Quote of the Day

…Spurgeon observed many, 'who, by hearing continually the most precious doctrine that belief in Jesus Christ is saving, have forgotten other truths, and have concluded that they were saved when they were not, have fancied they believed when as yet they were total strangers to the experience which was not grounded upon the divine word rightly understood, 'nor proved by any facts in their own souls.'  They resented any suggestion of self examination by gospel tests as 'an assault upon their assurance' and 'defended their false peace by the notion that to raise a question about their certain salvation would be unbelief.' Their ill-placed certainty has put them in a hopeless condition and they ignore biblical warnings and admonitions by 'their fatal persuasion that it is needless to attend to them.'  Their historical knowledge of the work of Christ has settled them in a conviction 'that godly fear and careful walking are superfluities, if not actually an offense against the gospel.' 


 From the book: Living By Revealed Truth: The Life and Pastoral Theology of Charles Haddon Spurgeon by Thomas Nettles

Quote of the Day

Spurgeon observed many, "who, by hearing continually the most precious doctrines that belief in Jesus Christ is saving, have forgotten other truths, and have concluded that they were saved when they were not, having fancied they believed when as yet they were total strangers to the experience which always attended the true faith."  Their confidence was not grounded upon the divine word rightly understood, "nor proved by any facts in their own souls."  They resented any suggestion of self examination by gospel tests as "an assault upon their assurance" and "defended their false peace by the notion that to raise a question about their certain salvation would be unbelief."  Their ill-placed certainty has put them in a hopeless condition and they ignore biblical warnings and admonitions by "their fatal persuasion that it is needless to attend to them."  Their historical knowledge the work of Christ has settled them in a conviction "that godly fear and careful walking are superfluities, if not actually an offence against the gospel."

- From Thomas Nettles' book:  Living By Revealed Truth

Quote of the Day

Noah is referenced in Hebrews 11 as demonstrating faith, which in its most basic form  is: having as the "footing of our expectations" (substance of our hope) what has not been seen but what has been promised and revealed to us by God's Word.

Don Lambert

Quote of the Day

He's helping me now--this moment,

Though I may not see it or hear,

Perhaps by a friend far distant,

Perhaps by a stranger near,

Perhaps by a spoken message

Perhaps by the printed word;

In ways that I know and know not

I have the help of the Lord.

He's keeping me now--this moment,

However I need it most,

Perhaps by a single angel,

Perhaps by a mighty host,

Perhaps by the chain that frets me,

Or the walls that shut me in;

In ways that I know or know not

He keeps me from harm and sin.

He's guiding me now--this moment,

In pathways easy or hard,

Perhaps by a door wide open,

Perhaps by a door fast barred,

Perhaps by a joy withholden

Perhaps by a gladness given;

In ways that I know and know not,

He's leading me up to heaven.

He's using me now--this moment,

And whether I go or stand,

Perhaps by a plan accomplished

Perhaps when he stays my hand,

Perhaps by a word in season

Perhaps by a silent prayer;

In ways that I know and know not,

His labor of love I share.

Annie Johnson Flint

Quote of the Day

One word stands out from all others as the key to knowing God, to having his peace and assurance in your heart; it is OBEDIENCE.

To OBEY God's will was like food to Jesus, refreshing His mind, body and spirit. 'My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me.'

Obedience to God's will is the secret of spiritual knowledge and insight. It is not willingness to know, but willingness to DO (obey) God's will that brings certainty.

'If any man will do (obey) His Will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of Myself.'

OBEDIENCE IS THE SECRET OF GUIDANCE. Every Christian should live a God-guided life. If you are not guided by God, you will be guided by something else.

The Christian that doesn't know this sense of guidance in his life is missing something vital.

Take OBEDIENCE with you into your prayer hour, for you will know as much of God, and only as much of God, as you are willing to put into practice.

Eric Liddell

Quote of the Day

I asked the Lord that I might grow

In faith and love and every grace;

Might more of His salvation know

And seek more earnestly His face.

