What They Said

“Yet, weak and imperfect as the holiness of the best saints may be, it is a real true thing, and has a character about it as unmistakable as light and salt. It is not a thing which begins and ends with noisy profession: it will be seen much more than heard. Genuine Scriptural holiness will make a man do his duty at home and by the fireside, and adorn his doctrine in the little trials of daily life. It will exhibit itself in passive graces as well as in active. It will make a man humble, kind, gentle, unselfish, good-tempered, considerate of others, loving, meek, and forgiving. It will not constrain him to go out of the world, and shut himself up in a cave, like a hermit. But it will make him do his duty in that state to which God has called him, on Christian principles, and after the pattern of Christ.”

"It is the duty of Christians to desire, and aim at and press towards perfection in grace and holiness.“

"A man's heart will be seen in his walk, and the blessing will come where heart and walk are both with God."

"To enjoy sweet communion with a glorified Savior, is to be in a state of perfect happiness. This unspeakable blessedness awaits all the friends of Jesus in a world of glory. O happy thought!"

"Prayer is an open door that none can shut. Devils may surround you on all sides, but the way upward is always open, and as long as that road is unobstructed, you will not fall into the enemy's hand."

“Holiness is not absolute perfection and freedom from all faults. Nothing of the kind! The wild words of some who talk of enjoying "unbroken communion with God for many months, are greatly to be deprecated, because they raise unscriptural expectations in the minds of young believers, and so do harm. Absolute perfection is for heaven, and not for earth, where we have a weak body, a wicked world, and a busy devil continually near our souls. Nor is real Christian holiness ever attained, or maintained, without a constant fight and struggle.”

"This single attraction, the enjoyment of God in Christ through a blessed eternity, should draw every soul to glory. Such a blessedness, eternity alone can unfold. This blessing will enrich your soul to all eternity."

"Prayer is the never-failing resort of the Christian in any case, in every plight. When you cannot use your sword, you may take to the weapon of all-prayer. Your powder may be damp, your bow-string may be relaxed, but the weapon of all-prayer need never be out of order."

“The first visible ensign of sovereignty, was creation, or God’s giving the world an actual existence in time, according to his decree from everlasting; bringing that huge, yet void and formless mass, at first out of nothing; and then, this glorious fabric out of that confusion: his hanging the earth on nothing: his assigning to every sort of creatures such form and station, to order, use, and efficacy, and im­pressing on them such laws and instincts of nature, as seemed to him good, (but all in a regular subservience to the good of the whole,) which also was effected by his word.”

“It is as certain as anything in the Bible that "without holiness no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). It is equally certain that it is the invariable fruit of saving faith, the real test of regeneration, the only sound evidence of indwelling grace, the certain consequence of vital union with Christ.”

"The love of Christ is unending"; it is not a passion of His humanity--but a perfection of His divinity. He has always existed--and He has always loved His people."

"This generation of humanity, far from being ruled by reason, is ruled by lust for pleasures and passions for power.”

“[Christ came] “that he might take our flesh, and redeem us; that he might instate us into a kingdom. He was poor, that he might make us rich. He was born of a virgin, that we might be born of God. He took our flesh, that he might give us his Spirit. He lay in the manger that we might lie in paradise. He came down from heaven, that he might bring us to heaven.”

"Faith is nothing, save as it lays hold of Christ; and it does so by laying hold of the truth or testimony concerning him."

"Worship is no longer worship when it reflects the culture around us more than the Christ within us."

“The tongue is called our glory (Psalm 30:12), because it is the instrument of glorifying God. When our tongues are out of tune in murmuring, then they are not our glory; but when the organs sound in holy discourse, then our tongues are our glory.”

"The object of the Spirit's work is to make us acquainted with the true Jehovah, that in him we may rest; not to produce in us certain feelings, the consciousness of which will make us think better of ourselves, and give us confidence toward God."

“Nothing else in all life is such a maker of joy and cheer as the privilege of doing good.”

"By definition, a Christian should be an enigma to every person who is not a Christian."

"The church that can’t worship must be entertained. And men who can’t lead a church to worship must provide the entertainment."

“One of the greatest hindrances to internal peace which the Christian encounters is the common habit of dividing our lives into two areas – the sacred and the secular”

"Thanksgiving is never out of season, for we have always much to be thankful for. In everything we should give thanks, to that end view all things as arranged by His wisdom, dependant on His will, sanctified by His blessing, according with His promises, and flowing from His love."

"Though the business of piety at first seems hard—yet when once we are entered into it, it is pleasant. When the wheels of the soul are oiled with grace, now a Christian moves in piety with facility and delight, Romans vii. 22."

"Yet only as we learn to die to self, do we become like Christ. Unrenewed nature seeks all of self and none of Christ. Becoming a Christian is the taking of Christ into the life in the place of self. Then all is changed. Life has a new centre, a new aim. Christ comes first."

"If you try to imitate Christ, the world will praise you; if you become Christlike, the world will hate you."

“Much of our difficulty as seeking Christians stems from our unwillingness to take God as He is and adjust our lives accordingly.  We insist upon trying to modify Him and to bring Him nearer to our own image.”

"The providence that supplies us, is the wisdom, benevolence, and power of God in operation for us; as expressive of His infinite love and unmerited grace."

"Our lives, like the seas, are full of tempests. But in the kingdom of Heaven, there is nothing to give grief. There, all is serene and calm; nothing within to trouble, or without to molest."

"Think what patience Jesus had with his disciples, and then read, "As I have loved you." Think how he bore with their faults and failings, with their dulness and slowness, with their unbelief and unfaithfulness, with their denials and betrayals. "As I have loved you, that ye also love one another." How it shames our touchiness, our quick firing up when a brother seems to fail a little in courtesy, or speaks a little quickly ! Was that the way Jesus loved his friends?"

"Intellectual pride is the last citadel of self."