ALL OF "GRACE QUOTES" FROM APRIL 2003

ALL OF "GRACE QUOTES" FROM APRIL 2003 IN ONE FILE No pilgrim has perished on the road! (Henry Law, "Psalms" 1878) "Happy are those who are strong in the Lord, who set their minds on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs, where pools of blessing collect after the rains! They will continue to grow stronger, and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem." Psalm 84:5-7 We see the picture of the tribes pursuing their journey to the great festivals at Jerusalem. They faint not, neither are weary. The needful strength is supplied. They are upheld in the journey. A gloomy valley must be passed, but in it they find refreshment. Water fails not. The wells have been replenished by the seasonable rains. Their limbs each day are girded with fresh strength. At last each pious Israelite safely treads the sanctuary for which his heart had panted. This is a picture of believers toiling through the journey of life. The way is sometimes long; dark valleys must be passed; but sweet streams are ever near. Needful vigor is maintained. The heavenly Zion is surely reached. No pilgrim has perished on the road! They went forth to go into the land of Canaan, and into the land of Canaan they came! A human religion? (Horatius Bonar, "The Way Of Cain") "Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain . . ." Jude 11 Cain is not an atheist, nor an altogether irreligious man. He acknowledges a God, and brings his fruits to the altar. But he brings no lamb, no blood, nothing that speaks of death. He comes with no confession, no cry for mercy. He has a religion, but it is self made; a human religion, something of his own; without Christ, or blood, or pardon. Rejection of God's religion, and of His Messiah; this is "the way of Cain." "Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain . . ." Jude 11 The heathen deity of CHANCE? (MacDuff, "A Chapter in Providence and Grace") God's providence extends to all the minute and trifling occurrences of life. Have nothing to do with the heathen deity of CHANCE. He who wheels the planets in their courses, marks the sparrow's fall. Events, often apparently trivial and unimportant; what the world calls 'accidents', form really and truly the mighty levers of life, altering and revolutionizing our whole future. Let us rejoice in the simple but sublime assurance that all that happens is ordered for us. It is for us to know, and to rejoice in the knowledge, that every event is in the hands of the Savior who died for us, and who has given us this mightiest proof and pledge of dying love, that all things (even the most mysterious) are working together for our good. It was not sects, or creeds, or doctrines, or churches, or ecclesiastical organizations! (MacDuff, "A Chapter in Providence and Grace") It is not dead doctrine, dry formulated dogma which the soul needs, but a living Being. Paul thus exults, in what may be called a dying testimony, "I know WHOM I have believed." It was not . . . sects, or creeds, or doctrines, or churches, or ecclesiastical organizations, that the dying hero clung to, in the hour of departure, but . . . the glorious Person of the divine Immanuel, the living Presence of the ever living, ever loving Savior; the Brother, the Friend on the throne, whom he had learned to love more dearly than all the world beside! This is one of the most foolish of all lies! (Spurgeon, "Life's Ever Springing Well" #864) Some of you think, perhaps, because you have been to a place of worship from your youth up, and have been doing your best to lead reputable and respectable lives, that perhaps you shall obtain salvation as a matter of course; but it is not so. You must learn that saving grace can only come to you as the gift of mercy. I have heard it said, and I have been horrified when I have heard so gross a falsehood, that there is in man something good, noble, spiritual; and that the object of the Christian minister in delivering the gospel is to take away the ignorance and folly that may overlay this innate nobility, and so to bring out and train up the precious vital spiritual life which lays latent within the human heart. This is one of the most foolish of all lies! There is nothing spiritually good in man whatever by nature. The carnal mind is at enmity against God. We might rake the ash heap of human nature a long time before we found the priceless jewel of spiritual life concealed within it. Man is dead in sin. How long will you search the sepulcher before you shall discover life within the ribs of death? Long enough may you ransack yonder mouldering bones in the cemetery, before you shall discover the germs of immortality within the ashes of the departed. If man were but faint, we might, perhaps, by a sort of 'spiritual friction' or electricity, arouse him to life. If he were lying in a state of coma, we might, by some 'gracious surgery', at length rekindle the embers, and make the life burn forth in its strength. But when we are informed, over and over again, by the Holy Spirit himself, that man is not only dead, but that he is corrupt, where is the hope of finding spiritual life within him? The living and incorruptible seed of grace is not produced in men, by efforts of their own, through the imitation of good example, or through early instruction, or through gradual reform. Though for centuries the dead should be located in the neighborhood of the living, they will not thereby come to life. For many a day might you read a homily upon life in the ears of the corpse before you shall thereby cause the skeleton to make any effort towards vitality. Spiritual life is a gift, wholly a gift. It is given according to the good will and purpose of God. If the Lord