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The First And Principal Duty Of A Pastor Is To Feed The Flock By Diligent Preaching Of The Word

-John Owen

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The First And Principal

John Owen

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The First And Principal Duty Of A Pastor Is To Feed The Flock By Diligent Preaching Of The Word

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It Is One Thing To Fear God As Threatening, With A Holy Reverence, And Another To Be Afraid Of The Evil Threatened.

Nothing Shall Be Lost That Is Done For God Or In Obedience To Him.

We Must Not Be Concerned Only With That Which Troubles Us, But With All That Troubles God.

Let Our Hearts Admit, “i Am Poor And Weak. Satan Is Too Subtle, Too Cunning, Too Powerful; He Watches Constantly For Advantages Over My Soul. The World Presses In Upon Me With All Sorts Of Pressures, Pleas, And Pretences. My Own Corruption Is Violent, Tumultuous, Enticing, And Entangling. As It Conceives Sin, It Wars Within Me And Against Me. Occasions And Opportunities For Temptation Are Innumerable. No Wonder I Do Not Know How Deeply Involved I Have Been With Sin. Therefore, On God Alone Will I Rely For My Keeping. I Will Continually Look To Him.

Faith, If It Be A Living Faith, Will Be A Working Faith.

There Is Only One Way To Be Revived And Healed From Our Backslidings So That We May Become Fruitful Even In Old Age. We Must Take A Steady Look At The Glory Of Christ In His Special Character, In His Grace And Work, As Shown To Us In The Scripture.

Assurance Encourateth Us In Our Combat; It Delivers Us Not From It. We May Have Peace With God When We Have Done From The Assaults Of Satan.

If We Do Not Abide In Prayer, We Will Abide In Temptation.

He That Hath Slight Thoughts Of Sin, Never Had Great Thoughts Of God.

If We Believe Not With Faith Divine And Supernatural, We Believe Not At All.

We Are Never Nearer Christ Than When We Find Ourselves Lost In A Holy Amazement At His Unspeakable Love.

God Never Intended For Us To Be Left To Pray On Our Own. God Never Changes His Purpose, But He Often Does Purpose A Change.

Temptation Gains Power Where We See It Prevail In Others We Know And We Express Neither Shock Or Hatred Of Them And Their Ways Nor Pity And Prayer For Their Deliverance.

For To Pretend That Men May Live Habitually Sinful Lives Without Any Attempt By The Spirit To Mortify Sin In Them, Nor With Any Desire For Repentance, Is To Deny The Christian Religion.

We Ought As Much To Pray For A Blessing Upon Our Daily Rod As Upon Our Daily Bread.

He Works In Us And With Us, Not Against Us Or Without Us; So That His Assistance Is An Encouragement To The Facilitating Of The Work, And No Occasion Of Neglect As To The Work Itself.

Our Great Pattern Hath Showed Us What Our Deportment Ought To Be In All Suggestions And Temptations. When The Devil Showed Him "all The Kingdoms Of The World And The Glory Of Them," To Tempt Him Withal, He Did Not Stand And Look Upon Them, Viewing Their Glory, And Pondering Their Empire.... But Instantly, Without Stay, He Cries, "get Thee Hence, Satan." Meet Thy Temptation In Its Entrance With Thoughts Of Faith Concerning Christ On The Cross; This Will Make It Sink Before Thee. Entertain No Parley, No Dispute With It, If Thou Wouldst Not Enter Into It.

Christ On The Cross

On Christ’s Glory I Would Fix All My Thoughts And Desires, And The More I See Of The Glory Of Christ, The More The Painted Beauties Of This World Will Wither In My Eyes And I Will Be More And More Crucified To This World. It Will Become To Me Like Something Dead And Putrid, Impossible For Me To Enjoy.

Great Winds And Storms Help Fruit-bearing Trees. So Also Do Corruptions And Temptations Help The Fruitfulness Of Grace And Holiness. The Storm Loosens The Earth Round Its Roots So The Tree Is Able To Get Its Roots Deeper Into The Earth, Where It Receives Fresh Supplies Of Nourishment. But Only Much Later Will It Be Seen To Bring Forth Better Fruit. So Corruptions And Temptations Develop The Roots Of Humility, Self-abasement And Mourning In A Deeper Search For That Grace By Which Holiness Grows Strong. But Only Later Will There Be Visible Fruits Of Increased Holiness.

We Admit No Faith To Be Justifying, Which Is Not Itself And In Its Own Nature A Spiritually Vital Principle Of Obedience And Good Works.

There Is A State Of Perfect Peace With God To Be Attained Under Imperfect Obedience.

Unless Men See A Beauty And Delight In The Worship Of God, They Will Not Do It Willingly.

When We Realize A Constant Enemy Of The Soul Abides Within Us, What Diligence And Watchfulness We Should Have! How Woeful Is The Sloth And Negligence Then Of So Many Who Live Blind And Asleep To This Reality Of Sin. There Is An Exceeding Efficacy Nad Power In The Indwelling Sin Of Believers, For It Constantly Inclines Itself Towards Evil. We Need To Be Awake, Then, If Our Hearts Would Know The Ways Of God. Our Enemy Is Not Only Upon Us, As It Was With Samson, But It Is Also In Us.

Christ So Loves His People That He Sings With Joy Over Them.

