Grace

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

If Thou Trust In The Lord – Thomas a’Kempis

He that willingly submits to the cross, to him its whole burden is changed into a sweet assurance of divine comfort. And the more the flesh is broken down by the cross, the more the spirit is strengthened by inward grace. It is not in man by nature to bear the cross, to love the cross, to deny self, to bring the body into subjection, and willingly to endure suffering. If thou look to thyself, thou canst accomplish nothing of all this. But if thou trust in the Lord, strength shall be given thee from heaven, and the world and the flesh shall be made subject to thy rule. Set thyself, therefore, to bear manfully the cross of thy Lord, who out of love was crucified for thee.

– Thomas a’Kempis –

Hiding Behind the Bible – Anonymous Convert

 

I went to hear Mr. Moody with no other idea than to have something to laugh at. I knew he was no scholar, and I felt sure I could find many flaws in his argument. But I found I could not get at the man. He stood there hiding behind the Bible and just fired one Bible text after another at me till they went home to my heart straight as bullets from a rifle. I tell you, Moody’s power is in the way he has his Bible at the tip of his tongue.

– Anonymous Convert –

As Valuable As Air – John Wesley

God’s command to “pray without ceasing” is founded on the necessity we have of his grace to preserve the life of God in the Soul, which can no more subsist one moment without it, than the body can without air.

– John Wesley –

The reply to condemnation – Martin Luther

When the devil throws our sins up to us and declares that we deserve death and hell, we ought to speak thus: “I admit that I deserve death and hell. What of it? Does this mean that I shall be sentenced to eternal damnation? By no means. For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction in my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Where he is, there shall I be also.”

– Martin Luther –

A Work to Carry Out for Him – Rees Howells

 

For God says, ‘If it the consequences you are afraid of, don’t come to Me for protection.’ There is a great difference between a selfish fear of consequences and wanting God’s protection because you have a work to carry out for Him.

– Rees Howells –

If Armed – William Gurnall

As [there is] no standing without armor, so [there is] no fear of falling into the fiend’s hands if armed.

– William Gurnall –

August 3, 2015

Remember that Christ Himself is better than any of His blessings; better than the power, or the victory, or the service that He grants. … He is God’s best: we may have Christ; yielding to Him in such completeness and abandonment of self that it is no longer we that live, but Christ that liveth in us. Will you thus take Him?

– Charles G. Trumbull –
from Victory in Christ