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Quotes by Unknown Author

501

For the Holy Spirit is prayer’s great Helper. We are incapable of ourselves to translate our real needs into prayer. The Holy Spirit does this for us. We cannot ask as we ought. The Holy Spirit does this for us. It is possible for unaided man to ask what is for our ill. The Holy Spirit can check this. No weak or trembling hand dare put in motion any mighty force. Can I – dare I – move the Hand that moves the universe? No! Unless the Holy Spirit has control of me.

502

Faith in Jesus Christ, however, and salvation through Him is a free gift of God… The fact that some receive from God the gift of faith within time, and that others do not, stems from His eternal decision.

503

Faith is a gift of God, not in the sense that it is offered by God for man to choose, but that it is in actual fact bestowed on man, breathed and infused into him.  Nor is it a gift in the sense that God bestows only the potential to believe, but then awaits assent- the act of believing- from man’s choice; rather, it is a gift in the sense that He who works both willing and acting and, indeed works all things in all people produces in man both the will to believe and the belief itself.

504

Service with the proper motive is worship.

505

Biblically, it is the divine judgment upon sin and sinners. It does not merely mean that it is a casual response by God to ungodliness, but carries the meaning of hatred, revulsion, and indignation. God is by nature love (1 John 4:16), however, in His justice He must punish sin. The punishment is called the wrath of God. It will occur on the final Day of Judgment when those who are unsaved will incur the wrath of God. It is, though, presently being released upon the ungodly (Rom. 1:18-32) in the hardening of their hearts. Wrath is described as God’s anger (Num. 32:10-13), as stored up (Rom. 2:5-8), and as great (Zech. 7:12). The believer’s deliverance from God’s wrath is through the atonement (Rom. 5:8-10). “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thes. 5:9).

506

I will not love a world that crucified Him, neither cherish nor endure the sin that put Him to grief, nor suffer Him to be wounded by others.

507

Stewardship is what I do after I say I believe.

508

No one suffers from self-righteousness who spends much time in prayer.

509

No man dare prescribe for another how long a time he ought to spend in prayer, nor do we suggest that men should make a vow to pray so many minutes or hours a day.

510

[God] never condemns long prayers that are sincere. Let us not forget that our Lord sometimes spent long nights in prayer. We are told of one of these – we do not know how frequently they were (Luke 6:12). He would sometimes rise a “great while before day” and depart to a solitary place for prayer (Mark 1:35). The perfect Man spent more time in prayer than we do. It would seem an undoubted fact that with God’s saints in all ages nights of prayer with God have been followed by days of power with men.

511

The amount of time we give to prayer indicates how important prayer is to us.

512

Every convert is the result of the Holy Spirit’s pleading in answer to the prayers of some believer.

513

If we have the burden of souls upon us we shall never ask, “How long need I pray?”

514

Nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer except that which lies outside the will of God.

515

The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor. The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything.

516

We are never so high as when we are on our knees.

517

We may rest fully assured of this – a man’s influence in the world can be gauged not by his eloquence, or his zeal, or his orthodox, or his energy, but by his prayers. Yes, and we will go farther and maintain that no man can live aright who does not pray aright.

518

Is it not worthwhile to be wholly and whole-heartedly yielded to Christ? The half-and-half Christian is of very little use either to God or man. God cannot use him, and man has no use for him, but considers him a hypocrite. One sin allowed in the life wrecks at once our usefulness and our joy, and robs prayer of its power.

519

We cannot be sincere when we pray “Thy kingdom come” unless we are doing what we can to hasten the coming of that kingdom – by our gifts, our prayers and our service.

520

In shunning trials we miss blessings.

521

The Bible stands or falls as a whole. If a major newspaper were routinely discovered to contain errors, it would be quickly discredited. It would make no difference to say, “All the errors are confined to page three.” For a paper to be reliable in any of its parts, it must be factual throughout. In the same way, if the Bible is inaccurate when it speaks of geology, why should its theology be trusted? It is either a trustworthy document, or it is not.