All Attempts, Then, For Mortification Of Any Lust, Without An Interest In Christ, Are Vain.

In The Divine Scriptures, There Are Shallows And There Are Deeps; Shallows Where The Lamb May Wade, And Deeps Where The Elephant May Swim.

Selfishness Is The Making A Man's Self His Own Centre, The Beginning And End Of All He Doeth.

Beginnings And Ends

Let Not That Man Think He Makes Any Progress In Holiness Who Walks Not Over The Bellies Of His Lusts. He Who Doth Not Kill Sin In This Way Takes No Steps Toward His Journey's End.

We Are Taught In An Especial Manner To Pray That God Would Give His Holy Spirit Unto Us, That Through His Aid And Assistance We May Live Unto God In That Holy Obedience Which He Requires At Our Hands.

By Faith Ponder On This, That Though Thou Art No Way Able In Or By Thyself To Get The Conquest Over Thy Distemper, Though Thou Art Even Weary Of Contending, And Art Utterly Ready To Faint, Yet That There Is Enough In Jesus Christ To Yield Thee Relief.

Because He Is; That Is, Because He Is An Infinitely Glorious, Good, Wise, Holy, Powerful, Righteous, Self-subsisting , Self-sufficient , And All-sufficient Being; The Fountain And Author Of All Being And Good; The First Cause, Last End, And Sovereign Lord Of All; Therefore, He Is To Be Worshipped: Therefore, Are We To Admire, Adore, And Love Him; To Praise, To Trust And To Fear Him.

See In The Meantime That Your Faith Brings Forth Obedience, And God In Due Time Will Cause It To Bring Forth Peace.

The Beauty Of The Person Of Christ, As Represented In The Scripture, Consists In Things Invisible Unto The Eyes Of Flesh. They Are Such As No Hand Of Man Can Represent Or Shadow. It Is The Eye Of Faith Alone That Can See This King In His Beauty. What Else Can Contemplate On The Untreated Glories Of His Divine Nature? Can The Hand Of Man Represent The Union Of His Natures In The Same Person, Wherein He Is Peculiarly Amiable? What Eye Can Discern The Mutual Communications Of The Properties Of His Different Natures In The Same Person?

All That May Be Known Of God For Our Salvation, Especially His Wisdom, Love, Goodness, Grace And Mercy On Which The Life Of Our Souls Depends, Are Represented To Us In All Their Splendour In And Through Christ. No Wonder Then That Christ Is Glorious In The Eyes Of Believers!

Grace And Mercy

He That Loves Works Out Good To Those That He Loves, As He Is Able. God's Power And Will Are Equal; What He Wills He Works.

It Is Truth Alone That Capacitates Any Soul To Glorify God.

It Is A Throne Of Grace That God In Christ Is Represented To Us Upon; But Yet Is Is A Throne Still Whereon Majesty And Glory Do Reside, And God Is Always To Be Considered By Us As On A Throne.

Only What God Has Commanded In His Word Should Be Regarded As Binding; In All Else There May Be Liberty Of Actions.

To Say That We Are Able By Our Own Efforts To Think Good Thoughts Or Give God Spiritual Obedience Before We Are Spiritually Regenerate Is To Overthrow The Gospel And The Faith Of The Universal Church In All Ages.

For A Man Solemnly To Undertake The Interpretation Of Any Portion Of Scripture Without Invocation Of God, To Be Taught And Instructed By His Spirit, Is A High Provocation Of Him; Nor Shall I Expect The Discovery Of Truth From Any One Who Thus Proudly Engages In A Work So Much Beyond His Ability.

There Are Two Things That Are Suited To Humble The Souls Of Men, And They Are, First, A Due Consideration Of God, And Then Of Themselves - Of God, In His Greatness, Glory, Holiness, Power, Majesty, And Authority; Of Ourselves, In Our Mean, Abject, And Sinful Condition.

Free Will Is "corrupted Nature's Deformed Darling, The Pallas Or Beloved Self-conception Of Darkened Minds"

Christ Is Our Best Friend, And Ere Long Will Be Our Only Friend. I Pray God With All My Heart That I May Be Weary Of Everything Else But Converse And Communion With Him.

No Man Shall Ever Behold The Glory Of Christ By Sight Hereafter Who Does Not In Some Measure Behold It Here By Faith.

The Good Lord Send Out A Spirit Of Mortification To Cure Our Distempers, Or We Are In A Sad Condition!

The Purpose Of Our Holy And Righteous God Was To Save His Church, But Their Sin Could Not Go Unpunished. It Was, Therefore, Necessary That The Punishment For That Sin Be Transferred From Those Who Deserved It But Could Not Bear It, To One Who Did Not Deserve It But Was Able To Bear It.

As A Tender And Loving Friend Is Grieved At The Unkindness Of His Friend... So Is It With This Tender And Loving Spirit, Who Hath Chosen Our Hearts For A Habitation To Dwell In.

There Is No True Gospel Fruit Without Faith And Repentance.

When Someone Sets His Affections Upon The Cross And The Love Of Christ, He Crucifies The World As A Dead And Undesirable Thing. The Baits Of Sin Lose Their Attraction And Disappear. Fill Your Affections With The Cross Of Christ And You Will Find No Room For Sin.

