JOIN all the glorious names

By A Collection of Hymns


4-6s & 2-8s. The Offices of Christ.
1 JOIN all the glorious names
Of wisdom, love, and power,
That ever mortals knew,
That angels ever bore;
All are too mean to speak his worth,
Too mean to set our Saviour forth.

2 But O what gentle means,
What condescending ways,
Doth our Redeemer use,
To teach his heavenly grace;
My soul, with joy and wonder see
What forms of love he bears for thee!

3 Arrayed in mortal flesh
The Covenant-Angel stands,
And holds the promises
And pardons in his hands;
Commissioned from his Father's throne
To make his grace to mortals known.

4 Great Prophet of my God,
My lips shall bless thy name:
By thee the joyful news
Of our salvation came;
The joyful news of sins forgiven,
Of hell subdued, and peace with heaven.

5 Be thou my Counsellor,
My pattern, and my guide;
And through this desert land
Still keep me near thy side:
O let my feet ne'er run astray,
Nor rove, nor seek the crooked way!

6 I love my Shepherd's voice;
His watchful eye shall keep
My wandering soul among
The thousands of his sheep:
He feeds his flock, he calls their names,
His bosom bears the tender lambs.

7 Jesus, my great High-priest,
Offered his blood and died;
My guilty Conscience seeks
No sacrifice beside;
His powerful blood did once atone,
And now it pleads before the throne.

8 O thou almighty Lord,
My conqueror and my King,
Thy sceptre and thy sword,
Thy reign of grace, I sing;
Thine is the power: behold, I sit
In willing bonds before thy feet.

9 Now let my soul arise,
And tread the tempter down:
My Captain leads me forth
To conquest and a crown:
March on, nor fear to win the day,
Though death and hell obstruct the way.

10 Should all the hosts of death,
And powers of hell unknown,
Put their most dreadful forms
Of rage and malice on,
I shall be safe; for Christ displays
Superior power, and guardian grace.

Master Plowman

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman


"Doth the plowman plow all day to sow?" (Isa. 28:24).

One day in early summer I walked past a beautiful meadow. The grass was as soft and thick and fine as an immense green Oriental rug. In one corner stood a fine old tree, a sanctuary for numberless wild birds; the crisp, sweet air was full of their happy songs. Two cows lay in the shade, the very picture of content.

Down by the roadside the saucy dandelion mingled his gold with the royal purple of the wild violet.

I leaned against the fence for a long time, feasting my hungry eyes, and thinking in my soul that God never made a fairer spot than my lovely meadow.

The next day I passed that way again, and lo! the hand of the despoiler had been there. A plowman and his great plow, now standing idle in the furrow, had in a day wrought a terrible havoc. Instead of the green grass there was turned up to view the ugly, bare, brown earth; instead of the singing birds there were only a few hens industriously scratching for worms. Gone were the dandelion and the pretty violet. I said in my grief, "How could any one spoil a thing so fair?"

Then my eyes were opened by some unseen hand, and I saw a vision, a vision of a field of ripe corn ready for the harvest. I could see the giant, heavily laden stalks in the autumn sun; I could almost hear the music of the wind as it would sweep across the golden tassels. And before I was aware, the brown earth took on a splendor it had not had the day before.

Oh, that we might always catch the vision of an abundant harvest, when the great Master Plowman comes, as He often does, and furrows through our very souls, uprooting and turning under that which we thought most fair, and leaving for our tortured gaze only the bare and the unbeautiful. --Selected

Why should I start at the plough of my Lord, that maketh the deep furrows on my soul? I know He is no idle husbandman, He purposeth a crop. --Samuel Rutherford

The Gospel in the Gates of Jerusalem

By J. Vernon McGee


When the Lord Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem to proclaim publicly His right and title to kingship, the multitudes shouted the hosannas. This so enraged the religious rulers that they attempted to silence the voices of praise and, failing, demanded that the Lord rebuke and silence them. But He, with biting satire, answered them saying, "If these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out" (Luke 19:40). With bitter irony He sent them back to the ABCs written in the walls of Jerusalem, for those very stones and walls were proclaiming the gospel message and the gates were fairly shouting, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in" (Psalm 24:7). Those stones had been giving a message for centuries, and they are still speaking today.

