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Octavius Winslow, 1856 (edited for
today's reader by Larry E. Wilson, 2010)
Bible Verse
"...your faith—more precious than gold..." (1 Peter 1:7).
Devotional
Truly faith is the crowning grace of all, a most costly and precious fruit of the renewed mind. From faith springs every other grace of a gracious soul. It has been called the "queen" grace because a royal train always attends it. Faith does not come alone, does not dwell alone, does not work alone. Where there is faith in Jesus, there will also be love, joy, peace, long-suffering, patience, godly sorrow, and every kindred perfection of the Christian character, all blending together into the sweetest harmony, all uniting to celebrate the glory of God's grace and to crown Jesus Lord of all.
Is it any surprise, then, that this grace should be distinguished from all the others by the term "precious"? No! That must necessarily be precious itself which unfolds the preciousness of everything else. It makes the real gold more precious, and it transforms everything else into gold.
It looks to a "precious Christ" (1 Pet. 2:4–6). It leads to his "precious blood" (1 Pet. 1:19). It relies upon the "precious promises" (2 Pet. 1:4). Even its very trial, though it be by fire, is "precious" (1 Pet. 1:7). It so changes the nature of the painful, the humiliating, and the afflictive, as to turn a Father's frown, rebuke, and correction, into some of the costliest mercies of life.
Precious grace, that bids me look upon God in Christ as reconciled; and which, in the absence of all evidence of sight, invites me to rest upon the faithfulness of God! which takes me in my deepest poverty to Jesus, my true Joseph, having in his hands and at his disposal all the treasures of grace and glory! These are some of the characteristics of this royal grace.
"Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1). By faith I cannot only say that Jesus died for sinners, but that Jesus died for me! Faith makes the great atonement mine. Faith appropriates to itself all that is in Christ. It lays its hand upon the covenant of grace, and exclaims, "All things are mine."
Oh, to see one bowed to the dust under a sense of sin, and yet by faith traveling to the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus for salvation, and finding it too—to notice the power of this grace sustaining the soul in deep waters, holding it up in perilous paths—is a sight on which God himself must look with unspeakable delight.
I know not why God's wondrous grace
to me he hath made known,
nor why, unworthy, Christ in love
redeemed me for his own.
Refrain:
But "I know whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day."
I know not how this saving faith
to me he did impart,
nor how believing in his Word
wrought peace within my heart.
(Refrain)
I know not how the Spirit moves,
convincing men of sin,
revealing Jesus through the Word,
creating faith in him.
(Refrain)
I know not what of good or ill
may be reserved for me,
of weary ways or golden days,
before his face I see.
(Refrain)
I know not when my Lord may come,
at night or noonday fair,
nor if I'll walk the vale with him,
or "meet him in the air."
(Refrain)
(Daniel W. Whittle, 1840–1901)
Be sure to read the Preface by Octavius Winslow and A Note from the Editor by Larry E. Wilson.
Larry Wilson is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In addition to having served as the General Secretary of the Committee on Christian Education of the OPC (2000–2004) and having written a number of articles and booklets (such as God's Words for Worship and Why Does the OPC Baptize Infants) for New Horizons and elsewhere, he has pastored OPC churches in Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. We are grateful to him for his editing of Morning Thoughts, the OPC Daily Devotional for 2025.
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