Quotations for September, 2023
Friday, September 1, 2023
Commemoration of Giles of Provence, Hermit, c.710
Not pleading with the Father, but expressing the Father’s good pleasure is the key-note of true intercession. Forgiveness is God’s idea, God’s desire; and it is He who appoints both the Judge and the Counsel for the Defense. It was He who inaugurated the priestly work, that men might receive His cleansing and turn to the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world. God has provided for himself a Lamb. It is He who sends His Son to be our Elder Brother, and to incorporate us as adopted sons into the circle of His Fatherly love. So then it is the voice of His beloved Son which is most clearly heard by the Father in heaven. In that voice of intercession, all the voices of intercession are contained and heard. The Son is talking to the Father about us, and what He says is not “Please” but “Yes,” for in Him is the “Yea” and “Amen.”
... David Head, Shout for Joy, New York: MacMillan Co., 1962, p. 147 
(see the book; see also John 17:9; Isa. 53:12; Matt. 28:18; Mark 1:10-11; John 5:26-27; 2 Cor. 1:20; 1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 9:15; 1 Pet. 2:5; 1 John 5:16; more at Cleanse, Father, Forgiveness, Intercession, Lamb, Love, Priest, Son)
Saturday, September 2, 2023
Commemoration of Martyrs of Papua New Guinea, 1942
It has been said that agapao refers to “the love of God” and phileo is only “the love of men.” But this distinction is only a very small part of the difference, and as such is in itself incorrect. Both of these words may convey intense emotion or may be relatively weak in their meanings. These words do not indicate degree of love, but kinds of love. Agapao refers to love which arises from a keen sense of the value and worth in the object of our love, and phileo describes the emotional attachment which results from intimate and prolonged association. That is why in the Scriptures we are never commanded to “love” with the word phileo. Even when husbands and wives are instructed to love one another, the word agapao is used, for it is impossible to command that kind of love which can arise only from intimate association. On the other hand, the saints are admonished to appreciate profoundly the worth and value in others, and agapao is used to convey this meaning. All Christians are not necessarily to have sentimental attachments for one another (phileo). This would be impossible, for our circle of intimate friends is limited by the nature of our lives. But we can all be commanded to appreciate intensely the worth of others.
... Eugene A. Nida (1914-2011), God’s Word in Man’s Language, New York: Harper, 1952, p. 63
(see the book; see also John 15:12; 13:34; 1 Cor. 13:4-7; Gal. 6:10; Eph. 5:1-2; Phil. 2:1-2; 1 John 4:7-11; 5:1; more at Appreciation, Church, Commandment, Friend, God, Instruction, Love, Man, Meaning)
Sunday, September 3, 2023
Feast of Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome, Teacher, 604
The vice I am talking of is Pride or Self-Conceit: and the virtue opposite to it, in Christian morals, is called Humility. You may remember, when I was talking about sexual morality, I warned you that the centre of Christian morals did not lie there. Well, now we have come to the centre. According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.
... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), Christian Behavior, London: Geoffrey Bles, Macmillan, 1943, p. 42
(see the book; see also Prov. 16:18; Luke 11:39-52; 1 Cor. 3:18; more at Devil, Evil, Humility, Morality, Pride, Sin)
Monday, September 4, 2023
Commemoration of Birinus, Bishop of Dorchester (Oxon), Apostle of Wessex, 650
Christ did not die for any upon condition, if they do believe; but he died for all God’s elect, that they should believe, and believing have eternal life. Faith itself is among the principal effects and fruits of the death of Christ; as shall be declared. It is nowhere said in Scripture, nor can it reasonably be affirmed, that if we believe, Christ died for us, as though our believing should make that to be which otherwise was not,—the act create the object; but Christ died for us that we might believe.
... John Owen (1616-1683), The Death of Death in the Death of Christ [1647], in Works of John Owen, v. X, New York: R. Carter, 1852, II.5, p. 235
(see the book; see also John 20:31; Matt. 26:53-54; 27:54; Luke 1:3-4; John 10:17-18,37-38; 11:42; Rom. 10:8-9; Eph. 5:1-2; 1 Thess. 4:14; Heb. 7:27; 9:26; 1 John 5:20; more at Belief, Christ, Death, Eternal life, Faith, God, Scripture)
Tuesday, September 5, 2023
The axioms of reason are non-demonstrable assumptions. Why should faith not be granted the same privilege? “... The denial of [the truths of] faith is, no less a faith than faith itself..., for it rests on an assumption of a personal kind, which is apart from all scientific necessity.” As the truth of reason carries its own evidence, so also with faith. To the mind to whom the axioms of reason are not self-evident, they cannot be proven. So also in the case of faith... For the mind that knows no faith [the evidence of faith] is ridiculous. But for the man whose eyes have been [enlightened by the Spirit], faith has its proper evidence, though it is a different kind of evidence from that of reason... The only sufficient ground of faith is the authority of God Himself as he addresses me in His Word.
