Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
—John 12:24-25
“Everything is finished; there is nothing left for us to do. We may rest with all our soul and for all of time in the perfect work of redemption that Christ has accomplished.”
—Herman Bavinck, Guidebook for Instruction in the Christian Religion (Hendrickson, 2022), 123.
“The soul is united to what it loves by love, yet it is faith that brings Jesus Christ into the heart, and reveals Him to the soul in all His excellencies and His glory.”
–Thomas Goodwin, “The Object and Acts of Justifying Faith,” (Works, 8: 472).
“When we exhort you to believe,
what do we exhort you to?
To set up Jesus Christ in your hearts,
to set Him up a throne there,
to ascribe all to Him,
and to go out to Him for all.”
–Thomas Goodwin, “The Object and Acts of Justifying Faith,” (Works, 8: 470).
“Faith is of all graces the meanest and the lowest, a poorer and a more beggarly grace than to love by far: for in loving God, we return something to Him, love for His love, we give as well as we take; but in believing we receive all from God.”
–Thomas Goodwin, (Works, 8: 459)
“Faith doth all by going to Christ.”
–Thomas Goodwin, “The Object and Acts of Justifying Faith,” The Works of Thomas Goodwin, Volume 8 (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage, 1862/2021), 8: 460.
“Scripture causes us to become aware of God where we would otherwise not see Him; through its light, we behold God’s attributes, spread out in all of the works of His hands.”
—Herman Bavinck, Guidebook for Instruction in the Christian Religion (Hendrickson, 2022), 22.
“All the works of God in nature and grace, in creation and re-creation, and in the world and history enable us to know something of the incomprehensible and lovely nature of God.”
—Herman Bavinck, Guidebook for Instruction in the Christian Religion (Hendrickson, 2022), 20.
“As soon as we acknowledge God to be the supreme Architect, who has erected the beauteous fabric of the universe, our minds must necessarily be ravished with wonder at His infinite goodness, wisdom, and power.”
—John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of Psalms, (1: 309).
“The world was made partly that there might be prayer.
But let’s have finished with ‘partly’.
The great work of art was made for the sake of all it does and is, down to the curve of every wave and the flight of every insect.”
—C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm, p. 75.
“As clear a voice as the creation has, apart from the Torah it will fall on deaf ears.”
—@DrJimHamilton, Psalms, vol. 1, Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Academic, 2021), 1: 257. Commenting on Psalm 19.
“Everything God has made and everything God has spoken may teach us some valuable lesson. His works declare, preach, show, publish His existence all the time and in every place.”
—William Plumer, Studies in the Book of Psalms (Carlisle, PA: @BannerofTruth, 1867/2016), 262.
“Secret sin is a stepping-stone to presumptuous sin.”
—Charles H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 1-26, vol. 1 (London: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 1: 275.
“The Bible should be our Mentor, our Monitor, our Memento Mori, our Remembrancer, and the Keeper of our Conscience.”
—Charles H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 1-26, vol. 1 (London: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 1: 274.
“Free grace brings heart-joy.
There is no cordial of comfort like that which is poured from the bottle of Scripture.”
—Charles H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 1-26, vol. 1 (London: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 1: 273.
“The gospel is perfect in all its parts, and perfect as a whole: it is a crime to add to it, treason to alter it, and felony to take from it.”
—Charles H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 1-26, vol. 1 (London: New York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 272.
“He who is harsh to the unfortunate,
and cruel to the needy,
who never forgives the wayward,
nor seeks to recover the prodigal,
is not like God.”
—William Plumer, Studies in the Book of Psalms (Carlisle, PA: @BannerofTruth, 1867/2016), 986.
“A continual contemplation of the glory of Christ, in His person, office, and grace will carry us cheerfully, comfortably, and victoriously through life and death, and all that we have to conflict withal in either of them.”
—John Owen, (Works, @BannerofTruth, 1: 277)
“And because the soul thus apprehending Christ reclines upon Him and rests upon and cleaves to Him, faith is also sometimes described as an act of ‘reclining’ (Ps. 71:5; Isa. 10:20; 48:2; 50:10; Mic. 3:11).”
—Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, (2: 563)
“Though our path should lie through the fire or through the water, we may trust His power and love to bring us safely through, and at last to fix us in a place where our warfare and tears shall cease forever.”
-John Newton, Works (Carlisle, PA: @BannerofTruth, 1988), 6: 65.
“The day is coming when all the Lord’s people who are scattered abroad, who praise him in different ages and different languages, shall be collected together, and stand with one heart and voice before the throne. Oh, the glorious assembly!”
–John Newton, (Works, 6: 63)
“In what place cannot Jesus triumph?
Go forth, ye heralds of the cross, and preach the gospel everywhere beneath the arch of heaven.”
-Charles Spurgeon, “A Cheering Incident at Bethabara,” (MTPS, 32: 558)
“One draught of the river of pleasure at God’s right hand will make us forget our sorrows forever.
Or the remembrance, if any, will only serve to heighten our joys.”
-John Newton, The Works of John Newton, Volume 6 (Carlisle, PA: @BannerofTruth, 1988), 6: 60.
“Is this not our time of trial, and are we not traveling towards a land of light?”
—John Newton, The Works of John Newton, Volume 6 (Carlisle, PA: @BannerofTruth, 1988), 6: 60.
The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
-1 Timothy 1:5