Classic Christian Quotes from Classic Ministers

Classic Christian Quotes from Classic Ministers

Romans 13:8-10

(8) Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. (9) For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (10) Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
New King James Version  

In these verses, Paul injects love into the context of law, showing that it is the sum of all duties. He does not say love ends the need for law but that it fulfills—performs or accomplishes—the law.

Notice love's relationship to law in context with what immediately precedes it. The context is a Christian's response to government. He should submit to and honor human government as God's agents in managing human affairs. A Christian is indebted to the government to pay tribute and taxes. When we pay them, a Christian is no longer financially indebted to the state until it imposes taxes the following year.

Regarding men, we are not to be in debt. He is not saying a Christian should never owe anybody money, but that there is a debt we owe to every person that we should strive to pay every day. This debt is one of love, paid by keeping God's law, and this Paul illustrates by quoting several of the Ten Commandments! Inherent in this debt is that no matter how much we pay on it each day, when we wake up the next day, the debt is restored, and we owe just as much as we did the day before!

This sets up an interesting paradox because we owe everyone more than we can ever hope to pay. The paradox, however, is more apparent than real because this is not what Paul is teaching. He is teaching that love must be the driving force, the motivation, of everything we do. This points out a weakness of law regarding righteousness. Law, of and by itself, provides neither enough nor the right motivation for one to keep it.

~John W. Ritenbaugh~

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The people who know their God shall stand firm and take action. (Daniel 11:32 ESV)

How much do you depend upon conferences and teachers to keep you going? Must you attend meetings just because you feel that the last lot you got has been used up and you must get a fresh supply? Or have you been emancipated from all human props and put into a place of glorious independence, because you KNOW YOUR GOD? It doesn't matter if you are plunged into the middle of the Sahara, you know your God and can stand independently of all natural helps – this thing has become YOU! That is the kind of knowledge that means power. That is the kind of experience which overcomes the world. That is the kind of thing that makes all the other systems go down, and you rise triumphantly above them. That was the secret of the apostolic church. Let kings do what they like, let the people rage – it goes on, and it is the Roman Empire that goes to pieces before this thing, and not this thing that goes down before the Roman Empire. It is an independent personal knowledge of God, resultant from an inward birth, that lives. Not only an objective truth, but a subjective power, and it is a great day when the slightest fragment of known truth becomes a vital personal experience in its working ability. That is what we want. First-hand knowledge, not second-hand truth.

May God work this into our very beings until it becomes us. Take it in fragments if you like, and ask the Lord to work it out in you and make it live in you.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

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Everything on this side Hell is mercy!

Thomas Brooks)

"I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for You are the one who has done this!" Psalm 39:9

Oh! labor every day to be more humble and more low and little in your own eyes. "Who am I," says the humble soul--"to complain of trials. I am not worthy of the least mercy, I deserve not a crumb of mercy, I have forfeited every mercy!"

It is only pride that puts men upon complaining and contending with God.

A humble soul will lie quiet at the foot of God; it will be contented with bare necessities. A dinner of green herbs is relished to the humble man's palate; whereas a stalled ox is but a coarse dish to a proud man's stomach.

A humble heart looks upon . . .
  small mercies as great mercies;
  and great afflictions as small afflictions;
  and small afflictions as no afflictions;
  and therefore sits mute and quiet under all.

Do but keep humble, and you will keep silent before the Lord.

Pride kicks, and grumbles, and frets--but a humble man has still his hand upon his mouth. Everything on this side Hell is mercy--much mercy, rich mercy to a humble soul; and therefore he remains mute under God's smarting rod.


John Berridge: "The heaviest afflictions on this side Hell--are less, far less than my iniquities have deserved! Oh, boundless grace! The chastening rod of a reconciled Father, might have been the flaming sword of an avenging Judge! I might now have been weeping and wailing with devils and damned spirits in Hell! I will bear the indignation of the Lord--because I have sinned against Him. It is of His mercy alone, that I am not consumed!"


Ruth Bryan: "Seek a resigned, submissive will--it will greatly lighten every outward cross. Murmuring thoughts ill become worms who deserve the lowest Hell; everything on this side Hell is more than we deserve."