522

We believe that the God who created the universe is capable of writing a book. And the God who is perfect is capable of writing a perfect book. The issue is not simply “Does the Bible have a mistake?” but “Can God make a mistake?” If the Bible contains factual errors, then God is not omniscient and is capable of making errors Himself. If the Bible contains misinformation, then God is not truthful but is instead a liar. If the Bible contains contradictions, then God is the author of confusion. In other words, if biblical inerrancy is not true, then God is not God.

523

The Bible is our only rule for faith and practice. If it is not reliable, then on what do we base our beliefs? Jesus asks for our trust, and that includes trust in what He says in His Word (Jn. 6:67-69).

524

There are words written by kings, by emperors, by princes, by poets, by sages, by philosophers, by fishermen, by statesmen, by men learned in the wisdom of Egypt, educated in the schools of Babylon, and trained at the feet of rabbis in Jerusalem. It was written by men in exile, in the desert, in shepherd’s tents, in green pastures, and beside still waters. Among its authors we find a tax-gatherer, a herdsman, a gatherer of sycamore fruit. We find poor men, rich men, statesmen, preachers, captains, legislators, judges, and exiles. The Bible is a library full of history, genealogy, ethnology, law, ethics, prophecy, poetry, eloquence, medicine, sanitary science, political economy, and the perfect rules for personal and social life. And behind every word is the divine author, God Himself.

525

God wants spiritual fruits, not religious nuts.

526

It takes more grace than I can tell to play the second fiddle well.

527

If we are true intercessors, we must be ready to take part in God’s work on behalf of the people for whom we pray.

528

Never did I pass a more truly solemn or interesting moment than that in which my firstborn child was put into my arms and when I felt that I was a father. A new comfort was then produced in my heart which every succeeding day has tended to confirm and strengthen. I looked up to heaven and breathed over my baby the petition of Abraham for his son. “O that Ishmael might live before You.” Recognizing in the little helpless being which had been so lately introduced into our world, there was a creature born for eternity and who when the sun shall be extinguished would be still soaring in heaven or sinking in hell. I returned to my closet for private devotion and solemnly dedicated the child to the God who had given me the precious life. And I earnestly prayed that whatever might be his lot in this world, he might be a partaker of true holiness and numbered with the saints in everlasting glory.

529

A Christian Martyr is one who: Chooses to suffer death rather than to deny Christ, or His work… Sacrifices something very important to further the Kingdom of God…Endures great suffering for Christian Witness.

530

My calling is sure. My challenge is big. My vision is clear. My desire is strong. My influence is eternal. My impact is critical. My values are solid. My faith is tough. My mission is urgent.My purpose is unmistakable My direction is forward. My heart is genuine. My strength is supernatural. My reward is promised And my God is real. I refuse to be dismayed, disengaged, disgruntled, discouraged, or distracted. Neither will I look back, stand back, fall back, go back or sit back. I do not need applause, flattery, adulation, prestige, stature or veneration. I have no time for business as usual, mediocre standards, small thinking, normal expectations, average results, ordinary ideas, petty disputes or low vision. I will not give up, give in, bail out, lie down, turn over, quit or surrender. I am a minister. That is what I do.

531

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.

532

Whoever desires to be saved should above all hold to the catholic faith.

Anyone who does not keep it whole and unbroken will doubtless perish eternally.

Now this is the catholic faith:

That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity,
neither blending their persons
nor dividing their essence.
For the person of the Father is a distinct person,
the person of the Son is another,
and that of the Holy Spirit still another.
But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one,
their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.

What quality the Father has, the Son has, and the Holy Spirit has.
The Father is uncreated,
the Son is uncreated,
the Holy Spirit is uncreated.

The Father is immeasurable,
the Son is immeasurable,
the Holy Spirit is immeasurable.

The Father is eternal,
the Son is eternal,
the Holy Spirit is eternal.

And yet there are not three eternal beings;
there is but one eternal being.
So too there are not three uncreated or immeasurable beings;
there is but one uncreated and immeasurable being.

Similarly, the Father is almighty,
the Son is almighty,
the Holy Spirit is almighty.
Yet there are not three almighty beings;
there is but one almighty being.

