speak so
vainly, if they considered God overheard them? What care
would people have of their words, if they remembered that
God heard, and His pen was writing everything down in
heaven? Would they commit immorality, if they believed
God was a spectator of their wickedness, and would punish
them in hell for it? Would they defraud in their dealings,
and use false weights, if they knew God saw them; and
for making their weights lighter--would make their
damnation heavier?

Is God omniscient, and His eye chiefly upon the heart? 
Then be sincere--be what you seem! "The Lord does not
look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward
appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." 1 Sam. 16:7

Men judge the heart--by the actions.
God judges the actions--by the heart.

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

[nChrist]

God bottles every tear!

(Thomas Watson, "Body of Divinity")

Is God a God of infinite knowledge? This is comfort
to the child of God. Christian, you set hours apart for
God, your thoughts run upon Him as your treasure;
God takes notice of every good thought! "He had a
book of remembrance written for those who thought
upon His name." You enter into your closet, and pray
to your Father in secret; He hears every sigh and
groan! "My groaning is not hidden from You." You
water the seed of your prayer with tears--God bottles
every tear! "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

The infiniteness of God's knowledge is a comfort, in
the case of saints who have not a clear knowledge of
themselves. They find so much corruption--that they
judge they have no grace. "If it is so--why am I thus?
If I have grace, why is my heart in so dead and earthly
a frame?" Oh remember, God is of infinite knowledge.
He can spy grace where you cannot; He can see grace
hidden under corruption, as the stars may be hidden
behind a cloud. God can see that holiness in you, which
you can not discern in yourself. He can spy the flower
of grace in you, though overtopped with weeds.

"Because there is some good thing in him." God sees
some good thing in His people--when they can see no
good in themselves; and though they judge themselves
harshly, He will forgive their sins and infirmities.

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

   

[gymforlord]

God sees through these fig-leaves!

(Thomas Watson, "Body of Divinity")

"My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden
 from Me, nor is their sin concealed from My eyes!"
     Jeremiah 16:17

If God is a God of infinite knowledge, then see the
folly of hypocrisy. Hypocrites carry it fair with
men--but care not how bad their hearts are; they
live in secret sin. "They say--How can God know?
Does the Most High have knowledge?" "What does
God know? Can He judge through thick darkness?"
"God has forgotten, He hides His face, He will
never see it!"

But, "His understanding is infinite!" He has a window
to look into men's hearts! He has a key to open up the
heart. "Your Father who sees in secret." God sees in
secret. As a merchant enters debts in his book, so God
has His debt-book, in which He enters every sin!

The hypocrite thinks to disguise and juggle with God--but
God will unmask him. "God shall bring every work into
judgment, with every secret thing." "For they have done
outrageous things . . . I know it and am a witness to
it--declares the Lord." Jeremiah 29:23

The hypocrite hopes he shall color over his sin, and
make it look very good. Absalom masks over his
treason with the pretense of a religious vow. Judas
cloaks his covetousness, with the pretense of "charity
to the poor." Jehu makes religion a cloak for his selfish
design. But God sees through these fig-leaves!

He who has an eye to see--will find a hand to punish!

Since God is infinite in knowledge, we should always feel
as under His omniscient eye. "I have set the Lord always
before me." The consideration of God's omniscience would
be preventive of much sin. The eye of man will restrain
from sin; and will not God's eyes much more?

"Will he even assault the queen right here in the palace,
before my very eyes? the king roared." Esther 7:8. Will
we sin when our Judge looks on? Would men speak so
vainly, if they considered God overheard them? What care
would people have of their words, if they remembered that
God heard, and His pen was writing everything down in
heaven? Would they commit immorality, if they believed
God was a spectator of their wickedness, and would punish
them in hell for it? Would they defraud in their dealings,
and use false weights, if they knew God saw them; and
for making their weights lighter--would make their
damnation heavier?

Is God omniscient, and His eye chiefly upon the heart? 
Then be sincere--be what you seem! "The Lord does not
look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward
appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." 1 Sam. 16:7

Men judge the heart--by the actions.
God judges the actions--by the heart.

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

LOVE this one, Tom!!

[nChrist]

LOVE this one, Tom!!

Hello GymForLord,

There's a lot of them that I like. They are very old, but the messages are still fresh and timeless.

Love In Christ,
Tom

[nChrist]

Who are you, O man, to talk back to God?

(Thomas Watson, "Body of Divinity")

"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I
 will have compassion on whom I have compassion.
 It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or
 effort, but on God's mercy." Romans 9:15-16

God has a sovereign right and authority over man.
He can do with His creatures as He pleases. Who shall
dispute with God? Who shall ask Him a reason of His
doings? "Who are you, O man, to talk back to
God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed
it--Why did you make me like this?" Romans 9:20

"Our God is in heaven and does whatever He pleases."
Psalm 115:3

"The Lord does whatever He pleases in heaven and
 on earth, in the seas and all the depths." Psalm 135:6

God sits as judge in the highest court, and is not bound
to give a reason for His proceedings. "He puts down one,
and raises up another." He has salvation and damnation
in His power. He has the key of justice in His hand, to
lock up whomever he will, in the fiery prison of hell! And
He has the key of mercy in His hand, to open heaven's
gate to whomever He pleases! The name engraved upon
His vesture is, "King of kings, and Lord of lords!" He sits
Lord paramount, and who can call Him to account? The
world is God's house, and shall not He do what He
desires in His own house?

"My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please!"
Isaiah 46:10

"Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns!"
Revelation 19:6

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________

[nChrist]

The trials and sufferings of the godly

(Thomas Watson, "Body of Divinity")

God's own people often suffer great afflictions.

"This is what the wicked are like--always carefree,
 they increase in wealth. Surely in vain have I kept
 my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in
 innocence. For I am afflicted all day long!"
    Psalm 73:12-14

How can this be consistent with God's justice?

'God's ways of judgment are sometimes secret, but
never unjust!' The Lord never afflicts His people
without a cause; He cannot be unjust towards them.

There is some good in the godly--therefore the wicked
afflict them; there is some evil in them--therefore God
afflicts them!

God's own children have their blemishes. "But aren't
you also guilty of sins against the Lord your God?"
2 Chr. 28:10. These spiritual diamonds--have they no
flaws? Do we not read of the spots of God's children?
Are not they guilty of much pride, passion, worldliness?
Though, by their profession, they should resemble the
birds of paradise, to fly above, and feed upon the dew
of heaven; yet, as the serpent, they often lick the dust!

The sins of God's people, do more provoke God than
the sins of others. "The Lord saw this and was filled
with loathing. He was provoked to anger by His own
sons and daughters." Deut 32:19. The sins of others
pierce Christ's side; the sins of His people wound His
heart! Therefore is not God just in all the afflictions
which befall them? "You only have I chosen of all the
families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for
all your sins." Amos 3:2. I will punish you sooner,
surer, sorer--than others.

The trials and sufferings of the godly, are to
refine and purify them. God's furnace is in Zion. Is
it any injustice in God to put His gold into the furnace
to purify it? Is it any injustice in God, by afflicting His
people, to make them partakers of His holiness? What
more proclaims God's faithfulness--than to take such
a course with them as may make them more holy?

"I know, O Lord, that Your laws are righteous, and
in faithfulness You have afflicted me." Psalm 119:75

____________________

From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
FREE E-mail Subscription:
http://www.gracegems.org/
____________________