The gospel is not about helping [un-churched] ‘Harry’ feel better about himself and his circumstances; it is about his rebelliousness against a holy God who will ultimately condemn him to Hell if he does not repent and trust in Christ for the forgiveness of his sins. The distinction between the market-driven approach and the biblical approach lies largely in understanding this fundamental difference.
– Gary Gilley
Nothing is a greater bar to a minister’s usefulness, or renders him more contemptible than a known attachment to money, a gripping fist and a hard heart.
A day will come when mercenary preachers will wish they had begged their bread from door to door or had been chained to the oar of a galley for life rather than have presumed to intrude into the church such base and unworthy views.
– John Newton
1725 – 1807
Noah’s message from the steps going up to the Ark was not “Something good is going to happen to you!” Amos was not confronted by the high priest of Israel for proclaiming, “Confession is possession!” Jeremiah was not put into the pit for preaching, “I’m O.K., you’re O.K.” Daniel was not put into the lion’s den for telling people, “Possibility thinking will move mountains!” John the Baptist was not forced to preach in the wilderness and eventually beheaded because he preached, “Smile, God loves you!” The two prophets of the tribulation will not be killed for preaching, “God is in his heaven and all is right with the world!”
The message of the true God-sent missionary will be like the message of Noah – “Repent from your sins, for judgment is coming!” It will be like that of Jonah – “Repent from your sins, for judgment is coming!” It will be like that of John the Baptist – “Repent from your sins, for judgment is coming!”
The message of the true God-sent missionary will resemble none of the fluff found in many of today’s pulpits, but will be hard-hitting and will point out the truth that the gospel message is trans-cultural!
The message of the true God-sent missionary will not seek to provide health, wealth or prosperity. It will not provide for the stomachs or well-being of the heathen with no concern for their eternal destiny!
– Steve Lawson
HT: Desert Pastor
I honestly, for the life of me, do not understand how somebody who professes to be in Christ can still continue to take God’s name in vain. And I will tell you I hear it all the time. Not in the profane ways of the world but in using the word God as an expletive. If you’re in Christ and Christ dwells in your heart then what comes out of your mouth should be words of praise and thanksgiving to God, not using God’s name in vain. The same filth that used to come out of your mouth is now cleaned up; why? because Christ lives in you. . . . I was an alter boy, and I went to Holy Family Catholic School, and I was surrounded by all this religious atmosphere, but you know what, I was excellent at was cussing. Most alter boys do cuss by the way. . . . I was a prolific swearer at twelve years old. When God saved me there was an immediate sense that those words no longer fit inside of this mouth. To be in union with Christ affects the way that you think, it affects the way that you speak, it affects the way that you use your body.
– Brian Borgman
Those who think that unsound ministers ought never to be exposed and held up to notice, and men ought never to be warned against them, would do well to study this passage. No class of character throughout our Lord’s ministry seems to call forth such severe denunciation as that of false pastors. The reason is obvious. Other men ruin themselves alone: false pastors ruin their flocks as well as themselves. To flatter all ordained men, and say they never should be called unsound and dangerous guides, is the surest way to injure the Church and offend Christ.
– J. C. Ryle
1816 – 1900
HT: CrossTalk Blog
If you cannot come to Christ with a tender heart and burdened conscience, then come to Him for them.
– A.W. Pink
1886 – 1952
In the creation, man was made in God’s image; in the incarnation God was made in man’s image. . . . He took our flesh that He might take our sins, and so appease God’s wrath. . . . Christ’s taking our flesh was one of the lowest steps of His humiliation. . . . For Christ to be made flesh was more humility than for the angels to be made worms. . . . He stripped Himself of the robes of His glory, and covered Himself with the rags of our humanity.
– Thomas Watson
1620 – 1686
The loathsome carcass does not more hatefully swarm with crawling maggots, than an unsanctified soul with filthy lusts. Look backward; where was ever the place, what was ever the time, in which you did not sin? Look inward; what part or power can you find in your soul or body which is not poisoned with sin? . . . Call to mind your omissions and commissions; the sins of your thoughts, words, and actions; the sins of your youth, and the sins of your riper years. Do not be like a desperate bankrupt that is afraid to look over his books. Read the records of conscience carefully. These books must be opened sooner or later.
