In 1772 John Newton visited Mr Cox's Mechanical Museum - Here is his take on that!
Before you read his letter,
take a look at this short BBC piece on The Silver Swan.
The Silver Swan was used as a crowd puller in the Museum.
August, 1772
My dear Miss,
I received some instruction where I little expected it--at Mr. Cox's Museum. The efforts of his ingenuity amazed me--while at the same time I was struck with their insignificance. His fine things were curious beyond all I had any idea of; and yet what are they better than toys and amusements, suited to the taste of children! And notwithstanding the variety of their motions, they were all destitute of life.
There is unspeakably more wisdom and skill in the mechanism of a butterfly or a bee which flutters unnoticed in the fields--than in all his fancy apparatus put together! But the works of God are disregarded, while the feeble imitations of them which men can produce gain universal applause! If you and I could make self-moving lions and elephants, what would it profit us?
Blessed be God, that He has given us some glimpses of His wisdom and love--by which our hearts, more hard and lifeless by nature than the stones in the street--are constrained and enabled to move upwards, and to seek after Him. He has given us in His Word, a greater treasure than all that we ever beheld with our eyes, and a hope which shall flourish when the earth and all its works shall be burnt up! What will all the fine things of men's devising be worth on that day?
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Red Hot, Unconventional, Unfettered Devotion!
"Christ's call is to save the lost, not the stiff-necked; He came not to call scoffers but sinners to repentance; not to build and furnish comfortable chapels, churches, and cathedrals at home in which to rock Christian professors to sleep by means of clever essays, stereotyped prayers, and artistic musical performances, but to capture men from the devil's clutches and the very jaws of Hell. This can be accomplished only by a red-hot, unconventional, unfettered devotion, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to the Lord Jesus Christ."
- CT Studd
Lord, how little of that life I truly know - red-hot, unconventional, unfettered devotion! Please forgive me for being so lukewarm, for playing it safe, for all the times when cold, damp indifference creeps into my heart, for shutting up when I should speak up, for staying when I should go, for the time I have spent chasing after the wind and for all the work I attempt in the power of the flesh – which is really no power at all! Lord, if you are willing you can make me clean! Clean the marketplace of this world out of my heart! Oh that zeal for your house would consume me! This is my hearts desire - red-hot, unconventional, unfettered devotion, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to the Lord Jesus Christ.
- CT Studd
Lord, how little of that life I truly know - red-hot, unconventional, unfettered devotion! Please forgive me for being so lukewarm, for playing it safe, for all the times when cold, damp indifference creeps into my heart, for shutting up when I should speak up, for staying when I should go, for the time I have spent chasing after the wind and for all the work I attempt in the power of the flesh – which is really no power at all! Lord, if you are willing you can make me clean! Clean the marketplace of this world out of my heart! Oh that zeal for your house would consume me! This is my hearts desire - red-hot, unconventional, unfettered devotion, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Thought For The Day!
God is slow to anger and abounding in much love. Man is slower to repent and abounding in much foolishness!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Saved From Free Fall!
If breaking God's law is like jumping out of a plane, then attempting to save oneself through keeping it is like trying to climb back in. Impossible! The law of gravity will not allow it!
As gravity will see to it that a man is hurtled to earth, so God's eternal Justice will see to it that an unrepentant sinner is thrown in hell. It does not matter how hard a man strives, he cannot soar to the heights of the righteous requirements of the law - it can not be done! Though he may try to fly with the birds, he is not much more than a madman running around the park, flailing his arms and squawking like a bird.
Man has as much hope of saving himself as does a spider’s web of stopping a falling rock!
But what is impossible with man is possible with God!
When a man, fast free falling into the pit of hell, comes to the end of himself and stops trying to flap his arms, but rather, cries out for mercy to the only one who can save him - then, and only then, will he look up and see the parachute of our Lord Jesus Christ unfold above him.
Behold the sight!
And how do you describe the feeling of relief that you feel when you see his blood spread out like a canopy above you, arresting your descent into destruction and carrying you, by the harness of His grace, safely to His side?
Joy? Relief? Gratitude? Yes, all of these and much more!
And what is your response? Do you want to cut the cords of grace and dive headlong again into the free fall of sin? By no means! To suggest such is sheer stupidity! No man in his right mind, having passed from death to life, would willingly cut himself free and fall to his destruction! No, a man saved from sure death, will, from joy over, sing praises to his Saviour and resolutely determine to serve and worship Him all the days of his life!
