Thomas Wilcox

“ Apply what thou wilt besides the blood of Christ, it will poison the sore. Thou wilt find that sin was never mortified truly; that thou hast not seen Christ bleeding for thee upon the cross; nothing can kill it, but the beholding of Christ’s righteousness.
Nature can afford no balsam fit for soul-cure. Healing from duty, and not from Christ, is the most desperate disease. Poor ragged nature with all its highest improvements, cannot spin a garment fine enough (without spot) to cover the soul’s nakedness. Nothing can fit the soul for that use; but Christ’s perfect righteousness. ”

“ Men talk bravely of believing, whilst whole and sound, few know any thing of it. Christ is the mystery of the scriptures: Grace the mystery of Christ. Believing is the most wonderful thing in the world! Put any thing of thine own to it, and thou spoilest it: Christ will not so much as look as it for believing. When thou believest and comest to Christ, thou must leave behind thee thy own righteousness, and bring nothing but thy sin, (O that is hard!) ”

“ That thou art a sinner; things all harder than to make a world. All the power in nature cannot get up so high in a storm of sin and guilt, really to believe, there is any grace, any willingness in Christ to save. When Satan charged sin upon the conscience, then for the soul to charge it upon Christ, that is gospel-like. That is to make him Christ, he serves for that use. To accept Christ’s righteousness alone, his blood alone for salvation, that is the sum of the gospel. ”

“ Set the broken disjointed bones with the grace of the gospel. High professor, despise not weak saints; thou mayest come to wish to be in the condition of the meanest of them. Overlook the infirmities of others, but be sensible of thy own. Visit sick beds and deserted souls much, they are excellent scholars in experience.
Abide in your calling, be dutiful to all relations as to the Lord. Be content with little of the world, little will serve. Think every little of the earth much, because unworthy the least. Think much of heaven not too little, because Christ is so rich and free. ”

“ Let nature but make a gospel, and it would make it quite contrary to Christ. It would be to the just, the innocent, the holy, &c. Christ made the gospel for thee, that is, for needy sinners, the ungodly, the unrighteous, and the accursed. Nature cannot endure to think the gospel is only for sinners; it will rather chuse to despair than to go to Christ, upon such terrible terms. When nature is but put to it by guilt or wrath, it will go to its old haunts of self-righteousness, self-goodness, &c. An infinite power must cast down these strong holds. ”

“ Ah, how nature storms, frets, and rageth at this, that all is of gift, and it can purchase nothing with its actings, and duties; that all workings are excluded, and of no value in heaven; that all must be of sovereign grace and unmerited free love and favour!
If nature had been to contrive the way of salvation, it would rather have put it in the hands of saints or angels, to sell it, than of Christ (who gives freely) whom therefore it suspects ”

“ Glorious professor, thou shalt be winnowed; every vein of thy profession will be tried to purpose. It is terrible to have it all come tumbling down, and to find nothing but it to bottom upon.
Soaring professor, see to thy waxen wings betimes, which will melt with the heat of temptations. What a misery is it to trade much, and break at length, and have no stock, no foundation laid for eternity in thy soul! ”

“ Bless God for shaking off false foundations, and for any way whereby he keeps the soul awakened and looking after Christ; better sickness and temptations, than security and slightness.
A slighty spirit will turn a profane spirit, and will sin and pray too. Slightness is the bane of profession, if it be not rooted out of the heart, by constant and serious dealings with, and beholdings of Christ in duties; it will grow more strong and more deadly, by being under church-ordinances.
Measure not thy grace by other attainments, but by Scripture-trials. ”

“ None but the self justified stands excluded from the gospel; Christ will look at the most abominable sinner before him, because to such an one Christ cannot be made justification; he is no sinner. To say in compliment, I am a sinner, is easy; but to pray with the publican, Lord, be merciful to me a sinner, is indeed the hardest prayer in the world. It is easy to say, I believe in Christ; but to see Christ full of grace and truth, out of whose fulness thou mayest receive grace for grace ”

