Archive for Puritans

QOTD: More on Mortification

// January 14th, 2010 // No Comments » // Jesus Stuff, John Owen, Life, Puritans, grace, mortification, reformed, sin, theology

Seeking mortification of sin just to quiet the soul and find relief from the torment of the conscience, all the while neglecting to deal with the root cause of sin, is a result of self-love. Men are diverted from coming to God this way. This is one of the most common deceptions in which men ruin their souls. They seek to apply themselves victory over the troubling sin, but do not allow their conviction to lead them to the gospel.

-John Owen, Mortification of Sin

QOTD: Trying to Mortify on Our Own

// January 12th, 2010 // No Comments » // Jesus Stuff, John Owen, Puritans, mortification, reformed, sin, theology

When men are troubled with the guilt of a sin that has prevailed over them, they promise themselves and God that they will sin thus no more, but they seek to accomplish their own victory. They watch over themselves and pray for a short season until the pain of conviction waxes cold and the sense of sin wears off. Mortification then also goes out the door, and sin returns to its former domination. These ways are not sufficient. There is no self-endeavor that can accomplish mortification. Almighty energy is necessary for its accomplishment.

-John Owen, Mortification of Sin

QOTD: Grace Active

// October 19th, 2009 // No Comments » // Books, Faith, Jesus Stuff, Life, Puritans, Quote of the Day, Valley of Vision, grace

Lord Jesus, Great High Priest,

Thou hast opened a new and living way by which a fallen creature can approach thee with acceptance.
Help me to contemplate the dignity of thy Person, the perfectness of thy sacrifice, the effectiveness of thy intercession.

O what blessedness accompanies devotion, when under all the trials that weary me, the cares that corrode me, the fears the disturb me, the infirmities that oppress me, I can come to thee in my need and feel peace beyond understanding.

The grace that restores is necessary to preserve, lead, guard, supply, help me. And here thy saints encourage my hope; they were once poor and are now rich, bound and are now free, tried and now are victorious.

Every new duty calls for more grace than I now possess, but not more than is found in thee, the divine treasury in whom all fullness dwells.

To thee I repair for grace upon grace, until every void made by sin be replenished and I am filled with all thy fullness.

May my desires be enlarged and my hope emboldened, that I may honour thee by my entire dependency and the greatness of my expectation.

Do thou be with me, and prepare me for all the smiles of prosperity, the frowns of adversity, the losses of substance, the death of friends, the days of darkness, the changes of life, and the last great change of all.

May I find thy grace sufficient for all my needs.

-The Valley of Vision, Grace Active

QOTD: Mercy

// October 12th, 2009 // No Comments » // Books, Jesus Stuff, Life, Puritans, Quote of the Day, Valley of Vision, calvinism, grace, reformed, sin, theology

Be merciful to me a sinner;
this I am by nature and by practice,
this thy word proclaims me to be,
this I hope I feel myself to be;
Yet thou hast not left me to despair,
for there is no ‘peradventure’ in thy grace;
I have all the assurance I need
that with thee is plenteous redemption.

In spite of the number and heinousness of my sins
thou hast given me a token for good;
The golden sceptre is held out,
and thou hast said ‘Touch it and live.’

May I encourage myself by a sense of thy all-sufficiency,
by faith in thy promises,
by views of the experience of others.

To that dear refuge in which so many have sheltered from every storm may I repair,
In that fountain always freely open for sin may I be cleansed from every defilement.

Sin is that abominable thing which thy soul hates,
and this alone separates thee and me.
Thou canst not contradict the essential perfections of thy nature;
Thou canst not me happy with thyself,
till thou hast made me holy like thyself.

O holy God, make me such a creature as thou canst take pleasure in,
and such a being that I can take pleasure in thee.
May I consent to and delight in thy law after the inner man, never complain over the strictness of thy demands,
but mourn over my want of conformity to them;
never to question thy commandments,
but esteem them to be right.
By thy spirit within me ay my practice spring from principle, and my dispositions be conformable with duty.

-The Valley of Vision, Mercy

QOTD: The Deeps

// September 28th, 2009 // No Comments » // Faith, Jesus Stuff, Life, Puritans, Quote of the Day, Valley of Vision, grace, reformed, sin

Lord Jesus, give me a deeper repentance, a horror of sin, a dread of its approach. Help me chastely to flee it and jealously to resolve that my heart shall be Thine alone.

Give me a deeper trust, that I may lose myself to find myself in Thee, the ground of my rest, the spring of my being. Give me a deeper knowledge of Thyself as saviour, master, lord, and king. Give me deeper power in private prayer, more sweetness in Thy Word, more steadfast grip on its truth. Give me deeper holiness in speech, thought, action, and let me not seek moral virtue apart from Thee.

Plough deep in me, great Lord, heavenly husbandman, that my being may be a tilled field, the roots of grace spreading far and wide, until Thou alone art seen in me, Thy beauty golden like summer harvest, Thy fruitfulness as autumn plenty.

I have no master but Thee, no law but Thy will, no delight but Thyself, no wealth but that Thou givest, no good but that Thou blessest, no peace but that Thou bestowest. I am nothing but that Thou makest me. I have nothing but that I receive from Thee. I can be nothing but that grace adorns me. Quarry me deep, dear Lord, and then fill me to overflowing with living water.

-The Valley of Vision

QOTD: Paradoxes

// August 31st, 2009 // No Comments » // Jesus Stuff, Life, Puritans, Quote of the Day, prayers, sin

O Changeless God,
Under the conviction of thy Holy Spirit I learn that the more I do, the worse I am, the more I know, the less I know, the more holiness I have, the more sinful I am, the more I love, the more there is to love. O wretched man that I am!

O Lord,
I have a wild heart, and cannot stand before thee; I am like a bird before a man. How little I love thy truth and ways! I neglect prayer, by thinking I have prayed enough and earnestly, by knowing thou hast saved my soul. Of all hypocrites, grant that I may not be an evangelical hypocrite, who sins more safely because grace abounds, who tells his lusts that Christ’s blood cleanseth them, who reasons that God cannot cast him into hell, for he is saved, who loves evangelical preaching, churches, Christians, but lives unholily.

My mind is a bucket without a bottom, with no spiritual understanding, no desire for the Lord’s Day ever learning but never reaching the truth, always at the gospel-well but never holding water. My conscience is without conviction or contrition, with nothing to repent of. My will is without power of decision or resolution. My heart is without affection, and full of leaks. Mymemory has no retention so I forget easily the lessons learned, and thy truths seep away. Give me a broken heart that carries home the water of grace.

Valley of Vision, Paradoxes

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