Great Quotes 19

New Thread, share your favorite quotes, long, short, one's that don't fit in other categories. Also for reference is the locked topic of the first Great Quotes thread here:

Great Quotes
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Great Quotes 2
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Great Quotes 3
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Great Quotes 4
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Great Quotes 7
https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=15623&forum=35

Great Quotes 8
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Great Quotes 9
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Great Quotes 10
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Great Quotes 11
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Great Quotes 12
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Great Quotes 13
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Great Quotes 14
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Great Quotes 15
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Great Quotes 16
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Great Quotes 18
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"There are many, like Cornelius and his friends, very devout and sincere and, in a way, God-fearing, religious, but not in Life until the Holy Spirit comes to them." - T. Austin Sparks

.
The Word did not become a philosophy or a theology or a concept to be discussed, debated, or pondered. But the Word became a Person to be followed, loved, and enjoyed.

...From a Christmas card I saw years ago...

"Oh my friends, we are loaded with countless church activities, while the real work of the church, that of evangelizing and winning the lost is almost entirely neglected." - Oswald J. Smith

Name this scripture:

Hint: Gerasenian Quatrain

"Rabbi! Be Gone!!!
And Take this Fool of Thine!
You LOVE his Soul
But we Prefer Swine!"

"Everything in our Christian life is dependent on our being filled with the Spirit." - Zac Poonen

"All that leads us to be agreeable to the world, and to the customs of men takes away the offence of the cross, and renders us agreeable to the world, but puts us at a distance from Christ." - J.N. Darby

"It becomes all professing Christians to be much on their guard against flattery. We mistake greatly if we suppose that persecution and hard usage are the only weapons in Satan’s armory. That crafty foe has other engines for doing us mischief, which he knows well who to work. He knows how to poison souls by the world’s seductive kindness, when he cannot frighten them by the fiery dart and the sword. Let us not be ignorant of his devices. By peace he destroys many." - J.C. Ryle

Thank you, SI Moderators...

...for Brother Ryle's quote reminding us of the fine line crossing the chasm between ENCOURAGEMENT and FLATTERY.

The former comes from the Life Giving Heart of Christ and the latter, from a drooling gate in the open grave of a man's lips and tongue.

True-Love-in-Christ-Alone,

kyp

"But first and foremost we must understand the meaning of the Church, its dependence upon Christ, and its subjection to His Lordship. God does not want us to be independent believers each doing whatever is right in his own eyes; independent preachers each going his own way." - Bakht Singh

"If we could only realise that Christ is all, what a power there would be in our Christianity! Remember that if we get near to Christ we shall get near to each other. If a number of people are met in a large room, where the windows look out upon beautiful scenery and everything is an attraction, you will find some will go to the windows, others will gather round the book-cases, others round the fireplace, and so on; but if they are invited there to meet some person of commanding presence and attraction, everything else is forgotten. If Christ had the place in our creed and heart that He ought to have, there would be personal loyalty and personal love, and this is just what He claims." - Sir Robert Anderson

"If there is one thing that we must fear more than anything else in the church, it is giving people an impression about our spirituality that is not true." - Zac Poonen

"Holiness and love and joy characterize the land. They are the fruits which grow there spontaneously, as are the thanksgivings that arise in the hearts of those who are there through redeeming power." - J.N. Darby

"I dont feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."
Galileo Galilei

"Learn to grapple with souls. Aim at the conscience. Exalt Christ. Use a sharp knife with yourself. Say little, serve all, pass on. This is true greatness, to serve unnoticed and work unseen. Oh, the joy of having nothing and being nothing, seeing nothing but a Living Christ in Glory, and being careful for nothing but His interests down here." - John Nelson Darby

"Pride is the greatest of all evils that beset us, and of all our enemies it is that which dies the slowest and hardest. . . . . God hates pride above all things, because it gives to man the place that belongs to Him who is above, exalted over all. Pride intercepts communion with God, and draws down His chastisement, for "God resists the proud."" - John Nelson Darby

"God's mercy with a sinner is only equaled and perhaps outmatched by His patience with the saints, with you and me." - Alan Redpath

"If you want to fight Satan effectively, the very first qualification is that you stop all fighting with human beings." - Zac Poonen

