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

Quote of the Day

"Far from our personalities being like eye color (something you are born with and can't do anything about), our personalities are something that God gave us so that we would have something to put on the alter and offer to Him…We are naturally full of instincts and desires that are contrary to what God wants us doing.  That means that those things are something to obey with, not something to obey around."

Rachel Jankovic
From her book: You Who: Why You Matter and How to Deal With It.

Quote of the Day

Our Master has never promised us success.  He demands obedience.  He expects faithfulness.  Results are His concern, not ours.  And our reputation is a matter of no consequence at all.

Amy Carmichael

Quote of the Day

Spirituality is…not an individualistic experience of solitude, defined by the amount of time spent in protracted periods of communion alone with God, but  an active obedience to God's commands that practically demonstrates love to others and is integrally involved in Jesus's mission to the world.  Christian spirituality, properly understood is a spirituality of engagement, not withdrawal…There is nothing inherently spiritual about the study of Scripture if that study does not lead to obedient, active application. 

- Andreas Kostenberger

From his book Excellence: The Character of God and the Pursuit of Scholarly Virtue

Quote of the Day

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

Quote of the Day

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

Quote of the Day

The believer is not freed to freedom but freed to obedience.

 

Don Lambert

Quote of the Day

Let it not be objected to this rigid adherence to the language of Scripture, that better and more learned men have not thought it needful, and that we may safely trust a little to their good sense and piety.  For, in conflict with scriptural powers, this scrupulous adherence will be found our only safety.  The Church of Rome may possibly dispense with the Bible, having Trent for doctrine, her anathemas for reproof, her inquisition for correction in righteousness, and her infallible pontiff for instruction in righteousness.  But with us, all these purposes must be served by Scriptures.

Charles Maitland

Quote of the Day

They were living to themselves: self, with its hopes, and promises, and dreams, still had hold of them; but the Lord began to fulfill their prayers. They had asked for contrition, and He sent them sorrow; they had asked for purity, and He sent them thrilling anguish; they had asked to be meek, and He had broken their hearts; they has asked to be dead to the world, and He slew all their living hopes; they had asked to be made like unto Him, and He placed them in the furnace, sitting by "as a refiner of silver," till they should reflect His image; they had asked to lay hold of His cross, and when He had reached it out to them, it lacerated their hands. They had asked they knew not what, nor how; but He had taken them at their word, and granted them all their petitions. They were hardly willing to follow so far, or to draw so nigh to Him. They had upon them an awe and fear, as Jacob at Bethel, or Eliphaz in the night visions, or as the apostles when they thought they had seen the spirit, and knew not that it was Jesus. They could almost pray Him to depart from them, or to hide His awefulness. They found it easier to obey than to suffer--to do than to give up--to bear the cross than to hang upon it: but they cannot go back, for they have come too near the unseen cross, and its virtues have pierced too deeply within them. He is fulfilling to them his promise, "And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.

But now, at last, their turn is come. Before, they had only heard of the mystery, but now they feel it. He has fastened on them His look of love, as He did on Mary and Peter, and they cannot but choose to follow. Little by little, from time to time, by flitting gleams the mystery of His cross shines upon them. They behold Him lifted up--they gaze upon the glory which rays forth from the wound of His holy passion; and as they gaze, they advance, and are changed into His likeness, and His name shines out through them, for he dwells in them. They live alone with Him above, in unspeakable fellowship; willing to lack what others own, and to be unlike all, so that they are only like him.

"Such are they in all ages who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. Had they chosen for themselves, or their friends chosen for them, they would have chosen otherwise. They would have been brighter here, but less glorious in His kingdom. They would have had Lot's portion, not Abraham's. If they had halted anywhere--if He had taken off His hand, and let them stray back--what would they have lost? What forfeits in the morning of the resurrection? But He stayed them up, even against themselves. Many a time their foot had well-nigh slipped; but He, in mercy, held them up; now, even in this life, they know all he did was done well. It was good for them to suffer here, for they shall reign hereafter--to bear the cross below, for they shall wear the crown above; and that not their will but His was done on them.

