| Richard Sibbes |
| "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." 1 Timothy 2:5 |
Richard Sibbes (1577 - 1635) was a devout English
Puritan whose sermons dripped heavenly honey. Richard Baxter said he owed his
conversion in large part to Sibbes' work, The Bruised
Reed. Charles Spurgeon stated that Sibbes,
scatters pearls and diamonds with both hands. Sibbes' sermons and
exhortations demand heart work, as does the Holy Spirit, who led Sibbes so
wondrously in his glorious pilgrimage while on this earth. This noble Puritan
produced a compendium of literature, and thus, The
Complete Works Of Richard Sibbes are available in 7 Volumes from The
Banner Of Truth Trust.
"Now heaven is begun here, or else never begun."
The Power Of Christ's Resurrection
"Now in that we are raised by the same power
to a spiritual life, whereby Christ rose from the grave, it teacheth us how to
conceive of the work of the new birth... The work of grace in a Christian is not
a slight work, a word and away, as many think; but it is a powerful work, as
appears in that there are more hindrances to keep a man dead in sin from rising
out of it, than there was to keep Christ from rising out of the grave. Yet in
his resurrection did the power of God mightily appear... Wherefore let those
that find a change in their hearts break forth into hearty thanksgiving unto God
for his inestimable favour, especially for this powerful work, more powerful
than the making of the whole world." The Power Of Christ's Resurrection
"Art thou risen with Christ? Then thou hast
POWER to seek those things that are above, to be heavenly minded... God doth not
as Pharaoh, bid us do our work, and we must gather straw ourselves; but he bids
us do, and quickens us by his Spirit, and enables us to do. He fits us for such
actions; he gives us POWER to do them." The Power Of Christ's Resurrection
"For trial of thy estate, see what POWER is
there of the Spirit of God in thee to make thee heavenly-minded; to joy in
things that are above more than in all the world besides. If thou find this
POWER in thee, then thou art a Christian indeed. Thou canst then speak by
experience what is the work of the Spirit, and thou knowest well what is the
virtue of the resurrection of Christ." The Power Of Christ's Resurrection
"We need not teach a bird to fly, for it will
learn of itself; it is natural to her. So a Christian cannot but do the things
answerable to his nature. He is of a new nature, and therefore cannot but be
heavenly minded." The Power Of Christ's Resurrection
"Attend upon the ordinances of God, labour
with him in prayer, that he would make us such as he may delight in, fit us for
that estate that he hath provided for us. Labour to increase in all holy
actions; take heed of all contrary courses, of worldly-mindedness, of the
pleasures of the world, that they draw not away thy heart from an earnest
seeking of heavenly things as we should be." The Power Of Christ's Resurrection
None can go to heaven but they who are begotten
again here... Never rest then till this life be gotten in us." The Life Of
Faith, Sermon I
"The Son is the fountain of life, because he
is God, who is radically, fundamentally, and essentially life." The Life Of
Faith, Sermon I
"As without shedding of blood no forgiveness of
sins, so without the Spirit sealing these things unto our souls, we can have no
comfort in them." The Life Of Faith, Sermon I
"Justification is not only a sentence of
pardon, but it is also a title to life everlasting... Where God pardons, he
advances." The Life Of Faith, Sermon I
"Be sure with the day to clear the sins of that
day; so shall ye live a comfortable life, and be fit for all estates, for life,
for death, for sickness, trouble, or whatsoever, all our business lying in
heaven then." The Life Of Faith, Sermon I
"Christ quickens none but the dead. Why do not
the papists attain to this grace of justification? They never see themselves
wholly dead, but join some life to the natural estate of man. Therefore Christ
quickens them not." The Life Of Faith, Sermon I
"A man sound in the point of justification hath
a hatred to popery, and all such doctrine which impairs the riches and grace of
Christ. Death is in the Romish religion." The Life Of Faith, Sermon I
"Faith lays hold on Christ as God offers
him... Faith receives him as a whole Christ in all his offices; not as a priest
to save only, but as a king to rule." The Life Of Faith, Sermon I
"This indeed must be all our strength - to see
nothing in ourselves, but all in Christ." The Life Of Faith, Sermon I
"It is meet now we should fetch all from
without ourselves; for since Adam lost what he had, it is dangerous to trust
ourselves with it any more. Therefore Christ keeps it for us, and makes it ours
by conveyance of his Spirit." The Life Of Faith, Sermon II
"Now faith being wrought by an almighty power,
raising us above ourselves to fasten and lay hold on so many mysteries, so it
makes an almighty working in the soul, making things afar off to come evident."
