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ALL OF "GRACE GEMS" FROM SEPTEMBER 2003

By Grace Gems
ALL OF "GRACE GEMS" FROM SEPTEMBER 2003 IN ONE FILE This my Friend! (Havergal, "Daily Thoughts for the King's Children") "The King shall be his friend." Proverbs 22:11 "You are My friends." John 15:14 Who has not longed for an ideal and yet a real friend . . . one who would exactly understand us, one whom we could tell everything, one in whom we could altogether confide, one who would be very wise and very true, one of whose love and unfailing interest we could be certain, one who would be very near and dear, one who would be always with us, one who would be always thinking of us, one who would be always doing kind and wonderful things for us; one who would undertake and manage everything for us; one who would forget nothing, one who would fail in nothing; one who would never change and never die. Such is our Royal Friend, and more! We, even we, may look up to our glorious King, and say, "He is altogether lovely. This is my Beloved, this my Friend!" Song 5:16 Thousands imagine that they are humble (J. C. Ryle, "The Gospel of Luke" 1858) "A dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest." Luke 22:24 See how firmly pride and love of preeminence can stick to the hearts of Christian men! The sin before us is a very old one . . . ambition, self esteem, and self conceit lie deep at the bottom of all men's hearts, and often in the hearts where they are least suspected. Thousands imagine that they are humble, who cannot bear to see an equal more honored and favored than themselves! The quantity of envy and jealousy in the world is a glaring proof of the prevalence of pride. Let us live on our guard against this sore disease, if we make any profession of serving Christ. The harm that it has done to the Church of Christ is far beyond calculation. Let us learn to take pleasure in the prosperity of others, and to be content with the lowest place for ourselves. If unconverted men had their own way entirely (J. C. Ryle, "The Gospel of Luke" 1858) "Now the guards in charge of Jesus began mocking and beating Him. They blindfolded Him; then they hit Him . . . . And they threw all sorts of terrible insults at Him." Luke 22:63-65 See the shameful treatment that our Lord Jesus underwent at the hands of His enemies. Conduct like this shows the desperate corruption of human nature. The excesses of savage malice to which unconverted men will sometimes go, and the fierce delight with which they will sometimes trample on the most holy and the most pure, almost justify the strong saying of an old divine, that "man left to himself is half beast and half devil." Unconverted men hate God and all who bear anything of God's image about them. We have probably a very faint idea of what the world would become, if it were not for the constant restraint that God mercifully puts upon evil. It is not too much to say that if unconverted men had their own way entirely, the earth would soon be little better than a hell. High offices in the church (J. C. Ryle, "The Gospel of Luke" 1858) "The leading priests and teachers of religious law were actively plotting Jesus' murder." Luke 22:2 High offices in the church do not preserve the holders of them from great blindness and sin. The first step in putting Christ to death, was taken by the religious teachers of the Jewish nation. The very men who ought to have welcomed the Messiah, were the men who conspired to kill Him. The very pastors who ought to have rejoiced at the appearing of the Lamb of God, had the chief hand in slaying Him! These were the very men who crucified the Lord of glory! With all their boasted knowledge, they were far more ignorant than the few Galilean fishermen who followed Christ! Let us beware of attaching an excessive importance to ministers of religion because of their office. Ordination and office confer no exemption from error. The greatest heresies have been sown, and the greatest practical abuses introduced into the church by ordained men! We must test all teachers by the unerring rule of the Word of God. It matters little who says a thing in religion. But it matters greatly what it is that is said. Is it scriptural? Is it true? This is the only question. The lengths to which men may go in religion, and yet be without grace, is far greater than we suppose. He sits on the calm throne of eternal serenity! (Henry Law, "Christ Is All") 'Change' is the defect of things below. Our brightest morn often ends in storm. Summer's radiance gives place to winter's gloom. The smiling flower soon lies withered. The babbling brook is soon a parched channel. The friend who smiled, smiles no more friendly welcomes. Bereavement weeps where once the family beamed with domestic joy. Gardens wither into deserts. Babylons crumble into unsightly ruins. On all things a sad inscription writes . . . fleeting! transient! vanishing! Time flaps a ceaseless wing, and from its wings, decay and death drop down. But Jesus sits high above all this. He is 'the same yesterday, and today, and forever.' Jesus cannot change. He is as constant as He is great. As surely as He ever lives, so surely He ever lives the same. He sits on the calm throne of eternal serenity! The LOVE of Jesus is in perpetual bloom. It is always in