As gravity will see to it that a man is hurtled to earth, so God's eternal Justice will see to it that an unrepentant sinner is thrown in hell. It does not matter how hard a man strives, he cannot soar to the heights of the righteous requirements of the law - it can not be done! Though he may try to fly with the birds, he is not much more than a madman running around the park, flailing his arms and squawking like a bird.
Man has as much hope of saving himself as does a spider’s web of stopping a falling rock!
But what is impossible with man is possible with God!
When a man, fast free falling into the pit of hell, comes to the end of himself and stops trying to flap his arms, but rather, cries out for mercy to the only one who can save him - then, and only then, will he look up and see the parachute of our Lord Jesus Christ unfold above him.
Behold the sight!
And how do you describe the feeling of relief that you feel when you see his blood spread out like a canopy above you, arresting your descent into destruction and carrying you, by the harness of His grace, safely to His side?
Joy? Relief? Gratitude? Yes, all of these and much more!
And what is your response? Do you want to cut the cords of grace and dive headlong again into the free fall of sin? By no means! To suggest such is sheer stupidity! No man in his right mind, having passed from death to life, would willingly cut himself free and fall to his destruction! No, a man saved from sure death, will, from joy over, sing praises to his Saviour and resolutely determine to serve and worship Him all the days of his life!
Monday, May 4, 2009
The Firstborn Donkey: Free From Universal Law?
"You must redeem the firstborn donkey with a lamb. But if you do not redeem it--you must kill the donkey by breaking its neck!" Exodus 34:20
Every firstborn creature must be the Lord's--but since the donkey was unclean, it could not be presented in sacrifice to Him. What then? Should it be allowed to go free from the universal law? By no means! God admits of no exceptions. The donkey is His due--but He will not accept it; He will not abate the claim--but yet He cannot be pleased with the unclean victim. No way of escape remained, but redemption--the donkey must be saved by the substitution of a lamb in its place; or if not redeemed, it must die!
My soul, here is a lesson for you! That unclean donkey is yourself! You are justly the property of the Lord who made you and preserves you--but you are so sinful that God will not, cannot, accept you! It has come to this--the Lamb of God must stand in your stead--or you must die eternally! Let all the world know of your gratitude to that spotless Lamb who has died for you, and so redeemed you from the fatal curse of the law!
Must it not sometimes have been a question with the Israelite, as to which should die--the donkey or the lamb? Would not the man pause to estimate and compare the values of these animals? Assuredly there was no comparison between the value of a sinful man--and the spotless Lord Jesus! Yet the Lamb dies--and man the donkey is spared! My soul, admire the boundless love of God to you! Vile worms are bought--with the blood of the holy Lamb of God! Dust and ashes are redeemed--with a price far above silver and gold! What a doom would have been mine--had not plenteous redemption been found!
The breaking of the neck of the donkey was but a momentary penalty. But who shall measure the eternal wrath to come--to which no limit can be imagined! Inestimably dear is the glorious Lamb--who has redeemed me from such a doom!
- Charles Spurgeon
Every firstborn creature must be the Lord's--but since the donkey was unclean, it could not be presented in sacrifice to Him. What then? Should it be allowed to go free from the universal law? By no means! God admits of no exceptions. The donkey is His due--but He will not accept it; He will not abate the claim--but yet He cannot be pleased with the unclean victim. No way of escape remained, but redemption--the donkey must be saved by the substitution of a lamb in its place; or if not redeemed, it must die!
My soul, here is a lesson for you! That unclean donkey is yourself! You are justly the property of the Lord who made you and preserves you--but you are so sinful that God will not, cannot, accept you! It has come to this--the Lamb of God must stand in your stead--or you must die eternally! Let all the world know of your gratitude to that spotless Lamb who has died for you, and so redeemed you from the fatal curse of the law!
Must it not sometimes have been a question with the Israelite, as to which should die--the donkey or the lamb? Would not the man pause to estimate and compare the values of these animals? Assuredly there was no comparison between the value of a sinful man--and the spotless Lord Jesus! Yet the Lamb dies--and man the donkey is spared! My soul, admire the boundless love of God to you! Vile worms are bought--with the blood of the holy Lamb of God! Dust and ashes are redeemed--with a price far above silver and gold! What a doom would have been mine--had not plenteous redemption been found!
The breaking of the neck of the donkey was but a momentary penalty. But who shall measure the eternal wrath to come--to which no limit can be imagined! Inestimably dear is the glorious Lamb--who has redeemed me from such a doom!
- Charles Spurgeon
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