Defending. Contending. » Quotes

Quotes (938)

fourpointer — Tue, 22 May 2012 13:15:42 +0000

“If signs and wonders did still exist, do you think they would be given to people with bad theology? You think God would give Benny Hinn the power to do miracles to authenticate really bad theology? If those gifts existed, they would belong to the purest, most faithful, sound teachers of the word of God to authenticate their teaching–not to hair-brained people who spew out whatever comes into their head.”

–John MacArthur

Quotes (937)

Pilgrim — Sun, 13 May 2012 12:00:18 +0000

When a congregation is made up of many people whose lives more resemble the works of the flesh than the fruit of the Spirit, the experience of following Christ together, of love and encouragement and spurring on and mutual advocation and accountability, all of this is eroded and cooled and diminished. The church becomes more like the world.

- Mark Dever

Quotes (936)

Pilgrim — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:04:59 +0000

It is the mark of a hypocrite to be a Christian everywhere but home.

- Robert M’Cheyne

1813 – 1843

Quotes (935)

Pilgrim — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 19:35:49 +0000

The day is coming when hypocrites will be stripped of their fig-leaves.

- Matthew Henry

1662 – 1714

Quotes (934)

Pilgrim — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 14:12:08 +0000

The hypocrite, certainly, is a secret atheist; for if he did believe there was a God, he dare not be so bold as to deceive Him to His face.

- Thomas Adams

1583 – 1653

Quotes (933)

Pilgrim — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 23:31:40 +0000

Why don’t our works work? . . . God simply won’t allow anyone to make Him a debtor. . . . In other words, God will not permit a man to believe that He owes him salvation in exchange for his rule-keeping. Salvation must be by grace alone–the free gift of God. No matter what kind of rule-keeping you involve yourself in, whether religious ceremonies and rites, or deeds of charity and sacrifice, God cannot be made to owe you salvation in return. Salvation is not God’s obligation; it is His gift. . . . God will never reward the effort you exert to save yourself. He will not let you make the cross a meaningless act. He will not obligate Himself to save you because you do what you believe are good works.

- Jim Elliff

Quotes (932)

Pilgrim — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 19:45:23 +0000

Anyone who is involved in personal evangelism can share countless examples of persons who, though presently living in gross sin, will nonetheless tell the evangelist that they are fine because they “made a decision for Christ” a certain number of years ago. They have never had any change in their life; they have no interest in church, the Bible, or even God. But they have made their “decision.” Can we not see how dangerous such a system is to the souls of men?

- Jim Ehrhard

Quotes (931)

Pilgrim — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 16:32:03 +0000

Mormons do not take criticism of their faith lightly; sadly, many [of them] have followed the path of our culture in assuming that disagreement is akin to bigotry.

- Bill McKeever

Quotes (930)

Pilgrim — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 17:42:49 +0000

Obedience to the great commission has more consistently been poisoned by affluence than by anything else.

- Ralph Winter

1924 – 2009

Quotes (929)

Pilgrim — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 02:52:07 +0000

God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one, like You, Lord Jesus.

- Jim Elliot

1927 – 1956

Quotes (928)

Pilgrim — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 05:06:55 +0000

Who can observe the invitation system today and not see that many are in danger of confusing this practice with coming to faith in Christ? . . . While I was a pastor in New England, our church participated in two [Billy] Graham crusades. We received the names of ten converts from one crusade and six from the other. In our follow-up, not one was interested in church, the Bible, or even talking about his “new-found faith in Christ.” Other pastors reported the same results.

- Jim Ehrhard

Quotes (927)

Pilgrim — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 16:35:08 +0000

It is not your hold on Christ that saves you; it is Christ. It is not your joy in Christ that saves you; it is Christ. It is not even your faith in Christ, though that be the instrument; it is Christ’s blood and merit.

- Charles Spurgeon

1834 – 1892

Quotes (926)

Pilgrim — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 16:30:57 +0000

Not, how much of my money will I give to God, but how much of God’s money will I keep for myself.

