On the use of the Psalms

"We are in danger of losing the Psalter in our churches; indeed, many have already lost it, and so it is no accident that many people in our congregations do not know how to pray."

-Elizabeth Achtemeier

Richard Steele on Humility

Humility will make you easy and contented in every condition of life; you will then be ready to commanded; easy to be pleased; hard to be provoked; and generally beloved. An humble mind thinks every good it receieves more than it deserves, and every evil less. It will not think itself too great or too good to stoop to the meanest services of an honest employment; nor be wanting in a modest and respectful behaviour to others. You will not then be disputing when you should obey; fretting when you should submit; envying those you should respect, or contemning those you should embrace. These are a consequence of pride in the heart; a disposition that will make you hateful to God, disrespected of men, and uneasy to yourselves; every labour will be thought too much, every reproof too galling, and every week a year, until the time of servitude expires, and then you will carry your chain with you, for what liberty can he have that is a slave to his pride and passions?

Chesterton on Motherhood

To be Queen Elizabeth within a definite area, deciding sales, banquets, labours, and holidays; to be Whitely within a certain area, providing toys, boots, cakes and books; to be Aristotle within a certain area, teaching morals, manners, theology, and hygiene; I can imagine how this can exhaust the mind, but I cannot imagine how it could narrow it. How can it be a large career to tell other people about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one's own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone and narrow to be everything to someone? No, a woman’s function is laborious, but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute.

At times men think of the two words, reformation and revival as standing in contrast one to the other, but this is a mistake. Both words are related to the word restore.

Reformation refers to a restoration to pure doctrine; revival refers to a restoration in the Christian’s life. Reformation speaks of a return to the teachings of Scripture; revival speaks of a life brought into its proper relationship to the Holy Spirit.

The Great moments of church history have come when these two restorations have simultaneously come into action so that the church has returned to pure doctrine and the lives of the Christians in the church have known the power of the Holy Spirit. There cannot be true revival unless there has been reformation; and reformation is not complete without revival.

Such a combination of reformation and revival would be revolutionary in our day—revolutionary in our individual lives as Christians, revolutionary not only in reference to the liberal church but constructively revolutionary in the evangelical, orthodox church as well.

May we be those who know the reality of both reformation and revival, so that this poor dark world may have an exhibition of a portion of the church returned to both pure doctrine and Spirit-filled life.

-Francis Schaffer, Death in the City-

Spurgeon on sufficiency of God

"'For thou art with me.' This is the joy of the Christian!...'Thou Art with me' I have in having thee, all that I can crave: I have perfect comfort and absolute security, for thou art with me" Charles Spurgeon

Spurgeon on God's mercy

"Goodness and mercy follow him always - 'all the days of his life' - the black days as well as the bright days, the days of fasting as well as the days of feating, the dreary days of winter as well as the bright days of summer. Goodness supplies our needs and mercy blots out our sins." Charles Spurgeon

Matthew Henry on the love of God

"The great God not only loves his saints, but he loves to love them, is pleased that he has pitched upon these objects of his love. He will joy over them with singing. He that is grieved for the sin of sinners rejoices in the graces and services of the saints, and is ready to express that joy by singing over them. The Lord takes pleasure in those that fear him, and in them Jesus Christ will shortly be glorified and admired."

Matthew Henry on justification

“He (Jesus) rose again for our justification; and that
divine powerby which he was raised is able to do every
thing for us that we stand in need of.” Matthew Henry.     

Hodge on power of God

“When we are really weak in ourselves and are conscious of that weakness, we are in the state suited to the manifestation of God’s power. When we are emptied of ourselves, we are filled with God. Those who think they can change their own hearts, atone for their own sins, subdue the power of evil in their own souls or in the souls of others, who feel able to sustain themselves under affliction, God leaves to their own resources. But when they feel and acknowledge their weakness, he imparts divine strength to them.” Charles Hodge

Spurgeon on God's provision

“Jehovah who created all things is equal to every emergency; heaven and earth are at the disposal of Him who made them, therefore let be very joyful in our infinite helper.”

Jerry Bridges on worship

"The glory of God is the sum of all His infinite excellence and praiseworthiness set forth in display. To glorify God is first of all to respond properly to this display by ascribing to Him the honour and adoration due Him because of His excellence. We call this worship" Jerry Bridges http://www.reformedtheology.ca/quotes_topic.htm

Thomas Watson on Heaven

"The soul is never satisfied till it has God for its portion, and heaven for its haven" Thomas Watson http://www.reformedtheology.ca/quotes_topic.htm

Michael Horton on the cross

"He suffered as God because only God had the power to save; He suffered as Man because only man owed the debt" Michael Horton http://www.reformedtheology.ca/quotes_topic.htm

John Calvin on contentment

"the happiness promised us in Christ does not consist in outward advantages--such as leading a joyous and peaceful life, having rich possessions, being safe from all harm, and abounding with delights such as the flesh commonly longs after. No, our happiness belongs to the heavenly life!" John Calvin http://www.reformedtheology.ca/quotes_topic.htm

