Miscellaneous Quotes (42)

“It is easier to cry against one-thousand sins of others than to kill one of your own… It is easier to declaim like an orator against a thousand sins in others than to mortify one sin in ourselves; to be more industrious in our pulpits than in our closets; to preach twenty sermons to our people than one to our own hearts.” – John Flavel

“The safest road to Hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” – C. S. Lewis

“Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.” Charles H. Spurgeon

“Before the foundation of the world, it was God’s will that Christ should suffer for our salvation — Can He damn thee, whom He hath redeemed from death, for whom He offered Himself, whose life He knows is the reward of His own death?” – Ambrose (A.D. 380)

“The new birth is the dividing line between Heaven and Hell. In God’s sight there are but two classes of people on this earth: those who are dead in sins, and those who are walking in newness of life… In view of this solemn fact, how momentous is the question, Have I been born again? If not, and you die in your present state, you will wish you had never been born at all.

Tens of thousands of professing Christians are filled with a vain and presumptuous confidence that all is well with them. They delude themselves with hopes of mercy while continuing to live in a course of self-will and self-pleasing. They fancy they are fitted for Heaven, while every day that passes finds them the more prepared for Hell.

The principal device of Satan is to deceive people into imagining that they can successfully combine the world with God, allow the flesh while pretending to the Spirit, and thus make the best of both worlds.” A. W. Pink from Regeneration or The New Birth

“God’s electing a certain definite number is a manifestation of His glory. It shows the glory of His divine sovereignty. God is declaring His absolute sovereignty over His creation. He is showing us just how far that sovereignty extends. In purposely choosing some and passing on others, He shows that His majesty and power are unparalleled. Those who do not see glory and dominion in election simply do not understand God. They are not aware of His greatness, and do not understand grace. Grace is defined in election. God chose His people to happiness and glory long before they were born. He chose them out of the mass of fallen mankind. He loved them before they knew Him. He chose them when they did not deserve to be chosen. That is grace! The doctrine of election shows that if those who received God’s grace had earnestly sought it, it was God’s grace that caused them to seek it. It shows that even their faith itself is the gift of God, and their persevering in a way of holiness unto glory is also the fruit of electing love. Believer’s love of God is the fruit of and because of God’s love to them. The giving of Christ, the preaching of the gospel, and the appointing of ordinances are all fruits of the grace of election. All the grace that is shown to mankind, either in this world or in the world to come, is comprised of the electing love of God.” – Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards volume 2 page 936 Sermon 13 in occasional sermons on 1 Peter 2

“Humanism was not invented by man, but by a snake who suggested that the quest for autonomy might be a good idea.” – R. C. Sproul

“I find it most true that the greatest temptation outside of hell is to live without temptations; if water stands, it rots; faith is the better for the sharp winter storm in its face and grace withers without adversity. The devil is but God’s master fencer to teach us to handle our weapons.” – Samuel Rutherford

“Do not tell me about your good works, I am not interested. Do not tell me you are a church member, I am not a bit interested. Are you glorying in the cross? Is this everything to you? Is this life to you? Are you ready to die rather than deny this glorious message? That is what a Christian is, and unless we glory in the cross we have not seen it and what it means, and if we have not seen it, we do… not really believe in it. And if we do not believe in it, we are yet in our sins, and should we die like that, we will go to judgement and we will go to hell. Your eternal, everlasting destiny, depends upon this one thing. Have you seen that God has provided there the only way whereby you can be forgiven and become a child of God, and go on to inherit the glories of eternity? May God have mercy upon us all, and by his Spirit open our eyes to see the glory of the cross.” – Martyn Lloyd-Jones

“Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace….Pharisee-type believers unconsciously think they have earned God’s blessing through their behavior. Guilt-laden believers are quite sure they have forfeited God’s blessing through their lack of discipline or their disobedience. Both have forgotten the meaning of grace because they have moved away from the gospel and have slipped into a performance relationship with God.” – Jerry Bridges

“As for beauty, one of its most potent charms lies in its modest unconsciousness; it is greatly marred when accompanied by vanity.” – C. H. Spurgeon

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“Presume not upon God’s patience. The exercise of it is not eternal; you are at present under His patience, yet while you are unconverted you are also under His anger: (Psalm 7:11) “God is angry with the wicked every day.” You know not how soon His anger may turn His patience aside, and step before it. It may be His sword is drawn out of the scabbard, His arrows may be settled in His bow, and perhaps there is but a little time before you may feel the edge of the one or the point of the other, and then there will be no more time for patience in God to us, or petition from us to Him…” – Stephen Charnock

“Theology is the queen of the sciences and all other disciplines are her handmaidens.” – R.C Sproul

“Theology, it has been said, is the ‘queen of sciences,’ and systematic theology ‘the crown upon the queen.’” – Steve Lawson

“Theology is the queen of the sciences and the church has always been strong when she has been enthroned and ruling God’s people. Her subjects live in God’s blessing when this queen, theology, rules in the church. Thus, the importance of theology cannot be overstated. Ultimately, theology is what drives and directs the church because it is theology that makes known God’s glory to His people. Theology is to the church what the concrete foundation and steel beams are to a towering skyscraper – it undergirds the entire structure, strengthening and stabilizing the whole edifice. Theology is to the church what the skeleton is to the human body – it is the framework and strength that holds everything together.” – Steve Lawson

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