Power to the Powerless

The loss of all confidence in ones self, is the first essential in the believer's growth in grace! The Christian, conscious of his own frailty, will turn unto the Lord for strength.  "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak--then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:10

There must be consciousness of our weakness, before we shall turn to the Lord for help. While the Christian imagines that he is sufficient in himself; while he imagines that by the mere force of his will, that he shall resist temptation; while he has any confidence in the flesh--then, like 'boasting Peter'--so we shall certainly fail and fall. The plain fact is--that of ourselves we are utterly unable to practice a single precept, or obey a single command that is set before us in the Scriptures! Apart from Christ--we can do nothing! (John 15:5). The promise of God is, "He gives power to the faint; and strengthens the powerless!" Isaiah 40:29

The secret of development of Christian character, is the realization of our own powerlessness, and the consequent turning unto the Lord for help. A consciousness of our powerlessness, should cast us upon Him who has all power.

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble!" Psalm 46:1

-Arthur Pink

A Most Sovereign Antidote

Then Moses said to Him, "If Your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here!" Exodus 33:15
God's presence is infinitely better than the presence of all outward comforts. God is with His people to counsel them in all doubtful and difficult cases, and to defend and secure them against all their enemies and opposers.
A sound sincere Christian can never have enough . . .
  power against sin, nor
  strength against temptation, nor
  weanedness from this world, nor
  ripeness for heaven, nor
  of the presence of the Lord.
The special presence of God with His people, is a most sovereign antidote.
Troubles will be no troubles,
distresses will be no distresses,
dangers will be no dangers--
if God's presence is with you.
Mountains--will be molehills; stabs at the heart--will be as scratches upon the hand; if God's presence is with you.
God's special presence will turn . . .
  storms into calms,
  winter nights into summer days,
  prisons into palaces,
  weakness into strength,
  poverty into plenty,
  death into life.
Just so, while a Christian enjoys the singular presence of God with him, he will make nothing of this affliction and that affliction, of this trouble and that trouble, of this loss and that loss. God's presence makes . . .
  heavy afflictions--light, and
  long afflictions--short, and
  bitter afflictions--sweet.
A man in misery, without this gracious presence of God, is in a very hell on this side hell. God's gracious presence makes every condition--to be a little heaven to the believing soul. There is nothing, there can be nothing, but heaven--where God is specially present.

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble." Psalm 46:1
"The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress!" Psalm 46:7

- Thomas Brooks

Groveling Among Baubles

"He who overcomes will inherit all things!" Revelation 21:7
He shall have peace and plenty, profit and pleasure, everything desirable--full satisfaction of his most enlarged desires! Let the expectants of heaven, then, lift up their heads with joy. Let them gird up their loins, and so run that they may obtain; trampling on everything that may hinder them in their way to the kingdom. Let them never account any duty too hard, nor any cross too heavy, nor any pains too great--so that they may attain the unfading crown of glory.
Christians should behave suitably to their character and dignity--as heirs of the eternal glorious kingdom. Let your heart be in heaven. Let your souls delight in communion with God while you are on earth, since you look for your happiness in communion with Him in heaven. Let your speech and actions savor of heaven; and in your manner of life, look towards the heavenly country to which you are going.
Maintain a holy contempt of the world, and of the things of the world. Although others, whose earthly things are their best things, set their hearts upon them; yet it befits you to set your feet on them, since your best things are above. This world is but the alien country through which you must pass through, on your journey to Immanuel's land. Therefore, pass through it as pilgrims and strangers; and do not immerse yourself in its encumbrances, so as to retard you in your journey.
It is unworthy of one born to a palace--to set his heart to dwell in a poor hovel. It is unworthy of one running for a prize of gold--to depart from his path to gather pebbles and sticks. How much more is it unworthy of an heir of the kingdom of heaven--to be groveling among the baubles of this world, when he should be traveling on to receive his eternal inheritance!

-Thomas Boston

Calvary's Stupendous Scene!

