Tag Archives: Samuel Davies

Oh! look before you, and see where it leads!

January 8, 2019 by Steve 0 Comments

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Oh! look before you, and see where it leads!

(Samuel Davies, “Saints Saved with Difficulty; and the Certain Perdition of the Wicked”)

“Enter through theĀ narrowĀ gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ButĀ smallĀ is the gate andĀ narrowĀ the road that leads to life, and only aĀ fewĀ find it!” Matthew 7:13-14

This, my friends, and this alone–is the way of salvation. Is this the way in whichĀ youĀ are walking? Or is it the smooth, easy downward road to destruction? You may slide along that without exertion or difficulty, like a dead fish floating with the stream; butĀ oh! look before you, and see where it leads!Ā 

Most people . . .
Ā  form some easy system of religion,
Ā  from their own vain imaginations,
Ā  suited to their depraved taste,
Ā  indulgent to their sloth and carnality,Ā 
Ā  and favorable to their lusts–
and this they call ‘Christianity’!Ā 

But this is not the religion of the Bible! This is not theĀ way to lifeĀ laid out by God in His Word–but it isĀ the smooth downward road to destruction!

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Well, when you are suffering the punishment of this sin in hell!

August 1, 2018 by Steve 1 Comment

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Well, when you are suffering the punishment of this sin in hell!

(Samuel Davies, “The Nature and Danger of Making Light of Christ and Salvation”)

“But they made light of it.”Ā Matthew 22:5

Consider what those things are, which engross your affections, and which tempt you to neglect Christ and your salvation.

Have you found a better friend than Christ, or a more substantial and lasting happiness than His eternal salvation?Ā 

Oh! whatĀ triflesĀ andĀ vanities, whatĀ dreamsĀ andĀ shadowsĀ are men pursuingā€”while they neglect the important realities of the eternal world!Ā 

If crowns and kingdoms, if all the riches, glories, and pleasures of this present world were ensured to youā€”as a reward for making light of Christ, you would even then make the most foolish bargain possible; for what are these in the grand scaleā€”when compared to eternal joy, or eternal misery! “What is a man profited, if he shall gain even the whole world, and lose his own soul!”Ā 

But you cannot realistically hope for the ten thousandth part of these worldly trifles! And will you cast away your souls for such a pittance?Ā 

Alas! what does the richest, the highest, the most voluptuous sinner doā€”but lay upĀ treasures of wrathĀ against the day of wrath! Oh how will the unhappy creatures torture themselves forever with the most cutting reflections, for selling their Savior and their soulsā€”for such trifles! Let your sins and earthly enjoyments save you then, if they can! Then go and cry to theĀ godsĀ you have chosen; let them deliver you in the day of your damnation!Ā 

The time is hastening on, when you will not think so lightly of Christ and salvation. Oh, sirs, when God shall commissionĀ DEATHĀ to tear your guilty souls out of your bodies, when devils shall drag you away to the place of torment, when you find yourselves condemned to everlasting fire by that Savior whom you now neglectā€”what would you then give for a Savior!Ā 

When you see that theĀ worldĀ has deserted you, that yourĀ companionsĀ in sin have deceived both themselves and you, and all yourĀ merry daysĀ are over foreverā€”would you notĀ thenĀ give ten thousand worlds for Christ!!

And now, dear immortal souls! Whenever you spend another prayerless, thoughtless day; whenever you give yourselves up to sinful pleasures, or an over-eager pursuit of the worldā€”may your conscience become your preacher, and sting you with these solemn truths!Ā 

I cannot but fear, after all, that some of you, as usual, will continue careless and impenitent.Ā Well, when you are suffering the punishment of this sin in hell, remember that you were warned, and acquit me from beingĀ accessoryĀ to your eternal ruin!

And when we all appear before the supreme Judge, and I am called to give an account of my ministry: when I am asked, “Did you warn these creatures of their danger? Did you lay before them their guilt in making light of these things?” You will hear me answer, “Yes, Lord, I warned them in the best manner I couldā€”but they would not believe me; they would not regard what I said!”Ā 

Oh sirs, must I give in this accusation against any ofĀ you? No, rather have mercy on yourselvesā€”that I may give an account of you with joy, and not with grief!