Classic Christian Quotes from Classic Ministers

Classic Christian Quotes from Classic Ministers

"Jesus explains things to us as we are able to understand them. We can only be used by God after we allow Him to show us the deep, hidden areas of our own character. We have to get rid of the idea that we understand ourselves. That is always the last bit of pride to go. The only One who understands us is God." 

~Oswald Chambers~
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Meditate a little on the mercy of God!

(Charles Spurgeon)

"I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever!" Psalm 52:8

Meditate a little on the mercy of God.

It is tender mercy. With gentle, loving touch, He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds. He is as gracious in the manner of His mercy--as in the matter of it.

It is great mercy. There is nothing little in God; His mercy is like Himself--it is infinite. You cannot measure it. His mercy is so great,
  that it forgives great sins of great sinners,
  after great lengths of time, and then
  gives great favors and great privileges, and then
  raises us up to great enjoyments in the great Heaven of the great God!

It is undeserved mercy, as indeed all true mercy must be, for deserved mercy is only a misnomer for justice. There was no right on the sinner's part, to the sovereign mercy of the Most High God. Had the rebel been doomed at once to eternal fire--he would have justly merited the doom. If the evildoer is delivered from wrath--then sovereign mercy alone has found a cause.

It is rich mercy. Some things are great, but have little efficacy in them--but God's mercy is a cordial to your drooping spirits. Saving mercy is . . .
  a golden ointment for your bleeding wounds,
  a heavenly bandage for your broken bones,
  a royal chariot for your weary feet,
  a bosom of love for your trembling heart!

It is manifold mercy. There is no single mercy. You may think you have but one mercy--but you shall find it to be a whole cluster of mercies!

It is abounding mercy. Millions have received it, yet far from its being exhausted--it is as fresh, as full, and as free as ever!

It is unfailing mercy. It will never leave you. If saved by sovereign mercy, it will be . . .
  with you in temptation--to keep you from yielding,
  with you in trouble--to prevent you from sinking,
  with you living--to be the light and life of your countenance, and
  with you dying--to be the joy of your soul when earthly comfort is ebbing fast!

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever!" Psalm 23:6

"I have trusted in Your mercy--my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation!" Psalm 13:5
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O what a sweet and pleasant life you would have!
(Thomas Boston)

"Affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble spring from the ground!" Job 5:6

"I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things!" Isaiah 45:7

"The LORD brings death, and makes alive; He brings down to the grave, and raises up.
 The LORD sends poverty, and wealth; He humbles, and He exalts." 1 Samuel 2:6-7

Affliction does not rise out of the dust or come to us by chance.

It is the Lord who sends affliction, and we should own and reverence His hand in it.

Let the people of God comfort themselves at all times by the doctrine of divine sovereignty. Amidst whatever befalls them, they should rest quietly and submissively in the bosom of God, considering that whatever comes to pass proceeds from the decree of their gracious Friend and reconciled Father, who knows what is best for them, and will make all things work together for their good.

O what a sweet and pleasant life you would have under the heaviest pressures of affliction, and what heavenly serenity and tranquility of mind you would enjoy--if you would cheerfully acquiesce in the good will and pleasure of God, and embrace every dispensation, however sharp it may be, because it is determined and appointed for you by the eternal counsel of His will!

See here the evil of murmuring and complaining at our lot in the world. How apt are you to quarrel with God, as if He were in the wrong when His dealings with you, and not according to your own desires and wishes!

You demand a reason, and call God to an account: "Why am I thus? Why so much afflicted and distressed? Why so long afflicted? Why such a severe affliction rather than a lighter one? Why am I so poor, needy and afflicted?"

Thus your hearts rise up against God. But you should remember that this is to defame the counsels of infinite wisdom, as if God had not ordered your affairs wisely enough in His eternal counsel.

