The Imitation of Christ - Thomas a Kempis

"What good does it do to speak learnedly about God if, lacking humility, you displease God? Indeed it is not learning that makes a man holy and just, but a virtuous life make him pleasing to God. I would rather feel contrition than know how to define it. For what would it profit us to know the whole Bible by heart and the principles of all the philosophers if we live without grace and the love of God? Vanity of vanities and all is vanity, except to love God and serve him alone."   Book One, Chapter 1

"Shun too great a desire for knowledge, for in it there is much fretting and delusion. Intellectuals like to appear learned and to be called wise. Yet there are many things the knowledge of which does little or no good to the soul, and he who concerns himself about other things than those which lead to salvation is very unwise." Book One, Chapter 2

"The more you know and the better you understand, the more severely will you be judged, unless your life is also the more holy. Do not be proud, therefore, because of your learning or skill. Rather, fear because of the talent given you. If you think you know many things and understand them well enough, realize at the same time that there is much you do not know. Hence, do not affect wisdom, but admit your ignorance." Book One, Chapter 2

"Happy is he to whom truth manifests itself, not in signs and words that fade, but as it actually is. ... What good is much discussion of involved and obscure matters when our ignorance of them will not be held against us on Judgment Day?" Book One, Chapter 3

"The pure, simple, and steadfast spirit is not distracted by many labors, for he does them all for the honor of God. And since he enjoys interior peace he seeks no selfish end in anything. What, indeed, gives more trouble and affliction than uncontrolled desires of the heart?"
Book One, Chapter 3

"Who is forced to struggle more than he who tries to master himself? This ought to be our purpose, then: to conquer self, to become stronger each day, to advance in virtue."
Book One, Chapter 3

"Humble knowledge of self is a surer path to God than the ardent pursuit of learning. Not that learning is to be considered evil, or knowledge, which is good in itself and so ordained by God; but a clean conscience and virtuous life ought always to be preferred. Many often err and accomplish little or nothing because they try to become learned rather than to live well... On the day of judgment, surely, we will not be asked what we have read but what we done; not how well we have spoken but how well we have lived." Book One, Chapter 3

"He is truly great who has great charity. He is truly great who is little in his own eyes and makes nothing of the highest honor. He is truly wise who looks upon all earthly things as folly that he may gain Christ. He who does God's will and renounces his own is truly very learned." Book One, Chapter 3

"Do not yield to every impulse and suggestion but consider things carefully and patiently in the light of God's will."  Book One, Chapter 4

"We ought not to be swayed by the authority of the writer, whether he be a great literary light or an insignificant person, but by the love of simple truth. We ought not to ask who is speaking, but mark what is said. Men pass away, but the truth of the Lord remains forever."  Book One, Chapter 5

"If you have wealth, do not glory in it, nor in friends because they are powerful, but in God who gives all things and who desires above all to give Himself. Do not boast of personal stature or of physical beauty, qualities which are marred and destroyed by a little sickness."  Book One, Chapter 7

"It is good for us to have trials and troubles at times, for they often remind us that we are on probation and ought not to hope in any worldly thing. It is good for us sometimes to suffer contradiction, to be misjudged by men even though we do well and mean well. These things help us to be humble and shield us from vainglory. When to all outward appearances men give us no credit, when they do not think well of us, then we are more inclined to seek God who sees our hearts. Therefore, a man ought to root himself so firmly in God that he will not need the consolations of men." Book One, Chapter 12

"He does much who loves much. He does much who does a thing well. He does well who serves the common good rather than his own interests." Book One, Chapter 15

"He who has true and perfect charity seeks self in nothing, but searches all things for the glory of God. Moreover, he envies no man, because he desires no personal pleasure nor does he wish to rejoice in himself; rather he desires the greater glory of God above all things. He ascribes to man nothing that is good but attributes it wholly to God from whom all things proceed as from a fountain, and in whom all the blessed shall rest as their last end and fruition." Book One, Chapter 15

"Until God ordains otherwise, a man ought to bear patiently whatever he cannot correct in himself and in others. ...If, after being admonished once or twice, a person does not amend, do not argue with him but commit the whole matter to God that His will and honor may be furthered in all His servants, for God knows well how to turn evil to good. Try to bear patiently with the defects and infirmities of others, whatever they may be, because you also have many a fault which others must endure.
If you cannot make yourself what you would wish to be, how can you bend others to your will? We want them to be perfect, yet we do not correct our own faults. We wish them to be severely corrected, yet we will not correct ourselves. Their great liberty displeases us, yet we would not be denied what we ask. We would have them bound by laws, yet we will allow ourselves to be restrained in nothing. Hence, it is clear how seldom we think of others as we do of ourselves.
...But God has so ordained, that we may learn to bear with one another's burdens, for there is no man without fault, no man without burden, no man sufficient to himself nor wise enough. Hence we must support one another, console one another, mutually help, counsel, and advise, for the measure of every man's virtue is best revealed in time of adversity - adversity that does not weaken a man but rather shows what he is." Book One, Chapter 16

"He who seeks anything but God alone and the salvation of his soul will find only trouble and grief, and he who does not try to become the least, the servant of all, cannot remain at peace for long." Book One, Chapter 17

"You have come to serve, not to rule. You must understand, too, that you have been called to suffer and to work, not to idle and gossip away your time. Here men are tried as gold in a furnace. Here no man can remain unless he desires with all his heart to humble himself before God."  Book One, Chapter 17

"Curb your appetite and you will more easily curb every inclination of the flesh. Never be completely unoccupied, but read or write or pray or meditate or do something for the common good." Book One, Chapter 19

"Read such matters as bring sorrow to the heart rather than occupation to the mind." Book One, Chapter 20

"If you withdraw yourself from unnecessary talking and idle running about, from listening to gossip and rumors, you will find enough time that is suitable for holy meditation. Very many great saints avoided the company of men wherever possible and chose to serve God in retirement. 'As often as I have been among men,' said one writer, 'I have returned less a man.' We often find this to be true when we take part in long conversations. ...Anyone, then, who aims to live the inner and spiritual life must go apart, with Jesus, from the crowd." Book One, Chapter 20

"Leave vanity to the vain. Set yourself to the things which God has commanded you to do. Close the door upon yourself and call to you Jesus, your Beloved. Remain with Him in your cell, for nowhere else will you find such peace." Book One, Chapter 20

"If you wish to make progress in virtue, live in the fear of the Lord, do not look for too much freedom, discipline your senses, and shun inane silliness. Sorrow opens the door to many a blessing which dissoluteness usually destroys." Book One, Chapter 21

"Fight like a man. Habit is overcome by habit." Book One, Chapter 21

"If you do not enjoy the favor of men, do not let it sadden you; but consider it a serious matter if you do not conduct yourself as well or as carefully as is becoming for a servant of God..." Book One, Chapter 22

"Woe to those who know not their own misery, and greater woe to those who love this miserable and corruptible life. Some, indeed, can scarcely procure its necessities either by work or by begging; yet they love it so much that, if they could live here always, they would care nothing for the kingdom of God.
How foolish and faithless of heart are those who are so engrossed in earthly things as to relish nothing but what is carnal. Miserable men indeed, for in the end they will see to their sorrow how cheap and worthless was the thing they loved."  Book One, Chapter 22

"He who loves God with all his heart does not fear death or punishment or judgment or hell, because perfect love assures access to God."  Book One, Chapter 24

"A fervent religious accepts all the things that are commanded him and does them well, but a negligent and lukewarm religious has trial upon trial, and suffers anguish from every side because he has no consolation within and is forbidden to seek it from without."  Book One, Chapter 25

"When a man reaches a point where he seeks no solace from any creature, then he begins to relish God perfectly. Then also he will be content no matter what may happen to him. He will neither rejoice over great things nor grieve over small ones, but will place himself entirely and confidently in the hands of God, Who for him is all in all, to Whom nothing ever perishes or dies, for Whom all things live, and Whom they serve as He desires." Book One, Chapter 25

"When Christ was in the world, he was despised by men; in the hour of need He was forsaken by acquaintances and left by friends to the depths of scorn. He was willing to suffer and to be despised; do you dare to complain of anything? He had enemies and defamers; do you want everyone to be your friend, your benefactor? How can your patience be rewarded if no adversity test it? How can you be a friend of Christ if you are not willing to suffer any hardship? Suffer with Christ and for Christ if you wish to reign with Him."  Book Two, Chapter 1

"Be not troubled about those who are with you or against you, but take care that God be with you in everything you do. Keep your conscience clear and God will protect you, for the malice of man cannot harm one whom God wishes to help. If you know how to suffer in silence, you will undoubtedly experience God's help. He knows when and how to deliver you; therefore, place yourself in His hands, for it is a divine prerogative to help men and free them from all distress." Book Two, Chapter 2