summertime. The roots are deeply buried in Himself; therefore the branches cannot fade. Believer, drink hourly of this cup of joy. Christ loved you fully when, in the councils of eternity, He received you into His heart. He loved you truly when, in the fullness of time, He took upon Himself your curse, and drained your hell deep dues. He loved you tenderly when He showed you, by the Spirit, His hands and His feet, and whispered to you that you were His. He loves you faithfully while He ceases not to intercede in your behalf, and to scatter blessings on your soul. He will love you intensely in heaven when you are manifested as His precious purchase and crowned as His bride! Husbands, love your wives! (Miller, "Secrets of Happy Home Life" 1894) "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her." Ephes. 5:25 A husband is to love his wife. Such love never demands obedience. It never demands anything; it seeks not to be served, but to serve. Is love despotic? Does love put its object in a servant's place? No; love serves. It seeks not its own. It desires "not to be served, but to serve." It does not demand attention, deference, service, subjection. It seeks rather to serve, to give, to honor. The measure of the love required by the husband is to be well noted, "just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her." This is a lofty standard. How did Christ show His love for His Church? Think of . . . His gentleness to His friends, His patience with them in all their faultiness, His thoughtfulness, His unwearying kindness. Never did a harsh word fall from His lips upon their ears. Never did He do anything to give them pain. It was not easy for Him at all times to maintain such constancy and such composure and quietness of love toward them; for they were very faulty, and tried Him in a thousand ways. But His affection never wearied nor failed for an instant. Husbands are to love their wives even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself up for it. He loved even to the cost of utmost self sacrifice. There are men, however, who would do this, whose love would sacrifice even life itself for a wife, but who fail in daily and hourly tenderness. More wives might complain of the lack of love in the little tendernesses. A true woman's heart craves gentleness. It is hurt . . . by bitter words, by coldness, by impatience, by harsh criticisms, by neglect, by the withholding of the expressions of affection. Love craves its daily bread of tenderness. No husband should deny his wife the little things of affection, the amenities of love, along the busy, trying days; and then think to make amends by putting a flower in her cold hand when she lies in the coffin. "You placed this flower in her hand, you say, This pure, pale rose in her hand of clay. Methinks, could she lift her sealed eyes, They would meet your own with a grieved surprise. When did you give her a flower before? Ah, well, what matter, when all is o'er?" A sweet, beautiful home (J. R. Miller, "Secrets of Happy Home Life" 1894) Home is the true wife's kingdom. Very largely does the wife hold in her hands, as a sacred trust, the happiness and the highest good of the hearts that nestle there. In the last analysis, home happiness depends on the wife. Her spirit gives the home its atmosphere. Her hands fashion its beauty. Her heart makes its love. And the end is so worthy, so noble, so divine, that no woman who has been called to be a wife, and has listened to the call, should consider any price too great to pay, to be . . . the light, the joy, the blessing, the inspiration, of a home. The woman who makes a sweet, beautiful home, filling it with love and prayer and purity, is doing something better than anything else her hands could find to do beneath the skies. A true mother is one of the holiest secrets of home happiness. God sends many beautiful things to this world, many noble gifts; but no blessing is richer than that which He bestows in a mother who has learned love's lessons well, and has realized something of the meaning of her sacred calling. "Chance," "luck," or "accident" (J. C. Ryle, "The Gospel of Luke" 1858) "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." Luke 12:6-7 Nothing whatever, whether great or small, can happen to a believer, without God's ordering and permission. There is no such thing as "chance," "luck," or "accident" in the Christian's journey through this world. All is arranged and appointed by God. And all things are "working together" for the believer's good. Let us seek to have an abiding sense of God's hand in all that befalls us. Let us strive to realize that a Father's hand is measuring out our daily portion, and that our steps are ordered by Him. A daily practical faith of this kind, is one grand secret of happiness, and a mighty antidote against murmuring and discontent. We should try to feel in the day of trial and disappointment, that all is right and all is well done. We should try to feel on the bed of sickness that there must be a "needs be." We should say to ourselves, "God could keep away from me these things if He thought fit. But He does not do so, and therefore they must be for my advantage. I will lie still, and bear them patiently. What pleases God shall please me." Always look upon unsaved people (Thomas