OF SIN
Sin is the great block and bar to our happiness, the gatherer of all miseries to man, both here and hereafter. Take away sin and nothing can hurt us (Romans 2:7; 6:22, 23; 1Peter 1:3-5), for death, temporal, spiritual, and eternal, is the wages of it (Romans 3:23; James 1:15; Revelation 21:8).
Sin, and man because of his sin, is the object of the wrath of God (Psalm 5:4-6; 7:11-13; Matthew 3:10). How dreadful, therefore, must his case be who continues in sin! For who can stand up against or wrestle with the wrath of God (Psalm 1:4, 5; 2:12; 2Thessalonians 1:8-9; Revelation 14:9-11)?
No sin against God can be little, because it is against the great God of heaven and earth; but if the sinner can find a little God, it may be easy to find little sins (Genesis 39:9; Deuteronomy 32:15; Psalm 51:4) .
Sin makes all of God’s grace worthless (1Corinthians 15:10; 2 Corinthians 6:1). It s the dare of his justice, the rape of his mercy, the mocking of his patience, the disrespect of his power, and the despising of his love.
Take heed of giving yourself liberty of committing one sin, for that will lead you to another, until, by a bad habit, it becomes natural (Romans 6:1, 12-18; 1John 2:1) .
To begin a sin, is to lay a foundation for a continuance; this continuance is the mother of habit, and shamelessness is the final result (Romans 1;18-32).
The death of Christ gives us the best understanding of ourselves, in what condition we were, in that nothing could help us but that (Romans 5:6, 8, 10; Ephesians 4:18; Colossians 1:2); and the most clear understanding of the dreadful nature of our sins. For if sin is so dreadful a thing as to wring the heart of the Son of God, how shall a poor wretched sinner be able to bear it (Matthew 27:46; Isaiah 53:10, 11; Hebrews 12:14)?
OF AFFLICTION
Nothing can make affliction so difficult as the load of sin: would you, therefore, be fitted for afflictions, be sure to get the burden of your sins laid aside, and then whatever afflictions you may meet with will be very easy to you.
If you can hear and bear the rod of affliction which God shall lay upon you, remember this lesson -- you are beaten that you may be better.
The Lord uses his scourge of tribulation to separate the chaff from the wheat.
The school of the cross is the school of light; it discovers the world’s vanity, baseness, and wickedness, and lets us see more of God’s mind. Out of dark affliction comes a spiritual light.
In times of affliction we commonly meet with the sweetest experiences of the love of God.
Were we to heartily renounce the pleasures of this world, we would be very little troubled by our afflictions; that which renders an afflicted state so insupportable to many is that they are too much addicted to the pleasures of this life, and so cannot endure that which makes a separation between them.
OF REPENTANCE AND COMING TO CHRIST
The goal of affliction is the discovery of sin, and of that to bring us to a Savior. Let us, therefore, with the prodigal return to Him and we shall find ease and rest.
A man sorrowfully repenting from his sin, though formerly as bad as the worst of men, may, by grace, become as good as the best.
To be truly sensible of sin is to sorrow for displeasing God, to be sorry that He is displeased by us more than that He is displeased with us.
Your intentions to repent, and the neglect of that soul-saving duty, will raise up in judgment against you.
Repentance carries with it a Divine speech and persuades Christ to forgive multitudes of sins committed against Him.
Say not to yourself, "Tomorrow I will repent," for it is your duty to do it daily.
The gospel of grace and salvation is above all doctrines the most dangerous if it is received in word only by graceless men, if it be not attended with a sensible need of a Savior, and bring them to Him. For such men as have only the notion of it are of all men most miserable, for by reason of their knowing more than heathen, this shall be their final lot--they shall have greater punishment.
OF PRAYER
Before you enter in to prayer ask your soul these questions: "For what purpose, O my soul, are you retired into this place? Have you not come to speak to the Lord in prayer? Is he present, will He hear you? Is your business unimportant, is it not concerning the welfare of your soul? What words will you use to move Him to compassion?"
To make your preparation complete consider that you are but dust and ashes and He the great God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who clothes Himself with light as with a garment, that you are a vile sinner, He a holy God, that you are but a poor crawling worm, He the omnipotent Creator.
In all your prayers do not forget to thank the Lord for His mercies.
When you pray let your hearts be without words rather than your words without a heart.
Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.
The spirit of prayer is more precious than treasures of gold and silver.
Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God and a scourge for Satan.
OF THE LORD'S DAY, SERMONS, AND WEEK DAYS
Have a special care to sanctify the Lord's day, for in the same way you keep it it will be with you all the week long.
Make the Lord's day the market for your soul; let the whole day be spent in prayer, repetitions or meditations. Lay aside the affairs of the other part of the week. Let the sermon you have heard be converted into prayer. Shall God allow you six days and will you not afford Him one?
In the church be careful to serve God, for you are in His eyes and not in man's.
You may hear sermons often and do well in practicing what you hear, but you must not expect to be told from a pulpit all that you ought to do, but be studious in searching the Scriptures and reading good books. What you hear may be forgotten, but what you read may be retained better.
