nChrist

AKA: Tom - Saved By Grace Through Faith
Supporter
Mar 21, 2003
21,118
17,842
Oklahoma, USA
✟879,660.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Republican
__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
Grace Gems!
___________________________________________

J.C. Ryle Gems #6

~ ~ ~ ~

Blessed are those who live like pilgrims and strangers in this life--their best things are all to come!

~ ~ ~ ~

The surest mark of true conversion, is humility.

~ ~ ~ ~

When I speak of a man growing in grace, I mean simply that . . .
his sense of sin is becoming deeper,
his faith is becoming stronger,
his hope is becoming brighter,
his love is becoming more extensive, and
his spiritual-mindedness is becoming more marked.

~ ~ ~ ~

The Christian who keeps his heart diligently in little things--shall be kept from great falls.

~ ~ ~ ~

Fathers and mothers--do not forget that children learn more by the eye than they do by the ear.
Imitation is a far stronger principle with children, than memory.
What they see has a much stronger effect on their minds--than what they are told.

~ ~ ~ ~

Let us read the Bible reverently and diligently--with an honest determination to believe and practice all that we find in it.

~ ~ ~ ~

Every fresh act of sin . . .
lessens fear and remorse,
hardens our hearts,
blunts the edge of our conscience,
and increases our evil inclination!

~ ~ ~ ~

We may love money without having it--just as we may have money without loving it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: joyshirley
Upvote 0

nChrist

AKA: Tom - Saved By Grace Through Faith
Supporter
Mar 21, 2003
21,118
17,842
Oklahoma, USA
✟879,660.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Republican
__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
Grace Gems!
___________________________________________

J.C. Ryle Gems #7

~ ~ ~ ~

Nothing so hardens the heart of man--as a barren familiarity with sacred things.

~ ~ ~ ~

Love should be the silver thread that runs through all your conduct!

~ ~ ~ ~

Sicknesses, losses, crosses, anxieties and disappointments--are absolutely needful to keep us humble, watchful and spiritually-minded. They are as needful as the pruning knife to the vine--and the refiner's furnace to the gold.

~ ~ ~ ~

Surely it is better to enter into eternal life with a few--than to go to Hell with a great company!

~ ~ ~ ~

Doctrine is useless--if it is not accompanied by a holy life! It is worse than useless--it does positive harm. Something of 'the image of Christ' must be seen and observed by others in our private life, and habits, and character, and doings!

~ ~ ~ ~

The love of Christ towards His people--is a deep well which has no bottom!

~ ~ ~ ~

Let us daily strive to copy our Savior's humility.

~ ~ ~ ~

Imagination is the hotbed where sin is too often hatched.
Guard your thoughts--and there will be little fear about your actions.

~ ~ ~ ~

The eye of God! Think of that. Everywhere, in every house, in every field, in every room, in every company, alone or in a crowd--the eye of God is always upon you!
 
  • Like
Reactions: joyshirley
Upvote 0

nChrist

AKA: Tom - Saved By Grace Through Faith
Supporter
Mar 21, 2003
21,118
17,842
Oklahoma, USA
✟879,660.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Republican
__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
Grace Gems!
___________________________________________

The path of the scissors!

(Lewis Bayly, "The Practice of Piety" 1611)

"For who makes you to differ from another? And what do you have, that you did not receive?" 1 Corinthians 4:7

We are all . . .
fashioned from the same mold,
hewed out of the same rock,
made as it were, of the same cloth
--the path of the scissors making the only difference between one person an another. It is therefore only the sovereign love and grace of God, which makes all the difference between us.

No believer should ever insolently demean the unsaved, who, like miserable drudges, allow their corrupt nature to carry them to any villainy, lust, or lewd course; and who damn themselves in the devil's slavery!

Alas! our hearts should bleed within us at beholding so many around us imbruing their cruel hands in the blood of their own souls--by their ignorance, worldliness, drunkenness, lust, unbelief and scoffing at true religion.

What heart, except it be hewed out of the hardest rock, or has sucked the bosom of merciless tigers; but would yearn and weep to see a man made of the same mold with himself, willfully, as it were, against a thousand warnings, and God's many compassionate invitations--cast himself, body and soul, into the endless, easeless, and remediless miseries of Hell? We should the rather pity and pray for such a one who follows the bent of his own evil heart--to his own everlasting perdition!

It is only the sovereign mercy, goodness, and grace of God which has made the difference between them and us. If God should give us over to the unbridled current of our corrupt nature--we might be worse than them, and run riot in this world of wickedness. If the same God visits them in mercy--they may become every way as godly, or better than us!

