Author
Sourced quotes from William Gurnall in the Postmilstill archive, with works and topics linked for reading and research.
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The strength of the general in other hosts lies in his troops. He flies, as a great commander once said to his soldiers, upon their wings; if their feathers be clipped, their power broken, he is lost; but in the army of…
The apostle doth not exhort them for rioting and drunkenness to put on sobriety and temperance, for chambering and wantonness [to] put on chastity, as the philosopher would have done, but bids, 'put ye on the Lord Jesus…
It requires more prowess and greatness of spirit to obey God faithfully, than to command an army of men; to be a Christian than a captain.
We must not confide in the armour of God, but in the God of this armour, because all our weapons are only mighty through God.
The Christian's armour will rust, except it be furbished and scoured with the oil of prayer.
Paul was Nero's prisoner, but Nero was much more God's. And while God had work for Paul, he found him friends both in court and prison. Let persecutors send saints to prison, God can provide a keeper for their turn.
Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. God's wounds cure; sin's kisses kill.
That book must be worth reading—that has God for the author!
Mercy should make us ashamed to sin. Wrath should make us afraid to sin.
The promise is but the dish in which Christ, the true food of the soul, is served up; and, if faith's hand be on the promise, it is but as one that draws the dish to him, that he may come at the dainties in it. The promi…
Prayer is nothing but the promise reversed, or God's word formed into an argument, and retorted by faith upon God again.
Prayer is the very breath of faith; stop a man's breath, and where is he then?
Satan with all his wits and wiles, shall never vanquish a soul armed with true grace; nay, he that hath this armour of God on shall vanquish him. Look
The Christian who seems to be so overmatched, is yet so unconquerable, II Cor. 12:9; James 5:11.
False faith, indeed, once foiled, seldom comes on again; but true faith riseth and fights more valiantly, as we see in Peter and other Scripture examples. Temptation
And here is all the devil gets; instead of destroying his faith which he aims at, he is the occasion of the refining of it, and thereby adding to its strength.
Too many read a chapter or two in the Bible, then for lack of interest put it down for weeks at a time and never look at it. Bernard compares the study of the Word and the mere reading of it to the difference between a c…
His subject thou art whom thou crownest in thy heart, and not whom thou flatterest with thy lips.
Christ and satan divide the whole world. Christ will bear no equal, and Satan no superior; and therefore, hold in with both thou canst not.
It is not, indeed, the bare knowing the truths of the gospel saves; but the gross ignorance of them, to be sure, will damn souls.
Truth lies deep, and must be digged for. Since
And they cannot be solid Christians, that are not instructed in the grounds of Christianity.
Cowards never won heaven. Do not claim that you are begotten of God and have His royal blood running in your veins unless you can prove your lineage by this heroic spirit; to dare to be holy in spite of men and devils.'…
Many think they shall not pay so dear for an error in judgment as for a sin in practice. Yea, some have such a latitude, that they fancy a man may be saved in any religion
Second.'The Christian is to walk singularly, not after the world's guise, Rom. 12:2. We are commanded not to be conformed to this world, that is, not to accommodate ourselves to the corrupt customs of the world.
The state of unregeneracy is a state of impotency.
O how true are poor sinners to the devil's trust!
He must needs be comfortable that hath so oft a pillow to lay his head on as Christ's lap.
He that is so over-dainty of his name that he cannot bear to see some dirt, and that good store too, cast upon his back by reviling tongues, must seek a path to travel in by himself to heaven; but, for thy comfort, Chris…
In a word, in times of public calamity, when the flood of God's wrath comes rolling in upon a nation, like waves irresistibly, at the wide breach which the high crying sins of the times make, and the few righteous that a…
David's good-will in desiring to build the temple, was as much in God's account as if he had done it. Many shall be at the last day rewarded by Christ for clothing and feeding the poor, who, when on earth, had neither cl…
Because thy stock of grace in hand is small, thou questionest thy persevering. "Can these weak legs," thinkest thou, "bring me to my journey's end; these few pence in my purse—little grace in my heart—bear my charges all…
Sometimes we have no choice about our relationships'a child cannot select his own father or the parent his son. But when God does allow us freedom to choose, He expects a wise choice every time. Select spiritual masters.…
God brings his grace into the heart by conquest.
Labour to get Christ, and through him hopes of heaven, and thou takest the right road to content; thou
Thou art by nature a covenant-servant to sin and Satan.
O loosen the roots of thy affections from the world, and the tree will fall more easily.
The more our life has been corrupted with hypocrisy and unfaithfulness, the weaker our faith will be in a dying hour.
The Christian is a born conqueror, the gates of hell shall not prevail against him.
The bloodiest tragedies in the world have been acted on the stage of the church; and the most inhuman massacres and butcheries committed on the harmless sheep of Christ.
That it is the saint's duty, and should be their care, not only to get an established judgment of the truth, but also to maintain a steadfast profession of the truth.
A man may outlive many wounds received in the arms or legs, but a stab in the heart or other vital parts is the certain messenger of death approaching. Thus righteousness and holiness preserve the principal part of a Chr…
Assurance rather is the fruit of faith. It is in faith as the flower is in the root.
Christ did not redeem and save poor souls by sitting in majesty on his heavenly throne, but by hanging on the shameful cross, under the tormenting hand of man's fury and God's just wrath.
A sinner truly convinced is not only convinced of this sin or that sin, but of the evil of all sin.
It is faith on Christ that alone can purify thy heart. Without it thy washed face and hands'external righteousness I mean'will never commend thee to God.
So in the Christian there are many graces, but one new creature.
And so when thou art tempted to any sin, look not on it as a single sin, but as having all other sins in its belly.
Thus long did God forbear to commit his will to writing, because it, passing through so few, and those trusty hands, it might safely be preserved.