Our attitude should be that of Job's, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." Job 1:21

Classic Christian Quotes from Classic Ministers

Classic Christian Quotes from Classic Ministers

Resolve to Keep Close to Christ

There is yet another stone wall which I will mention, namely, firmness of character. Our holy faith teaches a man to be decided in the cause of Christ, and to be resolute in getting rid of evil habits. “If thine eye offend thee”—wear a shade? No; “pluck it out.” “If thine arm offend thee”—hang it in a sling? No; “cut it off, and cast it from thee” True religion is very thorough in what it recommends. It says to us, “touch not the unclean thing.” But many persons are so idle in the ways of God that they have no mind of their own: evil companions tempt them, and they cannot say, “No.” They need a stone wall made up of noes. Here are the stones, “no, no, NO.” Dare to be singular. Resolve to keep close to Christ. Make a stern determination to permit nothing in your life, however gainful or pleasurable, if it would dishonour the name of Jesus. Be dogmatically true, obstinately holy, immovably honest, desperately kind, fixedly upright. If God’s grace sets up this hedge around you, even Satan will feel that he cannot get in, and will complain to God, “hast thou not set a hedge about him?”

Charles Spurgeon

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Duty to God and Man

Our Lord Jesus sums up the whole law in these two words, which he calls the two great commandments (Matt. 22:37) -- Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself -- the two legs that piety and practice walk upon. The one comprehends our duty to God, which runs through all the ten commands, but does more eminently exert itself in the first four, whereof we have spoken. The other contains our duty to our neighbor, which is set down more particularly in the last six commands, whereof we are now to speak. And however many do ignorantly and wickedly look on duty to man as somewhat extrinsic to religion and duty to God, yet both have the same authority, both are put in one sum of the law, both are written on tables of stone with the Lord's own finger, and put within the ark. And therefore we ought with a proportionable care to enquire what God requires of us as duty to others, as well as to himself; and we should make no less conscience of obedience to the one than to the other.

~James Durham~

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Gospel Piety + Moral Equity

A good Christian makes gospel piety and moral equity kiss each other. Herein some discover their hypocrisy: they will obey God in some things which are more facile, and may raise their repute; but other things they leave undone. "One thing is lacking," Mark 20:21. Herod would hear John Baptist, but not leave his incest. Some will pray, but not give alms; others will give alms, but not pray. "Ye tithes of mint and annise, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith." Matt. 22:23. The badger has one foot shorter than the other; so these are shorter in some duties than in others. God likes not such partial servants, who will do some part of the work he sets them about, and leave the other undone.

~Thomas Watson~

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Classic Christian Quotes from Classic Ministers

Classic Christian Quotes from Classic Ministers

Peculiar People(Don Fortner)

Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity,
and purify unto himself a PECULIAR PEOPLE, zealous of good works.
    -Titus 2:14

The Holy Spirit declares that God’s elect, once they are called and
converted by his sovereign grace, are made to be a 'peculiar people'.
The word “peculiar” (v. 14) means “distinctively excellent, valuable,
and honorable.” We are Christ’s portion, the lot of his inheritance,
the jewels of his crown, his fullness (Eph. 1:23), his peculiar people.

Grace has distinguished God’s elect from all others-
They are a people loved by God with a peculiar love (Jer. 31:3),
with a love which he does not have for the rest of Adam’s race.
Let men talk all they wish about “universal benevolence,”
“universal grace,” and “universal love,” -the Word of God
declares plainly that God’s love for his own people is a peculiar,
distinct love (Isa. 43:3-4; Rom. 9:13). It is the distinctiveness
of God’s love for us, who deserve his wrath as fully as Satan
himself, which forms the great motive for our consecration to
our God and his glory (Rom. 12:1-2).

We are the objects of God’s peculiar delight-
The Lord God has made us “accepted in the Beloved.” Being accepted
in Christ, because of Christ, and for Christ’s sake, washed in his
blood and robed in his righteousness, we are a people with whom God
is well pleased, even delighted (Zeph. 3:17).

Being the objects of his love, chosen to eternal salvation and
accepted in Christ, every believer has been blessed with all
the peculiar blessings of God’s free, covenant grace from eternity
(Eph. 1:3-4), and supplied with all the provisions of the Father’s
house day by day and forever.

Every believer has been SEPARATED from the world by peculiar grace-
Electing grace (2 Thess. 2:13-14), redeeming grace (1 Cor. 6:19-20),
regenerating grace (Isa. 43:1-5), preserving grace (1 Pet. 1:5),
and providential grace (Rom. 8:28-30), are the things which make
us to differ from the rest of the world. The distinction is not the
work of our will or of our obedience.
It is the work of God’s grace alone.

