Have I obtained a view of God’s fatherly countenance that I might behold his face and provoke him to his face? Was my soul washed that room might be made for new defilements? Shall I endeavour to disappoint the end of the death of Christ? Shall I daily grieve the Spirit whereby I am sealed to the day of redemption?
– John Owen –
The last word of our Lord to the church was not the Great Commission. The last thing He said to the church was “Repent.” He said that to five out of seven.
– Vance Havner –
(see Revelation 2-3)
Bring thy lust to the gospel, not for relief, but for further conviction of its guilt: look on him whom thou hast pierced, and be in bitterness. Say to thy soul, What have I done? What love, what mercy, what blood, what grace, have I despised and trampled on! Is this the return I make to the Father for his love, to the Son for his blood, to the Holy Ghost for his grace? Do I thus requite the Lord? Have I defiled the heart that Christ died to wash, which the blesses Spirit hath chosen to dwell in? And can I keep myself out of the dust? What can I say to the dear Lord Jesus? How shall I hold up my head with any boldness before him? Do I account communion with him of so little value that for this vile lust’s sake I have scarce left him any room in my heart? How shall I escape, if I neglect so great salvation? In the mean time, what shall I say to the Lord? Love, mercy, grace, goodness, peace, joy, consolation; I have despised them all, and esteemed them as a thing of naught, that I might harbour a lust in my heart.
– John Owen –
from The Mortification of Sin
If Christianity is to make any headway in the present time, it must be proved to be more than a theory.
– Hannah Whitall Smith –
One day a smart little boy —and you know there is nothing so smart as a little boy, unless it is a little girl—said to his sister, “Can you spell water with three letters?” Of course she could not. Then he spelled it for her, i-c-e. When one gets where he can see God, he will find that every promise in the Bible is spelled v-i-c-t-o-r-y,—victory over sin, over the world, the flesh, and the devil. “Oh, Brother Kulp, I have tried everything and I am defeated.” Quit “trying everything,” and believe God. Faith is the victory.
– George Kulp –
Faith makes a man an optimist. The man who believes God cannot be discouraged. He hears the Master talking to him and, as he listens to Him, there comes the comforting words, “I am with thee even to the end.” Now, the devil can launch his brigades and his divisions and his legions, but this man sees the other side and shouts the victory.
– George Kulp –
All the spiritual might and strength that a Christian has, he has it from the Holy Spirit. Though the Spirit strengthens every Christian in the inner man, yet I do not say that the Spirit strengthens every Christian alike in the inward man. Some have stronger corruptions to subdue than others, and more violent temptations to withstand than others, and greater difficulties to wrestle with than others, and choicer mercies to improve than others, and higher and harder duties of religion to manage than others, and accordingly they are more strengthened in the inner man than others.
– Thomas Brooks –
from The Secret Key To Heaven, 1665
No flesh shall glory in His presence, and the religious flesh is no more acceptable than the irreligious.
–T. Austin-Sparks –
Exercise great self-denial: “Let him deny himself” (Matthew 16:24). Self-ease, self-ends, whatever comes in competition with (or stand in opposition to) Christ’s glory and interest must be denied. Self is the great snare; self-love undermines the power of godliness. The young man in the Gospel might have followed Christ, but something of self-hindered (Matthew 19:20-22). Self-love is self-hatred. The man who cannot get beyond himself will never get to heaven.
– Thomas Watson –
from The Godly Man’s Picture, 1666