Thus the Father is God,
the Son is God,
the Holy Spirit is God.
Yet there are not three gods;
there is but one God.

Thus the Father is Lord,
the Son is Lord,
the Holy Spirit is Lord.
Yet there are not three lords;
there is but one Lord.

Just as Christian truth compels us
to confess each person individually
as both God and Lord,
so catholic religion forbids us
to say that there are three gods or lords.

The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten from anyone.
The Son was neither made nor created;
he was begotten from the Father alone.
The Holy Spirit was neither made nor created nor begotten;
he proceeds from the Father and the Son.

Accordingly there is one Father, not three fathers;
there is one Son, not three sons;
there is one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits.

Nothing in this trinity is before or after,
nothing is greater or smaller;
in their entirety the three persons
are coeternal and coequal with each other.

So in everything, as was said earlier,
we must worship their trinity in their unity
and their unity in their trinity.

Anyone then who desires to be saved
should think thus about the trinity.

But it is necessary for eternal salvation
that one also believe in the incarnation
of our Lord Jesus Christ faithfully.

Now this is the true faith:

That we believe and confess
that our Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son,
is both God and human, equally.

He is God from the essence of the Father,
begotten before time;
and he is human from the essence of his mother,
born in time;
completely God, completely human,
with a rational soul and human flesh;
equal to the Father as regards divinity,
less than the Father as regards humanity.

Although he is God and human,
yet Christ is not two, but one.
He is one, however,
not by his divinity being turned into flesh,
but by God’s taking humanity to himself.
He is one,
certainly not by the blending of his essence,
but by the unity of his person.
For just as one human is both rational soul and flesh,
so too the one Christ is both God and human.

He suffered for our salvation;
he descended to hell;
he arose from the dead;
he ascended to heaven;
he is seated at the Father’s right hand;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
At his coming all people will arise bodily
and give an accounting of their own deeds.
Those who have done good will enter eternal life,
and those who have done evil will enter eternal fire.

This is the catholic faith:
one cannot be saved without believing it firmly and faithfully.

533

Most moms and dads think they are either the best or the worst parents in the world, and both are wrong.

534

All atheists who have ever lived are all alive today.

537

God’s plan is for a man and a woman to become “one flesh” (Genesis 2:24), a relationship so intimate that one literally and figuratively becomes part of the other. Uniting a believer with an unbeliever is essentially uniting opposites, which makes for a very difficult relationship.

538

Proven Men Ministries undertook to conduct a nationwide study to obtain current and expansive data pertaining to the scope of pornography use and the impact it has on a person’s life, work, marriage, and sexual behaviors.
This part of the survey included questions to capture pornography use or addiction from three different perspectives. First, the participants were asked to identify their frequency of viewing pornography. Second, they were asked if they thought they viewed pornography too much. Third, they were asked if they felt that they were addicted to pornography.
Highlights:
Approximately two-thirds (64%) of U.S. men view pornography at least monthly.
The number of Christian men viewing pornography virtually mirrors the national average
Broken down by age:
Eight in ten(79%) men between the ages of 18 and 30 view pornography monthly.
Two-thirds (67%) of men between the ages of 31 and 49 view pornography monthly.
One-half (49%) of men between the ages of 50 and 68 view pornography monthly.
Christian men are watching pornography at work at the same rate as the national average.
One-third (33%) of men between the ages of 18 and 30 either think that they are addicted or are unsure if they are addicted to pornography.
Combined, 18% of all men either think that they are addicted or are unsure if they are addicted to pornography, which equates to 21 million men.

539

Only half the patients who go into an abortion clinic come out alive.

540

If it isn’t a baby, then you aren’t pregnant, so what are you aborting?

541

Since God compels believers to care for children whose parents have been killed (orphans – Jas. 1:27), wouldn’t He also compel us to care for children whose parents want to kill them? Whereas the orphan is bereft because his parents are dead, the unborn child on the way to the abortion clinic is bereft because his parents want him dead, and that’s a worse condition to be in. By reasoning from the lesser to the greater, we can be fairly certain that God’s concern for orphans also mandates concern for unborn children.