"All our peace in this miserable life is found in humbly enduring suffering rather than in being free from it. He who knows best how to suffer will enjoy the greater peace, because he is the conqueror of himself, the master of the world, a friend of Christ, and an heir of heaven."  Book Two, Chapter 3

"We are quick enough to feel and brood over the things we suffer from others, but we think nothing of how much others suffer from us. If a man would weigh his own deeds fully and rightly, he would find little cause to pass severe judgment on others." Book Two, Chapter 5

"Consider nothing great, nothing high, nothing pleasing, nothing acceptable, except God Himself or that which is of God. Consider the consolations of creatures as vanity, for the soul that loves God scorns all things that are inferior to Him. God alone, the eternal and infinite, satisfies all, bringing comfort to the soul and true joy to the body." Book Two, Chapter 5

"Praise adds nothing to your holiness, nor does blame take anything from it. You are what you are, and you cannot be said to be better than you are in God's sight." Book Two, Chapter 6

"Life without Jesus is a relentless hell, but living with Him is a sweet paradise. If Jesus be with you, no enemy can harm you. He who finds Jesus finds a rare treasure, indeed, a good above every good, whereas he who loses Him loses more than the whole world. The man who lives without Jesus is the poorest of the poor, whereas no one is so rich as the man who lives in His grace." Book Two, Chapter 8

"Choose the opposition of the whole world rather than offend Jesus. Of all those who are dear to you, let Him be your special love. Let all things be loved for the sake of Jesus, but Jesus for His own sake." Book Two, Chapter 8

"Never desire special praise or love, for that belongs to God alone Who has no equal. Never wish that anyone's affection be centered in you, nor let yourself be taken up with the love of anyone, but let Jesus be in you and in every good man." Book Two, Chapter 8

"I do not desire consolation that robs me of contrition, nor do I care for contemplation that leads to pride, for not all that is high is holy, nor is all that is sweet good, nor every desire pure, nor all that is dear to us pleasing to God. I accept willingly the grace whereby I become more humble and contrite, more willing to renounce self." Book Two, Chapter 10

"The whole life of Christ was a cross and a martyrdom, and do you seek rest and enjoyment for yourself? You deceive yourself, you are mistaken if you seek anything but to suffer, for this mortal life is full of miseries and marked with crosses on all sides. Indeed, the more spiritual progress a person makes, so much heavier will he frequently find the cross, because as his love increases, the pain of his exile also increases." Book Two, Chapter 10

"Set yourself, then, like a good and faithful servant of Christ, to bear manfully the cross of your Lord, Who out of love was crucified for you. Be ready to suffer many adversities and many kinds of trouble in this miserable life for troublesome and miserable life will always be, no matter where you are and so you will find it wherever you may hide. Thus it must be; and there is no way to evade the trails and sorrows of life but to bear them. ...Leave consolation to God; let Him do as most pleases Him. On your part, be ready to bear sufferings and consider them the greatest consolation, for even though you alone were to undergo them all, the sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come." Book Two, Chapter 12

"If, indeed, there were anything better or more useful for man's salvation than suffering, Christ would have shown it by word and example. But He clearly exhorts the disciples who follow Him and all who wish to follow Him to carry the cross, saying: "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." When, therefore, we have read and searched all that has been written, let this be the final conclusion - that through much suffering we must enter into the kingdom of God." Book Two, Chapter 12

"Love is an excellent thing, a very great blessing, indeed. It makes every difficulty easy, and bears all wrongs with equanimity. For it bears a burden without being weighted and renders sweet all that is bitter. ...Love tends upward; it will not be held down by anything low. ...Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing stronger or higher or wider; nothing is more pleasant, nothing fuller, and nothing better in heaven or on earth, for love is born of God and cannot rest except in God, Who is above all created things.
One who is in love flies, runs, and rejoices...because he rests in the one sovereign Good, Who is above all things, and from Whom every good flows and proceeds. He does not look to the gift but turns himself above all gifts to the Giver.
Love feels no burdens, thinks nothing of troubles, attempts more than it is able, and does not plead impossibility, because it believes that it may and can do all things. ...
Love is watchful. Sleeping, it does not slumber. Wearied, it is not tired. Pressed, it is not straitened. Alarmed, it is not confused, but like a living flame, a burning torch, it forces its way upward and passes unharmed through every obstacle.
Love is swift, sincere, kind, pleasant, and delightful. Love is strong, patient and faithful, prudent, long-suffering, and manly. Love is never self-seeking, for in whatever a person seeks himself, there he falls from love. Love is circumspect, humble, and upright. It is sober and chaste, firm and quiet, guarded in all the senses. Love is subject and obedient to superiors. It is mean and contemptible in its own eyes, devoted and thankful to God; always trusting and hoping. ...
He who is not ready to suffer all things and to stand resigned to the will of the Beloved is not worthy to be called a lover."  Book Three, Chapter 5

"Indeed, by loving myself badly I lost myself; by seeking only You and by truly loving You I have found both myself and You, and by that love I have reduced myself more profoundly to nothing." Book Three, Chapter 8

"You must pay no attention to what the flesh does or does not desire, taking pains that it be subjected, even by force, to the spirit. And it should be chastised and forced to remain in subjection until it is prepared for anything and is taught to be satisfied with little, to take pleasure in simple things, and not to murmur against inconveniences." Book Three, Chapter 11

"There is no holiness, then, if You withdraw Your hand, Lord. There is no wisdom if You cease to guide, no courage if You cease to defend. No chastity is secure if You do not guard it. Our vigilance avails nothing if Your holy watchfulness does not protect us. Left to ourselves we sink and perish, but visited by You we are lifted up and live. We are truly unstable, but You make us strong. We grow lukewarm, but You inflame us."  Book Three, Chapter 14

"Lord, You know what is better for me; let this be done or that be done as You please. Grant what You will, as much as You will, when You will. Do with me as You know best, as will most please You, and will be for Your greater honor. Place me where You will and deal with me freely in all things. I am in Your hand; turn me about whichever way You will. Behold, I am Your servant, ready to obey in all things. Not for myself do I desire to live, but for You - would that I could do this worthily and perfectly!"  Book Three, Chapter 15

"You cannot be satisfied with any temporal goods because you were not created to enjoy them. Even if you possessed all created things you could not be happy and blessed; for in God, Who created all these things, your whole blessedness and happiness consists." Book Three, Chapter 16

"Lord, do with me whatever pleases You. For whatever You shall do with me can only be good. If You wish me to be in darkness, I shall bless You. And if You wish me to be in light, again I shall bless You. If You stoop down to comfort me, I shall bless You, and if You wish me to be afflicted, I shall bless you forever."    Book Three, Chapter 17

"For the truly patient man does not consider from whom the suffering comes, whether from a superior, an equal, or an inferior, whether from a good and holy person or from a perverse and unworthy one; but no matter how great an adversity befalls him, no matter how often it comes or from who it comes, he accepts it gratefully from the hand of God, and counts it a great gain. For with God nothing that is suffered for His sake, no matter how small, can pass without reward." Book Three, Chapter 19

"Above all things and in all things, O my soul, rest always in God, for He is the everlasting rest of the saints. Grant, most sweet and loving Jesus, that I may seek my repose in You above every creature; above all health and beauty; above every honor and glory; every power and dignity; above all knowledge and cleverness, all riches and arts, all joy and gladness; above all fame and praise, all sweetness and consolation; above every hope and promise, every merit and desire; above all the gifts and favors that You can give or pour down upon me; above all the joy and exultation that the mind can receive and feel; and finally, above the angels and archangels and all the heavenly host; above all things visible and invisible; and may I seek my repose in You above everything that is not You, my God.
For You, O Lord my God, are above all things the best. You alone are most high, You alone most powerful. You alone are most sufficient and most satisfying. You alone most sweet and consoling. You alone are most beautiful and loving, You alone most noble and glorious above all things. In You is every perfection that has been or every will be. Therefore, whatever You give me besides Yourself, whatever You reveal to me concerning Yourself, and whatever You promise, is too small and insufficient when I do not see and fully enjoy You alone. For my heart cannot rest or be fully content until, rising above all gifts and every created thing, it rests in You. ...Nothing among all the wonders of heaven and earth is like to You. Your works are exceedingly good, Your judgments true, and Your providence rules the whole universe. May You be praised and glorified, therefore, O Wisdom of the Father. Let my lips and my soul and all created things unite to praise and bless You." Book Three, Chapter 21

"A man who loves you and recognizes Your benefits, therefore, should be gladdened by nothing so much as by Your will, by the good pleasure of Your eternal decree. With this he should be so contented and consoled that he would wish to be the least as others wish to be the greatest; that he would be as peaceful and satisfied in the last place as in the first, and as willing to be despised, unknown and forgotten, as to be honored by others and to have more fame than they. He should prefer Your will and the love of Your honor to all else, and it should comfort him more than all the benefits which have been, or will be, given him." Book Three, Chapter 22

