“He is precious“. – 1 Peter 2:7
Back when I was preaching revival meetings my favorite place to preach was a little country church way back in the Ozark hills. It was there that I heard the old song “He is so precious to me” for the first time. After hearing it the first time I requested that Bro. Vincents family sing it every time I was there. Every time I heard them sing it I couldn’t help but shout— I felt very much like that this morning when I read the following by James Smith—

“Yes: Jesus is precious to every believer. However Christians may differ upon some points, they all agree in this, JESUS IS PRECIOUS. They cannot always feel towards Him as they wish, but have always one and the same opinion of Him.

He is precious in His person, word, work, blood, righteousness, and intercession: as Prophet, Priest, and King: in every name He wears, every character He bears, every relation He fills, and every office He sustains: so precious that none can be compared with Him. His people love Him, but none of them think they love Him enough; they adore Him, but mourn over their want of fervour when addressing Him; they prefer Him above all things, and consider Him altogether lovely.

Do you find Christ precious this morning? If He was to be sold, what would you give for Him? If you could be gratified, how would you feel towards Him? He is precious to poor, sensible sinners; to strong believers; to holy angels; and to God our heavenly Father. Is He so to you? Live near to Him, be intimate with Him, and you will feel Him precious. The more you know of Him, the more you will prize Him.”

Our Jesus is more precious far
Than life, and all its comforts, are;
More precious than our daily food;
More precious than our vital blood.

“Precious blood“.- 1 Peter 1:19

The blood of Jesus is the price of our redemption, the object of our faith, the ground of our peace, the subject of our meditation, and our constant plea at the throne of grace.

It satisfied Divine justice, and speaks peace to the humble sinner’s heart. It overcomes Satan, and cleanseth from all sin.
It purges the conscience from dead works, and leads us to joy in God. We build on it as our foundation, flee to it as our refuge, look to it as the cure for sin, and sing of it as the joy of our heart. It has made a perfect, a satisfactory, an infinite atonement; and no sinner can perish who relies upon it, washes in it, and pleads it before God. It is indeed precious blood! It is invaluable!

Whenever you feel guilt on your conscience, fears rising in your mind, or a gloom come over your spirit; look to, meditate upon, make use of, the precious blood of Jesus. It made peace, it gives peace, and it secures peace. It cleanses, heals, and sanctifies; and we could not live happy one day without it. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. To this alone we must look as the foundation of our hope, and ground of our peace.(James Smith)

Dear dying Lamb! Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its power,
Till all the ransom’d church of God
Be saved to sin no more.

“Walk circumspectly”. – Ephesians 5:15
We’ve been placing a lot of emphasis on walking lately. Our mid-week study is from Proverbs, which has to do with walking wisely. Our Sunday evening study is from Eph. 4 and is entitled “Walking Worthy”. Although I didn’t plan it this way, this serves as a good reminder that to do the latter we must do the former. As Christians, we must take great care in the manner of our walk, due to the fact that we are representing Christ. I thought of this when I read the following article by James Smith who was the predecessor to Charles Spurgeon. Although this was written in 1840 it is just as true and helpful today as it was then.

“You are in an enemy’s land; surrounded by temptations; and have a heart that is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. To honour Jesus in your spirit, communications, and every action, should be your constant aim.

You are to live unto the Lord, for Him who died for you and rose again. To this end, provision was laid up in the everlasting covenant, for this purpose the precious promises were made, and with this design the Holy Spirit is given; that you may serve Him in righteousness and holiness all the days of your life.

This world is not your home; Satan’s family are not to be your associates; riches, honours, or pleasure, are not to be your objects; you are to walk as in the midst of snares; watchful, prayerful, depending upon Jesus, and cultivating fellowship with Him.

O keep your eye on Jesus, as your example; walk by His word, as your rule; be not venturesome or presumptuous, but avoid the very appearance of evil. Never leave the Lord’s ways or ordinances, to join the world’s parties or to please a carnal fancy. Keep close to Jesus, and follow on to know the Lord. Act as a loving child going home to his father’s house.”

So let our lips and lives express
The holy Gospel we profess;
So let our works and virtues shine,
To prove the doctrine all Divine.

“Who, when he came , and had seen the grace of God, was glad , and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord“ – Acts 11:23

Every Believer is united to Christ, and is one with Him. Jesus is the vine, he is a branch; Jesus is the husband, he is the bride. Satan’s design is to lead him from the Lord; he knows well he can do little or nothing, while the Christian cleaves to Jesus.

O, then, cleave to Him by faith, in love, with perseverance!

Cleave to His truth, to His people, to His ordinances, to His word, and to His throne. Think of Jesus as the affectionate child thinks of his beloved father, as the tender bride thinks of her devoted bridegroom, as the way-worn traveller thinks of His cheerful home.

Let Jesus be uppermost in thy thoughts, let His love rule thy heart, and let nothing steal away thy affections from Him. Live upon His fulness, live according to His word, live in the element of His love; no living safely, no living happily, but as you cleave unto the Lord. Never let Satan find thee at a distance from Jesus, or he will assuredly be too much for thee. He is ever on the watch to find thee wandering, that he may worry, deceive, and distress thee. Therefore cleave unto the Lord, with full purpose of heart. Cleave to Him as the ivy to the oak, or the child to the mother’s breast.–James Smith, 1840

Saviour, let me cleave to Thee;
Love the bond of union be;
And, lest I should e’er depart,
Keep Thy dwelling in my heart.

“Order my steps in Thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me”–Ps. 119:133

Here is a prayer that should be on our lips continually and a pursuit that should always be in our heart. As we journey through life we should get our directions from the Lord, lest we go astray. We come to Him for salvation, but then we are to walk with Him for sanctification and follow Him in service. Those who trust Him as Savior should follow Him as Lord. We are never free to do otherwise.

He is our God and our Guide. We are never at liberty to wander away in pursuit of self-interest, nor to follow the crowd, nor to turn back, or even stop. Our life is to be one of progress– ever going and growing. Every step is to be ordered by the Lord, for only then will we know of a certainty that we are on the right road. And the wisdom of this walk is seen in the second phrase of this prayer—“and let not any iniquity have dominion over me“. God is not only our Guide, He is our Guardian as well–and a good one at that. We are safe only as we follow Him.

That being the case we should look to Him for guidance in every step we take. We should start each new day discerning His will for the moment and then stay with Him, allowing Him to direct us. Then as the minutes turn into miles we will still be on the right road. We can plant our foot with firm assurance that we are safe from sin.

J. R. Miller summed it up well when he wrote, “If we can but have God’s guidance and help for the little short steps– we need not fear for the long miles–the great stretches of road. If each step is of His direction–the long miles will be paths of His choosing”. And that, my dear friend, will keep us safe from the sin that seeks to dominate and destroy us!