- John Wesley

1703 – 1791

Quotes (925)

abidingthroughgrace — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:36:23 +0000

Edmund Clowney’s statement here regarding politicizing of the Bible is very relevant for today:

“The Exodus Event is often appealed to by the advocates of a “liberation theology.” They wish to redefine the Christian doctrine of salvation to center on political liberation. They call Christians to take up arms against oppressive regimes in the name of Christ. (Usually the oppression they wish to resist is from right-wing rather than left-wing regimes.) They criticize the church for “spiritualizing” the exodus, making it an analogy for salvation from sin rather than an instance of social and political liberation.”

- Edmund Prosper Clowney Jr.

(1917 – 2005)

From: “The Unfolding Mystery – Discovering Christ in the Old Testament”, 1988, P&R Publishing, pg 96. Former president of Westminster Theological Seminary 1966-1984

Quotes (924)

Pilgrim — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:42:57 +0000

After Hitler was defeated, war crime trials were held in Nuremberg to judge the guilt of Hitler’s henchmen. But a dispute arose as to what laws should be used to try the accused, after all, Hitler’s cronies argued, quite plausibly, that they had not broken any laws; their actions were carried out within the protection of their own legal system. They could not be accused of murder because personhood had been redefined to exclude Jews and other undesirables. These men were simply following the laws handed down by the courts of their day. As Eichmann protested before his execution, “I was simply following the laws of war and my flag!” . . . Moral relativists who believe that laws are nothing more than the result of social conditioning, subject to the whim of leaders and nations, would have to agree with Goering, Hitler’s designated successor, when at Nuremberg he insisted, “This court has no jurisdiction over me, I am a German!” By what laws then, should the Nazis be tried? And what would [be] the basis of such laws? . . . If all laws are relative, and each country has its own idea of what laws they should enact, there is no universal standard by which laws can be judged. . . . Several years ago a group of pro-life protesters who picketed an abortion clinic were sued for slander for calling abortionists murderers. The abortionists argued, just as Hitler’s emissaries had done, that they could not be murderers because they were not breaking any laws! The experience of Nuremberg and the silent holocaust in our abortion clinics bear eloquent witness to the fact that when a state is accountable to no one except itself, it simply assumes whatever is legal is moral. The law is simply whatever the courts or a dictator say it is. Show me your laws and I will show you your God.

- Erwin Lutzer

Quotes (923).

Pilgrim — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:49:26 +0000

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that infants are forgiven of original sin when a priest pours water over the baby in the sacrament of baptism. There are two serious problems with this practice. First, there is no occurrence of infant baptism in the New Testament, and second, one must believe in Jesus in order to be forgiven. Clearly a baby cannot respond in faith to the Gospel and thus be forgiven.

- Mike Gendron

Quotes (922)

Pilgrim — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 21:57:42 +0000

Many unbelievers have threatened or prophesied the destruction of the Bible. Few people know the names of the skeptics. Everyone knows the names of Moses and Isaiah and Luke and Paul.

–Will Houghton

1887 – 1947

Quotes (921)

Pilgrim — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 05:07:21 +0000

Does any Christian reader imagine for a moment that when he or she shall stand before their holy Lord, that they will regret having lived “too strictly” on earth? Is there the slightest danger of His reproving any of His own because they were “too extreme” in “abstaining from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11)? We may gain the good will and good works of worldly religionists today, by our compromising on “little points,” but shall we receive His smile and approval on that day? Oh to be more concerned about what He thinks, and less concerned about what perishing mortals think.

- A.W. Pink

1886 – 1952

Quotes (920)

Pilgrim — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 10:30:11 +0000

We speak with disdain of politicians not limiting their spending to available revenues. But our national debt is an extension of the same irresponsible mentality many of us demonstrate in our own lives. Home mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards all seem normal to us . . . . We drive our bank-financed cars, running on credit card gas, to open a department store charge account so we can fill our savings and loan-funded homes with installment-purchased furniture. We’re living a lie and hocking the future to finance it.

