Holy cause

“ Sufferings for the cause and cross of Christ, will come fast enough of themselves, without our praying for them. But should the Methodists be called even to die for the cause in which they are embarked, as I am verily persuaded it is the cause of God, so I doubt not but suffering grace will be given for suffering times, and the Spirit of Christ and of glory will rest upon the sufferers souls. ”

“ And that such as follow the leadings of that Light, with which He enlightens the understandings and consciences of men, shall not walk in darkness, that is in evil and ignorance of God, but shall have the Light of Life, that is, be in a holy and living state or condition toward God—a state of acceptance and salvation, which is from sin here as well as from wrath here after, for which Christ was given of God. So that they assert the Light of Christ to be sufficient to save, that is, to convince of sin, lead out of it, and quicken the soul in the ways of holiness, and not a natural light. ”

“ The want of the knowledge of the glorious plan of the gospel was the occasion of much distress to my soul; and a want of the knowledge of the devices of the devil, held me long in bondage and sorrow. Oh, what a mercy to be made wise unto present and eternal salvation. But I beg leave here to observe, the Holy Spirit is a sovereign in all his dispensations of grace in the hearts of his dear people. He hath said, “I will dwell in thee, and all thy children shall be taught of God;” but there are very few, I humbly conceive, can possibly tell the precise time when the Spirit enters the soul ”

“ She read—"'I see my abyss of pride, of curiosity, of sin. There is no connection between me and God, or the holy Jesus Christ. But he has been made sin for me; by his wounds we are healed. He has healed himself, and therefore assuredly he will heal me. ”

“ Let us accept the truths of the Christian religion and we have then have the consolation that our suffering is not without cause, that we are expiating the original and primitive sin of mankind. This will at least make us understand our condition. Thus we shall, in a way, be proving Christianity and even God himself, beginning with man. ”

“ O ye suffering ones! all ye whom the Father is chastening! come and see Jesus suffering, giving up His will, being made perfect, sanctifying Himself. His suffering is the secret of His Holiness, of His Glory, of His Life. Will you not thank God for anything that can admit you into the nearer fellowship of your blessed Lord? Shall we not accept every trial, great or small, as the call of His love to be one with Himself in living only for God’s will. This is Holiness, to be one with Jesus as He does the will of God, to abide in Jesus who was made perfect through suffering. ”

“ For in the Mass the whole price of our salvation, and the whole treasure of Christ's merits, is set before every Christian, and the principal mysteries of our faith and redemption are renewed. Those, then, are convicted of carelessness of their salvation, of ingratitude to God, and of coldness towards their religious duties, who do not frequently reflect upon the blessing of their redemption with holy mental meditation, and with feelings of thankfulness to God. ”

“ And if you will but confess that there is in you no wisdom or power for holiness, none at all, and allow Christ, ‘the Wisdom of God and the Power of God,’ by the Holy Spirit within you, to lead you on, and prove how completely, how faithfully, how mightily, He can be your sanctification, He will do it most gloriously. ”

“ The doctrines contained in our religious creed, and which we firmly believe to be recorded in the scriptures of truth, comprise the being, perfections, and unity of God; the union of the divine and human natures in the person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; the personality, deity, and influences of the Holy Spirit; the fall of man, and its awful consequences in the universal depravity of human nature; the atonement made for sinners by the obedience and death of Jesus Christ ”

“ They say, ‘The man may repent,’ and then? Would he go to heaven? What kind of a heaven would be suitable for him? What society is he fitted to enjoy? What delight would he take in anything that is pure and holy? That is another of the false, baneful teachings of the Church, that the vilest of men may in a dying hour, by a few words of the priest, by partaking of the communion, by the anointing of oil, or the sprinkling of a few drops of so-called holy water, in an instant, be fitted to go into the presence of God and associate with angels and the pure and good. ”

“ I want the strength and vigor of faith in exercise, to carry me above present feelings, and present troubles; but as sinners, I believe God will make us most heartily sick of sin, especially our most easy besetment, shall be the principal pull that Satan and the world will ever trouble us with. Thus I find nothing can subdue sin but communion with Christ, maintained and kept up by our union with him. The mind must be powerfully led by the holy spirit, to contemplate what Christ is to us, and as we are kept near to him, sin cannot get the mastery. ”

“ We believe that the first condition to be complied with on the part of sinners, is, to believe in God, and in the sufferings and death of his Son Jesus Christ, to atone for the sins of the whole world, and in his resurrection and ascension on high, to appear in the presence of his Father, to make intercessions for the children of men, and in the Holy Ghost, which is given to all who obey the gospel. ”

“ The first preachers of the Gospel, therefore, in conformity with these principles, would aim first, and directly, to convince their hearers of their sins, and in accomplishing this end, they would fasten upon those facts in which the guilt of their hearers more particularly consisted. And then, when men were thus convicted of their guilt, the salvation through Christ from sin, and its penalty, would be pressed upon their anxious souls; and they would be taught to exercise faith in Jesus, as the meritorious cause of life, pardon, and happiness. ”

“ Christ by His Passion delivered us from our sins causally—that is, by setting up the cause of our deliverance, from which cause all sins whatsoever, past, present, or to come, could be forgiven: just as if a doctor were to prepare a medicine by which all sicknesses can be cured even in future. ”