"Spiritual growth is not more knowledge or increase of years. It is simply more of Jesus and less of me. He is increased as I am decreased. This is what it means to be a disciple." - Chip Brogden

"But God is the God of the waves and the billows, and they are still His when they come over us; and again and again we have proved that the overwhelming thing does not overwhelm. Once more by His interposition deliverance came. We were cast down, but not destroyed.” - Amy Carmichael

"Brokenness in daily experience is simply the response of humility to the conviction of God." - Roy Hession

"One special want of the present moment is brokenness of spirit." - Charles Henry Mackintosh

"We must work while it is day.... Night comes when no man works. We must run while we still have freedom to bless the world with the gospel." - Paul Washer

"O brethren! let us beware. Unless we make, with each advance in what we think holiness, the increase of humility our study, we may find that we have been delighting in beautiful thoughts and feelings, in solemn acts of consecration and faith,while the only sure mark of the presence of God, the disappearance of self, was all the time wanting. Come and let us flee to Jesus, and hide ourselves in Him until we be clothed upon with His humility. That alone is our holiness." - Andrew Murray (Humility, Chapter 7)

"When there´s something in the Bible that churches don´t like,
they call it `legalism.´" - Leonard Ravenhill

"We pray for you. … You have so much, you put your faith in your money and your freedom. In North Korea we have neither money nor freedom, but we have Christ and we've found He's sufficient." - North Korean Christian

"May God help us not to get rigid. I want to stay flexible and open. I want to see a continual movement of the Spirit of God; so I need to stay supple, flexible, and pliable. If we create a religious system, with rigid controls and traditions, then God will have to once again go outside of us in order to do a new work of His Spirit.” - Chuck Smith

"When you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.” ”” Oswald Chambers

"A pharisee is hard on others and easy on himself, but a spiritual
man is easy on others and hard on himself."
-A.W. Tozer

"Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire
must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ..."
-A.W. Tozer

"Self must not only be dead but buried out of sight, for the stench of the unburied self - life will frighten souls away from Jesus." - John Hyde

"Let me forget the world--and be swallowed up in the desire to glorify God." - David Brainerd

"Now the main thing is to get the eyes of the people open. They need to see hell as the result of their sin, and that produces fear, the fear of God which is the beginning of wisdom. Once get this fear and all will be comparatively easy; but if this fear does not lay hold of a man, his so-called conversion is a sham. True love wakens a man to reality; sham love soaps him down to hell, greases his trail, in fact, to hell. Very many are half asleep or deluded, and make up fancy doctrines of their own, which practically mean that an unholy man can get to heaven without being holy. But remember, Christ did not die to whitewash us, He died to re-create us, and none but His re-creations enter heaven." - C.T. Studd

"You see why it is that anxious sinners do not find peace. They are looking at their own guilt and danger. They are regarding God as an avenger, and shrinking from his terrors. This will render it impossible they should ever come at peace. While looking at the wrath of God, making them wither and tremble, they cannot love him, they hide from him. Anxious sinners, let me tell you a secret. If you keep looking at that feature of God's character, it will drive you to despair, and that is inconsistent with true submission. You should look at his whole character, and see the reasons why you should love him, and throw yourself upon him without reserve, and without distrust; and instead of shrinking from him, come right to him, and say, "O, Father in heaven, thou art not inexorable, thou art sovereign, but thou art good, I submit to thy government, and give myself to thee, with all I have and all I am, body and soul, for time and for eternity." - Charles G. Finney

"I can do nothing of real service for God, until I have first of all done it in prayer. You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you really cannot do much more than pray until you have prayed." - Chuck Smith

"Look upon us, O Lord, and let all the darkness of our souls
vanish before the beams of thy brightness.
Fill us with holy love, and open to us the treasures of thy wisdom.
All our desire is known unto thee, therefore perfect what thou hast begun,
and what thy Spirit has awakened us to ask in prayer.
We seek thy face, turn thy face unto us and show us thy glory.
Then shall our longing be satisfied, and our peace shall be perfect." - Augustine

"When people honor you, humble yourself all the more at that moment, and say in your mind: 'If they truly knew who I were, they would show me no regard at all.' In this way, you will not cause injury to your soul," a wise elder said. - Desert Fathers

"If by excessive labor, we die before reaching the average age of man, worn out in the Master's service, then glory be to God, we shall have so much less of earth and so much more of heaven!" - C.H. Spurgeon

