JEWELS from JAMES
(Choice devotional selections from
the works of John Angell James)
One gracious purpose of mercy!
"And we know that God
causes everything to work
together for the good of
those who love Him, and
are
called according to His
purpose for them." Romans 8:28
Providence is God's
government of the universe.
Providence is that mighty
scheme . . .
which commenced before time
was born;
which embraces the annals of
other worlds besides ours;
which includes the history
of angels, men, and devils.
Providence comprises the whole
range of events which
have taken place from the
formation of the first
creature,
to the last moment of
time—with all the tendencies,
reasons, connections, and
results of things.
Providence encompasses the
separate existence of
each individual, with the
continuation and influence
of the whole, in one
harmonious scheme.
We are puzzled at almost every
step, at the deep,
unfathomable mysteries of
Providence!
How often is Jehovah, in His
dealings with us, a God
who hides Himself! How often
does He wrap Himself in
clouds, and pursue His path
upon the waters, where we
can neither see His goings,
nor trace His footsteps!
How many of His dispensations
are inexplicable, and
of His judgments how many are
unfathomable by the
short line of our reason!
But whatever we don't know
now, we shall know hereafter.
The crooked will be made
straight, the clouds of
darkness
will be scattered, and all His
conduct towards us placed in
the broad day-light of
eternity.
We shall see how all the
varying, and numerous, and
seemingly opposite events of
our history, were combined
into
one gracious purpose of mercy,
which was most
perfectly wise in all its
combinations.
Delightful, most delightful,
will it be to retrace our
winding
and often gloomy course, and
discern at each change and
turning, the reason of the
occurrence and the wisdom of
God.
Delightful will it be to
discern the influence which
all our
temporal circumstances, all
our disappointments, losses,
and perplexities, had upon our
permanent and celestial
happiness. How much of divine
wisdom, power, goodness,
and faithfulness, will our
short and simple history
present,
and what rapturous fervor will
the discovery give to the
song of praise which we shall
utter before the throne of
God and the Lamb!
All the misery
Sin is, in itself, an evil
of enormous magnitude.
As committed against a Being
whom we are under
infinite obligation to love,
and serve, and glorify,
it must partake of infinite
degrees of demerit.
Sin introduces the reign of
confusion and misery.
All
the misery which
either is or ever will be
on earth, or in hell—is the
result of sin.
Sin is the greatest evil—the
only evil in the universe.
Sin is the opposite, and the
enemy to God. Sin is
the contrast of all that is
pure and glorious in His
divine attributes and
ineffably beautiful
perfections;
and as such it is that which
he cannot but hate with
a perfect hatred.
Sin is the contrary of
holiness, and thus the enemy
of happiness.
The
secret of happiness
"I have learned to be
content whatever the
circumstances. I know
what it is to be in need,
and I know what it is to
have plenty. I have
learned the secret of
being content in any and
every situation, whether
well fed or hungry,
whether living in plenty
or in need." Phil. 4:11-12
We should labor to be
content with such things
as
we have. Contentment is
the
secret of happiness,
whether we have much or
little. The man who makes
up his mind to enjoy what
he has, is quite as happy
as he who is possessed of
twice as much.
Our evil temper
If we are as angry and
revengeful, as proud and
envious,
as selfish and unkind—as
we were before our
supposed
conversion—we may be
assured that it is but a
supposed
conversion.
It does not matter that
we go regularly to
worship. It
does not matter that we
strongly feel under
sermons.
It does not matter that
we have happy frames and
feelings—for a heart
under the predominant
influence
of petulant passions can
no more have undergone
the
change of the new birth,
than one that is filled
with a
prevailing
lecherousness.
And where the heart is
renewed, and the badness
of
the temper is not
constant, but only
occasional—is not
prevailing, but only
prominent—it is, in so
far as it
prevails, a sad blot on
real piety.
We must bring our mind
under the influence of
redeeming
grace—we must ascend the
hill of Calvary, and
gaze upon
that scene of love,
until our cold hearts
melt, our hard
hearts soften, and all
the cruel selfishness of
our nature
relaxes into
gentleness. The example
of the meek and
lowly Jesus must be
contemplated, admired,
and copied.