"It is finished!" John 19:30

Holy Father,
The heavens, the earth, and all that are therein, proclaim Your wondrous goodness. But Your love shines forth in surpassing luster--at Calvary's stupendous scene! At the cross we see Your heavenly grace removing the tremendous load of our iniquities from us--and heaping them all on Your beloved Son! We see Him standing as a transgressor in our place. We see Him, who knew no sin--made sin for us. We see Him, the all-holy One--accounted as a curse! We see Your justice leading the spotless Lamb to the slaughter--and rigorously demanding the full payment for all our sin-debt!
The avenging sword enters into His very heart!
The stream of sin-atoning blood flows!
Full recompense is meted out!
Divine Justice can ask no more.
Charges against us are all obliterated.
The debt-book is cancelled. If our sins are searched for, they cannot now be found!
The spotless Lamb is devoted to all anguish--that we may be inheritors of all joy.
He is cast off from You--that we may be brought near to You.
He is treated as Your enemy--that we may be welcomed as Your friends.
He is deserted by You--that we may be received to Your everlasting favor.
He is surrendered to hell's worst--that we may attain heaven's best.
He is stripped--that we may be clothed.
He is wounded--that we may be healed.
He thirsts--that we may drink of the water of life.
He is in darkness--that we may rejoice in the glories of eternal day.
He weeps--that all tears may be forever wiped from our eyes.
He groans--that we may sing an endless song.
He endures all pain--that we may rejoice in unfading health.
He wears a crown of thorns--that we may receive a crown of glory.
He bows His head in death--that we may lift up our head in heaven.
He bears earth's reproach--that we may receive heaven's welcome.
He is tormented--that we may be comforted.
He is made all shame--that we may inherit all glory.
His eyes are dark in death--that our eyes may gaze on unclouded brightness.
He dies--that we may escape the second death, and live forevermore.
O gracious Father, thus You spare not Your only begotten Son--that You may spare us! All our sins are cast behind Your back--all are buried in the ocean of reconciling blood!
We can only fall low and cry, "We adore You for the gift of Your Son as our substitute; for the death of Your Son as our ransom!"
Blessed Jesus, we have been standing beneath Your cross. The sight constrains us to the deepest humility. Our vile iniquity--is the cause of Your shame! We cannot fathom the sins which plunged You into such depths of unutterable woe! We cannot estimate the burden of wrath which thus crushed You. We cannot deny that the sins which stain us are evils of infinite malignity, since nothing but Your blood could wash away their guilty stains! As transgressors, we abhor ourselves before You.
While we humbly gaze--may we anxiously ponder, "Why, blessed Jesus--why did You thus die?" May His precious answer sound through every part of our hearts and souls,
"I die--that you may not die.
I lay down My life--to purchase your life.
I present Myself as a sin-offering to--expiate all your sins.
My blood thus streams--to wash out all your guilt.
The fountain is thus opened in My side--to cleanse you from all impurity. I thus endure your curse. I thus pay your debt. I thus rescue you from all condemnation. I thus satisfy divine justice for you!"

-Henry Law

A Loving Purpose

"Let the LORD be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant." Psalm 35:27

What is "prosperity"? Is it threads of life weaved into a bright outcome? a full cup? ample riches? worldly applause? an unbroken circle? No, these are often a snare; received without gratitude; dimming the soul to its nobler destinies. Often spiritually, it rather means God taking us by the hand into the lowly Valleys of Humiliation; leading us as He did His servant Job of old--out of his sheep, oxen, camels, health, wealth, children; in order that we may be brought before Him in the dust, and say, "Blessed be His holy name!"

Yes! The very reverse of what is known in the world as Prosperity forms the background on which the Rainbow of Promise is seen. God smiles on us through these rainbows and teardrops of sorrows! He loves us too well. He has too great an interest in our spiritual welfare to permit us to live on in what is misnamed "Prosperity." When He sees duties languidly performed, or coldly neglected; the heart deadened, and love to Himself congealed by the absorbing power of the present world, He puts a thorn in our nest to drive us to the wing, and prevent our being grovelers forever!

I may not be able now to understand the mystery of these dealings. I may be asking through the tears, "Why this unkind arrest on my earthly happiness? Why so premature a lopping of my boughs of promise? Why such a speedy withering of my most cherished gourd?" The answer is plain. It is your soul’s prosperity He has in view. Believe it, your true Ebenezers will yet be raised close by your Zarephaths (the place of furnace).
His afflictions are no arbitrary appointments. There is righteous necessity in all He does. As He lays His chastening hand upon you, and leads you by ways you know not, and which you never would have chosen--He whispers the gentle accents in your ear, 'Beloved I wish above all things that you would prosper, and be in health.'

