Alistair Begg

 

"When people begin wrong

in their worship, they will

end wrong in their lives."

Alistair Begg

Something to consider ...

"Sin will keep you from this Book,

or this Book will keep you from sin."

John Bunyan

Some things to think about ...

 

Ephesians 2:8

For by grace you have been saved through faith.

And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God

Ephesians 2:8

Some things to think about today ...

J.C. Ryle

Quotes from Missionaries

 

 

Here is a special collection of “quotes worth repeating” by missionaries from decades gone by…

“If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.” -C.T. Studd

“My life is one long daily, hourly record of answered prayer. For physical health, for mental overstrain, for guidance given marvelously, for errors and dangers averted, for enmity to the Gospel subdued, for food provided at the exact hour needed, for everything that goes to make up life and my poor service. I can testify, with a full and often wonder-stricken awe, that I believe God answers prayer.” -Mary Slessor

“God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supplies.” -J. Hudson Taylor

“If we wait until every possible hindrance has been removed before we do a work for the Lord, we will never attempt to do anything.” -T.J. Back

“In all our calculations we calculate on God’s faithfulness.” -J. Hudson Taylor

I could not think that God was poor, that He was short of resources, or unwilling to supply any want of whatever work was really His. -J. Hudson Taylor

“I never felt homesick since I knew God to be my Father.” -Isabella Thoburn

“Have we forgotten that there is a Holy Spirit, that we must insist upon walking upon crutches when we might fly?” -A.J. Gordon

“The Holy Spirit is just as truly in us when He makes no sign as when the fountains of joy are overflowing, or the waters of peace are softly refreshing our weary and troubled heart.”
-A. B. Simpson

No Matter...

"No matter how dark and dramatic the events of life may appear,

GOD is still working out His purposes."

Something to think about...

What if....

"Behold, I am the LORD, the God

of all flesh; is there any thing too hard for me?"

(Jeremiah 32:27)

Reformation Day

Reformation Day is a religious holiday celebrated on October 31st or the last weekend in October in remembrance of the Reformation. Martin Luther posted a proposal at the doors of a church in Wittenberg, Germany to debate the doctrine and practice of indulgences. This proposal is popularly known as the 95 Theses, which he nailed to the Castle Church doors. This was not an act of defiance or provocation as is sometimes thought. Since the Castle Church faced Wittenberg's main thoroughfare, the church door functioned as a public bulletin board and was therefore the logical place for posting important notices. Also, the theses were written in Latin, the language of the church, and not in the vernacular. Nonetheless, the event created a controversy between Luther and those allied with the Pope over a variety of doctrines and practices. While it had profound and lasting impacts on the political, economic, social, literary, and artistic aspects of modern society, the Reformation was at its heart a religious movement. The Reformation was the great rediscovery of the good news of salvation by grace through faith for Christ's sake. For centuries, the Roman Catholic Church had been plagued by false doctrines, superstition, ignorance, and corruption. Since most ordinary Christians were illiterate and had little knowledge of the Bible, they relied on their clergy for religious instruction and guidance. Tragically however, monks, priests, bishops, and even the popes in Rome taught unbiblical doctrines like purgatory and salvation through good works. Spiritually earnest people tried to justify themselves by charitable works, pilgrimages, and all kinds of religious performances and devotions, but they were left wondering if they had done enough to escape God's anger and punishment.

The truth of the gospel -- the good news that God is loving and merciful, that He offers each and every one of us forgiveness and salvation not because of what we do, but because of what Christ has already done for us -- was largely forgotten by both clergy and laity. The Holy Spirit used an Augustinian monk and university professor named Martin Luther to restore the gospel to its rightful place as the cornerstone doctrine of Christianity. Martin Luther and his colleagues came to understand that if we sinners had to earn salvation by our own merits and good works, we would be lost and completely without hope. But through the working of the Holy Spirit, the reformers rediscovered the gospel -- the wonderful news that Jesus Christ lived, died, and rose again to redeem and justify us. As Luther wrote in his explanation of the Second Article of the Apostles' Creed: I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, even as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true. On Reformation Day, we glorify God for what he accomplished in 16th century Germany through His servant, Dr. Martin Luther -- the recovery of the gospel of salvation by grace through faith for Christ's sake. We also earnestly pray that God would keep all of us faithful to the true gospel and help us to joyfully declare it to the world. This lovely hymn verse encapsulates the theme of our Reformation celebration:

By grace God's Son, our only Savior,
Came down to earth to bear our sin.
Was it because of your own merit
That Jesus died your soul to win?
No, it was grace, and grace alone,
It brought Him from His heav'nly throne.

