ALL OF "GRACE QUOTES" FROM JANUARY 2003 IN ONE FILE
Jesus!
(Octavius Winslow, "Evening Thoughts")
What is our path to glory, but the path of
tribulation, of suffering, and of death? Our
Lord and Master, in the expression of His
wisdom and love, forewarns us of this: "In
the world you shall have tribulation."
What are all the supports of the believer in
seasons of trial, suffering, and bereavement,
but so many manifestations of the life of the
Lord Jesus? This it is that keeps the soul . . .
buoyant amid the billows,
strong in faith,
joyful in hope,
soaring in love.
Thus is Jesus . . .
the life of every grace,
the life of every promise,
the life of every ordinance,
the life of every blessing.
Yes, of all that is really costly and
precious to a child of God, Jesus is . . .
the substance,
the glory,
the sweetness,
the fragrance,
yes, the very life itself!
Oh! dark and lonely, desolate and painful indeed
would our present pilgrimage be, but for Jesus!
If in the world we have tribulation; in
whom do we have peace? In Jesus!
If in the creature we meet with fickleness and
change; in whom do we find the Friend who loves
at all times? In Jesus!
When adversity comes as a wintry blast, and
lays low our comforts; when the cloud is upon
our tabernacle; when health, and wealth, and
influence, and friends are gone; in whom do
we find the covert from the wind, the faithful,
tender Brother born for adversity? In Jesus!
When temptation assails,
when care darkens,
when trial oppresses,
when bereavement wounds,
when heart and flesh are failing;
who throws around us the protecting shield,
who applies the precious promise,
who speaks the soothing word,
who sustains the sinking spirit,
who heals the sorrow,
who dries the tear? Jesus!
Where sin struggles in the heart, and guilt
burdens the conscience, and unbelief beclouds
the mind; whose grace subdues our iniquities,
whose blood gives us peace, and whose light
dispels our darkness? Jesus!
And when the spark of life wanes, and the
eye grows dim, and the mind wanders, and
the soul, severing its last fetter, mounts
and soars away, Jesus, in that awful moment,
draws near in form unseen, and whispers in
words unheard by all but the departing one,
now in close communion with the solemn
realities of the invisible world, "Fear not;
I am the resurrection and the life. He who
believes in Me will live, even though he dies!"
The idol Self
(Hannah More, "Practical Piety")
The idol Self has made more desolation among
men than ever was made in those places where
idols were served by human sacrifices.
To worship images is a more obvious idolatry,
but scarcely more degrading than to set up
Self in opposition to God.
Self is the ever flowing fountain of all the evil
which deforms our hearts, of all the boiling
passions which inflame and disorder society;
the root of bitterness on which all its corrupt
fruits grow.
Beware of the world!
(William Sprague, "Letters to a Daughter")
Beware of the world! Beware of . . .
its seductive flatteries,
its pestilential maxims,
its unhallowed practices.
Remember that the spirit of the world is
directly opposed to the spirit of the Gospel;
and that both cannot find a permanent
lodgement in the same bosom.
If the world attempts to seduce you with it
smiles, do not dally with the tempter for a
moment. And do not allow the world to bring
you into subjection with its frowns.
Have as little to do with the groveling and
polluted scenes of earth as you can, in
consistency with your duty. Rise above the
world and try to breathe the atmosphere of
heaven.
Follow the Lamb!
(Thomas Brooks)
Follow the Lamb, though others follow
the beast and the false prophets.
Follow the Lamb wherever He goes.
Take up the cross, and follow the Lamb
over hedge and ditch, through thick and thin.
Do not turn your backs on Christ.
Deny yourself; your natural self, your sinful
self, your religious self, to follow the Lamb.
Some of you will be cast into the furnace!
"Practical Directions How to Grow in Grace and Make
Progress in Piety" Archibald Alexander (1772-1851)
For your more rapid growth in grace, some of you
will be cast into the furnace of affliction. Sickness,
bereavement, bad conduct of children and relatives,
loss of property or of reputation, may come upon you
unexpectedly and press heavily on you.
In these trying circumstances, exercise patience and
fortitude. Be more solicitous to have the affliction
sanctified, than removed.
Glorify God while in the fire of adversity. That faith
which is most tried is commonly most pure and precious.
Learn from Christ how you ought to suffer.
Let perfect submission to the will of God be aimed at.
Never indulge a murmuring or discontented spirit.
Repose with confidence on the promises.
Commit all your cares to God.
Make known your requests to Him by prayer.
Let go your too eager grasp of the world.
Become familiar with death and the grave.
Wait patiently.
Mercy surpassing all wonders!
(David Harsha, "The Death of Christ")
Through eternity it will be a matter of the greatest
wonder, as well as the sweetest and most sublime
song, that the great God, the high and lofty One
who inhabits eternity; whom we had by wicked works
so highly offended; should ever have 'reconciled us
to Himself by Jesus Christ;' and condescended to
dwell with us who were once so vile, and rebellious,
and wretched.
Oh, the depth of the riches of the mercy of God!
Mercy surpassing all wonders!
Mercy boundless as the heavens!
Mercy vast as eternity!
How great should be our gratitude to Him,
who by the costly price of His blood has
ransomed us from an eternity of woe!
May we never cease, while passing through
the wilderness of earth, to extol in sweetest
songs the wonders of redeeming love!
The pig!
(Thomas Reade, "Christian Meditations")
"A pig that is washed goes back to her
wallowing in the mud." 2 Peter 2:22
The pig, though washed, was a pig still.
The outward washing could not change
the inward propensity of the animal.
Is it not so with multitudes of baptized
people? Outward reformation must never
be confounded with inward regeneration!
"And when people escape from the wicked
ways of the world by learning about our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled
up with sin and become its slave again, they
are worse off than before." 2 Peter 2:20
The hearts of such people were never renewed,
their natures were never changed. This they
proved by their return to the propensities of
their natural hearts.
"A pig that is washed goes back to her
wallowing in the mud." 2 Peter 2:22
The heart of Infinite and Eternal love!
(Mary Winslow's, "Heaven Opened")
I find it sweet to retire and be alone with my
best Friend. What a privilege to open our whole
heart, and lean, like John, upon the Savior's
tender, sympathizing bosom!
What on earth is like this? A broken heart, a
helpless and powerless soul resting upon the