On Prayer

Christ went more readily to the cross than we do to the throne of grace.

T Watson, in
R Rushing, Ed
Voices from the Past
BoT
p345

Drawing near to God

Drawing near to God is our chief good. It is our happiness to seek him.The nearer anything is to the principle of something, the better off it is. Nearer to the sun, the more light; nearer the fire, the more heat; nearer to goodness, the more good; nearer to happiness, the more happiness. Therefore it must be the greatest happiness to draw near to God.

R Sibbes, in
R Rushing, Ed
Voices from the Past
BoT
p334

Prayer

The story is told about a small town in the south. For many years, this town had been “dry” in that no alcohol was ever sold or served there. But one day a businessman in the area decided to build a tavern. In response to this new tavern, a group of Christians from a local church became concerned and planned an all-night prayer meeting to ask God to intervene. Shortly after the prayer meeting that night, lightning struck the bar and it burned to the ground.

In the aftermath of the fire, the owner of the tavern sued the church, claiming that the prayers of the congregation were responsible for his loss. But the church hired a lawyer to argue in court that they were not responsible. After his initial review of the case the presiding judge began the trial with an official statement. He said: “No matter how this case comes out, one thing is clear: the tavern owner believes in prayer, and the Christians do not.”

M Waymeyer
Expository Thoughts
Christianity.com

Reading

I've been thinking about the importance of reading and writing. There are several reasons I write. One of the most personally compelling is that I read. I mean, my main spiritual sustenance comes by the Holy Spirit from reading. Therefore reading is more important to me than eating. If I went blind, I would pay to have someone read to me. I would try to learn Braille. I would buy books on tape. I would rather go without food than without books. Therefore, writing feels very life-giving to me, since I get so much of my own life from reading.

J Piper
A Godward Life
Multnomah
p58

Wisdom

The wisdom of "the wise and understanding" has produced remarkable scientific advances. But it leaves out the most important reality, namely, God. From one side it is stunning for its achievements, and from another side it is stunning for its stupidity in missing the main thing.

J Piper
Think
IVP
p151

Unity

Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow.

So one hundred worshippers meeting together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become “unity” conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.

A Tozer
The Pursuit of God
Wilder
p63 

Church Growth

Do you know the one single reason why evangelical churches grow? It is because people invite their friends. It does not require fancy programmes. All you need to say is, 'Why don't you find out?'

A Begg, in:
S Vibert
Excellence in Preaching
IVP
p125

The Vomit of the Soul

To repent of sin is as great a work of grace as not to sin. By our sinful falls the powers of the soul are weakened, the strength of grace is decayed, our evidences for heaven are blotted, fears and doubts in the soul are raised (will God once more pardon this scarlet sin, and shew mercy to this wretched soul?), and corruptions in the heart are more advantaged and confirmed; and the conscience of a man after falls is the more enraged or the more benumbed. Now for a soul, notwithstanding all this, to repent of his falls, this shews that it is as great a work of grace to repent of sin as it is not to sin. Repentance is the vomit of the soul; and of all physic, none so difficult and hard as it is to vomit. The same means that tends to preserve the soul from sin, the same means works the soul to rise by repentance when it is fallen into sin.

T Brooks
Works of Thomas Brooks, Volume 1
BoT
p36 

The Law

When Paul says we are free from the law, he does not mean that God has changed his mind about the difference between right and wrong. He means that we are delivered from the futile attempt to get right with God or stay right with him by means of the law. But as a revelation of God's moral standards the law can never be abrogated. That's why Jesus himself said, in the Sermon on the Mount, that it would be a mistake for anyone to think his mission was to abolish the law. Not an iota of the Old Testament, he insisted, had become irrelevant with his coming (Matthew 5:17-18).

R Clements
No Longer Slaves
IVP
p104

Prayer

On Mt 15:21-28: Let us remember this history, when we pray for ourselves. We are sometimes tempted to think that we get no good by our prayers, and that we may as well give them up altogether. Let us resist the temptation. It comes from the devil. Let us believe, and pray on. Against our besetting sins, against the spirit of the world, against the wiles of the devil, let us pray on, and not faint. For strength to do duty, for grace to bear our trials, for comfort in every trouble, let us continue in prayer. Let us be sure that no time is so well-spent in every day, as that which we spend upon our knees. Jesus hears us, and in his own good time will give an answer.

JC Ryle

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Volume 1

Baker

p182

 

The Heart

The heart is the principal thing in the relation of husband and wife, of friend and friend, of parent and child. The heart must be the principal point to which we attend in all the relations between God and our souls. What is the first thing we need, in order to be Christians? A new heart. What is the sacrifice God asks us to bring to him? A broken and a contrite heart. What is the true circumcision? The circumcision of the heart. What is genuine obedience? To obey from the heart. What is saving faith? To believe with the heart. Where ought Christ to dwell? To dwell in our hearts by faith. What is the chief request that Wisdom makes to every one? "My son, give me your heart."

