Christian Meditations

Church

2012-01-12T22:03:00.000Z

Do we go to God's house expecting something to happen? Or do we go just to listen to a sermon, and to sing our hymns, and to meet with one another? How often does this vital idea enter into our minds that we are in the presence of the living God, that the Holy Spirit is in the church, that we may feel the touch of his power? How much do we think in terms of coming together to meet with God, and to worship him, and to stand before him, and to listen to him? Is there not this appalling danger that we are just content because we have correct beliefs? And we have lost the life, the vital thing, the power, the thing that really makes worship worship, which is in Spirit and truth.

DM Lloyd-Jones
Revival
Marshall Pickering
p72

Pray, and do not lose heart!

2012-01-11T21:55:00.001Z

I was recently giving a series of lectures and sermons at the church where one of my seminary's graduates had been made the senior pastor. At the first teaching session, I noticed the presence of someone who seemed vaguely familiar to me, though I could not remember ever having met her. After the discussion time following the lecture, this person came and introduced herself to me. It turned out that I had known her father for many years and also one of her brothers. The father was one of the most godly, faithful people I have ever met. The brother was a cherished fellow elder in the denomination in which I served for many years. I had seen the family resemblance. This woman (now in her early sixties) told me how she had come to faith while she and the family were singing hymns around her father's deathbed - after decades of unbelief and wandering since turning away from God as a teenager. I am sure that she was a person for whom many thousands of prayers had been offered. I am also sure that praying with confidence was at times very difficult for that family and for others who loved them. Yet it is in just such situations that Jesus encourages us that we "ought always to pray and not lose heart (Luke 18:1).

J Barrs
The Heart of Prayer
P&R
p80

On Prayer

2011-12-10T09:37:00.001Z

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

2011-11-29T18:20:00.001Z

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

2011-11-06T08:13:00.000Z

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

2011-10-27T08:26:00.000+01:00

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

2011-10-22T08:50:00.000+01:00

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

2011-10-22T08:36:00.003+01:00

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

2011-10-16T16:41:00.000+01:00

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

2011-10-05T07:57:00.000+01:00

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

2011-09-20T21:44:00.001+01:00

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

2011-09-13T21:33:00.000+01:00

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

2011-08-25T07:55:00.002+01:00

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

2011-08-25T07:51:00.000+01:00

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

2011-08-11T18:21:00.000+01:00

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

2011-07-18T16:10:00.000+01:00

Every day I pray God will lead me to someone with whom I can share the gospel.
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.
Carry booklets and tracts to give to people if you think it's appropriate.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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

2011-07-18T15:56:00.001+01:00

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

2011-07-13T20:05:00.001+01:00

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

2011-05-27T08:16:00.003+01:00

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

2011-05-06T21:26:00.000+01:00

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

2011-04-22T20:10:00.001+01:00

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

2011-03-29T16:39:00.000+01:00

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

2011-03-28T09:37:00.001+01:00

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

Luke Short

2010-11-27T22:04:00.001Z

God's reward for faithful ministry is beautifully illustrated by the story of Luke Short, converted at the tender age of 103. Mr. Short was sitting under a hedge in Virginia when he happened to remember a sermon he had once heard preached by the famous Puritan John Flavel. As he recalled the sermon, he asked God to forgive his sins right then and there, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Short lived for three more years, and when he died, the following words were inscribed on his tombstone, "Here lies a babe in grace, aged three years, who died according to nature, aged 106."

Here is the truly remarkable part of the story. The Sermon that old Mr. Short remembered had been preached eighty-five years earlier back in England! Nearly a century passed between Flavel's sermon and Short's conversion, between the sowing and the reaping. Sooner or later, by the grace of God, faithful work always has its reward.

Philip Ryken, in:
DA Carson, Ed
Entrusted with the Gospel
IVP
p41

On learning

2010-11-19T19:11:00.001Z

When we teach others, we must also be willing to be taught, for if we are not willing to learn so that others may profit by our instruction, we shall never be able to do our duty. Therefore, he whom God has placed as teacher in his house must himself be ready and willing to receive doctrine and good instruction. We must listen when other men give counsel and be willing to receive information.

