Edward Hoare

“ Above all there is no sin there. While sin lasts there can be no repose; but there, sin never enters; it may be sought for, but cannot be found, for it is all blotted out by the blood of the Lamb, and is remembered no more before the throne of God. And so it is with the beloved spirit now departed. She has wept, and those who knew her best remember well what a true mourner she was, and how deep was her feeling of heartfelt grief when it pleased God to remove from her the dear relatives whom she tenderly loved. But she weeps no more; every tear is dry, and every sorrow passed for eternity. ”

“ We have lately read of poor people startled in the night by shipwreck, and rushing as they were to the deck, utterly unprotected against the bitter blast of the winter’s snow-storm. Think what it would be to be suddenly aroused from your own deep sleep, to see all that you have in the world wrecked around you, and to find your poor soul quite naked, while the terrible storm of God’s most just judgment beats upon you, and breaks down every hope of escape! ”

“ Thus you are cleansed from all legal guilt. You are sanctified by blood, and charged with no defilement. By the eternal covenant of God He is become your Head, so that in His death you died; in His life you live; in His acceptance you are justified; and in His glory you are glorified.
But, if you are thus separated unto such a union with Him, is there any room left for one moment’s doubt as to what ought to be your character? If you are set apart by Him into this covenant union with Himself, you are set apart into a oneness of mind, of will, and of interest. ”

“ Now the system of Popery has grown out of this anxious fear. It has met the fears of dying men, by giving a system to their ill-founded hopes. It has given the man who knows he is unprepared to die a resting-point beyond the grave. It has shifted the work of preparation to a world unseen and unknown, and so hushed the voice of conscience by assuring it that there still remains the hope of expiation for its sin. Purgatory, therefore, is the last stay for an unsatisfied heart. It gives the hope of pardon after death, and serves as a sedative for death-bed fears. ”

“ We pray day by day, “Give us this day our daily bread;” and when we really enter into the spirit of this Psalm, we as much as say that the prayer is answered, the bread provided, and the table spread.
And may we not apply it still more to the bread of life? Is it not our sacred privilege, when the soul is hungered, to feed even on Him; when the soul is athirst, to drink of the pure river of the water of life? And are there not many amongst us who know, by their own experience, the truth of the promise, “They shall be abundantly satisfied?” ”

“ There is nothing more beautiful than holy union. It is beautiful in a family, beautiful in a parish, beautiful in a nation, and above all beautiful in a church. That such a union ought to exist amongst the people of God on earth none can deny; that it is the joy of heaven, and is about to fill the coming kingdom with overflowing peace, is the happy conviction of every student of the Scriptures. Nor can we be surprised that men of vivid imagination and ardent minds should be powerfully attracted by the idea of a visible oneness in the church of Christ. ”

“ The Son of God has become a kinsman on purpose to redeem, and as a kinsman has redeemed us by His blood. He has come to the master, and having broken all his legal power, has proclaimed liberty to the captive, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; but there sits the slave, content in his slavery, and plainly says, ‘I love my master; I will not go out free.’ How many are there even amongst ourselves thus indifferent to liberty! ”

“ There is no institution more delightful to the Christian than the holy sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. It is a touching remembrance of a Redeemer’s love—a refreshing means of grace to the soul—a happy communion of the Lord’s believing family—and a gladdening foretaste of the marriage supper of the Lamb. With what heartfelt gratitude should believers rejoice in such a feast! ”

“ Our one compensation is the fact that the Lord Jesus has endured the curse of all. Away with all limits to that work of his, which may either fetter its freedom or detract from its fulness! our hope is that it reaches down so low that the guilty sinner need bring nothing as the purchase of his reconciliation, and it rises so high that he stands accepted in the righteousness of God. Away with all thoughts of either requiring or presenting any fresh propitiation, with all idea of offering a second time the risen Lord, who now reigns exalted on the throne. ”

“ He did not say ‘we think,’ or ‘we hope,’ but ‘we know,’ thereby expressing the full persuasion of his soul in the infinite love and perfect power of our blessed Saviour in combining all things so that they may work together for our good. I delight in the thought that it is our privilege to rest in that full, calm, deliberate persuasion, and that, looking away from everything in ourselves, we may look to Him in peaceful trust, as an eternal object that will not vary with our own variations of thought and feeling. May He keep you in His own right hand, and raise you up if it be His will ”

“ Was the law satisfied, or was it not? If it was, the atonement was complete, the believer free, and no further justification through righteousness can be required. If not, of this one thing I am persuaded, that nothing we can do can supply the deficiency of the work of Jesus. No tears, no toils, no fastings, penances, or alms deeds can supply that which is lacking in the price paid for the sinner. If we were to weep till the ocean overflowed with the swelling tide of penitential tears, it would avail less than one single drop of the most precious blood of God’s well beloved Son. ”

