“What many men despise today as ‘doctrine’ the New Testament calls the gospel; and the New Testament treats it as the message upon which salvation depends.” -J. Gresham Machen
---
"A God without wrath, brought men without sin, into a kingdom without judgement through a Christ without a cross." -H. Richard Niebuhr
---
“Larry Hein, who wrote the blessing: May all your expectations be frustrated, may all your plans be thwarted, may all your desires be withered into nothingness, that you may experience the powerlessness and poverty of a child and sing and dance in the love of God who is Father, Son, and Spirit.” -Brennan Manning
"The gospel is only good news when we understand the bad news." - RC Sproul
---
The Mizpah- Gen 31:49
49 and Mizpah,[f] for he said, “The Lord watch between you and me, when we are out of one another's sight.
"The Lord watch between me and thee while we are absent one from another."
---
Num 6:24
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to
you; the Lord lift up His countenance[c] upon you and give you peace.
---
The new gospel conspicuously fails to produce deep reverence, deep repentance, deep humility a spirit of worship a concern for the church. Why? We would suggest that the reason lies in its own character and content. It fails to make men God-centered in their thoughts and God-fearing in their hearts because this is not primarily what it is trying to do., One way of stating the difference between it and the old gospel is to say that it is too exclusively concerned to be helpful to man, to bring peace, comfort, happiness, satisfaction - and too little concerned to glorify God. - J.I. Packer (Death of Death preamble)
“He did not conquer in spite of the dark mystery of evil. He conquered through it.”
~James Stewart~
———————————
“It is a glorious phrase of the New Testament, that ‘he led captivity captive.’
The very triumphs of His foes, it means, he used for their defeat. He compelled their dark achievements to sub-serve his end, not theirs.
They nailed him to the tree, not knowing that by that very act they were bringing the world to his feet.
They gave him a cross, not guessing that he would make it a throne.
They flung him outside the gates to die, not knowing that in that very moment they were lifting up all the gates of the universe, to let the King of Glory come in.
They thought to root out his doctrines, not understanding that they were implanting imperishably in the hearts of men the very name they intended to destroy.
They thought they had defeated God with His back the wall, pinned and helpless and defeated: they did not know that it was God Himself who had tracked them down.
He did not conquer in spite of the dark mystery of evil. He conquered through it.”
James Stewart (1896–1990) was a minister of the Church of Scotland
~James Stewart~
———————————
“It is a glorious phrase of the New Testament, that ‘he led captivity captive.’
The very triumphs of His foes, it means, he used for their defeat. He compelled their dark achievements to sub-serve his end, not theirs.
They nailed him to the tree, not knowing that by that very act they were bringing the world to his feet.
They gave him a cross, not guessing that he would make it a throne.
They flung him outside the gates to die, not knowing that in that very moment they were lifting up all the gates of the universe, to let the King of Glory come in.
They thought to root out his doctrines, not understanding that they were implanting imperishably in the hearts of men the very name they intended to destroy.
They thought they had defeated God with His back the wall, pinned and helpless and defeated: they did not know that it was God Himself who had tracked them down.
He did not conquer in spite of the dark mystery of evil. He conquered through it.”
James Stewart (1896–1990) was a minister of the Church of Scotland
C.H. Spurgeon, a powerful preacher, passionate evangelist, and committed Calvinist, said this:
I have my own private opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified unless we preach what nowadays is called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the Gospel and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the Gospel if we do not preach justification by faith, without works; nor unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah; nor can I comprehend a Gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called and suffers the children of God to be burned in the fires of damnation after having once believed in Jesus. Such a Gospel I abhor.
I have my own private opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified unless we preach what nowadays is called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the Gospel and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the Gospel if we do not preach justification by faith, without works; nor unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah; nor can I comprehend a Gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called and suffers the children of God to be burned in the fires of damnation after having once believed in Jesus. Such a Gospel I abhor.
Old nautical saying:
Who will not be ruled by the rudder must be ruled by the rock."
CS Lewis Quote
"For my part, I tend to find the doctrinal books often more helpful in devotion than devotional books, and I rather suspect that the same experience may await others. I believe that many who find that 'nothing happens' when they sit down. or kneel down, to a book of devotion would find that the heart sings unbidden while they are working through a tough bit of theology with a pipe in their teeth and a pencil in their hand. "
July 13 – Oswald Chambers
Keep paying the price. Let God see that you
are willing to live up to the vision.
No comments:
Post a Comment