The Life Of Faith, Sermon II
"The trouble is small when faith is great."
The Life Of Faith, Sermon II
"So the bread and wine in the Lord's Supper seem
weak and feeble things; ay, but they are ordained to strengthen and increase
faith." The Life Of Faith, Sermon II
"He who hath a crown before him, it will make
him run through the pikes or anything to attain it; so faith, having glory,
immortality, and the joys of heaven before it, overlooks and despises all
oppositions, and sees all things subdued to Christ, as though all were past;
whereupon it gathers assurance that it shall triumph over all in him." The Life
Of Faith, Sermon II
"Faith makes absent comforts present to us." The
Life Of Faith, Sermon II
"Indeed, to carnal sense these things are
undiscernible; but to a renewed soul, the Spirit that God hath given them
discovers the eminency thereof above all earthly contentments whatsoever... The
children of God know these heavenly things by their taste... God is so far in
love with his children that he keeps not all their comforts for another world,
but gives them a taste of the sweetness here." The Life Of Faith, Sermon II
"The life of a true Christian is taken up with
the consideration of those things which he shall hereafter have in heaven." The
Life Of Faith, Sermon II
"Nothing will comfort us at last but a true
change of heart. If thou beest not a new creature, thou shalt have no part in
the New Jerusalem: therefore let us not feed ourselves with vain hopes." The
Life Of Faith, Sermon II
"There is none of us but desires heaven; but why
dost thou desire it? Is it because it is set forth to be a kingdom, an excellent
place of joy and rest? Is it for this only? Assure thyself, then, thou wilt
never come there. Thou must desire to have heaven, because of the divine nature
[new birth], because it is a holy place, and near to God, if thou wouldst
possess it indeed." The Life Of Faith, Sermon II
"Christ gives himself for none but those which
God hath first given him. Christ had his commission, and he came to do his
Father's will, not his own... Those that the Father gives in election, Christ
redeems, and by redemption saves; for redemption, in regard of efficacy, is no
larger than God's election." Salvation Applied
"There is no man condemned, but for not yielding
obedience in the act of faith, and doing all that his heart tells him he might,
but is unwilling to do... This is the condemnation, with a witness, the great
and main cause of condemnation: they would have heaven, if they might have it
with their lusts; but they will not yield to the act of faith, to take Christ as
he is offered unto them, upon his own terms, to be ruled by him, for better and
for worse. This they will none of, which is that which damns them. They would
single out of Christ what they list." Salvation Applied
"Christ is a garment, faith puts him on;
Christ is a foundation, faith builds upon him; Christ is a root, faith plants us
in him; Christ is our husband, faith yields consent, and consent makes the
match." Salvation Applied
"Every Christian hath a special revelation from
the Spirit. For the Spirit, which knows the secret things of God, and which
knows his heart, testifies to him that he is a child of God... Every true
Christian hath this revelation, because they have the Spirit of revelation."
Salvation Applied
"Some will live in their sins, and yet think
that Christ died for them. No; whom Christ loves in particular, he gives them
grace to lead a holy life, and to be freed from the bondage of their former
corruptions. Those that are not redeemed from their vain conversation, are not
redeemed from hell and damnation, unless God give them repentance. Those both go
together." Salvation Applied
"True faith goes to the conditions of the Word.
Those that live in courses contrary to the Word have not this faith." Salvation
Applied
"He that hath a true sound faith, and
particular assurance from thence, is willing oftentimes to search his heart...