"By the grace of God I am what I am!" 1 Corinthians 15:10
 
  • Like
Reactions: joyshirley
Upvote 0

nChrist

AKA: Tom - Saved By Grace Through Faith
Supporter
Mar 21, 2003
21,118
17,842
Oklahoma, USA
✟879,660.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Republican
__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
Grace Gems!
___________________________________________

If chastisement were not necessary

(James Smith, "The Evening Sacrifice; Or, A Help to Devotion" 1859)

"No chastening seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:11

Afflictions are always painful--and days of affliction are often gloomy. But as we are training for eternity, as we are maturing for Heaven, and as afflictions are necessary discipline--we must be afflicted. If chastisement were not necessary--then our loving Father would never use the rod. But as every one of us needs correction--He chastens every son whom He receives. God's chastisements are intended for our instruction--they are designed to teach us . . .
the evil of sin,
our need of grace,
the holiness of God,
the preciousness of Jesus,
the emptiness of the world,
and the blessedness of Heaven.
These are lessons of the deepest importance to us--lessons that we are slow to learn; and therefore we must have line upon line, and stroke upon stroke.

Heavenly Father, help us to bow to Your sovereign will, to bear with patience every stroke of Your rod, and to learn the holy and important lessons which You intend to teach us. May we not only submit to Your discipline--but, seeing the love which ordains it, and the need there is for it--even acquiesce in it. Keep us from fretting at pain, repining at losses, or giving way to too much grief at bereavements--knowing that all these things come from You, and that You design them for our good. Help us to understand that every trial and every trouble is a blessing--and will end in eternal glory. Sweet thought!

O for grace to yield ourselves to You--and to sweetly acquiesce in all Your paternal dealings!

"Blessed is the man whom God corrects--so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty." Job 5:17
 
Upvote 0

nChrist

AKA: Tom - Saved By Grace Through Faith
Supporter
Mar 21, 2003
21,118
17,842
Oklahoma, USA
✟879,660.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Republican
__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
Grace Gems!
___________________________________________

All that we need drops from His palm!

(James Smith, "The Evening Sacrifice; Or, A Help to Devotion" 1859)

"The eyes of all look to You--and You give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand, and satisfy the desires of every living thing." Psalm 145:15-16

All our supplies come from God, therefore our dependence should be on Him, and our expectations from Him. Creatures act towards us in kindness and sympathy--according to His direction.

The eyes of all creation are upon the Lord, and all the tribes of His creatures are fed by His hand. How much more, then, should His children look to Him, seek from Him, and expect to be supplied by Him!

Whatever God does--He does wisely and seasonably; and whatever He gives--is in season. When our needs are felt, and our cry is heard--then our supply is certain. It is but for God to open His hand--and all that we need drops from His palm! When God's hand opens--our desires will soon be satisfied. Every temporal mercy, every spiritual gift, and all the supplies needed by our souls--lie in the hand of God for us. He loves for us to fix our eyes on Him, to lift up our voice to Him, and seek every blessing from Him.

Merciful Lord, You have fed us this day. Your loving heart and open hand have supplied all our needs. We gratefully acknowledge Your wondrous goodness, and bless You for Your suitable supplies. And now, O Lord, close up the day with us in mercy--give us a sense of Your forgiving love, and faith in Your protecting care. Help us to cast every care on You, and to fall asleep tonight as on a parent's bosom. Let Your peace pervade us, and inspire us with strong confidence in Your providential protection.

"Behold, as the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress--so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till He shows us His mercy." Psalm 123:2
 
  • Like
Reactions: joyshirley
Upvote 0

nChrist

AKA: Tom - Saved By Grace Through Faith
Supporter
Mar 21, 2003
21,118
17,842
Oklahoma, USA
✟879,660.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Republican
__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
Grace Gems!
___________________________________________

We not only need help every day--but every moment!

(James Smith, "The Evening Sacrifice; Or, A Help to Devotion" 1859)

"Help me, O Lord my God! O save me according to Your mercy." Psalm 109:26

We not only need help every day--but every moment!
Our weakness is extreme.
Our foes are numerous and mighty.
Our duties are difficult and arduous.
Our dangers are great and imminent.
How, then, shall we be able to stand, to conquer, to overcome?

Our God has said, "I will strengthen you--yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of My righteousness!" Blessed be His holy name--He is as good as His Word!
He has helped us in every need.
He has helped us out of every difficulty.
He has helped us all through our journey until this day.
And tonight He is as ready to help us as He ever was.
His ear is open.
His heart throbs with infinite love to us.
His throne of grace is accessible.
His mercy is rich and free!

With such thoughts as these in our minds, O Lord, we approach You tonight, confessing to Your honor--that you ever have helped us; and now beseeching You to help us quite through the rough journey of life. Help us, O our God . . .
to conquer our inbred lusts;
to overcome and crucify the old man;
to mortify the flesh with its vile affections;
to overcome this present evil world;
and to tread Satan under our feet.

Help us, as Your chosen people, holy and dearly loved by You--to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; and, above all, love, which is the bond of perfectness. Save, O save us, from all pride, self-sufficiency, high-mindedness, and worldly wisdom.
Make us humble, meek, and deeply spiritual.
Fill us with the spirit of Jesus.
Produce in us the temper of Jesus.
Enable us exactly to copy the example of Jesus.
O make us Christ-like and holy!