"In the Book of Revelation an angel proclaims a message of vital importance for end time believers: Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water (Revelation 14:7)." - Basilea Schlink

"To serve the Lord is to perform a holy service. It means being called to be God's co- worker, subject to special demands from Him. So apply God's holy standard to yourself. Be prepared to come daily before the holiness of God, so that your life, nature and deeds are purified in the fire of His judgment and cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. Such purification by judgment and grace empowers your life, words and service, and you will be privileged to call many to God." - Basilea Shlink

"Serving Him must be rooted in pleasing Him & done out of our love for Him, not our own gratification and glory. It must be for His." - K. P. Yohannan

"Learn to wait. To grab for something before God’s time is to spoil it.” - K. P. Yohannan

"The world of demons, fallen Angels, is very real ”“ a fact we need to know. We have to face up to this terrible reality, so that we do not fall unsuspectingly into their hands and come under their tyranny." - Basilea Schlink

"The proud think that their opinion alone is right. They cannot see the good points of others, as the humble do, and appreciate their opinions. That is why there is such disagreement, strife and quarrelling and even irrreconciliation in families and in other groups." - Basilea Schlink

Trust Him when dark doubts assail you, Trust Him when your strength is small,
Trust Him when to simply trust Him seems the hardest thing of all.
Trust Him, He is ever faithful, Trust Him for His will is best,
Trust Him for the heart of Jesus is the only place of rest. ~ Annonymous

'Once', Martyn Lloyd-Jones recalled, 'Dr. Tozer and I shared a conference years ago, and I appreciated his ministry and his fellowship very much. One day he said to me: 'Lloyd-Jones, you and I hold just about the same position on spiritual matters, but we have come to this position by different routes.' 'How do you mean?' I asked. 'Well,' Tozer replied, 'you came by way of the Puritans and I came by way of the mystics.' And, you know,' said Lloyd-Jones, 'he was right.'

"Who can add to Christmas? The perfect motive is that God so loved the world. The perfect gift is that He gave His only Son. The only requirement is to believe in Him. The reward of faith is that you shall have everlasting life.” - Corrie Ten Boom

"Hasty and severe judges of the sins of their neighbor fall into this passion because they have not yet attained to a thorough and constant remembrance and concern for their own sins. For is anyone could see his own vices accurately without the veil of self-love, he would worry about no one else in this life, considering that he would not have time enough for mourning for himself, even though he were to live a hundred years." - St. John Climacus (570-649 A.D.)

"We cannot expect persecution to bypass our own countries. In Revelation 12:17 we read of those against whom Satan will make his greatest attack: those ‘who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.’ All of us here are Christians who have committed themselves to keeping the Lord’s commandments. And we are living in a time when this commitment is going to be severely tested. Our obedience to the Lord may cost a high price in the near future. Let us be prepared because this too is part of our way of discipleship." - Basilea Schlink

"There is nothing—, no circumstance, no trouble, no testing— that can ever touch me until, first of all, it has gone past God and past Christ, right through to me." - Alan Redpath

"A single day in hell will be worse than a whole life spent in carrying the cross." - J.C. Ryle

"Far be it from us to seek a crown of honor where our Lord found only a crown of thorns." - C.H. Spurgeon

"In giving us his Son, his only and definitive Word, God spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word, and he has no more to say.” - St. John of the Cross

"My happiness today shall not be based on happenings, but on my eternal, unshakeable, relationship with God." - E. Stanley Jones

"The kingdom is to be in the midst of your enemies. And he who will not suffer this does not want to be of the Kingdom of Christ; he wants to be among friends, to sit among roses and lilies, not with the bad people but the devout people. O you blasphemers and betrayers of Christ! If Christ had done what you are doing who would ever have been spared'” - Martin Luther

"Jesus Christ lived in the midst of his enemies. At the end all his disciples deserted him. On the Cross he was utterly alone, surrounded by evildoers and mockers. For this cause he had come, to bring peace to the enemies of God. So the Christian, too, belongs not in the seclusion of a cloistered life but in the thick of foes. There is his commission, his work." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"God is not pleased with our getting something done, but with our obedience to Him. If He told us how to do everything, we would forget about Him and put all our confidence in the method, the way we do it. Is that not what this idolatrous generation has done? God is not teaching us how to be a good success. He is teaching us to trust, to obey, to know and to love Him. That is His supreme design and intention for us. His delight is not in what you can do, but in you yourself. Do what He tells you and learn to know Him." - Conrad Murrell

