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Sourced quotes from John Owen in the Postmilstill archive, with works and topics linked for reading and research.
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What is gathered up into Christ, be it never so little, if all the world should set themselves to dissolve it, they can never do it, — no, nor the gates of hell to boot; and whatever is not gathered up into Christ, if al…
There is nothing in this world, but only the gospel of Christ, and the interest of Christ, and the grace and mercy of God in the covenant, but it is liable to a destructive dissolution. It is the law that hath passed upo…
It is not, then, a destruction and total emotion of the state things of the nations; but a change, translation, and a new-moulding of them, that is here intimated. They shall be shuffled together, almost into their primi…
These, then, are the things which cannot be shaken; which we may reduce to three heads. First, The growth of righteousness, peace, and joy in the saints, being filled with light and love from the special presence of Chri…
The text is plain, that it must be previous to the bringing in of those things that cannot be moved; that is, the prosperous estate of the kingdom of Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ, by his mighty power, in these latter days, as antichristian tyranny draws to its period, will so far shake and translate the political heights, governments, and strength of the nations, as shall se…
Most apparent, then, it is that the new covenant of grace, and the promises thereof, are all of them of distinguishing mercy, restrained to the people whom God did foreknow; and so not extended universally to all. Now, t…
This, then, is one main difference of these two covenants, — that the Lord did in the old only require the condition; now, in the new, he will also effect it in all the federates, to whom this covenant is extended. And i…
The first argument may be taken from the nature of the covenant of grace, which was established, ratified, and confirmed in and by the death of Christ; that was the testament whereof he was the testator, which was ratifi…
There is no man whatever, that hath any want in reference unto the things of God, but Christ will be unto him that which he wants: I speak of those who are given him of his Father. Is he dead? Christ is life. Is he weak?…
Having manifested that the saints hold peculiar fellowship with the Lord Jesus, it nextly follows that we show wherein it is that they have this peculiar communion with him. Now, this is in grace. This is everywhere ascr…
Many dark and disturbing thoughts are apt to arise in this thing. Few can carry up their hearts and minds to this height by faith, as to rest their souls in the love of the Father; they live below it, in the troublesome…
Our peculiar communion with the Father is in love, — free, undeserved, and eternal love. This the Father peculiarly fixes upon the saints; this they are immediately to eye in him, to receive of him, and to make such retu…
The Father doth it by the way of original authority; the Son by the way of communicating from a purchased treasury; the Holy Spirit by the way of immediate efficacy.
For through Christ we have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Our access unto God (wherein we have communion with him) is through Christ, in the Spirit, and unto the Father; — the persons being here considered as enga…
That the saints have distinct communion with the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit (that is, distinctly with the Father, and distinctly with the Son, and distinctly with the Holy Spirit), must, in the first place,…
Our communion, then, with God consisteth in his communication of himself unto us, with our returnal unto him of that which he requireth and accepteth, flowing from that union which in Jesus Christ we have with him.
By nature, since the entrance of sin, no man hath any communion with God. He is light, we darkness; and what communion hath light with darkness? He is life, we are dead, — he is love, and we are enmity; and what agreemen…
Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. This being so earnestly and directly asserted by the apostle, we may boldly follow him with our affirmation, — namely, That the saints of God have c…
Herein would I live; — herein would I die; — hereon would I dwell in my thoughts and affections, to the withering and consumption of all the painted beauties of this world, unto the crucifying all things here below, unti…
Every unmortified sin will certainly do two things: it will weaken the soul, and deprive it of its vigour; and it will darken the soul, and deprive it of its comfort and peace. As sin weakens, so it darkens the soul. It…
The life, vigour, and comfort of our spiritual life depend much on our mortification of sin. Strength and comfort, and power and peace, in our walking with God, are the things of our desires.
There is not the best saint in the world but, if he should give over this duty, would fall into as many cursed sins as ever any did of his kind.