"Zealous of Good Works"

Yet, Christ’s peculiar people are made by the grace of God to be
zealous of good works. God the Father ordained that we should walk
in good works (Eph. 2:10). God the Son redeemed us that we should
walk in good works. And God the Holy Spirit effectually teaches
every chosen, ransomed sinner to be zealous of good works.
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Ox or Donkey?
The following is from Spurgeon's sermon,
  WHAT MEANEST THOU, O SLEEPER?

I should not expect if I were a member of a commercial firm,
to take half the profits, and to do none of the work.
It is low to the very last degree to share the 'benefits'
without uniting in the 'toil'. And yet some Christian
professors are guilty of this miserable conduct.

As it was in the days of Job, so it is even until now- "the OXEN
were ‘ploughing', and the DONKEYS were ‘feeding' beside them."
There is always a large proportion of the latter class in the
Churches, too glad to feed, but quite unwilling to work.
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Modern Church MachineryThe following is from Spurgeon's sermon,
  "FAITH OMNIPOTENT"

Friends! the Churches of Christ have no need of the Modern
Machinery which has supplanted the Simplicity of Faith.

I verily believe, if the Lord swept the church committees
and missionary societies out of the universe, we would be
better without them.

I hope the Church will soon say, like David in Saul's clanking
armor, "I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them,"
and with only her sling and her stone, confident in her God,
I trust she will confront her foe.

We Can Do All Things, If We Can but Trust Christ.

"All things are possible to him that believes."
But nothing is possible to your schemes, and to your systems.
God will sweep them away yet, and happy shall be that
man who shall lead the van in their utter destruction!
Go up against her, take away her bulwarks, for they are not
the Lord's; he did not ordain them, nor will he stand by them.

Act in faith, O you people of God, and prove the power of
prayer, for "all things are possible to him that believes."

The fact is, God does not need our power, but our weakness;
  not our greatness, but our nothingness.

Classic Christian Quotes from Classic Ministers

Classic Christian Quotes from Classic Ministers

Suffering for the Righteous and the Unrighteous

When good and bad men suffer alike, they are not, for that reason indistinguishable because what they suffer is similar. The sufferers are different even though the sufferings are the same trials; though what they endure is the same, their virtue and vice are different. For, in the same fire, gold gleams and straw smokes; under the same flail the stalk is crushed and the grain threshed; the lees are not mistaken for oil because they have issued from the same press. So, too, the tide of trouble will test, purify, and improve the good, but beat, crush, and wash away the wicked. So it is that, under the weight of the same affliction, the wicked deny and blaspheme God, and the good pray to Him and praise Him. The difference is not in what people suffer but in the way they suffer. The same shaking that makes fetid water stink makes perfume issue a more pleasant odor.

~Augustine~

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Self-Congratulation vs. Wonder

There is, however, a truth that is even more significant and instructive than that. It is not merely true that we were once Christ’s enemies, and that we were also utterly insignificant, and unworthy of his notice; but it is wonderful that he should lay down his life for such unworthy friends, even as friends, as we are. There are some professing Christians who can speak of themselves in terms of admiration; but, from my inmost heart, I loathe such speeches more and more every day that I live. Those who talk in such a boastful fashion must be constituted very differently from me. While they are congratulating themselves all upon the good things that they find within themselves, I have to lie humbly at the foot of Christ’s cross, and marvel that I am saved at all, for I know that I am saved. I have to wonder that I do not believe Christ more, and equally wonder that I am privileged to believe in him at all;—to wonder that I do not love him more, and equally to wonder that I love him at all;—to wonder that I am not holier, and equally to wonder that I have any desire to be holy at all considering what a polluted, debased, depraved nature I find still within my soul notwithstanding all that divine grace has done in me. If God were ever to allow the fountains of the great deeps of depravity to break up in the best man that lives, he would make as bad a devil as the devil himself is. I care nothing for what these boasters say concerning their own perfections; I feel sure that they do not know themselves, or they could not talk as they often do. There is tinder enough in the saint who is nearest to heaven to kindle another hell if God should but permit a spark to fall upon it. In the very best of men, there is an infernal and well-nigh infinite depth of depravity. Some Christians never seem to find this out. I almost wish that they might not do so, for it is a painful discovery for anyone to make; but it has the beneficial effect of making us cease from trusting in ourselves, and causing us to glory only in the Lord.

