Thomas Manton (1620 - 1677) was one of those mighty Puritans who so ennobled his age. He, like so many others, refused to acquiesce to compromise, and thus lost his worldly comforts by being imprisoned for his faith. Along with so many in that day - Owen, Bunyan, Goodwin, and so forth - Manton had a remarkable measure of grace and was therefore one of the most powerful preachers of his time. A contemporary of Manton, who was himself a pastor, said he'd never heard Manton preach a mediocre sermon, while one bibliography, McClintock & Strong's, maintains that as a practical expositor of Scripture, Manton was possibly never surpassed.In that same vein, J. C. Ryle stated - "As an expositor of Scripture I regard Manton with unmingled admiration. Here, at any rate, he is facile princeps (easily foremost) among the divines of the Puritan school... If any one wants to buy a good specimen of a Puritan divine, my advice unhesitatingly is, let him buy Manton."And Charles Spurgeon made this remarkable observation - "Manton's works... mostly consist of sermons; but what sermons! They are not so sparkling as those of Henry Smith, nor so profound as those of Owen, nor so rhetorical, as those of Howe, nor so pithy as those of Watson, nor so fascinating as those of Brooks; and yet they are second to none of these. For solid, sensible instruction, forcibly delivered, they cannot be surpassed. Manton is not brilliant, but he is always clear; he is not oratorical, but he is powerful; he is not striking, but he is deep. There is not a poor discourse in the whole collection - they are evenly good, constantly excellent. Ministers who do not know Manton need not wonder if they are themselves unknown."Thomas Manton's works survive in numerous publications, most of them from Banner Of Truth Trust. |
"Forgiveness is not the making of a fault to be no fault... We must still own ourselves deserving the wrath of God, which maketh for our constant humiliation and admiration of grace; so that he that is pardoned still deserveth punishment." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"It would seem to impeach the justice and mercy of God, if he should exact the punishment where he hath pardoned the offence... There may be indeed effects of his fatherly anger, but not of his vindictive wrath." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"If God punisheth sins, he doth remember them; if he avenge them, he imputeth them; if they are brought into the judgment against us, they are not covered; if he searcheth after them, he doth not cast them behind his back; if he bringeth them into light, he doth not cast them into the depths of the sea." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"All men in their unrenewed estate are slaves to sin and Satan, and subject to the wrath of God." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"Nothing performed by Christ could be a sufficient ransom for this end, unless he had crowned all his other actions and sufferings by laying down his life, and undergoing a bloody and violent death. This was the completing and crowning act... God was not delighted in mere blood, but in blood offered in obedience." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"Man's recovery to God is in the same method in which he fell from him. It is first brought about by a new nature, and communication of life from Christ. He regenerateth that he may pardon, and he pardoneth that he may further sanctify and make us everlastingly happy." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"When God pardoneth he sanctifieth and createth us anew, that we may be fit for his service, so that we are renewed by the Spirit, as well as recovered out of the snares of the devil." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"Hell and damnation are no vain scarecrows." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"It is a great part of a believer's work to have a deep sense of the Redeemer's excellency imprinted upon his mind and heart." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"God cannot make a creature equal to himself, nor beget a son unequal to himself." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"There is no perfection in the Father but the same is in the Son also." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"As God incarnate, or manifested in our flesh; so the perfections of the Godhead shine forth in the man Christ Jesus, in his person, word, and works." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"None was fit to restore this image of God that was lost, but God incarnate, for thereby the glory of God was again visible in our nature." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"There are three things that commend the value of Christ's sacrifice -- the dignity of his person, the greatness of his sufferings, and the merit of his obedience... but the scripture insists most on the first -- the dignity of his person -- which putteth a value on his sacrifice... His sufferings were temporary and finite; but it is the blood of God -- he hath offered up himself through the eternal Spirit." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"There was power discovered in the creation, when God made us like himself out of the dust of the ground; but love in our redemption, when he made himself like us. The person that was to work out our deliverance was the eternal Son of God... When we consider what Christ is, we shall most admire what he hath done for us." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"Christ obeyed God in our nature; therefore in the same nature we may obey, please, and glorify God, though still in a self-denying manner. The foundation of it is laid in the new birth." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"The angels fell from their first state as soon as they were created - so short and uncertain is all created glory." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"The greatest glory the creature is capable of is to serve the will and set forth the praise of its Creator, for everything that attaineth not its end is vain." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"God's glory is the end of our being and doing, for being and doing are both from him, and therefore for him alone." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"The design of God was that the whole creation should be put in subjection to the Word incarnate - not only this lower world, wherein man is concerned, but the upper world also." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"The angels live in a continual dependence upon Christ as their creator, and without his supporting influence, would be soon annihilated." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"The service of the angels is protection to the people of God - vengeance on their enemies... All that obediently serve and wait on God have the promise of this protection." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"If Christians did know and consider how much of true religion consists in admiring and praising their Redeemer, they would more busy their minds in this work." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"It is easy for Him who made all things out of nothing to help us... The Almighty Creator, ruler, and governor of the world, what cannot he do? As long as I see those glorious monuments of his power standing, I will not distrust he can afford me seasonable help by his holy angels, through the intercession of his Son, who hath assumed my nature." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"His by creation and redemption, therefore everything we have and do ought to have a respect to his glory and service." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"We cannot sufficiently bless God for the hounour done to our nature in the person of Christ, for it is God incarnate that is made head of angels, principalities, and powers - God in our nature, whom all the angels are called upon to adore and worship... Now, that his human nature should be set so far above the angelical, in the person of Christ, and be admitted to dwell with God in a personal union, this calleth for our highest love and thankfulness." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"What was lost in Adam can only be recovered by Christ." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"Creating grace laid the debt upon us, and his redeeming grace provideth the power and help, that we may discharge it. Now, when we acknowledge the debt and confess our impotency to pay it, and our willingness to return to our duty, will Christ fail us? Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"By the same divine power by which Christ made all things he doth preserve and sustain all things... All creatures owe their continuance and preservation to him." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"Before Abraham was, I am... The Jews thought it absurd that Christ should be in the time of Abraham, but Christ affirmeth more, and that with a strong asseveration. He was not only by the constitution of God, but really existing before Abraham, for the predestination not only of Christ but of Abraham, and all the elect, was before the foundation of the world." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"The Messiah promised in the Old Testament was to be God, all the prophets agree in that. Jesus Christ proved himself to be God by his word and works, and the apostles still assert it." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"If Christ were before all things, let us prefer him above all things... He that was before the world was will be when the world shall be no more... It is for an everlasting blessedness, for the enjoyment of an eternal God, that our souls were made. He that was from the beginning, and will be when all things shall have an end, it is he that should take up our minds and thoughts." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"Death taketh all from us - honours and riches, and strength, and life; but it cannot take God and Christ from us. They are ours, and everlastingly ours." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"As Christ made all things, so doth he sustain them in being and working... Christ hath the care and charge of all the world, not to rule them only, but to sustain them. A king or a governor hath a moral rule over his subjects, but Christ giveth them being and existence, and doth preserve and keep them in their present state and condition from dissolution." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"All that we do naturally and spiritually we have from Christ. He is not the bare instrument of God in sustaining the creature, but as a co-equal agent. As he made the world, and with the Father created all things, so he doth support and order all things." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"So cold and careless would be our respect to God if we did not depend on him every moment, and were neither concerned in his wrath nor love." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"If you would plant a reverence and due veneration of God, you must do it by this principle - In his hands is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind - No creature can subsist without him for a moment. Now this respect is due not only to God the Father, but our Lord Jesus Christ." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"When you retire your souls from all secular confidences, and repose all your trust in him, you will be instant in prayer, and earnestly beg his relief; you see all things subsist by him, and it is in vain to expect any real assistance from the creature, but what God will communicate to us by it." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"By him [God] all things do subsist, therefore he can hear all prayers, relieve us in all our straits, supply us in all wants, preserve us in all dangers. All nations are in his hands, our whole life is in his keeping, and upheld by his intimate presence with us; our days cannot be longer nor shorter than he pleaseth." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"The more perfections we have, the more prone we are to fall if he sustain us not: witness the fallen angels, and Adam in innocency." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"To convince men's understandings of their duty, and incline their hearts to perform it, requireth no less than a divine power. If such an infinite virtue be necessary to cure the blindness of the body; how much more to cure the natural blindness and darkness of the mind!" Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"By effectual calling God worketh faith, which uniteth us to Christ, and that effectual calling is the fruit of election; and the effect of this union is remission of sins, and the necessary consequence of this communion is salvation or eternal life. This society of men is called a church in the text... This is the church of the first-born whose names are written in heaven - that chosen generation, that royal priesthood, that holy nation, that peculiar people, whom to show forth his praises God hath called out of darkness into his marvellous light." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"All offices under Christ are a ministry, not a power; and imply service, not lordship or domination over the flock of Christ." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"Now, therefore, it is a part of Christ's office, as head of the church, to maintain verity of doctrine, purity of worship, and a lawful order of government, for all which he hath plenty of spirit. The papists think this cannot be without some universal visible head to supply Christ's office in his absence; and so are like the Israelites - Make us gods that shall go before us - They that first instituted such an universal head, besides that they had no authority or commission so to do, were extremely imprudent, and perverters of Christianity." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"None can be a true member of Christ's body who doth not receive vital influence from him. It is not enough to be members of some visible church; they that are united to him have life; there is an influence of common gifts according to the part we sustain in the body. A common Christian hath common graces, those gifts of the Spirit which God gives not to the heathen world, [such] as knowledge of the mysteries of godliness, ability of utterance about heavenly things." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"Christ spared not his natural body to promote the good of his mystical body; he exposed his life for our salvation. We should hazard all for his glory. Nature teaches us to lift up the hands to save the head." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"The scripture representeth man as blind in his mind, perverse in his will, rebellious in his affections, having no sound part left in him to mend the rest; therefore we must be changed." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"Christ is first the ransom for, then the fountain of life to, our souls; and so the honour of our entire and whole recovery is to be ascribed only to our Redeemer, who, as he satisfied the justice of God for our sins, so he also purchased a power to change our hearts; and he purchased this power into his own hands, not into another's, and therefore doth accomplish it by his Spirit." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"There were two Adams, the one man brought death, and another brought resurrection into the world." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"So God will raise us from the dead and put glory and honour upon us. There is indeed a glory put upon Christ far surpassing the glory of all created things; but our glory is like his for quality and kind, though not for quantity, degree, and measure, as to those prerogatives and privileges which his body in his exaltation is endowed withal. Such a glory it is that Christ should be admired in his saints; the world shall stand gazing at what he means to do." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"The power which raised Christ exceedeth all contrary powers." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"There would be no consequence if Christ had not purchased the body as well as the soul, and Christ will not lose one jot of his purchase; if he expect duty from the body, you may expect glory for the body... Then is Christ's redemption full, when the body is exempted from all the penalties induced by sin." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"In the man Christ Jesus, or in that human nature in which he carried on the business of our salvation; as despicable and abject as it was in the eyes of men, yet it was the temple and seat of the Godhead." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"In respect of Christ's divine subsistence, he was begotten, not made; in regard of his human nature, made, not begotten. True man, as David was, and true God, as the Spirit and divine nature is." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"It is necessary man should be converted and changed, as well as God satisfied and Satan overcome. Now who can convert himself or change his own heart? That work would cease for ever unless God did undertake it by his all-conquering Spirit. Therefore our Mediator must be God, to renew and cleanse our hearts, and by his divine power to give us a divine nature." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"So as man we are of kin to Christ, as he came in our nature, and as he sanctifieth; doubly akin, not only by virtue of his incarnation, but our regeneration, as he was made of a woman, and we born of God." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"As the fulness of the Godhead dwelt in Christ bodily, he is the greatest and most glorious person that ever was in the world, infinitely superior above all power that is named in this world, or in the world to come." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"Christ preached, but chiefly HIMSELF; he revealed and showed forth God, but by revealing and showing forth HIMSELF; he called men, but to HIMSELF; he commanded men to believe, but in HIMSELF; he promised eternal life, which he would give, but to men believing in HIMSELF; he offered salvation to miserable sinners, but to be had by HIMSELF; he wrought a fear of judgment to come, but to be exercised by HIMSELF; he offered remission of sins, but to those that believed in HIMSELF; he promised the resurrection of the dead, which he by his own power and authority would bring to pass. Now who could do all this but God?" Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"There had been no sacrifice if Christ had not been man, and no priest, if he had not been God, to offer up himself through the eternal Spirit." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"Christ cannot be truly owned, unless he be owned as Lord and God." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"Many will be ready to apply, and call God their God, that do not dedicate and devote themselves to God. If you be not the Lord's, the Lord is not yours." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"The devil seeks to weaken the truth of God's threatenings." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"Christ's suffering death at the command of his Father was the noblest piece of service, and highest act of obedience that ever could or can be performed unto God. It is beyond anything that can be done by men and angels." Christ's Redemption And Eternal Existence |
"The gift of Jesus Christ is so great, that the love of God is gone to the uttermost in it. He hath not a better Christ, nor a more worthy Redeemer, nor another Son to die for us; nor could the Son of God suffer greater indignities than he hath suffered for our sake." Sermon, John iii.16 |
"Let your love to God be like his love to you. Love was at the bottom of all his grace; let it be at the bottom of all your duties." Sermon, John iii.16 |
"The example of Christ is of great support to us in all our troubles, for if we fare as we fared in this world, we shall fare as he fareth in the world to come." Sermon, John iii.16 |
"We are destitute of that image of God wherein we were created, and better we had never been born, unless new born." Sermon, John iii.16 |
"God delighted in man as innocent, but man sinful is the object of God's wrath, loathing, and aversion... Now this breach continueth till we are reconciled by Christ, till we love God, and are beloved by him. And better we had been in a lower rank of creatures, than to continue under God's displeasure; for the misery of the beast dies with them, death puts an end to all their pains at once; but the wrath of God, not appeased by Christ, continues on the sinner for ever." Sermon, John iii.16 |
"Do not think that Christ fell from heaven into your bosom whether you would or no. Did you ever feel your misery without him, and cry mightily to God - Give me Christ, or else I die, and perish for ever?" Sermon, John iii.16 |
"Now Christ hath only obliged himself to be the author of eternal salvation to those that obey him... we must obey, we must deny ourselves, or else we do not trust Christ to bring us to heaven in his own ways and methods, but trust to some vain conceits of our own." Sermon, John iii.16 |
"Every one that believeth Christ, believeth the whole gospel to be true. Except against one part and you may except against all the rest. Now it is evident in the gospel that without regeneration, repentance, and holiness, no man can be saved and see God; therefore every one that believeth in Christ must trust him to obtain it in the way that he hath appointed and promised to give it." Sermon, John iii.16 |
"Christ cannot be accepted where he is not valued when other things come in competition with him, and God will not be prodigal of his grace." Sermon, John iii.16 |
"To live above the hopes and fears of the world is a great ability and power; and vanquishing the world is made the fruit of the new birth." Sermon, 2 Peter i.4 |