Steadfastness In Believing Doth Not Exclude All Temptations From Without. When We Say A Tree Is Firmly Rooted, We Do Not Say The Wind Never Blows Upon It.

All Things I Thought I Knew; But Now Confess The More I Know, I Know, I Know The Less.

In Or Towards Whomsoever The Holy Spirit Puts Forth His Power, Or Acts His Grace For Their Regeneration, He Removes All Obstacles, Overcomes All Oppositions, And Infallibly Produces The Intended Effect.

The New Goddess Contingency Could Not Be Erected Until The God Of Heaven Was Utterly Despoiled Of His Dominion Over The Sons Of Men, And In The Room Thereof A Home-bred Idol Of Self-sufficiency Set Up, And The World Persuaded To Worship It. But That The Building Climb No Higher, Let All Men Observe How The Word Of God Overthrows This Babylonian Tower.

When Sin Lets Us Alone We May Let Sin Alone.

I Did Not Hear What I Should Have Listened To.

Should Have Listened

I Have Known Some Good Men Who Have Been So Addicted To Their Study, That They Have Thought The Last Day Of The Week Sufficient To Prepare For Their Ministry, Though They Employ All The Rest Of The Week In Other Studies. But Your Business Is To Trade With Your Spiritual Abilities. ... A Man May Preach A Very Good Sermon, Who Is Otherwise Himself; But He Will Never Make A Good Minister Of Jesus Christ, Whose Mind And Heart Are Not Always In The Work. Spiritual Gifts Will Require Continual Ruminating On The Things Of The Gospel In Our Minds.

If Our Principal Treasure Be As We Profess, In Things Spiritual And Heavenly, And Woe Unto Us If It Be Not So! On Them Will Our Affections, And Consequently Our Desires And Thoughts, Be Principally Fixed.

The Seed Of Every Sin Is In Every Heart.

Ignorance Of God And Of Ourselves Is The Great Principle And Cause Of All Our Disquietments; And, This Ariseth Mostly Not From Want Of Light And Instruction, But For Want Of Consideration And Application.

A True Saving Knowledge Of Sin Is To Be Had Only In The Lord Christ: In Him May We See The Desert Of Our Iniquities.

Let No Man Think To Kill Sin With Few, Easy, Or Gentle Strokes. He Who Hath Once Smitten A Serpent, If He Follow Not On His Blow Until It Be Slain, May Repent That Ever He Began The Quarrel. And So He Who Undertakes To Deal With Sin, And Pursues It Not Constantly To The Death.

If Private Revelations Agree With Scripture, They Are Needless, And If They Disagree, They Are False.

Mortification From A Self-strength, Carried On By Ways Of Self-invention, Unto The End Of A Self-righteousness, Is The Soul And Substance Of All False Religion In The World.

He Who Prays As He Ought Will Endeavor To Live As He Prays.

If The Word Does Not Dwell With Power In Us, It Will Not Pass With Power From Us.

A Man Preacheth That Sermon Only Well Unto Others Which Preacheth Itself In His Own Soul. And He That Doth Not Feed On And Thrive In The Digestion Of The Food Which He Provides For Others Will Scarce Make It Savoury Unto Them; Yea, He Knows Not But The Food He Hath Provided May Be Poison, Unless He Have Really Tasted Of It Himself. If The Word Do Not Dwell With Power In Us, It Will Not Pass With Power From Us.

Christ Is The Meat, The Bread, The Food Of Our Souls. Nothing Is In Him Of A Higher Spiritual Nourishment Than His Love, Which We Should Always Desire.

Without A Sincere And Diligent Effort In Every Area Of Obedience, There Will Be No Sucessful Mortification Of Any One Besetting Sin.

Faith Is The Leading Grace In All Our Spiritual Warfare And Conflict; But All Along While We Live, It Hath Faithful Company That Adheres To It, And Helps It. Love Works, And Hope Works, And All Other Graces, — Self-denial, Readiness To The Cross, — They All Work And Help Faith. But When We Come To Die, Faith Is Left Alone. Now, Try What Faith Will Do.

The Least Grace Is A Better Security For Heaven Than The Greatest Gifts Or Privileges Whatsoever.

Would A Soul Continually Eye His Everlasting Tenderness And Compassion...[then] It Could Not Bear An Hour's Absence From Him; Whereas Now, Perhaps, It Cannot Watch With Him One Hour.

Your State Is Not At All To Be Measured By The Opposition That Sin Makes To You, But By The Opposition You Make To It.

Then Are We Servants Of God, Then Are We The Disciples Of Christ, When We Do What Is Commanded Us And Because It Is Commanded Us.

Temptations And Occasions Put Nothing Into A Man, But Only Draw Out What Was In Him Before.

Whatever Vices And Corruptions Men See In The Lives Of Their Ministers Will Not Be Attributed To The Depravity Of Their Old Nature Which Still Abides In Them, But To The Gospel.

Believers Obey Christ As The One Whom Our Obedience Is Accepted By God. Believers Know All Their Duties Are Weak, Imperfect, And Unable To Abide In God's Presence. Therefore They Look To Christ As The One Who Bears The Iniquity Of Their Holy Things, Who Adds Incense To Their Prayers, Gathers Out All The Weeds From Their Duties And Makes Them Acceptable To God.

