In The Solitudes of That Voiceless Ocean

The picture here is of an ocean, not near the shore, but far beyond sight of land, in the midst of a wide wilderness of waters, the illimitable horizon stretching on every side; and when the sounding line is let down, it cannot fathom the depth or reach the bottom! 

There, in the solitudes of that voiceless ocean, a plunge is heard! The surface is ruffled only for a moment; then the waves resume their usual calmness. The load, whatever it is, is never more seen. It is buried somewhere in these dark caverns! No spirit of the deep can ever come up from the silent caves to tell its story! 

Ships cross and recross where it fell, but no distinguishing marker is left on the unstable highway, to mark the spot. The sea can be tempted by no bribe; to give up the secret of its keeping, all trace is lost from sight and memory forever! 

That is a picture of what God does for all His redeemed people! 

[John MacDuff] 

Micah 7:19 ... He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

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"Will of God"

There is the permissive will of God and the perfect will of God. Know the difference between the two and try to walk in the latter. 

[Christopher Gregory]

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1 Thessalonians 4:3-4 ... For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;

Romans 12:2 ... And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Ephesians 6:5-6 ... Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;

1 Thessalonians 5:18 ... In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

1 Peter 2:15-16 ... For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. 

Micah 6:8 ... He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? ❤

Pardoned!!

 When people bring up your past, tell them that Jesus dropped the charges!

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Micah 7:19 ...  He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

Numbers 14:19-21 ... Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now. And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word: But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.

Psalm 103:12 ... As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

Romans 4:7 ... Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. ❤

God's Chastening Rod!

They know from whence all their trials spring even from the hand of God Himself! They see their afflictions to be the fruit of their heavenly Father's love, sent for the production of the most gracious ends. They feel within themselves the humbling, sanctifying efficacy of their afflictions. They perceive that their trials are instrumental to the carrying on of God's work within them, and to the enhancing of that weight of glory which shall be granted to them at the last day. They know that their afflictions, of whatever kind they are, "do not spring out of the ground!" (Job 5:6) 

They understand that their trials are all appointed by God in number, weight, measure, and duration. If it is disease of body, it is God who inflicts the wound. If the trial comes from any other quarter, it still is God's chastening rod that strikes us, with a view to our spiritual good, "that we may be made partakers of His holiness. 

They realize that "no discipline 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) 

Our trials, of whatever kind, are to humble us, to purge away our dross, to make us cleave more closely to our Savior, and to fit us for our eternal rest! To view them in this light will greatly compose our minds. Instead of murmuring against the Lord we shall be thankful to Him. Instead of increasing our misery our trials shall be a source of joy. "Hear the rod and the One who appointed it!" (Micah 6:9) 

There is no rod which has not a voice to us. By putting us into His furnace, we shall be purged from our dross, and come out of it as vessels better fitted for His service! (Malachi 3:2-3) Well therefore may the consideration of the end for which afflictions are sent, and of the benefit to be derived from them; reconcile us to the difficulty of them and dispose us patiently to wait for the removal of them. Could Job have foreseen the outcome of his troubles, they would have been deprived of more than half their weight! 

All of our afflictions, of whatever kind they are, will endure but a little time! The Apostle speaks of all, even the heaviest afflictions, as "light and momentary!" "What is your life? You are but a mist that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away!" (James 4:14) And when once this frail life is ended, there is an everlasting termination of all our sorrows! Every genuine believer enters immediately into "God's presence, where there is fullness of joy for evermore!" Into that blissful world, nothing that is afflictive can ever enter to disturb their peace! "God will wipe every tear from our eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever!" (Revelation 21:4)  

How little will the transient clouds that once occasioned a momentary gloom be remembered, when our dwelling is forever fixed in the full splendor of the Sun of Righteousness. Surely, we need not be much cast down at trials, however painful to flesh and blood when we consider that their duration is but as the twinkling of an eye, and that they will so soon terminate in inconceivable and everlasting felicity! 