– Joseph Alleine
1634 – 1668
So much of the music invading the churches today seems little more than a carnal imitation of the world. There is very little difference between that which is presented on the church platform and that which is presented on the television or the worldly floor show—except of course, that “religious” words are uttered rather than “secular” ones. But the spirit is of the world; the appeal is to the flesh. This we abhor and reject as having no place in the worship of God. That which is sacred ought not to be prostituted and used as entertainment. If men want to be entertained let them be honest enough to go to some secular hall of amusement and be entertained; let them not pretend to be worshiping or in a service when entertainment is the order of the day. No! When we gather to worship, we want to keep the world out; we want to appeal not to the flesh but to the spirit; we want not the sophistication of the world but the simplicity of Christ.
– William Payne
1938 – 1997
Christian mothers too often neglect their home-centered role for the empty promises of fulfillment in the workplace, while they warehouse their children in daycare centers. Parents send their children to secular schools where God is outlawed, and they allow them to watch trashy movies and listen to vile music—and hang out with those who do the same. After years of training in the ways of rebellion through godless schooling, debauched entertainment, and peer association, Christian parents are somehow surprised when their teenagers rebel, forsaking the God of their fathers.
– Philip Lancaster
Long ago I ceased to count heads. Truth is usually in the minority in this evil world.
– Charles Spurgeon
1834 – 1892
Surely that man must be in an unhealthy state of soul who can think of all that Jesus suffered, and yet cling to those sins for which that suffering was undergone. It was sin that wove the crown of thorns; it was sin that pierced our Lord’s hands, and feet, and side; it was sin that brought Him to Gethsemane and Calvary, to the cross, and to the grave. Cold must our hearts be if we do not hate sin and labor to get rid of it, though we may have to cut off the right hand and pluck out the right eye in doing it.
– J. C. Ryle
1816 – 1900
Men wish to go their own way, to please themselves, to gratify their lusts. They want to be comfortable in their wickedness; therefore, they resent that which searches the heart, pierces the conscience, rebukes their evil. Christ was absolutely uncompromising. He would not wink at wrongdoing but unsparingly denounced it, in whomever He found it.
– A.W. Pink
1886 – 1952
Some think that because God made them, surely He will not damn them. This is true, if they had continued good, as He made them. God made the devil good, yes an excellent creature, yet we know that He shall be damned (Matt. 25:41). If God spared not His holy angels (Jude 6), after they became sinful, shall man think that God will spare him? A sinful man shall be judged at the last day, not according to what he was by God’s first making; but as he shall be found defiled and corrupted by the devil, and by his own lusts.
– Henry Scudder
1585 – 1659
A case could be made that some of the derisive criticisms leveled at the Puritans were due to a smoldering resentment at their God-fearing and Christ-honoring lives. This trait in the Puritan makeup seems to disturb and agitate a society given over to pleasing “the world, the flesh, and the devil.”
– I.D.E. Thomas
For one, I care little for the government which presides at Washington, in comparison with the government which rules the millions of American homes. No administration can seriously harm us if our home life is pure, frugal, and godly. No statesmanship or legislation can save us, if once our homes become the abode of profligacy. The home rules the nation. If the home is demoralized, it will ruin it. The real seed corn whence our Republic sprang was the Christian households represented in the Mayflower, or the family alter of the Hollander and the Huguenot. All the best characters, best legislation, best institutions, and best church life were cradled in those early homes. They were the taproot of the Republic, and of the American churches.
– Theodore L. Cuyler
1822 – 1909
If you go out of time unfitted for eternity, better you had never been in time.
– Thomas Doolittle
1630 – 1707
The millstone which turns about all day, grinding corn for others and not for itself, at night it stands in the same place where it was in the morning. After a great volume of grain has passed by, it is now emptied of all, having received nothing in the bargain but wearing itself out for the profit of others. In the same way, worldly men engrossed in the pursuit of earthly vanities toil throughout the day, and when the night of death comes they are in the same position as they were when they began. All they have is the labor for their pains; they retain nothing of the things which passed through their hands . . . . If we would have our thirst slaked and abated, it must not be by larger drinking of these unsatisfying drinks, which will only increase our appetite, but by purging away worldly lust and concupiscence, which are the true cause of our insatiableness.
– George Downame
1560 – 1634
Till men are weary and heavy laden, and pricked at the heart, and quite sick of sin, they will not come to Christ for cure, nor sincerely enquire, “What shall we do?” They must see themselves as dead men, before they will come to Christ that they may live.
– Joseph Alleine
1634 – 1668
Christ Alone Wyoming 