“Extraordinary afflictions are not always the punishment of extraordinary sins, but sometimes the trial of extraordinary graces.” ― Matthew Henry
"Christ was anointed, so that he might be our king, teacher, and priest forever. He will govern us, lest we lack any good thing or be oppressed by any ill; he will teach us the whole truth; and he will reconcile us to the Father eternally." - Martin Bucer
No man-pleaser preaches the whole counsel of God. —R.C. Sproul
“In the sphere of religion, as in other spheres, the things about which men are agreed are apt to be the things that are least worth holding; the really important things are the things about which men will fight.” ― J. Gresham Machen
"Oh, my brothers and sisters in Christ, if sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies; and if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay, and not madly to destroy themselves. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for." - Charles Spurgeon
“In the moral realm, there is very little consensus left in Western countries over the proper basis of moral behavior. And because of the power of the media, for millions of men and women the only venue where moral questions are discussed and weighed is the talk show, where more often than not the primary aim is to entertain, even shock, not to think. When Geraldo and Oprah become the arbiters of public morality, when the opinion of the latest media personality is sought on everything from abortion to transvestites, when banality is mistaken for profundity because uttered by a movie star or a basketball player, it is not surprising that there is less thought than hype. Oprah shapes more of the nation's grasp of right and wrong than most of the pulpits in the land. Personal and social ethics have been removed from the realms of truth and structures of thoughts; they have not only been relativized, but they have been democratized and trivialized.” ― D.A. Carson
“For it is not we who call God by these names. We do not invent them. On the contrary, if it depended on us, we would be silent about him, try to forget him, and disown all his names. We take no delight in the knowledge of his ways. We tend... continually to oppose his names: his independence, sovereignty, righteousness, and love, and resist him in all his perfections. But it is God himself who reveals all his perfections and puts his names on our lips. It is he who gives himself these names and who, despite our opposition, maintains them. It is of little use to us to deny his righteousness: every day he demonstrates this quality in history. And so it is with all his attributes. He brings them out despite us. The final goal of all his ways is that his name will shine out in all his works and be written on everyone’s forehead (Rev. 22:4). For that reason we have no choice but to name him with the many names his revelation furnishes us.” ― Herman Bavinck
“For it is not we who call God by these names. We do not invent them. On the contrary, if it depended on us, we would be silent about him, try to forget him, and disown all his names. We take no delight in the knowledge of his ways. We tend... continually to oppose his names: his independence, sovereignty, righteousness, and love, and resist him in all his perfections. But it is God himself who reveals all his perfections and puts his names on our lips. It is he who gives himself these names and who, despite our opposition, maintains them. It is of little use to us to deny his righteousness: every day he demonstrates this quality in history. And so it is with all his attributes. He brings them out despite us. The final goal of all his ways is that his name will shine out in all his works and be written on everyone’s forehead (Rev. 22:4). For that reason we have no choice but to name him with the many names his revelation furnishes us.” ― Herman Bavinck
"Contentment does not lie in abundance of earthly enjoyments, but in calm peace of mind and spiritual joy; for unbelievers have no relish for such things, but to believers a persuasion of God’s fatherly love is more delightful than all earthly enjoyments." - John Calvin
"There is nothing more exciting or more interesting as an intellectual pursuit than to be reading theology and philosophy. But, valuable as it is, and wonderful as it is, it may become one of the most subtle dangers and temptations to the soul. A man can be so absorbed in the intellectual apprehension that he forgets that he is alive, and forgets other people. He spends the whole of his time reading and enjoying it, he never makes contact with anybody, and he is useless to everybody." - D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones [Studies in the Sermon on the Mount].
“Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those, whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy picture[...s] be,
Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou'rt slave to Fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well,
And better than thy stroke ; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And Death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.”
― John Donne
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those, whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy picture[...s] be,
Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou'rt slave to Fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well,
And better than thy stroke ; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And Death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.”
― John Donne
"When God wants to give us his very best, he gives us whatever will make us like his Son. This is the ultimate blessedness he has for us (1 John 3:2); it is also the explanation of the often strange, even unwelcome, twists and turns of life's pathway (2 Corinthians 4:10-11)." - Alec Motyer
A CLERK there was of Oxenford also
That unto logic hadd long y-go.
As lean was his horse as is a rake,
And he was not right fat, I undertake,
But lookd hollow, and thereto soberly.
Full threadbare was his overest courtepy,
... For he had gotten him yet no benefice
Nor was so worldly for to have office,
For him was lever have at his bed's head
Twenty books clad in black or red
Of Aristotle and his philosophy
Than robs rich or fiddle or gay psalt'ry.
But albeit that he was a philosopher,
Yet hadd he but little gold in coffer,
But all that he might of his friends hent
On books and on learning he it spent,
And busily gan for the souls pray
Of them that gave him wherewith to scholay.
Of study took he most care and most heed.
Not one word spoke he more than was need,
And that was spoke in form and reverence,
And short and quick and full of high senténce.
Sounding in moral virtue was his speech,
And gladly would he learn and gladly teach.
- Geoffrey Chaucer
That unto logic hadd long y-go.
As lean was his horse as is a rake,
And he was not right fat, I undertake,
But lookd hollow, and thereto soberly.
Full threadbare was his overest courtepy,
... For he had gotten him yet no benefice
Nor was so worldly for to have office,
For him was lever have at his bed's head
Twenty books clad in black or red
Of Aristotle and his philosophy
Than robs rich or fiddle or gay psalt'ry.
But albeit that he was a philosopher,
Yet hadd he but little gold in coffer,
But all that he might of his friends hent
On books and on learning he it spent,
And busily gan for the souls pray
Of them that gave him wherewith to scholay.
Of study took he most care and most heed.
Not one word spoke he more than was need,
And that was spoke in form and reverence,
And short and quick and full of high senténce.
Sounding in moral virtue was his speech,
And gladly would he learn and gladly teach.
- Geoffrey Chaucer
"The time is coming when the wicked shall persecute no more, when the mouth of iniquity shall be stopped, when the desire and hope of all believers shall be satisfied, when the Redeemer's work shall be consummated, when the kingdom shall be... delivered up to the Father, when those that made a jest of this day shall be fully confuted. Faith sees the certainty of it, and love makes us hold out till the time come about." Thomas Manton
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