Graciousness

“ Aspasia had come from Miletus with another hetaira to Athens which her companion vacated to be bride of a Thessalian king, but where she became the wife of one beside whom mere kings were nothing. It was her beauty that first attracted Pericles. Beauty does attract, but only graciousness can detain. In the home of Pericles there was none, a woman merely of the Xantippe type from whom he separated by common consent and put Aspasia, not in her inferior place, but on a pedestal before which he knelt. ”

“ Is fixed to triumph in thy grace:
(Awake, my lute, and bear a part)
My glory is to sing thy praise,
Till all thy nature I partake,
And bright in all thine image wake.
Thee will I praise among thine own;
Thee will I to the world extol,
And make thy truth and goodness known:
Thy goodness, Lord, is over all;
Thy truth and grace the heavens transcend;
Thy faithful mercies never end. ”

“ Blessed be thy goodness which hath not suffered us to wander, without instruction, after the foolish desires of our own hearts; but hast clearly shewn us where our happiness lies. O may we receive with all thankfulness, those holy words which teach us the blessedness of poverty of spirit, of mourning after thee, of meekness and gentleness, of hungering and thirsting after righteousness, of mercifulness and purity of heart, of doing good unto all, and patiently suffering for doing the will of our Lord Christ. ”

“ Draw my soul to thyself, O perfect beauty, and bind it fast to thee by the indissoluble chain and bond of eternal love! What shall I seek and desire beyond thee, who art the fulness of all good, the source, the end, the sweetness, the strength, and marrow of all good! Farewell, all other things, that I may ever love and think of thee, praise and bless thee, and serve thee only, with all the powers of my soul, and for the whole of my life. Let all transitory things be to me worthless or precious, only as far as they agree with thy goodness. ”

“ Thou sweet One, even because Thou art the sweet God, Thou art also the sacred God; Thou art happiness itself, even because Thou art holiness itself; Thou art goodness itself, even because Thou art grace itself. ”

“ What motives of joy and thankfulness ought we not to find in the knowledge of God, his truth, mercy, and goodness as made known to us in the Scripture and in his Divine Son, our Saviour and friend, the God-Man; in the gift of the faith, the spiritual riches of the church and the sacraments, his mercies to us personally—blessings on our labors, the removal of dangers from our paths, his gracious forgiveness of our sins, time and again. Then, too, what we expect and through his mercy count on for the future—the joys of heaven, those delights which pass our understanding. ”

“ This was some time before his sufferings in the garden. But while we admire his outward beauty as man, what vast beauty possessed his mind—wisdom, prudence, chastity, holiness, zeal, understanding, faith, hope, love, and joy; in the principle—mercy, commiseration, pity, affection, patience, gratitude, and fidelity. Look at his actions, and they all correspond with the holy principles of his mind, and this holy nature was the image of God, the exemplar pattern and likeness of the new man of grace in the souls of God’s children ”

“ May the blessed spirit quicken faith to rise, and wing its way to eternal love, eternal grace, eternal mercy, and eternal kindness. This is its proper element: here we are at home; here is liberty, peace, joy, and satisfaction. Here we see infinite wisdom, contriving a time when, a place where, and a manner how merciful kindness, and melting pity should be manifested. Here we see every sweet attribute harmonize, and every grace displayed, while the cross of your dear lovely, loving Saviour appears truly glorious. ”

“ We praise thee for all the comforts and conveniencies of this life, and for all the means and hopes of a better: particularly for what we have received this day; the food of our souls set before us; the word of salvation sounding in our ears, and the Spirit of God striving with our hearts. O withdraw not thy tender mercies from us, but still continue thy accustomed goodness, and increase thy grace and heavenly blessings upon us, and rejoice over us to do us good. ”

“ Shall we not, O enjoyers, be satiate, beautified, ravished, blessed for ever more, with that infinite fulness of all excellencies which dwells in him? 'We behold to the full, the glory, as the glory of the only begotten Son of the Father, full of grace and truth: and of thy fulness have we all received, and grace for grace.' We have received thy testimony, have set to our seal that GOD is true: that thou, whom he sent into the world, speakest the things of GOD: for he giveth not the Spirit by measure unto thee, O how great is the mystery of godliness? ”

