Monday, December 31, 2012

Words Said Without Heart - JC Ryle

Words said without heart are as utterly useless to our souls as the drumbeating of the poor heathen before their idols. Where there is no heart, there may be lip-work and tongue-work, but there is nothing that God listens to; there is no prayer. Saul, I have no doubt, said many a long prayer before the Lord met him on the way to Damascus. But it was not till his heart was broken that the Lord said, "He prayeth."

 

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

Page 8

Friday, December 28, 2012

Weak Christians Are Like Glasses - Richard Sibbes

Weak Christians are like glasses which are hurt with the least violent usage, but if gently handled will continue a long time. This honor of gentle use we are to give to the weaker vessels (1 Pet 3:7), by which we shall both preserve them and likewise make them useful to the church and ourselves.

 

Taken from the book The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes 1630

Page 24

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Faith Is Taking God at His Word - DL Moody

Faith is taking God at His word. Those who want some sign are always getting into trouble. We want to come to this: God says it – let us believe it.

 

Taken from the book The Way to God by DL Moody 1837-1899

Page 59

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Faith Justifies and Gives Peace - William Bridge

As faith justifies and gives peace at the first, so the renewing of this act of faith renews our peace. And what is my justifying faith, but in time of temptation to rest myself and condition upon Christ alone.

Taken from the book A Lifting Up For The Downcast by William Bridge 1649
Page 42

Friday, December 21, 2012

The Way to Be Saved - Charles Spurgeon

The way to be saved is simply to trust in what the Son of man did when He became man, and suffered punishment for all those who trust Him. For all His people, Christ was a Substitute. His people are those who trust Him. If you trust Him, he was punished for your sins; and you cannot be punished for them, for God cannot punish sin twice, first in Christ, and then in you. If you trust Jesus, who now liveth at the right hand of God, you are this moment pardoned, and you shall forever be saved.

 

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

Page 195

Thursday, December 20, 2012

He Is Now Helping Us - John Owen

It is our duty to grow and thrive in holiness. Now what God requires of us, we are to believe he will help us to achieve. But we must not only believe that he will help us, but we must also believe that he is now helping us, we must not rely on our feelings of whether we are aware of being holy or not.

 

Taken from the book The Holy Spirit by John Owen 1674 Abridged by R.J.K. Law

Page 110

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

The World Appears Very Little To - Brother Lawrence

The world appears very little to a soul that contemplates the greatness of God.

 

Brother Lawrence 1614-1691

Taken from the book 1001Unforgetable Quotes about God, Faith and the Bible

Page 100

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Cause it to Shine Forever - Oswald Chambers

Here is the day, O Lord, Thy day, cause it to shine forever in our individual lives like a jewel.
 
Taken from the book The Quotable Oswald Chambers Oswald Chambers 1874-1917

Monday, December 17, 2012

What Makes Heaven to Be Heaven - Thomas Watson

This is that which makes heaven to be heaven, "We shall be ever with the Lord." (1 Thes 4:17)

 

Taken from the book Extracts from the Writings of Thomas Watson

Thomas Watson 1620-1686

Page 81

Friday, December 14, 2012

Parents, comfort your minds with these examples - JC Ryle

Samuel, in the days of his childhood, appears to have ministered unto the Lord some time before he really knew Him. "Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him" (1 Sam. 3:7). The Apostles themselves do not seem to have understood all that our Lord said at the time that it was spoken: "These things understood not His disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of Him" (John 12:16).

 

Parents, comfort your minds with these examples. Be not cast down because your children see not the full value of the means of grace now. Only train them up to a habit of regular attendance. Set it before their minds as a high, holy, and solemn duty, and believe me, the day will very likely come when they will bless you for your deed.

 

 

Taken from the book The Duties of Parents by JC Ryle 1816-1900

Thursday, December 13, 2012

The Essential Nature of Deity - Oswald Chambers

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 Chambers, 1874-1917

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Let Us Raise Our Thoughts Toward - Henry Scougal

Let us often withdraw our thoughts from this earth, this scene of misery, and folly, and sin, and raise them toward that more vast and glorious world, whose innocent and blessed inhabitants solace themselves eternally in the divine presence, and know no other passion but an unmixed joy, and an unbound love.