Rest in the quiet consciousness that all is well. Murmur at nothing which brings you nearer His own loving Presence. Be thankful for your very cares, because you can confidently cast them all upon Him. He has your temporal and eternal "prosperity" too much at heart to appoint one superfluous pang, one needless stroke. Commit therefore, all that concerns you to His keeping, and leave it there!

-John MacDuff

Sovereignty

"The Lord reigns!" Psalm 93:1
No rainbow of promise in the "dark and cloudy day" shines more radiantly than this. God, my God, the God who gave Jesus--orders all events, and overrules all for my good! "When I," says He, "send clouds over the earth." He has no wish to conceal the hand which shadows for a time, earth’s brightest prospects. It is He alike who "brings the cloud," who brings us into it, and in mercy leads us through it! His kingdom rules over all. "The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord." He puts the burden on, and keeps it on, and at His own time will remove it!
Beware of brooding over second causes. It is the worst form of atheism! When our most fondly cherished gourds are smitten; our fairest flowers lie withered in our bosom; this is the silencer of all reflections, "The Lord prepared the worm!" When the temple of the soul is smitten with lightning, and its pillars rent: "The Lord is in His holy temple!" Accident, chance, fate, destiny, have no place in the Christian’s creed. He is no unpiloted vessel left to the mercy of the storm. "The voice of the Lord is upon the waters!" There is but one explanation of all that befalls him: "I will be mute, I will open not my mouth, because You O Lord, did it."
Death seems to the human spectator, the most capricious and severe of all events. But not so. The keys of death and Hades are in the hands of this same reigning God! Look at the parable of the fig-tree. Its prolonged existence, or its doom as a cumberer, forms matter of conversation in Heaven; the axe cannot be laid at its root--until God gives the warrant! How much more will this be the case regarding every "Tree of Righteousness, the planting of the Lord?" It will be watched over by Him, "Lest anyone hurt it." Every trembling fiber--He will care for; and if made early to succumb to the inevitable stroke, "Who knows not in all these things, that the hand of the Lord has wrought this." Be it mine to merge my own will in His; not to cavil at His ways, or to seek to have one jot or tittle of His will altered; but to lie passive in His hands; to take the bitter as well as the sweet, knowing that the bitter cup is mingled by One who loves me too well to add one ingredient that might have been spared!
Who can wonder that the sweet Psalmist of Israel should seek, as he sees the rainbow spanning the lower heavens, to fix the arrested gaze of a whole world on the softened tints of this Rainbow of Comfort, "The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice!"

- John MacDuff

Streams May Run Dry

"For this God is our God for ever and ever! He will be our guide even unto death!" Psalm 48:14
August 6, 1785
My dear wife,
The Lord has preserved us through a long course of years, and in different situations, from various calamities which have overtaken others. Our obligations to thankfulness are singular and numerous.
Tell our niece Eliza that I love her very dearly. She would soon be well--if I could make her so. But she is in better hands than mine! I have a comfortable hope that her illness has been, and will be, sanctified to an end far more desirable than health or life itself. Therefore I leave her to the wise and merciful direction of the Lord, who loves her better than I can.
May the Lord bless this little separation to quicken us to mutual prayer, and to lead us to a thankful review of the mercy and goodness which have followed us through the many years we have been united.

How many changes have we seen!
Under how many trials have we been supported!
How many deliverances have we known!
How many comforts have we enjoyed!
Especially, what great advantages have we possessed, in knowing those things which pertain to our everlasting peace!

The years we have passed together--will return no more. The afflictions are gone, the pleasures likewise are gone, forever. The longer we live, such pleasures as this world can afford, will, more and more, lose their power of pleasing. Only our love, I trust, will exist and flourish to the end of life--yes, beyond it! It will always be a truth, that the Lord, in giving you to me--gave me the best temporal desire of my heart. But the shadows of the evening advance. Old age is creeping in upon us, and the days are approaching when we shall have no pleasure--but what we can derive from the good Word of God, and the consolations of his Holy Spirit. These, if we are favored with them, will sufficiently compensate for the abatement, or the loss, of all the rest. The streams may run dry--but the fountain of living waters will always flow! May His presence be near our hearts--and then all will be well.

(Letters of John Newton)

Disappointment

"Godliness with contentment is great gain." 1 Timothy 6:6

There is many a thing which the world calls 'disappointment', but there is no such a word in the 'dictionary of faith'. What to others are disappointments, are divine appointments to believers.
If two angels were sent down from heaven--one to conduct an empire, and the other to sweep a street--they would feel no inclination to change employments.

