Gems from "The Christian in Complete Armour" - I of ?

"If you want heaven but you also want your sins, do not expect to succeed. You must part company with one or the other. If you will not let go of your sins, God will have to let go of you. If you want heaven but insist on purchasing it with your own righteousness, you will fall short of the price."

"May God open the eyes of the unbelieving world so people can see that the things of the spirit are real and not fictitious. Faith and faith alone can make the invisible visible to them."

Encouragement in the Battle

"...heaven is a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Christ is an abiding portion which changes not. His graces and comforts are sure waters that spring up into eternal life. The quail that were food for the Israelites' greed soon ceased, but the rock that was drink for their faith followed them. This rock is Christ. You may lose every temporal comfort, including family and friends, but if your treasure is secure in Christ, you are a rich man still. Christ will come to you in your darkest hour with peace and a promise: 'Fear not death nor devils. I will stay right here beside you until you breathe your last breath. My angels are waiting with Me. As soon as your soul is breathed out of your body, they will carry it to heaven and lay it in the bosom of My love. Then I will nourish you with those eternal joys that My blood has purchased and My love has perfected for you.'"

"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."

"Satan is not challenging you to a mock battle; this war is a life-or-death struggle. ... This war is a spiritual holocaust. either you destroy the power of Satan in your life by putting on the whole armour of God and keeping it on, or Satan will destroy you."

"None are so full of remorse at the presence of the least sin as those whose love for Christ is increasing. As winter passes and spring approaches, the sun grows stronger and melts the frost earlier each day. A sure sing that the love of Christ is shining stronger in your heart is when sin cannot lie long without being melted into sorrow and genuine repentance. The decaying soul is the one where sins lie hard and frozen, and where little awareness or sense of sorrow for them appears."

"When a person's conscience is numb to temptation, his graces are in a critical condition."

"If all you care about is your own reputation ... and you have little or no regard for God's reputation, your grace is at a low ebb."

How to recover from declining grace.
(a) How to recover when sin is the cause:
     - Renew your repentance
     - Reaffirm your faith
     - Renounce your lusts
(b) How to recover when neglect is the cause:
     - Read your Bible
     - Meditate
     - Pray
     - Fellowship with other Christians

William Gurnall