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The conflagration of the world!

July 20, 2018 by Steve 1 Comment

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The conflagration of the world!

(Samuel Davies, “The Universal Judgment!“)

“The present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare!” 2 Peter 3:7, 10Ā 

TheĀ presentĀ state is but theĀ infancyĀ of the world. All the events of time, even those which make such great noise to us, and determine the fate of kingdomsā€”are but as theĀ trivial games of little children. But if we look forward and trace events to maturity, we meet with vast, significant and majestic events! To one of those scenes I would direct your attention this day; I mean the solemn, tremendous, and glorious scene of theĀ universal judgment!

You have sometimes seen a stately building in ruins; come now, and view the ruins of aĀ demolished world! Come now, and view the whole universe severely laboring and agonizing in her last convulsions, and her well-ordered system dissolved!Ā 

You have heard of earthquakes here and there which have laid huge cities in ruins; come now, and feel the tremors and convulsions of the whole globe, which blend cities and countries, oceans and continents, mountains, plains and valleysā€”in one giant heap!

You have a thousand times beheld the moon walking in brightness, and the sun shining in its strength; come now, look and see the sun turned into darkness, and the moon into blood!Ā 

It is our lot to live in an age of war, blood, and slaughter; an age in which our attention is engaged by the dubious fate of kingdoms. Draw off your thoughts from these trifling objects for an hour, and fix them on more solemn and vital objects.Ā Come view this dread scene!
“The world alarmed, both earth and heaven o’erthrown,Ā 
Ā And gasping nature’s last tremendous groan;Ā 
Ā Death’s ancient scepter broke, the teeming tomb,
Ā The Righteous Judge, and man’s eternal doom!”

Let us now enter upon the majestic scene! But alas! whatĀ imagesĀ shall I use to represent it? Nothing that we have everĀ seen, nothing that we have everĀ heard, nothing that has ever happened on theĀ stage of timeā€”can furnish us with proper illustrations. All here is low and grovelingā€”when compared with the grand phenomena of that day!

We are so accustomed to trifling earthly objects, that it is impossible that we should ever raise our thoughts to a suitable pitch of elevation. But before long, we shall beĀ amazed spectatorsĀ of these majestic wondersā€”and ourĀ eyesĀ and ourĀ earsĀ will be our instructors!Ā 

But it is now necessary we should have such ideas of themā€”as may affect our hearts, and prepare us for them. Let us therefore present to our view, those representations which divine revelationā€”our only guide in this caseā€”give us . . .
of the person of the Judge, and the manner of His appearance;Ā 
of the resurrection of the dead, and the transformation of the living;Ā 
of the universal gathering of all men before the supreme tribunal;Ā 
of their separation to the right and left hand of the Judge, according to their characters;Ā 
of the judicial process itself;Ā 
of the decisive sentence;Ā 
of its execution,Ā 
and ofĀ the conflagration of the world!


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The annals of hellā€”or the biography of devils!

July 15, 2018 by Steve 0 Comments

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The annals of hellā€”or the biography of devils!

(Samuel Davies, “The Universal Judgment!”)

Though we are too apt to think that we are not accountable for ourĀ wordsā€”He who is to be our Judge, has plainly told us that “forĀ every careless wordĀ which men speak, they shall give an account in the day of judgment.” Matthew 12:36

“For God will bring every deedĀ into judgment, includingĀ every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:14

What astonishing discoveries will this trial ofĀ every hidden thingĀ make!Ā 

On the one handā€”whatĀ noble dispositionsĀ which never shone in full beauty to mortal eyes! WhatĀ generous purposesĀ crushed in embryo for lack of power to execute them! WhatĀ pious and noble actionsĀ concealed under the veil of modesty, or misconstrued by ignorance and prejudice! WhatĀ affectionate aspirations, whatĀ devout exercises of heart, which lay open only to theĀ eyes of Omniscience, are now brought to full light, and receive the approbation of the Supreme Judge before the assembled universe”!