"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 need." Philippians 4:11-12

(Letters of John Newton)

Two Things I Am Sure Of

When I was young, I was sure of many things. But now that I am old, there are only two things which I am sure of:

One is that I am a miserable sinner! 
Secondly, that Christ is an all-sufficient Savior!

He is well taught--who learns these two lessons.

"This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: 'Christ Jesus came into the world to  save sinners'--and I am the worst of them!" 1 Timothy 1:15

(Letters of John Newton)

Here My Hope Revives

Dear friend,
Wickedness prevails and increases in our city to a dreadful degree! Our streets are filled with the sons of Belial, who neither fear God, nor regard man. I wish my heart was more affected with what my eyes see and my ears hear every day!

And surely, if He were strict to mark all that is amiss--I myself would tremble! Oh, were He to plead against me--I could not answer Him one word! Alas! my dear friend, you know not what a poor, unprofitable, unfaithful creature I am! If you knew the evils which I feel within, and the snares and difficulties which beset me from without--you would pity me indeed!

So much forgiven--yet so little love to Jesus.
So many mercies--yet so few returns.
Such great privileges--yet a life so sadly below them.

Indwelling sin presses me downwards; when I would do good, evil is present with me! I can attempt nothing--but it is debased, polluted and spoiled by my depraved nature! My sins of omission are innumerable. In a word, there is . . .

  much darkness in my understanding,
  much perverseness in my will,
  much disorder in my affections,
  much folly and madness in my imagination!
In short, I am a riddle to myself--a heap of inconsistency!

Alas! when shall it be otherwise? I have a desire of walking with God--but I cannot attain unto it. Surely it is far better to depart, and to be with Jesus Christ--than to live here up to the ears in sin and temptation!

But, "We have an Advocate with the Father." Here my hope revives! Though wretched in myself--I am complete in Him! He is my wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. On this "Rock" I build--for time and eternity!

(Letters of John Newton)

God Work Of Grace In The Soul

(Letters of John Newton)
"The soil produces grain--
  first the blade,
  then the stalk, and
  then the ripe grain on the stalk."
    Mark 4:28
The Lord compares the usual method of growth in grace--to the growth of grain, which is perfected by a slow and almost imperceptible progress.
The seed is hidden for a time in the soil; and, when it appears, it passes through a succession of changes--the blade, the stalk, and lastly the ripe grain.
And it is brought forward amidst a variety of weather: the dew, the frost, the wind, the rain, the sun--all concur to advance its maturity, though some of these agents are contrary to each other; and some of them, perhaps, seem to threaten the life of the plant! Yet, when the season of harvest returns--the grain is found ready for the sickle!
Just so is God's work of grace in the soul. Its beginnings are small, its growth for the most part slow, and, to our apprehensions, imperceptible and often precarious.

But there is this difference in the comparison: frosts and blights, drought or floods, may possibly disappoint the gardener's hopes. But the great Gardener of the soul--will not, and cannot be disappointed. What He sows--shall flourish in defiance of all opposition! And, if at times it seems to wither--He can and He will revive it!
For the most part, God's people are exercised with sharp trials and temptations; for it is necessary they should learn not only what He can do for them--but how little they can do without Him! Therefore He teaches them not all at once--but by degrees, as they are able to bear it.

"The soil produces grain--
  first the blade,
  then the stalk, and
  then the ripe grain on the stalk."
    Mark 4:28