50 quotes
The strength of the general in other hosts lies in his troops. He flies, as a great commander once said to his soldiers, upon their wings; if their feathers be clipped, their power broken, he is lost; but in the army of…
The apostle doth not exhort them for rioting and drunkenness to put on sobriety and temperance, for chambering and wantonness [to] put on chastity, as the philosopher would have done, but bids, 'put ye on the Lord Jesus…
It requires more prowess and greatness of spirit to obey God faithfully, than to command an army of men; to be a Christian than a captain.
We must not confide in the armour of God, but in the God of this armour, because all our weapons are only mighty through God.
The Christian's armour will rust, except it be furbished and scoured with the oil of prayer.
Paul was Nero's prisoner, but Nero was much more God's. And while God had work for Paul, he found him friends both in court and prison. Let persecutors send saints to prison, God can provide a keeper for their turn.
Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. God's wounds cure; sin's kisses kill.
That book must be worth reading—that has God for the author!
Mercy should make us ashamed to sin. Wrath should make us afraid to sin.
The promise is but the dish in which Christ, the true food of the soul, is served up; and, if faith's hand be on the promise, it is but as one that draws the dish to him, that he may come at the dainties in it. The promi…
Prayer is nothing but the promise reversed, or God's word formed into an argument, and retorted by faith upon God again.
Prayer is the very breath of faith; stop a man's breath, and where is he then?
Satan with all his wits and wiles, shall never vanquish a soul armed with true grace; nay, he that hath this armour of God on shall vanquish him. Look
The Christian who seems to be so overmatched, is yet so unconquerable, II Cor. 12:9; James 5:11.
False faith, indeed, once foiled, seldom comes on again; but true faith riseth and fights more valiantly, as we see in Peter and other Scripture examples. Temptation
And here is all the devil gets; instead of destroying his faith which he aims at, he is the occasion of the refining of it, and thereby adding to its strength.
Too many read a chapter or two in the Bible, then for lack of interest put it down for weeks at a time and never look at it. Bernard compares the study of the Word and the mere reading of it to the difference between a c…
His subject thou art whom thou crownest in thy heart, and not whom thou flatterest with thy lips.
Christ and satan divide the whole world. Christ will bear no equal, and Satan no superior; and therefore, hold in with both thou canst not.
It is not, indeed, the bare knowing the truths of the gospel saves; but the gross ignorance of them, to be sure, will damn souls.
Truth lies deep, and must be digged for. Since
And they cannot be solid Christians, that are not instructed in the grounds of Christianity.
Cowards never won heaven. Do not claim that you are begotten of God and have His royal blood running in your veins unless you can prove your lineage by this heroic spirit; to dare to be holy in spite of men and devils.'…
Many think they shall not pay so dear for an error in judgment as for a sin in practice. Yea, some have such a latitude, that they fancy a man may be saved in any religion
Second.'The Christian is to walk singularly, not after the world's guise, Rom. 12:2. We are commanded not to be conformed to this world, that is, not to accommodate ourselves to the corrupt customs of the world.
The state of unregeneracy is a state of impotency.
O how true are poor sinners to the devil's trust!
He must needs be comfortable that hath so oft a pillow to lay his head on as Christ's lap.
He that is so over-dainty of his name that he cannot bear to see some dirt, and that good store too, cast upon his back by reviling tongues, must seek a path to travel in by himself to heaven; but, for thy comfort, Chris…
In a word, in times of public calamity, when the flood of God's wrath comes rolling in upon a nation, like waves irresistibly, at the wide breach which the high crying sins of the times make, and the few righteous that a…
David's good-will in desiring to build the temple, was as much in God's account as if he had done it. Many shall be at the last day rewarded by Christ for clothing and feeding the poor, who, when on earth, had neither cl…
Because thy stock of grace in hand is small, thou questionest thy persevering. "Can these weak legs," thinkest thou, "bring me to my journey's end; these few pence in my purse—little grace in my heart—bear my charges all…
Sometimes we have no choice about our relationships'a child cannot select his own father or the parent his son. But when God does allow us freedom to choose, He expects a wise choice every time. Select spiritual masters.…
God brings his grace into the heart by conquest.
Labour to get Christ, and through him hopes of heaven, and thou takest the right road to content; thou
Thou art by nature a covenant-servant to sin and Satan.
O loosen the roots of thy affections from the world, and the tree will fall more easily.
The more our life has been corrupted with hypocrisy and unfaithfulness, the weaker our faith will be in a dying hour.
The Christian is a born conqueror, the gates of hell shall not prevail against him.
The bloodiest tragedies in the world have been acted on the stage of the church; and the most inhuman massacres and butcheries committed on the harmless sheep of Christ.
That it is the saint's duty, and should be their care, not only to get an established judgment of the truth, but also to maintain a steadfast profession of the truth.
A man may outlive many wounds received in the arms or legs, but a stab in the heart or other vital parts is the certain messenger of death approaching. Thus righteousness and holiness preserve the principal part of a Chr…
Assurance rather is the fruit of faith. It is in faith as the flower is in the root.
Christ did not redeem and save poor souls by sitting in majesty on his heavenly throne, but by hanging on the shameful cross, under the tormenting hand of man's fury and God's just wrath.
A sinner truly convinced is not only convinced of this sin or that sin, but of the evil of all sin.
It is faith on Christ that alone can purify thy heart. Without it thy washed face and hands'external righteousness I mean'will never commend thee to God.
So in the Christian there are many graces, but one new creature.
And so when thou art tempted to any sin, look not on it as a single sin, but as having all other sins in its belly.
Thus long did God forbear to commit his will to writing, because it, passing through so few, and those trusty hands, it might safely be preserved.