"My child, I will teach you now the way of peace and true liberty.
Seek, child, to do the will of others rather than your own.
Always choose to have less rather than more.
Look always for the last place and seek to be beneath all others.
Always wish and pray that the will of God be fully carried out in you.
Behold, such will enter into the realm of peace and rest."
Book Three, Chapter 23

"My child, do not take it to heart if some people think badly of you and say unpleasant things about you. You ought to think worse things of yourself and to believe that no one is weaker than yourself. Moreover, if you walk in the spirit you will pay little heed to fleeting words. ...Turn inwardly to Me, and do not be disturbed by human opinions. Do not let your peace depend on the words of men. Their thinking well or badly of you does not make you different from what you are. ...He who neither cares to please men nor fears to displease them will enjoy great peace." Book Three, Chapter 28

"My child, I am the Lord who gives strength in the day of trouble. Come to Me when all is not well with you. Your tardiness in turning to prayer is the greatest obstacle to heavenly consolation, for before you pray earnestly to Me you first seek many comforts and take pleasure in outward things. Thus, all things are of little profit to you until you realize that I am the one who saves those who trust in Me, and that outside of Me there is no worthwhile help, or any useful counsel or lasting remedy.
But now, after the tempest, take courage, grow strong once more in the light of My mercies; for I am near, says the Lord, to restore all things not only to the full but with abundance and above measure. Is anything difficult for Me? Or shall I be as one who promises and does not act? Where is your faith? Stand firm and persevere. Be a man of endurance and courage, and consolation will come to you in due time. Wait for Me; wait - and I will come to heal you.
Let not your heart be troubled, therefore, nor let it be afraid. Believe in Me and trust in My mercy. When you think you are far from Me, then often I am very near you. When you judge that almost all is lost, then very often you are in the way of gaining great merit.
All is not lost when things go contrary to your wishes. You ought not judge according to present feelings, nor give in to any trouble whenever it comes, or take it as though all hope of escape were lost.
And do not consider yourself forsaken if I send some temporary hardship, or withdraw the consolation you desire. For this is the way to the kingdom of heaven, and without doubt it is better for you to be tried in adversities than to have all things as you wish. I know your secret thoughts, and I know that it is profitable for your salvation to be left sometimes in despondency lest perhaps you be puffed up by success and fancy yourself to be what you are not." Book Three, Chapter 30

"Who is more at rest than he who aims at nothing but God? And who more free than the man who desires nothing on earth?
People are wont to ask how much a man has done, but they think little of the virtue with which he acts. They ask: Is he strong? rich? handsome? a good writer? a good singer? or a good worker? They say little, however, about how poor he is in spirit, how patient and meek, how devout and spiritual. Nature looks to his outward appearance; grace turns to his inward being. The one often errs, the other trusts in God and is not deceived." Book Three, Chapter 31

"For love of God you should undergo all things cheerfully, all labors and sorrows, temptations and trials, anxieties, weaknesses, necessities, injuries, slanders, rebukes, humiliations, confusions, corrections, and contempt. For these are helps to virtue. These are the trials of Christ's recruit." Book Three, Chapter 35

"Fear God and you will not be afraid of the terrors of men. What can anyone do to you by word or injury? He hurts himself rather than you, and no matter who he may be he cannot escape the judgment of God. Keep God before your eyes, therefore, and do not quarrel with peevish words." Book Three, Chapter 36

"My child, do not let the fine-sounding and subtle words of men deceive you. For the kingdom of heaven consists not in talk but in virtue. Attend, rather, to My words which enkindle the heart and enlighten the mind, which excite contrition and abound in manifold consolations. Never read them for the purpose of appearing more learned or more wise. Apply yourself to mortifying your vices, for this will benefit you more than your understanding of many difficult questions.
I am He Who in one moment so enlightens the humble mind that it comprehends more of eternal truth than could be learned by ten years in the schools. I teach without noise of words or clash of opinions, without ambition for honor or confusion of argument.
The voice of books is but a single voice, yet it does not teach all men alike, because I within them am the Teacher and the Truth, the Examiner of hearts, the Understander of thoughts, the Promoter of acts, distributing to each as I see fit." Book Three, Chapter 43

"How conducive it is for the keeping of heavenly grace to fly the gaze of men, not to seek abroad things which seem to cause admiration, but to follow with utmost diligence those which give fervor and amendment of life! How many have been harmed by having their virtue known and praised too hastily! And how truly profitable it has been when grace remained hidden during this frail life, which is all temptation and warfare!" Book Three, Chapter 45

"My child, stand firm and trust in Me. For what are words but words? They fly through the air but hurt not a stone. If you are guilty, consider how you would gladly amend. If you are not conscious of any fault, think that you wish to bear this for the sake of God. It is little enough for you occasionally to endure words, since you are not yet strong enough to bear hard blows.
Behold, if every malicious thing that could possibly be invented were uttered against you, what harm could it do if you ignored it all and gave it no more thought than you would a blade of grass? Could it so much as pluck one hair from your head?
I know how all things happen. I know who causes injury and who suffers it. From Me that word proceeded, and with My permission it happened, that out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed. I shall judge the guilty and the innocent; but I have wished beforehand to try them both by secret judgment.
To Me, therefore, you ought to come in every decision, not depending on your own judgment. For the just man will not be disturbed, no matter what may befall him from God. ...He considers that it is I Who search the hearts and inmost thoughts of men, that I do not judge according to the face of things or human appearances. For what the judgement of men considers praiseworthy is often worthy of blame in My sight." Book Three, Chapter 46

"Give deepest thanks to the heavenly Goodness which deals with you so understandingly, visits you so mercifully, stirs you so fervently, and sustains you so powerfully lest under your own weight you sink down to earthly things. For you obtain this not by your own thought or effort, but simply by the condescension of heavenly grace and divine regard. And the purpose of it is that you many advance in virtue and in greater humility, that you may prepare yourself for future trials, that you may strive to cling to Me with all the affection of your heart, and may serve Me with a fervent will.
Often, when the fire is burning the flame does not ascend without smoke. Likewise, the desires of some burn toward heavenly things, and yet they are not free from temptations of carnal affection. Therefore, it is not altogether for the pure honor of God that they act when they petition Him so earnestly. Such, too, is often your desire which you profess to be so strong. For that which is alloyed with self-interest is not pure and perfect.
Ask, therefore, not for what is pleasing and convenient to yourself, but for what is acceptable to Me and is for My honor, because if you judge rightly, you ought to prefer and follow My will, not your own desire or whatever things you wish.
I know your longings and I have heard your frequent sighs. Already you wish to be in the liberty of the glory of the sons of God. Already you desire the delights of the eternal home, the heavenly land that is full of joy. But that hour is not yet come. There remains yet another hour, a time of war, of labor, and of trial. You long to be filled with the highest good, but you cannot attain it now. ...You must still be tried on earth, and exercised in many things.
You must often do the things you do not wish to do and forego those you do wish. What pleases others will succeed; what pleases you will not. The words of others will be heard; what you say will be accounted as nothing. Others will ask and receive; you will ask and not receive. Others will gain great fame among men; about you nothing will be said. To others the doing of this or that will be entrusted; you will be judged useless. At all this nature will sometimes be sad, and it will be a great thing if you bear this sadness in silence. For in these and many similar ways the faithful servant of the Lord is wont to be tried, to see how far he can deny himself and break himself in all things.
But consider, my child, the fruit of these labors, how soon they will end and how greatly they will be rewarded, and you will not be saddened by them, but your patience will receive the strongest consolation.
In heaven you shall find all that you could desire. There you shall have possession of every good without fear of losing it. There shall your will be forever one with Mine. It shall desire nothing outside of Me and nothing for itself. There no one shall oppose you, no one shall complain of you, no one hinder you, and nothing stand in your way. All that you desire will be present there, replenishing your affection and satisfying it to the full. There I shall render you glory for the reproach you have suffered here, for your sorrow I shall give you a garment of praise, and for the lowest place a seat of power forever. There the fruit of glory will appear, the labor of penance rejoice, and humble subjection be gloriously crowned.
Bow humbly, therefore, under the will of all, and do not heed who said this or commanded that. But let it be your special care when something is commanded, or even hinted at, whether by a superior or and inferior or an equal, that you take it in good part and try honestly to perform it. Let one person seek one thing and another something else. Let one glory in this, another in that, and both be praised a thousand times over. But as for you, rejoice neither in one or the other, but only in contempt of yourself and in My pleasure and honor. Let this be your wish: That whether in life or in death God may be glorified in you." Book Three, Chapter 49