“ As one perceives the workings of evil by the passions, by anger, by concupiscence, by envy, by heaviness, by wicked thoughts and other wrong things, so ought one to perceive the grace and power of God by the virtues, by kindness, by goodness, by cheerfulness, by gaiety, by divine gladness, in order to be likened to and mingled with the good and divine nature, with the kind and holy workings of grace. ”

“ For without it I can do nothing, but I can do all things through Thy grace which strengtheneth me. (3) O truly heavenly grace, without which our own merits are nought, and no gifts of Nature at all are to be esteemed. Arts, riches, beauty, strength, wit, eloquence, they all avail nothing before Thee, O Lord, without Thy grace. For the gifts of Nature belong to good and evil alike; but the proper gift of the elect is grace—that is, love—and they who bear the mark thereof are held worthy of everlasting life. ”

“ I bow my knees to the God of all grace, and say, “Not unto me, not unto me, but to thy name be all the glory.” And what can I say more? It well becometh the just to be thankful. Gratitude, blessing, and praise is the sacrifice of the heart and lips, which is due to God. The Lord be pleased to maintain this spirit in our minds. Gratitude is sometimes excited and led out by the retrospect we take of the Lord’s dealings with us, and discerning his love and wisdom in all his dispensations, however gloomy for the time ”

“ And therefore, with great joy, and with my whole heart, I praise, extol, magnify, and worship thee. Oh, that I could praise thee without ceasing; always, and in all places, as much as all creatures, and all who have ever been, are, or shall be ever, extol, magnify, and honour thee; or ever have, or shall be able to honour thee. ”

“ Could you see what every stirring of pride does to your soul, you would beg of everything you meet to tear the viper from you, though with the loss of a hand or an eye. Could you see what a sweet, divine, transforming power there is in humility, how it expels the poison of your nature, and makes room for the Spirit of God to live in you, you would rather wish to be the footstool of all the world than want the smallest degree of it.'—Spirit of Prayer, Pt. ”

“ Those who contentedly bear oppression, and quietly refer themselves to God to plead their cause, shall in due time be satisfied, abundantly satisfied, in the wisdom and kindness which shall be manifested in his appearances for them. But it is certainly to be understood spiritually, of such a desire as, being terminated on such an object, is gracious, and the work of God's grace in the soul, and qualifies for the gifts of the divine favour. 1. Righteousness is here put for all spiritual blessings. ”

“ To contemplate goodness in God, and strain toward it in yearning love, is the method of the Christian vita contemplativa. In this way the recluse cultivates humility, patience, purity, and love, and perfects his soul for heaven. ”

“ Convinced of the folly of placing his love and trust on creatures, he fixes it wholly on the eternal Creator, and acknowledges with sincerity the mercy of God, in thus graciously releasing his heart from those deluding ties, which had so often drawn him from the centre of true happiness, the end of his being. Thus blessed is he, who can say with faith, gratitude, and humility, O God, thou art my God!—Grant, Oh most adorable and omnipotent Being! ”

“ For our glorying is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward. ”

“ Reader, it you have already tasted that the Lord is gracious, you will learn, from what you have been reading, to look upward with gratitude, for the exercise toward you of sovereign distinguishing grace—to look forward with humble confidence, your hope resting on the finished work of Immanuel—to look around you on your brethren in the Lord with fervent, pure, operative love—and on the world lying in wickedness, with tender, earnest, and active compassion.
1. Gratitude to God for his distinguishing grace, is one of the leading features of the Christian character. ”

“ But for you that fear the Lord in sincerity, I have nothing but good and comfortable words: may your souls ever live. What condition can you devise wherein there will not be matter of joy unspeakable to you. O beloved, know your own happiness, and live in that holy admiring, adoring, praising of your gracious God, that becomes the people of his praise. ”

“ I want the divine spirit to lead me deeply into all truths, for the knowledge and purity of God’s people’s minds and consciences, and to follow after righteousness in every sense—peace and joy as the happy consequence. ”