A Broadcast Through the Ages

John the Baptist had been silenced, the apostles would be silenced and scattered, and the Lord Jesus Christ had not actually lifted up His voice, but the stones in the walls of Jerusalem were singing the "Hallelujah Chorus." The gates were hymning a psalm of praise. They are still crying out in the inky blackness of sin. Theirs is a continuous song in the night - a psalm of praise and a golden voice singing a song of deliverance. It is a trumpet of jubilee to slaves of passion and pride; a loudspeaker calling out above the din and melee of the day; a harmonious chorus in the babel of this world's confusion. It is a foghorn across the ocean of life; a siren in the night of sin; an SOS from the sinking ship of civilization; it is a broadcast that never goes off the air.

Shakespeare was using poetic license when he wrote, "Tongues in trees...Sermons in stones," but, my friend, the Word of God proves this to be accurate. And so we come to the gates and walls of Jerusalem and listen to their paean of praise, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in."

Nehemiah Meets the Task

In chapter three of the Book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah and his helpers have undertaken to repair and restore the walls of Jerusalem after the return from seventy years under Babylonian captivity. It was a most arduous task, for in conquering the land the Babylonians had leveled the walls and debris had settled over the area. The report of reconstruction given to us in that chapter of Scripture is as dry as an engineer's report. It's just about as interesting as any great city's report on the repair and maintenance of its streets and freeways.

But we become fascinated as we make this tour of the walls of Jerusalem with Nehemiah. We want to stop at the gates and listen to their music. There are ten of these gates, and they form an instrument of ten strings from which vibrates heaven's harmony. As we stand back to better examine the massive stones of the walls, they begin to speak. They have a message for us, for you and I are building walls - spiritual walls, if you please - with the same gates and having the same message. Today God has given us a subcontract that you and I might build these walls of Jerusalem in our own hearts and lives.

The Tour of the Gates

The Sheep Gate

So let's begin our tour. The first step is taken in verse one:

Then Eliashib, the high priest, rose up with his brethren, the priests, and they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it. (Nehemiah 3:1)

The Sheep Gate in Jerusalem was near the temple; it was where the sacrificial animals were brought in to be offered on the altar. It is in keeping that the priests should build this particular gate, for it speaks of Christ and His work upon the cross for us. That is exactly what the prophet had said:

...He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. (Isaiah 53:7)

If there be any doubt whether or not the prophet was referring to the Lord Jesus, all we have to do is turn to the incident recorded in Acts 8. There we read about the Ethiopian eunuch who, with a great retinue of servants, was crossing the desert and reading this particular section in Isaiah, though he had no notion what it was all about. Philip was called by the Spirit of God to join himself to that chariot, and as he did he asked the eunuch the specific question, "Do you know what you are reading?" Now, I am afraid that this man gave the answer that a lot of folk would give were they to tell the truth: "How can I understand? I haven't the slightest idea, and how could I unless someone helps me?" As he read about the person being led as a sheep to the slaughter, the Ethiopian eunuch had this question: "I don't quite get it. Is the prophet speaking of himself, or is he speaking of some other man?" Philip explained that he was speaking of another man, and he "...began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus" (Acts 8:35).

When John the Baptist marked Christ out for His ministry he said, "Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Personally, I think the Lord Jesus came in at the Sheep Gate every time He entered the city except at the Triumphal Entry. We can't be dogmatic about it, but we do know that on one occasion He came in through the Sheep Gate to the Pool of Bethesda. It was there that He healed the blind man. That act was symbolic of the fact that He came as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. And the poor man whom He healed is a picture of every sinner who, if willing to come to the cross of Christ, will find deliverance from sin.

Christ not only came in through that gate, but also when He was arrested and was led out to be crucified, they took Him out through that gate. The Sheep Gate was the place of judgment, and it tells us that He bore the judgment of our sin. It is at this gate that we must begin with God. He is not prepared to meet us anywhere but at the cross.

It is of interest to note that "next unto him the men of Jericho built" (Nehemiah 3:2). Jericho was the city of the curse, and the men of Jericho were building right next to the Sheep Gate. That is not by accident, for Christ bore on the cross for you and me the awful curse of sin. Paul, in writing to the Galatians, said:

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. (Galatians 3:13)

Freedom from the curse of sin awaits us at the foot of the cross.

The Fish Gate

And the fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build.... (Nehemiah 3:3)

Standing before this gate we hear, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19). We believe that the Fish Gate was next in line to the Sheep Gate. You will recall that the first thing the Lord did with those whom He saved was to send them out immediately to witness for Him. Examples of this are the woman at the well and the poor possessed man among the tombs (see John 4:5-38 and Mark 5:1-20).

