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The Possessions God Allows Us To Have Are Intended For Our Use, Not Our Enjoyment. Trying To Squeeze Something Out Of Them That Was Never In Them In The First Place Is A Futile Endeavor. A Cow's Udders, Gently Pressed, Will Yield Sweet Milk, Nourishing And Refreshing. Applying More And More Pressure Will Not Produce Greater Quantities Of Milk. We Lose The Good Of Material Things By Expecting Too Much From Them. Those Who Try Hardest To Please Themselves With Earthly Goods Find The Least Satisfaction In Them.

-William Gurnall

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The Possessions God Allows

William Gurnall

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The Possessions God Allows Us To Have Are Intended For Our Use, Not Our Enjoyment. Trying To Squeeze Something Out Of Them That Was Never In Them In The First Place Is A Futile Endeavor. A Cow's Udders, Gently Pressed, Will Yield Sweet Milk, Nourishing And Refreshing. Applying More And More Pressure Will Not Produce Greater Quantities Of Milk. We Lose The Good Of Material Things By Expecting Too Much From Them. Those Who Try Hardest To Please Themselves With Earthly Goods Find The Least Satisfaction In Them.

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And Therefore You Who Think So Basely Of The Gospel And The Professors Of It, Because At Present Their Peace And Comfort Is Not Come, Know It Is On The Way To Them, And Comes To Stay Everlastingly With Them; Whereas Your Peace Is Going From You Every Moment, And Is Sure To Leave You Without Any Hope Of Returning To You Again. Look Not How The Christian Begins, But Ends. The Spirit Of God By His Convictions Comes Into The Soul With Some Terrors, But It Closeth With Peace And Joy.

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Paul Was Nero's Prisoner, But Nero Was Much More God's.

We Fear Men So Much, Because We Fear God So Little.

The Devil Had As Good Have Let Paul Alone, For He No Sooner Comes Into Prison But He Falls A Preaching, At Which The Gates Of Satan's Prison Fly Open, And Poor Sinners Come Forth.

We Must Come To Good Works By Faith, And Not To Faith By Good Works.

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Oh, It Is Sad For A Poor Christian To Stand At The Door Of The Promise, In The Dark Night Of Affliction, Afraid To Draw The Latch, Whereas He Should Then Come Boldly For Shelter As A Child Into His Father's House.

Satan Cannot Deny But That Great Wonders Have Been Wrought By Prayer. As The Spirit Of Prayer Goes Up, So His Kingdom Goes Down. Satan's Strategems Against Prayer Are Three. First, If He Can, He Will Keep Thee From Prayer. If That Be Not Feasible, Secondly, He Will Strive To Interrupt Thee In Prayer. And, Thirdly, If That Plot Takes Not, He Will Labour To Hinder The Success Of Thy Prayer.

Christ Bears With The Saints' Imperfections; Well May The Saints One With Another.

He That Loves The Word And The Purity Of Its Precepts Cannot Turn Traitor.

Blind Zeal Is Soon Put To A Shameful Retreat, While Holy Resolution, Built On Fast Principles, Lifts Up Its Head Like A Rock In The Midst Of The Waves.

The Soldier Is Summoned To A Life Of Active Duty And So Is The Christian.

As The Eye Of The Body Once Put Out, Can Never Be Restored By The Creature's Art, So Neither Can The Spiritual Eye Lost By Adam's Sin Be Restored By The Teaching Of Men Or Angels. It Is One Of The Diseases Which Christ Came To Cure.

Of All Creatures In This Visible World, Light Is The Most Glorious; Of All Light, The Light Of The Sun Without Compare Excels The Rest.

Set A Strong Guard About Thy Outward Senses: These Are Satan's Landing Places, Especially The Eye And The Ear.

Say Not That Thou Hast Royal Blood In Thy Veins; Say Not That Thou Art Born Of God If Thou Canst Not Prove Thy Pedigree By Daring To Be Holy!

The Storm May Be Tempestuous, But It Is Only Temporary.

The Sins Of Teachers Are The Teachers Of Sin.

Compare Not Thyself With Those That Have Less Than Thyself, But Look On Those That Have Far Exceeded Thee.

It Is One Thing To Know A Truth, And Another Thing To Know It By Unction.

Truly, Hope Is The Saint's Covering, Wherein He Wraps Himself, When He Lays His Body Down To Sleep In The Grave: "my Flesh," Saith David, "shall Rest In Hope."

Sometimes, Perhaps, Thou Hearest Another Pray With Much Freedom And Fluency, Whilst Thou Canst Hardly Get Out A Few Broken Words. Hence Thou Art Ready To Accuse Thyself And Admire Him, As If The Gilding Of The Key Made It Open The Door The Better.

Satan Will Be Ready To Help Forward Such Thoughts As A Fit Medium To Lift Thee Up , And Slacken Thy Care In Duty For The Future. Such Discoveries Do Indeed Bear Witness To The Truth Of Thy Grace, But Not To The Degree And Measure Of It. The Weak Child May Be, Yea, Is, Oftener In The Lap Than The Strong.

