John R. Macduff

“ Although thou hast all that the world would call enviable and happy, unless thou hast peace in God, and with God, all else is unworthy of the name;—a spurious thing, which the first breath of adversity will shatter, and the hour of death utterly annihilate! Perfect peace! What is it? It is the peace of forgiveness. It is the peace arising out of a sense of God reconciled through the blood of the everlasting covenant,—resting [Pg 41] sweetly on the bosom, and the work of Jesus,—to Him committing thine eternal all. My soul! stay thyself on God, that so this blessed peace may be thine. ”

“ Grace in sunshine and storm—in health and in sickness—in life and in death. Grace for the old believer and the young believer, the tried believer, and the weak believer, and the tempted believer. Grace for duty, and grace in duty,—grace to carry the joyous cup with a steady hand,—grace to drink the bitter cup with an unmurmuring spirit,—grace to have prosperity sanctified,—grace to say, through tears, “Thy will be done!”
“REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!” ”

“ Oh! the blessedness of thus lying passive in the hands of God; saying, “Undertake thou for me!”—dwelling with holy gratitude on past mercies and interpositions—taking these as pledges of future faithfulness and love—hearing His voice behind us, amid life’s manifold perplexities, exclaiming, “This is the way, walk ye in it!” “Happy,” surely, “are every people who are in such a case!” Happy, Reader! will it be for thee, if thou canst form the resolve in a strength greater than thine own: “This God shall be my God for ever and ever; He shall be my Guide even unto death!” ”

“ Blessed Jesus! to thee are committed the reins of this universal empire. The same hand that was once nailed to the cross, is now wielding the sceptre on the throne,—“all power given unto thee in heaven and in earth.” How can I doubt the wisdom, and faithfulness, and love, of the most mysterious earthly dealing, when I know that the Roll of Providence is thus in the hands of Him who has given the mightiest pledge Omnipotence could give of His tender interest in my soul’s well-being, by giving Himself for me? ”

“ That glorious appearing shall disperse every cloud, and usher in an eternal noontide which knows no twilight. “Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light.” Everlasting light! Wondrous secret of a nightless world!—the glories of a present God!—the everlasting light of the Three in One, quenching the radiance of all created orbs—superseding all material luminaries. ”

“ Happy reunion! it will be a meeting of the whole ransomed family—the Head with all its members—the Vine with all its branches—the Shepherd with all His flock—the Elder Brother with all His kinsmen. Oh, the joy, too, of mutual recognition among the death-divided—ties snapt asunder on earth, indissolubly renewed—severed friendships reunited—the triumph of love complete—love binding brother with brother, and friend with friend, and all to the Elder Brother! My soul! what thinkest thou of this Heaven? Remember who it is that Jesus says shall sit with Him upon His throne,—“Him that overcometh.” ”

“ Christ’s people are a weeping band, though there be much in this lovely world to make them joyous and happy. Yet when they think of sin—their own sin, and the unblushing sins of a world in which their God is dishonoured—need we wonder at their tears?—that they should be called “Mourners,” and their pilgrimage-home a “Valley of Tears?” Bereavement, and sickness, and poverty, and death, following the track of sin, add to their mourning experience; and with many of God’s best beloved, one tear is scarce dried when another is ready to flow! ”

“ Satan tempting—Jesus praying! Satan sifting—Jesus pleading! “The strong man assailing”—“the stronger than the strong” beating him back! Believer? here is the past history and present secret of thy safety in the midst of temptation. An interceding Saviour was at thy side, saying to every threatening wave, “Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther?” God often permits His people to be on the very verge of the precipice, to remind them of their own weakness; but never farther than the verge! The restraining hand and grace of Omnipotence is ready to rescue them. ”

“ Blessed Jesus! How thy presence sanctifies trial, takes loneliness from the chamber of sickness, and the sting from the chamber of death! Bright and Morning Star! precious at all times, thou art never so precious as in “the dark and cloudy day!” The bitterness of sorrow is well worth enduring to have thy promised consolations. How well qualified, thou Man of Sorrows, to be my Comforter! How well fitted to dry my tears, Thou who didst shed so many thyself! What are my tears—my sorrows—my crosses—my losses, compared with Thine, who didst shed first Thy tears, and then Thy blood for me! ”

“ How inspiring the thought of coming glory! How would we rise above our sins, and sorrows, and sufferings, if we could live under the power of “a world to come!” Were faith to take at all times its giant leap beyond a soul-trammelling earth, and remember its brighter destiny. ”

“ If thou hast made up thy peace with God, resting on the work and atoning blood of His dear Son, then is the Last Enemy divested of all his terror, and thou canst say, in sweet composure, of thy dying couch and dying hour,—“I will both lay me down in peace and sleep, because Thou, Lord, makest me to dwell in safety!” ”

“ But, alas! in spite of ourselves, the wings ofttimes refuse to soar—the spirit droops—guilty fears depress—sin dims and darkens—God’s providences seem to frown—God’s ways are misinterpreted—the Christian belies his name and his destiny. ”

“ Reader! if thou art one of these careworn ones, the days of thy mourning are numbered! A few more throbbings of this aching heart, and then the angel who proclaims “time,” shall proclaim also, sorrow, and sighing, and mourning, to “be no longer!” Seek now to mourn thy sins more than thy sorrows; reserve thy bitterest tears for forgetfulness of thy dear Lord. The saddest and sorest of all bereavements, is when the sins which have separated thee from Him, evoke the anguish-cry, “Where is my God?” ”

“ God does not give grace till the hour of trial comes. But when it does come, the amount of grace, and the nature of the special grace required is vouchsafed. My soul, do not dwell with painful apprehension on the future. ”

“ It began with sovereign grace in a by-past eternity, and no link will be awanting till the ransomed spirit be presented faultless before the throne! Grace and glory! If the earnest be sweet, what must be the reality? If the wilderness table contain such rich provision, what must be the glories of the eternal banqueting house? Oh! my soul, make sure of [Pg 25] thine interest in the one, as the blessed prelude to the other. “Having access by faith into this grace, thou canst rejoice in hope of the glory of God;” for “whom He justifies, them He also glorifies!” Has grace begun in thee? ”

“ Ordinances, sermons, communions, providential dispensations, are nothing without Thy life-giving power. “It is the Spirit that quickeneth.” “No man can call Jesus, Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” Church of the living God! ”

“ What an incentive to holy living, and increased spiritual attainments! My soul! wouldst thou [Pg 45] be a star shining high and bright in the firmament of glory?—wouldst thou receive the ten-talent recompense? Then be not weary. Gird on thine armour for fresh conquests. Be gaining daily some new victory over sin. Deny thyself. Be a willing cross-bearer for thy Lord’s sake. Do good to all men as thou hast opportunity ”

“ As the natural sun sometimes sinks in clouds, so, occasionally, the Christian who has a bright rising, and a brighter meridian, sets in gloom. It is not always “light” at his evening-time; but this we know, that when the day of immortality breaks, the last vestige of earth’s shadows will for ever flee away. ”

“ Rather exult in them as thine adoption-privilege. Envy not those who are strangers to the refining flames,—who are “without chastisement;” rather, surely, the severest discipline with a Father’s love, than the fullest earthly cup without that Father’s smile. ”

“ How often does God hedge up our way with thorns, to elicit simple trust! How [Pg 29] seldom can we see all things so working for our good! But it is better discipline to believe it. Oh! for faith amid frowning providences, to say, “I know that thy judgments are good;” ”