J. Church

“ Thus assured of victory Gideon marched his forces directly towards the Midianites. What the army thought we know not, in their march, knowing their fewness and the vast army of the other—but every natural gift is of the Holy-Ghost, as the God of nature and providence, as well as every spiritual one; and all the wisdom and courage of warriors are the work of God the Spirit, and no man has any of these gifts inherent in himself, they are the peculiar gifts of God, to answer his holy purposes. And now Gideon’s faith is put to a double trial. ”

“ The lamp within the pitcher may be an emblem of his Godhead, as the light of life—he wrapped up his divinity in his manhood—here it was he concealed his glory: well may the Prophet exclaim, “Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel the Saviour.” What a mystery! a child born—“the everlasting Father, the mighty God.” How great is the mystery of godliness! ”

“ The blessed Spirit, in the article of death, will be poured out upon the soul, to fit her for her passage. Hence he is promised, as the early and as the latter rain—a greater light comes into the soul, as it is about to depart into the regions of endless light—in the light of faith the departing soul sees the pardon of sin, the obedience of Jesus its own—sees heaven open—angels ready waiting, and whispering to the saint, The master is come, and calleth for thee! ”

“ Oh, its a blessed thing to have true light to see the Person and Work of Jesus, as our atoning sacrifice, and end of the Law for righteousness: this fills the soul with joy—this inspires the mind with a song of praise through life, and in a dying hour will swell louder, Salvation to God and the Lamb.
But there is one part of this history must not be overlooked—the pitchers were broken before the light could well be seen, or any victory gained. p. 39Every man, by nature, is represented as whole; but when the Holy Spirit operates upon the soul, it is broken to pieces, that the light may appear. ”

“ We are to preach, and proclaim pardon to rebels, mercy to the miserable, deliverance to captives, peace to those who are convinced of their enmity—the trumpet of God is sounding abroad the language of mercy—salvation through blood; and while this comforts the saints it starves the hypocrite, confounds the Pharisee, and becomes the savor of death to all that hate it.—As the lamp gave light to the Israelites, and the trumpet was understood by them at the same time, it confused and over-turned the host of Midian ”

“ Sin, committed by a believer, is a transgression of the law, or dictates of faith; for there is no sin, condemned under the first covenant, but what, under the covenant of grace, is pointed out in more odious colours.—Hence the idolatry, rebellion, and ingratitude of the believer, are seen and lamented by him as a child of God; and as God the Spirit communicates light to his understanding, to discover it as sinful, he perpetually testifies that his sins are more sinful than those who know not God. ”

“ God is determined to stain the pride of human glory—to this end he has chosen the base, the foolish, the weak, to accomplish the most noble purposes—earthen vessels, that they might not be too much exalted, least, if they fall they should get the more injury. God will have all the glory of a man’s salvation, and the power is to be attributed to him alone, and not to the eloquence or oratory, learning or piety, gift, or even grace of the speaker; they, as earthen vessels, are not to be put too low, least they should be spurned and kicked. ”

“ Except your righteousness exceed the Pharisees, ye cannot be saved!—Except you repent, you shall likewise perish!—and because you say, we see, your sin remaineth.—For judgment am I come into this world, that those who see not might see; and those who boast of their light might be made blind. ”

“ How often has infinite wisdom permitted heavy troubles to come on the Church, to wean her from the creature—to shew her the value of Jesus, as a deliverer—and to lead her to him by many intreaties; that while we feel our strength perfect weakness, we may the more clearly discover the good hand of our God, in our support and deliverance, and give him the glory due to his name for it. ”

“ Persecution, for imputed righteousness’ sake, tries our profession and principles, and gives an occasion to rejoice in the honor of suffering for Christ’s sake.—A body of sin and death, called the plague of the heart, tries our hope, and helps us to prize the blood of Jesus more and more.—Pain of body—delays of answer to prayer, try our patience.—False doctrines in the world, try our love; while the devil’s fiery darts of blasphemous thoughts, often try our faith—thus as our earthen vessels break, the light appears ”

“ Men cannot endure sound doctrine; they hate the light—they oppose those who preach it; and the worst term of reproach they can now load them with, or cast on them, is that of Antinomian, although those very characters know in their own souls they are not so.—But those Ministers that dare to be faithful to God and truth, are the only men who handle the Law, lawfully, hold it forth in its true spirituality, and point the sinner to look to Jesus as the end of it ”

“ We must be faithful if we fall into company with the enemies of Jesus, the Deist, the Arian, the Socinian, or any other characters that oppose his Person and Work. We must openly profess his name and salvation—and having a gracious experience of the truth, we are not easy moved by those adversaries, who are ripening themselves for damnation, by opposing the dear Redeemer—this is the case with some thousands this day in Great Britain. What a mercy to have the truth in the heart ”

“ A christian may and ought to be a good subject, under any government—“Fear God, honor the king,” is the command of the Holy-Ghost—that whereas the world speaks against you, as evil doers, they may, by your conversation which they shall behold, glorify God, in the day of visitation. The grace of God makes men good fathers, good masters, good subjects, and honest tradesmen.—Believer, take care that you show to the world and the church, what great things God has done for you, by having your conduct squared according to the precepts of the New Testament, which is to be the rule of your actions ”

“ How different the ideas and language of a soul in Gospel liberty—Blessed Lord—Gracious Father—Precious Immanuel—Friend of Sinners—Lord Jesus—My Father—My reconciled covenant, indulgent God. This is very different from the terrific language of those who are under the Law, for the Law always genders to bondage. Such men cannot give a certain sound—it is a sound of pardon, of life, of peace, of holiness, of good-will, and covenant-love, and mercy. ”

