Grace Gems for February 2006

Grace Gems for February 2006 Altogether lovely! ("Solitude Sweetened" by James Meikle, 1730-1799) "Yes, He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend!" (Song of Solomon 5:16) Why does the world reject the Savior of the world? Why do they abhor Him who is altogether lovely, and hate Him who is the best Friend of mankind? O men of the world! what good can you desire which is not in Christ? The excellencies of earth are but His footstool; the excellencies of heaven are but His throne! How excellent, then, must He himself be! His treasures are infinite—and open for you! In Jesus are . . . riches—if you are poor; honor—if you are despised; friendship—if you are forsaken; help—if you are injured; mercy—if you are miserable; joy—if you are disconsolate; protection—if you are in danger; deliverance—if you are a captive; life—if you are mortal; and all things—if you have nothing at all. Time and eternity are His! He can give you all the glorious things of eternity! Moreover, He can deliver you . . . from all your fears; from sin—the worst of all evils; from self—the most hurtful of all companions; from death—the most dreadful of all changes; from Satan—the most subtle of all enemies; from hell—the most horrible of all prisons; and from wrath—the most horrifying doom of all sinners! Now, where will you find such a one as Jesus? Why, then, refuse life, and seek after death? All heaven is enamored with His beauty! The longer we look on 'created gaieties', the leaner and less lovely they grow; so that, by the time we have viewed them forty, fifty, or sixty years—we see nothing but vanity in the creature! But when ten thousand ages are employed in beholding the perfection and beauty of Jesus—He still appears more and more lovely—even altogether lovely! Alas! I can say nothing of His true excellencies! They overwhelm my laboring thought, and are too vast for my feeble conception to bring forth! O Divine Lover! ("Solitude Sweetened" by James Meikle) "Christ died for the ungodly." (Romans 5:6) Behold! the eternal Son of God loves . . . an ugly, deformed, miserable creature, a crawling worm, a condemned criminal, an insolvent debtor, a rebel against heaven, a daring sinner, a drudge to hell, a slave to lust, a captive of Satan, a prisoner of the pit! This is love indeed! How ardently, O Divine Lover! should my soul go out after You! I long for that glorious day, when I shall mourn Your absence no more—when, admitted into Your presence, I shall delight in all Your love, and feast on all Your charms, world without end! They dance after pleasure's bubble (Henry Law, 1797-1884) The mass of mankind are strangers to God, and rebels to His grace. Their chief good resides in things of time and sense. Their horizon stretches not beyond this fleeting earthly scene. Their one object is to press most earthly joy into earth's little day. They dance after pleasure's bubble, and scorn the cross! The world is still the world. Its baits, its filth, its vile corruptions, are unchanged. It still extends a net for the unwary soul. It still is the broad road going down to hell. It still is the wide gate courting the giddy multitude. Hence Scripture's voice still cries, "Beware!" Beacons still show a coast bestrewed with wrecks, and wisdom calls the holy pilgrim from treacherous path. "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." (Matthew 7:13-14) I am confounded with wonder! ("Solitude Sweetened" by James Meikle, 1730-1799) "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound!" (Romans 5:20) Dear Savior, in Your sufferings I not only see the infiniteness of sin, but also the infiniteness of Your love; so that, though I have cause with myself to be angry on account of sin, I need not despair. If the desert of my sinful folly is death—the merit of Your sufferings is life! If my sins mount up to heaven—Your mercy is above the heavens! Though my sins reach to the very throne to accuse me —there is One upon the throne who will not condemn me! When I look to myself and see my vileness and necessity—I am confounded with shame! But when I look to You, and see Your fullness and all-sufficiency—I am confounded with wonder! Am I weak? Jesus is my strength. Am I foolish? Jesus is my wisdom! Am I wicked? Jesus is my righteousness! Am I impure? Jesus is my sanctification! Am I in bondage? Jesus is my complete redemption! Am I in misery? From Jesus tender mercy flows. Am I deceitful? Jesus is wholly truth! In a word, am I enmity itself? Then Jesus is love itself which passes understanding! Mine is but the enmity of a creature—but Yours is the love of God! Where sin abounded—grace did much more abound! Where misery has surrounded me—Your mercy has crowned me! Sin is too strong for me—but Your grace is too strong for sin! Why, then, am I so vexed with fears, doubts, and unbelief? Because I am sinful. On that very account, Jesus, who knew no sin, was made sin—that I, who knew no righteousness, might be made the righteousness of God in Him. But I am a great sinner! But Jesus is a Savior, and a great One! Where is boasting now? See—it is great mercy in God, great merit in Christ—which saves a great sinner! Since rich and free grace builds the temple of salvation—let it have all the glory! But I fall often into the same sin! That is my failing, over which I ought to mourn, and by which I should be driven out of all boasting in my own holiness, high attainments, and religious duties; and cry, with tears of holy joy, "Grace, grace to Him who has laid the foundation, carries on the whole work of redemption, and will, with shouting bring forth the topstone!" Now, law, what have you to do with me? Go to my Surety, Jesus! O curse! you have lighted on His head, that the blessing might rest on mine! Though once I dared not lift my eyes heavenward, for fear of divine wrath—yet now I may come boldly to the throne of grace, and claim the blessings of His purchase! Though my sin offends Him—I shall never sin away His love, nor His presence altogether. For He shall come a second time, to deliver me from all my inherent sinfulness! Though my sin is my burden—it shall not be my bane! Yet I shall never willingly let the traitor rest in my bosom—which would persuade my soul into rebellion against my dearest Lord, and best Friend. I may have continual war with the invader—but shall obtain the victory at last! Meanwhile, I