"Answer me, O LORD, out of the goodness of your love; turn unto me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies." Psalm 69:16
 
  • Like
Reactions: joyshirley
Upvote 0

nChrist

AKA: Tom - Saved By Grace Through Faith
Supporter
Mar 21, 2003
21,118
17,842
Oklahoma, USA
✟879,660.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Republican
__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
Grace Gems!
___________________________________________

One of the secrets of happy and beautiful life!

(J.R. Miller)

"As your days--so shall your strength be!" Deuteronomy 33:25

One of the secrets of happy and beautiful life, is to live one day at a time. Really, we never have anything to do any day--but the bit of God's will for that day. If we do that well--we have absolutely nothing else to do.

Time is given to us in days. It was so from the beginning. This breaking up of time into little daily portions means a great deal more than we are accustomed to think. For one thing, it illustrates the gentleness and goodness of God. It would have made life intolerably burdensome if a year, instead of a day--had been the unit of division. It would have been hard to carry a heavy load, to endure a great sorrow, or to keep on at a hard duty--for such a long stretch of time. How dreary our common task-work would be--if there were no breaks in it, if we had to keep our hand to the plough for a whole year! We never could go on with our struggles, our battles, our suffering--if night did not mercifully settle down with its darkness, and bid us rest and renew our strength.

We do not understand how great a mercy there is for us in the briefness of our short days. If they were even twice as long as they are--life would be intolerable! Many a time when the sun goes down--we feel that we could scarcely have gone another step. We would have fainted in defeat--if the summons to rest had not come just when it did.

We see the graciousness of the divine thoughtfulness in giving us time in periods of little days, which we can easily get through with--and not in great years, in which we would faint and fall by the way. It makes it possible for us to go on through all the long years and not to be overwrought, for we never have given to us at any one time--more than we can do between the morning and the evening.

If we learn well the lesson of living just one day at a time, without anxiety for either yesterday or tomorrow, we shall have found one of the great secrets of Christian peace. That is the way God teaches us to live. That is the lesson both of the Bible and of nature. If we learn it, it will cure us of all anxiety; it will save us from all feverish haste; it will enable us to live sweetly in any experience.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34
 
  • Like
Reactions: joyshirley
Upvote 0

nChrist

AKA: Tom - Saved By Grace Through Faith
Supporter
Mar 21, 2003
21,118
17,842
Oklahoma, USA
✟879,660.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Republican
__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
Grace Gems!
___________________________________________

The lock-smith's great bunch of keys!

(Charles Spurgeon)

"He has given us His very great and precious promises!" 2 Peter 1:4

God's promises are precious, because they tell of exceedingly great and precious things. We have promises in the Bible which time would fail us to repeat, which for breadth and length are immeasurable. They deal with every great thing which the soul can need:
promises of pardoned sin,
promises of sanctification,
promises of teaching,
promises of guidance,
promises of upholding,
promises of ennobling,
promises of progress,
promises of consolation,
promises of perfection.

In this blessed book you have . . .
promises for time--and promises for eternity;
promises for every condition every believer!

I sometimes liken God's promises to the lock-smith's great bunch of keys which he brings when you have lost the key of your chest, and cannot unlock it. He feels pretty sure that out of all the keys upon his ring, some one or another will fit, and he tries them with patient industry. At last--yes--that is it--he has loosened the bolt, and now you can get at your treasures!

In the same way, there is always a promise in the volume of inspiration, suitable to your present case.

The promises are precious in themselves . . .
from their suitability to us,
from their coming from God,
from their being immutable,
from their being sure of performance, and
from their containing wrapped up within themselves, all that every child of God can ever need!

"He has given us His very great and precious promises!"
 
  • Like
Reactions: joyshirley
Upvote 0

nChrist

AKA: Tom - Saved By Grace Through Faith
Supporter
Mar 21, 2003
21,118
17,842
Oklahoma, USA
✟879,660.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Republican
__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
Grace Gems!
___________________________________________

If we were what we profess to be, and what we should be

(Charles Spurgeon)

"When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men--they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus!" Acts 4:13

A Christian should be a striking likeness of Jesus Christ. You have read "Lives of Christ"--beautifully and eloquently written. But the best life of Christ is His living biography, written out in the words and actions of His people.

If we were what we profess to be, and what we should be--we would be pictures of Christ! Yes, such striking likenesses of Him that the world would, when they once beheld us, exclaim, "He has been with Jesus! He has been taught of Him! He is like Him! He has caught the very idea of the holy Man of Nazareth, and he works it out in his life and everyday actions!"