542

We must not become so "spiritual" in our Christian life that we forget about meeting physical needs, and we must not become so "worldly" in meeting those needs that we lose sight of God’s ultimate design. Or, to say it in specifically "pro-life" terms, we must not become so "spiritual" in our Christian life that we write off the daily slaughter of 4,000 innocent human beings as a political issue (beyond our jurisdiction), and we must not become so "worldly" in intervening for them that we lose sight of the bigger picture (reconciling people to Christ through holiness and love). This balance is the essence of pure and undefiled religion.

543

Christ is calling His followers not to the mere theoretical opposition of injustice, but rather to the real and practical (and often painful) ministry of meeting physical needs in a dying world. The gospel life is not merely about right thinking, it is far more about right… What good is it if you say you’re opposed to abortion, and yet you are not doing anything to actually help those who are dying?

544

Those who have been rescued unto salvation are far more accountable to God than those who remain mired in blindness and unbelief. When history looks back, someday, on the massive bloodshed of abortion, could the same indictment (of silent Christians in Nazi Germany) be said of us? In the end, unmanisfested opposition towards injustice is nothing more than masked complicity.

545

Many wonderful and godly saints have suggested that evangelism is the best and only hope for changing people’s minds about abortion. Merely changing someone’s mind about abortion (without getting them saved), they argue, does no good in the long run. "They will simply go to hell as a more moral person." While this is true as it applies to the parent, such reasoning wholly neglects the person whose life hangs in the balance, and for this reason, such logic is faulty… If we only rely on evangelism as a means of changing people’s minds and behavior concerning abortion, then all those people who do not repent and believe (which is the vast majority) will continue to kill their children en masse. If, however, we also educate young people about what abortion actually is and who unborn humans actually are, then they will be far less likely to abort their children, even if they ultimately reject salvation. The external morality which results will not make a difference for their souls on the Day of Judgment, but it will make a HUGE difference in the lives of their children, children who would have otherwise been destroyed.

546

The vast majority of unsaved Americans do not need convincing that child-killing is wretched and immoral. What they do need convincing of is that abortion is child killing. Likewise, the vast majority of unsaved Americans do not need convincing that it is wrong to tear people’s arms and legs and heads off, but they do need convincing that abortion does just that, four thousand times a day in this country. Thank God that so many of the people who reject Him as Creator and Saviour still have enough of His law written on their heart to govern their actions and inform their morality (at least as it applies to murder). What this means for us is that the major obstacle keeping most people on the "pro-choice" side is not so much moral as educational. We are not trying to preach them into a "new" morality, we are educating them towards a more consistent application of the morality they already have in place (one that condemns killing innocent people).

547

Abortion persists in this country because it is masked and hidden and ignored. Even its most ardent supporters rarely use the term. Child-killing is called choice, pro-abortion marches are renamed for "women’s freedom", and every effort is made to ensure that the procedure itself is never debated. Abortion is legal in America not because of legislation, but because of judicial decree, because it slithered through the back door. It has never had to stand the test of full-disclosure, nor could it.

548

Is the unborn baby a human being?
1. YES! The unborn baby is alive from the moment of fertilization.
2. YES! The unborn baby has a heartbeat at three weeks and brain waves at six weeks.
3. YES! The unborn baby is complete! He or she is programmed from the inside for an ongoing process of growth and development.
4. YES! The unborn baby has 46 chromosomes in the cells of his or her body – the scientifically verifiable human genetic code.
5. YES! The answer is clear… You were you from the moment of fertilization – a unique human being never to be repeated in all of history.
Nothing magical occurs at birth which suddenly makes an unborn baby human. The baby is the same baby, whether inside or outside the uterus. Every unborn baby is a complete, individual, living human being from the earliest moment of his or her existence at fertilization.

