Few men during their lifetime come anywhere near exhausting the resources dwelling within them. There are deep wells of strength that are never used.
~ Richard Byrd
Treat a man as he appears to be, and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he already were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be.
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The hardest people to reach with the love of God are not the bad people. They know they are bad. They have no defense. The hardest ones to win for God are the self-righteous people.
~ Charles L. Allen
When the mask of self-righteousness has been torn from us and we stand stripped of all our accustomed defenses, we are candidates for God’s generous grace.
~ Erwin Lutzer
Open sin kills its thousands of souls. Self-righteousness kills its tens of thousands.
~ J.C. Ryle, from The Cross of Christ
The greatest enemy to human souls is the self-righteous spirit which makes men look to themselves for salvation.
~ Charles Spurgeon
To be specific, the self-sins are these: self-righteousness, self-pity, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-admiration, self-love and a host of others like them. They dwell too deep within us and are too much a part of our natures to come to our attention till the light of God is focused upon them. The grosser manifestations of these sins, egotism, exhibitionism, self-promotion, are strangely tolerated in Christian leaders even in circles of impeccable orthodoxy. They are so much in evidence as actually, form any people, to become identified with the gospel. I trust it is not a cynical observation to say that they appear these days to be a requisite for popularity in some sections of the Church visible. Promoting self under the guise of promoting Christ is currently so common as to excite little notice.
~ A.W. Tozer, in The Pursuit of God, Chapter 3 – Removing the Veil
You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.
~ Bible, Psalm 18:27
Speaker: R.C. Sproul
Message Title: No Compromise, No Surrender
Scripture Text: Luke 24:46-
[2013 National Ligonier National Conference]
Summary: Jesus Christ has ascended to the right hand of God and has received all authority in heaven and on earth. He is Lord. In this message, Dr. R.C. Sproul reminds the church that the very first creed for which tens of thousands died is “Christ is Lord.” He will remind us that Jesus Christ is still Lord and that every assault on His kingdom is doomed to failure because the decisive battle has already been won.
Who was Polycarp? Why does R.C. Sproul tell his story to introduce this message?
Polycarp could have easily avoided his execution. Why didn’t he say the two words that would have been necessary?
What was the first Christian creed?
In sacred Scripture, the word “Lord” is used in three different ways. Can you name and explain them?
What is the etymological significance of the word “church”?
Why did the disciples rejoice at the ascension of Jesus?
So, again, how does the Lordship of Christ relate to the story of Polycarp’s execution?
In light of this message, what would it mean for you to “Play the man”? To “play the man” at work? To “play the man” at school? To “play the man” with your peers? To “play the man” with your family?
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Luke 24:46-53
46 He also said to them, “This is what is written: The Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead the third day, 47 and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And look, I am sending you what My Father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered from on high.”
50 Then He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands He blessed them. 51 And while He was blessing them, He left them and was carried up into heaven. 52 After worshiping Him, they returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they were continually in the temple complex praising God.
“Rugby is a beastly game played by gentlemen. Soccer is a gentleman’s game played by beasts. Football is a beastly game played by beasts.”
~ Henry Blaha
“O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart. Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling and scatter there Thy cheerful beams.”
~ Augustine of Hippo
“Give us clear vision that we may know where to stand and what to stand for, because unless we stand for something we shall fall for anything.”
~ Peter Marshall
A Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary conspiracy? Separated at birth? Evidence of cloning? Brave New World? Are administrators at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary doing reality television on the weekends? Watch the video and determine for yourself.
SWBTS Dynasty from Kevin Stilley on Vimeo.
Now, therefore, we declare, say, determine and pronounce that for every human creature it is necessary for salvation to be subject to the authority of the Roman pontiff.
~ Pope Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctum, November 18, 1302
[Note: This remains the “official” teaching of the Roman Catholic Church and is the reason why Catholicism is not Christianity, but a counterfeit of Christianity.]
