No music is more sweet to a gospel preacher than the rustle of Bible pages in the congregation. - Spurgeon

Our extremities are the Lord's opportunities. CHS

JohnPiper: Lord, grant that, in all my weaknesses, I would remain close to the one clear, grand theme of my life: Your magnificence.

The best prayer I ever prayed had enough sin to damn the whole world. ~ John Bunyan.

"He who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find him the rest of the day " John Bunyan

Thank You, Almighty God for revealing Yourself; thank You for Your Son who gives us life; for Your Spirit who gives us light; for Your Word that gives us hope

If you will not have death unto sin, you shall have sin unto death. There is no alternative. - Spurgeon

You tell me there are no persecutions now. Ah! indeed, if you followed Christ more fully, you would find out that there were.
Spurgeon

Better to lose a friend because I tell him about Jesus than to lose a friend for eternity because I did not tell him about Jesus.

Thank You, Almighty God for giving us not to ourselves, but to one another, the Church, the body and bride of Christ. May we never neglect her.

He who grows not in the knowledge of Jesus, refuses to be blessed. CHS

...yet even now it is but little that we know of Jesus compared with what He knows of us. CHS

Absence from Christ is hell; but the presence of Jesus is heaven. CHS

Let faith increase in fullness, constancy, simplicity. CHS

Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried. GK Chesterton

Better a brief warfare and eternal rest, than false peace and everlasting torment. CHS

"The purest joy in the world is joy in Christ Jesus" Robert Murray M'Cheyne

"If you meet with a system of theology which magnifies man, flee from it as far as you can" Charles Spurgeon

Thank you, Lord for rearranging me from the inside out.

There is no one too weak to be used by God; but many are too strong (pride) - 2 Corinthians 12:9

"I find more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history whatsoever!" Isaac Newton

Even as Jesus came at the 1st advent, even so, come Lord Jesus, come quickly.

Emmanuel - 'God with us' - I am overwhelmed by the wonder.

"Christ did not die for any upon condition, if they do believe; but He died for all God's elect, that they should believe." Owen

Whatever this day may hold, whether seemingly bad or good, may I praise my God who is good and who does all things well. EKG

"Works? Works? A man get to heaven by works? I would as soon think of climbing to the moon on a rope of sand!" GEORGE WHITEFIELD

"Give your Bible the best, and not the worst, part of your time." J.C. Ryle

"Unless men see a beauty and delight in the worship of God, they will not do it willingly" John Owen

"Christ is not valued at all, unless he is valued above all." Augustine

The great profundity; Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so!

No chorus is too loud, no orchestra too large, no Psalm too lofty for the lauding of the Lord of Hosts. - Spurgeon

What will some of you do when you get to heaven, if you go on grumbling all the way? - Spurgeon

Keep your eye simply on Him; let His death, His sufferings, His merits, His glories... be fresh upon thy mind - Spurgeon

Perverted notions about God soon rot the religion in which they appear. Tozer

Happy Thanksgiving and praise to the Lord!

No man can do me a truer kindness in this world than to pray for me. - Spurgeon

The most likely man to go to hell is the man who has nothing to do on earth. Idle people tempt the devil to tempt them - Spurgeon

"It is better to wear out than to rust out." George Whitefield

No man has found how far he can go with God because there is in the mysterious depths of God neither limit nor end - AW Tozer

Depend upon it, where self begins sorrow begins. CHS

Praise should always follow answered prayer. Spurgeon

Christian, remember the goodness of God in the frost of adversity. - Spurgeon

If we did evil and good came of it, the evil would be just as evil. - Spurgeon

A Christian should be a striking likeness of Christ. CHS

No man can expect to make progress in holiness who is not often and long alone with God. ~ Unknown.

