Quote of the Day

 "If any man in the world needs the special presence of God with them and His blessing in order to succeed, certainly ministers do.  For what is the design and end of their ministry? Is it not to open the eyes of sinners to turn them from darkness to light?  And from the power of sin and Satan to God and Christ? And who is sufficient for these things? In a work of this nature, what can ministers, of themselves, do? Verily, they may preach even to paleness and faintness, until the bellows are burnt, until their lungs and vitals are consumed, and their hearers will never be the better; not one sinner will be converted until God is graciously pleased, by the efficacious working of His Spirit, to add His blessing to their labors and make his word, in the mouth of the preacher, sharper than any two-edged sword in the heart of the hearer.  All will be vain, to no saving purpose, until God is pleased to give the increase. And in order to do this, God looks for their prayers, to come up to His ears.  A praying minister is in the way to having a successful ministry."

 John Shaw

Quote of the Day

Leaders, this is not the finish line.  This is the starting point.  We're aiming too low, even when we're hitting our target.  Again, if spiritual maturity is typically measured by daily Bible reading as individuals, and if discipleship (if it happens) is typically measured by the reproduction of sound doctrine and maybe Scripture memory, and if leadership is qualified by theological education (and perhaps business savvy for directing growth strategies and managing staff recruits), then we're functionally gnostic.  We've focused our efforts on the acquisition of spiritual knowledge in the mind while disregarding the spiritual significance of daily life in the physical world.  An incomplete gospel is an incorrect Gospel.


From the book: Leveling the Church: multiplying your Ministry by Giving it Away - By Micah Fries and Jeremy Maxfield

Quote of the Day

(Speaking of Heb 10:24-25)This passage calls us to regular gathering together as a church community.  It could be easy to assume that this simply means that we all need to be together so we can worship together, but the beginning of that passage says otherwise.  In verse 24, the author frames for us why we need to gather together:  in order to push one another to 'love and good deeds.'  This strikes us as a more intimate expectation.  This call reveals an awareness of each other's lives and an intimacy with how those lives are lived.  We are specifically encouraged to gather together so we can be in each other's business.

From the book: Leveling the Church: multiplying your Ministry by Giving it Away - By Micah Fries and Jeremy Maxfield

Quote of the Day

"…we have repurposed the Christian faith in a way that is generically individualistic.  We claim that we don't need the church to worship, that we can worship anywhere.  We claim that no one can judge us.  We claim that our relationship with God is our business alone.  We have even taken the process of spiritual development, and narrowed it down to an individualistic activity.  The height of Christian maturity, in many American churches, is a consistent quiet time…….

Among conservative evangelicals, there are many who are guilty of this radical individualism in ways that are not readily apparent.  Consider, how we regularly judge the success of a worship service.  We leave and say things like, 'That was great! I really got fed today!'  That sounds mature, and faithful.  It sounds like we are prioritizing good biblical teaching, but it is actually in opposition to biblical worship.  When we judge the effectiveness of a worship service by what it does for us, we have made ourselves the object of the worship experience.  Faithful worship is not measured by how much we are filled up, but rather how much we are emptied and worship is about sacrificing ourselves in our worship of the only God Who is worthy.""

From the book: Leveling the Church: multiplying your Ministry by Giving it Away - By Micah Fries and Jeremy Maxfield

Quote of the Day

"And some cannot advance any further with regard to knowledge; they know the fundamentals, and feel as if they could master nothing more.  It is a great blessing that they know the gospel, and feel that it will save them; but the glorious mysteries of the everlasting covenant, of the sovereignty of God, of His eternal love and distinguishing grace, they cannot compass.....To hear of these things rather wearies them than instructs them:  They have not strength enough of mind for the deep things to God.  I would have every Christian wish to know all that he can know of revealed truth. Somebody whispers that the secret things belong not to us.  You may be sure you will never know them if they are secret; but all that is revealed you ought to know, for these things belong to you and your children.  Take care you know what the Holy Ghost teaches.  do not give way to a faint-hearted ignorance, lest you be great losers thereby.  That which is fit food for babes should not be enough for young men and fathers:  we should eat strong meat, and leave milk to the little ones."