“ What dignity, what grandeur, what Divine nobility there would be in every thought, in every word, in every deed of all our life on earth, were the consciousness ever glowing in our hearts that we too came from God and are going back to God! ”

“ The wanderings and imaginations of the mind, thoughtlessness, and a want of due reverence to that gracious Being in whose presence we are more especially assembled, may divert the attention from the true object of worship; but as the soul is again turned unto him in humiliation and prostration, he graciously regards it for good, and answers the prayer of the penitent and the humble. ”

“ On that glory of his goodness we can gaze, though afar off in degree, yet near in kind, while the glory of his wisdom and power is far, far beyond my understanding. Of the intellect of God we can know nothing; but we can know what is better, the heart of God. For that glory of goodness we can understand, and know, and sympathize with in our heart of hearts, and say, If this be the likeness of God, he is indeed worthy to be worshipped, and had in honour. ”

“ O cause us to hear thy loving kindness in the morning; for in thee do we trust. Cause us to know the way wherein we shall go, for we lift up our souls unto thee. O take not thy holy Spirit from us: but direct all our ways to please thee our God. Help us to see thy power, to own thy presence, to admire thy wisdom, and to love thy goodness in all thy creatures: and by all, draw our hearts still nearer to thee. Such thy mercy and grace we beg for ourselves, and all ours and thine every where, in our great Mediator’s blessed words. ”

“ All the aids necessary to body and soul, for obtaining grace, perseverance, and glory, of thy infinite goodness, vouchsafe mercifully to bestow upon us this day, and all the days of our life, as may be most for thy glory, according to thy will. ”

“ If God were to open our eyes to see the spiritual glory of our Lord in His poverty, in His entire renunciation of every thing of worldly comfort or self-pleasing; if we saw the Divine glory of which it is the expression; if we knew how infinitely beautiful it was to all the holy angels, how infinitely well-pleasing to the Father, we should then only in some little degree be able to say whether it was something we ought to desire and imitate. ”

“ He who would find Blessedness, let him find himself; let him abandon every discordant desire, every inharmonious thought, every unlovely habit and deed, and he will find that Grace and Beauty and Harmony which form the indestructible essence of his own being. ”

“ For when the vein of the heart is touched by the grace of the Holy Spirit, forthwith, by the permirific sweetness of the harmony, an exceeding operation of sacred virtue is perceived more manifestly to spring forth. ”

“ Precious indeed is its assurance that the sweetness of them (for all its ineffable element of sadness, as eyes and ears are hungry for the faces and the voices gone, for the look and tone of the preacher, the teacher, through whom we first knew the Lord, or knew Him better) is no half-forbidden luxury of the soul but a means of victorious grace. ”

“ When I speak of a man growing in grace, I mean simply this—that his sense of sin is becoming deeper, his faith stronger, his hope brighter, his love more extensive, his spiritual–mindedness more marked. ”

“ Whence we may easily infer, how much more needful for us, is the view of that joy set before us, that we may endure whatever cross the wisdom of God lays upon us, and press on thro’ holiness to glory. ”

“ What manner of persons ought we to be? Should not all our lives be filled with praise, and glory, and hallelujahs to God and the Lamb, with good works and good feelings, being filled with the Spirit of God? ”

“ For ourselves, whatever particular graces thou knowest to be most necessary for each of us, but particularly that ardent charity and sincere humility which we know to have been the favourite virtues of thy adorable heart. ”

“ When Thou art present all things are pleasant; when Thou art absent, all things are wearisome. Thou makest the heart to be at rest, givest it deep peace and festal joy. Thou makest it to think rightly in every matter, and in every matter to give Thee praise; neither can anything please long without Thee but if it would be pleasant and of sweet savour, Thy grace must be there, and it is Thy wisdom which must give unto it a sweet savour. ”

“ For, shall the blessed Souls present continual Praises without reason? Have they not reason to praise God for their happiness, and shall they not remember the Mercies of God, and the Merits of his Son? ”