“Come, warm your
hearts, all intellectual capacities, at this fire; O come, all ye created
faculties, and smell the precious ointments of Christ; O come, sit down under
this shadow, taste and eat the apples of life. O that angels would come, and
generations of men, and wonder, admire, adore, fall down before the
unsearchable wisdom of this gospel art of the unsearchable riches of Christ!”
“I pray God that I may never find my will again. Oh, that Christ
would subject my will to His, and trample it under His feet.”
“Our fair morning is at hand, the day-star is near the rising, and
we are not many miles from home; what matters the ill entertainment in the
smoky inns of this miserable life? We are not to stay here, and we will be
dearly welcome to him whom we go to.”
“We may sing beforehand, even in our winter storm, in the
expectation of a summer sun at the turn of the year; no created powers can mar
our Lord Jesus' music, nor spill our song of joy. Let us then be glad and
rejoice in the salvation of our Lord; for faith had never yet cause to have wet
cheeks, and hanging-down brows, or to droop or die.”
“Since He looked upon me my heart is not my own. He has run away
to heaven with it.”
“I never knew Christ ebb or flow, wax or wane; when he seemeth to
change it is but we who turn our faces from him. Surely he hath borne with
strange ways in me. I was before at variance with Christ because I
believed His outward look rather than His faithful promise, Yet He hath in
patience waited for me till I have come to myself, and hath not taken advantage
'of my weak apprehensions of His goodness.'”
“You remember, ‘your summer days would have clouds, and your rose
a prickly thorn beside it.’ In heaven alone is Christ enjoyed without alloy;
here we must share His cross, yet I know no tree beareth sweeter fruit than
Christ’s cross.”
"Christ and His cross are not separable in this life; howbeit
Christ and His cross part at heaven's door, for there is no house-room for
crosses in heaven. One tear, one sigh, one sad heart, one fear, one loss, one
thought of trouble cannot find lodging there."
“Your heart is not the compass that God steers by.”
“All the saints have their own measure of winter before their
eternal summer. O! for the long day, and the high sun, and the fair garden, and
the King's great city up above these visible heavens!”
“Of all created comforts, God is the leader; you are the borrower,
not the owner.”
“When the Lord's blessed will bloweth cross your desires, it is
best, in humility, to strike sail to Him, and to be willing to be led any way
our Lord pleaseth.”
“Oh, thrice fools are we, who like new-born princes weeping in the
cradle, know not that there is a kingdom before them; then, let our Lord's
sweet hand square us, and hammer us, and strike off the knots of pride,
self-love, and world-worship, and infidelity, that He may make us stones and
pillars in His Father's house.”
“You will not be carried to Heaven lying at ease upon a feather
bed.”
“See that you buy the field where the Pearl is; sell all, and make a purchase of
salvation. Think it not easy: for it is a steep ascent to eternal glory: many
are lying dead by the way, slain with security.”
“Were there ten thousand millions of heavens created above these
highest heavens, and again as many above them, and as many above them, till
angels were wearied with counting, it were but too low a seat to fix the
princely throne of that Lord Jesus (whose ye are) above them all.”
“Faint not; the miles to heaven are but few and short.”
“Set no time to the Lord the creator of time, for His time is
always best.”
“ I will charge my soul to believe and wait for Him, and will
follow His providence, and not go before it, nor stay behind it.”
“But the way to overcome is by patience, forgiving and praying for
your enemies, in doing whereof you heap coals upon their heads, and your Lord
shall open a door to you in your trouble: wait upon Him, as the night watch
waiteth for the morning. He will not tarry. Go up to your watch-tower, and come
not down, but by prayer, and faith, and hope, wait on.”
“You shall by faith sustain yourself and comfort yourself in your
Lord, and be strong in His power; for you are in the beaten and common way to
heaven, when you are under our Lord's crosses. You have reason to rejoice in
it, more than in a crown of gold; and rejoice and be glad to bear the
reproaches of Christ.”
“ Think it not hard if you get not your will, nor your delights in
this life; God will have you to rejoice in nothing but himself.”
“Believe God's love and power more than you believe your own
feelings and experiences. Your rock is Christ, and it is not the rock that ebbs
and flows but the sea.”
“We are as near to heaven as we are far from self, and far from
the love of a sinful world.”
“Keep God's covenant in your trials; hold you by His blessed word,
and sin not; flee anger, wrath, grudging, envying, fretting; forgive a hundred
pence to your fellow-servant, because your Lord hath forgiven you ten thousand
talents: for, I assure you by the Lord, your adversaries shall get no advantage
against you, except you sin, and offend your Lord, in your sufferings.”
“Grace tried is better than grace, and more than grace; it is
glory in its infancy.”
I've been looking up some more quotes by Samuel Rutherford, the Scottish Covenanter.
He was born in 1600 and died in 1661.
He is thought to have been a major influence in the formation of the Westminster Shorter Catechism.
What I love about his quotes, is that you can tell He really loved the Lord Jesus Christ.
He must have had a very close personal relationship with Him to have penned these.
As I gathered each quote, I was challenged yet again.
Do I act like I believe this?
Am I keeping my focus on Heaven and the things of Jesus?
Am I patient and forbearing?
Am I submitted and yielded to the "blessed will of the Lord"?
When was the last time I wondered, admired, adored, fell down before the unsearchable wisdom of this gospel art of the unsearchable riches of Christ?
I hope you're also challenged.
Let me know in the comments section and if you'd like to discuss them, please feel free.
