Being Poor in Spirit

"No prayer is more powerful than the prayer of powerlessness, of littleness, of not knowing. Isn't this what it means to be poor in spirit."

- Mike Mason

Greatest Significance: The Giving of His Life

"This was the perspective of Jesus on His death. Despite the great importance of His teaching, His example, and His works of compassion and power, none of these was central to His mission. What dominated His mind was not the living, but the giving of His life."

- John Stott

Recognize His Love By Standing At the Cross

"When you're tempted to doubt God's love for you, stand before the cross and look at the wounded, dying, disfigured Savior, and realize why He is there. I believe His Father would whisper to us, 'Isn't that sufficient? I haven't spared my own Son; I deformed and disfigured and crushed Him---- for you. What more could I do to persuade you that I love you.'"

- C.J. Mahaney

The Persuasion of His Love

"When we think of Christ's dying on the cross we are shown the lengths to which God's love goes in order to win us back to Himself. We would almost think that God loved us more than He loves His Son. We cannot measure His love by any other standard. He is saying to us, 'I love you this much.' The cross is the heart of the Gospel; it makes the Gospel good news. Christ died for us; He has stood in our place before God's judgment seat; He has borne our sins. God has done something on the cross which we could never do for ourselves. But God does something to us as well as for us through the cross. He persuades us that He loves us."

- Sinclair Ferguson

The Triumphant Nature of Divine Love

"Divine love triumphed over divine wrath by divine self-sacrifice."

- John Stott

Personal Love

"Let there never be a lengthy period of time where you aren't receiving inspiration and instruction related directly to the cross, since that's where we find a fresh, sustaining conviction of of His personal love."

- C.J. Mahaney

Justified or Condemned in God's Eyes

"Justification is an act. It's not a work, or a series of acts. It's not progressive. The weakest believer and the strongest saint are alike equally justified. Justification admits no degrees. A man is either wholly justified or wholly condemned in the sight of God."

- William Plumer

Exhaust the Depths of the Gospel

"Never be content with your current grasp of the Gospel. The Gospel is life-permeating, world-altering, universe-changing truth. It has more facets than any diamond. We will never exhaust its depths."

- C.J. Mahaney

Cultivating Joy

"The inevitable result of preaching the Gospel to yourself will be a pronounced joy, an infectious joy, a consistent joy. Like nothing else, the Gospel creates joy; it's both the source and the object of our joy."

- C.J. Mahaney

An Empty Hand Receives the Gift of Salvation

"Salvation is a free gift, but an empty hand must receive it, and not a hand which still tightly grasps the world!"

- A.W. Pink

Heavenly Intercession

"We little know what we owe to our Savior's prayers. When we reach the hilltops of heaven, and look back upon all the way whereby the Lord our God hath led us, how we shall praise Him who, before the eternal throne, undid the mischief which Satan was doing upon earth. How shall we thank Him because He never held his peace, but day and night pointed to the wounds upon His hands, and carried our names upon His breastplate!"

- C. H. Spurgeon

Essence of Sin

"This is sin; a refusal to listen to the voice and to the Word of God. So that if you are living your own life in a very respectable manner, and are not listening to God, you are still a terrible sinner. If you are living that little self-contained, self-satisfied life in which you really only think of God now and again, and remember perhaps morning and evenings that there is a God, and you say your prayers; if that is your attitude to God, if you are not waiting upon Him and listening for His Word, and seeking it everywhere, and living to practice it, then you are as much a sinner as the drunkard or adulterer; you are not listening to God. That is the essence of sin."

- D. Martin Lloyd Jones

Central Truth of Atonement

"These verses (Hebrews 2:17, 1 John 2:2, and 4:10) simply mean that Jesus bore the wrath of God against sin. It is important to insist on this fact, because it is the heart of the doctrine of the atonement. It means that there is an eternal, unchangeable requirement in the holiness and justice of God that sin be paid for. Furthermore, before the atonement ever could have an effect on our subjective consciousness, it first had an effect on God and his relation to the sinners He planned to redeem. Apart from this central truth, the death of Christ really cannot be adequately understood."