Brooks, "Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices" 1652) Always look upon unsaved people under those names and notions that the Scripture sets them out under. The Scripture calls them . . . lions for their fierceness, bears for their cruelty, dragons for their hideousness, dogs for their filthiness, wolves for their subtleness. The Scripture styles them . . . scorpions, vipers, thorns, briars, thistles, brambles, stubble, dirt, chaff, dust, dross, smoke, and scum. By looking upon them under those names and notions that the Scripture sets them out by, you may preserve your soul from frequenting their company and delighting in their society. You may know well enough what is within them, by the apt names that the Holy Spirit has given them. Guilt or grief is all that gracious souls get by conversing with wicked men. The great master secret of all happy home life! (J. R. Miller, "Secrets of Happy Home Life" 1894) Christ is the great master secret of all happy home life! The spirit of Christ alone will enable us to live together in perfect peace and love. The presence of Christ in the home is a perpetual blessing . . . we cannot be selfish, we cannot wrangle and strive, we cannot be bitter and unkind, we cannot be irritable and unreasonable, when conscious of the presence of Christ. If only we can make Christ an abiding guest in our home, and if we can keep ourselves aware of His being with us, our household life cannot help but grow wondrously sweet! They are helpers to the cause of the devil (J. C. Ryle, "The Gospel of Luke" 1858) "Don't even take along a walking stick, nor a traveler's bag, nor food, nor money. Not even an extra coat." Luke 9:3 Jesus charges His apostles, when He sends them forth, to study simplicity of habits, and contentment with such things as they have. These instructions contain a lesson for all time. The spirit of these verses is meant to be remembered by all ministers of the Gospel. The leading idea which the words convey is, a warning against worldliness and luxurious habits. Well would it be for the world and the Church if the warning had been more carefully heeded! From no quarter has Christianity received such damage as it has from the hands of its own teachers! On no point have its teachers erred so much, and so often, as in the matter of worldliness and luxury of life. They have often destroyed, by their daily lives, the whole work of their lips. They have given occasion to the enemies of religion to say, that they love ease, and money, and worldly things, far more than souls. From such ministers may we pray daily that the Church may be delivered! They are a living stumbling block in the way to heaven. They are helpers to the cause of the devil, and not of God. The preacher whose affections are set on . . . money, and dress, and feasting, and pleasure seeking, has clearly mistaken his vocation. He has forgotten his Master's instructions. What beauty have we that the King can desire? (Havergal, "Daily Thoughts for the King's Children") "So shall the King greatly desire your beauty." Psalm 45:11. Can this be for us? What beauty have we that the King can desire? For the more we have seen of His beauty, the more we have seen of our own utter ugliness. What, then, can He see? 'My loveliness which I have put upon you.' 'The beauty of the Lord our God upon us.' 'He will beautify the meek with salvation.' And so the desire of the King is set upon us. Perhaps we have had the dreary idea, 'Nobody wants me!' We never need grope in that gloom again, when the King Himself desires us! This desire is love active, love in glow, love going forth, love delighting and longing. It is taking pleasure in His people; delighting in them; willing that they should be with Him where He is; with Him now, with Him always. It is the love that does not and will not endure separation; the love that cannot do without its object. Now, if we take the King at His word, and really believe that He thus desires us, can we possibly remain cold hearted and indifferent to Him? Oh, look straight away at His love and His desire! Think of Jesus actually wanting you, really desiring your love, not satisfied with all the love of all the angels unless you love Him too; needing that little drop to fill His cup of joy! Whoever complains of seasons and weather! (William Law, A SERIOUS CALL TO A DEVOUT AND HOLY LIFE) All things are in the hands of God, have Him for their Author, are directed and governed by Him to such ends as are most suitable to His wise providence. Whoever murmurs at the course of the world, murmurs at God who governs the course of the world. Whoever complains of seasons and weather, and speaks impatiently of times and events, repines and speaks impatiently of God, who is the sole Lord and Governor of times, seasons, and events. When we look at those things which are under the direction of God, and governed by His providence, we are to receive them with praise and gratitude. We must adore God in the greatest public calamities, like plagues and famines, as things that are allowed by Him, for ends suitable to His wisdom and glory in the government of the world. There is nothing more suitable to the piety of a Christian, than thus to approve, admire, and glorify God in all the acts of His general providence; considering the whole world as His particular