BABES IN CHRIST

 

FEBRUARY 29
 
Babes in Christ.
I Corinthians 3:1

 

ALL believers are in Christ, and
 have the same privileges;
  but all believers are not of the same statute.
 
Some are fathers, some are young men,
  and some are only babies in Christ.
 
The babe is born of God and has spiritual life,
  but it has little knowledge and less strength.
 
Every babe breathes forth its desires 

  in prayer at God's throne,
  but many of them cannot call God father,
  or enjoy boldness at his throne.
 
The eye is open to see something of its central state,
  in consequences of which it seeks an interest in Jesus;
  but the sight is not strong enough to see its title to Christ,
  or the smiling face of its loving father.
 
A babe is soon alarmed, and, when alarmed,
  clings closer to its parent’s breast;
  and a babe in Christ is very timid,
  but it cleaves closer to Jesus the more 

  it is terrified or alarmed.
 
Some babes are very fretful and uneasy; and
  some young Christians have little patience
  or solid comfort, on account of the workings
  of unbelief and unfounded fears.
 
The babe cannot digest strong meat,
  but must be fed with milk; and
  many believers are unable to feed upon
  the glorious doctrines of the gospel,
  but must always have lighter food,
  as invitations and promises.
 
Jesus in whom the Godhead’s rays
Beam forth in mildest majesty.
I see thee full of truth and grace,
And come for all I want to thee.

James Smith 1849

Take heed and be quiet.

 

FEBRUARY 28
 
Take heed and be quiet.
Isaiah 7:4
 

BUT they were threatened with an invasion, and
  appeared to be in intimate danger.
 
Can it be wise, or prudent,
  to be still?
 
Whatever God commands is right.
 
We ought to obey God.
 
We are not in the power of any creature.
 
The danger is rather apparent than real.
 
Let us take heed to our tongues,
  that we do not speak unadvisedly,
   and so dishonor God.
 
Let us take heed to our tempers,
  that we do not give way to passion,
  and so distress ourselves.
 
Let us take heed to our way,
  that we do not go out of the right path, and
  so give our enemies an advantage over us.
 
God says, “Be quiet.”
 
Let not fears aggregate thee.
 
Let not appearance appal thee.
 
Let not doubts discourage thee.
 
Be calm as the child in its parent’s arms.
 
Thy God rules.
 
His hand is in every event,
  though you may not see it.
 
Thy God is with thee,
  he was never nearer to the then just now.
 
Thy God is for thee,
  pledged by promise and by oath.
 
He will guard thee with his invisible presence.
 
He will keep thee by his power.
 
He will enterpose on thy behalf when it is necessary.
 

When can I trust my all with God,

In trial’s fearful hour, ==

Bow, all resign’d, beneath the rod,

And bless his sparing power;

A joy springs up amid distress, --

A fountain in the wilderness.

 
James Smith 1849

I HAVE LOVED THEE

 

FEBRUARY 27

I have loved thee with an everlasting love.
Jeremiah 31:3

 

GOD’S love to his people, in every view of it,
  is wonderful.
 
They are so mean and insignificant, so sinful and depraved,
  that one can but wonder that he should at all regard them.
 
But his ways are not our ways, nor his thoughts our thoughts.
 
He loves his people,
  just because he will love them;
  not looking for anything in them
    to induce him to do so.
 
We cannot trace his love to its beginning, for its eternal;
  nor can we trace it to its close, for it is everlasting.
 
He ever did love us, he does love us now,
  and he ever will love us.
 
His love is sovereign, or freely exercise;
  his love is immutable, or never varies;
  his love is fruitful, or the source of it innumerable blessings;
  and his love is everlasting or will endure forever.
 
Beloved, if God loved us, no matter who hates us.
If God loves us, he will not allow any thing to harm us.
If God loves us, he will certainly supply us.
But if God loves us, he will expect us to love him in return;
  and if his love to us is so great,
  he will expect us to love him above every thing besides.
 

