Grace Audio Treasures

How am I to worship God? Horatius Bonar Man asks, "How am I to worship God?" And he has answered it also in his own way: "In the gorgeous temple, in the pillared cathedral, with incense, and vestments, and forms, and ceremonies, and processions, and postures!" he says. But these performances are the 'will worship' of self righteousness, not the obedient service of men worshiping God in ways of His own choosing. Man cannot teach man how to worship God. When he tries it he utterly fails. He distorts worship. He misrepresents God, and he indulges his own sensuous or self righteous tastes. His "dim religious light" is but a reflection of his own gloomy spirit, and an ignorant misrepresentation of Him "who is light." God's answer to man's question is given in the Lord's words, "those who worship Him, must worship Him in spirit and in truth." John 4:24 The vestments may or may not be lovely--that matters not. The music may or may not be beautiful. The knees may or may not be bent. The hands may or may not be clasped. The place of worship may or may not be a cathedral, or a consecrated building. These are immaterial things; mere adjuncts of religion, not its essence. The true worship is that of the inner man--and all these other exterior things are of little importance. As it is with love, so it is with worship. The heart is everything! God can do without the bended knee, but not without the broken heart! "My son, give Me your heart and let your eyes keep to my ways!" Proverbs 23:26

It radically changes the whole man! Charles Spurgeon Genuine salvation is always transformative. It radically changes the whole man! He was once at enmity with God, and hated Him. Now he is a friend of God, and loves Him. His condition before God, his moral tone, his nature, his state of mind--are made radically different from what they were before salvation! Genuine salvation changes the PRINCIPLE UPON WHICH HE LIVES. He once lived for self--he now lives to please God. His OBJECTS IN LIFE are changed. He once lived for money, or the flesh, or the world. Now he lives for the glory of God. His COMFORTS are changed. The pleasures of the world and sin are now nothing to him. He finds comfort in the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Spirit. His DESIRES are changed. That which he once panted and pined for, he is now content to do without. That which he once despised, he now longs after as the deer pants after the water brooks. His FEARS are different. He fears man no more, but fears his God. His HOPES are also altered. His expectations fly beyond the stars. He now confidently looks forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God! The saved man has begun a new life! A convert once said, "Either the world is altered--or else I am!" The saved man feels that the things which are seen are shadows, and the things which he hears are but voices out of dreamland. He now knows that unseen spiritual realities are substantial. He lives by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

"Don't even take along a walking stick, nor a traveler's bag, nor food, nor money. Not even an extra coat." Luke 9:3 Jesus charges His apostles, when He sends them forth--to study simplicity of habits, and contentment with such things as they have. These instructions contain a lesson for all time. The spirit of these verses is meant to be remembered by all ministers of the Gospel. The leading idea which the words convey is, a warning against worldliness and luxurious habits. Well would it be for the world and the Church if the warning had been more carefully heeded! From no quarter has Christianity received such damage, as it has from the hands of its own teachers! On no point have its teachers erred so much, and so often, as in the matter of worldliness and luxury of life. They have often destroyed, by their daily lives, the whole work of their lips. They have given occasion to the enemies of the gospel to say, that they love ease, and money, and worldly things--far more than souls. May we daily pray that the church may be delivered from such ministers! They are a living stumbling block in the way to Heaven. They are helpers to the cause of the devil, and not of God. The preacher whose affections are set on . . . money, and prestige,   and dress,   and feasting,   and pleasure seeking, has clearly mistaken his vocation! "For, as I have often told you before and now say again even  with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.  Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame.  Their mind is on earthly things!" Philippians 3:18–19

