The Puritans ........

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A measure of trials is necessary

(John Newton's Letters)

A measure of trials is necessary for the exercise
and manifestation of your graces; to give you a more
convincing proof of the truth and sweetness of the
promises made to a time of affliction; to mortify the
body of sin; and to wean you more effectually from
the world.

Faith upholds a Christian under all trials, by assuring him
that every painful dispensation is under the direction of
his Lord; that chastisements are a token of His love; that
the season, measure, and continuance of his sufferings,
are appointed by Infinite Wisdom, and designed to work
for his everlasting good; and that grace and strength
shall be afforded him, according to his need.

 

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Divine guidance

(John Newton's Letters)

In general, God guides and directs His people, by affording
them, in answer to prayer, the light of His Holy Spirit, who
enables them to understand and to love the Scriptures.

The word of God furnishes us with just principles, and right
apprehensions, to regulate our judgments and affections, and
thereby to influence and direct our conduct. Those who study
the Scriptures, in a humble dependence upon Divine teaching,
are taught to make a true estimate of everything around them,
and are gradually formed into a spirit of submission to the will
of God. They thereby discover the nature and duties of their
several situations and relations in life, and the snares and
temptations to which they are exposed.

The word of God dwelling richly in them, is a preservative from
error, a light to their feet, and a spring of strength and consolation.
By treasuring up the doctrines, precepts, promises, examples, and
exhortations of Scripture, in their minds, and daily comparing
themselves with the rule by which they walk, they grow into a
habitual frame of spiritual wisdom, and acquire a gracious taste,
which enables them to judge of right and wrong with a degree of
readiness and certainty, as a musical ear judges of sounds. And
they are seldom mistaken, because they are influenced by the
love of Christ, which rules in their hearts, and a regard to the
glory of God, which is the great object they have in view.

The Lord, whom they serve, does not disappoint their expectations.
He leads them by a right way, preserves them from a thousand snares,
and satisfies them that He is and will be their guide even unto death.
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We are no better than they
(John Newton's Letters)

Jesus, full of compassion and tenderness, wept over
His enemies, and prayed for His actual murderers! A
feeling of this kind seems essential to that new nature
which characterizes the children of God; and where it
is not in habitual exercise, it is a sufficient evidence
that the soul, if truly alive to God at all--is at least
in a lean and distempered state.

When we look at the ungodly, we are not to
hate them--but to pity them, mourn over them,
and pray for them. Nor have we any right to boast
over them; for, by nature, and of ourselves, we
are no better than they.

"For who makes you different from anyone else?
What do you have that you did not receive? And
if you did receive it, why do you boast as though
you did not?" 1 Corinthians 4:7

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[McWilliams]

Spurgeon said that Charles Bridges wrote the best work on Proverbs!
Charles Bridges(1794-1869) was one of the leaders of the evangelical movement in the Church of England in the mid-1800s. He was Vicar of Old Newton, Suffolk, from 1823 to 1849, and later of Weymouth and Hinton Martell in Dorset. Bridges is known for both literary work such as The Christian Ministry and his expositions, which include Ecclesiastes and Psalm 119 as well as Proverbs.

This portion I found to be so rich and meaningful and just too useful not to share with my fellow SR posters:

Re: Ch 1:10-16 Stand Against Temptation
Consent thou not. Consent constitutes the sin!
Eve consented, before she plucked the fruit. Gen 3:6
David, before he committed the act of sin.(2Sa 11:2-4; Jos 7:21)
Joseph resisted and was saved(Gen 39:8,9)
Job was tried, but sinned not.(Job 1:22; 2:10)
If temptation prevail, charge it not to God; no, nor the Devil! As the worst he can do, he can only tempt, he cannot force us, to sin. It is at the choice of our own will whether we yield or no(Jam 1:13,15)
The habitual resistance of the will clears us of responsibility.(Rom 7:14-17, 19, 20, 23)
The consent, even if it be not carried out into the act, lays the responsibility at our own door.
Is it safe then to trust in our good resolutions or principles? NO, Walk not in the way with them. The invitation is: Come with us. The warning is Refrain thy foot from their path. (Pro 4:14,15; Ps 1:1)
The tender conscience becomes less sensitive by every compliance. Who can stop himself in the downhill road?
One sin prepares another, pleads for it, nay, even makes it necessary for concealment. David committed murder to hide his adultery, and for his covering charged it upon the providence of God.(2 Sam 11:4, 17, 25)
Again then, with all thy earnestness, Refrain. The path may be strewed with flowers; but it is a path of evil, perhaps of blood. Run then into "thy hiding-place and behind thy shield", and boldly bid thy tempter "depart from thee"(Psa 119:114,115; Mat 4:10) There is not a sin that the highest saint of God may not commit, if trusting in himself! "Thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded, but fear!"(Rom 11:20)

May our Lord protect us all and strengthen us to stand!

