The Gospel crucible!
(John MacDuff, "Ripples in the Twilight" 1885)
"For the message of the cross is foolishness
to those who are perishing, but to us who are being
saved, it is the power of GOD!" 1 Corinthians 1:18
It will never cease to be one of the marvels
of Christianity, that her antidotes are the same
in every climate, every age, and every bosom.
Just as the chemist can infallibly pronounce
on the action of the various elements he
throws into his crucible--
so in the Gospel crucible,
cast the human heart in its every
form and type, that of . . .
the degraded African,
the superstitious Hindu,
the ferocious Arab,
the reprobate European--
the Gospel of CHRIST, by a heavenly
alchemy, melts that heart!
It dissolves . . .
the pride of reason,
the power of superstition,
the curse and misery of vice!
It is the only universal balm!
It was tried . . .
on ignorant fishermen of Galilee,
on poor wayside beggars of Judea,
on hardened Roman soldiers and
on crouching slaves of sin and satan.
It was tried on the great persecutor of the church--
and by him on the disciples of Plato on Mars Hill.
It was tried amid the tears of Bethany--
and amid the courtly splendor
and uncongenial influences
of Caesar's household.
And in not one of all these
varied cases, has it failed!
The king clothed in ermine,
the pauper clothed in rags,
the statesman in his senate-house,
the merchant at his desk,
the artisan in his workshop,
the cottager at her wheel--
all feel the power of the same Gospel,
all own the beauteous simplicity
of the same healing words,
and you shall be saved!" (Acts 16:31)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
GraceGems has published John MacDuff's uplifting short article,
"The Bruised Reed and the Flickering Candle!"
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