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Short Quotes by Puritans.............
Posted : 29 Mar, 2011 05:50 PM
James intros:
Definition of the word "Means": The means of Grace, which is baptism, the Lords Supper, Bible reading, Hearing sermons, etc.
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"Neither be idle in the means, nor make an idol of the means."
WILLIAM SECKER
"Means must be neither trusted nor neglected."
JOHN TRAPP
"Use thy duties, as Noah's dove did her wings, to carry thee to the
ark of the Lord Jesus Christ, where only there is rest."
ISAAC AMBROSE
"There are no men more careful of the use of means than those that are
surest of a good issue and conclusion, for the one stirs up diligence
in the other. Assurance of the end stirs up diligence in the means.
For the soul of a believing Christian knows that God has decreed both."
RICHARD SIBBES
"The Christian's life should put his minister's sermon in print."
WILLIAM GURNALL
"Screw the truth into men's minds."
RICHARD BAXTER
"We are not sent to get galley-slaves for the oars, or a bear to the
stake: but He sends us to woo you as spouses, to marry you to Christ."
WALTER CRADOCK
"A hot iron, though blunt, will pierce sooner than a cold one, though
sharper."
JOHN FLAVEL
"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."
JOHN OWEN
"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."
JOHN OWEN
"Assurance encourageth 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."
JOHN OWEN
"Evangelical truth will not be honourably witnessed unto but by
evangelical grace."
JOHN OWEN
"He who prays as he ought will endeavour to live as he prays."
JOHN OWEN
"Many a man's knowledge is a torch to light him to hell. Thou who hast
knowledge of God's will, but doth not do it, wherein dost thou excel
the devil, 'who transforms himself into an angel of light.'"
THOMAS WATSON
"A man may be theologically knowing and spiritually ignorant."
STEPHEN CHARNOCK
"The bare knowledge of God's will is inefficacious, it doth not better
the heart. Knowledge alone is like a winter sun, which hath no heat or
influence; it doth not warm the affections, or purify the conscience.
Judas was a great luminary, he knew God's will, but he was a traitor."
THOMAS WATSON
"Let us not satisfy ourselves with a knowledge of God in the mass; a
glance upon a picture never directs you to the discerning the worth
and art of it."
STEPHEN CHARNOCK
"Neither place, parts, nay, nor graces, will exempt any man from
falling. O believers, what need is there to be watchful and humble!"
JAMES DURHAM
"The title my love is a very kindly and sweet one; and this makes it
lovely, that therein he not only intimates, but appropriates his love
to her, allowing her to lay claim thereto as her own. My love, saith
he, and it says, that there can be nothing more cordial and refreshing
to believers than Christ's intimating of his love to them, and
therefore he has chosen this title for that purpose. The men of this
world exceedingly prejudice themselves, that they think not more of
this, and study not to be aquainted with it."
JAMES DURHAM
"All the Spirit's operations, how rough soever some of them may
appear, are always useful to believers, and tend to make them
fruitful. To this end the most sharp influences contribute as well as
the more comfortable."
JAMES DURHAM
"[Christ] feeds and gathers at once, and this gathering of souls is as
sweetly refreshing and delightsome to our blessed Lord Jesus , as the
plucking of the sweetest flower is to a man walking in a garden. And
there is nothing more acceptable and welcome to him, than a seeking
sinner....So long as our Lord Jesus has a church and ordinances in it,
so he will continue to gather [his people], and he is not idle, but is
still gathering; though at some times, and in some places, this may be
more sensible and abundant than ordinary."
JAMES DURHAM
"Christ is the most cheap physician, he takes no fee. He desires us to
bring nothing to him but broken hearts; and when he has cured us he
desires us to bestow nothing on him but our love."
THOMAS WATSON
"Christ heals with more ease than any other. Christ makes the devil go
out with a word (Mark 9:25). Nay, he can cure with a look: Christ's
look melted Peter into repentance; it was a healing look. If Christ
doth but cast a look upon the soul he can recover it. Therefore David
prays to have a look from God, 'Look Thou upon me, and be merciful
unto me' (Psalm 119:132)."
