Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Life in the winter - Richard Sibbes

I am very dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem,

Song of Solomon 1:5 ESV

 

Those who are given to quarrelling with themselves always lack comfort, and through their infirmities they are prone to feed on such bitter things as will most nourish that disease which troubles them. These delight to be looking on the dark side of the cloud only.

 

We must not judge of ourselves always according to present feeling, for in temptations we shall see nothing but smoke of distrustful thoughts. Fire may be raked up in the ashes, though not seen. Life in the winter is hid in the root.

 

We must beware of false reasoning, such as: because our fire does not blaze out as others, therefore we have no fire at all. By false conclusions we may come to sin against the commandment in bearing false witness against ourselves. The prodigal would not say he was no son, but that he was not worthy to be called a son (Luke 15:19).

 

We must neither trust to false evidence, nor deny true; for so we should dishonor the work of God's Spirit in us, and lose the help of that evidence which would cherish our love to Christ, and arm us against Satan's discouragements. Some are as faulty in this way as if they had been hired by Satan, the `accuser of the brethren' (Rev. 12:10), to plead for him in accusing themselves.

 

Taken from the book The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes 1630

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

To Teach you to Live by Faith - Charles Spurgeon

It is a common error of young converts that they attempt to live by their experience, instead of tracing their life up to its precious source. I have known persons rejoicing in the fullest assurance one day, and sinking into the deepest despondency the next. The Lord will sometimes strip you of the leaves of evidence to teach you to live by faith, as John Kent says—

 

"If to-day he deigns to bless us
With a sense of pardoned sin;
He to-morrow may distress us
Make us feel the plague within;
All to make us
Sick of self and fond of him."

 

Charles Spurgeon From the Sermon The Leafless Tree March 8, 1857
Hymn Writer John Kent 1766 - 1843

Friday, December 23, 2011

from the outside - Oswald Chambers

Just as our Lord came into human history from the outside, so He must come into us from the outside. Have we allowed our personal human lives to become a "Bethlehem" for the Son of God?
 
Oswald Chambers 1874-1917
 
 

Thursday, December 22, 2011

The staggering proposition the Bible gives - Oswald Chalmers

The essential nature of Deity is holiness, and the power of God is proved in his becoming a Baby. That is the staggering proposition the Bible gives - God became the weakest thing we know.
 
 Oswald Chalmers 1874-1917

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

The Babyhood of God - Oswald Chalmers

The tremendous revelation of Christianity is not the Fatherhood of God, but the Babyhood of God - God became the weakest thing in His own creation, and in flesh and blood He levered it back to where it was intended to be.  No one helped Him; it was done absolutely by God manifest in human flesh.  God has undertaken not only to repair the damage, but in Jesus Christ the human race is put in a better condition than when it was originally designed. 
 
 Oswald Chalmers 1874-1917
 

Monday, December 19, 2011

Happiness Does not Depend On - JC Ryle

Jesus can make those happy who trust him and call him, whatever be their outward condition. He can give them peace of heart in a prison, contentment in the midst of poverty, comfort in the midst of bereavements, joy on the brink of the grave. There is a mighty fullness that is ready to be poured out on

every one that will ask in prayer. Oh that people would understand that happiness does not depend on outward circumstances, but on the state of the heart.

 

Taken from the book A Call to Prayer by JC Ryle 1816-1900

Friday, December 16, 2011

Whenever you get a blessing from God - Oswald Chambers

Whenever you get a blessing from God, give it back to him as a love gift. … Offer the blessing back to him in a deliberate act of worship. If you hoard a thing for yourself, it will turn into spiritual dry rot, as the manna did when it was hoarded. God will never let you hold a spiritual thing for yourself; it has to be given back to him that he may make it a blessing to others.

 

Oswald Chambers         My Utmost for His Highest

Thursday, December 15, 2011

If We are Devoted To - Oswald Chambers

If we are devoted to the cause of humanity, we shall soon be crushed and broken-hearted, for we shall often meet with more ingratitude from men than we would from a dog; but if our motive is love to God, no ingratitude can hinder us from serving our fellow men.


…When we realize that Jesus Christ has served us to the end of our meanness, our selfishness, and sin, nothing that we meet with from others can exhaust our determination to serve men for His sake.


Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest Oswald Chambers 1874-1917

 

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Without the help of the Holy Spirit - John Owen

We are commanded to attend to particular duties through 'the Holy Spirit who dwells in us' (2 Tim 1:14). For without the help of the Holy Spirit, we can do nothing.
 
