Truth Proclaimed » Quotes

Should it be according to your mind?

JeremyT — Fri, 13 May 2011 15:00:47 +0000

“Should it be according to your mind?” Job 34:33
We are prone to be fretful, to complain of the dispensations of Divine Providence, and to reflect harshly upon the Lord’s dealings with us.

We want our own way.

We wish to carve for ourselves.

We would be treated as God’s favorites.

We want our ease, and prosperity, and pleasure, consulted in all things. And if this does not appear to be done–if our wills are crossed, if our schemesare frustrated, if our purposes are broken off–then we stumble, think ourselves badly treated, and look for everybody to sympathize with us.

Under these circumstances, God comes to us–as we sit among our broken cisterns, surrounded by our dethroned idols–and puts this question to us: “Should it be according to your mind?”

Are you wiser than God?

Are you kinder than God?

Are you holier than God?

Are you more just than God?

Are you better informed than God?

May not your mind be dark, or selfish, or foolish?

Should it then be according to your mind?

Should you reign–or God?

Remember that God acts in the highest wisdom; His motives are grace and justice; and all His purposes are worthy of Himself.

The least the Christian can do is to submit–and to prefer God’s wisdom, way, and work–to his own. Seeing God has so arranged all events, that all things must work together for the good of His people–they, at least, should daily say, “Father, may Your will be done!”

O my soul, seek grace from God, not only to submit and be resigned to the dispensations of Divine Providence–but to acquiesce in them, and bepleased with the whole of them! Your good is consulted–your best interests are secured; and soon, very soon, it will be seen that infinite wisdom and mercy, grace and goodness, have marked out every step of your road!

“Jesus replied: You do not understand what I am now doing–but someday you will.” John 13:7

(James Smith, “Important Questions!” 1858)

Looking Ahead To Christ’s Return

JeremyT — Wed, 11 May 2011 15:00:17 +0000

A true Christian has a good hope when he looks ahead: the worldly man has none. A true Christian sees light in the distance: the worldly man sees nothing but darkness. And what is the hope of a true Christian? It is just this, – that Jesus Christ is coming again, coming without sin, – coming with all His people, – coming to wipe away every tear, – coming to raise His sleeping saints from the grave, – coming to gather together all His family, that they may be for ever with Him. Why is a believer patient? Because he looks for the coming of the Lord. He can bear hard things without murmuring. He knows the time is short. He waits quietly for the King.

~ J.C. Ryle

Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots, “Christ is All”, [Moscow, ID: Charles Nolan Publishing, 2001], 382.

I am a Slave in Christ – St. Patrick of Ireland

JeremyT — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 17:03:41 +0000

Could I have come to Ireland without thought of God, merely in my own interest? Who was it made me come? For here “I am a prisoner of the Spirit” so that I may not see any of my family. Can it be out of the kindness of my heart that I carry out such a labor of mercy on a people who once captured me when they wrecked my father’s house and carried off his servants? For by descent I was a freeman, born of a decurion father; yet I have sold this nobility of mine, I am not ashamed, nor do I regret that it might have meant some advantage to others. In short, I am a slave in Christ to this faraway people for the indescribable glory of “everlasting life which is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” – St. Patrick of Ireland

All this Jewelry

JeremyT — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 06:56:25 +0000

Those bright constellations–Christ created them.
Those burning suns–Christ kindled them.
Those snow wreathed alps, those cloud capped mountains–Christ raised them.
Those verdant valleys–Christ spread them.
That blushing rose,
that graceful lily,
that exquisite fern,
that curious sea flower tossed upon the shore,
that wayside violet that screens the dew drop from the sun,
that winding stream,
that leafy grove–
Christ formed and penciled them all.

Yes, Christ is the one who…
clad that magnificent landscape with its robe of living green;
scented the air with its fragrance, and
hollowed out the depth of that expansive ocean, dimpled with beauty by the gentle breeze–or awesome in its grandeur, when trod by the storm.

Truly, He has made everything beautiful in its time.

