Charles Hodge on Humility

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Friday, December 30, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“Christian humility does not consist in denying what there is of good in us; but in an abiding sense of ill-desert, and in the consciousness that what we have of good is due to the grace of God. “
Charles Hodge


Matthew Henry on Sin

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Thursday, December 29, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“We must beware of deceiving ourselves in denying or excusing our sins.  The more we see them the more we shall esteem and value the remedy.”
Matthew Henry


Alexander Smellie on The Word of God

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Wednesday, December 28, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“I have no need to go to the loneliness of Sinai to meet with God. I find holy ground much nearer home. But I wonder whether I put my shoes off my feet.

He reveals Himself to me in His written Word. It is His sanctuary. By its agency my deepest life is created, quickened, sustained. Listening to it the saints have heard the very voice of their Lord; and it is associated with the faith and purity and joy of many centuries of Christians. But do I never raise a laugh by my grotesque and frivolous use of the words of Scripture? And, whenever I open the Book, do I remember that God has breathed the Spirit of Life into its chapters and verses? Mine is culpable levity.”
Alexander Smellie


Charles Hodge on Christ to a Christian

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Tuesday, December 27, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“To be in Christ is the source of the Christian's life; to be like Christ is the sum of his excellence; to be with Christ is the fullness of his joy.”

Charles Hodge


John Gill on the Incarnation

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Monday, December 26, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“The incarnation of Christ is a most extraordinary and amazing affair. It is wonderful indeed that the eternal Son of God should become man; that He should be born of a pure virgin without any concern of man in it; that this should be brought about by the power of the Holy Ghost in a way unseen, imperceptible, and unknown, signified by His overshadowing; and all this in order to effect the most wonderful work that ever was done in the world: the redemption and salvation of men.”
John Gill



William Plumer on the Incarnation

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Friday, December 23, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“From the day that Christ was born to this hour, all the desirable changes that have taken place in the world, either in persons or communities, have been in consequence of His incarnation and of His glorious progress in setting up His kingdom. So shall it ever be. His kingdom is constantly enlarging. His diadem is more and more glorious. Every soul saved is a new jewel in His crown.”

William S. Plumer


Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Sin

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Thursday, December 22, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“We must not think of sin as merely doing something that is wrong. That is what we tend to do.  We recognize certain acts as good and others as bad, and we tend to think that sin is just doing particular things that are bad. It is that, but that is not its essence. I repeat that the essence of sin is rebellion against God.”

Martyn Lloyd-Jones


A.W. Pink on Obedience

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Wednesday, December 21, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“The obedience that God requires can proceed only from a heart that loves Him. “Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord” (Col 3:23). The obedience that springs from a dread of punishment is servile. The obedience that is performed in order to procure favors from God is selfish and carnal. But spiritual and acceptable obedience is cheerfully given: it is the heart’s free response to and gratitude for the unmerited regard and love of God for us.”

A.W. Pink

J.C. Ryle on the Incarnation

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Tuesday, December 20, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“When “the Word became flesh,” He did not cease for a moment to be God. No doubt He was pleased to veil His divinity and to hide His power, and more especially so at some seasons. He emptied Himself of external marks of glory and was called “the carpenter.” But He never laid His divinity aside. God cannot cease to be God. It was as the God-man that He lived, suffered, died, and rose again.”

J.C. Ryle


Charles Spurgeon on The Resurrection

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Monday, December 19, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“Upon the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, our salvation hinges. He who believes these truths aright hath believed the gospel; and, believing the gospel, he shall without doubt find eternal salvation therein.

But men want novelties. They cannot endure that the trumpet should give forth the same certain sound. They crave some fresh fantasia every day. “The gospel with variations” is the music for them. “Intellect is progressive,” they say.  They must, therefore, march ahead of their forefathers. Incarnate deity, a holy life, an atoning death, and a literal resurrection—having heard these things now for nearly nineteen centuries, they are just a little stale; and the cultivated mind hungers for a change from the old-fashioned manna.”
Charles Spurgeon


Thomas Brooks on Secret Sins

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Friday, December 16, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“Those sins that lie closest and are most secretly lurking in the heart are as obvious and odious to God as those that are most fairly written upon a man’s forehead.”
Thomas Brooks


Martin Luther on Works

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Thursday, December 15, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“This is what we have often said, that we Christians must break forth, and show by our deeds and before the people that we have the true faith. God does not need your works, he has enough in your faith. Yet he wants you to work that you may show thereby your faith to yourself and all the world. For God indeed sees faith, but you and the people do not yet see it, therefore you should devote the works of faith to the benefit of your neighbor. Thus this servant is an example and picture of all those who should serve their neighbor through faith.”
Martin Luther


John Mason on Prayer

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 5:30 AM

"Sin quenches prayer, affliction quickens it."