“Jesus did not come to tell us how to be saved. Jesus came to tell us that we are saved.” “Accepting Jesus is not the basis of salvation. Jesus came to say that we are saved.”
~ R. Kirby Godsey, in When We Talk About God… Let’s Be Honest
[Note: Baptists can be heretics, too.]
Our unity with Christ… is terribly important and perhaps the most critical doctrine of salvation in Paul’s writing.
~ James Montgomery Boice
As no man is excluded from calling upon God, the gate of salvation is set open to all men; neither is there any other thing which keepeth us back from entering in, save only our own unbelief.
~ John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol. 36: Acts, Part I, tr. by John King
The knowledge of sin is the beginning of salvation.
~ Epicurus
People who are far from God think they are very near to him, when they begin to take a few steps to approach him. The most polite and most enlightened people have the same stupidity about this as a peasant who thinks he is really at court, because he has seen the king. We leave the horrible vices; we restrain ourselves in a weak, worldly and dissipated life. We judge it, not by the Gospel, which is the only rule, but by the comparison which we make between that life and the one which we led before, or which we see led by so many others. No more is needed to canonize ourselves, and to go sound asleep so far as everything goes which has to do with our salvation.”
~ Fenelon, in Christian Perfection
If I can help somebody as I pass along, if I can cheer somebody with a word or song, if I can show somebody he’s traveling wrong, then my living will not be in vain. If I can do my duty as a Christian ought, if I can bring salvation to a world once wrought, if I can spread the message as the master taught, then my living will not be in vain.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr., in a sermon preached at Ebenezer Baptist Church and replayed at his funeral.
There are many ways to Christ, but … only one way to God.
~ Paul Little, in Know Why You Believe
If any man ascribes anything of salvation, even the very least thing, to the free will of man, he knows nothing of grace, and he has not learned Jesus Christ rightly.
~ Martin Luther
Mankind wants glory. We want health. We want wealth. We want happiness. We want all our felt needs met, all our little human itches scratched. We want a painless life. We want the crown without the cross. We want the gain without the pain. We want the words of Christ’s salvation to be easy.
~ John MacArthur
This is the love of God; not that He gives us something, but that He gives us some one — a living person — not one or another blessing, but Him in whom is all life and blessing — Jesus Himself. Not simply forgiveness, or revival, or sanctification, or glory does He give us; but Jesus, His own Son. The Lord Jesus is the beloved, the equal, the bosom-friend, the eternal blessedness of the Father. And it is the will of the Father that we should have Jesus as ours, even as He has Him. (Matt. 11:27; John 17:23,25; Rom. 8:38-39; Heb. 2:11) For this end He gave Him to us. The whole of salvation consists in this: to have, to possess, to enjoy Jesus. God has given His Son, given Him wholly to become ours. (Ps. 73:25; 142:6; John 20:28; Heb. 3:14)
~ Andrew Murray, in God’s Gift of His Son
Union with Christ is really the central truth of the whole doctrine of salvation not only in its application but also in its once-for-all accomplishment in the finished work of Christ.
~ John Murray
In the second place man is ignorant of the way of salvation. Even when man has been brought to the place where he recognizes that he is not prepared to meet God, and that if he died in his present state he would be eternally lost; even then he has no right conception of the remedy. Being ignorant of God’s righteousness he goes about to establish his own righteousness. He supposes that he must make some personal reparation for his past wrong-doings, that he must work for his salvation, do something to merit the esteem of God, and thus win heaven as a reward. The highest concept of man’s mind is that of merit. To him salvation is a wage to be earned, a crown to be coveted, a prize to be won. The proof of this is to be seen in the fact that even when pardon and life are presented as a free gift, the universal tendency, at first, is to regard it as being “too good to be true.” Yet, such is the plain teaching of God’s Word – “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works; lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8-9). And again – “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us” (Titus 3:5).
