We Shall Not Benefit From Reading The

Believers Obey Christ As The One Whom Our Obedience Is Accepted By God. Believers Know All Their Duties Are Weak, Imperfect, And Unable To Abide In God's Presence. Therefore They Look To Christ As The One Who Bears The Iniquity Of Their Holy Things, Who Adds Incense To Their Prayers, Gathers Out All The Weeds From Their Duties And Makes Them Acceptable To God.

I Have Known Some Good Men Who Have Been So Addicted To Their Study, That They Have Thought The Last Day Of The Week Sufficient To Prepare For Their Ministry, Though They Employ All The Rest Of The Week In Other Studies. But Your Business Is To Trade With Your Spiritual Abilities. ... A Man May Preach A Very Good Sermon, Who Is Otherwise Himself; But He Will Never Make A Good Minister Of Jesus Christ, Whose Mind And Heart Are Not Always In The Work. Spiritual Gifts Will Require Continual Ruminating On The Things Of The Gospel In Our Minds.

Hatred Of Sin As Sin, Not Only As Galling Or Disquieting, A Sense Of The Love Of Christ In The Cross, Lie At The Bottom Of All True Spiritual Mortification.

Great Winds And Storms Help Fruit-bearing Trees. So Also Do Corruptions And Temptations Help The Fruitfulness Of Grace And Holiness. The Storm Loosens The Earth Round Its Roots So The Tree Is Able To Get Its Roots Deeper Into The Earth, Where It Receives Fresh Supplies Of Nourishment. But Only Much Later Will It Be Seen To Bring Forth Better Fruit. So Corruptions And Temptations Develop The Roots Of Humility, Self-abasement And Mourning In A Deeper Search For That Grace By Which Holiness Grows Strong. But Only Later Will There Be Visible Fruits Of Increased Holiness.

If I Have Observed Anything By Experience, It Is This: A Man May Take The Measure Of His Growth And Decay In Grace According To His Thoughts And Meditations Upon The Person Of Christ, And The Glory Of Christ's Kingdom, And Of His Love.