Matthew Henry on the wisdom of God

"He went out, not knowing whither he went. He put himself into the hand of God, to send him whithersoever he pleased. He subscribed to God’s wisdom, as fittest to direct; and submitted to his will, as fittest to determine every thing that concerned him. Implicit faith and obedience are due to God, and to him only. All that are effectually called resign up their own will and wisdom to the will and wisdom of God, and it is their wisdom to do so; though they know not always their way, yet they know their guide, and this satisfies them." Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry on God's faithfulness

"God has made great and precious promises to believers, and he is a faithful God, true to his word; there is no falseness nor fickleness with him, and there should be none with us. His faithfulness should excite and encourage us to be faithful, and we must depend more upon his promises to us than upon our promises to him, and we must plead with him the promise of grace sufficient." Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry on communing with God

"They must draw near to God, and that in a right manner. They must draw near to God. Since such a way of access and return to God is opened, it would be the greatest ingratitude and contempt of God and Christ still to keep at a distance from him. They must draw near by conversion, and by taking hold of his covenant. They must draw near in all holy conversation, like Enoch walking with God. They must draw near in humble adorations, worshipping at his footstool." Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry on the gospel

"The things of Christ and the gospel are good things; they are the best things; they are best in themselves, and the best for us: they are realities of an excellent nature. "Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry on Jesus

"Christ’s sacrifice, though offered upon earth, was by himself carried up into heaven, and is there presented in a way of daily intercession; for he appears in the presence of God for us. He has gone to heaven, not only to enjoy the rest and receive the honour due to him, but to appear in the presence of God for us, to present our persons and our performances, to answer and rebuke our adversary and accuser, to secure our interest, to perfect all our affairs, and to prepare a place for us." Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry on Heaven

"This will be to the salvation of all who look for him; he will then perfect their holiness, their happiness; their number shall then be accomplished, and their salvation completed. Observe, It is the distinguishing character of true believers that they are looking for Christ; they look to him by faith; they look for him by hope and holy desires. They look for him in every duty, in every ordinance, in every providence now; and they expect his second coming, and are preparing for it; and though it will be sudden destruction to the rest of the world, who scoff at the report of it, it will be eternal salvation to those who look for it." Matthew Henry

F.F. Bruce on Christ righteousness

"Intensely zealous that God's honour should contract no stain, this ideal Mediator, having secured the supreme end, will with equal zeal seek the offender's rescue and reclamation." F.F. Bruce

A.W. Pink on prayer

"Prayer is not so much an act as it is an attitude— an attitude of dependency, dependency upon God. Prayer is a confession of creature weakness, yea, of helplessness. Prayer is the acknowledgment of our need and the spreading of it before God...Because prayer is an attitude of dependency, the one who really prays is submissive, submissive to the Divine will; and submission to the Divine will means, that we are content for the Lord to supply our need according to the dictates of His own sovereign pleasure. And hence it is that we say, every prayer that is offered to God in this spirit is sure of meeting with an answer or response from Him."

F.F. Bruce on the cross

"The Crucified One is the true king, the kingliest king of all; because it is He who is stretched on the cross, He turns an obscene instrument of torture into a throne of glory and reigns from the tree." F.F. Bruce

John Calvin on God's mercy

"The divine mercy is a better foundation of trust than any life fashioned out to ourselves, and than all other supports taken together. On this account the Lord's people, however severely they may suffer from poverty, or the violence of human wrongs, or the languor of desire, or hunger or thirst, or the many troubles and anxieties of life, may be happy notwithstanding; for it is well with them, in the best sense of the term, when God is their friend. Unbelievers, on the other hand, must be miserable, even when all the world smile upon them; for God is their enemy, and curse necessarily attaches to their lot." John Calvin

F.F. Bruce on the cross

"The cross is the complete revelation of the divine glory manifested in the Son...Jesus came into the world to reveal the Father, and He revealed Him most fully in His death on the cross." F.F. Bruce

John Stott on the Christian Life

"He called us to Christ and holiness, to freedom and peace, to suffering and glory. More simply, it was a call to an altogether new life in which we know, love, obey and serve Christ, enjoy fellowship with him and with each other, and look beyond our present suffering to the glory which one day will be revealed. This is the hope to which he has called you. Paul prays that our eyes may be opened to know it." John Stott

D.A. Carson on praying for grace

“We become fruitful by grace; we persevere by grace; we mature by grace; by grace we grow to love one another more, and by grace we cherish holiness and a deepening knowledge of God…The Savior cannot be glorified in our lives, nor can we be finally glorified, apart from the grace that He provides.” D.A. Carson

Watson on repentance

"Be as speedy in your repentance as you would have God speedy in His mercies." Thomas Watson

F.F. Bruce on the Fear of Death

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

The fear of death is a most potent fear. Through fear of death many will consent to do things that nothing else could compel them to do. Some braver souls, it is true, will accept death sooner than dishonor; but for the majority the fear of death can be a tyrannous instrument of coercion. And death is indeed the king of terrors to those who recognize in it the penalty of sin. But by the death of their Sanctifier, Christ’s brothers and sisters are sanctified; His death has transformed the meaning of death for them. To them his death means not judgment, but blessing; not bondage, but liberation. And their own death, when it comes, takes its character from His death. If, then, death itself cannot separate the people of Christ from God’s love which has been revealed in him, it can no longer be held over their heads by the devil or any other malign power as a means of intimidation.