549

Physical and Psychological Effects of Abortion:
1. More than 100 physical complications have been associated with abortion. Immediate physical effects include: infection, hemorrhage, cervical damage, damage to other internal organs, perforation of the uterus, abdominal pain, menstrual irregularity, headaches, dizziness, and blood clots. In some cases, today’s so-called “safe-legal” abortions can result in death.
2. Long-term physical effects include: sterility, stillbirth, miscarriage of further children, and premature births of subsequent children, (which can lead to many complication in newborns.)
3. Secondary health problems associated with abortion are now being studied. Abortion can lead to an increase in substance abuse (alcohol, drugs, tobacco, etc.), which has many well-known negative health consequences.
4. Many women suffer from psychological aftereffects of abortion. These complications are called post-abortion syndrome, or PAS.
5. Some of the behavior which mark PAS are: recurrent memories, dreams and repetitions of the abortion experience; avoidance of emotional attachment; relationship problems; sleep disturbances; guilt about surviving when the unborn child died; memory impairment; hostile outbursts; suicidal thoughts or actions and substance abuse.
6. Some women begin to suffer from PAS right after their abortions; for others. The symptoms may not begin to appear from many months of years after the abortion. Often, a major life event, such as the birth of another child, can trigger PAS in a woman.
7. The negative psychological effects of abortion can also be seen in fathers, grandparents and siblings. Even medical personnel involved in the abortion industry have reported that they suffered from negative effects.

550

You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish.

551

What reassurance for anyone who regrets a past abortion: Through Jesus’ sacrifice we can find peace and forgiveness. And are the rest of us any different? Let’s be like the man who “beat upon his chest in sorrow, exclaiming, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner’ and not like the judgmental Pharisee who prayed this prayer: ‘Thank God, I am not a sinner like everyone else!'” Jesus said that this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home forgiven! Luke 18.

552

Anger blows out the lamp of the mind. It’s a child’s reaction to an adult situation.

553

Anger is one letter short of danger.

554

Holy Scripture, being God’s own Word, written by men prepared and superintended by His Spirit, is of infallible divine authority in all matters upon which it touches: it is to be believed, as God’s instruction, in all that it affirms; obeyed, as God’s command, in all that it requires; embraced, as God’s pledge, in all that it promises.

555

God speaks in the Scriptures, and by it teaches the Church herself; and therefore His authority in the Scriptures is greater, the authority of Him that teaches, than of those by whom He teaches as the authority of a king in his law is greater than that of an officer that proclaims them.

556

If you are not as close to God as you used to be, you do not have to guess who moved.

557

Backsliding begins when knee-bending stops!

558

Since the Renaissance, and more particularly since the Enlightenment, the world-views have been developed which involve skepticism about basis Christian tenants. Such are the agnosticism which denies that God is knowable, the rationalism which denies that He is incomprehensible, the idealism which denies that He is transcendent, and the existentialism which denies rationality in His relationships with us. When these un- and anti-biblical principles seep into men’s theologies at presuppositional level, as today they frequently do, faithful interpretation of Holy Scripture becomes impossible.

559

This Book contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s character. Here paradise is restored, Heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand object; our good is its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is given you in life and will be opened in the judgment and will be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.

560

The Bible has been my guide in perplexity, and my comfort in trouble. It has roused me when declining, and animated me in languor. Other writings may be good, but they want certainty and force. The Bible carries its own credentials along with it, and proves spirit and life to the soul. In other writings I hear the words of a stranger or a servant. In the Bible I hear the language of my Father and my friend. Other books contain only the picture of bread. The Bible presents me with real manna, and feeds me with the bread of life.

561

A casual relationship with the Word of God reflects a casual relationship with the Son of God.

562

A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.

563

Grace is everything for nothing to those who don’t deserve anything.

564

When there is opportunity to sin may the Lord protect me from the inclination and when there is the inclination to sin may the Lord protect me from the opportunity.

565

It is better to be occupied with Jesus than to be occupied for Jesus.

566

We need God to save us from God!

567

Salvation is not something we achieve but something we receive.

