God’s Nature
|
Contemplating God's
greatness!
From Spurgeon's sermon, "Fear Not" Lift up your eyes, behold the heavens, the work of God's fingers-- behold the sun guided in his daily march; go forth at midnight, and behold the heavens; consider the stars and the moon; look upon these works of God's hands, and if you be men of sense, and your souls are attuned to the high music of the spheres, you will say, "What is man that you are mindful of him?" My God! when I survey the boundless fields of ether, and see those ponderous orbs rolling therein, when I consider how vast are your dominions- so wide that an angel's wing might flap to all eternity and never reach a boundary- I marvel that you should look on insects so obscure as man. I am so little that I shrink into nothingness when I behold the Almightiness of Jehovah- so little, that the difference between the molecule and man dwindles into nothing, when compared with the infinite chasm between God and man. Let your mind rove upon the great doctrines of the Godhead; consider the existence of God from before the foundations of the world; behold Him who is, and was, and is to come, the Almighty. Let your soul comprehend as much as it can of the Infinite, and grasp as much as possible of the Eternal, and I am sure if you have minds at all, they will shrink with awe. The tall archangel bows himself before his Master's throne, and we shall cast ourselves into the lowest dust when we feel what base nothings, what insignificant specks we are when compared with our all-adorable Creator. Labor, O soul, to know your nothingness, and learn it by contemplating God's greatness. |
Nothing escapes His notice!
(Arthur Pink, "The Attributes of God")
What a wondrous Being is the God of Scripture!
"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight.
Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the
eyes of Him to whom we must give account."
Hebrews 4:13
God is omniscient.
He knows everything:
everything possible,
everything actual,
all events,
all creatures,
of the past, the present, and the future.
He is perfectly acquainted with every detail in the
life of every being in heaven, in earth, and in hell.
Nothing escapes His notice, nothing can be
hidden from Him, nothing is forgotten by Him.
His knowledge is perfect.
He never errs.
He never changes.
He never overlooks anything.
God not only knows whatever has happened in the past
in every part of His vast domains; and He is not only
thoroughly acquainted with everything that is now
transpiring throughout the entire universe—but He is
also perfectly cognizant of every event, from the least
to the greatest, that ever will happen in the ages to
come! God's knowledge of the future is as complete
as is His knowledge of the past and the present; and
that, because the future depends entirely upon Himself.
God has Himself designed whatever shall yet be, and
what He has designed, must be effectuated. God's
knowledge does not arise from things because they
are or will be—but because He has ordained them to
be! Yes, such is the God with whom we have to do!
"You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my
thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my
lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a
word is on my tongue—You know it completely, O Lord!"
Psalm 139:2-4
How solemn is this fact: nothing can be concealed from
God! "For I know the things that come into your mind,
every one of them" (Ezekiel 11:5). Though He is invisible
to us—we are not so to Him. Neither the darkness of night,
the closest curtains, nor the deepest dungeon—can hide
any sinner from the eyes of Omniscience! Men would strip
Deity of His omniscience if they could. They wish there
might be . . .
no Witness of their sins,
no Searcher of their hearts,
no Judge of their deeds!
(Arthur Pink, "The Attributes of God")
What a wondrous Being is the God of Scripture!
"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight.
Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the
eyes of Him to whom we must give account."
Hebrews 4:13
God is omniscient.
He knows everything:
everything possible,
everything actual,
all events,
all creatures,
of the past, the present, and the future.
He is perfectly acquainted with every detail in the
life of every being in heaven, in earth, and in hell.
Nothing escapes His notice, nothing can be
hidden from Him, nothing is forgotten by Him.
His knowledge is perfect.
He never errs.
He never changes.
He never overlooks anything.
God not only knows whatever has happened in the past
in every part of His vast domains; and He is not only
thoroughly acquainted with everything that is now
transpiring throughout the entire universe—but He is
also perfectly cognizant of every event, from the least
to the greatest, that ever will happen in the ages to
come! God's knowledge of the future is as complete
as is His knowledge of the past and the present; and
that, because the future depends entirely upon Himself.
God has Himself designed whatever shall yet be, and
what He has designed, must be effectuated. God's
knowledge does not arise from things because they
are or will be—but because He has ordained them to
be! Yes, such is the God with whom we have to do!
"You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my
thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my
lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a
word is on my tongue—You know it completely, O Lord!"
Psalm 139:2-4
How solemn is this fact: nothing can be concealed from
God! "For I know the things that come into your mind,
every one of them" (Ezekiel 11:5). Though He is invisible
to us—we are not so to Him. Neither the darkness of night,
the closest curtains, nor the deepest dungeon—can hide
any sinner from the eyes of Omniscience! Men would strip
Deity of His omniscience if they could. They wish there
might be . . .
no Witness of their sins,
no Searcher of their hearts,
no Judge of their deeds!
He does as He pleases!
(Arthur Pink, "The Sovereignty of God")
"For the Lord Almighty has purposed—and who can thwart Him? His hand is stretched out—and who can turn it back?" Isaiah 14:27
To say that God is sovereign, is to declare that He is the Almighty, the Possessor of all power in heaven and earth—so that none can . . .
defeat His counsels,
thwart His purpose,
or resist His will.
(Arthur Pink, "The Sovereignty of God")
"For the Lord Almighty has purposed—and who can thwart Him? His hand is stretched out—and who can turn it back?" Isaiah 14:27
To say that God is sovereign, is to declare that He is the Almighty, the Possessor of all power in heaven and earth—so that none can . . .
defeat His counsels,
thwart His purpose,
or resist His will.
Whatever takes place in time—is
but the outworking of that which He has decreed in eternity.
The sovereignty of the God of
Scripture, is . . .
absolute,
irresistible
and infinite!
absolute,
irresistible
and infinite!
We insist that God does . . .
as He pleases,
only as He pleases,
always as He pleases!
as He pleases,
only as He pleases,
always as He pleases!
"But our God is in the heavens—He
has done whatever He has pleased!" Psalm 115:3
"The Lord does whatever pleases Him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths!" Psalm 135:6
"The Lord does whatever pleases Him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths!" Psalm 135:6
"All the peoples of the earth
are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases
with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back
His hand or say to Him: What have you done?" Daniel 4:35
When God laughs(Charles Spurgeon, "The Treasury of David")
"The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord ridicules them!" Psalm 2:4
Note God's derision of the rebellious! What will the King do unto those who reject Him? Mark the quiet dignity of the Omnipotent One, and the contempt which He pours upon His raging enemies. He has not taken the trouble to rise up and do battle with them—He despises them, He knows how absurd, how irrational, how futile are their attempts against Him. He therefore laughs at them! (Charles Spurgeon)
"The One enthroned in heaven . . ." Hereby it is clearly intimated,
(1) that the Lord is far above all their malice and power;
(2) that He sees all their plots, looking down on all;
(3) that He is of omnipotent power, and so can do with His enemies just as He desires. "Our God is in the heavens! He has done whatever He has pleased." (Arthur Jackson)
Sinners' follies are the righteous sport of God's infinite wisdom and power. Those attempts of the kingdom of Satan, which in our eyes are formidable, in God's eyes are despicable. (Matthew Henry)
"The One enthroned in heaven laughs". They scoff at us—but God laughs at them! Laugh? This seems like a harsh word at first view. But are the derision, the persecution and the injuries of his saints; and the cruelties of their enemies—a matter of laughter? God laughs—but it is in scorn; He scorns—but it is with vengeance. Short is the joy of the wicked! Oh, what are God's frowns—if His smiles are so terrible! (Thomas Adams)
The expression, "The One enthroned in heaven", at once fixes our thoughts on a being infinitely exalted above impotent man. And when it is said, "HE laughs," this is designed to convey to our minds the idea, that the greatest confederacies among kings and peoples, and their most extensive and vigorous preparations to defeat HIS purposes—are in HIS sight altogether insignificant and worthless! HE looks upon their poor and puny efforts, not only without uneasiness or fear—but HE laughs at their folly! HE treats their impotency with derision. He knows how HE can crush them like a moth when HE pleases—or consume them in a moment with the breath of HIS mouth! How profitable it is for us to be reminded of truths such as these! Ah! it is indeed a vain thing for the potsherds of the earth to strive with the glorious Majesty of Heaven! (David Pitcairn)
I am God — and
not man!
(James Smith, "Rills from the Rock of Ages", 1860)
"I will not carry out My fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Israel. For I am God — and not man; the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath!" Hosea 11:9
Thus spoke the Lord, when assigning a reason for not executing the fierceness of His wrath upon guilty and rebellious Israel. A God can do — what a man cannot; and a God can bear — what a man cannot. God always acts in accordance with the grandeur, glory, and greatness of His nature.
Every thought of His heart,
every word of His mouth, and
every work of His hand —
is worthy of Himself!
If we bear this in mind, it will . . .
fortify our minds,
strengthen our faith,
and comfort our souls.
Why does God not cut down the wicked immediately? Because He is God — and not man.
Why does He chasten His people so greatly, and allow them to suffer so much? Because He is God — and not man.
Let us meditate on this declaration of our God for a few moments.
"I am God — and not man," and therefore I am infinitely patient, and not soon moved to take vengeance upon My sinful and rebellious creatures!
"I am God — and not man," and therefore I am ready to forgive, and receive back the returning prodigal to My heart and home!
"I am God — and not man," and therefore I receive great sinners, taking to My heart, and putting among My children — such despicable ones as no one else would notice or regard!
"I am God — and not man," and therefore I pardon again and again, not only first offences — but repeated transgressions, forgiving and forgetting them forever!
"I am God — and not man," and therefore bear with such numerous affronts, such gross ingratitude, such inexcusable conduct — in My own people!
"I am God, and not man," and therefore I invite, entreat, and beseech such base backsliders to return unto Me, and prove the power and freeness of My forgiving love!
"I am God — and not man," and therefore I save freely, fully, and forever — such degraded, depraved, and desperate sinners, to the praise of the glory of My grace!
"I am God — and not man," and therefore I remain faithful to My promises and covenant engagements, amidst all the changes and faithlessness of My fickle people!
"I am God — and not man," and therefore I give such rich, costly, priceless gifts — to the poor, destitute, and unworthy sinners!
"I am God — and not man," and therefore I hear, accept, and answer, such poor, imperfect, and worthless prayers — which, no one else could tolerate, much less approve!
"I am God — and not man," and therefore I work such wonders — wonders in providence, and wonders in grace; wonders in the world, and wonders in the heart!
"I am God — and not man," and therefore, I have prepared such mansions, and will confer such a glorious kingdom — on sinners who have no claim upon Me, nor the least reason to expect any good thing from Me!
Yes, because He is Jehovah, and changes not — therefore we poor, sinning, changeable creatures are not consumed!
Believer, to you the Lord says, "I am God — and not man!" Therefore expect from Him as God — and act toward Him as God! He can do exceedingly and abundantly, above all that you can ask or think! Do not measure His heart by yours — but remember that as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His thoughts higher than your thoughts, and His ways than your ways!
(James Smith, "Rills from the Rock of Ages", 1860)
"I will not carry out My fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Israel. For I am God — and not man; the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath!" Hosea 11:9
Thus spoke the Lord, when assigning a reason for not executing the fierceness of His wrath upon guilty and rebellious Israel. A God can do — what a man cannot; and a God can bear — what a man cannot. God always acts in accordance with the grandeur, glory, and greatness of His nature.
Every thought of His heart,
every word of His mouth, and
every work of His hand —
is worthy of Himself!
If we bear this in mind, it will . . .
fortify our minds,
strengthen our faith,
and comfort our souls.
Why does God not cut down the wicked immediately? Because He is God — and not man.
Why does He chasten His people so greatly, and allow them to suffer so much? Because He is God — and not man.
Let us meditate on this declaration of our God for a few moments.
"I am God — and not man," and therefore I am infinitely patient, and not soon moved to take vengeance upon My sinful and rebellious creatures!
"I am God — and not man," and therefore I am ready to forgive, and receive back the returning prodigal to My heart and home!
"I am God — and not man," and therefore I receive great sinners, taking to My heart, and putting among My children — such despicable ones as no one else would notice or regard!
"I am God — and not man," and therefore I pardon again and again, not only first offences — but repeated transgressions, forgiving and forgetting them forever!
"I am God — and not man," and therefore bear with such numerous affronts, such gross ingratitude, such inexcusable conduct — in My own people!
"I am God, and not man," and therefore I invite, entreat, and beseech such base backsliders to return unto Me, and prove the power and freeness of My forgiving love!
"I am God — and not man," and therefore I save freely, fully, and forever — such degraded, depraved, and desperate sinners, to the praise of the glory of My grace!
"I am God — and not man," and therefore I remain faithful to My promises and covenant engagements, amidst all the changes and faithlessness of My fickle people!
"I am God — and not man," and therefore I give such rich, costly, priceless gifts — to the poor, destitute, and unworthy sinners!
"I am God — and not man," and therefore I hear, accept, and answer, such poor, imperfect, and worthless prayers — which, no one else could tolerate, much less approve!
"I am God — and not man," and therefore I work such wonders — wonders in providence, and wonders in grace; wonders in the world, and wonders in the heart!
"I am God — and not man," and therefore, I have prepared such mansions, and will confer such a glorious kingdom — on sinners who have no claim upon Me, nor the least reason to expect any good thing from Me!
Yes, because He is Jehovah, and changes not — therefore we poor, sinning, changeable creatures are not consumed!
Believer, to you the Lord says, "I am God — and not man!" Therefore expect from Him as God — and act toward Him as God! He can do exceedingly and abundantly, above all that you can ask or think! Do not measure His heart by yours — but remember that as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His thoughts higher than your thoughts, and His ways than your ways!
Behold your
God!
(James Smith, "The Attributes of God" 1863)
The more we have to do with man — the more his littleness, fickleness, and emptiness appear.
But the more we read, think, or have to do with God — the more His greatness, majesty, and infinite sufficiency is discovered! He proclaims Himself, "the Great and Mighty God, the Lord Almighty is His name — great in counsel and mighty in work!" Infinity, omnipotence, and eternity — find a home and a center only in Him.
"His Greatness is unsearchable!" There is more in the works of His hands — than even the angels have ever discovered! There is more in the words of His mouth — than mortals ever conceived. His glory is great unto and above the heavens. "Behold your God!" Isaiah 40:9
Look at His goodness — it runs an endless circuit supplying millions, and supporting all created existences. O how great is His goodness!
Look at His grace —
saving innumerable multitudes from Hell;
saving them at the greatest expense — in the freest possible way;
saving them to the highest honor and greatest glory!
O the exceeding riches of His grace!
Look at His judgments —
He sweeps the ancient world with His broom of destruction!
He makes the cities of the plain into a Hell on earth!
He overthrows Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea!
He encaverns Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and their households in the belly of the earth!
O if we could look into Hell, or listen for a moment at the door of the bottomless pit — how dreadful would His judgments appear! We cannot fathom them — but we must exclaim with the apostle, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!"
Look at His power. He speaks a world into existence, sustains it, supports every creature upon it — and perhaps millions of worlds beside it. All these things are alike easy for Him. Difficulty is with man — not with God. "Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the Heaven and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for You!"
Look at His wisdom. It is infinite. Read it in creation's ponderous folio! Then turn to the glorious plan of grace. Here is a display of "the manifold wisdom of God." Angels are learning it — and we can scarcely make out its alphabet at present! But we have . . .
God for our teacher,
eternity for our duration, and
Heaven for the place where we shall fully learn the greatness of the wisdom of God.
Look at His holiness. It is so bright that no mortal eye has seen, or can see it — in its unveiled glory! "Now we see but a poor reflection!" We have but some faint discoveries — for He is . . .
glorious in holiness,
fearful in praises,
constantly doing wonders!
Look at His mercy. It is a boundless ocean — without bottom, bank or shore!
The manifestations of mercy are innumerable!
The proofs of His mercy are like mountains piled on mountains, reaching to the heavens!
The overflowing of His mercy has supplied the needs of unnumbered multitudes.
"Who is so great a God as our God?"
He is a mighty and awesome God — yet so glorious and kind that the feeblest petitioner need not fear!
(James Smith, "The Attributes of God" 1863)
The more we have to do with man — the more his littleness, fickleness, and emptiness appear.
But the more we read, think, or have to do with God — the more His greatness, majesty, and infinite sufficiency is discovered! He proclaims Himself, "the Great and Mighty God, the Lord Almighty is His name — great in counsel and mighty in work!" Infinity, omnipotence, and eternity — find a home and a center only in Him.
"His Greatness is unsearchable!" There is more in the works of His hands — than even the angels have ever discovered! There is more in the words of His mouth — than mortals ever conceived. His glory is great unto and above the heavens. "Behold your God!" Isaiah 40:9
Look at His goodness — it runs an endless circuit supplying millions, and supporting all created existences. O how great is His goodness!
Look at His grace —
saving innumerable multitudes from Hell;
saving them at the greatest expense — in the freest possible way;
saving them to the highest honor and greatest glory!
O the exceeding riches of His grace!
Look at His judgments —
He sweeps the ancient world with His broom of destruction!
He makes the cities of the plain into a Hell on earth!
He overthrows Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea!
He encaverns Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and their households in the belly of the earth!
O if we could look into Hell, or listen for a moment at the door of the bottomless pit — how dreadful would His judgments appear! We cannot fathom them — but we must exclaim with the apostle, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!"
Look at His power. He speaks a world into existence, sustains it, supports every creature upon it — and perhaps millions of worlds beside it. All these things are alike easy for Him. Difficulty is with man — not with God. "Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the Heaven and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for You!"
Look at His wisdom. It is infinite. Read it in creation's ponderous folio! Then turn to the glorious plan of grace. Here is a display of "the manifold wisdom of God." Angels are learning it — and we can scarcely make out its alphabet at present! But we have . . .
God for our teacher,
eternity for our duration, and
Heaven for the place where we shall fully learn the greatness of the wisdom of God.
Look at His holiness. It is so bright that no mortal eye has seen, or can see it — in its unveiled glory! "Now we see but a poor reflection!" We have but some faint discoveries — for He is . . .
glorious in holiness,
fearful in praises,
constantly doing wonders!
Look at His mercy. It is a boundless ocean — without bottom, bank or shore!
The manifestations of mercy are innumerable!
The proofs of His mercy are like mountains piled on mountains, reaching to the heavens!
The overflowing of His mercy has supplied the needs of unnumbered multitudes.
"Who is so great a God as our God?"
He is a mighty and awesome God — yet so glorious and kind that the feeblest petitioner need not fear!
Last night Sam
was at "The Fighting Rooster"
(James Smith, "God is Merciful" 1858)
"God is merciful!" said old Mrs. Jenkins, as she came from the funeral home where drunken Sam Voller was just laid out. Last night Sam was at "The Fighting Rooster" and drank too much beer, then he quarreled, a fight followed, and Sam got an unlucky blow — and now he has gone to appear before his Maker, to give an account of the deeds!
Yes, Mrs. Jenkins, God is merciful — but not always. God is merciful — but not to all. There was no mercy for the world of the ungodly, who perished in the flood. Nor was there any mercy for the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, who were consumed by fire from heaven.
Neither can we see, though we do not wish to judge harshly of our poor fellow-creatures, how there could be mercy for Sam — who lived in sin, died in sin, and died in consequence of his sin. "He who confesses and forsakes his sin — shall find mercy;" but how can he hope for mercy — who hardens himself in sin, and perseveres in it until summoned to appear before God to give an account of it?
"There is mercy with God — that He may be feared," not that He may be trifled with, and insulted to His face!
Mercy may now be obtained by any one and every one who seeks it. But the Lord, who is now so merciful and gracious — will by and by manifest His wrathful indignation; and say to those who now refuse to come when He calls them, "Depart from me, you cursed ones, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels!" Terrible words — called forth by persevering in sin, and inflicting a terrible doom! May no reader of these lines, ever endure the threatening contained in them!
In vain for mercy now they cry;
In lakes of liquid fire they lie;
There on the flaming billows tossed,
Forever — O, forever, lost!
"Where is your God, my boy?"
said an infidel to a child whom he saw coming out of a church. "Where is
your God, about whom you have been reading? Show Him to me, and I will give you
a treat!" "Show me where He is not," was the answer, "and I
will give you two! My God is everywhere!"(James Smith, "God is Merciful" 1858)
"God is merciful!" said old Mrs. Jenkins, as she came from the funeral home where drunken Sam Voller was just laid out. Last night Sam was at "The Fighting Rooster" and drank too much beer, then he quarreled, a fight followed, and Sam got an unlucky blow — and now he has gone to appear before his Maker, to give an account of the deeds!
Yes, Mrs. Jenkins, God is merciful — but not always. God is merciful — but not to all. There was no mercy for the world of the ungodly, who perished in the flood. Nor was there any mercy for the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, who were consumed by fire from heaven.
Neither can we see, though we do not wish to judge harshly of our poor fellow-creatures, how there could be mercy for Sam — who lived in sin, died in sin, and died in consequence of his sin. "He who confesses and forsakes his sin — shall find mercy;" but how can he hope for mercy — who hardens himself in sin, and perseveres in it until summoned to appear before God to give an account of it?
"There is mercy with God — that He may be feared," not that He may be trifled with, and insulted to His face!
Mercy may now be obtained by any one and every one who seeks it. But the Lord, who is now so merciful and gracious — will by and by manifest His wrathful indignation; and say to those who now refuse to come when He calls them, "Depart from me, you cursed ones, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels!" Terrible words — called forth by persevering in sin, and inflicting a terrible doom! May no reader of these lines, ever endure the threatening contained in them!
In vain for mercy now they cry;
In lakes of liquid fire they lie;
There on the flaming billows tossed,
Forever — O, forever, lost!
"The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good!" (Proverbs 15:3)
The teaching of the Bible on this point—is clear, plain, and unmistakable. God is everywhere! There is no place in heaven or earth, where He is not. There is no place in air or land or sea, no place above ground or under ground, no place in town or country, no place in Europe, Asia, Africa, or America—where God is not always present.
Enter into your room and lock the door—God is there. Climb to the top of the highest mountain, where not even an insect moves—God is there. Sail to the most remote island in the Pacific Ocean, where the foot of man never trod—God is there. He is always near us—seeing, hearing, observing; knowing every action, and deed, and word, and whisper, and look, and thought, and motive, and secret of everyone of us—wherever we are.
"His eyes watch over a man’s ways, and He observes all his steps. There is no darkness, no deep darkness, where evildoers can hide themselves!" (Job 34:21, 22)
One half the sin committed by mankind, arises from wrong views of their Maker and Judge! Men are reckless and wicked, because they do not think that God sees them! They do things they would never do—if they really believed that they were under the eyes of the Almighty God! "They say, 'The Lord doesn't see it! The God of Jacob doesn't pay attention!' Is the One who made your ears deaf? Is the One who formed your eyes blind? He punishes the nations—won't he also punish you? He knows everything; doesn't He also know what you are doing?" (Psalm 94:7-10)
However hard it is to comprehend this doctrine—it is one which is most useful and wholesome for our souls. To keep continually in mind—that God is always present with us; to live always as in God's sight; to act and speak and think as always under His eye—all this is eminently calculated to have a good effect upon our souls. Wide, and deep, and searching, and piercing—is the influence of that one thought, "You are the God who sees me!" (Genesis 16:13)
(1) The thought of God's presence—is a loud call to humility. How much which is evil and defective, must the all-seeing eye—see in everyone of us! How small a part of our character is really known by man! "Man looks on the outward appearance—but the Lord looks on the heart!" (1 Sam. 16:7). Man does not always see us—but the Lord is always looking at us—morning, noon, and night! Who has not need to say, "God be merciful to me a sinner!"
(2) The thought of God's presence—is a crushing proof of our need of Jesus Christ. What hope of salvation could we have, if there was not a Mediator between God and man? Before the eye of the ever-present God—our best righteousness is filthy rags—and our best doings are full of imperfection! Where would we be—if there was not a fountain open for all sin—even the blood of Christ! Without Christ—the prospect of death, judgment, and eternity would drive us to despair!
(3) The thought of God's presence—teaches the folly of hypocrisy in religion. What can be more silly and childish—than to wear a mere cloak of Christianity, while we inwardly cleave to sin, when God is ever looking at us and sees us through and through! It is easy to deceive ministers and fellow-Christians, because they often see us only upon Sundays. But God sees us morning, noon, and night—and cannot be deceived. Oh, whatever we are in religion—let us be real and true!
(4) The thought of God's presence—is a check and curb on the inclination to sin. The recollection that there is One who is always near us and observing us, who will one day have a reckoning with all mankind—may well keep us back from evil! Happy are those sons and daughters who, when they leave the family home, and launch forth into the world, carry with them the abiding remembrance of God's eye. "My father and mother do not see me—but God does!" This was the feeling which preserved Joseph when tempted in a foreign land: "How can I do this great wickedness—and sin against God!" (Gen. 39:9)
(5) The thought of God's presence—is a spur to the pursuit of true holiness. The highest standard of sanctification is to "walk with God" as Enoch did, and to "walk before God" as Abraham did. Where is the man who would not strive to live so as to please God—if he realized that God was always standing at his elbow! To get away from God—is the secret aim of the sinner. To get nearer to God—is the longing desire of the saint. The real servants of the Lord are "a people near unto Him." (Psalm 148:14)
(6) The thought of God's presence—is a comfort in time of public calamity. When war and famine and pestilence break in upon a land; when the nations are torn by inward divisions, and all order seems in peril—it is cheering to reflect that God sees and knows and is close at hand—that the King of kings is near, and is not asleep.
(7) The thought of God's presence—is a strong consolation in private trial. We may be driven from home and native land—and placed at the other side of the world; we may be bereaved of wife and children and friends—and left alone, like the last tree in a forest. But we can never go to any place where God is not; and under no circumstances can we be left entirely alone.
Such thoughts as these, are useful and profitable for us all. That man must be in a poor state of soul, who does not feel them to be so. Let it be a settled principle in our religion—never to forget that in every condition and place—that we are under the eye of God! It need not frighten us—if we are true believers. The sins of all believers are cast behind God's back—and even the all-seeing God sees no spot in them! It ought to cheer us—if our Christianity is genuine and sincere. We can then appeal to God with confidence, like David, and say, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You—and lead me along the path of everlasting life!" (Psalm 139:23, 24). Great is the mystery of God's omnipresence; but the true man of God can look at it without fear.
"I know that the Lord is great, that our Lord is greater than all gods. The Lord does whatever pleases Him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all — depths!" Psalm 135:5-6
God rules all! And though He is concealed by a veil of second causes from common eyes, so that they can perceive only the means, instruments, and contingencies by which He works, and therefore think He does nothing; yet, in reality, He does all according to His own counsel and pleasure, in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth.
Who can enumerate all the beings and events, which are incessantly before His eye, adjusted by His wisdom, dependent on His will, and regulated by His power! If we consider the heavens, the work of His fingers, the moon and the stars which He has ordained; if we call in the assistance of astronomers to help us in forming a conception of the number, distances, magnitudes, and motions of the heavenly bodies--the more we search, the more we shall be confirmed, that these are but a small portion of His ways! He calls them all by — names, upholds them by His power, and without His continual energy upholding them--they would rush into confusion, or sink into nothing! They are all dependent upon His power, and obedient to His command.
To come nearer home, and to speak of what seems more suited to our scanty apprehensions--still we may be lost in wonder. With respect to mankind, He reigns with uncontrolled dominion over every kingdom, family, and individual. Before this blessed and only Potentate, all the nations of the earth are but as the dust upon the balance, and the small drop of a bucket--and might be thought (if compared with the immensity of His works) scarcely worthy of His notice! Yet here He presides, pervades, provides, protects, and rules! All changes, successes, and disappointments--all that is memorable in the annals of history, all the rising and falls of empires, all the turns in human life--take place according to His plan!
In Him His creatures live, move, and have — being. From Him is — food and preservation. The eyes of all are upon Him--what He gives they gather--and can gather no more! And at His word they sink into the dust! There is not a worm which crawls upon the ground, or a flower which grows in the pathless wilderness, or a shell upon the sea-shore--but bears the impress of His wisdom, power, and goodness! He preserves man and beast, sustains the young lion in the forest, feeds the birds of the air, which have neither storehouse or barn, and adorns the insects and the flowers of the field with a beauty and elegance beyond all that can be found in the courts of kings!
All things serve Him, and are in His hands--as clay in the hands of the potter. Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of saints!
This is the God whom we adore! This is He who invites us to lean upon His almighty arm, and promises to guide us with His unerring eye!
God has two
fires
(Thomas Watson, "The Beatitudes" 1660)
"I have refined you in the furnace of affliction."
Isaiah 48:10
"Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal
fire prepared for the Devil and his demons! And they
will go away into eternal punishment!" Mt. 25:41, 46
God has two fires—
one where He puts His gold,
one where He puts His dross.
The fire where He puts His gold, is
the fire of affliction—to purify them.
The fire where He puts His dross, is
the fire of damnation—to punish them.
The eye of God!(Thomas Watson, "The Beatitudes" 1660)
"I have refined you in the furnace of affliction."
Isaiah 48:10
"Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal
fire prepared for the Devil and his demons! And they
will go away into eternal punishment!" Mt. 25:41, 46
God has two fires—
one where He puts His gold,
one where He puts His dross.
The fire where He puts His gold, is
the fire of affliction—to purify them.
The fire where He puts His dross, is
the fire of damnation—to punish them.
(James Smith, "God's Knowledge of Us" 1865)
"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account!" Hebrews 4:13
"The Lord searches every heart and understands the intention of every thought!" 1 Chronicles 28:9
"I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person!" Revelation 2:23
"O Lord, You know!" Jeremiah 15:15
God's perfect knowledge, is like the pillar-cloud which led Israel out of Egypt, and through the wilderness: it is dark and a cause of terror to His enemies — but it is light and a source of comfort to His children.
"O Lord, You know" my SINS and FOLLIES! No one else does. No one else ever will. How could I look anyone in the face — if I thought he knew what was passing in my heart, or what is transacted in the chambers of my imagination within!
The Lord alone can search the heart. He alone knows the worst of us — and He alone knows the best; for the best and the worst, are both concealed in the same heart. The eye of God sees . . .
every motive,
every thought,
every lust,
every action!
His eye is on that mysterious portion of our nature, called the imagination, on which such strange pictures are often painted, in which such fearful scenes are sometimes transacted. "You know my folly, O God; my guilt is not hidden from You!" Psalm 69:5
What streams of moral filthiness sometimes flow from the heart into the imagination! How difficult sometimes to keep it back.
What a depth of pollution there is within us!
What billows of corruption sometimes roll and swell!
Little does the young Christian think — what the pure and holy eye of God sees within him; and what his own eye will one day discover, filling him with alarm — if not with horror, with shame and self-loathing! Then he will enter into poor Job's confession, "Behold, I am vile!" and into Isaiah's exclamation, "Woe is me! I am undone!"
"What more can I say unto You? For You know Your servant, O Sovereign Lord!" 2 Samuel 7:20
But blessed be God, the righteousness of Jesus covers all — and conceals all; and the grace and Spirit of God will ultimately purge away the whole foul heap from us!
Now our iniquities are forgiven, and our sins are covered; but then our natures will be perfectly purified, and be as white as the falling snow! "Beloved, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is!" 1 John 3:2
His all-seeing
eye!
(James Smith, "Nothing Too Hard for God!" 1864)
"There is nothing too hard for You!" Jeremiah 32:17
There is nothing too difficult for God to discover.
His eyes are in every place — beholding the evil and the good.
Nothing can elude His notice, or escape His all-seeing eye!
All things are naked and open before Him with whom we have to do.
He approves, or disapproves — of every motive, word, or action which passes before His omniscient eye.
He discovers the true state of every HEART — though the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.
Every heart lies naked and exposed before Him.
He fathoms its depths.
He turns over its intricate folds.
He analyzes its dismal contents.
He is fully acquainted . . .
with every principle which influences it,
with every thought which arises within it,
with every word and work which proceed from it.
No one can hide his heart in secret from the Lord!
"Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting."
Psalm 139 23-24
(James Smith, "Nothing Too Hard for God!" 1864)
"There is nothing too hard for You!" Jeremiah 32:17
There is nothing too difficult for God to discover.
His eyes are in every place — beholding the evil and the good.
Nothing can elude His notice, or escape His all-seeing eye!
All things are naked and open before Him with whom we have to do.
He approves, or disapproves — of every motive, word, or action which passes before His omniscient eye.
He discovers the true state of every HEART — though the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.
Every heart lies naked and exposed before Him.
He fathoms its depths.
He turns over its intricate folds.
He analyzes its dismal contents.
He is fully acquainted . . .
with every principle which influences it,
with every thought which arises within it,
with every word and work which proceed from it.
No one can hide his heart in secret from the Lord!
"Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting."
Psalm 139 23-24
When He shows
no anger!
("The Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod"
or, "The Silent Soul with Sovereign Antidotes"
by Thomas Brooks, 1659, London.)
"The Lord disciplines the one He loves, and
punishes every son whom He receives." Heb. 12:6
There cannot be a greater evidence of God's
hatred and wrath--than His refusing to correct
men for their sinful courses and vanities!
Where God refuses to correct--there God resolves
to destroy! There is no man so near God's axe--so
near the flames--so near hell--as he whom God
will not so much as spend a rod upon!
"Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline."
Revelation 3:19
God is most angry--when He shows no anger!
Who can seriously meditate upon this, and not
be silent under God's most smarting rod?
("The Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod"
or, "The Silent Soul with Sovereign Antidotes"
by Thomas Brooks, 1659, London.)
"The Lord disciplines the one He loves, and
punishes every son whom He receives." Heb. 12:6
There cannot be a greater evidence of God's
hatred and wrath--than His refusing to correct
men for their sinful courses and vanities!
