It is not falling into water that drowns, but lying in it. It is not falling into sin that damns, but lying in it without repentance.
– Thomas Watson –
from The Doctrine of Repentance, 1668
Holiness
We Must be a Fiery Church – EM Bounds
God requires to be represented by a fiery Church. He can and does tolerate many things in the way of infirmity and error in His children. He can and will pardon sin when the penitent prays, but two things are intolerable to Him–insincerity and lukewarmness. Lack of heart, and lack of heat are two things that He loathes, and to the Laodiceans He said, in terms of unmistakable severity and condemnation: “I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:15-16). Nothing short of being red hot for God can keep the glow of heaven in our hearts these chilly days.
– EM Bounds –
What is a Contrite Heart – Thomas Brooks
The Contrite Heart: True repentance includes sorrow for sin and contrition of heart. It breaks the heart with sighs and sobs and groans, for a loving God and Father is by sin offended, a blessed Saviour afresh crucified, and the sweet Comforter, the Spirit, grieved and vexed.
– Thomas Brooks –
True Love for God Must Start with a Delight in Holiness – Jonathan Edwards
A true love to God must begin with a delight in His holiness.
– Jonathan Edwards –
1709-1758 AD
To Desire More is a Mark of Grace – Robert Murray M’Cheyne
It is a sure mark of grace to desire more.
– Robert Murray M’Cheyne –
To Understand God You Must Resemble Him – DL Moody
Those who resemble God are the most likely to understand God. If a man is not willing to turn from sin, he will not know God’s will. God will not reveal His secrets to him. But, if a man is willing to turn from sin, he will be surprised to see how the light will come in!
– DL Moody –
from The Way to God
God Uses All Seasons of Life – Thomas Watson
As the Lord makes use of all the seasons of the year, frost and heat, to produce the harvest, so all prosperous and adverse providences are for the promoting of the work of holiness in the soul.
– Thomas Watson –
from The Godly Man’s Picture
The Holier a Man Becomes – Charles Spurgeon
I believe the holier a man becomes, the more he mourns over the unholiness which remains in him.
– Charles Spurgeon –
Sin is the Hardest of All Masters – JC Ryle
Sin is, in truth, the hardest of all masters. In its service there is plenty of fair promises, but an utter dearth of performance. Its pleasures are but for a season. Its wages are sorrow, remorse, self-accusation, and too often death. They that sow to the flesh, do indeed reap corruption.
– JC Ryle –
from Expository Thoughts on the Gospels [Matt 27:1-10], 1856