... Paul K. Jewett (1919-1991), Emil Brunner’s Concept of Revelation, London: J. Clarke, 1954, p. 112
(see the book; see also Ps. 12:6; Deut. 6:6-7; 29:29; 30:11-14; Ps. 18:30; 85:8; 102:18; 119:105; Matt. 22:43; 1 Cor. 2:12-13; 15:3-5; Heb. 4:12; 2 Pet. 1:16,21; more at Apologetics, Faith, God, Holy Spirit, Proof, Reason, Truth)
Wednesday, September 6, 2023
Commemoration of Allen Gardiner, founder of the South American Missionary Society, 1851
Commemoration of Albert Schweitzer, Teacher, Physician, Missionary, 1965
The Christian Church does not want and does not need members because of a job it has to do. The Christian Church has a secret at her heart and she wants to share it. Whenever one, by repentance and forgiveness, enters this community of grace, he discovers life’s end, and he too will be constrained to let this life flow out in appropriate channels. Thrilling and costly projects will come into existence, but not as ends in themselves, and the group will not become a means to [such ends]. The group will never forget that one of its primary functions is to upbuild the members in love.
... William T. Ham, “Candles of the Lord”, in Spiritual Renewal through Personal Groups, John L. Casteel, ed., NY: Association Press, 1957, p. 182
(see the book; see also Rom. 15:1-2; Acts 20:32; 1 Cor. 8:1-2; 2 Cor. 5:1; Phil. 2:4; Col. 1:24; 1 Thess. 5:11; 1 Pet. 2:4-5; more at Church, Community, Discovery, Forgiveness, Grace, Life, Love, Need, Repentance)
Thursday, September 7, 2023
Commemoration of Douglas Downes, Founder of the Society of Saint Francis, 1957
The Church always fails at the point of self-confidence. When the Church is run on the same lines as a circus, there may be crowds, but there is no Shekinah... The energy of the flesh can run bazaars, organise amusements, and raise millions; but it is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes a Temple of the Living God. The root-trouble of the present distress is that the Church has more faith in the world and the flesh than in the Holy Ghost, and things will get no better till we get back to His realised presence and power.
... Samuel Chadwick (1860-1932), The Way to Pentecost, Hodder and Stoughton, 1932, p. 16
(see the book; see also 2 Cor. 6:16-17; Luke 4:14; John 4:24; Acts 1:8; Rom. 15:13; 1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19-20; Eph. 2:19-22; 3:16; 1 Pet. 2:4-5; more at Church, Failure, Faith, Glory of God, God, Holy Spirit, Power, Temple, World)
Friday, September 8, 2023
Commemoration of Søren Kierkegaard, Teacher and Philosopher, 1855
To stand on one leg and prove God’s existence is a very different thing from going on one’s knees and thanking Him.
... Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), Journals, ed. Alexander Dru, Oxford University Press, 1959, p. 91
(see the book; see also Eph. 5:19-20; Ps. 35:18; Acts 18:28; 19:8; Rom. 1:18-20; 1 Cor. 1:17-23; 2:6-10; Phil. 4:6; Col. 3:17; 1 Thess. 5:18; 2 Thess. 1:3; 1 Tim. 6:20-21; 2 Pet. 1:16; more at Existence, God, Prayer, Proof, Thanksgiving)
Saturday, September 9, 2023
Grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: “ye were bought at a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.
... Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), The Cost of Discipleship, Simon and Schuster, 1959, p. 45
(see the book; see also Luke 18:22; Matt. 10:37-38; 19:21; Mark 8:34; 10:21; Luke 9:23; 14:26-30; John 1:16-17; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; 7:23; Eph. 2:8-9; Heb. 12:28-29; more at Call, Christ, God, Grace, Incarnation, Jesus, Life, Man, Sin, Son)
Sunday, September 10, 2023
We can please God in no state or employment of life, but by intending and devoting it all to His honour and glory.