- Wayne Grudem

Complete Abandonment

"Before being nailed to the cross, Jesus already knew what it meant to be forsaken; He had become intimately acquainted with being rejected or abandoned by men. Yet whenever it happened, He could always say, 'Though forsaken by men, I am not alone, for My Father is always with Me.' But not now. He who for all eternity has never been alone is now wholly abandoned."

- C.J. Mahaney

Sin and Satisfaction of God

"Sin is what you do when your heart is not satisfied with God."

- John Piper

When is God Most Glorified?

"God is most glorified in us; when we are most satisfied in Him."

- John Piper

Bear the Cross

"Some are all too ready to wear the cross, but not to bear the cross. We often prefer a health-and-wealth gospel to one of suffering and service. We join churches because they meet our needs, not because they give us the most opportunity to serve and sacrifice for the gospel. Yet still, the cross beckons us to come and stand in its shadow. Whether we do so or not is the ultimate test of our discipleship."

- Ben Witherington III

The Greatest Work of the Spirit

"Getting the glory of Christ before your eyes and keeping it there --- is the greatest work of the Spirit that I can imagine."

- C. John Miller

God's Invincible Love

"We are God's elect. Before the foundation of the world, God chose us in Christ. You can hear how precious this is to Paul with his words from Romans 8:33: 'Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?' The answer is that absolutely nobody can make a charge stick against God's elect. Paul wants us to feel the wonder of being elect as being invincibly loved. If you resist the truth of election, you resist being loved in the fullness and the sweetness of God's love."

- John Piper

Do Not Constantly Neglect the Holy Spirit's Prodding

"And to expose our hearts to truth and consistently refuse or neglect to obey the impulses it arouses is to stymie the motions of life within us and, if persisted in, to grieve the Holy Spirit into silence."

- A.W. Tozer

What is Sin?

"Sin will cost you more than you want to pay, keep you longer than you want to stay, and drive you further than you ever wanted to go."

- Anonymous

Do You Recognize His Love for You?

"Listen to this verse again for the very first time: For God so loved the world... that He is silent to His Son's agonizing appeal. This is what bearing our sin means to Him--- utter distress of soul as He confronts total abandonment and absolute wrath from His Father on the cross, a distress and an abandonment and a rejection we cannot begin to grasp. In this, our Savior's darkest hour... do you recognize His love for you?

- C.J. Mahaney

I Am Accepted Because of the Blood of the Lamb

"The great redemptive act that freed them from their sins (Rev. 1:5) and established their right to reign as priest and kings (Rev. 5:9) is also what gives them authority over Satan and enables them to overcome Satan and all of his accusations (Rev. 12:11). Satan accuses Christians day and night. It is not just that he will work on our conscience to make us feel as dirty, guilty, defeated, destroyed, weak, and ugly as he possibly can; it is something worse: his entire ploy in the past is to accuse us before God day and night, bringing charges against us that we know we can never answer before the majesty of God's holiness. What can we say in response? Will our defense be, 'Oh, I'm not that bad!'? You will never beat Satan that way. Never. What you must say is, 'Satan, I'm even worse than you think, but God loves me anyway. He has accepted me because of the blood of the Lamb.'"

- D.A. Carson

Constant Battle With the Flesh

"The old man, old nature, old self does not die easy, it dies hard."

- Anonymous

Sin

"One reason why sin flourishes is that it is treated like a cream puff instead of a rattlesnake."

- Billy Sunday

Satisfaction of Heaven Without Christ

"The critical question for our generation--- and for every generation--- is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?"

- John Piper

Obedience in the Limelight of Prayer

"Have you noticed how much praying for revival has been going on of late--- and how little revival has resulted? I believe the problem is that we have been trying to substitute praying for obeying, and it simply will not work. To pray for revival while ignoring the plain precept laid down in Scripture is to waste a lot of words and get nothing for our trouble. Prayer will become effective when we stop using it as a substitute for obedience."