Since thy love had no beginning,

And shall never, never cease;

Keep, O keep me, Lord from sinning!

Guide me in the way of peace!

Make me walk in

All the paths of holiness.

 
 
James Smith 1849

WHO CAN UNDERSTAND HIS ERRORS?

 

Who can understand his errors?

Psalm 19:12

 

SIN is an error.
 
It is a wandering from the right ways of the Lord.
 
It is an error which we are constantly falling into.
 
The best regulated minds,
  the most consistent walkers, daily err.
 
Our errors are so numerous,
  that we cannot understand or
  enumerate them.
 
Every day, every hour, we do,
  speak, or think wrong.
 
Every part of our lives is stained with sin.
 
This art to humble us, and
  make us walk softly before the Lord.
 
It ought to endear to us the precious blood of Christ,
  which alone can remove from us the guilt of sin.
 
If we were denied the use of the blood for one hour,
  we should be eternally undone;
  for every hour we do that which would ruin us for ever.
 
It ought to lead us to admire the patience
  and long-suffering of God.
 
How wonderful that a holy God should bear with us;
  and not only bear with us,
  but love us notwithstanding all!
 
What errors are committed in youth,
  from thoughtlessness and inexperience.
 
What errors are committed in manhood,
  from yielding to the cares of the world.
 
What errors are committed in old age,
  from habits of contracting in younger years,
  and from cleaving too much to the present world.
 

I want so circumspectly to live,

So free from every sin,

That even the careless may perceive

That I with Christ have been.

 
James Smith 1849

THAT HE MAY EXALT YOU IN DUE TIME.

 

FEBRUARY 24

That he may exalt you in due time.
1 Peter 5:6
 

THE apostle is exhorting to humility.
 
Nothing is so necessary for us, or
   more acceptable to God.
 
The humble man is sure to be respected.
 
Saints will love him, and
  God will do anything for him.
 
Pride is offensive to our fellows;
   it is detestable in the sight of God.
 
He will hold no fellowship with the proud man;
  he knoweth the proud of far off, and
  keeps them at a distance.
 
The Lord's people may be oppressed, and
  Providence may seem to take part with their oppressors.
 
They may lie long in the dust,
  and be brought very low.
 
But if they humble themselves under
  the mighty hand of God,
  he will exalt them in due time.
 
When the trials has accomplished its work,
  it shall be removed.
When the proud spirit is humbled,
  when the complaining spirit is resigned,
  when the conceited creature is reduced
   to its proper level,
then the Lord will appear to exalt it.
 
He exalted by his power,
  by his grace, and
    by his providence.
 
 He exalted sometimes in temporals,
   more frequently in spirituals.
 
He rises the spirit above the circumstances,
  and this is true exhortation.
 

When, my Saviour, shall I be

Totally resign’d to thee?

Poor and vile in my own eyes,

Only in thy wisdom wise,

Only guided by thy light,

Only mighty in thy might!

 
James Smith 1849
 

THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH AND MY SHIELD

 

 

FEBRUARY 23

The Lord is my strength and my shield.
Psalm 28:7
 

THE truth and value of God's word,
  is to be learned out of the school of experience.
 
It is easy to read the word,
  assist to it, and admired it;
   but when we are called to trust in it
   the word the hour of temptation and trial,
   will find it very difficult.
 
The grace which gives us the book must enable us to make use of it.
 
The Lord is to his people just what they require,
  and all that they require.
 
They are weak and feel as if they daily grow weaker;
  their foes are many and strong, and
  appeared to increase in numbers and courage;
   but the Lord is their strength.
 
His omnipotence is pledged to them,
  and will be exerted for them.
 
Faith lays hold on God's arm, and
  until that arm fails the believer who holds by it is safe.
 
The Lord is not only our strength but our shield.
 
We are in the field of battle,
  our enemies are numerous and mighty,
  and they hate us with bitter hatred.
 