Taken from the book The Holy Spirit by John Owen 1674 
Abridged by R.J.K. Law
 

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The Glass of the Gospel - Richard Sibbes

The glass of the gospel is excellent and eminent above all other glasses. It is a mirror that changes us. When we see ourselves and our corruptions in the glass of the law, we see ourselves dead. The law finds us dead and leaves us dead; it cannot give us any life.

But when we look into the gospel and see the glory of God, the mercy of God, and the gracious promises of the gospel, we are changed into the likeness of Christ, whom we see in the gospel. This excellent glass has a transforming power to make beautiful. Such a glass would be much prized in this proud world; such a glass is the gospel.

Taken from the book Glorious Freedom by Richard Sibbes 1639

Monday, December 12, 2011

Pray as Martin Luther used to Pray

Pray as Martin Luther used to pray "Lord, teach me, teach me,teach me,'
 
Martin Luther 1483-1546
Quoted in the book Listen up! A Practical Guide to Listening to Sermons by Christopher Ash 2009
 
 
 

Friday, December 9, 2011

The True Labor Lies In - Charles Spurgeon

In commencing any Christian work, novelty greatly assists enthusiasm, and it is very natural that under first impulses the beginner should achieve an easy success. The difficulty of the Christian is very seldom the commencement of the work; the true labor lies in the perseverance which alone can win the victory.

 

Taken from the book Council for Christian Workers

by Charles Spurgeon  1834-1892

Thursday, December 8, 2011

So Many of Us Limit Our Praying - Oswald Chambers

So many of us limit our praying because we are not reckless in our confidence in God.
 
Oswald Chambers 1874- 1917

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

All God’s Giants Have Been - Hudson Taylor

All God's giants have been weak men, who did great things for God because they believed that God would be with them.

Hudson Taylor 1832 –1905

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Faith Is - St Augustine

Faith is to believe what we do not see;

and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe.

 

St Augustine 354 – 430

Monday, December 5, 2011

Beware of no Man More Than - Charles Spurgeon

Beware of no man more than of yourself, for we often carry our worst enemies within us.

Taken from the book The Complete John Ploughman
by Charles Spurgeon 1834-1892
 

Friday, December 2, 2011

God is True To - Oswald Chambers

God is true to the laws of His own nature,
not to my way of expounding how He works.
 
Taken from the book The Quotable Oswald Chambers 
Oswald Chambers 1874-1917

Thursday, December 1, 2011

few of us are willing to - Dwight L. Moody

There are many of us that are willing to do great things for the Lord,
but few of us are willing to do little things.

Dwight L. Moody 1837-1899

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

All Proclaim in Glowing Language

What do not they lose, who are strangers to serious meditation on the wonders and beauties of created nature! How gloriously the God of creation shines in his works! Not a tree, or leaf, or flower; not a bird, or insect, but proclaims in glowing language, "God made me."
 

Taken from the tract The Diary Man's Daughter by Rev Legh Richmond found in the book The Publications of the American Tract Society  Tracts are from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Confession Must be Voluntary - Thomas Watson

Confession must be voluntary. It must come as water out of a spring, freely.
 
The confession of the wicked is extorted, like the confession of a man upon a rack. When a spark of God's wrath flies into their conscience, or they are in fear of death, then they will fall to their confessions. Balaam, when he saw the angels' naked sword, could say, 'I have sinned' (Numbers 22:34).
 
But true confession drops from the lips as myrrh from the tree or honey from the comb, freely. 'I have sinned against heaven, and before thee' (Luke 15:18): the prodigal charged himself with sin before his father changed him with it.
 

Taken from the book The Doctrine of Repentance by Thomas Watson 1668

 
 

Monday, November 28, 2011

It Sets us Above the Reach of Injuries - Jonathan Edwards

Love to God disposes us meekly to bear injuries from others, because it sets us very much above the injuries of men. …It sets above the reach of injuries from others, because nothing can ever really hurt those that are the true friends of God. Their life is hid with Christ in God; and he, as their protector and friend, will carry them on high as on the wings of eagles ; and all things shall work together for their good (Rom. viii. 28); and none shall be permitted really to harm them, while they are followers of that which is good (1 Pet. iii. 13).