-F.F. Bruce, Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews-

Boice on suffering

"Suffering allows the believer to show the supernatural strength of His master. If everything is going well with you and you rejoice, what makes you different from unbelievers? Nothing at all! They also (usually) rejoice when circumstances are favorable. If you are able to rejoice when things are not favorable, however, then Jesus Christ may be clearly seen in you and the supernatural power of the Christian faith is made manifest. Sufering is the dark background for the supernatural radicance of Christ's life."
-Boice

Owen on the glory of God

"So if we desire strong faith and powerful love, which gives us rest, peace and satisfaction, we must seek them by diligently beholding the glory of Christ by faith. In this duty I desire to live and to die. On Christ's glory I would fix all my thoughts and desires, and the more I see of the glory of Christ, the more the painted beauties of this world will wither in my eyes and I will be more curcified to this world."
-John Owen

Boston on power of God in evangelism

"Acknowledge thine own weakness and uselessness without God's grace, and so cry incessantly for it, that the Lord may drive the fish into the net, when thou art spreading it out. Have an eye to this power, when thou art preaching; and think not thou to convert men by the force of reason: if thou do, thou wilt be beguiled." Thomas Boston

Thomas Boston on prayer

"Be busy with God in prayer, when thou art thinking on dealing with the souls of men." Thomas Boston

Boice on grief

""Grief is a blessed thing if it is used by God to bring us to where we can again worship Him and receive the fullness of His blessing."Boice

Boice on faithfulness of God

"We fail and disappoint God many times, in large ways and small. But God is not one to hold past sins against us. He remembers the victories and tell us this so we might press on joyously to serve Him." Boice

James Montgomery Boice on God's Provision

"What is the chief end of man? The Westminster Shroter Catechism answers, 'Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.' Man's chief end is to glorify God. But how can we glorify him if we are constantly doubting His ability to take care of us? We cannot. Thus, says Jesus, since you are called to serve and glorify God, do not worry about even one thing. If you worry, you are not trusting God." James Montgomery Boice

Study the Word - Jonathan Edwards

"You all have by you a large treasure of divine knowledge, in that you have the Bible in your hands; therefore be not contented in possessing but little of this treasure. God hath spoken much to you in the Scripture; labor to understand as much of what he saith as you can. God hath made you all reasonable creatures; therefore let not the noble faculty of reason or understanding lie neglected. Content not yourselves with having so much knowledge as is thrown in your way, and as you receive in some sense unavoidably by the frequent inculcation of divine truth in the preaching of the word, of which you are obliged to be hearers, or as you accidentally gain in conversation; but let it be very much your business to search for it, and that with the same diligence and labor with which men are wont to dig in mines of silver and gold."

-JONATHAN EDWARDS -

John Calvin on God's providence

"When we are unjustly wounded by men, let us overlook their wickedness, remember to mount up on God, and learn to believe for certain that whatever our enemy has wickedly committed against us was permitted and sent by God's just dispensation." John Calvin

F.F. Bruce on eternal life

“For the Spirit of God, imparted by our Lord to his people, dwells within them as a perennial wellspring of refreshment and life. The soul’s deepest thirst is for God himself, who has made us so that we can never be satisfied without him…The fountain of living waters may thus be found resident in the personal life of men and women; with they may draw water from the wells of salvation (Isaiah 12:3) and know that, as they partake of that saving draught, they are tasting the true heavenly gift, the life of the age to come.” F.F. Bruce

John Piper on faith

"The gospel has unleashed the omnipotent mercy of God so that thousands of other gifts flow to us from the gospel heart of God. I am thinking of a text like Romans 8:32 'He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?' This mean that the heart of the Gospel - God's not sparing His own Son - is the guarantee that 'all things' will be given to us.
All things? What does that mean? It means the same thing that Romans 8:28 means: 'And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.' God takes 'all things' and makes them serve our ultimate good. It doesn't mean we get everything our imperfect hears want. It means we get what's good for us...
The goal of the Gospel is my being so in love with Christ and so passionate about His glory that when my suffering can highlight His worth I will bear it 'gladly (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)'...This goal is not our ease or wealth or safety in this age, but our dependence on Christ and delight in His glory...
'I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, (Ps. 43:4).' So faith has tasted the glory of God in Christ and treasures it enough that the fullness of it is worth waiting for and suffering for. Faith has seen the truth that part of Christ's glory is his trustworthiness. Therefore, faith can cast itself on the promise of Christ and trust that the fullness of glory and the fullness of joy will surely come." John Piper

Randy Newman on evangelism

“If we think that the gospel is simply a good deal that any reasonable person would accept, we’ll not only be amazed at how many people turn it down, but we may actually distort the message in the process of proclaiming it. We might strip the gospel of its supernatural and convicting elements, talking about the offer of a free gift, or going to heaven, or living forever, or feeling the freedom of forgiveness, or the need to make a decision as if these were parts of a benefits package. To be sure, these are important components of the gospel message. But without the context of God’s holiness, the horror of our sinfulness, the need for repentance, and the necessity of the cross instead of just a guidebook to better behavior, we’ll terribly misrepresent the gospel. People need to hear the bad news in our message before they can appreciate the Good News. Not only do the minds of nonbelievers need to be persuaded, but also their knees need to buckle.