THOMAS WATSON
"Christ is the most tender-hearted physician. He hath ended his
passion but not his compassion. He is not more full of skill than
sympathy, 'He healed the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds'
(Psalm 147:3). Every groan of the patient goes to the heart of the
physician."
THOMAS WATSON
"Christ never fails of success. Christ never undertakes to heal any
but he makes a certain cure, 'Those that thou gavest me I have kept,
and none of them is lost,' (John 17:12). Other physicians can only
cure them that are sick, but Christ cures them that are dead, 'And you
hat he quickened who were dead' (Eph 2:1). Christ is a physician for
the dead, of every one whom Christ cures, it may be said, 'He was
dead, and is alive again' (Luke 15:32)."
THOMAS WATSON
"Christ is the most bountiful physician. Other patients do enrich
their physicians, but here the physician doth enrich the patient.
Christ elevates all his patients: he doth not only cure them but crown
them (Rev. 2:10). Christ doth not only raise them from the bed, but to
the throne; he gives the sick man not only health but also heaven."
THOMAS WATSON
"These two principles, their own reputation and that of their sect,
constituted the life and soul of Pharisaism of old."
JOHN OWEN
"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."
JOHN OWEN
"If we would talk less and pray more about them, things would be be
better than they are in the world; at least, we should be better
enabled to bear them."
JOHN OWEN
"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."
JOHN OWEN
"O sirs, here is a cord of love let down, and the upper end of it is
fastened to Christ's heart, and the lower end of it hanging down the
length of your hearts. And, O! shall not Christ's heart and yours be
knit together this day. Here is a cord to bind His heart to your
heart, and your heart to His heart."
RALPH ERSKINE
"Since the last communion here, one of our dear helpers in this
presbytery from whose lips you used to hear the joyful sound, is gone
away to the communion-table above; and glory be to God that he got a
full gale of heavenly wind, to drive him in with holy joy and triumph
to the harbor of glory."
RALPH ERSKINE
"Faith, without trouble or fighting, is a suspicious faith; for true
faith is a fighting, wrestling faith."
RALPH ERSKINE
"The law breaks the hard heart, but the gospel melts it. A stone duly
broken, may be still a hard stone; but the gospel melts."
RALPH ERSKINE
"O come! And kiss the Son, by believing in Him, and applying the
benefits of this glorious transaction to yourself; and be who you
will, if you kiss and embrace the Son, you shall find the glorious
attributes of God kissing and embracing you, and hugging you in their
arms, as a darling of heaven and a favourite in the house of God."
RALPH ERSKINE
"Oh, Christians, look to your steps! When you have prayed against sin,
then watch against temptation. Such as are more excellent than others,
God expects some singular thing from them. They should bring more
glory to God and, by their exemplary piety, make proselytes to
religion. Better fruit is expected from a vineyard than from a wild
forest."
THOMAS WATSON
"He doth preach most that doth live best."
JOHN BOYS
"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."
JOHN OWEN
"A faithful minister must see before he say."
EDWARD MARBURY
"Sense of sin may be often great, and more felt than grace; yet not be
more than grace. A man feels the ache of his finger more sensibly than
the health of his whole body; yet he knows that the ache of a finger
is nothing so much as the health of the whole body."
THOMAS ADAMS
"God dwells as glorious in a saint when he is in the dark, as when he
is in light, for darkness is His secret place, and His pavilion round
about Him are dark waters."
WILLIAM ERBERRY
"Great comforts do, indeed, bear witness to the truth of thy grace,
but not to the degree of it; the weak child is ofterner in the lap
than the strong one."
WILLIAM GURNALL
"The Christian must trust in a withdrawing God."
WILLIAM GURNALL
"O Christian, never be proud of things that are so transient,
injurious, and uncertain as the riches of this evil world! But set
your heart on the true and durable riches of grace in Christ Jesus."
ISAAC AMBROSE
"How soon are we broken on the soft pillow of ease! Adam in paradise
was overcome, when Job on the dunghill was a conqueror."
THOMAS WATSON
"Immoderate care takes the heart off from better things; and usually
while we are thinking how we shall do to live, we forget how to die.