Do not forsake the public worship of God lest God forsake you, not only in public but also in private.
In the week days when you rise in the morning, consider: 1. You must die, 2. You may die this minute, 3. What will become of your soul. Pray often. At night consider: 1. What sins you have committed, 2. How often you have prayed, 3. What has your mind been bent upon, 4. What have you done, 5. What conversations have you had, 6. If you call to mind the errors of the day do not sleep without a confession to God and a hope of pardon. In this way make up your accounts with Almighty God every morning and evening and your reckoning will be the less in the end.
OF THE LOVE OF THE WORLD
Nothing more hinders a soul from coming to Christ than a vain love of the world, and until a soul is freed from it it can never have a true love for God.
What are the honors and riches of this world when compared to the glories of a crown of life?
Love not the world, for it [the love of the world] is a moth in a Christian's life.
To despise the world is the way to enjoy heaven, and blessed are they who delight to speak with God in prayer.
What folly can be greater than to labor for the meat that perishes and neglect the food of eternal life?
God or the world must be neglected at parting time, for then is the time of trial.
To seek yourself in this world is to be lost, and to be humble is the be exalted.
The epicure who delights in the dainties of this world seldom thinks that those very creatures will one day witness against him.
OF SUFFERING
It is not every suffering that makes a martyr, but suffering for the Word of God in a right way; that is, not only for righteousness, but for righteousness' sake; not only for truth, but out of love to truth; not only for God's Word, but according to it, that is, in that holy, humble, meek manner as the Word of God requires.
It is a rare thing to suffer rightly and to have my spirit in suffering bent only against God's enemy, sin--sin in doctrine, sin in worship, sin in life, and sin in conversation.
Neither the devil nor men of the world can kill your righteousness or love to it, but by your own hand, or separate you from it but by your own act. Nor will he who does indeed suffer for the sake of righteousness, or out of the love he has for it, be tempted to exchange it for the good will of all the world.
I have often thought that the best of Christians are found in the worst of times. And I have thought again that one reason why we are no better is because God purges us no more. Noah and Lot--who was so holy as they in the time of their afflictions? And yet who so idle as they in the time of their prosperity?
OF DEATH AND JUDGMENT
As the devil labors by all means to keep out other things that are good, so he tries to keep out of the heart, as much as in him lies, the thoughts of passing from this life into another world. For he knows that if he can but keep men from the serious thoughts of death he shall the more easily keep them in their sins.
Nothing will make us more earnest in working out the work of our salvation than a frequent meditation of our mortality. Nothing has greater influence for the taking off our hearts from vanities, and for the begetting in us desires after holiness. [Philippians 2:12]
O sinner, what a condition will you fall into when you depart this world. If you depart unconverted it would have been better if you were smothered the first hour you were born, or if you had been plucked one limb from another, or had been made a dog, a toad, or a serpent than to die unconverted. And you will find this to be true if you will not repent.
A man would be counted a fool to take lightly a judge before whom he is to have a trial of his whole estate. The trial we have before God is of another importance--it concerns our eternal happiness or misery. And yet we dare affront Him?
The only way for us to escape that terrible judgment is to be often passing a sentence of condemnation upon ourselves here. When the sound of the trumpet shall be heard which shall summon the dead to appear before the tribunal of God, the righteous shall hasten out of their graves with joy to meet their Redeemer in the clouds. Others shall call to the hills and mountains to fall upon them, to cover them from the sight of their Judge. Let us therefore in time be questioning ourselves as to which of the two we shall be.
OF THE JOYS OF HEAVEN
There is no good in this life but what is mingled with some bad. Honors perplex, riches disquiet and pleasure ruin health. But in heaven we shall find blessings in their purity, without any ingredient to embitter, but with everything to sweeten them.
O, who is able to conceive the inexpressible, inconceivable joys that are there? None but they who have tasted of them. Lord, help us to put such a value upon them here that in order to prepare ourselves for them we may be willing to forego the loss of all those deluding pleasures here.
How will the heavens echo of joy when the Bride, the Lamb's wife, shall come to dwell with her Husband for ever?
Christ is the desire of nations, the joy of angels, the delight of the Father. What solace then must that soul be filled with that has the possession of Him to all eternity?
O, what acclamations of joy will there be when all the children of God shall meet together without fear of being disturbed by the anti-christian and Cainish brood!
Is there not a time coming when the godly may ask the wicked what profit they have in their pleasures, what comfort in their greatness, and what fruits in all their labor?
If you would be better satisfied as to what the blissful vision means, my advice is that you would live a holy life and go and see.
OF THE TORMENTS OF HELL
Heaven and salvation is not more surely promised to the godly than hell and damnation is threatened to, and shall be executed on, the wicked.
When once a man is damned he may bid goodbye to all pleasures.
Oh, who knows the power of God's wrath? None but damned ones.
Sinners' company are the devil and his angels, tormented in everlasting fire with a curse.
Hell would be a kind of paradise if it were not worse than the worst of this world.
As different as grief is from joy, as torment from rest, as terror from peace, so different is the state of sinners from that of saints in the world to come.
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