T'was He who taught me thus to pray,

And He I know has answered prayer;

But it has been in such a way

As almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that in some favored hour,

At once He'd answer my request;

And by His love's constraining power

Subdue my sins and give me rest.

Instead of this, He made me feel

The hidden evils of my heart;

And let the angry powers of Hell

Assault my soul in every part.

Yes! More! With His own hand it seemed

Intent to aggravate my woe;

Crossed all the fair designs I'd schemed,

Blasted my gourds, and made me low.

"Lord! Why is this?" I trembling cried;

"Wilt Thou pursue Thy worm to death?"

"Tis this way" The Lord replied

"I answer for grace and faith."

"These inward trials I employ

From self and pride to see thee free

And break thy schemes of earthly joy

That thou mayest seek thy ALL IN ME."

John Newton

Quote of the Day

I'm still thinking about the assertion…that man cannot live without hope, and that men who have really lost all hope often become wild and wicked.  It may be an open question whether in this case hope = illusion.  The importance of illusion to one's life should certainly not be underestimated;  but for a Christian there must be hope based on a firm foundation.  And if even illusion has so much power in people's lives that it can keep life moving, how great a power there is in a hope that is based on certainty, and how invincible a life with such a hope is. 'Christ our hope' - this Pauline formula is the strength of our lives.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Quote of the Day

There may be circumstances in your earthly lot which at this moment are peculiarly trying.  You look around and wonder how this or that circumstance will terminate.  At present it looks very dark--clouds and mists hang over it, and you fear lest these clouds may break, not in showers upon your head, but burst forth in the lightning flash and the thunder stroke!  But all things are put in subjection under Christ's feet!  That which you dread cannot take place except by His sovereign will--nor can it move any further except by His supreme disposal.  Then make yourself quiet.  He will not allow you to be harmed.  That frowning providence shall only execute His sovereign purposes, and it shall be among those all things which, according to His promise, shall work together for your good.  None of our trials come upon us by chance!  They are all appointed in weight and measure--are all designed to fulfill a certain end.  And however painful they may at present be, yet they are intended for your good.   When the trial comes upon you, what a help it would be for you if you could view it thus, “This trial is sent for my good.  It does not spring out of the dust.  The Lord Himself is the supreme disposer of it.  It is very painful to bear; but let me believe that He has appointed me this peculiar trial, along with every other circumstance.  He will bring about His own will therein, and either remove the trial, or give me patience under it, and submission to it.

 

J. C. Philpot

Quote of the Day

But what we suffer from to-day is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert himself. The part he doubts is exactly the part he ought not to doubt -- the Divine Reason. Huxley preached a humility content to learn from Nature. But the new skeptic is so humble that he doubts if he can even learn. Thus we should be wrong if we had said hastily that there is no humility typical of our time. The truth is that there is a real humility typical of our time; but it so happens that it is practically a more poisonous humility than the wildest prostrations of the ascetic. The old humility was a spur that prevented a man from stopping; not a nail in his boot that prevented him from going on. For the old humility made a man doubtful about his efforts, which might make him work harder. But the new humility makes a man doubtful about his aims, which will make him stop working altogether.

At any street corner we may meet a man who utters the frantic and blasphemous statement that he may be wrong. Every day one comes across somebody who says that of course his view may not be the right one. Of course his view must be the right one, or it is not his view. We are on the road to producing a race of men too mentally modest to believe in the multiplication table. We are in danger of seeing philosophers who doubt the law of gravity as being a mere fancy of their own. Scoffers of old time were too proud to be convinced; but these are too humble to be convinced. The meek do inherit the earth; but the modern skeptics are too meek even to claim their inheritance. 