 

Taken from the book Charity and its Fruits by Jonathan Edwards 1668–1759

 

Friday, November 25, 2011

My Chief Desire - JC Ryle

My chief desire in all my writings, is to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ and make Him beautiful and glorious in the eyes of men; and to promote the increase of repentance, faith, and holiness upon earth.
 
JC Ryle 1816-1900

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Sound Forth the Praises of the Most High - Charles Spurgeon

Psalm 145 is called "David's Psalm of praise," and you will see that all through it he is inflamed by a strong desire that God may be greatly magnified. Hence he uses a variety of expressions, and repeats himself in his holy vehemence. Run your eye down the psalm and notice such words as these: "I will extol thee"; "I will bless thy name"; "Every day will I bless thee"; "I will praise thy name forever and ever"; "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised"; "One generation shall praise thy works, to another"; "I will speak of the glorious' honor of thy majesty; "Men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts," and other words of like import, down to the last verse': "My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord: and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever."

 

David is not content with declaring that Jehovah is worthy of praise, or with pleading that his praise ought to be felt in the heart, but he will have it publicly spoken of, openly declared, plainly uttered, and joyfully proclaimed in song. The inspired Psalmist, moved by the Holy Ghost, calls upon all flesh, yea, and upon all the works of God to sound forth the praises of the Most High. Will we not heartily respond to the call?

 

Taken from the Book Spurgeon on Praise Charles Spurgeon 1834-1892

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Most of All - DL Moody

A man ought to live so that everybody knows he is a Christian... and most of all, his family ought to know.

Dwight L. Moody 1837-1899

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Jesus had Only Three Years - James Stalker

Jesus had only three years to accomplish His life-work. If we remember how quickly three years in an ordinary life pass away, and how little at their close there usually is to show for them, we shall see what must have been the size and quality of life, which in so marvelously short a time made such a deep and ineffaceable impression on the world and left to mankind such a heritage of truth and influence.

Taken From the book The Life of Jesus Christ by James Stalker 1880

Monday, November 21, 2011

I Pray for Christ Being Formed in Me - Thomas Chalmers

My God, in the confidence of Thy power would I pray for Christ being formed in me - that He may dispossess the legion of evil thoughts and imaginations within me. Pluck this thorn out of my flesh; or, if Thou wilt not eradicate, may Thy grace enable me to check those vile affections which war against my soul.

Taken from the book Sabbath Scripture Readings II
By Thomas Chalmers 1780-1847

Friday, November 18, 2011

Come, Thou Fount of Ev’ry Blessing - Robert Robinson

During his early teen years, Robert Robinson lived in London, where he mixed with a notorious gang of hoodlums and led a life of debauchery. At the age of 17 he attended a meeting where the noted evangelist George Whitefield was preaching. Robinson went for the purpose of "scoffing at those poor, deluded Methodists" and ended up professing faith in Christ as his Savior.

 

Soon he felt called to preach the gospel and subsequently became the pastor of a rather large Baptist church in Cambridge, England. Despite his young age, Robinson became known as an able minister and scholar, writing various theological books as well as several hymns, including these words written when he was just 23 years of age:


Come, Thou Fount of ev'ry blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace; streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet sung by flaming tongues above; praise the mount—I'm fixed upon it—mount of Thy redeeming love.


Here I raise mine Ebenezer—hither by Thy help I'm come; and I hope by Thy good pleasure safely to arrive at home. Jesus sought me when a stranger wand'ring from the fold of God; He to rescue me from danger interposed His precious blood.


O to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be! Let Thy goodness like a fetter bind my wand'ring heart to Thee: Prone to wander—Lord, I feel it—prone to leave the God I love; here's my heart—O take and seal it; Seal it for Thy courts above.

 

Robert Robinson, 1735–1790


Taken from Kenneth W. Osbeck, Amazing Grace : 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications, 1990), 343.

 

Thursday, November 17, 2011

God Must Perform the Work - Charles Spurgeon

God must perform the work, or else it never will be performed. Along the road from sin to heaven, from the first leaving of the swine-trough right up to the joyful entrance into the banquet, and the music and dancing of glorified spirits, every step we must be enabled to take by divine grace. Every good thing that is in a Christian, not merely begins, but progresses and is consummated by the fostering grace of God, through Jesus Christ.

 

If my finger were on the golden latch of paradise, and my foot were on its jasper threshold, I should not take the last step so as to enter heaven unless the grace which brought me so far should enable me full and fairly to complete my pilgrimage. Salvation is God's work, not man's.