Cease To Pray And Thou Will Begin To Sin. Prayer Is Not Only A Means To Prevail For Mercy But Also To Prevent Sin.

Job's Friends Chose The Right Time To Visit Him, But Took Not The Right Course Of Improving Their Visit; Had They Spent The Time In Praying For Him Which They Did In Hot Disputes With Him, They Would Have Profited Him, And Pleased God More.

We Are Justified, Not By Giving Anything To God,--what We Do,--but By Receiving From God, What Christ Hath Done For Us.

As You Love Your Peace, Christian, Be Plain-hearted With God And Man, And Keep The King's Highway.

How Can God Stoop Lower Than To Come And Dwell With A Poor Humble Soul? Which Is More Than If He Had Said, Such A One Should Dwell With Him; For A Beggar To Live At Court Is Not So Much As The King To Dwell With Him In His Cottage.

In Heaven We Shall Appear, Not In Armour, But In Robes Of Glory. But Here These Are To Be Worn Night And Day; We Must Walk, Work, And Sleep In Them, Or Else We Are Not True Soldiers Of Christ.

Justifying Faith Is Not A Naked Assent To The Truths Of The Gospel.

Nothing Is More Contrary To A Heavenly Hope Than An Earthly Heart.

Praying Is The Same To The New Creature As Crying Is To The Natural. The Child Is Not Learned By Art Or Example To Cry, But Instructed By Nature; It Comes Into The World Crying. Praying Is Not A Lesson Got By Forms And Rules Of Art, But Flowing From Principles Of New Life Itself.

When People Do Not Mind What God Speaks To Them In His Word, God Doth As Little Mind What They Say To Him In Prayer.

For A Beggar To Live At Court Is Not So Much As The King To Dwell With Him In His Cottage.

Weak Faith Will As Surely Land The Christian In Heaven As Strong Faith, For It Is Impossible The Least Dram Of True Grace Should Perish

Christ Will Bear No Equal, And Satan No Superior; And Therefore, Hold In With Both Thou Canst Not.

All The Plots Of Hell And Commotions On Earth Have Not So Much As Shaken God's Hand To Spoil One Letter Or Line He Has Been Drawing.

Cowards Never Won Heaven. Do Not Claim That You Are Begotten Of God And You Have His Royal Blood Running In Your Veins Unless You Can Prove Your Lineage By His Heroic Spirit: To Dare To Be Holy In Spite Of Men And Devils.

We Have Peace With God As Soon As We Believe, But Not Always With Ourselves. The Pardon May Be Past The Prince's Hand And Seal, And Yet Not Put Into The Prisoner's Hand.

There Is No Such Way To Be Even With The Devil And His Instruments, For All Their Spite Against Us, As By Doing What Good We Can Wherever We Be Come.

Christ Is The Door That Opens Into God's Presence And Lets The Soul Into His Very Bosom, Faith Is The Key That Unlocks The Door; But The Spirit Is He That Makes This Key.

God Loves The Saints As The Purchase Of His Son's Blood. They Cost Him Dear, And That Which Is So Hardly Got Shall Not Be Easily Lost. He That Was Willing To Expend His Son's Blood To Gain Them, Will Not Deny His Power To Keep Them.

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If Thou Beest Ever So Exact In Thy Morals, And Not A Worshiper Of God, Then Thou Art An Atheist.

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Let Thy Hope Of Heaven Master Thy Fear Of Death.

The Christian's Life Should Put His Minister's Sermon In Print.

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What Is Jordan That I Should Wash In It? What Is The Preaching That I Should Attend On It, While I Hear Nothing But What I Knew Before? What Are These Beggarly Elements Of Water, Bread, And Wine? Are Not These The Reasonings Of A Soul That Forgets Who Appoints The Means Of Grace?

Mercy Should Make Us Ashamed, Wrath Afraid To Sin.

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Many Lose Heaven Because They Are Ashamed To Go In A Fool's Coat Thither.

The Christian Is To Proclaim And Prosecute An Irreconcilable War Against His Bosom Sins; Those Sins Which Have Lain Nearest His Heart, Must Now Be Trampled Under His Feet.

And While God Had Work For Paul, He Found Him Friends Both In Court And Prison. Let Persecutors Send Saints To Prison, God Can Provide A Keeper For Their Turn.

Paul Was Nero's Prisoner, But Nero Was Much More God's... But How Does The Great Apostle Spend His Time In Prison?... We Read Of No Dispatches Sent To Court To Procure His Liberty; But Many To The Churches, To Help Them To Stand Fast In The Liberty Wherewith Christ Had Made Them Free... The Devil Had As Good Have Let Paul Alone, For He No Sooner Comes Into Prison But He Falls A Preaching, At Which The Gates Of Satan's Prison Fly Open, And Poor Sinners Come Forth.

Bid Faith Look Through The Key-hole Of The Promise, And Tell Thee What It Sees There Laid Up For Him That Overcomes; Bid It Listen And Tell Thee Whether It Cannot Hear The Shout Of Those Crowned Saints, As Of Those That Are Dividing The Spoil, And Receiving The Reward Of All Their Services And Sufferings Here On Earth.

