Holiness

“Be often among the godly. They are the salt of the earth, and will help to season you. Their counsel may direct, their prayers may enliven you. Such holy sparks may be thrown into your breasts as may kindle devotion in you. It is good to be among the saints to learn the trade of godliness: ‘He that walketh with the wise men shall be wise’ (Prov. 13:20). “ The Godly Man’s Picture ” pg. 208”

“The besetting sin is of all others most dangerous. As Samson’s strength lay in his hair, so the strength of sin lies in this beloved sin. This is like a poison striking the heart, which brings death. A godly man will lay the axe of repentance to this sin and hew it down. He sets this sin, like Uriah, in the forefront of battle, so that it may be slain. He will sacrifice this Isaac, he will pluck out this right eye, so that he may see better to go to heaven. “ The Godly Man’s Picture ” pg. 150”

“Do we think walking with God can do us any hurt? Did we ever hear any cry out on their deathbed that they have been too holy, that they have prayed too much, or walked with God too much? No, that which has cut them to the heart has been this, that they have not walked more closely with God; they have wrung their hand and torn their hair to think that they have been so bewitched with the pleasures of the world. Close walking with God will make our enemy (death) be at peace with us. “ The Godly Man’s Picture ” pg. 181”

“As chastity distinguishes a virtuous woman from a harlot, so holiness distinguishes the godly from the wicked. It is a holy calling; ‘For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness’ (I Thess. 4:7). Let not any man say he is called of God, that lives in sin. Has God called you to be a swearer, to be a drunkard? Nay, let not the merely moral person say he is effectually called. What is civility without sanctity? It is but a dead carcass strewed with flowers. The king’s picture stamped upon brass will not go current for gold. The merely moral man looks as if he had the King of heaven’s image stamped upon him; but he is not better than counterfeit metal, which will not pass for current with God. “ All Things for Good ” pg. 108”

“Will not anyone be willing to exchange a dark prison for a king’s palace? Will he not exchange his brass for gold? You who become godly change for the better: you change your pride for humility, your uncleanness for holiness. You change a lust that will damn you for a Christ who will save you. If men were not besotted, if their fall had not knocked their brains out, they would see that is it the most rational thing in the world to become godly. “ The Godly Man’s Picture ” pg. 201”

“A godly man is heavenly in his disposition. He sets his affections on things above (Col. 3:2). He sends his heart to heaven before he gets there; he looks upon the world as but a beautiful prison and he cannot be much in love with his fetters, though they are made of gold. A holy person contemplates glory and eternity; his desires have got wings and have fled to heaven. “ The Godly Man’s Picture ” pg. 104”

“When we are advocates in a bad cause, pleading for any impious, unjustifiable act; when we baptize sin with the name of religion, and with our oratory wash the devil’s face, this is to be the servants of men. In these cases, a godly person will not so unman himself as to serve men. He says, like Paul, ‘If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ’ (Gal. 1:10); and like Peter, ‘We ought to obey God rather than men’ (Acts 5:29). " The Godly Man’s Picture " pg. 43”

“It is a kind of hell to be in the company of the wicked, where we cannot choose but hear God’s name dishonored. It was a capital crime to carry the image of Tiberius, engraved on a ring or coin, into any sordid place. Those who have the image of God engraved on them should not go into any sinful, sordid company. I have only ever read of two living people who desired to keep company with the dead, and they were both possessed of the devil (Matt. 8:28). “ The Godly Man’s Picture ” pg. 141”

“Others think that because they have given up their riotous ways, and are broken off from evil company or some particular lust, and are reduced to sobriety and civility, they are now real converts. They forget that there is a vast difference between being sanctified and civilized. They forget that many seek to enter into the kingdom of heaven, and are not far from it, and arrive to the almost of Christianity, and yet fall short at last. While conscience holds the whip over them, many will pray, hear, read, and forbear their delightful sins; but no sooner is the lion asleep than they are at their sins again. Who more religious than the Jews when God's hand was upon them? Yet no sooner was the affliction over, than they forgot God. You may have forsaken a troublesome sin, and have escaped the gross pollutions of the world, and yet in all this not have changed your carnal nature. ~ A Sure Guide to Heaven by Joseph Alleine”

“'The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.' But note by the way, that this broken, this broken and contrite heart, is thus excellent only to God: 'O God, ' saith he, 'THOU wilt not despise it.' By which is implied, the world have not this esteem or respect for such a heart, or for one that is of a broken and a contrite spirit. ~ The Acceptable Sacrifice by John Bunyan (pg. 3)”

“Let us not therefore be discouraged at the small beginnings of grace, but look on ourselves as elected to be `holy and without blame' (Eph. 1:4). Let us look on our imperfect beginning only to enforce further striving to perfection, and to keep us in a low opinion of ourselves. Otherwise, in case of discouragement, we must consider ourselves as Christ does, who looks on us as those he intends to fit for himself. Christ values us by what we shall be, and by what we are elected unto. We call a little plant a tree, because it is growing up to be so. `Who has despised the day of small things?' (Zech. 4:10). Christ would not have us despise little things. ~ The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes”

“Let not that man think he makes any progress in holiness who walks not over the bellies of his lusts.”

“All other ways of mortification are vain, all helps leave us helpless; it must be done by the Spirit.”

“He who prays as he ought will endeavor to live as he prays.”

“Christ is so in love with holiness, that at the price of His blood He will buy it for us.”

“This life was not intended to be the place of our perfection, but the preparation for it.”

“Say not that thou hast royal blood in thy veins and art born of God, unless thou canst prove thy pedigree by daring to be holy.”

“Thou must be righteous and holy, before thou canst live righteously and holily.”

“Thou hast an art above God Himself, if thou canst fetch any true pleasure out of unholiness.”

“I had rather be a sober heathen than a drunken Christian.”

“This Spirit of whom we treat is in himself a distinct, living, powerful, intelligent, divine person.”

“The Holy Spirit is more intimate, as it were, unto the principles of our souls than they are to themselves.”

“Take heed to yourselves, lest you be void of that saving grace of God which you offer to others, and be strangers to the effectual working of that gospel which you preach.”

“Many a tailor goes in rags, that maketh costly clothes for others; and many a cook scarcely licks his fingers, when he hath dressed for others the most costly dishes.”

“There are three things in the gospel which are as the essentially constitutive parts of it: the mystery of its doctrine, which is the object of faith; the holiness of its precepts, which are the matter of our obedience; and the purity of its institutions of worship, which is the trial of our faith and obedience.”

“No unholy person hath any ground to expect the least advantage by the gospel, here or hereafter.”