 

Taken from the book The Life of God in the Soul of Man

by Henry Scougal 1650-1678

Page 120

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

The Gift We Ought To Seek First - Andrew Murray

In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord uttered His wonderful "how much more?" (Matthew 7:9-11). Here in Luke, where He repeats the question, there is a difference. Instead of speaking of giving good gifts, he says, "How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit." He thus teaches us that the best of these gifts is the Holy Spirit, that in this gift all others are comprised. The Holy Spirit is the first of the Father's gifts and the one he delights most to bestow. The Holy Spirit is therefore the gift we ought to seek first.

 

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

Page 49

Monday, December 10, 2012

Sickness Helps to Make Us Think Seriously Of God - JC Ryle

Sickness helps to make us think seriously of God, and our souls, and the world to come. Most people in their days of health can find no time for such thoughts. They dislike them. They put them away. They count them troublesome and disagreeable.

 

Now a severe disease has a wonderful power of mustering and rallying these thoughts, and bringing them up before the eyes of a man's soul. Even a wicked king like Benhadad, when sick, could think of Elisha (2 Kings 8:8.) Even unbelieving sailors, when death was in sight, were afraid, and "cried every man to his god." (Jonah 1:5.) Surely anything that helps to make people think is good.

 

Taken from the book Sickness by JC Ryle 1816-1900

Page 10

 

Friday, December 7, 2012

Meditate Before You Pray

Meditate before you pray. Meditate on the promises and presence of God. Ask his gracious help, and the teaching of his Spirit.
 

Taken from the book A Pastor's Counsel: Wise Words for Weary, Wounded, and Wandering Sheep

Page 83

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Sorrow Is Good For Nothing but Sin - Thomas Watson

Sorrow is good for nothing but sin. If you shed tears for outward losses, it will not advantage you. Water for the garden, if poured in the sink, does no good. Powder for the eye, if applied to the arm, is of no benefit. Sorrow is medicinal for the soul, but if you apply it to worldly things it does no good. Oh that our tears may run in the right channel and our hearts burst with sorrow for sin!

 

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

Page 63

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

They Will Not Profit Unless - Matthew Henry

We may entertain ourselves and our hearers long enough with discourses of the pleasantness of wisdom's ways, but they will not profit, unless they be mixed with faith. O that we would all mix faith with this truth! That we would yield to the evidence of it!

 

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

Page 50

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

The More I Suffer the More I – Charles Spurgeon

The more I suffer the more I cling to the gospel. It is true, and the fires only burn it into clearer certainty to my soul. I have lived on the gospel, and I can die on it. Never question it.

 

Taken from the book Letters of Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon 1834-1892

Page 136

Monday, December 3, 2012

Stars reflected in Puddles - Thomas Brooks

Although you see the stars sometimes by their reflections in a puddle, or in the bottom of a well, yes, in a stinking ditch; yet the stars have their situation in heaven. So, though you see a godly man in a poor, miserable, low, despised condition for the things of this world, yet he is fixed in heaven, in the region of heaven: "Who has raised us up," says the apostle, "and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (Eph 2:6).

 

Taken from the book Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices

by Thomas Brooks 1652

Page 130

Friday, November 30, 2012

A Prepared State Of Mind - John Calvin

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. (1 Peter 4:12-13 ESV)

 

That we may be in a prepared state of mind when the waves of persecution roll over us, we ought in due time to habituate ourselves to such an event by meditating continually on the cross.

 

Taken from the book Calvin's Commentaries by John Calvin 1509-1564

Volum XXII Page 134

Thursday, November 29, 2012

May You Have No Rest Until - George Whitefield

May you have no rest in your souls till you rest in Jesus Christ!

 

Taken from the book Select Sermons of George Whitefield

by George Whitefield 1714-1770

Page 95

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

How We Should Love - Martin Bucer

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, (Ephesians 5:25 ESV)

 

Christ is put forward as the example of how we should love, and that is the most effective argument. How great was Christ's love? What kind of love was his? Christ voluntarily gave himself up to death because of his great love for us – the greatest love anyone could have, in fact. The apostle asks us to imitate him.

 

Martin Bucer 1491-1551

Taken from the book Reformation Commentary on the Bible New Testament

Vol X Galatians, Ephesians

Page 385

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

I resolve to carry the mark - Andrew Murray

I resolve to carry the mark of the children of God, the great distinction of the Christian - a life of prayer.
 
