Grace Gems

[nChrist]

Honeyed poison

(Thomas Brooks, "London's Lamentations" 1670)

O Sirs! in the grave it is all the same--to one who has
had all, and to another who has had nothing. What folly
is it to lay up goods for many years, when we cannot lay
up one day for the enjoyment of our goods! Christ, who
never miscalled any, calls him "fool!" who had much of
the world in his hands--but nothing of God in his heart.

All this whole world is not proportionate to the precious
soul. All the riches of the Indies cannot pacify conscience,
nor secure eternity, nor prevent death, nor bring you off
victorious in the day of judgment. Therefore be contented
with a little.

All the good things of this world, are but cold comforts.
They cannot stretch to eternity, they will not go with us
into the eternal world. Therefore why should the lack of
such things either trouble our thoughts--or break our
hearts?

The whole world is but . . .
  a paradise for fools;
  a beautiful but deceitful harlot;
  a dreamed sweetness;
  a very ocean of gall.
There is nothing to be found in it, which has not mutability
and uncertainty, vanity and vexation stamped upon it. And
therefore he cannot be truly happy who enjoys it; nor can
he be miserable who lacks it. And why then should not he be
contented--who has but a little of it? The greatest outward
happiness is but honeyed poison; and therefore do not
mutter or murmur because you have but little of the world.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be
content with what you have, because God has said,
"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
    Hebrews 13:5

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[nChrist]

Too much pleasure is a pain!

(Thomas Watson, "The Lord's Prayer")

"In Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right
 hand are eternal pleasures!" Psalm 16:11

The glories of heaven are constantly exhilarating
and refreshing. There is fullness--but no excess.

Worldly comforts, though sweet--yet grow stale
in time. A down-bed pleases awhile--but soon we
are weary and must rise. Too much pleasure
is a pain! But the glory of heaven never gluts;
because, as there are all imaginable rarities, so
every moment fresh delights spring from God
into the glorified soul.

In the kingdom of heaven--we shall be freed from
the vanity and dissatisfaction of the creature. Take
those worldly things which are most pleasing, and
from which we promise ourselves most contentment
--still, of the spirit and essence of them all--we shall
say, "Behold, all was vanity--a chasing after the
wind!" Ecclesiastes 2:11

God never did, nor ever will--put a satisfying
virtue into any creature. In the sweetest music
the world makes, either some string is lacking, or
out of tune. But in the kingdom of heaven, we shall
be freed from these dissatisfactions.

The world is like a painted landscape, in which
you may see gardens with fruit trees, beautifully
drawn--but you cannot enter them. But into the
joys of heaven, you may enter. "Enter into the joy
of your Lord!" The soul shall be satisfied while it
bathes in those rivers of pleasure at God's right
hand. "I will be fully satisfied--for I will see You
face to face!" Psalm 17:15

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[nChrist]

What more can any Christian desire?

(Brooks, "The Golden Key to Open Hidden Treasures")

"As for me, God forbid that I should boast about anything
 except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." Galatians 6:14

There is enough in a suffering Christ, to fill us and satisfy
us to the full. He has the greatest worth and wealth in Him.
Look, as the worth and value of many pieces of silver is to be
found in one piece of gold; just so, all the petty excellencies
which are scattered abroad in the creatures--are to be found
in a bleeding, dying Christ! Yes, all the whole volume of
perfections which is spread through heaven and earth--is
epitomized in Him who suffered on the cross! A man cannot
exaggerate, in speaking of the glories of Christ. Certainly it
is as easy to contain the sea in a sea-shell--as to fully relate
the transcendent excellencies of a suffering Christ!

O sirs! there is in a crucified Jesus--something
proportionate to all the straits, needs, necessities,
and desires of His poor people. He is . . .
  bread to nourish them,
  a garment to cover and adorn them,
  a physician to heal them,
  a counselor to advise them,
  a captain to defend them,
  a prince to rule them,
  a prophet to teach them,
  a priest to make atonement for them;
  a husband to protect them,
  a father to provide for them,
  a brother to relieve them,
  a foundation to support them,
  a head to guide them,
  a treasure to enrich them,
  a sun to enlighten them, and
  a fountain to cleanse them!

What more can any Christian desire--to
satisfy him and save him; and to make him
holy and happy--in time and eternity?

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[nChrist]

Nibbling at Satan's golden baits!

(Brooks "Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices")

". . . the deceitfulness of sin." Hebrews 3:13

Sin is of a very deceitful and bewitching nature. It will
kiss the soul, and look enticing to the soul--and yet betray
the soul forever! It will with Delilah smile upon us--that it
may betray us into the hands of the devil--as she did
Samson into the hands of the Philistines.

Tell the bewitched soul that sin is a viper that will certainly
kill; that sin often kills secretly, insensibly, eternally--yet
the bewitched soul cannot, and will not, cease from sin.

A man bewitched with sin--had rather lose God, Christ,
heaven, and his own soul--than part with his sin! Oh,
therefore, forever take heed of playing with or nibbling
at Satan's golden baits!