Those who are willing to go on in a still smooth course, because they will not
break the peace of their own deluding false hearts, rather thinking all well
rather than to put themselves to the trial, we may know this is but
presumption." Salvation Applied
"There is a command to rejoice evermore, but
nowhere is it written, mourn continually." Salvation Applied
"Faith, where it is, is of a victorious
nature." Salvation Applied
"Those that are not kings here, shall never be
kings hereafter; those that are not priests here, shall never walk with Christ
in heaven in long white robes for ever. Eternal life is begun here, in all the
parts of it." Exposition Of 2 Corinthians 1.22
"A man cannot say that he is interested in the
promises, that he can lay claim to them, if he be an unfruitful man, an
unhallowed man, that hath not the sweet ointment of the Spirit." Exposition Of 2
Corinthians 1.22
"We see then there is a necessity of examining
ourselves in this point... As our title to heaven is out of ourselves, by the
promises we have of salvation and reconciliation in Christ, so the evidences
must be found in ourselves; there must be anointing, and sealing, and the
earnest of the Spirit." Exposition Of 2 Corinthians 1.22
"Christ being sealed, he sealed all that he
did for our redemption with his blood; and for the strengthening of our faith,
he hath added outward seals, the two sacraments, to seal our faith in this
blood, and in him who is sealed of the Father." Exposition Of 2 Corinthians 1.22
"The same Spirit that sealed the Redeemer,
seals the redeemed." Exposition Of 2 Corinthians 1.22
"You have carnal men in presumption, which leads
them to destruction; they sever things in Christ. They will take benefit by
Christ, but they care not for his likeness; they will have him as priest, but
they respect him not as a king." Exposition Of 2 Corinthians 1.22
"God by his Spirit sets the stamp and likeness
of Christ upon us; he distinguisheth us from others, from the great refuse of
the world; he appropriates us to himself, and likewise he authoriseth us and
puts an excellency upon us to secure us against all. When we have God's seal
upon us we stand against all accusations." Exposition Of 2 Corinthians 1.22
"The Spirit of God dwells and keeps a perpetual
residence in the heart of a Christian, guiding him, moving him, enlightening of
him, governing him, comforting him, doing all the offices of a seal in his
heart, till he have brought him to heaven, for the Holy Ghost never leaves us."
Exposition Of 2 Corinthians 1.22
"The Christian soul finds somewhat of Christ
always in the soul to give a sweet evidence that he is sealed to the day of
redemption... When the soul needs encouragement, then God is graciously pleased
to superadd this, to give such spiritual ravishings which are as the very
beginnings of heaven, so that a man may say of a Christian at such times that he
is in heaven before his time, he is in heaven upon earth." Exposition Of 2
Corinthians 1.22
"The Spirit of God not only anoints, but
seals... let us consider, that death and judgment will come, and God will set
none at his right hand but his sheep that have his mark. Those that he sets his
stamp and image upon, those he will set on the right hand in the day of
judgment." Exposition Of 2 Corinthians 1.22
"The soul that is sealed knows that he is
marked out for God, for happiness in the world to come, whatsoever befalls him
in this world; and he knows that God in all confusion of times knows his own
seal. Those that are sealed, God hath a special care of." Exposition Of 2
Corinthians 1.22
"Those persons, I say, that are deeply dyed in
popery, that have the mark of the beast, they are in a clean opposite condition
to those that are marked with the Spirit, that Christ marks for his." Exposition
Of 2 Corinthians 1.22
"We must not be so profane as to think
slightly and irreverently of God's ordinances. They are of great and high
consequence... but the special thing that must comfort, must be the hidden seal
of the Spirit." Exposition Of 2 Corinthians 1.22
"God leaves us not off in the mean time while we
are in our pilgrimage... He gives us the earnest of the Spirit, that is, he
gives the Holy Ghost into our hearts, which is the earnest of that blessed,
everlasting, glorious condition which we shall have in heaven hereafter."