Be entrenched in the truth of the Gospel - let in permeate your heart and mind and drip like honey from your speech. EKG

I would rather train 1000 men to do the work than to do the work of a 1,000 men. (Moody)

"Works before conversion cannot engage God, and works after conversion can not satisfy God." - Thomas Manton

Your damnation is your own election, not God's. - Spurgeon

Are you setting your interests on the things of God or the things of man? Jesus commends one and condemns the other. Matt. 16:23

Will you wait? Then you will not come - no one comes to Jesus while waiting.

That which man doth, unaided by divine strength, God can never own. CHS

Praise is the most heavenly of Christian duties. Spurgeon

It it easier to complain about than to commit to change.

I wish not so much to do as to be, and I long to be like Jesus. - Valley of Vision

Does not all nature around me praise God? If I were silent, I should be an exception to the universe. - Spurgeon Psalm 19:14

If we add to our churches other than by the Spirit making men new creatures in Christ, the increase is of no worth. Spurgeon

"Let no day slip over without some comfort received of the word of God." John Knox

"If you really long to save men's souls, you must tell them a great deal of disagreeable truth" - Spurgeon

God forbid that we would ever declare the His Word in a lifeless, listless manner! Montoya

Godliness is a requirement for all leaders, but passionate preaching is an added requirement for all preachers. Montoya

Christian life should be a mosaic of minute obediences. Spurgeon

It is one of God's perfections that He has the best possible plan and that He conducts the course of history to its appointed end. Boettner

'A holy minister is an awesome weapon in the hand of God.' McCheyne

"It is not great talent which God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus." McCheyne

The study [of the Bible] is the discovery of the truth and the pulpit is the sharing of this truth. Montoya

Required for preaching; filled with knowledge; skilled at clarity; motivated by love for the truth; energized by the Holy Spirit. Montoya

Preaching is passionate because it deals with the very nature of God and the expression of His love for humanity. Montoya

There should be no one with whom we converse so much as with Jesus. Spurgeon

When the sweat stands upon your brow, and you are tempted to loiter, cry, "No, I cannot stop, for I am Christ's. - Spurgeon

Heaven and earth and all that is in them are the instruments through which [God] works His ends. Warfield

The present day tendency is to set aside the doctrines of Divine Sovereignty and Predestination in order to make room for the autocracy of human will. Boettner

I was hemmed in, and then he gave me the effectual blow of grace, and there was no resisting that irresistible effort of his grace- Spurgeon

Let us not see the face of man today till we have seen Jesus. Spurgeon

I must confess I never would have been saved, if I could have helped it. - Spurgeon

Needed Irresistible Grace

My heart and prayers have much been with friends who struggle with the doctrines of grace and statements like that of the total inability of man or of the irresistible grace of the Holy Spirit. 

With regard to "irresistible grace" - the argument goes along the lines of this; if the grace of God unto salvation cannot be resisted, then what happens to the free will of man?  Yet, rather than look at irresistible grace as an "intrusion" upon the will of man, isn't it better and more biblical to see it as an absolutely "needed" grace of God so that we might see our need of Jesus and turn to Him at all?

As I was pondering such things, I read last night's entry of Spurgeon's "Morning and Evening" (September 8) and it spoke so eloquently of these things that I wanted to post it for your consideration.

"The exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead."
— Ephesians 1:19,20

In the resurrection of Christ, as in our salvation, there was put forth nothing short of a divine power. What shall we say of those who think that conversion is wrought by the free will of man, and is due to his own betterness of disposition? When we shall see the dead rise from the grave by their own power, then may we expect to see ungodly sinners of their own free will turning to Christ. 

It is not the word preached, nor the word read in itself; all quickening power proceeds from the Holy Ghost. This power was irresistible. All the soldiers and the high priests could not keep the body of Christ in the tomb; Death himself could not hold Jesus in his bonds: even thus irresistible is the power put forth in the believer when he is raised to newness of life. 