We may sooner by our care add a furlong to our grief, than a foot to
our comfort."
THOMAS WATSON
"God keeps open house for hungry sinners (Isa. 45:1,2)."
THOMAS WATSON
"Sin is naturally exceeding dear to us; to part with it is compared to
plucking out our right eyes. Men may refrain from wonted ways of sin
for a little while, and may deny their lusts in a partial degree, with
less difficulty; but it is heart-rending work, finally to part with
all sin, and to give our dearest lusts a bill of divorce, utterly to
send them away. But this we must do, if we would follow those that are
truly turning to God: yea, we must not only forsake sin, but must, in
a sense, forsake all the world, Luke xiv.33 'Whosoever he be of you
that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.'"
JONATHAN EDWARDS
"A proud faith is as much a contradiction as a humble devil."
STEPHEN CHARNOCK
"'Tis no easy matter to be saved. 'Twas difficult work to Jesus Christ
to work redemption for us. 'Tis difficult work to the Spirit to work
grace in us, and to carry it on against corruptions, temptations,
distractions."
PHILIP HENRY
"Despair is hope stark dead, presumption is hope stark mad."
THOMAS ADAMS
"There is a secret, heavenly vigour infused into every gracious soul
by the sanctifying Spirit, which deadens it to the world, and makes it
delight in God. He ought to shine in the world, as a light 'in the
midst of a crooked and perverse nation,' Phil. ii.15. Light and
darkness cannot endure one another; neither the power of grace those
works of darkness in which the world lies drowned. He is by no means
to be conformed to this world, Rom. 12:2, nor to run with the wicked
to the same excess of riot, 1 Pet. 4:4. He is now new-born, and
becomes a child of eternity; whereby his heart is fallen in love with
new and everlasting delights, and the eye of his soul turned from the
dung of this world towards the glory of the second life. As the
worldling cannot relish the sweet joys of gracious exercises, so
neither can the christian the frothy pleasures of carnal fellowship.
You can as hardly draw the sound professor to an assembly of
swaggering companions, as a lover of pleasure to a day of humiliation."
ROBERT BOLTON
"One great contest, between the religion of Arminianism, and the
religion of Christ, is, who shall stand entitled to the praise and
glory of a sinner's salvation? Conversion decides this point at once;
for I think that, without any imputation of uncharitableness, I may
venture to say, that every truly awakened person, at least when he is
under the shine of God's countenance upon his soul, will fall down
upon his knees, with this hymn of praise ascending from his heart, Not
unto me, O Lord, not unto me, but to thy name, give the glory: I am
saved not for my righteousness, but for thy mercy and thy truth's sake."
AUGUSTUS TOPLADY
"Seek not to grow in knowledge chiefly for the sake of applause, and
to enable you to dispute with others; but seek it for the benefit of
your souls, and in order to practice....Practice according to what
knowledge you have. This will be the way to know more...[According to
Ps. 119:100] 'I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy
precepts.'"
JONATHAN EDWARDS
"In natures, we see God, as it were, like the sun in a picture; in the
law, as the sun in a cloud; in Christ we see Him in His beams; He
being 'the brightness of His glory, and the exact image of His person."
STEPHEN CHARNOCK
"Whatsoever is good for God's children they shall have it; for all is
theirs to help them towards heaven; therefore if poverty be good they
shall have it; if disgrace or crosses be good they shall have them;
for all is ours to promote our greatest prosperity."
RICHARD SIBBES
"He that thirsts after grace is already entitled to the well of life
and fullness of heavenly bliss, by a promise from God's own mouth. . .
(Rev. 21:6)"
ROBERT BOLTON
"Christians in consort are an abridgement of heaven, shining like a
firmament of bright stars. . . Surely, of all fellowships, this is the
only good fellowship. Next to communion with God, there is no
communion like the communion of saints."
GEORGE SWINNOCK
"Examples do strangely charm us into imitation. When holiness is
pressed upon us we are prone to think that it is a doctrine calculated
for angels and spirits whose dwelling is not with flesh. But when we
read the lives of them that excelled in holiness, though they were
persons of like passions with ourselves, the conviction is wonderful
and powerful."
