Quote of the Day

 In the kingdom of Christ, insubmission to the plain letter of Scripture, a wish to look into the secret purposes of God, and 'to be wise above what is written,' has, at all times in some measure, and at this time in particular, distracted the church, and tainted the simplicity of divine truth. So much of corrupted nature is there  in us, men will even here be thinking for themselves, and call their views deep, enlarged. These biblical freethinkers take the word of God for their rule, but then it is in a different sense - in any sense, they do not much care what, so it be but different from that in which any simple mind would understand it…..Such critics have made intellect seem the enemy of truth, which God could never mean it should be. He foresaw, indeed, that it would become so. He knew how powerful an instrument in Satan's hand would be the reasoning, questioning pride of man, when induced to array itself against the reception of the word.  When He determined to reveal to babes what was hidden from the wise and prudent, it was not that He held in abhorrence gifts He had bestowed; or that superior endowments made the creature an object of dislike to his Creator, that He should exclude him from His mercy. Impossible! But it pleased Him to clothe His Gospel in such a form, that non but the simple-minded could receive it; and while He gave His revelation in terms so plain, the way-faring man, though a fool, could not err therein, unless willfully choosing darkness rather than light…….

It pleased Him there should be but one way to divine knowledge; the ignorant, the poor, the simple, were ready to enter it, and his Spirit had only to unclose the gate- but for the wise, the learned, the disputatious, a previous process was required: 'If any man will be wise, let him become a fool.' They must go back and enter by the same gate of child-like ignorance, receiving the dictation of the Spirit without question and without dispute.  This the All-wise foresaw they would not do.  They would take His word as if it were the word of man, and examine it by the light of their own wisdom; and doing so, would either reject it wholly, receive only so much of it as they could fully explain; or, admitting its divine authority as a whole, would subject each separate part to whatever construction seemed most agreeable to their natural reason. Well might God foretell that not many such would be saved, although He named a way by which they might be.  That which seemed impossible with men, was possible with God. Some such are saved; not by conforming His plan of salvation to their character, and unclosing His mysteries to satisfy their wisdom, but by quite a different process. Touched by His Spirit, they consent to become fools, to read, believe and obey. But, alas! How often is this the end, when it should be the beginning; even of a religious course. What years of holy contentment are lost; what seasons of doubt and despondency endured, because men will reason when they should believe, or will have other guides for their belief, than the plain letter of the Scriptures! …………A Christian who…knows no right, no wrong, but according to God's revealed word. If he is questioned, there is his reason - if he is reproached, there is his defense - if he is in doubt, this, and this only, can resolve him. 

- Caroline Fry Wilson

From her book: Christ Our Example

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Believers are not freed from sin to stay its slaves and we are not freed to freedom but free dot obedience. We are bought by another and are His slaves.   We are not our own master, we are to view ourselves as ready for battle, not as victims of sin and circumstance.  We are saints, not sinners.  As soldiers, not victims or villains, we do not focus on our wounds but on our orders, our purpose, trusting our commanding officer.  Accept your slavery of obedience to God with joy.

- (Paraphrase of?) Don Lambert

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On Philippians 2:12-13:

Here it is perfectly clear: the more I read the Bible and see the picture of the Christian man, the more I understand the nature of sin and life in this world, and what God has done for me in Christ, then the more I shall desire the things of God and hate the other. So I suggest that the best practical step is to read God's word, and to be thoroughly soaked in it. There is a very simple, practical test that one can apply at this point. I wonder what the result would be if we all kept a chart for one week and put down on paper the amount of time which we spent in reading God's word and things which help us to understand it, and the time we spent reading newspapers and novels or watching films? Now I am just asking the question. We say we believe in salvation. We believe God has given us this gift, so then, I ask, what are the relative amounts of time that we give to these things? Working out our own salvation means that we do everything we can to feed this life, to stimulate it, to enable it to extend and develop and grow.

 And the other thing, clearly, is prayer: prayer for an increasing knowledge of God, for a greater measure of the Holy Spirit and for a greater understanding of this word; prayer for guidance, for leading and for understanding. If I believe in God and that he has done this for me, why do I spend so little time with Him? Why do I not long for Him more and more? That is how we work it out and I must follow and obey every prompting and leading that I am conscious of in this direction. The fathers used to regard the Christian life as a whole time occupation. They used to spend their time with it and, I feel, it is one of the greatest condemnations of us today that we are guilty of not working out this amazing salvation that God has given to us.