Longing, Breathing, And Panting After Deliverance Is A Grace In Itself, That Has A Mighty Power To Conform The Soul Into The Likeness Of The Thing Longed After...unless You Long For Deliverance You Shall Not Have It.

We Can Have No Power From Christ Unless We Live In A Persuasion That We Have None Of Our Own.

I Will Not Judge A Person To Be Spiritually Dead Whom I Have Judged Formerly To Have Had Spiritual Life, Though I See Him At Present In A Swoon (faint)as To All Evidences Of The Spiritual Life. And The Reason Why I Will Not Judge Him So Is This -- Because If You Judge A Person Dead, You Neglect Him, You Leave Him; But If You Judge Him In A Swoon,(faint) Though Never So Dangerous, You Use All Means For The Retrieving Of His Life.

Set Faith At Work On Christ For The Killing Of Thy Sin. His Blood Is The Great Sovereign Remedy For Sin-sick Souls. Live In This, And Thou Wilt Die A Conqueror; Yea, Thou Wilt, Through The Good Providence Of God, Live To See Thy Lust Dead At Thy Feet.

And As Men Diversions Increase From The World, So Do Their Entanglements From Satan. When They Have More To Do In The World Than They Can Well Manage, They Shall Have More To Do From Satan Than They Can Withstand.

Indwelling Sin Always Abides Whilst We Are In This World; Therefore It Is Always To Be Mortified.

We Cannot Enjoy Peace In This World Unless We Are Ready To Yield To The Will Of God In Respect Of Death. Our Times Are In His Hand, At His Sovereign Disposal. We Must Accept That As Best.

A Man May Easier See Without Eyes, Speak Without A Tongue, Than Truly Mortify One Sin Without The Spirit.

Temptation Is Like A Knife, That May Either Cut The Meat Or The Throat Of A Man; It May Be His Food Or His Poison, His Exercise Or His Destruction

Men Think All Things Would Be Very Glorious If They Might Be Done According To Their Mind. Perhaps, Indeed, They Would-but With Their Glory, Not The Glory Of God.

When The Holy Spirit Sanctifies Believers, He Does A Complete Work In Them. He Puts Into Their Minds, Wills And Hearts A Gracious, Supernatural Principle Which Fills Them With A Holy Desire To Live To God. The Whole Life And Being Of Holiness Lies In This. This Is The New Creation.

That Wisdom Which Cannot Teach Me That God Is Love, Shall Ever Pass For Folly.

Now Nothing Can Prevent This But Mortification; That Withers The Root And Strikes At The Head Of Sin Every Hour, So That Whatever It Aims At It Is Crossed In.

Every Time We Say We Believe In The Holy Spirit, We Mean We Believe That There Is A Living God Able And Willing To Enter Human Personality And Change It.

We Speak Much Of God, Can Talk Of Him, His Ways, His Works, His Counsels, All The Day Long; The Truth Is, We Know Very Little Of Him.

This Day Was Yesterday To-morrow Nam'd: To-morrow Shall Be Yesterday Proclaimed: To-morrow Not Yet Come, Not Far Away, What Shall To-morrow Then Be Call'd? To-day.

To Kill Sin Is The Work Of Living Men; Where Men Are Dead (as All Unbelievers, The Best Of Them, Are Dead), Sin Is Alive, And Will Live.

As Among All The Doctrines Of The Gospel, There Is None Opposed With More Violence And Subtlety Than That Concerning Our Regeneration By The Immediate, Powerful, Effectual Operation Of The Holy Spirit Of Grace.

Herein Would I Live; Herein Would I Die; Hereon Would I Dwell In My Thoughts And Affections; To The Withering And Consumption Of All The Painted Beauties Of This World, Unto The Crucifying All Things Here Below, Until They Become Unto Me A Dead And Deformed Thing, No Way Meet For Affectionate Embraces.

Consider That It Is Not Failing In This Or That Attempt To Come To Christ, But A Giving-over Of Your Endeavors, That Will Be Your Ruin.

All Spiritual Acts Well-pleasing Unto God, As Faith, Repentance, Obedience, Are Supernatural; Flesh And Blood Revealeth Not These Things.

Some Relate . . . That The Eagle Tries The Eyes Of Her Young By Turning Them To The Sun; Which If They Cannot Look Steadily On, She Rejects Them As Spurious. We May Truly Try Our Faith By Immediate Intuitions Of The Sun Of Righteousness. Direct Faith To Act Itself, Immediately And Directly On The Incarnation Of Christ And His Mediation; And If It Be Not The Right Kind And Race, It Will Turn Its Eyes Aside To Anything Else.

There Is Not A Day But Sin Foils Or Is Foiled, Prevails Or Is Prevailed On; And It Will Be So Whilst We Live In This World.

There Is No Broader Way To Apostasy Than To Reject God's Sovereignty In All Things Concerning The Revelation Of Himself And Our Obedience.

To Suppose That Whatever God Requireth Of Us That We Have Power Of Ourselves To Do, Is To Make The Cross And Grace Of Jesus Christ Of None Effect.

Temptation Gains Power By Persistent Solicitations That Beget Thoughts That Make Evil Less Serious

If We Would Talk Less And Pray More About Them, Things Would Be Better Than They Are In The World: At Least, We Should Be Better Enabled To Bear Them.

