The Woman at the Well of Samaria (and others)

The Woman at the Well of Samaria (and others)

When once, by the operation of the Spirit on our conscience, we have been stripped of:
formality,
superstition,
self-righteousness,
hypocrisy,
presumption,
pride, 
and the other delusions of the flesh that hide themselves under the mask of religion - we have felt the difference between having a name to live while dead, and the power of vital godliness - and as a measure of divine life has flowed into the heart out of the fullness of the Son of God - we desire no other religion but that which stands in the power of God - by that alone can we live, and by that alone we feel that we can die.

And, at last, we are brought to this conviction and solemn conclusion - that there is no other true religion but that which consists in the continued teachings of the Holy Spirit, and the communications of the life of God to the soul.

And with the Spirit's teachings are connected...
all the actings of faith in the soul,
all the anchorings of hope in the heart,
all the flowings forth of love,
every tear of genuine contrition that flows down the cheeks,
every sigh of godly sorrow that heaves from the bosom,
every cry and groan because of the  body of sin,
every breath of spiritual prayer that comes from the heart,
every casting of our souls upon Christ,
all submission to Him,
all enjoyment of Him, and
all the inward embracements of Him
in His suitability and preciousness. 

~J. C. Philpot~
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Through the Inward Conflicts, Secret Workings

Through the inward conflicts, secret workings, mysterious changes, and ever varying exercises of his soul, the true Christian becomes established in a deep experience...
of his own folly and God's wisdom,
of his own weakness and Christ's strength,
of his own sinfulness and the Lord's goodness,
of his own backslidings and the Spirit's recoverings,
of his own base ingratitude and Jehovah's patience,
of the abounding of sin and the super aboundings of grace.

He thus becomes daily more and more confirmed in...
the vanity of the creature,
the utter helplessness of man,
the deceitfulness and hypocrisy of the human heart,
the sovereignty of distinguishing grace,
the fewness of heaven taught ministers,
the scanty number of living souls,
and the great rareness of true religion.

~J. C. Philpot~
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Wrought with Divine Power

"Our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction" (1 Thess. 1:5).

Most men's religion is nothing else but a round of forms... some have their doings, some have their doctrine, and others have their duties.

And when the one has performed his "doings", the other learned his "doctrines", and the third discharged his "duties" - why, he is as good a Christian, he thinks, as anybody. While all the time, the poor deceived creature is thoroughly ignorant of the kingdom of God, which stands not in simply in word - but in power.

But as the veil of ignorance is taken off the heart, we begin to see and feel that there is a power in vital godliness - a reality in the teachings of the Spirit - that religion is not to be put on and put off as a man puts on and off his Sunday clothes.

Where vital godliness is wrought with divine power in a man's heart, and preached by the Holy Spirit into his conscience - it mingles, daily and often hourly, with his thoughts - entwines itself with his feelings - and becomes the very food and drink of his soul.

Now when a man comes to this spot - to see and feel what a reality there is in the things of God made manifest in the conscience by the power of the Holy Spirit - it effectually takes him out of dead churches, cuts him off from false ministers, winnows the chaff from the wheat, and brings him into close communion with the broken-hearted family of God.

Our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction". (1 Thess. 1:5).

~J. C. Philpot~