Auto de fé

“ While God says, 'Whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God,' what self-indulgence and self-will, instead of self-denial. Listen to the voice of convictions, listen to it as the voice of mercy, leading you to Christ the great propitiatory sacrifice, 'the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.'
"Go to Christ, my dear, as a sinner; tell him you commit your sinful soul into his hands; say, Thou hast bid me look unto thee and be saved. Saviour, I do look unto thee for salvation. ”

“ For victory over a single sin, we give thanks and magnify the Lord of Hosts. What shall we say of the mighty Pæan of jubilee conquest over all sin? A louder song, sweeter than has ever before reached high heaven, now rises clearer and nearer to the great heart of Christ; for the accuser is not there, and Love sends forth her primal and everlasting strain. Self-abnegation, by which we lay down all for Truth, or Christ, in our warfare against error, is a rule in Christian Science. ”

“ They lay not a stone upon the only foundation,—how then can they build for heaven? The selfish, hard, proud, heart of man, must be changed by the power of the Holy Spirit, before there will be any tendency to justice, mercy, or humility, in the true sense of the words; and we have before shown, that the indwelling of the Spirit is consequent upon believing in Christ. And miserable are they who place their hope of salvation on any other ground, than that of the one offering for sin by Jesus Christ. ”

“ A world athirst for preaching, and nothing simple or clear to preach—when once the miracle-child of Bethlehem had been dispossessed. And now it is daylight-plain to me that in the simplest act of loving self-surrender there is the germ of all faith, the essence of all lasting religion. Quicken human service, purify and strengthen human love, and have no fear but that the conscience will find its God! ”

“ That trust in Jesus Christ, which is the condition of salvation is selling 'all that thou hast.' Self is 'all that thou hast.' Abandon self and clutch Him, and the treasure is thine. But the initial act of faith has to be carried on through a life of self-denial and self-sacrifice, and the subjection of self-will, which is the hardest of all, and the submission of one's self altogether to the kingdom of God and to its King. ”

“ This mental felicity—this "weight of glory," cannot be enjoyed, but by the exercise of a living faith in Christ. Such a faith begets a sincere obedience in our life and conversation. It is a faith "that works by love, purifies the heart and overcomes the world." The great apostle to the Gentiles exclaims—"the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." We therefore "walk by faith, not by sight." ”

“ But what rank of life is free from danger? Who, of all the human family, would ever seek redemption through the blood of Christ, unless impelled by an invisible force? What heart would ever glow with love to God, unless that passion be enkindled as with a live coal from off his own hallowed altar? And where this passion does glow, what force can extinguish it? And if we have been made to differ from others, ought we not to distinguish ourselves both by the purity of our life, and the ardour of our zeal for the honour of the Lord Jesus? ”

“ Saints who actually see or hear their Saviour reach the acme of assurance. Motor automatisms, though rarer, are, if possible, even more convincing than sensations. The subjects here actually feel themselves played upon by powers beyond their will. The evidence is dynamic; the God or spirit moves the very organs of their body. [24]
The great field for this sense of being the instrument of a higher power is of course 'inspiration.' It is easy to discriminate between the religious leaders who have been habitually subject to inspiration and those who have not. ”

“ Secondly, as to the nature of that power, we see that it is exerted ever to save and to bless: that the action of His omnipotence is guided ever by His wisdom and love: that if He casts down even the spirits of evil, it is only in mercy, to deliver men from their power. We here learn, too, what is needed to make that power operative in us, namely, faith, trust in the manifested God, even Jesus Christ: had we but such faith, His Spirit would flow into us, and purify and save us. ”

“ What but the Holy Spirit, who is the author and giver of the life of grace, could have wrought such a change from the once dark, perverse, and ignorant heathen, to this now convinced, enlightened, humble, and believing Christian! How manifestly is the uncontrolled sovereignty of the Divine will exercised in the calling and translating of sinners from darkness to light! What a lesson may the nominal Christian of a civilized country sometimes learn from the simple, sincere religion of a converted heathen! ”

“ If you would call yourself a Christian, you must run like the athlete and struggle like the wrestler; for the believer’s course is a powerful movement, like the going forth of the sun in his might.
Faith, the great executive principle of the Christian, is a far different thing from a mere assent to creeds and formulas. It is a power, a mighty power, quickened in the Christian by the Holy Spirit—a power which moves the will, and controls the lusts, and overcomes the world. ”

“ You can fast by yourself, you can keep vigils by yourself, you can say prayers by yourself—and you can do these things by the devil! But, verily, Christian faith, which Christ Jesus truly said to be in spirit; Christian hope, which, despairing of its own merits, confides only in the mercy of God; Christian charity, which is not puffed up, is not made angry, does not seek its own glory,—none, indeed, can attain these except by the grace and gracious help of God alone. ”

“ Indeed, Almighty God, in his infinite mercy, can dispose a soul, in a moment, for receiving sanctifying grace, and infuse, at the same time, this grace into the soul. The light of true faith, the voluntary inclination of free-will to conform to the will and grace of God, the determination of free-will to abstain from sin, the remission of sins, and the infusion of grace, take place by a simultaneous movement; for justification is instantaneous, and has no successive gradation. ”

“ Because with our outward sight, we can discern only human beings of like sinful inclinations with ourselves, liable to the same temptations and trials. We want to turn away from this picture, from sin to perfect holiness; from rebellion to perfect obedience; from hate, enmity, indifference, to perfect love, compassion, and self-devotion. But we need the eye of faith for this. Faith sees the remedy for sin, the Reconciler of sinners, the sinless Sufferer, the all-sufficient Saviour in Jesus Christ, the God-man, in whose name I come to you to-night, and whose message I bring. ”

