Mere head knowledge will be as unhelpful to the soul on judgment day, as a painted fire is unhelpful to the frozen body on a cold day. Theoretical knowledge may make the head giddy, but it will never make the heart holy. He who lives in sin, without repentance, shall die in sin, without forgiveness.
– William Secker
Birth Un/Kn – 1681
The servants of God consider the matter of religion more seriously than others do; and therefore their differences are more observable to the world. They cannot make light of the smallest truth of God . . . whereas the ungodly differ not about religion, because they have hardly no religion to differ about. Is this a unity and peace to be desired? I would rather have discord of the saints, than such a concord of the wicked. [The saints] are so careful about their duty that they are afraid of misusing it in the least particular; and this (with their imperfect light) is the reason of their disputings about these matters. But you that are careless concerning your duty, can easily agree about the ways of sin, or anything that comes along. The saints honor the worship of God so much that they would not have anything out of order; but you consider it so unimportant that you will be of the same religion as the king . . . . The controversies of lawyers, historians, chronologers, geographers, physicians, and such like, never trouble the brains of the ignorant; but for all that, I would rather be in controversy with the learned, than without such controversy with you. If you scatter a handful of gold or diamonds in the street, perhaps men will scramble for them, and quarrel about them, while swine will trample on them and quietly despise them, because they do not know their worth.
– Richard Baxter
1615 – 1691
We would as soon worship cats with the Egyptians, as popes with the Romanists: we see no difference between the people whose gods grew in their gardens and the sect whose deity is made by their baker.
– C. H. Spurgeon
1834 – 1892
Why are we here? Does our family exist to prepare children for the Major Leagues? If so, then baseball will be the center of our family’s universe, and everything else will bow to the whims and wishes of the baseball god. Does our family exist to produce socialites? If so, then our family must revolve around the social calendars of our overloaded teenagers and their hectic schedules. However, if our family exists to glorify and honor God and to lay a biblical foundation in the lives of our children, then we must not allow anything to interfere with our commitment to family worship, prayer, and Bible study.
– Voddie Baucham
Catholicism, with all her damnable dogmas and creeds, cannot change that God-given impulse that was planted in the bosom of man, when Adam was created in the Garden of Eden, and the more Roman Catholicism endeavors to eradicate that feeling, the greater her sins become, for it is a most damnable sin to try to force man to eradicate from his bosom this everlasting and godly craving for the love of the opposite sex, and as long as “man is born of woman,” just so long that inspiration will live in the bosom of mankind, and just so long as Roman Catholicism endeavors to force humanity to purge itself of this blessed longing, just so long the mark of deception, depravity and ungodliness will be left upon the brow of this Romish demon.
Ex-Priest, Bernard Fresenborg
Thirty Years in Hell – From Darkness to Light
God shows mercy to the truly penitent, but not to the impenitent (Luke 13:3). To continue in sin and yet reckon upon divine mercy remitting punishment is diabolical.
– A.W. Pink
1886 – 1952
The Reformation found Englishmen steeped in ignorance and left them in possession of knowledge. It found them blind and left them seeing. It found them without Bibles and left them with a Bible in every parish. It found them priest-ridden and left them enjoying the liberty which Christ bestows. It found them strangers to saving faith, and grace, and holiness and left them with the key to those things in their hands. It found them slaves and left them free.
– J.C. Ryle
1816 – 1900
Even while the New Testament was still being written, the church was contending with serious heresies and dangerous false teachers who seemed to spring up everywhere. This was so much a universal problem that Paul made it one of the qualifications of every elder that he be strong in doctrine and able to refute those who contradict (Titus 1:9). So the church has always been beset by heretics and false teachings, and church history is full of the evidence of this. Obviously, then, we who love the truth cannot automatically shy away from every fight over doctrine. Especially in an era like ours when virtually every doctrine is deemed up for grabs, Christians need to be willing and prepared to contend earnestly for the faith. . . . Clearly, there are two extremes to be avoided. One is the danger of being so narrow and intolerant that you create unnecessary divisions in the body of Christ. The other is the problem of being too broad-minded and sinfully tolerant—so ecumenically minded that you settle for a shallow, false unity with people whom we are commanded to avoid or whose errors we are morally obligated to refute.
I am Reformed because of one thing: Consistently, honestly, and thoroughly read, God’s Word, the Bible, teaches that God is sovereign over all things, that man is a fallen creature, and that God saves perfectly in Jesus Christ. It is the consistent application of sola Scriptura (Scripture alone) and tota Scriptura (all of Scripture) that leads inevitably to the doctrines of grace.