And especially after
all, must we breathe
forth internal
longings for the
influence of the Holy
Spirit, who alone
can subdue
our evil temper.
A cold, heartless
and uninfluential
religion!
"If I have the gift of
prophecy and
can fathom
all mysteries
and all knowledge,
and if I have
a faith that can move
mountains, but have
not
love, I am
nothing." 1
Corinthians 13:2
Many conclude that
they are true
Christians, because
of the clearness of
their views, and their
attainments
in biblical knowledge.
They have a singular
zeal for the
truth, and are great
sticklers for the
doctrines of grace.
They look upon all,
besides a few of their
own class,
as mere babes in
knowledge. They
themselves are the
eagles who soar
to the sun, and bask
in its beams!
While the rest of
mankind are the
moles that burrow,
and the bats
that flutter in the
dark!
Doctrine is everything
to them! Clear views
of the gospel
are their great
desire. Puffed up
with pride,
selfish,
unkind, irritable,
censorious, malicious—they
manifest
a total lack of that
humility and kindness
which are the
prominent features of
true Christianity.
Let it be known,
however, that clear
views of Scripture are
of themselves no
evidence of true
religion. A professor
of
religion be an enemy
to God in his
soul—with an
evangelical
creed upon his tongue!
Their religion begins
and ends in . . .
adopting a form of
sound words for their
creed,
approving an
evangelical ministry,
admiring the popular
champions of the
truth,
and joining in the
criticism of error.
As to any spirituality
of mind; any
heavenliness of
affection;
any Christian love;
any vital, elevating
influence of those
very doctrines to
which they profess to
be attached—they
are as destitute as
the greatest
worldling! And like
him, they
are perhaps as
selfish, revengeful,
implacable, and
unkind!
This is the religion
but too common in our
churches—a
cold,
heartless and uninfluential religion—a
sort of lunar light,
which reflects the
beams of the sun,
but not its warmth!
"If I have the gift of
prophecy and
can fathom
all mysteries
and all knowledge,
and if I have
a faith that
can move mountains—but
have
not love, I am
nothing!" 1
Corinthians 13:2
"Whoever does not
love does not know
God,
because God is love."
1 John 4:8
The most crowded
avenue to the
bottomless pit!
Many will say
to me on that day,
"Lord, Lord, did we
not prophesy in Your
name, and in Your
name drive
out demons and
perform many
miracles?" Then I
will
tell them plainly,
"I never knew you! Depart from
Me, you evildoers!"
Matthew 7:22-23
Delusion on
the nature of true
piety prevails to
a truly appalling
extent! Millions are
in error as
to the real
condition of their
souls, and think
that they are
journeying to
celestial bliss;
when
in reality they are
traveling to
perdition!
Oh fearful
mistake!
Oh fatal
delusion!
What terrible
disappointment
awaits them!
What horror, and
anguish, and despair,
will take
eternal possession
of their souls, in
that moment of
truth, when instead
of awaking from the
sleep of
death amid the
glories of the
heavenly city—they
shall lift up their
eyes, "being in
torment!"
No pen can describe
the overwhelming
anguish of
such a
disappointment! The
imagination shrinks
with
amazement and
horror, from the
contemplation of her
own faint sketch of
the unendurable
scene!
Millions of souls
are irrecoverably
lost by
self-deception!
Delusion is
the most crowded
avenue to the
bottomless pit!
Self-delusion is the
'common
infatuation', the
'epidemic
blindness', which
has fallen upon
multitudes!
We are to pity
them
The most perfect
benevolence to
men, is that
which,
instead of looking
with complacency
on their errors,
warns them of
their danger, and
admonishes them
to escape. It is
no matter that
they think they
are
right—this only
makes their case
the more alarming;
and to act towards
them as if we
thought their
mistaken views of
no consequence, is
only to
confirm their
delusion, and to
aid their
destruction!