Taken from the book 199 Treasures of Wisdom on Talking with God from the writings of Andrew Murray 1828-1917

Monday, November 26, 2012

The More Faith - J.C. Ryle

 The more faith the more victory! The more faith the more inward peace!
 
Taken from the book, Holiness by J.C. Ryle

Friday, November 23, 2012

Let Them - Martin Luther

Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave.
 
Martin Luther, 1483-1546

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Breathe On Me Till I Am - Oswald Chambers

O Lord, breathe on me till I am one with Thee in the temper of my mind and heart and disposition, unto Thee do I turn. How completely again I realize my lost-ness without Thee.

 

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

Page 47

 

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

The Beauty of a Christian - Thomas Watson

Wherein does the beauty of the diamond lie, but in this, that it is a true diamond? If it is a counterfeit, it is worth nothing. So wherein does the beauty of a Christian lie, but in this, that he has the truth in the inward parts (Psalms 51:6)?

 

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

Page 101

Monday, November 19, 2012

Commit Thy Works unto the LORD - John Flavel

'Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established' (Proverbs 16:3). By works he means not only every enterprise and business we undertake, but every puzzling, intricate and doubtful event we fear. These being once committed by an act of faith, and our wills resigned to His, besides the comfort we shall have in the issue, we shall have the present advantage of a well-composed and peaceful spirit.

 

Taken from the book The Mystery of Providence by John Flavel 1678

Page 215

Friday, November 16, 2012

Love of the World Day Two - Andrew Fuller

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15 ESV)

 

The decision of heaven is nothing less than this, if any man love the world, the love of the father is not in him. So far is the love of the world from being the less dangerous on account of its falling so little under human censure, that it is the more so.

Taken from the book The Backslider: His Nature, Symptoms, and Recovery by Andrew Fuller 1754-1815

Page 28

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Love of the World Day One - Andrew Fuller

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15 ESV)

 

It has long appeared to me that this species of covetousness will, in all probability, prove the eternal overthrow of more characters among professing people, than almost any other sin; and this because it is almost the only sin which may be indulged, and a profession of religion at the same time supported.

If a man be a drunkard, a fornicator, and adulterer, or a liar; if he rob his neighbor, oppress the poor, or deal unjustly, he must give up his pretenses to religion; or if not, his religious connections, if they are worthy of being so denominated, will give him up: but he may love the world, and the things of the world, and at the same time retain his character.

 

Taken from the book The Backslider: His Nature, Symptoms, and Recovery by Andrew Fuller 1754-1815

Page 28

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Not What I Have to Consider - Robert Candlish

It is not what my sin is in the sight of man that I have to consider; but what it is in thy sight, O thou Holy One! - who art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity.
 
Taken from the book The Prayer of a Broken Heart: Expository Discourses on Psalm 51 by Robert Candlish 1873
Page 10

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Let us - Thomas Brooks

Let us do our duties, and let the Lord do as pleaseth him.
 
Taken from the book Smooth Stones taken from Ancient Brooks: Selections from the Writings of Thomas Brooks by CH Spurgeon
Thomas Brooks 1608-1680
Page 130

Monday, November 12, 2012

God Will Bless Our - Thomas Watson

God will bless our diligence, not our laziness.
 
From the book The Beatitudes by Thomas Watson 1620-1686
 
 

Friday, November 9, 2012

We Are Too Free - Oswald Chambers

We are too free from wonder nowadays, too easy with the Word of God; we do not use it with the breathless amazement Paul does.  Think what sanctification means - Christ in me; made like Christ; as He is, so are we.
 
Taken from the book, The Quotable Oswald Chambers

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Most of Us - Oswald Chambers

Most of us take our salvation much too cheaply.
 
Taken from The Quotable Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

When a Man Loves His Enemies - Oswald Chambers

When a man does love his enemies, he knows that God has done a tremendous work in him, and everyone else knows it too.
 
Taken from the book - The Quotable Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

We Are Not Specimens in His Showroom - Oswald Chambers

We are saved and sanctified for God, not to be specimens in His showrooms, but for God to do with us even as he did with Jesus, make us broken bread and poured-out wine as he chooses. That is the test - not spiritual fireworks or hysterics, not fanaticism, but a blazingly holy life that "confronts the horror of the world with a fierce purity,: chaste physically, morally and spiritually, and this can only come about in the way it came about in the life of Our Lord.
 