No sin, no corruption, no devils in hell nor sinners upon earth, can stay the hand of God's grace when it intends to convert a man. If God omnipotently says, "Thou shalt," man shall not say, "I will not." Observe that the power which raised Christ from the dead was glorious. It reflected honour upon God and wrought dismay in the hosts of evil. 

So there is great glory to God in the conversion of every sinner. It was everlasting power. "Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him." So we, being raised from the dead, go not back to our dead works nor to our old corruptions, but we live unto God. "Because He lives we live also." "For we are dead, and our life is hid with Christ in God." "Like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." 

Lastly, in the text mark the union of the new life to Jesus. The same power which raised the Head works life in the members. What a blessing to be quickened together with Christ!

SDG

If the pefection of the divine plan be denied, no consistent stopping place will be found short of atheism. Boettner

John 14:6 - Three Questions

Three questions I asked of the youth group a couple weeks back as we looked at the words of Jesus as found in John 14:6.  Those three questions were:

1.  How can I be saved?
Do you believe that Jesus is the Way; has provided the only means by which we might be brought near to God by dying on the cross for our sins and reconciling us to God?  (Matthew 7:13-14; Acts 4:12)

2.  How can I be sure?
Do you believe that Jesus is the Truth; that all that He has said about God, Himself and man is true and that we can be sure that all He has said has either happened or is going to happen?  (Psalm 119:160).

3.  How can I be satisfied?
Do you believe that Jesus is the Life; that all other pursuit of life are only temporary and leave one dissatisfied.  Only by finding life in Jesus does one find true and lasting satisfaction (John 4:13-14; John 10:10).

May I ask you, are you saved? Are you sure? And are you satisfied?

If we cannot get sinners where Jesus is by ordinary methods we must use extraordinary ones. Spurgeon

A divided heart leads to the self-deception of divided worship. Stuart Scott

Our salvation must increasingly affect our preoccupation with Jesus.

Misplaced worship is idolatry. Let us worship God alone.

The angels of God serve him with songs, not with groans; a murmur or a sigh would be a mutiny in their ranks - Spurgeon

Bob Kauflin wrote: How you approach the start and end of a Sunday meeting says volumes about your view of the church and your role in it.

As long as we are content to live without revival, we will. ~ Leonard Ravenhill.

If any man will preach as he should preach, his work will take more out of him than any other labor under heaven - Spurgeon

Faith is the spiritual ability to believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

My goal is God Himself...At any cost, dear Lord, by any road." John Owen

I love my God, I love the fellowship of the redeemed, I love my family, I love the good hand of Providence.

If the foundation of the pulpit be not laid in private prayer, an open ministry will not be a success - Spurgeon

Assurance [of salvation] comes not through faith in our faith but through faith in the Redemmer Jesus Christ. R. Phillips

"Man contributes nothing to his salvation except the sin that makes it necessary." --Jonathan Edwards

Unless professed faith is working faith, it is not saving faith and therefore cannot be true faith. S. Ferguson

"Converse less with man, and more with God." -George Whitefield

Let us find assurance not by long meditations on our own souls...but through an ever-absorbing interest in the saving blood of Jesus Christ.

What Kind of Church Would It Be?

What kind of church would the local church that I attend be if everyone was just like me?

How long would the church be able to pay its bills, support its ministries, and back its missionaries?

If everyone reacted as I do, how long would it survive?

If everyone won as many souls as I do, would the church be growing or declining?

Suppose that everyone supported the services the way I do, would there be any gatherings of God’s people?

If everyone studied their Bible and prayed as much as I do, what would the church be like?

Suppose everyone followed my example when it came to visitation, teaching Sunday school, caring for the nursery, or helping with the chores – what kind of a church would it be?

There is nothing little in God; His mercy is like Himself - it is infinite. CHS

Faith is simply a shorthand description for those who abandon themselves unreservedly to Christ... S. Ferguson

The new life is not ours that we should ascribe its excellence to our own merit: it is Christ's image...and is ordained for His glory. CHS

What blessings of the Spirit of God are you anticipating today?