John Flavel quotes

They that know God will be humble. They that know themselves cannot be proud. (John Flavel)
The law sends us to Christ to be justified, and Christ sends us to the law to be regulated. View quote
John Flavel
Brethren, it is easier to declaim against a thousand sins of others, than to mortify one sin in ourselves. View quote
John Flavel
When God gives you comforts, it is your great evil not to observe His hand in them. View quote
John Flavel
As the blood of Christ is the fountain of all merit, so the Spirit is the fountain of all spiritual life; and until He quickens us, imparts the principle of divine life to our souls, we can put forth no vital act of faith to lay hold upon Jesus Christ. View quote
John Flavel
Christ bounds and terminates the vast desires of the soul; He is the very Sabbath of the soul. View quote
John Flavel
It is the duty of the saints, especially in times of straights, to reflect upon the performances of Providence for them in all the states and through all the stages of their lives. View quote
John Flavel
We must not think that faith itself is the soul's rest; it is only the means of it. We cannot find rest in any work or duty of our own, but we may find it in Christ, whom faith apprehends for justification and salvation. View quote
John Flavel
Some providences, like Hebrew letters, must be read backwards. View quote
John Flavel
See that you receive Christ with all your heart. As there is nothing in Christ that may be refused, so there is nothing in you from which He must be excluded. View quote
John Flavel
It is easier to declaim like an orator against a thousand sins in others than to mortify one sin in ourselves; to be more industrious in our pulpits than in our closets; to preach twenty sermons to our people than one to our own hearts. (John Flavel)
Consult the honor of religion more, and your personal safety less. Is it for the honor of religion (think you) that Christians should be as timorous as hares to start at every sound? View quote
John Flavel
No friend sympathizes so tenderly with his friend in affliction as does Jesus. "In all our afflictions, He is afflicted." He feels all our sorrows, wants, and burdens as His own. Whence it is that the sufferings of believers are called the sufferings of Christ. View quote
John Flavel
The soul that rightly receives Christ is in a longing condition; never did the hart pant for the water brooks, never did the hireling desire the shadow, never did a condemned person long for a pardon more than the soul longs for Christ. View quote
John Flavel
Faith, considered as a habit, is no more precious than other gracious habits are; but considered as an instrument to receive Christ and His righteousness, it excels them all; and this instrumentality of faith is noted in the phrases, "by faith," and "through faith." View quote
John Flavel
Alas! that Christians should stand at the door of eternity having more work upon their hands than their time is sufficient for, and yet be filling their heads and hearts with trifles. View quote
John Flavel
How much better it is to see men live exactly than to hear them argue with subtlety! View quote
John Flavel
There are three acts of faith, assent, acceptance, and assurance. View quote
John Flavel
Faith is the bond of union, the instrument of justification, the spring of spiritual peace and joy, the means of spiritual peace and subsistence. View quote
John Flavel
God kills thy comforts from no other design but to kill thy corruptions; wants are ordained to kill wantonness, poverty is appointed to kill pride, reproaches are permitted to destroy ambition. View quote
John Flavel
They foresaw that the concession of a Providence would impose an eternal yoke upon their necks, by making them accountable for all they did to a higher tribunal, so that they must necessarily 'pass the time of their sojourning here in fear', while all their thoughts, words and ways were strictly noted and recorded, for the purpose of an account by an all-seeing and righteous God. They therefore laboured to persuade themselves that what they had no mind for did not exist. (John Flavel)
Unbelief makes a man guilty of the vilest contempt of Christ, and the whole design of redemption by Him. View quote
John Flavel
Christ is not sweet till sin be made bitter to us. View quote
John Flavel
Two things a master commits to his servant's care - the child and the child's clothes. It will be a poor excuse for the servant to say, at his master's return, "Sir, here are all the child's clothes, neat and clean, but the child is lost." Much so of the account that many will give to God of their souls and bodies at the great day. "Lord, here is my body; I am very grateful for it; I neglected nothing that belonged to its contents and welfare; but as for my soul, that is lost and cast away forever. I took little. care and thought about it." View quote
John Flavel
The greatest difficulty in conversion is to win the heart to God and after conversion to keep it with Him. View quote
John Flavel