John Flavel
John Flavel
John Flavelwas an English Presbyterian clergyman, puritan, and author...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionClergyman
bows corn foot god grow head heaven himself humble lower nearly people ripe sinners
When the corn is nearly ripe it bows the head and stoops lower than when it was green. When the people of God are near ripe for heaven, they grow more humble and self-denying...Paul had one foot in heaven when he called himself the chiefest of all sinners and least of saints.
parent praying mercy
What a mercy was it to us to have parents that prayed for us before they had us, as well as in our infancy when we could not pray for ourselves!
christian strong men
The carnal person fears man, not God. The strong Christian fears God, not man. The weak Christian fears man too much, and God too little.
christian humble men
To see a man humble under prosperity is one of the greatest rarities in the world.
christian humble proud
They that know God will be humble. They that know themselves cannot be proud.
prayer eye order
Providence so orders the case, that faith and prayer come between our wants and supplies, and the goodness of God may be the more magnified in our eyes thereby.
prayer wind comfort
That which begins not with prayer, seldom winds up with comfort.
understanding mystery infinite
For the infinite glorious Creator of all things, to become a creature, is a mystery exceeding all human understanding.
christian distance heart
Christian! thou knowest thou carriest gunpowder about thee. Desire them that carry fire to keep at a distance. It is a dangerous crisis when a proud heart meets with flattering lips.
looks world may
Look around in the world, and you may see some in every place who are objects of pity, bereaved by sad accidents of all the comforts of life, while in the meantime Providence has tenderly preserved you.
should distress
Whatever be the ground of one's distress, it should drive him to, not from God.
envy sanctuary quiet
[Providences] often puzzle and entangle our thoughts, but bring them to the Word, and your duty will be quickly manifested. "Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end" (Ps. 73:17). And not only their end, but his own duty, to be quiet in an afflicted condition and not envy their prosperity.
letters hebrew providence
Some providences, like Hebrew letters, must be read backwards.
christian thinking lovely
I think it is not very difficult to discern by the duties and converses of Christians, what frames their spirits are under. Take a Christian in a good frame, and how serious, heavenly, and profitable, will his converses and duties be! what a lovely companion is he during the continuance of it!