“ Faith in aught else misguides the understanding, ignores the power of God, and, in the words of St. Paul, appeals to an unknown power “whom therefore ye ignorantly worship.” This trembling and blind faith, in the past as in the present, seeks personality for support, unmindful of the divine law of Love, which can be understood, the Principle of which works intelligently as the divine Mind, not as matter, casting out evil and healing the sick. ”

“ How else could be that universal strife through all Christendom, who should stand in the richest and highest place, to preach up the humility of Christ, and offer spiritual sacrifices unto God? What God but mammon could put into the hearts of Christ’s ambassadors, to make, or want to make a gain of that gospel, which from the beginning to the end, means nothing else but separation from every view, temper and affection, that has any connexion with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life? ”

“ O my Saviour, eternal author and finisher of our faith, defend thyself, thy doctrine. Suffer not that thy cross, by which the universe hath been submitted to thee, be still the folly and the scandal of proud minds. Once more triumph at present, through the secret wonders of thy grace, over that same unbelief which thou formerly triumphedst over through the striking operations of thy power; and by those lively lights which enlighten hearts, more efficacious than all our discourses, destroy every sentiment of pride which may still rise up against the knowledge of thy mysteries. ”

“ My great want is, more of Christ, more of his whole character; this I purpose, by the Spirit’s help, more to meditate on, that all that hateful concern about self, that pollutes all I do, may be absorbed in one only thought of how he may be glorified. What I feel I want, is more holiness of spirit. ”

“ The Christianization of mortals, whereby the mortal concept and all it includes is obliterated, lets in the divine sense of being, fulfils the law in righteousness, and consummates the First Commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” All Christian faith, hope, and prayer, all devout desire, virtually petition, Make me the image and likeness of divine Love.
Through Christ, Truth, divine metaphysics points the way, demonstrates heaven here, — the struggle over, and victory on the side of Truth. In the degree that man becomes spiritually minded he becomes Godlike. ”

“ Your faith is measured by your self-despair.
Further, why is it that I must have faith in order to get God's power at work in me? Many people seem to think that faith is appointed by God as the condition of salvation out of mere arbitrary selection and caprice. Not at all. If God could save you without your faith, He would do it. He does not, because He cannot. Why must I have faith in order that God's power may keep me? Why must you open your window in order to let the fresh air in? Why must you pull up the blind in order to let the light in? ”

“ I would ask all writers against continual, immediate divine inspiration, how they could more effectually lead men, into an habitual state of sinning against the Holy Ghost, than by such doctrine? For how can we possibly avoid the sin of grieving, or quenching the Spirit, but by continually reverencing his holy presence in us; by continually waiting for, trusting, and attending to that, which the Spirit of God, wills, works, and manifests within us? To turn men from this continual dependance upon the Holy Spirit, is turning them from all true knowledge of God. ”

“ It is through the united faith of the people of God—through that confidence which they have in the Being whom they worship, that he, for their edification and benefit, will grant his Spirit unto his humble and faithful Saints. But we oftentimes deprive ourselves of the blessings and enjoyments which we might receive, through the darkness of our minds, through our selfishness, through our neglect of keeping the commandments of God, through our disobedience, and through the abundance of cares and perplexities with which we have to contend in this mortal existence. ”

“ Even the dead of soul, close wrapped in bandages of selfishness,—that greediest of graves,—have been quickened by his piercing call, and have come forth, to learn, "when risen," that only in the meekness that can obey is there the power to command, only in the love that serves is there the life of heart-felt liberty. To call, then, on the name and trust in the spirit of Christ, is to invoke the restoring power of God; to give symmetry and speed to our lame affections, and the vigor of an athlete to our limping wills. ”

“ It has been demonstrated that the teaching and atonement of God the Saviour would draw to him, by faith, the affections of the human heart. We will now inquire what particular effect that faith in Christ which works by love has upon the moral disposition, the conscience, the imagination, and the life of believers. Would faith in Christ, as a Divine, suffering Saviour, quicken, and regulate, and harmonize the moral powers of the soul? ”

“ What is saving faith? I dare not say that it is ’believing heartily’ my sins are forgiven me for Christ’s sake; for, if I live in sin, that belief is a destructive conceit, and not saving faith Neither dare I say, that ’saving faith is only a sure trust and confidence that Christ loved me, and gave Himself for me;’ for, if I did, I should almost damn all mankind for four thousand years. ”

“ From which may be drawn these two fundamental principles of the Christian faith—salvation, alone through the all-sufficient p. 44merits of Christ; and sanctification, alone through the renewing power of the Holy Ghost. Man is, in every respect, a dependent being: the same Almighty Power which formed his body from the dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; can alone enlighten, renew, and sanctify his soul. ”

“ The second answer is the spirit which prompts us to do our work. It is a spirit of complete self-sacrifice and trust in God, who will in his own way watch over His priests and ministers, so that if they have sacrificed themselves for the sake of preaching the Gospel of His kingdom, He will in return take them under his protection and accomplish their sanctification in His own manner and in His own time. ”

“ A pure evangelical faith embraces all that seems necessary to salvation, namely, the most perfect self-abasement before God, together with a lively sense of human unworthiness, full implicit confidence in the free gift of atoning mercy as the only way to everlasting glory, and an earnest desire, by increasing holiness and obedience, to prove ourselves the children of God. ”