"As we meditated, it became clear to us that the Church was born out of the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ. The reason He suffered was because He came as the Truth and the Light into a world of falsehood and darkness. Representatives of this darkness and untruth, hating His Light and Truth, attacked Him and in the end crucified Him. We, therefore, who have been born of Him are always liable to persecution, as He Himself told us, saying, "Where I am, there shall also my servant be."3 This may be on a cross. He said, "The world will make you suffer. But take courage! I have defeated the world."" - Festo Kivengere

I’ve often considered it to be a significant measure of a person’s spiritual maturity to simply ask somebody, "How much do you pray for others?” How much are you self-absorbed with your own needs and not the needs of others? ”“ Tim Conway

"The dearest idol I have known,
Whate'er that idol be.
Help me to tear it from Thy throne,
And worship only thee." - William Cowper

"It implies that this is their only work, that the only business they have on the earth is to glorify God in the world's conversion. They are to do or say nothing, and be nothing, more or less than is conducive to this end. To this their whole being, time, influence, and possessions are to be consecrated. In that solemn parting hour, Christ doubtless meant to give them His whole mind in these few last words; Go, apply yourselves directly to the conversion of the world, and finish the great work which I have begun. I have given you the example; let your eye too be single, and your devotion unwearied and entire." - Charles Finney

"Since I know Jesus bled for little sins, I cannot wound his heart by indulging in them." - C.H. Spurgeon

"The man who trusts in the Lord will not move until God tells him to" - Zac Poonen

"Loving those who betray you is 'graduate-level Christianity.'
The religious community and one of His closest friends betrayed Jesus. Those who were closest to David betrayed him. Joseph's own family betrayed him." - Os Hillman

"If you lay hold of Jesus and keep hold, all the devils in hell can never drive you away from God or put out your light." - Charles G. Finney

"Everything that you can see will die and rot. Every title you can earn will be lost. Every glory you receive from men will turn to nothing. Live for that which is eternal. Life for the one that died for you." - Paul Washer

"On the threshold of the Promised Land, they rejected God’s order and experimented with democracy. The overwhelming majority voted not to enter the Promised Land and only two out of 600,000 voted to obey the Lord. This resulted in 40 years of hardship in the wilderness and death to all who participated in the referendum (Numbers 14)." - Anton Bosch

"Often those who stand highest in the esteem of men, fall the more grievously because of their over great confidence. Wherefore it is very profitable unto many that they should not be without inward temptation, but should be frequently assaulted, lest they be over confident, lest they be indeed lifted up into pride, or else lean too freely upon the consolations of the world.” - Thomas A. Kempis

"I do believe we slander Christ when we think we are to draw the people by something else but the preaching of Christ crucified.” - C.H. Spurgeon

"Entertainment is sin in the pulpit of God and in the church; there’s no place for it. Be careful, be careful. If you’re not sure that you are so sanctified by God… and filled with the Holy Ghost, and prayed through as much as a preacher before you stand before God’s people… [then] don’t ever get up and sing. Don’t ever get up and play any instrument. Go to the theater if you want applause; why come to the pulpit?” - Keith Daniel

"Even in a time of desperation the flesh continues to scheme and to search for a loophole. It never has the sense of utter dependency. This alone can be a test whereby a believer may know whether or not a work is of the flesh." - Watchman Nee

"Let all your thoughts be with the Most High, and direct your humble prayers unceasingly to Christ. If you cannot contemplate high and heavenly things, take refuge in the Passion of Christ, and love to dwell within His Sacred Wounds. For if you devoutly seek the Wounds of Jesus and the precious marks of His Passion, you will find great strength in all troubles.” - Thomas à Kempis,

"A man can give nothing unless he first receive it, and no man can be successful in the ministry who does not constantly depend upon God, for the excellence of the power is all from Him. Why is there so much preaching, and so little good done? Is it not because the preachers mix too much with the world, keeping too long in the crowd, and are so seldom in private with God ?" - Adam Clarke