Where God refuses to correct--there God resolves
to destroy! There is no man so near God's axe--so
near the flames--so near hell--as he whom God
will not so much as spend a rod upon!
"Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline."
Revelation 3:19
God is most angry--when He shows no anger!
Who can seriously meditate upon this, and not
be silent under God's most smarting rod?
Holy, holy,
holy
(Thomas Brooks, "The Crown and Glory of Christianity,
or, HOLINESS, the Only Way to Happiness", 1662)
"Who is like You, glorious in holiness?" Exodus 15:11
God is . . .
infinitely holy,
transcendently holy,
superlatively holy,
constantly holy,
unchangeably holy,
exemplary holy,
gloriously holy.
All the holiness that is in the best and choicest
Christians is but a mixed holiness, a weak and
imperfect holiness. Their unholiness is always
more than their holiness.
Ah, what a great deal . . .
of pride is mixed with a little humility,
of unbelief is mixed with a little faith,
of peevishness is mixed with a little meekness,
of earthliness is mixed with a little heavenliness,
of carnality is mixed with a little spirituality,
of harshness is mixed with a little tenderness!
Oh, but the holiness of God is a pure holiness, it is
a holiness without mixture; there is not the least
drop or the least dreg of unholiness in God! "God
is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." 1 John 1:5
In God there is . . .
all wisdom without any folly,
all truth without any falsehood,
all light without any darkness, and
all holiness without any sinfulness.
God is universally holy.
He is holy in all His ways,
and holy in all His works.
His precepts are holy precepts,
His promises are holy promises,
His threatenings are holy threatenings,
His love is a holy love,
His anger is a holy anger,
His hatred is a holy hatred, etc.
His nature is holy,
His attributes are holy,
His actions are all holy.
He is holy in sparing;
and holy in punishing.
He is holy in justifying of some;
and holy in condemning of others.
He is holy in bringing some to heaven;
and holy in throwing others to hell.
God is holy . . .
in all His sayings,
in all His doings,
in whatever He puts His hand to,
in whatever He sets His heart to.
His frowns are holy,
His smiles are holy.
When He gives, His givings are holy giving;
when He takes away, His takings are holy takings, etc.
"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord Almighty!" Isaiah 6:3
God is eminently holy.
He is transcendently holy.
he is superlatively holy.
He is glorious in holiness.
There is no fathoming,
there is no measuring,
there is no comprehending,
there is no searching, of that
infinite sea of holiness, which is in God.
O sirs! you shall as soon . . .
stop the sun in its course, and
change the day into night, and
raise the dead,
and make a world, and
count the stars of heaven, and
empty the sea with a cockle-shell,
as you shall be able either to conceive or express
that transcendent holiness which is in God!
God's holiness is infinite.
It can neither be . . .
limited, nor
lessened, nor
increased.
God is the spring of all holiness and purity. All that
holiness which is in angels and men flows from God,
as the streams from the fountain,
as the beams from the sun,
as the branches from the root,
as the effect from the cause.
Ministers may pray that their people may be holy,
parents may pray that their children may be holy;
but they cannot give holiness, nor communicate
holiness to their nearest and dearest relations.
God alone is the giver and the author of all holiness.
It is only the Holy One who can cause holiness to flow
into sinners' hearts; it is only He who can form, and
frame, and infuse holiness into the souls of men.
A man shall sooner make make a world—than he shall
make another holy. It is only a holy God, who can . . .
enlighten the mind, and
bow the will, and
melt the heart, and
raise the affections, and
purge the conscience, and
reform the life, and
put the whole man into a holy gracious temper.
God is exemplary holy. He is the rule, example, and
pattern of holiness. "Be holy, as I am holy." 1 Pet. 1:15.
God's holiness is the copy which we must always have in
our eye, and endeavor most exactly to write after.
Delight in God!(Thomas Brooks, "The Crown and Glory of Christianity,
or, HOLINESS, the Only Way to Happiness", 1662)
"Who is like You, glorious in holiness?" Exodus 15:11
God is . . .
infinitely holy,
transcendently holy,
superlatively holy,
constantly holy,
unchangeably holy,
exemplary holy,
gloriously holy.
All the holiness that is in the best and choicest
Christians is but a mixed holiness, a weak and
imperfect holiness. Their unholiness is always
more than their holiness.
Ah, what a great deal . . .
of pride is mixed with a little humility,
of unbelief is mixed with a little faith,
of peevishness is mixed with a little meekness,
of earthliness is mixed with a little heavenliness,
of carnality is mixed with a little spirituality,
of harshness is mixed with a little tenderness!
Oh, but the holiness of God is a pure holiness, it is
a holiness without mixture; there is not the least
drop or the least dreg of unholiness in God! "God
is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." 1 John 1:5
In God there is . . .
all wisdom without any folly,
all truth without any falsehood,
all light without any darkness, and
all holiness without any sinfulness.
God is universally holy.
He is holy in all His ways,
and holy in all His works.
His precepts are holy precepts,
His promises are holy promises,
His threatenings are holy threatenings,
His love is a holy love,
His anger is a holy anger,
His hatred is a holy hatred, etc.
His nature is holy,
His attributes are holy,
His actions are all holy.
He is holy in sparing;
and holy in punishing.
He is holy in justifying of some;
and holy in condemning of others.
He is holy in bringing some to heaven;
and holy in throwing others to hell.
God is holy . . .
in all His sayings,
in all His doings,
in whatever He puts His hand to,
in whatever He sets His heart to.
His frowns are holy,
His smiles are holy.
When He gives, His givings are holy giving;
when He takes away, His takings are holy takings, etc.
"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord Almighty!" Isaiah 6:3
God is eminently holy.
He is transcendently holy.
he is superlatively holy.
He is glorious in holiness.
There is no fathoming,
there is no measuring,
there is no comprehending,
there is no searching, of that
infinite sea of holiness, which is in God.
O sirs! you shall as soon . . .
stop the sun in its course, and
change the day into night, and
raise the dead,
and make a world, and
count the stars of heaven, and
empty the sea with a cockle-shell,
as you shall be able either to conceive or express
that transcendent holiness which is in God!
God's holiness is infinite.
It can neither be . . .
limited, nor
lessened, nor
increased.
God is the spring of all holiness and purity. All that
holiness which is in angels and men flows from God,
as the streams from the fountain,
as the beams from the sun,
as the branches from the root,
as the effect from the cause.
Ministers may pray that their people may be holy,
parents may pray that their children may be holy;
but they cannot give holiness, nor communicate
holiness to their nearest and dearest relations.
God alone is the giver and the author of all holiness.
It is only the Holy One who can cause holiness to flow
into sinners' hearts; it is only He who can form, and
frame, and infuse holiness into the souls of men.
A man shall sooner make make a world—than he shall
make another holy. It is only a holy God, who can . . .
enlighten the mind, and
bow the will, and
melt the heart, and
raise the affections, and
purge the conscience, and
reform the life, and
put the whole man into a holy gracious temper.
God is exemplary holy. He is the rule, example, and
pattern of holiness. "Be holy, as I am holy." 1 Pet. 1:15.
God's holiness is the copy which we must always have in
our eye, and endeavor most exactly to write after.
(James Smith, "Delight in God!")
"Delight yourself in the Lord — and He will give you the desires of your heart!" Psalm 37:4
Sin has taken our attention off of God — and fixed it upon ourselves, and the things around us.
Grace calls our attention off of everything else — to fix it upon God. It directs us to . . .
look to the Lord,
come to the Lord,
trust in the Lord,
wait on the Lord,
hope in the Lord, and
even delight in the Lord.
"Delight yourself in the Lord." Take delight — not in health, or wealth, or position, or friends, or in anything that is changeable — but in the unchangeable Lord.
Delight yourself in His glorious character — as gracious, merciful, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.
Delight yourself in Him, as . . .
the father of the fatherless,
the friend of the friendless,
the hope of the wretched,
and the Savior of the lost.
Delight yourself in His gracious covenant, which . . .
anticipates your needs,
provides for your needs,
limits your trials, and
provides strength for the day, as every day's work requires.
Delight yourself in His paternal relation. He is not only your God — but your Father!
He cares for you, with a father's care!
He loves you, with a father's love!
He pities you, with a father's pity!
He will receive you to Heaven, as to your father's house!
Delight yourself in His precious promises. They are but drops from His ocean of love! They are intended to . . .
show His love,
display His grace,
manifest His care,
draw out your confidence,
banish your fear, and
assure you of all necessary supplies.
Delight yourself in his special providence. A providence that . . .
marks your steps,
directs your paths,
measures your troubles,
bounds the rage of your enemies,
numbers the very hairs of your head, and
makes all things work together for your good!
God in His providence, superintends all your affairs, even the most minute — so that nothing can happen to you by 'chance', or inadvertently do you harm!
Delight in creatures — only produces disappointment, dissatisfaction, and discomfort.
Delight in God — ensures satisfaction, comfort, and certainty.
To delight in God, is only to prefer . . .
the ever-flowing fountain — to the shallow stream;
the glorious sun — to the dim candle!
He who can
truly say this, is a God
(Thomas Brooks, "An Ark for All God's Noahs" 1662)
"The Lord is my portion, says my soul; therefore
I will hope in Him." Lamentations 3:24
God is every believer's portion.
Riches are not every believer's portion
—but God is every believer's portion.
Liberty and freedom are not every believer's
portion—but God is every believer's portion.
Honor and applause are not every believer's
portion—but God is every believer's portion.
Prosperity and success are not every believer's
portion—but God is every believer's portion.
God is a universal portion. God is a portion that includes
all other portions. God has Himself the good, the sweet,
the profit, the pleasure, the delight, the comfort—of all
portions. There is no good in wife, child, father, friend,
husband, health, wealth, wit, wisdom, learning, honor
—but is all found in God.
There is in God—an immense fullness, an ocean of goodness,
and an abundance of all that graciousness, sweetness, and
kindness—that is to be found in all other things or creatures.
All the goodnesses of all the creatures, are eminently and
perfectly to be enjoyed in God. The cream, the good, the
sweet, the beauty, and the glory of every creature, and of
every thing—centers in God.
God is a universal excellency. All the particular excellencies
that are scattered up and down among angels, men, and all
other creatures—are virtually and transcendently in Him. He
has them all in His own being. All creatures in heaven and
earth have but their particular excellencies; but God has in
Himself the very quintessence of all excellencies!
The creatures have but drops of that sea, that ocean—which
is in God. They have but their parts of that power, wisdom,
goodness, righteousness, holiness, faithfulness, loveliness,
desirableness, sweetness, graciousness, beauty, and glory
—which is in God. One has this part, and another has that;
one has this particular excellency, and another has that.
But the whole of all these parts and excellencies, are to
be found in God alone!
There is none but that God, who is the universal good,
who can truly say, "All power, all wisdom, all strength,
all knowledge, all goodness, all sweetness, all beauty,
all glory, all excellency, etc., dwells in Me!" He who
can truly say this, is a God; and he who cannot,
is no God.
All the excellencies that are scattered up and down in the
creatures, are united into one excellency in God. There is
a glorious union of all excellencies in God—and only in God.
Now this God, who is such a universal good, and who has
all excellencies dwelling in Himself, says to the believer,
"I am yours, and all that I have is yours!"
Every believer has the whole God wholly; he has all
of God for his portion. God is not a believer's portion
in a limited sense, nor in a comparative sense—but
in an absolute sense.
God Himself is theirs.
He is wholly theirs.
He is always theirs.
Our property reaches to all that God is,
and to all that God has.
He has all—who has the Possessor of all.
To be able to say, "God is mine!" is more than
if I were able to say that ten thousand worlds,
yes, and as many heavens, are mine!
Oh what a spring of joy and comfort should
this be to all the saints!
"This God is our God forever and ever!" Ps. 48:14
(Thomas Brooks, "An Ark for All God's Noahs" 1662)
"The Lord is my portion, says my soul; therefore
I will hope in Him." Lamentations 3:24
God is every believer's portion.
Riches are not every believer's portion
—but God is every believer's portion.
Liberty and freedom are not every believer's
portion—but God is every believer's portion.
Honor and applause are not every believer's
portion—but God is every believer's portion.
Prosperity and success are not every believer's
portion—but God is every believer's portion.
God is a universal portion. God is a portion that includes
all other portions. God has Himself the good, the sweet,
the profit, the pleasure, the delight, the comfort—of all
portions. There is no good in wife, child, father, friend,
husband, health, wealth, wit, wisdom, learning, honor
—but is all found in God.
There is in God—an immense fullness, an ocean of goodness,
and an abundance of all that graciousness, sweetness, and
kindness—that is to be found in all other things or creatures.
All the goodnesses of all the creatures, are eminently and
perfectly to be enjoyed in God. The cream, the good, the
sweet, the beauty, and the glory of every creature, and of
every thing—centers in God.
God is a universal excellency. All the particular excellencies
that are scattered up and down among angels, men, and all
other creatures—are virtually and transcendently in Him. He
has them all in His own being. All creatures in heaven and
earth have but their particular excellencies; but God has in
Himself the very quintessence of all excellencies!
The creatures have but drops of that sea, that ocean—which
is in God. They have but their parts of that power, wisdom,
goodness, righteousness, holiness, faithfulness, loveliness,
desirableness, sweetness, graciousness, beauty, and glory
—which is in God. One has this part, and another has that;
one has this particular excellency, and another has that.
But the whole of all these parts and excellencies, are to
be found in God alone!
There is none but that God, who is the universal good,
who can truly say, "All power, all wisdom, all strength,
all knowledge, all goodness, all sweetness, all beauty,
all glory, all excellency, etc., dwells in Me!" He who
can truly say this, is a God; and he who cannot,
is no God.
All the excellencies that are scattered up and down in the
creatures, are united into one excellency in God. There is
a glorious union of all excellencies in God—and only in God.
Now this God, who is such a universal good, and who has
all excellencies dwelling in Himself, says to the believer,
"I am yours, and all that I have is yours!"
Every believer has the whole God wholly; he has all
of God for his portion. God is not a believer's portion
in a limited sense, nor in a comparative sense—but
in an absolute sense.
God Himself is theirs.
He is wholly theirs.
He is always theirs.
Our property reaches to all that God is,
and to all that God has.
He has all—who has the Possessor of all.
To be able to say, "God is mine!" is more than
if I were able to say that ten thousand worlds,
yes, and as many heavens, are mine!
Oh what a spring of joy and comfort should
this be to all the saints!
"This God is our God forever and ever!" Ps. 48:14
All the whole
volume of perfections
(Thomas Brooks, "Apples of Gold" 1660)
"Whom do I have in heaven but You? And I desire
nothing on earth but You. My flesh and my heart
may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my
portion forever." Psalm 73:25-26
The true Christian seeks God as his choicest and chief
good. God is a perfect good, a solid good. That is a
perfect good--to which nothing can be added; that is
a solid good--from which nothing can be spared. Such
a good God is, and therefore He is chiefly to be sought.
God is a pure and simple good; He is a light in whom
there is no darkness, a good in whom there is no evil.
The goodness of the creature is mixed, yes, that little
goodness which is in the creature is mixed with much
evil; but God is an unmixed good. He is good, He is
pure good. He is all over good. He is nothing but good.
God is an all-sufficient good. Augustine said,
"He has all--who has the Haver of all."
God has in Himself . . .
all power to defend you,
all wisdom to direct you,
all mercy to pardon you,
all grace to enrich you,
all righteousness to clothe you,
all goodness to supply you,
all happiness to crown you.
God is a satisfying good, a good that fills the heart and
quiets the soul. In Him, I have all. I have all comforts,
all delights, all contentments. As the worth and value of
many pieces of silver is to be found in one piece of gold,
so all the petty excellencies which are scattered abroad
in the creatures--are to be found in God. Yes, all the
whole volume of perfections, which is spread through
heaven and earth--is epitomized in Him. No good below
Him who is the greatest good, can satisfy the soul. A good
wife, a good child, a good name, a good estate, a good
friend--cannot satisfy the soul. These may please--but
they cannot satisfy.
Ah! that we should seek early, seek earnestly, seek
affectionately, seek diligently, seek primarily, and seek
unweariedly--this God, who is the greatest good, the
best good, the most desirable good, who is--
a suitable good,
a pure good,
a satisfying good,
a total good, and
an eternal good.
"Whom do I have in heaven but You? And I desire
nothing on earth but You. My flesh and my heart
may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my
portion forever." Psalm 73:25-26
(Thomas Brooks, "Apples of Gold" 1660)
"Whom do I have in heaven but You? And I desire
nothing on earth but You. My flesh and my heart
may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my
portion forever." Psalm 73:25-26
The true Christian seeks God as his choicest and chief
good. God is a perfect good, a solid good. That is a
perfect good--to which nothing can be added; that is
a solid good--from which nothing can be spared. Such
a good God is, and therefore He is chiefly to be sought.
God is a pure and simple good; He is a light in whom
there is no darkness, a good in whom there is no evil.
The goodness of the creature is mixed, yes, that little
goodness which is in the creature is mixed with much
evil; but God is an unmixed good. He is good, He is
pure good. He is all over good. He is nothing but good.
God is an all-sufficient good. Augustine said,
"He has all--who has the Haver of all."
God has in Himself . . .
all power to defend you,
all wisdom to direct you,
all mercy to pardon you,
all grace to enrich you,
all righteousness to clothe you,
all goodness to supply you,
all happiness to crown you.
God is a satisfying good, a good that fills the heart and
quiets the soul. In Him, I have all. I have all comforts,
all delights, all contentments. As the worth and value of
many pieces of silver is to be found in one piece of gold,
so all the petty excellencies which are scattered abroad
in the creatures--are to be found in God. Yes, all the
whole volume of perfections, which is spread through
heaven and earth--is epitomized in Him. No good below
Him who is the greatest good, can satisfy the soul. A good
wife, a good child, a good name, a good estate, a good
friend--cannot satisfy the soul. These may please--but
they cannot satisfy.
Ah! that we should seek early, seek earnestly, seek
affectionately, seek diligently, seek primarily, and seek
unweariedly--this God, who is the greatest good, the
best good, the most desirable good, who is--
a suitable good,
a pure good,
a satisfying good,
a total good, and
an eternal good.
"Whom do I have in heaven but You? And I desire
nothing on earth but You. My flesh and my heart
may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my
portion forever." Psalm 73:25-26
God's tools and
instruments
(Thomas Brooks, "London's Lamentations" 1670)
"I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity
and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things."
Isaiah 45:7
Let us see the hand of the Lord in this recent dreadful fire
which has turned our once renowned London into a ruinous
heap! London's sins were now so great, and God's wrath
was now so hot—that there was no quenching of the furious
flames. The decree for the burning of London was now gone
forth, and nothing could reverse it. The time of London's fall
was now come. The fire had now received its commission
from God—to burn down the city and to turn it into a
ruinous heap!
Certainly God is the great agent in all those dreadful
judgments which befall people, cities, and kingdoms.
Whoever or whatever be the rod—it is God's hand
which gives the stroke! The power of bringing
judgments upon cities, God takes to Himself, "When
disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused
it?" Amos 3:6. Whatever that judgment is, which falls
upon a city—God is the author of it; He acts in it and
orders it according to His own good pleasure. There
is no judgment which accidentally falls upon any
person, city, or country. Every judgment is inflicted
by a divine power and providence. God had given a
commission to the fire—to burn with that force and
violence as it did—until London was laid in ashes!
Whoever kindled this fire—God blew the coal!
And therefore no arts, counsels, or endeavors of
men were able to quench it.
All judgments are at the beck of God, and under the
command of God. Whatever judgment God commands
to destroy a person, a city, or country—that judgment
shall certainly and effectually accomplish the command
of God—in spite of all that creatures can do. If God
commissions the sword of war to walk abroad, and to
glut itself with blood—who can command it into the
scabbard again? No art, power, or policy can cause
that sword to lie still!
God, as He is our Creator, Preserver, and sovereign
Lord—has an absolute power both over our persons,
lives, estates, and habitations: and when we have
transgressed His righteous laws, He may do with
us, and all we have—as He pleases. He may turn
us out of house and home, and burn up all our
comforts round about us—and yet do us no wrong.
"Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases
Him." Psalm 115:3. "The Lord does whatever
pleases Him—in the heavens and on the earth,
in the seas and all their depths." Psalm 135:6
Those things which seem accidental and chance to
us—are ordered by the wise counsel, power, and
providence of God. Instruments can no more stir
until God gives them a commission—than the axe
or the knife can cut by itself, without a hand. God
makes use of whatever second causes He pleases,
for the execution of His pleasure. And many times
He makes the worst of men the rod of His indignation
to chastise His people with! All inferior or subordinate
causes—are but God's tools and instruments,
which He rules and guides according to His own will,
power, and providence.
Job eyed God in the fire which fell from heaven, and
in all the fiery trials which befell him. And therefore,
he does not say, "The Lord gave—and the devil took
away!" Nor, "The Lord gave—and the Chaldeans and
Sabeans took away!" But "The Lord gave—and the
Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord
be praised!" Job 1:20-21
Certainly without the cognizance and concurrence of
a wise, omniscient, and omnipotent God—no creatures
can move. Without His foresight and permission—no
event can befall any person, city or country. Whatever
the means or instruments of our misery are—the hand
is God's! It behooves us, in every judgment, to see the
hand of the Lord, and to look through visible means to
an invisible God! "The Lord has afflicted me; the
Almighty has brought misfortune upon me!" Ruth 1:21
"The Lord brings death and makes alive; He brings
down to the grave and raises up. The Lord sends
poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts!"
1 Samuel 2:6-7
(Thomas Brooks, "London's Lamentations" 1670)
"I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity
and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things."
Isaiah 45:7
Let us see the hand of the Lord in this recent dreadful fire
which has turned our once renowned London into a ruinous
heap! London's sins were now so great, and God's wrath
was now so hot—that there was no quenching of the furious
flames. The decree for the burning of London was now gone
forth, and nothing could reverse it. The time of London's fall
was now come. The fire had now received its commission
from God—to burn down the city and to turn it into a
ruinous heap!
Certainly God is the great agent in all those dreadful
judgments which befall people, cities, and kingdoms.
Whoever or whatever be the rod—it is God's hand
which gives the stroke! The power of bringing
judgments upon cities, God takes to Himself, "When
disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused
it?" Amos 3:6. Whatever that judgment is, which falls
upon a city—God is the author of it; He acts in it and
orders it according to His own good pleasure. There
is no judgment which accidentally falls upon any
person, city, or country. Every judgment is inflicted
by a divine power and providence. God had given a
commission to the fire—to burn with that force and
violence as it did—until London was laid in ashes!
Whoever kindled this fire—God blew the coal!
And therefore no arts, counsels, or endeavors of
men were able to quench it.
All judgments are at the beck of God, and under the
command of God. Whatever judgment God commands
to destroy a person, a city, or country—that judgment
shall certainly and effectually accomplish the command
of God—in spite of all that creatures can do. If God
commissions the sword of war to walk abroad, and to
glut itself with blood—who can command it into the
scabbard again? No art, power, or policy can cause
that sword to lie still!
God, as He is our Creator, Preserver, and sovereign
Lord—has an absolute power both over our persons,
lives, estates, and habitations: and when we have
transgressed His righteous laws, He may do with
us, and all we have—as He pleases. He may turn
us out of house and home, and burn up all our
comforts round about us—and yet do us no wrong.
"Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases
Him." Psalm 115:3. "The Lord does whatever
pleases Him—in the heavens and on the earth,
in the seas and all their depths." Psalm 135:6
Those things which seem accidental and chance to
us—are ordered by the wise counsel, power, and
providence of God. Instruments can no more stir
until God gives them a commission—than the axe
or the knife can cut by itself, without a hand. God
makes use of whatever second causes He pleases,
for the execution of His pleasure. And many times
He makes the worst of men the rod of His indignation
to chastise His people with! All inferior or subordinate
causes—are but God's tools and instruments,
which He rules and guides according to His own will,
power, and providence.
Job eyed God in the fire which fell from heaven, and
in all the fiery trials which befell him. And therefore,
he does not say, "The Lord gave—and the devil took
away!" Nor, "The Lord gave—and the Chaldeans and
Sabeans took away!" But "The Lord gave—and the
Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord
be praised!" Job 1:20-21
Certainly without the cognizance and concurrence of
a wise, omniscient, and omnipotent God—no creatures
can move. Without His foresight and permission—no
event can befall any person, city or country. Whatever
the means or instruments of our misery are—the hand
is God's! It behooves us, in every judgment, to see the
hand of the Lord, and to look through visible means to
an invisible God! "The Lord has afflicted me; the
Almighty has brought misfortune upon me!" Ruth 1:21
"The Lord brings death and makes alive; He brings
down to the grave and raises up. The Lord sends
poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts!"
1 Samuel 2:6-7
|
THE TENDERNESS OF GOD
(John MacDuff, "The Night
Watches")
"He will feed his flock like
a shepherd. He will
carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young." Isaiah 40:11
How soothing, in the hour of
sorrow, or bereavement,
or death, to have the countenance and sympathy of a tender earthly friend. Reader, these words tell you of One nearer, dearer, tenderer still; the Friend that never fails; a tender God!
By how many endearing epithets
does Jesus exhibit
the tenderness of His relation to His people.
Does a shepherd watch
tenderly over his flock?
"The Lord is my Shepherd."
Does a father exercise
fondest solicitude towards
his children? "I will be a Father unto you."
Does a mother's love exceed
all other earthly
types of affection. "As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you."
Is the 'apple of the eye' (the
pupil) the most
sensitive part of the most delicate bodily organ? He guards His people "as the apple of His eye!"
"He will not break the
bruised reed."
When the Shepherd and Guardian of
Souls finds
the sinner, like a lost sheep, stumbling on the dark mountains, how tenderly He deals with him! There is no look of wrath; no word of upbraiding; in silent love "He lays him on His shoulders rejoicing!"
Reader, are you mourning over...
the weakness of your faith; the coldness of your love; your manifold spiritual declensions?
Fear not. He knows your frame! He
will give
'feeble faith' tender dealing. He will "carry" in His arms those that are unable to walk, and will conduct the burdened ones through a path less rough and rugged than others.
When "the lion" or
"the bear" comes, you may
trust the true David, the tenderest of Shepherds!
Are you suffering from outward
trial?
Confide in the tenderness of your
God's dealings
with you. The strokes of His rod are gentle strokes; the needed discipline of a father yearning over his children the very moment He is chastising them. The gentlest earthly parent may speak a harsh word at times; it may be, needlessly harsh. But not so God. He may seem, like Joseph to his brethren, to 'speak roughly'; but all the while there is love in His heart.
The 'pruning knife' will not be
used
unnecessarily. It will never cut too deeply.
The 'furnace' will not burn more
fiercely than is
absolutely required. A tender God is seated by it, tempering the fury of its flames.
And what, believer, is the secret
of all this
tenderness? "There is a Man upon the Throne!" Jesus, the God Man Mediator; combining with the might of Godhead, the tenderness of spotless humanity.
Is your heart crushed with sorrow?
so was His!
Are your eyes dimmed with tears?
so were His?
"Jesus wept!" Bethany's Chief Mourner still wears the Brother's heart in glory!
Others may be unable to enter into
the
depths of your trial; Jesus can; Jesus does!
With such a tender God....
caring for me, providing for me, watching my path by day, and guarding my couch by night, "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." Psalm 4:8 |
THE
OMNIPRESENCE OF GOD
(John MacDuff, "The Night Watches")
"Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Where shall I flee from Your presence?" Psalm 139:7
The omnipresence of God! How baffling to any finite comprehension! To think that above us, and around us, and within us — there is Deity — the invisible footprints of an Omniscient, Omnipresent One! "His Eyes are in every place!" On rolling planets — and tiny atoms; on the bright seraph — and the lowly worm; roaming in searching scrutiny through the tracks of immensity — and reading the dark and hidden page of my heart! "All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do!"
O God! shall this Your Omnipresence appall me? No! In my seasons of sadness and sorrow and loneliness — when other comforts and comforters have failed — when, it may be, in the darkness and silence of some midnight hour, in vain I have sought repose — how sweet to think, "My God is here! I am not alone. The Omniscient One, to whom the darkness and the light are both alike — is hovering over my sleepless pillow!" O my Unsetting Sun, it cannot be darkness or loneliness or sadness — where You are. There can be no night to the soul which has been cheered with Your glorious radiance!
"Surely, I am with you always!" How precious, blessed Jesus, is this, Your legacy of parting love! Present with each of Your people until the end of time — ever present, omnipresent. The true "Pillar of cloud" by day — and "Pillar of fire" by night, preceding and encamping by us in every step of our wilderness journey. My soul! think of Him at this moment — as present with every member of the family that He has redeemed with His blood! Yes, and as much present with every individual soul, as if He had none other to care for — but as if that one engrossed all His affection and love!
The Great Builder — surveying every stone and pillar of His spiritual temple;
the Great Shepherd — with His eye on every sheep of His fold;
the Great High Priest — marking every tear-drop; noting every sorrow; listening to every prayer; knowing the peculiarities of every case: no number perplexing Him — no variety bewildering Him; able to attend to all, and satisfy all, and answer all — myriads drawing hourly from His Treasury — and yet no diminution of that Treasury — ever emptying, and yet ever filling, and always full!
Jesus! Your perpetual and all-pervading presence turns darkness into day! I am not left un-befriended to weather the storms of life — Your hand is from hour to hour piloting my frail vessel. The omnipresence of God — gracious antidote to every earthly sorrow!
"I have set the Lord always before me!" Even now, as night is drawing its curtains around me, be this my closing prayer, 'Blessed Savior! abide with me, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent!' Under the shadowing wings of Your presence and love, "I will both lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O Lord, make me live in safety!" Psalm 4:8
A tender God!(John MacDuff, "The Night Watches")
"Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Where shall I flee from Your presence?" Psalm 139:7
The omnipresence of God! How baffling to any finite comprehension! To think that above us, and around us, and within us — there is Deity — the invisible footprints of an Omniscient, Omnipresent One! "His Eyes are in every place!" On rolling planets — and tiny atoms; on the bright seraph — and the lowly worm; roaming in searching scrutiny through the tracks of immensity — and reading the dark and hidden page of my heart! "All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do!"
O God! shall this Your Omnipresence appall me? No! In my seasons of sadness and sorrow and loneliness — when other comforts and comforters have failed — when, it may be, in the darkness and silence of some midnight hour, in vain I have sought repose — how sweet to think, "My God is here! I am not alone. The Omniscient One, to whom the darkness and the light are both alike — is hovering over my sleepless pillow!" O my Unsetting Sun, it cannot be darkness or loneliness or sadness — where You are. There can be no night to the soul which has been cheered with Your glorious radiance!
"Surely, I am with you always!" How precious, blessed Jesus, is this, Your legacy of parting love! Present with each of Your people until the end of time — ever present, omnipresent. The true "Pillar of cloud" by day — and "Pillar of fire" by night, preceding and encamping by us in every step of our wilderness journey. My soul! think of Him at this moment — as present with every member of the family that He has redeemed with His blood! Yes, and as much present with every individual soul, as if He had none other to care for — but as if that one engrossed all His affection and love!
The Great Builder — surveying every stone and pillar of His spiritual temple;
the Great Shepherd — with His eye on every sheep of His fold;
the Great High Priest — marking every tear-drop; noting every sorrow; listening to every prayer; knowing the peculiarities of every case: no number perplexing Him — no variety bewildering Him; able to attend to all, and satisfy all, and answer all — myriads drawing hourly from His Treasury — and yet no diminution of that Treasury — ever emptying, and yet ever filling, and always full!
Jesus! Your perpetual and all-pervading presence turns darkness into day! I am not left un-befriended to weather the storms of life — Your hand is from hour to hour piloting my frail vessel. The omnipresence of God — gracious antidote to every earthly sorrow!
"I have set the Lord always before me!" Even now, as night is drawing its curtains around me, be this my closing prayer, 'Blessed Savior! abide with me, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent!' Under the shadowing wings of Your presence and love, "I will both lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O Lord, make me live in safety!" Psalm 4:8
(John MacDuff, "The Night Watches")
"He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in His arms, holding them close to His heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young." Isaiah 40:11
How soothing, in the hour of sorrow, or bereavement, or death — to have the countenance and sympathy of a tender earthly friend. Reader, these words tell you of One nearer, dearer, and tenderer still — the Friend who never fails — a tender God! By how many endearing epithets does Jesus exhibit the tenderness of His relation to His people!
Does a shepherd watch tenderly over his flock? "The Lord is my Shepherd."
Does a father exercise fondest solicitude towards his children? "I will be a Father unto you."
Does a mother's love exceed all other earthly types of affection. "As one whom his mother comforts — so will I comfort you."
Is the 'apple of the eye' (the pupil) the most sensitive part of the most delicate bodily organ? He guards His people "as the apple of His eye!"
When the Shepherd and Guardian of souls finds the redeemed sinner, like a lost sheep, stumbling on the dark mountains — how tenderly He deals with him! There is no look of wrath — no word of upbraiding; in silent love "He lays him on His shoulders rejoicing!"
Reader, are you mourning over the weakness of your faith; the coldness of your love; your manifold spiritual declensions? Fear not! He knows your frame! He will give 'feeble faith' tender dealing. He will "carry" those who are unable to walk, in His arms; and will conduct the burdened ones through a path less rough and rugged than others.
When "the lion" or "the bear" comes, you may trust the true David, the tenderest of Shepherds! Are you suffering from outward trial? Confide in the tenderness of your God's dealings with you. The strokes of His rod are gentle strokes — the needed discipline of a father yearning over his children, at the very moment he is chastising them. The gentlest earthly parent may speak a harsh word at times; it may be needlessly harsh. But not so with God. He may seem, like Joseph to his brethren, to speak roughly; but all the while there is love in His heart!
