Being in Christ, it is safe to forget the past; it is possible to be sure of the future; it is possible to be diligent in the present. Alexander MacLaren More Quotes by Alexander MacLaren More Quotes From Alexander MacLaren To pursue joy is to lose it. The only way to get it is to follow steadily the path of duty. Alexander MacLaren pathjoyway In such a world as this, with such hearts as ours, weakness is wickedness in the long run. Whoever lets himself be shaped and guided by any thing lower than an inflexible will, fixed in obedience to God, will in the end be shaped into a deformity, and guided to wreck and ruin Alexander MacLaren heartrunninglong The act of faith, which separates us from all men, unites us for the first time in real brotherhood; and they who, one by one, come to Jesus and meet Him alone, next find that they are come to the city of God "and to an innumerable company. Alexander MacLaren realmenjesus Christ has given us, not only the ritual of an ordinance, but the pattern for our lives, when He took the cup, and gave thanks. So common joys become sacraments, enjoyment becomes worship, and the cup which holds the bitter or the sweet skillfully mingled for our lives becomes the cup of blessing and salvation drank in remembrance of Him. Alexander MacLaren remembranceblessingsweet Nothing but Christian faith gives to the furthest future the solidity and definiteness which it must have if it is to be a breakwater for us against the fluctuating sea of present cares and thoughts. Alexander MacLaren christianseagiving Given a man full of faith, you will have a man tenacious in purpose, absorbed in one grand object, simple in his motives, in whom selfishness has been driven out by the power of a mightier love, and indolence stirred into unwearied energy. Alexander MacLaren simplefaithmen Our work, abiding, shall bring to us the endless glory with which God at last overpays the toils, even as now He overanswers the poor prayers of His laboring servants. Alexander MacLaren abidingtoilprayer Christ by His intercession is able to save thee beyond the horizon and largest compass of thy thoughts, even to the utmost. In danger Christ lashes us to Himself, as Alpine guides do when there is perilous ice to get over. Alexander MacLaren horizoniceable Trust Christ! and a great benediction of tranquil repose comes down upon the calm mind and the tranquil heart. Alexander MacLaren calm-mindheartchrist Grieve not the Christ of God, who redeems us; and remember that we grieve Him most when we will not let Him pour His love upon us, but turn a sullen, unresponsive unbelief towards His pleading grace, as some glacier shuts out the sunshine from the mountain-side with its thick-ribbed ice. Alexander MacLaren sunshineicegrieving The hand that holds the seven stars is as loving as the hand that was laid in blessing upon the little children; the face that is as the sun shining in its strength beams with as much love as when it drew publicans and harlots to His feet. The breast that is girt with the golden girdle is the same breast upon which John leaned his happy head. Alexander MacLaren starsblessingchildren While the agent of renovation is the Divine Spirit, and the condition of renovation is our cleaving to Christ, the medium of renovation and the weapon which the transforming grace employs is "the word of the truth of the gospel," whereby we are sanctified. Alexander MacLaren agentsweaponsgrace The cup which my Saviour giveth me, can it be anything but a cup of salvation? Alexander MacLaren afflictioncupssalvation God gives us power to bear all the sorrows of His making; but He does not give us power to bear the sorrows of our own making, which the anticipation of sorrow most assuredly is. Alexander MacLaren sorrowdoegiving Let the current of your being set towards God, then your life will be filled and calmed by one master-passion which unites and stills the soul. Alexander MacLaren passionsoullife If life has not made you by God's grace, through faith, holy--think you, will death without faith do it? The cold waters of that narrow stream are no purifying bath in which you may wash and be clean. No! no! as you go down into them, you will come up from them. Alexander MacLaren waterdeaththinking Man's course begins in a garden, but it ends in a city. Alexander MacLaren gardencitiesmen A picture without sky has no glory. This present, unless we see gleaming beyond it the eternal calm of the heavens, above the tossing tree tops with withering leaves, and the smoky chimneys, is a poor thing for our eyes to gaze at, or our hearts to love, or our hands to toil on. Alexander MacLaren eyeheartlife That which of all things unfits man for the reception of Christ as a Savior, is not gross profligacy and outward, vehement transgression, but it is self-complacency, fatal self-righteousness and self-sufficiency. Alexander MacLaren complacencyselfmen All that this world knows of living lies in giving - and more giving; He that keeps, be sure he loses -Friendship grows by what it uses. Alexander MacLaren usegivinglying
