The Restless Bed

Here is an excerpt from James Smith’s Food for Hungry Souls. This was sent out by Grace Gems last week and is worth taking the time to read and then meditate on what he said.

[I have added some comments throughout]

The Restless Bed

• What is sown now--will be reaped in eternity.
• Eternal life is the free gift of a gracious God.
• Eternal punishment is the just wages of eternal sin.
• We deserve Hell now [this is an important point that we would all do well to remember]--but we may escape it by fleeing to Jesus.
•  If we refuse to do so--then we can only expect to reap the fruit of our folly. 
• Heaven is the gift of God's grace--but Hell is the wages of sin. [see Romans 6:23]
• Every sinner makes his own Hell. In this light, let us look at the words of the Psalmist:

"If I make my bed in Hell." Psalm 139:8

THE RESIDENCE. "In Hell." 

WHAT is Hell?

• Hell is the prison--in which the prisoners of God's justice are confined.
• Hell is where punishment is inflicted on all who die at enmity with God.
• Hell is the place where Satan acts the part of the chief tormentor.
• Hell is the place where conscience, armed with terrible power, torments the guilty soul.
• Hell is the place where reflection, aided by a strong and tenacious memory, afflicts without mercy or cessation.
• Hell is the place where God frowns justly and eternally on the naked soul.
• Hell is the place where everything calculated to . . .satiate with terror, fill with agony, and
  torture with pain, exist.
• While everything calculated to inspire hope, give pleasure, or impart relief--is excluded forever.

WHO is in Hell?

• Satan and his demons--all those foul, wicked, and degraded spirits--who are filled with envy, malice, and enmity against God and man.
• All unrepentant sinners--of all classes, creeds, places, and periods.
• All who have . . .stained the world with their crimes, afflicted others with their cruelties, and degraded themselves by their vices.
• All the lowest, vilest, and basest of the human race!
• God is there too, in his glorious majesty, almighty power, impartial justice, and awesome holiness! O how it will aggravate the sufferings of the lost--to have God's eye always fixed upon them, and the justice, holiness, and majesty of God ever shining before them!

[This is a point we often overlook; I have heard many people say that Hell will be Hell because God is not there, but I contend that Hell is Hell because God is there, and those in Hell will face His holiness and justice and wrath against sin, in their fullness, without the shield of Jesus Christ, for all eternity – that is what makes Hell Hell]

WHAT is in Hell?

• Justice with its flaming sword--is there.
• Memory stored with the whole history of one’s life--is there.
• The worm that gnaws the vitals of the soul, but never dies--is there.
• The fire that cannot be quenched, which tortures but never destroys our nature--is there.

• But there is no Bible there.
• There is no gospel with its joyful sound.
• There is no gentle, loving Savior.
• There is no loving friend or dear relation.
• There is nothing to lessen or alleviate suffering!
• Hell concentrates in itself, all the elements of misery, degradation, wretchedness and woe!

THE REST. "My bed." "If I make my bed in Hell."

• Rest in Hell? A bed in Hell? What kind of a bed could that be?
• A bed composed of the thorns of bitter reflection.
• A bed made up of the terrible inflictions of incensed justice.
• A bed embracing . . .the horrors of a guilty conscience, the blackness and darkness of despair, the ceaseless outpouring of the vials of the wrath of God!
• This bed is . . .ever heaving--like the restless ocean; ever sinking--like a millstone, in the bottomless depths; ever burning--like a lake of liquid brimstone; and ever inflicting torments--beyond description or conception.
• "MY bed"--the bed I procured by a life of sin.
• "MY bed"--the bed I deserve for rejecting the Savior, and neglecting the great salvation.
• "MY bed"--the bed awarded me by a just and holy God.
• My OWN bed--the only bed I can claim; the only bed I can expect; that bed for which I labored; and which is the righteous wages of my sin.
• My OWN bed--the only bed I shall have forever!
• My OWN bed--on which there can be no rest day nor night. Ever wakeful, ever weary, ever cursing and condemning myself--here on my infernal bed--I am doomed, and justly doomed to lie forever!

THE EMPLOYMENT. "If I make my bed in Hell."

Every man makes his own bed, and on the bed he makes for himself--he must forever lie.

What are sinners on earth doing? Making their bed in Hell!

• Drunkard--you are making your bed in Hell, and a terrible bed it will be!
• Dishonest man, by your tricks in trade, and various dishonest practices--you are making your bed in Hell, and an awful bed it will be!
• Liar, by your falsehoods and deception--you are making your bed in Hell--and a liar's bed will burn with brimstone and with fire!
• Profane swearer--you also are preparing for yourself, a dreadful couch!
• Promiscuous man--the lusts you indulge now, will entwine about your soul like serpents, and sting and poison you, on your bed in Hell forever!
• Hypocrite, pretending to be religious, when you know that you are not--I suppose few will have a more racking or torturing bed to lie on forever--than you will!
• Careless sinner--you are making your bed in Hell, and you will perhaps repent of it when it is too late.
• Trifling professor, worldly-minded church member--you too are making your bed in Hell, and it is to be feared that many will go from the church of God on earth--to be tormented forever on a bed in Hell!