"Just Father, ever to be praised, the hour is come for Your servant to be tried. Beloved Father, it is right that in this hour Your servant should suffer something for You. O Father, forever to be honored, the hour which You knew from all eternity is at hand, when for a short time Your servant should be outwardly oppressed, but inwardly should ever live with You.
Let him be a little slighted, let him be humbled, let him fail in the sight of men, let him be afflicted with sufferings and pains, so that he may rise again with You in the dawn of the new light and be glorified in heaven.
Holy Father, You have so appointed and wished it. What has happened is what You commanded. For this is a favor to Your friend, to suffer and be troubled in the world for Your love, no matter how often and by whom You permit it to happen to him.
Behold, beloved Father, I am in Your hands. I bow myself under Your correcting chastisement. Strike my back and my neck, that I may bend my crookedness to Your will. Make of me a pious and humble follower, as in Your goodness You are wont to do, that I may walk according to Your every nod. My self and all that is mine I commit to You to be corrected, for it is better to be punished here than hereafter.
You know all things without exception, and nothing in man's conscience is hidden from You. Coming events You know before they happen, and there is no need for anyone to teach or admonish You of what is being done on earth. You know what will promote my progress, and how much tribulation will serve to cleanse away the rust of vice. Deal with me according to Your good pleasure and do not despise my sinful life, which is known to none so well or so clearly as to You alone.
Grant me, O Lord, the grace to know what should be known, to praise what is most pleasing to You, to esteem that which appears most precious to You, and to abhor what is unclean in Your sight. Let me distinguish with true judgment between things visible and spiritual, and always seek above all things Your good pleasure. The senses of men often err in their judgments, and the lovers of this world also err in loving only visible things. How is a man the better for being thought greater by men? The deceiver deceives the deceitful, the vain man deceives the vain, the blind deceives the blind, the weak deceives the weak as often as he extols them, and in truth his foolish praise shames them the more." Book Three, Chapter 50

"My child, you cannot always continue in the more fervent desire of virtue, or remain in the higher stage of contemplation, but because of humanity's sin you must sometimes descend to lower things and bear the burden of this corruptible life, albeit unwillingly and wearily.
In such condition, it is well for you to refresh yourself in good deeds, to await with unshaken confidence My heavenly visitation, patiently to bear your exile and dryness of mind until you are again visited by Me and freed of all anxieties. For I will cause you to forget your labors and to enjoy inward quiet. I will spread before you the open fields of the Scriptures, so that with an open heart you may begin to advance in the way of My commandments. And you will say: the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the future glory which shall be revealed to us." Book Three, Chapter 51

"What have I done, Lord, that You should confer on me any heavenly comfort? I remember that I have done nothing good, but that I have always been prone to sin and slow to amend. That is true. I cannot deny it.
In truth, I confess that I am deserving of all scorn and contempt. Neither is it fitting that I should be remembered among Your devoted servants. And although it is hard for me to hear this, yet for truth's sake I will allege my sins against myself, so that I may more easily deserve to beg Your mercy.
What do you especially demand of a guilty and wretched sinner, except that he be contrite and humble himself for his sins?
To You, O Lord, humble sorrow for sins is an acceptable sacrifice, a sacrifice far sweeter than the perfume of incense - for a contrite and humble heart You have never despised." Book Three, Chapter 52

"Cast away all obstacles to grace if you wish to receive its infusion. Seek to retire within yourself. Love to dwell alone with yourself. Seek no man's conversation, but rather pour forth devout prayer to God that you may keep your mind contrite and your heart pure.
Consider the whole world as nothing. Prefer attendance upon God to all outward occupation, for you cannot attend upon Me and at the same time take delight in external things. You must remove yourself from acquaintances and from dear friends, and keep your mind free of all temporal consolation. Thus the blessed Apostle St. Peter begs the faithful of Christ to keep themselves as strangers and pilgrims in the world.
The perfect victory is to triumph over self. For he who holds himself in such subjection that sensuality obeys reason and reason obeys Me in all matters, is truly his own conqueror and a master of the world.
Now, if you wish to climb to this high position you must begin like a man, and lay the ax to the root, in order to tear out and destroy any hidden unruly love of self or of earthly goods. From this vice of too much self-love comes almost every other vice that must be uprooted. And when this evil is vanquished, and brought under control, great peace and quiet will follow." Book Three, Chapter 53

"My Child, pay careful attention to the movements of Nature and of Grace, for they move in very contrary and subtle ways, and can scarcely be distinguished by anyone except a man who is spiritual and inwardly enlightened. All men, indeed, desire what is good, and strive for what is good in their words and deeds. For this reason the appearance of good deceives many.
Nature is crafty and attracts many, ensnaring and deceiving them while ever seeking itself. But Grace walks in simplicity, turns away from all appearance of evil, offers no deceits, and does all purely for God on whom she rests as her last end.
Nature is not willing to die, or to be kept down, or to be overcome. Nor will it subdue itself or be made subject. Grace, on the contrary, strives for mortification of self. She resists sensuality, seeks to be in subjection, longs to be conquered, has no wish to use her own liberty, loves to be held under discipline, and does not desire to rule over anyone, but wishes rather to live, to stand, and to be always under God for Whose sake she is willing to bow humbly to every human creature.
Nature works for its own interest and looks to the profit it can reap from another. Grace does not consider what is useful and advantageous to herself, but rather what is profitable to many. Nature likes to receive honor and reverence, but Grace faithfully attributes all honor and glory to God. Nature fears shame and contempt, but Grace is happy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus. Nature loves ease and physical rest. Grace, however, cannot bear to be idle and embraces labor willingly. Nature seeks to possess what is rare and beautiful, abhorring things that are cheap and coarse. Grace, on the contrary, delights in simple, humble things, not despising those that are rough, nor refusing to be clothed in old garments.
Nature has regard for temporal wealth and rejoices in earthly gains. It is sad over a loss and irritated by a slight, injurious word. But Grace looks to eternal things and does not cling to those which are temporal, being neither disturbed at loss nor angered by hard words, because she has placed her treasure and joy in heaven where nothing is lost.
Nature is covetous, and receives more willingly than it gives. It loves to have its own private possessions. Grace, however, is kind and openhearted. Grace shuns private interest, is contented with little, and judges it more blessed to give than receive.
Nature is inclined toward creatures, toward its own flesh, toward vanities, and toward running about. But Grace draws near to God and to virtue, renounces creatures, hates the desire of the flesh, restrains her wanderings and blushes at being seen in public.
Nature likes to have some external comfort in which it can take sensual delight, but Grace seeks consolation only in God, to find her delight in the highest Good, above all visible things.
Nature does everything for its own gain and interest. It can do nothing without pay and hopes for its good deeds to receive their equal or better, or else praise and favor. It is very desirous of having its deeds and gifts highly regarded. Grace, however, seeks nothing temporal, nor does she ask any recompense but God alone. Of temporal necessities she asks no more than will serve to obtain eternity.
nature rejoices in many friends and kinsfolk, glories in noble position and birth, fawns on the powerful, flatters the rich, and applauds those who are like itself. But Grace loves even her enemies and is not puffed up at having many friends. She does not think highly of either position or birth unless there is also virtue there. She favors the poor in preference to the rich. She sympathizes with the innocent rather than with the powerful. She rejoices with the true man rather than with the deceitful, and is always exhorting the good to strive for better gifts, to become like the Son of God by practicing the virtues.
Nature is quick to complain of need and trouble; Grace is staunch in suffering want.
Nature turns all things back to self. It fights and argues for self. Grace turns all things back to God in Whom they have their source. To herself she ascribes no good, nor is she arrogant or presumptuous. She is not contentious. She does not prefer her own opinion to the opinion of others, but in every matter of sense and thought submits herself to eternal wisdom and the divine judgment.
Nature has a relish for knowing secrets and hearing news. It wishes to appear abroad and to have many sense experiences. It wishes to be known and to do things for which it will be praised and admired. But Grace does not care to hear news or curious matters, because all this arises from the old corruption of man, since there is nothing new, nothing lasting on earth. Grace teaches, therefore, restraint of the senses, avoidance of vain self-satisfaction and show, the humble hiding of deeds worthy of praise and admiration, and the seeking in every thing and in every knowledge the fruit of usefulness, the praise and honor  of God. She will not have herself or hers exalted, but desires that God Who bestows all simply out of love should be blessed in His gifts.
This Grace is a supernatural light, a certain special gift of God, the proper mark of the elect and the pledge of everlasting salvation. It raises man up from earthly things to love the things of heaven. It makes a spiritual man of a carnal one. 
The more, then, nature is held in check and conquered, the more Grace is given. Every day the interior man ins reformed by new visitations according to the image of God. Book Three, Chapter 54

"Thus nature itself, which You created good and right, is considered a symbol of vice and the weakness of corrupted nature, because when left to itself it tends toward evil and to baser things. The little strength remaining in it is like a spark hidden in ashes. That strength is natural reason which, surrounded by thick darkness, still has the power of judging good and evil, of seeing the difference between true and false, though it is not able to fulfill all that it approves and does not enjoy the full light of truth or soundness of affection." Book Three, Chapter 55

