Salt seasons, purifies, preserves. But somebody ought to remind us that salt also irritates. Real living Christianity rubs this world the wrong way.
– Vance Havner –
Persecution
Laying Bare the Evils of the Age – Horatius Bonar
Someone, then, must undertake the ungracious task of probing and laying bare the evils of the age; for men must not be allowed to congratulate themselves that all is well. If others will not, he will. If others shrink from the obloquy of such a work, he will not. He loves the age too well; he loves his nation too well; he loves his fellow-men too well. They may upbraid him; they may call him a misanthropist, or a prophet of evil; they may ascribe his warnings to the worst of motives, such as pride, or arrogance, or self-esteem, or malice, or envy; but he will give no heed to these unjust insinuations. He will prefer being thus misunderstood and maligned, to allowing men to precipitate themselves upon a ruin which they see not. Rather than that they should perish, he will allow his own good name to be spoken against. He will risk every thing, even the hatred of brethren, rather than withhold the warning.
– Horatius Bonar –
Only Let Me Attain To Jesus Christ – Ignatius of Antioch
Let fire and the cross; let the crowds of wild beasts; let tearings … let shatterings of the whole body; and let all the evil torments of the devil come upon me: only let me attain to Jesus Christ.
– Ignatius of Antioch –
(35-107 AD)
Blood of the Martyrs is the Seed of the Church – Tertullian
The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.
– Tertullian –
(160-225 AD)
The Martyrdom of Polycarp
But the proconsul urged him and said, “Swear, and I will release thee; curse the Christ.” And Polycarp said, “Eighty and six years have I served him, and he hath done me no wrong; how then can I blaspheme my king who saved me?”
– The Martyrdom of Polycarp (in 155 AD) –
Not Going Under But Over – Catherine Booth
The waters are rising, but so am I. I am not going under, but over.
– Catherine Booth –
No Man Is Safe Apart From God – Oswald Chambers
Beware of the people who tell you life is simple. Life is such a mass of complications that no man is safe apart from God. Coming to Jesus does not simplify life; it simplifies my relationship to God.
– Oswald Chambers –
Men of Prayer Men of Steel – Leonard Ravenhill
Men of prayer must be men of steel, for they will be assaulted by Satan even before they attempt to assault his kingdom
– Leonard Ravenhill –
How to Suffer Well – Charles Spurgeon
Suffering saints are living seed. Oh, that God might help us to such faith, that when we come to suffer in life, or to expire in death, we may so glorify God that others may believe in him! May we preach sermons by our faith which shall be better than sermons in words.
– Charles Spurgeon –
from his sermon The Trial Of Your Faith – December, 1888