The FaithFul of God
By Octavius Winslow, 1853 “Strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.” Ephesians 3:16 PREFACE It was the dying observation, penned the day preceding her departure, of one of the most amiable and intellectual of her gender, Jane Taylor: “Did you know what thoughts I have now, you would see as I do, […]
“This corruptible must put on incorruption.” —1 Corinthians 15:53 Marvel of marvels! The sleeping ashes of the sepulcher springing up at the tones of the archangel’s trumpet!—the dishonored dust rising into a glorified body, like its risen Lord’s! At death, the soul’s bliss is perfect in kind; but this bliss is not complete in degree, […]
“And I will betroth you unto Me forever.” —Hosea 2:19 How wondrous and varied are the figures which Jesus employs to express the tenderness of His covenant love! My soul! your Savior-God has “married you!” Would you know the time of your betrothal? Go back into the depths of a bypast eternity, before the world […]
“I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” —John 14:3 If the meeting of a long absent friend, or brother, on earth, be a joyous event, what, my soul, must be the joy of your union with this Brother of brothers, this Friend of friends! […]
“What I do you know not now; but you shall know hereafter.” —John 13:7 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 […]
“At evening time it shall be light.” —Zechariah 14:7 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-trammeling earth, and remember […]
“Behold, I come quickly.” —Revelation 3:11 “Even so! come, Lord Jesus!” “Why do the wheels of Your chariot tarry?” Six thousand years this world has rolled on, getting timeworn with age, and wrinkled with sins and sorrows. A waiting Church sees the long-drawn shadows of twilight announcing, “The Lord is at hand.” Prepare, my soul, […]
“The days of your mourning shall be ended.” —Isaiah 60:20 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 dishonored—need we wonder at their […]
“In due season you shall reap, if you faint not.” —Galatians 6:9 Believer! all the glory of your salvation belongs to Jesus—none to yourself; every jewel in your eternal crown is His— purchased by His blood, and polished by His Spirit. The confession of time will be the ascription of all eternity: “By the grace […]
“Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.” —Revelation 14:13 My Soul! is this blessedness yours in prospect? Are you ready, if called this night to lie down on your death-pillow, sweetly to fall asleep in Jesus? What is the sting of death?—It is sin. Is death, then, to you, robbed of its sting, […]
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you; not as the world gives.” —John 14:27 “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You.” “Perfect peace!”—what a blessed attainment! My soul! is it yours? I am sure it is not, if you are seeking it in a perishable […]
“Him that comes unto me, I will in no wise cast out.” —John 6:37 Cast out! My soul! how often might this have been your history! You have cast off your God—might He not often have cast out you? Yes! cast you out as fuel for the fire of His wrath—a sapless, fruitless cumberer. And […]
“A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench.” —Matthew 12:20 Will Jesus accept such a heart as mine?—this erring, treacherous, traitor heart? The past!—how many forgotten vows—broken covenants—prayerless days! How often have I made new resolutions, and as often has the reed succumbed to the first blast of temptation, […]
“If need be.”—1 Peter 1:6 Three gracious words! Not one of all my tears has been shed for nothing! Not one stroke of the rod has been unneeded, or that might have been spared! Your heavenly Father loves you too much, and too tenderly, to bestow harsher correction than your case requires! Is it loss […]
“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.” —Revelation 3:19 Sorrowing Believer! what could you wish more than this? Your furnace is severe; but look at this assurance of Him who lit it. Love is the fuel that feeds its flames! Its every spark is love! Kindled by a Father’s hand, and designed as […]