This is the quote that I passed up in last Sunday's message. John Gill was a pastor in the 1700s. He pastored the church the Charles Spurgeon would pastor over 100 years later. Now for the quote:
Godliness is “the inward devotion of the mind, a fervency of spirit in serving the Lord; it is a holy disposition towards God. Such a gracious disposition, Godward, is not to be found in unregenerate men, only in such who are truly partakers of the grace of God. It is godliness which distinguishes between one who truly serves and worships God, and one that serves and worships him not. Internal worship requires our first attention, it being of the greatest moment and importance; external worship profits little in comparison of that; if the heart is not engaged in worship, bodily exercise is of little advantage, that being only the form without the power of godliness; yea vain is such worship where the heart is far removed from God.
God is a Spirit, and must be worshipped with our spirits, the better and more noble part of man; if we serve his law, it should be with our mind, the inward man delighting in it; obedience to it should flow from a principle of love to God in the heart, and with a view to his glory; and if we serve him in the gospel of his Son, it should be with our spirits, with a fervent affection for it; if we pray to him it should be with the spirit and the understanding also; if we sing his praises, it should be with melody in our hearts to the Lord; herein lies powerful godliness; and godliness is the groundwork of internal worship, and without which there can be no worshipping of God aright, and therefore it deserves our first consideration” (John Gill).
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