 But, then, what is the manner in which we do this? The Apostle says that we are to do it 'with fear and trembling'. Here again we must define our terms. He does not mean that we must do it in fear of losing our salvation. You will find that in the New Testament these words never carry that implication. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians 'I was with you ... in fear, and in much trembling' (1 Cor 2:3), he did not mean that he was afraid that he would lose his soul. Neither is it a kind of craven fear, one of self torment. It means humility and a holy reverence, or, if you like, a holy vigilance and circumspection. It means that as I work out my salvation, I should realise the tremendous seriousness of what I am doing.

 I wonder whether this is not the thing which needs to be emphasised most at the present time, not least in the ranks of evangelical people? I wonder why it is that the whole idea of the godly man has somehow or other got lost amongst us? Why is it that Christian people are not described as 'God fearing' people? Why is it that there is such a difference between us and the Christian of a hundred or two hundred years ago, or the Puritan of the seventeenth century? They were truly Christian. 'Methodist', too, was a kind of nickname given to people because of their methodical life. I wonder why it is that somehow or other we have lost this particular sense of the Christian life? I have no doubt but that the explanation is that it is an overreaction on our part from the pure legalism that was so common at the turn of the century when many people had lost the true spirit of the New Testament. They imposed a certain kind of life upon themselves and upon their children; they laid down rules and regulations; and people then reacted and said, 'That is pure legalism, not Christianity.' But now we are so much like everybody else because we have forgotten this about 'fear and trembling', vigilance and circumspection. Sometimes I am afraid we have been so anxious not to give the impression that to be Christian means being miserable, that we have imagined that we must be smiling and laughing all the time and we have believed in this so called 'muscular' Christianity…………

And, lastly, I must work out my salvation with fear and trembling, for this good reason: the New Testament teaches me that if I fail to do so myself, then I must not be surprised if God begins to do certain things to me. Do you remember the teaching of Hebrews 12:6-note? 'Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.' (cp He 12:5-note)It is put still more strikingly in 1 Corinthians 11, where Paul says that there were many in the church at Corinth who were sick, and there were even some, he said, who were dead, and he tells us that the reason for that was that they had not examined themselves before partaking of the Lord's Supper, and were partaking unworthily. Such a man, Paul said, 'eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body' (1Co 11:29).

The doctrine of the New Testament can be put into this form: if God has called you and given you his salvation, he destines you for salvation and he is going to perfect you. His method is to put promptings within us. He energizes our mind and whole outlook, but if we fail to practise these things, then God, in His very love to us, is going to chasten us a sickness, an illness, a disappointment, a loss, a sorrow. These are ways which God uses because of our failure and our recalcitrance. 'It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God' (Heb 10:31-note).

The love of God is as great as that. The Christian man who is not doing his utmost to live the Christian life is a fool, and he must not be surprised if certain things begin to happen to him. If you are a child of God, He is going to bring about your perfection and if you do not do it yourself to please Him in this way, then, I say, you may well find that God will do it to you in one of these other ways. That is a very wonderful thing. I am not saying that every Christian who suffers is being chastised, but I do say that God does do that, and if we fail to respond to His appeal, then we must not be surprised if we experience His chastening.”

 

Martyn Lloyd-Jones

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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

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The cross is laid on every Christian. It begins with the call to abandon the attachments of this world. It is that dying of the old man which is the result of his encounter with Christ. As we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with His death -- we give over our lives to death. Since this happens at the beginning of the Christian life, the cross can never be merely a tragic ending to an otherwise happy religious life. When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die. It may be a death like that of the first disciples who had to leave home and work to follow Him, or it may be a death like Luther's, who had to leave the monastery and go out into the world. But it is the same death every time -- death in Jesus Christ, the death of the old man at His call. That is why the rich young man was so loath to follow Jesus, for the cost of his following was the death of his will. In fact, every command of Jesus is a call to die, with all our affections and lusts. But we do not want to die, and therefore Jesus Christ and His call are necessarily our death and our life. 

  

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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The grace that does not change my life will not save my soul.

 Charles Spurgeon

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There before you is the grisly old enemy to spiritual progress standing astride the path of obedience to Christ – SELF!  This monster cries out daily to be served.  He challenges the dominion of Jesus Christ and opposes every devotion of time, energy and love to the Lord.  But it is a strange war that we may win only by feeling ourselves the painful blows we give.  Every denial of self is felt keenly.  How we would love to change the scene of combat!  But on every occasion when we are serious about advancing in righteousness, we must contend with self.

Walter Chantry

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God indeed may be reconciled to the sinner, but never to the sin.

 

Stephen Charnock

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Instead of complaining that you have no more light, make good use of what you have.