It is true we are
neither to despise
them nor persecute
them—we are
neither to oppress
nor ridicule
them—we
are neither to
look upon them
with haughty
scorn, nor
with callous
indifference. But
while we set
ourselves
against their
errors,
we are to pity
them
with sincere
compassion, and to
labor for their
conversion with
unselfish
kindness. We are
to bear with
unruffled
meekness all their
provoking
sarcasms; and to
sustain,
with deep
humility, the
consciousness of
our clearer
perceptions; and
to convince them,
that with the
steadiest
resistance of
their principles,
we unite
the tenderest
concern for their
welfare.
Why is the
life of the
church so
feeble?
Why are
spirituality of
mind, and
heavenliness
of affection so
low? Why have we
such a race
of
worldly-minded
professors? Why?
The private
reading and
study of the
Scriptures are
sadly neglected!
Men are
strangers to
their Bibles!
The Bible was
never more
widely
circulated—but
at
the same time,
never less
devoutly read.
Where are
the men and the
women to whom
the Bible is a
book
of daily study
and delight in
the closet—to
whom its
words are
"sweeter than
honey or the
honeycomb,
and more desired
than their
necessary food?"
The
magazine, the
review, and the
newspaper, and
the
last new novel
or tale, have so
far pushed out
the
Bible!
Floating to
perdition on
the stream of
delusion!
"Not everyone
who says to
Me, 'Lord,
Lord,' will
enter the
kingdom of
heaven, but
only he who
does the will
of My
Father who is
in heaven.
Many will say
to Me on that
day,
'Lord, Lord,
did we not
prophesy in
Your name, and
in
Your name
drive out
demons and
perform many
miracles?'
Then I will
tell them
plainly, 'I
never knew
you. Away from
Me, you
evildoers!'"
Matthew
7:21-23.
This is really
one of the
most alarming
passages of
Holy Writ,
as showing how
far people may
go in
self-deception,
and how
perseveringly
they may
continue in
it—even to
death, and
through it, up
to the very
judgment seat
of Christ!
I am truly
alarmed and
terrified at
the thought of
this state
of things,
when
multitudes are
going down to
the pit with a
lie in their
right hand—floating
to perdition
on the stream
of delusion!
There are many
paths to
perdition in
the broad way,
some
of which are
more cleanly
and some more
foul, yet they
all
lead to the
same end. And
they shall as
certainly
arrive at
hell, who
tread the
cleanlier
paths of a
"refined
hypocrisy",
as those who
track through
the mire and
dirt of the
grossest
abominations.
Under the most
searching
ministry, and
the most
alarming
sermons—a
fatal delusion
sends
multitudes to
perdition!
How dreadful
will be the
disappointment
and remorse of
the
hypocrite,
when death,
which closes
his eyes to
all the scenes
of earth,
shall open
them to those
of the
bottomless
pit!
What horror,
and surprise,
and
overwhelming
disappointment
seize him who,
when he
expects to
arise from the
bed of death,
to the
felicities of
heaven—sinks
from it to the
miseries of
hell!
Oh, the
indescribable,
overwhelming
astonishment,
consternation,
and horror of
the hypocrite,
who wakes up
amid the
scenes of the
bottomless
pit! It is not
for language
to set forth
nor
imagination
to conceive
the torment
that will in a
moment come
over the
miserable
soul, whose
first words in
eternity will
be, "I am
lost,
lost, lost,
forever! I am
in hell." The
wretched
spirit will
look
through the
vista of
millions of
ages, and see
no glimmering
spark of this
to relieve its
present sense
of unutterable
woe!
"The hope of
the hypocrite
shall perish!"
Job 8:13
Because
He first
loved us
"We love
Him,
because
He first
loved us."
1 John 4:19
The work of
the Holy
Spirit is
not only to
reveal God's
love to
us—but to
produce in
us love to
God in
return.
Wherever the
Holy Spirit
really gives
a clear view
and
deep sense
of God's
love to us,
He, by the
same
operation
of His
grace,
subdues the
enmity of
the carnal
mind, and
produces a
genuine and
supreme love
to God.
Heavenly!
"Nothing
impure
will
ever enter
it." Rev.
21:27
What is
heaven?
Heaven is
a state
where we
shall see
Christ as
He
is, and be
like Him.
It is the
region of
moral
purity.
Its
inhabitants
are
holy—
the holy
Father,
the holy
Savior,
the holy
Spirit,
holy
angels,
holy
men.