If once it comes to that, that you shall say you have nothing to do with religion as rulers of the nation, God will quickly manifest that he hath nothing to do with you as rulers of the nation. The great promise of Chris…
This is certain, that the civil powers of the world, after fearful shaking and desolations, shall be disposed of into a useful subserviency to the interest, power, and kingdom of Jesus Christ. Hence they are said to be h…
And this looketh to the inward substance of the kingdom of Christ, which is given him of his Father, and is not of this world, though he exercise it in the world to the last day; — a kingdom which can never be shaken nor…
In the carrying on of the interest of Christ and the gospel, God will work wonderful providential alterations. When the beginning of the saints' departure from under the dominion of Antichrist was followed with wars, tum…
The "Desire of the nations" is to be brought in by the "shaking of the nations." They are to be civilly moved, that they may be spiritually established. Neither are they only to be shaken, but also to undergo great alter…
Among all the designs that are on foot in the world, there is none that hath either stability, fixedness, or final success, but only the design of God concerning the kingdom of Christ. Other branches may be set, but the…
In the midst of all the tumults and embroilments of the nations, that which the Lord takes peculiarly as his own design, into his own management, is the carrying on of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus.
God in his appointed time will bring forth the kingdom of the Lord Christ unto more glory and power than in former days, I presume you are persuaded. Whatever will be more, these six things are clearly promised: fullness…
The more we delight in Christ, the less power sin has over us.
Here we have some dark views of it; but we shall see him as he is. This is heaven, this is blessedness, this is eternal rest.
If a man pretend himself to be enamoured on, or greatly to desire, what he never saw, nor was ever represented unto him, he does but dote on his own imaginations. And the pretended desires of many to behold the glory of…
The hearts of believers are like the needle touched by the loadstone, which cannot rest until it comes to the point whereunto, by the secret virtue of it, it is directed. For being once touched by the love of Christ, rec…
No man shall ever behold the glory of Christ by sight hereafter, who does not in some measure behold it by faith here in this world. Grace is a necessary preparation for glory, and faith for sight.
That one of the greatest privileges and advancements of believers, both in this world and unto eternity, consists in their beholding the glory of Christ.
It is to be feared that very many have little knowledge of the main enemy that they carry about them in their bosoms. This makes them ready to justify themselves, and to be impatient of reproof or admonition, not knowing…
The root of an unmortified course is the digestion of sin without bitterness in the heart. When a man hath confirmed his imagination to such an apprehension of grace and mercy as to be able, without bitterness, to swallo…
When a man fighteth against his sin only with arguments from the issue or the punishment due unto it, this is a sign that sin hath taken great possession of the will, and that in the heart there is a superfluity of naugh…
The vigour, and power, and comfort of our spiritual life depends on the mortification of the deeds of the flesh.
By beholding the glory of Christ by faith we shall find rest to our souls. Our minds are apt to be filled with troubles, fears, cares, dangers, distresses, ungoverned passion and lusts. By these our thoughts are filled w…
Mortification is the soul's vigorous opposition to self, wherein sincerity is most evident.
But whatever dismal appearance of things there may be in the world, we need not fear the ruin of the church by the most bloody oppositions. Former experiences will give security against future events. It is built on the…
Mortification from a self-strength, carried on by ways of self-invention, unto the end of a self-righteousness, is the soul and substance of all false religion in the world.
Arminians pretend, very speciously, that Christ died for all men, yet, in effect, they make him die for no one man at all.
Every unmortified sin will certainly do two things:' [1.] It will weaken the soul, and deprive it of its vigour. [2.] It will darken the soul, and deprive it of its comfort and peace. [1.]
But the Spirit was not limited to doing surprising and extraordinary things. He was present in the Old Testament period in giving civil rule and government ... moral virtues ... physical strength ... and intellectual abi…
In the divine Scriptures, there are shallows and there are deeps; shallows where the lamb may wade, and deeps where the elephant may swim.