John Mason


John Flavel on Knowing God

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Tuesday, December 13, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“They that know God will be humble; and they that know themselves, cannot be proud.”

John Flavel


Thomas Manton on God's Love

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Monday, December 12, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“It is the weakness of man to change purposes; God’s love is not fickle and inconstant. We have good purposes, but they are speedily blasted; God’s eternal purpose shall certainly stand. So the great foundation of our hope is the immutable love of God the Father.”
Thomas Manton 


Octavius Winslow on the Christ

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Friday, December 9, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“So completely was Jesus bent upon saving sinners by the sacrifice of Himself, He created the tree upon which He was to die, and nurtured from infancy the men who were to nail Him to the accursed wood. Oh the depth of Jesus's love to sinners! Lord! the universe in its accumulation presents no love like Yours! Your love, eternal as Your being, saw from everlasting the cross of Calvary, and yet You did not falter in Your purpose, nor modify Your plan of saving lost sinners by the sacrifice of Yourself. You saved others, Yourself You would not save!”
Octavius Winslow


Thomas Brooks on Sin

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Thursday, December 8, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“It is our wisest and our safest course to stand at the furthest distance from sin; not to go near the house of the harlot, but to fly from all appearance of evil.”
Thomas Brooks


Samuel Adams on Leaders in Government

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Wednesday, December 7, 2016 at 5:30 AM

"If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin."

Samuel Adams


Hugh Martin on God Working In His People

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Tuesday, December 6, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“It is not to be supposed that the glorious triune Godhead will spiritually and graciously inhabit a renewed and quickened soul without manifesting the divine presence by operations worthy of the divine nature.”
Hugh Martin


Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Sin

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Monday, December 5, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“Now, it is absolutely essential, it is the necessary preliminary to the gospel that we should realize what sin is. We must not think of sin as merely doing something that is wrong. That is what we tend to do. We recognize certain acts as good and others as bad, and we tend to think that sin is just doing particular things that are bad. It is that, but that is not its essence. I repeat that the essence of sin is rebellion against God.”

Martyn Lloyd-Jones


J.C. Ryle on Contentment

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Friday, December 2, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“Nothing is cheaper than good advice. Everybody fancies he can give his neighbor good counsel and tell him exactly what he ought to do. Yet to practice the lesson that heads this paper is very hard. To talk of contentment in the day of health and prosperity is easy enough; but to be content in the midst of poverty, sickness, trouble, disappointments, and losses is a state of mind to which very few can attain."
J.C. Ryle


Ernest Reisinger on Carnal Christians

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Thursday, December 1, 2016 at 5:30 AM

"The Bible makes it crystal clear that there is a close relationship between assurance and obedience; but the 'carnal Christian' teaching gives assurance to those who are at home in the realm of sin. They are classed as Christians.  Many times this is a false and damning assurance because such have no biblical reason to believe that they are Christians at all."
Ernest Reisinger


John Murray on God's Love and the Atonement

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Wednesday, November 30, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“The cross of Christ is the supreme demonstration of the love of God (Rom. 5:8; 1 John 4:10). The supreme character of the demonstration resides in the extreme costliness of the sacrifice rendered. It is this costliness that Paul has in view when he writes: "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Rom. 8:32). The costliness of the sacrifice assures us of the greatness of the love and guarantees the bestowal of all other free gifts.”
John Murray


John Mason on Contentment

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Tuesday, November 29, 2016 at 5:30 AM

"Humility is the mother of contentment."
John Mason


A.W. Pink on Sin

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Monday, November 28, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“Ah, it is not the absence of sin but the grieving over it which distinguishes the child of God from empty professors.”

A.W. Pink


George Whitefield on True Religion

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Friday, November 25, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“But you may have orthodox heads, and yet you may have the devil in your hearts; you may have clear heads, you may be able to speak, as it were, with the tongues of men and angels, the doctrines of the Gospel, but yet, at the same time, you may never have felt them upon your own souls.”

George Whitefield


David Brainerd on the Glory of God

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Thursday, November 24, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“As long as I see anything to be done for God, life is worth living; but O, how vain and unworthy it is to live for any lower end!”
David Brainerd




A.W. Pink on Salvation

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Wednesday, November 23, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“The nature of Christ’s salvation is woefully misrepresented by the present-day “evangelist.” He announces a Savior from hell rather than a Savior from sin. And that is why so many are fatally deceived, for there are multitudes who wish to escape the Lake of fire who have no desire to be delivered from their carnality and worldliness.”