Exposition Of 2 Corinthians 1.22
"The Spirit of God by itself, together with
the graces of it, and the comforts it bringeth - for they go both together - are
called an earnest... where God gives earnest, he makes up the bargain... they
therefore that have not the earnest cannot look for the bargain." Exposition Of
2 Corinthians 1.22
"It is the ordinary presumptuous error of common
Christians, to think to go to heaven out of unclean courses with, Lord have
mercy upon us; but miserable wretches are they that have not this earnest of the
Spirit in them, an earnest of heaven beforehand." Exposition Of 2 Corinthians
1.22
"We must all read our happiness in our
holiness; and therefore it is that happiness in heaven and holiness here, which
is happiness inchoate, have both one title, to shew that we cannot have the one
without the other. We must enter into heaven here in this life." Exposition Of 2
Corinthians 1.22
"The shaking of Peter was for the rooting of
him." Exposition Of 2 Corinthians 1.22
"Many think they have repented, and are
deceived upon this false ground. They are and have been grieved for their sins
and offences; are determined to leave and forsake them, and that is all they do.
They never lay hold of Christ, and come home to God." The Returning Backslider
"If Adam sin, he shall find a hell in paradise.
If Paul return, and return to God, he shall find a heaven in a dungeon." The
Returning Backslider
"They are cruel to their own souls that walk
in evil ways; for undoubtedly God will turn their own ways upon their own
heads." The Returning Backslider
"If Christ be once given thee, Christ is more
than heaven, and earth, and all; if he be given, God will deny thee nothing."
The Knot Of Prayer Loosed
"Every Christian, who would be in deed and not
in name so called only, he must be a man of prayer." The Knot Of Prayer Loosed
"A cold prayer hath but a cold answer; that man
is but a mocker of prayer, that would have God to hear him, when he hears not
himself." The Knot Of Prayer Loosed
"Understand thou, man, God could never be held
by such prayers that cross his will, and the manner of his government, yea, such
against which he hath so often protested in his word." The Knot Of Prayer Loosed
"All God's promises, like rivers perpetuated,
ending in the sea, do end in heaven, and to this tend all the comforts,
promises, threatenings, and crosses to bring us thither." The Knot Of Prayer
Loosed
"The bringing forth of a right prayer through
so many oppositions, it is in a manner like the bringing forth of a child, in
which there is much pain, anguish, and sorrow; so that we had rather do anything
else; but when the child is born, then there is joy." The Knot Of Prayer Loosed
"Carnal men are earthly in heavenly matters;
and, on the contrary, those that are spiritually minded are heavenly disposed in
earthly matters." The Rich Pearl
"If we ever think to come to heaven, it must
be begun here in the kingdom of grace... Christ will rule in those here by his
Spirit that think to reign with him hereafter." The Rich Pearl
"Christ took the flesh of man upon him, yet he
hath the lustre of the Godhead, in whom all the attributes of God do plentifully
shine." The Rich Pearl
"Our High Priest doth now in heaven bear us in
his breast, as the precious stones that were in Aaron's breastplate. It makes us
kings and priests to God, and a spouse fitting for him our Husband. It adorneth
us with all graces, it makes all ours, and entitles us to heaven." The Rich
Pearl
"If the question be whether we had rather have
this world than Christ, we must resolve to part with father, mother, lands, yea,
with a man's own self, rather than with Christ." The Rich Pearl
"He that keeps in his heart but one beloved
pleasure or profit of this life, let him read, pray, hear, profess never so
much, the devil hath him sure by the leg or by the wing, and as sure as if the
whole man were in his hands; for the devil will willingly suffer a man to go to,
and use any good exercises, knowing they add to a man's damnation, so long as he
retains a secret delight and liking to any lust, let it be never so small... For
who would not have Christ, if he might have pleasure, or profit, or honour with
him? No, Christ will have all." The Rich Pearl
"Worldly respects fall down where heaven is
advanced." The Rich Pearl
"Satan gives an apple, but he looks to deprive
us of a paradise." The Rich Pearl
"If we be in bonds under sin, offer Christ to
God." The Rich Pearl
"The pleasures of sin are but for a season,
godliness is profitable to all; nay, it is above all other riches... Therefore
let us take heed how we trifle away these privileges. The time will come when we
shall want them, and then wisdom will laugh at us if we have not been wise to
lay up durable riches." The Rich Pearl