[Charles Simeon] 

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 1 Peter 1:6 ... Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

 2 Corinthians 4:17 ... For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; ❤

The Spyglass of Faith!

This world is not our rest. It is only our temporary lodging-place, our battleground to fight sin and Satan, our vineyard in which to labor for our Master until sundown, our training-school for the development of character and growth in grace. In a little while, perhaps within a few days for some of us the veil which hides the eternal world may drop and the gates of the Father's house may open before our astonished vision! 

If heaven is ready for Christ's redeemed people, then surely, they should be making ready for heaven. We ought to think more about our everlasting home. If our treasures are there, then our hearts should be there also in frequent and joyful anticipations. A Christian, to whom Jesus Christ is real, and the glories of the world to come are real, and who has set his affections set on things above must inevitably have some deep meditations about his eternal home, and his magnificent inheritance. He loves to read about it, and gathers up eagerly the few grand, striking things which his Bible tells him about that glorious City of God.

Sometimes, when cares press heavily, or bodily pains wax sharp, or bereavements darken his house he gets homesick, and he says, "Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away and be at rest!" (Psalm 55:6) Such devout meditations do not prove any Christian to be a dreamy mystic. They are not the pious sentimentalizing's of mourners to whom this world has lost all its charm; nor of enthusiasts whose religion evaporates in mere emotion. The hundred-handed Paul constantly reminds his fellow-workers that "Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ!" (Philippians 3:20) 

It is no wonder that some professors do not catch more distinct glimpses of the celestial world as their vision is obscured. A very small object when held close to the eye will hide the noonday sun. Just so, a professor may hold a dollar so close to the eye of his soul as to shut out both Christ and heaven! Fish shut up in a dark cavern for a long time become blind. In the same way, we will lose the faculty of spiritual sight if we shut ourselves up in a cavern of carking worldliness! 

Those whose hearts are in heaven, and who keep it constantly before their view, have abundant sources of spiritual joy. They renew their strength as they push upward and heavenward. What is it to them that the road is long; that the hills of difficulty are steep; that there are often lions in the way; that there are crosses to be carried; and that not far ahead is that river of death over which there is no bridge! None of these things disturb them! Heaven lies at the end of the way clothed in its glorious light! 

From the hilltops they can, with the spyglass of faith, bring heaven so near that they can see its gates, and its streets of shining gold, and the Lamb on His throne! These views of our imperishable inheritance of glory, ought to quicken our zeal greatly. The time is short and shortening every day! It is certain, that he who doesn't love Christ doesn't love heaven; and he who doesn't love heaven will never see heaven. A godly life is just a tarrying and a toiling in this earthly tent for Christ until we go into the heavenly mansions with Christ! Brethren! the miles to heaven are few and short; let us be found busy in heart and hand when the summons sounds, "Come up here!" And they rose to heaven! (Revelation 11:12)

[Theodore Cuyler] 

Micah 2:10 ... Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.

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Sin Forgotten.

Stop asking God to forgive what he’s already forgotten.

Micah 7:19 ... He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

Isaiah 43:25 ...  I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.

Romans 8:1 ... There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Psalm 103:12 ... As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

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G░O░D░ ░L░O░V░E░S░ ░Y░O░U

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A Bag, a Book, and a Bottle!

God takes great care to comfort His people in their many trials and sorrows in this world. One of the goals which He commands His preachers to have, is the comfort of His people. He says, "Comfort, comfort My people." (Isaiah 40:1) Here are three things described in the Word of God that should be of great comfort to every believer: 

1. God has made A BAG FOR OUR SINS. Job said, "My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and you sew up my iniquity." (Job 14:17) In ancient times when men died at sea, their bodies were placed in a weighted bag which was sewn together and sealed. Then they were cast into the depths of the sea. That is what God has done with our sins. They are cast "into the depths of the sea." (Micah 7:19) When Christ died for our sins which were imputed to Him, He put them all away. They were buried in the sea of God's infinite forgiveness, put away never to be brought up again. God almighty will never charge us with sin, impute sin to us, remember our sins against us, or treat us any less graciously because of our sin. That is the forgiveness of God! "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." (Romans 4:8) 