gives this spiritual life to some and not to others, he is perfectly free to do as he wills with his own. God will be debtor to no man. He owes nothing to sinful man but wrath! Justice awards me nothing but death. Sovereign grace alone can bring me life. If God chooses according to his good pleasure to give a new and spiritual life to his chosen, none shall dare to question him. You keep track of all my sorrows. (Henry Law, "Psalms" 1878) "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 "God sees me," is the sweet solace of the true believer. "He knows the way that I take," will make that rugged way seem smooth. If perils and distress so shake the heart that plenteous tears give evidence of suffering, these tears are marked on high, and tender compassion will wipe them all away. The day has not yet come when there shall be no more tears. But the day is always present when they awaken sympathy in the Redeemer's breast. He who wept on earth will soon wipe all tears away! "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." Rev. 21:4 Pope SELF? (John Newton, author of "Amazing Grace") "I have read of many wicked popes, but the worst pope I ever met with is Pope SELF." Severe, yet wise and loving (Octavius Winslow, commenting on the sudden death of his beloved son at the age of 21.) Severe, yet wise and loving, has been the discipline by which God has sought to chasten and subdue the heart's idolatry. That heart, sincere and undivided, He will have. Were every being and every object in the universe annihilated but JESUS, He were enough to fill the soul with happiness, and eternity with admiration and praise. JESUS is all sufficient for life's heaviest calamity, for the heart's deepest woe. How frail the thread! (written by Whitmore Winslow at the age of 14) How short is time, and what a small portion is allotted to man to prepare for another world! And yet how careless is he of that time! How frail the thread upon which life hangs! A few hours' illness may carry him away into a world of endless happiness or of endless woe! What a vain world it is! (Whitmore Winslow, written at the age of 14) What a fallen creature is man! Day by day calls forth more hidden depravity of his heart; and yet his whole affections are set upon the very object which is fostering and encouraging that depravity. His great ambition is to win the approbation of the world; a world that slew the King of kings; a world full of sin and sorrow, the medium by which Satan endeavors to blind the eyes of the children of men. And yet, after all, what a vain world it is! It promises much, but realizes nothing. The more we expect pleasure, the more are we disappointed in it. Oh, what would man be, if instead of seeking the friendship and the love of a dying world, he would seek that of Jehovah! And yet how prone are we to lament when we are frowned upon by the world. If we did not seek its smiles, we would not mind its frowns. But the more we are delighted at the world's praise, the more are we discomforted and made unhappy by its disapprobation. But take the world as a whole; what is it? A speck in the universe; a ball floating in the air, surrounded by other worlds greater and more magnificent than itself. Shall we love the world which hated and scorned, and ultimately slew our beloved Redeemer? We chase it like a bubble in the air! (Whitmore Winslow, written at the age of 14) What could the Christian do in a poor world like this if he had not Christ for his Friend? Truly is he often seeking other friends, but God will make him know, by sad yet blessed experience, that there is no friend like Jesus; and that while other friends are fickle and changeable, He changes not. Oh that we followed not this poor world as we do! We chase it like a bubble in the air, and with all its apparent beauty, it fades into nothing! But oh, when we taste the preciousness of Jesus, what a heavenly morsel it is! It raises our drooping spirits to contemplate the joy that awaits us in another world, the happiness that is laid up for us above, the glory that will crown the final end of our weary pilgrimage through a dying and unsatisfying world. That ever promising, yet ever deceiving world? (Whitmore Winslow, written at the age of 14) How little have appearances to do with realities! The outward show has often the effect of deceiving. Deceit is, indeed, one of the prominent features in man; he deceives others, he deceives himself. The world is truly a false world. And does it not show the depravity of man's heart when after tasting its bitters, feeling its pains, and experiencing its disappointments and sorrows, he should still cling to that ever promising, yet ever deceiving world? Pride eats at the root of all happiness! (Whitmore Winslow, written at the age of 14) Ah! blessed is he to whom God shows his own weakness and insufficiency to do anything of himself. Deem it not a curse, but a blessing, when God humbles your pride, however severe the discipline may be by which He does it. When He teaches you to lean upon Him alone for support, thank Him for it. Pride eats at the root of all happiness; and a proud spirit God will abase, but the humble spirit He will exalt. The hard couch of sorrow (Henry Law, "Gleanings from the Book of Life") Then the Lord told Moses, "You can be sure I have seen the misery of My people in Egypt. I have heard their cries for deliverance from their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am concerned about their suffering." Exodus 3:7 Exquisite tenderness melts in these words. Assurance of compassion is most sweetly stated. Let no believer faint in the hour of trial. His feet may travel in affliction's road. He may be called to lie on the hard couch of sorrow. Troubles