Have you ever noticed that when Jesus told his disciples that he would be leaving them, they reacted with sorrow, but then, when it actually happened, they reacted with joy? (Compare John 16:16-20 with Luke 24:50-53) What can account for this change? In his book The Work of Christ, R.C. Sproul provides a simple answer:…
Jeremiah Burrough’s The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment is one of the most important and personally-impactful Puritan works I’ve ever read. Let me give you just a taste of what Burroughs has to say about contentment. Here he shares eight things that will be opposed by a true, biblical contentment. Now Christian quietness is opposed…
We are not God. That seems obvious when we consider it and yet so often we act as if we actually are God, or gods, at least. John Piper talks about this and many of its implications in one of his meditations from Pierced by the Word. Here is what he says: We are not…
What do we mean when we say that God is sovereign? A.W. Pink tackles this question right out of the gate in his book The Sovereignty of God. He explains what the Bible means when it claims that God is sovereign and he then compares this to modern sentimentality. The Sovereignty of God. What do…
Though prayer is instictive, it is also difficult labor. David M’Intyre makes and explains this point in his book The Hidden Life of Prayer: Instinctive as is our dependence upon God, no duty is more earnestly impressed upon us in Scripture than the duty of continual communion with Him. The main reason for this unceasing…
I have probably shared this quote before–a quote drawn from D.A. Carson’s The Cross and Christian Ministry, but I found myself thinking about these words this morning and asking myself this: How many of these things could I do today? Which of these things could I do today and perhaps unwittingly undermine my church from…
Kerry Allen is a keeper of all things Spurgeon, including a Twitter feed that shares Spurgeon quotes and Spurgeon.us, a web site that contains a massive database of Spurgeon material. He recently shared with me an interesting quote from Spurgeon. It comes from the sermon “Further Afield,” preached on September 23, 1888. Here Spurgeon describes…
Christ has died and Christ has risen. He has called a people to himself and he is jealous of those who are his. Read and reflect upon what Charles Spurgeon says about Christ’s holy, jealous love: The Lord Jesus Christ, of whom I now speak, is very jealous of your love, O believer. Did he…
A few hours from now I will be heading downtown for a Good Friday service that will bring together several local congregations and, we hope, hundreds or maybe even over a thousand, Christians. Together we will remember the death of our Lord. Today I found a few choice quotes from Frederick Leahy’s wonderful little book…
Last week I shared a quote from Richard Sibbes that called on us to hate sin from the heart. I want to share another pearl of wisdom from Sibbes, this one telling why Christians are often charged with distraction. You’ll need to read the quote to get the context for that word. It has been…
Here is some wisdom from Richard Sibbes–the kind of wisdom that, if we could just take it to heart, all the way to heart, it would make every difference in our lives. If we would make it evident that our conversion is sound we must loathe and hate sin from the heart; now a man…
Reading Michael Wittmer’s excellent new book The Last Enemy, I came across a powerful little story that I wanted to share with you. I trust you will enjoy it as I did. My friend Jeff stopped by the hospital to visit one of his dearest senior saints. Charlotte was in her eighties, but she had…
Jonathan Edwards says that a truly Christian love is a humble, broken-hearted kind of love. You will want to read and ponder this short quote from The Religious Affections. Christian affections are like Mary’s precious ointment that she poured on Christ’s head, that filled the whole house with a sweet odor. That was poured out…
This quote from J.C. Ryle seems more than a little appropriate to read and ponder on this, the Lord’s Day. Today we go to hear the Word of God read and preached and on this day, more than any other, we have opportunity to work on applying it to our lives. Is the Bible the…
Here is a beautiful and powerful quote from John Owen who calls on you to rejoice in the love of God (It is taken from Communion with the Triune God). Owen says rightly that knowing and believing God’s love is the key to delighting in him. But he says it much better than that. So…
This seemed like a pertinent quote for a Sunday morning. As we head to church and listen to the preaching of the Word, I’m sure it will be profitable to think just a moment about the unction of the Holy Spirit. This quote comes from Charles Spurgeon’s An All-Round Ministry. One thing more, and it…
This morning I found myself looking back through some of my old notes on Jonathan Edwards’ The Religious Affections. It is such a dense and sweet book; I found so many powerful quotes and just had to share a few of them with you. (Each paragraph is its own quote, entirely disconnected from the one…
As I was sorting through some books today, I came across a volume by Philip Schaff. As I thought of him, I just had to go looking for this quote, the one that more than any other, has outlasted him. Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Mahomet, and…
I love this quote from A.W. Pink’s The Sovereignty of God. Employing some wonderful prose, particularly near the end of the quote, he does battle with those who claim to be Christians but who show very little evidence in their lives. He describes the sweeping nature of what Christ accomplishes in giving new life. The…
Francis Schaeffer coined some interesting terms–things like true truth and nothing nothing. He wasn’t just being silly; he was making important statements about the world. Here, from He Is There And He Is Not Silent is his description of nothing nothing. We are considering existence, the fact that something is there. Remember Jean-Paul Sartre’s statement…