~ A.W. Pink, in The Character of its Teachings Evidences The Divine Authorship of the Bible
“God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Now what did Paul mean by saying this? He meant to declare strongly, that he trusted in nothing but Jesus Christ crucified for the pardon of his sins and the salvation of his soul. Let others, if they would, look elsewhere for salvation. Let others, if they were so disposed, trust in other things for pardon and peace. For his part, the apostle was determined to rest on nothing, lean on nothing, build his hope on nothing, place confidence in nothing, glory in nothing, except “the cross of Jesus Christ.
~ J.C. Ryle, in The Cross of Christ
In light of mankind’s universal rebellion against God, the issue is not why is there only one way, but why is there any way at all?
~ R.C. Sproul, in Reason To Believe
Jesus Christ did not come into this world to make bad people good; he came into this world to make dead people live.
~ Lee Strobel
Essentially salvation is the restoration of a right relation between man and his Creator, a bringing back to normal of the Creator-creature relation.
~ A.W. Tozer in The Pursuit of God, chapter 8
He who has not felt what sin is in the Old Testament knows little what grace is in the New. He who has not trembled in Moses, and wept in David, and wondered in Isaiah will rejoice little in Matthew or rest little in John. He who has not suffered under the Law will scarcely hear the glad sound of the gospel.
~ R. W. Barbour
The bottom line is this. That the gospel is about the forgiveness of sins so the Spirit might come. The goal of all this covenant activity is to restore a lost relationship to connect God to his people as he lives within.
~ Darrell Bock
The gospel is about the privilege of God entering our lives permanently from within our being, restoring his relationship with us, and making us part of his precious family.
~ Darrell Bock
The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less.
~ Tim Keller
The true gospel is a call to self-denial. It is not a call to self-fulfillment.
~ John MacArthur
The power of the gospel changes him… and makes them into a new creation. … for the work of Christ sweeps away both his good and his evil and turns him into another man. …it also includes an actual change in the life of the individual. … a transformation as deep as the roots of his human life. If it does not go that deep, it does not go deep enough.
~ A.W. Tozer
Speaker: Alistair Begg
Sermon Title: Whole-Hearted Devotion
Scripture Text:Mark 14:1-9
What is happening in the Scripture passage being read? What is the context?
What was the cost involved for the woman who poured the fragrant oil onto the head of Jesus?
Why did she perform this act?
How did Jesus’ response to the woman compare with that of his disciples?
How does this event challenge the disciples’ understanding of value in the Kingdom?
Was Judas really concerned for the poor?
How widespread do you think jealousy is among those who follow Christ?
Why does Jesus quote from Deuteronomy 15:11?
The speaker says that the real challenge in reading this event is determining how we fit into the narrative. Will you give up your whole life to serve Him?
What do you think when you hear …
Only one life, will soon bet past,
And only what’s done for Christ will last.
__________
14:1 After two days it was the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a treacherous way to arrest and kill Him. 2 “Not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be rioting among the people.”
3 While He was in Bethany at the house of Simon who had a serious skin disease, as He was reclining at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of pure and expensive fragrant oil of nard. She broke the jar and poured it on His head. 4 But some were expressing indignation to one another: “Why has this fragrant oil been wasted? 5 For this oil might have been sold for more than 300 denarii and given to the poor.” And they began to scold her.
6 Then Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done a noble thing for Me. 7 You always have the poor with you, and you can do what is good for them whenever you want, but you do not always have Me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed My body in advance for burial. 9 I assure you: Wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her.” (HCSB)
__________
Deuteronomy 15:11 For there will never cease to be poor people in the land; that is why I am commanding you, ‘You must willingly open your hand to your afflicted and poor brother in your land.’ (HCSB)
“We must try to speak of his love. All Christians have tried, but none has ever done it very well. I can no more do justice to that awesome and wonder-filled theme than a child can grasp a star. Still… as I stretch my heart toward the high, shining love of God, someone who has not before known about it may be encouraged to look up and have hope.” ~ A. W. Tozer