~Charles Spurgeon~

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He Is, He Always Has Been, Precious

Unto them that believe unto the saving of the soul, he is, he always hath been, precious—the sun, the rock, the life, the bread of their souls—every thing that is good, useful, amiable, desirable, here or unto eternity. In, from, and by him, is all their spiritual and eternal life, light, power, growth, consolation, and joy here; with everlasting salvation hereafter. By him alone do they desire, expect, and obtain deliverance from that woful apostasy from God, which is accompanied with—which containeth in it virtually and meritoriously—whatever is evil, noxious, and destructive unto our nature, and which, without relief, will issue in eternal misery. By him are they brought into the nearest cognation, alliance, and friendship with God, the firmest union unto him, and the most holy communion with him, that our finite natures are capable of and so conducted unto the eternal enjoyment of him.

~John Owen~

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The Holy Spirit and Conviction of Sin

The principal efficient cause of this work [conviction of sin] is the Holy Ghost; the preaching of the word, especially of the law, being the instrument which be maketh use of therein. The knowledge of sin is by the law, both the nature, guilt, and curse belonging to it, Rom. 7:7. There is, therefore, no conviction of sin but what consists in an emanation of light, and knowledge from the doctrine of the law, with an evidence of its power and a sense of its curse. Other means, as afflictions, dangers, sicknesses, fears, disappointments, may be made use of to excite, stir up, and put an edge upon the minds and affections of men; yet it is, by one means or other, from the law of God that such a discovery is made of sin unto them, and such a sense of it wrought upon them, as belong unto this work of conviction. But it is the Spirit of God alone that is the principal efficient cause of it, for he works these effects on the minds of men. God takes it upon himself, as his own work, to “reprove men, arid set their sins in order before their eyes,” Ps 50:21. And that this same work is done immediately by the Spirit is expressly declared, John 16:8. He alone it is who makes all means effectual unto this end and purpose. Without his especial and immediate actings on us to this end, we may hear the law preached all the days of our lives and not be once affected with it.

~John Owen~

Classic Christian Quotes from Classic Ministers

Classic Christian Quotes from Classic Ministers

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By Myself I can do nothing. (John 5:30 NIV)

One of the most difficult lessons that the Lord's children have to learn is how to let go to God. Even in a matter that is right and in the purpose of God, there has to be the lessons which Abraham had to learn through Isaac. It is not in our personal clinging to a God-given thing, whether it be a promise or a possession, but faith's restful and fear-free holding on to the Lord Himself. If we had a thing from the Lord Himself we can rest assured that what He gives He will not take again without some larger purpose in view; and on the other hand, none can take from us what He has determined for us. But there are many dangers which arise from our own will in relation to a Divine gift or purpose.

The first is of making that thing ours instead of holding it in and for the Lord. This leads to fierceness and personal uprisings. Then jealousy will not be long in showing its ugly head, and jealousy with its twin – suspicion – soon destroy fellowship and spontaneity of communion. Does not jealousy declare most loudly the fact of personal possession, personal interest? If we realized how privileged we are to have even a very small part in the things of God, and how it is all of His Grace, surely we should be very grateful that we could just have the remotest connection with Him. Then further, when we hold things received or as promised or believed to be for us as only unto the Lord, in restful trust, we make it possible for the Lord to save us from being mistaken in the matter. It is not an unusual thing for a child of God to come to see that a thing which he or she most strongly believed to be God's will or way for them was not so, and it had to be surrendered. If there was any personal element of will in it the experience has proved terrible, and has left works of bitterness and mistrust. Yet once again, a strong personal mind and will in relation to things of God too often makes us a law unto ourselves. That is, we get into an attitude which implies that we only know the will of God in the matter. We do not trust that others also may be led of the Lord in this thing, and so the corporateness of guidance so necessary to the house of God is destroyed or paralyzed.