But the Lord ever comes between us and danger, and
  thus we escape the fiery darts of the devil.
 
The Lord is our defence,
  who saved the upright in heart.
 
O that my faith could firmly hold
This heavenly shield with ardour bold,
I then could every foe repel,
Invincible to earth and hell;
Lord, be my strength as well as shield,
And help my soul to keep the field.
 
James Smith 1849

THE LORD IS GREAT

 

The Lord is great.
Psalm 135:5
 

WE shall never rightly estimate the Lord’s goodness,
  except we realize something of his greatness.
 
His greatness is unsearchable.
 
And after our most extensive and laborious investigations,
  we must exclaim with the patriarch,
    “How little a portion is heard of him!”
 
Of the greatness of his nature, or
  the grandeur of his perfections,
  we can have no adequate conception:
     heaven is his throne, and
     the earth is his footstool.
 
“Behold, the nations are as the drop of a bucket, and
  are counted as the small dust of the balance:
  behold, the taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
  All nations before him are a nothing; and
   they are counted to him less than nothing and vanity.”
 
His thoughts,
  his purposes, and
    his plans are great.
 
His promises are great and precious.
 
Greatness is impressed upon every thing he does.
 
Does he pardon sin?
  He does it like himself, perfectly and for ever.
 
Does he provide supplies?
  They are vast as his resources,
    eternal as his existence, and
    varied as our wants.
 
Does he save his people?
  It is with a great salvation== from great sins,
  from great suffering,
    at a great price,
     by a great Saviour,
      to great happiness and glory.
 

And will this glorious Lord descend

To be my Father and my Friend?

Then let my songs with angels join;

Heaven is secure if God be mine.

 
James Smith 1849

WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD

 

We are the children of God.
Romans 8:16
 

GOD has a family upon earth.
 
Every believer is a child of God.
 
He knows God, who is his Father.
 
He loves Jesus, who is his elder Brother.
 
He cleaves to the saints, 

  who form the household of God.
 
But many of the Lord’s children question their adoption,
  and fear that they are not born again.
 
Let all such ask themselves,
  Am I of the world?
  Am I what I was once?
  Can I love sin?
  Can I live in sin?
  Do I despise the savior?
  Do I prefer the things of time to the things of eternity?
 
Thousands do, and if you do not, why is it,?
 
Must there be a difference and who made that difference?
  Do you think Satan would?
  Could you have made it yourself?
 
Certainly not
 
The soul that hates sin,
  forsakes the world,
  trust in Jesus,
  loves the saints, and
    cannot live without prayer, is a child of God.
 
But still, it would be well to seek
   the direct witness of the Holy Spirit.
 
If we are the children of God,
  Satan will harass us,
  sin will distressed us,
  doubts will perplexed us,
  the world will hate us,
  some professors will frown on us, and
  our heavenly Father will at times correct us.
 

Send forth the Spirit of thy Son,

O God into thy painting heart,

That govern’d day by thy love alone,

From thee I never may depart,

But following my celestial guide,

Be numbered with the glorified.

 

 
James Smith 1849

THEY DESPISED THE PLEASANT LAND

 

They despised the pleasant land,
Psalm 106:24
 

WHAT Canaan was to the Jews,
  that heaven is to us.
 
It is the land of promise.
 
The land that flows with milk and honey.
 
It is the pleasant land.
 
It is the abode of peace, plenty, and variety.
 
There all is harmony,
  and all is love.
 
Holiness is the atmosphere,
  and joy the light of that blessing place.
 
There God unveils his glory,
  the lamb that is in the midst of the throne,
    leads, feeds, and delights his people,
  angels serve,
  the church is at rest, and
  every saint is filled with joy.
 
Every thing that can please, satisfy, or
  enhance our happiness is there;
  and there in perfection.
 
All is pleasant, and always pleasant.
 