But at the time of Nehemiah's record, the Fish Gate was in disrepair. That is like so many Christians who, day by day, month by month, year by year, make no attempt to win anyone to Christ. Though this is true, still I am encouraged. Lately I have seen more people turn to Christ because someone was "fishing" than at any time in my ministry. There are many Christians who are fishing; sometimes they do not catch anything. Half the time when I've gone fishing I haven't gotten even a bite, but there is one sure thing: You will never catch a fish until you try! He is calling us to be fishers of men. Today is the hour of the layman, it is the hour of the average believer, because all around you today there are hearts that are hungry. The child of God has a marvelous opportunity to fish.

For your encouragement, let me give you this "fish story." Many years ago when I was teaching the Book of Revelation in my church, there was a little lady who began coming to the studies and, as a result, she accepted Christ as her Savior. Before we finished the study of Revelation, she, her husband, and her family moved to a nearby town where she became connected with a great industry. On Good Friday I was invited to speak to the Christian Fellowship Class of that company. After I had spoken to the class, its president said to me, "That lady is, without doubt, one of the most effective instruments for Christ we have here, and the reason is that she has made a business of it; it is the object of her life. She rejoices in her own salvation and tactfully talks with others." In a few moments she joined us and, expressing thanks for the message, explained that she had to rush over to the telephone company where they were just beginning Bible classes. That little lady was doing all of that in an effort to win souls.

Jesus said to His disciples, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." He is giving us the same message as we stand before the Fish Gate.

In contrast to the above account, we find an interesting note:

And next unto them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord. (Nehemiah 3:5)

I should hate to be a member of that group. Think what it would mean to be recorded on God's eternal page that, when the opportunity presented itself to put your neck to the work of the Lord, you were a shirker and fell down on the job! They were right next to the Fish Gate. Scripture says, "He that withholdeth grain, the people shall curse him..." (Proverbs 11:26). Today some are withholding grain (the Word of God) from those that are hungry.

The Old Gate

Moreover, the old gate repaired Joiada, the son of Paseah.... (Nehemiah 3:6)

The Old Gate is one of intense interest to me. In Jeremiah 6:16 we find this statement:

Thus saith the LORD, Stand in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk in it, and ye shall find rest for your souls.

My friend, we are living in a day when we are interested in the "new" thing - the latest model in an automobile, the latest styles in fashion, and the latest gadgets for the house. A man once remarked to me, "My, you have an old place, haven't you?" That struck me as strange. I thought that I had a new home; it was only seven years old at the time. But in Southern California, it was already an old house. Thus it was borne in upon me that we are living in a day when things are changing radically and rapidly. The conditions under which our grandfathers proposed to our grandmothers are vastly different from those under which the young folk of the present day deal with the matter.

A Tribute to Leaders in the Past and Present

By A.B. Simpson

   

In a very real sense we thank God when we thank His people. Gratitude felt and expressed becomes a healing, life-building force in the soul. Something wonderful happens within us when gratitude enters. We cannot be too grateful, for it would be like loving too much or being too kind. And if we are to make a mistake it had better be on the side of humble gratitude for benefits received. Should we in error give credit to someone who does not deserve it we are far better off than if we fail to give credit to one who does.

To those holy men who gave us the sacred Scriptures we owe a debt we can never hope to pay. We should be glad they were in such a spiritual state that they could hear the Voice at the critical moment when God would use them to transmit His mighty words to mankind. And to all who in olden times lovingly transcribed the Word, we should be thankful, and to the old saints who at various dangerous times in the past risked their lives to preserve the Holy Scriptures inviolate.

Weeping May Last For a Night

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman

     

"Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more" (Nah. 1:12).

There is a limit to affliction. God sends it, and removes it. Do you sigh and say, "When will the end be?" Let us quietly wait and patiently endure the will of the Lord till He cometh. Our Father takes away the rod when His design in using it is fully served.

If the affliction is sent for testing us, that our graces may glorify God, it will end when the Lord has made us bear witness to His praise.

We would not wish the affliction to depart until God has gotten out of us all the honor which we can possibly yield Him.

There may be today "a great calm." Who knows how soon those raging billows will give place to a sea of glass, and the sea birds sit on the gentle waves?

After long tribulation, the flail is hung up, and the wheat rests in the garner. We may, before many hours are past, be just as happy as now we are sorrowful.