Here, and here alone! (J.C. Philpot) Standing at the cross of our adorable Lord, we may see . . . the law thoroughly fulfilled,   its curse fully endured,   its penalties wholly removed,   sin eternally put away,   the justice of God amply satisfied,   all His perfections gloriously harmonized,   reconciliation completely effected,   redemption graciously accomplished,   and every true believer everlastingly saved. Here, and here alone, we see sin in its blackest colors--and holiness in its most attractive beauties. Here, and here alone, we see the love of God in its tenderest form--and the anger of God in its deepest expression. Here, and here alone, we see the eternal and unalterable displeasure of the Almighty against sin, and the rigid demands of His inflexible justice--and yet the tender compassion and boundless love of His heart, to His chosen, redeemed and regenerate people. Here, and here alone, are pardon and peace obtained. Here, and here alone, penitential grief and godly sorrow flow from hearts and eyes. Here, and here alone, is . . . sin subdued and mortified,   holiness communicated,   death vanquished,   Satan put to flight, and   happiness and heaven begun in the soul. What a holy meeting-place for repenting sinners and a sin-pardoning God! What a joyful forgiving-place for guilty, yet repenting and returning backsliders! What a door of hope for the self-condemned and self-abhorred! And what a blessed resorting-place for the whole family of grace in this valley of grief and sorrow.

Chance, luck, or accident J.C. Ryle Luke 12:6-7 "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows!" Nothing whatever, whether great or small, whether blessing or harm--can happen to a believer without God's ordering and permission. There is no such thing as chance, luck, or accident in the Christian's journey through this world. All is arranged and appointed by his loving heavenly Father: "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose!" Romans 8:28 Let us seek to have an abiding sense of God's hand in all that befalls us. Let us strive to realize that our Father's wisdom and love are measuring out our daily portion, and that our every step is ordered by Him. A daily practical faith of this kind, is one grand secret of happiness, and a mighty antidote against murmuring and discontent. We should try to feel in the day of trial and disappointment, that all is right and all is well done. We should try to feel on the bed of sickness that there must be a "needs be." We should say to ourselves, "God could keep away from me these things if He thought fit. But He does not do so, and therefore they must be for my benefit. I will lie still, and bear them patiently. Whatever pleases God, shall please me!"

In love Henry Law, "Gleanings from the Book of Life" "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" 1 John 3:1 Behold the overflowing riches of the grace and love of Jesus. Every page of the Gospel story teaches the love of His heart to His redeemed people. In love He receives His people as His own. Before the world was framed, He inscribed them on the tablets of His heart. In love He undertakes their cause, and espouses them as His bride. In love He works out for them a righteousness so bright, so perfect, so glorious--that Jehovah's eye can find no flaw, no spot, no blemish in it. In love He beautifies them with His shining robe, and fits them for the banquet in the heaven of heavens. In love He guards them from every foe, and makes them more than conquerors over all the hosts of darkness. In love He causes all things to work together for their good. In love He leads them to lie down in the rich pastures of Bible truth, and instructs them in the Word which is "able to make them wise unto salvation." In love He will come again to receive them to Himself. In love He will present them pure and blameless to His Father with exceeding joy. In love He will dwell among them through the ages of eternity! "I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me!" Galatians 2:20

Of all the sins common to our fallen nature, God has the most signally stressed that sin of idolatry, or false worship. Man is by nature an idolater. His sinful mind, being alienated from God, seeks some object of worship other than the true and living God. The 'believer is not entirely exempt from this sin. Hence we have these exhortations of the Apostles addressed to the early Christians, and in these last days addressed to us: "Little children, keep yourselves from idols." 1 John 5:21 "My dearly beloved, flee from idolatry." 1 Corinthians 10:14 Surely, it was not the gross and senseless idolatry of the heathens, to which the Apostles thus refer--but to other idols and other worship, less palpable and degrading, but not less superstitious or offensive to God. The worship of SELF is a natural and fearful form of idolatry. It is an innate and never entirely eradicated principle of our nature, but clings to us to the very last of life. Alas! the holiest and the best of us want to be something, and to do something--when in reality we are nothing, and can do nothing. For the most part, we walk in our religious life upon stilts--always appearing in the eyes of others taller than we really are! But real greatness and true humility, have ever been in alliance with abnegation of SELF. The holiest saints have always walked the lowest paths, for they saw the most of God's majesty and the least of their own worth. The nearer a man draws to God--the more he loathes the vanity of self, and clings to the sufficiency of grace. Who can stand before the cross and gaze upon the Creator of all worlds impaled between two criminals, Himself dying as the chief, and not shrink into