Oh! I delight to see the Incarnate God, who died to save–scattering from the opulence of His own boundless resources–all this jewelry; making man’s sinful home so rich, so lovely, so attractive!

Christ Alone is Sufficient

JeremyT — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 17:13:40 +0000

There are multitudes of baptized men and women who profess to honour Christ, but in reality do Him great dishonour. They give Christ a certain place in their system of religion, but not the place which God intended Him to fill. Christ alone is not “all in all” to their souls. No! It is either Christ and the Church, or Christ and the sacraments, or Christ and His ordained ministers, or Christ and their own repentance, or Christ and their own goodness, or Christ and their own prayers, or Christ and their own sincerity and charity, on which they practically rest their souls.

If any reader of this paper is a Christian of this kind, I warn him also plainly, that his religion is an offence to God. You are changing God’s plan of salvation into a plan of your own devising. You are in effect deposing Christ from His throne, by giving the glory due to Him to another.

~ J.C. Ryle

Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots, “Christ Is All”, [Moscow, ID: Charles Nolan Publishing, 2001], 386.

via J.C. Ryle Quotes

It is God whom we must please!

JeremyT — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 18:13:35 +0000

I was chosen by God,
I was set called by God,
I was set apart by God,
I was saved by God,
I was redeemed by God,
I was commissioned by God,
I was enlightened by God,
I was instructed by God,
I was appointed by God,
I was empowered by God,
I was directed by God,
Why on earth would I suddenly seek to please men?

In the last day it will be God before whom we stand. We will be judged not by men, nor by angels, but by God! And we will be either be rewarded or passed over by God! It is God whom we must please. And there is only one message that pleases God. And it is the Gospel of God; salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Shepherds’ Conference 2009: Pulpit Highlight (Steve Lawson)

Be a Church with Biblical Standards!

JeremyT — Tue, 18 May 2010 20:54:46 +0000

A church in which the Bible is not the standard of faith and practice – a Church in which repentance, faith, and holiness, are not prominently put forward as essential to salvation, – a Church in which forms, and ceremonies, and ordinance not commanded in the Bible, are the chief things urged upon the attention of the members, – such a Church is in a very diseased and unsatisfactory condition.

~ J.C. Ryle

Knots Untied, “The Church” [Cambridge, England: James Clarke & Co., 1977], 177.

Never Be Ashamed of Christ!

JeremyT — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 21:30:03 +0000

Live a courageous life. Confess Christ before men. Whatever station you occupy, in that station confess Christ. Why should you be ashamed of Him? He was not ashamed of you on the cross. He is ready to confess you now before His Father in heaven. Why should you be ashamed of Him?

Be bold. Be very bold. The good soldier is not ashamed of his uniform. The true believer ought never be ashamed of Christ.

~ J.C. Ryle

Warnings to the Churches, “The True Church”, 27, 28.

Look away from self and turn to Christ!

JeremyT — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 16:25:26 +0000

Look not to yourselves! You are by nature wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked; you cannot make atonement for your past transgressions, you cannot wipe out a single page in that long black list. And when the King shall ask you for your wedding garment you will be speechless. Look simply unto Jesus, and then the weight shall fall from off your shoulders, the course shall be clear and plain, and you shall run the race which is set before you.

~ J.C. Ryle

The Christian Race & Other Sermons, “The Christian Race”, [Moscow, ID: Charles Nolan Publishing, 2002], 134.

Total Dependance on God’s Words

JeremyT — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 17:53:39 +0000

There must be a real heartfelt belief that God’s promises are sure and to be depended on – a real belief that what God says in the Bible is all true and that every doctrine contrary to this is false, whatever anyone may say. There must be a real belief that all God’s words are to be received, however hard and disagreeable to flesh and blood, and that His way is right and all others wrong. This there must be, or you will never come out from the world, take up the cross, follow Christ and be saved.

~ J.C. Ryle

Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots, “Moses: An Example”, [Moscow, ID: Charles Nolan Publishing, 2001], 173.