~T. Austin-Sparks~
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Three things will last forever – faith, hope, and love – and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT)

You can have all the gifts and be very immature. Spiritual increase is not by knowing all these things, the way of growth is not by faith's power externally manifested, but more by inward endurance. Do you want to know the way of the increase of God? It is by love. What the Lord needs is an open, pure spirit towards Himself, and love toward all saints; the Lord will bring into His greater fullness where there is a genuine love one to the other - in Him.... The Ephesian letter in which there is the fullest unveiling of heavenly truth in the deepest teaching concerning the Church, the Body of Christ, there is from start to finish the golden thread of love running all through; this is significant when you consider what the letter contains. 1 Corinthians 13 is the great chapter on love, and is put over beside all the "gifts". Love is the real spirituality that is spirituality. Love is the most difficult and the greatest of all gifts. "Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own affections" (2 Cor. 6:12 ASV). You are so narrow, so limited, like a closed hedge, pent up, cramped! "Our heart is enlarged, ye are not straitened in us."

The measure of our spiritual life is no greater than our heart; the knowledge that is in the head is not the measure of spirituality, the way for your release, emancipation, increase, abundance is the way of the heart. Spirituality is not mental agreement on things stated in the Word, it is the melting of one heart to another – to all saints. The devil has locked up a number of the Lord's children as in a padded room of their own limitations; frozen their love by something between them and other children of God. The way out is by increase of love; and we shall remain locked up until we are there.... True spirituality is the measure of love of God shed abroad in the heart, all the spirituals rest upon and have their rise out of love. Not power, or knowledge, or different gifts, these are not the first things, the first thing is love. That leads to the increase of God.

~T. Austin-Sparks~
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Who makes you different from anyone else?

(Charles Spurgeon)

"Who makes you different from anyone else?
 What do you have, that you did not receive?
 And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?" 1 Corinthians 4:7

It is grace--free sovereign grace, which has made you to differ!

Should any here, supposing themselves to be the children of God, imagine that there is some reason "in them" why they should have been chosen--let them know that as yet they are in the dark concerning the first principles of grace, and have not yet learned the gospel.

If ever they had known the gospel, they would, on the other hand, confess that they were . . .
  the off-scouring of all things,
  undeserving,
  ill-deserving,
  and Hell-deserving!

They would ascribe it all to distinguishing grace, which has made them to differ; and to discriminating love, which has chosen them out from the rest of the world.

Great Christian, you would have been a heinous sinner--if God had not made you to differ!

O! you who are valiant for truth, you would have been as valiant for the devil--if sovereign grace had not laid hold of you!

A seat in Heaven shall one day be yours, but a chain in Hell would have been yours--if grace had not changed you!

You can now sing His love; but a licentious song would have been on your lips--if grace had not washed you in the blood of Jesus!

You are now sanctified, you are quickened, you are justified; but what would you have been today--if it had not been for the interposition of the divine hand?

There is not a crime you might not have committed--there is not a folly into which you might not have run.  Even murder itself you might have committed--if grace had not preserved you.

You shall be like the angels; but you would have been like the devil--if you had not been changed by grace!

Therefore never be proud, though you now have a wide domain of grace.
Once you had not a single thing to call your own--except your sin and misery.

You are now wrapped up in the golden righteousness of the Savior, and accepted in the garments of the Beloved! But you would have been buried under the black mountain of sin, and clothed with the filthy rags of unrighteousness, if He had not changed you!

And are you proud?

Do you exalt yourself?

O! strange mystery, that you who have nothing but sin and misery, should exalt yourself!
That you, a poor dependent pensioner upon the bounty of your Savior, should be proud!

Go, hang your pride upon the gallows as high as Haman! Hang it there to rot, and execrate it to all eternity!

Surely of all things most to be despised--is the pride of a Christian. He, of all men, has ten thousand times more reason than any other to be humble, and walk lowly with his God, and kindly and meekly toward his fellow-creatures.

"By the grace of God I am what I am!" 1 Corinthians 15:10

Classic Christian Quotes from Classic Ministers

Classic Christian Quotes from Classic Ministers

Blessing Others

Psalm 5:11-12

The other day as I was walking through a store, I happened to sneeze, and a gentleman nearby offered the typical response of “bless you.” This caused me to think about what that common expression actually means—namely, a request for divine favor—and the different ways we can bless others.

First, we can bless people by praying for them, and we should be specific when bringing such petitions to the Lord. General requests like “please bless him” are okay, but they can quickly become rote and devoid of meaning. Try supplications with greater detail. When our prayers are specific, we’ll be more likely to notice God’s answers, and we can share this encouragement with the person we’re praying over.