The Most Tremendous Judgment Of God In This World Is The Hardening Of The Hearts Of Men.

Sin Will Be Always Acting, If We Be Not Always Mortifying, We Are Lost Creatures.

Be Killing Sin Or It Will Be Killing You.

The More I See Of The Glory Of Christ, The More The Painted Beauties Of This World Will Wither In My Eyes.

He Can Make The Dry Parched Ground Of My Soul To Become A Pool And My Thirsty Barren Heart As Springs Of Water. Yes He Can Make This Habitation Of Dragons This Heart Which Is So Full Of Abominable Lusts And Fiery Temptations To Be A Place Of Bounty And Fruitfulness Unto Himself

It Is Not The Glorious Battlements, The Painted Windows, The Crouching Gargoyles That Support A Building, But The Stones That Lie Unseen In Or Upon The Earth. It Is Often Those Who Are Despised And Trampled On That Bear Up The Weight Of A Whole Nation.

The Pretended Desires Of Many To Behold The Glory Of Christ In Heaven, Who Have No View Of It By Faith While They Are Here In This World, Are Nothing But Self-deceiving Imaginations.

The Mortification Of Indwelling Sin Remaining In Our Mortal Bodies, That It May Not Have Life And Power To Bring Forth The Works Or Deeds Of The Flesh Is The Constant Duty Of Believers.

Mortification Is The Soul's Vigorous Opposition To Self, Wherein Sincerity Is Most Evident.

No Heart Can Conceive That Treasury Of Mercies Which Lies In This One Privilege, In Having Liberty And Ability To Approach Unto God At All Times, According To His Mind And Will.

Unless We Are Thoroughly Convinced That Without Christ We Are Under The Eternal Curse Of God, As The Worst Of His Enemies, We Shall Never Flee To Him For Refuge.

To Believe That He Will Preserve Us Is, Indeed, A Means Of Preservation. God Will Certainly Preserve Us, And Make A Way Of Escape For Us Out Of The Temptation, Should We Fall. We Are To Pray For What God Has Already Promised. Our Requests Are To Be Regulated By His Promises And Commands. Faith Embraces The Promises And So Finds Relief.

Christ Did Not Die For Any Upon Condition, If They Do Believe; But He Died For All God's Elect, That They Should Believe.

The Duties God Requires Of Us Are Not In Proportion To The Strength We Possess In Ourselves. Rather, They Are Proportional To The Resources Available To Us In Christ. We Do Not Have The Ability In Ourselves To Accomplish The Least Of God's Tasks. This Is The Law Of Grace. When We Recognize It Is Impossible For Us To Perform A Duty In Our Own Strength, We Will Discover The Secret Of Its Accomplishment.

The Custom Of Sinning Takes Away The Sense Of It, The Course Of The World Takes Away The Shame Of It.

Christ Greatly Delights In His People And They Greatly Delight In Him

Many There Are Who, Not Comprehending, Not Being Affected With, That Divine, Spiritual Description Of The Person Of Christ Which Is Given Us By The Holy Ghost In The Scripture, Do Feign Unto Themselves False Representations Of Him By Images And Pictures, So As To Excite Carnal And Corrupt Affections In Their Minds. By The Help Of Their Outward Senses, They Reflect On Their Imaginations The Shape Of A Human Body, Cast Into Postures And Circumstances Dolorous Or Triumphant; And So, By The Working Of Their Fancy, Raise A Commotion Of Mind In Themselves, Which They Suppose To Be Love Unto Christ.

It Is Often Those Who Are Despised And Trampled On That Bear Up The Weight Of A Whole Nation.

A Natural Man Hath No Such Thing As Free-will At All, If You Take It For A Power Of Doing That Which Is Good And Well-pleasing Unto God In Things Spiritual.

Do You Mortify; Do You Make It Your Daily Work; Be Always At It Whilst You Live; Cease Not A Day From This Work; Be Killing Sin Or It Will Be Killing You.

We Shall Not Benefit From Reading The Old Testament Unless We Look For And Meditate On The Glory Of Christ In Its Pages.

There Is Not A Day But Sin Foils Or Is Foiled, Prevails Or Is Prevailed Upon. It Will Always Be So While We Live In This World. Sin Will Not Spare For One Day. There Is No Safety But In A Constant Warfare For Those Who Desire Deliverance From Sin's Perplexing Rebellion.

Sin Is Never Less Quiet Than When It Seems To Be Most Quiet.

It Is The Spirit Alone That Can Mortify Sin; He Is Promised To Do It, And All Other Means Without Him Are Empty And Vain. How Shall He, Then, Mortify Sin That Has Not The Spirit? A Man May Easier See Without Eyes, Speak Without A Tongue, Than Truly Mortify One Sin Without The Spirit.

It Being Our Duty To Mortify... We Must Be At Work. He That Is Appointed To Kill An Enemy, If He Leave Striking Before The Other Ceases Living, Does But Half His Work.

The Choicest Believers, Who Are Assuredly Freed From The Condemning Power Of Sin, Ought Yet To Make It Their Business All Their Days To Mortify The Indwelling Power Of Sin.

The Gospel Shall Be Victorious. This Is The Third Thing That Greatly Comforts And Refreshes Me, — That If God Should Give Me The Honour, The Strength, And Grace To Die In This Cause, My Cause Shall Be Victorious, As Sure As If I Had The Crown In My Hand.

