My lovely visitors,
My name is Ariel. I am just a sinful man saved by the precious blood of Christ and graciously clothed by his raiment of righteousness, which he triumphantly wrought at the cross of Calvary. I live somewhere here in the Philippines. I love to- write essay, poem; read classic books and ancient literatures; and listen to classical compositions.
I like all things beautiful from the fairest white to the meanest black.
I love my God: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
I read Homer's, Virgil's, Hesiod's, Aeschylus', Pliny's, Ovid's, Plutarch's, and Pindar's great works.
Here, I post excerpts from the writings of the great Puritans like Thomas Brooks, Samuel Rutherford, Thomas Watson, Octavius Winslow, and others.
In this blog you will find beautiful pictures of food, animals, heaven, toddlers, flowers, women, clothes, ocean, houses, etc.
Also, I write love-letters to my future wife as a token of love to her.
Grace, grace be with you, my lovely visitors. Yours always in Christ, Ariel.
Disclaimer: All my theological quotations here were taken from http://gracegems.org
It Is Alone By The Mere Grace Of God
He who can extract the gracious, wonderful, and sublime act of the whole persons of the triune God, and is able to comprehend the glorious contrivances of their sovereign reigning grace which is illustriously and indisputably displayed in the second person of the Godhead in these verses:
“When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together. That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.” Isaiah 41:17-20
may indeed be accounted as a consummate divine. Yea, it is a rare jewel to him to have such a gift of penetrating discernment of spiritual hidden knowledge proffered to him from on high. His diligence in his studies, his eagle-eyed wit, his holy curiosity, his pure motive are not the first causes, neither the results of attaining and understanding the deep things of God; for he well know that it is purely of grace and is alone the act of an omnipotent God. It is far from him to elevate himself and his discovered knowledge above the pinnacle of his God’s throne, knowing that he is just but a speck of dust, and a worm who is grovelling in the ground. He is most certainly convinced that on his own he cannot come to apprehend the past finding out knowledge and wisdom of the Most High God. There is more ignorance in him, than trains of light-understanding. Besides, his only motive in pursuing the wisdom and knowledge, prudence, discernment, piety, chastity, modesty, etc. is the glory of his Creatour-God.
A Solemn Address To Every Chaser of this World and Neglecter of Their Own Souls
Beloved reader,
Grace, peace, and love from God be multiplied upon you and yours.
Piece 1: All that glitters are not gold. Ah! this world is full of bedlams. They are mad who chase after the world. The world is nothing but a deceitful gold. Yea, it hath a deceiving golden mantle which made all the fools chase after her. A night-vision (all riches, all kingdoms, all earthly wisdom and knowledge, all education, all scepters, all glories, all honours, all fame, etc), this is but the world’s fading shadow. If ever you would be saved from the future damnation of this world with its bedlams, then, away with it, arise and come to Jesus Christ, who is the fountain of life and everlasting glory of all the saints.
Piece 2: What think ye of thy soul? What think ye of Christ? What think ye of eternal glory? What think ye of heaven and hell, yea, what think ye of heaven’s glory and hell’s misery? What think ye of the wrath of God? What think ye of losing thy precious and immortal soul? What think ye of all these things? Will these not persuade you? Are ye not troubled? You may have all the best of this world, yea, even the whole world itself; yet after all you are still unsatisfied. Are ye not afraid of death, the king of terrors and levellers of all high and low, rich and poor, master and servant? Our heart is triangle and the world is circle. What think ye of this? Do you think a triangle-heart can fit the circle? What! are ye so blind that ye cannot see it nor discern it? What blindness and dumbness entered into thine heart that ye are still not persuaded not to admit that this world is passing to oblivion.
Piece 3: Here I go again. What think ye of sin? For the wages of sin is death. “Ho! Woe is me, woe is me. Damnation is stretching its wings to fly me into the eternal, bottomless ocean of hell-fire. I lost my soul, I lost God, I lost Christ, I lost heaven, I lost the company of saints and holy angels, I lost the untold glories of New Jerusalem; yea, I lost all. Blessed is he who has Christ in his life, for he is the haver of all.” This is the pitiable language of a damned and reprobate soul in hell. So what think ye of this, reader?