“ Do we desire to labour for God, and like her that is gone, to spend the powers which He has given in the delightful effort to gather in poor sinners to his kingdom? As the work must be for Christ, so the power must be in Christ, and the whole blessing granted through a union with Him. Do we wish to be able to meet the day of sorrow, and when the heart is overwhelmed to repose peacefully in the sure fidelity and tender sympathy of a gracious God who has loved us with an everlasting love? ”

“ We get out of depth directly, and are like people who cannot swim. For how can the human mind, for one moment, expect to solve the mysteries of the deep things of God? How can it aspire either to fathom its depths, or to scale its heights? Think for one moment what man is, a little creature on this little ball of earth, here for a few years, and then passing away for ever. ”

“ It would be a promise of life to those only who have already raised themselves from death; but it would be a sentence of everlasting exclusion against all those who have failed as often as we have done, and have had to learn from bitter experience the sad lesson of their utter helplessness. But, praised be God, the whole ransom has been paid, the whole claim of the law satisfied, the utmost depth of ruin fully provided for; so that now there is life in the midst of death, and full, complete, and final reconciliation presented to the sinner, at the very time when he is lost in his fall. ”

“ Faith looks forward to the future. When the workmen were all at their posts; when the builders laboured, every one having his sword girded by his side; when the trumpeter stood by the chief, ready at any moment to sound the alarm; when the voice of prayer had been heard day and night all along the line of the rising walls; when all had been done that man could do—then the heart rose high above all that man had done, and in calm, confident trust, Nehemiah assures the people, saying, “Our God shall fight for us.” ”

“ How different is the estimate of the world from that of God! The world regards Babylon as the head of gold, the summit of glory and greatness, while God looks on it as a savage beast, to be dreaded by His saints! The same difference of character may be observed in the visions of the coming of the Lord. To the great king it appeared as a triumphant kingdom, to the captive prophet as a manifestation of the Son of man. The one saw a kingdom, the other a person; the one, the overthrow of power, the other, the advent of the Lord of Glory. ”

“ I am sure of this, my dear girl, that there is no joy like that of knowing Christ, no place like that to be found in His love, no happiness like that which springs from His grace, and it is no small comfort to me to rest assured that you feel this yourself, that you have not merely felt the importance of it, but have also known something of the joy. It is a great thing to have the knowledge of our real and great necessity, but that cannot give us peace; it is the sweet assurance of His sufficiency that can really give rest to the soul. ”

“ One look at our loving and living Saviour will do more towards softening the heart than hours spent in the scrutiny of feeling, or whole books of self-examination. If you want to grow in grace, in tenderness of conscience, in holy abhorrence of sin, in purity of heart, in lowliness of spirit, and in thankful love for your blessed Saviour,—then look on Him, keep your eyes on Him. ”

“ Hence the origin of idolatry; men want to see the object of their worship, and so create for themselves an image. Hence also the craving after that which God has declared impossible, a visible church free from error; an outward form inseparable from inward grace; a pure, holy, spotless framework, which, excluding all others, shall embrace in its system the whole of God’s elect. But this second fiction is quite as impossible as the first, and there is no more expectation of seeing God’s elect embodied in a form than of seeing God himself represented in an image. ”

“ Grant us a right judgment in all things, Christian unanimity in our counsels, and perseverance in well-doing. [Keep us humble, depending entirely upon the promised grace and help of Thy Holy Spirit, and watchful, as those who are not ignorant of the devices of Satan.]
Raise up, we earnestly entreat Thee, champions for the truth; revive in our days the spirit of the martyrs and reformers of old. Spare to Thy Church those who are zealous for Thee. May the faithful never fail from among us, but let the rising youth be trained to walk in the good old paths. ”

“ There was His own covenant given to Abraham, and our heavenly Father is faithful to it still. Three thousand eight hundred years have not exhausted His faithfulness, and even the sin of the Jew has not prevailed over the fidelity of our God to His friend. Oh, what a lesson does this teach us as to the faithfulness of our God! Will He break the covenant which He has made with us in Christ Jesus? Will He depart from the promise which He has ratified in the precious blood of the chosen Messiah? Is not the covenant with Christ as sure as that with Abraham? ”

“ His own language was, “Oh, to grace how great a debtor. It was free redemption then, and is so now. Wonderful! It is so wonderful, such a poor sinner saved and loved!” He was one redeemed, delivered, set free, brought out, and for ever accepted through the blood-shedding of the Son of God. And so, brethren, must we be, if we are among the first-fruits unto God. Nothing, nothing, nothing but the atoning blood can ever blot out your guilt. As long as you are a stranger to atonement, so long you are a stranger to God. If any man ever felt this, it was our friend, our father I would rather say. ”