For years, I presented the gospel using a pen to help illustrate. I wanted to ensure my listeners understood Ephesians 2:8-9…

To explain what was meant by the word gift, I would hold out a pen and tell the person, ‘I’d like to give you this pen as a gift.’ Then I’d ask, ‘What would you need to do to make this pen yours?’

‘Take it,’ they’d say. Everyone go this question right.

But no one, absolutely no one, ever got the point that I was trying to make. I finally figured out why. Salvation isn’t a pen!

Certainly, salvation is free. It is a gift that must be accepted, not worked for or earned. But the reason I’d accept the gift of a pen is different then the reason I’d accept the gift of salvation. I don’t need a pen. I could find something else with which to write. I could even live my entire life without using a pen. I probably already have lots of pens, one that I might like better than the one I’m being offered. I might accept a pen as a token of the giver’s generosity or as a display of friendship.

But accepting salvation is different. If I correctly understand what I’m being offered by the Messiah’s death on a cross, I know that it’s something I can’t live without (eternally, that is). I’m lost without it. I’d dead in my sins. I must accept this free gift to avoid total and eternal alienation from a holy, righteous God. I need to accept such an unspeakably gracious offer with the acknowledgement that I deserve exactly the opposite. So my attitude of accepting the gift is one of humility and repentance…

Confront a prospect with unpleasant truths doesn’t work in sales, but it is essential in evangelism.”

-Randy Newman

John Piper on the cross

""I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me." What does it mean to be crucified with Christ? I think it means this: First, that the gruesome death of the all-glorious, innocent, loving Son of God for my sin is the most radical indictment of my hopeless condition imaginable. The crucifixion of Jesus is the open display of my hellish nature. And, second, when I see this and believe that he really died for me, then my old proud self which loves to display its power by climbing ladders of morality and intellect and beauty and daring dies. Self-reliance and self-confidence cannot live at the foot of the cross. Therefore, when Christ died I died." John Piper

Richard Steele on being upright

"A single Christ is enough for a single heart; hence holy David prayed in

Psalm 86:11: “Unite my heart to fear thy name.” That is, “Let me have but one

heart and mind, and let that be Thine.”

As there are thousands of beams and rays, yet they all meet and center in the

sun. So an upright man, though he has a thousand thoughts, yet they all (by his

good will) meet in God. He has many subordinate ends—to procure a

livelihood, to preserve his credit, to provide for his children—but he has no

supreme end but God alone. Hence he has that steadiness in his resolutions,

that undistractedness in his holy duties, that consistency in his actions, and that

evenness in the frame of his heart, which miserable hypocrites cannot attain..."

Richard Steele

Richard Steele on being upright

"An upright saint is like an apple with rotten specks, but a hypocrite is like the apple with a rotten core. The sincere Christian has a speck of passion here, there one of worldliness, and there one of pride. But cut him up and anatomize him, and he is sound at heart; there Christ and Christianity live and reign…Though his hand cannot do all that God bids, yet his heart is sincere in all he does. His soul is bent for perfect purity, and so he has his name from that. “Blessed are the pure in heart” (Mat 5:8). In his words he sometimes fails and also in his thoughts and deeds. But open his heart, and there is a love, a desire, a design, and an endeavor after real and absolute purity. He is not legally pure, that is, free from all sin; but he is evangelically pure, free from the reign of all sin." Richard Steele

John Stott on the Cross

“That which the average roman citizen regarded as an object of shame, disgrace and even disgust was for Paul his pride, boasting and glory…There is no exact equivalent in the English language to kauchaomai. It means to boast in, glory in, trust in, rejoice in, revel in, live for. The object of our boast or ‘glory’ fills our horizons, engrosses our attention, and absorbs our time and energy. In a word, our ‘glory’ is our obsession." John Stott

Spurgeon on the cross

We never should have known Christ’s love in all its heights and depths if he had not died; nor could we guess the Father’s deep affection if he had not given his Son to die. The common mercies we enjoy all sing of love, just as the sea-shell, when we put it to our ears, whispers of the deep sea whence it came; but if we desire to hear the ocean itself, we must not look at every-day blessings, but at the transactions of the crucifixion. He who would know love, let him retire to Calvary and see the Man of sorrows die. (Charles Spurgeon)