 

Charles Spurgeon 1834-1892

 

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Most Important Time of my Day - Andrew Murray

The most important and profitable time of my whole day is the time I spend with God.

Taken from the book 199 Treasures of Wisdom on Talking with God: Compiled from the Writings of Andrew Murray -Andrew Murray 1828-1917

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Even Then he Prayed - William Bridge

Oh, you reply, but there lies my grief, for I have not kept His commandments, and God, I fear, is displeased and angry with me.

 

Be it so, and did Jonah keep His commandments, when he fled to Tarshish? And was not God angry with him when He threw him into the sea? Yet even then he prayed, and the Lord heard his prayer.

 

Taken from the book A Lifting Up For The Downcast by William Bridge 1649

 

Monday, November 14, 2011

Though the Sickness be Continued - Matthew Henry

 They presented the sick man to Christ, and he said, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee (Luke 5:20), that is the blessing thou art most to prize and seek; for if thy sins be forgiven thee, though the sickness be continued, it is in mercy; if they be not, though the sickness be removed, it is in wrath.

 

Taken from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible by Matthew Henry 1662-1714

 

Friday, November 11, 2011

Our Lord's First Obedience - Oswald Chambers

Our Lord's first obedience was to the will of His Father, not to the needs of men: his obedience brought the outcome of the saving of men. If I am devoted to the cause of humanity only, I will soon be exhausted and come to the place where my love will falter; but if I love Jesus Christ personally and passionately, I can serve humanity though men treat me as a doormat.

 

Oswald Chambers 1874-1917

 

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Here, O Lord You Have Placed Us - T.C. Upton

It is a fatal mistake to suppose that we cannot be holy except on the condition of a situation and circumstances in life such as shall suit us. It is one of the first principles of holiness to leave our times and our place, our going out and our coming in, our wasted and our goodly heritage entirely with the Lord.

Here, O Lord you have placed us, and we will glorify you here.

 

T.C. Upton 1799-1872

 

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

There Was a Day When I Died - George Mueller

There was a day when I died, utterly died- died to George Mueller, his opinions, preferences, tastes, and will! - died to the world, its approval or censure - died to the approval or blame even of my brethren or friend, - and since then I have studied only to show myself approved unto God.

 

George Mueller 1805-1898

 

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Monday, November 7, 2011

Without Great Assaults and Trails it Cannot be Understood - Martin Luther

Martin Luther's wife, Kate, said, "I would never have known the meaning of various Psalms, come to appreciate certain difficulties or known the inner workings of the soul; I would never have understood the practice of the Christian life and work, if God had never brought afflictions to my life."
 
Martin Luther went one step further, saying, "Oh! His grace and goodness toward us is so immeasurably great, that without great assaults and trails it cannot be understood."
 
Martin Luther 1483-1546
Katherina Luther 1499-1552

Friday, October 28, 2011

Ephesians Contains Six Chapters and not Four - JC Ryle

I would say it with all reverence, but say it I must - I sometimes fear if Christ were on earth now, there are not a few who would think His preaching legal; and if Paul were writing his Epistles, there are those who would think he had better not write the latter part of most of them as he did.

 

But let us remember that the Lord Jesus did speak the Sermon on the Mount, and that the Epistle to the Ephesians, contains six chapters and not four. I grieve to feel obliged to speak in this way, but I am sure there is a cause.

 

Taken from the book Holiness by JC Ryle 1879

 

Thursday, October 27, 2011

And So Turn - Charles Spurgeon

Have your heart right with Christ, and He will visit you often, and so turn weekdays into Sundays, meals into sacraments, homes into temples and earth into heaven.

 

Charles Spurgeon 1834-1892

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

The Fruits of Faith

Good works are the fruits of faith; and if faith be true, it always works by love.

 

 

Taken from the tract The One Thing Needful, from the book The Publications of the American Tract Society

Tracts are from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries

 

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Sunshine to my Heart - Frederick Faber

How you can think so well of us,

And be the God you are,

Is darkness to my intellect,

But sunshine to my heart.

Frederick Faber 1874

 

Monday, October 24, 2011

It is no Place to Trifle - Ichabod Spencer

 Familiar expressions about the Deity are always utterly inappropriate and untasteful. Awe becomes us - solemn reverence before Him …Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, the ground whereon thou standest is holy ground (Ex 3:5). It is no place to trifle, by the burning bush!
 