family, and all events as directed by His wisdom. Choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures (J. C. Ryle, "The Gospel of Luke" 1858) "The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature." Luke 8:14 The things of this life form one of the greatest dangers which beset a Christian's path. The money, the pleasures, the daily business of the world, are so many traps to catch souls. Thousands of things, which in themselves are innocent, become, when followed to excess, little better than soul poisons, and helps to hell. Open sin is not the only thing that ruins souls! In the midst of our families, and in the pursuit of our lawful callings, we have need to be on our guard. Unless we watch and pray, these temporal things may rob us of heaven, and smother every sermon we hear. We may live and die thorny ground hearers. "The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature." Luke 8:14 Ah! who can grasp the thought! (Thomas Reade, "Christian Experience") One moment in heaven will convince the believer, that his afflictions upon earth were light. When earth with all its glories shall have passed away, the lowly followers of Jesus will abide forever, and shine as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father! One moment in hell will convince the pleasure loving sinner, that it would have been good for him if he had never been born! Ah! who can grasp the thought of never ending joy, or everlasting woe! The mind labors to conceive, and yet can never reach beyond the first impression of eternity. Numbers, years, ages, all, all are lost in the immeasurable, unfathomable abyss! Heart affecting views? (Thomas Reade, "Christian Experience") How difficult it is to get heart affecting views . . . of sin, of Christ, of hell, and of heaven. We talk about them, but alas! how little are we practically affected by them. Nothing but the Spirit of Christ can open our eyes to see . . . the deformity of sin, the preciousness of the Savior, the misery of hell, the bliss of heaven. We shall always find him at Church! (J. C. Ryle, "The Gospel of Luke" 1858) "The seed is the Word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the Word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved." Luke 8:11-12 The devil, that malicious spirit, is unwearied in his efforts to do us harm. He is ever watching for our halting, and seeking occasion to destroy our souls. But nowhere perhaps is the devil so active as in a congregation of Gospel hearers. Nowhere does he labor so hard to stop the progress of that which is good, and to prevent men and women being saved. >From him come . . . wandering thoughts; roving imaginations; listless minds; dull memories; sleepy eyes; fidgety nerves; weary ears; and distracted attention. In all these things Satan has a great hand. People wonder where they come from, and marvel how it is that they find sermons so dull, and remember them so badly! They forget the parable of the sower. They forget the devil. Let us take heed that we are not wayside hearers. Let us beware of the devil. We shall always find him at Church! He never stays away from public ordinances. Let us remember this, and be upon our guard. Slaves to the customs and temper of the world. (William Law, "A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life") "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you." John 15:19 "They are not of the world any more than I am of the world." John 17:14 "And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in wickedness." 1 John 5:19 All the ways, and maxims, and tempers of the world, lie in wickedness. Notwithstanding the clearness and plainness of these Scriptures which thus renounce the world, yet a great part of professing Christians live and die slaves to the customs and temper of the world. According to the spirit and vogue of this world, whose corrupt air we have all breathed, there are many things that pass for great and honorable, and most desirable, which yet are so far from being so, that the true greatness and honor of our nature consists in the NOT desiring them. The general temper and spirit of the world, is nothing else but . . . pleasure, folly, extravagance, sensuality, self love, pride, covetousness, ambition, and vainglory. To abound in wealth, to have fine houses, and rich clothes, to be attended with splendor and equipage, to be beautiful in our persons, to have titles of dignity, to be above our fellow creatures, to command the bows and obeisance of other people, to be looked on with admiration, to overcome our enemies with power, to subdue all that oppose us, to set out ourselves in as much splendor as we can, to live highly and magnificently, to eat, and drink, and delight ourselves in the most costly manner, these are the great, the honorable, the desirable things, to which the spirit of the world turns the eyes of all people. And many a Christian is afraid of not engaging in the pursuit of these things, lest the same world should take him for a fool. But the history of the Gospel is chiefly the history of Christ's conquest over the spirit of the world. And the number of true Christians is only the number of those who, following the Spirit of Christ, have lived contrary to this spirit of the world. You must unlearn all those notions which you have been all your life learning from this corrupt spirit of the world. You must stop the power of the world over you, and resolve against a blind obedience to its laws. "And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in wickedness." 