"Christ himself being ours, his obedience and
all that he hath becomes ours also; and whosoever partaketh of this
righteousness which is by faith, hath also a righteousness of sanctification
accompanying the same, wrought in his soul by the Spirit of God, whereby his
sinful nature is changed and made holy." The Difficulty Of Salvation
"There must be an inward inherent
righteousness, before there can be any works of righteousness. An instrument
must be set in tune before it will make music; so the Spirit of God must first
work a holy frame and disposition of heart in us, before we can bring forth any
fruits of holiness in our lives." The Difficulty Of Salvation
"God the Father is our Father in Christ, and his
love and gifts are without repentance. When once we are in the state of
salvation, he will preserve us by faith to salvation; and we are knit to God the
Son, who will lose none of his members. The marriage with Christ is an
everlasting union; whom he loves, he loves to the end." The Difficulty Of
Salvation
"The blessed Spirit of God never departs where
he once takes up his lodging." The Difficulty Of Salvation
"O what a comfort is this, that in the midst of
all the oppositions and plottings of men and devils, yet notwithstanding,
somewhat we have, that is not in the power of any enemy to take from us, nor in
our own power to lose, namely, our salvation. Set this against any evil
whatsoever, and it swallows up all." The Difficulty Of Salvation
"We see the number of such as truly fear God
is but small, soon reckoned up. They are but as grapes after the vintage, or a
few berries after the shaking; one of a city, two of a tribe." The Difficulty Of
Salvation
"God will discard those who are hypocrites in
this life, who take up so much of religion as stands with their ease and credit
in the world, avoiding every difficulty which accompanies godliness, but, so
they may swim two ways at once, go on in their lusts still and be religious
withal. This they approve of. Therefore, God will have it a hard matter to be
saved, to frustrate the vain hopes of such wretches." The Difficulty Of
Salvation
"If the righteous be saved with much ado, then
never enter upon the profession of religion with vain hopes of ease and
pleasure, that it shall be thus and thus with thee. Herein thou dost but delude
thy own soul, for it will prove otherwise." The Difficulty Of Salvation
"He that makes religion a recreation can walk a
turn or two for his pleasure, and when any difficulty arises can retire and draw
in his horns again... But a true Christian, that makes it the main work of his
life to please God, arms himself for the worst that can befall him, and will be
saved through thick or thin, smooth or rough, whatsoever comes on it." The
Difficulty Of Salvation
"Cast anchor in heaven, and see if it will not
make thee go on cheerfully in a Christian course." The Difficulty Of Salvation
"When God comes to deal with a company of
graceless wretches, how will he consume and scatter them, and sweep them away as
dung from the face of the earth! he will universally make a riddance of them at
once." The Difficulty Of Salvation
"There is no promise of mercy but to those who
turn. The Scripture is peremptory in denial of mercy to such as go on in their
sins." The Spiritual Favourite At The Throne Of Grace
"God will seal all his threatenings with
executions in due time." The Spiritual Favourite At The Throne Of Grace
"We cannot honour God more than to go to him
with a large faith, to fetch large favours from him." The Spiritual Favourite At
The Throne Of Grace
"Heaven makes the laws that earth is governed
by. Let earth conclude what it will, there will be conclusions in heaven that
will overthrow all their conclusions." The Spiritual Favourite At The Throne Of
Grace
"Except we hold this, that God rules all
without, and especially the hearts of men, where it is his especial prerogative
to set up his throne, we shall never pray heartily or give thanks." The
Spiritual Favourite At The Throne Of Grace
"The Holy Spirit is called a Spirit, not only by
nature, as being a spiritual essence, but in regard of his person and office; he
is both breathed from the Father and the Son, as proceeding from them both; and
by office, breatheth into all that God hath given Christ to redeem and him to
sanctify. He is so the Spirit of God in proceeding from God, as that he is God,
which whoso denieth deny their own baptism; being as well baptized into the name
of the Holy Ghost as into the Father and the Son. And no less a person than God
is needful to assure our souls of God's love, and to change our nature, being in
an opposite frame." A Fountain Sealed
"That attribute the Spirit delights in is that
of holiness, which our corrupt nature least delights in and most opposeth.