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[nChrist]

We shall leave this staff at heaven's door

(Thomas Watson , "A Divine Cordial" 1663)

Love is the most abiding grace. This will stay with us,
when other graces take their farewell. In heaven we
shall need no repentance--because we shall have no
sin. In heaven we shall not need patience--because
there will be no affliction. In heaven we shall need no
faith--because faith looks at unseen things (Heb. 11:1).
Then we shall see God face to face; and where there is
vision, there is no need of faith.

But when the other graces are out of date--love continues.
And in this sense the apostle says that love is greater than
faith or hope--because it abides the longest. "Love will last
forever!" (1 Cor. 13:8 ). Faith is the 'staff' which we walk
with in this life. "We walk by faith" (2 Cor. 5:7). But we
shall leave this staff at heaven's door--and only 'love'
shall enter. Thus love carries away the crown from all the
other graces. Love is the most long-lived grace--it is a
blossom of eternity. How should we strive to excel in this
grace, which alone shall live with us in heaven, and shall
accompany us to the marriage supper of the Lamb!

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[nChrist]

Loving the unseen Christ

(J. R. Miller, "In Green Pastures")

Holy thoughts in the heart, transfigure the life.
Your daily thoughts--build up your character.
Our hearts are the quarries where the blocks are
fashioned, which we build into our life-temple. If
our thoughts and meditations are holy, beautiful,
true, pure, loving, and gentle--our life will grow
into Christ-likeness.

Drummond tells of a young girl whose character
ripened into rare beauty--"one of the loveliest lives,"
he says, "that ever bloomed on earth!" She always
wore around her neck a little locket. But no one was
ever allowed to open the locket or to know what it
contained.

Once, however, in a time of dangerous illness, she
permitted a friend to look within it, and there she
saw the words, "Whom having not seen--I love."
That was the secret of the dear child's transfiguration
of character--loving the unseen Christ. The same
love--warm, tender, earnest, glowing in the heart
year after year--will transfigure any life into
heavenly beauty!

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[nChrist]

Life-lessons

(J. R. Miller, "In Green Pastures")

"Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble
 in heart." Matthew 11:29

We all fail in the life-lessons which our great
Teacher sets for us. The hardest school-tasks are
easily mastered--in comparison with the lessons of:
  patience,
  sweet temper,
  forgiveness,
  unselfishness,
  gentleness,
  humility,
  purity,
  contentment.

Even at best--we can learn these lessons but slowly.
And though but little seems to come from our yearnings
and strugglings after Christ-likeness--yet God honors the
yearning and the striving. While we sit in the shadows of
weariness, disheartened with our failures--He carries on
the work within us, and with His own hands produces
the divine beauty in our souls.

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[nChrist]

We will be like Him!

(J. R. Miller, "In Green Pastures" 1890)

"We know that when He appears--we
 will be like Him!" 1 John 3:2

As the beauty of Christ's character glows before us
in the light of the Gospels--we should say, "That is
what I am to be some day! I am now very far from
it--but I am to reach it. That is my assured destiny!"
Such a hope cherished in the heart, has a wondrous
uplifting power.

Since we are so soon to be like Christ--we should
seek to grow continually in grace and virtue. We
should daily be getting a little more like Christ
in character, in temper, in disposition, in affection.
Our aim should be to bring every thought, and
every emotion, and every desire--into sweet
subjection to Christ.

We should not only cherish the blessed vision
--but should seek daily to grow into its divine
beauty! "We know that when He appears--we
will be like Him!" 1 John 3:2

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[nChrist]

Walking with God

(J. R. Miller, "In Green Pastures" 1890)

"Direct my footsteps according to Your Word;
 let no sin rule over me." Psalm 119:133

This is a prayer which should always be on our lips.
We should get our direction from God, not once in
our life only, when we first give ourselves to Him;
not at the opening of each day only, as we go forth
to the day's task; not merely at the beginning of
each new piece of work or of each fresh task--but
every moment, for each step.

That is what "walking with God" means.

We may make this so real, that we shall look up
into God's face continually, asking, "What next,
dear Lord? What shall I do now? Which course
shall I take today? How shall I do this duty?"

If we can but have God's guidance and help for
the little short steps--we need not fear for the
long miles--the great stretches of road. If each
step is of His directing--the long miles will be
paths of His choosing.

"Direct my footsteps according to Your Word;
 let no sin rule over me." Psalm 119:133

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[nChrist]

The motto of all His beautiful years

(J. R. Miller, "In Green Pastures" 1890)

"For the Son of Man did not come to be served--but
 to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."
     Mark 10:45

The life of Jesus Christ, was the noblest life ever lived.
No earthly king ever attained such splendid, such real
royalty--as did He. No hero on battle-field ever did
deeds of such inherent greatness--as those wrought
by the hands of the Carpenter of Nazareth!

What was the ruling spirit of His life? Was it not service?
"Not to be served--but to serve"--was the motto of all
His beautiful years. He lived wholly for others. He
never had one thought for Himself, never did the smallest
act for Himself. At last He poured out His very blood--in
the greatest of all His acts of service.