1 John 5:19 "They are not of the world any more than I am of the world." John 17:14 We reason ourselves into all kinds of folly and misery (William Law, "A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life") The misery of our condition appears in this, that we use our powers and abilities to the torment and vexation of ourselves, and our fellow creatures. God Almighty has entrusted us with the use of reason, and we use it to the disorder and corruption of our nature. We reason ourselves into all kinds of folly and misery, and make our lives the sport of foolish and extravagant passions . . . seeking after imaginary happiness in all kinds of shapes; creating to ourselves a thousand needs; amusing our hearts with false hopes and fears; using the world worse than irrational animals; envying, vexing, and tormenting one another with restless passions, and unreasonable contentions. Let any man but look back upon his own life, and see what use he has made of his reason . . . what foolish passions, what vain thoughts, what needless labors, what extravagant projects, have taken up the greatest part of his life! How foolish he has been in his words and conversation; how seldom he has done well with judgment; how seldom he has been able to please himself; how often he has displeased others; how often he has changed his counsels; hated what he loved, and loved what he hated; how often he has been enraged and elated at trifles; pleased and displeased with the very same things, and constantly changing from one vanity to another! Most people would rather choose to die, than to have . . . all their secret follies, all the errors of their judgments, all the vanity of their minds, all the falseness of their pretenses, the frequency of their vain and disorderly passions, their uneasiness, hatred, envies, and vexations, made known unto the world. The devil's old delusion! (J. C. Ryle, "The Gospel of Luke" 1858) John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire!" Luke 3 We have, in these verses, a specimen of John the Baptist's ministry. It is a portion of Scripture which should always be specially interesting to a Christian mind. We should first mark the holy boldness with which John addresses the multitudes who came to his baptism. He speaks to them as a "brood of vipers!" He saw the rottenness and hypocrisy of the profession that the crowd around him were making, and uses language descriptive of their case. His head was not turned by popularity. He did not care who was offended by his words. The spiritual disease of those before him was desperate, and of long standing, and he knew that desperate diseases need strong remedies. Well would it be for the Church of Christ, if it possessed more plain speaking ministers, like John the Baptist, in these latter days. A morbid dislike to strong language; an excessive fear of giving offence; a constant flinching from directness and plain speaking, are, unhappily, too much the characteristics of the modern Christian pulpit. Uncharitable language is no doubt always to be deprecated. But there is no charity in flattering unconverted people, by abstaining from any mention of their vices, or in applying smooth epithets to damnable sins! There are two texts which are too much forgotten by Christian preachers. In one it is written, "Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you." In the other it is written, "Obviously, I'm not trying to be a people pleaser! No, I am trying to please God. If I were still trying to please people, I would not be Christ's servant." (Luke 6:26; Gal. 1:10) We should mark, also, how plainly John speaks to his hearers about HELL and danger! He tells them that there is a "wrath to come." He speaks of "the ax" of God's judgments, and of unfruitful trees being "thrown into the fire!" The subject of HELL is always offensive to human nature. The minister who dwells much upon it, must expect to find himself regarded as . . . barbaric, violent, unfeeling, and narrow minded. Men love to hear "smooth things," and to be told of peace, and not of danger. (Isaiah. 30:10) But the subject of hell is one that ought not to be kept back, if we desire to do good to souls. It is one that our Lord Jesus Christ brought forward frequently in His public teachings. That loving Savior, who spoke so graciously of the way to heaven, has also used the plainest language about the way to hell. Let us beware of being wise above that which is written, and more charitable than Scripture itself. Let the language of John the Baptist be deeply engraved in our hearts. Let us never be ashamed to avow our firm belief, that there is a "wrath to come" for the impenitent, and that it is possible for a man to be lost, as well as to be saved. To be silent on the subject is dreadful treachery to men's souls. It only encourages them to persevere in wickedness, and fosters in their minds the devil's old delusion, "You shall not surely die!" That minister is surely our best friend who tells us honestly of danger, and warns us, like John the Baptist, to "flee from the wrath to come." Never