There is a Hell--an eternal Hell. Justice provided it originally for the devil and his demons--but there is room in it for rebellious men, and if they die impenitent--they will be forever doomed to it! No one will have a place in Hell, who does not richly merit and deserve it. Hell is just wages--for present sinful work. "The wages of sin is death"--eternal death. O terrible thought, to be working so hard on earth--only to receive the wages of eternal punishment in Hell!

"If I make my bed in Hell."

• Young man--what if you should make your bed in Hell? It will be your own act and deed.
• Young woman--what if you should make your bed in Hell? And you may--for the dance, the ball-room, pride of dress, and neglect of God, without any grosser vices--will be sufficient to prepare for you a bed in Hell!
• Aged man--what if you should make your bed in Hell? What a dreadful close--to a long and trying life on earth.
• Aged woman--is it possible that you should make your bed in Hell? It is--and more than possible!
• Religious man--what if you should make your bed in Hell? What if after all your prayers, sacraments, and contributions to religious societies--your bed should be in Hell! And it will--if you are not found in Christ!

It does not matter--whether young or old, whether professor or profane--unless you are washed in the blood of Jesus;unless you are sanctified by the Spirit of God; unless you are reconciled to God by the death of His Son--you will certainly make your bed in Hell.

Look well to it, then, I beseech you--that you have saving faith in Christ, and that you are regenerated by the Holy Spirit--for without true holiness, no one can see the Lord. [see Hebrews 12:14] Without holiness--you will certainly make your bed in Hell!

~James Smith

A Child Is In The Well!

Here is an article from James Smith that was posted yesterday by Grace Gems:

A Child is in the Well!

by James Smith, 1860

My brother sometimes sends me a subject for my pen, and a letter just received from him contains the following account:

"A child is in the well! A child is in the well!" It is now more than fifty years since I heard that cry. It was a terrible scream, and it is as fresh in my memory, as when it was first uttered by that affrighted woman. A boy had been sent by his mother to the well to draw water, and had taken his little brother with him, and while he was engaged in drawing it, the child unperceived by him--was looking down into the well, and fell in! The wonder was that he was not killed in the descent, by striking against the large iron bucket. The excitement was great. The neighborhood was aroused, and all were filled with alarm, as the well was unusually deep. But it happened that a young woman came for water at the very moment, and in her fright she dashed her pitcher to pieces, and screamed out, "A child is in the well! A CHILD IS IN THE WELL!"
 

This piercing cry reached the ear, and entered the heart of a laboring man, who was at his dinner nearby. He flew to the rescue, and without stopping to consider his danger--descended by the chain, just in time to catch the child, as it was sinking under the water for the third time!

Now all were at work to get the man and the child up in safety, ropes and ladders were procured, and success crowned the efforts of the kind-hearted neighbors. The child was put into the arms of its distracted mother, and the poor man was praised for his kindness and courage.

But who shall say how much depended upon that cry--that tearful scream of a woman, "A child is in the well?" The child's life hung upon that cry. Another minute--and the child would have certainly drowned! But,

            "Not a single shaft can hit, until the God of love sees fit!"

The cry of that affrighted woman aroused the man, the man fled to the rescue, the child was saved from drowning--but the hand of God was not seen or acknowledged, until years rolled on! For more than thirty years, that child has been a preacher of the gospel, and has written many useful works. He has been the instrument in the hand of a wonder-working God, of rescuing many poor ungodly sinners from a far deeper well. Through that child, thousands have heard of the name and fame of Jesus, and those thousands have in some way been useful to others, and thus the effect will be felt to the end of time. How much depended on, and resulted from, that scream, "A child is in the well!"

"God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform!"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The above account of my own preservation when but a child, is sent to me as a subject for my pen--but what can I add to it? My heart as swelled with thankful emotions, and my eyes have been moistened with tears of gratitude, while I have been copying it, and I have been ready to exclaim with Leah, "Now will I praise the Lord!" and with David, "I will sing of God's mercy!" 

I cannot but admire the wonderful working of divine providence--how perfectly everything is arranged and adjusted. How well all is timed. I do not wonder the godly say that "we are immortal until our work is done," for new proofs of this are constantly arising. Where is the Christian, the laborer in God's vineyard, who cannot find an illustration of this fact in his own experience? I can find more than one in mine.

Some may perhaps reflect upon me for publishing my brother's narrative, and think me deficient in modesty; but I am not a young man now, nor am I so much affected by what my fellow-men say, or write of me--as I once was. If God, either as the God of providence, or grace, can be glorified, by anything I write or publish--it is enough! And surely no Christian can read the above with an unprejudiced mind, without glorifying God. 

How near was I to death--yet God intended me to live. How imminent was the danger--and how simple and suitable were the means of preservation. How wondrously God wrought--and yet no one present then, appeared to see his hand, or acknowledge his intervention. 