The 'pruning knife' will not be used unnecessarily — it will never cut too deeply!
The 'furnace' will not burn more fiercely than is absolutely required — a tender God is seated by it, tempering the fury of its flames!
And what, believer, is the secret of all this tenderness? "There is a Man upon the Throne!" Jesus, the God-Man Mediator; combining with the might of Godhead — the tenderness of spotless humanity.
Is your heart crushed with sorrow? So was His!
Are your eyes dimmed with tears? So were His! "Jesus wept!" Bethany's Chief Mourner still wears the Brother's heart in glory. Others may be unable to enter into the depths of your trial — He can — He does!
With such a "tender God" caring for me, providing for me, watching my path by day, and guarding my couch by night, "I will both lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O Lord, make me live in safety!" Psalm 4:8
"He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in His arms, holding them close to His heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young." Isaiah 40:11
God's sweetest
attribute!
(James Smith, "The Book That Will Suit You!")
Men are deficient in mercy — but God, our God in Jesus, will display the greatest kindness and compassion to His children. This renders Him so amiable, suitable, and glorious in the estimation of His people. Mercy is God's sweetest attribute . . .
as beautiful as the morning light,
as measureless as the waters of the ocean,
as boundless as illimitable space,
as refreshing as the early dew,
as glorious as the noon-day sun!
God's mercy is like His nature — pure, lovely, and eternal. His mercy is suited to all the needs of His children — it is free, full, and meets every case! Christian, the Lord assures you that He has mercy for you!
He has pardoning mercy — which will suit your sinfulness; mercy which will blot out your sins, and remove them from you as far as the east is from the west!
He has delivering mercy — which will meet your misery; mercy which will deliver you from . . .
the power of sin,
the bondage of Satan,
the curse of the law,
the fear of death,
the terrors of judgment, and
all the soul-troubles which may fall upon you on earth!
His mercy is tender mercy — which will suit the sickness of your soul. He will sympathize with you, pity you, and manifest the greatest forbearance and love. His mercy is so tender, that it will not break the bruised reed, or quench the smoking flax. It will . . .
encourage the weak desire,
fan the feeble spark into a flame,
and take the will for the deed.
His mercy is supplying mercy — to meet your needs and defects. It will supply all your needs, according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Whether your needs are temporal or spiritual — He will supply you. He will give you both grace and glory; and no good thing will He withhold from you, if you walk uprightly.
It is also sanctifying mercy — to suit your impurity. It will wash you in the laver of the Word, and in the fountain of a Savior's blood. It will teach you to wash your robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. It will sanctify your troubles, and make all things work together for your good.
It is rescuing mercy, which will appear for you, and deliver you from all the dangers which may line your way — and at last present you faultless before the throne of God!
In a word — God's mercy will meet every case, circumstance, and condition in which it is possible for you to be placed!
Reader, let me exhort you to dwell much on this excellent attribute of your God. Meditate on God as all-merciful and all-sufficient for our every state!
(James Smith, "The Book That Will Suit You!")
Men are deficient in mercy — but God, our God in Jesus, will display the greatest kindness and compassion to His children. This renders Him so amiable, suitable, and glorious in the estimation of His people. Mercy is God's sweetest attribute . . .
as beautiful as the morning light,
as measureless as the waters of the ocean,
as boundless as illimitable space,
as refreshing as the early dew,
as glorious as the noon-day sun!
God's mercy is like His nature — pure, lovely, and eternal. His mercy is suited to all the needs of His children — it is free, full, and meets every case! Christian, the Lord assures you that He has mercy for you!
He has pardoning mercy — which will suit your sinfulness; mercy which will blot out your sins, and remove them from you as far as the east is from the west!
He has delivering mercy — which will meet your misery; mercy which will deliver you from . . .
the power of sin,
the bondage of Satan,
the curse of the law,
the fear of death,
the terrors of judgment, and
all the soul-troubles which may fall upon you on earth!
His mercy is tender mercy — which will suit the sickness of your soul. He will sympathize with you, pity you, and manifest the greatest forbearance and love. His mercy is so tender, that it will not break the bruised reed, or quench the smoking flax. It will . . .
encourage the weak desire,
fan the feeble spark into a flame,
and take the will for the deed.
His mercy is supplying mercy — to meet your needs and defects. It will supply all your needs, according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Whether your needs are temporal or spiritual — He will supply you. He will give you both grace and glory; and no good thing will He withhold from you, if you walk uprightly.
It is also sanctifying mercy — to suit your impurity. It will wash you in the laver of the Word, and in the fountain of a Savior's blood. It will teach you to wash your robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. It will sanctify your troubles, and make all things work together for your good.
It is rescuing mercy, which will appear for you, and deliver you from all the dangers which may line your way — and at last present you faultless before the throne of God!
In a word — God's mercy will meet every case, circumstance, and condition in which it is possible for you to be placed!
Reader, let me exhort you to dwell much on this excellent attribute of your God. Meditate on God as all-merciful and all-sufficient for our every state!
The Judge!
(by James Smith, 1856)
"God is the
Judge!" Psalm
75:7(by James Smith, 1856)
There is one supreme judge of what is right and wrong — and that judge is Jesus. He is qualified to judge, and He is appointed to sit in judgment on all the actions of men, and to reward every one according to his works.
But it is not to God's final judgment we are about to refer — but to the present. Many professors talk, or seem to feel, as if great mistakes were made, and therefore they justify themselves in complaining. But Jesus is Judge of what is right, and what is best.
His wisdom is infinite;
His knowledge comprehends the past, the present, and the future;
His power is omnipotent;
His mercy is from everlasting to everlasting, and is over all His works;
His love to His people surpasses knowledge.
This being the case, there can be no question that Jesus is the best Judge of what is right, and of what should be.
God is the Judge — as to our PERSONS. Some wish they had more strength, some that they had more health, some that they had more beauty, some one thing, some another thing. Some imagine that they are too tall — and some not tall enough. Some are crooked, or otherwise deformed — and are grieved that they are not straight or well formed.
But God is the Judge, and our formation, size, shape, appearance, etc, are all according to His will; and if according to His will — it must be best. Beware of how you sit in judgment on the wisdom of God, or think yourself capable of improving His plans.
God is the Judge as to who should be born — their size, shape, appearance, and every other particular. Therefore be silent before Him; be satisfied with your lot, and believe that by and bye you will see a reason for what tries or troubles you at present. If you were humble, you would not be much affected by what man may think, or what man may say — but would bow before God, and say, "If I can honor You by being deformed, or destitute of beauty, or weak, or diseased — it is enough. May Your will be done, Your name be hallowed, Your glory be advanced — and I am content; more — I am well-pleased!"
God is the Judge — as to our CIRCUMSTANCES.
Whether I am to be rich, or to be poor;
whether I am employer, or employed;
whether I am healthy, or sick;
whether I thrive, or go to wreck —
God is the Judge as to which is best. He is Judge as to the nature or number of my mercies, trials, troubles, comforts, crosses, losses, bereavements and varied changes.
I cannot tell what would be best — what would really do me good. I must . . .
bow to the wisdom of the All-wise God,
accept the appointments of His Grace, and
be satisfied with the arrangements of Infinite Love.
If there was anything like 'chance' in the world — I might complain, or wish for an alteration. But since God exercises His judgment, and has ordained my lot — it is for me to approve of it, and seek grace that I may honor Him in it.
God is the Judge — as to our EVENTS. Many things are sent to try us; and they try our thoughts, our faith, our fortitude, our patience, our humility, and our perseverance. How things may end — we do not know. What certain providences are intended to produce — we are not informed. But we may rest assured of this — that . . .
God's ends will be accomplished,
His purposes will be performed, and
the predictions of His Word will be fulfilled.
We may, therefore, very safely leave all results to God. The path of duty is plainly marked out. We should walk in that path, taking no thought for the morrow. We should . . .
trust God's promises,
walk by God's precepts,
observe God's providences;
and then we may say, "I have nothing to do with the future, for God is the Judge! He puts down one — and sets up another."
Christian, are you tempted to complain of your lot? Or, do you wish to choose for yourself? It is better to leave it with God — and try to believe that it is best to be as you are, and where you are. There is no doubt that you can glorify God exactly where you are, more than anywhere else.
You can do all that God wishes you to do — right where you are. It is not a change of circumstances — so much as a change of heart that you need. You need more grace and contentment — rather than more health, or wealth, or beauty. Depend upon it, God has made no mistake! And if your body is not so finely formed, or you are not so indulged with health, or so favored with gifts as some are — it is all right, for God is the Judge! It is HIS doing, and "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
Defer to God's judgment,
lie low before God's throne,
seek to be filled with God's Spirit —
and so you will be satisfied to have all things ruled by God's will.
He does according to His will in heaven — and there is no complaint or repining there. And he does according to His will on earth — and there should be no dissatisfaction with God's allotments.
We have too high an opinion of ourselves, and of our own judgments; and while this is the case, we shall attempt to invade the rights of the Most High God, or to dictate to the Supreme Ruler! Man — poor, vain man — would gladly be judge! He would take the throne of his Maker! He would . . .
snatch the rule from His hand,
judge His justice,
be the God of God!
But who are you that replies against God? Shall the thing formed say unto Him that formed it, "Why have you made me thus?"
God is the Judge! Therefore be silent all the earth, before the Lord!
We should learn
a lesson from the old heathen artist!
(J.R. Miller, "Daily Bible Readings in the Life of Christ" 1890)
"In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah . . . and his wife Elizabeth . . . Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly." Luke 1:5-6
This is a beautiful thing which God said of them. Yet, after all, that is the test which every life must endure. It is not enough to have human commendation. The question is — How do we stand before God? How does our life appear to Him? It does not matter how men praise and commend us — if God sees that we are living wrong. The Pharisees were righteous before men; but if you would see how they stood in God's eye — read the twenty-third chapter of Matthew: "You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to Hell!" (verse 33)
We are in reality — just what we are before God — nothing less, nothing more! The question we should always ask ourselves is, "What does God think of me?" If we would meet His approval, we must first have our hearts right — and then we must be blameless and upright in every part of our life.
One of the old heathen artists was chiseling the back part of his marble statue with great pains. "Why do you carve the tresses on back of the head of your statue so carefully?" asked one; "it will stand high in its niche against the wall — and no one will ever see its back." "The gods will see it," was the reply.
We should learn a lesson from the old heathen artist! We should do our work just as honestly, where it will be covered up and never seen by human eyes — as where it is to be open to the scrutiny of the world. For God will see it! We should live just as purely and beautifully in secret — as in the glare of the world's gaze!
There really is no such thing as secrecy in this world. We imagine that no eye is looking — when we are not in the presence of men. But really, we always have a spectator — we are living all our life in the presence God Himself! We should train ourselves, therefore, to live for the Divine eye in all that we do — that our life may stand the Divine inspection, and that we may have the approval and commendation of God Himself!
"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account!" Hebrews 4:13
(J.R. Miller, "Daily Bible Readings in the Life of Christ" 1890)
"In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah . . . and his wife Elizabeth . . . Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly." Luke 1:5-6
This is a beautiful thing which God said of them. Yet, after all, that is the test which every life must endure. It is not enough to have human commendation. The question is — How do we stand before God? How does our life appear to Him? It does not matter how men praise and commend us — if God sees that we are living wrong. The Pharisees were righteous before men; but if you would see how they stood in God's eye — read the twenty-third chapter of Matthew: "You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to Hell!" (verse 33)
We are in reality — just what we are before God — nothing less, nothing more! The question we should always ask ourselves is, "What does God think of me?" If we would meet His approval, we must first have our hearts right — and then we must be blameless and upright in every part of our life.
One of the old heathen artists was chiseling the back part of his marble statue with great pains. "Why do you carve the tresses on back of the head of your statue so carefully?" asked one; "it will stand high in its niche against the wall — and no one will ever see its back." "The gods will see it," was the reply.
We should learn a lesson from the old heathen artist! We should do our work just as honestly, where it will be covered up and never seen by human eyes — as where it is to be open to the scrutiny of the world. For God will see it! We should live just as purely and beautifully in secret — as in the glare of the world's gaze!
There really is no such thing as secrecy in this world. We imagine that no eye is looking — when we are not in the presence of men. But really, we always have a spectator — we are living all our life in the presence God Himself! We should train ourselves, therefore, to live for the Divine eye in all that we do — that our life may stand the Divine inspection, and that we may have the approval and commendation of God Himself!
"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account!" Hebrews 4:13
Fear Him!
(John MacDuff, "The Precepts of Jesus"
A guide through life to immortality!)
(John MacDuff, "The Precepts of Jesus"
A guide through life to immortality!)
"Who would not fear You, O King
of nations?"
Jeremiah 10:7
Jeremiah 10:7
How reasonable it is, that this
glorious Being, whose
greatness is unsearchable—should be regarded with
feelings of the profoundest reverence. It is, indeed, His
due, and as such He claims it from all His creatures.
greatness is unsearchable—should be regarded with
feelings of the profoundest reverence. It is, indeed, His
due, and as such He claims it from all His creatures.
"Concerning the sinfulness of
the wicked: There
is no fear of God before his eyes." Psalm 36:1
is no fear of God before his eyes." Psalm 36:1
To have no fear of God before their
eyes—is at once
the greatest injustice, and the most unutterable folly!
All who have the impudence to lift up their puny
arms in rebellion against Him, are engaged in a
conflict, which, if persisted in, is sure to terminate
in their utter destruction!
Reader, think of His incomprehensible greatness
and majesty. Think of Him as the High and Lofty
One who inhabits eternity—
the heavens His throne,
the earth His footstool,
the light His garment,
the clouds His chariot,
the thunder His voice!
Viewing Him thus—it will be impossible for you to
treat Him with indifference, far less with scornful
disdain. If you are only brought in some measure,
to realize the fact of God's greatness and majesty,
you cannot fail to acknowledge that He is greatly
to be feared, and to be held in reverence by all
His creatures.
Just so, with all the other attributes of His nature.
Who can think of His power so mighty, so irresistible
—a power which is able to crush us into atoms with
infinitely greater ease than we can tread the crawling
worm beneath our feet—and not fear Him?
Who can think of His knowledge, nothing being
hidden from His omniscient glance, the darkness of
midnight and the splendor of noon, being altogether
alike to Him—and not fear Him?
Who can think of the terrors of His avenging justice,
and not fear Him—especially, as when He proclaims
from His exalted throne, "There is no god other than
Me! I am the one who kills and gives life; I am the
one who wounds and heals; no one delivers from
My power! As surely as I live, when I sharpen My
flashing sword and begin to carry out justice, I will
bring vengeance on My enemies and repay those
who hate Me!" Deuteronomy 32:39-41
Our God is, truly, a consuming fire! It is most befitting
for us, to regard Him with reverence and godly fear!
It is not those who can deprive us of our present life,
whom we should so much dread. Limited, and of brief
duration—is the power of all mortal foes at best. "Do
not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that
can do no more. But I will show you whom you should
fear: Fear Him who, after the killing of the body, has
power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, Fear
Him!" Luke 12:4-5
What can be more difficult than this? the greatest injustice, and the most unutterable folly!
All who have the impudence to lift up their puny
arms in rebellion against Him, are engaged in a
conflict, which, if persisted in, is sure to terminate
in their utter destruction!
Reader, think of His incomprehensible greatness
and majesty. Think of Him as the High and Lofty
One who inhabits eternity—
the heavens His throne,
the earth His footstool,
the light His garment,
the clouds His chariot,
the thunder His voice!
Viewing Him thus—it will be impossible for you to
treat Him with indifference, far less with scornful
disdain. If you are only brought in some measure,
to realize the fact of God's greatness and majesty,
you cannot fail to acknowledge that He is greatly
to be feared, and to be held in reverence by all
His creatures.
Just so, with all the other attributes of His nature.
Who can think of His power so mighty, so irresistible
—a power which is able to crush us into atoms with
infinitely greater ease than we can tread the crawling
worm beneath our feet—and not fear Him?
Who can think of His knowledge, nothing being
hidden from His omniscient glance, the darkness of
midnight and the splendor of noon, being altogether
alike to Him—and not fear Him?
Who can think of the terrors of His avenging justice,
and not fear Him—especially, as when He proclaims
from His exalted throne, "There is no god other than
Me! I am the one who kills and gives life; I am the
one who wounds and heals; no one delivers from
My power! As surely as I live, when I sharpen My
flashing sword and begin to carry out justice, I will
bring vengeance on My enemies and repay those
who hate Me!" Deuteronomy 32:39-41
Our God is, truly, a consuming fire! It is most befitting
for us, to regard Him with reverence and godly fear!
It is not those who can deprive us of our present life,
whom we should so much dread. Limited, and of brief
duration—is the power of all mortal foes at best. "Do
not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that
can do no more. But I will show you whom you should
fear: Fear Him who, after the killing of the body, has
power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, Fear
Him!" Luke 12:4-5
(James Smith, "Nothing Impossible" 1861)
"For with God, nothing shall be impossible!" Luke 1:37
Difficulties often crowd the believer's path, and trials line his way. Obstacles and opposition meet him at almost every turn. What to do at times — he scarcely knows, for he has been disappointed so often, and is now so completely baffled — that his way is hedged up with thorns! Look whichever way he will, or to whatever quarter he may — there is something to discourage him, and cast him down!
It is of no use looking any way, or to any one — but to the Lord; and while looking to Him, it will be well to remember what the angel said to the blessed virgin, to excite and strengthen her faith, "For with God, nothing shall be impossible."
Look at the Fact. There are no impossibilities with God! He can do — as He will. He will do — all that He has promised. He has promised to do all that you can need or even wisely desire. In Mary's case, much faith was required — it was exercised and honored.
A virgin did bear a son.
That son was free from all taint of sin.
That son was divine.
That divine Son was the Savior of men.
What can be more difficult than this?
What should stagger us, after this?
Look at what God IS:
look at His power and grace,
look at His wisdom and wealth,
look at His pity and compassion,
look at His greatness and glory.
Look at what God has DONE:
in nature — by His power,
in providence — by His wisdom,
in redemption — by His grace.
And looking at what God is, and at what He has done — you must come to the conclusion, "With God, nothing is impossible!"
Let us use this fact for our own benefit. Nothing shall be impossible with God!
Not the conversion of that obstinate child.
Not that hardened husband.
Not that trying and degraded wife.
Not the restoration of that backslider — as low as he may have sunk, and far as he may have gone.
Not the pardon of those sins — as great, glaring, and numerous as they may be.
Not the sanctification of that trouble — as deep, trying, and dreadful as it is.
Not the bringing of the greatest good out of that worst evil — though it may have alarmed and terrified you.
Not the perfecting of the soul in holiness — as sinful and polluted as it is at present.
No, nothing is too hard for the Lord! Therefore cheer up, press on, take up your cross or burden afresh — and bear it after Jesus.
Let this precious truth, feed and strengthen your faith — that you may be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
Let it excite and animate your hope — that you may expect great things from God.
Let it stimulate you in prayer — that you may ask largely of God, and ask with confidence too.
Let it crush your fears — that you may press boldly on, until you reach the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Let it stir you up to exertion — for as nothing shall be impossible to God, so nothing shall be impossible to you, which you undertake with His sanction, and with a view to His glory.
Let it encourage and call forth praise — for how grateful and thankful we should be, that our God can do all things, and therefore will do for us, all that is necessary both in life and death.
Let us keep this sweet truth always in mind, and when cast down — chide our fears and excite our hopes, saying, "With God, nothing shall be impossible!"
God laughs
(Thomas Watson, "Kiss the Son")
(Thomas Watson, "Kiss the Son")
"The Lord laughs at the
wicked, for He knows
their day is coming." Psalm 37:13
their day is coming." Psalm 37:13
"Let us break their
chains," they say, "and throw
off their fetters." The One enthroned in heaven
laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then He rebukes
them in His anger and terrifies them in His wrath!"
Psalm 2:3-5
God laughs to see men's folly—to see poor, weak
clay strive with the Almighty Potter. But let the
wicked remember that God is never more angry
with them—than when He laughs! After His
laughing, then He shall speak to them in His wrath.
"I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock
when calamity overtakes you!" Proverbs 1:26
"Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you be destroyed
in your way, for His wrath can flare up in a moment!
Blessed are all who take refuge in Him." Psalm 2:12
off their fetters." The One enthroned in heaven
laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then He rebukes
them in His anger and terrifies them in His wrath!"
Psalm 2:3-5
God laughs to see men's folly—to see poor, weak
clay strive with the Almighty Potter. But let the
wicked remember that God is never more angry
with them—than when He laughs! After His
laughing, then He shall speak to them in His wrath.
"I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock
when calamity overtakes you!" Proverbs 1:26
"Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you be destroyed
in your way, for His wrath can flare up in a moment!
Blessed are all who take refuge in Him." Psalm 2:12
You shall not take the name of
the Lord your God in vain
(Arthur Pink, "The Ten Commandments")
"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless, who takes His name in vain." Exodus 20:7
This commandment bids us to speak of God with that frame of spirit which is agreeable to His dignity and solemnity and the majesty: that is, with the utmost sincerity, humility and reverence. O what high thoughts ought we to entertain of such a Being! In what holy awe should we stand of Him!
Anything pertaining to God should be spoken of with the greatest sobriety.
God’s Name is taken in vain—when we use it without due consideration and reverence. Whenever we make mention of Him before whom the seraphim veil their faces—we ought seriously and solemnly to ponder His infinite majesty and glory—and bow our hearts in deepest prostration before that Name.
God's Name is not to be sported with and tossed to and fro upon every light tongue. O my reader, form the habit of solemnly considering whose Name it is you are about to utter. It is the Name of Him who is present with you, who is hearing you pronounce it. He is jealous of His honor, and He will dreadfully avenge Himself upon those who have slighted Him!
It has become almost impossible to walk the streets or to enter mixed company without hearing the sacred Name of God treated with blasphemous contempt. The novels of the day, the stage, and even radio (and more lately television, the cinema, and the press) are terrible offenders, and without doubt this is one of the fearful sins against Himself, for which God is now pouring out His judgments upon us.
God is dreadfully incensed by this sin, and in the common commission of this Heaven-insulting crime, our country has incurred terrible guilt! "The Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes His Name in vain." Sore punishment shall be his portion, if not in this life, then most assuredly so, eternally so, in the life to come!
(Arthur Pink, "The Ten Commandments")
"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless, who takes His name in vain." Exodus 20:7
This commandment bids us to speak of God with that frame of spirit which is agreeable to His dignity and solemnity and the majesty: that is, with the utmost sincerity, humility and reverence. O what high thoughts ought we to entertain of such a Being! In what holy awe should we stand of Him!
Anything pertaining to God should be spoken of with the greatest sobriety.
God’s Name is taken in vain—when we use it without due consideration and reverence. Whenever we make mention of Him before whom the seraphim veil their faces—we ought seriously and solemnly to ponder His infinite majesty and glory—and bow our hearts in deepest prostration before that Name.
God's Name is not to be sported with and tossed to and fro upon every light tongue. O my reader, form the habit of solemnly considering whose Name it is you are about to utter. It is the Name of Him who is present with you, who is hearing you pronounce it. He is jealous of His honor, and He will dreadfully avenge Himself upon those who have slighted Him!
It has become almost impossible to walk the streets or to enter mixed company without hearing the sacred Name of God treated with blasphemous contempt. The novels of the day, the stage, and even radio (and more lately television, the cinema, and the press) are terrible offenders, and without doubt this is one of the fearful sins against Himself, for which God is now pouring out His judgments upon us.
God is dreadfully incensed by this sin, and in the common commission of this Heaven-insulting crime, our country has incurred terrible guilt! "The Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes His Name in vain." Sore punishment shall be his portion, if not in this life, then most assuredly so, eternally so, in the life to come!
His dreadful threatenings!
(Thomas Brooks, "Paradise Opened" 1675)
Sin and sorrow, iniquity and misery—always
go hand in hand.
"The wages of sin is death," Romans 6:23. Every
sinner is worthy of death. "Those who do such things
deserve death," Romans 1:32. If God is a just and
righteous God, then sin cannot absolutely escape
unpunished; for it is but "a just and righteous thing
with God"—to punish the sinner who is worthy of
punishment. As God must be just—so He must be
faithful. And if He must be faithful—then He must
carry out His threatenings against sin and sinners!
Look! As there is not a promise of God but shall surely
take place; just so, there is not a threatening of God
but shall surely take place. The faithfulness of God, and
the honor of God, are as much concerned in making good
of His dreadful threatenings—as they are concerned
in making good of His precious promises. God has given
it from His own mouth, that:
"He will by no means clear the guilty;"
"the soul that sins, shall surely die;"
"the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him;"
"He will render to every man according to his deeds."
Will God abrogate His own laws—or will He dare men to
sport and play with His threatenings? Will not every wise
and prudent king look to the execution of their own laws?
And shall not that God, who is wonderful in wisdom, and
whose understanding is infinite—see all that all His laws
are put in execution against offenders? Surely yes!
"He will repay them for their sins and destroy them
for their wickedness; the LORD our God will destroy
them!" Psalm 94:23
"I will not look on you with pity or spare you; I will
repay you in accordance with your conduct and the
detestable practices among you. Then you will know
that it is I the LORD who strikes the blow!" Ezek. 7:9
"When I sharpen My flashing sword and My hand grasps
it in judgment, I will take vengeance on My adversaries
and repay those who hate Me." Deuteronomy 32:41
(Thomas Brooks, "Paradise Opened" 1675)
Sin and sorrow, iniquity and misery—always
go hand in hand.
"The wages of sin is death," Romans 6:23. Every
sinner is worthy of death. "Those who do such things
deserve death," Romans 1:32. If God is a just and
righteous God, then sin cannot absolutely escape
unpunished; for it is but "a just and righteous thing
with God"—to punish the sinner who is worthy of
punishment. As God must be just—so He must be
faithful. And if He must be faithful—then He must
carry out His threatenings against sin and sinners!
Look! As there is not a promise of God but shall surely
take place; just so, there is not a threatening of God
but shall surely take place. The faithfulness of God, and
the honor of God, are as much concerned in making good
of His dreadful threatenings—as they are concerned
in making good of His precious promises. God has given
it from His own mouth, that:
"He will by no means clear the guilty;"
"the soul that sins, shall surely die;"
"the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him;"
"He will render to every man according to his deeds."
Will God abrogate His own laws—or will He dare men to
sport and play with His threatenings? Will not every wise
and prudent king look to the execution of their own laws?
And shall not that God, who is wonderful in wisdom, and
whose understanding is infinite—see all that all His laws
are put in execution against offenders? Surely yes!
"He will repay them for their sins and destroy them
for their wickedness; the LORD our God will destroy
them!" Psalm 94:23
"I will not look on you with pity or spare you; I will
repay you in accordance with your conduct and the
detestable practices among you. Then you will know
that it is I the LORD who strikes the blow!" Ezek. 7:9
"When I sharpen My flashing sword and My hand grasps
it in judgment, I will take vengeance on My adversaries
and repay those who hate Me." Deuteronomy 32:41
The eternity
of God, and heaven, and hell
(J. C. Ryle)
"And just as each person is appointed to die once — and after that comes judgment!" Hebrews 9:27
"And they will go away into eternal punishment; but the righteous will go into eternal life." Matthew 25:46
The state of things after the judgment — is changeless and without end. The misery of the lost, and the blessedness of the saved — are both alike forever. Let no person deceive us on this point. It is clearly revealed in Scripture. The eternity of God, and heaven, and hell — all stand on the same foundation. As surely as God is eternal — so surely is heaven an endless day without night, and hell an endless night without day!
(J. C. Ryle)
"And just as each person is appointed to die once — and after that comes judgment!" Hebrews 9:27
"And they will go away into eternal punishment; but the righteous will go into eternal life." Matthew 25:46
The state of things after the judgment — is changeless and without end. The misery of the lost, and the blessedness of the saved — are both alike forever. Let no person deceive us on this point. It is clearly revealed in Scripture. The eternity of God, and heaven, and hell — all stand on the same foundation. As surely as God is eternal — so surely is heaven an endless day without night, and hell an endless night without day!
He does whatever He
pleases!
(Arthur Pink, "The Attributes of God")
"He does whatever He pleases!" Job 23:13
Ah, my reader, the God of Scripture is no make-believe
monarch, no mere imaginary sovereign; but King of kings,
and Lord of lords! To countless thousands, even among
those professing to be Christians, the God of the
Scriptures is quite unknown.
The god of this twentieth century no more resembles
the Supreme Sovereign of Holy Writ, than does the
dim flickering of a candle, the glory of the midday sun!
The god who is now talked about in the average pulpit,
spoken of in the ordinary Sunday School, mentioned in
much of the religious literature of the day, and preached
in most of the so-called Bible conferences, is the figment of
human imagination, an invention of mushy sentimentality!
The heathen outside of the pale of Christendom form gods
out of wood and stone; while the millions of heathen inside
Christendom manufacture a god out of their own carnal
mind! In reality, they are but atheists, for there is no other
possible alternative between an absolutely supreme God,
and no God at all. A god whose will is resisted, whose
designs are frustrated, whose purpose is checkmated,
possesses no title to Deity; and so far from being a fit
object of worship, merits nothing but contempt!
"Our God is in heaven and does whatever He pleases."
Psalm 115:3
"I know that You can do anything, and no plan of
Yours can be thwarted." Job 42:2
(Arthur Pink, "The Attributes of God")
"He does whatever He pleases!" Job 23:13
Ah, my reader, the God of Scripture is no make-believe
monarch, no mere imaginary sovereign; but King of kings,
and Lord of lords! To countless thousands, even among
those professing to be Christians, the God of the
Scriptures is quite unknown.
The god of this twentieth century no more resembles
the Supreme Sovereign of Holy Writ, than does the
dim flickering of a candle, the glory of the midday sun!
The god who is now talked about in the average pulpit,
spoken of in the ordinary Sunday School, mentioned in
much of the religious literature of the day, and preached
in most of the so-called Bible conferences, is the figment of
human imagination, an invention of mushy sentimentality!
The heathen outside of the pale of Christendom form gods
out of wood and stone; while the millions of heathen inside
Christendom manufacture a god out of their own carnal
mind! In reality, they are but atheists, for there is no other
possible alternative between an absolutely supreme God,
and no God at all. A god whose will is resisted, whose
designs are frustrated, whose purpose is checkmated,
possesses no title to Deity; and so far from being a fit
object of worship, merits nothing but contempt!
"Our God is in heaven and does whatever He pleases."
Psalm 115:3
"I know that You can do anything, and no plan of
Yours can be thwarted." Job 42:2
"The Lord does whatever He
pleases in heaven and
on earth, in the seas and all the depths." Psalm 135:6
on earth, in the seas and all the depths." Psalm 135:6
"Hallelujah! For the Lord our
God, the Almighty, reigns!"
Revelation 19:6
Revelation 19:6
Mercy swims to us through
Christ's blood!
(Thomas Watson, "The Ten Commandments")
Every link in the golden chain of salvation,
is wrought and interwoven with free grace!
God's love is free. "I will love them freely." Hosea 14:4
Election is free. "He has chosen us in Him according
to the good pleasure of His will." Ephesians 1:5
Justification is free. "Being justified freely by His
grace." Romans 3:24
God's saving MERCY is free and spontaneous. To
set up merit—is to destroy mercy. We do not deserve
mercy, because of our enmity. We may force God to
punish us—but not to love us! If God would show
mercy only to such as deserve it—He would show
mercy to none!
Mercy is an innate propensity in God to do good
to distressed sinners. Mercy proceeds primarily,
and originally from God. He is called the "Father
of mercies." 2 Corinthians 1:3
God's saving mercy is powerful. How powerful is that
mercy—which softens a heart of stone! Mercy changed
Mary Magdalen's heart, out of whom seven devils were
cast. She who was an inflexible adamant—was made a
weeping penitent!
God's mercy works sweetly—yet irresistibly. It allures
—yet conquers! The law may terrify—but mercy mollifies.
Of what sovereign power and efficacy is that mercy, which
subdues the pride and enmity of the heart, and beats off
those chains of sin, in which the soul is held!
God's mercy is superabundant. The Lord has treasures of
mercy in store, and therefore is said to be "plenteous in mercy"
(Psalm 86:5), and "rich in mercy" (Eph 2:4). The vial of God's
wrath, only drops—but the fountain of His mercy, runs. The
sun is not so full of light—as God is of mercy. His mercy is
over-flowing and ever-flowing. His mercy is infinite—without
bounds, and without end. "His mercy endures forever." Psalm
136. Every time we draw our breath—we suck in mercy!
We are all living monuments of God's mercy! He shows
mercy to us in daily supplying us. He supplies us with health.
Health is the sauce which makes life sweeter. How those who
are chained to a sick-bed, would prize this mercy! God supplies
us with provisions. "God who fed me all my life long." Gen 48:15.
Mercy spreads our tables, and carves for us every bit of bread
we eat! We never drink, but in the golden cup of mercy!
God shows mercy in restraining us from sin. Lusts within—
are worse than lions without! The greatest sign of God's anger,
is to give men up to their sins. "So I gave them up to their own
hearts' lust." Psalm 81:12. While the ungodly sin themselves to
hell, God has laid the bridle of restraining grace upon us! As God
said to Abimelech, "I withheld you from sinning against Me." Gen
20:6. Just so, God has withheld us from those sins which might
have made us a prey to Satan, and a terror to ourselves!
God shows mercy in guiding and directing us. He guides our
affairs for us; and chalks out the way He would have us to walk.
"You shall guide me with Your counsel." Psalm 73:24. God leads
us with the oracles of His Word, and the guidance of His Spirit.