Many groan over their inabilities, and yet they have never gone to the end of their

abilities: this is sheer hypocrisy. 

 

Charles Spurgeon

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When people talk of having received “…a blessing” and of having found “the higher life,” after hearing some earnest advocate of “holiness by faith and self-consecration,” while their families and friends see no improvement and no increased sanctity in their daily tempers and behaviour, immense harm is done to the cause of Christ.  True holiness, we surely ought to remember, does not consist merely of inward sensations and impressions.  It is much more than tears, and sighs, and bodily excitement, and a quickened pulse, and a passionate feeling of attachment to our own favorite preachers and our own religious party, and a readiness to quarrel with everyone who does not agree with us.  It is something of “the image of Christ,” which can be seen and observed by others in our private life, and habits, and character, and doings (Rom. 8:29).

J. C. Ryle

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 Slavish fear makes the naughty heart imprison truth in his conscience, because, if that had it's liberty and authority in the soul, it would imprison, yea, execute every lust that rules the roost...

 

William Gurnall

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In 1891 the last year of his (Spurgeon’s) life, there was another sermon from the book of Daniel, this time on the resolution of Daniel’s three companions who were thrown into the furnace for their refusal to submit to Nebuchadnezzar. In the first division of the sermon he lists the kind of excuses the three men might have used to justify a compliance which might have used to justify a compliance which would have kept them out of the furnace. They might have said, ‘We can do more good by living,’ dying would ‘cut short our opportunities for usefulness.’ Upon which Spurgeon enlarges:

“Ah, my dear brethren! There are many that are deceived by this method of reasoning. They remain where their conscience tells them they ought not to be, because, they say, they are more useful than they would be if they went “without the camp”. This is doing evil that good may come, and can never be tolerated by an enlightened conscience. If an act of sin would increase my usefulness tenfold, I have no right to do it; and if an act of righteousness would appear likely to destroy all my apparent usefulness, I am yet to do it. It is yours and mine to do the right though the heavens fall, and follow the command of Christ whatever the consequences may be. “That is strong meat,” do you say? Be strong men, then, and feed thereon…

For right is right, since God is God,

And right the day must win;

To doubt would be disloyalty,

To falter would be sin.

Excerpt from The Forgotten Spurgeon - by Iain Murray

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Every Christian who falls into sin is a fool.  If a Christian feels he is in a state of defeat, it is because he is being controlled by his subjective feelings, instead of by an understanding of the truth.  Deliverance from this condition, therefore, depends upon a total change in approach:  Christians are to look not at themselves and their problems but at what God had done for them; their need is not the ‘hospital’ but the ‘barracks” where they will forget their own troubles and ills, and learn to fight in the army. 

We must get rid of that notion of the clinic and the hospital; and we must look at these things more in terms of God and His glory, and the great campaign which He inaugurated through the Son of His love, and which He is going to bring to a triumphant conclusion.

Martyn-Lloyd Jones

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People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith or delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; toward disobedience and call it freedom; toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the non-discipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.

D. A. Carson

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Every Christian who falls into sin is a fool.  If a Christian feels he is in a state of defeat, it is because he is being controlled by his subjective feelings, instead of by an understanding of the truth.  Deliverance from this condition, therefore, depends upon a total change in approach:  Christians are to look not at themselves and their problems but at what God had done for them; their need is not the ‘hospital’ but the ‘barracks” where they will forget their own troubles and ills, and learn to fight in the army. 

We must get rid of that notion of the clinic and the hospital; and we must look at these things more in terms of God and His glory, and the great campaign which He inaugurated through the Son of His love, and which He is going to bring to a triumphant conclusion.

 

Martin Lloyd-Jones

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 In other words, Jesus came not only to fulfill the law in his own work, he came to take his people to a radical understanding of the law and a radical obedience to the law that is not based on law but on himself, and therefore reflects the fullness of what God wills for us - and especially reflects the gospel, the covenant-keeping work of Christ at Calvary for his church.  Marriage among Christians is mainly meant to tell the truth about the gospel - that Christ died for his church who loves him and never breaks his covenant with his bride.

In essence, Jesus says, 'You have heard that it was said, 'You are permitted to divorce.'  But I say to you, 'I have come to conquer the hardness of your heart.  I have come to die for your sins.  I have come to count you as righteous.  I have come to show you the drama that marriage was meant to represent in my sacrificial, covenant-keeping love for my sinful bride.  I have come to give you the power to stay married, or to stay single, so that either way you keep your promises and show what my covenant is like and how sacred is the covenant bond of marriage.