Spurgeon on Prayer

If in prayer I come before a throne of grace, then the faults of my prayer will be overlooked. In beginning to pray, dear friends, you feel as if you did not pray. The groanings of your spirit, when you rise from your knees are such that you think there is nothing in them. What a blotted, blurred, smeared prayer it is. Never mind; you are not come to the throne of justice, else when God percieved the fault in the prayer he would spurn it,- your broken words, your gaspings, and stammerings are before a throne of grace. When any one of us has presented his best prayer before God, if he saw it as God sees it, there is no doubt he would make great lamentation over it; for there is enough sin in the best prayer that was ever prayed to secure its being cast away from God. But it is not a throne of justice I say again, and here is the hope for our lame, limping supplications. Our condescending King does not maintain a stately etiquette in his court like that which has been observed by princes among men, where a little mistake or a flaw would secure the petitioner's being dismissed with disgrace. Oh, no; the faulty cries of his children are not severely criticized by him. The Lord High Chamberlain of the palace above, our Lord Jesus Christ, takes care to alter and amend every prayer before he presents it, and he makes the prayer perfect with his perfection, and prevalent with His own merits. God loks upon the prayer, as presented through Christ, and forgives all its own inherent faultiness. How this ought to encourage any of us who feel ourselves to be feeble, wandering, and unskillful in prayer. If you cannot plead with God as sometimes you did in years gone by, if you feel as if somehow or other you had gfrown rusty in the work of supplication, never give over, but come still, yea and come oftener, for it is not a throne of severe criticism, it is a throne of grace to which you come.

J.I. Packer on The Bible's Dominant Conviction

"The Bible’s dominant conviction about God, a conviction proclaimed from Genesis to Revelation, is that behind and beneath all the apparent confusion of this world lies his plan. That plan concerns the perfecting of a people and the restoring of a world through the mediating action of Christ. God governs human affairs with this end in view. His plan cannot be thwarted by human sin, because God made a way for human sin itself to be part of the plan. The cross of Christ is the supreme illustration of this principle. At Calvary God overruled human sin, which he foresaw, as a means of salvation of the world. Thus it appears that human lawlessness does not thwart God’s plan for his people’s redemption. Rather, through the wisdom of omnipotence, it has become the means of fulfilling that plan."

J.I. Packer – Hot Tub Religion

Matthew Henry on Colossians 1:17

"By him all things consist. They not only subsist in their beings, but consist in their order and dependences. He not only created them all at first, but it is by the word of his power that they are still upheld, Heb. 1:3. The whole creation is kept together by the power of the Son of God, and made to consist in its proper frame. It is preserved from disbanding and running into confusion." Matthew Henry

A.W. Pink on grace

"In the salvation of the dying thief we have a clear view of victorious grace such as is to be found nowhere else in the Bible. God is the God of all grace, and salvation is entirely by his grace. "By grace are ye saved" (Eph. 2:8), and it is "by grace" from beginning to end. Grace planned salvation, grace provided salvation, and grace so works on and in his elect as to overcome the hardness of their hearts, the obstinacy of their wills, and the enmity of their minds, and thus makes them willing to receive salvation. Grace begins, grace continues, and grace consummates our salvation." A.W. Pink

A.W. Pink on the cross

"Christ was pure; absolutely pure. He was the Holy One. He had an infinite abhorrence of sin. He loathed it. His holy soul shrank from it. But on the cross our iniquities were all laid upon him, and sin - that vile thing - enwrapped itself around him like a horrible serpent’s coils. And yet, he willingly suffered for us! Why? Because he loved us: "Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end" A.W. Pink

Saints and Sinners - Martin Luther

The saints are always sinners in their own sight, and therefore always justified outwardly. But the hypocrites are always righteous in their own sight, and thus always sinners outwardly. I use the term "inwardly" to show how we are in ourselves, in our own sight, in our own estimation; and the term "outwardly" to indicate how we are before God and in his reckoning. Therefore we are righteous outwardly when we are righteous solely by the imputation of God and not of ourselves or of our own works.


-Martin Luther- Comments on Romans 4:7

Paul David Tripp on Redemption

"If you read Scripture carefully, you will never get the idea that the work of Christ is for well-adjusted people who just need a little redemptive boost. It never presents any human condition or dilemma as outside the scope of the gospel. Redemption is nothing less than the rescue of helpless people facing an eternity of torment apart from God's love." Paul David Tripp

John Calvin on Joy

"We ought to bear in mind, that our happiness consists in this, that his hand is stretched forth to govern us, that we live under his shadow, and that his providence keeps watch and ward over our welfare. Although, therefore, we have abundance of all temporal good things, yet let us be assured that we cannot be truly happy unless God vouchsafe to reckon us among the number of his flock. Besides, we then only attribute to God the office of a Shepherd with due and rightful honor, when we are persuaded that his providence alone is sufficient to supply all our necessities. As those who enjoy the greatest abundance of outward good things are empty and famished if God is not their shepherd; so it is beyond all doubt that those whom he has taken under his charge shall not want a full abundance of all good things. David, therefore, declares that he is not afraid of wanting any thing, because God is his shepherd." John Calvin