 2. The Lord has written A BOOK FOR OUR NAMES. Take heart child of God. Your name is written in the book of God! Before the worlds were made, the Lord God inscribed the names of His elect in the Lamb's book of life. In that book God has recorded, not only the names of the chosen heirs of Heaven, but also all things pertaining to them. The Lamb's book of life is the book of God's eternal purpose of grace, predestination, and election. The fact that our names are written in that book means that our salvation is a matter of absolute certainty; and that all things work together for our good by God's arrangement to secure our predestined end, which is perfect conformity to Christ. When our Lord says, "Rejoice because your names are written in Heaven," (Luke 10:20) He is telling us that we have nothing to fear. All is well with those whose names are written in Heaven! 

 3. Moreover, the Lord God keeps A BOTTLE FOR OUR TEARS. "You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in Your bottle. You have recorded each one in Your book." (Psalm 56:8) It was customary at ancient Egyptian funerals for mourners to have a small cloth or sponge to wipe away their tears. Then they were squeezed into a small vial, a tear bottle, and placed in the tomb with the dead, symbolizing the care the mourners had for the one who had died. Even so, the Lord our God, our heavenly Father, our almighty Savior, and our holy Comforter, tenderly cares for us. We are the very apple of His eye. The Lord our God has put our sins in a bag and buried them, written our names in a book to remember them, and placed our tears in a bottle to show His tender care for us. 

Could anything be more comforting in this world of sin, sorrow, and death?

[Don Fortner]

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Made for Frivolities?

Were you made only to be a machine for digging holes, laying bricks, or cutting out pieces of wood? Were you created only to stand at a counter and measure or weigh out goods? Do you think your God made you for that and that only? Is this the chief end of man to earn so many dollars a week, and try to make ends meet? Is that all immortal men were made for? 

As a man with a soul, capable of thought and judgment and not a mere animal like a dog, nor a machine like a steam engine; can you stand up and look at yourself, and say, "I believe I am perfectly fulfilling my destiny"? God has made man that he may glorify him and whatever else man accomplishes, if he attains not to this end, his life is a disastrous failure! 

Others are lovers of pleasure. They are merry as the birds, their life is as the flight of a butterfly, which lightly floats from flower to flower, according to its own sweet will. It cannot be that an immortal spirit was made for frivolities spending all its time on the playthings of the world. So great a thing as an immortal soul could not have been made by God with no higher object than to spend itself upon trifles as light as air.

Oh, pause a while, you are a careless, godless one! There is something more than the fool's laugh. All things are not a comedy. Death and Heaven and Hell are serious, and should not life be? The charms of music, the merriment of the mirthful assembly, the beauties of art, and the delights of banqueting there must be something more for you than these. Something more must be required of you than that you should waste your precious time from morn to night upon nothing but to please yourself! 

[Charles H. Spurgeon] 

Micah 6:8 ... He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

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"Pride"

Pride is one of our greatest evils! To indulge pride, is to nourish a serpent in the bosom! The grace of God always humbles us; and it is only as we are sincerely humble, that we can be truly happy. God condescends to walk with the humble man, but He keeps the proud man at a distance. 

Consider what a vile sinner you were by nature, what evil now lurks in your heart, what you would have been, but for the grace of God and be humble. All you have which is truly good, is the gift of free grace! All you do that is good, is the effect of God's working in you! What then, do you have to be proud of? What reason then, do you have to boast? 

Oh, lie low in the dust of self-abasement! Nourish humbling thoughts of yourself! Admire the mercy, condescension, and infinite compassion of God in even noticing so vile, so unworthy a worm as yourself! 

[James Smith] 

Micah 6:8 ... He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

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What Does the Lord Require of You?