Holiness is the glory and crown of all other excellency, without which they are
neither good in themselves, nor comfortable to us. It implies a freedom from all
impurity, and a perfect hatred of it; an absolute perfection of all that is
excellent." A Fountain Sealed
"There was planted in man by nature a desire of
holiness, and a desire of happiness. The desire of happiness is left still in
us, but for holiness, which is the perfection of the image of God in us, is both
lost, and the desire of it extinguished; and that men might the better drive it
out of the world under a form and show of it, they oppose the truth of it, and
that with the greater success, because under that great colour the devil and his
vicar carry all their devilish policies under a show of holiness. We see in
popery, everything is holy with them but that which should be holy, the truth of
God and the expression of it." A Fountain Sealed
"Christ's human nature is the first temple
wherein the Spirit dwells, and then we become temples by union with him. The
difference betwixt his being in Christ and us, is, that the Spirit dwells in
Christ in a fuller measure, by reason that as a head he is to convey spirit into
all his members." A Fountain Sealed
"In the temple the further they went all was
more holy, till they came to the holy of holies. So in a Christian the most
inward part, the spirit is, as it were, the holy of holies, where incense is
offered to God continually. What a mercy is this, that he that hath the heaven
of heavens to dwell in will make a dungeon to be a temple, a prison to be a
paradise, yea, an hell to be an heaven. Next to the love of Christ in taking our
nature and dwelling in it, we may wonder at the love of the Holy Ghost, that
will take up his residence in such defiled souls." A Fountain Sealed
"The Holy Spirit being in us, after he hath
prepared us for an house for himself to dwell in, and to take up his rest and
delight in, he doth also become unto us a counsellor in all our doubts; a
comforter in all our distresses; a solicitor to all duty; a guide in the whole
course of our life, until we dwell with him for ever in heaven, unto which his
dwelling here in us doth tend. He goeth before us as Christ did in the pillar of
the cloud and fire before the Israelites into Canaan, being a defense by day,
and a direction by night." A Fountain Sealed
"We may and ought, by Christian care and
circumspection, so to walk in an even and pleasing course, that we shall not
grievously offend the Spirit, or grieve our own spirits." A Fountain Sealed
"No man hates his own soul, or is in love with
death; yet men will willingly do that which, if they hated their own souls, and
loved death, they could not do worse." A Fountain Sealed
"The sins of professors of religion grieve the
Spirit most; and of all professors, those that have most means of knowledge,
because their obligations are deeper, and their engagements greater... therefore
the sins that offend God most are committed within the church." A Fountain
Sealed
"It is the will that makes up the bargain; sin
were not sin else... God saith, Take him, Satan. Since he will not have my
Spirit to rule him, it is fit he should have a worse. The more willingness, the
more sinfulness, the less defense; and God's justice cannot better be satisfied
than by punishing them most against their wills, who sinned most with their
will." A Fountain Sealed
"Though corrupt nature hath no good in it, for
we deserved to be like devils, yet God intending to have civil society, out of
which he usually gathers his church, preserveth in man's nature an hatred of
sins that overthrow society. Such sins, therefore, being committed against more
light, wound more; as in the case of murder, notorious perjury, theft, &c." A
Fountain Sealed
"Conscience hath somewhat divine in it. It is
a petty god. It speaks from God. Especially when the Spirit joins with
conscience, then God speaks indeed; then there is light upon light." A Fountain
Sealed
"As the Holy Ghost is a Spirit, so spiritual
sins grieve most, as pride, envy, imprinting upon the soul as it were a
character of the contrary ill spirit." A Fountain Sealed
"The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of truth, hates
hypocrites, being painted sepulchres; but as a Spirit of purity hates fouls
livers, and foul-mouthed speakers, as open sepulchres." A Fountain Sealed
"It is a dangerous grieving of the Spirit, when,