"He who says he abides in Him--ought himself also to walk just as He walked." 1 John 2:6
 
  • Like
Reactions: joyshirley
Upvote 0

nChrist

AKA: Tom - Saved By Grace Through Faith
Supporter
Mar 21, 2003
21,118
17,842
Oklahoma, USA
✟879,660.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Republican
__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
Grace Gems!
___________________________________________

Five Short Rules for Christians

(Brownlow North, 1810-1875)

1. Never neglect daily private prayer; and when you pray, remember that God is present, and that He hears your prayers.

2. Never neglect daily private Bible reading; and when you read, remember that God is speaking to you, and that you are to believe and act upon all that He says.

3. Never let a day pass without trying to do something for Jesus. Every day reflect on what Jesus has done for you--and then ask yourself, "What am I doing for Him?"

4. If you are in doubt as to a thing being right or wrong--then go to your room and kneel down and ask God's blessing on it. If you cannot do this, then it is wrong.

5. Never take your standard of Christianity from other Christians--or argue that because such and such people do so and so--therefore, you may. You are to ask yourself, "How would Jesus act in my place?"--and strive to follow Him alone.
 
  • Like
Reactions: joyshirley
Upvote 0
This site stays free and accessible to all because of donations from people like you.
Consider making a one-time or monthly donation. We appreciate your support!
- Dan Doughty and Team Christian Forums

nChrist

AKA: Tom - Saved By Grace Through Faith
Supporter
Mar 21, 2003
21,118
17,842
Oklahoma, USA
✟879,660.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Republican
__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
Grace Gems!
___________________________________________

That miracle of Divine grace wrought in the soul

(Arthur Pink)

Regeneration is that miracle of Divine grace wrought in the soul . . .
which enlists the affections Godward,
which brings the human will into subjection to the Divine,
and which produces a real and radical change in the life.
That change is from worldliness--to godliness; from disobedience--to obedience.

At the new birth, the love of God is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit, and that love is manifested in a dominating longing and sincere purpose to please in all things, the One who has plucked me as a brand from the burning. There is a greater difference between the genuine Christian and the deceived professing Christian--than there is between a living man and a corpse. None need remain in doubt, if they will honestly measure themselves by the Holy Word of God.

Ah, dear readers, the test is fruit! Not knowledge, not boastings, not orthodoxy, not joy--but fruit; and such "fruit" as mere nature cannot produce. It is the fruit of the Vine--namely, likeness to Christ, being conformed to His image. May the Holy Spirit search each one of us.
 
  • Like
Reactions: joyshirley
Upvote 0

nChrist

AKA: Tom - Saved By Grace Through Faith
Supporter
Mar 21, 2003
21,118
17,842
Oklahoma, USA
✟879,660.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Republican
__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
Grace Gems!
___________________________________________

His mercy is a boundless, fathomless, endless ocean!

(James Smith, "The Evening Sacrifice; Or, A Help to Devotion" 1859)

"You, O Lord, are good, and ready to forgive--and abundant in mercy to all who call upon You." Psalm 86:5

What a beautiful representation of God is this! How comforting, at the close of another day's cares and troubles, sorrows and sins--to be reminded that our "God is good," and especially that He is "ready to forgive"--ready to pardon all the faults and follies of this day--ready to pass them by, and still treat me as His beloved child!

He only requires me to confess and be sorry for my sins--and in a moment, all is forgiven, all is forgotten, and forgotten forever!

Then He is "abundant in mercy." The fountain of His mercy has not yet run dry. Run dry! It is not in the least diminished! His mercy is a boundless, fathomless, endless ocean!

God has plenty of mercy for miserable sinners . . .
mercy to pardon them,
mercy to purify them,
mercy to comfort them,
mercy to save them--
mercy for all who call upon Him!

O my soul, take home tonight this lovely representation of your God, and believing that He is good, ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy--go to Him, call upon Him, and plead with Him. Then you may obtain mercy, and find grace to help you in every time of need.

Good and gracious God, I adore You for Your goodness; I bless You that You are ready to forgive; I rejoice that You are abundant in mercy. And now, O Lord, glorify Your mercy in me--show Your readiness to forgive, in me! Let my heart be eased of every sorrow--and let my conscience be cleansed from every sin! Let me lie down to rest tonight guiltless--rejoicing in the glorious fact that You have blotted out my sins as a cloud, and my transgressions as a thick cloud, and are now at eternal peace with me!
 
  • Like
Reactions: joyshirley
Upvote 0

nChrist

AKA: Tom - Saved By Grace Through Faith
Supporter
Mar 21, 2003
21,118
17,842
Oklahoma, USA
✟879,660.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Republican
__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
Grace Gems!
___________________________________________

We ought to hate it with a deadly hatred!