Oswald Chambers on missions

"If we do not apply our beliefs about God to the issues of everyday life, the vision God has given us will never be fulfilled. The only way to be obedient to "the heavenly vision" is to give our utmost for His highest— our best for His glory. This can be accomplished only when we make a determination to continually remember God’s vision. But the acid test is obedience to the vision in the details of our everyday life— sixty seconds out of every minute, and sixty minutes out of every hour, not just during times of personal prayer or public meetings." Oswald Chambers

Spurgeon on sin

"Sin, a little thing? It girded the Redeemer's head with thorns, and pierced His heart! It made Him suffer anguish, bitterness, and woe. Could you weigh the least sin in the scales of eternity, you would fly from it as from a serpent, and abhor the least appearance of evil. Look upon all sin as that which crucified the Saviour, and you will see it to be "exceeding sinful." C.H. Spurgeon

John Calvin on prayer

"We know that whenever the fathers prayed under the law, their hope of obtaining whatever they asked was founded upon their sacrifices; and, in like manner, at this day our prayers are acceptable to God only insofar as Christ sprinkles and santifcies them with the perfume of His own sacrifice...
Whenver our minds come to be occupied by carnal confidence, they fall at the same time into a forgetfulness of God. The inspired writer, therefore, uses the word remember, to show, that when the saints betake themselves to God, they must cast off every thing which would hinder them from placing an exclusive trust in Him. This remembrance of God serves two important purposes to the faithful. In the first place, however much power and resources they may possess, it nevertheless withdraws them from all vain confidence, so that they do not expect any success except from the pure grace of God. In the second place, if they are bereft and utterly destitute of all succour, it notwithstanding so strengthen and encourages them, that they call upon God both with confidence and constancy." (John Calvin)

John Piper on Faith

"Trusting in God to meet our needs breaks the power of sin's promise to make us happier…the essence of faith is being satisfied with all that God is for us in Christ." John Piper

John Calvin on the glory of God and contentment

"The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places, surely I have a delightful inheritance. (Psalm 16:6-7) The Psalmist so glories in God as nobly to despise all that the world imagines to be excellent and desirable without him. By magnifying God in such honorable and exhaulted strains, he gives us to understand that he does not desire anything more as his portion and felicity. This doctrine may be profitable to us in many ways. It ought to draw us away not only from all the perverse inventions of superstition, but also from all the allurements of the flesh and of the world. Whenever, therefore, those things present themselves to us which would lead us away from resting in God alone, let us make use of this sentiment as an antidote against them, that we have sufficient cause for being contented, since he who has in himself an absolute fullness of all good, has given himself to be enjoyed by us. In this way we will experience our condition to be always pleasant and comfortable; for he who has God as his portion is destitute of nothing which is requisite to constitute a happy life." John Calvin

John Piper on sin

"What makes sin sin is not first that it hurts people, but that it blasphemes God. This is the ultimate evil and the ultimate outrage in the universe.

The glory of God is not honored.
The holiness of God is not reverenced.
The greatness of God is not admired.
The power of God is not praised.
The truth of God is not sought.
The wisdom of God is not esteemed.
The beauty of God is not treasured.
The goodness of God is not savored.
The faithfulness of God is not trusted.
The promises of God are not relied upon.
The commandments of God are not obeyed.
The justice of God is not respected.
The wrath of God is not feared.
The grace of God is not cherished.
The presence of God is not prized.
The person of God is not loved.

The infinite, all-glorious Creator of the universe, by whom and for whom all things exist (Rom. 11:36) – who holds every person's life in being at every moment (Acts 17:25) – is disregarded, disbelieved, disobeyed, and dishonored by everybody in the world. That is the ultimate outrage of the universe.

Why is it that people can become emotionally and morally indignant over poverty and exploitation and prejudice and the injustice of man against man and yet feel little or no remorse or indignation that God is so belittled? It's because of sin. That is what sin is. Sin is esteeming and valuing and honoring and enjoying man and his creations above God. So even our man-centered anger at the hurt of sin is part of sin. God is marginal in human life. That is our sin, our condition." John Piper preaching on Romans 1-7

Thomas Watson on the beauty of Christ

"Believers have an honorable esteem of Christ. The psalmist speaks like one capitaved with Christ's amazing beauty: 'there is none upon earth I desire beside thee (psalm 73:25).' He did not say he had nothing; he had many comforts on earth, but he desired none but God; as if a wife should say that there is no-one's company she prizes like her husband's. How did david prize Christ? 'Thou art fairer than the children of men (psalm 45:2).' The spouse in the song of solomon looked upon Christ as the Coriphaeus, the most incomparable one, 'the chiefest among then thousand (song 5:10).' Christ outvies all others: 'As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons (song 2:3).' Christ infinitely more excels all the beauties and glories of this visible world than the apple tree surpasses the trees of the wild forest. Paul so prized Christ that he made him his chief study: 'I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 2:2). He judged nothing else of value." Thomas Watson

