Matthew henry quotes

The counsels and decrees of God do not truckle to the frail and fickle will of man.

Anger cannot rest in the bosom where love reigns.

A garment that is double dyed, dipped again and again, will retain the color a great while; so a truth which is the subject of meditation.

Whatever we have of this world in our hands, our care must be to keep it out of our hearts, lest it come between us and Christ.

Peace is such a precious jewel that I would give anything for it but truth.

Love is the root; obedience is the fruit.

None are ruined by the justice of God but those that hate to be reformed by the grace of God.

The flower of youth never appears more beautiful than when it bends toward the sun of righteousness.

God cannot be represented by an image. We ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. We wrong God, and put an affront upon him, if we think so. God honoured man in making his soul after his own likeness; but man dishonours God if he makes him after the likeness of his body. The Godhead is spiritual, infinite, immaterial, incomprehensible, and therefore it is a very false and unjust conception which an image gives us of God.

We best oppose error by promoting a solid knowledge of the word of truth, and the greatest kindness we can do to children, is to make them early to know the Bible.

Extraordinary afflictions are not always the punishment of extraordinary sins, but sometimes the trial of extraordinary graces.

If ill thoughts at any time enter into the mind of a good man, he doth not roll them under his tongue as a sweet morsel.

You may as soon find a living man who does not breathe, as a living Christian who does not pray.

In order to the attaining of all useful knowledge this is most necessary, that we fear God; we are not qualified to profit by the instructions that are given us unless our minds be possessed with a holy reverence of God, and every thought within us be brought into obedience to Him.... As all our knowledge must take rise from the fear of God, so it must tend to it as its perfection and centre. Those know enough who know how to fear God, who are careful in every thing to please Him and fearful of offending Him in any thing; this is the Alpha and Omega of knowledge.

Everlasting life is a jewel of too great a value to be purchased by the wealth of this world.

Those that set God always before them and walk before him with all their hearts, shall find him as good as his word and better; he will both keep covenant with them and show mercy to them.

Eve was not taken out of Adam's head to top him, neither out of his feet to be trampled on by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected by him, and near his heart to be loved by him.

Poor people are as much in danger from an inordinate desire towards the wealth of the world as rich from an inordinate delight in it.

Those that abide in Christ as their heart's desire shall have, through Christ, their heart's desire.

Those whom God will employ are first struck with a sense of their unworthiness to be employed.

We have a cunning adversary, who watches to do mischief, and will promote errors, even by the words of scripture.

The riches we impart are the only wealth we shall always retain.

All obedience begins in the affections, and nothing in religion is done right, that is not done there first.

Brotherly love is still the distinguishing badge of every true Christian.

Prayer is the breath of the new man, drawing in the air of mercy in petitions, and returning it in praises; it proves and maintains the spiritual life.

Hard words indeed break no bones, but many a heart has been broken by them.

Wherever the fear of God rules in the heart, it will appear both in works of charity and piety, and neither will excuse us from the other.

The greatest of men must turn beggars when they have to do with Christ.

We must never promise ourselves any more than God has promised us.

What God requires of us he himself works in us, or it is not done. He that commands faith, holiness, and love, creates them by the power of his grace going along with his word, that he may have all the praise.

What we count the ills of life are often blessings in disguise, resulting in good to us in the end. Though for the present not joyous but grievous, yet, if received in a right spirit, they work out fruits of righteousness for us at last.

We have no sufficient strength of our own. All our sufficiency is of God. We should stir up ourselves to resist temptations in a reliance upon God's all-sufficiency and the omnipotence of his might.

It is good for us to keep some account of our prayers, that we may not unsay them in our practice.

The meek are those who quietly submit themselves to God, to His Word and to His rod, who follow His directions, and comply with His designs, and are gentle toward all men.

The sentences in the book of providence are sometimes long, and you must read a great way before you understand their meaning.

We should take heed of pride; it is a sin that turned angels into devils.

Seducers are more dangerous enemies to the church than persecutors.

It was the greatest honor God did to man that he made man in the image of God; but it is the greatest dishonor man has done to God that he has made God in the image of man.

God's Word must be the guide of your desires and the ground of your expectations in prayer.

It is easy to be religious when religion is in fashion; but it is an evidence of strong faith and resolution to swim against a stream to heaven, and to appear for God when no one else appears for Him.

Those who teach by their doctrine must teach by their life, or else they pull down with one hand what they build up with the other.