- Randy Alcorn

Quotes (919)

Pilgrim — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:19:56 +0000

The Puritan/Presbyterian wing of the Reformation accomplished a purity in worship not seen since the apostolic church. This purity was attained by making the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments the only infallible standard and authority in determining worship ordinances. Any ordinances solely based on church tradition or man’s authority were discarded. However, this purity attained by our spiritual forefathers has, with the passage of time, been cast aside. Pragmatism, tradition and human opinion are exalted in determining how God’s people are to worship Him. The attitude among many in church leadership positions is to give the people what they want, rather than to submit to God’s divine revelation. . . . . God has set down in Scripture how He is to be worshiped. Man is not to add to or detract from what God says. . . . .

- Brian Schwertley

Quotes (918)

Pilgrim — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:34:27 +0000

. . . [W]e must restore to the family the responsibility of ministering to youth. In many churches–but by no means all–the purpose of the youth group is founded on premises that are an impediment to the training of godly children. Some of these false premises are: 1) That young people need a place where their problems are understood–where others of the same age share the same struggles; 2) that as it is often difficult for parents to communicate with and understand their teenagers, a youth leader who can identify with the young people is needed; 3) that it is important for young people to have fun and to see that “church people” have fun too; 4) that a youth group is needed to reach unsaved youth, and by getting them involved in fun activities, they will be more receptive to the presentation of the gospel.

Following the trends of secular culture, age-segregated groups have been established in church educational programs. Christopher Schlect, in his book Critique of Modern Youth Ministry, explains that the “divisions breed immaturity because they hinder younger people from associating with and learning from their elders.” The group can become the source of authority, thus diminishing the authority of the father and mother.

- William & Colleen Dedrick

From: The Little Book of Christian Character & Manners

Quotes (917)

Pilgrim — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 01:42:55 +0000

. . . [M]any go away from the “altar [call],” told that they are now Christians, knowing that they are not changed one bit. As a result, their unbelief may harden into skepticism toward anything Christian.

R. L. Dabney notes:

“They feel that a cruel trick has been played upon their inexperience by the ministers and friends of Christianity in thus thrusting them, in the hour of their confusion, into false positions…. How natural to conclude that those [experiences of conversion] of all others are delusions also? They say: ‘The only difference between myself and these earnest Christians is that they have not yet detected the cheat as I have.’”

The extension of an appeal for public decision may result in a purely psychological response that provides a catharsis for the emotional pressure of the sermon. Such persons falsely assume that their action has made them right with God. In others, it may drive them further into skepticism and doubt about the reality of the conversion of anyone. Such dangers ought to alarm every person sincerely concerned about the salvation of lost souls.

- Jim Ehrhard

Quotes (916)

fourpointer — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:06:08 +0000

The tragedy is often that the “one-hundred-per-cent god” is introduced into the life of the sensitive by the comparatively insensitive, who literally cannot imagine the harm they are doing. What is the way out? The words of Christ, “Learn of Me,” provide the best clue. Some of our modern enthusiastic Christians of the hearty type tend to regard Christianity as a performance. But it still is, as it was originally, a way of living, and in no sense a performance acted for the benefit of the surrounding world. To “learn” implies growth; implies the making and correcting of mistakes; implies a steady upward progress toward an ideal. The “perfection” to which Christ commands men to progress is this ideal.

The modern high-pressure Christian of certain circles would like to impose perfection of one hundred per cent as a set of rules to be immediately enforced, instead of as a shining ideal to be faithfully pursued…Such a distortion of Christian truth could not possibly originate from the One who said His “yoke was easy” and His “burden light,” nor by His follower St. Paul, who declared after many years’ experience that he “pressed toward the mark, not as though he had already attained or were already perfect.”