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


See more quotes on my quote collection blog: https://snickerdoodlesquotes.blogspot.com/

Quote of the Day

"If any man in the world needs the special presence of God with them and His blessing in order to succeed, certainly ministers do.  For what is the design and end of their ministry? Is it not to open the eyes of sinners to turn them from darkness to light?  And from the power of sin and Satan to God and Christ? And who is sufficient for these things? In a work of this nature, what can ministers, of themselves, do? Verily, they may preach even to paleness and faintness, until the bellows are burnt, until their lungs and vitals are consumed, and their hearers will never be the better; not one sinner will be converted until God is graciously pleased, by the efficacious working of His Spirit, to add His blessing to their labors and make his word, in the mouth of the preacher, sharper than any two-edged sword in the heart of the hearer.  All will be vain, to no saving purpose, until God is pleased to give the increase. And in order to do this, God looks for their prayers, to come up to His ears.  A praying minister is in the way to having a successful ministry." 

John Shaw 

Quote of the Day

(On progressive sanctification)No, indeed, dearest, I shall not tell you that having Christ, and being therefore rich in hope, you can want nothing more.  I know that when sure, quite sure of the pardon of sin, we do want more - we want to be rid of it.  Such is the beautiful design of God.  We are safe in being justified; but we are not happy, but in proportion as we are sanctified; the former satisfies our fears, but our desires are restless for the latter.  As the former is the first act of divine love, it is naturally the first thing a believer seeks to be assured of; and when he has assured himself of pardon and justification in Christ, he very often fancies for a time that he has the whole of salvation, and is sanctified.  But this does not last; he finds out as you do, that he wants more; he wants holiness and cannot be happy without it.  But then what a comfort that the one is secure as the other,  although a slower process; that the same blood which bought our justification, and bestows it at once, bought our sanctification - the other half of one and the same salvation, - and must bestow it ultimately.

Caroline [Fry] Wilson
From:  An Autobiography and Letters of the Author of The Listener, Christ Our Law, Etc. (1849)

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

The Pruned Branch

It is the branch that bears the fruit,

That feels the knife;

To prune it for a larger growth,

A fuller life,

Though every budding twig be lopped,

And every grace

Of swaying tendril, springing leaf

Be lost a space.

O thou, whose life of joy seems reft,

Of beauty shorn,

Whose aspirations lie in dust,

All bruised and torn,

Rejoice, though each desire, each dream,

Each hope of thine,

Shall fall and fade; it is the hand

Of love divine

That holds the knife, that cuts and breaks

With tenderest touch,

That thou, whose life has borne some fruit

May now bear much.

Annie Johnson Flint

Quote of the Day

1521-1522

In Germany, the Wittenburgers had been infiltrated by so-called apostles, giving new revelation from God discounting the Bible.  And from among their own congregation, a professor named Carlstadt, though rejecting to some degree the false-prophets, was advocating the forced profession of 'Protestantism' or at least its practices(no mass, no statues…etc.), and so abusing the Catholics by destroying the statues of saints, abolishing the mass…etc. In March 1522 Luther has arrived from his exile in the Wartburg castle to speak in the pulpit in Wittenburg for the first time since his exile.  He has returned because he is concerned about what is happening with his congregation:

(the following excerpt is taken from D'aubigne's History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century)His language was simple, noble, yet full of strength and gentleness:  one might have supposed him to be a tender father returning to his children, inquiring into their conduct, and kindly telling them what report he had heard about them.  He candidly acknowledged the progress they had made in faith; and by this means prepared and captivated their minds.  He then continued in these words:  But we need something more than faith; we need charity… What does a mother do to her infant?  At first she

Gives it milk, then some very light food.  If she were to begin by giving it meat and wine, what would be the consequence?......So should we act towards our brethren…permit your brother to drink as long as yourself. 