But on the other handā€”what works ofĀ shameĀ andĀ darknessĀ are then revealed! What hidden things of dishonesty! What dire secrets of treachery, hypocrisy, lewdness, and various forms of wickednessā€”all artfully and industriously concealed from human sight! What horrid exploits of sin now burst to light in all their hellish colorsā€”to the confusion of the guilty, and the astonishment and horror of the universe!

Surely theĀ history of mankindĀ must then appear likeĀ the annals of hellā€”or the biography of devils!Ā Then theĀ mask of deceitĀ will be torn offā€”and menĀ will appear in their true characters. Their hearts will be, as it were, turned outwardsā€”and all theirĀ secretsĀ exposed to full view!

The design of this judicial inquiry will not be to inform the omniscient Judgeā€”but to convince all worlds of the justice of His proceedings. And this design renders it necessary that all these ‘secret things’ should be laid open to their sight, that they may see the grounds upon which He passes sentence.

Does not the prospect of such a ‘revealing’ fill some of you with horror? For many of your actions, and especially of yourĀ thoughtsā€”will not bear the light. How would it confound you, if all your secret thoughts were now all published, even in the small circle of your friends! How then, can you bear to have them all fully exposed before God, angels, and the universe! Will it not confound you with shame, and make youĀ objects of everlasting contemptĀ to all worlds!

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If you dare!

July 11, 2018 by Steve 0 Comments

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If you dare!

(Samuel Davies, “The Universal Judgment!“)

“Then I sawĀ a great white throneā€”and HIM who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from His presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were openedĀ  . . . If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of lifeā€”he was thrown into the lake of fire!” Revelation 20:11, 12, 15

What an astonishing scene is this!Ā The stable earth and sky cannot bear the majesty and terror of His look; they fly away affrighted! This is the Judge before whom we must stand; and this is the manner of His appearance!

But is this theĀ babe of Bethlehemā€”who lay and wept in the manger?Ā 

Is this theĀ supposed son of the carpenter, the despised Galilean?Ā 

Is this theĀ man of sorrows?Ā 

Is this He who was . . .
Ā  arrested,Ā 
Ā  condemned,Ā 
Ā  buffeted,Ā 
Ā  spit upon,Ā Ā 
Ā  crowned with thorns,Ā 
Ā  executed as a slave and a criminal, upon the cross?Ā 

Yes, it is Him!Ā The very same Jesus of Nazareth!Ā 

But oh how changed! How deservedly exalted! Heaven and earth flee before Him!Ā 

Now let hisĀ enemiesĀ appear and show their contempt and malignity!

Now,Ā Pilateā€”condemn the King of the Jews as a usurper!

Now, youĀ Jews, raise the clamor,Ā “Crucify Him, crucify Him!”Ā Now bow the knee in scorn, spit in His face, and buffet Him! Now tell theĀ scourged impostorĀ that He must die!

Now despise His grace,Ā 
now laugh at His threatenings, andĀ 
now make light of His displeasureā€”if you dare!

Ah! now their courage fails, and terror surrounds them! Now they try to hide in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. Now they call to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and fromĀ the wrath of the Lamb!Ā For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

But, alas! That LAMB who once bled as a sacrifice for sinā€”now appears in all the terrors of a LION! Oh! could they hide themselves in the bottom of the ocean, or in some rock that bears the weight of the mountainsā€”how happy would they think themselves!

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Where shall you find a rock?

July 9, 2018 by Steve 0 Comments

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Where shall you find aĀ rock?Ā 

(Samuel Davies, “Jesus Christ, the Only Foundation” 1757)

“The presentĀ heavensĀ andĀ earthĀ are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men! The day of the Lord will come like a thief. TheĀ heavensĀ will disappear with a roar; theĀ elementsĀ will be destroyed by fire, and theĀ earthĀ and everything in it will be burned up!” 2 Peter 3:7, 10

The fiery deluge of divine vengeance, which has been gathering and swelling for thousands of years; but has been, as it were, restrained and kept within bounds byĀ divine patienceā€”shall then rise so high as to burst through all restraints, and overwhelm the guilty globe, and turn it into a universal ocean of liquid fire! This resistless torrent shall sweep away all theĀ refuges of lies, and those who trusted in themā€”into the gulf of remediless destruction!