(J.C. Ryle)

"As He drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a dead person was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow." Luke 7:12

We see here, what sorrow sin has brought into the world. We are told of a funeral at Nain. All funerals are mournful things, but it is difficult to imagine a funeral more mournful than the one here described. It was the funeral of a young man, and that young man the only son of his mother, and that mother a widow. There is not an item in the whole story, which is not full of misery. And all this misery, be it remembered, was brought into the world by sin. God did not create it at the beginning, when He made all things "very good." Sin is the cause of it all! "Sin entered into the world" when Adam fell, "and death by sin." Romans 5:12

Let us never forget this solemn truth. The world around us is full of sorrow. Sickness, and pain, and infirmity, and poverty, and labor, and trouble--abound on every side. From one end of the world to the other--the history of families is full of lamentation, and weeping, and mourning, and woe.

And whence does it all come? Sin is the fountain and root to which all must be traced. There would neither have been tears, nor illness, nor deaths, nor funerals in the earth--if there had been no sin. We must bear this state of things patiently. We cannot alter it. We may thank God that there is a remedy in the Gospel, and that this present life is not all. But in the meantime, let us lay the blame at the right door. Let us lay the blame on sin.

How much we ought to hate sin! Instead of loving it, cleaving to it, dallying with it, excusing it, playing with it--we ought to hate it with a deadly hatred! Sin is the great murderer, and thief, and pestilence, and nuisance of this world. Let us make no peace with it. Let us wage a ceaseless warfare against it. It is "the abominable thing which God hates!" Happy is he who is of one mind with God, and can say, I "abhor that which is evil." Romans 12:9
 
  • Like
Reactions: joyshirley
Upvote 0

nChrist

AKA: Tom - Saved By Grace Through Faith
Supporter
Mar 21, 2003
21,118
17,842
Oklahoma, USA
✟879,660.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Republican
__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
Grace Gems!
___________________________________________

The sick room, part 1

(J.C. Ryle)

"In those days King Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death!" Isaiah 38:1

Sickness, disease, decay, and death are the common lot of all mankind without exception. You have a striking proof of this in the chapter from which my text is taken. The Holy Spirit shows us a king and ruler of men, a dweller in palaces, a possessor of all that money can obtain, a good man, a holy man, a friend of God--laid low by disease, like the poorest man in the kingdom. Hear what the Holy Spirit says, "In those days King Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death!"

This is the old story. It is the history of every child of Adam for the last 6,000 years--except for Enoch and Elijah. It is as true of the infant who only lives a few hours--as it is true of Methuselah who lived 969 years. The story of every patriarch in the fifth of Genesis concludes with the simple words, "and he died."

There is no discharge in this war. Sooner or later, all die. There is no exemption for any rank or class or condition. High and low, rich and poor, gentle and simple, learned and unlearned, kings and their subjects, saints and sinners--all alike are liable to disease and all must submit to the King of Terrors. The admirals and generals who have left behind a world-wide reputation, the statesmen who have swayed senates and made indelible marks on the history of their own time--are all carried one after another to the grave. Rich men, in spite of all their privileges, enjoy no immunity from sickness and death.

No medical skill can prevent death. Our physicians and surgeons are unwearied in their efforts to find new remedies and modes of treatment. They compass sea and land in order to prevent disease, discover remedies, diminish pain, and lengthen life. But in spite of all that medicine and surgery can do--there is something which the ablest doctors find beyond their reach. When the time appointed by God comes--they cannot keep men and women alive.

After all, there is nothing amazing in this. The tent in which our soul lives--the human body--is a most frail and complicated machine. From the sole of the foot to the crown of the head--there is not a part of us which is not liable to disease. When I think of the variety of ailments which may assail our frame, I do not so much wonder that we die at last--as that we live so long.

But whence comes this liability to sickness, disease, and death? How are we to account for it? This is a question which will arise in many minds--and it is one which ought to be answered. Perfection is the ordinary mark of all God's handiwork--perfection in the heavens above us, and the earth beneath us--perfection in the movements of a planets--and perfection in a fly's wing, or a blade of grass. Look through a telescope or microscope at anything which God created--and you find nothing defective. How then can we account for the power of disease, decay, and death over the body of man?

There is only one book which supplies an answer to this question. That book is the Bible. The fall of man at the beginning, has brought sin into the world--and sin has brought with it the curse of sickness, suffering, pain, and death. These are not things which God created at the beginning. They are the consequences of man's transgression. To suppose that a perfect God would deliberately create imperfection, is a supposition too monstrous to be believed. It is man who is to blame--and not God. The countless bodily sufferings that we see, are the just consequence of man's original disobedience.

Here to my mind lies one among many proofs that the Bible is given by inspiration of God. It accounts for many things which the atheist cannot explain. When I see a little infant convulsed with bodily pain and hovering between life and death in a weeping mother's arms--I would be utterly puzzled and confounded, if I did not believe the Bible. But when I turn to the Book--the mysterious problem is solved. I learn that suffering is the result of Adam's fall. That infant would not have suffered--if Adam had not sinned!
 