... William Law (1686-1761), A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life [1728], London: Methuen, 1899, p. 46
(see the book; see also Ps. 50:14-15; 1 Sam.15:22; Pr. 21:3; Jer. 22:15-16; Hos. 6:6; John 15:8; 1 Pet. 4:11; 1 John 2:3; more at Devotion, Glory, God, Honor, Intention, Life, Pleasure)
Monday, September 11, 2023
Inspection stickers used to have printed on the back “Drive carefully—the life you save may be your own.” That is the wisdom of man in a nutshell.What God says, on the other hand, is “The life you save is the life you lose.” In other words, the life you clutch, hoard, guard, and play safe with is in the end a life worth little to anybody, including yourself, and only a life given away for love’s sake is a life worth living.
... Frederick Buechner (1926-2022), Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC, Harper & Row, 1973, revised, HarperCollins, 1993, p. 28
(see the book; see also Luke 17:33; Matt. 10:39; 16:25-26; Mark 8:35-36; Luke 9:24-25; 12:16-21; John 12:25; 2 Tim. 2:11-13; Jas. 4:14; Rev. 12:10-11; more at God, Life, Love, Man, Safety, Wisdom)
Tuesday, September 12, 2023
It seems to me to be the best proof of an evangelical disposition, that persons are not angry when reproached, and have a Christian charity for those that ill deserve it.
... Desiderius Erasmus (1466?-1536), The Colloquies of Erasmus, v. II, London: Reeves & Turner, 1878, p. 298
(see the book; see also 1 Pet. 3:17; Pr. 22:9; Amos 5:12-15; Matt. 5:11,42; 25:34-40; Luke 6:22; 12:33-34; Rom. 12:3,13; 2 Cor. 9:6-7; Eph. 4:2; 1 Tim. 6:17-19; Heb. 13:16; 1 Pet. 4:14,16; 5:5-6; 1 John 3:17-18; more at Charity, Love, People, Proof)
Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Feast of John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, Teacher, 407
Let us pardon those who have wronged us. For that which others scarcely accomplish—I mean the blotting out of their own sins by means of fasting and lamentations, and prayers, and sackcloth and ashes—this it is possible for us easily to effect without sackcloth and ashes and fasting, if only we blot out anger from our heart, and with sincerity forgive those who have wronged us.
... St. John Chrysostom (345?-407), in “To those who had not Attended the Assembly,” A, Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, v. IX, New York: Christian Literature Company, 1889, p. 232
(see the book; see also Matt. 6:12; Ps. 32:1; Matt. 6:14-15; 18:21-22; 26:28; Mark 11:25; Luke 6:37; 17:3-5; Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:12-13; more at Fasting, Forgiveness, Heart, Prayers, Sin, Sincerity)
Thursday, September 14, 2023
Feast of the Holy Cross
Our culture has become most sophisticated in the avoidance of pain, not only our physical pain but our emotional and mental pain as well. We not only bury our dead as if they were still alive, but we also bury our pains as if they were not really there. We have become so used to this state of anesthesia, that we panic when there is nothing or nobody left to distract us. When we have no project to finish, no friend to visit, no book to read, no television to watch, or no record to play, and when we are left all alone by ourselves we are brought so close to the revelation of our basic human aloneness and are so afraid of experiencing an all-pervasive sense of loneliness that we will do anything to get busy again and continue the game which makes us believe that everything is fine after all.
... Henri J. M. Nouwen (1932-1996), Reaching Out, Zondervan, 1998, p. 6
(see the book; see also Luke 21:34; Isa. 24:9-11; 56:10-12; Matt. 4:1-2; Mark 4:18-19; John 12:4-6; Eph. 5:18; 1 Thess. 5:7-8; more at Book, Culture, Death, Friend, Loneliness, Pain, Revelation)
Friday, September 15, 2023
Even the most traditional theologian will be anxious to point out that the classical images which have been used, with more or less success, to depict different aspects of Redemption—the winning of a battle, the liberation of captives, the payment of a fine or a debt, the curing of a disease, and so on—are not to be interpreted literally, any more than, when we say that the eternal Word “came down from Heaven,” we are describing a process of spatial translation. For here we are dealing with processes and events which, by the nature of the case, cannot be precisely described in everyday language...The matter is quite different with such a statement as that Christ was born of the Virgin Mary; for, whatever aspects of the Incarnation outstrip the descriptive power of ordinary language, this at least is plainly statable in it. It means that Jesus was conceived in his mother’s womb without previous sexual intercourse on her part with any male human being, and this is a straightforward statement which is either true or false. To say that the birth... of Jesus Christ cannot simply be thought of as a biological event and to add that this is what the Virgin Birth means is a plain misuse of language; and no amount of talk about the appealing character of the “Christmas myth” can validly gloss this over.