Well my friends, where shall we find aĀ supportĀ to bear us up in this tremendous day? Where shall we find aĀ rockĀ to build upon, that we may be able to stand the shock, and remain safe and unmovedā€”in the wreck of dissolving worlds? What canĀ upholdĀ usā€”when thisĀ vast machine of our world, formed with so much skill and strength by the hands of aĀ divine Architect, shall be broken up and fall to pieces?

Now,Ā nowĀ is the time for us to find theĀ refuge; it will be too late when all created supports are swept away, and this solid globe itself is dissolved beneath our feet into a sea of fire!

And where will you look? Where will you turn? ThisĀ earth,Ā and all its riches, honors, and pleasuresā€”will prove to be but aĀ quicksandĀ in that day! YourĀ friendsĀ andĀ relations, were they ever so great or powerfulā€”canĀ thenĀ afford you no support! Therefore, thinkā€”where shall you find aĀ rockĀ on which you may build a happiness that will stand the shock in that dreadful day?

Everything else besides Christ . . .
Ā  is sliding sand,
Ā  is yielding air,
Ā  is a breaking bubble!Ā 

In that dread day . . .
Ā Ā wealthā€”will prove to be a vain shadow,Ā 
Ā Ā honorā€”will prove to be an empty breath,Ā 
Ā Ā pleasureā€”will prove to be a delusive dream,Ā 
Ā Ā your own righteousnessā€”will prove to be a spider’s web!
If we rely on these, disappointment and doom are inevitable!

Nothing but Christ, nothing but Christ, can stably support us in that dread day! “He alone is my rockĀ and my salvation; He is my fortressā€”I will never be shaken!” Psalm 62:2

His righteousnessĀ is infinitely perfect, equal to the highest demands of the divine lawā€”and therefore a firm, immovable ground of trust. We may safely ventureĀ the weight of our eternal allā€”upon this rock! It will stand forever, without giving way under the heaviest pressure; without being broken by the most violent shock. Let thousands, let millions, withĀ all the mountainous weight of guiltĀ upon them, build upon this foundation, and they shall never be moved!

The firm foundations, the stately columns, the majestic buildings of Nineveh, Babylon and Persia, and all the magnificent structures of antiquity, though formed of the most durable stone, and promising immortalityā€”are now shattered into ten thousand fragments, or lying in ruinous heaps!Ā 

But here in Christā€”isĀ a foundation for immortal soulsā€”a foundation that will remain the same to all eternity! HisĀ righteousnessĀ is an everlasting righteousness, HisĀ strengthĀ an everlasting strength, and Himself the everlasting Father. He ever lives forever to make intercession for His people, and therefore he is able to save to the uttermost, to the uttermost point of durationā€”all who come unto God by Him!

Millions and millionsĀ of depraved, wretched, ruined creatures, have always found Him perfectlyĀ able, and as perfectlyĀ willingā€”
Ā  to expiate the most enormous guilt;
Ā  to deliver from the most inveterate corruptions;
Ā  and to save to the very uttermost!Ā 

Ten thousand times ten thousand, have built their hopes upon thisĀ rockā€”and it has never failed so much as one of them! Manasseh, Paul, and Mary Magdalen, and thousands more atrocious sinnersā€”have ventured upon thisĀ all-sufficient rockĀ with all theirĀ load of sinĀ upon them, and found it able to sustain them!

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Your conscience will not always sleep!