He guides our heads to keep us from error; and He guides our
feet to keep us from scandal. Oh, what mercy it is—to have God
to be our guide and pilot!
God shows mercy in correcting us. He is angry—in love.
He smites—that He may save. His rod is not a rod of iron
to break us—but a fatherly rod to humble us. "God disciplines
us for our good—that we may share in His holiness." Hebrews
12:10. In our afflictions—God will mortify some corruption, or
exercise some grace.
God shows mercy in saving us. "According to His mercy,
He saved us." Titus 3:5. This is the top-stone of mercy!
Here mercy displays itself in all its orient colors. Mercy is
mercy indeed, when God perfectly refines us from all the
lees and dregs of corruption; when our bodies are made
like Christ's glorious body, and our souls like the angels.
Saving mercy is crowning mercy. It is not merely to be
freed from hell—but enthroned in a kingdom! What rich
mercy will it be—to fully possess God, to see His smiling
face, and to lay in His bosom forever! This will fill us
with "a glorious, inexpressible joy!" 1 Peter 1:8. God's
saving mercy, is the diamond in the ring!
Mercy more overflows in God—than sin in us. His mercy
can drown great sins—as the sea covers great rocks!
Christ's blood is "a fountain to cleanse them from all
their sins and defilement." Zech 13:1. Some of the Jews
who had their hands imbrued in Christ's blood—were
saved by that blood! God loves to magnify His mercy,
and display the trophies of free grace!
How may I know that my sins are pardoned? Whenever
God removes the guilt of sin—He breaks the power of sin.
"He will have compassion; he will subdue our iniquities."
Mic 7:19. With pardoning love—God gives subduing grace.
If we would have saving mercy, it must be through Christ.
Outside of Christ, there is no saving mercy. We read in the
old law, that none might come into the holy of holies, where
the mercy-seat stood—but the high-priest. This signifies that
we have nothing to do with mercy—but through Christ our
High-priest. That the high-priest might not come near the
mercy-seat without blood, is to show that we have no right
to mercy—but through the expiatory sacrifice of Christ's
blood, Lev 16:14. If we would have mercy, we must be in
Christ. Mercy swims to us through Christ's blood!
Too wise to err — and too loving to be unkind!(Thomas Watson, "The Ten Commandments")
Every link in the golden chain of salvation,
is wrought and interwoven with free grace!
God's love is free. "I will love them freely." Hosea 14:4
Election is free. "He has chosen us in Him according
to the good pleasure of His will." Ephesians 1:5
Justification is free. "Being justified freely by His
grace." Romans 3:24
God's saving MERCY is free and spontaneous. To
set up merit—is to destroy mercy. We do not deserve
mercy, because of our enmity. We may force God to
punish us—but not to love us! If God would show
mercy only to such as deserve it—He would show
mercy to none!
Mercy is an innate propensity in God to do good
to distressed sinners. Mercy proceeds primarily,
and originally from God. He is called the "Father
of mercies." 2 Corinthians 1:3
God's saving mercy is powerful. How powerful is that
mercy—which softens a heart of stone! Mercy changed
Mary Magdalen's heart, out of whom seven devils were
cast. She who was an inflexible adamant—was made a
weeping penitent!
God's mercy works sweetly—yet irresistibly. It allures
—yet conquers! The law may terrify—but mercy mollifies.
Of what sovereign power and efficacy is that mercy, which
subdues the pride and enmity of the heart, and beats off
those chains of sin, in which the soul is held!
God's mercy is superabundant. The Lord has treasures of
mercy in store, and therefore is said to be "plenteous in mercy"
(Psalm 86:5), and "rich in mercy" (Eph 2:4). The vial of God's
wrath, only drops—but the fountain of His mercy, runs. The
sun is not so full of light—as God is of mercy. His mercy is
over-flowing and ever-flowing. His mercy is infinite—without
bounds, and without end. "His mercy endures forever." Psalm
136. Every time we draw our breath—we suck in mercy!
We are all living monuments of God's mercy! He shows
mercy to us in daily supplying us. He supplies us with health.
Health is the sauce which makes life sweeter. How those who
are chained to a sick-bed, would prize this mercy! God supplies
us with provisions. "God who fed me all my life long." Gen 48:15.
Mercy spreads our tables, and carves for us every bit of bread
we eat! We never drink, but in the golden cup of mercy!
God shows mercy in restraining us from sin. Lusts within—
are worse than lions without! The greatest sign of God's anger,
is to give men up to their sins. "So I gave them up to their own
hearts' lust." Psalm 81:12. While the ungodly sin themselves to
hell, God has laid the bridle of restraining grace upon us! As God
said to Abimelech, "I withheld you from sinning against Me." Gen
20:6. Just so, God has withheld us from those sins which might
have made us a prey to Satan, and a terror to ourselves!
God shows mercy in guiding and directing us. He guides our
affairs for us; and chalks out the way He would have us to walk.
"You shall guide me with Your counsel." Psalm 73:24. God leads
us with the oracles of His Word, and the guidance of His Spirit.
He guides our heads to keep us from error; and He guides our
feet to keep us from scandal. Oh, what mercy it is—to have God
to be our guide and pilot!
God shows mercy in correcting us. He is angry—in love.
He smites—that He may save. His rod is not a rod of iron
to break us—but a fatherly rod to humble us. "God disciplines
us for our good—that we may share in His holiness." Hebrews
12:10. In our afflictions—God will mortify some corruption, or
exercise some grace.
God shows mercy in saving us. "According to His mercy,
He saved us." Titus 3:5. This is the top-stone of mercy!
Here mercy displays itself in all its orient colors. Mercy is
mercy indeed, when God perfectly refines us from all the
lees and dregs of corruption; when our bodies are made
like Christ's glorious body, and our souls like the angels.
Saving mercy is crowning mercy. It is not merely to be
freed from hell—but enthroned in a kingdom! What rich
mercy will it be—to fully possess God, to see His smiling
face, and to lay in His bosom forever! This will fill us
with "a glorious, inexpressible joy!" 1 Peter 1:8. God's
saving mercy, is the diamond in the ring!
Mercy more overflows in God—than sin in us. His mercy
can drown great sins—as the sea covers great rocks!
Christ's blood is "a fountain to cleanse them from all
their sins and defilement." Zech 13:1. Some of the Jews
who had their hands imbrued in Christ's blood—were
saved by that blood! God loves to magnify His mercy,
and display the trophies of free grace!
How may I know that my sins are pardoned? Whenever
God removes the guilt of sin—He breaks the power of sin.
"He will have compassion; he will subdue our iniquities."
Mic 7:19. With pardoning love—God gives subduing grace.
If we would have saving mercy, it must be through Christ.
Outside of Christ, there is no saving mercy. We read in the
old law, that none might come into the holy of holies, where
the mercy-seat stood—but the high-priest. This signifies that
we have nothing to do with mercy—but through Christ our
High-priest. That the high-priest might not come near the
mercy-seat without blood, is to show that we have no right
to mercy—but through the expiatory sacrifice of Christ's
blood, Lev 16:14. If we would have mercy, we must be in
Christ. Mercy swims to us through Christ's blood!
(Arthur Pink, "The Sovereignty of God")
Because God is righteous — His judgments fall upon those who rebel against Him.
Because God is faithful — the solemn threatenings of His Word are fulfilled.
Because God is omnipotent — none can successfully resist Him, still less overthrow His counsel.
Because God is omniscient — no problem can master Him and no difficulty baffle His wisdom.
It is just because God is who He is, and what He is — that we are now beholding on earth, the beginning of His out-poured judgments! In view of His inflexible justice and immaculate holiness — we could not expect anything other than what is now spread before our eyes!
Faith endures "as seeing Him who is invisible." (Hebrews 11:27) Faith endures the disappointments, the hardships, and the heart-aches of life — by recognizing that all comes from the hand of Him who is too wise to err — and too loving to be unkind. So long as we are occupied with any other object than God Himself, there will be neither rest for the heart, nor peace for the mind. But when we receive all that enters our lives as from His hand — then, no matter what may be our circumstances or surroundings — whether in a hovel, a prison-dungeon, or a martyr's stake — we shall be enabled to say, "The lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places!" (Psalm 16:6). But that is the language of faith — not of sight or of sense.
God would be
voted out of the world
(Thomas Boston, "Human Nature in its Fourfold State")
"Haters of God." Romans 1:30
"The carnal mind is enmity against God." Romans 8:7
Men set up for themselves, an idol of their own fancy,
instead of the true God, and then fall down and worship it.
Every natural man is an enemy to God—as He is revealed in
His word. The infinitely holy, just, powerful, and true God—is
not the God whom he loves, but the God whom he loathes!
The Pagans finding that they could not be like God in holiness,
made their gods like themselves in filthiness; and thereby they
show what sort of a god the natural man would have. God is
holy; can an unholy creature love His unspotted holiness?
There is not a man, who is wedded to his lusts—as all the
unregenerate are—but would desire to blot out the God of
justice. Can the malefactor love his condemning judge?
Can an unjustified sinner love a just God? No, he cannot!
Men naturally would rather have a blind idol—than the
all-seeing God. They no more love the all-seeing, every
where present God—than the thief loves to have the judge
witness to his evil deeds. If it could be carried by votes,
God would be voted out of the world; for the language
of the carnal heart is, "The Lord does not see us. The Lord
has abandoned the earth." Ezekiel 8:12
Every unrenewed man an enemy to the true God.
"They say unto God—Leave us alone! We have
no desire to know Your ways!" Job 21:14
(Thomas Boston, "Human Nature in its Fourfold State")
"Haters of God." Romans 1:30
"The carnal mind is enmity against God." Romans 8:7
Men set up for themselves, an idol of their own fancy,
instead of the true God, and then fall down and worship it.
Every natural man is an enemy to God—as He is revealed in
His word. The infinitely holy, just, powerful, and true God—is
not the God whom he loves, but the God whom he loathes!
The Pagans finding that they could not be like God in holiness,
made their gods like themselves in filthiness; and thereby they
show what sort of a god the natural man would have. God is
holy; can an unholy creature love His unspotted holiness?
There is not a man, who is wedded to his lusts—as all the
unregenerate are—but would desire to blot out the God of
justice. Can the malefactor love his condemning judge?
Can an unjustified sinner love a just God? No, he cannot!
Men naturally would rather have a blind idol—than the
all-seeing God. They no more love the all-seeing, every
where present God—than the thief loves to have the judge
witness to his evil deeds. If it could be carried by votes,
God would be voted out of the world; for the language
of the carnal heart is, "The Lord does not see us. The Lord
has abandoned the earth." Ezekiel 8:12
Every unrenewed man an enemy to the true God.
"They say unto God—Leave us alone! We have
no desire to know Your ways!" Job 21:14
|
Why was His soul
troubled?
(Octavius Winslow, "CONSIDER JESUS" 1870) "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death." Mark 14:34 In this lay our Lord's greatest suffering: His soul sorrow. Compared with this . . . the lingering, excruciating tortures of the cross, the extended limbs, the quivering nerves, the bleeding wounds, the burning thirst; were, as nothing. So long as our blessed Lord endured the gibes and insults and calumnies of mere men, not a complaint escaped His lips. But, when the wrath of God, endured as the Substitute of His people, entered within His holy soul, then the wail of agony rose strong and piercing, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Why was His soul troubled? He was now bearing sin and, consequently, the punishment of sin; the wrath of God overwhelming His soul. Divine justice, finding the sins of God's elect meeting on His holy soul, exacted full payment and inflicted the utmost penalty! |
On the other hand, there is no doctrine more hated by worldlings, no truth of which they have made such a football—as the great, stupendous, but yet most certain doctrine, of the sovereignty of the infinite Jehovah. Men will allow God to be everywhere, except on His throne. They will allow Him to be in His workshop to fashion worlds and make stars. They will allow Him to be in His almonry to dispense His alms and bestow His bounties. They will allow Him to sustain the earth and bear up the pillars thereof, or light the lamps of heaven, or rule the waves of the ever-moving ocean; but when God ascends His throne—then His creatures gnash their teeth!
We proclaim an enthroned God, and His right to do as He wills with His own, to dispose of His creatures as He thinks well, without consulting them in the matter. Then it is, that we are hissed and execrated; and then it is, that men turn a deaf ear to us—for God on His throne—is not the God they love. But it is God upon the throne that we love to preach. It is God upon His throne, whom we trust!
The Potter!
by
James Smith, 1860
The doctrine of God's divine sovereignty is generally offensive to the carnal mind — because it strikes a death-blow at the root of man's pride, and lays the sinner low in the dust before God. Man does not like to be represented as lying absolutely helpless at the foot of divine mercy, entirely at the Lord's disposal. But God must be a sovereign, and if ever we are saved, it must be in the exercise of his sovereignty.
God commands Jeremiah to go down to the potter's house, to be taught a lesson there:
"So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me: 'O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?' declares the Lord. 'Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.'" Jeremiah 18:1-6
These words are as applicable to us, as to them. Observe,
Our Position. We are in God's hand! He has full possession of us, and absolute power and authority over us. We cannot fly out of his hand, or escape from under his eye! We are in God's hand — as clay in the hand of the potter. We are powerless in his hand. We are wholly at his disposal — to be molded and changed, as to form, appearance, and value — just as he desires. He does with his creatures, according to his will — both in Heaven, and on earth. His will is our law; his decree is our destiny. This may be seen in nature, in providence, and in grace.
He arranged our birth, our position in society, and our calling by his grace.
Whatever he wills — he works.
Whatever he has purposed — he brings to pass.
The potter does not more really preside over the clay — than the Lord presides over all the affairs of the world.
We are in God's hand, as marred vessels. We have no beauty, no apparent value — unfit for sale, and unfit for use. If we are to be of use, if we are to glorify his great name — we must be re-made. Therefore every Christian is said to be, "his workmanship, created anew in Christ Jesus unto good works," and that according to his foreordination. Whatever we are spiritually — we are by his grace. Notice then,
God's Sovereignty. He is our owner. The potter cannot claim the clay, which he has dug out of his own land — as absolutely as the Lord can claim us!
We are his — for he CREATED us. We were not — until he gave us a being; we never would have been — had he not willed it.
We are his — for he has PRESERVED us. By the constant exercise of his sustaining energy — we have been kept in existence according to his sovereign will.
As believers, we are his by REDEMPTION. Every legal impediment has been removed out of the way of his claiming us, and justly re-molding us, and raising us to the highest happiness and glory.
We are God's material for making vessels of mercy, which are to adorn his heavenly temple, and show forth his praise.
He is our absolute owner. No one can justly question his right, or interfere with his disposal of us. He may do as he will, with his own.
But as infinitely wise, whatever he does will reflect his wisdom.
As impartially just, whatever he does will be in accordance with justice — no part of the creation shall sustain any wrong, by anything he sees fit to do.
As plenteous in mercy, his mercy will appear in every exercise of his sovereignty.
We are his, absolutely his — but in dealing with us, in disposing of us — he will act wisely, justly, and in accordance with his mercy. Hence,
The Inquiry? "Can I not do with you as this potter does — says the Lord." Can I not break up the old marred form, reduce it to a shapeless mass, and re-form you for my own use and glory? Yes, he can — and he does! Therefore . . .
we are regenerated,
we are renewed in the spirit of our minds,
we are begotten again to a lively hope.
But God puts the question to us . . .
to convince us that we are absolutely at his disposal;
to impress us with a sense of our dependence on him;
to instruct and teach us that we are at his sovereign mercy;
to silence all the carnal reasonings and objections of the flesh;
and to humble our proud hearts!
O what a mercy it is, that the vilest can be changed! To change the nature and character of the sinner — is God's work alone! We are in one sense, that is in reference to all that is spiritually good — like passive clay in God's hand; he must work in us to will, and to do. He must form us for himself — if we ever actively show forth his praise.
Our God is our divine potter — and who shall effectually resist the working of his mighty power? Who can justly complain, if all that God does as a Sovereign in our world, is done in the exercise of his mercy, and is for our welfare?
Who can find fault without folly — in seeing God, the only wise, the all-comprehending, just, and holy God — taking marred vessels, and making them into vessels of honor — glorifying himself in doing so!
O my soul, lay low before the Lord, and let his own question deeply impress you, "But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it: Why did you make me like this?"
O Lord, teach and sanctify me by your Spirit, that I may not only admit the doctrine of your sovereignty; but admire its working, and adore its holiness, justice, and grace!
There is an Eye that sees all
things as they are!
(J. R. Miller, "Life's Byways and Waysides")
"I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist." Matthew 11:11
These were the strong words which fell from the lips of the Master. It was a wonderful thing to have our Lord speak such praise. He knew what was in men, and He never spoke an insincere word.
Human estimates of greatness are ofttimes defective, sometimes false. Men see only the outward appearance.
Many people are not as great—as they seem to be. They practice tricks which deceive the world. They pass for great—while in reality, they are very small in character. Strip off their gaudy tinsel—and but little would be left.
Other people, however, are greater than they seem. They lack the popular qualities which attract attention and win applause. Yet they are great in their souls, great in spiritual graces, in heart-purity, in the elements of true manhood, in moral strength.
But there is an Eye that sees all things as they are! It pierces all thin disguises, and penetrates to the core of things! It discerns the poor shriveled soul—which is hidden beneath the external glitter. On the other hand, it sees in the humble life, which gets but little praise of men, whose outer form is homely and plain—the true worth, the qualities of holy character.
It is well that we sometimes stop to think—how we appear to God, what God thinks of us. One says, "There is some things in every man's heart, which, if we could know—would make us hate him!" Perhaps this is true; but it is true also that there is something in every Christian, in even the most repulsive, which, if we could know, would make us love him.
As God sees us, we are both worse and better than we seem to any other eyes in all the world. He sees the hidden faults and the secret stains; but He also sees the feeble yearnings which at length will be splendid spiritual qualities. I love to think of this side of the lives of my fellows—not the poor stained fragments of being which my eyes now see—but what they will be when God's work of grace in them is finished!
(J. R. Miller, "Life's Byways and Waysides")
"I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist." Matthew 11:11
These were the strong words which fell from the lips of the Master. It was a wonderful thing to have our Lord speak such praise. He knew what was in men, and He never spoke an insincere word.
Human estimates of greatness are ofttimes defective, sometimes false. Men see only the outward appearance.
Many people are not as great—as they seem to be. They practice tricks which deceive the world. They pass for great—while in reality, they are very small in character. Strip off their gaudy tinsel—and but little would be left.
Other people, however, are greater than they seem. They lack the popular qualities which attract attention and win applause. Yet they are great in their souls, great in spiritual graces, in heart-purity, in the elements of true manhood, in moral strength.
But there is an Eye that sees all things as they are! It pierces all thin disguises, and penetrates to the core of things! It discerns the poor shriveled soul—which is hidden beneath the external glitter. On the other hand, it sees in the humble life, which gets but little praise of men, whose outer form is homely and plain—the true worth, the qualities of holy character.
It is well that we sometimes stop to think—how we appear to God, what God thinks of us. One says, "There is some things in every man's heart, which, if we could know—would make us hate him!" Perhaps this is true; but it is true also that there is something in every Christian, in even the most repulsive, which, if we could know, would make us love him.
As God sees us, we are both worse and better than we seem to any other eyes in all the world. He sees the hidden faults and the secret stains; but He also sees the feeble yearnings which at length will be splendid spiritual qualities. I love to think of this side of the lives of my fellows—not the poor stained fragments of being which my eyes now see—but what they will be when God's work of grace in them is finished!
God sees
through these fig-leaves!
(Thomas Watson, "Body of Divinity")
"My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden
from Me, nor is their sin concealed from My eyes!"
Jeremiah 16:17
If God is a God of infinite knowledge, then see the
folly of hypocrisy. Hypocrites carry it fair with
men—but care not how bad their hearts are; they
live in secret sin. "They say—How can God know?
Does the Most High have knowledge?" "What does
God know? Can He judge through thick darkness?"
"God has forgotten, He hides His face, He will
never see it!"
But, "His understanding is infinite!" He has a window
to look into men's hearts! He has a key to open up the
heart. "Your Father who sees in secret." God sees in
secret. As a merchant enters debts in his book, so God
has His debt-book, in which He enters every sin!
The hypocrite thinks to disguise and juggle with God—but
God will unmask him. "God shall bring every work into
judgment, with every secret thing." "For they have done
outrageous things . . . I know it and am a witness to
it—declares the Lord." Jeremiah 29:23
The hypocrite hopes he shall color over his sin, and
make it look very good. Absalom masks over his
treason with the pretense of a religious vow. Judas
cloaks his covetousness, with the pretense of "charity
to the poor." Jehu makes religion a cloak for his selfish
design. But God sees through these fig-leaves!
He who has an eye to see—will find a hand to punish!
Since God is infinite in knowledge, we should always feel
as under His omniscient eye. "I have set the Lord always
before me." The consideration of God's omniscience would
be preventive of much sin. The eye of man will restrain
from sin; and will not God's eyes much more?
"Will he even assault the queen right here in the palace,
before my very eyes? the king roared." Esther 7:8. Will
we sin when our Judge looks on? Would men speak so
vainly, if they considered God overheard them? What care
would people have of their words, if they remembered that
God heard, and His pen was writing everything down in
heaven? Would they commit immorality, if they believed
God was a spectator of their wickedness, and would punish
them in hell for it? Would they defraud in their dealings,
and use false weights, if they knew God saw them; and
for making their weights lighter—would make their
damnation heavier?
Is God omniscient, and His eye chiefly upon the heart?
Then be sincere—be what you seem! "The Lord does not
look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward
appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." 1 Sam. 16:7
Men judge the heart—by the actions.
God judges the actions—by the heart.
(Thomas Watson, "Body of Divinity")
"My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden
from Me, nor is their sin concealed from My eyes!"
Jeremiah 16:17
If God is a God of infinite knowledge, then see the
folly of hypocrisy. Hypocrites carry it fair with
men—but care not how bad their hearts are; they
live in secret sin. "They say—How can God know?
Does the Most High have knowledge?" "What does
God know? Can He judge through thick darkness?"
"God has forgotten, He hides His face, He will
never see it!"
But, "His understanding is infinite!" He has a window
to look into men's hearts! He has a key to open up the
heart. "Your Father who sees in secret." God sees in
secret. As a merchant enters debts in his book, so God
has His debt-book, in which He enters every sin!
The hypocrite thinks to disguise and juggle with God—but
God will unmask him. "God shall bring every work into
judgment, with every secret thing." "For they have done
outrageous things . . . I know it and am a witness to
it—declares the Lord." Jeremiah 29:23
The hypocrite hopes he shall color over his sin, and
make it look very good. Absalom masks over his
treason with the pretense of a religious vow. Judas
cloaks his covetousness, with the pretense of "charity
to the poor." Jehu makes religion a cloak for his selfish
design. But God sees through these fig-leaves!
He who has an eye to see—will find a hand to punish!
Since God is infinite in knowledge, we should always feel
as under His omniscient eye. "I have set the Lord always
before me." The consideration of God's omniscience would
be preventive of much sin. The eye of man will restrain
from sin; and will not God's eyes much more?
"Will he even assault the queen right here in the palace,
before my very eyes? the king roared." Esther 7:8. Will
we sin when our Judge looks on? Would men speak so
vainly, if they considered God overheard them? What care
would people have of their words, if they remembered that
God heard, and His pen was writing everything down in
heaven? Would they commit immorality, if they believed
God was a spectator of their wickedness, and would punish
them in hell for it? Would they defraud in their dealings,
and use false weights, if they knew God saw them; and
for making their weights lighter—would make their
damnation heavier?
Is God omniscient, and His eye chiefly upon the heart?
Then be sincere—be what you seem! "The Lord does not
look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward
appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." 1 Sam. 16:7
Men judge the heart—by the actions.
God judges the actions—by the heart.
Optimum maximum
(Thomas Brooks, "The Unsearchable Riches of Christ")
Christians serve a wonderful Master.
They serve Him who is . . .
all ear to hear them,
all hand to uphold them,
all power to protect them,
all wisdom to direct them,
all goodness to relieve them,
all mercy to pardon them.
They serve that God who is optimum maximum
—the best and greatest. God has within Himself
all the good of angels, men, and universal nature.
God has . . .
all dignity,
all glory,
all riches,
all treasure,
all pleasure,
all delight,
all joy,
all beatitudes.
God is . . .
goodness,
beauty,
power,
wisdom,
justice,
mercy, and
love itself!
(Thomas Brooks, "The Unsearchable Riches of Christ")
Christians serve a wonderful Master.
They serve Him who is . . .
all ear to hear them,
all hand to uphold them,
all power to protect them,
all wisdom to direct them,
all goodness to relieve them,
all mercy to pardon them.
They serve that God who is optimum maximum
—the best and greatest. God has within Himself
all the good of angels, men, and universal nature.
God has . . .
all dignity,
all glory,
all riches,
all treasure,
all pleasure,
all delight,
all joy,
all beatitudes.
God is . . .
goodness,
beauty,
power,
wisdom,
justice,
mercy, and
love itself!
God is one infinite perfection in
Himself!
"He has all—who has the Haver of all." Αugustine
"He has all—who has the Haver of all." Αugustine
Take off the
shoes from your feet!
(James W. Alexander, "Consolation" 1852)
The perfections and attributes of God afford
a refuge--and in time of trouble, faith resorts to
this refuge.
If God were ignorant or unwise, we might suffer
without His knowledge, or sink in waters which He
could not explore. We might be lost in mazes where
His eye could not follow us, or be carried away in
whirlwinds which He knew not how to quell.
If God were limited in power, we might groan under
the very burden which He could not lift off.
If God were afar off, in some pavilion beyond our solar
system, He could not be reached by our cry of anguish
when the deep waters went over our soul. And were
He not here this moment, it would be mockery to pray.
If God were not good, our happiness would be nothing
to Him, and we might have hellish pain forever and ever.
If God were not merciful, He would not care how
wretched we are.
If God were not gracious, we would sink in despair,
being sinners.
But because God is . . .
almighty,
all-wise,
all-seeing,
everywhere present,
boundless,
everlasting, and
unchangeable in goodness, mercy and compassion;
we have in Him a refuge and stronghold, to which we
may continually resort. Raise your eyes towards the
loftiness of our stronghold. But take off the shoes
from your feet--for the place is holy ground!
(James W. Alexander, "Consolation" 1852)
The perfections and attributes of God afford
a refuge--and in time of trouble, faith resorts to
this refuge.
If God were ignorant or unwise, we might suffer
without His knowledge, or sink in waters which He
could not explore. We might be lost in mazes where
His eye could not follow us, or be carried away in
whirlwinds which He knew not how to quell.
If God were limited in power, we might groan under
the very burden which He could not lift off.
If God were afar off, in some pavilion beyond our solar
system, He could not be reached by our cry of anguish
when the deep waters went over our soul. And were
He not here this moment, it would be mockery to pray.
If God were not good, our happiness would be nothing
to Him, and we might have hellish pain forever and ever.
If God were not merciful, He would not care how
wretched we are.
If God were not gracious, we would sink in despair,
being sinners.
But because God is . . .
almighty,
all-wise,
all-seeing,
everywhere present,
boundless,
everlasting, and
unchangeable in goodness, mercy and compassion;
we have in Him a refuge and stronghold, to which we
may continually resort. Raise your eyes towards the
loftiness of our stronghold. But take off the shoes
from your feet--for the place is holy ground!
Authority,
glory and sovereign power!
(J. C. Philpot, "Jesus, the Enthroned King")
"Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns!" Rev. 19:6
The unlimited dominion of King Jesus extends over . . .
all things,
all events,
all circumstances,
all people!
All are subjected to the sovereign control of the King
of kings and Lord of lords!
Everywhere on this earthly globe--as far as waves roll,
winds blow, sun shines, or stars hold on their nightly
courses--does the scepter of Jesus sway the destinies,
and control the designs and actions of men.
"He was given authority, glory and sovereign power;
all peoples, nations and men of every language obey
Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will
not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never
be destroyed!" Daniel 7:14
(J. C. Philpot, "Jesus, the Enthroned King")
"Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns!" Rev. 19:6
The unlimited dominion of King Jesus extends over . . .
all things,
all events,
all circumstances,
all people!
All are subjected to the sovereign control of the King
of kings and Lord of lords!
Everywhere on this earthly globe--as far as waves roll,
winds blow, sun shines, or stars hold on their nightly
courses--does the scepter of Jesus sway the destinies,
and control the designs and actions of men.
"He was given authority, glory and sovereign power;
all peoples, nations and men of every language obey
Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will
not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never
be destroyed!" Daniel 7:14
|
MERCY!
(J. C. Philpot, "The Lord's Merciful Look Upon His People") "Look upon me, and be merciful unto me." Ps. 119:132 When shall we ever get beyond the need of God's mercy? We feel our need of continual mercy . . . as our sins abound, as our guilt is felt, as our corruption works, as our conscience is burdened, as the iniquities of our heart are laid bare, as our hearts are opened up in the Spirit's light. We need . . . mercy for every adulterous look; mercy for every covetous thought; mercy for every light and trifling word; mercy for every wicked movement of our depraved hearts; mercy while we live; mercy when we die; mercy to accompany us every moment; mercy to go with us down to the portals of the grave; mercy to carry us safely through the swellings of Jordan; mercy to land us safe before the Redeemer's throne! "Look upon me, and be merciful unto me." Why me? Because I am so vile a sinner. Because I am so base a backslider. Because I am such a daring transgressor. Because I sin against You with every breath that I draw. Because the evils of my heart are perpetually manifesting themselves. Because nothing but Your mercy can blot out such iniquities as I feel working in my carnal mind. I need . . . inexhaustible mercy, everlasting mercy, super-abounding mercy. Nothing but such mercy as this can suit such a guilty sinner! |
God's
perfections and glorious attributes!
(James Smith, "The Way to Be Happy" 1855)
"The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress!" Psalm 46:7
"If God is for us — who can be against us?" Romans 8:31
Who can prevail against us? Who can really injure us? Let us daily think of God's glorious perfections — and view them as engaged for us at all times.
His power is engaged to support, defend, and strengthen us.
His omniscient eye is constantly upon us — watching over us for good.
His omnipresence is our safeguard from all our foes — for no one can come and find our God absent from us.
His justice and righteousness shine in all His dealings with us — and are like lofty mountains round about us.
His holiness shines in all His purposes and plans — and forbids the thought that He will act unsuitably towards us.
His mercy is ever great towards us — and by it He sympathizes with us in all our sorrows, griefs, and woes.
His goodness will constantly supply us — and is sufficient to fill us with admiration and astonishment.
His truth renders certain — every promise He has given and recorded in His Word.
His immutability bears us up and bears us on — confirming our faith and hope in His Word.
His wisdom frustrates the designs of our foes — and arranges and manages all for our welfare.
His eternity is the date of our happiness — and the duration of our unspeakable blessedness!
Here is enough to . . .
engage our thoughts,
overflow our minds, and
forever fill us with adoration and praise!
What a God is Jehovah! And Jehovah, in Jesus — is ours!
How cheering this fact, and what sweet support it yields to the mind — to meditate on God's perfections and glorious attributes — seeing them all in Jesus — and in Him, engaged for our present and everlasting welfare!
What could shake our minds — if we did but firmly believe that God's omnipotence is engaged to defend us to the uttermost?
What could tempt us to commit any known sin — if we were realizing that God's omniscient eye is ever upon us; yes, that God is present with us, and that He is our sin-hating Father?
What could lead us into murmuring and rebellion — if we were fully persuaded that God's holiness and justice are for us, and will shine resplendent in all His dealings with us?
What could lead us to think that our prayers would not be answered, nor our petitions be regarded — if our minds were influenced by the assurance, that God is truth?
How could we believe that He would ever turn against us — if we rightly viewed His immutability?
Or, how could we think that our affairs could be disordered — if we felt satisfied that His wisdom was working for us at all times!
"The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress!" Psalm 46:7
O the preciousness of this
truth!(James Smith, "The Way to Be Happy" 1855)
"The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress!" Psalm 46:7
"If God is for us — who can be against us?" Romans 8:31
Who can prevail against us? Who can really injure us? Let us daily think of God's glorious perfections — and view them as engaged for us at all times.
His power is engaged to support, defend, and strengthen us.
His omniscient eye is constantly upon us — watching over us for good.
His omnipresence is our safeguard from all our foes — for no one can come and find our God absent from us.
His justice and righteousness shine in all His dealings with us — and are like lofty mountains round about us.
His holiness shines in all His purposes and plans — and forbids the thought that He will act unsuitably towards us.
His mercy is ever great towards us — and by it He sympathizes with us in all our sorrows, griefs, and woes.
His goodness will constantly supply us — and is sufficient to fill us with admiration and astonishment.
His truth renders certain — every promise He has given and recorded in His Word.
His immutability bears us up and bears us on — confirming our faith and hope in His Word.
His wisdom frustrates the designs of our foes — and arranges and manages all for our welfare.
His eternity is the date of our happiness — and the duration of our unspeakable blessedness!
Here is enough to . . .
engage our thoughts,
overflow our minds, and
forever fill us with adoration and praise!
What a God is Jehovah! And Jehovah, in Jesus — is ours!
How cheering this fact, and what sweet support it yields to the mind — to meditate on God's perfections and glorious attributes — seeing them all in Jesus — and in Him, engaged for our present and everlasting welfare!
What could shake our minds — if we did but firmly believe that God's omnipotence is engaged to defend us to the uttermost?
What could tempt us to commit any known sin — if we were realizing that God's omniscient eye is ever upon us; yes, that God is present with us, and that He is our sin-hating Father?
What could lead us into murmuring and rebellion — if we were fully persuaded that God's holiness and justice are for us, and will shine resplendent in all His dealings with us?