 John Piper

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The will of God is not something you add to your life. It’s a course you choose. You either line yourself up with the Son of God…or you capitulate to the principle which governs the rest of the world. 

 

Elisabeth Elliot

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Does it make sense to pray for guidance about the future if we are not obeying in the thing that lies before us today? How many momentous events in Scripture depended on one person's seemingly small act of obedience! Rest assured: Do what God tells you to do now, and, depend upon it, you will be shown what to do next. 

  

Elisabeth Elliot

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Commenting on Matt. 19:16 and Luke 10:25-29:

Moral difficulties were the first consequence of the Fall, and are themselves the outcome of 'Man in Revolt' against God.  The Serpent in Paradise put them into the mind of the first man by asking, 'Hath God said?'  Until then the divine command had been clear enough, and man was ready to observe it in childlike obedience.  But that is now past, and moral doubts and difficulties have crept in.  The command, suggests the Serpent, needs to be explained and interpreted. 'Hath God said?' Man must decide for himself what is good by using his conscience and his knowledge of good and evil.  The commandment may be variously interpreted, and it is God's will that it should be interpreted and explained: for God has given man a free will to decide what he will do.  

But this means disobedience from the start.  Doubt and reflection take the place of spontaneous obedience.  The grown-up man with his freedom of conscience vaunts his superiority over the child of obedience.  But he has acquired the freedom to enjoy moral difficulties only at the cost of renouncing obedience.  In short, it is a retreat from the reality of God to the speculations of men, from faith to doubt…..Jesus simply quotes the commandments of God as they are revealed in Scripture, and thus reaffirms them as the commandments of God.  

The young man is trapped once more.  He had hoped to avoid committing himself to any definite moral obligations by forcing Jesus to discuss his spiritual problems.  He had hoped Jesus would offer him a solution of his moral difficulties.  But instead he finds Jesus attacking not his question but himself.  The only answer to his difficulties is the very commandment of God, which challenges him to have done with academic discussion and to get on with the task of obedience.  Only the devil has an answer for our moral difficulties, and he says: 'Keep on posing problems, and you will escape the necessity of obedience.'  But Jesus is not interested in the young man's problems; he is interested in the young man himself.  He refuses to take those difficulties as seriously as the young man does.  There is one thing only which Jesus takes seriously, and that is, that it is high time the young man began to hear the commandment and obey it. 

Where moral difficulties are taken so seriously, where they torment and enslave man, because they do not leave him open to the freeing activity of obedience, it is there that his total godlessness is revealed.  All his difficulties are shown to be ungodly, frivolous and the proof of sheer disobedience.  The one thing that matters is practice obedience……The young man…is still not satisfied.  'All these things have I observed from my youth up:  what lack I yet?'  Doubtless he was just as convinced of his sincerity this time as he was before….He knows the commandment and has kept it, but now, he thinks, that cannot be all God wants of him, there must be something more, some extraordinary and unique demand, and this is what he wants to do.  The revealed commandment of God is incomplete, he says, as he makes the last attempt to preserve his independence and decide for himself what is good and evil…….. "

Speaking on the Lawyer in Luke 10:

"The final question 'Who is my neighbor?' is the parting shot of despair (or else of self confidence); the lawyer is trying to justify his disobedience.  The answer is:  "You are the neighbor.  Go along and try to be obedient by loving others." …Every moment and every situation challenges us to action and to obedience.  We have literally no time to sit down and ask ourselves whether so-and-so is our neighbor or not.  We must get into action and obey - we must behave like a neighbor to him.  But perhaps this shocks you.  Perhaps you still think you ought to think out beforehand and know what you ought to do.  To that there is only one answer.  You can only know and think about it by actually doing it.  You can only learn what obedience is by obeying.  It is no use asking questions; for it is only through obedience that you come to learn the truth.  With our consciences distracted by sin, we are confronted by the call of Jesus to spontaneous obedience.  But whereas the rich young man was called to the grace of discipleship, the lawyer, who sought to tempt him, was only sent back to the commandment.

 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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From Macarthur's book, The Master's Plan For the Church:  In Luke 6:46 Jesus says, "Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?'  Reminiscent of that verse is a painting in the cathedral of Lubeck Germany, entitled 'The Lament of Jesus Christ against the Ungrateful World.'  The corresponding poetic text for the painting reads,

You call Me master, and obey Me not;

You call Me light, and see Me not;

You call Me the way, and walk Me not;

You call Me life, and live Me not;

You call Me wise, and follow Me not;

You call Me fair, and love Me not;

You call Me rich, and ask Me not;

You call Me eternal, and seek Me not.

I condemn thee; blame Me not.