Apr 20
11
The jewelry of the Bible!
(Octavius Winslow, “The Preciousness of the Divine Promises”)
“God has given us His very great and precious promises!” 2 Peter 1:4
The promises of God are the jewelry of the Bible!
Every page of the sacred volume is rich and sparkling with these divine assurances of Jehovah’s love, faithfulness, and power towards His people.
Upon no spot in this wilderness world can the Christian plant his foot, strange and untrodden though that path may be — but a gem from this casket meets his eye, the sight of which inspires his heart with confidence, his spirit with comfort, his soul with hope!
Imagine what would have been the condition of God’s children apart from the divine promises of which the blessed volume is so full. What must have been the desolateness, the sadness, and the sinking — did we not have the divine assurances of God’s Word to rely on; by which we are . . .
guided in our march heavenward,
upheld in weakness,
cheered in depression, and
conducted step by step to final blessedness.
The promises are comprehensive in their character, and adapted to all the varied circumstances of our individual history. Child of God, you cannot conceive of . . .
any condition in which you may be placed,
any circumstance by which you may be surrounded,
any sorrow by which you may be depressed,
any perils that may confront you,
any darkness that may overshadow you,
or any needs that you may have —
in which you may not find some precious promises of His blessed Word which meet your case!
The promises of Scripture are exceedingly precious, because they are all signed and sealed with the heart’s blood of Jesus! They are the throbbings of the infinite love of Jesus! The promises are but echoes of His heart sounding from each page of the sacred volume!
If you are sin-burdened or sorrow-stricken — just stretch forth your hand and receive these precious jewels as they flow out from the open casket of God’s Word!
The promises have stanched many a bleeding wound.
The promises have dried many a falling tear.
The promises have calmed many a disturbed mind.
The promises have guided feet through many a labyrinth.
The promises have shed light on many a lonely path.
The promises, like voices of music, have broken sweetly on many a dreary night of weeping and woe.
We have these rich clusters of precious promises bending down from the Tree of Life!
We may pluck them at all times, in all seasons, and under all circumstances!
A particular, personal, special love!
(John MacDuff)
“The sheep listen to His voice. He calls his own
sheep by name and leads them out.” John 10:3
The Good Shepherd knows all His sheep
individually and personally. He knows . . .
their names;
their circumstances;
their trials;
their sorrows;
their joys.
He calls them . . .
His friends,
His brethren,
His peculiar treasure.
“I have called you by your name; you are mine!”
Yes! let us not lose the unutterable comfort of this!
God takes a special oversight and supervision
of His creatures and their actions, of the minute
circumstances and accidents of their daily life.
His is a particular, personal, special love!
The individual is not lost in the mass or the aggregate.
Believer! He loves you as if you stood alone in
His world, and as if He had none other but you
on whom to lavish His solicitudes!
Most comforting and consoling truth!
Jesus, the Shepherd Savior, is ever preceding me;
marking out all that befalls me; appointing and
controlling the minutest events in my personal
history, and loving me with an affection of which
earth’s tenderest relationships afford the feeblest
type.
See the mother seated by the couch of her suffering
child! Watch her tender unremitting care; the hours
and nights of sleepless vigilance she bends over the
cherub form; smoothing its pillow, and moistening
its fevered lips.
What a picture! It is earth’s most touching symbol
of love and sacred affection. God points to that
watchful parent and says, “Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!”
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and
have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget, I will not forget you!”
Isaiah 49:15
The personal attractions of Jesus!
(Octavius Winslow)
“Yes, He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved — and this is my Friend!” Song of Songs 5:16
The personal attractions of Jesus are all inviting and irresistible!
His love wins us.
His glory charms us.
His beauty attracts us.
His sympathy soothes us.
His gentleness subdues us.
His faithfulness inspires us.
He is the “altogether lovely One!”
Jesus is all that is tender in love.
Jesus is all that is wise in counsel.
Jesus is all that is patient and kind.
Jesus is all that is faithful in friendship.
Jesus is all that is soothing and healing.
The heart of Jesus is ever loving towards His children.
The disposition of Jesus is ever kind towards His children.
The nature of Jesus is ever sympathizing towards His children.
Jesus is your Brother, your Friend, your Redeemer.
As your Brother — He knows the need of His brethren in adversity.
As your Friend — He shows Himself friendly.
As your Redeemer — He has redeemed your soul from sin and Hell.
Jesus has ascended up on high to take possession of Heaven on your behalf, and to prepare a place for you!
Upon His heart, He wears your name as a precious pearl in the priestly breastplate.
“He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them.” There is . . .
not a moment of your time,
nor an event of your life,
nor a circumstance of your daily history,
nor a mental or spiritual emotion of yours —
in which you are not borne upon the love, and remembered in the ceaseless intercession of Christ.
“Yes, He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved — and this is my Friend!” Song of Songs 5:16
Pains, infirmities, loss of sleep, the failure of sight and hearing!