will a man flee until he sees there is real cause to be afraid. Never will he seek heaven until be is convinced that there is risk of his falling into hell. The religion in which there is no mention of hell, is not the religion of John the Baptist, and of our Lord Jesus, and His apostles. Sympathy in one another's joys and sorrows (J. C. Ryle, "The Gospel of Luke" 1858) "Elizabeth's neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they rejoiced with her." Luke 1:58 We see here a striking example of the kindness we owe to one another. It is written that "they rejoiced with her." How much more happiness there would be in this evil world, if conduct like this was more common! Sympathy in one another's joys and sorrows costs little, and yet is a grace of most mighty power. Like the oil on the wheels of some large engine, it may seem a trifling and unimportant thing; yet in reality it has an immense influence on the comfort and well working of the whole machine of society. A kind word of congratulation or consolation is seldom forgotten. The heart that is warmed by good tidings, or chilled by affliction, is peculiarly susceptible, and sympathy to such a heart is often more precious than gold. Sympathy is one of those ornaments of the Christian character which make it beautiful in the eyes of men. "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep." (Romans 12:15) We are upon the utmost heights of human greatness! (William Law, "A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life") Prayer is the nearest approach to God, and the highest enjoyment of Him, that we are capable of in this life. Prayer is . . . the noblest exercise of the soul, the most exalted use of our best faculties, and the highest imitation of the blessed inhabitants of Heaven. When our hearts are full of God, sending up holy desires to the throne of grace, we are then in our highest state. We are upon the utmost heights of human greatness! We are not merely before kings and princes, but in the presence and audience of the Lord of all the world, and can be no higher, until death is swallowed up in glory! The highest grace that can adorn the Christian character (J. C. Ryle, "The Gospel of Luke" 1858) And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant." Luke 1:46-48 Mark Mary's deep humility. She who was chosen of God to the high honor of being Messiah's mother, speaks of her own "humble state," and acknowledges her need of a "Savior." She does not let fall a word to show that she regarded herself as a sinless, "immaculate" person. On the contrary, she uses the language of one who has been taught by the grace of God to feel her own sins, and so far from being able to save others, requires a Savior for her own soul. We may safely affirm that none would be more forward to reprove the honor paid by the Romish Church to the Virgin Mary, than the Virgin Mary herself. Let us copy this holy humility of our Lord's mother, while we steadfastly refuse to regard her as a mediator, or to pray to her. Like her, let us be lowly in our own eyes, and think little of ourselves. Humility is the highest grace that can adorn the Christian character. It is a true saying of an old divine, that "a man has just so much Christianity as he has humility." Humility is the grace, which of all is most suited to human nature. Above all, humility is the grace which is within the reach of every converted person. All are not rich. All are not learned. All are not highly gifted. All are not preachers. But all children of God may be clothed with humility. Do you love Me? (J. C. Ryle, "The Gospel of John" 1873) "Simon son of John, do you love Me?" John 21:16 "Do you love Me?" may seem at first sight a simple question. In one sense it is so. Even a child can understand love, and can say whether he loves another or not. Yet "Do you love Me?" is, in reality, a very searching question. We may . . . know much, and do much, and profess much, and talk much, and work much, and give much, and experience much, and make much show in our religion, and yet be dead before God, from lack of love, and at last go down to the pit. Do we love Christ? That is the great question! Without this there is no vitality about our Christianity. We are no better than . . . painted wax figures, lifeless stuffed beasts in a museum, sounding brass and tinkling cymbals. There is no life where there is no love to Jesus. Knowledge, orthodoxy, correct views, regular use of forms, a respectable moral life; all these do not make up a true Christian. All the miseries, vexations, and complaints (William Law, "A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life") Pride and envy; and desire for rank, fame, and power; are contrary to Christianity. These passions are the causes of all the distresses and vexations of human life. They are the maladies and fevers of our minds, vexing them with false appetites, and restless cravings after such things as we do not need; and spoiling our taste for those things which are our proper good. Let but any complaining, disturbed man, tell you the ground of his uneasiness, and you will plainly see that he is the author of his own torment; that he is vexing himself at some imaginary evil, which will cease to torment him as soon as he is content to be that which God requires him to be. All the