 

G. K. Chesterton

Quote of the Day

I used to ask myself the question, - 'Am I afraid to die? If I should drop down dead in my room, can I say that I should joyfully close my eyes?' Well, it often happened happened that I could not honestly say so.  Is used to feel that death would be a very solemn thing.  'Ah, then!' I said, 'I have never believed in Christ, for if I had put my trust in the Lord Jesus, I should not be afraid to die, but I should be quite confident.'  I do not doubt that many a person is saying, 'I cannot follow Christ, because I am afraid to die; I cannot believe that Jesus Christ will save me, because the thought of death makes me tremble.' Ah, poor soul, there are many of God's blessed ones, who through fear of death have been much of their lifetime subject to bondage!  ...I know that, when he gets more grace he will rejoice at the thought of death; but I do know that there are many quite safe, who will die rejoicing in Christ, who now, in the prospect of death, feel afraid of it.  My aged grandfather once preached a sermon which I have not yet forgotten.  He was preaching from the text, 'The God of all grace,' and he somewhat interested the assembly, after describing the different kinds of grace that God gave, by saying at the end of each period, 'But there is one kind of grace that you do not want.'  After each part of his theme, there came the like sentence, 'But there is one kind of grace you do not want.'  And then he wound up by saying, 'You don't want dying grace in living moments, but you shall have dying grace when you need it.  When you are in the condition to require it, you shall have grace enough if you put your trust in Christ.'  In a party of friends, we were discussing the question whether, if the days of martyrdom should come, we were prepared to be burned.  I said, 'I must frankly tell you that, speaking as I feel to-day, I am not prepared to be burned; but I do believe that, if there were a stake at Smithfield, and I knew that I was to be burned there at one o'clock, I should have grace enough to be burned there when one o'clock came.'

 

C. H. Spurgeon

Quote of the Day

Assurance concerns the realization that a person has eternal life.  But security is a true fact whether or not an individual has assurance of that or not.

Charles Ryrie

Quote of the Day

Yea, "new every morning," though we may awake,

Our hearts with old sorrow beginning to ache;

With old work unfinished when night stayed our hand,

With new duties waiting, unknown and unplanned;

With old care still pressing, to fret and to vex,

With new problems rising, ours minds to perplex;

In ways long familiar, in paths yet untrod,

Oh, new every morning the mercies of God!

His faithfulness fails not; it meets each new day

With guidance for every new step of the way;

New grace for new trials, new trust for old fears,

New patience for bearing the wrongs of the years,

New strength for new burdens, new courage for old,

New faith for whatever the day may unfold;

As fresh for each need as the dew on the sod;

Oh, new every morning the mercies of God!

Annie Johnson Flint

Quote of the Day

Some may say “because I am elect, it doesn’t really matter how I live or what I do. Well the one thing I can say for sure about you is that you might be elect, but you are not yet converted.”

- Joseph Pipa

Quote of the Day

It is not the level of our spirituality that we can depend on. It is God and nothing less than God, for the work is God's and the call is God's and everything is summoned by Him and to His purposes, the whole scene, the whole mess, the whole package - our bravery and our cowardice, our love and our selfishness, our strengths and our weaknesses. The God who could take a murderer like Moses and an adulterer like David and a traitor like Peter and make of them strong servants of His is a God who can also redeem savage Indians, using as instruments of His peace a conglomeration of sinners who sometimes look like heroes and sometimes like villains, for "we are no better than pots of earthenware to contain this treasure [the revelation of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ], and this proves that such transcendent power does not come from us, but is God's alone"(2 Cor. 4:7, NEB).

We are not always sure where the horizon is. We would not know which end is up were it not for the shimmering pathway of light falling on the white sea. The One who laid the earth's foundations and settled its dimensions knows where the lines are drawn. He gives all the light we need for trust and for obedience.

 

Elisabeth Elliot

Quote of the Day

We Christians ought to be sure of our doctrine, and be able to say yes or no without hesitation.  To presume to hinder us from affirming our belief with full conviction, is depriving us of faith itself.  The Holy Ghost is no skeptic; and He has written in our hearts a firm and strong assurance, which makes us as certain of our faith as we are of life itself.  

Martin Luther