Taken from the book Doctrinal Sermons by Ichabod Spencer 1798-1854

 

Friday, October 21, 2011

The Only Safe Directions for Inquiring Sinners - Ichabod Spencer

The directions of God's word are the only safe directions for inquiring sinners. The more accurately we see their hearts the more appropriately we may bring Scripture truths to bear upon them. In this perception of their state and this application of divine truth consists the skill of anyone who would guide them to Christ.

Taken from the book A Pastor's Sketches by Ichabod Spencer 1798-1854

 

Thursday, October 20, 2011

The Lord Cannot Forget You - Robert Murray McCheyne

"Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:20

The Lord cannot forget you. If you stood before God in your own righteousness, then I see how you might be separated from His love and care. But you stand before Him in Christ, and Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. You will be held in everlasting remembrance. The world may forget you, your friends may forget you; this is a forgetting world. You may not have a tombstone over your grave, but God will not forget you.

Taken from the book The Best of Robert Murray McCheyne

Robert Murray McCheyne 1813-1843

 

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Man Must Pray - EM Bounds

Man must pray to God if love for God is to exist. Faith, hope, patience, and all the strong, vital forces of piety are withered and dead in a prayerless life. The blessings to the individual believer have their being, bloom, and fruitfulness in prayer.

 

Taken from the book The Best of EM Bounds EM Bounds 1835-1913

 

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

When we Love Christ - St. Augustine

Now this is the law of Christ, that we carry one another's burdens mutually. When we love Christ, it is easy to put up with the weakness of others, even when we do not yet love them for their good qualities.

 

Taken from the writings of St. Augustine 354 - 430 from the book Augustine Day by Day

If the Very Cat and Dog in the House - Hudson Taylor

A candle that won't shine in one room is very unlikely to shine in another. If you do not shine at home, if your father and mother, your sister and brother, if the very cat and dog in the house are not the better and happier for your being a Christian, it is a question whether you really are one.

 

Hudson Taylor 1832-1905

One Act of Obedience - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

One act of obedience is better than one hundred sermons.

 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1906-1945

The Word Preached - Thomas Watson

A godly man loves the Word preached, which is a commentary upon the word written. The Scriptures are the sovereign oils and balsams; the preaching of the word is the pouring of them out. The Scriptures are the precious spices; the preaching of the Word is the beating of these spices, which causes a wonderful fragrance and delight. The Word preached is 'the rod of God's strength' (Psalm 110:2) and 'the breath of his lips' (Isaiah 11:4).

 

Taken from the book The Godly Man's Picture by Thomas Watson 1666

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

The Way to get Sinners to Christ - Charles Spurgeon

True lovers of men's souls learn the art of dealing with them, and the Holy Spirit makes them expert soul-surgeons for Jesus. It is not because a man has more abilities, nor altogether because he has more grace, but the Lord makes him to love the souls of men intensely, and this imparts a secret skill, since, for the most part, the way to get sinners to Christ is to love them to Christ.

Taken from the book The Soul Winner By Charles Spurgeon 1834-1892

Faith Does Not Fear Famine - Thomas Watson

Faith does not question that God will provide, though it sees not which way provisions should come in. ('Fides famem non formidat') Faith does not fear famine.

 

Taken from the book The Lords Supper by Thomas Watson 1665

The First Sign of Life - JC Ryle

All the children of God on earth are alike in this respect. From the moment there is any life and reality about their religion, they pray. Just as the first sign of life in an infant when born into the world is the act of breathing, so the first act of men and women when they are born again is praying.

Taken from the book A Call to Prayer by JC Ryle 1816-1900

A King Seeks - Andrew Murray

A king seeks in the whole education of his son to develop in him a kingly spirit. Our Father in heaven desires to educate us as His children for the holy, heavenly life in which He dwells. For this he gives us, from the depths of His heart, His own Spirit. This was Jesus' whole aim when, after having made atonement with His own blood, He entered into God's presence to obtain for us, and send down to dwell in us, the Holy Spirit.

 

Taken from the book Teach Me To Pray by Andrew Murray 1828-1917

 

 

When God Hath Called me to a Place - John Cotton

When God hath called me to a place, he hath given me some gifts for that place.

John Cotton 1585-1652

 

We Spread our Nets - Cotton Mather

In our occupation we spread our nets;

but it is God who brings unto our nets all that comes into them.