J Calvin

365 Days with Calvin

Day One

16th November

Christians

2010-11-11T22:06:00.000Z

We cannot take the name Christian upon us, we cannot say that we belong to the children of God and are of his church, unless we have been delivered from our filthiness. If a person calls himself the servant of a prince and yet is a thief, shouldn't he be doubly punished because he abused the title that did not truly belong to him? Behold the Son of God, who is the fountain of all holiness and righteousness! If we try to hide ourselves and cover all our filthiness, is not it so much more shameful if we do so under his name? Does not this horrible sacrilege deserve the most severe punishment?

J Calvin
365 Days with Calvin
Day One
10th November

Is it morbid to confess your sins?

2010-11-10T17:02:00.001Z

The morbid thing is not to confess them.The morbid thing is to conceal your sins and let them eat away at your soul, which is exactly the state of most people in today's highly civilized communities.

GK Chesterton, quoted in:
M Deckard
Helpful Truth in Past Places
Mentor
p79

The arguments of the wicked

2010-10-30T10:06:00.000+01:00

When the Christian's arguments cannot be answered, and the Christian's works cannot be denied, the last resource of the wicked is to try to blacken the Christian's character.

JC Ryle

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Volume 1

Baker

p130

God's love

2010-10-22T21:26:00.000+01:00

No figure of speech can describe God's extraordinary affection toward us, for it is infinite and various: so that, if all that can be said or imagined about love were brought together in one, yet it would be surpassed by the greatness of the love of God.

J Calvin, quoted in:
P Ryken
Discovering God
P&R
p189

Contentment

2010-10-08T14:11:00.000+01:00

It is not by the humanistic, we are 'good people' approaches that people will find relief or more importantly growth. It is found by facing the the deceptions of our hearts, one of those being the notion that we are basically good people who make mistakes now and then. By first seeing ourselves as sinners always in need of God's grace, we are enabled to find the strength and righteousness of Christ which will allow us to overcome sin, love the unlovely, and persevere in 'dissatisfying' situations. Without confronting this deceptive belief with the truth of who we are, contentment will never be achieved.

M Deckard
Helpful Truth in Past Places
Mentor
p61

Rewards

2010-08-05T21:35:00.004+01:00

Any rewards are entirely according to God's mercy. He has given us life and talent. More than that, he has saved us through the sacrificial death of his dear Son. He has forgiven us, come to live within us by his Holy Spirit, and even been willing to use us. Then he rewards us for serving him. God is indeed full of grace! As sons of the light, let us be armed, awake and alert, waiting for the day of the Lord's return.

R Carsell

Growing through Encouragement

Bryntirion Press

p71

Christ's Victory

2010-07-25T17:03:00.002+01:00

But the most astonishing thing is that evil and suffering were Christ's appointed way of victory over evil and suffering. Every act of treachery and brutality against Jesus was sinful and evil. But God was in it. The Bible says, "Jesus [was] delivered up [to death] according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God" (Acts 2:23). The lash on his back, the thorns on his head, the spit on his cheek, the bruises on his face, the nails in his hands, the spear in his side, the scorn of rulers, the betrayal of his friend, the desertion by his disciples - these were all the results of sin, and all designed by God to destroy the power of sin.

John Piper

The Passion of Jesus Christ

Crossway

p119

Preachers

2010-07-22T19:15:00.002+01:00

Since the Lord established His church, there have been preachers - lots of preachers. Through all its centuries of existence, the church has heard good preachers and it has endured bad preachers. It has gloried in faithful preachers and lamented faithless preachers. It has listened with rapt attention to masters of eloquence, and it has wondered at the loquacity of pulpit babblers. Humorists and bawlers, expositors and storytellers, thematic preachers, evangelistic preachers, literary preachers, sawdust preachers, postmodern preachers, seeker-seeking preachers, famous preachers, infamous preachers - the church has had them all.

RA Mohler

He is Not Silent

Moody

p145

Prayer

2010-06-30T21:00:00.002+01:00

It is useless to say you know not how to pray. Prayer is the simplest act in all religion. It is simply speaking to God. It needs neither learning, nor wisdom, nor book-knowledge to begin it. It needs nothing but heart and will. The weakest infant can cry when he is hungry. The poorest beggar can hold out his hand for an alms, and does not wait to find fine words. The most ignorant man will find something to say to God, if he has only a mind.

JC Ryle

Practical Religion

Banner of Truth

p83

Gospel & Church

2010-06-26T08:53:00.002+01:00

It is appropriate that [Paul] should move on to examine the gospel, for gospel and church are inexplicably bound up with one another. The church comes into being when the gospel is proclaimed, yet the call to proclaim the gospel is the responsibility of the church.