50 quotes
What is gathered up into Christ, be it never so little, if all the world should set themselves to dissolve it, they can never do it, — no, nor the gates of hell to boot; and whatever is not gathered up into Christ, if al…
There is nothing in this world, but only the gospel of Christ, and the interest of Christ, and the grace and mercy of God in the covenant, but it is liable to a destructive dissolution. It is the law that hath passed upo…
It is not, then, a destruction and total emotion of the state things of the nations; but a change, translation, and a new-moulding of them, that is here intimated. They shall be shuffled together, almost into their primi…
These, then, are the things which cannot be shaken; which we may reduce to three heads. First, The growth of righteousness, peace, and joy in the saints, being filled with light and love from the special presence of Chri…
The text is plain, that it must be previous to the bringing in of those things that cannot be moved; that is, the prosperous estate of the kingdom of Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ, by his mighty power, in these latter days, as antichristian tyranny draws to its period, will so far shake and translate the political heights, governments, and strength of the nations, as shall se…
Most apparent, then, it is that the new covenant of grace, and the promises thereof, are all of them of distinguishing mercy, restrained to the people whom God did foreknow; and so not extended universally to all. Now, t…
This, then, is one main difference of these two covenants, — that the Lord did in the old only require the condition; now, in the new, he will also effect it in all the federates, to whom this covenant is extended. And i…
The first argument may be taken from the nature of the covenant of grace, which was established, ratified, and confirmed in and by the death of Christ; that was the testament whereof he was the testator, which was ratifi…
There is no man whatever, that hath any want in reference unto the things of God, but Christ will be unto him that which he wants: I speak of those who are given him of his Father. Is he dead? Christ is life. Is he weak?…
Having manifested that the saints hold peculiar fellowship with the Lord Jesus, it nextly follows that we show wherein it is that they have this peculiar communion with him. Now, this is in grace. This is everywhere ascr…
Many dark and disturbing thoughts are apt to arise in this thing. Few can carry up their hearts and minds to this height by faith, as to rest their souls in the love of the Father; they live below it, in the troublesome…
Our peculiar communion with the Father is in love, — free, undeserved, and eternal love. This the Father peculiarly fixes upon the saints; this they are immediately to eye in him, to receive of him, and to make such retu…
The Father doth it by the way of original authority; the Son by the way of communicating from a purchased treasury; the Holy Spirit by the way of immediate efficacy.
For through Christ we have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Our access unto God (wherein we have communion with him) is through Christ, in the Spirit, and unto the Father; — the persons being here considered as enga…
That the saints have distinct communion with the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit (that is, distinctly with the Father, and distinctly with the Son, and distinctly with the Holy Spirit), must, in the first place,…
Our communion, then, with God consisteth in his communication of himself unto us, with our returnal unto him of that which he requireth and accepteth, flowing from that union which in Jesus Christ we have with him.
By nature, since the entrance of sin, no man hath any communion with God. He is light, we darkness; and what communion hath light with darkness? He is life, we are dead, — he is love, and we are enmity; and what agreemen…
Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. This being so earnestly and directly asserted by the apostle, we may boldly follow him with our affirmation, — namely, That the saints of God have c…
Herein would I live; — herein would I die; — hereon would I dwell in my thoughts and affections, to the withering and consumption of all the painted beauties of this world, unto the crucifying all things here below, unti…
Every unmortified sin will certainly do two things: it will weaken the soul, and deprive it of its vigour; and it will darken the soul, and deprive it of its comfort and peace. As sin weakens, so it darkens the soul. It…
The life, vigour, and comfort of our spiritual life depend much on our mortification of sin. Strength and comfort, and power and peace, in our walking with God, are the things of our desires.
There is not the best saint in the world but, if he should give over this duty, would fall into as many cursed sins as ever any did of his kind.
