“I have found that there are three stages in every great work of God: first, it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.”
We are supernatural people, born again by a supernatural birth, kept by a supernatural power, sustained on supernatural food, taught by a supernatural Teacher from a supernatural Book. We are led by a supernatural Captain in right paths to assured victories. The risen Savior, ere He ascended on high, said: 'All power is given unto Me. Go ye therefore."
“We are so utterly ordinary, so commonplace, while we profess to know a Power of the Twentieth century does not reckon with. But we are ‘harmless’ and therefore unharmed. We are pacifist, non-militants, conscientious objectors in this battle-to-the–death with principalities and powers in high places. Meekness must be had for contact with men, but brass, outspoken boldness is required to take part in the comradeship of the cross. We are ‘sideliners’- coaching and criticizing the real wrestlers while content to sit by and leave the enemies of God unchallenged. The world cannot hate us, we are too much like its own. Oh that God would make us dangerous!”
"I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name — the name you gave me — so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled." John 17:11-12
"Dear friends, I am the little servant of an illustrious Master."
"All God’s giants have been weak men, who did great things for God because they reckoned on His being with them."
"Want of trust is at the root of almost all our sins and all our witnesses and how shall we escape it but by looking to Him and observing His faithfulness. The man who holds God’s faithfulness will not be foolhardy or reckless, but will be ready for every emergency."
John Newton
If you are looking for evidence of the transforming power of the grace and mercy of God, John Newton is a prime example. Once a despicable slave trader, by God's grace he was transformed into a humble servant of God and man. He became personal friends with such notables as John Wesley, William Wilberforce, William Carey, Henry Martyn and George Whitefield. Enjoy the wisdom that flows from the pen of John Newton.
"My principal method of defeating heresy is by establishing truth. One proposes to fill a bushel with tares: now, if I can fill it first with wheat, I shall defy his attempts."
Quotes on Humility
"Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord, where I can go in and shut the door, and kneel to my Father in secret, and am at peace as in a deep sea of calmness, when all around and above is trouble. The humble person is not one who thinks meanly of himself, he simply does not think of himself at all." Andrew Murray
R C Ryle has been described as one of the greatest of the Victorian evangelicals. His successor at Liverpool, England, was F.J.Chevasse. He described Ryle as "that man of granite, with the heart of a child. Charles Spurgeon, described him as "the best man in the Church of England." Another writer described him as a “theological vertebrate” who never suffered what Ryle called “boneless, nerveless, jellyfish condition of soul.” I found his book, Practical Religion, filled with solid spiritual food, the kind you have to chew on for awhile but when digested leaves a sweetness in the soul. I hope you are blessed by the following quotes from this challenging book.
More Jim Elliot
No man has enlarged my vision and challenged my faith like the young martyr, Jim Elliot. His diary, like David Brainerd's, has impacted thousands of lives with its passion to know and please Jesus Christ and his willingness to die to see his glory spread to the ends of the earth. See if his words to not spark a desire and a decision in you that will not be satisfied with being a "nice" Christian. Get ready to be rocked!
Glad to get the opportunity to preach the gospel of that matchless grace of our God to stoical pagan Indians. Oh what a privilege to be made a minister of the things of the “happy God.” I only hope that He will let me preach to those who have never heard that name of Jesus. What else is worth while in this life? I have heard of nothing better. “Lord, send me.”
When I was starting out as a young, green pastor, in the providence of God, I discovered the expositions of Ray Stedman. He was a preacher who needed no gimmicks to build one of the most successful churches in America. He built the Peninsula Bible Church of Palto Alto, California, upon solid and consistent exposition of the Word. His down to earth applications were relevant to the issues my young church family faced at that time. Every time I opened one of Ray’s commentaries, I uncovered practical and powerful principles to share with my people. Below are some of the bite-sized truths that flowed from the heart of this man of the Word, Ray Stedman.
From- Expository Studies in 1 John:
When you are confident in yourself, all that you accomplish is what you can do. But when God is at work in you, you not only accomplish what you can do but far more than you can’t see. You change lives. People are affected permanently and you leave behind an impression that is not forgotten. 18
Jim Elliot: From "Shadow of the Almighty"
We focus our attention on a man who never wrote a book. He did write a diary and what a powerful testimony it is! No book, other than the Bible, has affected my life than the one entitled, “Shadow of the Almighty.” It is a compilation of the prayers and meditations of the young missionary, Jim Elliot, composed by his wife after his martyrdom, in 1956. His life was short on quantity but long on quality. When you read it, you cannot help but be stunned by the passionate faith and love this young man has for the One who gave all for him. This one declaration characterized the way he lived and the way he died: “He is no fool who give what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” The following is the first of several presentations of the quotes from the heart of this young disciple of Jesus. Get ready to be blessed and challenged.
John Stott has been a leader and scholar in the evangelical world for over thirty years. He was the chairman of the committees that produced the Lausanne Covenant [1974] and Manila Manifesto [1989]. He has written fifty books and his classic, Basic Christianity, has been translated into over fifty languages. If you want your mind stretched and your heart warmed, pick up and read one of John Stott's books. Now, listen to his wise and Christ-honoring words found in his book, Contemporary Christianity.