It is not hard for the Lord to turn night into day. He that sends the clouds can as easily clear the skies. Let us be of good cheer. It is better farther on. Let us sing Hallelujah by anticipation.
--C. H. Spurgeon.

The great Husbandman is not always threshing. Trial is only for a season. The showers soon pass. Weeping may tarry only for the few hours of the short summer night; it must be gone at daybreak. Our light affliction is but for a moment. Trial is for a purpose, "If needs be."

The very fact of trial proves that there is something in us very precious to our Lord; else He would not spend so much pains and time on us. Christ would not test us if He did not see the precious ore of faith mingled in the rocky matrix of our nature; and it is to bring this out into purity and beauty that He forces us through the fiery ordeal.

Be patient, O sufferer! The result will more than compensate for all our trials, when we see how they wrought out the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. To have one word of God's commendation; to be honored before the holy angels; to be glorified in Christ, so as to be better able to flash His glory on Himself--ah! that will more than repay for all. --Tried by Fire

As the weights of the clock, or the ballast in the vessel, are necessary for their right ordering, so is trouble in the soul-life. The sweetest scents are only obtained by tremendous pressure; the fairest flowers grow amid Alpine snow-solitudes; the fairest gems have suffered longest from the lapidary's wheel; the noblest statues have borne most blows of the chisel. All, however, are under law. Nothing happens that has not been appointed with consummate care and foresight. --Daily Devotional Commentary

Use of the Senses

A Good Start 10 - Use of the Senses

By F.B. Meyer

     

Our senses give warning signals when danger is near. This is perhaps their secondary use, but it is the most vital. The eye, ear, nose, the senses of taste and touch, are the channels through which the most exquisite pleasures are wafted to us--rapturous glimpses of natural beauty, sweet sounds, fragrant scents, delicious viands, and soft contacts; but they are also the avenues along which ride post-haste the couriers, warning of the approach of assassins that menace and imperil life. For the most part what is inimical to health is odious and distasteful to our senses, and the quicker these become the more likely we are to preserve the springs of life from being poisoned and vitiated.

We are told in more than one Scripture, and notably in Hebrews 5:14, that there are spiritual counterparts to our senses, and that we should exercise these to discern good and evil. It is highly important to do so; for as attention to the warning of the physical senses will preserve the health of our body, so attention to the warnings of our inner senses will forewarn and forearm against the influences that are hostile to spiritual life.

Take the Ear of the Soul. In the case of the savage the ear is trained to such precision as to detect the footfall of a stranger at an immense distance; and in the case of the trained musician to discriminate between the most delicate shades of sound. Indeed, it would be impossible to train a singer for a place in the front rank of the profession whose ear was not extremely delicate and sensitive; and natural gifts in this direction may be still further trained to almost any degree of nicety. If the ear is not sensitive to the slightest discord, the voice can never be modulated to the finest harmonies.

And is there anything more necessary than to have the inner ear trained and exercised by contact with the Divine notes of an infinite charity! You may hear people talking most discordantly with this, criticising their neighbors, discussing their friends, uttering sharp and unkind judgments, all of which would be impossible if their ears had only been educated to detect the discords of their speech. But they talk on for years in utter oblivion of their false and dissonant notes. Amid so much discordance let us constantly seek for a pure ear, which will tell us in a moment when we have spoken a single word that is inconsistent with the perfect harmonies of the nature of God, which is love.

The Eye of the Soul The eye detects the approach of danger, and, in the case of a savage, can do so in symptoms which are altogether meaningless to the ordinary vision. That bent blade of grass, that snapt twig, that almost imperceptible trail! Away on the mountain side the trained observer can see masses of troops where another finds only the shadows of passing clouds.

But the training of the eye of the soul is even more necessary, because it can anticipate the advent of temptation. It is bad when we have no warning of the stealthy approach of our worst adversary, till like a midnight assassin he has broken into the house of our life. Well is it when we can descry the gathering storm when it is still on the horizon, so as to reef our sails in time and be prepared for the squall; when we can detect the pitfall before we come to it; and see the brigand gang lying in wait before we reach the dark thicket; and anticipate complications and perplexities before we are amid them. By that clear prescience which is not the least of God's gifts we are the more likely to pass unscathed through life's ordeal because more able to appeal beforehand to Christ for succor.

