Miscellaneous Quotes (60)

“I dare say that we think that we magnify Him, but in reality we belittle Him with our highest thoughts.” – C. H. Spurgeon

“We will rest in His sovereignty when we remember not just that He is almighty, but that He who is almighty loves us with an everlasting love.” – R.C. Sproul Jr.

“Weakness does not even begin to describe me as a man. Strength does not even begin to describe Christ as a Savior.” – Paul Washer

Christ himself says, John 16, ‘Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’

Luther, 1530: This cannot be wrong–I’m sure of it–that Christ, the Son of God, has overcome the world. Why do we tremble before the world as before a triumphant conqueror? It is worth going to Rome or Jerusalem on one’s knees to obtain those words of Christ. – ‘Sayings in Which Luther Found Comfort,’ in Luther’s Works, Volume 43, Devotional Writings II, 172

“Man is inherently religious by nature. Even the secular humanist is profoundly religious. That is why he can never be neutral regarding any talk of God but must vehemently oppose it with every fibre of his being. His mantra is simple, ‘If you must speak out do so in the church house, where all who agree with you can gather; stay on the reservation, away from public view.’ While hating the God that he supposedly does not believe in, true to his nature, he must worship the god he has made. That is why at the very heart of secularism, you find blood sacrifices at the high and sacred altar of abortion.” – John Samson

“Preachers who talk about everything but the reality of Hell, are likeable betrayers of the gospel.” – Ray Comfort

“Popularity has slain more prophets of God than persecution ever did.” – Vance Havner

“Few, very few, today, really believe in the complete ruin and total depravity of man. Those who speak of man’s “free will,” and insist upon his inherent power to either accept or reject the Saviour, do but voice their ignorance of the real condition of Adam’s fallen children. And if there are few who believe that, so far as he is concerned, the condition of the sinner is entirely hopeless, there are fewer still who really believe in the absolute Sovereignty of God.” – A.W. Pink

“It is not sin that calls human beings to live and love, to make music and art, to work and create … to play and dance. But it is sin that undercuts and perverts them all. Sin doesn’t create things. It has no originality, no creativity, no being in itself. Sin lives off that which is good. It is a parasite, feeding greedily on the goodness of what God has made.” – Paul Marshall, Heaven Is Not My Home

“The Christian walk is not one of sinless perfection, but of sinless direction.” – Steve Lawson

“Concerning ‘end times,’ we should not be governed by curiosity but by readiness.” – Joel Beeke

“Either He bore all our sins, or none; and He either saves us once for all, or not at all.” – C. H. Spurgeon

“In semi-pelagianism man’s will precedes God’s grace. In Arminianism God’s grace precedes man’s will (but still ascribes faith and repentance to each man’s personal wisdom, not to Christ ALONE). But in Divine monergism God gives man a new heart (Ezek. 36:26), renewing his will and affections, which makes his choice certain and effectual. (Jn. 6:37)” – monergism.com

“To live coram Deo is to live one’s entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God.” – R.C. Sproul

“Unconverted people live in a continual state of spiritual rebellion against God.” – Steve Lawson

“God increases our yield so that by giving we can prove our yield is not our god.” – John Piper

“If you really long to save men’s souls, you must tell them a great deal of disagreeable truth.” – C. H. Spurgeon

“If there is no controversy in your ministry, there is probably very little content to your preaching.” – Albert Mohler

“When God intends great mercy for his people, the first thing he does is set them a-praying.” – Matthew Henry

“God’s mind is revealed in Scripture, but we can see nothing without the spectacles of the Holy Ghost.” – Thomas Manton

“Christ did not die to make his Father loving, but because his Father is loving: the atoning blood is the outflow of the very heart of God toward us.” – C. H. Spurgeon

“In accordance with this teaching of the Holy Scriptures (on the knowledge of God) the Christian church determined the character of that body of knowledge or science which from old times has been called Theology or Divinity. Theology is the science which derives the knowledge of God from His revelation, which studies and thinks into it under the guidance of His Spirit, and then tries to describe it so that it ministers to His honor.