P Arthur

Patience of Hope

p30

Worship

2010-06-17T20:17:00.004+01:00

I wonder if in our worship we encounter anything like this vision of God [in Isaiah 6]. Do those who come to our services of worship come face-to-face with the reality of God? Or do they go away with a vision of some lesser God, some dehydrated deity?

RA Mohler

He is not Silent

Moody

p30

Ascension

2010-05-20T17:21:00.003+01:00

His ascension was indeed a return to the glory from which he first descended; but it was a return with a difference. He left as the Son of God. He returned both as Son of God and also, by reason of the incarnation, as Son of man. He left as Lord. He returned both as Lord and also as Minister on our behalf in the presence of the Father. He left as King. He returned both as King and also as High Priest and Intercessor for those whom he is not ashamed to call his brethren. He left as Sovereign. He returned also as Saviour.

PE Hughes

A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews

Eerdmans

p283

The Cost of Discipleship

2010-05-16T12:49:00.002+01:00

On Matthew 8:19-22:

It would be well for the churches of Christ, if these sayings of our Lord were more remembered than they are. It may well be feared, that the lesson they contain is too often overlooked by the ministers of the Gospel, and that thousands are admitted to full communion, who are never warned to "count the cost." Nothing, in fact, has done more harm to Christianity than the practice of filling the ranks of Christ's army with every volunteer who is willing to make a little profession, and talk fluently of his experience. It has been painfully forgotten that numbers alone do not make strength, and that there may be a great quantity of mere outward religion, while there is very little real grace. Let us all remember this. Let us keep back nothing from young professors and inquirers after Christ. Let us not enlist them on false pretenses. Let us tell them plainly that there is a crown of glory at the end. But let us tell them no less plainly, that there is a daily cross in the way.

JC Ryle

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels (Vol 1)

Baker

p78

Forgiveness

2010-05-07T21:29:00.002+01:00

The incomparable goodness of God is that he deigns to forget all our sis as soon as he sees us earnestly desirous of returning to him.

John Calvin

365 Days with Calvin

Day One

7th May

God's love

2010-04-26T21:29:00.002+01:00

There is tremendous relief in knowing that His love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion Him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself, and quench His determination to bless me.

JI Packer

Knowing God

Hodder & Stoughton

p41

Grace

2010-04-26T21:23:00.001+01:00

[God] is better to the worst of us than the best of us deserves.

D Macleod

Behold Your God

CFP

p78

The Father's love for the Son

2010-04-26T19:54:00.004+01:00

It is important to remember the cost to the Father arising out of his love for His Son. How Abraham felt as he brought to the altar his son, his only son, Isaac whom he loved; how David felt as he cried, 'Absalom, my son, my son! Would I had died for thee Absalom, my son, my son!' - These are but shadows of the cost to God, as the love of these fathers for their sons was but a faint reflection of God's love for His. We lose much if our doctrine of the impassibility of God obscures from us the implications of the depth of the Father's affection.

D Macleod

Behold Your God

CFP

p148

You are the glory of God

2010-04-24T11:58:00.003+01:00

You are not an animal. You are the glory of God.

You are not a pervert. You are the glory of God.

You are not an addict. You are the glory of God.

You are not a victim. You are the glory of God.

You are not a fool. You are the glory of God.

Mark Driscoll in

Tim Chester

Captured by a Better Vision

IVP

p159

God speaking from Mount Zion

2010-02-25T20:13:00.001Z

The God who once to Israel spoke
From Sinai’s top, in fire and smoke,
In gentler strains of gospel grace
Invites us, now, to seek his face.

He wears no terrors on his brow,
He speaks, in love, from Zion, now;
It is the voice of JESUS’ blood
Calling poor wand’rers home to GOD.

The holy Moses quaked and feared
When Sinai’s thund’ring law he heard;
But reigning grace, with accents mild,
Speaks to the sinner, as a child.

Hark! how from Calvary it sounds;
From the Redeemer’s bleeding wounds!
“Pardon and grace, I freely give,
Poor sinner, look to me, and live.”

John Newton

365 Days with Newton

Day One

21st August

Against you, you only, have I sinned

2010-02-25T20:05:00.004Z

Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgement. (Psa 51:4)

I believe that David is saying here that even if the world pardoned him, God was the judge before whom David had to appear. Conscience hailed him to God's bar. Thus the voice of man offered no relief to him, however much others might be disposed to forgive or to excuse or to flatter. David's eyes and soul were directed to God, regardless of what man might think or say.