miseries, vexations, and complaints, that are in the world are entirely of our own making. They are directly caused by those absurd passions which Christianity teaches us to deny. For all the things which disturb human life, which make us uneasy to ourselves, quarrelsome with others, and unthankful to God; which weary us in vain labors and foolish anxieties; which carry us from project to project, from place to place, in a futile pursuit of we know not what, are the things are solely infused into us by pride, envy, ambition, and covetousness. The Shepherd knows what pastures are best (Hannah Smith, 1875) "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters" Psalm 23:1-2 The Shepherd knows what pastures are best for His sheep, and they must not question nor doubt, but trustingly follow Him. Perhaps He sees that the best pastures for some of us are to be found in the midst of opposition or of earthly trials. If He leads you there, you may be sure they are green for you, and you will grow and be made strong by feeding there. Perhaps He sees that the best waters for you to walk beside, will be raging waves of trouble and sorrow. If this should be the case, He will make them quiet waters for you, and you must go and lie down beside them, and let them have all their blessed influences upon you. Lord, I am a poor, blind child (Winslow, "Daily Need Divinely Supplied") "He tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young." Isaiah 40:11 Jesus leads those who are burdened, and need a skillful, sure, and gentle shepherd. Our journey to heaven is across a waste, howling wilderness, through an enemy's country, all armed and combined to resist, dispute, and oppose our every step. It is a road, also, all untraveled and unknown. Over the entrance of every new path is written, "You have not passed this way before." A new bend in our life transpires, a new path in our pilgrimage is presented, involving new duties and responsibilities, new cares and trials. And with fear and trembling we gird ourselves for the new cloud veiled pilgrimage which God in His goodness has appointed us. But why these doubts, these tremblings, these fears? Jesus is our Leader! He knows all the way we take, has mapped every road, and has appointed every path. As a Teacher, He leads us into all truth; as a Captain, He leads us from victory to victory; as a Shepherd, He leads us into green pastures; as a Guide, He leads us along our difficult path, skillfully, gently, and safely. And HOW does Jesus lead us? He leads us graciously. He leads us along all the stages, and through all the exercises of our Christian experience, leaving us not when our frames are low, and our faith is assailed, and darkness, often thick darkness, covers our soul. Who could skillfully, patiently, and faithfully lead us along all the mazes, intricacies, and perils of our Christian course safely to glory, but Christ our Leader? Commit yourself, O my soul, confidently to the Lord's leading. The way may appear all wrong to you, but it is the right way. Mystery may enshroud it, trials may pave it, sorrows may darken it, tears may bedew it, nevertheless He is leading you by the right way home. "I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them, and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them." Isaiah 42:16 "Lord, I am a poor, blind child, not knowing my way; and when I do see it, I am often so burdened that I cannot walk. Take me by the hand, and gently, skillfully lead me until traveling days are over, and I am at home with You forever. You have promised gently to lead the burdened and feeble who cannot keep up with the flock. Lord, lead ME!" There is the vilest and the most unworthy creature that has ever entered Heaven! (Stephen Tyng, "A Series of Practical Meditations") What an amount of guilt has He pardoned! It is impossible to overstate this. No view that I can now take of it ascends to the truth . . . my original debasement, my wayward youth, my rejection of His love, my rebellion against His authority, my forgetfulness of His goodness, my backslidings from His way, my inconsistent profession, my vain and sinful example, the wickedness of my unconverted state, the errors of my renewed state! Alas! every day and every act brings up its separate testimony. And all condemn me! But He has freely pardoned! He has blotted out this whole fearful record! He will display it all, that all may see the riches of His grace in my forgiveness. Be it so. I know it is most disgraceful to me. But willingly would I come there and have it said, "There is the vilest and the most unworthy creature that has ever entered Heaven" so that Christ shall have all the glory of my forgiveness! My sin has fearfully abounded. But His grace has so much the more abounded, and the glory is His! The searching, burning, purifying fires of Christ's furnace! (Winslow, "Daily Need Divinely Supplied" 1870) "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. " Malachi 3:3 O my soul, what deep need is there for this refining and purifying of your Lord . . . what inward corruption, what carnality, what worldliness, what self seeking, what creature idolatry, what God dishonoring unbelief! All imperatively demand the searching, burning, purifying fires of Christ's furnace! Jesus is the Refiner and Purifier of