Shall we not learn from our Lord's example--that the
truest life in this world, is one of self-forgetting love?
Selfishness anywhere mars and spoils the beauty of
the rarest deed. We must get the spirit of Christ--and
then our lives shall be Christ-like.

"Leaving you an example, so that you should follow
 in His steps." 1 Peter 2:21

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[nChrist]

The old monks intently gazed upon the crucifix

(J. R. Miller, "In Green Pastures" 1890)
 

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and
 perfecter of our faith." Hebrews 12:2

Keeping the heart upon Christ--transfigures the life.

The old monks intently gazed upon the crucifix,
thinking that the print of the nails would come in their
hands and feet, and the thorn-scars in their brow--as
they gazed.

It was but an utter fiction--yet in the fiction there is
a spiritual truth. Gazing by faith upon Christ--the lines
of His beauty indeed imprint themselves on our hearts!
That is the meaning of Paul's words--"We all, with
unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of
the Lord--are transformed into the same image!"

The gospel is the mirror. There we see the image of
Christ. If we earnestly, continuously, and lovingly
behold it--the effect will be the changing of our own
lives into His likeness. The transformation is wrought
by the Holy Spirit, and we are only to behold, to
continue beholding, the blessed beauty! As we sit
before Christ--His image is imprinted on our soul.

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[nChrist]

To get another trinket!

(Talmage, "The Abominations of Modern Society", 1872)

Excessive devotion to "fashion" is destructive to the soul.
I have known some, who have no regard for their character,
or their momentous and eternal interests--exasperated by
the shape of a shirt-button! What is the matter with that
sad woman? O, her hat is out of fashion!

Worse than all--this folly is not satisfied until it
has extirpated every moral sentiment, and blasted
the soul. A "wardrobe" is the rock upon which many
a soul has been dashed to hell.

The striving for a luxurious life, has been the vortex
which has swallowed up more souls--than the sea
has ever devoured!

What room is left for elevating themes--in a heart
filled with trivial and petty things? Who can wonder
that in this haste for gilded baubles--that men
should tumble into eternal ruin?

There are some people who will risk their eternity to
obtain a worldly trifle! They will forfeit the splendors
of heaven--to get another trinket!

In the wild tumult of the last day--the mountains falling,
the heavens flying, the universe assembling; amid the
boom of the last great thunder-peal, and under the
crackling of a burning world--what will become of all
this fop and fashion?

"But godliness with contentment is a great gain. For we
 brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing
 out. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content
 with these. But those who want to be rich fall into
 temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires,
 which plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love
 of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it,
 some have wandered away from the faith and pierced
 themselves with many pains!" 1 Timothy 6:6-10

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[nChrist]

The outward dress and garb of religion

(Thomas Brooks, "The Privy Key of Heaven" 1665)

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!
 You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you
 have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice,
 mercy and faithfulness." Matthew 23:23

Take heed of spending too much of your precious time about
circumstantials, about the minor things of religion--as "mint,
dill, and cummin;" or in searching into the circumstances of
worship, or in standing stoutly for this or that ceremony, or
about inquiring what fruit it was which Adam ate in paradise,
or in inquiring after things which God in His infinite wisdom
has concealed.

It is one of Satan's great designs, to hinder men in the great
and weighty duties of religion, by busying them most about
the lowest and least matters of religion. Satan is never better
pleased, than when he sees Christians puzzled and perplexed
about those things in religion, which are of no great consequence
or importance. Such as are more busied about ceremonies, than
substances; about the form of godliness than the power. Such are
more taken up with the outward dress and garb of religion,
than they are with the spirit, power, and life of religion.

There cannot be a surer nor a greater character of a hypocrite,
than to make a great deal of stir about little things in religion, and
in the mean while, neglect the great and main things in religion.

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[nChrist]

The great attraction of heaven!

(Plumer, "Sinners Saved by Unmerited Kindness")

"Your heart must not be troubled. In My Father's
 house are many dwelling places. I am going away
 to prepare a place for you. I will come back and
 receive you to Myself, so that where I am--you
 may be also!" John 14

"I desire to depart and be with Christ, which
 is better by far!" Philippians 1:23

The great attraction of heaven is the Lord Jesus
Christ! He Himself is the object chiefly enjoyed. To
be with Jesus, and like Jesus, and to behold His glory
--constitute the heaven which true believers desire!
They long to behold that blessed face which was
buffeted for them! Their eternal anthem is, "All
praise to Him who loves us and has freed us from
our sins by shedding His blood for us! Give to Him
everlasting glory! He rules forever and ever! Amen!"
Revelation 1:5-6

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[nChrist]

An amazing and humbling difference

(John Newton's Letters)

There is an amazing and humbling difference
between the conviction we have of the beauty and
excellence of Divine truths--and our actual experience
of their power ruling in our hearts. We are poor
inconsistent creatures, and find we can do nothing as
we ought--but only as we are enabled by God's grace.

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