A theologian, a true theologian, is one who speaks out of God, through God, about God, and does this always to the glorification of His name.

Between the learned and the simple there is only a difference of degree. Both have one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, Who is above all and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” – Herman Bavinck

The High and Sacred Altar

Man is inherently religious by nature. Even the secular humanist is profoundly religious. That is why he can never be neutral regarding any talk of God but must vehemently oppose it with every fibre of his being. His mantra is simple, ‘If you must speak out do so in the church house, where all who agree with you can gather; stay on the reservation, away from public view.’ While hating the God that he supposedly does not believe in, he must worship; and does so by bringing his blood sacrifices to the god he has made. That is why, at the very heart of secularism, you will find the high and sacred altar of abortion.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you!!!!

Someone once said that for the vast majority of people, January 1st is the most positive day of the year. We all start with a new and clean slate and taking stock of our lives, can see where we are and what needs to change. Then, determing that with God’s help we can make sure and steady progress in certain areas of our lives, we can resolve to make the changes we know we need to make.

We all tend to over-emphasize the dramatic impactful moments that we call “life changing” but often under-emphasize the seemingly mundane moments found in our daily routine. A weekend of high impact aerobics has a very short measure of lasting change compared to taking 30 minutes each day to take a walk or perhaps some more rigorous exercise (by the way, that’s something I am seeking to implement in my own daily schedule). When we do something every day, over time, the results are remarkable. The secrets of success are found in our daily routine.

In each of the main areas of our lives, January 1st is a good time to resolve to do what we know we should do. Whether we resolve to make change in the spiritual sphere (our personal relationship with God, time spent in prayer and the word of God as well as our commitment to the people of God), or whether physically in terms of health choices (what we eat, how much we sleep, exercise regimen, etc.), emotionally (making taking on a new hobby or a resolve to throw our care and anxiety on to the Lord with greater haste and frequency), intellectually (perhaps reading at least one book every month), financially (setting goals, balancing checkbook, etc.), or whether it be what we do with our family and friends (which is HUGELY important), we can all assess where we are and seek to apply the change we wish to see.

We should always, always, always make changes for the right reasons though. The wrong reason is to do so to try to gain a better relationship with God. Such would be to trample the only Gospel there is, which tells us Christ alone saves, by His work, not ours, by God’s grace and not our merits, through faith alone apart from works. Though we should strive to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” we do so only because God is at work in us on a journey of grace from start to finish – and for grace to be grace, our works are never part of the equation in terms of the grounds for our acceptance with God. Remind your soul of that. Then do it again. Works is the default mode of our human depravity and unless we preach the gospel to ourselves every day, we will all tend to hear another message bellowing forth from our soul telling us if we just do more, God will be pleased with us. Yet God is pleased with us because of the work of Christ for us; while in contrast, all our righteousness is like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). The works we do are a response to God’s grace in justifying us, not a means of trying to get it. That’s why Ephesians 2:10 FOLLOWS Ephesians 2:8, 9. Works are the fruit not the root of our justification before God.

We all know that the intake of God’s word should be a regular part of our lives. Man shall not live by bread alone, the Scripture says, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Here’s something I put together regarding Bible reading – at the end of the short article is a link to various ways of engaging with Scripture each day. Enjoy the ride, not driven by legalistic slavery, but by a heart seeking to walk with the One who first loved you, when you were hostile towards Him. We love Him because He first loved us.

Here’s three quotes I pondered today:

“That tiny hill in that tiny land is the centre of all history, not only of this world, but of all the countless galaxies and island universes of outer space from eternity to eternity.” – Paul Billheimer

“Legalism says God will love us if we change. The gospel says God will change us because He loves us.” – Tullian Tchividjian

“I made a pile of my good works and a heap of my bad works; and I fled them both to Christ.” – David Dixon

Food for thought indeed!

Once again, have a wonderful and happy new year. I am very much looking forward to growing in grace with you in 2013.

John