His Church. It is a consolatory thought that our refining is in the hands of Jesus; in the hands that were pierced for us on the cross. My soul! your Refiner and Purifier is Jesus! Jesus shapes all your trials! Jesus sends all your afflictions! Jesus mixes all your sorrows! Jesus shapes and balances all the clouds of your pilgrimage! Jesus prepares and heats the furnace that refines you as silver and purifies you as gold! Then, O my soul, tremble not . . . at the knife that wounds you, at the flame that scorches you, at the cloud that shades you, at the billows that surge above you; Jesus is in it all, and you are as safe as though you had reached the blissful climate where . . . the vine needs no pruning, and the ore no purifying, where the sky is never darkened, and upon whose golden sands where no storms of adversity ever blow, or waves of sorrow ever break. Mark the Refiner's position. "He will SIT as a refiner and purifier of silver." It would be fatal to his purpose, if the human refiner were to leave his post while the liquid mass was seething in the cauldron. But there he patiently sits, watching and tempering the flame, and removing the refuse and the dross as it floats upon the surface of the molten ore. Just so, Christ sits as a Refiner . . . and with an eye that never slumbers, and with a patience that never wearies, and with a love that never chills, and with a faithfulness that never falters, watches and controls the process that . . . purifies our hearts, burnishes our graces, sanctifies our nature, and impresses more vividly His own image of loveliness upon our soul. If He places you in the fire, He will bring you through the fire, "that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." But sweet and soothing is the truth that the believer is not alone in the fire! The Refiner is with us, as with the three Hebrew children passing through the king's burning furnace. The Lord will have us polished stones; and as some believers are more rusty and some more alloyed than others, they need a rougher file, and a hotter furnace! This may account for the great severity of trial through which some of the Lord's precious jewels are called to pass. Not less dear to His heart are they for this refining. Look up, my soul, to your Refiner! Be still, humble, submissive. The knife is in a Father's hand! The flame is under a Savior's control! All, all is ours! (Winslow, "Daily Need Divinely Supplied" 1870) "The Lord is my portion, says my soul; therefore I will hope in Him." Lament. 3:24 It is our great privilege, beloved, that we live in a 'portionless' world. When God parceled out the land of Canaan among the tribes of Israel, He made an exception in the tribe of Levi, to whom He said, "You shall have no inheritance in the land, neither shall you have any part among them;" assigning as His reason, "I am your share and your inheritance." The gospel teaching of this is obvious and significant. As the Lord's true priesthood, this world is not our portion, nor earth our rest. It may have required some painful discipline, and no small measure of faith, on the part of the devout Levite, as he gazed upon the fertile meadows, the watered plains, and the vine clad hills of the Promised Land, before he was made willing to relinquish it all for Him who is invisible. It needs no little teaching and discipline of our God, and no little faith on our part, before we are led to give up . . . the world, the creature, self, and all, for Christ; satisfied to have the Lord alone as our Portion, and heaven only as our inheritance. "The Lord is my portion, says my soul." His love to us was so great, that when He could give no greater proof of that love, He gave HIMSELF! Nothing more could have expressed the yearnings of His heart, nothing less could have satisfied the desires of ours. And oh, what a Portion is God! All that He is, and all that He has is ours . . . every attribute of His being is over us, every perfection of His nature encircles us, every pulse of His heart beats for us, every glance of His eye smiles upon us. We dwell in God, and God dwells in us. It is not the world which is our portion, but HE who made, upholds and governs the world. It is not the creature who is our portion, but the Lord of angels and the Creator of men. Infinite portion! Illimitable power! Immeasurable grace! Boundless love! All satisfying good! All, all is ours! And what a Portion, O my soul, is Christ . . . a divine Christ, a redeeming Christ, a full Christ, a sympathizing Christ, an ever present Christ, an ever precious Christ, an ever loving Christ! "Lord, I bless You for the discipline that brought me to realize what a divine, all satisfying Portion I have in Yourself. You took from me an earthly portion, only to enrich me with a Heavenly one. You removed from me the human prop upon which I too fondly and idolatrously leaned, that I might learn what Christ was, as my soul's all sufficient, all satisfying, and everlasting Portion. I can now admire the wisdom, and adore the love, that blasted my gourds and emptied me from vessel to vessel; that, rising superior to the broken staff, the drooping flower, and the failing spring of creature good, I might claim my portion as a true spiritual Levite in Yourself alone."

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