No storms ever rise,
  no clouds obscure the sky;
  the sun ever shines,
  the fruits are always ripe;
  the songs are ever new,
  the employment always pleasing;
  and God is the glory of the place.
 
It is set before us.
 
It is promised to every believer,
  to every overcomer.
 
The way is marked out.
 
The forerunner has gone before.
 
 The invitation is do follow him is given,
  the assurance that every seeker shall obtain;
  and yet we despise the pleasant land.
 
Beloved, let us beware of Israel's sin,
  lest we suffer Israel's punishment.
 
 

Lord, feed and clothe me day by day,

And guide my footsteps lest I stray;

O guard me with by powerful hand,

And bring me to the pleasant land.

 
 
James Smith 1849

Scripture Quote - James Smith

 

The habit of laying up a text of scripture in the morning, 

   to be meditated upon while engaged 

     in the business of this world through the day, 

    is both profitable and delightful. 

It is a refreshing draught do a weary traveler.      

James Smith

HE THAT BELIEVETH HATH EVERLASTING LIFE

 
 
 FEBRUARY 15
 
He that believeth hath everlasting life.
John 5:24
 

EVERLASTING life is the highest privilege to which we can aspire.
 
It is not mere existence,
 but it is existence suited to our nature
  in its most perfect state, and
  reaching to the height of our most exalted desires.
 
It is life in the presence, favour, and enjoyment of God.
It is life with Christ, a life like the life of Christ.
It is life without disease.
It is life without trouble.
It is life without fear.
It is life without death.
It is life in the possession and enjoyment
  of all God has promised,
  Christ has purchased, or
  the Holy Spirit has revealed in the gospel.
It is life that goes beyond the highest
   expectation of men, or
  the power of an angel to describe.
 
And this life is promised to every believer; yea,
  not only promised, but the pledge,
  the earnest, the principle of it is possessed.
 
Every believer is entitled to everlasting life.
 
Every believer has the commencement of eternal life in his heart.
 
The sentence of condemnation is repealed,
  he is quickened from a death
    in trespasses and sin,
  and he is united to Jesus who is
    the resurrection and the life.
 
Blest with the faith that works by love,
Blest with eternal life thou art,
Thou hast the life of those above,
The seed of glory in thy heart;
Jesus in thee will ever live,
And thou shall all his life receive.
 
James Smith 1849

PARDON MINE INIQUITY FOR IT IS GREAT

 

FEBRUARY 14
 
Pardon mine iniquity, for it is great.
Psalm 25:11
 

NO one can pardon sin but God.
 
It is his sole prerogative.
 
That God may be just, and
  yet pardon sinner,
  Jesus suffered, bled, and died.
 
No one can be pardoned but for the sake of Christ.
 
Every pardon is written with his blood.
 
God for Christ’s sake forgives us our trespasses.
 
He is ready to pardon.
 
But we must be convinced of sin, and
  if the Holy Spirit convinced us,
  our sins will appear numerous,
  aggravated, and great; so great at times,
  that we shall fear whether God will pardon
    such a great sinners;
  but the very greatness of our sin
    should urge us to apply for pardon.
 
Our God is a great God,
  his mercy is great,
  the merit of a Saviour's blood is great, and
  he has pardoned the great sinners in every age.
 
Let us therefore look at his our sins fairly,
  at their nature, number, aggravation, desert;
  then let us look at the merit of the savior's blood,
  at the gracious promises of the word,
  at the invitation of the gospel, and
  let us confess our sins,
  remembering the assurance given us by the apostle,
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful
  and just to forgive us our sins, and
  to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
 
Take courage, look to Jesus, and say,
 

Were the black list before my sight,

  While I remember thou hast died,

‘Twould only urge my speedier flight

  To seek salvation at thy side.

 

James Smith 1849

YOU WHO ARE TROUBLED REST WITH US.

 

FEBRUARY 13
 
You who are troubled rest with us.
2 Thessalonians 1:7

 

THE Thessalonians were persecuted for the sake of Christ.
 