(Letters of John Newton)
“Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone.” Psalm 71:9
I am drawing nearer and nearer to the season which the Psalmist either expected or felt. Many reasons teach the aged believer the need of this prayer. As his graces are still imperfect — so his powers are feelingly upon the decline. It was but little he could do at his best — and now less and less!
He feels other props and comforts dropping off apace. When he was young, he had warm spirits and pleasing prospects; but now, what a change of the friends in which he once delighted! In some he has found inconstancy — they have forsaken and forgotten him; and others have been successively taken away by death. They have fallen like the leaves in autumn — and now he stands almost a naked trunk. If any yet remain, he is expecting to lose them likewise — unless he is first taken from them.
Old age abates, and gradually destroys the relish of such earthly comforts as might be otherwise enjoyed. Pains, infirmities, loss of sleep, the failure of sight and hearing, and all the senses — are harbingers, like Job’s messengers arriving in close succession, to tell him that death is upon his progress, and is not far away!
If youth has no security against death — then old age has no possibility of escaping the grim monster. But though friends fail, cisterns burst, gourds wither, strength declines, and death advances — if God does not forsake me — then all is well.
“Even to your old age and gray hairs — I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you!” Isaiah 46:4
One wrong step — and down we go!
(Charles Spurgeon)
“How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life — and only a few find it!” Matthew 7:14
In some sense, the path to Heaven is very safe — but in other respects, there is no road so dangerous! It is beset with difficulties. One wrong step — and down we go! And how easy it is to take that treacherous step — if grace is absent!
What a slippery path is that — which some of us have to tread! How many times have we to exclaim with the Psalmist, “But as for me, my feet were slipping — and I was almost gone!”
If we were strong, sure-footed mountaineers, this would not matter so much — but in ourselves, how weak we are!
Even in the best roads — we soon falter!
In the smoothest paths — we quickly stumble!
These feeble knees of ours — can scarcely support our tottering weight!
A straw may trip us up — and a pebble can wound us!
We are mere infants, tremblingly taking our first steps in the walk of faith.
Our heavenly Father holds us by the arms — or we would soon tumble down!
Oh, if we are kept from falling, how must we thank the patience, power and wisdom of God — who watches over us moment by moment! Think . . .
how prone we are to sin,
how apt we are to choose dangerous paths,
how strong is our tendency to cast ourselves down!
These reflections will make us sing more sweetly than we have ever done, “Glory to Him, who is able to keep us from falling, and to present us before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy!” Jude 24
We have many foes who try to push us down, and destroy us!
The road is rough — and we are weak!
But in addition to this, enemies lurk in ambush, who rush out when we least expect them, and labor to trip us up, or hurl us down the nearest deadly precipice!
Only an Almighty arm can preserve us from these unseen foes, who are seeking to destroy us at every step! Such an arm is engaged for our defense. He is faithful, who has promised, and He is able to keep us from falling, so that with a deep sense of our utter weakness, we may cherish a firm belief in our perfect safety!
“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish — ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand!” John 10:28
When His beauty is seen
(Octavius Winslow)
“Yes, He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend!” Song of Songs 5:16
O what a Savior is Jesus Christ! He is the chief among ten thousand! Look at His sinless, yet real humanity — without a single taint, yet sympathizing with us in all our various conditions — our afflictions — our temptations — our infirmities — our griefs. Now that He is in glory, He is still cherishing a brother’s heart — bending down His ear to our petitions — ever standing near . . .
to catch our sighs,
to dry our tears,
to provide for our needs,
to guide us by His counsel, and
afterwards to receive us to glory!
O what a Savior is Jesus Christ!
When He is known — all other beings are eclipsed.
When His beauty is seen — all other beauty fades.
When His love is felt — He becomes supremely enthroned in the affections.
To know Him more, becomes the one desire of the renewed mind; and to make Him more known, is the one aim of the Christian life. O what a Savior is Jesus Christ!
He found me in a waste howling wilderness indeed!
(John Newton’s Letters)
My Dear Friend,
My history is briefly expressed in the following verses:
“In a desert land He found him — in a waste howling wilderness. He shielded him and cared for him — He guarded him as the apple of his eye.” Deuteronomy 32:10
“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them. I will turn the darkness into light before them, and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do — I will not forsake them!” Isaiah 42:16
He found me in a waste howling wilderness indeed! He has led me about into a variety of situations, and in them all He watched over me, and kept me as the apple of His eye. When I was blind — He led me in ways which I knew not, and which no mortal could have supposed were likely to bring me where I now am. I was once an utter stranger to the paths of truth and righteousness — but in a wonderful manner He drew and guided me into those holy paths which I had not known. And though my heart is prone to wander, He has kept me with a mighty hand, so that I have not wholly declined from them. How often has He made darkness light before me, and crooked things straight! These things has He done for me, as I am encouraged to hope He will continue to do them, for His promise is, “I will never forsake them!”
“Come magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His holy name together!” He has . . .
guided us by His eye,
guarded us along the way,
restored us when wandering,
revived us when fainting,
healed us when wounded,
upheld our souls in adversity,
helped us in all our difficulties, and
comforted and supported us under all our sorrows!