may roll over him as wave upon wave. But the eye of love ever watches him, the heart of love ever throbs sympathetically for him, the ear of love ever listens to his cry, the hand of love will in due season be outstretched to help him. The patient sufferer will sing with David, "He led me to a place of safety; He rescued me because He delights in me." Psalm 18:19 Salvation turns the soul completely around! (Henry Law, "Gleanings from the Book of Life") By nature our course of life is wholly downward. Every step is deviation from the ways of God. The back is turned to heaven and heavenly things. This world, with . . . its polluting pleasures, its empty vanities, its unsatisfying shadows, its deceitful pomps and honors, is sought with blinded zeal. The daily movement is descent towards hell. But Salvation turns the soul completely around! Objects once shunned are now desired. That is now loved which once was hated. Former pleasures retain no relish. The mask which hid the hideous features of the world has fallen. The other lords which so long exercised dominion are now renounced as cruel tyrants; their yoke is broken, and their scepter shattered! Surrounded with trouble at almost every step? (Whitmore Winslow, written at the age of 14) Today I have been surrounded with trouble at almost every step. But with all this, I can fly to Jesus as my never failing Friend, and He can give me all I need. A bountiful Savior and a needy sinner just suit each other! In love (Law, "Gleanings from the Book of Life") Behold the overflowing riches of the grace and love of Jesus. Every page of the Gospel story teaches the feelings of His heart. In love He receives His people as His own. Before the world was framed, He inscribed them on the tablets of His heart. In love He undertakes their cause, and espouses them as His bride. In love He works out for them a righteousness so bright, so perfect, so glorious, that Jehovah's eye can find no flaw, no spot, no blemish in it. In love He beautifies them with His shining robe, and fits them for the banquet in the heaven of heavens. In love He guards them from every foe, and makes them more than conquerors over all the hosts of darkness. In love He makes all things to work together for their good. In love He leads them to lie down in the rich pastures of Bible truth, and instructs them in the Word which is "able to make them wise unto salvation." In love He will come again to receive them to Himself. In love He will present them pure and blameless to His Father with exceeding joy. In love He will dwell among them through the ages of eternity! Justice sheaths its avenging sword in His heart! (Henry Law, "Gleanings from the Book of Life") "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Cor. 5:21 It is a comforting thought, that the sins thus removed from the guilty and transferred to the guiltless, leave the real transgressor relieved from the weight of evil. Thus unrighteousness is removed. Jesus thus laden with iniquities, endures all that sin merits and the law denounces. He approaches the altar of the Cross. He there presents Himself the willing victim. He there lays down His life, the all sufficient sacrifice. He there sheds His blood, worthy to make atonement. Wrath pours out on Him all its vials. Justice sheaths its avenging sword in His heart! The law pours on His head its total curse. He endures to the uttermost all that justice required. Where now are the believer's sins? That which is blotted out can no more be found. None who are washed in His most precious blood can be borne off to hell. Satan can offer no charge against those on whom no sin is found. He found their hearts estranged from Him (Henry Law, "Gleanings from the Book of Life") Jesus loves His people with everlasting love, and has inscribed their names upon His heart. He has received them as the jewels of His crown, the signet ring upon His right hand. He delights over them as a bridegroom over his spouse. He knew that another master had obtained usurped dominion over them; He encountered this foe, and rescued them from his cruel grasp. So they became His by conquest. He found them poor and wretched and naked, and He wrought out a glorious robe of righteousness to adorn them for His palace. He knew that their debts were many. He laid down His life and shed His blood to satisfy each demand. He found their hearts estranged from Him, and their affections given to the poor baubles of this fleeting world. He sent His Holy Spirit to create new hearts within them, to win their love, to lead them to choose Him as their all forever. Thus they became His by voluntary surrender. What a world of wickedness! (Thomas Reade, "Christian Meditations") What a world of wickedness may be in the heart, while no glaring irregularity is visible in the life. Lovers of themselves? (Hannah More) "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves" 2 Tim. 3:1-2 Self love is a Proteus of all shapes, shades and complexions. It has the power of expansions and contractions as best serves the occasion. There is no crevice so small through which its subtle essence cannot stretch itself to fill. It is of all degrees of cultivation; so coarse and hungry as to gorge itself with the grossest adulation, so fastidious as to require a homage as refined as itself; so deceptive as to elude the detection of ordinary observers; so delusive as to escape the observation of the very heart in which it reigns paramount. Yet, though so extravagant in its appetites, self love can adopt a moderation which imposes a refinement which veils its deformity; an artificial character which keeps its real one out of sight. We are apt to speak of self love as if it were only a symptom, whereas it is the disease