July 5, 2018 by Steve 1 Comment

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Your conscience will not always sleep!Ā 

(Samuel Davies, “Divine Mercy to Mourning Penitents“)

“They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, theirĀ consciencesĀ also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.” Romans 2:15

The principal means which God uses in conversion, is that of conscience; and indeed without this, all the rest are in vain. Outward afflictions are of serviceā€”only as they tend to awaken the conscience from its lethargy to a faithful discharge of its duty. It is conscience which makes the sinner sensible of his misery and scourges him. TheĀ lashes of a guilty conscienceĀ are intolerable; and some under them have chosen strangling and suicide, rather than life.

Conscience is a serpent in his breast, which bites and gnaws his heart; and he can no more avoid it, than he can fly from himself!Ā 

Let not such of you as have never been tortured with its remorse, congratulate yourselves upon your happiness, for you are not innocents!Ā Your conscience will not always sleep!Ā It will not always lie torpid and inactive, like a snake benumbed with cold, in your breast!Ā 

It willĀ awakenĀ you either to your conversionā€”or condemnation!

Either the fire of God’s wrath flaming from His law will enliven it in this worldā€”to sting you withĀ medicinalĀ anguish; or the unquenchable fire of His vengeance in the lake of fire and brimstone will thaw it into lifeā€”and then it will horribly rage in your breast, and diffuse its tormenting poison through your whole frame! And then it will become aĀ never-dying worm, and prey upon your hearts forever!

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Who is this amazing spectacle of woe and torture?

July 4, 2018 by Steve 1 Comment

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Who is this amazing spectacle of woe and torture?

(Samuel Davies, “The Preaching of Christ Crucified, the Means of Salvation”)

“Christ died for the ungodly!” Romans 5:6

InĀ the cross of Christā€”God’s hatred to sinĀ is manifested in the most striking light! The evil of sin is exposed in the most dreadful colors! Now it appears, that such is the divine hatred against all sin, that God can by no means forgive sin, without punishment; and that all the infinite benevolence of His nature towards His creatures cannot prevail upon Him to pardon the least sinā€”without an adequate satisfaction.

Nay, now it appears that when so malignant and abominable a thing is but imputed to His dear Son, His co-equal, His darling, His favoriteā€”that even He could not escape unpunishedā€”but was made aĀ monument of vindictive justice, to all worlds!Ā 

What can more strongly expose the evil of sinā€”than the cross of Christ?Ā Sin is such an intolerably malignant and abominable thing, that even a God of infinite mercy and graceā€”cannot let the least instance of it pass unpunished!

It was not a small thing that could arm God’s justice against the Son of His love. Though He was perfectly innocent in Himselfā€”yet when He was made sin for usā€”God spared not His own Sonā€”but delivered Him up unto deathā€”the shameful, tormenting, and accursed death of the cross!

Go, you fools, who make a mock at sin! Go and learn its malignity and demeritā€”at the cross of Jesus!Ā 

WHO is it that hangs there writhing in the agonies of deathā€”His hands and feet pierced with nails, His side with a spear, His face bruised with blows, and drenched with tears and blood, His heart melting like wax, His whole frame racked and disjointed; forsaken by His friends, and even by His Father; tempted by devils, and insulted by men?Ā Who is this amazing spectacle of woe and torture?Ā It is Jesus, the eternal Word of God; His Elect, in whom His soul delights; His beloved Son, in whom He is well pleased!

And WHAT has He done?Ā He did no wickedness; He knew no sinā€”but was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. And WHY then, all these dreadful sufferings from heaven, earth, and hell? Why, He only stood in the law-place of sinners; He only received their sin by imputation. And you see what it has brought upon Him! You see how low it has reduced Him! What a horrid evil must that beā€”which has such tremendous consequences, even upon the Darling of heaven!

Oh! what still more dreadful havoc would SIN have made, if it had been punished upon the sinner himself in his own person! Surely all the various miseries which have been inflicted upon our guilty world in all ages, and even all the punishments of hellā€”do not so loudly proclaim the terrible desert and malignity of sinā€”as the cross of Christ!

The infinite malignity of sin, and God’s hatred to it, appear nowhere in so striking and dreadful a lightā€”as in the cross of Christ! Let a reasonable creature take but one serious view of that cross, and surely he must ever after tremble at the thought of the least sin!Ā 

~Ā  ~Ā  ~Ā  ~Ā  ~

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The unsearchable riches of Christ!