No man will say, "There is no God" 'till he is so hardened in sin that it has become his interest that there should be none to call him to account.

Those who complain most are most to be complained of.

It is a sin against God not to pray for the Israel of God, especially for those of them that are under our charge. Good men are afraid of the guilt of omissions ( I Samuel 12).

Prayer is a salve for every sore, a remedy for every malady; and when we are afflicted with thorns in the flesh, we should give ourselves to prayer. If an answer be not given to the first prayer, nor to the second, we are to continue praying. Troubles are sent to teach us to pray; and are continued, to teach us to continue instant in prayer.

Man takes a great deal of pains to heap up riches, and they are but like heaps of manure in the furrows of the field, good for nothing unless they be spread.

God's favour is happiness.

Sanctified afflictions are spiritual promotions.

None live so easily, so pleasantly, as those that live by faith.

Christ teaches by the Spirit of wisdom in the heart, opening the understanding to the Spirit of revelation in the word.

It is not talking but walking that will bring us to heaven.

Knowledge is vain and fruitless which is not reduced to practice.

When we are calling to God to turn the eye of His favor towards us He is calling to us to turn the eye of our obedience towards Him.

The best we can say to God in prayer, is what He has said to us.

. . . when we cannot do the good we would, we must be ready to do the good we can.

The first lesson in Christ's school is self-denial.

Some people do not like to hear much of repentance; but I think it is so necessary that if I should die in the pulpit, I would desire to die preaching repentance, and if out of the pulpit I would desire to die practicing it.

It ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our last day.

No attribute of God is more dreadful to sinners than His holiness.

It is better to take time to consider before than to find time to repent after.

God warns before he wounds.

After a storm comes a calm.

None so blind as those who will not see.

Pride is at the bottom of a great many errors and corruptions, and even of many evil practices, which have a great show and appearance of humility.

Be careful if you make a women cry, because God counts her tears. The woman came out of a man’s ribs. Not from his feet to be walked on, not from his head to be superior, but from his side to be equal, under the arm to be protected, and next to the heart to be loved.

God is either your worst enemy or your best friend.

ThanksGiving is good but ThanksLiving is better.

I shall be supplied with whatever I need; and, if I have not everything I desire, I may conclude it is either not fit for me, or I shall have it in due time.

The best evidence of our having the truth is our walking in the truth.

You have been used to take notice of the sayings of dying men — this is mine: That a life spent in the service of God, and communion with him, is the most comfortable and pleasant life that one can live in the present world.

Come, and see the victories of the cross. Christ's wounds are thy healings, His agonies thy repose, His conflicts thy conquests, His groans thy songs, His pains thine ease, His shame thy glory, His death thy life, His sufferings thy salvation.

Christ died. He left a will in which He gave His soul to His Father, His body to Joseph of Arimathea, His clothes to the soldiers, and His mother to John. But to His disciples, who had left all to follow Him, He left not silver or gold, but something far better-His PEACE!

None so blind, so deaf, as those that will not hear, that will not see.

The fear of God reigning in the heart is the beauty of the soul.

God's promises are to be our pleas in prayer.

The more reverence we have for the Word of God, the more joy we shall find in it.

See what a hidden life the life of a good Christian is, and how much it is concealed from the eye and observation of the world. The most important part of the business lies between God and our own souls, in the frame of our spirits and the working of our hearts, in our actions that no eye sees except the all-seeing God. Justly are the saints called God's hidden ones, and His secret is said to be with them. They have meat to eat and work to do that the world does not know of, as well as joys, griefs, and cares that a stranger does not share.

If God and his grace do not rule us, sin and Satan will have possession of us.

May Christ be our joy, our confidence, our all. May we daily be made more like to Him, and more devoted to His service.

By the light of nature we see God as a God above us, by the light of the law we see Him as a God against us, but by the light of the gospel we see Him as Emmanuel, God with us.

For love is of God. He is the fountain, author, parent, and commander of love; it is the sum of his law and gospel.

He whose head is in heaven need not fear to put his feet into the grave.

Hope for the best, get ready for the worst, and then take what God chooses to send.

Though we cannot by our prayers give God any information, yet we must by our prayers give him honor.

It is our duty not to not only hold fast, but to hold forth the Word of life; not only to hold fast for our own benefit, but to hold it forth for the benefit of others, to hold it forth as the candlestick holds forth the candle, which makes it appear to advantage all around, or as the luminaries of the heavens, which shed their influences far and wide.