They were deeply tried;
  their tribulations were very painful;
   but they exercise patience, and
   were supported by faith in God's word.
 
The apostles were also greatly tried;
  but, in their greatest trials,
  they looked up to their sympathizing Lord for help,
  and looked forward to his glorious appearing for redress.
 
They knew that when Jesus came
   the crooked would be made straight, and
   his persecuted people would be exalted to honour.
 
They were willing to leave their cause in his hands.
 
They cast all their cares upon him; and
  they enjoyed rest in trouble when
  they were not delivered from trouble.
 
Paul exhorts his persecuted brethren to enjoy the same privilege.
 
He says, “Rest with us.”
 
Rest in God's faithful word:
  he will make it good.
 
Rest in the Saviour’s grace;
  he will perfect his strength in your weakness.
 
Rest on the promise of his coming,
  when he will subdue all things unto himself.
 
Look not at trouble,
  but look for the coming of Jesus.
 

Then we whose flesh is troubled here,

 Shall glorious with our Head appear,

  And find our place prepared above;

And spend on our Redeemer's breast

 A whole eternity of rest,

   A whole eternity of love.

 
 
James Smith 1849

THE GOOD OF GOD LEADETH THEE TO REPENTANCE

 

FEBRUARY 12
 
The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.
Romans 2:4

 

THIS is the design of every mercy which God confers.
 
The sinner has wrong thoughts of God, and
  the goodness of God is intended to change those thoughts.
 
He has wrong feelings towards God, and
  it is intended to change those feelings.
 
He walks contrary to God, and
  the design is to change his course.
 
Unless the goodness of God change our thoughts,
  feelings, and conduct, towards God;
  unless it produced sorrow for sin,
  hatred to sin, and the departure from sin,
  it does not produce a proper effect upon us.
 
Friends, look at the goodness of God to you in providence.
 
How many mercies crown your lot.
 
How many favours are heaped upon you.
 
Consider his goodness toward you as the God of grace.
 
He has given you his written word.
 
He has appointed minister to preach that word to you.
 
He has instituted ordinances to instruct and to impress you.
 
He has sent his holy gospel,
  in which he informs you of the gift of his Son for sinners;
  and the promise of the Holy Spirit to sinners.
 
All this is intended to lead you to repentance.
 

Let me, Lord, the true repentance,

Self-condemned, from thee receive;

Then reverse the fearful sentence==

Bid thy pardoned rebel live.

 

James Smith 1849

The Lord was my stay.

 

FEBRUARY 11
 
The Lord was my stay
Psalm 18:18

 

THE Psalmist had been greatly tired.
 
His friends for shook him, and
  his enemies were mad against him.
 
His heart often misgave him, and
  painful fears oppressed him; but,
  driven from every earthly stay,
    he looked to the Lord.
 
The word of God was his pilgrim staff;
  with this he pressed forward,
  notwithstanding his difficulties.
 
He leaned on the Lord, and
  the Lord supported him.
 
He always found God nearest when most needed;
  and proved him faithful to his word.
 
Beloved, let us look back:
  we have been in the trials too;
  earthly friends have forsaken us;
  our hearts for awhile sunk within us,
  and why did we not fall a prey to our foes?
 
The Lord was our stay.
 
He always secretly sustained us.
 
He sometimes sweetly comforted us.
 
He occasionally appeared to deliver us,
  so that even our foes could not but exclaim,
      “This is the finger of God.”
 
The Lord is still our stay;
  let us lean upon him today,
  let us bear our whole weight upon his faithful word;
    it will not, it cannot fail us.
 
The Lord will be our stay through all the future stages of our journey.
 
 

Lord, preserved from Satan’s wiles,

Save from dangers, free from fear;

May I live upon thy smiles

Till the promised hour appears,

When the sons of God shall prove

All their Father’s bounties love.

 
James Smith 1849