"The question is, whether we will conform ourselves to God or the world? whether we will have fellowship with the corruptions of the world, or be partakers of the divine nature? We must avoid the one to obtain the other." Sermon, 2 Peter i.4 |
"Besides the bait there is the appetite; it is our naughty affections that make our abode in the world unsafe and dangerous. If it were not for lust, neither the baits nor the examples of the world would pervert or hurt. Mortify the lust, and you have pulled up the temptations by the roots." Sermon, 2 Peter i.4 |
"If you have nothing above natural men or corrupt nature, you are strangers to the promises of the gospel." Sermon, 2 Peter i.4 |
"God's promises are, on his part, the eruption or overflow of his love. His heart is so big with thoughts of good to us, that his love cannot stay till the accomplishment of things, but he must tell us aforehand." Sermon, 2 Peter i.4 |
"God's purposes are unchangeable, but promises are a security put into our hands, not only to give us notice, but assurance that thus it shall be." Sermon, 2 Peter i.4 |
"Alas! what a mean spirit have they that drive no higher trade than providing for the flesh, or accommodating a life which must shortly expire! Like foolish birds who, with great art and contrivance, feather a nest, which within a little while they leave." Sermon, 2 Peter i.4 |
"Not pardon without repentance... not heaven without holiness." Sermon, 2 Peter i.4 |
"Bare assent to the articles of religion doth not infer true faith. True faith uniteth to Christ, it is conversant about his person." An Exposition With Notes Upon The Epistle Of James, 2:19 |
"It was a mistake of the former age to make the promise rather than the person of Christ to be the formal object of faith; the promise is the warrant, Christ the object... we cannot close with Christ without a promise, and we must not close with a promise without Christ." An Exposition With Notes Upon The Epistle Of James, 2:19 |
"Consent and long prescription of time, the countenance and favour of the world, do beget a veneration and reverence to religion... this is only the fruit of human testimony, and needeth not supernatural grace. Therefore do not please yourselves in naked assents; these cost nothing, and are worth nothing." An Exposition With Notes Upon The Epistle Of James, 2:19 |
"The devils assent to the articles of Christian religion... They are sensible of the power of God in rescuing men from their paws; so that they are forced to acknowledge there is a God, and to consent to many truths in the scriptures." An Exposition With Notes Upon The Epistle Of James, 2:19 |
"Salt waters being strained through the earth become sweet. God's attributes, which are in themselves terrible and dreadful to a sinner, being derived to us through Christ, yield comfort and sweetness." An Exposition With Notes Upon The Epistle Of James, 2:19 |
"Were it not for the scourge, we should forget our duty and the obedience we owe to God." Psalm 119, Sermon LXXVI, Verse LXVII |
"Look upon duty as an honour, and service as a privilege... Whatever befalleth us in and for our service to Christ, be it never so disgraceful, it is rather a mark of honour than a brand of shame." The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"If the message we bring be displeasing, remember it is the will of our master; it is not in our power to comply with your lusts and humours, if the scripture doth not... We must deliver our message, pardon to whom pardon, terror to whom terror is due: servants must be faithful." The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"A Christian is nothing and hath nothing but what God is pleased to work in him by his creating word... we need not only leave to come to God by Christ, but also quickening and encouragement, for we are backward." The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"God's wrath is never more terrible than when it is stirred up to avenge the quarrel of abused mercy." The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"It is no matter what thou hast been, but what thou wouldst be; Christ doth not call us because we are holy, but that we may be holy." The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"The first rise and spring of mercy was at election, which breaketh out by effectual calling, and so floweth down in the channels of faith and holiness, till it lose itself in the ocean of everlasting glory." The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"The first approaches of God's power and word to the soul, as they meet with more opposition, so they cannot but be more sensible, and leave a greater feeling upon us. It were strange if an almighty power should work in us, and we no way privy or conscious to it, and all done as in our sleep -- to think so were to give security a soft pillow whereon to rest, and to suffer men to go away with golden dreams, though they feel no change in themselves, pleasing themselves with the supposition of imaginary grace, wrought without their privity and knowledge." The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"They are not Christ's that neither know how they are called, nor can give any proof that they are called... to some God speaketh in thunder, to others in a still small voice, but to all he speaketh; therefore did you ever discern God's calling and your answering?" The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"No soul ever came to Christ without a load upon his back, though every one be