Matthew Henry on Psalm 85:10

“the great affair of our salvation is so well contrived, so well concerted, that God may have mercy upon poor sinners, and be at peace with them, without any wrong to his truth and righteousness. He is true to the threatening, and just in his government, and yet pardons sinners and takes them into covenant with himself.” Matthew Henry

Valley of Vision

"I adore thee that thou art God and long that others should know it, feel it, and rejoice in it." Valley of Vision

Boice on God's Provision

"When Abram had gone to Egypt, he had chosen for himself and had gotten into great difficulty. Now he was content to leave the choices with God and to trust God for his future provision. He did not need to take care of "number one." God would do that. Therefore, since he was sure God would provide, he held the things of this world loosely. If God gave them, that was alright. Abram would hold them in trust from God and use them for God's glory. But if God took them away, that was fine too. For Abram had God and, having Him, had the only thing that mattered."

F.F. Bruce on faith

"In Old Testament times, he points out, there were many men and women who had nothing but the promises of God to rest upon, without any visible evidence that these promises would ever be fulfilled; yet so much did these promises mean to them they regulated the whole course of their lives in thier light. The promises related to a state of affairs belonging to the future; but these people acted as if that state of affairs were already present, so convinced were they that God could and would fulfill what he had promised. In other words, they were men and women of faith. Their faith consisted simply in taking God at His word and directing their lives accordingly; things yet future as far as their experience went were thus present to faith and things outwardly unseen were visible to the inward eye, It is in these terms that our author now describes the faith which he has been speaking."

F.F. Bruce on the love of God

"The love of God is limitless; it embraces all mankind. No sacrifice was too great to bring its unmeasured intensity home to men and women: the best that God had to give, He gave - His only Son, His well-beloved. Nor was it for one nation or group that He was given: He was given so that all, without distinction or exception, who repose their faith on Him, might be rescued from destruction and blessed with the life that is life indeed. The gospel of salvation and life has its source in the love of God. The essence of the saving message is made unmistakeably plain, in language which people of all races, cultures and times can grasp, and so effectively is it set forth in these words that many more, probably, have found the way of life through them than through any other Biblical text."

Piper on the centrality of Christ

Something of immense historical significance happened with the coming of the Son of God into the world. So great was the significance of this event that the focus of saving faith was henceforth made to center on Jesus Christ alone. So fully does Christ sum up all the revelation of God and all the hopes of God's people that it would henceforth be a dishonor to him should saving faith repose on anyone but him.

Bridges on the wisdom of God

God's wisdom is fathomless; His decisions are unsearchable; His methods are mysterious and untraceable. No one has even understood His mind, let alone advised Him on the proper course of action. How futile and even arrogant for us to seek to determine what God is doing in a particular event or circumstance. We simple cannot search out the reasons behind His decisions or trace out the ways by which He brings those decisions to pass.

If we are to experience peace in our souls in times of adversity, we must come to the place where we truly believe that God's ways are simply beyond us and stop asking Him "why" or even trying to determine it ourselves. This may seem like an intellectual "cop out," a refusal to deal with the really tough issues of life. In fact, it is just the opposite. It is a surrender to the truth about God and our circumstances as it is revealed to us by God Himself in His inspired Word.

Barnhouse on the Love of God

“The pursuing love of God is the greatest wonder of the spiritual universe. We leave God in the heat of our own self-desire and run from His will because we want so much to have our own way. We get to a crossroads and look back in pride, thinking that we have outdistanced Him. Just as we are about to congratulate ourselves on our achievement of self-enthronement, we feel a touch on our own arm and turn in that direction to find Him there. ‘My child,’ He says in great tenderness, ‘I love you; and when I saw you running away from all that is good, I pursued you through a shortcut that love knows well, and awaited you here at the crossroads.’ We have torn ourselves free from His grasp and rushed off again, through deepest woods and farthest swamp, and as we look back again, we are sure, this time, that we have succeeded in escaping from Him. But, once more, the touch of love is on our other sleeve and when we run quickly we find that He is there, pleading with the eye of love, and showing Himself once more to be the tender and faithful One, loving to the end. He will always say, ‘My child, my name and nature are Love, to tell you that when you are tired of running and your wandering, I will be there to draw you myself once more.’