…The abolition of the mass, say you, is in conformity with Scripture:  Agreed!  But what order, what decency have you observed? It behoved you to offer up fervent prayers to the Lord, and apply to the public authority; then might every man have acknowledged that the thing was of God.

The mass is a bad thing; God is opposed to it; it ought to be abolished; and I would that throughout the whole world it were replaced by the Supper of the Gospel.  But let no one be torn from it by force.  His Word must act, and not we.  And why so, will you ask?  Because I do not hold men's hearts in my hand, as the potter holds the clay.  We have a right to speak; we have not a the right to act.  Let us preach:  the rest belongs unto God.  Were I to employ force, what should I gain?  Grimace, formality, ape-ings, human ordinances, and hypocrisy…..But there would be no sincerity of heart, nor faith, nor charity.  Where these are wanting, all is wanting…

Our first object must be to win men's hearts; and for that purpose we must preach the Gospel.  To-day the Word will fall in one heart, to-morrow in another, and it will operate in such a manner that each one will withdraw from the mass and abandon it.  God does more by his Word alone than you and I and all the world by our united strength.  God lays hold upon the heart; and when the heart is taken, all is won.

I do not say this for the restoration of the mass.  Since it is down, in God's name there let it lie!  But should you have gone to work as you did?  Paul, arriving one day in the powerful city of Athens, found there alters raised to false gods.  He went from one to the other, and observed them without touching one.  But he walked peaceably to the middle of the market-place, and declared to the people that all their gods were idols.  His language took possession of their hearts, and the idols fell without Paul's having touched them. 

I will preach, discuss, and write; but I will constrain none, for faith is a voluntary act.  See what I have done!  I stood up against the pope, indulgences, and papists, but without violence or tumult.  I put forward God's Word;  I preached and wrote - this was all I did.  And yet while I was asleep, or seated familiarly at table with Amsdorff and Melancthon…the Word that I had preached overthrew popery, so that neither prince nor emperor has done it so much harm.  And yet I did nothing:  the Word alone did all.  If I had wished to appeal to force, the whole of Germany would perhaps have been deluged with blood.  But what would have been the result?  Ruin and desolation both to body and soul.  I therefore kept quiet, and left the Word to run through the world alone.  Do you know what the devil thinks when he sees men resort to violence to propagate the Gospel through the world?  Seated with folded arms behind the fire of hell, Satan says, with malignant looks and frightful grin:  'Ah!  How wise these madmen are to play my game!'  But when he sees the Word running and contending alone on the field of battle, then he is troubled, and his knees knock together; he shudders and faints with fear.

Quote of the Day

Think of reading like you think of eating.  In other words, pay attention to your diet.  For the Christian, the highest reading priority is the Word of God.  Our spiritual maturity will never exceed our knowledge of the Bible.

 

Albert Mohler

Quote of the Day

Now what is food for the inner man?  Not prayer, but the Word of God; and here again, not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water passes through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering it over and applying it to our hearts.

 George Muller

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

…As to domestic cares, you know Mrs. Stowe has written a beautiful little tract on this subject -- "Earthly Care a Heavenly Discipline."  God never places us in any position in which we can not grow.  We may fancy that He does.  We may fear we are so impeded by fretting, petty cares that we are gaining nothing; but when we are not sending any branches upward, we may be sending roots downward.  Perhaps in the time of our humiliation, when everything seems a failure, we are making the best kind of progress.  God delights to try our faith by the conditions in which He places us.  A plant set in the shade shows where its heart is by turning towards the sun, even when unable to reach it.  We have so much to distract us in this world that we do not realize how truly and deeply, if not always warmly and consciously, we love Christ.  But I believe that this love is the strongest principle in every regenerate soul.  It may slumber for a time, it may falter, it may freeze nearly to death; but sooner or later it will declare itself as the ruling passion.  You should regard all your discontent with yourself as negative devotion, for that it really is.......I know all about these little domestic foxes that spoil the vines, and sympathize with you in yours.  But if some other trial would serve God's purposes, He would substitute it.

 Elizabeth Prentiss