How much often depends upon a trifling action. Take away one link--and the chain falls to pieces. Not one of the above circumstances could have been omitted--or my life would surely have been lost!

The woman must come at the exact moment; alarmed, she must scream at the top of her voice;
the laborer must be eating his meal at home nearby; in his fright, he must do, what if he had waited to reflect, he would have feared to attempt!

But the hand of God was in the whole. "He performs the thing that is appointed for me, and many such things are with him."

What effect should the bringing of this circumstance before my mind at this time, have upon me? I trust it has made me feel grateful, and has led me anew to praise my God, for his wonderful works to men. But this is not enough. I would anew in the most solemn manner dedicate myself--my life so wondrously preserved, with all my powers, talents, and opportunities, to the Lord, and to his glory. 

Often have I surrendered myself to my God, and consecrated myself to his glory and praise, and I do so with all my heart and soul, again this morning.
For the Lord--I desire to live; 

• To promote his cause--I desire to labor  
• To bring sinners to Jesus, and to comfort and to edify his people--I desire to make the one grand object of my life.

As the especial care of his providence, as well as the subject of his sovereign and distinguishing grace--I desire to be his, wholly his, only his, and his forever!

Lord, take me anew into your hands, and make me more and more like your beloved Son; not only so--but as you have used me for the good of others, and the glory of your great name--use me yet more extensively, and glorify yourself by me, ten thousand times more than you ever have done yet!

My one undying desire of my soul, is that Christ may be magnified in me, and be glorified by me, both in life and in death. Many years ago, this desire was kindled at the cross, by a sense of the infinite love of Jesus, and nothing has ever been able to extinguish it yet, nor do I believe that anything ever will.

Reader, can you look back upon any hairbreadth escape from death? Can you look back upon a deliverance, not from a well of water--but from the pit of destruction? Can you say with David, "Great is your mercy toward me, for you have delivered my soul from the lowest Hell!" What would deliverance from death be--if we are not delivered from Hell? Of what value would a few years on earth be--if spent in sin, if filled up with worldly pleasure--if the end should be a place in Hell forever?

Blessed be God, he not only saved my life, and delivered me from an early death; but he saved my soul, and condescended to employ me in his vineyard.

Beloved, life without God's favor--life without a saving interest in Christ--life unless it is spent in God's service--is not worthy the name of life. To live, is to have the life of God in the soul! To live, is to have Christ formed in the heart! To live, is to be inhabited by the Holy Spirit, and to be consecrated to God's glory and praise! O to live as Jesus lived! To keep the same end in view, to walk by the same rule, and to do the works he did!

• For this, we were redeemed by his blood
• For this, we were called by his grace
• For this, our lives are preserved in the present world, and 
• For this, his fullness is thrown open to us, and we are invited to make use of his grace.

Holy Spirit, lead us to make more use of Christ, to enjoy closer communion with Christ, and to live, walk, work, and talk, more entirely for the glory of Christ!

Blessed Jesus, accept of us as your own property, fill us with your own sweet Spirit, stamp your lovely image upon us, and use us to exalt your dear name, spread your well deserved fame, and extend your glorious cause!

Father of mercies, God of all grace, receive our praises for your wondrous love, sovereign grace, and special providence! Help us to praise you here on earth, and then take us to praise and bless you eternally in Heaven!

Are You A Christian?

From Grace Gems today:

Are you a Christian?

This is a very important inquiry, because many profess to be so--who are not so in reality. And yet no one can be saved--unless he is a Christian.

If anyone is in Christ--he is a new creature:

he is convinced of sin--and mourns over it;

he hates sin--and departs from it;

he reads the Word of God--and loves it;

he hears the gospel of Christ--and believes it.

He becomes a disciple of Christ, . . .

learning His doctrines,

trusting His promises,

and doing His will.

He receives the Spirit of Christ, which is a spirit of meekness, love, and holiness.

He would rather suffer for Christ--than sin against Christ! He . . .

loves the person of Christ,

imitates the example of Christ, and

observes the ordinances of Christ.

He commits his soul into the hands of Jesus . . .

to be pardoned through His blood,

to be justified by His righteousness,

to be sanctified by His Spirit,

to be preserved by His power,

to be used for His glory, and

to be presented faultless by Him to the Father at last.

He looks for the second coming of Christ with joy--because then he will be like Him, for he will see Him as He is!

Such is a Christian, according to the New Testament.

Reader, are you a Christian?

Can you live without prayer?

Can you be happy without Christ?

Can you neglect or despise the Word of God?

If so--then you are not a Christian!

Every Christian finds . . .

prayer to be the breath of his soul,

Christ to be the food of his soul,

the Bible to be the comfort of his soul, and

the Lord's people to be the beloved companions of his soul.

Examine yourself, for thousands bear the Christian name--who know nothing of Christian experience. Multitudes live and die under a delusion--and will say to Jesus at last, "Lord, Lord, we were Christians!" Then He will say unto them, "I never knew you! Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels!" This will be dreadful--most dreadful!

James Smith

Good Seed For The Lord's Field (1856)

Take some time today to prayerfully consider what was written here.