I thought it’d be nice to share some excerpts from Dr. Octavius Winslow’s The Precious Things of God for your consideration this Lord’s Day. Blessings and enjoy!

On the Preciousness of Christ:

The Bible recognises but two specific and distinctive characters — the SINNER — the SAVIOUR; and all others are but modifications of these. The saint is but the sinner converted, justified, pardoned, adopted, sanctified, saved, glorified. And all the official relations sustained by Christ in the economy of salvation are but so many varied and beautiful forms of the one Saviour, of whom it is said, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heave given among men whereby we must be saved.” Thus, then, as you feel your sinfulness, you will estimate the fitness and suitableness of the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour. There will be a perfect agreement between your consciousness of guilt and your believing apprehension of the excellence of the Atonement to meet your case. Your sinnership and Christ’s Saviourship will harmonise and dovetail in exact and beautiful fitness and proportion. Oh, what a divine and blessed arrangement is this! With what grandeur, yet with what simplicity, does it i nvest the scheme of salvation! What solemnity, yet what hope, does it throw around the present and the future of the soul! It seems to fathom the lowest depth of my sinfulness, while it lift me to the loftiest height of God’s grace.

and

We have need, beloved, to be cautioned against an error into which some have fallen — of exalting the work of Christ above the person of Christ — in other words, not tracing the efficacy of Christ’s sacrifice to the essential dignity of Christ’s person. The Godhead ofthe Saviour admitted — His atoning death becomes a fact of easy belief. Once concede that He who died upon the cross was “GOD manifest in the flesh,” and the mind will experience no difficulty in admitting that that death was sacrificial and expiatory. The sufferings and death of a Being so illustrious must be in harmony with an object and in connexion with a result of equal dignity and momentousness; and where will there be found such an object and such a result as the SALVATION of man? The brilliant achievements of a general rushing to the rescue of a beleaguered garrison may so exalt his personal genius and valour as to invest his name with a glory peerless and immortal; but the reverse of this holds good with Christ. There had been no glory in His achievements, no significance in His work, no efficacy in His blood, had there been no divine dignity and worth in His person. And, had He not taken a single step in working out the salvation of man — had He repaired no breach, wept no tear, endured no agony, shed no blood in the redemptionof His Church — had He, in a word, conferred not a solitary blessing upon our race — He still had been the ETERNAL SON OF GOD, divine, peerless, glorious — the object of supreme love, adoration, and worship by all celestial beings and through all eternal ages. While, then, His sacrificial work illustrates His marvelous grace and love to sinners, that work owes all its acceptance and efficacy to the value imparted to it by the essential Deity of His person. Thus, it is the personal preciousness of Christ that imparts an official preciousness to His work.

Nature or Providence?

Providence of course. What humans call natural, is actually a product of God’s providence. Of course, “Naturalists” would despise that terminology because it implies a supernatural concept with which they’re uncomfortable. In fact, they believe “nature” is a product of chance. Chance? What the heck is that? If that’s true, then even the Naturalists’ logic is by chance…merely accidental. Are they willing to trust and believe in that which is a product of “chance” or a cosmic accident? Apparently so. Remember, it takes much more faith to believe in that, than to believe in the Truth of creation which screams all around us, and as is revealed by Scripture.

Anyway, enough of that talk, my post really has more to do with how Christians view their circumstances in life. You see, the Christian believes that God has ordained whatsoever comes to pass. In light of that, we give thanks in all circumstances which brings us, in retrospect, to give thanks for all circumstances. Don’t get me wrong, as a very wise man once wrote, “For everything there is a season”. There are times when frowning providences are sent our way. It is not wrong to grieve. It is not wrong, necessarily, to wonder. But it is wrong to doubt God’s wisdom and goodness at the root of it all.

So, I thank God for His providence. I thank God that His providence is “taking its course”. Whatsoever He gives, it is He Who gives it. Whatsoever He takes away, it is in fact He Who takes it away. Blessed be His Name. So stands His purpose. So persists His glory. He alone is worthy of such. He has a good reason for all that He does…even when we cannot see it. I know this is not informative or educational for any of you, but I like to write out reminders for myself. God is indeed good. And because I know He’s good, I know that whatever He does in my life is ultimately good. Think on these things.

A Savior sent to crush the crown
Of the Serpent and his deceit
This Deliverer hath fully wrought
And rendered Death’s defeat

From Moses to David, Isaiah to Paul
Their words proclaimed and known
‘Tis Jesus, I AM, Who connecteth them all
‘Tis Christ’s great glory made known

Fallen men, who once lay spent,
This God hath made alive
Hearts of stone, He turned to flesh
To prepare His Son a Bride

She is His body, and He is her head
Bound up in unity
One to another, sweetly wed
Throughout eternity

Now may Christ’s Church, redeemed in blood
Look to Her Savior’s face
And may Her only anchor be
His matchless, saving grace

Christians, know God’s Word. If you know it not, Satan can (and will) use it against you. This is one reason it’s so very important to have a good intake of Scripture each day. Blessed be the Lord God Who has given us His Word that we may have the sword by which we mortify sin and resist Satan!

