What They Said

“The earth itself still praises its Maker; the exhalations, as they arise with the morning, are still a pure offering, acceptable to their Maker.”

“Never mistake the dead robes for the living body of religion. Never forget that “to do justly, and love mercy, and walk humbly before God,” is what the Lord requires of thee; that faith without works is dead; that form without spirit is dead; and that, the highest piety being ever associated with the deepest humility, true religion is like the sweetest of all singing-birds, the skylark, which with the lowest nest but highest wing dwells in the ground, and yet soars to the skies”

“The sea is not so full of water, as the heart of a glorified saint is of joy; there can be no more sorrow in heaven than there is joy in hell.”

“Divine Truth is an instrument in the hand of the Spirit, for  the accomplishment of His work of consolation. If we would  be comforted, we must seek it by the truth. The Comforter is the Spirit of truth. The consoling process is carried on by the application of Scriptural truth.”

“”Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness." It is not attainment only that heaven approves, but the longing to attain. Saintliness is beautiful, but it takes a long while to reach it. No doubt one of the best things is to be perfect, to wear the image of Christ, but the lofty reach seems almost impossible. This is the goal, but it shines far off, and it seems to us that we cannot come up to it till we gain heaven. It is a comfort to us to know that one of the best things is longing for the best, hunger for righteousness.”

“This portion (The Lord) is a satisfying portion. At least it ought to be. And indeed it is, in proportion as it is enjoyed. As a grown-up person no longer cares for toys, so a spiritually-minded person does not care as he used to care for the things of the world. The world's pleasures are but toys to him; he has found something better. The Lord is his portion. That is enough. He wants no more. And all that comes to him he takes as part of his portion, because it is from the hand of God.”

“O how little do many of us know of Christ, and therefore it is that we make so little use of Christ, receive so little from Christ, and do so little for Christ!  Our sense of our need of Christ, it it be deep and increasing, will lead us to seek to know more of Christ; and knowing more of Christ, we shall daily come to Christ for all our supplies.”

“Moreover, because man is created in the image of God, we may say that he has the revelation of God’s presence built into his constitution. His knowledge of God is innate, in the sense that his own constitution reflects to himself the presence of God. And this innate knowledge as revelation of God is correlative to the revelation of God in man’s environment. Thus man’s knowledge of God never operates independently of the knowledge he acquires from observation of his environment. Still further, man’s knowledge of God through observation of his own constitution and his knowledge of God through his study of his environment do not function independently of God’s direct person-to-person covenantal communication. Thus the whole of man’s relation to God, and indirectly the whole of man’s relation to his created environment, is a person-to-person, a covenantal affair. Man is he who as God’s image bearer answers to God. He answers to God. He answers to God always and everywhere.”

“The only real food of the soul must be of God's own appointing, preparing, and communicating.”

“It may be laid down as a rule, with tolerable confidence, that the absence of accurate definitions is the very life of religious controversy. If men would only define with precision the theological terms which they use, many disputes would die. Scores of excited disputants would discover that they do not really differ, and that their disputes have arisen from their own neglect of the great duty of explaining the meaning of words.”

“Being brought by his Spirit through faith into vital union with him, as a branch in the true vine, we receive a spiritual vitality into our soul, previously dead in trespasses and sins. Christ’s example is the model of our life ; the inward principle of life in the soul, developes itself into a likeness to him. The mind of Christ must be in us: the image of Christ must be upon us."

“What are the properties of God’s mercy?"

"It is free and spontaneous. To set up merit is to destroy mercy. Nothing can deserve mercy or force it; we cannot deserve it nor force it, because of our enmity. We may force God to punish us, but not to love us. ‘I will love them freely.’ Hos 14: 4. Every link in the golden chain of salvation is wrought and interwoven with free grace. Election is free. ‘He has chosen us in him according to the good pleasure of his will.’ Eph 1: 4. Justification is free. ‘Being justified freely by his grace.’ Rom 3: 24. Say not I am unworthy; for mercy is free. If God should show mercy only to such as deserve it, he must show mercy to none.”

"What is the earnest, and beginning of glory, but grace itself, especially in the more lively and clear exercises of it? It is not prophecy, nor tongues, nor knowledge, but that more excellent divine thing, "charity that never faileth," which is a prelibation and beginning of the light, sweetness and blessedness of heaven, that world of love or charity. It is grace that is the seed of glory and dawning of glory in the heart, and therefore it is grace that is the earnest of the future inheritance.”

“Diligence in the duties of our secular calling, with a view to the glory of God, is an evidence not to be despised.”

“Second, I honor God by trusting Him. As there is not a more God-dishonoring principle than unbelief, so there is not a more God-glorifying grace than the faith that reposes in Him, with a childlike and unquestioning confidence - a faith that trusts His veracity to fulfill, and His power to perform all that He is pledged in His covenant and Word to do.”

“Then dream not of offering Him anything that does not accord with His nature and with His essence. "Render unto God the things that are God's." If He were a material deity, I might bring Him fruits, and flowers, and music, and so on. If He were a God of ritual, I might deck myself with crosses, burn candles to Him, and waft incense in His honor. But our God is a Spirit who rejoices more in the falling tear, the upheaved sigh, the heart prayer and the heart praise which "the common people" render unto Him, than in all the decorations and symphonies and temples of a man-made ritual.”

“Though the lowest believer be above the power of sin, yet the highest believer is not above the presence of sin.”

“The first effect of faith in Christ is the springing up of love in the heart of him who believes. This love does not lie hidden, but is revealed in the life.It shows itself in love for God; but there is no love for God which does not also make the heart warm toward man. He that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen, cannot love God, whom he hath not seen. And this love is not a mere beautiful sentiment, glowing like a radiant vision in the soul, but fading the moment we meet our brothers in actual life; it is a love that becomes the very mainspring of all action, the burning heart of all ambition. It is a love that makes us pitiful toward all human sorrow, gentle toward human infirmity, helpful toward human need, patient under human unkindness and injury, and ready at every call to do and suffer and sacrifice.”

“Christian, remember always the secret of success in the sore, conflict you have to wage. Let "the joy of the Lord" be "your strength." Apart from Christ there is nothing but defeat. You may resolve to do better, you may strive against your besetting sin, but if it be in your own might you will fail. But draw near to Christ, and keep Him in view continually. Hide deep in your heart His own word of promise—"My grace is sufficient for thee, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Fly to Him as your stronghold, whenever danger is at hand. Make Him your shield, when the shafts of the wicked one are aimed for your destruction.

“The holy scripture is a panacea, or universal medicine for the soul; it gives a recipe to cure deadness of heart (Ps. 119:50). Pride (1 Pet. v5:5). Infidelity (John 3:36). It is a physic garden, where we may gather an herb or antidote to expel the poison of sin. The leaves of scripture, like the leaves of the tree of life, are for the “healing of the nations” (Rev. 22:2).”

“God is pleased or displeased with every thought we think, with every word we speak, with every action we perform, and with every emotion we feel. Perhaps we do not sufficiently realize this. We think, speak, feel, and act, without ever considering whether we are pleasing God, or no. But this ought not to be, for He gave us our being, redeemed us from death, called us by His grace, and has blessed us with innumerable and interminable blessings, and all that we may glorify Him.”