The Scent of the Soul It is good to have a keen sense of smell; it will save us from many a noisome pestilence arising from the drain, or brooding in the plague-laden air. If it were not for this invaluable gift, we might linger and sleep amid deadly gases, unconscious of the peril we were incurring. It is well to have this sense exercised. I remember once, after a voyage across the Atlantic, visiting friends, who were spending their summer holidays within a mile of a sewage farm, the near neighborhood of which was not noticeable to them, but to which the pure ozone of the ocean had made me extremely sensitive.

If our soul's sense of smell were more keen, we should be quicker to perceive when there was impurity in the speech or behavior of our companions, and should turn from them with disgust. The pure lad would blush and hasten from the way of the ungodly and the seat of the scornful. The highly spiritual and nobly tempered woman would take no pleasure in the double allusions of the music-hall, or the highly spiced conversation of children of fashion. The pure in heart would rush from the obscenity and oaths with which too much of-the talk of so-called gentlemen is interlarded, as if they had suddenly become aware of the presence of an open sewer.

The Taste of the Soul The sense of taste sits as a sentinel at the entrance of the alimentary canal to prevent hurtful and deleterious substances from entering. How often has our first bite of some fruit or food led us to eject it from our mouth with disgust, thereby saving our life! The rule is not invariable. There are substances which are most distasteful, but are nevertheless good as medicines, and palatable things are sometimes harmful to a degree; still, as a general rule, the palate may be trusted.

Now, how much evil might we be saved from, if only the taste of the soul were more highly educated in respect to the books which come into our hands. How often do young and inexperienced minds devour from beginning to end books, novels, treatises, which are highly inimical to their soul-life. If only they knew how to distinguish between good and evil, if only they could detect the subtle poison that had been instilled into those pages from the fangs of the great serpent, if only they were on the alert to reject that which blasts and blights the delicate growth of the better life,--how much suffering and consumption would be averted!

The Soul's Sense of Touch. The touch may be brought to an amazing degree of perfection, and become so sensitive that it can distinguish between the slightest variations in fabric or temperature. In members of the feline tribe the cat or tiger-- this sense is developed to its fullest perfection. But in man also it may become extremely acute.

Would that we might have that same sensitiveness to right and wrong, that We might with a touch be able to discern the one from the other, and have grace enough to accept the good and reject the evil. As the experienced hand can tell in a moment when a coin is light or not, so we might know whether a doctrine or statement tallied with the standard of God's truth or fell beneath it.

These distinctions are not to be learned in a moment. We may train our faculties from less to more; by reason of use they may be exercised; when the Spirit comes on us we shall, like our Master, be "quick of scent." But it is certain that we cannot long preserve the fine temper of the soul in such a world as this unless we carefully attend to the least monitions of the Divine Spirit operating through the senses of the soul.

Isaiah 51:14-16

¹⁴ The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.

¹⁵ But I am the Lord thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The Lord of hosts is his name.

¹⁶ And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.

You shall see greater abominations than these

(James Smith, "Daily Bible Readings for the Lord's Household")

"You shall see greater abominations than these!" Ezekiel 8:15

The prophet had no idea of the extent of Israel's wickedness; nor have we any adequate idea of the depravity of our hearts! We may have discovered much — but there is more concealed, than has yet been revealed. The work of the Holy Spirit is to . . .

  reveal these abominations to us,
  to humble us on account of them,
  to lead us to the blood of Jesus to be cleansed from them,
  and to set our hearts against them.

To see all the evils that are in our heart at once — would plunge us into black despair! Therefore it is only little by little, that the great depth of depravity is opened up to us. Herein we see God's mercy. Hereby we should be kept humble, watchful, prayerful, and daily exercising faith in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus.

No one knows the depths of our depravity, or the variety of abominations that are in our hearts — but God! If any other person knew the abominations of our heart — he would hate us on account of it! But God knows all — and yet loves us! This is Godlike. This is being full of compassion, abundant in goodness, and plenteous in mercy. May we be humble before God, hoping in His mercy.

Each one had six wings

(J.R. Miller, "Devotional Hours with the Bible")

"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him were seraphim, each one had six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying." Isaiah 6:1-2

There is something unusual and very impressive in the description of the seraphim in this vision. "Each one had six wings!" Wings are forflight — it is the mission of angelic beings to fly on God's errands. The six wings would seem to signify special readiness to do God's will. But they suggest here, more than their normal use — to fly.

The modern Christian would probably use them all for flying — and would be intensely active. We live in an age when everything inspires to activity. We are apt to run, perhaps too greatly, with our 'wings'.