"We talk Apostolic doctrine but lack Apostolic deeds. We claim Apostolic faith but lack Apostolic fruit. Some trumpet Apostolic power but lack Apostolic poverty. Some claim Apostolic enduement but lack Apostolic accomplishment. We may have Apostolic vocabularies. Do we have Apostolic victories? Many claim Apostolic succession. Few, if any, dare claim Apostolic success!" - Leonard Ravenhill

Supernatural evidence has accompanied every revival. The external miracles have been greater in some operations than in others. But - and this is the core of the thing - signs and wonders were done; the rationalists and materialists were stirred, and at times silenced." - Leonard Ravenhill

"I'll tell you the secret of getting revival in the church. Find half a dozen people who know how to groan. You won't have the same church in a year." - Leonard Ravenhill

"A thought I have about heaven is that as there's no more pain and crying; as there's no more death; as there's no more sickness. We are all perfect because of Him, and we are washed clean because of Him. The only one scarred in the whole of Heaven is Him... For in the Revelation there we see the lamb looking as if he's been slain. How strange that for eternity we are perfected in the presence of a scarred Lamb." - Jackie Pullinger

The greatness of a man is measured by the way he treats the little man. Compassion for the weak is a sign of greatness. Jesus says in Matthew 25:40 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” - Bishop Abraham

"It were far easier to write a book of apostates in this age, than a book of martyrs.” - John Trapp (1601-1669)

"It does no good to spend hours crying out to God for a great manifestation of His presence if we are not willing to do the simple things He commands. " - Israel Wayne

"Our responsibility to pray is not unlike that which Martin Luther carried in his time in Germany. He said, "If I miss prayer one day, I feel it; if I fail to pray two days, the entire church feels it; should I not pray three days, all Germany suffers.” ~ Francis Frangipane

"One primary identifying mark of the true church of God is this: It has shepherds after God's own heart." - Zac Poonen

"Religion seeks to reform a man; the Cross seeks to crucify him. Religion never succeeds yet the Cross never fails." - Chip Brogden

"Be hard on yourself and easy on others. Carry your own cross but never lay one on the back of another." - A.W. Tozer

"Errors in doctrinal matters such as 'baptism in water' and 'baptism in the Holy Spirit', are not at all as dangerous as losing one's personal devotion to Christ." - Zac Poonen

"True repentance consists of withdrawing from sin and nurturing hatred for it." - St. Ephraim the Syrian

"Jesus said, "If you will just seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all the other things will be added” (Matthew 6:33). They’ll be taken care of. Get your priorities right. Really just begin to seek the Lord, fear the Lord. "There is no want to those that fear Him.” God will take care of you if you’ll take care of your relationship with Him; God will take care of you." - Chuck Smith

"While many try to ignore Jesus, when He returns in power and might, this will be impossible." - Michael Youssef

So also, in our spiritual careers there is the danger of falling into a slump and being in need of revival. That early zeal for the Lord, that sense of adventure in the pursuit of God, that simple childlike faith so willing to risk, that sense of freshness in reading the Bible is gone. The long haul and the heat of the day is upon us and we are in danger of cooling off and settling into a lukewarm attitude. We are tempted to be content with our spiritual attainments and to feel that we have pretty well discovered all that God would have to say to us. There is the danger of the sacred becoming commonplace - forgetting glory of "so great a salvation", forgetting the "manner of love that has been bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God." - Bob Jennings

"This is what is important””each one of us is responsible for how we obey what He has said and follow Him alone.” - K.P. Yohannan

"Gossip is not a popular subject, but unfortunately it is a widespread activity in the church among both women and men" - Charles Stanley

"This is hard. It is perhaps not so hard to forgive a single great injury. But to forgive the incessant provocations of daily life ”“ to keep on forgiving the bossy mother-in- law, the bullying husband, the nagging wife, the selfish daughter, the deceitful son ”“ How can we do it? Only, I think, by remembering where we stand, by meaning our words when we say in our prayers each night 'Forgive our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us.' We are offered forgiveness on no other terms. To refuse it is to refuse God’s mercy for ourselves. There is no hint of exceptions and God means what He says." - C.S. Lewis

