HeadTheology

Ch. 7 - The Godly Should Speak of God
From The Great Gain of Godliness, by Thomas Watson

“Indeed, where there is gratia infusa [grace poured in], it will be effusa [poured out]; grace changes the language, and makes it spiritual.” -62

“Had they any love to God, or had they ever tasted how sweet the Lord is, their mouth would ‘talk of his righteousness’.” -63

“Let this cause blushing among Christians, that their meetings are so unprofitable, because they leave God out of their discourse.” -64

“A fiery spirit is unsuitable to the Master we serve, the Prince of Peace; and to his ambassage, the ‘gospel of peace.’” -65

“When men break forth in unsavoury speeches it show the heart is profane.” -66

“It is the sign of the hypocrite to censure others and commend himself.” -67

“What makes a communion of saints but good conversation?” -69

“Have you a friend who has redeemed you, and never speak of him.” -69

“The more spiritual we are in our speeches, the more we resemble Christ.  Should not the members be like the Head?  Christ will not be our Saviour unless we make him our pattern.” -71

“Verba sunt speculum mentis - Words the looking glass of the mind (Bernard).  As you may judge of a face by the mirror, whether it be fair or foul; so by the words we may judge of the heart.” -71

“One single coal is apt to die, but many coals put together keep in the heat.  Christians by their heavenly talk may ‘blow up’ one another’s grace into a flame.” -72

“A Christian by divine discourse may enlighten another when he is ignorant, warm him when he is frozen, comfort him when he is sad, confirm him when he is wavering.” -72

“A good life adorns religion, a good tongue propagates it.” -72

“What men delight in, they will be speaking of.” -74

Ch. 6 - Is the Fear of God in Our Hearts?
From The Great Gain of Godliness, by Thomas Watson

“Sin is worse than all penal evils: there is more evil in a drop of sin, than in a sea of affliction.” -37

“There is justice in hell, but sin is the most unjust thing.  It would rob God of his glory, Christ of his purchase, the soul of its happiness.” -38

“By avoiding the act of sin we preserve our peace; by avoiding the appearance of it we preserve our fame.” -39

“Such as revere the divine majesty dare not go near the borders of sin.” -40

“Gain is the golden bait with which Satan fishes for souls.” -41

“A godly man is assured that a full purse is but a poor recompense for a wounded conscience.” -41

“A man may think himself into hell.  Wat were the apostate angels damned for, was it fore any more than proud thoughts?” -42

“A God-fearer directs the rudder of his life according to the compass of the Word.” -43

“If a good man be providentially placed among the wicked, he will not coalesce with them, but in his deportment displays a majesty of holiness.” -44

“When men restrain prayer, they cast off the fear of God.” -45

“How far are they from the fear of God who are hard-hearted to Christ’s poor!” -46

“He who fears God knows it is best to keep in with God; he is the surest Friend, but the sorest Enemy.” -46

“Necessity will not excuse impiety.” -47

“A godly man, knowing there is a spice of this deceit in his heart, fears himself.” -49

“The heart’s deceit is seen in flattering us.  It will make us believe we are not so bad as we are.” -50

“Evangelical repentance works a change of heart.  It produces sanctity.” -51

“Now it is good for the godly so to fear hell as to fear to be in the number of those who shall go to hell.” -59

Ch. 5 - The Excellence of the Fear of God
From The Great Gain of Godliness, by Thomas Watson

“He who fears God considers how vain the world is, and therefore dares not love it; how short time is, and therefore dares not lose it; how precious salvation is, and therefore dares not neglect it.” -27

“The very heart is the temple of God, and fear sweeps and cleanses this temple that it may not be defiled.” -31

“Where the fear of God rules the heart, it expels fleshly fear.” -32-33

“‘He who pampers his body and neglects his soul, is like him who feasts his slave and starves his wife.” -32-33

From Thomas Watson’s, The Great Gain of Godliness

“Faith procures assurance (Eph. 1:13), fear preserves it.” -19

“The godly fear and sin not. The wicked sin and fear not.” -19

“[Those who do not] fear not God’s justice shall not taste his mercy.” -21

“Those who are the least safe are most confident.” -22

In reading The Great Gain of Godliness by Thomas Watson, these are my favorite quotes from chapter 3 titled ‘Reasons To Fear God’.