Simplicity and comprehensiveness mark the requirements of my God. He can abbreviate His demands into the fewest words; but they are words which embrace the inward and outward, the present and future, the earthly and the heavenly. I may fall into serious error regarding His will for me: It is not a religion of ritual observances which He requires. How easily I attach an undue importance to ceremonies and forms, rites and penances and fasts! 

Nor does He solicit primarily a religion of external moralities. God looks on my heart. Nor is it a religion of emotions of which He is in quest. I must not put excitement and tears, in the place of saving grace and childlike obedience. But see, my soul, God asks us to act justly. I cannot be His, unless I do justly. Everything that takes an improper advantage of another, and all that departs from the straightest line of absolute rectitude I must hate and abjure. It is a demand which pierces deeper than it seems. For the integrity of conduct He desires is the outcome only of a conscience He has quickened, and a will He has bent into submission to His law. 

The ethics of the Gospel are preceded and rendered possible, by the redemption and regeneration of the Gospel. And God asks tenderness. He counsels me to love mercy. The world is full of sorrow, and I am to move through it as a good physician, befriending and uplifting those in need. It is what He does Himself. Every glorious quality has its fountain in Him, but pre-eminently the quality of mercy. He is the great Forgiver and the great Helper; no earthly father loves like Him, and no mother is half so mild. So, my feeble torch is but kindled at His altar. 

My charities and philanthropies must be learned in His school, who pardons my ten thousand transgressions! And God asks humility. He commands me to lay my hand in His, and to walk humbly in His company. Nothing is so essential as poverty of spirit. It is the source and spring from which alone runs the fertilizing river of a holy life. The humble heart is where the flowers of Heaven find their congenial soil and grow into beauty and fragrance. I only begin to be a disciple, when my proud heart is brought low, and my Savior is lifted high. 

Now, my Father, if these are to be the features of my soul then it is manifest that none, but You can create them, and can nurture them, and can lead them to their perfection. Do the work Lord and have the glory! 

[Alexander Smellie] 

Micah 6:8 ... He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?❤

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Not Our Home

We are strangers and pilgrims on the earth. This present world is not our home. We are coming up from the wilderness with our faces Zionward; we are traveling to the Celestial City!

Our path is rough, but the Savior sustains us.

Our pilgrimage lies through a wilderness, but faith cheers us with a view of the glorious rest of the redeemed in our Father's house, in mansions of blessedness!

Let this consideration animate us amid the conflicts of life. In a little while we shall obtain a joyous entrance into the glorious rest above. The storms of life's ocean will soon carry us into the haven of peace, where there is no trouble.

The language of Scripture is, "Get up, go away! For this is not your resting place, because it is defiled, it is ruined beyond all remedy!" (Micah 2:10)

Your Savior, pilgrim Christian, has prepared for you a nobler rest than this polluted world!

In our Father's house are many spacious mansions, where your happy spirit, after tasting the bitter cup of life's sorrow, shall rest in eternal blessedness!

[David Harsha]

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Hebrews 13:14 ...  For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.

2 Corinthians 5:8 ... We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.❤

Painted Bubbles

What are all the vanities of this world but painted bubbles, when compared with this eternal treasure?

Is there not then cause for apprehension, lest, while we profess much love for Christ, our hearts should cleave unto the dust of this poor world?

Are we not in danger of making a home of this fleeting world, and of setting up our rest here, as if this wilderness were our glorious eternal inheritance?

[Thomas Reade]

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Ephesians 3:19 … And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

Micah 2:10 … Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.

Philippians 3:20 … For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:

Colossians 3:1-3 ...If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.❤

The Lord's Rod Has a Voice!

As affliction proceeds neither from blind necessity, nor from casual accident but from the hand of your Omniscient Governor and Judge; so nothing can be more certain than that it is designed for the accomplishment of some great and useful purpose!

