Temptations and occasions put nothing into man, but only draw out what was in him before.
– John Owen –
1616-1683
Consecration
The Purity of Gold – Amy Carmichael
The goldsmith never leaves his crucible once it has entered the fire. He periodically lifts out the gold, lets it cool, rubs it between his fingers, and if not satisfied puts it back … This time he blows the fire hotter than it was before, and each time he puts the gold back into the crucible, the heat of the fire is increased, “It could not bear it so hot at first, but it can bear it now; what would have destroyed it then helps it now.” “How do you know when the gold is purified?” we asked, and he answered, “When I can see my face in it, then it is pure.”
– Amy Carmichael –
from Gold Cord
Conformity to the Character of God – Jerry Bridges
Many Christians have what we might call a “cultural holiness.” They adapt to the character and behavior pattern of Christians around them. As the Christian culture around them is more or less holy, so these Christians are more or less holy. But God has not called us to be like those around us. He has called us to be like himself. Holiness is nothing less than conformity to the character of God.
– Jerry Bridges –
People Do Not Drift Toward Holiness – DA Carson
People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.
– DA Carson –
A Christian in the Hands of God – Robert Murray McCheyene
A holy man is an awful weapon in the hands of God.
– Robert Murray McCheyene –
The Normal Christian Life is Holiness – Leonard Ravenhill
The normal Christian life is holiness, anything less is sickness.
– Leonard Ravenhill –
Delivered From Sin and the Power of Sin – J. Edwin Orr
God Who delivers us from the guilt of sin through faith in Jesus Christ, is able to deliver the believer from the power of sin as well.
– J. Edwin Orr –
Holiness in the Here and Now – Duncan Campbell
True holiness is a Revival of Holiness. Personal holiness is more desirable than happiness … and it is not in heaven alone that God wants our saintliness —it is here and now; holiness is not just a doctrine to be taught, it is a way of life —it is the life of Jesus.
– Duncan Campbell –
The Need of Deliverance from the Power of Sin – Andrew Murray
Believers must be brought into conviction of the shame and evil of the carnal state. God brings believers into, what may be called, a second conviction—conviction of a need of deliverance from the power of sin.
– Andrew Murray –