Better Than

Though the Gospel is exactly suited to the dire need of fallen man--yet it is far from being suited to his proud heart! It calls upon him to "Behold the Lamb of God"--but in order to do so--he must look away from himself. That is, he must renounce himself, deny himself, repudiate all "imagined goodness" in himself--and this is something which he is very far from being willing to comply with. The Gospel is a revelation of pure grace, of sovereign mercy, unmerited favor--offering to enrich spiritual paupers, to clothe the spiritually naked, to save Hell-deserving sinners--but that is something the self-righteous and independent heart of fallen man cannot tolerate!
Being completely under the dominion of the Devil--fallen man is puffed up with pride. Instead of humbling himself beneath the mighty hand of God, and confessing his ruined condition--he foolishly imagines that he cannot only do that which will meet with God's approval--but actually make God his Debtor, so that justice requires God to reward him for his excellent performances. He refuses to acknowledge that he is a fallen, depraved, lost sinner, "without strength," and without a spark of spiritual life. He refuses to acknowledge that he is utterly incapable of recovering himself, of bettering himself, of doing anything which can meet with the approval of a holy and sin-hating God.
Thus, the unsaved are so deceived by their own hearts and so deluded by Satan--that it is impossible to disillusion them--until a miracle of grace is wrought within them!
But even Christians themselves, have the 'root of legality' still left within them, and are to a greater or less degree, infected with a self-righteous spirit to the end of their days! Though a Divine work of grace has been wrought in them, enabling them to see, feel and know they are depraved, polluted and vile creatures--causing them to close with Christ as He is presented to them in the Gospel, and cast themselves upon Him as their only Hope, their Deliverer, their all-sufficient Savior--pride still works within them, and as it does, they are ready to give heed to some of Satan's lies--and imagine that they are now in themselves something more, something better than Hell-deserving sinners!
This 'root of legality' is constantly bringing forth its foul and poisonous fruit, though for the most part--we are quite unaware of its so subtle and secret activities. Whenever we are pleased with ourselves and our religious performances --a legal spirit is at work within us. Whenever we are less conscious of our deep need of Christ--pride is to that extent, possessing our hearts. Whenever we feel that God, in His providences, is dealing severely with us--a self-righteous spirit possesses us, and we are guilty of this sin. This is sure proof that we think more highly of ourselves, than we ought to think.

- Arthur Pink, "A Legal Spirit" 1942

The Safe Place

I went to Jesus with a prayer
Upon a suppliant's knee;
Low at His cross I laid me down,
Nor asked His face to see,
Yet whispered in His ear the tale
No mortal ear could bear:
The story of a faithless heart,
And of its self-despair.

I told Him how my feet had slipped,
How often gone astray;
How oft my heart refused to love,
My lips refused to pray.
In stammering words that none but He
Hearing could understand,
I made complaint of careless work
Done by a careless hand.

Of wasted hours, of idle words,
Of love oft waxing dim,
Of silence when a warmer heart
Had testified of Him.
I owned my weak and selfish ways;
How often all day long,
Moanings and sighs had filled His ears
To whom I owed a song.
And what said He? What whispered words
Responded unto mine?
Did He reproach me? Did His love
On me refuse to shine?

Nay, thus He spoke, and bent Him low
To reach my anxious ear,
My child, thou doest well to lie
As thou art lying here ;
I knew thy human weakness, knew
Each lurking bosom sin,
Knew it, and yet in loving grace
Thy heart I stooped to win.

I knew that thou wouldst often fall,
Poor work for Me wouldst do,
Wouldst give Me only half thy love,
Give praises faint and few.
And yet I choose thee. Be content
And since thou canst not fly
To heights by dearer souls attained,
Let it suffice to lie

Here at My feet; it is the place
To which My loved ones flee;
They find it sweet, and so shalt thou;
'Tis a safe place for thee.
Yes, it is sweet, and it is safe!
And here will I abide;
Sinful, and yet forgiven, sad,
And yet so satisfied.


- Elizabeth Prentiss

Daily Grace

So he supplies perfectly measured grace to meet the needs of the godly. For daily needs there is daily grace; for sudden needs, sudden grace; for overwhelming need, overwhelming grace. God's grace has given wonderfully, but not wastefully; freely but not foolishly; bountifully but not blindly. -John Blanchard

At All Times

“What is your sorrow? Has health failed you? Has property forsaken you? Have friends turned against you? Are you tried in your circumstances? Perplexed in your path? Are providences thickening and darkening around you? Are you anticipating seasons of approaching trial? Are you walking in darkness, having no light? Simply go to Jesus!

He is an ever open door—a tender, loving, faithful Friend, ever near. He is a Brother born for your adversity. His grace and sympathy are sufficient for you. Go to Him in every trial—cast upon Him every burden—take the infirmity, the corruption, the cross as it arises—simply and immediately to Jesus! Jesus is your loving and confiding Brother and Friend, to go to at all times and under all circumstances.”