- A.W. Tozer

Resolution #70

"Let there be something of benevolence, in all that I speak, RESOLVED."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #69

"Resolved, always to do that, which I shall wish I had done when I see others do it."

- Jonathan Edwards

This is the second to last of Jonathan Edwards' seventy resolutions. Next time, we will finish with the last one and I will continue posting quotes once a day pertaining to strengthening and encouraging the brethren. Thanks for continuing steadfastly in reading one resolution a day from Jonathan Edwards. I hope and pray that you were greatly encouraged by the faithfulness and godliness of this young man. :)

Resolution #68

"Resolved, to confess frankly to myself all that which I find in myself, either infirmity or sin; and, if it be what concerns religion, also to confess the whole case to God, and implore needed help."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #67

"Resolved, after afflictions, to inquire, what I am the better for them, what am I the better for them, and what I might have got by them."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #66

"Resolved, that I will endeavor always to keep a benign aspect, and air of acting and speaking in all places, and in all companies, except it should so happen that duty requires otherwise."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #65

"Resolved, very much to exercise myself in this, all my life long, viz. with the greatest openness, of which I am capable of, to declare my ways to God, and lay open my soul to him: all my sins, temptations, difficulties, sorrows, fears, hopes, desires, and everything, and every circumstance; according to Dr. Manton's 27th sermon on Psalm 119."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #64

"Resolved, when I find those groanings which cannot be uttered (Romans 8:26), of which the Apostle speaks, and those breakings of soul for the longing it hath, of which the Psalmist speaks, Psalm 119:20, that I will promote them to the utmost of my power, and that I will not be weary of earnestly endeavoring to vent my desires, nor of the repetitions of such earnestness."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #63

"On the supposition, that there never was to be but one individual in the world, at any one time, who was properly a complete Christian, in all respects of a right stamp, having Christianity always shining in its true luster, and appearing excellent and lovely, from whatever part and under whatever character viewed: Resolved, to act just as I would do, if I strove with all my might to be that one, who should live in my time."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #62

"Resolved, never to do anything but duty, and then according to Ephesians 6:6-8, to do it willingly and cheerfully as unto the Lord, and not to man: knowing that whatever good thing any man doth, the same shall he receive of the Lord."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #61

"Resolved, that I will not give way to that listlessness which I find unbends and relaxes my mind from being fully and fixedly set on religion, whatever excuse I may have for it- that what my listlessness inclines me to do, is best to be done, etc."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #60

"Resolved, whenever my feelings begin to appear in the least out of order, when I am conscious of the least uneasiness within, or the least irregularity without, I will then subject myself to the strictest examination."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #59

"Resolved, when I am most conscious of provocations to ill nature and anger, that I will strive most to feel and act good-naturedly; yea, at such times, to manifest good nature, though I think that in other respects it would be disadvantageous, and so as would be imprudent at other times."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #58

"Resolved, not only to refrain from an air of dislike, fretfulness, and anger in conversation, but to exhibit an air of love, cheerfulness, and benignity."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #57

"Resolved, when I fear misfortunes and adversities, to examine whether I have done my duty, and resolve to do it, and let the event be just as providence orders it. I will as far as I can, be concerned about nothing but my duty, and my sin."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #56

"Resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken, my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #55

"Resolved, to endeavor to my utmost to act as I can think I should do, if, I had already seen the happiness of heaven, and hell torments."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #54

"Whenever I hear anything spoken in conversation of any person, if I think it would be praiseworthy in me, Resolved to endeavor to imitate it."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #53

"Resolved, to improve every opportunity, when I am in the best and happiest frame of mind, to cast and venture my soul on the Lord Jesus Christ, to trust and confide in him, and consecrate myself wholly to him; that from this I may have assurance of my safety, knowing that I confide in my Redeemer."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #52

"I frequently hear persons in old age, say how they would live, if they were to live their lives over again: Resolved, that I will live just so as I can think I shall wish I had done, supposing I live to an old age."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #51

"Resolved, that I will act so, in every respect, as I think I shall wish I had done, if I should at last be damned."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #50

"Resolved, I will act so as I think I shall judge would have been best, and most prudent, when I come into the future world."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #49

"Resolved, that this never shall be, if I can help it."