"Carefully examine your conscience, then. Cleanse and purify it to the best of your power by true contrition and humble confession, that you may have no burden, know of no remorse, and thus be free to come near. Let the memory of all your sins grieve you, and especially lament and bewail your daily transgressions. Then if time permits, confess to God in the secret depths of your heart all the miseries your passions have caused.
Lament and grieve because you are still so worldly, so carnal, so passionate and unmortified, so full of roving lust, so careless in guarding the external senses, so often occupied in many vain fancies, so inclined to exterior things and so heedless of what lies within, so prone to laughter and dissipation and so indisposed to sorrow and tears, so inclined to ease and the pleasures of the flesh and so cool to austerity and zeal, so curious to hear what is new and to see the beautiful and so slow to embrace humiliation and dejection, so covetous of abundance, so niggardly in giving and so tenacious in keeping, so inconsiderate in speech, so reluctant in silence, so undisciplined in character, so disordered in action, so greedy at meals, so deaf to the Word of God, so prompt to rest and so slow to labor, so awake to empty conversation, so sleepy in keeping sacred vigils and so eager to end them, so wandering in your attention, so careless in saying the office, so lukewarm in celebrating, so heartless in receiving, so quickly distracted, so seldom fully recollected, so quickly moved to anger, so apt to take offense at others, so prone to judge, so severe in condemning, so happy in prosperity and so weak in adversity, so often making good resolutions and carrying so few of them into action.
When you have confessed and deplored these and other faults with sorrow and great displeasure because of your weakness, be firmly determined to amend your life day by day and to advance in goodness. ...If a man does what he can and is truly penitent, however often he comes to Me for grace and pardon, I will no longer remember his sins, but all will be forgiven him." Book Four, Chapter 7

"O Most kind, most loving Lord, Whom I now desire to receive with devotion, You know the weakness and the necessity which I suffer, in what great evils and vices I am involved, how often I am depressed, tempted, defiled, and troubled. To You I come for help, to You I pray for comfort and relief. I speak to Him Who knows all things, to Whom my whole inner life is manifest, and Who alone can perfectly comfort and help me. You know what good things I am most in need of and how poor I am in virtue. ...Feed Your hungry beggar. Inflame my coldness with the fire of Your love. Enlighten my blindness with the brightness of Your presence. Turn all earthly things to bitterness for me, all grievance and adversity to patience, all lowly creation to contempt and oblivion. From this moment to all eternity do You alone grow sweet to me, for You alone are my food and drink, my love and my joy, my sweetness and my total good." Book Four, Chapter 16

"Answer not the doubts sent by the devil, but believe the words of God, believe His saints and prophets and the evil enemy will flee from you. Whatever you cannot understand commit to the security of the all-powerful God, Who does not deceive you. The man, however, who trusts in himself is deceived. God walks with sincere men, reveals Himself to humble men, enlightens the understanding of pure minds, and hides His grace from the curious and the proud.
Human reason is weak and can be deceived. True faith, however, cannot be deceived. All reason and natural science ought to come after faith, not go before it, nor oppose it. God, eternal, incomprehensible, and infinitely powerful, does great and inscrutable things in heaven and on earth, and there is no searching into His marvelous works. If all the works of God were such that human reason could easily grasp them, they would not be called wonderful or beyond the power of words to tell. Book Four, Chapter 18

John Owen - The Mortification of Sin

Chapter 2:
"Always be killing sin or it will be killing you."

"When sin lets us alone, we may let sin alone; but sin is always active when it seems to be the most quiet, and its waters are often deep when they are calm. We should therefore fight against it and be vigorous at all times and in all conditions, even when there is the least suspicion."

"Who can say that he has ever had anything to do with God or for God which indwelling sin has not tried to corrupt?"

"Sin is always acting, always conceiving, and always seducing and tempting."

"If sin is subtle, watchful, strong, and always at work in the business of killing our souls, and we are slothful, negligent, and foolish in this battle, can we expect a favorable outcome? There is not a day but sin foils or is foiled, prevails or is prevailed upon. It will always be so while we live in this world.  Sin will not spare for one day. There is no safety but in constant warfare for those who desire deliverance from sin's perplexing rebellion."

"Every time sin rises to tempt or entice, it always seeks to express itself in the extreme. Every unclean thought or glance would be adultery if it could; every covetous desire would be oppression; and every unbelieving thought would be atheism. It is like the grave that is never satisfied."

"Sin's expression is modest in the beginning but, once it has gained a foothold, it continues to take further ground and presses on to greater heights."

"Though there is in this generation a growing number of professors, a great noise of religion, religious duties in every corner, and preaching in abundance, there is little evidence of the fruit of true mortification. ...If vain spending of time, idleness, envy, strife, variance, emulations, wrath, pride, worldliness, selfishness, are the mark of Christians, we have them among us in abundance. May the good Lord send us a spirit of mortification to cure our distempers, or we will be in a sad condition!"

"Let a man pretend what he will, little concern over sin is a serious offence to the grace and mercy of God!"

Chapter 3:
The Holy Spirit is our only sufficiency for the work of mortification. All ways and means apart from Him have no true effect. He only is the great power behind it, and He works in us as He pleases.

When men are troubled with the guilt of a sin that has prevailed over them, they promise themselves and God that they will sin thus no more, but they seek to accomplish their own victory. ...Their ways are not sufficient. There is no self-endeavor that can accomplish mortification.  Almighty energy is necessary for its accomplishment.

The Holy Spirit so works in us and upon us, as we are able to be wrought in and upon, and yet He preserves our own liberty and free obedience. He works upon our understandings, wills, consciences, and affections, agreeably to their own natures. He works in us and with us, not against us or without us, so that His assistance is an encouragement as to the accomplishing of the work.

I might here bewail the endless, foolish labor of poor souls, who are convinced of sin, and yet not able to stand against its power. They try many perplexing ways and duties, to keep down sin, but, being strangers to the Spirit of God, they find it all in vain. They combat without victory, have war without peace, and are in slavery all of their days. They spend their strength for that which is not bread, and their labor for that which does not profit.

Chapter 4:
Sin untunes and unframes the heart itself, by entangling its affections. It lays hold on the affections, rendering its object beloved and desirable, so expelling the love of the Father.The unmortified soul cannot say uprightly and truly that God is its portion, having something else that it loves.

Sin fills the thoughts with its enticements. First it captures the thoughts and, if unmortified, it then seeks to make provision for and fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

Sin breaks out and actually hinders duty. The ambitious man must be studying, the worldling must be working or contriving, and the sensual, vain person providing vanity for himself, when they should be engaged in the worship of God.

Sin darkens the soul. It is a cloud, a thick cloud that spreads itself over the face of the soul, and intercepts all the beams of God's love and favor. It takes away all sense of the privilege of our adoption; and if the soul begins to gather up thoughts of consolation, sin quickly scatters them down.

Chapter 5:
Mortification of sin is not:

• Rooting out and destroying sin- There may doubtless be times of wonderful success by the Spirit, and such a great victory that a  man may have almost constant triumph over it; but the utter killing and destruction of it, we cannot expect in this life.
• The changing of some outward aspects of a sin-  Mortification is not just the substitution of one sin for another.
• The improvement of our natural constitution 
• The diverting of sins-  Like one who heals a sore in the body, only to have it break out in another location.
• Occasional victories over sin

These are some of the ways, and there are many others, whereby poor souls deceive themselves, and suppose they have mortified their lusts when they are still alive, mighty, and seeking at every opportunity to break forth to disrupt and disturb the soul's peace.                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
Chapter 6:

Mortification of sin is:

• A habitual weakening of the lust- Men are said to have their 'hearts set upon evil' and the inclination in their spirit is to make 'provision for the flesh' (Rom. 13:14).  We seek to take away that about it which give it is strength and power. We aim at the killing of the body of death 'day by day' (2 Cor. 4:16).
• A particular man may appear, in comparison with others, to be a mortified man. In reality however, his lust is just as strong, though not as apparent. His lust may not be as outwardly scandalous as others, but it is lust just the same. It may not disturb the soul as violently as other sins, but it nevertheless controls him as he secretly harbors it.
• With all troubling sin, no matter whether it encourages us to do evil or hinders us from doing good, the rule is the same: it must be mortified or it will arise again. A man may beat down the bitter fruit from an evil tree until he is weary but while the root of the tree continues to abide in strength and vigor, the beating down of the present fruit will not hinder it from bearing more evil fruit.
• A constant fight and contention against sin
• We need to recognize the enemy we are dealing with and resolve that it is to be destroyed by all means possible. The battle is a vigorous and hazardous one that deals with the issues of eternity. When a man is not very concerned, and sees his lust as a trivial thing, it is an indication that he is not mortified or even heading in that direction.
• We cannot go forward unless we recognize the plague of our own hearts (1 Kings 8:38).  It is to be feared that too many do not realize the enemy that they carry about with them in their hearts. This makes them ready to justify themselves, and to be impatient when they are reproved or admonished. They do not begin to realize the danger they are in. (2 Chron. 16:10).
• We need to be intimately acquainted with the ways, wiles, methods, advantages, and occasions which give lust its success. This is how men deal with their enemies. They search out their plans, ponder their goals, and consider how and by what means they have prevailed over them in the past. Then they can be defeated. Without this kind of strategic thinking, warfare is very primitive. Even when lust is not enticing and seducing, those who will mortify sin consider, 'This is still our enemy; this is his way and his methods, these are his advantages, this is the way he has prevailed, and he will do this, if he is not prevented'.
• We need to find out its pleas, pretences and reasonings, and see what its strategies, disguises and excuses are! We need to set the Spirit against the craft of the old man; to trace this serpent in all of its turning and windings, and to bring its most secret tricks out in the open.
• Even when we think that a lust is dead because it is quiet, we must labor to give it new wounds and new blows every day. (Col 3:5)
• A degree of success in the battle
• When man can quietly and in a calm frame of spirit search out and fight against sin and gain the victory against it, and continue in the peace of God; then sin is mortified in some considerable measure.
• We must implant, promote the continual residence of, and cherish those graces that stand in direct opposition to the lust. So, for example, by the implanting and growth of humility, pride is weakened.