A.W. Pink


John Newton on Politics and the Church

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Tuesday, November 22, 2016 at 5:30 AM

"The whole system of my politics is summed up in this one verse, 'The Lord reigns! Let the nation's tremble!'  Psalm 99:1  The times look awfully dark indeed; and as the clouds grow thicker - the stupidity of the nation seems proportionally to increase.  If the Lord had not a remnant here, I would have very formidable apprehensions.  But He loves His redeemed children; some are sighing and mourning before Him, and I am sure He hears their sighs, and sees their tears.  I trust there is mercy in store for us at the bottom; but I expect a shaking time before things get aright channel - before we are humbled, and are taught to give Him the glory.

     The state of the nation, the state of the churches - both are deplorable!  Those who should be praying - are disputing and fighting among themselves!  Alas!  How many professors are more concerned for the mistakes of government - than for their own sins!  'Hallelujah!  For our Lord God Almighty reigns!'  Revelation 19:6”

John Newton


J.C. Ryle on Pleasing God

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Monday, November 21, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“He must be content to be thought ill of by man if he pleases God. He must count it no strange thing to be mocked, ridiculed, slandered, persecuted, and even hated. He must not be surprised to find his opinions and practices in religion despised and held up to scorn. He must submit to be thought by many a fool, an enthusiast, and a fanatic—to have his words perverted and his actions misrepresented. In fact, he must not marvel if some call him mad. The Master says, “Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also” (Joh 15:20).”


J.C Ryle


Thomas Brooks on Prayer and Secret Sins

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Friday, November 18, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“There is no greater hindrance to secret prayer in all the world than secret sins. Therefore, stand upon your watch, and arm yourselves with all your might against them. There is an antipathy betwixt secret sinning and secret praying, partly from guilt, which makes the soul shy of coming under God’s secret eye; and partly from those fears, doubts, disputes, and disorders that secret sins raise in the heart. Light is not more opposite to darkness, Christ to Belial, or heaven to hell than secret prayer is to secret sins.”

Thomas Brooks


A.W. Pink on Self-Denial

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Thursday, November 17, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“There is a vast difference, brethren and sisters, between denying self and so-called self-denial. The popular idea that obtains both in the world and among Christians is that of giving up things that we like. There is a great diversity of opinion as to what should be given up. There are some who would restrict it to that which is characteristically worldly, such as theater going, dancing, and the racecourse. There are others who would restrict it to a certain season when amusements and other things that are followed during the remainder of the year are rigidly eschewed at that time.

But such methods as those only foster spiritual pride: “Surely I deserve some credit if I give up so much.” My friends, what Christ speaks of in our text (and O may the Spirit of God apply it to our souls this morning) as the first step toward following Him is the denial of self itself, not simply some of the things that are pleasing to self. Not some of the things after which self hankers, but the denying of self itself.”

A.W. Pink

J.C Ryle on Counting the Cost

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Wednesday, November 16, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“I grant freely that it costs little to be a mere outward Christian. A man only has to attend a place of worship twice on Sunday and to be tolerably moral during the week, and he has gone as far as thousands around him ever go in religion. All this is cheap and easy work: it entails no self-denial or self-sacrifice. If this is saving Christianity and will take us to heaven when we die, we must alter the description of the way of life and write, “Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to heaven!” 

But it does cost something to be a real Christian, according to the standard of the Bible. There are enemies to be overcome, battles to be fought, sacrifices to be made, an Egypt to be forsaken, a wilderness to be passed through, a cross to be carried, a race to be run. Conversion6 is not putting a man in an armchair and taking him easily to heaven. It is the beginning of a mighty conflict in which it costs much to win the victory. Hence arises the unspeakable importance of “counting the cost.””


J.C. Ryle


Wilhelmus à Brakel on Self-Denial

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Tuesday, November 15, 2016 at 5:30 AM


“Self-Denial is a Christian virtue, granted by God to His children, whereby they, out of love for God’s will, neither give heed nor yield to their intellect, will, and inclinations insofar as they are in opposition to the will of God—and oppose and suppress them instead. They do so by a voluntary forsaking and rejection of all that pertains to their natural well-being, if God’s cause demands such from them. This [is] to the honor of God and the welfare of their neighbors.”

Wilhelmus à Brakel


Isaac Watts on Hope

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Monday, November 14, 2016 at 5:30 AM

"Hope thinks nothing is difficult; despair tells us that difficulty is unsurmountable."
Isaac Watts


Thomas Fuller on Riches

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Friday, November 11, 2016 at 5:30 AM

"Riches have made more covetous men than covetousness hath made men rich."
Thomas Fuller


John Mason on God's Word

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Thursday, November 10, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“Take the candle of God's word and search the corners of your heart.”