If once it comes to that, that you shall say you have nothing to do with religion as rulers of the nation, God will quickly manifest that he hath nothing to do with you as rulers of the nation. The great promise of Chris…
This is certain, that the civil powers of the world, after fearful shaking and desolations, shall be disposed of into a useful subserviency to the interest, power, and kingdom of Jesus Christ. Hence they are said to be h…
And this looketh to the inward substance of the kingdom of Christ, which is given him of his Father, and is not of this world, though he exercise it in the world to the last day; — a kingdom which can never be shaken nor…
In the carrying on of the interest of Christ and the gospel, God will work wonderful providential alterations. When the beginning of the saints' departure from under the dominion of Antichrist was followed with wars, tum…
The "Desire of the nations" is to be brought in by the "shaking of the nations." They are to be civilly moved, that they may be spiritually established. Neither are they only to be shaken, but also to undergo great alter…
Among all the designs that are on foot in the world, there is none that hath either stability, fixedness, or final success, but only the design of God concerning the kingdom of Christ. Other branches may be set, but the…
In the midst of all the tumults and embroilments of the nations, that which the Lord takes peculiarly as his own design, into his own management, is the carrying on of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus.
God in his appointed time will bring forth the kingdom of the Lord Christ unto more glory and power than in former days, I presume you are persuaded. Whatever will be more, these six things are clearly promised: fullness…
The more we delight in Christ, the less power sin has over us.
Here we have some dark views of it; but we shall see him as he is. This is heaven, this is blessedness, this is eternal rest.
If a man pretend himself to be enamoured on, or greatly to desire, what he never saw, nor was ever represented unto him, he does but dote on his own imaginations. And the pretended desires of many to behold the glory of…
The hearts of believers are like the needle touched by the loadstone, which cannot rest until it comes to the point whereunto, by the secret virtue of it, it is directed. For being once touched by the love of Christ, rec…
No man shall ever behold the glory of Christ by sight hereafter, who does not in some measure behold it by faith here in this world. Grace is a necessary preparation for glory, and faith for sight.
That one of the greatest privileges and advancements of believers, both in this world and unto eternity, consists in their beholding the glory of Christ.
It is to be feared that very many have little knowledge of the main enemy that they carry about them in their bosoms. This makes them ready to justify themselves, and to be impatient of reproof or admonition, not knowing…
The root of an unmortified course is the digestion of sin without bitterness in the heart. When a man hath confirmed his imagination to such an apprehension of grace and mercy as to be able, without bitterness, to swallo…
When a man fighteth against his sin only with arguments from the issue or the punishment due unto it, this is a sign that sin hath taken great possession of the will, and that in the heart there is a superfluity of naugh…
The vigour, and power, and comfort of our spiritual life depends on the mortification of the deeds of the flesh.
By beholding the glory of Christ by faith we shall find rest to our souls. Our minds are apt to be filled with troubles, fears, cares, dangers, distresses, ungoverned passion and lusts. By these our thoughts are filled w…
Mortification is the soul's vigorous opposition to self, wherein sincerity is most evident.
But whatever dismal appearance of things there may be in the world, we need not fear the ruin of the church by the most bloody oppositions. Former experiences will give security against future events. It is built on the…
Mortification from a self-strength, carried on by ways of self-invention, unto the end of a self-righteousness, is the soul and substance of all false religion in the world.
Arminians pretend, very speciously, that Christ died for all men, yet, in effect, they make him die for no one man at all.
Every unmortified sin will certainly do two things:' [1.] It will weaken the soul, and deprive it of its vigour. [2.] It will darken the soul, and deprive it of its comfort and peace. [1.]
But the Spirit was not limited to doing surprising and extraordinary things. He was present in the Old Testament period in giving civil rule and government ... moral virtues ... physical strength ... and intellectual abi…
In the divine Scriptures, there are shallows and there are deeps; shallows where the lamb may wade, and deeps where the elephant may swim.