will grieve more for offending Him whose name is Love, by my sin—than for the clouds, afflictions, and chastisements which seize me because of my sinfulness. Now, with the arms of my faith, I clasp the promise—and Jesus in the promise! Here will I live, and here will I die, blessing God, who causes me always to triumph in Jesus Christ my Lord! When they are twisted out of my hand ("Solitude Sweetened" by James Meikle, 1730-1799) "Mankind is born for trouble as surely as sparks fly upward." (Job 5:7) O, what losses and crosses, sorrows and distresses, uncertainties and anxieties, do mankind labor under! Godly wisdom will lead me to expect nothing but vanity and vexation here below. But, O! how happy is the soul that has all the treasure in heaven—all his happiness in God! May this be my case, and then I shall triumph in the midst of losses, distresses, disappointments, and pain! I take a loose hold of all earthly things, that when they are twisted out of my hand—they may not torment my heart! Eternal felicity secured, is a noble panacea, and a sufficient antidote against the heaviest misfortunes and disappointments of this deceitful world! I rest, and am composed, and calmly wait on You, resigned to heaven's determination, in everything concerning me in time—until I arrive at that better country, at that perfect state, where there is neither disappointment nor pain! My Rock! ("Solitude Sweetened" by James Meikle, 1730-1799) "The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my Savior, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the strength of my salvation, my stronghold!" (Psalm 18:2) Do rocks defend me from blasts, from whatever quarter they blow? So does my Rock! Is the blast from hell? Well, He has the keys of hell and of death! Is it from sin? He is my righteousness! Is it from Satan? He has conquered principalities and powers! Is it from afflictions? He is my sympathizing and loving High Priest! Is it from losses? He is my exceeding great reward! Is it from crosses? He makes all things work together for good to His people! Is it from anguish? He is my joy! Is it from darkness? He is my Sun! Is it from doubts? He is my Counselor! Is it from deadness? He is my life! Is it from enemies? He is my shield! Is it from temptation? He is my deliverer! Is it from false friends? He will never leave me, nor forsake me! Is it from solitude or banishment? He is everywhere present! Is it from disease? He is my healer! Is it from death? He is the resurrection and the life! O glorious refuge! O sure defense! O everlasting fortress! Here do I defy the worst that earth and hell can do! Henceforth will I live by faith, in the MAN who is . . . my hiding place from the wind, my shelter from the tempest, my stream of water in a dry place, my shadow of a great rock in a weary land— until every blast has blown over, and not a threatening cloud appears in my sky—until my heaven is beautified with everlasting day, and every storm is swept from the air which I breathe! "And a MAN shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a shelter from the tempest, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shadow of a great rock in a weary land!" (Isaiah 32:2) The most precious thing in heaven or earth (John Flavel, "The Fountain of Life" 1671) In giving Christ to die for poor sinners, God gave the richest jewel in His cabinet; a mercy of the greatest worth, and most inestimable value. Heaven itself is not so valuable and precious as Christ is! Ten thousand thousand worlds—as many worlds as angels can number, would not outweigh Christ's love, excellency and sweetness! O what a lovely One! What an excellent, beautiful, ravishing One—is Christ! Put the beauty of ten thousand paradises, like the garden of Eden, into one; put all flowers, all fragrances, all colors, all tastes, all joys, all sweetness, all loveliness into one; O what a lovely and excellent thing would that be! And yet it would be less to that loveliest and dearest well-beloved Christ—than one drop of rain to all the seas, rivers, lakes, and fountains of ten thousand earths! Now, for God to bestow the mercy of mercies, the most precious thing in heaven or earth, upon poor sinners; and, as great, as lovely, as excellent as His Son was—what kind of love is this! Has He put you so many times into the furnace? (John Flavel, "The Fountain of Life" 1671) You have a further advantage to a holy life, by all the chastisements with which God visits you. By these afflictions, God prevents your straying and wandering. Others may wander even as far as hell, and God will not spend a sanctified rod upon them, to reduce or stop them; but says, "let them alone!" Hosea 4:17. But if you wander out of the way of holiness, He will clog you with one trouble or other to keep you within bounds. Holy Basil was a long time sorely afflicted with an inveterate headache, he often prayed for the removal of it. At last God removed it, but in the place of it, he was sorely exercised with the motions and temptations of lust; which, when he perceived, he heartily desired his headache again, to prevent a worse evil. You little know the ends and uses of many of your afflictions. Are you exercised with bodily weakness? It is a mercy you are so; and if these pains and infirmities were removed, these clogs taken off, you may with Basil, wish for them again, to prevent worse evils. Are you poor? Why, with that poverty God has clogged your pride! Are you reproached? With these reproaches God has clogged your sinful ambition. Corruptions are prevented by your afflictions. And, is not this a marvelous help to holiness of life? By your afflictions, your corruptions are not only clogged, but purged. By these God dries up and consumes that spring of sin which defiles your lives. God orders your wants to fill your wantonness; and makes your poverty poison to your pride. Afflictions are God's medicines, to purge ill humours out of your souls. They are both fire for the purifying; and water for the cleansing of your souls. Christ's blood is the only fountain to wash away sin. But, in the virtue and efficacy of that blood, sanctified afflictions are cleansers and purifiers too. A cross without a Christ never made any man better; but with

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Grace Gems for February 2006

Grace Gems

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