  • Like
Reactions: joyshirley
Upvote 0

nChrist

AKA: Tom - Saved By Grace Through Faith
Supporter
Mar 21, 2003
21,118
17,842
Oklahoma, USA
✟879,660.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Republican
__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
Grace Gems!
___________________________________________

The sick room, part 2

(J.C. Ryle)

"In those days King Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death! The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said: 'This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.' Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, 'Remember, O LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.' And Hezekiah wept bitterly." Isaiah 38:1-3

I ask you to learn from this chapter, that sickness is not an unmixed evil.

That King Hezekiah received spiritual benefit from his illness--I think there can be no doubt. The good man saw things in his sickness, which he had never seen clearly and fully in the days of health.

I do not say that sickness always does good. Alas! We ministers know to our sorrow, that it frequently does no good at all. Too often we see men and women, after recovering from a long and dangerous illness--more hardened and impious than they were before. Too often they return to the world, if not to overt sin--with more eagerness and zest than ever. The impressions made on their conscience in the hour of sickness, are swept away like children's writing on the sand of the sea-shore when the tide flows in.

But I do say that sickness ought to do us good. And I do say that God sends it in order to do us good. Affliction is a friendly letter from Heaven. It is a knock at the door of conscience. It is the voice of the Savior knocking at the heart's door. Happy is he who opens the letter and reads it, who hears the knock and opens the door, who welcomes Christ to the sick room. Come now, and let me show you a few of the lessons which He by sickness would teach us.

1. Sickness is meant to make us think--to remind us that we have a soul as well as a body--an immortal soul--a soul that will live forever in happiness or in misery--and that if this soul is not saved, we had better never have been born.

2. Sickness is meant to teach us that there is a world beyond the grave--and that the world we now live in is only a training-place for another dwelling, where there will be no decay, no sorrow, no tears, no misery, and no sin.

3. Sickness is meant to make us look at our past lives honestly, fairly, and conscientiously.
Am I ready for my great change--if I should not get better?
Do I truly repent of my sins?
Are my sins forgiven and washed away in Christ's blood?
Am I prepared to meet God?

4. Sickness is meant to make us see the emptiness of the world and its utter inability to satisfy the highest and deepest needs of the soul.

5. Sickness is meant to send us to our Bibles--that blessed Book, which in the days of health is too often left on the shelf, and is never opened from January to December. But sickness often brings it down from the shelf and throws new light on its pages.

6. Sickness is meant to make us pray. Too many, I fear, never pray at all, or they only rattle over a few hurried words morning and evening without thinking what they do. But prayer often becomes a reality--when the valley of the shadow of death is in sight!

7. Sickness is meant to make us repent and break off our sins. If we will not hear the voice of mercies--then God sometimes makes us "hear the rod."

8. Sickness is meant to draw us to Christ. Naturally we do not see the full value of the blessed Savior. We secretly imagine that our prayers, good deeds, and sacrament-receiving will save our souls. But when flesh begins to fail--then the absolute necessity of a Redeemer, a Mediator, and an Advocate with the Father, stands out before men's eyes like fire, and makes them understand those words, "Simply to Your cross I cling!" as they never did before. Sickness has done this for many--they have found Christ in the sick room.

9. Last, but not least, sickness is meant to make us feeling and sympathizing towards others. By nature we are all far below our blessed Master's example--who had not only a hand to help all, but a heart to feel for all. None, I suspect, are so unable to sympathize--as those who have never had trouble themselves. And none are so able to sympathize--as those who have drunk most deeply the cup of pain and sorrow.

Brethren, when your time comes to be ill, I beseech you not to forget what the illness means. Beware of fretting and murmuring and complaining, and giving way to an impatient spirit. Regard your sickness as . . .
a blessing in disguise;
a good--and not an evil;
a friend--and not an enemy.

No doubt we would all prefer to learn spiritual lessons in the school of ease--and not under the rod. But rest assured that God knows better than we do, how to teach us. The light of the last day will show you that there was a meaning and a "needs-be" in all your bodily ailments. The lessons that we learn on a sick-bed, when we are shut out from the world--are often lessons which we would never learn elsewhere. Settle it down in your minds, that, however much you may dislike it--sickness is not an unmixed evil.
 
  • Like
Reactions: joyshirley
Upvote 0
This site stays free and accessible to all because of donations from people like you.
Consider making a one-time or monthly donation. We appreciate your support!
- Dan Doughty and Team Christian Forums

nChrist

AKA: Tom - Saved By Grace Through Faith
Supporter
Mar 21, 2003
21,118
17,842
Oklahoma, USA
✟879,660.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Republican
__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
Grace Gems!
___________________________________________

Everybody is going to be saved--and nobody is going to be lost!

