Thomas Wilcox

“ It it is easy to profess Christ with the mouth; but to confess him with the heart, as Peter, to be the Christ, the Son of the living God, the alone Mediator; that is above flesh and blood. Many call Christ a Saviour; few know him so. To see grace and salvation in Christ, is the greatest sight in the world; none can do thar, but at the same time they shall see that glory and salvation to be theirs. 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. ”

“ The greatest sinner did never pass the grace of Christ. Do not despair: Hope still, when the clouds are blackest; even then look towards Christ, the standing pillar of his Father’s love and grace, let up in heaven for all sinners to gase upon continually. ”

“ Thou wilt find that sin was never mortared truly; hat thou hast not seen Christ standing for thee upon the cross; nothing to 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 defease. Poor ragged nature, with all its highest improvements, can never spin a garment fine enough without spot, to cover the soul’s nakedness. ”

“ Thou hast seen Christ all, and thyself absolutely nothing, who makest Christ all thy life and are dead to all righteousness besides? Thou art the Christian, one highly beloved, and who hath found favour with God, a favourite of heaven. ”

“ To a secure soul Christ is but a fable, the sriptures but a story. Mourn, to think, how many are under baptism and church-order, that are not under race; looking much after duty, obedience, but little after Christ, little versed in grace. ”

“ Be sure thou art come to Christ, that thou standest upon the rock of ages, hast answered to his call to thy soul, hast closed with him for justification.
Men talk bravely of believing, whilst whole and found, few know it. Grace the mystery of Christ. Believing is the most wonderful thing in the world. ”

“ That opinion of free will, so cried up, will be easily confuted, as it in in the scripture, in the heart, who hath made 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 can never believe him to be such, when it lies under full sight of sin. Christ is too high and glorious for nature so much as to touch. ”

“ 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-rightousness, self-goodness, 8c. An infinite power must call down these strong holds. None but the self-justiciary stands excluded out of the gospel ”

“ 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. Think every one better, than thyself ”

“ Christ's infinite satisfadion, not thy sanctification, must be thy justification before God. When the Lord shall appear terrible out of his holy place, fire shall consume that as hay and stubble. This will be found religion, only to bottom all upon the everlasting mountains of God’s love and grace in Christ, to live continually in the sight of Christ’s infinite righteousness and merits,they are sanctifying, without them the heart is carnal, and in those sights to see the full vileness, yet littleness of sin, and to see all pardoned ”

“ Christ will not so much as look at it for believing. When thou believed and comest to Christ, thou must leave behind thee thy own rightousness, and bring nothing but thy sin, (O that is hard!) ; leave behind all thy holiness, sanctification, duties, humblings, &c. and bring nothing but thy. wants and miseries, else Christ in not fit for thee, nor thou for Christ. Christ will be a pure Redeemer and Mediator, and thou must be an undone firmer, or Christ and thou wilt never agree; it is the hardest thing in the world to take Christ alone for righteousness ”

“ When we come to God, we must bring nothing but Christ with us. Any ingredients or any previous qualifications of our own, will poison and corrupt faith. He that builds upon duties, graces, &c. knows not the merits of Christ. This makes believing so hard, so far above nature; if you believest, thou must every day renounce (as dung and drosc, Phil. ill. 7, 8.) thy priviliges, thy obedience, thy baptism, thy sanctification, thy duties, thy graces, thy tears, thy meltings, and thy humblings, and nothing< but Christ must be held up; every day thy workings and thy self-sufficiency must be destroyed. ”

“ 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, indeed, “Lord, be merciful to me a sinner,” is the hardest prayer in the world. It is easy to say, I believe in Christ: but to see Christ full of grace and truth, of whole fulness thou mayst recieve grace for grace ”

“ God chargeth sin and guilt upon thee, to make thee look to Chrift the brasen serpent.
Judge not Christ’s love by providences, but by promises. Bless God for shaking off false foundations, and for any way whereby he keeps the soul awakened and looking after Christ; better sickneffes and temptations, than secnrity and slightness. A flighty 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 ”

“ The least sight of him will be saving and the least touch healing to thee; and God intends thou shouldest look on him, for he hath set him upon a high throne of glory, in the open view of all poor sinners. ”

“ A Christless, formal profession, will be the blackst light, next to hell, I 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. Thou mayst be high in duty, and yet a perfect enemy and adversary to Christ, in every prayer, and in every ordinance. Labour after sanctification to thy utmost ”

“ Keep always an humble, empty, and broken frame of heart, sensible of any spiritual miscarriage, observant of all inward workings, and fit for the hightst communications. Keep not guilt in the confidence, but apply the blood of Christ immediately. ”

“ Whatsoever is of nature’s spinning must be all unravelled, before the righteousness of Christ can be put on. VVhatsoever is of nature’s putting on, satan will come and plunder it every rag away, and leave the soul naked and open to the wrath of God. All that nature can do, will never make (illegible text) the least drom of grace that can mortify sin or look Christ in the face one day. ”

“ If thou hast seen Christ, thou can trample on all righteousness or men and angels, so as to bring thee into acceptation with God. If thou halt seen Christ, thou wouldst not do a duty without him for ten thousand worlds, 1 Cor. ii 2. If thou ever fawest Christ, thou fawest him. a rock, higher than self-righteousness, satan and sin,Ps. ”

“ We see sin great, we think Christ doth so, and thus measure infinite love with our line, infinite merits with our sins, which is the greatest pride and blasphemy, Psal. ciii. 11. Isa. xl. 15. Hear what he faith, “I have found a ransorm,” Job xxxlii. 24. “In him I am well pleased,” Matth. iii. 17. God will have nothing else; nothing else will do thee good, or satsfy confidence, but Christ, who satified the Father. God doth all upon the account of Christ. Thy desterts are hell, wrath, rejection. Christ’s deserts are life, pardon, and acceptation. ”

“ Be thou never such a great sinner, try Christ, to make him the Advocate, and thou shalt find him Jesus Christ the righteous, 1 John ii.3. In all doubting fears, storms of conscience, look at Christ continually ”