“ The sins of those who attain to peace with God, through attention to the law written in their hearts by the Holy Spirit, are blotted out through the blood of Christ, whether they know it or not; for they are baptized by the Spirit unto him, and accepted in him, the Beloved. ”

“ That faith which not only receives divine revelation in general, but which in a particular manner fastens upon Jesus Christ and his mediation, by which we rely upon Christ as the Lord our righteousness, and resign ourselves to him as the Lord our ruler. This is that by which we receive the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and eternal life. ”

“ It is the science of faith, reformation, and remission of sins, whereby a fallen race of mortals may be justified, cleansed, and restored to the communion and fellowship of that Holy Spirit which is the light of the world, and of every intelligence therein. ”

“ With the help of the Holy Spirit, conviction of sin may be roused by presentation of the claims of God's perfect law, and by drawing attention, first to particular overt transgressions, and then to the manifold omissions of duty, the general lack of supreme and all-pervading love to God, and the guilty rejection of Christ's offers and commands. ”

“ This will be sound 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 merits (they are sanctifying, without them the heart is carnal) and in those sights to see the full vileness of sin, and to see all pardoned; in those sights to pray and hear, seeing all thy weak performances accepted continually, to trample upon all thy own righteousness, and be found continually in the righteousness of Christ only. Without the blood of Christ on the conscience, all is dead service. ”

“ Your lack of prayer is owing to a diseased state of life, and the disease is nothing but this—you have not accepted, for daily life and every duty, the full salvation which the word brings: “Ye are not under the law, but under grace.” As universal and deep-reaching as the demand of the law and the reign of sin, yea, more exceeding abundant, is the provision of grace and the power by which it makes us reign in life. ”

“ The whole evolution of humanity was there depicted in its essential elements, on the one hand the sin and condemnation of the race, on the other hand the grace and suffering of him who was its life and salvation. As he who hung upon the cross was God, manifest in the flesh, so the suffering of the cross was God's suffering for sin, manifest in the flesh. The imputation of our sins to him is the result of his natural union with us. ”

“ Search the scriptures daily, as mines of gold, wherein the heart of Christ is laid. Watch against constitutional sins; see them in their vileness, and they shall never break out into act. Keep always an humble, empty, broken frame of heart, sensible of any spiritual miscarriage, observant of all inward workings, 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. ”

“ If we heartily espouse the cause of God, the just but injured cause of religion and virtue, and make it our cause, we may hope he will own our cause, and plead it. The church's cause, though it seem for a time to go against her, will at length be pleaded with jealousy, and judgment not only given against, but executed upon, the enemies of it. (5.) "He will bring me forth to the light, make me shine eminently out of obscurity, and become conspicuous, will make my righteousness shine evidently from under the dark cloud of calumny, Ps. ”

“ I was led to see the glorious doctrines of the Trinity; eternal election; the atonement; and imputed righteousness of the Saviour, the necessity of the Spirit’s work, and the doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints.—These precious truths gradually opened to my view; but the power of sin, attended with a sense of guilt; the sense of God’s anger; the fears of death; the solemnities of the last great day; and an awful eternity, often sunk my mind: my heart, at times, meditated terror, and experienced many real and imaginary horrors. ”

“ The awful separating and purifying process that is ever being carried on in the fiery furnace of the Divine Holiness, ever consuming and ever assimilating, we expect to see in Him in the struggles of a truly human will. ”

“ For we do affirm that to follow this holy Light, and to turn to it, is the only way to have true living faith in Christ as He appeared in the flesh and to receive Him as sacrifice and Mediator.
We believe that Christ came not to save men in their sins, but from their sins, and that those that open their hearts to inward convictions of His Light and grace, have their conscience sprinkled with His blood from dead works, to serve the living God. ”

“ All their care is, that the doctrine of Christ spread no further among the people; as if that healing institution were a plague begun, the contagion of which must be stopped. See how the malice of hell fights against the counsels of heaven; God will have the knowledge of Christ to spread all the world over, but the chief priests would have it spread no further, which he that sits in heaven laughs at. ”

“ That all those sufferings which arise from natural or innocent causes - such as diseases, famine, pestilence, death, and the like - are sent expressly from God, and that He is the principal cause and author of them, it is easy to conceive; because there is no sin in these things, and the occasions of them are incapable of sin ”

“ Two things concur in the justification of souls, namely, forgiveness of sin and newness of life through grace. Consequently, as to efficacy, which comes of the Divine power, the Passion as well as the Resurrection of Christ is the cause of justification as to both the above. ”

“ Too often it has not been Christ at all—it has been but a lifeless semblance of Christianity—to which they have given their adhesion. The fear of hell, the hope of heaven—these have been often the chief motives of religion; and alms-giving, church-going, Bible-reading, and the use of the sacraments, have been the means by which men have thought they could escape the one and secure the other. ”

“ We present a higher doctrine—the Gospel. The Gospel teaches first how sin in ourselves is, through Christ, slain and buried. Thus we obtain a good conscience, a conscience hating and opposing sin, and become obedient to another power. Being delivered from sin we would serve God and exert ourselves to do his pleasure, even though no fear, punishment, judge or executioner existed. ”

“ Admitting that faith were possible, what connection can exist between such occult speculations and the manifest duties of mankind, duties which are palpable to every one who, in the least, consults his reason, his interest, or the welfare of the society to which he belongs? Before I can be satisfied of the advantages of justice, temperance, and benevolence, must I first believe in the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Eucharist, and all the fables of the Old Testament? ”