O Be Active - John Flavel

He is ever doing you good; be you always abounding in his work. His providence stands by you in your greatest distresses and dangers; do not then flinch from God when His service and your duty is compassed about with difficulties. O be active for that God who every moment is active for you

 

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

 

Against Him, Him Only, You Have Sinned - Robert Candlish

 Let me remind the careless one, it is with God alone that you have to do. Against him, him only, you have sinned; and with him, him only, you have to reckon. You may satisfy the priest. You may conciliate your brother. You may pacify your own conscience. What will it avail you if your sin as against God still stands out? Consent, however, to let God justify you. Then you may utter the bold challenge, "Who is he that can condemn?"

 

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

by Robert Candlish 1873

 

Are We Prepared To Pray - Oswald Chambers

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 ESV)

 

The majority of us are too indifferent, too religiously sentimental to be caught up in the sweep of the Apostle Paul's intercession. Have we a lesser idea than that God should do in us what he wants to do? Are we prepared to pray with Murray McCheyne, "Lord, make me as holy as Thou canst make a sinner saved by grace"?

 

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

 

The Sin That Dwelt In Them - Andrew Fuller

 It is usual to denominate a character by his habitual or ruling disposition and not by occasional deviations from it. Thus, when we hear of him who was famed for meekness, speaking unadvisedly with his lips, we say this was not Moses or of him who was distinguished for his courageous avowal of his Lord, denying with oaths that he knew him, we say this was not Peter. Both these great characters in these instances acted beside themselves; it was not them, as it were, but sin that dwelt in them. (Heb. x. 26, Rom. vii. 15-25).

 

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

 

Self-Love Is Self-Hatred - Thomas Watson

 Exercise great self-denial: 'Let him deny himself' (Matthew 16:24). Self-ease, self-ends, whatever comes in competition with (or stand in opposition to) Christ's glory and interest must be denied. Self is the great snare; self-love undermines the power of godliness. The young man in the Gospel might have followed Christ, but something of self hindered (Matt. 19:20-22). Self-love is self-hatred. The man who cannot get beyond himself will never get to heaven.

 

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

 

The Memory of It - Thomas Watson

 If the manna was to be kept in the ark, that the memory of it should be preserved, how should the death and suffering of Christ be kept in our minds as a memorial?

 

Taken from the book The Lords Supper by Thomas Watson 1665

 

It Is the Lord Who Gives Us All Things to Enjoy - Jeremiah Burroughs

 It is the Lord who gives us all things to enjoy; we may have the thing and yet not enjoy it unless God comes in with his blessing. Now whatever you have, you enjoy it; many men have possessions and do not enjoy them. It is the blessing of God which gives us all things to enjoy, and it is God who through his blessing has fashioned your heart and made it suitable to your circumstances.

 

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

 

The Weakest Christian Is - Thomas Brooks

The weakest Christian is as much justified, as much pardoned, as much adopted, and as much united to Christ as the strongest, and hath as much interest and propriety in Christ as the highest and noblest Christian that breathes.

 

Taken from the book Heaven on Earth: A Treatise on Christian Assurance

by Thomas Brooks 1654

Can He Not Give Us Our Daily Bread - D.L. Moody

If God could set a table for His people in the wilderness, and feed three millions of Israelites for forty years, can he not give us our daily bread? I do not mean only the bread that perisheth, but also the Bread that cometh from above. If He feeds the birds of the air, surely he will feed his children made in His own image! If He numbers the very hairs of our head, he will take care to supply all our temporal wants.

 

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

 

Prayer Is an Instrument of Power - Austin Phelps

A pagan suppliant has faith in prayer as he understands it. Grovelling as his notion of it is, such as it is he means it. He trusts it as an instrument of power. He expects to accomplish something by praying.

 

When Ethelred, the Saxon king of Northumberland, invaded Wales, and was about to give battle to the Britons, he observed near the enemy a host of unarmed men. He inquired who they were, and what they were doing. He was told that they were monks of Bangor, praying for the success of their countrymen. 'Then,' said the heathen prince, 'they have begun the fight against us; attack them first.'