Octavius Winslow

Nothing Is So Small To Be Below His Attention

Can I request that you take a second (for it really isn’t that long) and read the quote below. If you are tempted to doubt God, not trust Him, worry, be anxious, or anything along those lines; than I STRONGLY encourage you to read this quote. It’s so good and very applicable to life in the US right now…

"How countless are Your works, O Lord! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures! Here is the sea, vast and wide, teeming with creatures beyond number--living things both large and small. All of them wait for You to give them their food at the right time. When You give it to them, they gather it; when You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good things. When You hide Your face, they are terrified; when You take away their breath, they die and return to the dust!" Psalm 104:24, 25, 27-29

The providence of God is His care of and provision which He makes for His creatures; with His supervision and superintendence of them.  The providence of God in His government of the world is a subject of deep importance to the Christian, for by proper views thereof, he will learn to see God's activities--in the daily works of His hands. Yet, though Christians assent to this truth, nevertheless they are prone to overlook it in exercise, and thereby to be deprived in great measure of that poise of mind and comfort of heart, which a deep and constant improvement of this doctrine is calculated to impart.
Nothing is more strengthening to faith, stabilizing to the mind, and tranquilizing to the heart of a Christian--than for him to be enabled to discern his Father's hand guiding, shaping, and controlling everything which enters his life; and not only so, but that He is also governing this world, and all people and events in it. Alas, we are living in an age of terrible skepticism, when most of what happens is attributed to natural causes, while God is more and more banished from the world, in the consideration of His creatures. It is not only a fact that God governs the world in a general sense, but He also regulates all its affairs, and controls all creatures in it, "working all things after the counsel of His own will" (Ephesians 1:11).
God is not troubled by anything that is now taking place in His world--either in its political, social, or religious sphere; nor should we be troubled. The helm is still in His hand; and Satan himself cannot so much as touch a hair of our heads, without His direct permission.

"We ought to see the hand of God in the most trifling things. Nothing is so small as to be below His attention! Nothing is too great for His Providence to effect!" Carson

- Arthur Pink, "Divine Providence

Some other great posts that have encouraged my soul lately…

Reasons To Hope You’ll Change - Crazy Counsel - Reason To Keep Asking Jesus To Heal

If you’re looking for some great books on Trust, I recommend the following (and there are tons more). I have finished one and I’m reading the other.

The chapter on Habakkuk is incredible!!!

  If nothing else, read the first chapter.

And if anyone is wondering, Dad is doing great. He’s got a cold, but they’re having a good time. The first part of their trip was cancelled, so they are spending the entire time in the second country they were planning on visiting. Please continue to pray for his safety (and Larry M), that God would bless them, that God would give them wisdom & strength, that they would be able to serve our brothers & sisters, and that they would be able to obtain medications that the government (in they country that they are at) confiscated from the church there. Thanks for praying.

Entirely Different From Ours

...that is not the way those graces are experimentally developed. Humility is learned by a daily smarting under the plague of the heart, and having its innumerable abominations exposed to our view. Repentance is learned by feeling the load of guilt, and the heavy burden of conscious defilement, bowing down the soul. Faith is learned by increasing discoveries of unbelief and infidelity. Love is learned by a personal sense of the undeserved goodness of God to the vilest of the vile. Patience cannot be learned from books--it is acquired in the furnace of affliction! It is thus with all the spiritual graces of the Christian.

Ah, my reader, we beg the Lord to teach us--but the fact is, that we do not like His method of teaching us! Fiery trials, storms of afflictions, the dashing of our carnal hopes--are indeed painful to flesh and blood; yet it is by them that the heart is purified.
We say that we wish to live to God's glory--but fail to remember that we can do so only as SELF is denied and the Cross be taken up. God's ways of teaching His children are, like all His ways, entirely different from ours!

- Arthur Pink

I asked the Lord that I might grow,
In faith and love and every grace,
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek more earnestly His face.

It was He who taught me thus to pray,
And He I trust has answered prayer.
But it has been in such a way,
As almost drove me to despair!

I hoped that in some favored hour,
At once He'd answer my request.
And by His love's constraining power,
Subdue my sins and give me rest!

Instead of this, He made me feel,
The hidden evils of my heart.
And let the angry powers of hell,
Assault my soul in every part!

Yes, more with His own hand, He seemed,
Intent to aggravate my woe.
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low!

"Lord, why is this?" I trembling cried.
Will You pursue Your worm to death?"
"This is the way" the Lord replied,
"I answer prayer for grace and strength."