568

There are…some who believe that it was likely during the Feast of Tabernacles that Jesus was born. While we celebrate Christ’s birth on December 25, most scholars acknowledge that this tradition was begun in the fourth century AD by the Roman Catholic Church and that the exact day of Jesus’ birth is unknown. Some of the evidence that Jesus might have been born earlier in the year during the Feast of the Tabernacles includes the fact that it would be unlikely for shepherds to still be in the field with their sheep in December, which is in the middle of the winter, but it would have been likely they were in the fields tending sheep at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. The strong possibility that Jesus was born at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles is also seen in the words John wrote in John 1:14. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” The word John chose to speak of Jesus “dwelling” among us is the word tabernacle, which simply means to “dwell in a tent.”

569

By the time of choice most of the choosing is already done.

570

We need God to save us from God.

571

Even a dead dog can swim with the tide.

572

His head rests where the cattle have fed.

573

Someone once said, “Gossip is like soap – mostly lye! A gossip is just a fool with a keen sense of rumor. Profanity is a public announcement of stupidity. Swearing is a lax man’s way of trying to be emphatic. A lie is a coward’s way of getting out of trouble. Truth is as clear as a bell, but it isn’t always tolled.  When you sing your own praise, you always get the tune too high. Don’t brag; it isn’t the whistle that pulls the train.”

574

Isn’t it better to leave people wondering why you didn’t talk then why you did?

575

In contrast [to the Old Covenant], the New Covenant has a spiritual means of entrance: one must believe and be saved (Acts 16:31). Therefore, one’s spiritual life is closely connected to the sign of baptism. If baptism indicates an entrance into the New Covenant, then only those devoted to God and trusting in Jesus should be baptized. True circumcision, as Paul preaches in Romans 2:29, is that of the heart, and it is accomplished by the Spirit. In other words, a person today enters a covenant relationship with God not based on a physical act but on the Spirit’s work in the heart.

576

Colossians 2:11-12 refers to [our true] spiritual circumcision: “In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead.” This circumcision does not involve the cutting of the body; it is a cutting away of our old nature. It is a spiritual act and refers to nothing less than salvation, effected by the Holy Spirit. Baptism, mentioned in verse 12, does not replace circumcision; it follows circumcision – and it is clearly a spiritual circumcision that is meant. Baptism, therefore, is a sign of inward, spiritual “circumcision.” This passage also specifies that the new life, represented by baptism, comes “through your faith.” This implies that the one being baptized has the ability to exercise faith. Since infants are not capable of exercising faith, they should not be candidates for baptism.

577

Someone born (physically) under the Old Covenant received the sign of that covenant (circumcision); likewise, someone born (spiritually) under the New Covenant (“born again,” John 3:3) receives the sign of that covenant (baptism).

578

The Creator had woven Himself a robe of virgin flesh.

579

God in His love always wills what is best for us. In His wisdom He always knows what is best, and in His sovereignty He has the power to bring it about.

580

Grace is receiving God’s absolute best when we deserve the absolute worst!

581

To say that people can’t be transformed is to say that God cannot transform people and that’s blasphemy. Nothing less.

582

When our inequity had come to its full height, and it was clear beyond all mistaking that retribution in the form of punishment and death must be looked for, the hour arrived in which God had determined to make known from then onwards His loving-kindness and His power. How surpassing is the love and tenderness of God! In that hour, instead of hating us and rejecting us and remembering our wickedness against us, He showed how long-suffering He is. He bore with us, and in pity He took our sins upon Himself. He gave His own Son as a ransom for us – the holy for the wicked, the sinless for sinners, the just for unjust, the incorrupt for the corrupt, the immortal for the mortal. For was there, indeed, anything except His righteousness that could have availed to cover our sins? In whom could we, in our lawlessness and ungodliness, have been made holy, but in the Son of God alone? O sweet exchange! O unsearchable working! O benefits unhoped for! – that the wickedness of multitudes should thus be hidden in the One holy, and the holiness of One should sanctify the countless wicked!

583

The deepest sense of guilt comes not when you sin against law but when you sin against love.

584

On occasions when guilty feelings arise over sins already confessed and forsaken, reject such feelings as false guilt. The Lord has been true to His promise to forgive.

585

The millennium is a thousand years of peace that Christians like to fight about.