not ready, with the jailor, to kill himself for anguish... It is God's way to speak terror before he speak comfort." The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"Were you ever brought to say, I was a wretch, a miserable, forlorn creature out of Christ?... Unworthiness and wretchedness FELT is the first occasion to bring us to Christ. Never a poor soul that taketh sanctuary at the throne of grace but he first standeth guilty there, and in danger of damnation." The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"Who will believe your calling when you stick in the mud of pleasures, and are carried on with such a zealous respect after secular interests? The apostle reproveth the Corinthians for walking as men... you should walk more sublimely, above the ordinary rate of flesh and blood." The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"The soul in the every moment wherein it is joined to the body becometh sinful." The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"It is not the matter that maketh the work good, but the principles: all that we do must come from a principle of faith, love, and obedience." The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"All that is done in the spiritual life, be it an act of piety, justice, temperance, or charity, it must be done with this aim, that God may be glorified by our obedience to his will... for that which we make our utmost end, we make it our God." The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"A man that is satisfied with his own righteousness doth not prize Christ." The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"Civility is but a freer slavery; one way or another Satan holdeth them captive, and their honesty and fair show to the world is but to serve their carnal interests, to hide a lust or feed a lust, and most commonly this sin is worldliness." The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"The more true light a man hath, the more cause of self-abasement will he find in himself; he can never magnify Christ enough, and he can never abase self enough." The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"If Christ shall be precious to you, you must be vile in your own eyes." The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"The sanctification of the Spirit is as necessary as the blood of Jesus." The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"Christ doth not work upon a person, unless he be given to him by the Father." The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"To cleanse the heart is beyond the power of the creature; it can no more make itself holy, than make itself to be." The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"Grace is God's immediate creature: man's will contributeth nothing to the work but resistance and rebellion; and outward means work not, unless God put in with them; else why should the same word preached by the same minister work in some and harden others? All the difference ariseth from God's grace, which acteth according to his pleasure." The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"In creation, as there was nothing to help, so there was nothing to resist and hinder; but in man there is, besides a death in sin, a life of resistance against grace; therefore sanctification must entirely be ascribed to God: we deserve it not, it cometh from the Father's good-will and Christ's merit; we work it not, it is accomplished by the power of the Holy Ghost." The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"God out of Christ is terrible rather than comfortable." The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"If God the Father had not loved you before all worlds, Jesus Christ would not have redeemed you; and if Christ had not redeemed you, the Spirit would never sanctify you." The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"Grace, if left to us, would soon be lost; we showed that in innocency: but it is our advantage that our security lieth in God's promises, and not our own; that we are not our own keepers; that grace is a jewel not trusted but in safe hands; that perseverance is God's gift, not man's act; and that Christ hath a charge to conduct his saints, and keep them safe to everlasting glory." The Epistle Of Jude, v.1 |
"When God putteth any of his servants into Satan's hands he keepeth Satan in his own hands. If you be in Satan's hands for your exercise, remember Satan is in God's hands for your comfort and safety." The Epistle Of Jude, v.6 |
"Pleasures being enjoyed, they do not satisfy; being loved, they defile; being lost, they increase our trouble and sorrow." Psalm 119, Sermon I, Verse I |
"Blessedness is a riddle which can only be found out by faith, which is the evidence of things not seen. That a poor godly man who is counted the filth and off-scouring of all things, should be the only truly happy man; and that the great men of this world who have all things at will, should be poor, blind, miserable, and naked; is a paradox that will never enter into the heart of a natural man, that hath only light of sense and carnal reason to judge of things, for to sight and reason it is nothing so." Psalm 119, Sermon I, Verse I |
"Many times we are doctrinally right in point of blessedness, but not practically; we content ourselves with the mere notion, but are not brought under the POWER of these truths; that is a work of the Spirit." Psalm 119, Sermon I, Verse I |
