Were ever the being of God, his glorious attributes and perfections, his unsearchable wisdom, his irresistible power, his inconceivable glory, his inflexible justice, and his incontestable sovereignty, discoursed of with more clearness, fulness, reverence, and divine eloquence, than in this book?
The creation of the world, and the government of it, are here admirably described, not as matters of nice speculation, but as laying most powerful obligations upon us to fear and serve, to submit to and trust in, our Creator, owner, Lord, and ruler. — Bible commentator Matthew Henry on the book of Job
Jesus' reason for dropping only dark hints about (for instance) His messianic role, atonement, resurrection, and forthcoming reign, was twofold: first, only events could make these things clear in any case; and second, Jesus' concern was to call people into discipleship through His personal impact on them, and then teach them about Himself within that relationship, rather than to offer detailed theological instruction to the uncommitted. — J.I. Packer
The old cliche is too negative...too defeatest. Let's renew our minds when it comes to planning for the adversities we will surely face in life. Instead of "having something to fall back on," let's think in terms of having something with which to keep forging ahead, undaunted and without fear.
Moreover, have a worthy goal! That of the apostle Paul is most worthy: "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus...looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ..." (Philippians 3:13,14; Titus 2:13)
Heaven is at hand, and abundant life is available in every moment. The now is pregnant with possibility, and so I think my greatest fear would be to go through day after day, year after year, decade after decade, and to not be present in the present and rather than embracing the beauty of the moment, to simply exist. I think that that would be a waste of the life that I've got, the blood in my veins, the breathe in my lungs crying out for beauty and truth and the One who made me. The counter to that fear would be love, and perfect love casts out all fear. That would be my goal, to embrace the love of my Maker in the moment. — Jon Foreman, lead singer of the band Switchfoot
What a joyful spectacle is this to Satan and his faction, to see those that are separated from the world fall in pieces among themselves! Our discord is our enemy's melody. — Richard Sibbes
...Jesus lost a voice vote to a guy named Barabbas, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was put to death, Abraham Lincoln lost more races than he won. How you conduct yourself matters. — South Carolina Congressman Trey Gowdy, responding to journalist Martha MacCallum when she asked him about his personal heroes
Students need the opposite of protection from diverse arguments and points of view. They need exposure to them. This exposure will teach them how to think. As John Stuart Mill said, "He who knows only his own side of the case, knows little of that." — Amy L. Wax, professor at U. Penn law school
The accurate exposition of different passages will yield different sermons. But whenever the Word of God is rightly divided, Jesus Whose testimony is the spirit of prophecy will be preached to those who have ears to hear. Every sound message is rooted in the sure promises of the covenant and is permeated with the fragrance of the incarnation. Every faithful pulpit utterance invites the needy to the sacrificial feast and sounds forth that blessed hope...the coming great day of Christ the exalted first fruits of the resurrection.
"It is the part of a good shepherd to shear his flock, not to skin it." — Latin Proverb
"Atheism is a fairy tale for those afraid of the light" — John Lennox
How to Be Miserable, Part 2
Always look for faults in others.
Shirk your duties if you can.
Do as little as possible for others.
Always find someone else to blame if something goes wrong.
Sulk if people are not grateful for your favors.
Insist on consideration and respect.
Demand agreement on every detail of your personal views on everything.
Love yourself first, be selfish, a snob, and expect others to be friendly to you.
It is worse still to be ignorant of your ignorance. — Jerome
"The past is a source of knowledge, and the future is a source of hope. Love of the past implies faith in the future." — Stephen Ambrose, biographer of U.S. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon, d. A.D. 2002.
Reflections arising from Mr. Ambrose's words:
Ignorance of history is tragic.
The fulcrum of all human history is the sinless life, substitutionary death, and victorious resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ, all of which is impeccably documented, to say nothing of miraculously foretold.
Even more tragic is it for someone to miss the joy of the certain hope of His future coming again in glory to usher in a blessed eternity for those who trust wholly in Him.
I will use treatment to help the sick according to my ability and judgment, but never with a view to injury and wrongdoing. Neither will I administer a poison to anbody when asked to do so, nor will I suggest such a course. Similarly, I will not give to a woman a pessary to cause abortion. — The Hippocratic Oath, attributed to ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, "the father of medicine," 460 – 370 B.C.
