Hardened by the Deceitfulness of Sin
23 Feb 2009 Leave a Comment
in Quotes, Self-Examination, Sin
“You know the flesh has made a breach in your defenses when your heart is hardened by its deceitfulness (Hebrews 3:13) so that you are careless about sin. You will look at your life and think about how often you need God’s forgiveness, and so think of it as something common, nothing to worry over or take pains about. You’ll know you are hardened when you begin to extend the boundaries of Christian freedom to include indulgences that in the past would have shocked you. Your flesh will whisper to you that strictness and anxious care about obedience are legalism—the gospel came to deliver you from such things! And besides, if you really do commit a sin, you can be forgiven later.”
- Kris Lundgaard, The Enemy Within, p.65
Pursuit of Holiness, 2
01 Feb 2009 Leave a Comment
in Quotes, The Pursuit of Holiness
“The apostle John said, ‘My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin’ (1 John 2:1). The whole purpose of John’s letter, he says, is that we not sin. One day as I was studying this chapter I realized that my personal life’s objective regarding holiness was less than that of John’s. He was saying, in effect, ‘Make it your aim not to sin.’ As I thought about this, I realized that deep within my heart my real aim was not to sin very much…I realized God was calling me that day to a deeper level of commitment to holiness than I had previously been willing to make.”
- Jerry Bridges, The Pursuit of Holiness, pp.92-93.
Pursuit of Holiness, 1
23 Jan 2009 1 Comment
in Quotes, The Pursuit of Holiness
“If holiness then is so basic to Christian life, why do we not experience it more in daily living? . . . Our first problem is that our attitude toward sin is more self-centered than God-centered. We are more concerned about our own “victory” over sin than we are about the fact that our sins grieve the heart of God. We cannot tolerate failure in our struggle with sin chiefly because we are success-oriented, not because we know it is offensive to God.”
-Jerry Bridges, The Pursuit of Holiness, p. 16
What a Motive
23 Jan 2009 Leave a Comment
in Quotes
Ann Hasseltine, three years before she married Adoniram Judson in 1812, wrote this:
Ever since I have had a comfortable hope in Christ, I have desired to devote myself to him in such a way as to be useful to my fellow-creatures. As Providence has placed me in a situation in life where I have an opportunity of getting as good an education as I desire, I feel it would be highly criminal in me not to improve it. I feel, also, that it would be equally criminal to desire to be well educated and accomplished, from selfish motives, with a view merely to gratify my taste and relish for improvement, or my pride in being qualified to shine. I therefore resolved last winter to attend the academy from no other motive than to improve the talents bestowed by God, so as to be more extensively devoted to his glory, and the benefit of my fellow creatures.
If
03 Jan 2009 1 Comment
in Quotes, Uncategorized
Over a year ago, I read a small book by Amy Carmichael titled “If.” It’s composed of a series of if-then statements, with all of the “if’s” followed by “then I know nothing of Calvary love.” Oh how deeply some of these have struck my soul. I love Spurgeon and Luther and Edwards and all, but I also love finding stuff written by women who set such an example in their radical devotion to the Lord and obedience to His Word.
After I read this book, I typed a lot of it up and sent it to a friend. I like how now when I come across something that strikes me, I could just post it here on the blog. So as I’m reminded of this book yet again, I thought I’d post a few among the many of these if-then statements that both comfort and convict me tonight:
If I belittle those whom I am called to serve, talk of their weak points, in contrast perhaps with what I think of as my strong points; if I adopt a superior attitude, forgetting “who made thee to differ? And what hast thou that thou hast not received?”…
If I can enjoy a joke at the expense of another; if I can in any way slight another in conversation, or even in thought…
If I do not feel far more for the grieved Savior than for my worried self when troublesome things occur…
If I am afraid to speak the truth, lest I lose affection, or lest the concerned should say, “You do not understand,” or because I fear to lose my reputation for kindness; if I put my own good name before the others’ highest good…
If I fear to hold another to the highest goal because it is so much easier to avoid doing so…
If the moment I am conscious of the shadow of self crossing my threshold, I do not shut the door, and in the power of Him who works in us to will and to do, keep that door shut…
If I cannot in honest happiness take the second place (or the twentieth); if I cannot take the first without making a fuss about my unworthiness…
If I feel injured when another lays to my charge things that I know not, forgetting that my Sinless Savior trod this path to the end…
If I feel bitterly towards those who condemn me, as it seems to me, unjustly, forgetting that if they knew me as I know myself they would condemn me much more…
If something I am asked to do for another feels burdensome; if, yielding to an inward unwillingness, I avoid doing it…
If the praise of man elates me and his blame depresses me; if I cannot rest under misunderstanding without defending myself…
If I do not forget about such a trifle as personal success, so that it never crosses my mind, or if it does, is never given a moment’s room there; if the cup of spiritual flattery tastes sweet to me…
If in the fellowship of service, I seek to attach a friend to myself, so that others are caused to feel unwanted; if my friendships do not draw others deeper in, but are ungenerous (i.e., to myself, for myself)…
If I avoid being “plowed under,” with all that such plowing entails of rough handling, isolation, uncongenial situations, strange tests…
If I forget that the way of the cross leads to the cross and not to a bank of flowers…
If I covet any place on earth but the dust at the foot of the cross…
Then I know nothing of Calvary love.