When we see this love at work through the heart of Hosea we may wonder if God is really like that. But everything in the Word and in experience shows us that He is. He will give man the trees of the forest and the iron in the ground. Then He will give to man the brains to make an axe from the iron to cut down a tree and fashion it into a cross. He will gave man the ability to make a hammer and nails, and when man has the cross and the hammer and the nails, the Lord will allow man to take hold of Him and bring Him to that cross; He will stretch out His hands upon it and allow man to nail Him to that cross, and in so doing will take the sins of man upon Himself and make it possible for those who have despised and rejected Him to come unto Him and know the joy of sins removed and forgiven, to know the assurance of pardon and eternal life, and to enter into the prospect of the hope of glory with Him forever. This is even our God, and there is none like unto Him.” Donald Barnhouse

Misc. On Piper

Jesus and the apostles have shown us what to do. Why pray? Because now is the time to pray. The kingdom has come. The new age is the age of prayer. Jesus brings the new age, and he brings it with prayer. The apostles carry the gospel of the kingdom forward with prayer. So as we engage in the work of the kingdom we must pray. Now is the time of prayer not because we cut out fifteen minutes for “prayer time” during “quiet time.” Now is the time of prayer because the new age has dawned in Jesus Christ - a new age that entails the advance of the kingdom and the prayers of the kingdom. Because it is Kingdom Time, it is Prayer Time. (Jason Kirklin)

Bridges on Prayer

Prayer assumes the sovereignty of God. If God is not sovereign, we have no assurance that He is able to answer our prayers. Our prayers would become nothing more than wishes. But while God’s sovereignty, along with His wisdom and love, is the foundation of our trust in Him, prayer is the expression of that trust…Psalm 57:2, ‘I cry out to God Most His, to God, who fulfills his purpose for me.’ That is (John) Flavel says to us, because God is sovereign, we should pray. God’s sovereignty does not negate our responsibility to pray, but rather makes it possible to pray with confidence. (Jerry Bridges)

‘but we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat’ (Nehemiah 4:9). Prayer is the acknowledgement of God’s sovereignty and of our dependence upon Him to act on our behalf. Prudence is the acknowledgement of our responsibility to use all legitimate means. We must not separate these two. (Jerry Bridges)

Piper on Prayer

“Christian hedonist, above all be people devoted to earnest prayer. Just as the thirsty deer buckles down to drink at the brook, so the characteristic posture of the Christian Hedonist is on his knees.” (John Piper)

“Prayer is the open admission that without Christ we can do nothing. And prayer is the turning away from ourselves to God in the confidence that he will provide the help we need. Prayer humbles us as needy, and exalts God as wealthy.” (John Piper)

“The folly of not waiting for God is that we forfeit the blessing of having God work for us. The evil of not waiting for God is that we oppose God's will to exalt himself in mercy.
God aims to exalt himself by working for those who wait for him. Prayer is the essential activity of waiting for God: acknowledging our helplessness and his power, calling upon him for help, seeking his counsel. So it is evident why prayer is so often commanded by God, since his purpose in the world is to be exalted for his mercy. Prayer is the antidote for the disease of self-confidence that opposes God's goal of getting glory by working for those who wait for him.” (John Piper)

“The way to serve God so that he gets the glory is to look to him for mercy. Prayer prevents service from being an expression of pride…Good service is always and fundamentally receiving mercy, not rendering assistance. So there is no good service without prayer.” (John Piper)

Watson on Prayer

“As soon as grace is poured in, prayer is poured out; ‘ but I give myself to prayer’ (psalm 109:4). In the hebrew it is, ‘but I prayer’. Prayer and I are all one. Prayer is the soul’s traffic with heaven. God comes down to us by His Spirit, and we go up to Him by prayer.” (Thomas Watson).

“A godly man cannot live without prayer. A man cannot live unless he takes his breath, nor can the soul, unless it breathes forth its desire to God…A godly man is on the mount of prayer every day; he begins the day with prayer; before he opens his shop, he opens his heart to God.” Thomas Watson

“A spiritual prayer is a believing prayer: ‘whatever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive’ (Matthew 21:22). The why so many prayer suffer shipwreck is because they split against the rock of unbelief. Prayer without faith is shooting without bullets. When faith takes prayer by the hand, then we draw near to God. We should come to God in prayer like the leper: ‘ Lord if thou wilt, make me clean’ (Matt 8:2). It is a disparagement to deity to have such a whisper in the heart, that ‘God’s ear is heavy and cannot hear’ (Isa. 59:1). what is said of the people of Israel may applied to prayer – ‘They could not enter in because of unbelief’ (Hebrews 3:19). (Thomas Watson)

“A Spiritual prayer is when we pray in the name of Christ. To pray in the name of Christ is not only to name Christ in prayer, but to pray in the hope and confidence of Christ’s meditation. As a child claims his estate in the right of his father who purchased it, so we come for mercy in the name of Christ, who has purchased it for in his blood.” (Thomas Watson)

“A Godly man is carried on wings of delight. He is never so well as when he is prayer. He is not forced with fear but fired with love. ‘I will make them joyful in my house of prayer’ (Isa. 56:7).” (Thomas Watson)

“Jesus Christ prays over our prayer again. He takes the dross out and presents but pure gold to his Father. Christ mingles his sweet odours with the prayers of the saints (Rev. 5:8). Think of the dignity of his person- he is God; and the sweetness of his relationship – he is a Son. Oh then, what encouragement there is here for us to pray! Our prayers are put up in the hands of a Mediator. Though, as they come from us, they are weak and imperfect, yet as they come from Christ, they are mighty and powerful.” (Thomas Watson)