Ebenezer Erskine

“ He is not a barren Plant he would not be renowned if he were barren: He brings forth all manner of fruit every month; yea, I may add, every day, every moment.—You read in Rev. xxii. of the Tree of Life that brings forth twelve manner of fruits every month; that is to say, he brings forth all fruit that is necessary for a poor soul: Whatever thy soul stands in need of, is to be found in him; see then and gather, see if you can gather some of it. There is the fruit of his Incarnation; there is the fruit of his Death ”

“ Our nature was highly honoured at first, but it soon sunk below the beast that perisheth; but the second Adam took our nature upon him, and raised it to a higher dignity than the very Angels; for to which of the Angels did this this honour appertain, to be united to the eternal Son of God? So that, I say, this Plant of Renown is raised up for mankind-sinners, not for angel kind sinners; and every mankind sinner that hears tell of him, they should lay claim to him, as in Isaiah ix. ”

“ Whatever distance of time, suppose hundreds or thousands of years, may interveen before the actual coming of the Messiah; yet the promise of his coming, as it is the ground of your faith for eternal salvation, so it is a security for the present, that the enemy shall not prevail, to the total ruin of Judah and the royal family of David. In all the distresses of the Church, Christ is always presented to her, in the Promise, as the Object of her Faith, and the ground of her consolation ”

“ He is here promised under the notion of God's Servant; and, in the words of the text, he is promised as a Renowned Plant that was to rise in the fulness of time. And, blessed be God, he has sprung up, and is in heaven already, and has overtopt all his enemies, and all his enemies shall be his footstool. ”

“ The believer he finds a scent about him, he draws a favour from him. What is the design of us Ministers, but to call abroad his scent, and it is by this we win souls; and they that cast out and drop the Plant of Renown out of their Sermons, no wonder their Sermons stink; and they shall stink to eternity, that throw Christ out of their Sermons. The great business of Ministers is to cast forth the scent of Christ to the people. ”

“ God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whomever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.—In the fulness of time he sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the Law, to redeem them that were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption of Sons. ”

“ Hell will endeavour to keep him down; the Devil and his Angels will endeavour to smother him, when he sets his head above ground: So we find Satan sends Herod, and Herod sends the bloody dragoons to murder him, when he came into the world: But let hell do its utmost, as it hath done in all ages, and is doing this day, to smother that Plant, up it will be ”

“ We can tell you, he is the only begotten of the Father, but we cannot tell you the manner of his generation; it is a secret that God has drawn a vail upon, and it is dangerous to venture into a search of it ”

“ Sirs, mingle faith with a word, and you will find it will have the same efficacy with you, as it had with the poor woman with the bloody issue, that was healed with a touch of the hem of his garment, who had spent all her living on Doctors. ”