Fire and gunpowder
I've searched for the source of this anecdote for a long time:
A beloved Puritan pastor was on his deathbed, and one of his students came to him to say how much he valued his pastor's life and love. "Take away the flame!" cried the dying saint, "There is yet powder here."
Perhaps I have found the source, or a close enough for now. In
Pure Church: Quotes for Monday, FellowElder quotes some passages from Bridges'
Christian Ministry, and among them:
"They are not our best friends, that stir the pride of our hearts by the flattery of their lips. The graces of God in others (I confess) are thankfully to be owned, and under discouragements and temptations to be wisely and modestly spoken of; but the strongest Christians do scarcely show their own weakness in any one thing more than they do in hearing their own praises. Christian! thou knowest thou carriest gunpowder about thee.—Desire those that carry fire, to keep at a distance from thee. It is a dangerous crisis, when a proud heart meets with flattering lips. Faithful, seasonable, and discreet reproofs are much more safe for us, and advantageous to the mortification of sin in our souls" (p. 153, footnote 1).
Note: when composing from memory the first quotation above, I wrote of the student speaking of “his
teacher's life and love”. Knowing I brought such fire, I still came with my wife to say goodbye to my teacher and friend and brother
Al Groves a month ago. He and I had discussed the fire and gunpowder illustration a few months earlier, yet I hope he understood our need to acknowledge God's grace in our life through Al's life.
Posted by ronlusk at March 12, 2007 06:58 PM