Chapter 7:
Unless a man is a true believer, and grafted into Christ, he can never mortify a single sin.

There is no death of sin without the death of Christ.

Our union with Christ and the power of the Spirit enable us to mortify sin. All attempts at mortification without a true interest in Christ are vain!

Mortification is not the present duty of unregenerate men. God calls them to conversion first.  He calls them to the conversion of their whole soul, not just the mortification of this or that particular lust.

This is one of the most common deceptions in which men ruin their souls. They seek to apply themselves to victory over the troubling sin but do not allow their conviction to lead them to the gospel. They perish in their 'reformation'.

When a man's conscience is made sick with sin, and can find no rest, he needs to go to the great Physician of souls and get healing in His blood. But if that man is able to quiet his conscience through "victory" over a sin, he sits down without going to Christ at all. How many souls are thus deceived, right on into eternity!  How many religions are designed to pacify the conscience without Christ! By this means men satisfy themselves that their state and condition is good. They are hardened in a kind of self-righteousness.

He that shall call a man from mending a hole in the wall of his house, to quench a fire that is consuming the whole building, is not his enemy. Poor soul!  It is not your sore finger but your great fever you need to notice. You set yourself against a particular sin, and do not realize that you are nothing but sin.

It is the duty of preachers to plead with men about their sins, but we must always remember to speak in such a way as to lead them to the discovery of their state and condition. Otherwise we may lead men to formality and hypocrisy and not accomplish the true end of preaching the gospel.

Chapter 8:
You cannot mortify a specific lust that is troubling you, unless you are seeking to obey the Lord from the heart in all areas!

We must hate all sin, as sin, and not just that which troubles us. Love for Christ, because he went to the cross, and hate for sin that sent him there, is the solid foundation for true spiritual mortification. To seek mortification only because a sin troubles us proceeds from self-love.

If you hate sin as sin, you would be watchful against everything that grieves and disquiets the Spirit of God. You would not be concerned only about the sin that upsets your own soul! ...If it did not bother you, you would not bother it. Do you think God will help you in such a hypocritical effort? ...Do you think he will free you from this so you are free to go and commit another sin which grieves Him?  'No,' says God, 'If I free him from this lust, I will not hear from him any more, and he will be content in his failure'. We must not be concerned only with that which troubles us, but with all that troubles God.

Lust lies in the heart of every one, even the best, while he lives.  Scripture also teaches that lust is cunning, crafty, that is seduces, entices, fights, and rebels. While a man keeps a diligent watch over his heart, lust withers and dies in it. But through negligence, lust erupts in some particular way.  Lust takes opportunity through the thoughts or desires and breaks out into open sin. When lust finds its expression in a particular avenue it keeps pushing, vexing, and disquieting the soul. In such a case it is not so easily restrained. A man may find himself wrestling with it in sorrow all his days. By a diligent spiritual watch, this might have been easily prevented.

If we do not seek to obey in every area of our lives, our soul becomes weak. If we seek only to have victory over the sin that troubles us, and do not consider the filth and guilt of it, we are selfish and offer a constant provocation to God.

Chapter 9:
Symptoms that accompany a lust.  If they are deadly and serious, then extraordinary remedies must be used.  The ordinary course of mortification will not work.  Let us consider six deadly and serious symptoms:

1. Firm establishment over a long period of time and settlement as a habitual practice
• Such a lust will make a deep imprint on the soul.  It will make its company a habit in your affections.  It will grow so familiar to your mind and conscience that they are not disturbed at its presence as some strange thing. 
• Do you think it will prove an easy thing to dislodge such a roommate, pleading to stay?
• Such a sin will not be easily ejected.  It will never die by itself, and if it is not daily killed it will only gather added strength.
2. When the heart pleads to be thought in a good state, yet all the while allows the continuance of a lust without any attempt at its mortification
• When a perplexing thought of sin comes, a man, instead of applying himself to the destruction of it, searches his heart to find some good thing so that it may go well with him, even though the sin or lust continues to abide in his heart.
• A person who seeks peace on any account and is content to live away from the love of God in this life, so long as it does not mean a final separation, shows that his love for sin exceeds his love for God.  What is to be expected from such a heart?
• It is natural for the flesh to reason for itself in the light of grace and mercy.  It stands ready to pervert grace for its own corrupt aims and purposes.  To apply mercy to a sin not vigorously mortified is to fulfill the end of the flesh against the gospel of grace.
3. When sin frequently succeeds in obtaining the consent of the will
• When the will finds delight in a sin, even though it is not outwardly performed, the temptation is successful.  A man may not go along with the sin as to the outward act, yet if he embraces the desire of it in his heart, the temptation has prevailed.  If a lust frequently succeeds in this way, it is a very bad sign.  
4. When a man fights against a sin only because of the consequences or penalty of that sin
• This is an evidence that sin has a great grip on his will, and his heart is full of wickedness.  A man who only opposes the sin in his heart for fear of shame among men or eternal punishment from God would practice the sin if there were no punishment attending it. How does this differ from living in the practice of the sin?
• Such a person has cast off, in this respect, renewing grace, and is kept from ruin only because of restraining grace.  
• Must this not be a great provocation to Christ, that men should cast off His gentle yoke and rule, to cast themselves back under the iron yoke of the law, merely because of their lusts?
• Examine yourself by this: When you are tempted, ...what do you say to your soul?  Is it only, 'Hell will be the end of this course.'?  ...This will not restrain you when you have voluntarily given up to your enemy a means of preservation a thousand times stronger.  Be sure of this, that unless you recover yourself rapidly from this condition, the thing you fear will come upon you.
5. When it is probable that trouble over a sin or lust is a punishment from God
• A new sin may be permitted, as well as a new affliction sent, to bring an old sin to remembrance.  Have you received any eminent mercy, protection, or deliverance for which you were not thankful? Have you failed to glorify God when He graciously afforded you the opportunity to do so in your generation?  etc.
6. When your lust has already withstood particular dealings from God against it
• This is a sad condition, from which nothing but mere sovereign grace may set a man free, and no one in such a state should presume upon such deliverance.
• This frame of heart is surrounded by countless evils.  The fact that God does not cast off such a one, and swear in His wrath that he shall never enter into His rest, can only be ascribed to His infinite patience. 

Chapter 10:
Get a clear and abiding sense of the guilt, danger, and evil of the sin with which you are troubled.