- Jonathan Edwards

This Resolution points back to the 48th Resolution.

Resolution #48

"Resolved, constantly, with the utmost niceness and diligence, and the strictest scrutiny, to be looking into the state of my soul, that I may know whether I have truly an interest in Christ or not; that when I come to die, I may not have any negligence respecting this to repent of."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #47

"Resolved, to endeavor, to my utmost, to deny whatever is not most agreeable to a good, and universally sweet and benevolent, quiet, peaceable, contented and easy, compassionate and generous, humble and meek, submissive and obliging, diligent and industrious, charitable and even, patient, moderate, forgiving and sincere temper; and to do at all times, what such a temper would lead me to; and to examine strictly, at the end of every week, whether I have done so."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #46

"Resolved, never to allow the least measure of any fretting uneasiness at my father of mother. Resolved to suffer no effects of it, so much as in the least alteration of speech, or motion of my eye: and to be especially careful of it with respect to any of our family."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #45

"Resolved, never to allow any pleasure or grief, joy or sorrow, nor any affection at all, nor any degree of affection, nor any circumstance relating to it, but what helps religion."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #44

"Resolved, that no other end but religion, shall have any influence at all on any of my actions; and that no action shall be, in the least circumstance, any otherwise than the religious end will carry it."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #43

"Resolved, never, henceforward, till I die, to act as if I were any way my own, but entirely and altogether God's; agreeable to what is to be found in Saturday, January 12, 1723."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #42

"Resolved, frequently to renew the dedication of myself to God, which was made at my baptism; which I solemnly renewed, when I was received into the communion of the church; and which I have solemnly re-made this twelfth day of January, 1723."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #41

"Resolved, to ask myself, at the end of every day, week, month and year, wherein I could possibly, in any respect, have done better."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #40

"Resolved, to inquire every night, before I go to bed, whether I have acted in the best way I possibly could, with respect to eating and drinking."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #39

"Resolved, never to do anything of which I so much question the lawlessness of, as that I intend, at the same time, to consider and examine afterwards, whether it be lawful or not; unless I as much question the lawlessness of the omission."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #38

"Resolved, never to speak anything that is ridiculous, sportive, or matter of laughter on the Lord's day, Sabbath evening."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #37

"Resolved, to inquire every night, as I am going to bed, wherein I have been negligent,- what sin I have committed,- and wherein I have denied myself;- also at the end of every week, month and year."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #36

"Resolved, never to speak evil of any, except I have some particular good call for it."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #35

"Resolved, whenever I so much question whether I have done my duty, as that my quiet and calm is thereby disturbed, to set it down, and also how the question was resolved."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #34

"Resolved, in narrations never to speak anything but the pure and simple verity."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #33

"Resolved, to do always, what I can towards making, maintaining, and preserving peace, when it can be done without overbalancing detriment in other respects."

-Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #32

"Resolved, to be strictly and firmly faithful to my trust, that that, in Proverbs 20:6, "A faithful man who can find?", may not be partly fulfilled in me."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #31

"Resolved, never to say anything at all against anybody, but when it is perfectly agreeable to the highest degree of Christian honor, and of love to mankind, agreeable to the lowest humility, and sense of my own faults and failings, and agreeable to the golden rule; often, when I have said anything against anyone, to bring it to, and try it strictly by the test of this Resolution."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #30

"Resolved, to strive to my utmost every week to be brought higher in religion, and to a higher exercise of grace, than I was the week before."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #29

"Resolved, never to count that a prayer, nor to let that pass as a prayer, nor that as a petition of a prayer, which is so made, that I cannot hope that God will answer it; nor that as a confession, which I cannot hope God will accept."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #28

"Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #27

"Resolved, never willfully to omit anything, except the omission be for the glory of God; and frequently to examine my omissions."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #26

"Resolved, to cast away such things, as I find do abate my assurance."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #25

"Resolved, to examine carefully, and constantly, what that one thing in me is, which causes me in the least to doubt the love of God; and to direct all my forces against it."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #24

"Resolved, whenever I do any conspicuously evil action, to trace it back, till I come to the original cause; and then, both carefully endeavor to do so no more, and to fight and pray with all my might against the original of it."

- Jonathan Edwards

Blog Button for Quote Central

Thanks to Camden from Counter Cultural, I have a blog button for this blog. He was playing around with my header one day and decided to create a button for me. So through his kindness, a blog button was established for Quote Central on the 20th of March, 8:57 P.M. PT. Thanks Camden! Everyone, feel free to use the button to your hearts content.

Soli Deo Gloria!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Resolution #23

"Resolved, frequently to take some deliberate action, which seems most unlikely to be done, for the glory of God, and trace it back to the original intention, designs and ends of it; and if I find it not be for God's glory, to repute it as a breach of the 4th resolution."

- Jonathan Edwards

For review, this is the 4th resolution:

"Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can avoid it."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #22

"Resolved, to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness, in the other world, as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigor, and vehemence, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #21

"Resolved, never to do anything, which if I should see in another, I should count a just occasion to despise him for, or to think any way the more meanly of him."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #20

"Resolved, to maintain the strictest temperance, in eating and drinking."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #19

"Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if I expected it would not be above an hour, before I should hear the last trump."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #18

"Resolved, to live so, at all times, as I think is best in my devout frames, and when I have clearest notions of things of the gospel, and another world."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #17

"Resolved, that I will live so, as I shall wish I had done when I come to die."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #16

"Resolved, never to speak evil of anyone, so that it shall tend to his dishonor, more or less, upon no account except for some real good."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #15

"Resolved, never to suffer the least motions of anger towards irrational beings."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #14

"Resolved, never to do anything out of revenge."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #13

"Resolved, to be endeavoring to find out fit objects of charity and liberality."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #12

"Resolved, if I take delight in it as a gratification of pride, or vanity, or any such account, immediately to throw it by."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #11

"Resolved, when I think of any theorem in divinity to be solved, immediately to do what I can towards solving it, if circumstances do not hinder."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #10

"Resolved, when I feel pain, to think of the pains of martyrdom, and of hell."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #9

"Resolved, to think much on all occasion of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #8

"Resolved, to act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #7

"Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #6

"Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #5

"Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #4

"Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can avoid it."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #3

"Resolved, if ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come to myself again."

- Jonathan Edwards

Resolution #2

"Resolved, to be continually endeavoring to find out some new contrivance and invention to promote the aforementioned things."

- Jonathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards Resolutions Series: Resolution #1

I am going to be starting a quote series on this blog based on the 70 resolutions of Jonathan Edwards. I will post one resolution a day in hope that you will be encouraged and strengthened by the fact of this nineteen year old fully devoting himself to the cause of Christ at an early age. This young man was so dedicated that he immediately held himself accountable by creating resolutions that would bring God the most honor and glory. I pray that as you read these resolutions that you will be stunned by the grace of God through faith that exemplified the very nature of this young man at an early age. You will be amazed by his passion for the glory of God and you will want to strive after the utmost calling of holiness, when you read this young man's resolutions. With that much said, here is the first one:

Resolution #1: "Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory, and my own good, profit, pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many soever, and how great soever."

- Jonathan Edwards

Grasping the Glory of the Cross

"Life is wasted if we do not grasp the glory of the cross, cherish it for the treasure that it is, and cleave to it as the highest price of every pleasure and the deepest comfort in every pain."