Piece 4: Again. The world is like a drop in a bucket in the hands of God. Your earthly treasures are nothing but night-visions, yea, they are clouds in the morning which passeth away. A dust it is which the wind driveth to and fro. And do ye think this will save ye when the time of refreshing and restitution arrive mentioned by the apostle in the book of Acts? You don’t have much time. Your time is a borrowed time. Your hour-glass is almost half an inch. It is draining past. Time is so precious a jewel to cast it before the mouth of a swine. Are ye not afraid of losing your soul? Your soul is the noblest part of You. It is capable of communion and union with God. Christ died for it. For a God who is the blessed forever and ever would become a man for a perishing soul is a great amazement and astonishment to holy angels. And will it not a great humiliation for us? Ah, what stubbornness, what blindness, and what foolishness! Though these holy vessels of heavenly host cannot fathom the infinite wisdom of God, which the Lord exercised in the second person of the holy Trinity (Jesus Christ), yet they have the fulness of joy and gladness in adoring, praising, and worshiping this wonderful grace of salvation which is in Christ that our God graciously and freely wrought on the particular posterity of Adam; for not all are saved only a remnant is saved. When Lucifer and his legions rebelled against the most High God, God did not make a way for them, to save them. But he deemed it most to display his free grace on the sons of men, for his delight is with the sons of men. Lo, and behold! Jesus Christ “took not on him the natures of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham,” Heb. 2:16, for his “delights were with the sons of men,” Prov. 8:31.
The psalmist once said, that the redemption of the soul is very precious and ceaseth not forever. If ye lost your soul, ye lost all. There is nothing more horrible, than to lose our own soul and Christ. Christ and the soul must be wedded, so that the soul may have an everlasting rest. Come to think of this, beloved reader! Get a bargain with Christ while ye still have time. Christ and his merit on the cross of calvary is the most beautiful story ye will ever have. And when ye place the hands of thy faith in the person of Christ it will be thy everlasting blessedness. And ye shall ever praise the King of glory for choosing you out of the millions of this world. Many are now sailing into the sea of affliction in hell. Though we are the acter of faith, yet God is the giver of faith.
Thus much for this night, beloved reader.
May the Artificer and Author of our lives bless you by reading these abrupt pieces from me. Farewell!
Your hearty servant in the Lord, Ariel
(Source: pinky-promises-for-the-stars)
Welcoming committee by Ion Moe
It’s a girl! A very TALL girl. Nikki’s latest calf arrived yesterday, measuring 6’3” tall and weighing 162 lbs. Help us welcome her to the world!
A Never-fading Beauty!
(Thomas Watson, “The Loveliness of Christ”)
Here is comfort to those who are by faith, married to Christ. This is their glorious privilege—Christ’s beauty and loveliness shall be put upon them! This is the apex and crown of honor—the saints shall not only behold Christ’s glory—but be transformed into it! ”We shall be like Him!” 1 John 3:2. That is, we shall be irradiated and enameled with His glory!
Moses married a black woman—but he could not make her complexion white. But whoever Christ marries—He alters their complexion! He makes them altogether lovely!
Other beauty causes pride—but no such worm breeds in heaven. The saints in glory shall admire their own beauty—but not become proud of it.
Other beauty is soon lost. The eye weeps to see its furrowed brows, and the cheeks blush at their own paleness; but this is a never-fading beauty! Age cannot wither it; it retains its luster to all eternity!
Think of this, O you saints, who mourn now for your sins and bewail your spiritual deformities!Remember, by virtue of your union with Christ, you shall be glorious creatures! Then shall you be brought unto the King in glorious raiment—and you shall hear Christ pronounce that blessed word, “You are all beautiful, My love—there is no spot in you!” Song of Solomon 4:7
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Lilly RiceThank you for sharing this with me. Was there any certain reason you wanted me to read it?
I have gotten through chapter VI so far, but I was confused by the beginning of the article. Do you know what was meant by “for if one knows himself, he will know God”? Maybe I misunderstood the meaning, but I didn’t think that sounded Biblical.