1. Consider the guilt of it.
• One of the deceptions of a prevailing lust is to play down its guilt, saying, in effect:  'Is it not a little one?' ... There are many ways in which sin diverts the mind from an appropriate sense of guilt.  Sin's loud voice darkens the mind so that it cannot make a right judgement of things.
• Our perplexing reasonings, our promises calculated to lessen our guilt, turbulent desires, false intentions of reform, and hopes of mercy, all have their part in confusing the mind as it considers the guilt of a prevailing lust.
• This is the outcome of lust in the heart; it darkens the mind so that it does not rightly judge the guilt of sin.
• Consider in your mind that the guilt of sinning against grace is more serious than if you did not have any grace at all. 
• God delights in the abundance of beauty and excellencies in the hearts of his children more than in the most glorious works of other men.  
• The outward sins into which the believer may fall are more serious than those of the unsaved, because of the grace opposing them.
2. Consider the danger of it.
• Danger 1:  Being hardened
• Use all means, consider your temptations, watch diligently; there is a treachery, a deceit in sin that tends to the hardening of your hearts from the fear of God.  This hardening is so serious that your heart becomes insensitive to moral influence.
• You who at one time were very tender and would melt under the influence of the Word and under trials will grow 'sermon-proof' and 'trial-proof.'  You will be able to pass over spiritual duties like prayer, hearing, and reading, with your heart not in the least affected by them.
• Can a sadder thing happen to you?  Is this not enough to make any heart tremble, to think of being in such a state?
• Take heed!  This is the outcome of harboring your lust - the hardening of your heart, the searing of your conscience, the blinding of your mind, the dulling of your affections, and the deceiving of your whole soul.
• Danger 2:  Coming under a great chastisement
•  
• Danger 3:  The loss of peace and strength
• To have peace with God and strength to walk before Him is the goal of the great promises of the covenant of grace.  In these things is the life of our souls. Going on without these, in reasonable abundance, is to die while we live!  What good will our lives do us if we do not see the face of God sometimes in peace or do not have a measure of strength to walk with Him?   Unmortified lust will deprive us of these blessings. 
• Though God should not destroy you, yet He might cast you into this condition to give you a sharp and living apprehension of your destruction. Consider in your heart the terrible outcome of such a state.  Do not stop thinking about it till your soul trembles within you.
• Danger 4:   Eternal destruction
• There is... no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1).  True, but who shall have the comfort of this promise? ... Those who 'walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit' (Rom. 8:4). 
• Whatever evidence we may have of our own salvation, we must acknowledge that an evil path leads to destruction.  To believe otherwise is atheism.
3. Consider the present evils of it.
• It grieves the holy and blessed Spirit.  
• The Holy Spirit is grieved by our sin as a tender and loving friend is grieved by wounds from a close friend.  ... If there is any gracious character in our soul, if it is not entirely hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, then not grieving the Spirit is surely a great motive for purity. 
• The Lord Jesus Christ is wounded afresh by it.
• It will take away a man's usefulness in his generation.
• The world is full of poor professors without reality.  How few are there that walk in beauty and glory!
• Sin lies as a worm at the root of obedience and corrodes and weakens it day by day.  

Chapter 11:

Charge your conscience with the guilt of indwelling sin. Not only should you acknowledge that it brings guilt upon you, but you should charge your conscience with the guilt of its actual risings and out-breakings. Consider how righteous it is that every one of your transgressions should receive a just reward of judgment.

Sin in relation to the Law

• Lay your particular corruption next to the law and let its pressure weigh heavily on your conscience.
• You might say that you are not under the condemning power of the law and that you have been freed from it.  There is therefore no need to be troubled by it.  But:
1. Tell your conscience that it cannot be assured that you are free from the condemning power of sin while your unmortified lust dwells in your heart.  Assuredly, he that pleads in the deepest part of his heart that he is truly freed from the condemning power of the law, and yet purposely allows the least sin or lust to be entertained there, cannot upon gospel authority have any proof of spiritual security.  How can he consider himself truly delivered from the very sin that he is entertaining?
2. The purpose of the law is to discover sin and the guilt of it. It should awaken and humble the soul and reveal sin in all of its horrible colors.  
• If you are unwilling to deal with it on this account, this is an indication of a hard heart under the deceitfulness of sin.  
• This is a door which many professing believers have entered, which has led them into open apostasy.  They have claimed deliverance from the law so that they might ignore its guidance and direction. 
• If your ears are open, the law will speak with a voice that will make you tremble.  The law will cast you to the ground and fill you with astonishment.
• If you intend ever to gain the victory in mortification, you must tie your conscience to the law.  Do not allow it to dodge the law's arrows.  Allow the law to give you a clear view of your guilt.  As King David says, 'My sin is ever before me' (Ps. 51:3).

Sin in relation to the Gospel

• Bring your lust to the gospel.  Not for relief, but for further conviction of your guilt.
• Say to your soul, 'What have I done?  What love, what mercy, what blood, what grace have I despised and trampled on!'  ... 
• What shall I say to the Lord?  His love, mercy, grace, goodness, peace, joy, consolation - I have despised all of them!  I have considered them as nothing, that I might harbor lust in my heart. 
• Have I seen God as my Father, that I might provoke Him to His face?  Was my soul washed that there might be room for new defilements?
• Shall I seek to disappoint the purpose of the death of Christ?
• Shall I grieve the Holy Spirit, Who has sealed me unto the day of redemption?
• Consider the infinite patience and forbearance of God towards us.  Have you not often felt that it seemed impossible that He could bear much longer with you?  That He might cast you off, and be gracious no more?  That all His forbearance was exhausted, and that hell and wrath were now prepared for you?  Yet, despite this expectation, He has returned with visitations of love.  Will you yet abide in that which provokes the eyes of His glory?
• Consider all God's gracious dealings with you.  Consider His providential blessings, deliverances, mercies, and enjoyments that He has given you.  Fill your conscience with such memories.  Do not leave these meditations until your heart is strongly influenced with the guilt of indwelling corruption.  As long as your conscience is able to justify your failure, your soul will never vigorously attempt the mortification of sin.

Seek a constant longing and thirsting to be delivered from the power of sin.

• The desire, longing and panting after  deliverance is in itself a grace which begins to conform the soul to the likeness of that which is longed for.
• Your longing heart will now watch for all opportunities to gain an advantage over its enemy.  It will readily fall in with all the help it can find to accomplish sin's destruction. 
• A strong desire is the life-blood of praying without ceasing.  A strong desire sets faith and hope to work, and drives the soul in following hard after the Lord. 

Consider whether the trouble that you are perplexed with is related to your particular make-up and nature.

• A proneness to some sins may doubtless lie in the natural temper and disposition of individuals. In such a case let us consider three things:
1. This is not in the least a just excuse for the guilt of your sin.  David considered his being formed in sin as a further aggravation of his transgression, and not a lessening of it. 
2. If your constitution is particularly prone to give way to a particular lust, then Satan and sin have a special advantage, and you must, with extraordinary watchfulness, care, and diligence, fight to overcome these attacks against your soul.
3. Bringing the body into subjection can indeed assist in mortification.  Cutting short the natural appetite by fasting, watching and the like, are doubtless acceptable to God and may be done, subject to the following guidelines:
• Fasting and watching and the like should not be looked upon as things which in themselves have the ability to produce true mortification.  
• These disciplines are to be looked upon only as means by which the Spirit may, and sometimes does, put forth strength for the accomplishing of His own work.

Consider what occasions your sin has taken advantage of to exert itself in the past, and watch carefully at such times.

• Consider what ways, what kinds of company, what opportunities, what studies, what occupations, what conditions have at any time given , or do usually give, advantages to your sins, and set yourself against them all.  
• Men will do this with their bodily infirmities.  The season, the diet and the air that have proved offensive are avoided.  Are the things of the soul of less importance?  If we dare to dally with the occasions for sin, we will dare to sin.

Rise mightily against the first sign of sin.  Do not allow it to gain the smallest ground.

• Do not say, 'Thus far I shall go and no farther.'  If you allow it one step, it will take another.  It is impossible to fix boundaries for sin!  It is like water in a channel.  If it ever breaks out, it will flow on through the breach.
• Consider what an unclean thought desires.  It desires to have you immerse yourself in folly and filth.
• Ask envy what it aims at.  Murder and destruction are its natural conclusion.  Set yourself against it as if it had already surrounded you in wickedness.
• If sin gains ground in your affections so that you delight in it, your understanding will also come to think little of it.

Chapter 12:
We need to be exercised with such meditations as it will fill us at all times with self-abasement and thoughts of our own vileness.