One Almighty Is More Than All Mighties

The Mightier Any Is In The Word, The More Mighty He Will Be In Prayer.

God Would Not Rub So Hard If It Were Not To Fetch Out The Dirt That Is Ingrained In Our Natures. God Loves Purity So Well He Had Rather See A Hole Than A Spot In His Child's Garments.

The Christian Must Trust In A Withdrawing God.

We Must Not Confide In The Armour Of God, But In The God Of This Armour, Because All Our Weapons Are Only Mighty Through God.

God Is Very Precise In This Point; He Will Say To Such As Invent Ways To Worship Him Of Their Own, Coin Means To Mortify Corruption, Obtain Comfort In Their Own Mint: 'who Hath Required This At Your Hands?' This Is Truly To Be 'righteous Over-much,' As Solomon Speaks, When We Will Pretend To Correct God's Law, And Add Supplements Of Our Own To His Rule.

It Is The Image Of God Reflected In You That So Enrages Hell; It Is This At Which The Demons Hurl Their Mightiest Weapons.

A Minister, Without Boldness, Is Like A Smooth File, A Knife Without An Edge, A Sentinel That Is Afraid To Let Off His Gun. If Men Will Be Bold In Sin, Ministers Must Be Bold To Reprove.

Cease To Pray And Thou Will Begin To Sin.

Godliness, As Well As The Doctrine Of Our Faith, Is A Mystery.

Thou Hast No Life To Lose, Because Thou Hast Given It Already To Christ, Nor Can Man Take Away That Without God's Leave.

Compare Scripture With Scripture. False Doctrines, Like False Witnesses, Agree Not Among Themselves.

God Himself Underwrites Your Battle And Has Appointed His Own Son 'the Captain Of Your Salvation'.

God Is Almighty To Pardon, But He Will Not Use His Power For A Shameless Sinner. He Is Able To Save And Help In Time Of Need, But If You Have Not Repented, How Can You Expect His Aid? The Same Power God Expends On The Believer's Salvation Will Be Spent On Your Damnation, For He Has Bound Himself Under Oath To Destroy Every Impenitent Soul.

The Longer A Soul Hath Neglected Duty, The More Ado There Is To Get It Taken Up.

How Many, Alas, Of The Precious Saints Of God Must We Shut Out From Being Believers, If There Is No Faith But What Amounts To Assurance.... Shall We Say Their Faith Went Away In The Departure Of Their Assurance?

Our Enemies Are On Every Side, So Must Our Armour Be.

Pride Of Gifts Robs Us Of God's Blessing In The Use Of Them.

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Humility Is A Necessary Veil To All Other Graces.

Therefore Tremble, O Man, At Any Power Thou Hast, Except Thou Usest It For God. Art Thou Strong In Body; Who Hath Thy Strength? God, Or Thy Lusts?

Prayer Is Nothing But The Promise Reversed, Or God's Word Formed Into An Argument, And Retorted By Faith Upon God Again.

Indeed All The Saints Are Taught The Same Lesson - To Renounce Their Own Strength, And Rely On The Power Of God; Their Own Policy, And Cast Themselves On The Wisdom Of God; Their Own Righteousness, And Expect All From The Pure Mercy Of God In Christ, Which Act Of Faith Is So Pleasing To God, That Such A Soul Shall Never Be Ashamed.

The Regenerating Spirit Is Compared To The Wind. His First Attempts On The Soul May Be So Secret That The Creature Knows Not Whence They Come, Or Whither They Tend; But, Before He Hath Done, The Sound Will Be Heard Throughout The Soul.

The Christian In Prayer Comes Up Close To God, With A Humble Boldness Of Faith, And Takes Hold Of Him, Wrestles With Him; Yea, Will Not Let Him Go Without A Blessing... They Are Only A Few Noble-spirited Souls, Who Dare Take Heaven By Force, That Are Fit For This Calling.

God Hath Made It A Debt Which One Saint Owes To Another To Carry Their Names To A Throne Of Grace.

It Is Not Only Our Duty To Pray For Others, But Also To Desire The Prayers Of Others For Ourselves.

Whoever Hath A Seed Time Of Grace Pass Over His Soul, Shall Have His Harvest Time Also Of Joy.

Furnish Thyself With Arguments From The Promises To Enforce Thy Prayers, And Make Them Prevalent With God. The Promises Are The Ground Of Faith, And Faith, When Strengthened, Will Make Thee Fervent, And Such Fervency Ever Speeds And Returns With Victory Out Of The Field Of Prayer. The Mightier Any Is In The Word, The More Mighty He Will Be In Prayer.

The Christian, Like A Chalice Without A Base, Cannot Stand On His Own Nor Hold What He Has Received Any Longer That God Holds Him In His Strong Hands.

The Word Of God Is Too Sacred A Thing, And Preaching Too Solemn A Work, To Be Toyed And Played With.

To Forsake Sin, Is To Leave It Without Any Thought Reserved Of Returning To It Again.

God's Wounds Cure, Sin's Kisses Kill.

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