But we should notice that two of the seraphim's wings were used in covering his face when before God — teaching reverence. Two of them also were used in covering his feet — humility. The other two were used in flying — activity. Reverence and humility — are quite as important qualities in God's service, as activity!

~  ~  ~  ~  ~

The school of Heaven

(Octavius Winslow, "Evening Thoughts")

"The Lord has done great things for us, and we
 are filled with joy. Those who sow in tears, will
 reap with songs of joy."  Psalm 126:3, 5

We can praise God for trials!

We can thank God for sorrows!

These have been to us, though a painful — yet
a much needed and a most blessed school.

The 'wilderness' has been a heavenly place on earth . . .
  the lessons which we have been taught,
  the truths which we have learned,
  the preciousness of Jesus which we have experienced,
  the love of God which we have felt,
  the sweetness in prayer which we have tasted,
  and the fitness for labor which we have derived,
all, all testify, as with one voice — to the unutterably
precious blessings that flow through the channel of
sacred and sanctified sorrow.

Dear reader, as painful and sad as may be the path
you now are treading — fear not; the outcome will
be most glorious. The seed you are sowing in tears,
shall yield you a golden harvest of joy!

Adversity is the school of Heaven!

And in Heaven . . . .
  where no sorrow chafes,
  where no tears flow,
  where no blight withers,
  where no disappointment sickens, and
  where no sad change chills, wounds, and slays,
the sweetest praises will be awakened by the
recollection of the sanctified sorrows of earth!

~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Sufficient to each day

(Theodore Cuyler)

"As your days — so shall your strength be."
    Deuteronomy 33:25

Sufficient to each day are the duties to be
done — and the trials to be endured. God never
built a Christian strong enough to carry today's
duties and tomorrow's anxieties piled on the
top of them!

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,
 for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each
 day has enough trouble of its own."
   Matthew 6:34

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Faith does not only justify — but sanctify

(Thomas Watson, "The Christian's Charter")

"Having purified their hearts by faith." Acts 15:9

Faith is a heart-purifying grace. Faith is a virgin grace, of a pure and heavenly nature. Faith is in the soul, as medicine in the body, which works out the disease. Faith works out pride, self-love, and hypocrisy.

Faith consecrates the heart. That which was before the devil's thoroughfare — is now made into God's enclosure.

Faith is a heavenly plant, which will not grow in an impure soil. 

Faith does not only justify — but sanctify. He who before was under the power of some debasing corruption — as soon as faith is wrought, there is a sacred virtue coming from Christ, for the enervating and weakening of that sin. The woman who did but touch the hem of Christ's garment, felt virtue coming out of Him. The touch of faith has a healing power! Faith casts the devil out of the castle of the heart. This is "the faith of God's elect."

You who say you believe — has your faith removed the mountain of sin, and cast it into the sea? What! a believer — and yet aworldling! Shame! Either leave your sins — or leave your profession! Faith and the love of sin can no more exist together, than light and darkness!

~  ~  ~  ~  ~

We may be happy in a prison

(Letters of John Newton)

Our peace and spiritual progress do not depend upon our outward circumstances — but the inward frame of our hearts and minds. If the heart is right — a humble and broken spirit, obedient to the Lord's precepts, submissive to the His will, devoted to please Him, and depending upon His faithful Word — we may be happy in a prison; and otherwise, we must be unhappy in a palace!

"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength!" Philippians 4:11-13~  ~  ~  ~  ~

God's hand in everything

 

(Mary Winslow)
 

"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!" Matthew 10:29-30 

How unspeakably precious and sweet it is when we can believe that God our Father in Heaven is absolutely directing the most minute circumstances of our short sojourn in this wilderness world! That nothing, however trivial, takes place, whether it relates to the body or the soul — but is under His control, in fact, is ordered by Himself!

But how hard to believe this, particularly when things look dark, and we cannot discern the way we should take. It is, then, the province of faith to wait upon the Lord, keeping a steadfast eye upon Him only; looking for light, help, and deliverance, not from the creature, but from Jehovah Himself. Well may it be called precious faith!

How happy do those travel on, whose faith can discern God's hand in everything. But I fear the number is very small, who so live.

I cannot imagine how those who deny God's particular providence can get comfortably on, for they must perpetually be confronted with minute events in their history, as mysterious and baffling to them as greater ones.