– James White
His zeal is false that seems hot against sin, but is cold to holiness.
– William Gurnall
1617 – 1679
They who design and endeavor to win others . . . must religiously avoid that which is the greatest obstruction of all, the profligate and atrocious lives of some that call themselves Christians. If men were prompted and employed by the devil himself, they could not be more effective in making the Gospel to be abhorred, than by living as some Christians do. How can it be expected, that the poor, ignorant heathen should have any reverence for the great and sacred name of God, when they hear those who pretend that they have a deep veneration for Him, reproach and blaspheme Him? . . . Can any man convince them, that the saints are such excellent creatures, when they see those who call themselves so, live like brutes or devils?
– George Hammond
Our children used to watch more television than we care to admit. Then we moved to England. TV in England was so bad that we got cable so we didn’t have to watch regular television at night. Eventually we just didn’t watch. We occasionally rented videos, but for the most part we became a family of readers. I can’t tell you the difference that made in our children’s lives. Now our children are limited to four hours per week—only on weekends—and to be honest, unless something special is on, they tend not to use all of that.
– Voddie Baucham
There is a continual need to return to the great fundamental of the faith. As long as the age lasts the Gospel of God’s grace must be preached. The need arises out of the natural state of the human heart, which is essentially legalistic. The cardinal error against which the Gospel has to contend is the inveterate tendency of men to rely on their own performances. The great antagonist to the truth is the pride of man, which causes him to imagine that he can be, in part at least, his own Savior. This error is the prolific mother of a multitude of heresies. It is by this falsehood that the pure stream of God’s truth, passing through human channels, has been polluted.
– A.W. Pink
1886 – 1952
In order to qualify yourselves for instructing and preparing your children for God’s service, you [must] diligently study His Word to ascertain what He requires of them and frequently pray for the assistance of His Spirit, both for them and yourselves. . . . You will carefully guard against saying or doing anything which may, either directly or indirectly, lead them to consider religion as an object of secondary importance. On the contrary, you will constantly labor to impress upon their minds a conviction that you consider religion as the great business of life, the favor of God as the only proper object of pursuit, and the enjoyment of Him hereafter as the only happiness, while everything else is comparatively of no consequence, however important it may be otherwise.
– Edward Payson
1783 – 1827
I now see more good and more evil in men than I did before. . . . I once thought that anyone who could pray eloquently and fluently, and talk well of religion, had to be saints. But experience has revealed to me that low crimes can co-exist with high professions.
– Richard Baxter
1615 – 1691
A man may be theologically knowing and spiritually ignorant. . . . A man may be excellent in the grammar of Scripture, yet not understand the spiritual sense of it. . . . The highest rational knowledge of God cannot profit without the knowledge of faith. . . . It can be of no more advantage to us than it was to the Jews knowing Him, or to Judas living with Him. In the Scriptures, Christians are not called knowing persons, but believers.
– Stephen Charnock
1628 – 1680
Justification takes place in Heaven, in the courtroom of God. Regeneration, on the other hand, takes place on earth, in the heart of man. Justification is a declaration by a judge; regeneration is an act of creation by an omnipotent Creator.
– Charles Leiter
If you want to know whether or not someone truly loves God, watch what he or she does. If a person does not do the things that God says are pleasing and acceptable, and in fact does the things that God abhors and forbids, and yet claims to love God, it will be tough to support that claim. In fact, John argues, “The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected” (1 John 2:4-5a).
– Voddie Baucham
Worldly preachers seem to go out of their way to put their carnal expertise on display—even in their sermons. In the name of connecting with “the culture” they want their people to know they have seen all the latest programs on MTV; familiarized themselves with all the key themes of “South Park”; learned the lyrics to countless tracks of gangsta rap and heavy metal music; and watched who-knows-how-many R-rated movies. They seem to know every fad top to bottom, back to front, and inside out. They’ve adopted both the style and the language of the world—including lavish use of language that used to be deemed inappropriate in polite society, much less in the pulpit. They want to fit right in with the world, and they seem to be making themselves quite comfortable there.
– John MacArthur
If we let passion take the place of judgment, and self-will reign instead of Scriptural authority, we shall fight the Lord’s battles with the devil’s weapons, and if we cut our own fingers we must not be surprised.
– Charles Spurgeon
1834 – 1892
Christ Alone Wyoming 