Taken from the book - The Quotable Oswald Chambers

Monday, November 5, 2012

Our Modern Speech - Oswald Chambers

Our modern speech is a great aid to inner hypocrisy, and it becomes a snare because it is easy to talk piously and live iniquitously. 
 
Taken from the book, The Quotable Oswald Chambers

Friday, November 2, 2012

Humility is a Strange Flower - Samuel Rutherford

Humility is a strange flower; it grows best in winter weather, and under storms of affliction.
 
Samuel Rutherford 1600-1661
Quoted in the book A Puritan Golden Treasury
Page 149

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Judas Heard - Thomas Goodwin

Judas heard al Christ's sermons.
 
Thomas Goodwin 1600-1680
Quoted in the book A Puritan Golden Treasury
Page 200
 

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Let us Look At - Richard Sibbes

There can be no victory where there is no combat. The victory lieth not upon us but upon Christ, who hath taken upon him, as to conquer for us, so to conquer in us. Let us not look so much who are our enemies, as who is our Judge and Captain; not what they threaten, but what He promiseth.
 
Richard Sibbes
Quoted in the book A Puritan Golden Treasury
Page 294

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

We Live Upon - John Owen

For the most part we live upon successes, not promises: - unless we see and feel the print of victories, we will not believe.
 
John Owen 1616-1683
Quoted in the book A Puritan Golden Treasury

Monday, October 29, 2012

Praise Is - Thomas Watson

Praise is a soul in flower.
 
Thomas Watson 1620-1686
Taken from the book A Puritan Golden Treasury

Friday, October 26, 2012

God Will Not - Oswald Chambers

God will do everything I cannot do, but He will do nothing He has constructed me to do.

 

Taken from the book The Quotable Oswald Chambers 

Oswald Chambers 1874-1917

Page 231

Thursday, October 25, 2012

A Thorough Knowledge of the Bible Is the Foundation - J.C. Ryle

A thorough knowledge of the Bible is the foundation of all clear views of religion. He that is well-grounded in it will not generally be found a waverer, and carried about by every wind of new doctrine. Any system of training which does not make a knowledge of Scripture the first thing is unsafe and unsound.

 

Taken from the book The Duties of Parents by JC Ryle 1816-1900

Page 9

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

If You Want To Scatter Your Doubts - Moody

If you want to scatter your doubts, look at the blood; and if you want to increase your doubts look at yourself. You will get doubts enough for years by being occupied with yourself only a few days.

 

Taken from the book Day by Day with DL Moody DL Moody 1837-1899

Page 89

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Servants of God - C.H. Spurgeon

I very much disagree with those who decry ministers of slender gifts, sneering at them, as though they ought not to occupy the pulpit at all. Are we, after all, as servants of God, to be measured by mere oratorical ability? Is this after the fashion of Paul, when he renounced the wisdom of words lest the faith of the disciples should stand in the wisdom of men, and not in the power of God? If you could blot out from the Christian church all the minor stars, and leave nothing but those of the first magnitude, the darkness of this poor world would be increased seven fold.

 

Taken from the book Council for Christian Workers

by Charles Spurgeon 1834-1892

Page 59

Monday, October 22, 2012

It Is One Thing to Have Sin Alarmed, It Is Another To - Joseph Alleine

An apostate may be an enlightened man (Heb vi 4), and a Felix tremble under conviction (Acts xxiv 25), and a Herod do many things (Mk of 20). It is one thing to have sin alarmed only by convictions, and another to have it crucified by converting grace.

 

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

Page 22

Friday, October 19, 2012

A Great Faith Is Like - Thomas Watson

A great faith is like the anchor or cable of a ship that holds it steady in the midst of storms. A Christian who is steeled with this heroic faith is settled in the mysteries of religion. The Spirit of God has so firmly printed heavenly truths upon his heart that you may we well remove the sun out of the firmament as remove him from those holy principles he has absorbed. Behold here, a pillar in the temple of God (Rev. 3:12).