What could lead us to think that our prayers would not be answered, nor our petitions be regarded — if our minds were influenced by the assurance, that God is truth?
How could we believe that He would ever turn against us — if we rightly viewed His immutability?
Or, how could we think that our affairs could be disordered — if we felt satisfied that His wisdom was working for us at all times!
"The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress!" Psalm 46:7
(Arthur Pink, "The Sovereignty of God")
God is infinite in power, and therefore it is impossible for any to withstand His will, or resist the outworking of His decrees!!
Such a statement as that is well calculated to fill the lost sinner with alarm — but from the believer, it evokes nothing but praise.
Let us add a word, and see what a difference it makes — "My God is infinite in power, and therefore it is impossible for any to withstand His will, or resist the outworking of His decrees!!"
My God is infinite in power! Then "I will not fear what man can do unto me!"
My God is infinite in power! Then "whenever I am afraid — I will trust in Him!"
My God is infinite in power! Then "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep — for You alone Lord, make me dwell in safety!" Psalm 4:8
"There is no one like the God of Israel. He rides across the heavens to help you, across the skies in majestic splendor. The eternal God is your refuge, and His everlasting arms are under you!" Deuteronomy 33:26, 27
O the preciousness of this truth! Here I am — a poor, helpless, senseless 'sheep,' yet I am secure in the hand of Christ! And why am I secure there? None can pluck me thence — because the hand that holds me is that of the Son of God, and all power in heaven and earth is His!
I have no strength of my own — the world, the flesh, and the Devil, are arrayed against me — so I commit myself into the care and keeping of my Lord Jesus. And what is the ground of my confidence? How do I know that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him? I know it because He is God Almighty — the King of kings and Lord of lords!
The
presence of a loving God!
(Brooks, "A Word in Season to Suffering Saints")
"You were precious in My sight, and
I have loved you." Isaiah 43:4
God loves His people with a first love! 1 John 4:19
"We love Him because He first loved us." By nature
we were without God, and afar off from God; we were
strangers to God, and enemies to God, yes, haters
of God! Therefore if God had not loved us first—
we would have been everlastingly undone!
God loves His people with a free love! Hosea 14:4,
"I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely."
I know they are backslidden—but I will heal their
backslidings. I know there is nothing at all in them,
which is excellent or eminent, which is honorable or
acceptable, which is laudable or lovely—yet "I will
love them freely"—of My own, free, rich, absolute,
and sovereign grace!
God loves His people with an everlasting love!
Jer. 31:3, "I have loved you with an everlasting
love; therefore, with loving-kindness have I drawn
you." That is, "I love you with the love of perpetuity,
or with the love of eternity. My love and My affections
to you shall continue forever!"
God loves His people with an unchangeable love!
Mal. 3:6, "I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore
you sons of Jacob are not consumed." Men change,
and counsels change, and occurrences change, and
friends change, and relations change, and kingdoms
change; but God never changes! "He who is the Glory
of Israel does not lie or change His mind; for He is not
a man, that He should change His mind," 1 Sam. 15:29.
God is immutable in His nature, in His essence, in His
counsels, in His attributes, in His decrees, in His
promises, etc. He is Omnina immutabilis, "Altogether
immutable!"
God loves His people . . .
with a special love,
with a peculiar love,
with a distinguishing love,
with a superlative love!
God loves His people with the greatest love, with
a matchless love! John 3:16, "God so loved."
This signifies . . .
the greatness of God's love,
the vehemence of His love, and
the admirableness of His love.
What an unspeakable comfort must this be to God's
people—to have the presence of a loving God, to have
the presence of such a loving God with them in all their
troubles and deep distresses! If the presence of a loving
friend, a loving relation in our troubles and distresses,
is such a mercy—oh, what then is the presence of a
loving God!
(Brooks, "A Word in Season to Suffering Saints")
"You were precious in My sight, and
I have loved you." Isaiah 43:4
God loves His people with a first love! 1 John 4:19
"We love Him because He first loved us." By nature
we were without God, and afar off from God; we were
strangers to God, and enemies to God, yes, haters
of God! Therefore if God had not loved us first—
we would have been everlastingly undone!
God loves His people with a free love! Hosea 14:4,
"I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely."
I know they are backslidden—but I will heal their
backslidings. I know there is nothing at all in them,
which is excellent or eminent, which is honorable or
acceptable, which is laudable or lovely—yet "I will
love them freely"—of My own, free, rich, absolute,
and sovereign grace!
God loves His people with an everlasting love!
Jer. 31:3, "I have loved you with an everlasting
love; therefore, with loving-kindness have I drawn
you." That is, "I love you with the love of perpetuity,
or with the love of eternity. My love and My affections
to you shall continue forever!"
God loves His people with an unchangeable love!
Mal. 3:6, "I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore
you sons of Jacob are not consumed." Men change,
and counsels change, and occurrences change, and
friends change, and relations change, and kingdoms
change; but God never changes! "He who is the Glory
of Israel does not lie or change His mind; for He is not
a man, that He should change His mind," 1 Sam. 15:29.
God is immutable in His nature, in His essence, in His
counsels, in His attributes, in His decrees, in His
promises, etc. He is Omnina immutabilis, "Altogether
immutable!"
God loves His people . . .
with a special love,
with a peculiar love,
with a distinguishing love,
with a superlative love!
God loves His people with the greatest love, with
a matchless love! John 3:16, "God so loved."
This signifies . . .
the greatness of God's love,
the vehemence of His love, and
the admirableness of His love.
What an unspeakable comfort must this be to God's
people—to have the presence of a loving God, to have
the presence of such a loving God with them in all their
troubles and deep distresses! If the presence of a loving
friend, a loving relation in our troubles and distresses,
is such a mercy—oh, what then is the presence of a
loving God!
What a pillow
on which to rest my aching head!
(John MacDuff, "The Night Watches")
"Hallelujah! The Lord God omnipotent reigns!" Revelation 19:6
Believer! what can better support and sustain you amid the trials of your pilgrimage, than the thought that you have an Omnipotent arm to lean upon? The God with whom you have to do — is boundless in His resources! There is no crossing His designs — no thwarting His purposes — no questioning His counsels. His mandate is law! "He speaks — and it is done!" Your need is great. From the humblest crumb of providential goodness, up to the richest blessing of Divine grace — you are hanging from moment to moment, as a poor pensioner on Jehovah's bounty!
But, fear not! "I am the Almighty God! Finite necessities can never exhaust My infinite fullness!" "My God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus!" Philippians 4:19
To You, O blessed Jesus! all power has been committed in Heaven and in earth. "ALL power!" He has in His hands the reigns of universal empire! Whatever is the blessing which the poorest, weakest, loneliest, most afflicted of His saints require — if it is really for their good — the "Wonderful Counselor" secures it!
He combines in His adorable Person, all that a sinner requires: a Heart tender enough to love; and a Hand strong enough to save. He is the "Mighty God!" How He delights in the exercise of His omnipotence in behalf of His own people — in ruling over their interests, and overruling their trials for their eternal good!
My enemies are many — their name is Legion:
Satan, the great adversary;
heart traitors — bosom sins;
the world, and the world's trinity: "the lusts of the flesh, and the lusts of the eye, and the pride of life!"
But He who is for me — is greater far than all that can be against me!
Believer, are you in trial, beaten down with a great fight of afflictions — like the disciples, out in a midnight of storm, buffeting a sea of trouble? Fear not! When the tempest has done its work, when the trial has fulfilled its mission — the voice which hushed the waters of old, has only to give forth the omnipotent mandate, "Peace, be still!" and immediately there will be a great calm! The "all power" of Jesus! — what a pillow on which to rest my aching head; disarming all my fears, and inducing thoughts of sweetest comfort, consolation, and joy!
The Divine eye!(John MacDuff, "The Night Watches")
"Hallelujah! The Lord God omnipotent reigns!" Revelation 19:6
Believer! what can better support and sustain you amid the trials of your pilgrimage, than the thought that you have an Omnipotent arm to lean upon? The God with whom you have to do — is boundless in His resources! There is no crossing His designs — no thwarting His purposes — no questioning His counsels. His mandate is law! "He speaks — and it is done!" Your need is great. From the humblest crumb of providential goodness, up to the richest blessing of Divine grace — you are hanging from moment to moment, as a poor pensioner on Jehovah's bounty!
But, fear not! "I am the Almighty God! Finite necessities can never exhaust My infinite fullness!" "My God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus!" Philippians 4:19
To You, O blessed Jesus! all power has been committed in Heaven and in earth. "ALL power!" He has in His hands the reigns of universal empire! Whatever is the blessing which the poorest, weakest, loneliest, most afflicted of His saints require — if it is really for their good — the "Wonderful Counselor" secures it!
He combines in His adorable Person, all that a sinner requires: a Heart tender enough to love; and a Hand strong enough to save. He is the "Mighty God!" How He delights in the exercise of His omnipotence in behalf of His own people — in ruling over their interests, and overruling their trials for their eternal good!
My enemies are many — their name is Legion:
Satan, the great adversary;
heart traitors — bosom sins;
the world, and the world's trinity: "the lusts of the flesh, and the lusts of the eye, and the pride of life!"
But He who is for me — is greater far than all that can be against me!
Believer, are you in trial, beaten down with a great fight of afflictions — like the disciples, out in a midnight of storm, buffeting a sea of trouble? Fear not! When the tempest has done its work, when the trial has fulfilled its mission — the voice which hushed the waters of old, has only to give forth the omnipotent mandate, "Peace, be still!" and immediately there will be a great calm! The "all power" of Jesus! — what a pillow on which to rest my aching head; disarming all my fears, and inducing thoughts of sweetest comfort, consolation, and joy!
(J. R. Miller, "Come with Me" Daily Bible Readings in the Life of Christ, 1890)
"Zechariah and Elizabeth were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly." Luke 1:6
This is a beautiful thing to have said of them. Yet, after all, that is the test which every life must endure. It is not enough to have human commendation. The question is — how do we stand before God? How does our life appear — to Him?
It does not matter how men praise and commend us — if God sees that we are living wrong. The Pharisees were righteous before men; but if you would see how they stood in God's eye, read the twenty-third chapter of Matthew.
We are in reality — just what we are before God — nothing less, nothing more. The question we should always ask ourselves is, "What does God think of me?" If we would meet His approval, we must first have our hearts right, and then we must be blameless and true in every part of our life.
We should live just as purely and beautifully in secret — as in the glare of the world's gaze.
There really is no such thing as secrecy in this world. We imagine that no eye is looking — when we are not in the presence of men. But really, we always have a spectator; we are living all our life in the presence God Himself! We should train ourselves, therefore, to work for the Divine eye in all that we do, that our work may stand the Divine inspection, and that we may have the approval and commendation of God Himself.
His window in all our hearts!
(Thomas Brooks, "The Crown and Glory of Christianity, or, HOLINESS, the Only Way to Happiness", 1662)
"Does He not see my ways, and number all my steps?" Job 31:4
The eye of God had so strong an influence upon Job's heart and life, that it wrought him up to a very high pitch of holiness.
The scholar writes most exactly while his teacher's eye is upon him;
and the child walks most exactly while his father's eye is upon him;
and the servant works most exactly while his master's eye is upon him;
and so certainly, all the sons and servants of the most high God walk most exactly — when they see themselves as in the presence of the great God, who is all sight — who is all eye!
Ah friends! as ever you would be high in holiness — have a serious apprehension of God's presence! Set yourselves daily as in His sight, as under His eye. Remember, though a man may easily baffle his conscience, and deceive others — yet he shall never be able to baffle or deceive God's omniscient eye! God has His window in all our hearts, and He exactly and precisely observes all that is done within us, and all that is done by us!
If the serious consideration of His sharp, piercing, all-seeing eye will not influence us to labor after the highest degrees of holiness — then I know not what will.
"I have kept Your precepts and decrees — for all my ways are before You." Psalm 119:168
The wrath of God let loose
upon His Son!
(Stephen Charnock, 1628-1680)
(Stephen Charnock, 1628-1680)
"Yet it was the Lord's will to
crush Him and cause
Him to suffer." Isaiah 53:10
Him to suffer." Isaiah 53:10
Not all the vials of judgment that
have or shall be poured
out upon the wicked world, nor the flaming furnace of a
sinner's conscience, nor the irreversible sentence pronounced
against the rebellious demons, nor the groans of the damned
creatures--give such a demonstration of God's hatred of sin--
as the wrath of God let loose upon His Son! Never did
divine holiness appear more beautiful and lovely than at the
time our Savior's countenance was most marred in the midst
of His dying groans--when God had turned His smiling face
from Him, and thrust His sharp knife into His heart, which
forced that terrible cry from Him, 'My God, My God, why
have You forsaken Me!'
out upon the wicked world, nor the flaming furnace of a
sinner's conscience, nor the irreversible sentence pronounced
against the rebellious demons, nor the groans of the damned
creatures--give such a demonstration of God's hatred of sin--
as the wrath of God let loose upon His Son! Never did
divine holiness appear more beautiful and lovely than at the
time our Savior's countenance was most marred in the midst
of His dying groans--when God had turned His smiling face
from Him, and thrust His sharp knife into His heart, which
forced that terrible cry from Him, 'My God, My God, why
have You forsaken Me!'
These are the idols of the heart!
(John Angell James, "Spiritual Idolatry")
The first commandment of the decalogue says, "You shall
have no other gods before Me." The meaning of this precept,
which is the foundation of all religion, is not merely that we
shall not acknowledge any other God besides Jehovah--but
also that we shall treat Him as God! That is, we . . .
must love Him with all our hearts,
serve Him with all our lives, and
depend upon Him for our supreme felicity.
It is obvious that whatever we love most, and are most
anxious to retain and please--whatever it is we depend
most upon for happiness and help--whatever has most
of our hearts--that is, in effect, is our God! It does not
matter whether it is friends, possessions, desires--or
our own selves!
These are the idols of the heart!
SELF is the great idol which is the rival of God, and which
divides with Him the worship of the human race. It is
surprising and affecting to think how much SELF enters
into almost all we do. Besides the grosser form of self-
righteousness, which leads many unconverted people
actually to depend upon their own doings for acceptance
with God; how much of . . .
self-seeking,
self-valuing,
self-admiration,
self-dependence,
there is in many converted ones!
How covertly do some seek their own praise in what
they professedly do for God, and their fellow-creatures!
How eager are they for the admiration and applause
of their fellow-creatures! How much of self, yet how
little suspected by themselves--is seen by One who
knows them better than they know themselves, at
the bottom of their most splendid services, donations,
and most costly sacrifices!
In how many ways does self steal away the heart from God!
How subtle are its workings, how concealed its movements,
yet how extensive is its influence. How SELF . . .
perverts our motives,
lowers our aims,
corrupts our affections, and
taints our best actions!
How much incense is burned--and how many
sacrifices are offered on the altar of this idol!
"Little children, keep yourselves from idols!" 1 John 5:21
"I am the Lord—and I do not change!" Malachi 3:6 (John Angell James, "Spiritual Idolatry")
The first commandment of the decalogue says, "You shall
have no other gods before Me." The meaning of this precept,
which is the foundation of all religion, is not merely that we
shall not acknowledge any other God besides Jehovah--but
also that we shall treat Him as God! That is, we . . .
must love Him with all our hearts,
serve Him with all our lives, and
depend upon Him for our supreme felicity.
It is obvious that whatever we love most, and are most
anxious to retain and please--whatever it is we depend
most upon for happiness and help--whatever has most
of our hearts--that is, in effect, is our God! It does not
matter whether it is friends, possessions, desires--or
our own selves!
These are the idols of the heart!
SELF is the great idol which is the rival of God, and which
divides with Him the worship of the human race. It is
surprising and affecting to think how much SELF enters
into almost all we do. Besides the grosser form of self-
righteousness, which leads many unconverted people
actually to depend upon their own doings for acceptance
with God; how much of . . .
self-seeking,
self-valuing,
self-admiration,
self-dependence,
there is in many converted ones!
How covertly do some seek their own praise in what
they professedly do for God, and their fellow-creatures!
How eager are they for the admiration and applause
of their fellow-creatures! How much of self, yet how
little suspected by themselves--is seen by One who
knows them better than they know themselves, at
the bottom of their most splendid services, donations,
and most costly sacrifices!
In how many ways does self steal away the heart from God!
How subtle are its workings, how concealed its movements,
yet how extensive is its influence. How SELF . . .
perverts our motives,
lowers our aims,
corrupts our affections, and
taints our best actions!
How much incense is burned--and how many
sacrifices are offered on the altar of this idol!
"Little children, keep yourselves from idols!" 1 John 5:21
It is well for us that, amidst all the alterations and vicissitudes of life, that there is . . .
One whom change cannot affect,
One whose heart can never alter,
One on whose brow mutability can make no furrows.
All other things have changed—all other things are changing. The sun itself grows dim with age. The world is waxing old—the heavens and earth must soon pass away and perish! There is One alone, who has immortality—of whose years there is no end, and in whose person there is no change.
The delight which the mariner feels, when, after having been tossed about for many a day, he steps again upon the solid shore—is the satisfaction of a Christian when, amidst all the changes of this troublous life, he rests the foot of his faith upon this truth, "I am the Lord—and I do not change!" The stability which the anchor gives the ship when it has at last obtained a hold-fast, is like that which the Christian's hope affords him when it fixes itself upon this glorious truth.
"With Him there is no variation!" Whatever His attributes were of old—they are now! His power, His wisdom, His justice, His truth, are alike unchanged.
He has ever been the refuge of His people, their stronghold in the day of trouble—and He is their sure Helper still.
He is unchanged in His love. He has loved His people with "an everlasting love!" He loves them now, as much as ever He did! And when all earthly things shall have melted in the last conflagration, His love will still wear the dew of its youth.
Precious is the assurance that our God never changes! The wheel of providence revolves—but its axle is eternal love!
What should
move God to love us?
(Thomas Brooks, "The Transcendent Excellency of
a Believer's Portion above All Earthly Portions")
The free favor and love of God, the good will and pleasure
of God--is the true ground and cause of God's bestowing of
Himself as a portion upon His people. There was no cause,
nor loveliness, nor desirableness in them--which could
move God to bestow Himself upon them.
God, for the glory of His own free grace and love, has bestowed
Himself as a portion upon those who have deserved to have their
portion among devils and damned spirits--in those torments
which are endless, ceaseless, and remediless.
But what should move God to love us, who were so unworthy,
so filthy, so empty, so beggarly? The question may be resolved
in these words--He loves us because He loves us. The root
of all divine love to us, lies only in the bosom of God.
(Thomas Brooks, "The Transcendent Excellency of
a Believer's Portion above All Earthly Portions")
The free favor and love of God, the good will and pleasure
of God--is the true ground and cause of God's bestowing of
Himself as a portion upon His people. There was no cause,
nor loveliness, nor desirableness in them--which could
move God to bestow Himself upon them.
God, for the glory of His own free grace and love, has bestowed
Himself as a portion upon those who have deserved to have their
portion among devils and damned spirits--in those torments
which are endless, ceaseless, and remediless.
But what should move God to love us, who were so unworthy,
so filthy, so empty, so beggarly? The question may be resolved
in these words--He loves us because He loves us. The root
of all divine love to us, lies only in the bosom of God.
Joseph saw God in the room!
(Brooks, "The Golden Key to Open Hidden Treasures")
"The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding
the evil and the good." Proverbs 15:9
The harboring of any known sin, either in heart or life,
is a high contempt of the all-seeing eye of God—of
the omnipresence of God.
It is well known what Ahasuerus, that great monarch,
said concerning Haman, when he found him cast upon
the queen's couch on which she sat: "What!" says he,
"Will he even assault the queen right here in the palace,
before my very eyes!" What! will he dare to commit
such a villainy—as I stand and look on?
O sirs! to do wickedly in the sight of God, is a thing which
He looks upon as the greatest affront and indignity that
can possibly be done unto Him. "What!" says He, "Will
you be drunk before Me, and swear and blaspheme before
Me, and be wanton and immoral before Me, and break My
laws before My eyes!"
This, then, is the killing aggravation of all sin—that
is done before the face of God—in the presence of God!
The consideration of God's omnipresence—that He stands
and looks on, should be as a bar, to stop the proceedings
of all wicked intentions; and a great dissuasive from sin.
It was an excellent saying of Ambrose, "If you cannot
hide yourself from the sun, which is God's minister of
light—how impossible will it be to hide yourself from Him
whose eyes are ten thousand times brighter than the sun!"
There is no drawing of a curtain between God and you.
When you are in secret—consider that God is present.
God is all eye. He sees . . .
all things,
in all places,
at all times.
The godly are dissuaded from wickedness, upon the
consideration of God's eye and omniscience. Joseph
saw God in the room—and therefore dared not yield
to lust. But Potiphar's wife saw none but Joseph—and
so was impudently alluring and tempting him to sin.
I have read of two godly men, who took contrary
courses with two harlots—whom they desired to
reclaim from their wicked course of life.
One of the men told one of the women, that he was
desirous to enjoy her company in secret. After she
had brought him into a private room, and locked the
door, he told her, "All your bars and bolts cannot
keep God out!"
The other godly man asked the other harlot to be
unchaste with him openly in the streets—which she
rejected as an insane request. He then told her, "It
was better to do it before the eyes of a crowd—than
before the eyes of the all-seeing God!"
Oh, why shall not the presence of that God who hates
sin, and who is resolved to punish it with hell-flames,
make us ashamed or afraid to sin, and dare Him to
His face! Let your eye be ever on Him—whose
eye is always on you!
(Brooks, "The Golden Key to Open Hidden Treasures")
"The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding
the evil and the good." Proverbs 15:9
The harboring of any known sin, either in heart or life,
is a high contempt of the all-seeing eye of God—of
the omnipresence of God.
It is well known what Ahasuerus, that great monarch,
said concerning Haman, when he found him cast upon
the queen's couch on which she sat: "What!" says he,
"Will he even assault the queen right here in the palace,
before my very eyes!" What! will he dare to commit
such a villainy—as I stand and look on?
O sirs! to do wickedly in the sight of God, is a thing which
He looks upon as the greatest affront and indignity that
can possibly be done unto Him. "What!" says He, "Will
you be drunk before Me, and swear and blaspheme before
Me, and be wanton and immoral before Me, and break My
laws before My eyes!"
This, then, is the killing aggravation of all sin—that
is done before the face of God—in the presence of God!
The consideration of God's omnipresence—that He stands
and looks on, should be as a bar, to stop the proceedings
of all wicked intentions; and a great dissuasive from sin.
It was an excellent saying of Ambrose, "If you cannot
hide yourself from the sun, which is God's minister of
light—how impossible will it be to hide yourself from Him
whose eyes are ten thousand times brighter than the sun!"
There is no drawing of a curtain between God and you.
When you are in secret—consider that God is present.
God is all eye. He sees . . .
all things,
in all places,
at all times.
The godly are dissuaded from wickedness, upon the
consideration of God's eye and omniscience. Joseph
saw God in the room—and therefore dared not yield
to lust. But Potiphar's wife saw none but Joseph—and
so was impudently alluring and tempting him to sin.
I have read of two godly men, who took contrary
courses with two harlots—whom they desired to
reclaim from their wicked course of life.
One of the men told one of the women, that he was
desirous to enjoy her company in secret. After she
had brought him into a private room, and locked the
door, he told her, "All your bars and bolts cannot
keep God out!"
The other godly man asked the other harlot to be
unchaste with him openly in the streets—which she
rejected as an insane request. He then told her, "It
was better to do it before the eyes of a crowd—than
before the eyes of the all-seeing God!"
Oh, why shall not the presence of that God who hates
sin, and who is resolved to punish it with hell-flames,
make us ashamed or afraid to sin, and dare Him to
His face! Let your eye be ever on Him—whose
eye is always on you!
God is all mercy and love!
(J.C. Ryle, "Heirs of God" 1878)
There is a school of theology rising up in this day, which appears to me most eminently calculated to promote infidelity, to help the devil, and to ruin souls! It comes to us like Joab to Amasa — with the highest professions of love and liberality. (2 Samuel 20:9-10)
"God is all mercy and love!" according to this theology. His holiness and justice are completely left out of sight! Hell is never spoken of in this theology — its talk is all of Heaven! Damnation is never mentioned — it is treated as an impossible thing. All men and women are to be saved!
"Everybody is right! Nobody is wrong! Nobody is to blame for any action he may commit! It is the result of his circumstances! He is not accountable for his views, any more than for the color of his skin! He must be what he is! God is so entirely a God of mercy and love — that He never does, and never will punish sin."
Of all this theology I warn men solemnly to beware. In spite of big swelling words about "liberality," and "love," and "broad views," and "new light," and "freedom from bigotry," and so forth — I do believe it to be a theology that leads to Hell!
Imagine a Heaven which would contain all mankind! Imagine a Heaven in which holy and unholy, pure and impure, good and evil — would be all gathered together in one confused mass!
Surely the mind revolts from the idea of a Heaven in which there would be no distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between Pharaoh and Moses, between Abraham and the Sodomites, between Paul and Nero, between John and Judas Iscariot! Surely an eternity in such a miserably confused crowd, would be worse than annihilation itself! Surely, such a Heaven would be no better than Hell
(J.C. Ryle, "Heirs of God" 1878)
There is a school of theology rising up in this day, which appears to me most eminently calculated to promote infidelity, to help the devil, and to ruin souls! It comes to us like Joab to Amasa — with the highest professions of love and liberality. (2 Samuel 20:9-10)
"God is all mercy and love!" according to this theology. His holiness and justice are completely left out of sight! Hell is never spoken of in this theology — its talk is all of Heaven! Damnation is never mentioned — it is treated as an impossible thing. All men and women are to be saved!
"Everybody is right! Nobody is wrong! Nobody is to blame for any action he may commit! It is the result of his circumstances! He is not accountable for his views, any more than for the color of his skin! He must be what he is! God is so entirely a God of mercy and love — that He never does, and never will punish sin."
Of all this theology I warn men solemnly to beware. In spite of big swelling words about "liberality," and "love," and "broad views," and "new light," and "freedom from bigotry," and so forth — I do believe it to be a theology that leads to Hell!
Imagine a Heaven which would contain all mankind! Imagine a Heaven in which holy and unholy, pure and impure, good and evil — would be all gathered together in one confused mass!
Surely the mind revolts from the idea of a Heaven in which there would be no distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between Pharaoh and Moses, between Abraham and the Sodomites, between Paul and Nero, between John and Judas Iscariot! Surely an eternity in such a miserably confused crowd, would be worse than annihilation itself! Surely, such a Heaven would be no better than Hell
God's hatred of
sin
(J. A. James, "The Practical Believer Delineated" 1852)
The death of Christ, apprehended by faith, presents
the strongest motives to holiness—by setting forth in
the most vivid and striking manner . . .
the evil nature of sin;
the holiness and justice of God;
His determination to punish transgression;
the fearfulness of falling into the hands of the living God.
Not all the judgments God ever inflicted—nor all
the threatenings He ever denounced, give such an
impressive warning against sin, and admonition
to righteousness—as the death of Christ.
The torments of the bottomless pit are not so
dreadful a demonstration of God's hatred of sin,
as the agonies of the cross!
When God dwelt all alone(J. A. James, "The Practical Believer Delineated" 1852)
The death of Christ, apprehended by faith, presents
the strongest motives to holiness—by setting forth in
the most vivid and striking manner . . .
the evil nature of sin;
the holiness and justice of God;
His determination to punish transgression;
the fearfulness of falling into the hands of the living God.
Not all the judgments God ever inflicted—nor all
the threatenings He ever denounced, give such an
impressive warning against sin, and admonition
to righteousness—as the death of Christ.
The torments of the bottomless pit are not so
dreadful a demonstration of God's hatred of sin,
as the agonies of the cross!
(Arthur Pink, "The Attributes of God")
"Before the mountains were born, before You
gave birth to the earth and the world, from
eternity to eternity, You are God!" Psalm 90:2
There was a time, if 'time' it could be called,
when God dwelt all alone. There was no
heaven, where His glory is now particularly
manifested. There was no earth to engage
His attention. There were no angels to hymn
His praises. There was no universe to be
upheld by the word of His power. There was
nothing, no one, but God; and that, not for
a day, a year, or an age—but "from eternity."
During eternity past, God was alone:
self-contained,
self-sufficient,
self-satisfied;
in need of nothing.
Had a universe, had angels, had human beings
been necessary to Him in any way—they would
have been called into existence from all eternity.
The creating of them when He did, added nothing
to God essentially. He does not change (Mal. 3:6),
therefore His essential glory can be neither
augmented nor diminished.
"Before Him all the nations are as nothing; they
are regarded by Him as worthless and less than
nothing." Isaiah 40:17
The God of the broken-hearted
(J. R. Miller, "The Beatitude for the Unsuccessful" 1892)
"The Lord is near the broken-hearted." Psalm 34:18
The God of the Bible, is the God of the
broken-hearted. The world cares little for the broken hearts.
Indeed, people oftentimes break hearts by their cruelty, their falseness, their
injustice, their coldness--and then move on as heedlessly as if they had
trodden only on a worm! But God cares. Broken-heartedness attracts Him. The
plaint of grief on earth--draws Him down from heaven.(J. R. Miller, "The Beatitude for the Unsuccessful" 1892)
"The Lord is near the broken-hearted." Psalm 34:18
Physicians in their rounds, do not stop at the homes of the well--but of the sick. So it is with God in His movements through this world. It is not to the whole and the well--but to the wounded and stricken, that He comes with sweetest tenderness! Jesus said of His mission: "He has sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted." Isaiah 61:1
We look upon trouble as misfortune. We say that the life is being destroyed, which is passing through adversity. But the truth which we find in the Bible, does not so represent suffering. God is a repairer and restorer of the hurt and ruined life. He takes the bruised reed--and by His gentle skill makes it whole again, until it grows into fairest beauty. The love, pity, and grace of God, minister sweet blessing of comfort and healing--to restore the broken and wounded hearts of His people.
Much of the most beautiful life in this world, comes out of sorrow. As "fair flowers bloom upon rough stalks," so many of the fairest flowers of human life, grow upon the rough stalks of suffering. We see that those who in heaven wear the whitest robes, and sing the loudest songs of victory--are those who have come out of great tribulation. Heaven's highest places are filling, not from earth's homes of glad festivity and tearless joy--but from its chambers of pain; its valleys of struggle where the battle is hard; and its scenes of sorrow, where pale cheeks are wet with tears, and where hearts are broken. The God of the Bible--is the God of the bowed down--whom He lifts up into His strength.
God is the God of those who fail. Not that He loves those who stumble and fall, better than those who walk erect without stumbling; but He helps them more. The weak believers get more of His grace--than those who are strong believers. There is a special divine promise, which says, "My divine power is made perfect in weakness." When we are conscious of our own insufficiency, then we are ready to receive of the divine sufficiency. Thus our very weakness is an element of strength. Our weakness is an empty cup--which God fills with His own strength.
You may think that your weakness unfits you for noble, strong, beautiful living--or for sweet, gentle, helpful serving. You wish you could get clear of it. It seems to burden you--an ugly spiritual deformity. But really it is something which--if you give it to Christ--He can transform into a blessing, a source of His power. The friend by your side, whom you envy because he seems so much stronger than you are--does not get so much of Christ's strength as you do. You are weaker than him--but your weakness draws to you divine power, and makes you strong.
"He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds." Psalm 147:3
The best friend—but the worst
enemy!
(Thomas Watson, "Body of Divinity")
Woe to all such, as have God against them. He lives
forever to be avenged upon them. "Can your heart
endure, or can your hands be strong in the day that
I shall deal with you?" Such as oppose His people,
trampling these jewels in the dust; and such as live
in contradiction to God's Word—engage the Infinite
Majesty of heaven against them! How dreadful will
their case be! "As surely as I live, when I sharpen
My flashing sword and begin to carry out justice,
I will bring vengeance on My enemies and repay
those who hate Me!"
If it is so dreadful to hear the lion roar, what must
it be when he begins to tear his prey? "Consider
this, you who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces!"
Oh that men would think of this—who go on in sin!
Shall we engage the great God against us? God
strikes slow—but heavy! "Have you an arm like
God?" Can you strike such a blow? God is the best
friend—but the worst enemy! If He can look men
into their grave, how far can He throw them? "Who
knows the power of His wrath?" What fools are they,
who, for a drop of pleasure—drink a sea of wrath!
Paracelsus speaks of a craze some have, which
will make them die dancing. Just so—sinners
go dancing to hell!
(Thomas Watson, "Body of Divinity")
Woe to all such, as have God against them. He lives
forever to be avenged upon them. "Can your heart
endure, or can your hands be strong in the day that
I shall deal with you?" Such as oppose His people,
trampling these jewels in the dust; and such as live
in contradiction to God's Word—engage the Infinite
Majesty of heaven against them! How dreadful will
their case be! "As surely as I live, when I sharpen
My flashing sword and begin to carry out justice,
I will bring vengeance on My enemies and repay
those who hate Me!"
If it is so dreadful to hear the lion roar, what must
it be when he begins to tear his prey? "Consider
this, you who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces!"
Oh that men would think of this—who go on in sin!
Shall we engage the great God against us? God
strikes slow—but heavy! "Have you an arm like
God?" Can you strike such a blow? God is the best
friend—but the worst enemy! If He can look men
into their grave, how far can He throw them? "Who
knows the power of His wrath?" What fools are they,
who, for a drop of pleasure—drink a sea of wrath!
Paracelsus speaks of a craze some have, which
will make them die dancing. Just so—sinners
go dancing to hell!
