Miscellaneous Quotes (55)

“A Pharisee is hard on others and easy on himself, but a spiritual man is easy on others and hard on himself.” – A.W. Tozer

“The problem with socialism is that government finally runs out of other people’s money.” – Margaret Thatcher

“To restore man, who had been laid low by sin, to the heights of divine glory, the Word of the eternal Father, though containing all things within His immensity, willed to become small. This He did, not by putting aside His greatness, but by taking to Himself our littleness.” – Thomas Aquinas, Compendium of Theology

“The doctrines of grace create a culture of grace, a social environment of acceptance and hope and freedom and joy.” – Ray Ortlund

“Those who run from God in the morning will scarcely find Him the rest of the day.” – John Bunyan

“The saving power [of the cross] does not depend on faith being added to it; its saving power is such that faith flows from it.” – J. I. Packer

“He should be in no doubt that any ability he has and however much he has derives more from his devotion to prayer than his dedication to oratory; and so, by praying for himself and for those he is about to address, he must become a man of prayer before becoming a man of words. As the hour his address approaches, before he opens his thrusting lips he should lift his thirsting soul to God so that he may utter what he has drunk in and pour out what has filled him.” – Saint Augustine, On Christian Teaching (Oxford University Press, 1997), 121

“As the minister speaks to the ear, Christ speaks, opens, and unlocks the heart at the same time; and gives it power to open, not from itself, but from Christ…. The manner of working of the reasonable creature, is to work freely by a sweet inclination, not by violence. Therefore when he works the work of conversion, he doth it in a sweet manner, though it be mighty for the efficaciousness of it.” – Richard Sibbes

“As has often been remarked, the stone at the mouth of the sepulcher was rolled to one side, not to let our Lord out of the sepulcher but to allow the witnesses to enter and behold that empty tomb.” – Albert N. Martin

“A man is not saved against his will, but he is made willing by the operation of the Holy Ghost. A mighty grace which he does not wish to resist enters into the man, disarms him, makes a new creature of him, and he is saved.” – C. H. Spurgeon

“Be masters of your Bibles, brethren. Whatever other works you have not searched, be at home with the writings of the prophets and apostles….” – C. H. Spurgeon

“We should not have so much disputing against the doctrine of election, or hear it condemned (even by good men) as a doctrine of devils. For my own part, I cannot see how true humbleness of mind can be attained without a knowledge of it. And though I will not say, that everyone who denies election is a bad man, yet I will say . . . it is a very bad sign. Such a one, whoever he be, I think cannot truly know himself. For if we deny election we must, partly at least, glory in ourselves. But our redemption is so ordered that no flesh should glory in the Divine presence. And hence it is, that the pride of man opposes this doctrine because according to this doctrine and no other, ‘he that glories, must glory only in the Lord.’ But what shall I say? Election is a mystery that shines with such resplendent brightness that, to make use of the words of one who has drunk deeply of his electing love, it dazzles the weak eyes even of some of God’s dear children.” – George Whitefield, ‘Christ the Believer’s Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, and Redemption,’ in The Sermons of George Whitefield (Crossway, 2012), 2:214-25

“We often learn more of God under the rod that strikes us, than under the staff that comforts us.” – Stephen Charnock

“The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men.” – Psalm 12:8

“We tend to be most vulnerable to temptation when we’re tired, isolated, lonely, discouraged, depressed, angry, or struggling in our relationships; especially with our mate. Don’t think for a moment demons don’t know this or will hesitate to pounce on us in those very times. “When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left Him until an opportune time” (Luke 4:13).” – Randy Alcorn

“The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your own riches but to show him his own.” – Benjamin Disraeli

“I have never once feared the devil, but I tremble every time I enter the pulpit.” – John Knox

“The mystery of iniquity is at work in the world during this interim time, and it is not always clear how its malignant work is being checked, overridden, or woven into the glorious purposes of God. We need to remember, though, that while Judas betrayed Christ, and woe to him for doing so, it was God’s plan that Christ was thus betrayed. Evil by its very nature opposes the purposes of God, but God, in his sovereignty, can make even this evil serve his purposes.” – David F. Wells, The Courage to Be Protestant

“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 Bonheoffer

2 Corinthians 1:9: Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.

John Piper: Adversity by its very nature is the removal of things on which our comfort and hope have rested and so it will either result in anger toward God or greater reliance on him alone for our peace. And his purpose for us in adversity is not that we get angry or discouraged, but that our hope shift off earthly things onto God. God’s main purpose in all adversity is to make us stop trusting in ourselves or any man.

The Mountain of God

In broad terms, one could summarize every religion under the sun (except one) as God being at the summit of the mountain, with man languishing at the bottom. Yet by means of following the tenets of the faith man seeks to climb the mountain to one day meet God, face to face.

Of course, the requirements differ from one religion to the next, but each action man takes, allows him to ascend further and further up the mountain.

The one exception to all this in our world is the Christian gospel, where God, on top of the mountain, by His own love initiative comes down to the valley below (in the Incarnation) and finds only dead corpses there, breathes the breath of life into many of these God hating rebels, giving them new hearts that would see and bask in His beauty, and He carries each one of them on His shoulders, safely up to the top of the mountain, that they may enjoy His vast riches for ever.

There are more details to be sure, not the least of which is the sinless life of the Son of God and His substitutionary death for sinners on the cross, as well as His triumphal resurrection. These gospel facts are center stage in the history of redemption. However, the basic analogy holds true.

The religions of the world tell their advocates that if they will adhere strictly to the tenets, they can climb the mountain of God. Christianity says, we could never make it up there, nor would we even wish to do so, for by nature, we hate the God on top of the mountain. Therefore, God came down, and by His own power, opened up our eyes and brought life out of death and raised us up to be with Him.

Here then we see the two basic types of religion in our world today; the religion of ascension (man climbing up) vs. the Gospel of descension (God climbed down); a religion of do, do, do vs. the Gospel of done, done, done!

Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

The Fiscal Cliff Explained

Today’s Headline from www.foxnews.com: Democrats and Republicans appear closer to compromise on deficit deal — with closing tax loopholes for highest earners in US emerging as middle ground — as economists warn country could go over ‘fiscal cliff’ when tax cuts for many expire, $1T federal cuts begin.

In the video below, Wall Street Journal’s David Wessel explains the issue in easy to understand terms.

Bottom Line: For love of country, its time to put party politics aside and find a workable solution. We desperately need an outbreak of leadership and soon!