(this 36 page work is available for free from www.mountzion.org)

 

[cygnusx1]

Paulinus Nolanus

("The Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod"
or, "The Silent Soul with Sovereign Antidotes"
by Thomas Brooks, 1659, London.)

Paulinus Nolanus, when his city was taken from
him, prayed thus, "Lord, let me not be troubled at
the loss of my gold, silver, honor--for You are all,
and much more than all these unto me!"

Christian! In the absence of all your sweetest
enjoyments, Christ will be all in all unto you!

"My jewels are my husband," said one.

"My ornaments are my two sons," said another.

"My treasures are my friends," said yet another.

And so may a Christian, under his greatest losses
say--"Christ is my richest jewels, my chief treasures,
my best ornaments, my sweetest delights! What all
these things are to a carnal heart, to a worldly heart
--that and more--is Christ to me!"

"Christ is all!" Colossians 3:11

 

[cygnusx1]

An honest, heart-felt preference of better things

(Jared Waterbury, "Piety, the Only Foundation
of True and Substantial Joy" May, 1838)

Piety powerfully dissuades its possessors to forsake the
indulgence of pleasures, and the gaieties of the world.
This relinquishment is not a forced, but a voluntary act.
It is not so much the coercion of stern duty, as the sweet
constraint of an honest, heart-felt preference of
better things. In comparison to true piety, the world's
groveling pleasures are empty and unsatisfying.


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[cygnusx1]

You take the goods

(Thomas Brooks, "Heaven on Earth" 1667)

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants
for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?" Psalm 42:1-2

The rattle without the breast, will not satisfy the child;
the house without the husband, will not satisfy the wife;
the cabinet without the jewel, will not satisfy the maiden;
nor will the world without Christ, satisfy the soul.

The hungry soul will not be put off with any bread but
with the bread of life; the thirsty soul will not be put off
with any water but with the well-springs of life.

As the king of Sodom said once, "You take the goods,
give me the people," Gen 14:21. Just so, says the hungry
soul, "You take the goods--take your honors, and riches,
and the favor of creatures; you take the grain, the oil,
and the wine; give me Christ, give me the light of His
countenance, give me the joy of His Spirit, etc."

 

[cygnusx1]

I had to punish him

(Arthur Pink)

"We are being disciplined so that we will not be
condemned with the world." 1 Corinthians 11:32

"Is not Israel still My son, My darling child? I had to
punish him, but I still love him. I long for him and
surely will have mercy on him." Jeremiah 31:20

O the bitterness of provoking Him to punish us, our
best Friend; that One who poured out His life's blood
for us; who endured the sharpest inflictions of justice
to screen us; Him whose heart is love, and on the sense
of whose love all our happiness depends! Yet, we forfeit
all, and compel Him to restrain His lovely smile, put on
instead a frown, take the rod in His hand, and chasten
us for our folly! Then we cannot escape: smite He will.
How long and how much, we must leave to Him. We are
completely in His hands; His power over us is supreme,
entire; resistance is vain, and will certainly increase the
affliction. There is nothing to be done, but humbly to lie
down before Him, and submit to His will. He may punish
severely; often He does. He may punish long; and there
is no promise that it shall not be so. The suffering child
has but one resource, but one door of hope; it is love,
the exquisite, surpassing love of Him who is chastening.
On that he throws himself. Yes, there is none other. He
who inflicts the pain can withdraw His hand; He who has
wounded, can bind up; He who has laid us in the dust by
His frown, can raise up by His smile. Yes, He can forgive,
He can restore; He can heal.

This, this is a mercy, an infinite mercy, that we are in
the hands of One so tender, so loving, who does not like
to put us to pain, who does it unwillingly, and longs to
restore us to favor.