Second, we can ask God’s favor on events and situations. Of course, He will respond only when these align with His will. For example, it is appropriate to request that the Lord find our worship acceptable (Psalm 19:14) and to ask that He touch those present.

Third, we can bless God. We do this by expressing our praise and thanksgiving for His character and for what He has done (Psalm 104:1). We can also bless the Lord through our obedience, service, and desire to please Him. When we place Him first in our lives, He is honored.

The Lord provides a vast array of good gifts, and the desire for such benefits is normal and universal. In fact, as we yearn for divine blessings, why not apply the Golden Rule as a motivation to bless others—including God Himself—through prayer and service?

~Dr. Charles F. Stanley~

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The Power of a Word

Proverbs 12:18 gives us some valuable advice,

There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health.

Did you ever know someone who is good at making cutting remarks?  They spoke like the piercings of a sword?

Over twenty years ago I was at the house of some friends.  We were all just kind of hanging out and I made a comment to one of the brothers in the family.  It was a clever little comment and was basically meant to take a jab at him.

A couple of the family members heard it and snickered and said, "Oh, way to go, Bayless!  You got him!"  But as soon as I said it, his countenance fell, and my heart just sank. While I looked for an opportunity to apologize to him that night, I didn't do it because he ended up leaving early.

I've regretted that comment ever since.  I repented, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleansed me from that sin.  But you know what?  Those words were out, and I couldn't get them back.

Shortly after that night, he went feet first into a very destructive lifestyle involving his sexuality.  I have to think that quite possibly my words pushed him away from God.  It may have been that little jab of the sword that pushed him off the edge.

The New Testament says in Ephesians 4:29, Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth but only that which is good for edification or for building up that it may minister grace to the hearers.

Are your words ministering grace to those who hear them? Are they building up? Or are they tearing down?

~Bayless Conley~

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Song of Solomon 3:1

I sought him, but I found him not.

Tell me where you lost the company of a Christ, and I will tell you the most likely place to find Him.

Have you lost Christ in the closet by restraining prayer? Then it is there you must seek and find Him.

Did you lose Christ by sin? You will find Christ in no other way but by the giving up of the sin, and seeking by the Holy Spirit to mortify the member in which the lust doth dwell.

Did you lose Christ by neglecting the Scriptures? You must find Christ in the Scriptures.

It is a true proverb, "Look for a thing where you dropped it, it is there." So look for Christ where you lost Him, for He has not gone away. But it is hard work to go back for Christ. Bunyan tells us, the pilgrim found the piece of the road back to the Arbour of Ease, where he lost his roll, the hardest he had ever travelled.

Twenty miles onward is easier than to go one mile back for the lost evidence. Take care, then, when you find your Master, to cling close to Him. But how is it you have lost Him? One would have thought you would never have parted with such a precious friend, whose presence is so sweet, whose words are so comforting, and whose company is so dear to you! How is it that you did not watch Him every moment for fear of losing sight of Him?

Yet, since you have let Him go, what a mercy that you are seeking Him, even though you mournfully groan, "O that I knew where I might find Him!" Go on seeking, for it is dangerous to be without thy Lord. Without Christ you are like a sheep without its shepherd; like a tree without water at its roots; like a sere leaf in the tempest-not bound to the tree of life.

With thine whole heart seek Him, and He will be found of thee: only give thyself thoroughly up to the search, and verily, thou shalt yet discover Him to thy joy and gladness.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Classic Christian Quotes from Classic Ministers

Classic Christian Quotes from Classic Ministers

Sin is shut out--and they are shut in!

(Charles Spurgeon)

"The sound of weeping and crying will be heard no more!" Isaiah 65:19

The glorified weep no more, because all causes of grief are gone!
There are no broken friendships, nor blighted prospects in Heaven.
Poverty, famine, peril, persecution and slander--are unknown there.
No pain distresses, and no thought of death or bereavement saddens.

They weep no more, because they all are perfectly sanctified!
No "evil heart of unbelief" prompts them to depart from the living God.
They are without fault before His throne, and are fully conformed to His image!
Well may they cease to mourn--who have ceased to sin!