Richard Baxter-
27 Oct 2008 1 Comment
in Evangelism, Quotes
Hard words, but I needed to hear them:
Oh, if you have the hearts of Christians or of men in you, let them yearn towards your poor ignorant, ungodly neighbours. Alas, there is but a step betwixt them and death and hell; many hundred diseases are waiting ready to seize on them, and if they die unregenerate, they are lost forever.
Have you hearts of rock, that cannot pity men in such a case as this? If you believe not the Word of God, and the danger of sinners, why are you Christians yourselves? If you do believe it, why do you not bestir yourself to the helping of others? Do you not care who is damned, so you be saved? If so, you have sufficient cause to pity yourselves, for it is a frame of spirit utterly inconsistent with grace. . . .
Dost thou live close by them, or meet them in the streets, or labour with them, or travel with them, or sit and talk with them, and say nothing to them of their souls, or the life to come? If their houses were on fire, thou wouldst run and help them; and wilt thou not help them when their souls are almost at the fire of hell?
HT: Pulpit Magazine
Meditation
21 Oct 2008 Leave a Comment
in John Owen, Meditation, Quotes
Read this convicting quote by John Owen today:
Having come to the light of the knowledge of the glory of Christ from Scripture or by the preaching of the gospel, let us regard it as our duty to meditate frequently on his glory. It is the neglect of meditation that keeps so many Christians in a feeble state, regardless of their privileges. They hear of these things and assent to the truth of them or at least they do not question them. But they never solemnly meditate on them. They think that meditation is above their capabilities, or they are totally ignorant of how to go about it, or they are not too concerned about it, or they treat it as fanaticism. Many cannot meditate because their minds are so cluttered up with earthly things. The mind must be spiritual and holy, freed from all earthly clutter. It must be raised above things here below if we wish to meditate on the glory of Christ. So many are strangers to this duty because they do not mortify their earthly desires and concerns.
The Proverbs 31 Woman
06 Oct 2008 3 Comments
in Proverbs 31, Quotes
“The Proverbs 31 woman is not meant to discourage us, but to inspire and encourage us. God desires to make us more like this godly woman. Just as he gives us grace to fulfill all of His commands, so He has provided power to help us resemble this lovely portrait. So let’s take a closer look.”
- Nicole Whitacre (Read the whole post here)
Thomas Watson-
22 Sep 2008 2 Comments
in Quotes
“Remember in every loss there is only a suffering, but in every discontent there is a sin, and one sin is worse than a thousand sufferings.”
Be Doers of the Word
22 Sep 2008 Leave a Comment
James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
I’m going through Susan Heck’s book, With the Master in the School of Tested Faith, a verse-by-verse Bible study on the Epistle of James, and reached her notes on James 1:22, with this convicting paragraph:
The way James states it, doer of the Word, instead of do the word, puts the emphasis on the kind of person a Christian should be, not just some act she performs. She is a “doer of the Word” –that’s just what she does! …It’s one thing to run a race; it’s something else to be a runner. It’s one thing to teach a class; it’s another thing to be a teacher. It’s one thing to bake a cake, but it is another thing to be a baker. Runners are known for their running. Teachers are known for their teaching. Bakers are known for their baking. Likewise, doers of the Word are known for their obedience to Biblical truth. The direction of the life is one of real obedience to God’s revealed will, not a sporadic obedience or a partial obedience. Would others say about you, “Now she is a doer of the Word”?
And she had this humorous note on the “hearers only” part:
I once heard a story-perhaps apocryphal-about a new pastor who preached a wonderful sermon his first time in the pulpit. The pulpit committee knew they had done well by calling this man to their church, until the next Sunday when he preached the same sermon again. They were somewhat perplexed. So when some members of the congregation asked the new pastor why he preached the same sermon again, he replied, “When you start living the first message, then we will go on to the next one.”
What a strong reminder to be a doer of the Word.