John Calvin

365 Days with Calvin

Day One

25th February

Prayer

2010-02-15T21:31:00.003Z

Pausing briefly from prayer, David takes time to meditate upon the goodness of God so that he may return with renewed ardour to prayer.

Likewise the faithful feel that their hearts will soon languish in prayer unless they stir themselves up with new incitements. It is difficult to steadfastly and unweariedly persevere in prayer. Indeed, as fuel must frequently be added to preserve a fire, so prayer requires helps so that it will not languish and at length be extinguished.

John Calvin

365 Days with Calvin

Day One

13th February

Flattery

2010-02-06T08:58:00.002Z

If gossip is saying something behind a person's back that we would never say to his face, then flattery is saying to a person's face what we would never say behind his back.

Alistair Begg

Pathway to Freedom

Moody

p199

Freedom

2010-02-01T20:30:00.003Z

The ultimate question is not who you are but whose you are. Of course, many people think they are nobody's slave. They dream of total independence. Like a jellyfish carried by the tides feels free because it isn't fastened down with the bondage of barnacles.

John Piper

The Passion of Jesus Christ

Crossway

p64

Marriage

2010-01-15T19:19:00.004Z

George Orwell said that a restatement of the obvious is sometimes the first duty of a responsible man. It is therefore worth restating what was once obvious and commonly held: Marriage involves a man and a woman. From the very creation of mankind and the foundation of civil order, God intended marriage to be an inseparable union between husband and wife. In that context only is it possible to make sense of the biblical injunction: "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it" (Genesis 1:28). The most obvious argument against the lesbian and homosexual agenda is human physiology! A light bulb needs a socket if there is to be illumination. Two sockets on their own are incapable of light, and the same is true for two bulbs. Homosexuality in practice involves a perverted use of the human body, and it is a forsaking of the natural for the unnatural. It is not a marriage. It cannot be.

Alistair Begg

Pathway to Freedom

Moody

p157

Heaven

2010-01-14T16:20:00.002Z

Eternal life is not merely the extension of this life with its mix of pain and pleasure. As hell is the worst outcome of this life, so "eternal life" is the best. It is supreme and ever-increasing happiness where all sin and all sadness will be gone. All that is evil and harmful in this fallen creation will be removed. All that is good - all that will bring true and lasting happiness - will be preserved and purified and intensified.

John Piper

The Passion of Jesus Christ

Crossway

p57

Wisdom

2010-01-10T15:50:00.001Z

Wisdom is the skill of godly living.

John Frame
The Doctrine of God
P&R
p507

The Law

2010-01-10T14:09:00.002Z

God intended the law to reveal sin and drive men to Christ; Satan uses it to reveal sin and to drive men to despair.

John Stott
The Message of Galatians
IVP
p105

Idols

2009-12-18T07:23:00.005Z

When most people think of "idols" they have in mind literal statues - or the next pop star anointed by Simon Cowell. Yet while traditional idol worship occurs in many places of the world, iternal idol worship, within the heart, is universal. In Ezekieal 14:3, God says about the elders of Israel, "These men have set up their idols in their hearts." Like us, the elders must have responded to this charge, "Idols? What idols? I don't see any idols." God was saying that the human heart takes good things like a sucessful career, love, material posessions, even family, and turns them into ultimate things. Our hearts deify them as the center of our lives, because, we think, they can give us significance and security, safety and fulfillment, if we attain them.

Tim Keller
Counterfeit gods
Hodder & Stoughton
p xiv

Nicene Creed

2009-12-17T16:45:00.002Z

We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end.

And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And we believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. And we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

On forgiveness

2009-12-15T16:33:00.002Z

There is all the difference in the world between believing that God does forgive sins, and knowing that God has forgiven my sins, my personal sins.

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Living Water, Vol 1
David Cook
p520

Hatred of Christ

2009-12-11T19:10:00.004Z

Nothing raises the wonder and disgust of the world more than the high regard believers pay to the Lord Jesus. If they would only speak seriously of God, his goodness and providence, they might be borne with - but so much of Christ is offensive. Those who know him, however, will never think they can say enough of him.

John Newton
365 days with Newton
Day One
6th December

New Life

2009-12-09T07:53:00.001Z

I have decided to give this blog a new lease of life, and start again.

I hope to mainly have various quotations from books and articles I am reading. I hope they interest you.