Status Updates From The Trial and Triumph of Faith

“The angels find Mary Magdalene weeping, they leave her weeping, they give her a doctrinal comfort; “Woman, why weepest thou? He is not here, He is risen again.”

“The book of providence is full, both page and margin: God hath been adding to it sundry new editions; and like children, we are in love with the golden covering, the ribbons, filleting, and the pictures in the frontispiece, but understand little of the argument of providence.”

“He would be of blood to us: not only come to the sick, and to our bed-side, but would lie down and be sick, taking on him sick clay, and be, in that condition of clay, a worm and not a man, that he might pay our debts; and would borrow a man’s heart and bowels to sigh for us, man’s eyes to weep for us, his spouse’s body, legs, and arms, to be pierced for us.”

We may use arguments of faith, challenging God, “Turn thou me, and I shall be turned.” (Jer. 31:18.) Why? “For thou art the Lord my God.” The covenant is faith’s Magna Charta, the grand mother-promise; all prayers must be bottomed on this, “Do not abhor us,” (Jer. 14:21). Why? “Art not thou he, the Lord God?” (22).”

“Christ God is more than grace, pardon, holiness—than created glory, as the husband is more excellent than his marriage-robe, bracelets, rings; and we are to lay our love and faith principally upon the Father and the Son, more than all created graces.”

“There be so many other things that are pouring out of the soul in prayer; as groaning, sighing, looking up to heaven, breathing, weeping; that it cannot be imagined, how far short printed and read prayers come of vehement praying: for you cannot put sighs, groans, tears, breathing, and such heartmessengers down in a printed book; nor can paper and ink lay your heart, in all its sweet affections, out before God.“

“Words are but the body, the garment, the outside of prayer; sighs are nearer the heart-work…Tears have a tongue, and grammar, and language, that our Father knoweth. Babes have no prayers for the breast, but weeping; the mother can read hunger in weeping.”

“The other thing observable is, that it is good to be near the place where Christ is. It was an advantage, that the woman dwelt upon the borders of the land where Christ was…To be born in Sion is an honour, because there the Lord dwelleth. (Psalm 87:6.) It is a blessing to hear and see Christ.”

Our covenant children need to always remember what a blessing they have to be members of the visible church!

“God writeth and engraveth upon the toothache of a reprobate, a parcel of hell; and he stampeth upon burning quick, racking and torturing, the engraving of heaven, of mercy and loving-kindness, in the believer. Misbegotten crosses and lawfully begotten afflictions have the same father, but not the same mother.”

“Christ, then, can make and frame a fair heaven out of an ugly hell, and out of the knottiest timber he can make vessels of mercy, for service in the high palace of glory.”

“Love is a paining, feverous, tormenting sickness: grace cannot put on a laughing mask, when sweet Jesus is hidden; love hath no art to conceal sorrow.”

Preaching on Mark 7:25-26, “For Christ to throw the devil out of a Canaanite, was very like the white banner of Christ’s love displayed to the nations, and the King’s royal standard set up to gather in the heathen under his colours.”

“I should complain of these much-disputing and over-writing times, if I were not thought to be as deep in the fault as those whom I accuse: but the truth is, while we endeavour to gain a grain-weight of truth, it is much if we lose not a talent-weight of goodness and Christian love.”