... E. L. Mascall (1905-1993), The Secularization of Christianity, London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1966, p. 157
(see the book; see also Matt. 1:18-25; Gen. 3:15; Job 14:4; Ps. 40:6-8; Luke 1:27-38; 2:19; 24:44; John 3:13; 6:38-58; Heb. 7:26; more at Bible, Christ, Christmas, Incarnation, Jesus, Myth, Redemption, Simplicity, Theology)
Saturday, September 16, 2023
Feast of Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, Martyr, 258
Commemoration of Ninian, Bishop of Galloway, Apostle to the Picts, c. 430
Commemoration of Edward Bouverie Pusey, Priest, tractarian, 1882
If He prayed who was without sin, how much more ought sinners to pray; and if He prayed continually, watching through the whole night in uninterrupted petitions, how much more ought we to watch nightly in constantly repeated prayer!
... St. Cyprian (Thascius Caecilius Cyprianus) (?-258), The Ante-Nicene Fathers, v. V, Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, trs., Buffalo: Christian Literature Company, 1886, p. 455
(see the book; see also Luke 6:12; Matt. 14:23; 26:39; Mark 1:35; 6:46; 14:35; Luke 5:16; 9:28; 22:31-32,41; John 17:1; more at Night, Prayer, Sinner)
Sunday, September 17, 2023
Feast of St. Hildegard, Abbess of Bingen, Visionary, 1179
Nothing sets a person so much out of the devil’s reach as humility, and so prepares the mind for true divine light without darkness, and so clears the eye to look on things as they truly are.
... Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), The Works of Jonathan Edwards, A.M., v. I, London: William Ball., 1839, p. 399
(see the book; see also Jas. 4:6-10; Ps. 25:9; 51:17; Isa. 57:15; 66:2; Mic. 6:8; Matt. 5:3; 11:29; 23:12; Mark 10:43-44; Luke 1:52; John 13:14-16; 1 Cor. 10:13; more at Darkness, Devil, Humility, Light, People, Truth)
Monday, September 18, 2023
Commemoration of George MacDonald, Spiritual Writer, 1905
We are the sons of God the moment we lift up our hearts, seeking to be sons—the moment we begin to cry Father. But as the world must be redeemed in a few men to begin with, so the soul is redeemed in a few of its thoughts and wants and ways, to begin with: it takes a long time to finish the new creation of this redemption. Shall it have taken millions of years to bring the world up to the point where a few of its inhabitants shall desire God, and shall the creature of this new birth be perfected in a day?
... George MacDonald (1824-1905), “Abba, Father!”, in Unspoken Sermons, Second Series, London: Longmans, Green, 1886, p. 131
(see the book; see also Gal. 4:6; Ps. 51:10; Jer. 3:19; Eze. 36:26; Rom. 8:15-17; 12:2; 1 Cor. 2:12; 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 1:5,11-14; 4:22-24; Col. 1:21-23; 3:9-10; Heb. 6:11-12; 12:1; 2 Pet. 1:10-11; 3:18; more at Father, God, New birth, Redemption, Son, Thought, Way, World)
Tuesday, September 19, 2023
Commemoration of Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury, 690
The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls Father.
... Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892), Spurgeon’s Sermons Volume 1: 1855, CCEL, Sermon 1
(see the book; see also Mal. 3:6; Num. 23:19; Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1:2; 63:6; 77:11-12; 102:25-26; 139:17; 143:5; Phil. 4:8; 1 Tim. 4:13-15; Heb. 13:8; Jas. 1:17; more at Existence, Father, God, Nature, Philosophy, Science, Work)
Wednesday, September 20, 2023
Feast of John Coleridge Patteson, First Bishop of Melanesia, & his Companions, Martyrs, 1871
The narrative of Christian ethics is determined by the fact that Christian convictions take the form of a story, or perhaps better, a set of stories that constitute a tradition, which in turn creates and forms a community. Christian ethics does not begin by emphasizing rules or principles, but by calling our attention to a narrative that tells of God’s dealing with creation.