“ Suppress no truth—keep back no part of the price, through the fear of men, or to procure the favor of men. Be bold for truth—the blood of souls stains deep! Remember the Apostle’s language, “Woe is me, if I preach not the Gospel—yea, woe is me, if I preach not the Gospel.” ”

“ God has put an honor on them, and they are to be honored and esteemed for their work’s sake: in the pulpit they are to know none; but aim at the glory of Christ and the good of his people—to keep back nothing that is profitable—to conceal no doctrine—to be ashamed of no ordinance—to connive at no error—to have no man’s person in admiration, but aim at the exaltation of free, rich grace, in p. 27the plan of salvation. They are called earthen vessels, to shew the mighty power of God in their support, being so weak in themselves ”

“ God is light; and this new man is the seed, or child of light: this was not formed by piece-meal, but done at once. When God comes to his temple his train is sure to fill it—his train of divine excellencies—so that when the Spirit takes the sinner’s heart, he brings all his graces with him; and these are called light, marvellous light—Christ formed in the heart the hope of glory, and the salvation of the soul in the pardon of sin, is called a lamp ”

“ Our God is never at a loss for means to accomplish his wise and holy purposes of justice or mercy, as is evident from the history before us. The blessed Spirit operating upon the souls of his people, often by his influence reproves their consciences of sin, as it is so opposite to the purity of that divine nature, or holy principle he has blessed them with. ”

“ Thus we overcome by the word of our testimony.—But as it was necessary the pitchers should be broken, that the light appear, and our Lord Jesus is called the breaker—so, by his Spirit’s gracious teaching we are broke off from the world—“Come out from among them.”—We are broke from a form of Godliness—from false views of God, and often from the esteem of the world—from trusting in the Law—from our own righteousness—and from carnal professors, who have only a name to live, while they are dead! ”

“ Whatsoever maketh manifest is light—God is the Lord, who hath shewed us the light. This is not mere head knowledge; but what is written in the Scriptures of truth is written in our hearts, by the Spirit—“I will put my law in their hearts—they shall all know me, from the least to the greatest, for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins will I remember no more.” A light to see this truth in the Bible, and the Spirit bearing witness to our souls that this is our privilege and blessing, is an unspeakable mercy ”

“ Hope of eternal life is tried, and grows more strong and lively, sure and stedfast, amidst the greatest storms. Love to Jesus, his word, ministers, and people, is often tried—by the trial it appears that nothing can separate the saint and his beloved. Patience is tried in afflictions—humility, meekness, and every other grace. But in all times of tribulation, though the outward man, or pitcher decays, yet the inward man is renewed, day by day.—How needful the cross, to keep us humble—dependent—wean us from p. 43the world—furnish us with many petitions to God, and make us long for glory. ”

“ The principal end God has in view in all his dispensations, is his own glory—this is the first cause and last grand end of all things—“for of him, and through him, and to him, are all things.” Had the victory we are considering been gained by well disciplined men, led on by wise, noble, valiant generals, who had often been successful in war—had this been the case, the creature would have been extolled, and God nearly forgotten. ”

“ Afflictions are not to destroy but to try us, just as silver and gold are tried in the fire, lose their dross, and become purer and brighter. Faith is tried, and becomes more precious than gold which perisheth. ”

“ There is a knowledge essential to them as Ministers, and this is not human learning, though that is not to be despised, but it is the influence of the Spirit upon the mind, giving them to see, clearer than others, the plan of salvation, the depravity of human nature, the exceeding sinfulness of sin, the nature of the law, the glories of the Saviour, the danger of a form of godliness, without the power ”

“ The victory, of Gideon was a display of the sublime perfections of Deity; and surely we see them more clear, and more glorified in the work of a sinner’s salvation: eternal love is the spring—infinite wisdom lays the plan—almighty power p. 25executes it—while mercy, grace, and compassion, justice and holiness, sovereignty and truth, appear glorious. ”

“ First.—The rebellion, ingratitude, and idolatry of the Israelites, give us an awful proof of human depravity, and teach an humbling lesson to the spiritual Israel, who have the same sinful nature, are prone to the same sins, and would often fall into them and their consequences, but for the grace of God. ”

“ The light of God’s countenance upon the soul is a precious lamp in this pitcher, which is nothing more than the Spirit of God operating as a Comforter, and sweetly assuring the heart of its pardon; while peace is enjoyed, and we can look God in the face with pleasure, and say, My Father!—May not the trumpet be a figure of the testimony that all the saints bear to the freeness of divine p. ”

“ Ministers differ in their abilities—some have greater and some less; but these all worketh that self same Spirit, who divideth to his Ministers severally as he will, for the perfecting of the saints, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God.—This is the design of the Gospel Ministry. The breaking of these pitchers, that the light might appear, may be emblematic of the various trials and heart-breaking circumstances they meet with here below ”

“ These vessels, although broke to pieces by death, will be raised glorious bodies, fit to hold all the glory our God has in reversion for it—when they will be formed like the glorious body of Jesus—from the loins upward, to the loins downward, of the colour of amber, and be for ever with the Lord. The body will be now for the Lord, and the Lord for the body—the Apostle calls them the temples of the Holy-Ghost, because he has taken possession of their souls—by his gracious inhabitation he has made them new creatures, a new creation, a new, a hidden man p. ”

“ If we meet with a soul in trouble, we sound the trumpet, as those did, of old, to the blind man—“And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort; rise! he calleth thee.” We relate what great things he has done to us; and like the Gadarene, “Go, and proclaim how Jesus met with us—cast out the Devil—clothed us and made us wise.” Here Jesus gets the glory of our salvation; so by a close adherence to his Gospel, we bear our testimony p. ”