Now the design of affliction is expressly revealed in the Word of God. He has condescended to explain the reasons of His dealings with you and it is alike your duty and your privilege to consider and to concur in His declared design. The general end of affliction, as it is explained in God's Word, is the moral and spiritual improvement of believers in other words, their progressive sanctification, and their preparation for glory. Oh! how important must the right use of affliction be, if it is intended to terminate in such a blessed result. It stands connected with our everlasting welfare with all that we can enjoy on earth, and all that we hope for in Heaven.

But more particularly, the day of adversity is intended for our INSTRUCTION. The Lord's rod has a voice which speaks to us lessons of heavenly wisdom. Therefore, we are required "to hear the rod, and Him who has appointed it." (Micah 6:9.) "The rod and reproof give wisdom." (Proverbs 29:15.) It presents to our minds many of the same great truths which are declared in Scripture but which we may have overlooked, or failed rightly to understand until they were pressed on our attention, and made the matter of our personal experience in the day of trouble.

Thus, it teaches most impressively, that great Scriptural truth of the vanity of the world, and its insufficiency as the portion of rational and immortal beings. This is a truth which might almost be regarded as self-evident; yet it is one which is very slowly and reluctantly admitted by the young disciple, and which can only be effectually impressed on his mind, and unfolded in all its extent, by the experience of disappointment and sorrow.

In like manner, the day of adversity teaches us the great lesson of our entire and constant dependence on God. But a little while before, we were rejoicing in the midst of prosperity our health was sound, our business prosperous, our families entire. But the sudden stroke has come which has smitten our bodies with disease, our business with bankruptcy, or our families with death. And that stroke has come from the Lord's hand!

Oh! in such circumstances, we are impressively taught that we are absolutely in God's power; that all that we have is at His sovereign disposal; that we depend on Him, day by day, continually for our personal preservation, our worldly prosperity, our domestic comfort, for all, in short, that we desire or need on earth.

These are some of the lessons which adversity, when viewed as a means of moral instruction, is fitted to inculcate and to impress with great practical power on our hearts. When these lessons are duly considered; and, above all, when they are submissively embraced and acted on the disciple will learn from his own experience the value of affliction, and admire the wisdom with which God suits His lessons to the most urgent necessities of his soul.

[James Buchanan]

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Job 5:6-7 … Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.❤

Perhaps He Will Smite You!

I can truly say of everything I have ever tasted in this world of God's mercy, (and my path has been remarkably strewn with divine lovingkindness), I feel more grateful to God for the bodily pain I have suffered, and for all the trials of diverse sorts I have endured, than I do for anything else.

I am sure I have derived more real benefit, and permanent strength, and growth in grace, and every precious thing from the furnace of suffering, than I have ever derived from prosperity. I know not how to quite express my meaning, but even depression of spirit and deep sadness have a particular charm within them, which laughter in vain may emulate.

Ponder and consider the much gratitude you owe to God for His chastening rod. Dwell much in your heart upon what God evidently regards as one of His distinguishing blessings. Do not lightly pass over, what God would have you consider. Count the cross and the rod to be doubly worthy of your deepest thought.

Remember that whenever you are chastened, you are not chastened as a slave master smites his victim, nor as a judge orders the criminal to be lashed; but as a tender father chastens his son. Your chastisement is a sign of sonship, it is a token of love! It is intended for your good. Accept it, therefore, in the spirit of sonship, and "Do not despise the chastening of the Lord, neither faint when you are corrected by Him."

It is the Lord your God who chastens you! If He were not your God, He might let you alone! If He had not chosen you to be His own, He would not take such care of you! If He had not given Himself to be your treasure, He might not be so diligent in weaning you from all other treasures! But because you are His, He will withdraw your love away from this poor world.

Perhaps He will take one child after another from you, that all the love that was lavished on the children might flow towards Himself. Perhaps He will leave you a widow, that the love that ran in the channel of a husband may run altogether to Himself. Perhaps he will take away your riches, that the consolation you derived from them may be all derived from Him. Perhaps He will smite you, and then lay you on His own bosom, faint and helpless, that you may derive a strength and a joy from close and near fellowship with Himself, which you would never have had if it had not been that these other joys were removed.