COTTON MATHER
"What was it that obliged Jerome to write his book, Concerning
Illustrious Men? It was the common reproach of old cast upon
Christians, 'That they were all poor, weak, unlearned men.' The sort
of men sometime called 'Puritans' in the English nation have been
reproached with the same character. . . But when truth shall have
liberty to speak, it will be known that Christianity never was more
expressed unto the life than in the lives of the persons that have
been thus reproached."
COTTON MATHER
"I have often thought of Mr Paul Bayne, his fairwell words to Dr Ames
when going to Holland; Mr Bayne perceiving him to be a man of
extra-ordinary parts, 'Beware (said he) of a strong head and a cold
heart.'"
COTTON MATHER
"You all have by you a large treasure of divine knowledge, in that you
have the Bible in your hands; therefore be not contented in possessing
but little of this treasure. God hath spoken much to you in the
Scripture; labor to understand as much of what he saith as you can.
God hath made you all reasonable creatures; therefore let not the
noble faculty of reason or understanding lie neglected. Content not
yourselves with having so much knowledge as is thrown in your way, and
as you receive in some sense unavoidably by the frequent inculcation
of divine truth in the preaching of the word, of which you are obliged
to be hearers, or as you accidentally gain in conversation; but let it
be very much your business to search for it, and that with the same
diligence and labor with which men are wont to dig in mines of silver
and gold."
JONATHAN EDWARDS
"It is no solid objection against God aiming at an infinitely perfect
union of the creature with himself, that the particular time will
never come when it can be said, the union is now infinitely perfect.
God aims at satisfying justice in the eternal damnation of sinners;
which will be satisfied by their damnation, considered no otherwise
than with regard to its eternal duration. But yet there never will
come that particular moment, when it can be said, that now justice is
satisfied. But if this does not satisfy our modern free-thinkers who
do not like to talk about satisfying justice with an infinite
punishment; I suppose it will not be denied by any, that God, in
glorifying the saints in heaven with eternal felicity, aims to satisfy
his infinite grace or benevolence, by the bestowment of a good
infinitely valuable, because eternal: and yet there never will come
that moment, when it can be said, that now this infinitely valuable
good has been actually bestowed."
JONATHAN EDWARDS
"Do you not find yourselves forgetful of Jesus? Some creature steals
away your heart, and you are unmindful of him upon whom your affection
ought to be set. Some earthly business engrosses your attention when
you should have your eye steadily fixed upon the cross. It is the
incessant round of world, world, world; the constant din of earth,
earth, earth, that takes away the soul from Christ. Oh! my friends, is
it not too sadly true that we can recollect anything but Christ, and
forget nothing so easy as him whom we ought to remember? While memory
will preserve a poisoned weed, it suffereth the Rose of Sharon to wither."
C.H. Spurgeon
"The reason [for the spread of Arminian] doctrine is because some
preachers are men of learning and moral men, and they have drunk in
some errors and lack experience. Learning and morality will qualify
men to make many good and profitable sermons, much for the edification
of the hearers. Learning qualifies men to clear up many principles of
religion, and a moral disposition may fit men zealously to reprove
vicious practices. But men may be learned men, yet drink in very
corrupt doctrines."
SOLOMON STODDARD
"Remember the perfections of that God whom you worship, that he is a
Spirit, and therefore to be worshipped in spirit and truth; and that
he is most great and terrible, and therefore to be worshipped with
seriousness and reverence, and not to be dallied with, or served with
toys or lifeless lip-service; and that he is most holy, pure, and
jealous, and therefore to be purely worshipped; and that he is still
present with you, and all things are naked and open to him with whom
we have to do. The knowledge of God, and the remembrance of his
all-seeing presence, are the most powerful means against hypocrisy."
RICHARD BAXTER
"Most of God's people are contented to be saved from the hell that is
without; they are not so anxious to be saved from the hell that is
within."
ROBERT MURRAY MCCHEYNE
"For every look at self take ten looks at Christ."
ROBERT MURRAY MCCHEYNE
Sincerely,
James
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