JC Ryle

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Volume 1

Baker

p 174

A Prayer

O Lord God, save the careless; save the sinful. Take away the drunkard from his drink. Deliver the unholy and unjust men from their filthiness. Renew the lives of the dishonest and false. O Spirit of God, renew any who are lovers of pleasure, who are dead while they live, and any who are lovers of self, whose lives are bound by the narrowness of their own being. Lord God, regenerate them; make them new creatures in Christ.

CH Spurgeon
Prayer
Whitaker House
p111

Grace

There is great joy in grace. But Paul knows that that the only way we can be brought to appreciate it is if we first understand why we need it so much. The gospel he preached sobers us before it satisfies us.

S Ferguson
Let's Study Ephesians
BoT
p39 

Tips for Evangelising

1. Every day I pray God will lead me to someone with whom I can share the gospel.
2. Just talk about anything and everything - be chatty and not reserved. If you're on a bus or at a supermarket checkout, sometimes the conversation can naturally turn to speaking about God.
3. Carry booklets and tracts to give to people if you think it's appropriate.
4. You can't just get into conversations time after time with the people around you - colleagues and friends. Pray for the right moment; normally that comes in a one-to-one time. Share something without forcing it.
5. It's hard work until someone asks a question. But even if it is just, 'You don't believe that, do you?', it's an invitation to talk to them.
6. Get it on the agenda. Churches should be discussing evangelism at every prayer meeting and church business meeting, asking how we can reach people who don't come to us.
7. At any time you have an opportunity, such as a birthday, invite someone to come and give a talk and share their testimony. I have buffet suppers where I invite friends and neighbours, and someone shares their testimony for 20 minutes. Try to think creatively - what can I do to reach out?
8. Have confidence in the gospel (Romans 1:16). It's not a philosophy to be debated - there is power to be unleashed. When we winsomely and lovingly share the gospel it is powerful.
9. People I'm meeting are not my enemies! The aim is to love them into the kingdom; it's very important that we don't go into attack mode.

 R Carswell
Christianity
July 2011
p45

Application

Personal application has been called the "soul" of preaching. A sermon without application is like a letter posted without an address. It may be well-written, rightly dated, and duly signed. But it is useless, because it never reaches its destination. Our Lord's inquiry is an admirable example of real heart-searching application, "Have you understood?"

JC Ryle

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Volume 1

Baker

p154

He tenderly binds up the broken in heart

He tenderly binds up the broken in heart,

The soul bowed down he will raise:

For mourning, the ointment of joy will impart:

For heaviness, garments of praise.

Ah, come, then, and sing to the praise of our God,

Who giveth and taketh away;

Who first by his kindness, and then by his rod,

Would teach us, poor sinners, to pray.

For in the assembly of Jesus' first-born,

Who anthems of gratitude raise,

Each heart has by great tribulation been torn,

Each voice turned from wailing to praise.

R M'Cheyne, in

A Bonar

Memoir and Remains of Robert Murray M'Cheyne

Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier

p37

An American Tragedy: How Not to Finish your One Life

I will tell you what a tragedy is. I will show you how to waste your life. Consider a story from the February 1998 edition of Reader’s Digest, which tells about a couple who “took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30 foot trawler, play softball and collect shells.” At first, when I read it I thought it might be a joke. A spoof on the American Dream. But it wasn’t. Tragically, this was the dream: Come to the end of your life—your one and only precious, God-given life—and let the last great work of your life, before you give an account to your Creator, be this: playing softball and collecting shells. Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgment: “Look, Lord. See my shells.” That is a tragedy. And people today are spending billions of dollars to persuade you to embrace that tragic dream. Over against that, I put my protest: Don’t buy it. Don’t waste your life.

J Piper
Don't Waste your Life
Crossway
p45 

Regeneration

Regeneration is the work of God's invisible power and mere grace, wherein by his Spirit accompanying his Word he quickeneth a redeemed person lying dead in his sins and reneweth him in his mind, his will and all the powers of his soul, convincing him savingly of sin and righteousness and judgement, and making him heartily to embrace Christ and salvation, and to consecrate himself to the service of God in Christ all the days of his life.

David Dickson, in:
E Alexander
Our Great God and Saviour
BoT
p67

Faith

Living by faith is not a single act, but something habitual and permanent. Faith is a constant dependence upon God, as he is made known in his attributes. The divine attributes are the pillows and grounds of our faith. Faith believes them and claims them. Study the attributes of God. Labour to know them distinctly and effectually. The more we know, the more we trust.

David Clarkson, in:
R Rushing, Ed
Voices from the Past
BoT
p112

On plain preaching

Not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit, and of Power [1 Corinthians 2:4]. Use sound words that cannot be condemned. Rhetorical flashes are like painted glass in a window, that makes a great show, but darkens the light; ... The Prophets and Apostles generally spoke in the vulgar and common languages which the ordinary people understood: They did not only speak to the understanding of a King upon the throne, but to the understanding of the meanest subject.

H Collins
Banner of Truth Magazine
Feb 2011
p20

Perseverance

God superintends the activity of his gospel-bearer who perseveres in the most extreme circumstances. Therefore, we should persevere in ministry and God will bring his purposes to fruition. God will triumph, but not apart from human persistence, a capacity which he gives us.

D Cook
Teaching Acts
CFP
p292