July 3, 2018 by Steve 1 Comment

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The unsearchable riches of Christ!

(Samuel Davies)

“The unsearchable riches of Christ!” Ephesians 3:8

Consider what rich blessings Christ has purchased for His people; purchased not with corruptible things such as silver and goldā€”but with His own precious blood! TheĀ purchase priceĀ recommends and endears the blessings, though they are so great in themselves, as to need no such recommendation! What can be greater or more suitable blessings to hell-bound sinners, than . . .
Ā Ā pardonĀ for the guilty,
Ā Ā redemptionĀ for slaves,
Ā Ā righteousnessĀ andĀ justificationĀ for the condemned,
Ā Ā sanctificationĀ for the unholy,
Ā Ā restĀ for the weary,
Ā Ā comfortĀ for mourners,
Ā  theĀ favor of GodĀ for rebels and exiles,
Ā Ā strengthĀ for the impotent,
Ā Ā protectionĀ for the helpless, andĀ 
Ā Ā everlasting happinessĀ for the heirs of hell!Ā 
And, to sum up allā€”graceĀ andĀ glory, andĀ every good thing, andĀ all the unsearchable riches of Christā€”for the wretched and miserable; for the poor, the blind, and naked!

These are blessings indeed, and, in comparison with themā€”all the riches of the world are impoverished, and vanish to nothing!

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The only effectual reformer of the world!

November 1, 2017 by Steve 2 Comments

The only effectual reformer of the world!

(Samuel Davies, “Serious Reflections on WAR” 1757)

“When He comesā€”He will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment!” John 16:8

The Holy Spirit is the only effectual reformer of the world! If He is absentā€”

legislators may make laws against crime;
philosophers may reason against vice;
ministers may preach against sin;
conscience may remonstrate against evil;
the divine law may prescribe, and threaten hell;
the gospel may invite and allure to heaven;

but all will be in vain!

The strongest arguments, the most melting entreaties, the most alarming denunciations from God and man, enforced with the highest authority, or the most compassionate tearsā€”all will have no effectā€”all will not effectually reclaim one sinner, nor gain one sincere convert to righteousness!

Paul, Apollos, and Peter, with all their apostolic abilities, can do nothing, without the Holy Spirit.

Paul may plant the seedā€”and Apollos may water it; but God alone can make it grow! “So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anythingā€”but only God, who makes things grow!” 1 Corinthians 3:6, 7.

Never will peace and harmony be established in this jangling worldā€”until this Divine Agent takes the work in hand.

It is He aloneā€”who can melt down the obstinate hearts of men into love and peace!

It is He aloneā€”who can soften their rugged and savage tempers, and transform them into mutual benevolence!

It is He aloneā€”who can quench those lusts that set the world on fire, and implant the opposite virtues and graces. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, are mentioned by Paul, as the fruit of the Spirit, because the Spirit alone is the author of them. And if these dispositions were predominant in the worldā€”what a serene, calm, peaceful region would it be, undisturbed with the hurricanes of human passions!

Oh, how much do we need the influence of the blessed Spirit . . .

to break the heart of stone,
to enlighten the dark mind, and
to comfort the desponding soul!

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Where is there a more sinful spot to be found upon our guilty globe?

November 9, 2016 by Steve 1 Comment

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“When disaster comes to a cityā€”has not the LORD caused it?” Amos 3:6

It concerns us all to seriously reflect upon our own sins, and the sins of our landā€”which have brought these calamities upon us.

We and our countrymen are sinners, aggravated sinners! God proclaims that we are suchā€”by His judgments now upon us: by withering fields and scanty harvests, by the sound of the trumpet and the alarm of war!

O my country, is not your wickedness great, and your iniquities infinite? Where is there a more sinful spot to be found upon our guilty globe? Pass over the land, take a survey of the inhabitants, inspect into their conductā€”and what do you see? What do you hear?

