First we practice sin, then defend it, then boast of it. Sin is first our burden, then our custom, then our delight, then our excellency.
– Thomas Manton –
1620-1677
The World
Different From the Rest of Mankind – Richard Baxter
That this Spirit is given to all true believers is evident by the effects of his being given. They have ends, affections, and lives different from the rest of mankind; they live upon the hopes of a better life, and their heavenly interest overrules all the opposite interest of this world. In order to this they live under the conduct of divine authority, and to obey and please God is the great business of their lives.
– Richard Baxter –
from Dying Thoughts, 1683
A Frightened World Needs a Fearless Church – AW Tozer
A frightened world needs a fearless church.
– AW Tozer –
God’s House Must Be a House of Prayer – Jim Cymbala
Only turning God’s house into a house of fervent prayer will reverse the power of evil so evident in the world today.
– Jim Cymbala –
Conformity to the Character of God – Jerry Bridges
Many Christians have what we might call a “cultural holiness.” They adapt to the character and behavior pattern of Christians around them. As the Christian culture around them is more or less holy, so these Christians are more or less holy. But God has not called us to be like those around us. He has called us to be like himself. Holiness is nothing less than conformity to the character of God.
– Jerry Bridges –
The Fulfillment of One Spiritual Comfort – Thomas Brooks
As all lights cannot make up the want of the light of the sun, so all temporal comforts cannot make up the want of one spiritual comfort.
– Thomas Brooks –
1608-1680
Our Lives Are Full of Supposes – Hannah Whitall Smith
Our lives are full of supposes. Suppose this should happen, or suppose that should happen; what could we do; how could we bear it? But, if we are living in the high tower of the dwelling place of God, all these supposes will drop out of our lives. We shall be quiet from the fear of evil, for no threatenings of evil can penetrate into the high tower of God.
– Hannah Whitall Smith –
Power of God Over the Power of Others – Woodrow Kroll
With the power of God within us, we need never fear the powers around us.
– Woodrow Kroll –
Darkest Century in History, Unless … – Gene Edwards
It is my studied judgment that some future generation will deem this to be the darkest century, in spiritual depth and spiritual experience, in church history – that is, unless something very radical happens along… soon.
– Gene Edwards –