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It is I

CHRISTS SYMPATHY TO WEARY PILGRIMS

by Octavius Winslow (1808 - 1878)

"Take courage! It is I! Do not be afraid." Mark 6:50

Listen, then, to the voice of Jesus in the storm!

It is I who raised the tempest in your soul — and will control it.

It is I who sent your affliction — and will be with you in it.

It is I who kindled the furnace — and will watch the flames, and bring you through it.

It is I who formed your burden, who carved your cross — and who will strengthen you to bear it.

It is I who mixed your cup of grief — and will enable you to drink it with meek submission to your Father's will.

It is I who took from you worldly substance, who bereft you of your child, of the wife of your bosom, of the husband of your youth — and will be infinitely better to you than husband, wife, or child.

It is I who has done it ALL!

I make the clouds My chariot, and clothe Myself with the tempest as with a garment. The night hour is My time of coming, and the dark, surging waves are the pavement upon which I walk. Take courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.

It is I — your Friend, your Brother, your Savior! I am causing all the circumstances of your life to work together for your good.

It is I who permitted . . .

  the enemy to assail you,
  the slander to blast you,
  the unkindness to wound you,
  the need to press you! 

Your affliction did not spring out of the ground, but came down from above — a heaven-sent blessing disguised as an angel of light, clad in a robe of ebony.

I have sent all in love!

This sickness is not unto death — but for the glory of God.

This bereavement shall not always bow you to the earth, nor drape in changeless gloom your life. It is I who ordered, arranged, and controlled it all!

In every stormy wind,
in every darksome night,
in every lonesome hour,
in every rising fear, 

 — the voice of Jesus shall be heard, saying, "Take courage! It is I! Do not be afraid."

It is easier to offer God a few easy activities

(J.R. Miller)

"My son, give me your heart" Proverbs 23:26

"They first gave themselves to the Lord" 2 Corinthians 8:5

God wants, not so much your work, but you; at least He wants you first--and then your work. Service from hearts which are not really consecrated to God, is not pleasing to Him. We are in danger of forgetting this in our busy, bustling periods. It is easier to offer God a few easy activities--than to give Him our heart. The tendency of the religious life at present is to work and to serve--rather than to love God. So we need to remind ourselves continually, that loving must come before doing and serving. The largest and most noticeable work will find no acceptance with God--if our hearts are not His.

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John Newton's tombstone

In his old age, when he could no longer see to read, John Newton, the author of "Amazing Grace" heard someone recite this verse,"By the grace of God--I am what I am." 1 Corinthians 15:10. He remained silent a short time, and then said:
 

I am not what I ought to be. Ah! how imperfect and deficient.
I am not what I might be, considering my privileges and opportunities. 

I am not what I wish to be. God, who knows my heart--knows I wish to be like Him. 

I am not what I hope to be. Before long, I will drop this clay tabernacle, to be like Him and see Him as He is!

Yet, I am not what I once was--a child of sin, and slave of the devil!
Though not all these--not what I ought to be, not what I might be, not what I wish or hope to be, and not what I once was--I think I can truly say with the apostle, "By the grace of God--I am what I am!" 

At the age of 82, Newton said, "My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things: that I am a great sinner--and that Christ is a great Savior!"

John Newton's tombstone reads: "John Newton, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy!"

"By the grace of God I am what I am!" 1 Corinthians 15:10

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gracegems.org

The rough stalk of suffering

(J.R. Miller)

"These are those who have come out of the great tribulation!" Revelation 7:14 

Much of the most beautiful Christian living 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 stalk of suffering. 

We take our place with the beloved disciple John on the other side, and 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.

"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all!" 2 Corinthians 4:17

Don't Wait

By J. Stuart Holden        "He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap" (Eccles. 11:4). There are deterrent influences which ceaselessly play upon Christian life to baffle and thwart its pledged purposes. Unfavourable winds and unseasonable clouds are apt to induce the thought that such unpropitious conditions call for prudence and justify cessation of field-service.  How full of rebuke and how searchingly final is the prophet's comment: "He that observeth the wind shall not sow, and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap." And this trite maxim, a summary of the imperative law of all husbandry, is not just a bit of mere moralizing.  It is a positively protective counsel. For a farmer who knows his business does not wait until an ideal day encourages his sowing. Of course he cannot afford to. The proper season is at hand; he sows his seed; and trusts the disintegrating and reintegrating forces of Nature to keep that which he commits to them against the coming autumn. Deterrent prudence would simply be costly faithlessness. Indeed where God and man are in co-operation it always is. The fact is, every farmer is either a man of faith or a dead failure. So, too, our supreme life-duty must be carried on just as whole-heartedly, with just the same faith and courage, when conditions seem unpromising as when prospects flatter.  If we wait for ideally favourable weather for the sowing of the good seed, for the investment of our lives in the field of human need and Divine fidelity we shall die waiting.