(J.C. Ryle, 1884)

One great danger of the church today, consists in the rise and progress of a spirit of indifference to all doctrines and opinions in religion. A wave of latitudinarianism about theology, appears to be passing over the land. The minds of many seem utterly incapable of discerning any difference between . . .
one belief--and another belief,
one creed--and another creed,
one tenet--and another tenet,
one opinion--and another opinion,
one thought--and another thought,
however diverse and mutually contrary they may be!
Everything is true--and nothing is false.
Everything is right--and nothing is wrong.
Everything is good--and nothing is bad--if only it comes to us under the garb and name of religion. Most think that it is kind and liberal, to maintain that we have no right to think that anyone is wrong, who is in earnest about his creed.
We are not allowed to ask what is God's truth--but what is liberal, and generous, and charitable.

Most professing Christians make cleverness and earnestness the only tests of orthodoxy in religion. Thousands nowadays seem utterly unable to distinguish things that differ. If a preacher is only clever and eloquent and earnest--they think that he is all right, however strange and heterodox his sermons may be.
Popery--or Protestantism,
an atonement--or no atonement,
a personal Holy Spirit--or no Holy Spirit,
future punishment--or no future punishment
--they swallow all! Carried away by an imagined liberality and charity, they seem to regard doctrine as a matter of no importance, and to think that everybody is going to be saved--and nobody is going to be lost! They dislike distinctness, and think that all decided views are very wrong!

These people live in a kind of mist or fog! They see nothing clearly, and do not know what they believe. They have not made up their minds about any great point in the Gospel, and seem content to be honorary members of all schools of thought. For their lives--they could not tell you what they think is truth about . . .
forgiveness of sins,
or justification,
or regeneration,
or sanctification,
or saving faith,
or conversion,
or inspiration,
or the future state.

They are eaten up with a morbid dread of doctrine. And so they live on undecided, and too often undecided they drift down to the grave, on the broad way which leads to eternal destruction.

They are content to shovel aside all disputed points as rubbish, and will tell you, "I do not pretend to understand doctrine. I dare say that it is all the same in the long run." They are for a general policy of universal toleration and forbearance of every doctrine. Every school of false teaching, however extreme, is to be tolerated. They desire the Church to be a kind of Noah's Ark, within which every kind of opinion and creed shall dwell safely and undisturbed, and the only terms of admittance are a willingness to come inside, and let your neighbor alone. Nothing is too absurd to concede and allow into the church, in the present mania for complete freedom of thought, and absolute liberty of opinion.

The explanation of this boneless, nerveless condition of soul, is perhaps not difficult to find. The heart of man is naturally in the dark about religion--has no intuitive sense of truth--and really needs divine instruction and illumination. Besides this, the natural heart in most men hates exertion in religion. Above all, the natural heart generally likes the praise of others, shrinks from collision, and loves to be thought charitable and liberal. The whole result is that a kind of broad religious anythingism just suits an immense number of professors.

Ignorance, I am compelled to say, is one of the grand dangers of professors of religion in the present day.

Who does not know that such people swarm and abound everywhere? And who does not know that anyone who denounces this state of things, and insists that we should be loyal to Scripture truth--is regarded as a narrow, bigoted, intolerant person, quite unsuited to our times?

When there is no creed or standard of doctrine, there can be no church, but a Babel. Let me venture to advise all true Christians to never to be ashamed of holding Evangelical views. Those views, I am quite aware, are not fashionable nowadays. They are ridiculed as old-fashioned, narrow, defective, and out of date--and those who hold them, are regarded as illiberal, impracticable old fossils!

What the final result of the present state of things will be, I do not pretend to predict.

"Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths!" 2 Timothy 4:2-4
 
  • Like
Reactions: joyshirley
Upvote 0

nChrist

AKA: Tom - Saved By Grace Through Faith
Supporter
Mar 21, 2003
21,118
17,842
Oklahoma, USA
✟879,660.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Republican
__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
Grace Gems!
___________________________________________

We all naturally love to have a pope of our own!

(J.C. Ryle, 1884)

"When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong!" Galatians 2:11

One lesson we learn from this verse, is that great ministers may make great mistakes. The best of men are weak and fallible. Unless the grace of God holds them up, any one of them may go astray at any time. Let us learn not to put implicit confidence in any man's opinion, merely because he is a minister. Peter was one of the very chief Apostles--and yet he could err. What are the best of ministers but men--dust, ashes, and clay--men of like passions with ourselves, men exposed to temptations, men liable to weaknesses and infirmities?

We all naturally love to have a pope of our own. We are far too ready to think, that because some great minister or some learned man says a thing; or because our own minister, whom we love, says a thing--that it must be right, without examining whether it is in Scripture or not.

It is absurd to suppose that ordained men cannot go wrong. We should follow them so far as they teach according to the Bible, but no further. We should believe them so long as they can say, "Thus it is written! Thus says the Lord!" but further than this, we are not to go. Infallibility is not to be found in ordained men, but in the Bible alone!

Let us take care that we do not place implicit confidence on our own minister's opinion, however godly he may be. Peter was a man of mighty grace, and yet he could err. Your minister may be a man of God indeed, and worthy of all honor for his preaching and example; but do not make a pope of him! Do not place his word on the same level with the Word of God.

