Choice gems from William Gurnall

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The gospel is God's heart in print!

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That book must be worth reading—that has God for the author!

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Do not say that  you love Christ, so long as you can lay those sins in your bosom—which plucked His heart out of His bosom! It were strange if a child should keep, and delight to use, no other knife but that with which his mother was stabbed to death!

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The pleasures of sin must needs be short, because life cannot be long—and they both end together.

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Cease to pray—and you will begin to sin.
Prayer is not only a means to prevail for mercy—but also to prevent sin.

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To forsake sin, is to leave it without any thought reserved of returning to it again.

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The sheep may fall into a ditch—but it is the swine that wallows in it!
Take heed of deliberate sins!

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"He who is his own teacher, is sure to have a fool for a master!"

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Of all men out of Hell, none more to be pitied than he who hangs over the mouth of it, and yet is fearless of his danger.

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A Christian should deny himself of the world's carnal joys and delights, lest the ungodly say, "These Christians draw their joy out of our cistern!"

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He who has God's heart—cannot lack His arm!

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It is impossible for an evil heart, to think well of an afflicting God.

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"Faithful are the wounds of a friend—but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." Proverbs 27:6
God's wounds cure—sin's kisses kill.

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We fear men so much—because we fear God so little.

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Nothing is more contrary to a heavenly hope—than an earthly heart.

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Humility is a necessary veil to all other graces.

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God would not rub so hard—if it were not to fetch out the dirt that is ingrained in our natures. God loves purity so well—that He had rather see a hole than a spot in His child's garments.

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Cease to pray—and you will begin to sin. Prayer is not only a means to prevail for mercy—but also to prevent sin.

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Never venture near the door where sin dwells—lest you are dragged in!

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Do not say that you are born of God—if you can not prove your pedigree by daring to be holy!

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Set a strong guard about your outward senses—these are Satan's landing places, especially the eye and the ear.

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The Christian is to prosecute an irreconcilable war against his bosom sins. Those sins which have lain nearest his heart—must now be trampled under his feet!

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Let your hope of Heaven, master your fear of death. Why should you be afraid to die—who hope to live by dying!

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The sins of teachers—are the teachers of sin!

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It is one thing to know a truth, and another thing to experience it.

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The Word of God is too sacred a thing, and preaching too solemn a work—to be toyed and played with.

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Look not how the Christian begins, but ends.

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Hope fills the afflicted soul with such inward joy and consolation, that it can laugh while tears are in the eye. It can both sigh and sing in the same breath.

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God Himself underwrites your battle and has appointed His own Son 'the captain of your salvation'.

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The possessions God allows us to have are intended for our use, not our abuse. Trying to squeeze something out of them that was never in them in the first place—is a futile endeavor. A cow's udders, gently pressed, will yield sweet milk, nourishing and refreshing. Applying more and more pressure will not produce greater quantities of milk. We lose the good of material things—by expecting too much from them. Those who try hardest to please themselves with earthly goods—find the least satisfaction in them.

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Never was a faithful prayer lost. Some prayers have a longer voyage than others—but then they return with their richer lading at last, so that the praying soul is a gainer by waiting for an answer.

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We are justified, not by giving anything to God—but by receiving from God, what Christ has done for us.

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Cowards never won Heaven. Do not claim that you are begotten of God and you have His royal blood running in your veins—unless you dare to be holy in spite of men and devils.

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To forsake sin, is to leave it without any thought reserved of returning to it again.

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In Heaven we shall appear, not in armor—but in robes of glory. But here on earth, armor is to be worn night and day; we must walk, work, and sleep in them, or else we are not true soldiers of Christ.

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The Christian must trust in a withdrawing God.

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It is the image of God reflected in you that so enrages Hell; it is this at which the demons hurl their mightiest weapons.

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Compare Scripture with Scripture. False doctrines, like false witnesses, agree not among themselves.

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God loves the saints as the purchase of his Son's blood—they cost him dearly. That which is obtained by such great expense—shall not be easily lost. He who was willing to expend His Son's blood to gain them—will not deny His power to keep them.

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The Christian is bred by the Word—and he must be fed by it.

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The weak child is oftener in the father's lap—than the strong one.

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What is Jordan that I should wash in it? What is the preaching that I should attend on it, while I hear nothing but what I knew before? Are not these the reasonings of a soul that forgets who appoints the means of grace?

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We live by faith—and faith lives by exercise.

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Furnish yourself with arguments from the promises to enforce your prayers, and make them prevalent with God. The promises are the ground of faith—and faith, when strengthened, will make you fervent, and such fervency ever speeds and returns with victory out of the field of prayer. The mightier any is in the Word—the more mighty he will be in prayer.

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We must not confide in the armor of God—but in the God of this armor, because all our weapons are only mighty through God.

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Bid faith to look through the key-hole of the promise, and tell you what it sees there laid up for him that overcomes. Bid faith to listen and tell you whether it cannot hear the shout of those crowned saints and receiving the reward of all their services and sufferings here on earth.