“He who is under the eye of his earthly prince will be careful of doing anything that would offend him.” -17

“As not to praise God is to wrong him, so not to fear God is to slight him.” -17

“We are apt to fear men who have power in their hand to hurt us, but what is their power to God’s?  They threaten prison, God threatens hell.  They threaten our life, God threatens our soul, and shall we not tremble before him?” -18

“We must not fear God with such a fear as the wicked do.  They fear him as a Turkish slave does his master; they fear him in such a way as to hate him, and wish there were no God.  We must not serve God with this hellish fear, be we must serve him with an ingenuous fear sweetened with love.” -18

Here are my favorite quotes from chapter two of Thomas Watson’s, The Great Gain of Godliness.

“Fear makes men change their religion as the chameleon does her colours.” -12

“Fear is the leading grace, the first seed God sows in the heart.  When a Christian can say little of faith, and perhaps nothing of assurance, yet he dares not deny that he fears God (Neh. 1:11).  God is so great that the Christian is afraid of displeasing him, and so good that he is afraid of losing him.” -13

“Fear is as lead to the net, to keep a Christian from floating in presumption, and faith is as cork to the net, to keep him from sinking in despair.” -15

“He who fears God has the serpent’s eye in the dove’s head.” -15

In reading The Great Gain of Godliness by Thomas Watson, these are my favorite quotes from chapter 1.

“The more outrageous other are in sin, the more courageous we should be for truth.” -5

“Almost all will court the Gospel Queen when she is hung with jewels.  But to own the ways of God when they are decried and maligned, to love a persecuted truth, this evidences a vital principal.” -6

“Sin is never the better because it is in fashion, nor will this plea hold at the last day, that we did as the most.  God will say, Seeing you sinned with the multitude, you shall go to hell with the multitude.” -7

“Though others wonder we do not sin after the rate that they do, yet remember, it is better to go to heaven with a few than to hell in the crowd.” -9

“If anyone ask what Christ died of, it may be answered, He died of love.” -10

“Reproaches for Christ are ensigns of honour, badges of adoption (I Pet. 4:14), the high honours of accusations, Chrysostom.” -11

“Be not laughed out of your religion.  If a lame man laugh at you for walking upright, will you therefore limp?” -11

“I call ‘piety’ that reverence joined with love of God which the knowledge of his benefits induces. For until men recognize that they owe everything to God, that they are nourished by his fatherly care, that he is the Author of their every good, that they should seek nothing beyond him - they will never yield him willing service. Nay, unless they establish their complete happiness in him, they will never give themselves truly and sincerely to him.” John Calvin in The Institutes of the Christian Religion, ch. 2:1

That last sentence reminds me that no matter what side of the theological fence a believer is on, Arminian or Reformed, the Christian life is less about choosing God than it is about desiring God. For if God is the source of all good then we will desire him since our goodness and happiness will be found in him.

Last night at our small meeting there was a small discussion which some thought was not beneficial to the group. It was a matter not of great theological significance but was Scriptural nonetheless. What sticks out to me is not the topic which was lightly debated but the lack of tenderness that I felt in hearing one of participants speak. He was completely right in what he said but he was not as clear as he could have been and did not seem very patient with those that were not up to speed with his theological education. It reminded me of a book I had to read for my first seminary class, called A Little Exercise for Young Theologians, by Helmut Thielicke. He says, …

“There is a hiatus between the arena of the young theologian’s actual spiritual growth and what he already knows intellectually about this arena.”

and “in us men truth and love are seldom combined.”

and “It can be sacred theology or diabolical theology. That depends upon the hands and hearts which further it. But which of the two it is cannot necessarily be seen by the fact that in one case it is orthodox and in the other heretical.”

I do not feel I have always grown beyond this but I have been convicted of using the Sword of the Spirit against those I love, congratulating myself that I have forced them into an intellectual corner. Whereas instead of using my Scriptural knowledge against others I needed to use it against my sin and my flesh.

So from one middle-aged armchair theologian to all young theologians, do not use your knowledge to win an argument and show off your intellectual prowess, which you probably ripped off of someone else. But use it to display the glory of God and the joy that he offers. Only set Scripture before people and allow them to wrestle with it and what it plainly means giving them as much grace as God has given you.

In considering what is really important in the church Newton makes a wonderful point here.

“It is better people should be dissenters or Methodists than heathens.”

‘But Now I See’: The Life of John Newton, p. 337.