Our biggest problem comes from the inside; the only solution comes from the outside. To get it the other way around is to miss the gospel.
Archive for the 'Quotes' Category
Truth necessitates application.
–Eric Carpenter, Ligonier 2010: A Review
In his excellent review of the conference, Carpenter laments the fact that speakers spent little time on application. The only thing I can say in their defense is that John MacArthur has spoken at length about how he exposits Scripture and let’s the listener apply it. He doesn’t know everyone’s individual situation and there could be 100 ways of applying something either in insight or in practice.
I think preachers could give a personal application as an example. This helps people to know their pastor better and gives them an idea of how something written in an ancient text still applies to us. (Like the same powerful God who created the earth in six literal days abides in us. Ha.)
But the quote stands on its own and is clear in meaning.
This is what I’ve believed for a long time and it’s nice to see someone put it into words. The is Tim Challies summarizing what Al Mohler said at Ligonier Ministries’ annual conference.
When it comes to the confrontation of evolutionary theory and the gospel we have a head-on collision. It is our responsibility to give an answer to this question of why the universe looks old, but the most natural understanding comes to this: the universe looks old because the Creator made it whole. When he made Adam, Adam was not a fetus but a man. By our understanding this would have required time. But for God it did not. He put Adam in the garden, which was not merely seeds, but a fertile, mature garden. God creates and makes things whole.
Read the whole article.
The end of learning is to know God, and out of that knowledge is to love Him and imitate Him.
–John Milton, from PuritanQuotes on Twitter
Knowledge of the sciences is so much smoke apart from the heavenly science of Christ.
–John Calvin, via Puritan Quotes on Twitter
Colossians 3:1-3 NLT
Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
From the book Ryken’s Bible Handbook:
DID YOU KNOW?
The judges did not “judge.” They were charismatic military leaders whose chief function was to deliver the nation from its enemies. Various translations and commentators render the Hebrew word sophet as “heroes,” “leaders,” “chieftains,” “deliverers,” and “warrior rulers.”…
Because some of the judges overlapped, no exact chronology is possible, but the period of the judges spanned approximately three hundred years.
There is no worse screen to block out the Spirit than confidence in our own intelligence.
–John Calvin, via Puritan Quotes on Twitter
Many people think Calvin de-emphasized the Holy Spirit which isn’t true.
1 Corinthians 3:18 HCSB
No one should deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks he is wise in this age, he must become foolish so that he can become wise.
1 Thessalonians 5:19 HCSB
Don’t stifle the Spirit.
God gives me no task except that which requires my dependence on Him to do it. Therefore, there is nothing I should regard as automatic. No conversation should be on auto-pilot—I need to ask His guidance, ask His wisdom and empowerment that I will say words pleasing to Him, not careless words I will have to give account for in the Day of Judgment. Matt. 12:36
–Randy Alcorn via Facebook
I think some might say, “Yes but I’m a Christian so even though I want to please God it’s not like I’m in trouble on judgment day.” We aren’t in trouble but I firmly believe we will be rewarded according to what we’ve done and this reward is praise from God which is something many of us don’t highly value but I believe we very much will at that time.
Ephesians 4:29-30 HCSB
No rotten talk should come from your mouth, but only what is good for the building up of someone in need, in order to give grace to those who hear. And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit, who sealed you for the day of redemption.
I need to be more dependent on God in my conversation whether speaking or writing which means I need to be more aware of God more of the time which is a good thing.
With chronic suffering, pain is always there. This is an opportunity to rely on God more and think about Him more. This is something I always striven for and still do. I never thought this would be one of the ways that would come about. Just set your watch to beep every hour and say a prayer. It’s much easier.
This ABC News clip about Bruce Waltke is proof of how “fair and balanced” our media are. We are told the debate is between “Creationism” and “Evolution.” Why not the more accurate and balanced “Evolutionism”?
–Dave Black, Dave Black Online
Here is a good blog post on the ridiculousness of Christianity becoming a cult if we don’t believe in macro evolution:
Life on the Cultic Fringe
Genesis 1:12 HCSB
The earth brought forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it, according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:21 HCSB So God created the large sea-creatures and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water, according to their kinds. [He also created] every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:24 HCSB
Then God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so.
I love the idea of fearing God. Some have a hard time with it and some have never really been introduced to it so I always like to post a good quote when I come across one.
Scripture is full of commands to fear God and it is also full of commands not to be afraid. If we fear God, we need not be afraid of anyone or anything else. But if we don’t fear God, we have reason to be afraid of other things. You fear God when you come to grips with the fact that he is right and you are not, and he is in charge and you are not. “…that he may learn to fear the Lord his God.” (Deut. 17:19)
–Randy Alcorn via Facebook
Our Lord points out the utter unreasonableness from His standpoint of being so anxious over the means of living. Jesus is not saying that the man who takes thought for nothing is blessed – that man is a fool. Jesus taught that a disciple has to make his relationship to God the dominating concentration of his life, and to be carefully careless about every thing else in comparison to that. Jesus is saying – “Don’t make the ruling factor of your life what you shall eat and what you shall drink, but be concentrated absolutely on God.”
-Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest
I’m not as into him now as I was for a couple of decades. I read that devotional at least three times through. I have one tattered copy and another newer one. I also read his other two that were put together. This is my favorite quote of his.
I care too much about many things I shouldn’t care about. So I say that I should really care less.
The tragedy is that American Christianity has so closely allied itself with the government of the day that the transcendent Gospel has become submerged in the world’s values.
–David Alan Black, The Jesus Paradigm by pg. 66
Quoted in TC’s review of the book.
I hate politics. (That’s not Black’s point though.)
Making matters simpler for the enemy is the fact that in these days of “happy talk,” pastors, biblically illiterate parishioners, and thousands of churches that are theology-free zones, are virtual modern Marcionites. Marcion was a second century heretic who (to oversimplify a bit) embraced the “good” Redeemer God of the New Testament but rejected the (presumably) wrathful Creator God of the Old. Any discomfort with the God of the Old Testament smacks of Marcion’s heresy. To view the God in the Old Testament as different from the God of the New Testament is to expose how little we understand either.
–Jim Andrews, Polishing God’s Monuments, pg. 97
Without elaborating, sometimes when I hear people say certain things, I feel like saying, “Have you read the Old Testament?”
We’ve lost the fear of God. We’ve lost the fact that God is jealous and hates sin. I see this more than ever when reading through Numbers and Leviticus. He wouldn’t let any little tiny thing defile them and couldn’t be in the presence of anything or anyone who was unclean. And when we don’t understand that, we don’t really know God and we can’t more fully appreciate his grace and love. We talk about his grace and love all the time, but by doing that to the exclusion of other aspects of God’s character we can’t appreciate them as much as we could. We’re really missing out on enjoying God and more importantly glorifying him even more. Am I right?
This is one thing I love about the Puritans. They had that balance. And there are certainly a lot of Christians now who do too. For me this is the value of reading the Old Testament, using Psalms as a model for prayer, worship, praise etc. Spending ample time confessing when praying and when noticing things throughout the day (and asking God to point them out) etc.
I wonder if many people are afraid to fear God.
Here is the most concise quote I’ve seen on Augustine’s idea of seeking and doing God’s will and it can be distilled down to this:
“Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Ps. 37:4). Augustine said, “Love God and do as you please.” Because if you’re really loving God, you want to do what pleases him.
–Randy Alcorn on Facebook
John MacArthur spoke a very good sermon on it. Here is a quote:
You say, “But…but…but…but what about me?” Are you ready for this? Hum, if you’re saved, Spirit-filled, sanctified, submissive, suffering, and saying thanks, you know what God’s will is? Whatever you want. You like that? Do whatever you want. Go do whatever you want. You say, “You’re kidding.” No, I’m not kidding…No, I…you say, “What do you mean? How can…I can’t just go do what I want.” Yes, you can, because if that’s how you’re living, guess who’s in charge of your wants?…
But you really have to hear or read the whole thing to really know what he’s getting at. This quote is near the end of the sermon.
It’s pretty well impossible to sing your own praises and stay in key.
The challenge is not merely to pursue righteousness, but to prefer righteousness.
Character in a saint means the disposition of Jesus Christ persistently manifested.
–Oswald Chambers
I believe we can strive to be righteous and holy as we are commanded but we more importantly need to pray that God will change our disposition so that it will come naturally.
1 Peter 1:15-16
But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
Romans 12:2
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
[I]f you are going to act like a prophet today and call people out, you had better be sure your own house is in order.
–Dave Black, Sunday January 10, 8:04 AM
D.A. Carson on theological education:
…as you study, you may suddenly without even realizing it shift from desiring to be to be mastered by the Word to desiring to be masters of the Word.
This is from an interview that can be found on Justin Taylor’s blog. The quote is at about the 15:30 mark.
Scripture isn’t hard to understand, it’s hard to accept.
I like this because when it comes to basic doctrine many of us want to try to change an interpretation of Scripture so that it’s more acceptable to us, especially us in the West with our sense of democracy and fairness. Some even go so far as to explain away miracles because they just don’t seem possible.
I like to think that as time as gone on I’ve grown to embrace what Scripture says and embrace paradoxes (apparent contradictions) even if it doesn’t seem fair or reasonable to me and my logic.
When God provides more money we often think, “This is a blessing.” Yes, but it would be just as scriptural to say, “This is a test.” Abundance isn’t God’s provision for me to live in luxury. God entrusts me with his money not to build my kingdom on earth, but to build his kingdom in heaven. “You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion” (2 Cor 9:11)
–Randy Alcorn via Facebook
A fellow home coffee roaster roasts coffee for an African woman who is a missionary in this country and owns a coffee shop. She said that when missionaries from the U.S. go to Africa they pray for safety and health. When African missionaries come here their main concern is to not get sucked into materialism. This is a big concern for them. Since we live in it we aren’t nearly as aware of just how insidious it really is.
1 Timothy 6:17-19 TNIV
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
Proverbs 30:8-9 TNIV
Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say,
‘Who is the LORD?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.
Philippians 4:11-13 TNIV
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
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