Ah! , What a Life is the Life of a Christian

This is the marriage covenant, Hosea 3:3. 'Thou shall be for me, and not for another; so will I be for thee.' Ah, what a life is the life of a Christian; Christ all for you, and you all for him. Blessed exchange!

Soul, (saith Christ) all I have is thine.

Lord, (saith the soul) and all I have is thine.

Soul, (saith Christ) my person is wonderful, but what I am, I am for thee: my life was spent in labour and travail, but lived for thee.

And Lord, (saith the believers) my person is vile, and not worth thy accepting; but such as it is, it is thine; my soul, with all and every faculty; my body, and every member of it, my gifts, time, and all my talents are thine.

From Fountain of Life Opened Up, by John Flavel.

O! Wretched Idol -- Myself

"Except men martyr and slay the body of sin, in sanctified self-denial, they shall never be Christ’s martyrs and faithful witnesses. O if I could be master of that house-idol, myself, mine own, mine own wit, will, credit, and ease, how blessed were I! O but we have need to be redeemed from ourselves, rather than from the devil and the world. Learn to put out yourselves, and to put in Christ for yourselves. I should make a sweet bargain, and give old for new, if I could shuffle out self, and substitute Christ my Lord in place of myself; to say, not I, but Christ; not my will, but Christ’s; not my ease, not my lusts, not my credit, but Christ, Christ. - O wretched idol, myself, when shall I see thee wholly decourted, and Christ wholly put in thy room? O if Christ had the full place and room of myself, that all aims, purposes, thoughts and desires would coast and land upon Christ, and not upon myself."

From Fountain of Life Opened Up, by John Flavel.

holiness

"Christ is so in love with holiness, that at the price of his blood he will buy it for us."

From Fountain of Life Opened Up, by John Flavel.

self-centered seeking of Christ

"Self is a thing may creep into the best hearts and actions; but it only predominates in the hypocrite."

From Fountain of Life Opened Up, by John Flavel.

Whate'er My God Ordains Is Right

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
His holy will abideth;
I will be still whate’er He doth;
And follow where He guideth;
He is my God; though dark my road,
He holds me that I shall not fall:
Wherefore to Him I leave it all.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
He never will deceive me;
He leads me by the proper path:
I know He will not leave me.
I take, content, what He hath sent;
His hand can turn my griefs away,
And patiently I wait His day.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
His loving thought attends me;
No poison can be in the cup
That my Physician sends me.
My God is true; each morn anew
I’ll trust His grace unending,
My life to Him commending.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
He is my Friend and Father;
He suffers naught to do me harm,
Though many storms may gather,
Now I may know both joy and woe,
Some day I shall see clearly
That He hath loved me dearly.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
Though now this cup, in drinking,
May bitter seem to my faint heart,
I take it, all unshrinking.
My God is true; each morn anew
Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart,
And pain and sorrow shall depart.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
Here shall my stand be taken;
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,
Yet I am not forsaken.
My Father’s care is round me there;
He holds me that I shall not fall:
And so to Him I leave it all.

By Samuel Rodigast (1676), translated by Catherine Winkworth.

Lindsey sent me this hymn as an encouragement. Thank you sister :)

Jesus on behalf of poor miserable souls

Use 6. Hence judge, How reasonable it is that believers should embrace the hardest terms of obedience unto Christ, who complied with such hard terms for their salvation: they were hard and difficult terms indeed, on which Christ received you from the Father’s hand: it was, as you have heard, to pour out his soul unto death, or not to enjoy a soul of you. Here you may suppose the Father to say, when driving his bargain with Christ for you:

Father: My son, here is a company of poor miserable souls, that have utterly undone themselves, and now lie open to my justice! Justice demands satisfaction for them, or will satisfy itself in the eternal ruin of them: What shall be done for these souls And thus Christ returns.

Son: O my Father, such is my love to, and pity for them, that rather than they shall perish eternally, I will be responsible for them as their Surety; bring in all thy bills, that I may see what they owe thee; Lord, bring them all in, that there may be no after-reckonings with them; at my hand shalt thou require it. I will rather choose to suffer thy wrath than they should suffer it: upon me, my Father, upon me be all their debt.

Father: But, my Son, if thou undertake for them, thou must reckon to pay the last mite, expect no abatements; if I spare them, I will not spare thee.

Son: Content, Father, let it be so; charge it all upon me, I am able to discharge it: and though it prove a kind of undoing to me, though it impoverish all my riches, empty all my treasures, (for so indeed it did, 2 Cor. 8:9 "Though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor”) yet I am content to undertake it.

Blush, ungrateful believers, O let shame cover your faces; judge in yourselves now, has Christ deserved that you should stand with him for trifles, that you should shrink at a few petty difficulties, and complain, this is hard, and that is harsh? O if you knew the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ in this his wonderful condescension for you, you could not do it.

From Fountain of Life Opened Up, by John Flavel.

This work is a collection of 42 sermons on one topic -- Jesus Christ. This is a wonderful aid to all the saints fighting to love and treasure Christ above all things.
For more quotes from this work go here.
For a PDF of the whole work go here. Print it out and read it.

Idolatry

"For he loves Thee too little who loves anything together with Thee, which he loves not for Thy sake."

From Confessions, by Augustine.

(i know...not a puritan)

He will wipe our tears away

Mary to her Savior’s tomb
Hasted at the early dawn;
Spice she brought, and sweet perfume,
But the Lord, the Loved, was gone.

For awhile she weeping stood,
Struck with sorrow and surprise;
Shedding tears, a plenteous flood,
For her heart supplied her eyes.

Jesus, Who is always near,
Though too often unperceived
Came, His drooping child to cheer,
And inquired, Why she grieved?

Though at first she knew Him not,
When He called her by her name,
Then her griefs were all forgot,
For she found He was the same.

Grief and sighing quickly fled
When she heard His welcome voice;
Just before she thought Him dead,
Now He bids her heart rejoice:

What a change His Word can make,
Turning darkness into day!
You who weep for Jesus’ sake;
He will wipe your tears away.

He Who came to comfort her,
When she thought her all was lost;
Will for your relief appear,
Though you now are tempest-tossed:

On His Word your burden cast,
On His love your thoughts employ;
Weeping for awhile may last,
But the morning brings the joy.

Newton

Happy Easter

Edwards On Sarah, His Wife

“They say there is a young lady in [New-Haven] who is loved of that Great Being, who made and rules the world, and that there are certain seasons in which this Great Being, in some way or other invisible, comes to her and fills her mind with exceeding sweet delight; and that she hardly cares for any thing, except to meditate on him—that she expects after a while to be received up where he is, to be raised up out of the world and caught up into heaven; being assured that he loves her too well to let her remain at a distance from him always. There she is to dwell with him, and to be ravished with his love and delight for ever. Therefore, if you present all the world before her, with the richest of its treasures, she disregards it and cares not for it, and is unmindful of any pain or affliction. She has a strange sweetness in her mind, and singular purity in her affections; is most just and conscientious in all her conduct; and you could not persuade her to do any thing wrong or sinful, if you would give her all the world, lest she should offend this Great Being. She is of a wonderful sweetness, calmness, and universal benevolence of mind; especially after this Great God has manifested himself to her mind. She will sometimes go about from place to place, singing sweetly; and seems to be always full of joy and pleasure; and no one knows for what. She loves to be alone, walking in the fields and groves, and seems to have some one invisible always conversing with her.”

From The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Volume I.