They weep no more, because all fear of change is past!
They know that they are eternally secure!
Sin is shut out--and they are shut in!
They dwell within a city which shall never be stormed!
They bask in a sun which shall never set!
They drink of a river which shall never run dry!
They pluck fruit from a tree which shall never wither!

Countless cycles may revolve--but eternity shall not be exhausted; and while eternity endures, their immortality and blessedness shall co-exist with it. They are forever with the Lord!

They weep no more, because every desire is fulfilled!
They cannot wish for anything--which they don't already have in full possession.
  Eye and ear,
  heart and hand,
  mind and imagination,
  desire and affection,
  all the faculties--
are completely satisfied!

As imperfect as our present ideas are of the things which God has prepared for those who love Him--yet we know enough by Scriptural revelation, that the glorified saints are supremely blessed.

The joy of Christ, which is an infinite fullness of delight, is in them.

They bathe forever in the bottomless, shoreless sea of infinite blessedness!

That same joyful rest remains for us! It may not be far distant.
Before long, sorrow's dewdrops will be transformed into the pearls of everlasting bliss!

"The sound of weeping and crying will be heard no more!" Isaiah 65:19

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain!" Revelation 21:4

"Therefore comfort one another with these words." 1 Thessalonians 4:18
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God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6 NIV)

The principle of the New Covenant is a first-hand individual revelation of Christ as the knowledge of God in terms of glory in the heart of the believer. Every individual believer only comes into true Christianity by a revelation of Christ in his or her heart, so that the knowledge of Christ is all their own, and as real as when God commanded light to shine in darkness. But that is not all. That shining must be progressive. Christ is far too vast to be seen in more than minute degrees at any one time. The bulk of the New Testament is taken up with getting Christians to see what an immense realm it is into which they have come, and how they must go on... Christianity can only be kept living and fresh and full of impact as Christians are living in an ever-growing apprehension of Christ as the Holy Spirit reveals Him in the heart.

This apprehension may only come as necessity is laid upon us by reason of suffering and trial. Capacity will increase by the stretching of suffering (see Hebrews 12, and read "child-training" for "chastening"). There is no succession in Christianity other than that of the revelation of Christ to the heart by the Holy Spirit. It is not a system to be perpetuated, but a Life to be possessed. The value of the Scriptures is that they contain depths and fullnesses which have never yet been fathomed; and when we speak of "revelation" we do not mean anything extra to them, but of that which is in them, but only known by the inward "writing" and "shining" of the Holy Spirit.... A thing can be in the Bible, and we can have read it a thousand times, but until the Holy Spirit makes it Life to us it will be unfruitful. Hence, there is a place and need for an inward revelation of the Word of God, and this is the only true succession. Nothing can be preserved alive through generations save as every one entering its realm does so on the basis of such a personal, inward, living, and growing revelation of the truth, so that the origin and beginning is constantly repeated in experience.

~T. Austin-Sparks~
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Our Heavenly Appointment

2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Each tick of the clock brings us a second closer to our heavenly appointment with the Lord Jesus. As believers in Christ, we will one day stand before Him, answerable for how we lived our life. At that time we will be held accountable for our actions and recompensed for the choices we made while on earth, whether good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10).

This is not a judgment of condemnation. At salvation, when we acknowledged Christ as our Savior, all blame was removed from us (Rom. 8:1). In taking our place on the cross, Jesus experienced the wrath of God against our iniquity (1 Peter 2:24). As a result, the penalty for our sin has been fully paid.

When we stand before our Lord, He’ll look to see which of our choices were in keeping with His will. Every act of obedient service, whether large or small, will be remembered and rewarded. At the same time, I believe there will be tears when our selfishness and unrighteousness are considered.

Colossians 3 gives us a picture of who we should be and how God wants us to live: Our minds are to be focused on things above, not earthly matters (Col. 3:2). And we’re to get rid of anger, malice, and slander, clothing ourselves instead with compassion, kindness, and patience (Col. 3:8; Col. 3:12).

Since the Lord holds us accountable for our actions, it is urgent that we replace ungodly patterns with righteous ways. Both inward attitudes and outward behavior matter to Him. When facing decisions each day, seek scriptural guidance and godly counsel. Then reflect on which choices would please God.

~Dr. Charles F. Stanley~