The First And Principal Duty Of A Pastor Is To Feed The Flock By Diligent Preaching Of The Word

If Scripture Has More Than One Meaning, It Has No Meaning At All.

As Rivers, The Nearer They Come To The Ocean Whither They Tend, The More They Increase Their Waters, And Speed Their Streams; So Will Grace Flow More Fully And Freely In Its Near Approaches To The Ocean Of Glory.

Labour To Grow Better Under All Your Afflictions, Lest Your Afflictions Grow Worse, Lest God Mingle Them With More Darkness, Bitterness And Terror.

Pardon Comes Not To The Soul Alone; Or Rather, Christ Comes Not To The Soul With Pardon Only! It Is That Which He Opens The Door And Enters By, But He Comes With A Spirit Of Life And Power.

He Who Finds Not Opposition From Sin, And Who Sets Not Himself In Every Particular To Its Mortification, Is At Peace With It, Not Dying To It.

The Root Of An Unmortified Course Is The Digestion Of Sin Without Bitterness In The Heart.

The Love Of God Is Like Himself – Equal, Constant, Not Capable Of Augmentation Or Diminution; Our Love Is Like Ourselves – Unequal, Increasing, Waning, Growing, Declining. His, Like The Sun, Always The Same In Its Light, Though A Cloud May Sometimes Interpose; Ours, As The Moon, Has Its Enlargements And Straightenings.

Let No Man Pretend To Fear Sin That Does Not Fear Temptation Also! These Two Are Too Closely United To Be Separated. He Does Not Truly Hate The Fruit Who Delights In The Root.

To Those To Whom Christ Is The Hope Of Future Glory, He Is Also The Life Of Present Grace.

No Wonder If Such Persons Look Upon Imputed Righteousness As The Shadow Of A Dream, Who Esteem Those Things Which Evidence Its Necessity To Be But Fond Imaginations. And Small Hope Is There To Bring Such Men To Value The Righteousness Of Christ, As Imputed To Them, Who Are So Unacquainted With Their Own Unrighteousness Inherent In Them. Until Men Know Themselves Better, They Will Care Very Little To Know Christ At All.

To The Sick Man The Physician When He Enters Seems To Have Three Faces, Those Of A Man, A Devil, A God. When The Physician First Comes And Announces The Safety Of The Patient, Then The Sick Man Says: "behold A God Or A Guardian Angel!

If We Do Not Abide In Prayer, We Will Abide In Temptation. Let This Be One Aspect Of Our Daily Intercession: "god, Preserve My Soul, And Keep My Heart And All Its Ways So That I Will Not Be Entangled." When This Is True In Our Lives, A Passing Temptation Will Not Overcome Us. We Will Remain Free While Others Lie In Bondage.

What Then Is Holiness? Holiness Is Nothing But The Implanting, Writing And Living Out Of The Gospel In Our Souls (eph 4:24).

Let, Then, The Word Be Preached, And The Sins Of Men Will Be Rebuked, Lust Will Be Restrained, And Some Oppositions Will Be Made Against Sin, Though That Be Not The Effect Aimed At.

I Do Not Understand How A Man Can Be A True Believer, In Whom Sin Is Not The Greatest Burden, Sorrow And Trouble.

Christ By His Death Destroying The Works Of The Devil, Procuring The Spirit For Us, Hath So Killed Sin, As To Its Reign In Believers, That It Shall Not Obtain Its End And Dominion.

What Do We Want? What Would We Be At? What Do Our Souls Desire? Is It Not That We Might Have A More Full, Clear, Stable Comprehension Of The Wisdom, Love, Grace, Goodness, Holiness, Righteousness, And Power Of God, As Declared And Exalted In Christ Unto Our Redemption And Eternal Salvation?

The Vigour, And Power, And Comfort Of Our Spiritual Life Depends On The Mortification Of The Deeds Of The Flesh.

Sin Aims Always At The Utmost; Every Time It Rises Up To Tempt Or Entice, If It Has Its Own Way It Will Go Out To The Utmost Sin In That Kind. Every Unclean Thought Or Glance Would Be Adultery If It Could, Every Thought Of Unbelief Would Be Atheism If Allowed To Develop. Every Rise Of Lust, If It Has Its Way Reaches The Height Of Villainy; It Is Like The Grave That Is Never Satisfied. The Deceitfulness Of Sin Is Seen In That It Is Modest In Its First Proposals But When It Prevails It Hardens Men’s Hearts, And Brings Them To Ruin.

We Need To Attend Diligently To The State Of Our Soul, And To Deal Fervently And Effectively With God About It.

Without Absolutes Revealed From Without By God Himself, We Are Left Rudderless In A Sea Of Conflicting Ideas About Manners, Justice And Right And Wrong, Issuing From A Multitude Of Self-opinionated Thinkers.

You Have Your Season, And You Have But Your Season; Neither Can You Lie Down In Peace, Until You Have Some Persuasion That Your Work As Well As Your Life Is At An End.

God Hath Work To Do In This World; And To Desert It Because Of Its Difficulties And Entanglements, Is To Cast Off His Authority. It Is Not Enough That We Be Just, That We Be Righteous, And Walk With God In Holiness; But We Must Also Serve Our Generation, As David Did Before He Fell Asleep. God Hath A Work To Do; And Not To Help Him Is To Oppose Him.