Bless God for your chastenings! Let the sweetest note of your music be to Him who, as a loving father, chastens His children for their good.

[Charles H. Spurgeon]

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Psalm 119:71 … It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.

Micah 6:9 … The Lord's voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.

Hebrews 12:6 … For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Deuteronomy 8:5 … Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee.

Isaiah 48:10 … Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.❤

God's Sword!

Oh, London, London! God speaks to you by His judgments! Because you would not hear the voice of His Word, He has made you to feel the stroke of His rod! Oh, great city! how has the plague broken in upon you, because of your abominations! "They provoked the Lord to anger by their wicked deeds so a plague broke out among them!" (Psalm 106:29.) Oh! how is the wrath of God kindled against you, that such multitudes of thousands have died within your borders by this severe plague, God's sword!

London! how are your streets thinned, your widows increased, and your cemeteries filled, your inhabitants fled, your trade decayed! Oh! therefore lay to heart all these things, and turn from your wicked ways, that the cry of your prayers may outcry the cry of your sins! Be like the city of Nineveh, who believed Jonah's message from God, and humbled themselves, and fasted and cried mightily unto the Lord. Oh, Did Nineveh repent and turn from their wicked ways and shall not London?

Perhaps you think that all is now well, and that God is pleased with you, because the plague is abating. I say, blessed be God for this! But "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. Whatever a man sows that he shall reap!" (Galatians 6:7.) To whomever God bestows great mercies, if they abound in great wickedness, He will inflict great punishments upon them! Alas! beloved, the plague abates but your sins increase! There is no turning from sin nor turning to God! There is no reformation and amendment of life among you! If this is so then God is not done afflicting you!

If you remain as profane as before, as superstitious as before, as carnal as before, as lukewarm as before, as hard-hearted as before, as proud and vain as before,  as worldly as before; I say, if it is thus with you, God is not yet done with London but has other judgments to pour out upon you, though He now causes the plague to cease.

[William Dyer]

Micah 6:9 … The Lord's voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.

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Soon I Must Go ...

An approaching journey lies before me. I have to pass from time, to eternity; from this world, to the next. And the time of my departure, although to me uncertain, cannot be very far distant. A few years perhaps a few days, will close my stay on earth!

It is an unavoidable journey. I must go. There is no choice. Willing or unwilling, when God's summons for me arrives, I shall have to set off.

It is an unknown journey, I have never taken it before. I have no practical acquaintance with the road, the mode of transit, the dangers or the discomforts which await me. And there is no one who can clearly explain them to me. Those of my friends who have traveled that way have never come back to relate their experience.

It is a solitary journey. I must accomplish it alone. The most beloved of my present companions cannot accompany me. They may think of me, feel for me, pray for me but they cannot be with me. We must separate; they to remain behind, and I go forward.

It is a momentous journey. For at its termination, I enter upon my everlasting destiny! It will convey me either to the mansions of happiness or to the abodes of misery! The narrow boundary between the present and the future state once crossed there will be no possibility of change. "He who is unjust let him be unjust still; and he who is righteous let him be righteous still." (Revelation 22:11)

It is a final journey. "Soon I must go down that road from which I will never return." My pilgrimage will be forever ended. It will be my last journey. And if I am a Christian, how welcome is this fact! I shall be done forever with sin and sorrow. Eternal felicity will be mine, perfect holiness, and perfect happiness. This journey leads me to my beloved Savior,  to my Father's house, to my everlasting rest!