His tender
mercies
(Thomas Brooks, "A Cabinet of Choice Jewels" 1669)
"His tender mercies." Psalm 145:9
"The multitude of His mercies." Psalm 106:45
It is God's free mercy which every day
keeps hell and my soul asunder.
It is God's free mercy which daily pardons my sins.
It is God's free mercy which supplies all my inward
and outward needs.
It is God's free mercy which preserves, and feeds,
and clothes my outward man.
It is God's free mercy which renews, strengthens,
and prospers my inward man.
It is God's free mercy which has kept me many
times from committing such and such sins.
It is God's free mercy which has kept me many a
time from falling before such and such temptations.
It is God's free mercy which has many a time
preserved me from being swallowed up by
such and such inward and outward afflictions.
"Great are Your tender mercies, O Lord." Psalm 119:156
"I will sing of the tender mercies of the Lord forever!"
Psalm 89:1
Astonished, bewildered, and
overpowered!(Thomas Brooks, "A Cabinet of Choice Jewels" 1669)
"His tender mercies." Psalm 145:9
"The multitude of His mercies." Psalm 106:45
It is God's free mercy which every day
keeps hell and my soul asunder.
It is God's free mercy which daily pardons my sins.
It is God's free mercy which supplies all my inward
and outward needs.
It is God's free mercy which preserves, and feeds,
and clothes my outward man.
It is God's free mercy which renews, strengthens,
and prospers my inward man.
It is God's free mercy which has kept me many
times from committing such and such sins.
It is God's free mercy which has kept me many a
time from falling before such and such temptations.
It is God's free mercy which has many a time
preserved me from being swallowed up by
such and such inward and outward afflictions.
"Great are Your tender mercies, O Lord." Psalm 119:156
"I will sing of the tender mercies of the Lord forever!"
Psalm 89:1
(Octavius Winslow, "From Grace to Glory" 1864)
The unregenerate man does not worship the God of the Bible. Worshiping a god of his own imagination, he rears his altar to "THE UNKNOWN GOD." Divesting the God of Scripture of His divine perfections . . .
His holiness,
His justice,
His truth,
His power
His wrath —
he completely undeifies Him, robbing Him of His glory.
But when he is born again, lo! the God of the Bible bursts upon his new-found vision and his wondering gaze, as a 'newly revealed God'.
Clothed with new attributes,
arrayed with new perfections,
bathed with new glory,
standing in a new relation —
the new creature falls down at His feet in adoring admiration and love, exclaiming, "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You! Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes!" Never did . . .
the being of God, appear so true,
the perfections of God, appear so glorious,
the character of God, appear so great,
the government of God, appear so holy,
the relation of God, appear so endearing — as now!
Born into a new world, the GOD of the new creation unveils to the eye as infinitely, ineffably lovely!
Like a being born and grown up in a dark mine, and brought to the earth's surface to gaze upon the sun in its noontide effulgence — the new created soul is astonished, bewildered, and overpowered by the splendor, glory, and greatness of the being, character, and perfections of Jehovah!
Our clumsy hands!
(J. R. Miller, "Miller's Year Book — a Year's Daily Readings")
"I know that You can do all things; no plan of Yours can be thwarted!" Job 42:2
We cannot do what we desire to do. Many of our purposes are thwarted. We desire to do good and beautiful things, and we try — but our actual achievements fall far below our desires. Our clumsy hands cannot fashion the loveliness which our hearts dream of. Our faltering weakness cannot do the brave things our souls aspire to do. No artist ever paints on his canvas — all the beauty of his ideal. No singer ever expresses — all the music which burns within him as he sings. No eloquent orator ever utters — all that he feels as he pleads for truth or for justice.
So in all our life — we do only a little of what we strive to do. We set out in the morning with purposes of usefulness, of true living, of gentle-heartedness, of patience, of victoriousness; but in the evening we find only little fragments of these good intentions actually wrought out!
But God's plans and intentions are all carried out! No power can withstand Him — or frustrate His will. It was in this thought, that Job found peace in his long, sore trial: all things were in God's hands, and nothing could hinder His designs of love! Our God is infinitely strong. In all earthly confusions, strifes, and troubles — His hand moves, bringing good out of evil for those who trust in Him. He executes all His purposes of good. He is never hindered in blessing His children.
"I know that You can do all things; no plan of Yours can be thwarted!" Job 42:2
A sure and safe anchorage amid the world's heaving ocean of vicissitude!
(John MacDuff, "The Night Watches")
"But You are the same — and Your years will never end!" Psalm 102:27
What a fountain of comfort is to be found in the Immutability of God! Not one ripple can disturb the calm of His unchanging nature. Were it so, He would no longer be a perfect Being — He would un-deify Himself — He would cease to be God!
Change is our portion here on earth. "They shall perish!" is the brief chronicle regarding everything on this side Heaven. The skies above us, the earth beneath us, the elements around us shall be destroyed. "All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved, and the sky rolled up like a scroll! The stars will fall from the sky like withered leaves from a grapevine, or shriveled figs from a fig tree!" Isaiah 34:4
Scenes of hallowed endearment — they have fled! Friends who sweetened our pilgrimage with their presence — they are gone! But here is a sure and safe anchorage amid the world's heaving ocean of vicissitude: "But You are the same — and Your years will never end!" All is changing — but the Unchanging One!
Oh! thus pillowing your head on the Immutability of God, amid the crude buffetings of a changing world, you will be able to say — until the dawn of the morning breaks on you, which knows neither night nor vicissitude, "I will both lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O Lord, make me live in safety!" Psalm 4:8
Modern manufacturers of gods?
(Spurgeon, "Joy in God" #2550, Romans 5:11)
Many are very busy trying to construct a god for
themselves, such as they think God ought to be.
And it generally turns out that they fashion a god
like themselves, for that saying of the psalmist
concerning idols and 'idol makers' is still true,
"And those who make them are just like them,
as are all who trust in them." Psalm 135:18
These modern manufacturers of gods make
them blind because they are themselves blind,
and deaf because they are deaf, and dead
because they are spiritually dead.
Some quarrel with God as a Sovereign, and
no doctrine makes them grind their teeth like
the glorious truth of divine sovereignty.
They profess to want a god, but . . .
he must not be on a throne;
he must not be King;
he must not be absolute and universal Monarch.
He must do as his creatures tell him, not as
he himself wills. Their effeminate deity is not
worthy to be known by the name of God!
The pouring
forth of all His wrath
(Brooks "Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices")
"I will sing of Your love and justice." Psalm 101:1
Mercy is God's Alpha--justice is His Omega.
When God's mercy is despised--then His justice takes
the throne!
God is like a prince, who first hangs out the white flag
of mercy; if this wins men--they are happy forever! But
if they remain rebellious, then God will put forth His red
flag of justice and judgment.
If His mercy is despised--His justice shall be felt!
God is as just--as He is merciful. As the Scriptures
portray Him to be a very merciful God--so they
portray Him to be a very just God.
Witness His casting the angels out of heaven and
His binding them in chains of darkness until the
judgment of the great day.
Witness His turning Adam out of Paradise.
Witness His drowning of the old world.
Witness His raining hell out of heaven upon Sodom.
Witness all the troubles, losses, sicknesses,
and diseases, which are in the world.
Witness His treasuring up of wrath against
the day of wrath.
But above all, witness the pouring forth of all His
wrath upon His bosom Son, when Jesus bore the
sins of His people, and cried out, "My God, My God,
why have You forsaken Me?"
As I know not the man who can reckon up his mercies;
so I know not the man who can sum up the miseries
which are coming upon him for his sins.
God is slow to anger--but He recompenses His slowness
with grievousness of punishment. If we abuse His mercy
to serve our lust--then He will rain hell out of heaven,
rather than not visit for such sins.
Men shall be deeper in hell, because heaven was offered
unto them--and they abused God's mercy. Sins against
God's mercy, will bring upon the soul the greatest misery!
(Brooks "Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices")
"I will sing of Your love and justice." Psalm 101:1
Mercy is God's Alpha--justice is His Omega.
When God's mercy is despised--then His justice takes
the throne!
God is like a prince, who first hangs out the white flag
of mercy; if this wins men--they are happy forever! But
if they remain rebellious, then God will put forth His red
flag of justice and judgment.
If His mercy is despised--His justice shall be felt!
God is as just--as He is merciful. As the Scriptures
portray Him to be a very merciful God--so they
portray Him to be a very just God.
Witness His casting the angels out of heaven and
His binding them in chains of darkness until the
judgment of the great day.
Witness His turning Adam out of Paradise.
Witness His drowning of the old world.
Witness His raining hell out of heaven upon Sodom.
Witness all the troubles, losses, sicknesses,
and diseases, which are in the world.
Witness His treasuring up of wrath against
the day of wrath.
But above all, witness the pouring forth of all His
wrath upon His bosom Son, when Jesus bore the
sins of His people, and cried out, "My God, My God,
why have You forsaken Me?"
As I know not the man who can reckon up his mercies;
so I know not the man who can sum up the miseries
which are coming upon him for his sins.
God is slow to anger--but He recompenses His slowness
with grievousness of punishment. If we abuse His mercy
to serve our lust--then He will rain hell out of heaven,
rather than not visit for such sins.
Men shall be deeper in hell, because heaven was offered
unto them--and they abused God's mercy. Sins against
God's mercy, will bring upon the soul the greatest misery!
The trifles which God gives
(Thomas Brooks, "Heaven on Earth" 1667)
The emperor Augustus, in his great feasts,
gave trifles to some--but gold to others.
Just so--honors, riches and worldly pleasures are
the trifles which God gives to the worst of men.
God gives His gold--His special love and grace--only
to His people.
(Thomas Brooks, "Heaven on Earth" 1667)
The emperor Augustus, in his great feasts,
gave trifles to some--but gold to others.
Just so--honors, riches and worldly pleasures are
the trifles which God gives to the worst of men.
God gives His gold--His special love and grace--only
to His people.
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The perfection of God
(Newman Hall, "Leaves of Healing from the Garden of Grief" 1891) "As for God, His way is perfect." 2 Samuel 22:31 God's wisdom cannot err. God's holiness cannot sin. God's love cannot be cruel. God's immutability cannot change. God's eternity cannot end. The perfection of God is a source of sweetest consolation to us, in our feebleness and foolishness. If He were not Omniscient, we might suffer and He not know. If He were not Omnipresent, we might cry and He not hear. If He were not Omnipotent, we might perish and He be unable to help. If He were not good, He would not care for us, or might crush us. "He is the Rock, His works are perfect, and all His ways are just." Deut. 32:4 Though the Lord is exalted, yet He has regard unto the humble. He has not despised the affliction of His afflicted children, nor hid His face from them. I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinks upon me. Put my tears into Your bottle. |
A sleeping lion
(Thomas Watson, "Body of Divinity")
"Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why
do the treacherous live at ease?" Jeremiah 12:1
Such as are highest in sin—are often highest in
prosperity. This has led many to question God's
justice. Diogenes, seeing a thief live on affluently,
said, "Surely God has cast off the government of
the world, and does not care how things go on
here below."
How can it be consistent with God's justice,
that the wicked should prosper in the world?
If God lets men prosper a while in their sin—His
vial of wrath is all this while filling; His sword is
all this time sharpening. Though God may forbear
with men a while—yet long forbearance is not
forgiveness. The longer God is in taking His blow,
the heavier it will be at last! As long as there is
eternity, God has time enough to reckon with
His enemies!
God's justice may be as a sleeping lion—but the
lion will awake at last, and roar upon the sinner!
"Yes, Lord God Almighty, Your punishments are
true and just." Revelation 16:7
In view of God's mercy(Thomas Watson, "Body of Divinity")
"Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why
do the treacherous live at ease?" Jeremiah 12:1
Such as are highest in sin—are often highest in
prosperity. This has led many to question God's
justice. Diogenes, seeing a thief live on affluently,
said, "Surely God has cast off the government of
the world, and does not care how things go on
here below."
How can it be consistent with God's justice,
that the wicked should prosper in the world?
If God lets men prosper a while in their sin—His
vial of wrath is all this while filling; His sword is
all this time sharpening. Though God may forbear
with men a while—yet long forbearance is not
forgiveness. The longer God is in taking His blow,
the heavier it will be at last! As long as there is
eternity, God has time enough to reckon with
His enemies!
God's justice may be as a sleeping lion—but the
lion will awake at last, and roar upon the sinner!
"Yes, Lord God Almighty, Your punishments are
true and just." Revelation 16:7
(William Secker, "The Consistent Christian")
"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!"
2 Corinthians 9:15
What could Jesus do more--than to die for us!
What can we do less--than to live for Him!
You cannot fathom all the good which He has
bestowed upon you--nor all the evil which He
has forgiven you!
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of
God's mercy--to offer your bodies as living
sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God!"
Romans 12:1
Two infamous strumpets
(Thomas Brooks, "The Privy Key of Heaven" 1665)
"You have set our iniquities before You, our secret
sins in the light of Your presence." Psalms 90:8
"Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot
see him? Do not I fill heaven and earth?" Jer. 23:24
"The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping
watch on the wicked and the good." Proverbs 15:3
As we are never out of the reach of God's hand,
so we are never from under the view of God's eye.
God is privy to our most secret sins. His eye is as much
upon secret sins, as it is upon open sins. God has an eye
upon our inmost evils. He sees all that is done in the dark.
There is no cloud, nor curtain, nor moment of darkness,
which can stand between the eyes of God and the ways
of men. "For a man's ways are in full view of the Lord, and
He examines all his paths." Prov. 5:21. In this scripture
Solomon mainly speaks of the ways of the adulterer, which
usually are plotted with the most cunning secrecy; yet God
sees all those ways. Look! as no boldness can exempt the
adulterer from the justice of God, so no secrecy can hide
him from the eye of God. Though men labor to hide their
ways from others, and from themselves--yet it is but labor
in vain to endeavor to hide them from God. Men who labor
to hide God from themselves, can never hide themselves from
God. Paphnutius turned Thais and Ephron, two infamous
strumpets, from their harlotry, with only this argument--
"That God sees all things in the dark, when the doors
are closed, the windows shut, and the curtains drawn."
Those sins which lie closest and are most secretly lurking in
the heart, are as obvious and odious to God as those who
are most fairly written upon a man's forehead. God is all
eye; so that He sees all--even the most secret turnings
and windings of our hearts.
"Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight:
but all things are naked and opened (that is, anatomized)
to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." Hebrews 4:13
What is the curtain, or the darkest night, or the double lock,
or the secret chamber--to Him who clearly observes all things
in a perfect nakedness. God has an eye upon the most inward
intentions of the heart, and the most subtle motions of the soul.
Certainly there is not a creature, not a thought, not a thing,
but lies open to the all-seeing eye of God. The Lord knows
all our secret sinnings as exactly as our visible sinnings.
"If you cannot hide yourself from the sun, which is God's minister
of light; how impossible will it be to hide yourself from Him, whose
eyes are ten thousand times brighter than the sun!" (Ambrose)
"My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from Me,
nor is their sin concealed from My eyes." Jeremiah 16:17
This is the killing aggravation of all sin--that it is done before
the face of God; that it is committed in the royal presence of
the King of kings! The very consideration of God's omnipresence
should bravely arm us against sin! Shall not the strict, the pure,
the jealous eye of an all-seeing God--keep you from sinning in
the secret chamber, when all curtains are drawn, doors bolted,
and everyone in the house sleeping--but you and your Delilah?
Oh! what dreadful atheism is bound up in that man's heart,
who is more afraid of the eye of his father, his pastor, his
child--than he is of the eye and presence of the eternal God!
Those who wallow in secret sins, act as if there were . . .
no God to behold them,
nor conscience to accuse them,
nor judgment-day to arraign them,
nor justice to condemn them,
nor hell to torment them!
Though they may escape the eyes of men--yet
they shall never escape the judgment of God!
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God's presence
(John Mason's Spiritual Sayings) The presence of God's glory is in heaven; the presence of His power on earth; the presence of His justice in hell; the presence of His grace with His people. If He denies us His powerful presence we fall into nothing. If He denies us His gracious presence we fall into sin. If He denies us His merciful presence we fall into hell. Fear God for His power.
Trust Him for His wisdom.
Love Him for His goodness.
Praise Him for His greatness.
Believe Him for His faithfulness.
Adore Him for His holiness.
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God's mercy
(Nevins)
There is something very special in the manner in which the doctrine of God's
mercy is taught in Scripture.(Nevins)
Observe that several words, nearly synonymous, are used to teach us the doctrine--such as merciful, gracious, long-suffering, pitiful, slow to anger. And not satisfied with the positive--the inspired writers use the superlative--very pitiful and very gracious!
Not content with the singular, 'mercy'--they adopt and employ the plural form--'mercies'. They speak of the mercies of God. Nor are they content with a simple plural--but they speak of these mercies as manifold. Yes, they speak of the multitude of His mercies. And to denote that there is nothing uncertain about these mercies, they speak of them as sure mercies. They also speak of them not only as many, but great! Yes--and great above the heavens! And they speak of the greatness of His mercies, in magnitude equal to what they are in multitude--many and great and sure mercies! Think of that!
They are not mere mercies--but tender mercies, and these mercies they speak of as original with God. They speak of Him as the Father of mercies! They take care to tell us that mercy is not accidental to God--but essential; they speak of it as belonging to him. Daniel goes further still. He says--"To the Lord our God belong mercies"--and 'forgiveness'? No! but 'forgivenesses'! You may say that is not proper grammar--but it is glorious doctrine!
There is another set of phrases they use--they speak of God as rich in mercy, plenteous in mercy, and full of compassion. They speak of His abundant mercy, of the earth as full of His mercy, to denote its amplitude. And in respect of its continuance, they say that His compassions fail not. In Psalm 136, twenty-six times it is said, "His mercy endures forever!"
There is still another phraseology used by the sacred writers. They speak of God's kindness, His great kindness, His marvelous kindness, His everlasting kindness. But they are not satisfied to speak of it as simple kindness; they call it merciful kindness, and speak of it as great towards us. They call it loving-kindness, also. And we read of God's marvelous and excellent loving-kindness, with which it is said also that He crowns us! Here, too, they use the plural form, loving-kindnesses; and they speak of the multitude of His loving-kindnesses.
We also find the sacred writers speaking of the mercy of God compared to certain human traits. For example, to a father's pity--which it is said to be like; and to a brother's friendship--than which it is closer; and to a mother's love--which it is said to exceed!
What more could they say?
The mercy of God
(Charles Spurgeon)
"I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever!" Psalm 52:8
Meditate a little on the mercy of God.
It is tender mercy. With gentle, loving touch, He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds. He is as gracious in the manner of His mercy — as in the matter of it.
It is great mercy. There is nothing little in God; His mercy is like Himself — infinite. You cannot measure it. His mercy is so great — that it forgives great sins of great sinners, after great lengths of time; and then gives great favors and great privileges, and raises us up to great enjoyments in the great Heaven of the great God!
It is undeserved mercy, as indeed all true mercy must be, for deserved mercy is only a misnomer for justice. There was no right on the sinner's part, to the saving mercy of the Most High God. Had the rebel been doomed at once to eternal fire — he would have justly merited the doom; and if delivered from wrath, sovereign love alone has found a cause, for there was none in the sinner himself.
It is rich mercy. Some things are large — but have little efficacy in them — but this mercy is:
a cordial to your drooping spirits;
a golden ointment to your bleeding wounds;
a heavenly bandage to your broken bones;
a royal chariot for your weary feet;
a bosom of love for your trembling heart!
It is manifold mercy. As Bunyan says, "All the flowers in God's garden are double." There is no single mercy. You may think you have but one mercy — but you shall find it to be a whole cluster of mercies.
It is abounding mercy. Millions have received it — yet far from its being exhausted, it is as fresh, as full, and as free as ever!
It is unfailing mercy. It will never leave you. If saved by sovereign mercy — mercy will be . . .
with you in temptation — to keep you from yielding;
with you in trouble — to prevent you from sinking;
with you in living — to be the light and life of your countenance; and
with you in dying — to be the joy of your soul when earthly comfort is ebbing fast!
"I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever!" Psalm 89:1
His all-seeing eye
(William Plumer, "Theology for the People" 1875)
"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight.
Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the
eyes of Him to whom we must give account!"
Hebrews 4:13
God is omniscient. His knowledge is infinite in
kind and extent. It is eternal. He knows all things
past, present, and future; all things that ever
have been, are, or ever shall be.
In heaven, earth, and hell, nothing is hid from
His all-seeing eye. God knows the hearts of
all His creatures.
God also knows all things which ever could have
been, could now be, or could hereafter be on any
conceivable supposition. His knowledge embraces
all plans, all truths, all systems. God can neither
learn nor forget anything.
"His understanding is infinite!" Psalm 147:5
(William Plumer, "Theology for the People" 1875)
"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight.
Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the
eyes of Him to whom we must give account!"
Hebrews 4:13
God is omniscient. His knowledge is infinite in
kind and extent. It is eternal. He knows all things
past, present, and future; all things that ever
have been, are, or ever shall be.
In heaven, earth, and hell, nothing is hid from
His all-seeing eye. God knows the hearts of
all His creatures.
God also knows all things which ever could have
been, could now be, or could hereafter be on any
conceivable supposition. His knowledge embraces
all plans, all truths, all systems. God can neither
learn nor forget anything.
"His understanding is infinite!" Psalm 147:5
Is God
unjust?
(Don Fortner)
"Just as it is written: 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.' What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For He says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.' It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy." Romans 9:13-16
Though God is absolutely sovereign, having mercy on whom He will have mercy and hardening whom He will — He is strictly just, both in bestowing His saving mercy upon His elect, and in the everlasting damnation of the reprobate.
"Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden." Romans 9:1
(Don Fortner)
"Just as it is written: 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.' What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For He says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.' It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy." Romans 9:13-16
Though God is absolutely sovereign, having mercy on whom He will have mercy and hardening whom He will — He is strictly just, both in bestowing His saving mercy upon His elect, and in the everlasting damnation of the reprobate.
"Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden." Romans 9:1
When God
pardons
(William S. Plumer, "Sinners Saved by Unmerited Kindness")
One unpardoned sin would destroy a soul forever.
Many words in Scripture point towards forgiveness, such as:
grace,
mercy,
peace with God,
not imputing iniquity,
taking away sin,
bearing sin,
making an end of transgression,
covering sin,
forgetting sin,
not remembering iniquity,
washing, cleansing and removing sin,
casting it into the sea, or behind the back,
scattering it like a cloud,
burying it,
blotting it out,
pardoning it.
The forgiveness of sins is free. It is "without money and
without price." We can do nothing to merit it, or prepare
ourselves for it. When God pardons, He pardons:
all sins,
original sin and actual sin,
sins of omission and of commission,
secret and open sins,
sins of thought, word and deed.
To those who believe in Jesus, all is freely forgiven.
Full pardon, or none at all, is what God gives. Nor is
this gift ever revoked by God. When He forgives, He
forgives forever!
"Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin
the Lord does not count against him." Psalm 32:1-2
God's beauty!(William S. Plumer, "Sinners Saved by Unmerited Kindness")
One unpardoned sin would destroy a soul forever.
Many words in Scripture point towards forgiveness, such as:
grace,
mercy,
peace with God,
not imputing iniquity,
taking away sin,
bearing sin,
making an end of transgression,
covering sin,
forgetting sin,
not remembering iniquity,
washing, cleansing and removing sin,
casting it into the sea, or behind the back,
scattering it like a cloud,
burying it,
blotting it out,
pardoning it.
The forgiveness of sins is free. It is "without money and
without price." We can do nothing to merit it, or prepare
ourselves for it. When God pardons, He pardons:
all sins,
original sin and actual sin,
sins of omission and of commission,
secret and open sins,
sins of thought, word and deed.
To those who believe in Jesus, all is freely forgiven.
Full pardon, or none at all, is what God gives. Nor is
this gift ever revoked by God. When He forgives, He
forgives forever!
"Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin
the Lord does not count against him." Psalm 32:1-2
(Stephen Charnock)
Power is God's hand or arm,
omniscience is God's eye,
mercy is God's delight,
eternity is God's duration,
but holiness is God's beauty!
The presence of a compassionate God!
(Brooks, "A Word in Season to Suffering Saints")
"His compassions never fail!" Lamentations 3:22
Each believer has the presence of . . .
a God of mercy,
a God of tenderness,
a God of compassion.
Mercy is as essential to God — as light is to the sun,
or as heat is to the fire. He delights in mercy. Patience,
and mildness, and mercy, and compassion, and peace
— are the fruits of His heart. God's compassions are . . .
fatherly compassions, Psalm 103:13;
motherly compassions, Isaiah 49:15;
brotherly compassions, Hebrews 2:12;
friendly compassions, Canticles 5:1-2.
Oh, how sweet must the presence of a God of mercy, a
God of compassion — be to the saints in a day of trouble!
The presence of a compassionate friend in a day of distress
is very desirable and comfortable; what then is the
presence of a compassionate God!
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His unwearied care and
concern
(Thomas Bradbury, "Comfort My People" 1897) All along their journey through a world of sin, suffering, and sorrow, the people of God are the subjects of trial, temptation and tribulation. The corruptions of our vile nature, the fierce assaults of the devil, the ways of the wicked around us, the perplexities of God's mysterious providence, and felt spiritual weakness, all conspire to make our hearts disconsolate, and cause us to sigh and cry. But God is never at a loss to help and comfort His weak and weary, tried and tempted, oppressed and suffering people. His comforts abound with . . . assistance in necessity, help in extremity, defense in danger, deliverance from distress, and infinitely more. With all these He opens up His heart of love, and reveals to them His unwearied care and concern over them. God's unchanging concern and care are beautifully illustrated in His love to Ephraim, after Ephraim's base wanderings from, and rebelliousness against the God and Father who loved him so well. "Is not Ephraim My dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore My heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him." Jeremiah 31:20 All God's children are . . . dear to Him, pleasant in His eyes, the delight of His heart. God . . . draws them to Himself with the cords of love, blesses them with the sweets of divine communion, kisses them with the kisses of His mouth, dandles them on His knees of eternal affection, presses them to His bosom of everlasting love, and holds every covenant blessing ready for whatever state or condition they may be in. |
The eyes of the
Lord
(Brooks, "The Golden Key to Open Hidden Treasures")
"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight.
Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the
eyes of Him to whom we must give account!"
Hebrews 4:13
God is . . .
all ear to hear,
all hand to punish,
all power to protect,
all wisdom to direct,
all goodness to relieve,
all grace to pardon,
all eye to observe the . . .
thoughts,
hearts,
words,
ways, and
walkings of men.
As the eyes of a well-drawn picture are fastened on us,
wherever we move — so are the eyes of the Lord.
"For a man's ways are in full view of the Lord,
and He examines all his paths." Proverbs 5:21
(Brooks, "The Golden Key to Open Hidden Treasures")
"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight.
Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the
eyes of Him to whom we must give account!"
Hebrews 4:13
God is . . .
all ear to hear,
all hand to punish,
all power to protect,
all wisdom to direct,
all goodness to relieve,
all grace to pardon,
all eye to observe the . . .
thoughts,
hearts,
words,
ways, and
walkings of men.
As the eyes of a well-drawn picture are fastened on us,
wherever we move — so are the eyes of the Lord.
"For a man's ways are in full view of the Lord,
and He examines all his paths." Proverbs 5:21
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The carnal man's
trinity!
("Soul Idolatry" David Clarkson, 1621-1686) "You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a such a person is really an idolater who worships the things of this world." Ephesians 5:5 "For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." 1 John 2:16 Pleasures, and riches, and honors are the carnal man's trinity. These are the three great idols of worldly men, to which they prostrate their souls! Idolatry is to give that honor and worship to 'the creature', which is due to the Creator alone. When this worship is communicated to other things, whatever they are, we thereby make them idols, and commit idolatry. When the mind is most taken up with an object, and the heart and affections most set upon it, this is "soul worship"--and this worship is due to God alone. Now this worship due to God alone, is given . . . by the savage heathen to their stick and stones; by the papist to their angels, saints, and images; by carnal men to their lusts. There are two kinds of idolatry: 1. Open, external idolatry--when men, out of a religious respect, bow to, or prostrate themselves before anything besides the true God. This is the idolatry of the heathen, and in part, the idolatry of papists. 2. Secret and soul idolatry--when the mind is set on anything more than God; when anything is . . . more valued than God, more desired than God, more sought than God, more loved than God. Hence, secret idolaters shall have no inheritance in the Kingdom of God. Soul idolatry will exclude men from heaven, as much as open idolatry! He who serves his lusts is as incapable of entering heaven, as he who worships idols of wood or stone! "Therefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry!" 1 Corinthians 10:14 |
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The wrath of God let
loose upon His Son!
(Winslow, "The God of
Holiness")
Divine holiness is best exhibited in the cross of Jesus.
Not hell itself, dreadful and eternal as is its suffering:
the undying worm, the unquenchable fire, the smoke of the torment that goes up forever and ever; affords such a solemn and impressive spectacle of the holiness and justice of God in the punishment of sin, as is presented in the death of God's beloved Son.
An eminent Puritan writer thus
strikingly puts it:
"Not all the vials of judgment that have or shall be poured out upon this wicked world, nor the flaming furnace of a sinner's conscience, nor the irrevocable sentence pronounced against the rebellious devils, nor the groans of the damned creatures, give such a demonstration of God's hatred of sin, as the wrath of God let loose upon His Son!"
Never did Divine holiness
appear more beautiful
and lovely than at the time our Savior's countenance was most marred in the midst of His dying groans.
This Himself acknowledges in that
penitential psalm,
when God turned His smiling face away from Him, and thrust His sharp knife into His heart, which forced that terrible cry from Him, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? ...Yet You are enthroned as the Holy One." Ps. 22:1-2
Such an impressive view of
God's holiness the angels
in heaven never before beheld; not even when they saw the non elect spirits hurled from the heights of glory down to the bottomless pit, to be reserved in chains of darkness and woe forever!
Jesus was the innocent One dying
for the guilty
ones, the holy One dying for the sinful ones.
Divine justice, in its mission of judgment, as it
swept by the cross, found the Son of God impaled upon its wood beneath the sins and the curse of His people. Upon Him its judgment fell, on His soul its wrath was poured, in His heart its flaming sword was plunged; and thus, from Him, justice exacted the full penalty of man's transgression; the last farthing of the great debt.
Go to the cross, then, my reader,
and learn the holiness of God.
Contemplate...
the dignity of Christ; His preciousness to His Father's heart; the sinlessness of His nature.
And then behold...
the sorrow of His soul, the torture of His body, the tragedy of His death, the abasement, the ignominy, the humiliation, into the fathomless depths of which the whole transaction plunged our incarnate God!
And let me ask, standing, as you
are, before
this unparalleled spectacle, "Can you cherish low views of God's holiness, or light views of your own sinfulness?" |
The power of
God
(Stephen Charnock, 1628-1680)
"All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing.
He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and
the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand
or say to Him--What have You done?" Daniel 4:35
The power of God is that ability and strength whereby
He can bring to pass whatever He pleases, whatever His
infinite wisdom may direct, and whatever the infinite purity
of His will may resolve. As holiness is the beauty of all God's
attributes; so power is that which gives life and action to all
the perfections of the divine nature. How vain would be the
eternal decrees, if power did not step in to execute them.
Without power--
His mercy would be but feeble pity,
His promises an empty sound,
His threatenings a mere scarecrow.
God's power is like Himself--infinite, eternal,
incomprehensible; it can neither be checked,
restrained, nor frustrated by the creature.
As His essence . . .
is immense--not to be confined in place;
as it is eternal--not to be measured in time;
so it is almighty--not to be limited in regard of action.
(Stephen Charnock, 1628-1680)
"All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing.
He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and
the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand
or say to Him--What have You done?" Daniel 4:35
The power of God is that ability and strength whereby
He can bring to pass whatever He pleases, whatever His
infinite wisdom may direct, and whatever the infinite purity
of His will may resolve. As holiness is the beauty of all God's
attributes; so power is that which gives life and action to all
the perfections of the divine nature. How vain would be the
eternal decrees, if power did not step in to execute them.
Without power--
His mercy would be but feeble pity,
His promises an empty sound,
His threatenings a mere scarecrow.
God's power is like Himself--infinite, eternal,
incomprehensible; it can neither be checked,
restrained, nor frustrated by the creature.
As His essence . . .
is immense--not to be confined in place;
as it is eternal--not to be measured in time;
so it is almighty--not to be limited in regard of action.
Who are you, O man, to talk back
to God?
(Thomas Watson, "Body of Divinity")
"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I
will have compassion on whom I have compassion.
It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or
effort, but on God's mercy." Romans 9:15-16
God has a sovereign right and authority over man.
He can do with His creatures as He pleases. Who shall
dispute with God? Who shall ask Him a reason of His
doings? "Who are you, O man, to talk back to
God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed
it—Why did you make me like this?" Romans 9:20
"Our God is in heaven and does whatever He pleases."
Psalm 115:3
"The Lord does whatever He pleases in heaven and
on earth, in the seas and all the depths." Psalm 135:6
God sits as judge in the highest court, and is not bound
to give a reason for His proceedings. "He puts down one,
and raises up another." He has salvation and damnation
in His power. He has the key of justice in His hand, to
lock up whomever he will, in the fiery prison of hell! And
He has the key of mercy in His hand, to open heaven's
gate to whomever He pleases! The name engraved upon
His vesture is, "King of kings, and Lord of lords!" He sits
Lord paramount, and who can call Him to account? The
world is God's house, and shall not He do what He
desires in His own house?
"My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please!"
Isaiah 46:10
"Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns!"
Revelation 19:6
A thorough hatred(Thomas Watson, "Body of Divinity")
"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I
will have compassion on whom I have compassion.