586

Although it is healthy to be ashamed of the sins you are involved in, don’t let that shame become one of Satan’s weapons to keep you trapped. Secrecy is often a Christian’s biggest enemy, while confession can bring freedom and release from the bondage of an overwhelming sense of shame. If no one knows of your personal moral failures, there is no one to be accountable to, or to help lift you up in prayer or encourage you. Don’t let your pride destroy you (Prov. 29:23; Mark 7:21; 2 Chr, 32:26). In an accountability relationship, you choose a confidant that you can be honest and open with about your addiction. Confess your sin (James 5:16). Be sure to choose someone of the same sex. Preferably, select a discrete person that has some spiritual maturity in their walk with Christ, and who has a helpful, non-condemning spirit.

587

An addiction to anything other than God Himself is wrong. God is the only thing we can (and should) occupy ourselves with habitually. To do so with anything else draws us away from Him and displeases Him. He alone is worthy of our complete attention, love, and service. To offer these things to anything or anyone else is idolatry.

588

It is not a father’s job to teach his daughter how to be a lady, but it is his job to show his daughter how a lady should be treated.

589

Thou wilt come to raise my body from the dust, and re-unite it to my soul, by a wonderful work of infinite power and love, greater than that which bounds the ocean’s waters, ebbs and flows the tides, keeps the stars in their courses, and gives life to all creatures.

590

No matter how long you nurse a grudge, it won’t get better.

591

When you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere.

592

The word literally means, “self-pleasing.” It refers to a man who obstinately maintains his own opinion or asserts his own rights and does not care about the rights, feelings, and interests of others (Trench, Synonyms, p. 349). The self-willed man often takes the contrary view because he loves to assert himself and wield power over others. He never admits that he was wrong. He is not a team player. If he acts in such self-willed ways in the church or with other elders, you can assume that he runs his family like a drill sergeant. Don’t make him an elder!

593

To do something arbitrarily without divine permission; to act on one’s own decision rather than considering the needs of others and the purpose of God.

594

Not self-willed-literally, “self-pleasing”; unaccommodating to others; harsh, the opposite of “a lover of hospitality” (Tit 1:6); so Nabal (1Sa 25:1-44); self-loving and imperious; such a spirit would incapacitate him for leading a willing flock, instead of driving.

595

Not self-willed; not doing things in the worship and house of God, in the ministry of the word, and administration of ordinances, according to his own will, but according to the will of God, revealed in his word; otherwise what he does will come under the name of will worship: or obstinate, stubborn, and inflexible, conceited of his own sense and judgment, and resolute to have his own will and way in all things relating to the affairs of God’s house. The word signifies one that is pleased with himself, has an over weening opinion of himself, is proud and haughty, and despises others.

596

Parenting needs to move from simply providing for physical needs like food, shelter, and clothing and for the emotional and social well-being of children to providing for the nurture of their souls, for their spiritual well-being. Parenting needs to move from simply protecting them from bad people and physical harm to protecting them from the Evil One and from a world view that leaves God out. Parenting needs to move from focusing primarily on their behavior to focusing primarily on their heart. Parenting needs to move from merely telling them what they should do to showing them how through the parents’ own example.

597

Inclusivism is the view that people actually appropriate God’s gift of salvation only on the basis of Jesus Christ’s atoning work, but that the sinner need not explicitly believe the gospel in order to actually receive this salvation. Inclusivism teaches that Christianity is the only true religion (including the belief that Christ is the only Savior of men), but that this salvation could be made available through means other than explicit faith in Christ. The inclusivist believes that adherents of other religions and even atheists can be saved by responding to God’s revelation in creation or through the elements of truth contained within their non-Christian religion.

598

Satan does not rule hell or lead his demons in tormenting those who are banished there. In fact, the Bible does not say that Satan has been to hell yet. Rather, “eternal fire” is awaiting Satan; the place was originally created to punish Satan and the demons (Matthew 25:41), not to give them a kingdom to rule.

599

If God was small enough for us to understand, He wouldn’t be big enough for us to worship.

600

A family without prayer is like a house without a roof, open and exposed to all the storms of Heaven.