All Other Ways Of Mortification Are Vain, All Helps Leave Us Helpless; It Must Be Done By The Spirit.

We All Profess That We Are Bound For Heaven, Immortality, And Glory: But Is It Any Evidence That We Really Design It If All Our Thoughts Are Consumed About The Trifles Of This World, Which We Must Leave Behind Us, And Have Only Occasional Thoughts Of Things Above?

So Great An Advantage Is Given To Sin And Satan By Your Temper And Disposition, That Without Extraordinary Watchfulness, Care, And Diligence, They Will Prevail Against Your Soul.

There Wanted Not Some Beams Of Light To Guide Men In The Exercise Of Their Stocastick Faculty.

Did You Never Run For Shelter In A Storm, And Find Fruit Which You Expected Not? Did You Never Go To God For Safeguard, Driven By Outward Storms, And There Find Unexpected Fruit?

Consider Who And What You Are; Who The Spirit Is That Is Grieved, What He Has Done For You, What He Comes To Your Soul About, What He Has Already Done In You; And Be Ashamed. Among Those Who Walk With God, There Is No Greater Motive And Incentive Unto Universal Holiness, And The Preserving Of Their Hearts And Spirits In All Purity And Cleanness Than This: That The Blessed Spirit, Who Has Undertaken To Dwell In Them, Is Continually Considering What They Give Entertainment In Their Hearts Unto, And Rejoices When His Temple Is Kept Undefiled.

Hatred Of Sin As Sin, Not Only As Galling Or Disquieting, A Sense Of The Love Of Christ In The Cross, Lie At The Bottom Of All True Spiritual Mortification.

The Natural Man "cannot See Or Discern That Divine Excellency In The Scripture, Without An Apprehension Whereof No Man Can Believe It Aright To Be The Word Of God."

The Vigour, And Power, And Comfort Of Our Spiritual Life Depends On The Mortification Of The Deeds Of The Flesh...the Choicest Believers, Who Are Assuredly Freed From The Condemning Power Of Sin, Ought Yet To Make It Their Business All Their Days To Mortify The Indwelling Power Of Sin...do You Mortify; Do You Make It Your Daily Work; Be Always At It Whilst You Live; Cease Not A Day From This Work; Be Killing Sin Or It Will Be Killing You.

The Greatest Sorrow And Burden You Can Lay On The Father, The Greatest Unkindness You Can Do To Him Is Not To Believe That He Loves You.

When We Have Communion With God In The Doctrine We Contend For-then Shall We Be Garrisoned By The Grace Of God Against All The Assaults Of Men.

When The Heart Is Once Won To Rest In God, To Repose Himself On Him, He Will Assuredly Satisfy It. He Will Never Be As Water That Fails; Nor Hath He Said At Any Time To The Seed Of Jacob, "seek Ye My Face In Vain." If Christ Be Chosen For The Foundation Of Our Supply, He Will Not Fail Us.

The House Built On The Sand May Oftentimes Be Built Higher, Have More Fair Parapets And Battlements, Windows And Ornaments, Than That Which Is Built Upon The Rock; Yet All Gifts And Privileges Equal Not One Grace.

It Must Be Observed, That The Best Of Men, The Most Holy And Spiritually Minded, May Have, Nay, Ought To Have, Their Thoughts Of Spiritual Things Excited, Multiplied, And Confirmed, By The Preaching Of The Word.

He That Is More Frequent In His Pulpit To His People Than He Is In His Closet For His People, Is But A Sorry Watchman.

A River Continually Fed By A Living Fountain May As Soon End Its Streams Before It Come To The Ocean, As A Stop Be Put To The Course And Progress Of Grace Before It Issue In Glory.

I Wish Thy Lot, Now Bad, Still Worse, My Friend, For When At Worst, They Say, Things Always Mend.

The Stronghold Of The Contemplation Of Christ's Glory Affords The Soul Rest, For It Will Be Made Evident That Our Troubles Grow On The Root Of An Over-valuation Of Temporal Things. The Mind Is Its Own Greatest Troubler.

Leanness Of Body And Soul May Go Together.

The Foundation Of True Holiness And True Christian Worship Is The Doctrine Of The Gospel, What We Are To Believe. So When Christian Doctrine Is Neglected, Forsaken, Or Corrupted, True Holiness And Worship Will Also Be Neglected, Forsaken, And Corrupted.

It Is Not The Distance Of The Earth From The Sun, Nor The Sun's Withdrawing Itself, That Makes A Dark And Gloomy Day; But The Interposition Of Clouds And Vaporous Exhalations. Neither Is Thy Soul Beyond The Reach Of The Promise, Nor Does God Withdraw Himself; But The Vapours Of Thy Carnal, Unbelieving Heart Do Cloud Thee.

Never Was Sin Seen To Be More Abominably Sinful And Full Of Provocation Than When The Burden Of It Was Upon The Shoulders Of The Son Of God...would You, Then, See The True Demerit Of Sin?-take The Measure Of It From The Mediation Of Christ, Especially His Cross.

