Have we not with joy observed how those very things that sense and reason tell us are opposite to our happiness have been the most blessed instruments to promote it! How has God blessed crosses to mortify corruption, wants to kill our wantonness, disappointments to wean us from the world! O we little think how comfortable those things will be in the review, which are so burdensome to present sense!
– John Flavel –
from The Mystery of Providence, 1678
On the eve of the cross, Jesus made his decision. He would rather go to hell for you than go to heaven without you.
– Max Lucado –
If we, indeed, desire our faith to be strengthened, we should not shrink from opportunities where our faith may be tried, and, therefore, through the trial, be strengthened.
– George Müller –
from Answers to Prayer
1805-1898
The motto of all true servants of God must be, “We preach Christ; and him crucified.” A sermon without Christ in it is like a loaf of bread without any flour in it. No Christ in your sermon, sir? Then go home, and never preach again until you have something worth preaching.
– Charles Spurgeon –
Most of those who fail to experience the joy of the Lord have refused to take up a cross!
– Walter J. Chantry –
Live as if Christ died yesterday, rose this morning, and is coming back again tomorrow.
– Martin Luther –
It was strictly forbidden to preach to other prisoners. It was understood that whoever was caught doing this received a severe beating. A number of us decided to pay the price for the privilege of preaching, so we accepted their [the communists’] terms. It was a deal; we preached and they beat us. We were happy preaching. They were happy beating us, so everyone was happy.
– Richard Wurmbrand –
from Tortured for Christ
The backslider likes the preaching that wouldn’t hit the side of a house, while the real disciple is delighted when the truth brings him to his knees.
– Billy Sunday –
The man whose little sermon is “repent” sets himself against his age, and will for the time being be battered mercilessly by the age whose moral tone he challenges. There is but one end for such a man—”off with his head!” You had better not try to preach repentance until you have pledged your head to heaven.
– Joseph Parker –