"A civil, orderly man is one thing, and a godly, renewed man another. It is God's prerogative to give a law to the conscience, and the renewed motions of the heart." Psalm 119, Sermon I, Verse I |
"There is a superstitious and an apocryphal holiness, which is contrary to a genuine and scriptural holiness... It is a temporary flesh-pleasing religion, which consists in a conformity to outward rites and ceremonies, and external mortifications, such as are practiced by the Papists and formalists... God will not thank them that give more than he requireth... so this will-worship and superstitious holiness may seem to make a fair show, but it is destructive to true godliness and scriptural holiness." Psalm 119, Sermon I, Verse I |
"If you would be blessed, there must be a sincere, constant, uniform obedience. The will of God must not only be known, but practiced... not one in a thousand doth that." Psalm 119, Sermon I, Verse I |
"We can never walk in God's way without the conduct of God's Spirit. We must not only have a way, but a voice to direct us when we are wandering." Psalm 119, Sermon I, Verse I |
"Fix the glory of God for your aim; else it is but a carnal course." Psalm 119, Sermon I, Verse I |
"There is a difference between a dead sea and a calm sea. A stupid conscience men may have, not a quiet conscience. The virtue of that opium will soon be spent, conscience will again be awakened." Psalm 119, Sermon I, Verse I |
"God hath a bottle for all the tears of his people -- they are not as water spilt upon the ground -- and he has a book wherein he records all their sorrows." Sermons On Hebrews 11, Sermon XXXIII |
"Work and reward are relatives indeed, but not merit and reward." Sermons On Hebrews 11, Sermon XXXIII |
"There is no seeking or finding God but in and by Christ... Aye, but the Spirit of God works this work in us. How so? The spirit of bondage brings us to God as a judge; God as a judge sends us to Christ as mediator; and Christ as mediator, by the Spirit of adoption, brings us back to God again as Father; and so we come to enjoy God. The divine Persons make way for the operations of one another." Sermons On Hebrews 11, Sermon XXXIII |
"Saith Bernard -- None can be beforehand with God; we cannot seek him till we find him; he will be found that he may be sought, and he will be sought that he may be found; his preventing grace makes us restless in the means, and puts us upon those first motions and earnest addresses towards God." Sermons On Hebrews 11, Sermon XXXIII |
"Here is the great work and business of your lives, diligently to seek after God." Sermons On Hebrews 11, Sermon XXXIV |
"God will not always put up with your frequent denials. There is a time when God will be gone, and seeking will be to no purpose... When death cometh and their day is past, many at last may seek God; and their straits may drive them to him, who were never put to it by any sense of sin. While hot and eager in sinning, they are not sensible of it... The greatest contemners and despisers of God do at last see that there is no happiness but in God; but they miss the blessing, as Esau did, though he sought it with tears." Sermons On Hebrews 11, Sermon XXXIV |
"The very continuance of our glory in heaven is a fruit of mercy, not of merit. Our obligation to free grace never ceaseth." The Epistle Of Jude, v.2 |
"The way to true peace is to apply yourselves to God for mercy to be accepted in Christ, to be renewed according to the image of Christ." The Epistle Of Jude, v.2 |
"Clear it is, virtue cannot be supported without the thoughts of a world to come; and it is unreasonable to imagine that God would make a world which cannot be governed without falsehood and deceit." 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 |
"The use of God's rod is to bring us home unto God, and the affliction driveth us to make better use of his word: it changeth us from vanity to seriousness; from error, to truth; from stubbornness, to teachfulness; from pride, to modesty." Psalm CXIX - verse LXVII |
"The true notion and nature of affliction to the people of God: the cross changeth its nature, and is not poena, a destructive punishment; but remedium delinquentium, a medicinal dispensation, and a means of our cure." Psalm CXIX - verse LXVII |
"David, whose heart smote him when he cut off the lap of Saul's garments, when he was wandering in the wilderness, could plot the death of Uriah, his faithful servant, when he was at ease in his palace. We lose much tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against sin, much of that lively diligence that we should otherwise show forth in carrying on the spiritual life, when we are at ease, and all things go well with us." Psalm CXIX - verse LXVII |
"The beginning of all obedience is the mortification of the flesh, which naturally we cannot endure. After we have submitted and subjected ourselves to God, the flesh will be seeking its prey, and be rebelling and waxing wanton against the spirit, till God snatches its allurements from us." Psalm CXIX - verse LXVII |
"Our affections to heavenly things languish when all things succeed with us in this world according to our heart's desire; and this coldness and remissness is not easily shaken off." Psalm CXIX - verse LXVII |
"The flesh doth not consider what is right and good, but what is pleasing to the senses, and craveth their satisfaction with much importunity and earnestness, to the wrong of God and our own souls." Complete Works, Vol II, Sermon XI |
"The best of God's children feel the motions of the flesh, but they do not cherish and obey them." Complete Works, Vol II, Sermon XI |