A Carnal Heart Thinks - 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       

 

 

 

When you are in the dark, listen - Oswald Chambers

When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else when you get in the light... Now he gives you the gift of humiliation which brings the softness of heart that will always listen to God now.

 

Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

Nothing More Unbecomes a Heavenly Hope - William Gurnall

Nothing more unbecomes a heavenly hope than an earthly heart.

 

William Gurnall 1617-1679 Quoted in the book A Puritan Golden Treasury

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

The Eye of God - JC Ryle

Resolve never to forget the eye of God. The eye of God! Think of that. Everywhere, in every house, in every field, in every room, in every company, alone or in a crowd, the eye of God is always on you. "The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good" (Proverbs 15:3), and they are eyes that read hearts as well as actions.

 

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

 

Consider the necessity of holiness - Thomas Brooks

Consider the necessity of holiness. It is impossible that ever you should be happy, except you are holy.

 

Thomas Brooks 1662

 

And Yet To His Last Day Be Never Free From - JC Ryle

I do not shrink from saying that by grace a man may have sufficient faith to flee to Christ; sufficient faith really to lay hold on Him - really to trust in Him - really to be a child of God - really to be saved; and yet to his last day be never free from much anxiety, doubt, and fear.

 

Taken from the book Holiness by JC Ryle 1879

 

When David Fell - Ichabod Spencer

 David fell, not when he leaned upon the crook, or fled in the wilderness, or whirled the sling of the shepherd boy: he fell amid the pomp and pride of the royal residence, where his own will was law, and where passion became too powerful for his virtue.

 

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

 

And Whom Does He Call? - James Hervey

You have our Lord's most gracious invitation; 'Come unto me.' And whom does he call? The righteous? No. The excellent? Quite the reverse. He calls sinners, miserable sinners, even the most miserable of sinners.

 

Those who are weary and heavy-laden, overwhelmed with iniquities, bowed down to the brink of hell, and ready to think, 'There is no hope.' Yet them he encourages, them he invites; to them he declares, 'I will give you rest,' rest in the enjoyment of peace with God, and peace in your own consciences.

 

James Hervey 1713-1758

 

God Seeks You Rather Than Your Gift - St. Augustine

All of us have become members of Christ. How do you fail to sin against Christ when you sin against a member of Christ? Thus, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has anything against you, leave your gift before the altar.

 

God seeks you rather than your gift. Christ seeks the one whom He has redeemed by His Blood rather than what you have found in your storeroom.

 

 St. Augustine 354 - 430

The Example He Gives - Andrew Fuller

It is worthy of special notice, that when our Lord had warned his followers to take heed and beware of covetousness,(Luke 12:13-21) the example which he gives of this sin, is not of one that was a plunderer of other men's property, an unfair dealer, or an oppressor of the poor; but of a certain rich man whose ground brought forth plentifully; and whose only object appeared to be, first to acquire a handsome fortune, and then to retire from business and live at his ease.

 

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

 

Little Did Zacchaeus Think - John Flavel

 Little did Zacchaeus think when he climbed up into the sycamore tree to see Christ as He passed that way what a design of mercy Christ had upon him, who took thence the occasion of becoming both his Guest and Saviour (Luke 19:5-8).

 

And as little did some of you think what the aim of Providence was when you went, some out of custom, others out of curiosity, if not worse motives, to hear such a sermon. O how stupendous are the ways of God!

 

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

 

Withdraw Thy Heart From The Love Of Visible Things -Thomas a Kempis

Call often to mind that proverb, 'That the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.' (Ecclesiastes 1:8). Endeavor therefore to withdraw thy heart from the love of visible things, and to turn thyself to the invisible. For they that follow their sensuality, do stain their own consciences, and lose the favour of God.

Taken from the book The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis 1380-1471

If A Man Says That He Can Keep the Law - Charles Spurgeon

If a man says that he can keep the law,

it is because he does not know what the law is.

 

Charles Spurgeon 1834-1892

You May Ebb and Flow - Samuel Rutherford

Ye may yourself ebb and flow, rise and fall, wax and wane; but your Lord is this day as he was yesterday; and it is your comfort that your salvation is not rolled upon wheels of your own making, neither have ye to do with a Christ of your own shaping.

Taken from the Book The Loveliness of Christ by Samuel Rutherford 1600-1661

 

Joseph Alleine's Whole Life

Joseph Alleine's whole life was an illustration of his saying, 'Give me a Christian that counts his time more precious than gold.' When the week began he would say, 'Another week is now before us, let us spend this week for God', and each morning, 'Now let us live this one day well!'

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

If you Have Christ - Charles Spurgeon

If you have Christ, you will have comfort, joy, peace and liberty; and when the trouble comes, you will find shelter and deliverance by coming near to Him.

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

A Glass to Reveal the Imperfections - Samuel Bolton

The law was given, not only as a director of duties, but as a glass to reveal the imperfections in our performance of duties, that so we might be kept humble and vile in our own eyes, and that we might live more out of ourselves and more in Christ.

It was given so that we might fly to Christ upon all occasions, as a defiled man flees to the fountain to be washed and cleansed, for in Christ there is mercy to cover, and grace to cure all our infirmities.

Taken from the book The True Bounds of Christian Freedom

by Samuel Bolton 1645

The Way Is To Learn One Lesson at a Time - Ralph Venning

Saints of any class have a variety of lessons to learn, several books to read, and several exercises to perform. And when they are occupied with any one of these, the rest seem to disappear or to be dormant for that time, though that is not so in reality.

But the way is to learn one lesson at a time. Sometimes saints are most concerned about their own emptiness and insufficiency; sometimes about the riches and freeness of grace; sometimes about the beauty of holiness and the usefulness of good works; sometimes sorrow and fear; at another time love and joy take hold of them.

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

A Way Yet More Declarative Of His Free Grace - William Guthrie

There are some brought into Christ in a way yet more declarative of His free grace; and this is, when He effectually calls men at the hour of death. We find somewhat recorded of this way in the pregnant example of the "thief on the cross." (Luke 232; 39-45)

Taken from the book The Christians Great Interest by William Guthrie 1658

Danger of Worshipping Prayer - Oswald Chambers

There is a real danger of worshipping prayer instead of praying because we worship. It is easy to do if we lose sight of our Lord and put the emphasis not on His command but on the thing that He commands.

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

The Soul is the Man - Matthew Henry

The soul is the man: and that this is the part of us which we are and ought to be most concerned about; because it is really well or ill with us, according as it is well or ill with our souls.

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