itself. It is a malignant disease which has possession of the moral constitution and leaves nothing uncorrupted by its touch. This corrupting principle pollutes, by coming into contact with it, whatever is in itself great and noble. Is that all? (Mary Winslow) I was at the very zenith of earthly happiness. On returning from the ball, I took a hasty review of the evening I had passed, as I lay sleepless upon my pillow . . . the glitter; the music; the dance; the excitement; the attention; the pleasure; all passed before me. But, oh! I felt a deficiency I could not describe. I sighed, and, throwing my arm over my head, whispered to myself these expressive words, "Is that all?" "Whoever drinks of this water shall thirst again." John 4:13 The gods of the unregenerate soul (MacDuff, "The Mind of Jesus" 1870) The gods of the unregenerate soul are the world, self and sin. While we sojourn in this world (The following was written by Whitmore Winslow at the age of 14. It was gleaned from his journal, which was unknown to his family, until found after his unexpected death at the age of 21.) Oh, to realize the happiness in store for us in the next world! If we more anticipated the blissful future, we would not so much mind the miserable present. A few short years will bring the Christian to the end of his pilgrimage, and to the beginning of his eternal rest! But, oh, let us never forget that while we sojourn in this world we have a never failing Friend to whom we can take all our trials and sorrows! The great law of our degenerated nature. (John MacDuff, "The Mind of Jesus" 1870) "For even Christ did not please Himself." Romans 15:3 Too legibly are the characters written on the fallen heart and a fallen world, "All seek their own!" Selfishness is the great law of our degenerated nature. When the love of God was dethroned from the soul, SELF vaulted into the vacant seat, and there, in some one of its Proteus shapes, continues to reign. Jesus stands out for our imitation a grand solitary exception in the midst of a world of selfishness. His entire life was one abnegation of SELF; a beautiful living embodiment of that love which "seeks not her own." Reader! Seek to live more constantly and habitually under the constraining influence of the love of Jesus. Selfishness withers and dies beneath Calvary! Lured and dazzled, the worldling pursues the phantom! (John MacDuff, "Grapes of Eschol" 1861) "In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand there are pleasures for evermore." Psalm 16:11. FULLNESS of joy! Can that be said of anything on this side Heaven? There is a restless craving in the human bosom for something better than this world can give. There are aching voids; deep, yawning chasms in the soul of man, which the world and all its tinsel pleasures can never fill. Hope is ever gilding the future with the prospect of that happiness which the present denies. The worldling will cleave to the world as the center of its system. It holds its happiness to consist in "minding earthly things." Lured and dazzled, the worldling pursues the phantom! But each successive failure more painfully convinces him that all here is a delusion. Happiness, the object of his life search, is as far from him as ever! Only in Heaven will the soul will have, in the enjoyment of God, the perfection of bliss. All earthly bliss has its bounds and limits. In Heaven and in God's presence, that bliss will be unbounded. "In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand there are pleasures for evermore." Psalm 16:11. The world is . . . (by Horatius Bonar) The world is . . . blind, and knows it not; poor, and thinks itself rich; foolish, and thinks itself wise. It is not aware of the extent of its ruin, alienation, and depravity. It is not alive to its danger, its hopeless prospects; nor its doom. The very cream of heaven! (Charles Spurgeon, "Now, and Then") There have been many suggestions of what we shall do in heaven, and what we shall enjoy; but they all seem to me to be wide of the mark compared with this one: that we shall be with Jesus, be like Him, and shall behold His glory. Oh, to see the feet that were nailed, and to touch the hand that was pierced, and to look upon the head that wore the thorns, and to bow before Him who is . . . ineffable love, unspeakable condescension, infinite tenderness! Oh, to bow before Him, and to kiss that blessed face! Brethren, is not this the very cream of heaven? The streets of gold will have small attraction to us, and the harps of angels will but slightly enchant us, compared with the King in the midst of the throne! He it is who shall... rivet our gaze, absorb our thoughts, enchain our affections, and move all our sacred passions to their highest pitch of celestial ardor! We shall see Jesus! "Yes, dear friends, we are already God's children, and we can't even imagine what we will be like when Christ returns. But we do know that when He comes we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He really is." 1 John 3:2 Defective behavior at home? (Hannah More, "Practical Piety") Our neglect of minor duties and virtues is particularly injurious to the minds of our families. If they see us peevish, vacillating, volatile, petulant or inconsistent in our daily conduct, they will not give us credit for those higher qualities which we may possess and those superior duties which we may be more careful to fulfill. Our greater qualities will do them little good, while our lesser but incessant faults do them much injury. Seeing us so defective in the daily course of our behavior at home, though our children may obey us because they are obliged to it, they will neither love nor esteem us enough to be influenced by our instruction or advice.