- John Piper (from, Don't Waste Your Life), pg. 40.

Cultivate a Love for Him

"The pious [that is, godly] mind . . . restrains itself from sinning, not out of dread of punishment alone; but, because it loves and reveres God as Father, it worships and adores Him as Lord. Even if there were no hell, it will still shudder at offending Him alone."

- John Calvin, / Institutes 1.3.2 /

My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?

"The cry of dereliction sounds like a scream of utter distress and anguish over something so beautiful. This cry is one of the most devastating cries in all of Scripture. It breaks my heart. You want to know why. Jesus screamed this cry, in agony, so that we may never be forsaken by God."

- Yours Truly

Sola Deo Gloria!!!!!!

Why Does the Universe Exist?

"The universe exists primarily to display the wealth of the glory of the mercy of God for the enjoyment of His redeemed people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation."

- John Piper

Thankful for a God Who Is Slow to Anger

In light of a passage in Luke 13, John Piper explains,

"What Jesus teaches then is that all of us are extremely sinful. We are so sinful that calamities and disasters should not shock as though something unwarranted were coming upon innocent human beings. There are no innocent human beings. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no not one. And what should amaze us is not that some are taken in calamity, but that we are spared and given another day to repent. The really amazing thing in this universe is not that guilty sinners perish, but that God is so slow to anger that you and I can sit here this morning and have one more chance to repent."

- John Piper

It would be helpful to read Luke 13:1-5 to understand the full complexity of what Piper is saying here.


Soli Deo Gloria!!!!~

Contrasting Yourself With the Majesty of God

"Men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God."

- R.C. Sproul, The Holiness of God (Carol Stream, Ill.: Tyndale House, 2000), 68.

Destroy Sin or Pay the Consequences

"Do you mortify sin? Do you make it your daily work? You must always be at it while you live; do not take a day off from this work; always be killing sin or it will be killing you."

- John Owen, The Mortification of Sin (Carlisle, PA.; The Banner of Truth Trust, 2004), 5. (Abridged Version)

Do We Really Believe Scripture?

"Though we claim to believe the whole of Scripture, in practice we frequently deny much of it by ignoring it."

- D. Martin Lloyd Jones

Remembering Our Depravity in Light of the Cross

"My memory is nearly gone; but I remember two things; That I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Saviour."

- John Newton

How to Ascertain the Will of God Pt. 2

Sorry! I have been on vacation these past few days and have had no computer access at all, which is the reason why I have not been posting. Anyways, Happy New Year!!!! I will begin the new year off on a fresh start by completing George Mueller's quote that I began last time on how to ascertain the will of God. Pt. 1 was the first step in a series of six steps on how to ascertain the Will of God. I will quote the final five steps here:

"2. - Having done this, I do not leave the result to feeling or simple impression. If so, I make myself liable to great delusions.

3. - I seek the Will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined. If I look to the Spirit alone without the Word, I lay myself open to great delusions also. If the Holy Ghost guides us at all, He will do it according to the Scriptures and never contrary to them.

4. - Next I take into account providential circumstances. These often plainly indicate God's Will in connection with His Word and Spirit.

5. - I ask God in prayer to reveal His Will to me aright.

6. - Thus, through prayer to God, the study of the Word, and reflection, I come to a deliberate judgment according to the best of my ability and knowledge, and if my mind is thus at peace, and continues so after two or three more petitions, I proceed accordingly. In trivial matters, and in transactions involving most important issues, I have found this method always effective."

- George Mueller, Answers to Prayer (Chicago, Ill.; Moody Publishers, 2007), 11-12.

You need to refer back to Part 1 to get the full taste of what George Mueller is saying here. However, I found it really helpful and I pray that you found these quotes helpful as well on how to determine God's Will for a certain aspect of your life.

Soli Deo Gloria!!!~