iChristian

God’s grace is illustrated and magnified in the poverty and trials of believers!

(Charles Spurgeon)

“But He said to me: ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 

If none of God’s saints were poor and tried, we would not know the consolations of divine grace half so well. 

When we find the wanderer who does not have a place to lay his head, who yet can say, “Still I will trust in the Lord”; when we see the pauper starving on bread and water, who still glories in Jesus; when we see the bereaved widow overwhelmed in affliction, and yet relying on Christ–oh what honor it reflects on the Gospel. 

God’s grace is illustrated and magnified in the poverty and trials of believers!

Saints bear up under every discouragement, believing that all things work together for their good, and that out of apparent evils a real blessing shall ultimately spring. They know that their God will either work a deliverance for them speedily–or most assuredly support them in the trouble, as long as He is pleased to keep them in it. This perseverance of the saints proves the power of divine grace.

He who would glorify God, must reckon upon meeting with many trials. No man can be illustrious before the Lord, unless his conflicts are many. If then yours is a much-tried path, rejoice in it because you will better show forth the all-sufficient grace of God. As for His failing you, never dream of it–hate the thought. The God who has been sufficient until now, should be trusted to the end.

“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 

The awesome, holy, glorious beauty of Christ!

(Charles Spurgeon)

Come here gracious souls, and behold the Man in the garden of Gethsemane. 

Behold His heart so brimming with love that He cannot hold it in–so full of sorrow that it must find a vent. 

Behold the Man as they drive the nails into His hands and feet. 

Look up and see the sorrowful ravishing image of your suffering Lord. 

If we would live right, it must be by the contemplation of His death. 

If we would rise to dignity, it must be by considering His humiliation and His sorrow.

The sight of Christ’s loveliness, and that alone–shows the soul its own ugliness.

The sense of the awesome, holy, glorious beauty of Christ kills pride and humbles the soul.

“Yes, He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend!” Song of Solomon 5:16

Idiots catching flies!

(Charles Spurgeon)

“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!” Ecclesiastes 1:2 

Most people are not seeking to escape from the wrath to come–they are busy in worldly things while Hell is near them. They are like idiots catching flies on board a ship which is in the very act of sinking! We see them busy adorning their bodies, when their soul is in ruin. They are like a man painting the front door, when the house is in flames! 

Men are in a restless pursuit after satisfaction in earthly things. 
They will hunt the phantom of wealth, 
they will travel the pathways of fame, 
they will dig into the mines of knowledge, 
they will exhaust themselves in the deceitful delights of sin.
Finding them all to be vanity and emptiness, they will become very perplexed and disappointed. But they still continue their fruitless search. Though wearied, they still stagger forward under the influence of spiritual madness, and though there is no result to be reached except that of everlasting disappointment–yet they press forward with much ardor. 

Living for today is enough for them–that they are still alive, that they possess present comforts and present enjoyments–this contents the many. 

As for the future, they say, “Let it take care of itself.” 

As for eternity, they leave others to care for its realities; the present life is enough for them. 

Their motto is, “Let us feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

They have no forethought for their eternal state–the present hour absorbs them. 

Carnal minds pursue earth’s vanities with all their might; and when they are wearied in their pursuit they but change their direction, and continue the idle chase. They turn to another and another of earth’s broken cisterns, hoping to find water where not a drop was ever discovered yet! 

“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Christ takes the garbage!

(Charles Spurgeon, “The Meek and Lowly One”)

Jewelers can only prepare and polish the choicest diamonds. 
But Jesus Christ polishes a common pebble, and makes a jewel of it!

Jewelers make their precious treasures, out of precious materials.
Christ makes His precious things, out of dross!

He always begins with bad material. Christ takes . . .
  the despicable,
  the vilest,
  the scum,
  the off-scouring,
  the filth,
  the garbage of the world,
and out of such stuff and matter as that, He builds up a holy temple, and gathers to Himself trophies for His honor and praise!

“Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
And that is what some of you were! But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-11