"Is not Israel still My son, My darling child? I had to
punish him, but I still love him. I long for him and
surely will have mercy on him." Jeremiah 31:20

 

[cygnusx1]

Do I wish I had put this web page/site together ....

http://spurgeon.wordpress.com/tag/jeremiah-burroughs/

 

[cygnusx1]

Letter to a stricken soul

(Arthur Pink)​

My dear brother,
My heart goes out to you in sympathy in this dark hour, and I feel my helplessness to comfort you. The loss you have sustained is far greater than any human creature can make up--your suffering is too acute for any fellow-mortal to alleviate. I may endeavor to pour into your sorely-wounded heart something of 'the balm of Gilead,' but only the great Physician can give any efficacy to the same. I can do little more than point you to Him who alone can 'bind up the broken-hearted'. Jesus is a Friend who sticks closer than a brother. Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you. Unburden yourself to Him.

May divine grace be given you, so that you shall be enabled to meekly acquiesce unto whatever our all-wise God may appoint. It is in heart-submission to God's providential dealings with us, that true religion largely consists. Your acute sorrow is among the 'all things' which work together for good to those who love God. If the Spirit of God is pleased to sanctify this affliction unto you, it will prove a real blessing in disguise. May I suggest several lines of meditation which, if pursued by you and blessed to you by God, will enable you to improve this affliction.

1. Learn anew the terribleness of sin. 'Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.' (Romans 5:12) Yes, had sin never entered this world, no graves would have ever been dug in it. Every funeral should be a forceful reminder to us of what the Fall has brought in! Every funeral ought to beget in us a deeper hatred of sin. It was sin which necessitated the death of God's beloved Son. Then how we should loathe it, seek grace to resist its evil solicitations, and follow hard after its opposite--holiness.

2. See the great importance of holding all God's temporal mercies with a light hand. The best of them are only loaned us for a season, and we know not how early we shall be called to relinquish them. It is the part of wisdom for us to recognize and remember this while they are in our hands: not to grasp them too tightly, nor to look upon them as ours to enjoy forever in this perishing world. Holy Writ bids us to 'rejoice with trembling', for that which delights my heart this morning may be taken from me before the shadows of night fall. The more I live with this fact before me, the less shall I feel the loss when it comes!

3. Endeavor to get your heart more weaned from this perishing world. 'Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.' (Col. 3:2) But we are slow to heed this exhortation, and often God has to use drastic means to bring us to a compliance with it. It is for our own good as well as His glory, that we do so. It is only heavenly things which abide; then let us seek grace to have our hearts more and more set upon them.

4. Seek to demonstrate the reality of true religion. Only the real child of God is enabled to say, 'The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord.' Earnestly seek supernatural help from above, dear brother, that you may be enabled to manifest the sufficiency of Divine grace to strengthen and support--to show you do have a peace and comfort which the Christless are strangers to. Sorrow not as others do, who have no hope. Doubt not the Lord's goodness. "Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will support you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken." Psalm 55:22

Yours by God's abounding mercy,
A. W. Pink

 

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The power of God

(Stephen Charnock, 1628-1680)

"All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing.
He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and
the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand
or say to Him--What have You done?" Daniel 4:35

The power of God is that ability and strength whereby
He can bring to pass whatever He pleases, whatever His
infinite wisdom may direct, and whatever the infinite purity
of His will may resolve. As holiness is the beauty of all God's
attributes; so power is that which gives life and action to all
the perfections of the divine nature. How vain would be the
eternal decrees, if power did not step in to execute them.
Without power--
His mercy would be but feeble pity,
His promises an empty sound,
His threatenings a mere scarecrow.
God's power is like Himself--infinite, eternal,
incomprehensible; it can neither be checked,
restrained, nor frustrated by the creature.

As His essence . . .
is immense--not to be confined in place;
as it is eternal--not to be measured in time;
so it is almighty--not to be limited in regard of action.

 

[Iosias]

More advanced reading would include:

1. John Owen
2. Thomas Goodwin

These were the more 'mature' Puritans...'mature in the sense of 'mature chedar'.

 

[cygnusx1]

The unworthiness and unlikeliness of its objects!

(Arthur Pink, "The Attributes of God")

The Gospel addresses men as guilty, condemned,
perishing criminals. It declares that the most chaste
moralist is in the same terrible plight as is the most
voluptuous profligate; and the zealous professor,
with all his religious performances, is no better off
than the most profane infidel.

The Gospel contemplates every person as a fallen,
polluted, hell-deserving and helpless sinner. The
grace which the Gospel publishes is his only hope!

