Thomas Ridgley

“ I solemnly protest that I desire no better, no other lot. And who can describe the nature of this high privilege! This people have I formed for myself, they shall shew forth my praise. O the blessedness of being entirely passive in the hand of that God who predestinates nothing but good? Was Paul obliged to the Lord, or was he not, for arresting him in the midst of his wicked career? Has that man any reason to complain, who is restrained from wickedness, but compelled to embrace happiness? Then, say some, his will would be forced. ”

“ Let us now consider faith as it contains an assent to a thing, not only as true, but as good; upon which account we call it a practical assent, first seated in the understanding; and then the will embraces what the understanding discovers to be conducive to our happiness; we first believe the truth of it, and then regulate our conduct agreeably thereunto. As when a criminal hears a report of an act of grace being issued forth by the king, he does not rest in a bare assent to the truth thereof, but puts in his claim to it. ”

“ Or can the invention of men or angels discover any other cause than predestination?
On any other supposition, how can divine love, grace, and mercy be glorified, infallibly glorified? Is the honour of these glorious and blessed perfections of Jehovah to be suspended on a feeble peradventure? Or is the spiritual temple constructed of some materials which come by chance, or approach of themselves, while others are brought forth by a divine hand out of the quarry of nature, and placed on the living foundation? Is the glory of the Creator to depend upon the precarious will of man? ”

“ And when we behold the universal corruption of human nature, we blush and are ashamed to think how little glory is brought to thy name, by the service and obedience of thy creatures here below. In heaven thy will is done perfectly, by those who serve thee with the greatest delight and pleasure; but on earth thou hast but little glory; it is an instance of condescending goodness that thou hast not, long since, abandoned and forsook it, and thereby rendered it like hell: But, we beseech thee, take to thyself thy great power, and reign in the hearts of men ”

“ The nature of God, his holy will, and our peculiar relation to him, form an adamantine chain of obligation to duty which cannot with impunity be broken; from which predestination is so far from releasing us, that it forms another chain of gold that shall finally prevail; and divine grace personally experienced is a silken cord to draw the soul along in the path of duty. But do these powerful ties render useless God’s reasoning with sinners, his exhortations to repentance, to believing, to obedience, and to every particular branch of duty? ”

“ Thou hast granted us life and favour, and thy visitations have preserved our spirits; what thou hast given us we have gathered; thou hast opened thy hand, and filled us with good. And, as the treasures of thy bounty are not exhausted, nor thy power diminished; so we desire to exercise a constant dependence on thee, and to hope in thy mercy; that, as thou hast given us those better things that accompany salvation, thou wilt also bestow upon us what thou seest needful for us in our way to it; which will not only redound to our comfort, but thy glory; who givest food to all flesh ”

“ What though the body be turned to corruption? It shall be raised incorruptible, and in glory; and therefore shall be a palace fit to entertain its noble inhabitant: what though it has, in this world, offered many temptations to the soul to sin, by which it has been sometimes overcome and exposed to those passions that have defiled, and made it very uneasy; is this to be objected against its being raised from the dead in such a state of perfection, that it shall never more contract any guilt, or render the soul unhappy, by any inconvenience arising from it? ”

“ In a word, take away this doctrine, and you take away the foundation of God—the foundation of his covenant—the foundation of his temple, the church—the foundation of the saints’ hope and joy. But, blessed be God, his foundation standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. Known unto God are all his ways, and all his people from the beginning. Blind chance and impotent free will shall never be the partners of his throne. ”

“ If we are resolved to believe nothing but what we can comprehend, we ought to consider that the gospel contains unsearchable mysteries, that surpass finite wisdom; therefore we must be content to acknowledge, that we know but in part. There is a deference to be paid to the wisdom of God, that eminently appears in every thing which he has discovered to us in his word; so that we must adore the divine perfections that are displayed therein, whilst we retain an humble sense of the imperfection of our own knowledge. Our reason is not to be considered as useless ”

“ Regeneration may be taken, not only for our being made alive to God, or created unto good works, but for our putting forth living actions, proceeding from that principle which is implanted in the soul. I am far from denying, that faith, and all other graces, are wrought in us by the instrumentality of the word; and it is in this sense that some, who treat on this subject, explain their sentiments, when they speak of being born again by the word: therefore I persuade myself, that I differ from them only in the acceptation of words, and not in the main substance of the doctrine they maintain. ”

“ Is it ‘life eternal to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent?’ Hath no one the Father, who ‘denieth the Son?’ Can no one honour the Father, ‘who honoureth not the Son?’ Is it the Spirit alone who quickeneth, and who teacheth us to ‘know the things that are freely given us of God?’ Can no man ‘say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost?’ Is it through Christ that ‘we have access by one Spirit unto the Father?’ Let us bless God for the revelation of the mystery of a Trinity in unity ”