 

?

Quote of the Day

Lay down this principle as law - God does nothing arbitrary.  If He takes away your health, for instance, it is because He has some reason for doing so; and this is true of everything you value; and if you have real faith in Him, you will not insist on knowing the reason....You can will to prefer a religion of principle to one of mere feeling; in other words, to obey the will of God when no comfortable glow of emotion accompanies your obedience.

Elizabeth Prentiss
(from Stepping Heavenward)

Quote of the Day

What are you out for?  Believe me, you will get it whatever it is, if you are determined to do so.  Are you out for the rewards of this world?  They can be obtained with very little effort.  They satisfy for a while, but when one begins to think seriously about them they are not even worth that little effort.  But still we go on trying to get the best our of both worlds.  Let us realize once and for all that the things of the Spirit can only be appreciated by the spirit.  The reward for a spiritual way of life is a spiritual reward.  Why do we expect to get the rewards of this world as well?  Why do we so often complain that the ungodly seem to succeed while we fail?  We are not out for the same thing.  We must learn to judge spiritual results by spiritual  standards.  Whatever a man soweth that also shall he reap.  If we have sown to the spirit why expect to get a worldly and bodily harvest?  The man who sows for worldly results gets them, and everyone can see these and know them and appreciate them.  The Christian, on the other hand, has very little that the world can appreciate.  That is why the Way of Life is a difficult way - it is a life of faith.  When you enter upon it, you give up everything that the world treasures most, and it is inevitable that at times we shall experience a sense of loss.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Quote of the Day

The appeal of (Matthew)11:26-29 leads to the assurance of 11:30:  'My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.'  The Lord will never tax us beyond our strength, never impose a task beyond the ability He gives.  He is on the other side of the yoke and He carries all its weight.  The responsibility is His.  The results are His burden, not ours. The Lord is the kindest and most considerate Master in the world. 

John Phillips

Quote of the Day

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

Quote of the Day

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

 Charles Spurgeon

Quote of the Day

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

 Charles Spurgeon

Quote of the Day

One does not surrender a life in an instant. That which is lifelong can only be surrendered in a lifetime.

Elisabeth Elliot

Quote of the Day

We are not doomed to an ultimate conflict with no hope of resolution.  The message of scripture is one of victory- full, final, and ultimate victory.  It is not our doom that is certain, but Satan's.  His head has been crushed by the heel of Christ, who is the Alpha and Omega. 

Above all suffering and death stands the crucified and risen Lord.  He has defeated the ultimate enemy of life.  He has vanquished the power of death.  He calls us to die, a call to obedience in the final transition of life.  Because of Christ, death is not final.  It is a passage from one world to the next.

God does not always will healing.  If He did, He would suffer endless frustration, seeing His will being repeatedly thwarted in the deaths of His people.  He did not will the healing of Stephen from the wounds inflicted by the stones that were hurled against him.  He did not will the healing of Moses, of Joseph, of David, of Paul, of Augustine, of Martin Luther, of John Calvin.  These all died in faith.  Ultimate healing comes through death and after death….Certainly God answers prayers and gives healings to our bodies during this life.  But even those healings are temporary.  Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.  But Lazarus died again.  Jesus gave sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf.  Yet every person Jesus healed eventually died.  They died not because Satan finally won over Jesus, but because Jesus called them to die.

When God issues a call to us, it is always a holy call.  The vocation of dying is a  sacred vocation.  To understand that is one of the most important lessons a Christian can ever learn.  When the summons comes, we can respond in many ways.  We can become angry, bitter or terrified.  But if we see it as a call from God and not a threat from Satan, we are far more prepared to cope with its difficulties.

R. C. Sproul

Quote of the Day

There are plenty of believers dreaming what they might do, but far few saints simply doing what they should do.

John MacArthur

Quote of the Day

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

Quote of the Day

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