If I Have Observed Anything By Experience, It Is This: A Man May Take The Measure Of His Growth And Decay In Grace According To His Thoughts And Meditations Upon The Person Of Christ, And The Glory Of Christ's Kingdom, And Of His Love.

The Growth Of Trees And Plants Takes Place So Slowly That It Is Not Easily Seen. Daily We Notice Little Change. But, In Course Of Time, We See That A Great Change Has Taken Place. So It Is With Grace. Sanctification Is A Progressive, Lifelong Work (prov 4:18). It Is An Amazing Work Of God's Grace And It Is A Work To Be Prayed For (rom 8:27).

To Some Men It Is Hard Seeing A Call Of God Through Difficulties; When If It Would But Clothe Itself With A Few Carnal Advantages, How Apparent It Is To Them! They Can See It Through A Little Cranny.

...but Let It Suffice Us To Know That It Became God, Who Is The Supreme Ruler, Governor And Judge Of All That Sin Should Be Punished With Death In The Sinner Or His Surety; And Therefore If God Would Bring Many Sons To Glory, The Captain Of Their Salvation Must Undergo Sufferings And Death, To Make Satisfaction For Them.

Suffering And Death

Meditate On The Word In The Word.

Though We Are Commanded To 'wash Ourselves', To 'cleanse Ourselves From Sins', To 'purge Ourselves From All Our Iniquities', Yet To Imagine That We Can Do These Things By Our Own Efforts Is To Trample On The Cross And Grace Of Jesus Christ. Whatever God Works In Us By His Grace, He Commands Us To Do As Our Duty. God Works All In Us And By Us.

The Person Who Understands The Evil In His Own Heart Is The Only Person Who Is Useful, Fruitful, And Solid In His Beliefs And Obedience. Others Only Delude Themselves And Thus Upset Families, Churches, And All Other Relationships. In Their Self-pride And Judgment Of Others, They Show Great Inconsistency.

The Indulgence Of One Sin Opens The Door To Further Sins. The Indulgence Of One Sin Diverts The Soul From The Use Of Those Means By Which All Other Sins Should Be Resisted.

Spiritual Wisdom Consists In Finding Out The Subtleties, Policies, And Depths Of Any Indwelling Sin... To Trace This Serpent In All Its Turnings And Windings; Be Able To Say, At Its Most Secret Actings, 'this Is Your Old Way And Course; I Know What You Aim At.'

When Sin Lets Us Alone We May Let Sin Alone; But As Sin Is Never Less Quiet Than When It Seems To Be Most Quiet, And Its Waters Are For The Most Part Deep When They Are Still, So Ought Our Contrivances Against It To Be Vigorous At All Times And In All Conditions, Even Where There Is Least Suspicion.

He That Stands Still And Suffers His Enemies To Double Blows Upon Him Without Resistance, Will Undoubtedly Be Conquered In The Issue.

The Whole Pelagian Poison Of Free-will ... A Clear Exaltation Of The Old Idol Free-will Into The Throne Of God ... That The Decaying Estate Of Christianity Have Invented.

A Man May Be Carried On In A Constant Course Of Mortification All His Days; And Yet Perhaps Never Enjoy A Good Day Of Peace And Consolation.

There Neither Is, Nor Ever Was, In The World, Nor Ever Shall Be, The Least Dram Of Holiness, But What, Flowing From Jesus Christ, Is Communicated By The Spirit, According To The Truth And Promise Of The Gospel.

He, Then, That Would Really, Thoroughly, And Acceptably Mortify Any Disquieting Lust, Let Him Take Care To Be Equally Diligent In All Parts Of Obedience, And Know That Every Lust, Every Omission Of Duty, Is Burdensome To God, Though But One Is So To Him.

If A Man Teach Uprightly And Walk Crookedly, More Will Fall Down In The Night Of His Life Than He Built In The Day Of His Doctrine.

Fill Your Affections With The Cross Of Christ That There May Be No Room For Sin.

Christ's Blood Is The Great Sovereign Remedy For Sin-sick Souls.

Before The Work Of Grace The Heart Is ‘stony.’ It Can Do No More Than A Stone Can Do To Please God.

A Minister May Fill His Pews, His Communion Roll, The Mouths Of The Public, But What That Minister Is On His Knees In Secret Before God Almighty, That He Is And No More.

It Is Evident That You Contend Against Sin Merely Because Of How It Troubles You.

The Scripture Abounds In Commands And Cautions For Our Utmost Diligence In Our Search And Inquiry As To Whether We Are Made Partakers Of Christ Or Not, Or Whether His Spirit Dwells In Us Or Not-which Argue Both The Difficulty Of Attaining An Assured Confidence Herein, As Also The Danger Of Our Being Mistaken, And Yet The Certainty Of A Good Issue Upon The Diligent And Regular Use Of Means To That Purpose.

Not To Be Daily Mortifying Sin, Is To Sin Against The Goodness, Kindness, Wisdom, Grace, And Love Of God, Who Hath Furnished Us With A Principle Of Doing It.

Sin Also Carries On Its War By Entangling The Affections And Drawing Them Into An Alliance Against The Mind. Grace May Be Enthroned In The Mind, But If Sin Controls The Affections, It Has Seized A Fort From Which It Will Continually Assault The Soul. Hence, As We Shall See, Mortification Is Chiefly Directed To Take Place Upon The Affections.

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