Nothing escapes the Lord’s notice—indeed, even our hidden secrets are present to him. So let us act in everything we do as if he were dwelling within us, so that we may be his temples and he may be our God within us. Indeed, that is already the case, and will appear obvious to the extent we love him.
– Ignatius –
from The Wisdom of the Apostolic Fathers
Holy Spirit
Walking as Christ Walked – Andrew Murray
He who seeks to abide in Christ must walk even as He walked. A branch bears fruit of the same sort as the vine to which it belongs. The life of the vine and the branch is so completely identical that the manifestation of that life must be identical too. When the Lord Jesus redeemed us with His blood, and presented us to the Father in His righteousness, He did not leave us in our old nature to serve God as best we could. No. In Him dwelt eternal life, and every one who is in Him receives from Him that same eternal life in its holy, heavenly power. So He that abides in Him must also walk even as He walked.
– Andrew Murray –
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 –
Our Faith Must be Led and Taught by the Holy Spirit – Andrew Murray
Faith, led and taught by God’s Holy Spirit, gains the confidence to prayerfully claim: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
– Andrew Murray –
Believism, Receivism, Deceivism – Vance Havner
We’re suffering from a believism that never has believed and a receivism that never has received and it leads to deceivism.
– Vance Havner –
Radical Christians – Paul Washer
Radical Christians are not people who wear Christian t-shirts. Radical Christians are those who bear fruit of the Holy Spirit. … A little boy, Andrew, a Muslim shot him five times through the stomach and left him on a sidewalk simply because he said, “I am so afraid, but I can not deny Jesus Christ! Please don’t kill me! But I will not deny Him!” He died in a pool of blood, and you talk about being a radical Christian because you wear a t-shirt!
– Paul Washer –
Too Busy to Pray – RA Torrey
We are too busy to pray, and so we are too busy to have power.
– RA Torrey –
The Mark of True Gospel Preaching – Charles Spurgeon
Let this be to you the mark of true gospel preaching—where Christ is everything, and the creature is nothing; where it is salvation all of grace, through the work of the Holy Spirit applying to the soul the precious blood of Jesus.
– Charles Spurgeon –
Context of Persecution – Leon Morris
The work of the Holy Spirit in the church is done in the context of persecution. The Spirit is not a guide and a helper for those on the straight way perfectly able to manage on their own. He comes to assist people caught up in the thick of battle and tried beyond their strength. Jesus makes it quite plain that the way before his followers is a hard and difficult way.
– Leon Morris –