 

Taken from the book The Lords Supper by Thomas Watson 1665

Page 70

Thursday, October 18, 2012

They Will Not Cut Corn Until - Samuel Bolton

Men cut down weeds at any time, but their corn they will not cut down till the best time. 'You are God's husbandry' says the apostle; you are His wheat, and when you are ripe, when you have done your work, then, and not till then, shall you be gathered into your Master's garner.

 

Taken from the book The True Bounds of Christian Freedom

by Samuel Bolton 1645

Page 46

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Why Should It Be a Grievous Command - Hugh Binning

If I be convinced that there is any equity and beauty in that command which charges others to love me, forgive me, forbear with me, and restore me in meekness, why, then, should it be a grievous command that I should pay that debt of love and tenderness to others?

 

Taken from the book Christian Love by Hugh Binning 1627-1653

Page 38

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

We Must Have Great Notions of the Work of Grace - Richard Sibbes

You see, then, that the grace in the gospel is not mere persuasion and entreaty, but a powerful work of the Spirit entering into the soul and changing it, and altering the inclination of the will heavenward. We must have great notions of the work of grace. The Scripture has great words of it. It is an alternation, a change, a new man, a new creation, a new birth.

 

Taken from the book Glorious Freedom by Richard Sibbes 1639

Page 106

Monday, October 15, 2012

Be Frequent In Closet Prayer - Thomas Brooks

Be frequent in closet prayer, and not now and then only. He will never have a yearning for closet prayer who is not frequent in closet prayer.

 

Taken from the book The Secret Key To Heaven by Thomas Brooks 1665

Page 183

Friday, October 12, 2012

Our Daily Dependence - Charles Spurgeon

The glory that overflows to Christ from our daily dependence is seen in His becoming to us our daily bread. His flesh is meat indeed, his blood is drink indeed (John 6:55), and we must feed upon these continually or die. Eating is not an operation to be performed only once, but it is to be done, throughout life. Likewise, we have to go to Jesus again and again and find sustenance in him as long as life lasts.

 

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

Page 26

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Some Sins of Omission Are Like - George Swinnock

Some sins of omission are like great men, that never go without followers.

 

George Swinnock 1627 -1673

Taken from the book A Puritan Golden Treasury

Page 265

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

He Rejoices That He Can Grieve For Sin - William Bridge

True humiliation is no enemy but a real friend unto spiritual joy, to our rejoicing in God. The more a man is humbled for sin committed, the more he will rejoice in God, and rejoice that he can grieve for sin. He grieves, and rejoices that he can grieve for sin.

 

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

Page 82

Monday, October 8, 2012

God Has No Dumb Children - JC Ryle

The Lord Jesus when He quickens them, gives them a voice and a tongue, and says to them, "Be dumb no more." God has no dumb children. It is as much a part of their new nature to pray, as it is of a child to cry. They see their need of mercy and grace. They feel their emptiness and weakness. They cannot do otherwise than they do. They must pray.

 

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

Page 5

Friday, October 5, 2012

For What Should My Soul More Pray - Richard Baxter

O then, for what should my soul more pray, than for a clearer and stronger faith? 'I believe; Lord, help my unbelief!' I have many thousand times groaned to thee under this burden of remaining darkness and unbelief; I have many thousand times thought of the evidences of Christianity, and of the necessity of a lively, powerful, active faith. I have cried to thee night and day, 'Lord, increase my faith!'

 

Taken from the book Dying Thoughts by Richard Baxter 1683

Page 34

Thursday, October 4, 2012

If We Are Struggling In Prayer - Oswald Chambers

If we are struggling in prayer it is because the wiles of the enemy are getting the upper hand, and we must look for the cause in our lack of discipline. There are some things we have not been strenuously practicing. We used to pray in the morning, do we now? We used to commune with God over the Bible, do we now? We used to be in contact with God wherever we went, are we now? Put on the whole armor of God and continuously practice, then the wiles of the devil cannot get you unaware.

 

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

Page 30

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

We Would Never Be Afraid - John Bunyan

If this God be our God; or if our God be such a God, and could we but attain to that knowledge of the breath, and length, and depth, and height that is in him, as the apostle here prays, and desires we may, we should never be afraid of anything we shall meet with, or that shall assault us in this world.

