Share a favorite quote!

[McWilliams]

To suppose that whatever God requireth of us that we have power of ourselves to do, is to make the cross and grace of Jesus Christ of none effect."

JOHN OWEN, III:433

 

[calmcoolandelected]

Sorry, I do not know who gets the credit for this one:

"The Bible is a remarkable fountain; the more one draws and drinks of it, the more it stimulates thirst."

CC&E

 

[McWilliams]

So true, CC&E! Great!

Here's one I love from one of our own SR family!

Pride magnifies the faults of other Christians and diminishes their graces, while it diminishes the faults and magnifies the graces of its subject. Jim from Ohio, Christian Forum

 

[HamletsChoice]

“Do you mortify? Do you make it your daily work? Be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you”

John Owen, The Works of John Owen (16 vols., 1967 reprint; Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1853) Mortification of Sin in Believers 6:177, 6:9.

 

[Hackett]

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
The apostle Paul (Phil 4:13)

 

[grace_2008]

I am nothing without Christ; without His love and comfort, and HIS awesomeness and power, along with his holiness and justness.
Anonymous

 

[McWilliams]

"If we desire to end our days in joy and comfort, let us lay the foundation of a comfortable death now betimes. To die well is not a thing of that light moment as some imagine: it is no easy matter. But to die well is a matter of every day. Let us daily do some good that may help us at the time of our death. Every day by repentance pull out the sting of some sin,that so when death comes, we may have nothing to do but to die. To die well is the action of the whole life."; "RICHARD SIBBES";

 

[edie19]

only one???? don't think I can narrow it down that far, but to start. . . .

I do not come into this pulpit hoping that perhaps somebody will of his own free will return to Christ. My hope lies in another quarter. I hope that my Master will lay hold of some of them and say, “You are mine, and you shall be mine. I claim you for myself.” My hope arises from the freeness of grace, and not from the freedom of will.
Charles Spurgeon

 

[HamletsChoice]

When sin lets us alone we may let sin alone; but as sin is never less quiet than when it seems to be most quiet, and its waters are for the most part deep when they are still, so ought our contrivances against it to be vigorous at all times and in al--John Owen

 

[seekingpurity047]

I really like this one...

“I feel much freer now that I am certain the pope is the Antichrist”

- Martin Luther

 

[JM]

my sig

 

[cygnusx1]

I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception. Groucho

 

[seekingpurity047]

“For though we very truly hear that the kingdom of God will be filled with splendor, joy, happiness and glory, yet when these things are spoken of, they remain utterly remote from our perception, and as it were, wrapped in obscurities, until that day”

- John Calvin

Praise God for us not seeing Him yet, until we come to glory with Him, that we may worship Him forever in the presence of His glory. Amen.

I can't wait 'til that day.

To the glory of God,

Randy

 

[Hackett]

Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow.
E.Stannard

 

[McWilliams]

"There are three things that earthly riches can never do; they can never satisfy divine justice, they can never pacify divine wrath, nor can they ever quiet a guilty conscience. And till these things are done man is undone."; "THOMAS BROOKS";

 

[edie19]

"There are three things that earthly riches can never do; they can never satisfy divine justice, they can never pacify divine wrath, nor can they ever quiet a guilty conscience. And till these things are done man is undone."; "THOMAS BROOKS";

This one is just awesome - thanks for sharing.

edie

 

[cygnusx1]

On a more serious note.


Why I Do Not Say, "God Did Not Cause the Calamity, but He Can Use It for Good"