“ If thou hast seen Christ truly, thou has seen pure grace, pure righteousness in him every way infinite, far exceeding all sin an misery? It thou hast seen Christ, tho canst trample upon all righteousness of me and angels, so as to bring thee into acceptation with God. If thou hast seen Christ thou wouldst not do a duty without him for ten thousand worlds, 1 Cor. ”

“ That is a terrible point to nature! which cannot think of being stript of all, not having a rag of duty or righteousness left to look at. Self righteousness and self-sufficiency are the darlings of nature, which she preserves as her life; that makes Christ seem ugly to nature, nature cannot desire him; he is just directly opposite to all nature’s glorious interests. ”

“ Sights will cause applications. I may be ashamed to think, in the midst of so much profession, that I have known little of the blood of Christ, which is the main thing of the gospel. A Christless, formal profession will be the blackest sight, next to hell, that can be. Thou mayest have many good things, and yet one thing may be a-wanting, that may make thee go away sorrowful from Christ. Thou hast never sold all thou hast, never parted with all thine own righteousness, &c. ”

“ Keep always an humble, empty, and broken frame of heart, sensible of any spiritual miscarriage observant of all inwards workings, and fit for the highest communications. Keep not guilt in the conscience, but apply the blood of Christ immediately. God chargeth sin and guilt upon thee, to make thee look to Christ the brazen serpent. ”

“ There must be a divine nature first put into the soul, to make it lay hold on him, he lies so infinitely beyond the sight or reach of corrupt nature.
That Christ which natural free-will can apprehend, is but a natural Christ of man’s own making, not the Father’s Christ, nor Jesus the son of the living God, to whom nonc can come without the Father’s drawing, John vi. ”

“ Christ will be a pure Redeemer and Mediator, and thou must be an undone sinner, or Christ and thou wilt never agree. It is the hardest thing in the world to take Christ alone for righteousness; that is to acknowledge him Christ. Join any thing to him of thy own, and thou un-Christ him. ”

“ Sin will hinder from glory in the cross of Christ; omitting little truths against light, may breed hell in the conscience; as well as committing the greatest sins against light. If thou hast been taken out of the belly of hell into Christ’s bosom, and made to sit among princes in the household of God. ”

“ Be serious and exact in duty, having the weight of it upon the heart; but be as much afraid of taking comfort from duties, as from sins. Comfort from any hand but Christ, is very deadly. Be much in prayer, or you will never keep up much communion with God. ”

“ That opinion of free-will, so cried up, will be easily confuted (as it is in the Scripture) in the heart, by those who have had any spiritual dealing with Jesus Christ, as to the application of his merits, and subjection to his righteousness. Christ is every way too magnificent a person for a poor nature to close withal, or to apprehend. Christ is so infinitely holy, nature durst never believe him to be snch, when it lies under full sight of sin. Christ is too high and glorious for nature so much as to touch. ”

“ Christ is lifted up on high, (as the brazen serpent in the wilderness) that sinners at the ends of the earth, the greatest distance, may see him, and look towards him. The least sight of him will be saving, and the least touch healing to thee; and God intends, thon shouldst look on him, for he hath set him upon a high throne of glory, in the open view of all poor sinners. Thou hast infinite reason to look on him, but no reason at all to look off him ”

“ He will not only shew the one, but he will give thee the other. It is Christ’s own glory and happiness to pardon. Consider whilst Christ was on the earth, he was more among publicans and sinners, than among Scribes and Pharisees, his professed adversaries, for they were righteous ones. ”

“ Do Christ this one favour for all his love to thee, love all his poor saints and churches (the meanest, the weakest, notwithstanding any difference in judgement) they are engraven on his heart, as the names of the children of Israel on Aaron’s breast-plate, (Exod. xxvii 21.) let them be so on thine. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper that love thee, Psalm cxxi. ”