... Stanley Hauerwas (b. 1940), The Peaceable Kingdom, University of Notre Dame Press, 1983, p. 24-25
(see the book; see also Isa. 45:18; Deut. 4:1; 6:20-25; 8:1; Ex. 20:2; Ps. 33:9; Amos 4:13; Rom. 1:20; Heb. 1:1-2; Rev. 4:11; 14:7; more at Community, Conviction, Creation, God, Rule, Tradition)
Thursday, September 21, 2023
Feast of Matthew, Apostle & Evangelist
The fulfillment of the Lord’s mercy does not depend upon believers’ works, but... he fulfills the promise of salvation for those who respond to his call with upright life, because in those who are directed to the good by his Spirit, he recognizes the only genuine insignia of his children.
... John Calvin (1509-1564), The Institutes of the Christian Religion, v. II, tr. John Allen, Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work, 1921, III.xvii.6, p. 39
(see the book; see also Ps. 15:1-2; 143:10; Isa. 33:14-15; Rom. 8:14; Gal. 4:6; 5:16,22-25; more at Call, Child, Goodness, Holy Spirit, Mercy, Promise, Salvation, Upright, Work)
Friday, September 22, 2023
What then are we afraid of? Can we have too much of God? ... Is it a misfortune to be freed from the heavy yoke of the world, and to bear the light burden of Jesus Christ? Do we fear to be too happy, too much delivered from ourselves, from the caprices of our pride, the violence of our passions, and the tyranny of a deceitful world?
... François Fénelon (1651-1715), Pious Reflections for Every Day in the Month, London: H. D. Symonds, 1800, p. 78-79
(see the book; see also Ps. 56:4; 27:1-3; 118:6; Matt. 11:28-30; Luke 12:4; Rom. 8:15,31; Gal. 5:1; Heb. 13:6; 1 John 4:4,18; more at Bearing, Burden, Deliverance, Fear, God, Happiness, Jesus, Pride, Tyranny, Weakness, World)
Saturday, September 23, 2023
It was and is no small thing to break from the surrounding unbiblical views of the world and adopt the ways and values taught in God’s Word. Here [in Psalm 119] the psalmist finds nothing more practical than thinking about God’s teachings and examining daily life and motives. Beyond finding applications in God’s word for our lives, the psalmist would have us apply our lives to God’s Word. Therein the psalmist develops purity and righteous character and experiences the benefits of following the Word of the Lord.
... Brian L. Webster (b. 1965) & David R. Beach (b. 1956), The Essential Bible Companion to the Psalms, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2010, p. 154
(see the book; see also Ps. 119:1-2; Matt. 5:8; Phil. 4:8; Col. 3:16; 1 Pet. 1:22; 1 John 3:2-3; more at God, Life, Teach, Thought, Way, World)
Sunday, September 24, 2023
I shrink from the suggestion that our Father has done anything which needs to be explained. What he has done is the best, because he has done it, and I pray that as a family we may not cast about for explanations of the mystery, but exult in the Holy Spirit and say, “I thank Thee, Father ... Even so, Father.” It suggests a lack of confidence in Him if we find it necessary to try to understand all He does.
... Frank Houghton (1894-1972), from a letter quoted in Rose from Brier [1933], Amy Carmichael, London: SPCK, 1950, p. 114
(see the book; see also Isa. 40:13-14; Gen. 50:20; Isa. 55:8-9; Job 40:2; Ps. 46:1-2; 66:20; Rom. 8:28,35-39; 11:33-34; 2 Cor. 4:15-17; 5:1-3; Phil. 1:21; Heb. 12:11; Jas. 1:2-4; Rev. 3:19; more at Confidence, Father, Holy Spirit, Prayer, Understanding)
Monday, September 25, 2023
Feast of Lancelot Andrewes, Bishop of Winchester, Spiritual Writer, 1626
Commemoration of Sergius of Radonezh, Russian Monastic Reformer, Teacher, 1392
Can there be any joy compared with those He did forego? or can any joy countervail those barbarous usages He willingly went through? It seemeth, there can. What joy might that be? Sure none other, but the joy He had to save us, the joy of our salvation. For what was His glory, or joy, or crown of rejoicing, was it not we? Yes truly, we were His crown and His joy.
