“If some men were sentenced to hear their own sermons, it would be a righteous judgment upon them; but they would soon cry out with Cain, ‘My punishment is greater than I can bear.’”
–Charles Spurgeon, An All-Round Ministry (Carlisle, PA: @BannerofTruth, 1900/1960), 32.
“His name is precious.
His love is wonderful.
His compassions are boundless.
I long for more grace to love Him better!”
—John Newton, The Works of John Newton, Volume 6 (Carlisle, PA: @BannerofTruth, 1988), 6: 58.
“I have good reason to commend Him to others as a faithful Shepherd, an infallible Physician, an unchangeable Friend. Had He not been with me, and were He not mighty to forgive and deliver, I had long ago been trodden down like mire in the streets.”
—John Newton, (Works, 6: 55)
“He is with me and is pleased to keep up in my heart a sense of the evil of sin, the beauty of holiness, my own weakness, and His glorious all-sufficiency. His I am, and Him I desire to serve. I am a poor servant, but He is a gracious Master.”
—John Newton, (Works, 6: 52-53)
“He restores us when wandering.
He revives us when fainting;.
He heals us when wounded.
And He will be our Guard and Guide even unto death.
He has delivered.
He does deliver.
And in Him we trust that He will yet deliver us.”
—John Newton, (Works, @BannerofTruth, 6: 52)
“We have a watchful Shepherd, who neither slumbers nor sleeps. His eyes are always upon His people. His arm is underneath them. This is the reason that our enemies cannot prevail against us.”
-John Newton, The Works of John Newton (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1988), 6: 52.
“The Sundays of man’s life
Threaded together on time’s string
Make bracelets to adorn the wife
Of the eternal glorious King.”
-George Herbert, “Sunday”
“My memory is nearly gone;
but I remember two things:
that I am a great sinner,
and that Christ is a great Saviour.”
—John Newton, Wise Counsel: John Newton’s Letters to John Ryland Jr., Ed. Grant Gordon (Carlisle, PA: @BannerofTruth, 2009), 401.
“Christ is the Mirror of beauty,
He is the Map of perfection,
He is the Paradise of delight,
He is the Crown of the gospel,
He is the Pearl hidden in the field,
He is the Glory of heaven.”
—Thomas Watson, “Christ’s Loveliness,” (Works, 1: 312).
“Jesus loves to rescue sinners.
He comes to us full of tenderness,
with tears in His eyes,
with mercy in His hands,
and with love in His heart.
Believe Him to be a great Saviour of great sinners.”
—Charles Spurgeon, Majesty In Misery (@BannerofTruth, 2005), 3: 263.
“Preach the gospel, which is the best news that ears ever heard, or tongues were employed to utter, which took up God’s thoughts from eternity, it being the greatest affair that was ever transacted in heaven or earth, or ever will be.”
-Thomas Goodwin, (Works, 5: 482)
Father,
in Your mercy
dispel the darkness
of this night,
and let Your servant
sleep in peace,
that at the dawn
of a new day
I may wake
with joy in Your Name;
through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
“Let us rise from our beds every morning with a deep conviction that we are debtors, and that every day we have more mercies than we deserve.”
–J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Luke, Vol. 1 (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1879), 36-37.
“Never could it be possible for any man to estimate what he owes to a godly mother.”
–Charles Spurgeon, C. H. Spurgeon’s Autobiography: Volume 1, The Early Years (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1898/1962), 1: 44.
“The sin of a creature could never be so filthy as the blood of the Son of God was holy.”
–Stephen Charnock, “A Discourse on the Acceptableness of Christ’s Death,“ The Works of Stephen Charnock, Volume 4 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1865/2010), 4: 558.
“Beloved in our dearest Lord, Christ, the Scripture, your own hearts, and Satan’s devices, are the four prime things that should be first and most studied and searched.”
-Thomas Brooks, “Precious Remedies,” Works of Thomas Brooks (Carlisle: Banner of Truth, 1666/2001), 1: 3.
Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is Your way with those who love Your name.
-Psalm 119:132
“All our truth is but a small spark of that ocean of truth in Him.”
–Richard Sibbes, “The Matchless Mercy,” The Works of Richard Sibbes, Volume 7 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1639/2001), 7: 164.
“Our liberty comes from His service and slavery, our life from His death, our adoption and sonship and all comes from His abasement.”
–Richard Sibbes, “A Description of Christ,” The Works of Richard Sibbes, Volume 1 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1639/2001), 1: 7.
Father,
in Your mercy
dispel the darkness
of this night,
and let Your servant
sleep in peace,
that at the dawn
of a new day
I may wake
with joy in Your Name;
through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
“Oh, what should water my heart, and make it melt in obedience to my God, but the assurance and knowledge of the virtue of this most precious blood of my Redeemer, applied to my sick soul, in the full and free remission of all my sins?”
—Richard Sibbes, (Works, 7: 495)
“Circumstances and creatures may change, but the Lord will be an unchangeable friend.
The way is rough, but He trod it before us and is now with us in every step we take.
And every step brings us nearer to our heavenly home.”
-John Newton, Works (@BannerofTruth, 1988), 2:183.
“No church has the freedom to tamper with, tweak, add to, or subtract from the good news of Jesus Christ— we are just to herald it.”
—Dustin Benge, The Loveliest Place: The Beauty and Glory of the Church (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2022), 124.
RYLE: “The Holy Spirit is beyond doubt the greatest gift which God can bestow upon man. Having this gift we have God the Father’s boundless love, God the Son’s atoning blood, and full communion with all three Persons of the blessed Trinity.”
-Expository Thoughts on Luke (2: 9)
The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
The lame will walk in Gloryland, The blind up there will see. The deaf in Gloryland will hear, The mute will talk to me.