Get your texts from God—your thoughts, your words, from God. In great measure, according to the purity and perfection’s of the instrument, will be success. It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God. A word spoken by you when your conscience is clear, and your heart full of God’s Spirit, is worth ten thousands words spoken in unbelief and sin.
– Robert Murray M’Cheyne –
Whether we are servants or masters, whether we are poor or rich, let us take this as our watch-word, ‘As to the Lord, and not to men.’ Henceforth may this be the engraving of our seal and the motto of our coat-of-arms; the constant rule of our life and the sum of our motive.
– Charles Spurgeon –
from Council for Christian Workers
We want more men and women who walk with God and before God, like Enoch and Abraham. Though our numbers at this date far exceed those of our evangelical forefathers, I believe we fall far short of them in our standard of Christian practice. Where is the self-denial, the redemption of time, the absence of luxury and self-indulgence, the unmistakable separation from earthly things, the manifest air of being always about our Master’s business, the singleness of eye, the simplicity of home life, the high tone of conversation in society, the patience, the humility, the universal courtesy, which marked so many of our forerunners seventy or eighty years ago? Yes: where is it indeed? We have inherited their principles, and we wear their armour, but I fear we have not inherited their practice. The Holy Ghost sees it, and is grieved; and the world sees it, and despises us. The world sees it, and cares little for our testimony. It is life, life–a heavenly, godly, Christ-like life–depend on it, which influences the world. Let us resolve, by God’s blessing, to shake off this reproach. Let us awake to a clear view of what the times require of us in this matter. Let us aim at a much higher standard of practice. Let the time past suffice us to have been content with a half-and-half holiness. For the time to come, let us endeavour to walk with God, to be ‘thorough’ and unmistakable in our daily life, and to silence, if we cannot convert, a sneering world.
– JC Ryle –
The story of every great Christian achievement is the history of answered prayer.
– EM Bounds –
We need to pray until we get our spiritual eyes refocused on the holiness of God and the lostness of men.
– Leonard Ravenhill –
The good old Puritans, I believe, never preached better than when in danger of being taken to prison as soon as they had finished their sermon. And however the church may be at peace now, yet I am persuaded, unless you go forth with the same temper, you will never preach with the same demonstration of the Spirit and of power. Study, therefore, my brethren, I beseech you by the mercies of God in Christ Jesus, study your hearts as well as books; ask yourselves again and again whether you would preach for Christ, if you were sure to lay down your lives for so doing?
– George Whitefield –
Several years ago … I remember coming across a book by Ernie Reisinger called “Today’s Evangelism” and I began to read it … I got halfway through that book and this is no exaggeration … This is true. I fell out of that chair with such the fear of God upon my life, and I pressed my face into those old boards of that room in the city of Lima … I pressed my face as far into those boards as they could get in fear … and cried out to God, “God, If you promise not to kill me for the way I’ve preached your gospel, I promise from here on out I’ll never preach it that way again.
– Paul Washer –
Are there not millions of us who would rather go sleeping to hell; than sweating to heaven?
– Thomas Watson –
Whatever call a man may pretend to have, if he has not been called to holiness, he certainly has not been called to the ministry.
– Charles Spurgeon –