"These inward trials I employ,
From self, and pride, to set you free;
And break your schemes of earthly joy,
That you may find your all in Me!"
- John Newton

What Abounding Grace!

"But where sin abounded--grace did much more abound." Romans 5:20

What abundant grace has He displayed!

His forgiveness, how full and free it has been!
No sin remaining.

His justification, how complete!
No defect unforgiven.

His faithfulness, how unfailing!
No hour of my pilgrimage unwatched.

His forbearance, how tender!
No error of my life remembered.

His compassion, how affectionate!
No sorrow of my heart unconsoled.

His recompense, how abundant!
More than I have power to conceive.

What abounding grace has been thus displayed to a creature so completely vile; so destitute of all ground of hope or claim in himself!

What an amount of guilt has He pardoned! It is impossible to overstate this.

My original debasement,
my wayward youth,
my rejection of His love,
my rebellion against His authority,
my forgetfulness of His goodness,
my backslidings from His way,
my inconsistent profession,
my vain and sinful example,
the wickedness of my unconverted state,
the errors of my renewed state.
Alas! every day and every act brings up its
separate testimony. And all condemn me!

But He has freely pardoned!

He has blotted out this whole fearful record!

He will remember it no more!

"But where sin abounded--grace did much more abound." Romans 5:20

- Stephen Tyng, "Practical Meditations"

Shipwrecked...

Many have passed the rocks of gross sins--who have suffered shipwreck upon the sands of self-righteousness.

It was the saying of one, that he "would swim through a sea of brimstone--if he might but arrive safely at heaven." Ah, how would natural men soar to heaven--upon the pinions of their own merit! The sunbeams of Divine justice--will soon melt such weak and wax wings!

He who has no better righteousness than what is of his own providing, shall meet with no higher happiness than what is of his own deserving. "They disregarded the righteousness from God--and attempted to establish their own righteousness." They are determined to sail in their own ship--though they sink in the ocean!

We are so far from paying the utmost farthing, that at our utmost--we have not even a farthing to pay! That man will be a miserable spectacle of vanity--who stands upon the lame feet of his own ability!

Duties are but dry pits, though ever so meticulously wrought--until Christ fills them. Reader, I would neither have you be idle in duties--nor make an idol of duties.

What are duties without Christ--but like a fine cabinet without a jewel--or a golden cup without a cordial? The most diligent saint--has been the most self-distrusting saint, "that I may gain Christ and be found in him--not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith." If you are found in your own righteousness, you will be lost by your own righteousness. That garment which was worn to shreds on Adam's back--will never make a complete covering for you.

Duties may be good crutches to go upon--but they are bad Christs to lean upon. It is the greatest disparagement that professors can offer to Christ--to put their services in the scale with His sufferings. The beggarly rags of the first Adam--must never be put on with the princely robe of the second Adam!

Man is a creature too much inclined to warm himself by the sparks of his own fire--though he lies down in eternal flames for kindling them! Though Noah's dove made use of her wings--yet she found no rest, but in the ark. Duties can never have too much of our diligence--or too little of our confidence. A believer does not perform good works to live--but he lives to perform good works...

When we have kept all the commandments, there is one commandment above all to be kept; that is, "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags!" In most of our works--we are abominable sinners; and in the best of our works--we are unprofitable servants. "O Sovereign Lord, I will proclaim Your righteousness, Yours alone!" You see, beloved, the righteousness of Christ is to be magnified--when the righteousness of a Christian is not to be mentioned...

Those who carry their vessel of hope to the puddle of their own merit--will never draw the water of comfort, from the fountain of God's mercy!

- William Secker,  1660

Such a Brat of Hell as I...

Some will talk wonderfully about the Doctrines of Grace, but have never known what it is to water the Throne of grace with their tears--that God the Holy Spirit would cause His doctrines to drop as the rain, and His still small voice to distill in their souls as the dew. Poor things! They know nothing about these things by soul experience, for they are hidden from these wise and learned professors, and only revealed unto babes. The dear Savior thanked His Father that this was the case: "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned--and revealed them to babes. Yes, Father, because this was Your good pleasure." Matthew 11:25-26

And why, O my soul, are you not among them? Is it because you have merited His favor more than they? O no! It is because it pleased the God and Father of all mercies and all comfort, that it should be so! Blessings and honors be unto You, O holy Father--that ever Your love and choice was fixed upon such a brat of hell as I!

 - John Warburton