What They Said

"I certainly see on every side a vast increase of what people call" Church-work." But I own to a strong suspicion that there is little or no increase of true religion. There is more show, undoubtedly. But I doubt extremely whether there is more reality, and more growth of practical godliness and zeal to save souls."

"The best way to overcome the world is not with morality or self-discipline. Christians overcome the world by seeing the beauty and excellence of Christ. They overcome the world by seeing something more attractive than the world: Christ"

“Where love is the compelling power, there is no sense of strain or conflict or bondage in doing what is right: the man or woman who is compelled by Jesus’ love and empowered by His Spirit does the will of God from the heart.”

“Prayer is not flight, prayer is power. Prayer does not deliver a man from some terrible situation; prayer enables a man to face and to master the situation.”

“If afflictions drive us nearer to Christ, the Bible, and prayer, they are positive blessings. We may not think so now. But we shall think so when we wake up in another world.”

“The Word of God is not to be used as a lottery; nor is it designed to instruct us by shreds and scraps, which is detached from their proper places, have no determinate import; but it is to furnish us with just principles, right apprehensions to regulate our judgments and affections, and thereby to influence and direct our conduct.”

“If you wait for a perfect church, you must wait until you get to heaven ; and even if you could find a perfect assembly on earth, I am sure they would not admit you to their fellowship, for you are not perfect yourself. Find out those people who are nearest to the Scriptures, who hold the truth in doctrine and in ordinance, and are most like the apostolic church, and then cast in your lot with them, and you will be blessed in the deed. “

“In praying for His enemies not only did Christ set before us a perfect example of how we should treat those who wrong and hate us, but He also taught us never to regard any as beyond the reach of prayer.”

“To be a Christian is to be like to Christ, from whom the name is taken: it is to be a follower and imitator of him; to be possessed of his spirit and temper; and to live as he lived in the world: it is to have those just; exalted, and divine notions of God and divine things, and that just and full view of our duty to God and man, which Christ taught; in short, it is to have our sentiments, our temper, and practice, formed upon the sacred model of the gospel. Let me expatiate a little upon this amiable character.”

"Oh, then remember that there is nothing in heaven or earth more efficacious to cure the wounds of conscience than a frequent and serious meditation on the wounds of Christ."

"You may fear that the Lord has passed you by, but it is not so:  He who counts the stars and calls them by their names, is in no danger of forgetting His own children. He knows your case as thoroughly as if you were the only creature He ever made, or the only saint He ever loved.  Approach Him and be at peace."

“God’s law contains “wondrous things.” All the Divine works are wonderful. There is not a leaf which God has moulded, or an insect He has formed, or an atom He has made, which does not demand, and will not repay, our thoughtful study. But Revelation contains a brighter display of His wisdom and love than nature with all its sublime and glorious discoveries.”

“It is well for a parent to read to his child from the inspired page about the beauty of holiness; but it is better still when the child can see that beauty shining out transfigured in every feature of his parent's character.’

“The true Christian's possession shall never be taken from him.   He alone, of all mankind, shall never be stripped of his inheritance.  Kings must one day leave their palaces. Rich men must one day leave their money and lands.  They only hold them until they die.  But the poorest saint on earth has a treasure of which he will never be deprived. The grace of God, and the favor of Christ, are riches which no man can take from him. They will go with him to the grave when he dies. They will rise with him in the resurrection morning, and be his to all eternity.”

“No matter what your wealth, if you have not Christ, you are miserably poor; but with Christ, you are rich to all eternity.”

“There shall not be the least aversion to good, nor the least inclination to evil, in their wills, but they will be brought to a perfect conformity to the will of God; blessed with angelic purity, and fixed therein.”

"Self-denial is the foundation of godliness, and if this be not well-laid, the whole building will fall. If there be any lust in our souls which we cannot deny, it will turn at length either to scandal or apostasy. Self-denial is the thread which must run along through the whole work of religion. The self-denying Christian will be the suffering Christian. ‘Let him deny himself and take up his cross’.”

“You can never deceive a hungry child. You may give it a plaything to still its cries, it may serve for a few minutes; but the pains of hunger are not to be removed by a doll. A windmill or a horse will not allay the cravings after the mother's breast.  So with babes in grace.  A hungry soul cannot feed upon play-things.”

"Though our private desires are ever so confused, though our private requests are ever so broken, and though our private groanings are ever so hidden from men, yet God eyes them, records them, and puts them upon the file of heaven, and will one day crown them with glorious answers and returns."

“There are many people who cannot give money even to those who need money help; yet they need not conclude that they can do nothing at all. Indeed, money is usually the poorest alms we can give. Kind words are better, love is better. So far as we know, Jesus never gave anyone money, yet there never was such a giver as he. He gave love, he gave sympathy, he gave thought. It is not money people usually need most, even when they think nothing else will do. What they really need is sympathy, cheer, encouragement.”

“Preachers and trumpets of the unseen world the sights and sounds of the landscape ought to be. And still, in the cool of the day, when I pass through the country fields, or climb to the summit of the hill, or sit and gaze across the sea, God and my soul should meet and talk.”

"What power would come upon the soul to calm and quiet it, and make it ready for the hand of God, if we would grasp a single line of Scripture and suck the honey out of it till our soul is filled with sweetness."