Its
occupations
are
holy—the
service of
God—the
song of
cherubim
and
seraphim,
crying
"Holy,
Holy,
Holy, Lord
God
Almighty!"—and
all other
things in
harmony
with this
sacred
employment
and
felicity.
Every
contemplation
of this
holy
heavenly
state,
tends to
assimilate
the soul
to its
likeness.
While . .
.
gazing
upon it,
delighting
in it,
longing
for it,
we grow
in
resemblance
to it!
The soul
of the
believer
turned
heavenwards,
becomes
heavenly!
"Everyone
who has
this hope
in him
purifies
himself,
just as
Christ is
pure." 1
John 3:3
The
model of
Christian
holiness
The
model of
Christian
holiness
is
Christ.
Christ .
. .
as the
man of
sorrows,
as
exposed
to
temptation,
as
subject
to
affliction,
as the
servant
of God,
as the
Son
learning
obedience
by
the
things
which He
suffered,
as
separate
from sin
and
sinners,
though
dwelling
in the
midst of
them.
Here is
our
model—the
infinite,
eternal,
almighty
God,
exhibited
in the
form of
the
perfect
man,
presented
in
dimensions
the eye
can
comprehend.
Christ,
the
divine
man, the
model
man,
must be
before
us, and
our eye
must be
ever
upon our
copy
and our
page.
The
ultimate
object
of
redeeming
mercy
"All
who
believe
this
will
keep
themselves
pure,
just
as
Christ
is
pure."
1 John
3:3.
Every
view
we can
take
of the
work
of
redemption,
shows
its
connection
with
holiness.
The
Father
has
"chosen
us
before
the
foundation
of the
world,
that
we
might
be
holy."
The
Son
did
not
die
merely
to
save
us
from
hell,
and
bring
us to
heaven—but
to
"redeem
us
from
all
iniquity,
and
purify
unto
Himself
a
peculiar
people,
zealous
for
good
works."
The
Spirit
is
given
to
"create
us
anew
unto
good
works."
If we
are
called,
it is
"with
a holy
calling."
If we
are
afflicted,
it is
that
we
might
"be
partakers
of
God's
holiness."
If we
possess
the
Scriptures,
it is
"that
we
might
be
sanctified
by the
truth."
Holiness
is the
image
of
God,
stamped
upon
man's
soul
at his
creation—which
Satan
marred,
when
his
malignity
could
not
reach
the
divine
original.
And to
restore
us to
holiness,
is
the
ultimate
object
of
redeeming
mercy.
What
would
justification
be
without
holiness—but
like
throwing
a
vestment
of
purple
and
gold
over a
leprous
body?
What
is
heaven—but
the
region,
the
home,
the
very
center
of
holiness?
Take
away
holiness
from
an
angel,
and he
becomes
a
devil.
Add
holiness
to the
nature
of a
devil,
and he
becomes
an
angel.
Were a
man
without
holiness
to
enter
heaven,
its
blessed
inhabitants
would
run
from
him
with
horror
and
alarm—as
we
would
run
from a
person
with
the
plague!
Without
holiness,
a soul
in
heaven
would
be
like a
nauseated
man at
a
feast.
He
would
desire
nothing,
taste
nothing,
relish
nothing.
How
insignificant,
trivial,
and
paltry!
"This
world
is
fading
away,
along
with
everything
it
craves.
But
if
you
do
the
will
of
God,
you
will
live
forever."
1
John
2:17
How
insignificant,
trivial,
and
paltry,
are
the
objects
of
worldly
desire
and
expectation!
What
are
wealth,
rank,
fame,
pleasure—compared
with
the
glory,
honor,
immortality,
and
eternal
life,
which
the
believer
looks
for
beyond
the
grave?
They
are
all
of
the
earth,
earthly—this
is
heavenly.
They
are
human—this
divine.
They
are
transient—this
everlasting.
They
are
unsatisfying,
leaving
the
soul
a
void
unfilled—this
replenishing
its
vast
capacity.
They
are
fleeting,
shadowy,
and
precarious
—this
absolutely
certain.
They
are
but
the
children's
toys
|