Then I will not shrink from its approach, nor complain of its accompaniments. It may be linked with much that is painful and unpleasant but it is my way HOME! Therefore, although life has many ties and many joys, I feel an earnest desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better than being here. "For this is not my resting place, because it is polluted, it is ruined beyond all remedy!" (Micah 2:10) 

Death is a solemn journey but it is a safe journey to Christ's people. He will not only receive and welcome them at its close but He will be with them as they are passing through it. Oh, it will not be lonely with Him! And He is a guide who is well acquainted with the way, for He has trodden it Himself. He went for the purpose of smoothing its difficulties, clearing its dangers, dispersing its terrors and He fully accomplished His purpose. Therefore when I walk through the dark valley, I will fear no evil; for you, O Jesus, will be with me, and Your rod and Your staff shall comfort me!

[Anonymous]

Job 16:22 … When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.

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CHRIST-mas

Isaiah 7:14 … Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Isaiah 9:6 … For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Luke 2:10-14 … And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Galatians 4:4-5 … But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Micah 5:2 … But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

Matthew 1:21 … And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.

John 1:14 … And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.❤

Lay Your Ear to The Pit

O unbeliever! Look down into the bottomless pit! Do you see how the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever? What  do you think of those chains of darkness? Can you be content to burn for eternity?  Do you see how the worm gnaws, how the fire rages?  Do you see that gulf of perdition? Will you take up your habitation there?

O lay your ear to the door of Hell!  Do you hear the curses and blasphemies, the weeping and wailings? How they lament their follies and curse themselves! How they roar and gnash their teeth!  How deep their groans! How inconceivable their miseries!

O how fearful would the cry be if God would take the covering off the mouth of Hell, and let the cry of the damned ascend in all its terror among men!  And of their moans and miseries, this is the piercing, killing emphasis and theme, "Forever! forever!"

As God lives, you are but a few hours away from all this misery unless you be converted! If there is anything that may be called madness and folly, and anything that may be counted absurd, brutish, and unreasonable, it is this to go on in your unconverted state until God throws you into Hell! (Luke 12:5)

O sinners, see what a God you have to deal with. If you will but turn, "He will have compassion on you; He will subdue your iniquities, and cast all your sins into the depths of the sea!"

[Joseph Alleine]

Matthew 25:30 … And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Micah 7:19 … He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

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Into the Depths of The Sea!

The sinner outside of Christ is bound over to the wrath of God. He is under an obligation in law to go to the prison of Hell, and there to lie until he has paid the utmost farthing.   But "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1)

The believer's sins are pardoned, and the guilt of them is removed. The bond obliging him to pay his debt is canceled. God the Father takes the pen, dips it in the blood of His Son, crosses off the sinner's accounts, and forever blots them out of His debt-book!  Being united to Christ, God says, "Deliver him from going down to the pit for I have found a ransom!" (Job 33:24)

The sentence of condemnation is reversed, and the believer is absolved and set beyond the reach of the condemning law. His sins, which previously were set before the Lord, (Psalm 90:8) so that they could not be hidden.  God now takes and casts them all behind His back. (Isaiah 38:17)  Yes, God "will tread our sins underfoot, and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea!" (Micah 7:19) 

What falls into a brook may be retrieved but what is cast into the sea cannot be recovered.  But there are some shallow places in the sea. True, but their sins are not cast there but into the depths of the sea. The depths of the sea are devouring depths, from whence their sins shall never come forth again.

But what if they do not sink? God will hurl them in with such force that they shall go to the bottom, and sink as lead in the mighty waters of the Redeemer's blood!

Their sins are not only forgiven but forgotten. (Jeremiah 31:34) "I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." And though their after-sins do in themselves deserve eternal wrath, and do actually make them liable to temporal strokes, and fatherly chastisements, according to the tenor of the covenant of grace, (Psalm 89:30-33) yet they can never be actually liable to eternal wrath.

[Thomas Boston]

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Forgotten

Only the devil or his children brings up the past of a believer. When a Christian is forgiven by faith, everything has been erased, it no longer exists. Be careful when you see a brother or sister in the faith and decide which past you want to remember, because God has forgotten it, and the only other who remembers it is not your friend, but your enemy.

[Christopher Gregory]

Jeremiah 31:34 … And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Micah 7:19 … 19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

Hebrews 8:12 … For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.❤