 

Taken from the book All Loves Excelling by John Bunyan 1692

Page 39

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

To Sing With the Soul Is - Charles Spurgeon

To sing with the soul is to offer the only acceptable praise. We do not come together to amuse ourselves, to display our powers of melody, or our aptness in creating harmony. We come to pay our adoration at the footstool of the Great King, to whom alone be glory forever and ever. True praise is for God and for God alone.

 

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

Page 121

Monday, October 1, 2012

No Saint Shall Die Till - Ralph Venning

No saint shall die till he has attained the utmost of what he was designed to. As none of God's elect die before they are converted, so no converted ones die till they come to their maturity and ripen, like a shock of corn, for the harvest of God. God gathers only ripe fruits, though some are ripe sooner than others. And I may say, some are summer and other winter fruit.

 

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

Page 36

Friday, September 28, 2012

Christians Often Have Little Faith In Prayer - Austin Phelps

Christians often have little faith in prayer as a power in real life. They do not embrace cordially, in feeling as well as in theory, the truth which underlies the entire scriptural conception and illustration of prayer, that it is literally, actually, positively, effectually, a means of power.

 

Taken from the book The Still Hour: Communion with God in Prayer by Austen Phelps 1859

Thursday, September 27, 2012

We Must Earnestly Ask God - William Perkins

... and most important of all, we must earnestly ask God in prayer to open our blind eyes to the meaning of the Scriptures; 'Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law' (Psalm 119:18); 'I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire... and anoint your eyes with eye-salve, that you may see' (Rev. 3:18).

 

Taken from the book The Art of Prophesying by William Bridge 1592

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

The Law Is Meant To - Charles Spurgeon

The law is meant to lead the sinner to faith in Christ, by showing the impossibility of any other way. It is the black dog to fetch the sheep to the shepherd, the burning heat which drives the traveler to the shadow of the great rock in a weary land.

 

Taken from the book Christ's Glorious Achievements

by Charles Spurgeon 1834-1892

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Ask Not Deliverance from Your Pains - Brother Lawrence

God sometimes permits bodily diseases to cure the distempers of the soul. Have courage, then; make a virtue of necessity. Ask of God, not deliverance from your pains, but strength to bear resolutely, for the love of Him, all that He should please, and as long as He shall please.

 

Taken from the book The Practice of the Presence of God

by Brother Lawrence 1614-1691

Monday, September 24, 2012

I want to Devote My Life To - Andrew Murray

I want to devote my life to the prayer that can bring down God's blessing.

 

Taken from the book

199 Treasures of Wisdom on Talking with God: Compiled from the Writings of Andrew Murray

Andrew Murray 1828-1917

Number 102

Friday, September 21, 2012

Let us get to the Work - Charles Spurgeon

For God's sake, let us know how men are to be saved, and get to the work: to be forever deliberating as to the proper mode of making bread while a nation dies of famine is detestable trifling.

 

Taken from the book Lectures To My Students  by Charles Spurgeon 1834-1892

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Beware of a Vague and Indefinite Christianity - J.C. Ryle

Beware of a vague and indefinite Christianity.  Vague, and indefinite, and indistinct religion may do very well in time of health. It will never do in the day of sickness. A mere formal, casual church membership may carry a person through the sunshine of youth and prosperity. It will break down entirely when death is in sight.

 

 Nothing will do then but real heart-union with Christ. Christ interceding for us at God's right hand; Christ known and believed as our Priest, our Physician, our Friend. Christ alone can rob death of its sting and enable us to face sickness without fear. He alone can deliver those who through fear of death are in bondage. I say to everyone who wants advice; be acquainted with Christ. If ever you would have hope and comfort on the bed of sickness, be acquainted with Christ. Seek Christ. Apply to Christ.

 

Taken from the book Sickness by JC Ryle 1816-1900

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Only the Spirit Can Break This Box Open - Thomas Watson

The Spirit comforts by giving us some ravishing apprehensions of God's love: 'the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost' (Rom. 5:5). God's love is a box of precious ointment, and it is only the Spirit who can break this box open, and fill us with its sweet perfume.

 

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

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

O Blessed Providence - John Flavel

It is said: "And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian" (Luke 4:27). So there were many poor, unconverted souls beside you under the Word that day, and it may be, to none of them was salvation sent that day but to you. O blessed Providence that set you in the way of mercy at that time!