 

So any unperverted mind will conceive of the scriptural idea of prayer, as that of one of the most downright, sturdy realities in the universe. Right in the heart of God's plan of government it is lodged as a power. Amidst the conflicts which are going on in the evolution of that plan, it stands as a power. Into all the intricacies of Divine working and the mysteries of Divine decree, it reaches out silently as a power. In the mind of God, we may be assured, the conception of prayer is no fiction, whatever man may think of it.

 

Taken from the book The Still Hour: Communion with God in Prayer

by Austin Phelps 1859

 

Obedience Begins From Christ - Samuel Bolton

Obedience begins from Christ, not that we work for an interest in Christ,

but we get such an interest that we may work.

 

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

 

Christianity Levels All Ranks - Hugh Binning

Christianity is a fraternity, a brotherhood, that should overpower all relations, bring down him of high degree, and exalt him of low degree: it should level all ranks, in this one respect, unto the rule of charity and love. In Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile; there all differences of tongues and nations are drowned in this interest in Christ (Col. 3:11).

 

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

 

The Spirit Strengthens Every Christian - Thomas Brooks

All the spiritual might and strength that a Christian has, he has it from the Holy Spirit. Though the Spirit strengthens every Christian in the inner man, yet I do not say that the Spirit strengthens every Christian alike in the inward man. Some have stronger corruptions to subdue than others, and more violent temptations to withstand than others, and greater difficulties to wrestle with than others, and choicer mercies to improve than others, and higher and harder duties of religion to manage than others, and accordingly they are more strengthened in the inner man than others.

 

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

 

The More Opposition, the More Courage - Richard Sibbes

With the freedom of spirit, there is courage and strength of faith against opposition… It gives him courage and strength to resist. The more opposition, the more courage he has. When the early Christians had the Spirit of God (Acts 4:23ff), they resisted opposition, and the more they were opposed, the more they grew. They were cast in prison, and rejoiced. And the more they were imprisoned, the more courageous they were still.

 

Taken from the book Glorious Freedom by Richard Sibbes 1639

 

Christ Loves for Men to Strenuously Plead With Him - Charles Spurgeon

Christ loves for men to strenuously plead with Him. You cannot be to persistent in your asking. That which might be disagreeable to your fellowmen, when you beg of them, will be agreeable to Christ.

 

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

He Did Not Only Die, but Died Such a Death - John Bunyan

He did not only die, but died such a death, as indeed cannot be expressed. He was content to be counted the sinner: yea, to be counted the sin of the sinner, nor could this but be odious to so holy a Lamb as he was, yet willing to be this and thus for that love that he bare to men.

 

Taken from the book All Loves Excelling by John Bunyan 1692

As Far As Every Believer Is Concerned - Charles Spurgeon

As far as every believer is concerned the law demands no penalty and utters no cures. The believer can point to the Great Surety on the tree of Calvary and say 'See there, oh law, there is the vindication of divine justice which I offer to thee! Jesus pouring out his heart's blood from his wound and dying on my behalf, is my answer to thy claims, and I know that I shall be delivered from wrath through him.'

 

Taken from the book Christ's Glorious Achievements

by Charles Spurgeon 1834-1892

The Effect of Scripture - William Perkins

The effect of scripture: it converts people, and even although it is completely contrary to their thinking and desires, it wins them to itself.

 

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

Let Us Be Always With Him - Brother Lawrence

Let us fear to leave Him. Let us be always with Him. Let us live and die in His presence

 

Taken from the book The Practice of the Presence of God

by Brother Lawrence 1614-1691

Page 56

What Is Our Knowledge and Faith - Richard Baxter

What is our knowledge and faith, but to know and believe that heaven consists in the glory and love of God there manifested, and that it was purchased by his covenant?

 

Taken from the book Dying Thoughts by Richard Baxter 1683

Page 28

If I am to Pray - Andrew Murray

If I am to pray, I must love.

 

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

Number 68

Give the Cream of the Morning to God - Charles Spurgeon

"To show forth thy loving kindness in the morning." Psalms 92:2

We are full of vigor then. We will be tired before night comes round. Perhaps in the heat of the day we will be exhausted. Let us take care, while we are fresh, to give the cream of the morning to God.

 

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

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