I really liked this from chapter VI:
“Accordingly, good things are possessed by Christians alone. And nothing is richer than these good things; therefore these alone are rich. For righteousness is true riches; and the Word is more valuable than all treasure, not accruing from cattle and fields, but given by God—riches which cannot be taken away. The soul alone is its treasure. It is the best possession to its possessor, rendering man truly blessed. For he whose it is to desire nothing that is not in our power, and to obtain by asking from God what he piously desires, does he not possess much, nay all, having God as his everlasting treasure?” -
Ariel Ithream AvilaNo definite reason. I just shared it with you because I have found so many jewels of truth in it which (I think) we should not hastily and easily reject as hoax assertion; for even the philosophers, poets and historians of ancient time has spoken the truth, for our beneficent God out of his bountiful mercy permitted them to discover some of his truth which are scattered everywhere in the world. The Universe has become their holy Scroll in searching the existence of God and in asserting the existence of the reasonable soul in every man which, as they rightly think, is the moving cause of the body; and by way of frequent meditation on those things heavenly, as they always presume, for them, it is as a very crucial thing for living a pious, virtuous life; and for this reason, they were able to understand the plain, natural knowledge of God. Their’s were natural knowledge, our’s is the spiritual knowledge, the oracle of God. The philosophers has contributed a lot to the branch of theological knowledge than the poets; but they’re not so closed with the spiritual attainments of the gifted divines of the 15th c -17th c. A.D. They are as the blind as the shrieking owls and bats in the night. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle may be an eagle-eyed philosophers among the best of philosophers and the sophists, but they are no philosophers in the eyes of God; for the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.
Lilly, I know you are mature enough to weigh in the balance of our heavenly Father’s anvil of Truth every spoken word of this man whether they be true or false. Clement of Alexandria is quite hard to read, for he sometimes contradicted himself as you have found it so. It would then need an intelligent brain to discover the hidden meaning of his words, that is, an erudite brain proffered from on high which is wholly to be found in the beloved Christ through the efficacious working of the third person of the most holy, holy, holy Trinity, if there is such a thing in his writings. I am of opinion with John Calvin and Thomas Brooks, that he who is able to gather and extract the truth out of the world of error is accounted to be a wise man. Brooks likened it to two men who when they were presented with the same fruit which has some rotten in it, the one deprived himself of eating the fruit because he found some worms in it, the other ate only some part of the fruit which he found very profitable to his body. The application is easy (I think). There goes a saying among the Greek philosophers that says, “Know Thyself.” Clement may have been influenced by this hoary-headed adage. But I do not think we should cast a frowning face against this pious man; for like him, we are all liable to err. Calvin in his Institute of Christian Religion has this thought that unless we do not admit and know ourselves to be a damned sinner out of the grace of Christ we cannot know God savingly, and so St. Augustine has the same sentiment. And yet, it is as easy for them to retire and rest in this truth that without the powerful operation of the Holy Ghost in the head and in the heart a man cannot fully convince himself of his abasement, hence, if he is debarred from the gift of regeneration he cannot know God neither himself. Again, Calvin in other places of his Institutes says, how can a man know God if he does not know himself, and how can he know himself if he does not know God? In these two, the former is far inferior from the latter. Knowing himself is always preceded by knowing God. It reminded me of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden after they fell from the state of uprightness and innocence. It was God first who drew near to themselves not themselves to God. Thomas Watson in his treatise called “The Doctrine of Repentance” has this saying, “I shall not dispute whether faith or repentance comes first in the soul. Doubtless repentance shows itself first in a Christian’s life. Yet I am apt to think that the seeds of faith are first wrought in the heart. As when a burning candle is brought into a room- the light shows itself first, but the candle was before the light.” The application is easy.
I think I have shed some light to dispel the gloom of darkness, thus, to welcome fully the gladsome light .
Thank you, Lilly, for asking it. Be blessed in the Lord Christ always. -
Lilly RiceI appreciate you sharing this article (?) with me. And I did see a lot of helpful, good reminders in it.
I’m sorry if I made it sound as though I didn’t like the article. I only meant to question that one point on whether it was biblical or not.
I agree that we ought to seek to get what nutrients there are out of all spiritual writings we pick up, while cautiously comparing every thought against Scripture to test its accuracy. This is sometimes difficult for me. It’s hard to let myself entertain an idea that is opposite from my own. But then I’m far from being always right, so I think it is good to try (with Scripture.)
Aristotle said that “it is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” Though I don’t agree with a lot of his views, I think this is a wise statement. I’ve actually been thinking about that a lot lately. It’s interesting to try and understand why other people believe the way they do. Also, I think it helps in witnessing.
Anyway, I’d like to respond to your message tomorrow! It’s going to be a really full day for me, but I am hoping to in the evening. Take care, brother!