You see the gigantic forms of vice bidding defiance to the God of heavenā€”while true religion and virtue are forced to retire, to avoid public contempt and insult!

You see herds of drunkards swilling down their cups, and drowning all morality within them!

You hear the swearer venting his fury against Godā€”trifling with that Name which prostrate angels adore, and imprecating that damnation, under which the hardiest devil in hell trembles and groans!

You see avarice hoarding up her useless treasures, dishonest craft planning her schemes of unlawful gain, and oppression unmercifully grinding the face of the poor!

You see prodigality squandering her stores! You see luxury spreading her table!

You see vanity laughing aloud and dissolving in empty, unthinking mirth; regardless of God, of time and eternity!

You see sensuality wallowing in carnal pleasures, and aspiring, with perverted ambitionā€”to sink as low as her four-footed brethren in the stalls!

You see cards more in use than the Bible; the backgammon table more frequented than the table of the Lord; novels and romances more readā€”than the history of the blessed Jesus!

You see trifling, and even evil diversions and amusements, become a gigantic business! The outcome of a horse-race is more anxiously attended toā€”than the concerns of eternity!

And where these grosser forms of vice do not shock your sensesā€”you often meet with the appearances of a more refined impiety, which is equally dangerous!

You hear the conversation of reasonable creatures, of candidates for eternityā€” engrossed by trifles, or vainly wasted on the affairs of time! These are their important subjects of conversation, even at the threshold of the house of God!

You see swarms of prayerless families all over our land! You see ignorant, wicked children, unrestrained and untaught by those to whom God and nature have entrusted their souls!

You see the holy religion of Jesusā€”abused, neglected, disobeyed, and dishonored by its professors!

You see crowds of professed believers, who are in reality, practical atheists! These nominal Christians are really unholy heathens! They are abandoned slaves of sinā€”who yet pretend to be the servants of the holy Jesus!

You see multitudes lying in a deep sleep in sin all around us! You see them eager in the pursuits of the vanities of timeā€”but stupidly unconcerned about the important realities of the eternal world just before them! So few are concerned what shall become of themā€”when all their connections with earth and flesh must be broken, and they must take their flight into strange, unknown regions! So few lamenting their sins! So few crying for mercy and a new heart! So few flying to Jesus!

(Samuel Davies, “The Justice of Godā€”and the Sins of Our Country” 1755)

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If You Dare!

November 8, 2016 by Steve 0 Comments

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“Then I saw a great white throneā€”and HIM who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from His presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened . . . If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of lifeā€”he was thrown into the lake of fire!” Revelation 20:11, 12, 15

What an astonishing scene is this! The stable earth and sky cannot bear the majesty and terror of His look; they fly away affrighted! This is the Judge before whom we must stand; and this is the manner of His appearance!

But is this the babe of Bethlehemā€”who lay and wept in the manger?

Is this the supposed son of the carpenter, the despised Galilean?

Is this the man of sorrows?

Is this He who was . . .

arrested,
condemned,
buffeted,
spit upon,
crowned with thorns,
executed as a slave and a criminal, upon the cross?

Yes, it is Him! The very same Jesus of Nazareth!

But oh how changed! How deservedly exalted! Heaven and earth flee before Him!

Now let his enemies appear and show their contempt and malignity!

Now, Pilateā€”condemn the King of the Jews as a usurper!

Now, you Jews, raise the clamor, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” Now bow the knee in scorn, spit in His face, and buffet Him! Now tell the scourged impostor that He must die!

Now despise His grace,
now laugh at His threatenings, and
now make light of His displeasureā€”if you dare!

Ah! now their courage fails, and terror surrounds them! Now they try to hide in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. Now they call to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

But, alas! That LAMB who once bled as a sacrifice for sinā€”now appears in all the terrors of a LION! Oh! could they hide themselves in the bottom of the ocean, or in some rock that bears the weight of the mountainsā€”how happy would they think themselves!

(Samuel Davies, “The Universal Judgment!”)

Quote 4 2day!
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