Grace is a perfection of the divine character which
is exercised only toward the elect. Divine grace is
the sovereign and saving favor of God exercised in
the bestowment of blessings upon those who have
no merit in them, and for which no compensation
is demanded from them.

Nay, more; grace is the favor of God shown to those
who not only have no positive deserts of their own,
but who are thoroughly ill-deserving and hell-deserving!
Divine grace is completely unmerited and unsought,
and is altogether unattracted by anything in or from
or by the objects upon which it is bestowed. Grace can
neither be bought, earned, nor won by the creature. If
it could be, it would cease to be grace. When a thing is
said to be of "grace," we mean that the recipient has
no claim upon it--that it was not in any way due him.
It comes to him as pure charity, and, at first, unasked
and undesired.

Because grace is unmerited favor, it must be exercised
in a sovereign manner. Therefore does the Lord declare,
"I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious." Exod. 33:19
The great God is under no obligation to any of His creatures,
least of all to those who are rebels against Him.

The distinguishing grace of God is seen in saving those
people whom He has sovereignly singled out to be His
high favorites. By "distinguishing" we mean that grace
discriminates, makes differences, chooses some and
passes by others. Nowhere does the glory of God's free
and sovereign grace shine more conspicuously, than in
the unworthiness and unlikeliness of its objects!

Nothing more riles the natural man, and brings to the
surface his innate and inveterate enmity against God,
than to press upon him the eternality, the freeness, and
the absolute sovereignty of divine grace. That grace
cannot be earned or won by any efforts of man, is too
self-emptying for self-righteousness. And that grace
singles out whom it pleases to be its favored object,
arouses hot protests from haughty rebels.

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[cajunhillbilly]

Love the quote from A W Pink. Great man of God

 

[cygnusx1]

Love the quote from A W Pink. Great man of God

 

[cygnusx1]

One everlasting memorial of anguish and suffering

(John MacDuff, 1818--1895)

"Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering
thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand.
They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.
In a loud voice they sang--Worthy is the Lamb who was
slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!" Revelation 5:11-12

What an anthem is this! No harp is unstrung, no voice
silent. One strain thrills on every tongue--"Worthy is
the Lamb who was slain!" What an attestation to . . .
God's immaculate holiness,
His burning purity,
His unimpeachable rectitude,
His boundless mercy!

In Heaven, there shall still be one everlasting memorial
of anguish and suffering--in a place where pain never
enters and suffering is unknown!

Accordingly, when the Redeemer puts the coronation anthem
into the lips of His worshipers, He reveals Himself, not in the
glories of Godhead--but as a slain Lamb, wearing the marks of
humiliation. He tells them to make Calvary still their meditation,
and His Cross and Passion the great center of eternity. The print
of the nails in His hands, and the spear-mark in His side, are not
the mementos of shame but of victory--remembrancers of a love
whose depths the ages cannot fathom! The vision of the text thus
becomes the mightiest of preachers, replete to the multitudes
above, with the story of grace. There is a tongue in every wound
of the glorified Sufferer--silently but expressively proclaiming the
great love that He had for us!

As the slain Lamb, Jesus proclaims that the same heart which
throbbed in anguish on the Cross--still beats on the Throne;
that He is still the Almighty Friend. Precious assurance! Jesus
unchanged and unchangeable! This same Jesus, who mingled
His tears with the widow at the gate of Nain; who wept over
the memory of a cherished friendship, and was melted in a
flood of tenderest compassion over an apostate land; this
same Jesus, who breathed balm-words of comfort on the very
eve of His own agony, and in the midst of it welcomed a dying
felon to Paradise--is now, with a heart of unaltered love and
sympathy--wielding the scepter of universal empire!

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[cygnusx1]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/THE-WORKS-OF-...2QQihZ001QQcategoryZ29364QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

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http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/JOHN-TRAPP-NE...3QQihZ003QQcategoryZ29364QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[HiredGoon]

"So absolute was the authority of the crown, that the precious spark of liberty had been kindled, and was preserved by the Puritans alone; and it was to this sect that the English owe the whole freedom of their constitution." -David Hume, History of England

 

[cygnusx1]

The infinities of bliss and glory!
(Henry Law, "Forgiveness of Sins" 1875)

"It was the Lord's will to crush Him and cause
Him to suffer." Isaiah 53:10

The Father of all mercies heaped on Christ the
outpourings of His wrath; that He may heap on
pardoned sinners the infinities of bliss and
glory!
"Christ died for the ungodly." Romans 5:6