Many times as Christians, we can become overwhelmed by the weight of our sins. We know in our minds that Christ has purchased our redemption, but sorrow looms heavily over our hearts. In desperation we confess and re-confess sins of which we’ve already repented, hoping to take the sorrow away. This brings us to a state of paralysis. At times even the Word of God may be wrongfully used to bring us into further spiritual depression.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that the Bible is ever responsible for wrong in our own lives. What I do mean is that even Satan knows the Scriptures. He can twist them as the Lord permits, and use them against our already broken and repentant consciences…in hopes that we will become further dejected and unfruitful for a time in the work of God’s kingdom. We can see an example of Satan using Scripture to his own end in an attempt to make the Lord Jesus Christ Himself sin!

Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,

“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

and

“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’”

11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Note, I wrote that the devil attempted to do so. But the Lord Jesus, the Living Word of God, would have none of it and turned the tables on “that old serpent, the devil.” We ought alwas verse ourselves in Scripture, confessing our sin before its reading, asking for illumination, and reading with our hearts mindful of the over-arching theme of Scripture: Christ the Lord.

So, we see that Satan can use Scripture (albeit twisted) to battle against our hearts, even though we’re already repentant and contrite toward God for our sins. He also messes with our thoughts, in attempts to pose as the Holy Spirit convicting and reproving. However, there is a great difference between the work of the Holy Spirit in the saint’s conviction and the darts of Satan in the paralyzing of the saint’s running of the race to which he’s been called.

Thus, I’d like to share a few thoughts from the grand ole’ Puritan of old, William Gurnall. This is excerpted from his The Christian in Complete Armour, particularly volume 1 from the Banner of Truth’s modernized and abridged version. I know that this remains a very helpful reminder when Satan is having his way with my own thoughts about my sin, though I have confessed and repented of them to the Lord already. Please read and benefit from the words of this wise Puritan divine.

II. SATAN EXAGGERATES THE SAINTS’ SINS

His [the devil's] aim is to discredit not the sins but the saints. Here his chief tactic is to deliver his accusations as if they are an act of the Holy Spirit. He knows a charge from God’s cannon wounds deeply; therefore, when he accuses a conscientious Christian, he forges God’s name on the missile before he fires it. Suppose a child were conscious of gravely displeasing his father, and some spiteful person, to harass him, wrote and sent him a counterfeit letter full of harsh and threatening accusations, copying the father’s name at the bottom. The poor child, already painfully aware of his sins and not knowing the scheme, would be overcome with grief. Here is real heartache stemming from a false premise - just the kind of thing Satan relishes.

Satan is a clever investigator. He closely observes the relationship between you and God. Sooner or later he will catch you tardy in some duty or faulty in a service. He knows you are conscious of your shortcomings and that the Spirit of God will also show distaste for them. So he draws up a lengthy indictment, raking up all the aggravations he can think of, then serves this warrant on you as though sent from God. This is how Job’s friends reacted to his trouble. They gathered up all the evidence of his infirmities to use against him, implying thy had been sent by God to declare him a hypocrite and denounce him for it.

While Satan is a master inquisitor, we know that not all our rebukes come from him. God’s Word clearly states that ‘Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth’ (Heb 12:6). How, then, can we discern the spiteful accusations of Satan from the loving reprimands of God and His Spirit?

Try this test: If such rebukes contradict any prior work of the Spirit in your soul, they are Satan’s and not the Spirit’s. Satan’s purpose in emphasizing your sin is to try to unsaint you and persuade you that you are only a hypocrite. ‘Oh,’ hisses Satan, ‘now you have shown your true colors! See that horrid stain on your jacket - what other saint ever commited such a sin! Your whole life is a sham! God wants nothing to do with such a desperately wicked person as you.’

And with a single blow Satan dashes all in pieces. The whole mansion of grace which God has been building many years in our soul and all the special conmforts the Holy Spirit has brought are blown down by one gust from his malicious mouth. He leaves your life a shambles, and tells you it is your own fault.

Do not despair. Pacify your fears with this precious truth: Once the Spirit of God has begun a sanctifying work, causing you to hope in His mercy, He never will nor can bring contrary news to your soul. His language is not ‘yea and nay’, but ‘yea and amen’ for ever. If you play the prodigal, God will frown and chide you roundly for your sin, as He did David through Nathan: ‘Thou are the man!’ (2 Samuel. 12:7). Yet not a word is heard from Nathan telling David to unsaint himself and call in question the work of God in his soul. That prophet had no such commission form the Lord. He was sent to make David mourn for his sin - not from his sin to question his state of grace, which God had so often put beyond doubt.

Besides planting seeds of doubt about the sanctifying work of the Spirit, Satan often sends rebukes of the conscience that deny the riches of God’s grace. When you find your sins represented to you as exceeding either the mercy of God’s nature or the grace of His covenant, this comes from a jealous suitor, the devil. The Holy Spirit, as Christ’s intermediary, woos sinners to embrace the grace of the gospel. Would He say anything that would spoil the courtship or lower Christ’s esteem in the eyes of His beloved? Surely you must know where such lies orginate! When you hear someone compliment another person as wise or good, then at last come in with a but that dashes all, you know he is no friend but some sly enemy who, by seeming to commend the person, really desires to discredit him. And so, when you find God represented to you as merciful and gracious, but not to such a great sinner as you; strong and mighty, but not able to save someone like you, you can say, ‘Be gone, Satan, your speech betrays you. This is not a message sent to me by the Lover of my soul!’

Good words from William Gurnall. Blessings to each of you today!