J.B. Phillips
“Your god is too Small”

Quotes (915)

Pilgrim — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 22:54:14 +0000

I know well the tendency there is, at a certain stage of anxious inquiry, to ask, “What is faith that I may do it?” It is a legalist’s work to satisfy that craving; but this is what is in the “inquiry-room.”

“Who is He that I may believe in Him?” was the question asked by one who approached the dawning of a day of salvation. Explanations of what faith is are but trifling with souls. How different is the Scripture way! The great aim there is to “set forth” the object, not to explain the act, of faith.

- John Kennedy

1819 – 1884

Quotes (914)

thejunglemissionary — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:16:02 +0000

“Unless you bow to Christ’s sceptre, you will not receive the benefits of Christ’s sacrifice…Jesus was not waiting for the man’s invitation to enter his heart. Christ was offering the terms:”

I will give you eternal life if you come and follow me. You become my servant. Submit your mind to my teachings; for I am the Great Prophet. Bow your will to my commandments; for I am your King. Only on these terms do I offer any salvation or life.

Walter J. Chantry
Today’s Gospel – Authentic or Synthetic

Quotes (913)

thejunglemissionary — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 16:36:11 +0000

“On the shallow ground of man’s logic, large numbers have been led to assume they have a right to everlasting life and have been given an assurance which does not belong to them. Evangelicals are swelling the ranks of the deluded with a perverted gospel.”

Walter J. Chantry
Today’s Gospel – Authentic or Synthetic

Quotes (912)

Pilgrim — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:55:28 +0000

The gospel reveals eternal realities about God that we would sometimes rather not face. We prefer to sit back, enjoy our clichés, and picture God as a Father who might help us, all the while ignoring God as a Judge who might damn us. Maybe this is why we fill our lives with the constant drivel of entertainment in our culture—and in the church. We are afraid that if we stop and really look at God in His Word, we might discover that He evokes greater awe and demands deeper worship than we are ready to give Him.

- David Platt

Quotes (911)

Pilgrim — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 13:16:33 +0000

Children are seen as complications, or even obstacles, in the perpetual quest for fun, excitement, and fulfillment. To see this attitude among the ungodly is to be expected. . . . What should alarm us, however, is that Christians are making the same complaint. In reality, these complaints by frazzled mothers worn out by “hyperactive” or “strong-willed” children (an earlier generation would have called them unruly) are merely symptoms of a disease. The root cause of this disease is the rejection of the commands of God: Christian families have brought this affliction upon themselves by following the “empty and deceitful” philosophies of the world. Although most evangelicals pride themselves that they are–unlike the “liberal churches”–true to the Bible, many of these evangelical leaders and authors adhere to the same philosophy of child training as the non-Christian educators and psychologists.

- William & Colleen Dedrick

From: The Little Book of Christian Character & Manners

Quotes (910)

Pilgrim — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 11:00:01 +0000

Those who sweat in worldly pursuits are commonly cold in godly pursuits.

- William Jenkyn

1613–1685

Quotes (909)

Pilgrim — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 18:15:11 +0000

We are giving in to the dangerous temptation to take the Jesus of the Bible and twist him into a version of Jesus we are more comfortable with. A nice, middle-class, American Jesus. A Jesus who doesn’t mind materialism and who would never call us to give away everything we have. A Jesus who would not expect us to forsake our closest relationships so that he receives all our affection. A Jesus who is fine with nominal devotion that does not infringe on our comforts, because, after all, he loves us just the way we are. A Jesus who wants us to be balanced, who wants us to avoid dangerous extremes, and who, for that matter, wants us to avoid danger altogether. A Jesus who brings us comfort and prosperity as we live out our Christian spin on the American dream. But do you and I realize what we are doing at this point? We are molding Jesus into our own image. He is beginning to look a lot like us because, after all, that is whom we are most comfortable with. And the danger now is that when we gather together in our church buildings to sing and lift up our hands in worship, we may not actually be worshiping the Jesus of the Bible. Instead we may be worshiping ourselves.

- David Platt