 

Cotton Mather 1585–1652

 

 

If You Act Contrary to Those Rules - Benjamin Wadsworth

Be sure to set a good example before your children... Other methods of instruction probably will not do much good, if you don't teach them by a godly example. Don't think your children will mind the good rules you give them if you act contrary to those rules yourselves... If your counsels are good, and your examples evil, your children will be more like to be hurt by the latter, than benefited by the former.

 

Benjamin Wadsworth 1670-1737

 

The Best Knowledge - Thomas Manton

That is best which endeth in practice.

The hearer's life is the preacher's best commendation.

 

Thomas Manton 1620-1677

 

 

The Objects from Which we Turn - Joseph Alleine

The objects from which we turn in conversion are, sin, Satan, the world, and our own righteousness.

 

Taken from the book A Sure Guide to Heaven by Joseph Alleine 1671

Nobody ever outgrows scripture - Charles Spurgeon

Nobody ever outgrows scripture. The Book widens and deepens with our years.

 

Charles Spurgeon     1834-1892  

The Great Thing About Faith in God

The great thing about faith in God is that it keeps a man undisturbed in the midst of disturbance.

Taken from the book The Quotable Oswald Chambers
Oswald Chambers 1874-1917

The Christian is the Man Who - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The Christian is the man who no longer seeks his salvation, his deliverance, his justification in himself, but in Jesus Christ alone. He knows that God's Word in Jesus Christ pronounces him guilty, even when he does not feel his guilt, and God's Word in Jesus Christ pronounces him not guilty and righteous, even when he does not feel that he is righteous at all. The Christian no longer lives of himself, by his own claims and his own justification, but by God's claims and God's justification.

 

Taken from the book Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1939

His Humanity had no Need to Die - Charles Spurgeon

Our Lord Jesus, the Ever Living, the Immortal, the Eternal, became  man, "and being found in the fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and [died] …the death of the cross"(Phil 2:8)

That death was not on His own account. His humanity had no need to die. He might have lived on and have seen no death, if He had so willed. He had committed no offense, no sin, and, therefore, no punishment could fall upon Him.

Every pang upon the cross was substitutionary; for you, the sons of men, the Prince of Glory bled, "the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18).

Taken from the book God Loves You by Charles Spurgeon 1834-1892

Fear May Suppress Sin - Samuel Bolton

Fear may suppress sin, though faith alone conquers and overcomes sin.

 

Taken from the book The True Bounds of Christian Freedom 

by Samuel Bolton 1645

Knowing him as Father - Ralph Venning

Knowing him as Father brings us more love and joy than knowing him as our God.

(2 Corinthians 6:16-18, Hebrews 1:5)

 

Taken from the book Learning in Christ's School by Ralph Venning 1675

We Heard Only Because - Oswald Chambers

When we pray relying on the Holy Spirit, He will always bring us back to this one point: we are not heard because we are in earnest, or because we need to be heard, or because we will perish if not heard; we are heard only on the ground of the Atonement of the Lord. (Hebrews 10:19)

 

Taken from the book If You Will Ask by Oswald Chambers 1874-1917

The Very Soul of True Faith - Jonathan Edwards

The working, active, and acting nature of anything, is the life of it; and that which makes us call a thing alive, is, that we observe an active nature in it.

 

This active, working nature in man is the spirit which he has within him. And as his body without this spirit is, dead, so faith without works is dead also.

 

And if we would know what the working active thing in true faith is, the apostle tells us in Gal. v. 6, "Faith worketh by love." So that it is love which is the active working spirit in all true faith. This is its very soul, without which it is dead.

 

Taken from the book Charity and its Fruits by Jonathan Edwards 1668–1759

Embrace every Method God has Recommended - American Tract Society

Embrace every method God has recommended for maintaining communion with him, and obtaining relief from him: the various ordinances of his house, the encouragements of his word, the society of his children, and especially prayer. Often speak to Him who "seeth in secret," "and is nigh unto all that call upon him," though, with the woman of Canaan, you can only say, "Lord, help me."

 

Taken from the tract House of Mourning from the book The Publications of the American Tract Society,

Tracts are from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries

The Worst of all Pride - Ichabod Spencer

Spiritual pride is the worst of all pride, if it is not the worst snare of the devil.

The heart is peculiarly deceitful just on this thing, pride.