It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or
effort, but on God's mercy." Romans 9:15-16
God has a sovereign right and authority over man.
He can do with His creatures as He pleases. Who shall
dispute with God? Who shall ask Him a reason of His
doings? "Who are you, O man, to talk back to
God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed
it—Why did you make me like this?" Romans 9:20
"Our God is in heaven and does whatever He pleases."
Psalm 115:3
"The Lord does whatever He pleases in heaven and
on earth, in the seas and all the depths." Psalm 135:6
God sits as judge in the highest court, and is not bound
to give a reason for His proceedings. "He puts down one,
and raises up another." He has salvation and damnation
in His power. He has the key of justice in His hand, to
lock up whomever he will, in the fiery prison of hell! And
He has the key of mercy in His hand, to open heaven's
gate to whomever He pleases! The name engraved upon
His vesture is, "King of kings, and Lord of lords!" He sits
Lord paramount, and who can call Him to account? The
world is God's house, and shall not He do what He
desires in His own house?
"My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please!"
Isaiah 46:10
"Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns!"
Revelation 19:6
(Charles Spurgeon, "Treasury of David")
"You hate all workers of iniquity!" Psalm 5:5
"It is not a little dislike — but a thorough hatred which God bears to workers of iniquity. To be hated by God is an awful thing. O let us be very faithful in warning the wicked around us, for it will be a terrible thing for them to fall into the hands of an angry God!" Charles Spurgeon
"What a vile thing is sin, which makes the God of love and Father of mercies — into an enemy to His creatures; and which could only be purged by the blood of the Son of God!" Thomas Adams
"Not only the work — but worker of iniquity also becomes the object of His hatred." William Gurnall
"Those whom the Lord hates, must perish. What is more due to such impenitent sinners, than hatred? What is more proper than wrath — since they treasure up wrath? Will He entertain those in the bosom of His love — those whom His soul hates? No! Destruction is their portion. What is that which Christ hates? As Christ hates iniquity, so also the "workers of iniquity." David Clarkson
"If God's hatred is against the workers of iniquity — then how great is it against iniquity itself! If a man hates a poisonous creature — he hates poison much more. The strength of God's hatred is against sin — and so should we hate sin, and hate it with all our strength! Sin is an abomination unto God — let it be so unto us!" William Greenhill
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain
(William S. Plumer, "The Ten Commandments")
A great design of true religion is to bring men to habitual reverence
for God's divine majesty. The very moment men cease to treat God
as holy--that moment their worship becomes polluted.
"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain;
for the Lord will not hold him guiltless, who takes His name in vain."
Exodus 20:7
Anything relating to the true God--His being, His nature, His will,
His works, His worship, His service, or His doctrine--pertains to
God's name. This commandment extends to the state of men's
thoughts and hearts--as well as to their speech.
To take God's name in vain, is to use it in any frivolous, false,
inconsiderate, irreverent, or otherwise wicked manner. The
scope of this commandment is to secure the holy and reverent
use of all that by which God makes Himself known to His people;
and so to guard His sacred name against all that is calculated
to make it contemptible.
The manner of taking His name is to be grave, solemn, intelligent,
thoughtful, sincere, and with godly fear.
"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain;
for the Lord will not hold him guiltless, who takes His name in vain."
Exodus 20:7
(William S. Plumer, "The Ten Commandments")
A great design of true religion is to bring men to habitual reverence
for God's divine majesty. The very moment men cease to treat God
as holy--that moment their worship becomes polluted.
"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain;
for the Lord will not hold him guiltless, who takes His name in vain."
Exodus 20:7
Anything relating to the true God--His being, His nature, His will,
His works, His worship, His service, or His doctrine--pertains to
God's name. This commandment extends to the state of men's
thoughts and hearts--as well as to their speech.
To take God's name in vain, is to use it in any frivolous, false,
inconsiderate, irreverent, or otherwise wicked manner. The
scope of this commandment is to secure the holy and reverent
use of all that by which God makes Himself known to His people;
and so to guard His sacred name against all that is calculated
to make it contemptible.
The manner of taking His name is to be grave, solemn, intelligent,
thoughtful, sincere, and with godly fear.
"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain;
for the Lord will not hold him guiltless, who takes His name in vain."
Exodus 20:7
A mere cloak which covered
a heart full of unclean lusts!
(Archibald Alexander, "The day of judgment")
a heart full of unclean lusts!
(Archibald Alexander, "The day of judgment")
"God does not view things the
way men do.
People look on the outward appearance, but
the Lord looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7
"You are the ones who make yourselves look right in
other people's sight, but God knows your hearts.
For the things that are considered of great value by
people are worth nothing in God's sight." Luke 16:15
"He Himself knew what was in their hearts." John 2:25
"Lord, You know the thoughts of everyone." Acts 1:24
And as externally good actions will then be examined
by One who has a full view of the motives from which
they proceeded, and the end which the person had in
view--is it not certain that many religious actions
will then appear to have been mere hypocrisy? that
many actions, apparently just and benevolent, were
mere efforts of pride and selfishness? and that a moral
and blameless life in the eyes of men--was a mere
cloak which covered a heart full of unclean lusts?
Our most intimate friends here, will be astonished when
they see our secret iniquities and wicked motives exposed
to view. The most detestable crimes will be unveiled in
those who passed through life without suspicion! O how
many secret murders, perjuries, thefts, blasphemies, and
adulteries--will then be brought to light! How much fraud,
injustice, cruelty, oppression, pride, malice, revenge will
then be unveiled!
"Almighty Lord, You test people justly; You know what
is in their hearts and minds." Jeremiah 20:12
"You alone know the thoughts of the human heart.
Deal with each person as he deserves." 1 Kings 8:39
People look on the outward appearance, but
the Lord looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7
"You are the ones who make yourselves look right in
other people's sight, but God knows your hearts.
For the things that are considered of great value by
people are worth nothing in God's sight." Luke 16:15
"He Himself knew what was in their hearts." John 2:25
"Lord, You know the thoughts of everyone." Acts 1:24
And as externally good actions will then be examined
by One who has a full view of the motives from which
they proceeded, and the end which the person had in
view--is it not certain that many religious actions
will then appear to have been mere hypocrisy? that
many actions, apparently just and benevolent, were
mere efforts of pride and selfishness? and that a moral
and blameless life in the eyes of men--was a mere
cloak which covered a heart full of unclean lusts?
Our most intimate friends here, will be astonished when
they see our secret iniquities and wicked motives exposed
to view. The most detestable crimes will be unveiled in
those who passed through life without suspicion! O how
many secret murders, perjuries, thefts, blasphemies, and
adulteries--will then be brought to light! How much fraud,
injustice, cruelty, oppression, pride, malice, revenge will
then be unveiled!
"Almighty Lord, You test people justly; You know what
is in their hearts and minds." Jeremiah 20:12
"You alone know the thoughts of the human heart.
Deal with each person as he deserves." 1 Kings 8:39
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CONTEMPLATION OF
DIVINITY...
From Spurgeon's, "The Immutability of God" The proper study of a Christian is the Godhead-- The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father. There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity-- It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity. Other subjects we can compass and grapple with-- in them we feel a kind of self-content, and go our way with the thought, "Behold I am wise." But when we come to this master-science, finding that our plumb-line cannot sound its depth, and that our eagle eye cannot see its height, we turn away with the thought, that vain man would be wise, but he is like a wild donkey's colt; and with the solemn exclamation-- "I am but of yesterday, and know nothing." No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind, than thoughts of God. |
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Can he scale heaven and
dethrone our God?
(Henry Law, "Psalms") "Let us break their chains," they cry, "and free ourselves from this slavery." Psalm 2:3 Self will rejects restraint. Pride will not yield to rule. Conceited reason lifts up defiant head. The gentle scepter of Christ's kingdom; His sweet, His light, His easy, and His loving yoke; are hated as chains which restrain, and cords which fetter. When Jesus came, earth raised the cry, "We will not have this man to reign over us." It still resounds. When will man learn that widest liberty is true submission to the Gospel sway? He is a free man whom the Son makes free. He is a slave in whom unbridled lusts and passions rule. But can proud man prevail? Can he drive back the ocean's might with a feather? Can he lift up his puny hand, and bid the sun conceal its rays? Can he bind the hurricane with straws? Can he lay mountains low, lift up the valleys, and change the laws of nature? Can he scale heaven and dethrone our God? Such, doubtless, is his frantic will. "Let us break their chains," they cry, "and free ourselves from this slavery." Psalm 2:3 But give ear again! "But the One who rules in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them. Then in anger He rebukes them, terrifying them with His fierce fury." Psalm 2:4-5 God may be silent long; but His patience is not impunity. Reprieve brings not release. When the appointed time comes, the floodgates open and wrath overflows! Who can conceive these terrors? What must His displeasure be? Who can endure when His anger issues forth? What weeping! What wailing! What anguish! What gnashing of teeth! When God arises to execute due judgment on His foes! |
"The MERCY
of God." - Psalm 52:8
(The following is by Spurgeon.)
Meditate a little on this MERCY of the Lord.
It is tender mercy!
With gentle, loving touch, he heals the broken
in heart, and binds up their wounds. He is as
gracious in the manner of his mercy as in the
matter of it.
It is great mercy!
There is nothing little in God.
His mercy is like himself- it is infinite!
You cannot measure it. His mercy is so great
that it forgives great sins of great sinners,
after great lengths of time, and then gives
great favors and great privileges, and raises
us up to great enjoyments in the great heaven
of the great God!
It is undeserved mercy!
Indeed all true mercy must be undeserved, for
deserved mercy is only a misnomer for justice.
There was no right on the sinner's part to the
kind mercy of the Most High. Had the rebel
been doomed at once to eternal fire he
would have richly merited the doom.
If delivered from wrath, sovereign love
alone has found a cause, for there was
none in the sinner himself.
It is rich mercy!
Some things are great, but have little
efficacy in them. But the mercy of God is--
A cordial to your drooping spirits!
A golden ointment to your bleeding wounds!
A heavenly bandage to your broken bones!
A royal chariot for your weary feet!
A bosom of love for your trembling heart!
It is manifold mercy!
As Bunyan says, "All the flowers in God's
garden are double." There is no single mercy.
You may think you have but one mercy, but you
shall find it to be a whole cluster of mercies!
It is abounding mercy!
Millions have received it, yet far from its
being exhausted! It is as fresh, as full,
and as free as ever!
It is unfailing mercy!
It will never leave you. Mercy will be with you in
temptation to keep you from yielding. Mercy will
be with in trouble to prevent you from sinking.
Mercy will be with you while living to be the
light and life of your countenance. Mercy will be
with you when dying to be the joy of your soul
when earthly comfort is ebbing fast.
(The following is by Spurgeon.)
Meditate a little on this MERCY of the Lord.
It is tender mercy!
With gentle, loving touch, he heals the broken
in heart, and binds up their wounds. He is as
gracious in the manner of his mercy as in the
matter of it.
It is great mercy!
There is nothing little in God.
His mercy is like himself- it is infinite!
You cannot measure it. His mercy is so great
that it forgives great sins of great sinners,
after great lengths of time, and then gives
great favors and great privileges, and raises
us up to great enjoyments in the great heaven
of the great God!
It is undeserved mercy!
Indeed all true mercy must be undeserved, for
deserved mercy is only a misnomer for justice.
There was no right on the sinner's part to the
kind mercy of the Most High. Had the rebel
been doomed at once to eternal fire he
would have richly merited the doom.
If delivered from wrath, sovereign love
alone has found a cause, for there was
none in the sinner himself.
It is rich mercy!
Some things are great, but have little
efficacy in them. But the mercy of God is--
A cordial to your drooping spirits!
A golden ointment to your bleeding wounds!
A heavenly bandage to your broken bones!
A royal chariot for your weary feet!
A bosom of love for your trembling heart!
It is manifold mercy!
As Bunyan says, "All the flowers in God's
garden are double." There is no single mercy.
You may think you have but one mercy, but you
shall find it to be a whole cluster of mercies!
It is abounding mercy!
Millions have received it, yet far from its
being exhausted! It is as fresh, as full,
and as free as ever!
It is unfailing mercy!
It will never leave you. Mercy will be with you in
temptation to keep you from yielding. Mercy will
be with in trouble to prevent you from sinking.
Mercy will be with you while living to be the
light and life of your countenance. Mercy will be
with you when dying to be the joy of your soul
when earthly comfort is ebbing fast.
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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. |
Hallowed be
Your name
(Newman Hall, "Meditations on the Lord's Prayer")
"Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your name."
Matthew 6:9
This petition condemns much more than profane
language. Whenever we introduce the Divine name
in our speech uselessly and triflingly--when we
employ it to turn a sentence, or give emphasis to
a statement, or point to an anecdote--when we make
the Divine Word the subject-matter of jokes, punning
on solemn truths of Revelation, and quoting Scripture
with ludicrous adaptations to provoke mirth. And even
when we take this great name on our lips in worship
without any endeavor to feel the homage it demands,
we violate the spirit of this prayer.
"You shall not take the name of Jehovah your God
in vain. For Jehovah will not hold him guiltless who
takes His name in vain." Exodus 20:7
(Newman Hall, "Meditations on the Lord's Prayer")
"Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your name."
Matthew 6:9
This petition condemns much more than profane
language. Whenever we introduce the Divine name
in our speech uselessly and triflingly--when we
employ it to turn a sentence, or give emphasis to
a statement, or point to an anecdote--when we make
the Divine Word the subject-matter of jokes, punning
on solemn truths of Revelation, and quoting Scripture
with ludicrous adaptations to provoke mirth. And even
when we take this great name on our lips in worship
without any endeavor to feel the homage it demands,
we violate the spirit of this prayer.
"You shall not take the name of Jehovah your God
in vain. For Jehovah will not hold him guiltless who
takes His name in vain." Exodus 20:7
Life is like a painted
dream?
(Winslow, "This God is Our
God")
"For this God is
our God forever and ever;
He will be our guide even to the end." Ps. 48:14
He will be our guide even to the end." Ps. 48:14
"The world passes away."
Everything here in this present
world is changing.
"Life
is like a painted dream,
Like the rapid summer stream,
Like the fleeting meteor's ray,
Like the shortest winter's day,
Like the fitful breeze that sighs,
Like the waning flame that dies,
Darting, dazzling on the eye,
Fading in eternity."
Like the rapid summer stream,
Like the fleeting meteor's ray,
Like the shortest winter's day,
Like the fitful breeze that sighs,
Like the waning flame that dies,
Darting, dazzling on the eye,
Fading in eternity."
A rope of sand,
a spider's web,
a silken thread,
a passing shadow,
an ebbing wave,
are the most fitting and expressive emblems of
all things belonging to this present time's state.
a spider's web,
a silken thread,
a passing shadow,
an ebbing wave,
are the most fitting and expressive emblems of
all things belonging to this present time's state.
The homes that sheltered us
in childhood we leave.
The land which gave us birth
we leave.
The loved ones who encircled
our hearths pass away.
The friends of early years
depart.
And the world that was so sunny, and
life that was
so sweet, is all beclouded and embittered; the whole
scenery of existence changed into wintry gloom.
so sweet, is all beclouded and embittered; the whole
scenery of existence changed into wintry gloom.
Such are the saddening, depressing
effects of life's vicissitudes.
effects of life's vicissitudes.
But in the midst of all, "This
God
is our God FOREVER AND EVER!"
is our God FOREVER AND EVER!"
All beings change but God.
All things change but heaven.
The evolutions of time revolve,
the events of earth go onward,
but He upon whom all things hang,
and by whom all events are shaped
and controlled, moves not.
the events of earth go onward,
but He upon whom all things hang,
and by whom all events are shaped
and controlled, moves not.
"I, the Lord, do not
change."
Our affairs may alter.
Our circumstances may change.
Our relations and friends
may depart one by one.
Our souls in a single day
pass through
many fluctuations of spiritual feeling.
many fluctuations of spiritual feeling.
But He who chose us to be His own,
and who
has kept us to the present moment, is our
covenant God and Father forever and ever,
and will never throw us off and cast us away.
has kept us to the present moment, is our
covenant God and Father forever and ever,
and will never throw us off and cast us away.
"For this God is
our God forever and ever;
He will be our guide even to the end." Ps. 48:14
He will be our guide even to the end." Ps. 48:14
God's
hand--God's heart
(Charles Spurgeon)
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward
you, says Jehovah, thoughts of peace, and
not of evil." Jeremiah 29:11
We cannot always trace God's hand,
but we can always trust God's heart.
(Charles Spurgeon)
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward
you, says Jehovah, thoughts of peace, and
not of evil." Jeremiah 29:11
We cannot always trace God's hand,
but we can always trust God's heart.
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IMMUTABILITY
(edited from "The Bow in the Clouds" by John MacDuff) "I am the Lord, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already completely destroyed." Malachi 3:6 The Unchangeableness of God. What an anchor for a storm tossed sea! Change is our portion here! Scenes are altering. Joys are fading. Friends! some of them are removed at a distance; others have gone to their 'long home'. Who, amid these checkered experiences, does not sigh for something permanent, stable, enduring? The vessel has again and again slipped its earthly moorings. We long for some secure and sheltered harbor. "I am the Lord, and I do not change!" Heart and flesh may faint; yes, do faint and fail. But there is an unfainting, unfailing, unvarying God. All the changes in the world around cannot affect Him. Our own fitfulness cannot alter Him. When we are depressed, downcast, fluctuating; our treacherous hearts turning aside "like a broken bow," He does not change. "God who cannot lie," is the superscription on His eternal throne; and inscribed on all His dealings. "I am the Lord, and I do not change!" This forms a blessed guarantee that nothing can befall me but what is for my good. I cannot doubt His faithfulness. I dare not arraign the rectitude of His dispensations. It is 'covenant love' which is now darkening my earthly horizon. This hour He is the same as when He "spared not His own Son!" Oh, instead of wondering at my trials, let me rather wonder that He has borne with me so long! It is because of the Lord's unchanging mercies that I am not consumed. Had He been man, changeful, vacillating, as myself, long before now would He have spurned me away, and consigned me to the doom of the cumberer. "I am the Lord, and I do not change!" |
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It is all mercy!
(Thomas Reade, 'Christian
Meditations')
It is profitable to consider what
I deserve,
and what I enjoy, to awaken self abasement, and gratitude.
If the righteous Lord were to deal
with me
according to my deservings, I would at this moment be under the rack of excruciating pain; or, under the pressure of most abject poverty; thus feeling the foretaste of eternal woe.
If thus dealt with in strictest
justice, Death
would receive his commission to hurl my affrighted soul into the gulf of endless misery, there to remain an everlasting monument of the vengeance of a holy God.
All short of this is
mercy!
Do I enjoy a portion of health?
It is all mercy!
Am I undergoing a sanctified
affliction?
It is all mercy!
Do I partake of the bounties of
Providence?
It is all mercy!
Do I possess dear, affectionate
friends?
It is all mercy!
Do I experience the love of God
in Christ,
pardoning my sins, and purifying my heart?
Oh! this is mercy beyond the power
of language to praise or to express!
Rejoice in such a Savior, who
snatched
you as a brand out of the burning! |
(Jonathan Edwards, "The Final Judgment")
Wicked men question the very existence
of God, who takes care of the world, who
orders the affairs of it, and judges in it.
And therefore they cast off the fear of God.
Yet at the conclusion of the world He shall
make His dominion visible to all, so that
even those who have denied Him shall find,
that God is their supreme Lord, and Lord of
the whole world! The blasphemies of the
ungodly will be forever put to silence.
God is the sovereign ruler of the world!
He governs the sun, moon, and stars.
He governs even the motes of dust
which fly in the air. Not a hair of our
heads falls to the ground without
our heavenly Father.
God also governs the brute creatures. By His
providence, He orders, according to His own
decrees, all events concerning those creatures.
And rational creatures are subject to the His
government. All their actions, and all events
relating to them, being ordered by superior
providence, according to absolute decrees, so
that no event that relates to them ever happens
without the disposal of God, according to His
own decrees.
God exercises the most sovereign dominion
over the earth. He reigns and does all things
according to His own will, ordering all events
as seems good to Himself.
God is the sovereign ruler of the world!
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Microscopic love?
(John MacDuff, "The Night Dream of the Desert") Our Omnipotent God keeps watch over the lichen on the rock, and the lily on the mountain side. He tempers His wind to the fragile flower as it trembles on the lip of the Alpine glacier. He follows the timid bird to its cleft; feeds the young raven's brood; and notes the fall of the sparrow. "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." Matthew 10:29-31 We see here, the personal love of God for every individual member of His vast family. The heavenly Shepherd has a special, particular care for each sheep of the fold. As it utters its apparently unheard bleat on the lonely moorland, or amid the thorny thicket of its wanderings, He tracks its truant footsteps, as if it engrossed all His interest, restoring it to the green pastures by the side of the fold. Yes, there is surely nothing more cheering, more sublime, than the thought of this unwearying tending of the Great Shepherd; this individual, (if we may so call it), this microscopic love, of our Great Father. |
The great end
(James W. Alexander, "Consolation" 1852)
"For from Him and through Him and to Him are
all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen."
(Romans 11:36)
The great end of Creation and Providence
and Grace--is God's own glory!
(James W. Alexander, "Consolation" 1852)
"For from Him and through Him and to Him are
all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen."
(Romans 11:36)
The great end of Creation and Providence
and Grace--is God's own glory!
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The multitude of Your
tender mercies
(J. C. Philpot, "Man's Misery and God's Mercy" 1867) "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your loving-kindness—according unto the multitude of Your tender mercies blot out my transgressions." Psalm 51:1 What a sweet expression it is—and how it seems to convey to our mind that God's mercies do not fall 'drop by drop'—but are as innumerable . . .. as the sand upon the sea-shore; as the stars that stud the midnight sky; as the drops of rain that fill the clouds before they discharge their copious showers upon the earth. It is the multitude of His mercies that makes Him so merciful a God. He does not give but a drop or two of mercy—that would soon be gone, like the rain which fell this morning under the hot sun. But His mercies flow like a river! There is in Him . . . a multitude of mercies, for a multitude of sins, and a multitude of sinners! This felt and received in the love of it—breaks, humbles, softens, and melts a sensible sinner's heart—and he says, "What, sin against such mercies? What, when the Lord has remembered me in my low estate, and manifested once more a sense of His mercy? What, shall I go on to provoke Him again—walk inconsistently again—be entangled in Satan's snares again? O, forbid it God, forbid it gospel, forbid it tender conscience, forbid it every constraint of dying love!" "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your loving-kindness—according unto the multitude of Your tender mercies blot out my transgressions." Psalm 51:1 |
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god?
"He who worships the true God detests and loathes idols." (Spurgeon) (the following is by Don Fortner) God the Father, in eternity past, before the world began, chose a people whom he determined to save and sovereignly predestinated all things that ever come to pass to secure, absolutely and infallibly, the salvation of his elect people. God the Son died upon the cursed tree as their Substitute to "save his people from their sins" By the satisfaction of divine justice, through the shedding of his blood, Christ has put away the sins of his people and brought in an everlasting righteousness for them. The Son of God, dying for God's elect, has effectually obtained eternal redemption for them. Those for whom Christ suffered the wrath of God can never, for any reason or to any degree, suffer God's wrath. Justice will not allow it! God the Holy Spirit regenerates, calls, and preserves each of God's elect by infallible grace, effectually applying the blood of Christ to those chosen by the Father in eternity and redeemed by the Son at Calvary. This is our God, the effectual, sovereign, saving God. There is no other God but him. Any other god, called by whatever name, any god that is not totally sovereign, irresistibly effectual, and completely successful in the salvation of his people is no God at all, but only the idolatrous figment of man's imagination! Idolatry is as much a problem in America as it was among the heathen of Isaiah's day. I say, without hesitancy or apology, that the god of modern, Arminian, freewill religion, the god of our families and friends, the god many of us once claimed to worship, is a false god, a base, abominable idol! "He who worships the true God detests and loathes idols." -Spurgeon |
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Many suck poison from
this sweet flower!
(by Thomas Watson) There is no rowing to paradise except upon the stream of repenting tears. Till sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet. Some bless themselves that they have a stock of knowledge, but what is knowledge good for, without repentance? Learning and a bad heart, is like a pretty face with a cancer in the breast! Knowledge without repentance will be but a torch to light the way to hell. Repentant tears may be compared to myrrh, which though it is bitter in taste, has a sweet smell and refreshes the spirit. So repentance, though it is bitter in itself, yet it is sweet in the effects. It brings inward peace. We are to find as much bitterness in weeping for sin as ever we found sweetness in committing it. Surely David found more bitterness in repentance than ever he found comfort in Bathsheba. Tears have four qualities: they are moist, salt, hot, and bitter. It is true of repenting tears, they are hot to warm a frozen conscience; moist, to soften a hard heart; salt, to season a soul decaying in sin; bitter, to wean us from the love of the world. And I will add a fifth, they are sweet, in that they make the heart inwardly rejoice. David, who was the great weeper in Israel, was also the sweet singer of Israel. Be as speedy in your repentance as you would have God be speedy in His mercies. Many are now in hell that intended to repent. Satan does what he can to keep men from repentance. When he sees that one begins to take up serious thoughts of reformation, he bids them wait a little longer. It is dangerous to procrastinate repentance. The longer any go on sinning, the harder they will find the work of repentance. Delay strengthens sin, hardens the heart and gives the devil fuller possession. A plant at first may be easily plucked up, but when it has spread its roots deep in the earth, a whole team cannot remove it. It is hard to remove sin when it comes to be rooted. The longer the ice freezes the harder it is to be broken. The longer a man freezes in sin, the harder it will be to have his heart broken. Presuming upon God's mercy can be eternally fatal. Many suck poison from this sweet flower! Oh, one says, "Christ has died; He has done all for me; therefore I may sit still and do nothing." Thus they suck death from the tree of life! So I may say of God's mercy, it accidentally causes the ruin of many. Because of His mercy, some men presume and think they may go on sinning. The psalmist says, "there is mercy with God, that he may be feared," but not that we may sin. Can men expect mercy by provoking justice? God will hardly show those mercy who sin because mercy abounds. Many would rather go sleeping to hell than weeping to heaven. |
The Unconquerable King!
Spurgeon "The Unconquerable King"
Daniel 4:34,35
"His rule is everlasting,
and His kingdom is eternal.
All the people of the earth
are nothing compared to Him.
He has the power to do as He pleases
among the angels of heaven
and with those who live on earth.
No one can stop Him or challenge Him..."
Daniel 4:34-35
and His kingdom is eternal.
All the people of the earth
are nothing compared to Him.
He has the power to do as He pleases
among the angels of heaven
and with those who live on earth.
No one can stop Him or challenge Him..."
Daniel 4:34-35
There was a time when the creatures
were not.
They came from God as vessels from
the potter's wheel.
They all depend upon Him for
continuance, as
the streamlet on the fountain from where it flows.
And if it were His will they all would melt away
as the foam upon the water!
the streamlet on the fountain from where it flows.
And if it were His will they all would melt away
as the foam upon the water!
All that now exists, if so it had
pleased God
to ordain, might have been as transient as a
sunbeam, and have vanished as speedily as
the rainbow from the cloud.
to ordain, might have been as transient as a
sunbeam, and have vanished as speedily as
the rainbow from the cloud.
Everything sprang from God, and
still depends
upon the necessity of His divine decree.
upon the necessity of His divine decree.
God is the only independent
being.
We creatures must find
food with which to repair
the daily wear of the body. We are dependent upon
light and heat, and innumerable external agencies,
and above all and primarily, dependent upon the
outgoings of His divine power towards us.
the daily wear of the body. We are dependent upon
light and heat, and innumerable external agencies,
and above all and primarily, dependent upon the
outgoings of His divine power towards us.
Only the I AM is self
sufficient and all sufficient!
He was as glorious
before He made the world as
He is now. He was as great, as blessed, as divine
in all His attributes before sun and moon and stars
leaped into existence, as He is now.
He is now. He was as great, as blessed, as divine
in all His attributes before sun and moon and stars
leaped into existence, as He is now.
And if He should blot
all out, as a man erases
the writing of his pencil, or as a potter breaks
the vessel he has made, He would be none the
less the supreme and ever blessed God.
the writing of his pencil, or as a potter breaks
the vessel he has made, He would be none the
less the supreme and ever blessed God.
God is the only immutable
being.
Immutability is an
attribute of God only.
All created things were
once new, but they
are waxing old, they will become older still.
are waxing old, they will become older still.
But the Lord has no
time, He dwells in eternity.
There is no moment of
'beginning' with the
Eternal God, no 'starting point' from which
to calculate His age. From of old He was
the Ancient of Days, "from everlasting to
everlasting You are God."
Eternal God, no 'starting point' from which
to calculate His age. From of old He was
the Ancient of Days, "from everlasting to
everlasting You are God."
Let your mind retreat as
far as its capacities will
allow into the remote past of old eternity, and there
it finds Jehovah alone in the fullness of His glory!
allow into the remote past of old eternity, and there
it finds Jehovah alone in the fullness of His glory!
Then let the same
thought flash forward into the
far off future, as far as unbridled imagination can
bear it, and there it beholds the Eternal; unchanged,
unchangeable. He works changes and effects
changes, but He Himself abides the same.
far off future, as far as unbridled imagination can
bear it, and there it beholds the Eternal; unchanged,
unchangeable. He works changes and effects
changes, but He Himself abides the same.
God is the only invulnerable
being.
There is no conceivable
force that can
ever wound, injure, or destroy Him!
ever wound, injure, or destroy Him!
If we were profane
enough to imagine the Lord
to be vulnerable, where is the bow and where
the arrow that could reach Him on His throne?
What javelin shall pierce Jehovah's buckler?
to be vulnerable, where is the bow and where
the arrow that could reach Him on His throne?
What javelin shall pierce Jehovah's buckler?
Let all the nations of
the earth rise and rage
against God; how shall they reach His throne?
They cannot even shake His footstool.
against God; how shall they reach His throne?
They cannot even shake His footstool.
If all the angels of
heaven should rebel against
the Great King, and their squadrons should advance
in serried ranks to besiege the palace of the Most
High, He has but to will it, and they would wither
as autumn leaves! Reserved in chains of darkness,
the opponents of His power would forever become
mementos of His wrath!
the Great King, and their squadrons should advance
in serried ranks to besiege the palace of the Most
High, He has but to will it, and they would wither
as autumn leaves! Reserved in chains of darkness,
the opponents of His power would forever become
mementos of His wrath!
None can touch Him!
The God whom we serve
reigns as
The Unconquerable King!
The Unconquerable King!
He has unlimited
sovereignty over all His creatures!
Let us who delight in
the living God bow down
before Him, and humbly worship Him, as the God
in whom we live and move, and have our being.
before Him, and humbly worship Him, as the God
in whom we live and move, and have our being.
"His rule is everlasting,
and His kingdom is eternal.
All the people of the earth
are nothing compared to Him.
He has the power to do as He pleases
among the angels of heaven
and with those who live on earth.
No one can stop Him or challenge Him..."
Daniel 4:34-35
and His kingdom is eternal.
All the people of the earth
are nothing compared to Him.
He has the power to do as He pleases
among the angels of heaven
and with those who live on earth.
No one can stop Him or challenge Him..."
Daniel 4:34-35
The Unconquerable King! (part
2)
Spurgeon "The Unconquerable
King" Daniel 4:34,35
Events appear to fly at random like
the
dust in the whirlwind; but it is not so.
dust in the whirlwind; but it is not so.
The rule of the Omnipotent God
extends
over all things at all times!
over all things at all times!
Nothing is left to its own chance,
but
in wisdom all things are governed.
in wisdom all things are governed.
He is reigning amid all the calamities
which sweep the globe, as much as He
shall be in the halcyon days of peace.
which sweep the globe, as much as He
shall be in the halcyon days of peace.
Never is His throne vacant!
Never is His scepter laid aside!
Jehovah is always King, and shall be
King forever and forever!
This unconquerable
King sits securely on His throne!
There is no doctrine to the advanced
Christian
which contains such a deep sea of delight as this.
which contains such a deep sea of delight as this.
The Lord reigns!
The Lord is King forever and ever!
Why, then all is well.
Oh, happy subjects, who have such a
throne to look lo!
Oh, blessed children, who have such
a King to be your Father!
"His rule is everlasting,
and His kingdom is eternal.
All the people of the earth
are nothing compared to Him.
He has the power to do as He pleases
among the angels of heaven
and with those who live on earth.
No one can stop Him or challenge Him..."
Daniel 4:34-35
and His kingdom is eternal.
All the people of the earth
are nothing compared to Him.
He has the power to do as He pleases
among the angels of heaven
and with those who live on earth.
No one can stop Him or challenge Him..."