Hi there, sister in Christ! I am just wondering why you are sharing the sayings of Joyce Meyer and Joel Osteen. Truth is, I just don’t find them very helpful and interesting to the life of every precious dear souls who are committed to live a sanctified life, which is full of the blessed influences of their well-beloved Jesus Christ. I do not like the way they preach the gospel and testimony of our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ. In the first place, they’re not Christ-centered. They focuses more on the strength of man and its human-will than resting on the strength of the sovereign free-will of God in Christ Jesus. Yes, they wickedly and obstinately, if not ignorantly, lift up the human will than the high will of the most High God. They do not give so much emphasis on the sinfulness of sin, deceitfulness of the heart of man, inability of man to save himself, severity of the law, necessity of Jesus Christ as prophet-priest-and king, the powerful operation of the Holy Ghost, and the free grace of God in Christ.
Do not count this thing to me as though I am speaking a word against them neither against you; for it is not my duty to perform the unholy, featherbrained behaviour of a foolish man and brain-headed ignorant bairn. I am only speaking the truth in love to rescue you, God willing, from the delusion and satanical spirit of the prince of the power of the air, the god of this world- Satan, who is made so by the permission of the infinite, past finding out of the will of God. I know God is more than willing to act on his behalf than all the angels and saints in heaven and on earth. It is his prerogative to preserve his elect children from the depths of Satan and dangerous doctrines of his legion of devils. Nay, it is his sublime will, distinguishing grace and ineffable love, in the Beloved Christ, through the perseverance of the Holy Ghost in them, to preserve them to the end that they may come to the holy triumph of Christ the Victor Word, who is the King of kings and Lord of lords; for he is the king of saints.
I know God will speak to you through me, his weak and unworthy vessel of mercy.
Maybe you should listen more of John Piper, John McArthur, Joel Beeke, and especially Paul Washer. And maybe you should acquaint yourself with the writings of the great Puritans like Thomas Watson, John Flavel, Samuel Rutherford, Jeremiah Burrough, Richard Sibbes, John Owen, Ralph Venning, Hugh Benning, Thomas Manton, Thomas Boston, Christopher Love, Lewis Bayly, William Perkins, John Bunyan, Jonathan Edwards, Thomas Brooks, Andrew Gray, James Durham, John Gill, Thomas Goodwin, Stephen Charnock, to name a few. I am greatly worried about you. I know you have a great, sincere, and honest passion to enthrone God and Christ more than anything else, and for that I greatly commend you to our heavenly Father, the Father of our eldest brother Jesus Christ who is our crown of life and hope of glory. Do not be deceived , my sister. “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out of the world.” 1John 4:1
I suggest these websites for your in depth communion with the triune God, and for assiduous study of the deep things of God which is in Christ Jesus whose divine wisdom and knowledge are fully hidden, and to fully acquaint yourself with Christ’s person, offices, and graces, with the Father and the Holy Ghost themselves: sermonaudio.com, monergism.com and gracegems.org
Fully acquaint yourself with Christ. The Old and New Testaments are full of Christ.
These quotations from J. Meyer and J. Osteen which I have found in your tumblog may seem to be a fine teaching, but be careful, for the dregs of the wine of the harlot have distilled so much on the bottom of the chalice. Yes, at first you may have the glimpse of truth in them but afterwards a mist of dangerous thought starts to creep in to countenance the truth with only seeming truth, which is the lying spirit. You have to be very circumspect in this. Again, do not be deceived, my beloved sister.
‘Too many times we look at ourselves when we should be looking at God. We stare at all of our own weaknesses, and before we know it, we are timid, fearful, and convinced that everything is too hard to accomplish.” ~Joyce Meyer
‘Now, you’ve got to do your part and get excited about your life. Be excited about who you are — your looks, your talent, your ability, your personality. When you’re passionate about who you are, it brings honor to God. That’s when God will breathe in your direction and the seeds of greatness in you will take root and begin to flourish!’ ~Joel Osteen
I will be praying for you,
Your brother in the faith of Christ,
Ariel.
Note: Sorry, I can’t post it in your blog. I do not know how. L
Follow this heavenly blog: http://descendingfire.tumblr.com/
THE SUM AND SUBSTANCE OF ALL THEOLOGY
by C.H. SPURGEON
All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.”—John 6:37.