instead of drawing ourselves to the Spirit, we will labour to draw the Spirit to
us, and study the Scriptures to countenance us in some corrupt course, and
labour to make God of our mind, that we may go on with greater liberty." A
Fountain Sealed
"Some will father those sinful affections that
arise from the flesh, and are strengthened by Satan, upon the Holy Spirit,
counting wrath that is kindled from hell to be fire of holy zeal coming from
heaven. Thus the enemies of religion think they do God service in their
massacres." A Fountain Sealed
"The office of the Holy Spirit is, by the
ministry, to lay open the riches of Christ, and the glory of God's grace in
him... The office of the Spirit is to set out Christ, and the favour and mercy
of God in Christ." A Fountain Sealed
"This grieves the Holy Spirit also, when men
take the office of the Spirit from him; that is, when we will do things in our
own strength and by our own light, as if we were gods to ourselves... If a man
belong to God, God will cross him in such ways wherein he refuseth to honour God
and to give him his due place. He shall miscarry, when, perhaps, other men shall
have success, though it be to harden them to destruction. This is a subtle way
by which Satan abuseth men." A Fountain Sealed
"If a man will be lost, let him lose himself in
Christ and in the things of heaven; for if we be drowned in the world, it will
breed discomfort." A Fountain Sealed
"Few reprobates feel those terrors here that
the godly oft do by their bold adventures; for besides the terrors of the
natural conscience, they have the Spirit to set them on... In hell itself this
will be the bitterest torment, to think of refusing mercy, mercy pressed and
offered with all love." A Fountain Sealed
"We must not judge of sin by the matter in
which, but by the spirit from which, sin is committed. There is no sin so gross
but the saints of God may fall into it; but yet the child of God is hindered by
a contrary law of the Spirit from yielding full consent before, or taking full
delight in a sin, or allowing or persisting after." A Fountain Sealed
"We are in covenant with so wise and powerful
a God, that overrules even sin itself to serve his purpose in bringing his to
heaven." A Fountain Sealed
"Motions, for the matter good, yet may be carnal
in regard of self-confidence from whence they come. That which Peter resolved
upon was good, but confidence in himself marred it. Those motions which the
Spirit stirs up are carried along in relying upon assisting grace." A Fountain
Sealed
"There is not the worst man, whose heart runs
away from God, but God follows him a great while with sweet motions, though such
be the invincible stubbornness of the heart, that it will not yield. This will
take away all excuse." A Fountain Sealed
"The Spirit leaves not us till we leave the
Spirit." A Fountain Sealed
"The liberties of the gospel are contrary to
the liberties of the flesh... Hence is it that there is nothing so much opposed
by the spirit of the world, as the purity and power of the gospel, which is a
sufficient prejudice of an ill condition that all such men are in. But there is
another spirit in gracious men. They are the children of light, and love it." A
Fountain Sealed
"The Word and the Spirit go together. Therefore
if we will have the comforts of the Spirit, we must attend upon the Word." A
Fountain Sealed
"The Word is dead without the Spirit, and
therefore attend on the Word. And then wait on the Spirit to quicken the Word,
that both Word and Spirit may guide us to life everlasting." A Fountain Sealed
"The Spirit dwells most largely in that heart
that hath emptied itself of itself... The Spirit is jealous of our affections,
and will have nothing set up in the
heart above God." A Fountain Sealed
"The Holy Spirit of God is our guide... As the
cloud before the Israelites by day, and the pillar of fire by night, so he
conducts us to the heavenly Canaan." A Fountain Sealed
"Whatsoever is holy and pious, it grows not in
our garden, in our nature, but it is planted by the Spirit." A Fountain Sealed
"Sealing [of the Holy Spirit] is not only a
witnessing to us, but a work upon us and in us, carrying the image of him that
sealeth us; whereby we are not only assured of the good promised to us, but
fitted for the receiving of it. God prepareth no good for any but whom he
prepares and fits for that good." A Fountain Sealed
"God honours no grace so much as faith." A
Fountain Sealed