Daniel 4:34-35
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He will bruise His
darling Son
(by Francis Covell, 1875) "But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:5 What are we? We are only lumps of sin and dirt. But see the eternal love of God towards sinful men. His love set His wisdom to work how to save these sinful and sinning creatures from the burning pit! It pleased the Lord Himself to bruise His Son. He thrust the sword of justice into the heart of His own dear Son, that mercy might flow to the "objects of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory." His dear Son must suffer that they might be spared. There was such love in God towards sinful men that many waters could not quench it. He did not spare His Son one iota. The Darling of heaven cried out, "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me!" But that we might go eternally free, and that God might look on us in justice and holiness with smiles and kisses; He bruised His own Son. Jesus bore thousands of hells in His own sufferings in the garden and on the tree; and the Father never withdrew the sword until He cried out, "It is finished!" "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us!" to save us from a burning pit; to bring us to the heights of bliss! O the depths of God's love! If He will pardon sin; if He will save a wretch, a rebel, a man damned by the law; if He will let His heart's love run out to save him from what he deserves; then He must part with the love of His heart, the joy of His soul, His only begotten Son! Will He do that? Is His love so surprisingly great, boundless, full, and free, that to save an enemy, a vile and a cursed sinner, He will bruise His darling Son? He will! "Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief." Isaiah 53:10 |
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God Rules!
by Don Fortner Our God is in control of this world- absolutely in control of it (Ps. 76:10). God, and God alone, is in absolute, total control of the entire universe. We can and should trust Him with implicit confidence in all things, and with all things. The Word of God, the promises of God, the prophecies of Holy Scripture are all utterly meaningless unless our God is the God who rules everything, whose will is always performed, whose purpose stands fast, whose thoughts are irresistible! Here is the basis of our faith and the foundation of our comfort- Our God is in control- as fully in control of Satan, the demons of hell, and the thoughts and deeds of wicked men as he is of the angels about his throne. We live in a world of woe. We are often tossed to and fro in this world, confused and perplexed by many things. Let us ever rest ourselves in our God. "All things are of God." All things are ordered by our heavenly Father for our good. All things are arranged by God's infinite wisdom and omnipotent arm for his glory. Nothing is beyond his dominion. If the god you trust can be controlled, hindered, or even influenced by you, by Satan, or by all the powers of earth and hell, then the god you trust is no God at all, and you are an idolater. Our God is not a spectator or even a competitor in this world. He is the Ruler of it. Salvation is knowing him, the only true and living God as he is revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ his Son, the God-man, our Savior (John 17:3). He who is our God is the only God you can trust. |
(Don Fortner)
"Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him!" Psalm 115:3
A god who does not rule all things absolutely is no God at all--but only a weak, frustrated, defeated idol, carved from one of the trees in the dark forest of man’s depraved imagination!
"I know that the LORD is great, that our Lord is greater than all gods. The LORD does whatever pleases Him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths!" Psalm 135:5-6
"All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: 'What have You done?' " Daniel 4:35
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God remembers!
(Bonar, "Human Heedlessness;
Divine Remembrance")
"They do not realize that I
remember all their
evil deeds. Their sins engulf them; they are always before Me." Hosea 7:2
What is sin? It is not . . .
an accident, nor an imprudence, nor a misfortune, nor a disease, nor a weakness. It may be all these, perhaps; but it is something beyond all these; something of a more fatal and terrible character.
Sin is guilt. Sin is crime.
Man's tendency is either to deny,
or to extenuate
sin. He either pleads not guilty, or he smoothes over the evil; giving it specious names.
Or if he does not succeed in
these, he casts the
blame off himself; he shifts the responsibility to . . . his nature, his birth, his circumstances, his education; even to God himself!
But human sin is not thus to be
diluted or
transformed into a shadow. It is infinitely real; true; deep; terrible in the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
Let us not trifle with sin, either
in the conscience
or the intellect. Let us learn its true nature from the terribleness of the wrath and condemnation threatened by God against every sin, great or small.
God remembers our sins!
His memory never fails in
anything.
Nothing escapes it, great or small. Nothing effaces anything from it. Time does not efface it. Ages blot out nothing. The past is as clear and full as the present. Other events do not efface it. Our own forgetfulness will not efface it.
Our memory and God's are very
different.
Our forgetfulness does not make Him forget.
Though man should forget, God remembers; and
He can call up sin to remembrance. It will and must come up at last. Men may try to forget it; to drown all thought of it; to efface all traces of it; but it will come up!
God remembers!
Nothing can make Him forget.
He may seem to do so; but it is
only seeming.
God remembers...
the person; the time; the circumstances; the thing itself; public or secret.
God remembers our sins!
"God does not remember
sin!" is the world's great motto!
"They do not realize that I
remember all their
evil deeds. Their sins engulf them; they are always before Me." Hosea 7:2 |
No chance!
(John MacDuff, "The Night
Watches")
"The Lord does whatever pleases
Him
throughout all heaven and earth, and
on the seas and in their depths." Ps. 135:6
throughout all heaven and earth, and
on the seas and in their depths." Ps. 135:6
How blessed that elementary truth:
"The Lord reigns!"
To know that there is no chance or
accident with God; that He decrees...
the fall of a sparrow;
the destruction of an atom;
the annihilation of a world!
accident with God; that He decrees...
the fall of a sparrow;
the destruction of an atom;
the annihilation of a world!
The Almighty is not like Baal,
"asleep." "He that
keeps Israel" can never for a moment "slumber."
keeps Israel" can never for a moment "slumber."
Man proposes; but God disposes.
"You, Lord have done it,"
is the history of
every event, past, present and to come.
every event, past, present and to come.
His purposes none can change.
His counsels none can resist.
Believer, how cheering to know that
all that
befalls you is thus ordered in the eternal purpose
of a Covenant God! Every minute circumstance of
your lot; appointing the bounds of your habitation;
meting out every drop in the cup of life; arranging
what by you is called its "vicissitudes;" decreeing
all its trials; and at last, as the great Proprietor
of life, revoking the lease of existence when its
allotted term has expired!
befalls you is thus ordered in the eternal purpose
of a Covenant God! Every minute circumstance of
your lot; appointing the bounds of your habitation;
meting out every drop in the cup of life; arranging
what by you is called its "vicissitudes;" decreeing
all its trials; and at last, as the great Proprietor
of life, revoking the lease of existence when its
allotted term has expired!
How it should keep the mind from its
guilty
proneness to brood and fret over second causes,
were this grand but simple truth ever realized:
that all that befalls us are integral parts in a
stupendous plan of wisdom; that there is no
crossing or thwarting the designs and dealings
of God.
proneness to brood and fret over second causes,
were this grand but simple truth ever realized:
that all that befalls us are integral parts in a
stupendous plan of wisdom; that there is no
crossing or thwarting the designs and dealings
of God.
"He does all things well."
"Our God is in heaven; He does
whatever pleases Him." Psalm 115:3
whatever pleases Him." Psalm 115:3
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When God dwelt alone...
From Spurgeon's, "Sovereignty and Salvation" If it were within the range of human capacity to conceive a time when God dwelt alone, without his creatures, we should then have one of the grandest and most stupendous ideas of God. There was a season when as yet the sun had never run his race, nor commenced flinging his golden rays across space, to gladden the earth. There was an era when no stars sparkled in the firmament, for there was no sea of azure in which they might float. There was a time when all that we now behold of God's great universe was yet unborn, slumbering within the mind of God, as yet uncreated and non-existent; yet there was God, and he was "over all blessed forever." Though no seraphs hymned his praises, though no strong- winged cherubs flashed like lightning to do his high decree, though he was without a retinue-- yet he sat as a king on his throne, the mighty God, for ever to be worshipped, the Dread Supreme, in solemn silence dwelling by himself in vast immensity, making the placid clouds his canopy, and the light from his own countenance forming the brightness of his glory. God was, and God is. From the beginning God was God; before worlds had beginning, he was "from everlasting to everlasting." |
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Who can count the
hideous specters?
(Henry Law, "Forgiveness of Sins" 1875) "He forgives ALL my sins." Psalm 103:3 Satan will often strive to bring our sins to remembrance. They readily appear in frightful mass, in vast accumulation. They swarm in all periods of life. . . in childhood's dawn; in blooming youth; in the prime of manhood; and when the shadows of declining age cast gloom. Our sins haunt us . . . openly committed or allowed in secret, acted in every condition and relationship of life, at home, in the family, abroad, in solitude, in the busy haunts of men, in the sanctuary, in the closet, in prayer uttered or neglected, in ignorance, in clear intention, when conscience slumbered, and when its voice gave warning, amid misgiving, and in daring audacity, in defiance of convictions, in disregard of resolves and vows! Who can count the hideous specters which are ready to revive and terrify the conscience? But when all sins in all their aggravations threaten, the multitudinous array may be confronted with this relieving word, "He forgives ALL my sins." Psalm 103:3 Let the emphatic monosyllable "all" be prized. It is not said some, or few, or many; but "all." God so completely pardons, that not one iniquity remains unpardoned! |
THE GIVER AND THE TAKER
by John McDuff
"The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken
away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Job 1:21
away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Job 1:21
Noble posture this; to kneel and to
adore!
To see no hand but ONE!
Sabeans; Fire; Whirlwind; Sword; are
all overlooked.
The Patriarch recognizes alone
"The Lord"
who gave and "The Lord" who has taken.
who gave and "The Lord" who has taken.
What is the cause of so much
depression, needless
sorrow, unchristian murmuring in our hours of trial?
It is a refusal to hear His voice; His own loving voice,
mingling with the accents of the severest storm; "It is I!"
sorrow, unchristian murmuring in our hours of trial?
It is a refusal to hear His voice; His own loving voice,
mingling with the accents of the severest storm; "It is I!"
"Is there evil in the
city, and the Lord has not done it?"
Is there a bitter drop in the
cup, and the Lord
has not mingled it? He loves His people too well
to intrust their interest to any other.
has not mingled it? He loves His people too well
to intrust their interest to any other.
We are but clay in the hand of the
Potter;
vessels in the hand of the Refiner of silver.
vessels in the hand of the Refiner of silver.
He metes out our portion.
He appoints the bounds of our
habitation.
"The Lord God prepared the gourd."
"The Lord God prepared the worm."
He is the Author alike of mercies
and
sorrows, of comforts and crosses.
sorrows, of comforts and crosses.
He breathes into our nostrils the breath
of life; and it is at His summons the spirit
returns "to the God who gave it!"
of life; and it is at His summons the spirit
returns "to the God who gave it!"
Oh, that we would seek to regard our
own lives
and the lives of those dear to us as a loan. God,
as the Great Proprietor, Who, when He sees fit,
can revoke the grant or curtail the lease He gave!
and the lives of those dear to us as a loan. God,
as the Great Proprietor, Who, when He sees fit,
can revoke the grant or curtail the lease He gave!
All mercies are....
by Him bestowed;
by Him continued;
by Him withheld.
by Him bestowed;
by Him continued;
by Him withheld.
And how often does He take away, that He may
Himself enter the vacuum of the heart and fill it
with His own ineffable presence and love!
Himself enter the vacuum of the heart and fill it
with His own ineffable presence and love!
No loss can compensate for the lack
of Him,
but He can compensate for all losses.
but He can compensate for all losses.
Let us trust His love and
faithfulness
as a taking, as well as a giving God.
as a taking, as well as a giving God.
Faith, resting on the promise,
can exult, "Even
so, Father, for it seems good in your sight!"
so, Father, for it seems good in your sight!"
|
Lord Jesus, make me....
(Thomas Reade, "On the Immensity of God") Lord Jesus, make me.... humble, while I meditate on your humility; loving, while I think upon your love; holy, while I dwell upon your purity; just, while I contemplate your righteousness; merciful, while I behold your grace; joyful, while I review your everlasting covenant. Oh! fill my heart with gratitude, and my mouth with praise. To you, blessed Jesus, do I look. Remove all spiritual darkness from my mind; all spiritual deadness from my heart. Cause me.... to know you as my Savior; to follow you as my leader; to love you as my friend; to trust in you as my atonement; to be found in you as my righteousness; to feed on you as the living bread; to walk in you as the way to the Father; and to dwell with you in heaven forever. Oh! my God, when I contemplate your sovereign will, which, from eternity, in highest wisdom, consulted my welfare, I am lost in astonishment! When I reflect upon your omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence; upon your infinite holiness, inviolable justice, and unerring wisdom; upon your faithfulness, and truth; your everlasting love, your sovereign grace, and your patience; how am I filled with awe and dread! Yet faith can contemplate this bright display of uncreated excellence, and rejoice in the infinite perfections as exhibited and harmonized in Jesus, the incarnate Word. Here I behold, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord. Oh! that while beholding, I may be transformed into the lovely image of the Savior, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Oh encouraging truth!
(adapted from Octavius Winslow's
"Morning Thoughts")
"I the Lord search the
heart." Jeremiah 17:10.
Solemn as is this view of the
Divine character, the
believing mind finds in it sweet and hallowed repose.
What more consolatory truth in
some of the
most trying positions of a child of God than this; the Lord knows the heart.
The world condemns, and the saints
may
wrongly judge, but God knows the heart.
And to those who have been led
into deep discoveries
of their heart's hidden evil, to whom have been made startling and distressing unveilings, how precious is this character of God, "He that searches the heart!"
Is there a single recess of our
hearts we
would veil from His penetrating glance?
Is there a corruption we would
hide from His view?
Is there an evil of which we would
have Him ignorant?
Oh no!
Mournful and humiliating as is the
spectacle, we would
throw open every door, and uplift every window, and invite and urge His scrutiny and inspection, making no concealments, and indulging in no reserves, and framing no excuses when dealing with the great Searcher of hearts, exclaiming, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life."
And while the Lord is thus
acquainted with the evil of
our hearts, He most graciously conceals that evil from the eyes of others. He seems to say, by His benevolent conduct, "I see my child's infirmity." Then, covering it with His hand, exclaims, "but no other eye shall see it, but my own!" Oh, the touching tenderness, the loving kindness of our God! Knowing, as He does, all the evil of our nature, He yet veils that evil from human eye, that others may not despise us as we often despise ourselves. Who but God could know it? Who but God would conceal it?
And how blessed, too, to remember
that while God
knows all the evil, He is as intimately acquainted with all the good that is in the hearts of His people!
He knows all that His Spirit has
implanted;
all that His grace has wrought.
Oh encouraging truth!
That spark of love, faint and
flickering;
that pulsation of life, low and tremulous; that touch of faith, feeble and hesitating; that groan, that sigh; that low thought of self that leads a man to seek the shade; that self-abasement that places his mouth in the dust; oh, not one of these sacred emotions is unseen, unnoticed by God!
His eye ever rests with infinite
complaisance and
delight on His own image in the renewed soul.
His providences
may change, His heart cannot.
(Octavius Winslow, "Morning Thoughts") "I am the Lord, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already completely destroyed." Malachi 3:6 The immutability of God forms a stable foundation of comfort for the believing soul. Mutability marks everything outside of God. Look . . . into the church, into the world, into our families, into ourselves, what innumerable changes do we see on every hand! A week, one short day, what alterations does it produce! Yet, in the midst of it all, to repose calmly on the unchangeableness, the faithfulness of God. To know that no alterations of time, no earthly changes, affect His faithfulness to His people. And more than this; no changes in them, no unfaithfulness of theirs, causes the slightest change in God. Once a Father, always a Father; once a Friend, always a Friend. His providences may change, His heart cannot. He is a God of unchangeable love. Peace then, tried believer! Are you passing now through the deep waters? Who kept you from sinking when wading through the last? Who brought you through the last fire? Who supported you under the last cross? Who delivered you out of the last temptation? Was it not God, your faithful, unchangeable God? This God, then, is your God now, and your God forever and ever! And He will be your guide even unto death!
Why an infinitely
gracious God permitted
sin and suffering to enter the universe.
from Spurgeon's sermon, "The
Spur" #943. John 9:4
A young convert, after finding
peace with God, was
heard to say, "I rejoice that I was a lost sinner."
Strange matter to be glad about,
you will say,
for of all things it is most to be deplored; but here was her reason: "Because God's infinite grace, and mercy, and wisdom, and all His attributes, are glorified in me as they never could have been had I not been a sinner and had I not been lost."
God has allowed moral and physical
evil to come
into this world to cause His infinite wisdom, grace, power, and all His other attributes, to be the better seen by the whole intelligent universe.
Sin, somehow or other, desperate
evil as it is,
will be overruled to display God's goodness.
Were there no sin there had been no Savior;
if no death, no resurrection; if no fall, no new covenant; if no rebellious race, no incarnation, no Calvary, no ascension, no second advent.
Though we do not know, and perhaps
shall
never know the deepest reason why an infinitely gracious God permitted sin and suffering to enter the universe, yet we may at least be encouraged this practical thought: God will be glorified in the overcoming of evil and its consequences.
O man, plunge into this
river!
(adapted from Spurgeon's sermon,
"Precious, Honorable, Beloved" #917.)
"I have loved
you." Isaiah 43:4.
Come, heir of heaven, listen a
moment.
God has loved you eternally.
Before the stars
began to shine, and before the sun knew his place and poured forth his oceans of light, God loved you in particular!
He has loved you actively and
effectually,
giving the unspeakable gift of His Only Begotten Son for you! He has given you everything in Him; a boundless ocean of love!
He has loved you supremely,
better than the angels.
He has loved you unchangeably,
never less,
and never more. In all your sin the same; in all your sorrow still the same.
He has loved you immeasurably.
You can never know
the heights and depths of your God's love to you.
O man, plunge into this
river!
If you have hitherto gone wading
into it up
to the ankles, now get heart high into it! Yes, commit yourself to the fathomless stream, and swim in it as in a sea of bliss!
"I have loved you."
Let that dwell richly in your
heart, and ring out
celestial music for your comfort and delight!
"And we know that God causes
everything to work
together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them." Romans 8:28
(adapted from Winslow's, "All
Things Working for Good")
It is palpably clear and
emphatically true that all
that occurs in the Lord's government of His people conspires for, and works out, and results in, their highest happiness, their greatest good.
The gloomiest and most painful
circumstances in
the history of the child of God, without a solitary exception, are all conspiring, and all working together, for his real and permanent good.
The painful and inexplicable
dispensations, which
at the present moment may be thickening and deepening around your path, are but so many problems in God's government, which He is working out to their certain, satisfactory, and happy results.
And when the good thus embosomed
in the lowering
cloud of some crushing providence, accomplishes its benevolent and heaven sent mission, then trial will expand its dark pinions and fly away; and sorrow will roll up its somber drapery and disappear.
All things under the government of
an infinitely great,
all wise, righteous, and beneficent Lord God, work together for good. What that good may be, the shape it may assume, the complexion it may wear, the end to which it may be subservient, we cannot tell. To our dim view it may appear an evil, but to God's far seeing eye it is a positive good.
Oh, truth most divine!
Oh, words most consolatory!
How many whose eye traces this
page, it may be whose
tears bedew it, whose sighs breathe over it, whose prayers hallow it, may be wading in deep waters, may be drinking bitter cups, and are ready to exclaim: "All these things are against me!"
Oh no, beloved of God, all these
things are for you!
Do not be afraid!
Christ restrains the flood upon
whose heaving bosom
He serenely sits. Christ controls the waters, whose sounding waves obey the mandate of his voice.
Christ's cloudy chariot is paved
with love!
Then, fear not!
Your Father grasps the helm of
your storm tossed
bark, and through cloud and tempest will steer it safely to the port of endless rest.
Will it not be a good, if your
present adversity results in...
the dethronement of some worshiped idol; in the endearing of Christ to your soul; in the closer conformity of your mind to God's image; in the purification of your heart; in your more thorough fitness for heaven?
Will it not be a real good if it
terminate...
in a revival of God's work within you; in stirring you up to more prayer; in enlarging your heart to all that love the same Savior; in stimulating you to increased activity... for the conversion of sinners, for the diffusion of the truth, and for the glory of God?
Oh yes! good, real good, permanent
good must result
from all the Divine dispensations in your history.
Bitter repentance shall end in the
experienced sweetness of Christ's love.
The festering wound shall but
elicit the healing balm.
The overpowering burden shall but
bring you to the tranquil rest.
The storm shall but quicken your
footsteps to the Hiding place.
The north wind and the south wind
shall breathe together
over your garden, and the spices shall flow out.
In a little while; oh, how soon!
you shall pass away
from earth to heaven, and in its clearer, serener light shall read the truth, often read with tears before, "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them."
An unfailing spring of
joy and consolation!
"O Lord,
you have examined my heart
and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my every thought when far away. You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment you know where I am. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You both precede and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to know!" Psalm 139:1-6
Jesus has a perfect knowledge of every
event
that is transpiring in the remotest part of His mighty empire. Heaven, earth, and hell, are all unveiled before Him. His eyes, which are as a flame of fire, are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. He knows perfectly well what is the present inclination of our minds; whether our hearts are absorbed with the empty pleasures of earth, or whether we love Him supremely.
This is an unfailing spring of joy and consolation
for the real Christian. How inspiring to feel that we have a Savior who knows all our needs; whose eye is ever upon us for good; whose ear is always opened to our petitions. 'For the eyes of the Lord watch over the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers.'
Come then, you afflicted, tempest
tossed child
of earth, and lay all your sorrows before an omniscient and compassionate Savior!
Make all your desires known to
Him.
He has....
a willing ear to hear you, a willing heart to love you, a willing hand to save you!
"O Omniscient Savior, we
beseech You to watch
over us amid all the scenes of earth. We are still on the 'ocean of life', exposed to its storms and its tempests; but while the waves dash on every side of us, may we see Your glorious Form on the troubled sea; may we hear Your animating voice, 'Be of good cheer; it is I; do not be afraid.' May we rejoice in the belief that You know all things, and are intimately acquainted with all our ways. Guide us with Your counsel. Show us the path of life. Be our guiding Star until we reach the harbor of eternal rest. Be very near us in all the wanderings of our earthly pilgrimage."
from David Harsha's, "A Guide
to the Savior"
Infinite!
by Matthew Mead "Alas! it is an infinite righteousness that must satisfy for our sins, for it is an infinite God that is offended by us. If ever your sin be pardoned, it is infinite mercy that must pardon it; if ever you be reconciled to God, it is infinite merit must do it; if ever your heart be changed, and your soul renewed, it is infinite power must effect it; and if ever your soul escape hell, and be saved at last, it is infinite grace must save it."
Pride,
worldliness, and covetousness
(J. C. Philpot, "Contemplations & Reflections") Pride, worldliness, and covetousness may reign rampant, where grosser sins are not committed, or kept hidden from observation. "The human heart is most deceitful and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I know! I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives." Jeremiah 17:9-10
Disaster!
(John MacDuff, "A Book for the Bereaved") "Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?" Amos 3:6 "Does disaster come to a city," to the cottage, to the palace--is there disaster which blights some unknown poor man's dwelling--is there disaster which clothes a nation in mourning, "unless the Lord has done it?" "I create both light and darkness; I make both blessing and disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things." Isaiah 45:7 "This is what the Lord says: As I brought all these disasters on these people." Jer. 32:42 "Therefore the Lord has brought all this disaster on them." 1 Kings 9:9 "Behold, I will bring disaster upon you. I will utterly burn you up." 1 Kings 21:21 "Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle!" 2 Kings 21:12 "Thus says the Lord, behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants." 2 Chronicles 34:24 "Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people." Jeremiah 6:19
Casting all our sins into oblivion!
(John Angell James, "Forgiveness of Injuries") "Who is a God like You, removing iniquity and passing over rebellion for the remnant of His inheritance? He does not hold on to His anger forever, because He delights in faithful love. He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea." (Micah 7:18-19) Wonderful language! This is one of the finest images to represent the completeness of God's pardoning mercy to be found in all the Bible. He casts our sins not into a brook nor a river where they might be found again; no, nor into the sea near the shore where the tide might wash them up again--but like a stone cast into the depths of the sea, where they can never be fished up again, but lie forever buried and forgotten at the bottom of the ocean! This is divine forgiveness--casting all our sins into oblivion!
O God, I read Your heart in the cross, in the wounds, in the tears, in the anguish, in the blood of Your Son Jesus. Octavius Winslow Monuments of his mercy? From Spurgeon's, "THE SILVER TRUMPET" Christ is a great Savior to meet the great transgressions of great rebels with a great salvation. The vast machinery of redemption was never undertaken for a little purpose. There must be a great end in so great a plan, carried out at so great an expense, guaranteed with such great promises, and intended to bring such great glory to God. The 'plan of salvation' has in it all the wisdom of God. The 'purchase of salvation' has in it the fullness of the grace of God. The 'application of salvation' is an exhibition of the exceeding greatness of the power of God, and all these three attributes in their greatness could not have conspired together for any but a great and marvelous purpose. There is no knowing how long God's arm is, these is no telling how precious Christ's blood is, until you have felt the power of it yourself, and then you will wonder as long as you live, even through eternity, and you will be astonished to think that the blood of Christ could save such a wretch as you are, and make YOU the monument of his mercy.
THE
PRECIOUSNESS OF THE PROMISES
The throne of universal
dominion!By Spurgeon The promises of God are to the believer an 'inexhaustible mine of wealth'. Happy is it for him if he knows how to search out their secret veins and enrich himself with their hidden treasures. They are an 'armory', containing all manner of offensive and defensive weapons. Blessed is he who has learned to enter into the sacred arsenal, to put on the breastplate and the helmet, and to lay his hand to the spear and to the sword. They are a 'pharmacy', in which the believer will find all manner of restoratives and blessed elixirs; nor lacks there an ointment for every wound, a cordial for every faintness, a remedy for every disease. Blessed is he who is well skilled in heavenly pharmacy and knows how to lay hold on the healing virtues of the promises of God. The promises are to the Christian a 'storehouse of food'. They are as the granaries which Joseph built in Egypt, or as the golden pot wherein the manna was preserved. Blessed is he who can take the five barley loaves and fishes of promise, and break them till his five thousand necessities shall all be supplied, and he is able to gather up baskets full of fragments. Yes, they are the 'jewel room' in which the Christian's crown treasures are preserved. The regalia are his, secretly to admire today, which he shall openly wear in Paradise hereafter. He is already privileged as a king with the silver key that unlocks the strong room; he may even now grasp the scepter, wear the crown, and put upon his shoulders the imperial mantle. O, how unutterably rich are the promises of our faithful, covenant-keeping God! If we had the tongue of the mightiest of orators, and if that tongue could be touched with a live coal from off the altar, yet still it could not utter a tenth of the praises of the exceeding great and precious promises of God. Nay, they who have entered into rest, whose tongues are attuned to the lofty and rapturous eloquence of cherubim and seraphim, even they can never tell the height and depth, the length and breadth of the unsearchable riches of Christ which are stored up in the treasure house of God-- the promises of the covenant of His grace. "He that once was hung upon the tree of shame now sits on the throne of universal dominion! Instead of the nail, behold the scepter of all worlds in His most blessed hand." Spurgeon
The fire of
God's anger!
by Thomas Vincent The fire of God's anger before it breaks forth into so vehement a flame may now be quenched by the blood of Jesus Christ; and the fire of hell may be prevented. But hereafter it will be too late. No sacrifice will be accepted then to appease God's wrath, and if all the waters of the sea could be poured upon the flames of hell fire, they could not put them out. This fire will be ever burning, and the damned will be ever tormented therein. Extremity and eternity are the two most bitter ingredients of the damned's torments. Who can set forth the eternity of the wicked's punishment in hell fire? This eternity is immeasurable. It is incomprehensible. How long will eternity last? Always. When will eternity end? Never. As long as heaven shall continue to be heaven, and God shall continue to be God, and the saints shall be happy in the enjoyment of God; so long shall the wicked be tormented in the fire of hell. We may apprehend the everlastingness of this fire of hell, but we cannot comprehend it
All your
secret abominations!
Spurgeon, "Plain Directions to Those Who Would Be Saved from Sin" "The ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord; and he ponders all his goings." Proverbs 5:21 God is everywhere present, at all times. He has seen all your evil ways. No night is so dark as to hide from His eyes. No chamber so retired as to shut Him out. He has even read your thoughts and imaginations. He notes all and forgets nothing. All things are ever present to Him. The days of your youth and the years of your manhood lie open before Him like a book. If you could but realize that God is there, how could you dare to sin before His very eyes? Will you sin in God's presence? Can you blaspheme Him to His face? Will you disobey Him while His eyes are fixed upon you? Remember that this God, who is everywhere, and sees everything, is your Judge. He is pure and holy and cannot bear iniquity. He is angry with the wicked every day and will surely visit them for their transgressions. Every sinful act shall have its recompense of reward. God is almighty. He has but to will it and the strongest of us would be crushed more easily than a moth. There is no escaping from the Lord. Neither the heights of Carmel nor the depths of the sea could afford shelter for a fugitive from the Lord. Neither can any resist Him, for none have any power apart from Him. You have heard His thunder, and trembled at the bolts of His lightning. Behold how dreadful is God in his wrath! How dare you sin against a God so great! Trifle not, for the Judge is at the door!
NATURE
Power, Spurgeon, "Joshua’s Obedience" No. 796. NATURE is a looking-glass in which I see the face of God. I delight to gaze abroad, and "Look through nature, up to nature's God." We may delight ourselves in the works of God, and find much pleasure therein, and get much advanced towards God himself by considering his works. love, kindness, faithfulness, wisdom, goodness "We trust him whose power will never be exhausted, whose love will never wane, whose kindness will never change, whose faithfulness will never fail, whose wisdom will never be nonplussed, and whose perfect goodness can never know a diminution!" -Spurgeon God has in Himself- all power to defend you; all wisdom to direct you; all mercy to pardon you; all grace to enrich you; all righteousness to clothe you; all goodness to supply you; and all happiness to crown you. -Thomas Brooks Everything in this world is liable to change! (James Smith) "Long ago You established the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You will endure; all of them will wear out like clothing. You will change them like a garment, and they will pass away. But You are the same, and Your years will never end!" Psalm 102:25-27 Everything in this world is liable to change! Health may give place to sickness, pleasure may give place to pain, plenty may give place to poverty, love may give place to enmity, honor may give place to disgrace, strength may give place to weakness, and life may give place to death. Remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. But though all our circumstances and friends should change — there is One who never changes! "He is unchangeable; who can oppose Him? He does whatever He pleases!" Job 23:13. With Him is no variableness. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever — and He is our best Friend, our nearest relation, our gracious Savior! Yesterday — His name was Jesus; His nature was love; His purpose was to do us good with His whole heart and soul. Today — He is the same; we cannot expect too much from Him, or be too confident in Him, if we are walking humbly with Him. He will be our God — and we shall be His people! Let us cultivate . . . intimacy with Him, dependence upon Him, concern to please Him, fear to offend Him, zeal to glorify Him; and it must be well with us in health and sickness, in plenty and poverty, in life and death! For He is the same, and will never turn away from doing us good — but remain the Fountain of love and holiness forever! "Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name!" Psalm 103:1 This God is the God we adore, Our faithful, unchangeable Friend; Whose love is as great as His power, And neither knows measure nor end! Deluged with love! God is the fountain of love, as the sun is the fountain of light. Every stream of holy love, yes, every drop that is, or ever was, proceeds from God. In heaven, this glorious God is manifested, and shines forth, in full glory, in beams of love. And there this glorious fountain forever flows forth in streams, yes, in rivers of love and delight, and these rivers swell, as it were, to an ocean of love, in which the souls of the ransomed may bathe with the sweetest enjoyment, and their hearts, as it were, be deluged with love! -Spurgeon GOD'S OMNIPRESENCE "Perhaps the most serious, sobering thing my mind has ever contemplated is the fact that I am always in the presence of God. God cannot be shut out anywhere. Even in the most secret recesses of my mind and the deepest, most secluded imaginations of my heart, God is there. Everything I think, say, and do is done in the immediate presence of God. This fact should cause me to be filled with reverence and godly fear and with great joy too. God is present everywhere to save, preserve, and comfort his elect." -Don Fortner
Wonders of
mercy!
Matthew Henry's comments on the parable of the prodigal son. His father saw him-- there were eyes of mercy; he ran to meet him-- there were legs of mercy; he put his arms round his neck-- there were arms of mercy; he kissed him-- there were kisses of mercy; he said to him-- there were words of mercy; Bring here the best robe-- there were deeds of mercy; Wonders of mercy-- all mercy! Oh, what a God of mercy he is! Oh, what a precious reception for one of the chief of sinners!
Without
holiness
(Stephen Charnock) "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty!" Isaiah 6:3 If every attribute of the Deity were a distinct member, holiness would be the soul to animate them. Without holiness . . . His patience would be an indulgence to sin, His mercy a fondness, His wrath a madness, His power a tyranny, His wisdom an unworthy subtlety. Holiness gives decorum to them all. "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty!" Rev. 4:8
PITYING LOVE
by John McDuff
"Like as a father pities his children, so
the Lord pities those who fear Him." Ps. 103:13
"Abba, Father!" is a
Gospel word.
A father bending over the sick bed
of his weak or
dying child; a mother pressing, in tender solitude, an infant sufferer to her bosom. These are the earthly pictures of God. "As a father pities." "As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you!"
When tempted in our season of
overwhelming sorrow
to say, "Never has there been so dark a cloud, never a heart so stripped and desolate as mine," let this thought hush every murmur, "It is your Father's good pleasure!"
The love and pity of the most
tender parent is but
a dim shadow compared to the pitying love of God.
If your heavenly Father's smile
has for a moment been
exchanged for the chastening rod; be assured there is some deep necessity for the altered discipline.
If there be unutterable yearnings
in the soul of the
earthly parent as the lancet is applied to the body of his child; infinitely more is it so with your covenant God as He subjects you to those deep wounds of heart!
Finite wisdom has no place in His
ordinations.
An earthly father may err; is
always erring.
But "as for God His way is perfect."
This is the explanation of His
every dealing with you: "Your
heavenly Father knows you have need of all these things!"
Trust His heart when
you cannot trace His ways.
Without one misgiving commit your
way to Him.
While now bending your head like a
bulrush; your
heart breaking with sorrow; remember His pitying eye is upon you. Be it yours, even through blinding tears, to say, "Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure!"
All in all to
all eternity!
From Spurgeon's sermon, "Even So, Father!" I have all in all to all eternity, when I can call God my Father. "Father!" He that can lisp that word upon his knees has uttered more eloquence than Demosthenes or Cicero ever knew! Abba, Father! He that can say that, has uttered better music than cherubim or seraphim can reach! Abba, Father! There is heaven in the depth of that word! "Father!" There is all that I need! All that I can ask! All that my necessities can demand! All that my wishes can contrive! "Father!" |
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