Look at the text before us. Here we have, in two small sentences, the sum and substance of all theology. The great questions which have divided the Church in all ages, the apparently contradictory doctrines which have set one minister of Christ against his fellow, are here revealed so simply and plainly, “that he may run that readeth it” (Habakkuk 2:2).
Even a child may understand the Words of Christ, though perhaps the loftiest human intellect cannot fathom the mystery hidden therein.
Take the first sentence of my text: “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me.” What a weighty sentence! Here we have taught us what is called, in the present day, “High Calvinistic doctrine”—the purpose of God; the certainty that God’s purpose will stand; the invincibility of God’s will; and the absolute assurance that Christ “shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied.”
Look at the second sentence of my text: “And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” Here we have the richness, the fullness, the unlimited extent of the power of Christ to save those who put their trust in Him. Here is a text upon which one might preach a thousand sermons. We might take these two sentences as a life-long text, and never exhaust the theme.
It rests, you perceive, not on something which man does, but on something which God the Father does. The Father gives certain persons to His Son, and the Son says, “All that the Father giveth Me Shall come to Me.” I take it that the meaning of the text is this,—that, if any do come to Jesus Christ, it is those whom the Father gave to Christ. And the reason why they come,—if we search to the very bottom of things,—is, that the Father puts it into their hearts to come.
The reason why one man is saved, and another man is lost, is to be found in God; not in anything which the saved man did, or did not do; not in anything which he felt, or did not feel; but in something altogether irrespective of himself, even in the sovereign grace of God. In the day of God’s power, the saved are made willing to give their souls to Jesus.
Miss Much-afraid, and Mrs. Despondency, and Mr. Feeble-mind, shall as certainly come to the arms of Christ, as Mr. Great-heart, and Mr. Faithful, and Mr. Valiant-for-Truth. If one jewel were lost from Christ’s crown, then Christ’s crown would not be all-glorious. If one member of the body of Christ were to perish, Christ’s body would not be complete. If one of those who are one with Christ should miss his way to eternal life, Christ would not be a perfect Christ.
OBJECTION:
But suppose it should be one of those who are living in the interior of Africa, and he does not hear the gospel; what then?” He shall hear the gospel; either he shall come to the gospel, or the gospel shall go to him. Even if no minister should go to such a chosen one, he would have the gospel specially revealed to him rather than that the promise of the Almighty God should be broken.
“But suppose there should be one of God’s chosen who has become so bad that there is no hope for him? He never attends a place of worship; never listens to the gospel; the voice of the preacher never reaches him; he has grown hardened in his sin, like steel that has been seven times annealed in the fire; what then?” That man shall be arrested by God’s grace, and that obdurate, hard-hearted one shall be made to see the mercy of God; the tears shall stream down his cheeks, and he shall be made willing to receive Jesus as Saviour. I think that, as God could bend my will, and bring me to Christ, He can bring anybody.
Why was I made to hear His voice,
And enter while there’s room;
When thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?
‘Twas the same love that spread the feast,
That sweetly forced me in;
Else I had still refused to taste,
And perished in my sin.”
The sword of His pure, infinite, and incensed wrath!
(Thomas Brooks, “The Golden Key to Open Hidden Treasures”)
“Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer” Isaiah 53:10
To see God thrust the sword of His pure, infinite, and incensed wrath through the very heart of His dearest Son, notwithstanding all His supplications, prayers, tears, and strong cries — is the highest manifestation of the Lord’s hatred and indignation of sin — which ever was, or ever will be!
It is true, God revealed His great hatred against sin …
by casting the angels down to hell, and
by turning Adam out of paradise, and
by drowning the old world, and
by raining hell out of heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah,
and by the various and dreadful judgments which He has been a-pouring forth upon the world in all ages. But all this hatred is but an emblem of hatred — compared to that hatred which God manifested against sin, in causing the whole curse to meet upon our crucified Lord!
It is true that God reveals His hatred of sin by those endless, easeless, and remediless torments, which He inflicts upon devils and damned men. But this is no hatred — compared to that hatred against sin, which God revealed when He opened all the floodgates of His envenomed wrath upon His Son — His own Son, His only Son, His Son who always pleased Him.
Suppose there was a father who had but one son — and he was such a son in whom he always delighted, and by whom he had never been provoked. Now suppose you should you see this father inflicting the most intensified pains and punishments, tortures and torments, calamities and miseries upon this, his dearest son. Would you not wonder at the cause of the father’s exercising such amazing, such matchless severity, fury and cruelty upon his only beloved son?