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Peace of conscience, is nothing but the echo of pardoning mercy.

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Therefore tremble, O man, at any power you have, except you use it for God. Are you strong in body? Who has your strength? God—or your lusts?

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Christ is the door that opens into God's presence and lets the soul into His very bosom.
Faith is the key that unlocks the door.
The Spirit is He who makes this key.

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He who loves the Word and the purity of its precepts cannot turn traitor.

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Humble souls are fearful of their own strength.

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Justifying faith is not merely a naked assent to the truths of the gospel.

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A minister, without boldness, is like a smooth file—or a knife without an edge—or a sentinel that is afraid to fire his gun. If men will be bold in sin—ministers must be bold to reprove.

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When people do not mind what God speaks to them in His word—God does as little mind what they say to Him in prayer.

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He who is impatient, and cannot wait on God for a mercy—will not easily submit to Him in a denial.

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Christ has told us that He will come—but not when, that we might never put off our clothes, or put out the candle.

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Godliness is the child of truth—and it must be nursed by its own mother.

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Weak faith will as surely land the Christian in Heaven as strong faith—for it is impossible the least grain of true grace should perish.

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The Christian's life should put his minister's sermon in print.

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Praying is the same to the new creature—as crying is to the natural child. The child is not taught to cry—but instructed by nature; it comes into the world crying. Praying is not a lesson got by forms and rules—but flowing from principles of new life itself.

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The storm may be tempestuous—but it is only temporary.

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Whoever has a seed time of grace pass over his soul—shall have his harvest time also of joy.

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Mercy should make us ashamed to sin.
Wrath should make us afraid to sin.

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How can God stoop lower than to come and dwell with a poor humble soul? Which is more than if he had said, such a one should dwell with him; for a beggar to live at court, is not so much as the king to dwell with him in his cottage.

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Oh, it is sad for a poor Christian to stand at the door of the promise, in the dark night of affliction, afraid to draw the latch—whereas he should then come boldly for shelter as a child into his father's house.

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Prayer is nothing but the promise reversed, or God's Word formed into an argument, and retorted by faith upon God again.

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Least doers—are the greatest boasters.

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Indeed all the saints are taught the same lesson:
to renounce their own strength—and rely on the power of God;
to renounce their own reason—and cast themselves on the wisdom of God;
to renounce their own righteousness—and expect all from the pure mercy of God in Christ.

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The Christian in prayer comes up close to God, with a humble boldness of faith, and takes hold of him, wrestles with him; yes, will not let him go without a blessing.

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We must come to good works by faith—and not to faith by good works.

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God is almighty to pardon—but He will not use His power for a shameless sinner. He is able to save and help in time of need—but if you have not repented, how can you expect His aid? The same power God expends on the believer's salvation—will be spent on your damnation, for He has bound Himself under oath to destroy every impenitent soul.

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The devil had as good have let Paul alone—for he no sooner comes into prison, than he begins preaching—at which the gates of Satan's prison fly open, and poor sinners come forth.

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Since Christ bears with the saints' imperfections—then well may the saints bear with one another.

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God has made it a debt which one saint owes to another—to carry their needs to the throne of grace.

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The military soldier is summoned to a life of active duty—and so is the Christian soldier.

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No torment in the world is comparable to an accusing conscience.

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Pride of gifts, robs us of God's blessing in the use of them.

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Christ will bear no equal, and Satan no superior—therefore you cannot serve both.

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Blind zeal is soon put to a shameful retreat—while holy resolution, built on fast principles, lifts up its head like a rock in the midst of the waves.

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As the eye of the body once put out, can never be restored by the creature's skill—so neither can the spiritual eye lost by Adam's sin be restored by the help of men. It is one of the diseases which Christ came to cure.

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All the plots of Hell and commotions on earth—have not so much as shaken God's hand to spoil one letter or line He has been drawing.

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As you love your peace, Christian, be plain-hearted with God and man, and keep the king's highway.

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Sometimes, perhaps, you hear another pray with much freedom and fluency, while you can hardly get out a few broken words. Hence you are ready to accuse yourself and admire him—as if the gilding of the key made it open the door the better.

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Our enemies are on every side—so must our armor be.

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It is not only our duty to pray for others—but also to desire the prayers of others for ourselves.

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You have no life to lose, because you have given it already to Christ, nor can man take away that without God's permission.

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Many lose Heaven—because they are ashamed to go in a fool's coat thither.

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Pray often rather than very long at a time. It is hard to be very long in prayer—and not slacken in our affections.

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We have peace with God as soon as we believe—but not always with ourselves. The pardon may be past the prince's hand and seal—and yet not put into the prisoner's hand.

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We are bid to take—not to make our cross.

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The grace you have will soon be less—if you add not more to it.

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Can Christ be in you heart—and you not know it? Can one king be dethroned and another crowned in your soul—and you hear no scuffle?

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We have published a selection of choice extracts from William Gurnall's, "The Christian in Completer Armor".