Kindly politeness is the slow fruit of advanced reflection; it is a sort of humanity and kindliness applied to small acts and every day discourse: it bids man soften towards others, and forget himself for the sake of others: it constrains genuine nature, which is selfish and gross. — Hippolyte Taine
In ancient times before the divine sojourn of the Savior took place, even to the saints death was terrible; all wept for the dead as though they perished. But now that the Savior has raised his body, death is no longer terrible; for all who believe in Christ trample on it as it were nothing and choose rather to die than deny their faith in Christ. And that devil that once maliciously exulted in death, now that its pains were loosed, remained the only one truly dead. — Athanasius of Alexandria
...the same night wherein Christ was betrayed He took bread and broke it. Though Christ was to die the next day and to encounter the wrath of God, yes, that very night He was to be in agony and to sweat great drops of blood, and the next day to die and have these trials of wrath poured upon Him so as to put Him to cry out, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" yet He busies His thoughts that very night to institute this supper. Surely it must be a great ordinance, and there is a great deal of the love of Christ in it. — Jeremiah Burroughs
A mother is not a person to lean on, but a person to make leaning unnecessary. — Dorothy C. Fisher
Unfermented grape juice is a bland and pleasant drink, especially on a warm afternoon mixed half-and-half with ginger ale. It is a ghastly symbol of the life blood of Jesus Christ, especially when served in individual antiseptic, thimble-sized glasses. Wine is booze, which means it is dangerous and drunk-making. It makes the timid brave and the reserved amorous. It loosens the tongue and breaks the ice especially when served in a loving cup. It kills germs. As symbols go, it is a rather splendid one. — Frederick Buechner
Every government is perpetually degenerating towards corruption, from which it must be rescued at certain periods by the resuscitation of its first principles, and the re-establishment of its original constitution. — Samuel Johnson
It is the part of a good shepherd to shear his flock, not to skin it. — Latin Proverb
Moreover, the Biblical symbol of true freedom is not the flight of the seagull [as taught in the humanistic tale of Jonathan Livingston Seagull] but the flight of the eagle. The false gospel of Jonathan Livingston Seagull is that "we can lift ourselves" out of ignorance, materialism, and failure...[but] the true Gospel of Jesus Christ is that He is able to lift us.
So flight in Scripture is not a symbol of self-effort but of [a complete reliance on God's] salvation. The picture it presents is not the strenuous flapping of wings, but the stretching of wings to catch the wind, and effortless soaring in the sky. — James J.S. Johnson, citing John Stott
Too many parents make life hard for their children by trying, too zealously, to make it easy for them. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
One thing I notice about Evangelicals is that they do not read. They do not read the Bible, they do not read the great Christian thinkers, they have never heard of Aquinas…I do not understand. I have bookcases of Christian books and I am a Jew. Why do I have more Christian books that 98 percent of Christians in America? — Dennis Prager
Often, we don't feel worthy, or see the whole picture as God has already seen and pieced together. We know He's taking our part, which sometimes feels as simple as a piece of broken glass, tossed about by the waves with rough edges worn down by sand and rough water – He's taking this part and piecing us together as the great Artist, and making something beautiful. — Josh Ghrist, Director of Lighthouse for Christ in Mombasa, Kenya
The civil magistrate cannot function without some ethical guidance, without some standard of good and evil. If that standard is not to be the revealed law of God…then what will it be? In some form or expression it will have to be the law of man (or men) – the standard of self-law or autonomy. And when autonomous laws come to govern a commonwealth, the sword is certainly wielded in vain, for it represents simply the brute force of some men's will against the will of other men. — Greg Bahnsen
No word ever uttered for Christ loses its effect – never. Every impression made on an immortal soul for good, continues, still operates, directly or indirectly, and will operate on that soul to all eternity. O ye pastors, downhearted pastors, who think you are doing nothing, that your words are vain, who take up the lamentation of Isaiah and say, 'Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?' Oh, remember, you have never uttered a truth that will not last in its influence forever. Every song of praise to Jesus Christ, my dear hearer, rings through all space, and through all eternity. — Charles Hodge, Frankford Presbyterian Church, May 4, A.D. 1870 (the church's centennial)
I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene and design in providence, for the illumination of the ignorant and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth. — John Adams, first vice-president and second president of the United States
In 1892, the United States Supreme Court determined, in the case of The Church of the Holy Trinity vs. United States, that America was a Christian nation from its earliest days. The court opinion, delivered by Justice Josiah Brewer, was an exhaustive study of the historical and legal evidence for America’s Christian heritage. After examining hundreds of court cases, state constitutions, and other historical documents, the court came to the following conclusion:
Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian...This is a religious people. This is historically true. From the discovery of this continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation...We find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth...These, and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation. — Decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of The Church of the Holy Trinity v. The United States (143 United States 457 [1892])
The fundamental basis of this nation's law was given to Moses on the Mount [Sinai]. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul. I don't think we emphasize that enough these days. If we don't have the proper fundamental moral background, we will finally wind up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in rights for anybody but the state. — Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States
Few people today appreciate how extensively, no matter what his personal faith may have been, Shakespeare, in his plays, echoed the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, and the language of the clergy. Church going (to the state church) was required, and all Englishmen had a common language of Christian faith and structure, whether or not they agreed with it. Much of Shakespeare's greatness and power came from having such an audience and in speaking their language. — R. J. Rushdoony
Many long for thousands of days, and wish to live here long: let them despise these thousands of days, let them long for one day, which has neither rising nor setting: one day, an everlasting day, to which no yesterday yields, which no tomorrow presses. Let this one day be longed for by us. — Augustine
Christ's human nature was an altar from which the incense of perfect consecration rose ceaselessly day and night. — Geerhardus Vos
One of the basic demands of Christian discipleship, of following Jesus Christ, is to change our way of thinking. We are to 'take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ' (2 Corinthians 10:5). We are 'not to be conformed to this world but [are to] be transformed by the renewing of our minds' (Romans 12:2). In other words, we are commanded to have a Biblical worldview. All our thinking, our perspective on life, and our understanding of the world around us, is to be comprehensively informed by Scripture.