... Lancelot Andrewes (1555-1626), preached March 29, 1605, on Good Friday, Ninety-six Sermons, v. II, Oxford: John Henry Parker, 1841, p. 175-176
(see the book; see also Heb. 12:1-2; Luke 13:32-33; 22:15; John 12:31-32; Phil. 2:5-8; 1 John 4:10; more at Coronation, Glory, Joy, Salvation)
Tuesday, September 26, 2023
Commemoration of Wilson Carlile, Priest, Founder of the Church Army, 1942
We find the Christian life so difficult because we seek for God’s blessing while we live in our own will. We should be glad to live the Christian life according to our own liking. We make our own plans and choose our own work, and then we ask the Lord Jesus to come in and take care that sin shall not conquer us too much, and that we shall not go too far wrong; we ask Him to come in and give us so much of His blessing. But our relation to Jesus ought to be such that we are entirely at His disposal.
... Andrew Murray (1828-1917), Absolute Surrender, Bible Institute Colportage Association, 1897, p. 123-124
(see the book; see also Mark 3:34-35; Matt. 6:10; 12:50; 26:39; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42; John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38-40; 15:5; Rom. 12:2; Jas. 4:15; more at Blessing, Jesus, Life, Sin, Submission)
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
Feast of Vincent de Paul, Founder of the Congregation of the Mission (Lazarists), 1660
Of myself I can do absolutely nothing as regards my supernatural life; I am not merely weak, I am powerless... I need the stay of God’s never-failing Grace, and that I know will be granted to trustful prayer... I cannot count on the strength of my own intentions, or resolutions, or promises; still less can I dare alone to face the dangers and temptations which beset a Christian’s life. In short, the whole work of my salvation, from first to last, depends upon God. He can prosper it, and in spite of all my weakness and perversity, He will bring it to a safe end, if I do but cleave stedfastly to Him.
... Jean Nicolas Grou (1731-1803), The Hidden Life of the Soul, London: Rivingtons, 1870, p. 130-131
(see the book; see also Heb. 10:23; Matt. 10:22; 24:12-13; John 5:19,30; 8:28; 12:49; 2 Cor. 3:5-6; 12:9-10; 13:4; Col. 1:22-23; Heb. 3:6,14; 4:16; 6:11; Rev. 3:11; more at Danger, God, Grace, Life, Prayer, Safety, Salvation, Strength, Temptation, Weakness, Work)
Thursday, September 28, 2023
Do we think that when the day hath been idly spent and squandered away by us, we shall be fit to work when the night and darkness comes? When our understanding is weak, and our memory frail, and our will crooked, and by long custom of sinning obstinately bent the wrong way, what can we then do in religion? What reasonable or acceptable service can we then perform to God? When our candle is just sinking into the socket, how shall our light “so shine before men that they may see our good works?”... I will not pronounce anything concerning the impossibility of a death-bed repentance, but I am sure that it is very difficult, and, I believe, very rare.
... John Tillotson (1630-1694), Works of Dr. John Tillotson, v. II, London: J. F. Dove, for R. Priestley, 1820, Sermon XIV, p. 113, 557
(see the book; see also Ps. 119:60; Matt. 5:16; Mark 9:24; Luke 23:39-43; Col. 1:10-12; more at Belief, Day, God, Good works, Memory, Repentance, Service, Sin, Sloth, Understanding, Weakness)
Friday, September 29, 2023
Feast of Michael & All Angels
If you are seized with anger towards someone, try to imagine that both you and he must die; how insignificant his fault will then appear, and how unjust your anger, even if formally justified.
... Alexander Yelchaninov (1881-1934), Fragments of a Diary: 1881-1934, in A Treasury of Russian Spirituality, Georgii Petrovich Fedotov, ed., Nordland, 1975, p. 423
(see the book; see also Eph. 4:26-27; Ps. 37:8; Matt. 5:22; Col. 3:8; Jas. 1:19-20; more at Death, Imagination, Wrong)
Saturday, September 30, 2023
God usually answers our prayers according rather to the measure of His own magnificence, than to that of our asking; so that we often do not know His [benefits] to be those for which we besought Him.
... Coventry Patmore (1823-1896), The Rod, the Root, and the Flower [1895], London: G. Bell and Sons, 1907, p. 14
(see the book; see also John 1:16; 1 Kings 3:11-14; Ps. 23:5-6; 145:18; Acts 12:5-17; Rom. 10:12-13; 2 Cor. 12:8-9; Jas. 1:17; 2 Pet. 1:3-4; 1 John 4:4; more at Glory of God, God, Knowledge, Prayer)
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