God will not throw away his jewels. By William Secker. Lord, I believe,
help my unbelief. Mark 9 verse 24. Lord, I see,
but enlighten my darkness. Lord, I hear, but cure my deafness. Lord, I move, but quicken my
dullness. Lord, I desire, but help my unwillingness. Wherever sin proves hateful,
it shall not prove hurtful. What an apology does a sorrowful
savior make for his sleeping saints? The spirit is willing,
but the flesh is weak. Take a carnal man and what he
can do that he will not do. Take a Christian man and what
he would do that he cannot do. God will pity impotency, but
he will punish obstinacy. It will be folly, indeed, to
think that our fields have no grain in them, because there
is some chaff around the wheat, or that the ore has no gold in
it, because there is some dross mixed among it. In heaven, there
is service alone, without any sin. In hell, there is sin alone,
without service. But on earth, there is sin and
service in the same man, as there is light and shade in the same
picture. Above us, there is light without
any darkness. Below us, there is darkness without
any light. But in this world, it is neither
all day nor all night. Though the lowest believer is
above the power of sin, yet the highest believer is not above
the presence of sin. It is in a living Christian that
sin is to be mortified, but it is only in a dying Christian
that sin is to be destroyed. When the body and the soul are
separated by mortality, sin and the soul will then be separated
to eternity. Sin never ruins, but where it
reigns. Sin is not damning where it is
disturbing. The more trouble sin receives
from us, the less trouble sin does to us. Sin is only a murderer
where it is a governor. Our graces are our best jewels,
but they do not yield their brightest luster in this world. The moon,
when the sun shines brightest, has its spots, and the fire,
when it burns the hottest, has its smoke. Sin is an enemy at
the Christian's back, but not a friend in his bosom. Although believers should be
mournful because they have infirmities, yet they should be thankful because
they are but infirmities. It is true they have sin in them,
and that should make them sorrowful. But it is just as true that they
have a Savior for them, and that should make them joyful. The
conduct of a Christian may sometimes be spotted with infirmity when
the heart is sound in the love of sanctity. Jacob halted and
yet was blessed. As his blessing did not take
away his halting, so his halting did not keep away his blessing. the heavenly bridegroom, will
not put out a believer's candle, because of the dimness of its
burning, nor will he overshadow a believer's sun, because of
the weakness of its shining. Though that vice may be found
in us, for which God might justly damn us, yet that grace is to
be found in him, by which he will justly save us. He does
not come with water to extinguish the fire, but with wind to disperse
the smoke. As death leaves the body soulless,
so death leaves the soul sinless. You of little faith, why do you
doubt? Poor Peter had faith enough to
keep him from drowning, but not enough faith to keep him from
doubting. As Alexander's painter could
find a finger to conceal the scar on his master's face, so
when Jesus Christ draws the picture of the saint's excellency, he
can find a covering for all the scars of his infirmities. God will not throw away his jewels
for every speck of dirt which may be on them. This Puritan devotional has been
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