Now cast your eye upon the actings of God the Father towards Jesus Christ — and you will find that He has inflicted more and greater torments upon the Son of His dearest love — than all mortals ever have or could inflict upon others. God made all the penalties and sufferings that were due to us — to fall upon Jesus Christ. God Himself inflicted upon dear Jesus, whatever was requisite to the satisfying of His justice, to the obtaining of pardon, and to the saving of all His elect!
“He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5
(Source: worldlyanimals)
Black bird.
photo: Pocketmerlin
“Absolute Predestination”
(Jerome Zanchius, 1516-1590)
Without a due sense of predestination, we shall lack the
surest and the most powerful inducement to patience,
resignation and dependence on God under every spiritual
and temporal affliction. How sweet must the following
considerations be to a distressed believer!
(1) There most certainly exists an almighty, all-wise
and infinitely gracious God.
(2) He has given me in times past, and is giving me
at present (if I had but eyes to see it), many and
signal intimations of His love to me—both in a way
of providence and grace.
(3) This love of His is immutable; He never repents
of it nor withdraws it.
(4) Whatever comes to pass in time, is the result
of His will from everlasting, consequently
(5) my afflictions were a part of His original plan,
and are all ordered in number, weight and measure.
(6) The very hairs of my head are (every one) counted
by Him, nor can a single hair fall to the ground but in
consequence of His determination. Hence
(7) my distresses are not the result of chance, accident
or a fortuitous combination of circumstances, but
(8) the providential accomplishment of God’s purpose, and
(9) designed to answer some wise and gracious ends, nor
(10) shall my affliction continue a moment longer than
God sees fit.
(11) He who brought me to it, has promised to support
me under it, and to carry me through it.
(12) All shall, most assuredly, work together for His glory
and my good, therefore
(13) “The cup which my heavenly Father has given me to
drink, shall I not drink it?” Yes, I will, in the strength He
imparts, even rejoice in tribulation. I will commit myself
and the event to Him, whose purpose cannot be overthrown,
whose plan cannot be disconcerted; and who, whether I am
resigned or not, will still go on to work all things after the
counsel of His own will.
Hi Flora by Renaldy Fernando on Flickr.
Election on a Grand Scale!
From Spurgeon’s sermon, “Free Grace”
The motive for the salvation of the human race is to be found in
the breast of God, and not in the character or condition of man.
Two races have revolted against God-
the one angelic, the other human.
When a part of this angelic race revolted against the Most High,
justice speedily overtook them; they were swept from their
starry seats in heaven, and henceforth they have been reserved in
darkness unto the great day of the wrath of God.
No mercy was ever presented to them, no sacrifice ever offered
for them; but they were without hope and mercy, forever
consigned to the pit of eternal torment.
The human race, far inferior in order of intelligence,
sinned as atrociously.
However, the God who in His infinite justice passed over angels,
and forced them forever to expiate their offences in the fires of
hell, was pleased to look down on man.
Here was election on a grand scale— the election of manhood,
and the reprobation of fallen angelhood!
Had you and I been put upon the choice of which should have
been spared, I do think it probable we should have chosen that
fallen angels should have been saved. Are they not the brightest?
Have they not the greatest mental strength? If they had been
redeemed, would it not have glorified God more, as we judge,
than the salvation of worms like ourselves?
Those bright beings- Lucifer, son of the morning, and those stars
that walked in his train- if they had been washed in His
redeeming blood, if they had been saved by sovereign mercy,
what a song would they have lifted up to the Most High and
everlasting God!
But God, who does as He wills with His own, and gives no
account of His matters, but who deals with His creatures as the
potter deals with his clay, took not upon Him the nature of
angels, but took upon Him the seed of Abraham, and chose
‘sinful men’ to be the vessels of His mercy.
God sees us— abandoned, evil, wicked, and deserving His
wrath; if He saves us, it is His boundless, fathomless love that
leads Him to do it- nothing whatever in us.
CIV.
To My Future Wife
My dearly beloved,
Grace, mercy, and peace be multiplied.
Do not desire me than desiring more of Jesus Christ. My love is only a drop but Christ’s is an ocean. Always engross your soul with the deep things of God which is in Christ our spiritual Husband than worldly things. Desiring for a husband is a thing of vast and significant fixedness on the glory of God that highly require a tremendous prayer from a sincere heart; for it is a precious gift that must come from the very heart of God.