God's condemnation of Israel came because 'their ways were not His ways and their thoughts were not His thoughts' (Isaiah 55:8). They did not have a Biblical worldview. When we begin to think about the law, or bio-medical ethics, or art, or business, or love, or history, or welfare, or anything else apart from God's revelation, we too have made ourselves vulnerable to condemnation. A Biblical worldview is not optional. It is mandatory. — George Grant
Gradualism is a powerful concept used to promote the acceptance of evolution. If someone asks why only adaptations have been observed but no real evolution, the pat answers from evolutionists conveniently claim that no one should expect to see it happen unless they could live for thousands of generations.
If the notion of creatures evolving into fundamentally different beings is completely foreign to all human experience, so is the incomprehensively slow pace of evolution. This detachment from rational human experience opens the door for unbelievably fertile imaginations to contrive stories that extrapolate all kinds of evolutionary change. And through the wonder of imagination, the impossible becomes an evolutionary reality. — Randy J. Guliuzza, P.E., M.D.
As rudimentary literacy is the precondition of all advanced learning, so Self revelation by God is the precondition for all human knowledge.
Neither complacency nor a perpetually frenetic way of life characterizes the spiritual walk of a disciple of Jesus. God has given us the Spirit of love, power, and a sound mind...the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
God of our fathers, known of old,
Lord of our far-flung battle-line,
Beneath whose awful Hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine —
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget — lest we forget!
The tumult and the shouting dies;
The Captains and the Kings depart:
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget — lest we forget!
From the poem "Recessional" by Rudyard Kipling, written A.D. 1897 for Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee
Earth's moon is the perfect shape, size, density, and distance from us to produce the stable environment that is important for life to thrive. Its many protective effects include causing the tides, providing the ideal level of light to light up the night and, many scientists believe, stabilizing Earth's tilt. The Earth-moon system relationship would be very different if only small astronomical changes occcurred. The moon was designed to help us thrive. Tonight, take the opportunity to look up into the night sky and view this special piece of God's handiwork. — Jerry Bergman, Ph.D.
The Gospel has lost none of its ancient power. It is, as much today as when it was first preached, "the power of God unto salvation." It needs no pity, no help, and no handmaid. It can overcome all obstacles, and break down all barriers. No human device need be tried to prepare the sinner to receive it, for if God has sent it, no power can hinder it; and if He has not sent it, no power can make it effectual. — Dr. E.W. Bullinger (A.D. 1837 – 1913)
Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can. — John Wesley
Jesus saw no contradiction in laying these three themes side-byside: earthly reward, persecution, heavenly reward. He promises all three, and we need to emphasize all three equally well. — Gary DeMar, in Something Greater is Here
Possessions and positions are tools to glorify God. Circumstances favorable or unfavorable are opportunities to glorify God. All activities and relationships are God glorification arenas. We exist for the praise, glory, and honor of God.
The idea that science can solve any problem flows from humanism. This teaches that humans are the pinnacle of evolution and can create better futures and develop technologies to rescue us from all harm. Humanists seem to want the benefit of everlasting life without having to turn to God. — Brian Thomas, M.S.
Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation. The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world; it is God's gift to humanity. — George W. Bush
What Scripture says, God says; for in a manner comparable only to the deeper mystery of the Incarnation, the Bible is both fully human and fully divine. So all its manifold contents – histories, prophecies, poems, songs, wisdom writings, sermons, statistics, letters, and whatever else – should be received as from God, and all that the Bible writers teach should be revered as God's authoritative instruction. Christians should be grateful to God for the gift of His written Word, and conscientious in basing their faith and life entirely and exclusively upon it. Otherwise, we cannot ever honor or please Him as He calls us to do. — J.I. Packer
If we regularly beheld the glory of Christ our Christian walk with God would become more sweet and pleasant, our spiritual light and strength would grow daily stronger and our lives would more gloriously represent the glory of Christ. Death itself would be most welcome to us. — John Owen
When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don't throw away your ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer. — Corrie Ten Boom
"He who would instruct for godliness and discipleship must be temperate in all things. Let him not stray into a polar region where scholarship lacks penetrating warmth, nor into an equatorial jungle where affections are hot but reason is reduced to a brute level. Let him not set his hearers adrift in an academic sargasso sea, nor lead them into a desert where the still waters of knowledge are not to be found."
Once did the skies before thee bow;
A virgin's arms contain thee now:
Angels who did in thee rejoice
Now listen for thine infant voice. — Martin Luther (in his hymn, All Praise to Thee, Eternal Lord)
"We find everywhere in this world the traces of a revealed God and of a hidden God; revealed enough to strengthen our faith, concealed enough to try our faith." — Philip Schaff
Unattributed quotes are the words of the web site editor.
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