Jonathan Edwards

"When the True beauty and attraction of the holiness found in Divine things is discovered by the soul, a new world of perspectives is opened. The glory of all the perfections of God and of everything that pertains to him is revealed. A sense of the moral beauty of Divine things enables us to understand the sufficiency of Christ as Mediator. In this way the believer is led into the knowledge of the excellency of Christ's Person. The saints are then made aware of the preciousness of Christ's blood and of its sufficiency to atone for sin. On this depends the merit of His obedience, and sufficiency and prevalence of Christ's intercession. The beauty of the way of salvation by Christ is made manifest in all these ways. Thus all true experienced religion comes from this sense of spiritual beauty."

Jonathan Edwards

Grace....

"Many people pay lip service to the idea of grace, but they stop there. Their conception of grace is not so much debased as nonexistent. The thought means nothing to them; it does not touch their experience at all. What is it that hinders so many who profess to believe in grace from really doing so? Why does the theme mean so little even to some who talk about it a great deal? The root of the trouble seems to be misbelief about the basic relationship between a person and God; misbelief rooted not just in the mind but in the heart, at the deeper level of things that we never question because we always take them for granted, the doctrines of grace presupposes, and if they are not acknowledged and felt in one's heart, clear faith in God's grace become impossible. The moral ill desert of humankind, the retributive justice of God, the spiritual impotence of humankind and the sovereign freedom of God."


J.I. Packer, Knowing God

Something to think about...

"By nature, you are completely addicted to this legal method of salvation. Even after you become a Christian by believing the Gospel, your heart is still addicted to salvation by works. In your heart you still want to make the duties of the law come before the comforts of the Gospel. You find it hard to believe that you should get any blessing before you work for it. This is the mindset you tend to fall into: You sincerely do want to obey the laws of God. Therefore, to make sure you obey the law of God you make all of God's blessings depend upon how well you keep his law.  Some preachers even tell you that you had better not enjoy the blessings of the Gospel! They tell you to diligently obey the law first and that only by doing this will you be safe and happy before God. Just keep in mind, however, that as you go this route, you will never enjoy your salvation for as long as you live in this world."


Walter Marshall, 1628-1680

A New Creature

"The Christian is a new creature, born and taught from above. He has been convinced of his guilt and misery as a sinner, has fled for refuge to the hope set before him, has seen his Son and believed on Him: his natural prejudices against the glory and grace of God's salvation have been subdued and silenced by almighty power; he has accepted the Beloved and is made acceptable in Him; he now knows the Lord; has renounced the confused, distant, uncomfortable notions he once formed of God. He sees God in Christ, reconciled, a Father, a Savior and a Friend, who has freely forgiven him all his sins and given him the spirit of adoption; he is now no longer a servant, much less a stranger, but a son; and because a son, an heir already interested in all the promises, admitted to the throne of grace, and assured expectant of eternal glory."

John Newton, Letters of John Newton 1781

Something to think about...

What are you afraid of?

Charles Spurgeon

"Holy wonder will lead you to grateful worship and heartfelt thanksgiving. It will cause within you godly watchfulness; you will be afraid to sin against such a love as this. Feeling the presence of the mighty God in the gift of His dear Son, you will put off your shoes from your feet, because the place whereon you stand is holy ground. You will be moved at the same time to glorious hope. If Jesus has done such marvelous things on your behalf, you will feel that heaven itself is not too great for your expectation. Who can be astonished at anything, when he has once been astonished at the manger and the cross? What is there wonderful left after one has seen the Savior?"


Charles Spurgeon

Something to think about...

"We need never doubt the truth of God's presence with us.

Jesus Christ is Immanuel - a name that literally means

'God with us.' Christ's life, death, and resurrection

are the supreme evidence that God will go to any lengths -

even paying the ultimate cost of His only Son -

to dwell among His people.

God is truly with us ...

Wherever we are.

Whenever we feel abandoned or alone.

Whatever circumstances we are going through.

It is our privilege to be in relationship with God for eternity.

This is why He came to earth, and this is why He died.

May our lives be filled with Immanuel."

Cynthis Heald, Abiding in Christ, pg. 31-32

Something to think about...

"Can we really be righteous in God's sight? Yes, but the truth is even more remarkable--in Jesus Christ, I am as righteous in God's sight as Jesus Christ Himself.

How can that be? The only righteousness with which I am righteous, is Jesus Christ's righteousness.

It is as if He has said to me, 'Here is my righteousness. Wear it; it is yours. It fits your needs perfectly and completely'.

As I stand in God's presence and He looks at me, I hear Him say: 'Where have I seen that righteousness before? Come near, I recognize it now. That is My Son's righteousness you are wearing! Enter! You are welcome - and safe - here."

-Sinclair Ferguson, By Grace Alone-

Something to think about...

"If I, an earthly father, can know such a sensation of pleasure, in the well-being of my son, surely that gives an inkling of how our heavenly Father feels when we please Him. If we could only grasp and be grasped by this, our lives would be revolutionized."

-Alistair Begg-