Were we to think more of our own mistakes and offences, we should be less apt to judge other people.

Those who will not deliver themselves into the hand of God's mercy cannot be delivered out of the hand of His justice.

A good man is willing to know the worst of himself, and particularly under affliction, desires to be told wherefore God contends with him and what God designs in correcting him.

There is a burden of care in getting riches; fear in keeping them; temptation in using them; guilt in abusing them; sorrow in losing them; and a burden of account at last to be given concerning them.

Days of trouble must be days of prayer.

Cast not away your confidence because God defers his performances. That which does not come in your time, will be hastened in his time, which is always the more convenient season. God will work when he pleases, how he pleases, and by what means he pleases. He is not bound to keep our time, but he will perform his work, honor our faith, and reward them that diligently seek him.

In all God's providences, it is good to compare His word and His works together; for we shall find a beautiful harmony between them, and that they mutually illustrate each other.

I would think it a greater happiness to gain one soul to Christ than mountains of silver and gold to myself.

Nothing exposes religion more to the reproach of its enemies than the worldliness and half-heartedness of the professors of it.

Christ's followers cannot expect better treatment in the world than their Master had.

Let us watch against unbelief, pride, and self-confidence. If we go forth in our own strength, we shall faint, and utterly fall; but, waiting on the Lord, out of weakness we shall be made strong. Having our hearts and our hopes in heaven, we shall be carried above all difficulties, and be enabled to press forward and lay hold of the prize of our high calling in Christ Jesus.

There is one death bed repentance recorded in the Bible (the thief on the cross), so that no one despair, but there is ONLY one, so that no one will presume.

Those that go gold into the furnace will come out no worse.

Meekness is calm confidence, settled assurance, and rest of the soul. It is the tranquil stillness of a soul that is at rest in Christ. It is the place of peace. Meekness springs from a heart of humility, radiating the fragrance of Christ.

The God of Israel is sometimes a God who hides Himself, but never a God who absents Himself; sometimes in the dark, but never at a distance.

God took Eve from the side of Adam, not from his foot to be his menial or slave or servant, not from his head to be his mental superior, and did take him from that which is nearest his heart, that he might love her, and that which is under his arm, that he might protect her.

Do nothing till thou hast well considered the end of it.

When God intends great mercy for his people, the first thing he doth is to set them a praying.

None are sent empty away from Christ but those who come to him full of themselves.

The grace that saves them is the free undeserved goodness and favor of God.

God has wisely kept us in the dark concerning future events and reserved for himself the knowledge of them, that he may train us up in a dependence upon himself and a continued readiness for every event.

When God is about to give His people the expected good, He pours out a Spirit of prayer, and it is a good sign that He is coming towards them in mercy.

They that pray in the family do well; they that pray and read the Scriptures do better; but they that pray, and read, and sing do best of all.

To wait on God is to live a life of desire toward Him, delight in Him, dependence on Him, and devotedness to Him.

The joy of the Lord will arm us against the assaults of our spiritual enemies, and, put our mouths out of taste for those pleasures with which the tempter baits his hooks.

Those who have a heart to do good, never need complain for want of opportunity.

When Christ was about to leave the world, He made His will. His soul He committed to His father; His body He bequeathed to Joseph to be decently interred; His clothes fell to the soldiers; His mother He left to the care of John; but what should He leave to His poor disciples that had left all for Him? Silver and gold He had none; but He left them that which was infinitely better, His peace.

Our duty as Christians is always to keep heaven in our eye and earth under our feet.

None can know their election but by their conformity to the image of Christ; for all that are chosen are chosen to sanctification.

It is common for those that are farthest from God, to boast themselves most of their being near to the Church.

I thank Thee first because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my purse they did not take my life; third, because although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth because it was I who was robbed, and not I who robbed.

Saying and doing are two things.

A modest dress is a very good thing, if it be the genuine indication of a humble heart, and is to instruct; but it is a bad thing if it be the hypocritical disguise of a proud ambitious heart, and is to deceive. Let men be really as good as they seem to be, but not seem to be better than really they are.

The service of sin is perfect slavery.

It is not enough for us to be where God is worshipped, if we do not ourselves worship him.

That which God plants he will take care to keep watered.

The Bible is a letter God has sent to us; prayer is a letter we send to him.

Every tear of sorrow sown by the righteous springs up a pearl.

Scriptures were written, not to satisfy our curiosity and make us astronomers, but to lead us to God, and make us saints.

What peace can they have who are not at peace with God?