September 17, 2001
Many Christians are speaking this way about the murderous destruction of the World Trade Towers on September 11, 2001. God did not cause it, but he can use it for good. There are two reasons I do not say this. One is that it goes beyond, and is contrary to, what the Bible teaches. The other is that it undermines the very hope it wants to offer.
First, this statement goes beyond and against the Bible. For some, all they want to say, in denying that God "caused" the calamity, is that God is not a sinner and that God does not remove human accountability and that God is compassionate. That is true - and precious beyond words. But for others, and for most people who hear this slogan, something far more is implied. Namely, God, by his very nature, cannot or would not act to bring about such a calamity. This view of God is what contradicts the Bible and undercuts hope.
How God governs all events in the universe without sinning, and without removing responsibility from man, and with compassionate outcomes is mysterious indeed! But that is what the Bible teaches. God "works all things after the counsel of his will" (Ephesians 1:11).
This "all things" includes the fall of sparrows (Matthew 10:29), the rolling of dice (Proverbs 16:33), the slaughter of his people (Psalm 44:11), the decisions of kings (Proverbs 21:1), the failing of sight (Exodus 4:11), the sickness of children (2 Samuel 12:15), the loss and gain of money (1 Samuel 2:7), the suffering of saints (1 Peter 4:19), the completion of travel plans (James 4:15), the persecution of Christians (Hebrews 12:4-7), the repentance of souls (2 Timothy 2:25), the gift of faith (Philippians 1:29), the pursuit of holiness (Philippians 3:12-13), the growth of believers (Hebrews 6:3), the giving of life and the taking in death (1 Samuel 2:6), and the crucifixion of his Son (Acts 4:27-28).
From the smallest thing to the greatest thing, good and evil, happy and sad, pagan and Christian, pain and pleasure - God governs them all for his wise and just and good purposes (Isaiah 46:10). Lest we miss the point, the Bible speaks most clearly to this in the most painful situations. Amos asks, in time of disaster, "If a calamity occurs in a city has not the LORD done it?" (Amos 3:6). After losing all ten of his children in the collapse of his son's house, Job says, "The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21). After being covered with boils he says, "Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" (Job 2:10).
Oh, yes, Satan is real and active and involved in this world of woe! In fact Job 2:7 says, "Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head." Satan struck him. But Job did not get comfort from looking at secondary causes. He got comfort from looking at the ultimate cause. "Shall we not accept adversity from God?" And the author of the book agrees with Job when he says that Job's brothers and sisters "consoled him and comforted him for all the adversities that the LORD had brought on him" (Job 42:11). Then James underlines God's purposeful goodness in Job's misery: "You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful" (James 5:11). Job himself concludes in prayer: "I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted" (Job 42:2). Yes, Satan is real, and he is terrible - and he is on a leash.
The other reason I don't say, "God did not cause the calamity, but he can use it for good," is that it undercuts the very hope it wants to create. I ask those who say this: "If you deny that God could have 'used' a million prior events to save 5,000 people from this great evil, what hope then do you have that God could now 'use' this terrible event to save you in the hour of trial?" We say we believe he can use these events for good, but we deny that he could use the events of the past to hold back the evil of September 11. But the Bible teaches he could have restrained this evil (Genesis 20:6). "The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples" (Psalm 33:10). But it was not in his plan to do it. Let us beware. We spare God the burden of his sovereignty and lose our only hope.
All of us are sinners. We deserve to perish. Every breath we take is an undeserved gift. We have one great hope: that Jesus Christ died to obtain pardon and righteousness for us (Ephesians 1:7; 2 Corinthians 5:21), and that God will employ his all-conquering, sovereign grace to preserve us for our inheritance (Jeremiah 32:40). We surrender this hope if we sacrifice this sovereignty.
Strengthening Your Confidence in Christ Our King,
Pastor John

http://www.desiringgod.org/library/fresh_words/2001/091701.html

 

[McWilliams]

"If ever there should come a wretched day when all our pulpits be full of modern thought, and the old doctrine of substitutionary sacrifice shall be exploded, then there will remain no word of comfort for the guilty or hope for the despairing." C.H. Spurgeon

 

[FellowshipOfTheMystery]

"'Whom he predestinated, them he also called'. Election is the foundation-cause of our vocation. It is not because some are more worthy to partake of the heavenly calling than others, for we were 'all in our blood' (Ezek. 16:6). What worthiness is in us? What worthiness was there in Mary Magdelene, out of whom seven devils were cast? What worthiness in the Corinthians, when God began to call them by the gospel? They were fornicators, effeminate, idolaters. 'Such were some of you, but ye are washed'. Before effectual calling, we were not only without strength, but 'enemies' (Col. 1:21). So that the foundation of vocation is election." -- THOMAS WATSON

 

[inchristalone221]

A God without wrath brought men without sin into a Kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a Cross.

H. Richard Niebuhr's caricature of liberalism, brilliantly put