Laws of nature? John MacDuff Isaiah 29:6. "In an instant, I, the Lord Almighty, will come against them with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and storm and consuming fire." Let us not dethrone and undeify the great Maker and Sustainer, by substituting for His sovereign rule, what are commonly called the laws of nature. Winds, and earthquakes, and tempests are not the capricious outbreaks of unregulated mechanical force. The world's vast machinery, with all its varied and intricate movements, is under God's supervision and control. "He holds the winds in His fists." "He gathers the waters in the hollow of His hand." "He makes the clouds His chariot." "He directs the snow to fall on the earth, and tells the rain to pour down." This offers a lesson of soothing consolation to many a stricken heart: That lightning which struck down my child was an arrow out of the quiver of God! That wave which swept him from the vessel's side; or that hurricane which overthrew my dwelling, and buried loved ones in the ruins, had their pathway marked out by God! He brings forth the lightning out of His treasuries! He gives the sea its decree! He walks on the wings of the wind! All things are subservient to the controlling will and purposes of the Most High God. "I am the Lord, and there is no other! I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things!" Isaiah 45:6-7

In Psalm 17:14, David prays, "With Your hand, O Lord, save me from men of this world, whose portion is in this life!" Worldlings may boast of their treasures and pleasures--but the Christian counts all this as loss and dross, when compared to the surpassing worth of knowing the Lord. If our portion is in this poor world, then we will perish with it. But if our portion is the Lord, then we have a treasure that never disappoints or decays, that no thief can steal, and no time can tarnish. "You are my portion, O Lord." Psalm 119:57. God is unchanging in His love, unlimited in His mercy, and unfailing in His grace. What greater comfort can a soul have, than to know that the Almighty is his everlasting portion? Psalm 142:5, "You are my refuge, my portion." How surpassingly glorious is the portion of the child of God! Not merely peace of conscience, not merely deliverance from Hell, not merely the hope of Heaven--but God Himself is our portion! The true believer does not chiefly desire the gifts of God--he pants after the Giver Himself. He does not primarily long for the place where there is "no more death or mourning or crying or pain," but for the immediate, unhindered presence of the Lord who loves him and gave Himself for him! The highest expression of divine love, is not that God grants us many blessings, but that He gives us Himself. To say, "The Lord is my portion" is to confess that our portion is infinite, unchanging, and all-satisfying--for He is all that and more. What greater assurance can the soul have, than to know that the omnipotent, omniscient, all-wise, and infinitely good God, has pledged Himself to be our possession forever? How shameful it is, th

Romans 5:8, "God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." At the very center of God's eternal purpose, stands the cross of Jesus. Calvary is not merely a tragic moment in history--it is the appointed place where Divine justice met Divine mercy. There, the spotless Lamb of God bore the sins of His people, that they might be made the righteousness of God in Him. The crucifixion of our Lord was not an accident of human hatred, but the outworking of God's sovereign and eternal decree. "It was the Lord's will to crush Him, and cause Him to suffer." Isaiah 53:10. There, on that cursed tree, our Savior accomplished the ultimate demonstration of divine love--His substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of His chosen people. "The punishment that brought us peace, was upon Him." Isaiah 53:5. How precious is the sin-atoning death of Jesus! Divine justice demanded a payment, and divine mercy provided it in Jesus. Every blow of the whip, every thorn pressed into His sacred brow, every nail driven into His sinless flesh, every bit of spit spewed on His blessed face, was the due penalty of our transgressions--yet He bore it willingly, out of His great love for us! How utterly vile must sin be to the thrice holy God, that nothing less than the horrifying death of His only beloved Son could take it away! How vast must His love be, that He would not spare His only begotten Son from undergoing the full punishment that our sins rightly deserved. It is here at the cross, that the believing soul sees the unchanging character of God: His holiness did not relax. His justice was not bypassed. His truth was not compromised. Here is th