 

 

Taken from the book A Pastor's Sketches by Ichabod Spencer 1798-1854

 

The Strength of the Conflict lies Between

Whatever our trials are, the strength of the conflict lies between faith and unbelief.

 

Quoted in the Book

Light at Evening Time - A Book of Support and Comfort for the Aged

Your Choice of Friends - JC Ryle

Never make an intimate friend of anyone who is not a friend of God. Understand me, I do not speak of acquaintances. I do not mean that you ought to have nothing to do with anyone but true Christians. To take such a line is neither possible nor desirable in this world. Christianity requires no man to be discourteous.

But I do advise you to be very careful in your choice of friends. Do not open all your heart to a man merely because he is clever, agreeable, good-natured, and kind. These things are all very well in their way, but they are not everything. Never be satisfied with the friendship of anyone who will not be useful to your soul.

Believe me, the importance of this advice cannot be overrated. There is no telling the harm that is done by associating with godless companions and friends. The devil has few better helps in ruining a man's soul…. You may resist many open temptations, refuse many plain snares; but once you take up a bad companion, he is content. That awful chapter, which describes Amnon's wicked conduct about Tamar, almost begins with these words, "Now Amnon had a friend, a very shrewd man" (2 Samuel 13:3). JC Ryle

Taken from the book Thoughts for Young Men by JC Ryle 1886

 

                            

The Furnace, the Hammer, and the File - C. H. Spurgeon

Rev Dr D. A. Doudney,                                                  Menton, Dec. 5, 1890

Venerated Friend,

It made my heart leap for joy when I read in your note that you had liberty in prayer for me. I am recovering. I can hold the pen, as you see. My hand was puffed up, and, in consequence, like all puffed up things, useless; but it is coming to its true form, and I am rallying from the weakness which follows great pain.

 

 

Of a surety, it is well. I praise God with all my heart for the furnace, the hammer, and the file. May he bless to you the infirmities of years, and carry you ever in his bosom!

 

Your Loving, grateful friend,

 

C. H. Spurgeon

 

Taken from the book Letters of Charles Haddon Spurgeon Charles Spurgeon 1834-1892

 

The paths of Wisdom - Matthew Henry

The paths of wisdom are not like walks in the garden, which we make use of for diversion only, and an amusement; but like tracks in a great road, which we press forward in with care and pains, as a traveler in his journey, till we come to journey's end.

 

 

Taken from the book The Pleasantness of a Religious Life by Matthew Henry 1714

 

It is a Shameful Thing - Brother Lawrence

We should establish ourselves in a sense of God's presence by continually conversing with Him. (It is) a shameful thing to quit His conversation to think of trifles and fooleries.

 

 

Taken from the book The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence 1614-1691

 

The Beginning of Warfare - John Owen

To labour to be acquainted with the ways, wiles, methods, advantages and occasions of (sins) success, is the beginning of warfare. So do men deal with enemies. They inquire out their counsels and designs, ponder their ends, consider how and by what means they have formerly prevailed, that they may get the start of them.

 

Taken from the book The Mortification of Sin by John Owen 1656

 

 

When Religion is in a State of Quiet and Prosperity - William Wilberforce

Christianity especially has always thrived under persecution. For at such times it has no lukewarm professors. The Christian is then reminded that his Master's kingdom is not of this world. When all on earth looks black, he looks up to heaven for consolation. Then he sees himself as a pilgrim and a stranger. For it is then as in the hour of death that he will examine well his foundations and cleave to the fundamentals.

 

But when religion is in a state of quiet and prosperity, the opposite effect tends to take place. The soldiers of the church militant will then tend to forget they are at war. Their ardor slackens and their zeal languishes. John Owen has made an apt comparison: Religion in a state of prosperity is like a colony that is long settled in a strange country. It is gradually assimilated in feature, demeanor, and language to the native inhabitants, until at length every vestige of its distinctiveness has died away

 

Taken from the book Real Christianity by William Wilberforce 1797

 

 

Where is God - John Arrowsmith

A heathen philosopher once asked: "Where is God?"

The Christian answered: "Let me first ask you, where is He not?"

 

John Arrowsmith 1602-1659

A Carnal Heart, A gracious Heart - Jeremiah Burroughs

A carnal heart thinks, I must have my wants made up or else it is impossible that I should be content. But a gracious heart says, 'What is the duty of the circumstances God has put me into?"

 

 

Taken from the book The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
By Jeremiah Burroughs 1648