"It is a strange and beautiful eccentricity of the free God that He has allowed His heart to be emotionally identified with men. Self-sufficient as He is, He wants our love and will not be satisfied till He gets it. Free as He is, He has let His heart be bound to us forever. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. "For our soul is so specially loved of Him that is highest,” says Julian of Norwich, "that it overpasseth the knowing of all creatures: that is to say, there is no creature that is made that may know how much and how sweetly and how tenderly our Maker loveth us. And therefore we may with grace and His help stand in spiritual beholding, with everlasting marvel of this high, overpassing, inestimable Love that Almighty God hath to us of His Goodness.”" - A.W. Tozer

"God, of your goodness, give me yourself; you are enough for me, and anything less that I could ask for would not do you full honor. And if I ask anything that is less, I shall always lack something, but in you alone I have everything'.” - Julian of Norwich

"He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth. Isaiah 53:7. From all sides, critical thoughts and words flew like arrows at Jesus. How could it have been any different? He had to occupy the place that we deserved. We should be in the place of the accused eternally. How dreadful must hell be for those who have judged others here. To the extent that we have judged others, we will be judged." - Basilea Schlink

"Lord, let not our souls be busy inns that have no room for thee or thine, But quiet homes of prayer and praise, where thou mayest find fit company, Where the needful cares of life are wisely ordered and put away, And wide, sweet spaces kept for thee; where holy thoughts pass up and down And fervent longings watch and wait thy coming.” - Julian of Norwich

"To follow Christ, let us beforehand renounce our own reason and will. Both the reason and will of our fallen nature are completely defiled by sin; they will in no way reconcile themselves with the reason and will of God. Only he who denies his own reason becomes capable of making the reason of God his own; he who repudiates his own will becomes capable of fulfilling the will of God." - Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov

"Those who have an extravagant lifestyle can never be witnesses for the Lord in the midst of a suffering world." - Zac Poonen

"Let us be zealous, brothers, to guard our conscience for as long as we are in this world and not neglect its promptings in anything." - St. Dorotheos of Gaza

"Our God is a God Who brings good out of evil." - Zac Poonen

O my Master, I have known Thee
On the roads and on the sea.
"Wherefore, then, hast thou not known Me
Broken in Gethsemane?”

"I would have thee follow, know Me
Thorn-crowned, nailed upon the Tree.
Canst thou follow? Wilt thou know Me
All the way to Calvary?”

”“ Amy Carmichael

"There may be those who put up a wall even after saying they forgive you, but Jesus is not that way. When Jesus forgives, he also forgets the wrong we've done, because he died to pay for that wrong" - Jim Cymbala

"The person who loves you the most will tell you the most Truth. One of the greatest distinguishing marks of a false prophet is that he will always tell you what you want to hear and keep you so entertained that you are never addressed with great issues such as these: Is God working in my life? Am I growing in holiness? Have I truly been born again?" - Paul Washer

"The more intensely the bright lamp burns, the greater the illumination in the darkest of rooms." - R. Edward Miller

"Wherefore let us forsake the vain doing of the many and their false teachings, and turn unto the word which was delivered unto us from the beginning, being sober unto prayer and constant in fastings, entreating the all-seeing God with supplications that He bring us not into temptation, according as the Lord said, The Spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak." - Polycarp

"There is a widely-spread desire to make things pleasant in religion ”“ to saw off the corners and edges of the cross, and to avoid, as far as possible, self-denial. On every side we hear professing Christians declaring loudly that we must not be "narrow and exclusive” and that there is no harm in many things which the holiest of saints of old thought bad for their souls.
"That we may go anywhere, and do anything, and spend our time in anything, and read anything, and keep any company, and plunge into anything, and all the while may be very good Christians ”“ this is the maxim of thousands. In a day like this I think it good to raise a warning voice, and invite attention to the teaching of God’s Word. It is written in that Word, ‘Come out and be separate.’"
~ J.C. Ryle

"Speak well of those who speak evil of you. Pay good for evil. Pray for those who cause you various offenses, wrongs, temptations, persecutions. Whatever you do, on no account condemn anyone; do not even try to judge whether a person is good or bad, but keep your eyes on that one evil person for whom you must give an account before God”‹”“”‹ ”‹yourself." - Ignatius Brianchaninov

"God never abandons a soul that puts its trust in Him, even though it is overpowered by temptations, for He is aware of all weaknesses." - Nilus of Sora