 

 Taken from the book The Mystery of Providence by John Flavel 1678

 

 

Monday, September 17, 2012

Grace Does Not Alter the Nature of Sin - Samuel Bolton

It is clear, therefore, that the law still retains this use; it discovers sin in us. 'I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet' (Rom. 7:7); and similarly with all sins. This it does, after grace has come, as well as before grace; that which was sin before is sin now; grace does not alter the nature of sin, though it does set the believer free from the fruits and condemnation of it.

 

Taken from the book The True Bounds of Christian Freedom by Samuel Bolton 1645

Friday, September 14, 2012

The Glory of a Christian - Jeremiah Burroughs

When a Christian can walk in the midst of fiery trials, without his garments being singed, and has comfort and joy in the midst of everything (when like Paul in the stocks he can sing, which wrought upon the jailor) it will convince men, when they see the power of grace in the midst of afflictions. When they can behave themselves in a gracious and holy manner in such afflictions as would make others roar: Oh, this is the glory of a Christian.

 

Taken from the book The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment

By Jeremiah Burroughs 1648     

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Sufferers are our Tutors - CH Spurgeon

Sufferers are our tutors; they educate us for the skies.

 

Taken from the sermon The Trial of Your Faith By CH Spurgeon Dec. 2,1888

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Truly Prayer - Robert Candlish

When my sin finds me out; when the cock crows; when I hear the voice "Thou art the man;" the shock of the sudden discovery to me of my guilt, under the eye of Jesus, "turning and looking on me;" moves me to tears and prayer. It is prayer; perhaps for the first time truly prayer. It is the abrupt cry, - "Lord save me; I perish." Blessed be God even that is enough.

 

Taken from the book The Prayer of a Broken Heart: Expository Discourses on Psalm 51

by Robert Candlish 1873

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Glory to God! The Anchor Holds - DL Moody

It is the work of the shepherd to look after them and take care of those who trust Him. He has promised to do it. I once heard that when a sea captain was dying he said, "Glory to God! The anchor holds." He trusted in Christ. His anchor had taken hold of the solid Rock.

 

Taken from the book The Way to God by DL Moody 1837-1899

Friday, September 7, 2012

The Devil Tempts Men - Oswald Chambers

Sorry there were no quotes this week. I was on vacation and did not have Internet access. It was very restfull!
 
 
The old Puritan idea that the devil tempts men had this remarkable effect: it produced the man of iron who fought; the modern idea of blaming heredity or his circumstances produces the man who succumbs at once.
 

Taken from the book The Quotable Oswald Chambers

Oswald Chambers 1874-1917

 
 
 
 

Friday, August 31, 2012

One Truth Driven Home - Thomas Watson

Meditate not on too many things at once. One truth driven home by meditation will most kindly affect the heart. Drive but one wedge of meditation at a time, but be sure you drive it home to the heart. Those who aim at a whole flock of birds hit none.

 

Taken from the book Extracts from the Writings of Thomas Watson Thomas Watson 1620-1686

Thursday, August 30, 2012

True Religion - Henry Scougal

True religion is a union of the soul with God, a real participation of the Divine nature, the very image of God drawn upon the soul, or, in the apostle's phrase, 'it is Christ formed within us'.

 

Taken from the book The Life of God in the Soul of Man by Henry Scougal 1650-1678

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Not In This Life Is It to Be Expected - John Owens

Now, though doubtless there may be attained, by the Spirit and grace of Christ, a wonderful success and eminency of victory against any sin, so that a man may have almost constant triumph over it; yet an utter killing and destruction of it, that it should not be, is not in this life to be expected.

 

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

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Our Hearts Are Like - J.C. Ryle

Our hearts are like the earth on which we tread;

let it alone, and it is sure to bear weeds.

 

Taken from the book The Duties of Parents by JC Ryle 1816-1900

Monday, August 27, 2012

Consenting To His Undoubted Right – Phillip Doddridge

You are also, on this great occasion, to resign all that you have to the disposal of His wise and gracious providence; not only owning His power, but consenting to His undoubted right to do what He pleases with you and all that He has given you.
 
 

Taken from the book

A Pastor's Counsel: Wise Words for Weary, Wounded, and Wandering Sheep

Phillip Doddridge 1702-1751