1. Meditate upon the excellence and the majesty of God and our infinite, inconceivable distance from Him.  These meditations will fill us with our own vileness and strike deep at the root of our indwelling sin.
2. Consider often how unacquainted you really are with God.  Certainly you know enough to keep you low and humble, but how little we really know of Him!  
• Seek to keep your heart in a continual awe of the majesty of God. 
• All that Moses saw and learned was but little compared with the perfections of God's glory.
• We may speak much of God; talk of Him, His way, His works, His counsels, all day long; but the truth is, we know very little of Him.  Our thoughts, our meditations, our expressions of Him are low, many of them unworthy of His glory, and none of them reaching His perfections.
• How short do we come of the truth of things.  We are looking in a looking glass where we see only obscure images of things, and not the things themselves!
• It is right for a child to love, honor, believe, and obey his father; and yet his father is aware of his childhood weaknesses.  We are like children.  Notwithstanding all our confidence of high attainments, all our notions of God are but childish with regard to His infinite perfections.
• The queen of Sheba had heard much of Solomon, and formed great thoughts of his magnificence in her mind.  But when she came and saw his glory, she was forced to confess that not half the truth had been told her.  When He shall bring us into His presence we shall cry out, 'We never knew Him as He is; only a thousandth of His glory, and perfection, and blessedness, has ever entered our hearts!'
• The light of God, in Whom is no darkness, forbids all access to Him by any creature.  We who cannot behold the sun in its glory are too weak to bear the beams of infinite brightness.
• When we consider the very being of God, we find ourselves so far from the true knowledge of it that we cannot come up with the right words and expressions.  As we seek to meditate in our minds and frame thoughts about God, we fall so far short that we make an idol in our mind and worship a god of our own making, and not the true God that has made us.
• The best thoughts about the being of God are ones in which we realize that we cannot truly comprehend Him as He is.  We realize that we know so little when our best thoughts of God are, 'We cannot know.'
• We are more perfect in our understanding when we realize that we cannot understand, and rest there.  It is just the back parts of eternity and infinity that we see.  What shall we say of the Trinity, or the existence of three Persons in the same individual essence?  This is such a mystery that it is denied by many, because they cannot understand it.  Is it not indeed a mystery whose every letter is mysterious?
• We know Him rather by what He does than by what He is.  We understand His doing us good, but not truly His essential goodness.  How little a portion of Him, as Job says, is discovered in this way!
• All men have impressions in their hearts that there is a God.  Their reason so teaches them, through the works of His creation and providence. Their understanding, however, is weak, low, dark, and confused.  
• The chief and almost only acquaintance we have with God is by faith.  
• The object of our faith is beyond our ability to grasp fully.
• The truth is that we all know enough of Him to love Him more than we do, to delight in Him and serve Him, to believe Him and obey Him, and to put our trust in Him much beyond our current attainments.  Our darkness and weakness is no excuse for our negligence and disobedience.
• God's purpose in giving us any knowledge of Himself is that we may glorify Him as God.  
• The difference between believers and unbelievers as to knowledge is not so much in the matter of their knowledge, as in the manner of their knowing.  Unbelievers, some of them, may know more and be able to say more of God, His perfections, and His will, than many believers; but they do not know God as they should.  They do not know in the right manner; their knowledge is not spiritual and saving, and it does not have a heavenly light.  The excellence of a believer is not that he has a large apprehension of things, but that what he does understand, which may be very little, he sees in the light of the Spirit of God.  He has a saving, soul-transforming light.  This is what gives us communion with God.
• We should continually be accustomed to reverential thoughts of God's greatness and omnipresence.  Then we will always be watchful against any behavior not suited to His presence.

Chapter 13:

When God stirs your heart about the guilt of your sin, concerning either its root and indwelling, or its breaking out, be careful you do not speak peace to yourself before God speaks it.  Listen closely to what He says to your soul.

• This is a business of great importance.  It is a sad thing for a man to deceive his own soul in this way.
• We may be mistaken and trouble ourselves in vain, or flatter ourselves upon false grounds, but He is the 'Amen, the faithful and true witness', and what He speaks of our state and condition, that it is indeed!

When a man truly looks upon Christ whom he has pierced, without whom there is no healing or peace, and mourns, his mourning will be because it was his sin that pierced Him!

When God comes to us and speaks peace to us, He fills our soul with shame for all the ways in which we have been alienated from Him.

When peace is spoken, if it is not attended with hatred and abhorrence of the sin which caused the wound and was the reason for all the trouble, then this is not God's peace, but a peace of our own making.

Let not the poor souls that walk in this path ever think that they will have true and solid peace.  They call to the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy, but they still keep the sweet morsel of sin under their tongue!

...This man considers the great promises, and on this basis he grants peace to himself, whether the Spirit of God makes the application or not, or whether his application of the text is consistent with the intent of the author.  He does not consider whether it is indeed God who is speaking peace.  He does not wait upon God, who yet may be hiding His face.

God will have his children lie a while at His door, when they have run from His house, and not instantly rush in upon Him; ...Now, self-healers, or men that speak peace to themselves, are commonly hasty.  They will not wait a while.  They do not wait for God to speak, but rush on seeking immediate healing.

When God speaks peace, He guides and keeps the soul so that it does not turn again to folly.  When we speak peace to ourselves, the heart is not taken away from the evil; no it is the quickest way to lead a soul into the habit of backsliding.

When God speaks peace, there comes along with it so much sweetness, and such a discovery of His love, that there is a strong inclination and desire to deal perversely no more!

God will justify us from our sins, but He will not justify the least sin in us.  'He is a God of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong' (Hab 1:13).

There is, if I may put it in this way, a secret instinct in faith, whereby it knows the voice of Christ when He truly speaks.  As the babe leaped in the womb when the blessed Virgin came to Elisabeth, faith leaps in the heart when Christ indeed draws near.

When he speaks, he speaks as no man has ever spoken.  He speaks with power.  He will in one way or another make your heart burn within you.  When He puts His hand to the latch (Song of Sol 5:4), His Spirit will seize your heart!

If the Word of the Lord does good to your soul, He is the one who speaks it.  If it humbles you and cleanses you, it is fulfilling the purpose for which it was given to you, namely to endear, to cleanse, to melt and bind to obedience, and to self-emptiness, and so on.

Chapter 14:

The things we have considered so far have been preparation for the work of mortification.  They are necessary to prepare the heart, and without them this work cannot be accomplished.  The directions for the work itself are only two. 

Direction 1:  Set your faith upon Christ for the killing of your sin.  His blood is the great sovereign remedy for sin-sick souls.

• Live in the light of Christ's great work, and you will die a conqueror.  You will, through the good providence of God, live to see your lust dead at your feet.
• By faith ponder this, that though you are in no way able to conquer your own disordered state, and though you are weary of fighting it, and though you are ready to faint, there is enough in Jesus Christ to give you relief!
• In your greatest distress and anguish, consider the fullness of grace, all the riches and treasures of strength, might and help that are laid up in Christ for our support. 
• Therefore, let your soul, by faith, dwell on such thoughts as these:
• I am a poor, weak creature; unstable as water, and I cannot excel.  This corruption is too hard for me, and is the doorway to the ruin of my soul.  I do not know what to do.
• My soul has become parched ground, and a habitation of dragons.  
• I have made promises and broken them.  I have made vows, but I did not keep them.
• Many times I have been persuaded that I have gained the victory, and that I should be delivered, but I was deceived.  Now I plainly see that without some great help and assistance, I will perish and be forced to abandon God.
• But yet, though this is my state and condition, I will lift up my hands that hang down, and strengthen my feeble knees, for behold, the Lord Jesus Christ has all the fullness of grace in His heart, and all the fullness of power in His hand.  He is able to slay all of these enemies.
• He can make the dry, parched ground of my soul to become a pool, and my thirsty, barren heart as springs of water. Yes, he can make this habitation of dragons, this heart, which is so full of abominable lusts and fiery temptations, to be a place of bounty and fruitfulness unto Himself. (Isaiah 35:7)

Direction 2: Raise up your heart in faith with an expectation of relief from Christ.

• Though it seems like a long time to you while you are in your trouble and perplexity, yet the victory shall surely come in the appointed time from the Lord Jesus Christ.  When it comes, that will be the best season for its accomplishment.  
• He will slay your lusts and your latter end will be peace.  Look for it from His hand with an expectation of when and how He might do it.
• Christ is the fountain from which the new man must draw the influences of life and strength, or he will decay every day.
• Consider His mercy, tenderness, and kindness as He represents us as our great High Priest at the right hand of  God.  Certainly He pities you in your distress.  He says, 'As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you.' (Isa 66) 
• The apostle tells us to expect this help and grace from Christ.  Yes, but on what account?  Because He is a faithful and merciful high priest! I shall be bold to say that this one thing of expecting relief from Christ, on the basis of His mercy as our high priest, will be a better and speedier means of destroying your lust and the disorder of your soul than all the most rigid efforts at self-mortification that the sons of men engage in.
• No soul has ever perished by the power of any lust, sin, or corruption who could raise his soul by faith to expect such relief from Jesus Christ.
• Nothing motivates the heart of a man to be useful and helpful to another more than when the other looks to him for help.  The kindness, care, and promises of Christ encourage us to expect His help.  Our rising to seek it in our time of need must greatly engage his heart to assist us.
• He died that we might be freed from the power of our sins, and be purified from all of our defiling lusts.  This purpose of His cannot fail.
• In death, Christ destroyed the works of the devil, and secured the Holy Spirit for us, ensuring the destruction of sin, as to its reign in believers, that it should not obtain its end or its dominion.
• The Holy Spirit alone can bring conviction. If the preaching of the Word joined with the reasonings of man were capable of bringing the conviction of sin, we would see much more conviction than we do. ...It is the Spirit alone that can do, and does do, this work.
• This is the first work of the Spirit to bring about mortification.  He convinces the soul of all its evil.  He cuts off all of lust's pleadings, uncovers all of its deceits, stops all of its evasions, and answers its self-justifications.  He makes the soul to confess the abomination of its sin, and to be cast down under the guilt of it. 
• The Spirit is the Author and Finisher of our sanctification.  He gives new supplies and influences of grace for holiness and sanctification when our resolve to resist is weakened.
• He enables us to pray with sighs and 'groanings too deep for words'.  This is surely the great way to prevail with God.