Rejoice In The Word

By Warren Wiersbe

     
The secret of Christian joy is to believe what God says in His Word and act upon it. Faith that isn't based on the Word is not faith at all; it is presumption or superstition. Joy that isn't the result of faith is not joy at all; it is only a "good feeling" that will soon disappear. Faith based on the Word will produce joy that will weather the storms of life.

It isn't enough for us to read the Word or receive the Word as others expound it; we must also rejoice in the Word. "I rejoice at Your word as one who finds great treasure" (Ps. 119:162). In Bible days, people sometimes hid their wealth in jars buried in the ground (Matt. 13:44; Jer. 41:8). If a farmer plowing his field suddenly discovered a jar filled with gold, he would certainly rejoice. There are great treasures buried in God's Word, and you and I must diligently "dig" for them as we read, meditate, and pray; and when we find these treasures, we should rejoice and give thanks.

If we read and study the Word of God only from a sense of duty, then its treasures may never be revealed to us. It is the believer who rejoices in the Word, who delights to read and study it day by day, who will find God's hidden treasures. "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds great delight in his commands" (Ps. 112:1, niv). "But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night" (Ps. 1:2).

Do you delight in God's Word? Would you rather have God's Word than food (Ps. 119:103; Luke 10:38-42), or sleep (Ps. 119:55, 62, 147-148), or wealth (vv. 14, 72, 137, 162)?

True of you? "Oh, how I love Your law! I meditate on it all day long. . . . Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path" (Psalm 119:97, 105, niv).

You Are Part of His Treasure

By Theodore Epp      Ephesians 1: 16-18 From Ephesians 1:18 it is apparent that we are more than a mere inheritance of Christ. Paul emphasized the kind of inheritance we are to Christ in the words "riches of the glory of his inheritance." Believers are an inheritance of glorious riches to Christ. This reveals to us what God considers to be of greatest value in the universe. It is not the planets or stars; it is people. God created the universe by His might and power, but He purchased mankind by His precious blood. This universe will someday pass away, and God will create a new heaven and a new earth. But man, who has been redeemed by Christ, shall abide forever! This reveals how important believers are to God. No wonder God is going to display the exceeding riches of His grace through us in ages to come (2:7). This is why Jesus desires to present the Church "to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (5:27). When we consider the marvelous truths of what God thinks of us as believers, it causes us to be filled with praise because of our wonderful Saviour. Although there are times when, humanly speaking, there is only despair, we are able to lift our eyes to Christ and know that He is working in us to accomplish that which will bring glory to Him. So it is important that we do not become discouraged with circumstances; these are the very tools that God uses to make us more like Christ. "Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ" (Col. 3:24).

The Discipline Of Dejection

By Oswald Chambers

     
'But we trusted ... and beside all this, to-day is the third day ...'
Luke 24:21

Every fact that the disciples stated was right; but the inferences they drew from those facts were wrong. Anything that savours of dejection spiritually is always wrong. If depression and oppression visit me, I am to blame; God is not, nor is anyone else. Dejection springs from one of two sources - I have either satisfied a lust or I have not. Lust means - I must have it at once. Spiritual lust makes me demand an answer from God, instead of seeking God Who gives the answer. 

What have I been trusting God would do? And to-day - the immediate present - is the third day, and He has not done it; therefore I imagine I am justified in being dejected and in blaming God. Whenever the insistence is on the point that God answers prayer, we are off the track. The meaning of prayer is that we get hold of God, not of the answer. It is impossible to be well physically and to be dejected. Dejection is a sign of sickness, and the same thing is true spiritually. Dejection spiritually is wrong, and we are always to blame for it.

We look for visions from heaven, for earthquakes and thunders of God's power (the fact that we are dejected proves that we do), and we never dream that all the time God is in the commonplace things and people around us. If we will do the duty that lies nearest, we shall see Him. One of the most amazing revelations of God comes when we learn that it is in the commonplace things that the Deity of Jesus Christ is realized.