"To paraphrase philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, "God may take Christianity away from the West as the final way to convince us of its truth"" - Hank Hanegraaff”

"Only one life soon will be past, only what's done for Christ will last." In the end, it's all about having an eternal perspective. - Hank Hanegraaff”

"All heaven is interested in the cross of Christ, all hell terribly afraid of it,
while men are the only beings who more or less ignore its meaning." - Oswald Chambers

"Let your prayer be completely simple. For both the publican and the prodigal son were reconciled to God by a single phrase.” - John Climacus

"Now since you are celebrating the holy Pascha, you should know, brethren, what the Pascha is. Pascha means the crossing-over, and so the Festival is called by this name. For it was on this day that the Children of Israel crossed over out of Egypt, and the Son of God crossed over from this world to His Father. What gain is it to celebrate unless you imitate Him Whom you worship; that is, unless you cross over from Egypt, that is, from the darkness of evil doing to the light of virtue, from the love of this world to the love of your heavenly home?" - St. Ambrose

"Finite creations will never come to the end of exploring the infinite Creator.” - Hank Hanegraaff

"He who is rich in the grace of God ought to be very humble and contrite of heart, and to consider himself as poor and having nothing. None of it is his own. Another gave it him, and takes it away when He pleases. He who humbles himself thus before God and men is able to keep the grace that was given to him, as the Lord says, He that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Elect though he be of God, let him be reprobate to himself; and being really faithful, let him consider himself unworthy. Such souls are well pleasing to God, and are quickened in Christ, to whom be glory and might for ever. Amen." - St. Macarius

"The wearing of fabric head coverings in worship was universally the practice of Christian women until the twentieth century. What happened? Did we suddenly find some biblical truth to which the saints for thousands of years were blind? Or were our biblical views of women gradually eroded by the modern feminist movement that has infiltrated the Church.” - R.C. Sproul

"Dishonor, sneers, derision, insults, the cutting out of one's own will, patience in annoyances, unmurmuring endurance of scorn, disregard of insults, and the habit, when wronged, of bearing it sturdily; when slandered, of not being indignant; when humiliated, not to be angry; when condemned, to be humble. Blessed are they who follow the way we have just described, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.” - St. John Climacus

"Spirituality is the last hiding place of 'self'." - Art Katz

"When patience greatly increases in our soul, it is a sign that we have secretly received the grace of consolation." - Isaac the Syrian

"Those who teach by their doctrine must teach by their life, or else they pull down with one hand what they build up with the other. - Matthew Henry

"What a man is on his knees before God in secret, that will he be before men: that much and no more." - Fred Mitchell

"'So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed' (Luke 5:15-16). He ran away from the crowds, to pray. We run after the crowds, and don't pray. Some preachers are more crowd-conscious than prayer-conscious, but not Jesus. - Selwyn Hughes

"Bring me a worm that can comprehend a man, and then I will show you a man that can comprehend the Triune God." - John Wesley

"Only by keeping the word of God deep within our hearts we will be transformed into His image. If the devil cannot separate us from the word of God, he makes us argue over the meaning of the word." - Author unknown

"A true prophet in the church today will have the same burden that the Old Testament prophets had for holiness among God’s people." - Zac Poonen

"Humility runs in advance of grace, and conceit runs in advance of chastisement." - Isaac the Syrian

"What the world needs is for men to wash one another's feet." - Art Katz

"Whereby, as before He of ours, so now we of His are made partakers. He clothed with our flesh, and we invested with His Spirit. The great promise of the Old Testament accomplished, that He should partake our human nature; and the great and precious promise of the New, that we should be consortes divinæ naturæ, "partake His divine nature.” - Lancelot Andrewes (1555-1626)

"we have no concept of the holy place of church today due to the driving force to 'entertain and satisfy the people to win them'. Bigger churches look like college campuses, shopping malls all to please men rather than God. I think in the book of Acts, that concept was reversed." - Dan Biser

"No one can live without joy. That is why a person deprived of spiritual joy goes after carnal pleasures." - Thomas Aquinas

"'He who endures to the end, he shall be saved,' saith the Lord. Many and various are the trials which the Lord allows to come upon people, but the purpose of them all is the same, namely: to heal the people's souls from sin through this bitterness and thus prepare them for eternal salvation. As hard as it may be for you at times, remember two things, first that your Heavenly Father decides on the measure of suffering, and second, that He knows your strength." - St. Nikolai Velimirovic

