Should all the hosts of death and powers of hell unknown
Put their most dreadful forms of rage or malice on
I shall be safe, for Christ displays superior power and guardian grace
– Isaac Watts –
Consecration
We Must Alter Our Lives – William Law
We must alter our lives in order to alter our hearts, for it is impossible to live one way and pray another
– William Law –
The Cure for a Weak Faith – Andrew Murray
To someone asking for some means to get more strength in his arms and hands to be able to seize and hang on to things, a physician would say that his whole constitution must be built up and strengthened. So the cure of a weak faith is only found by revitalizing our whole spiritual life through close fellowship with God.
– Andrew Murray –
from Teach Me To Pray
Build Upon the Work Within You – George Whitefield
My dear friends beware of resting on your first conversion. You that are young believers in Christ, you should be looking out for fresh discovering of the Lord Jesus Christ every moment; you must not build upon your past experiences, you must not build upon a work within you, but always come out of yourselves to the righteousness of Jesus Christ without you; you must be always coming as poor sinners to draw water out of the wells of salvation; you must be forgetting the things that are behind, and be continually pressing forward to the things that are before. My dear friends, you must keep up a tender, close walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.
– George Whitefield –
from Select Sermons of George Whitefield
The Gospel Changes – Samuel Bolton
The law may chain up the wolf, but it is the Gospel that changes the wolfish nature.
– Samuel Bolton –
from The True Bounds of Christian Freedom, 1645
Compare Yourself Only With Christ – Ralph Venning
There are some poor souls, and I believe there are some among the Corinthians, that are apt to become discouraged when they compare themselves with others. When a dwarf stands by a giant, a man of low stature by a tall one, as David by Goliath, he seems to be nobody; yet he is a man, a perfect man, in spite of the vast difference between them.
Many poor souls, when they see themselves outstripped in knowledge, faith, love and patience by some that came into Christ long after them, are apt to think that they are not saints because they are not saints such as those.
– Ralph Venning –
from Learning in Christ’s School, 1675
Be Daring – Brother Lawrence
Be daring. None of us have a long time to live. Again, what years we have, let us live them with God. If there is any suffering, it will be sweet, even pleasant, while we are with Him. And brother, without Him the greatest pleasure you could ever have would be but anguish.
– Brother Lawrence –
Never Forget the Eye of God – JC Ryle
Resolve never to forget the eye of God. The eye of God! Think of that. Everywhere, in every house, in every field, in every room, in every company, alone or in a crowd, the eye of God is always on you. “The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good” (Proverbs 15:3), and they are eyes that read hearts as well as actions.
– JC Ryle –
from Thoughts for Young Men, 1886
He Who Has Given Himself Entirely Unto God – Henry Scougal
He who hath given himself entirely unto God will never think he doth too much for him.
– Henry Scougal –
from The Life of God in the Soul of Man