O my love! what is my love compare to the love of Jesus but an infinite nothingness. You cannot compare my love with him, for it is an imperfect love, mixed with every sin. And if God is not active in restraining me from all sinful sin I shall certainly break out into an offensive sinner, most horribly dreadful than a ferocious beast in a wild forest. He must be your husband first before I can be your husband. There can be no marriage between us if both of us are not miraculously wedded to the darling of heaven. It is of high importance that we should be married first to him by the Holy Ghost’s act of regeneration, otherwise we cannot have a blessed company; and our future children, the supposedly beautiful crowns and pleasant fruits of our love and joy and peace, will appear as nothing but unholy offsprings.
I cannot write much to you this evening.
My love, you are a woman who has a soul, very precious, which can think of heaven, saints, and Jesus Christ. Yes, you are a child of God dearly beloved.
To him who has loved you with an everlasting love I bequeath your dear soul.
Your loving future husband, Ariel.
CIII.
To My Future Wife
My beloved heart,
With love from God I humbly ask your forgiveness for my negligence. I am still here patiently waiting for you. Do not despair, for God will keep us together in his time. Let your hope be anchored to his promises. Maybe this is the last time that I am going to write an open letter to you, but I won’t stop writing to you when I go to the place where our heavenly Father had to bring me. Fix the eye of your faith to our unseen Jesus, for our faith sees him better than our visible eyes. I cannot write much to you this evening.
Your future husband, Ariel.
(by Michael Dietrich)
Yĕhōšuă Khrīstos (Christ Jesus) is my Prophet, Priest, and King. He is the Saviour of my soul. He is the Lord of my life. He is my soul’s heavenly Bridegroom.
O sweet Jesus! how you have drenched my eyes and melted my heart with your love divine undefinable and ineffable late last night.
O well-beloved Jesus, Thou art my King, my God, my Father, my Consolation, my Shepherd, my Light, my Food and Water, My Life, My Joy, my Crown, yes, Thou art my life in deadness, my light in darkness, my joy in mourning, my staff when I get old, my strength in weakness, my summer in winter-affliction, my comfort in coldness of spirit, my crown in shame, my glory in misery, my love in enmity, nay, Thou art my All in all.
I am not ashamed to proclaim that Jesus Christ is the “King of kings, Lord of lords, God of gods, Master of masters, Prince of princes, and (Servant of servants).”
Thou art the reason why I still livest in this vale of tears.
O sweet Jesus despair I not when I see you leaping upon the mountains and skipping upon the hills.
O children of men, come and see what this my great Saviour will do for thee.
Look unto his person, name, offices and be saved. ~arielithream
God’s Highest Love-gift
Samuel Rutherford, 1600? – 30 March 1661
Christ is God’s highest love-gift: Now Christ the mediator, was given without any Medium, or any intervening Mediator. God out of the meer bottom of Free-love giveth Christ: The Lord Christ was not given by so much as request, or counsel of Men or Angels: Christ, Heb. 1. 3. by himself purged our sins, 1 Tim. 2. 6. He gave himself a ransom for all; 1 Pet. 2. 24. Who his own self bare our sins, in his own body on the tree: he satisfied & payed in his own person: It was not a deputed work. God the Lord of life in proper person Redeemed us: Christ’s love to us was not deputy love, he loved as not by a Vicar: Christ is given freely, as a Redeemer is more essentially a gift of Free grace (to speak so) then the grace of faith which is given to those who hear and are humbled for sin. And Christ given to die for sinners is a more immediate and pure gift of Grace then Remissions of sins, and eternal life, which are given to us upon condition of Faith, whereas a Redeemer is given to die for us, without any condition, thought, desire, any sweating or endeavor in man or Angel. So is Grace given out of Grace, saving Grace is made out of nothing, not out of the potency of the matter. The new heart is a creation, and as its Grace, is framed without tools, agents, art, or service; Grace issueth immediately out of Christ’s heart, he hath no hire, no payment for it: non-payment, no money is Grace’s hire. And heaven is given, not by art, not by merit, not for sweating; But how? Luk. 12. 32. It’s the Father’s will. And Rev. 21. 4. God shall wipe all tears from their eyes. It’s the sweeter, that no napkin but his own immediate hand shall wipe my sinful face.
(Source: pugking)