"To judge others is a shameless arrogation of the Divine prerogative; to condemn is the ruin of one's soul.” - John Climacus

"More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems. My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them.” Henri Nouwen

"How beautiful and praiseworthy is the love of neighbor, if only its cares do not distract us from the love of God!” - Isaac the Syrian

"A denouncing spirit is that with which real Christians have no fellowship, and are bound to shun." - Asahel Nettleton

"If I might be the means of the salvation of one soul, I should prefer it to all the riches and honors of this world." - Asahel Nettleton

"Troubles are usually the brooms and shovels that smooth the road to a good man’s fortune; and many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away hunger." - St. Basil the Great

"The persecution of one affects us all." - Franklin Graham

"Whatever gentleness you use in speaking with others, that very same gentleness will Christ use with you. With whatever measure you measure out to others, with that very same measure will He apportion to you. Just as you forgive the failings of others, He forgives yours. With whatever love and gentleness you seek Him, likewise will He appear to you." - Elder Joseph the Hesychast

"…providing amusement is in direct antagonism to the teaching and life of Christ and all his apostles. What was the attitude of the church to the world? Ye are the salt” (Matt. 5:13), not the sugar candy””something the world will spit out not swallow. Short and sharp was the utterance, "Let the dead bury their dead” (Matt. 8:22)." - Charles H. Spurgeon

"We bless thee, O God most high and Lord of mercies, Who ever workest great and mysterious deeds for us, glorious, wonderful, and numberless; who providest us with sleep as a rest from our infirmities and for a repose for our bodies tired by labor. We thank Thee that hast not destroyed us in our transgressions, but in Thy love toward mankind Thou hast raised us up, as we lay in despair, that re may glorify Thy Majesty. We entreat Thine infinite goodness, enlighten the eyes of our understanding and raise up our minds from the heavy sleep of indolence; open our mouths and fill them with Thy praise, that we may unceasingly sing and confess Thee, who are God glorified in all and by all, the eternal Father, the Only-begotten Son, and the all-holy and good and life-giving Spirit: now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen." - St. Basil the Great

"You no longer want Jesus only, but Jesus plus . . . plus respect, popularity, public opinion, success and pride. You wanted to go out with all the trumpets blaring, from a farewell-do that you organized for yourself with photographs and tape-recordings to show and play at home, just to reveal what you had achieved. You wanted to feel needed and respected. You wanted the other missionaries to be worried about how they’ll ever carry on after you’ve gone. You’d like letters when you go home to tell how much they realize they owe to you, how much they miss you. All this and more. Jesus plus. . . . No, you can’t have it. Either it must be "Jesus only” or you’ll find you have no Jesus." - Helen Roseveare.

"What people say when they speak on their own account is repellent and murksome, for their words do not come from the living spring of the Spirit, but are spawned from the morass of their own heart, a bog infested with the leeches, snakes and frogs of desire, delusion and dissipation; the water of their knowledge is evil-smelling, turbid and torpid, sickening to those who drink it and filling them with nausea and disgust." - Gregory of Sinai

"You’ve got a big problem…You are in a hurry and God is not. Your going to learn what is to wait.” - Petros Philipé

"Let God influence you ”“ and then influence others towards godliness." - Zac Poonen

"From the moment of awakening to the moment of closing our eyes in sleep, we should behave in such a way that the whole day becomes an unbroken chain of acts of self-denial, undertaken always for the sake of the Lord, before His face and to His glory." - Theophan the Recluse

‘It is surely no small sign of God’s power that throughout the whole world in the churches of God at the morning rising of the sun and at evening hours, hymns, praises… are offered to God’
~ Eusebius, Commentary on Psalm 64

"Stop looking for guidance if you won't obey orders." - G.W. North

"There awaits us a vast number of those dear to us, a large and serried crowd of parents, brothers, sons yearning for us, assured of their own salvation, but still anxious concerning ours." --St. Cyprian, De Mortalitate, Chap. ix , 251 A.D.

"Sometimes his (Smith Wigglesworth's) compassionate sobs were so deep that an entire congregation would weep with him.” ””George Stormont