The Christian minister is not infallible! The vulgar notion that a clergyman is not likely to hold or teach erroneous doctrines, and that we seldom need to doubt the truth of anything he tells us in the pulpit--is one of the most mischievous errors which has been bequeathed by the Church of Rome. It is a complete delusion! Ordination confers no immunity from error! Ministers, like Churches--may err both in living and matters of faith.

The Apostle Peter erred greatly at Antioch, where Paul withstood him to the face. Many of the church Fathers and Reformers and Puritans made great mistakes. The greatest errors have been begun by ministers!

The teaching of all ministers ought to be constantly compared with the Scriptures--and when it contradicts the Scriptures, it ought not to be believed. However high a clergyman's office may be, and however learned and devout he may appear--he is still only an uninspired man, and can make mistakes. His opinion must never be set above the Word of God!

Let us receive nothing, believe nothing, follow nothing--which is not in the Bible, nor can be proved by the Bible. Let our rule of faith, our touchstone of all teaching, be the written Word of God alone!

"Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true!" Acts 17:11
 
  • Like
Reactions: joyshirley
Upvote 0

nChrist

AKA: Tom - Saved By Grace Through Faith
Supporter
Mar 21, 2003
21,118
17,842
Oklahoma, USA
✟879,660.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Republican
__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
Grace Gems!
___________________________________________

The line between the Church and the world seems completely effaced and forgotten!

(J.C. Ryle, 1884)

"For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare himself for battle?" 1 Corinthians 14:8

We need a more certain sound about personal holiness. I fear that the standard of holy living is lower just now than it has been for many years. Professing Christians seem unable to realize that there is anything inconsistent in ball-going, theater-going, gambling, card-playing, excessive dressing, novel-reading, and an incessant round of gaiety and amusements!

The line between the Church and the world seems completely effaced and forgotten!

A crucified life of self-denial and close walking with God, a life of real devotedness and zeal for holy living--is hardly ever to be seen!

Yet surely our Lord meant something when He spoke of "taking up the cross!"

Surely Paul meant something when he said,
"Come out from among them and be separate!"
"Be not conformed to this world!"
"Without holiness no man shall see the Lord!"

If Christ returns the second time in this generation, we shall find His words about the days of Noah and Lot fully verified. Those days are upon us!

"Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all!"
"It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all!" Luke 17:26-29

"Ask for the old paths, where the good way is--and walk in it. Then you will find rest for your souls." Jeremiah 6:16
 
  • Like
Reactions: joyshirley
Upvote 0

nChrist

AKA: Tom - Saved By Grace Through Faith
Supporter
Mar 21, 2003
21,118
17,842
Oklahoma, USA
✟879,660.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Republican
__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
Grace Gems!
___________________________________________

Sin has introduced great misery and universal disorder into the world!

(Charles Buck, 1771–1815)

"For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground. Yet man is born to trouble--as surely as sparks fly upward!" Job 5:6-7

"Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows!" John 16:33

Whoever considers the manifold calamities to which mankind are exposed in the present state, must feel some emotion of sorrow.

Sin has introduced great misery and universal disorder into the world! No person, however obscure, or eminent or educated--can stand invulnerable against the arrows of adversity.

It is, however, the peculiar privilege of a godly man, that though, alike with others, he partakes of the sufferings of humanity--yet he sees a wise hand directing every event, and rendering all subservient to a grand and glorious end. He desires to learn the noble lessons of patience and submission, while his heart glows with gratitude to Him to whom he is indebted for every comfort he enjoys, and without whose permission he knows no evil can transpire!

"We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28
 
  • Like
Reactions: joyshirley
Upvote 0
This site stays free and accessible to all because of donations from people like you.
Consider making a one-time or monthly donation. We appreciate your support!
- Dan Doughty and Team Christian Forums

nChrist

AKA: Tom - Saved By Grace Through Faith
Supporter
Mar 21, 2003
21,118
17,842
Oklahoma, USA
✟879,660.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Republican
__________________________________________
From Grace Gems:
Very Old - But Beautiful and Timeless Treasures.
Everything is FREE and Public Domain.
Grace Gems!
___________________________________________

Take a stick and beat every blind man he met!

(John Newton, "MEMOIRS")

Those who believe the doctrines of sovereign grace often act inconsistently with their own principles--when they are angry at the defects of others.

A company of travelers fall into a pit; one of them gets a passerby to draw him out. Now he should not be angry with the rest for falling in; nor because they are not yet out, as he is. He did not pull himself out. Instead, therefore, of reproaching them--he should show them pity.

In the same way, a truly saved man will no more despise others--than blind Bartimaeus, after his own eyes were opened, would take a stick and beat every blind man he met!

"For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive?" 1 Corinthians 4:7

"By the grace of God I am what I am!" 1 Corinthians 15:10
 
  • Like
Reactions: joyshirley
Upvote 0