John Mason

G.K. Chesterton on Politics

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Wednesday, November 9, 2016 at 5:30 AM

"The real evil of our Party System is commonly stated wrong. It was stated wrong by Lord Rosebery, when he said that it prevented the best men from devoting themselves to politics, and that it encouraged a fanatical conflict. I doubt whether the best men ever would devote themselves to politics. The best men devote themselves to pigs and babies and things like that. And as for the fanatical conflict in party politics, I wish there was more of it. The real danger of the two parties with their two policies is that they unduly limit the outlook of the ordinary citizen. They make him barren instead of creative, because he is never allowed to do anything except prefer one existing policy to another. We have not got real Democracy when the decision depends upon the people. We shall have real Democracy when the problem depends upon the people. The ordinary man will decide not only how he will vote, but what he is going to vote about."

G.K. Chesterton


Hugh Latimer on Ruler Qualifications

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Tuesday, November 8, 2016 at 5:30 AM

"Holy scripture qualifieth the officers , and sheweth what manner of men they should be, and of what qualities, viros fortes, "strong men;" some translations have, viros sapientes, "wise men;" the English translation hath it very well, "men of activity;" that have stomachs to do their office, they must not be milksops, nor white-livered knights; they must be wise, hearty, hardy, men of a good stomach. Secondarily, he qualifieth them with the fear of God. He saith they must be timentis Deum, "fearing God." For if he fear God, he shall be no briber, no perverter of judgment, faithful. Thirdly, they must be chosen officers, in quibus est veritas, " in whom is truth," if he say it, it shall be done. Fourthly, qui oderunt avaritiam, hating covetousness. Far from it; he will not come near it that hateth it. It is not he that will give five hundred pound for an office. With these qualities, God's wisdom would have magistrates to be qualified." 

Hugh Latimer


Richard Cameron on Choosing Rulers

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Monday, November 7, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“Ye will not look to Christ, and yet there is no other ye can have help from but from Him. There is none to help you at all, except you acknowledge Him as your King and Head, and except you acknowledge no other magistrate but according to what He ordains in His word. See what David says, 'He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.' Compare this with 'Moreover, thou shalt provide out of all the people, able men, such as fear God, men of truth hating covetousness.'; ... Ye see such should be men that fear God, and men of truth. Oh, take heed and consider what you are doing!"

Richard Cameron

Edmond Burke on Liberty

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Friday, November 4, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“The true danger is when liberty is nibbled away, for expedience, and by parts.”

Edmond Burke


A.W. Pink on the Sovereignty of God

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Thursday, November 3, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“The sovereignty of the God of Scripture is absolute, irresistible, infinite. When we say that God is sovereign, we affirm His right to govern the universe, which He has made for His own glory, just as He pleases.”

A.W. Pink


Wilhelmus à Brakel on the Decrees of God

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Wednesday, November 2, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“God’s decree is from eternity. God does not decree things in response to issues that are already present; such is the manner of human decision-making.”

Wilhelmus à Brakel


J.C. Ryle on the Life of a Christian

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Tuesday, November 1, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“The true Christian is called to be a soldier, and must behave as such from the day of his conversion to the day of his death. He is not meant to live a life of religious ease, indolence and security. He must never imagine for a moment, that he can sleep and doze along the way to Heaven, like one traveling in an easy carriage. If he takes his standard of Christianity from the children of this world, he may be content with such vain notions; but he will find no countenance for them in the Word of God. If the Bible is the rule of his faith and practice, he will find his course laid down very plainly in this matter. He must fight!”

J.C. Ryle



Thomas Manton on Good Works in Believers

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Monday, October 31, 2016 at 5:30 AM

"There are no barren trees in Christ’s garden…Our heavenly Father would be glorified in His servants’ bringing forth much fruit: “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples” (Joh 15:8).“


Thomas Manton


A.W. Pink on Man and Difficult Doctrines

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Friday, October 28, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“Men, left to themselves, have ever found it impossible to keep the even line of truth between what appear to be conflicting doctrines, such as the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man; election by grace and the universal proclamation of the Gospel; the justifying faith of Paul and the justifying works of James. Only too often, where the absolute sovereignty of God has been insisted upon, it has been to the ignoring of man’s accountability; and where unconditional election has been held fast, the unfettered preaching of the Gospel to the unsaved has been let slip. On the other hand, where human accountability has been upheld and an evangelical ministry been sustained, the sovereignty of God and the truth of election have generally been whittled down or completely ignored.”


A.W. Pink


Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Grace and Salvation

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Thursday, October 27, 2016 at 5:30 AM

WE ARE CHRISTIANS ENTIRELY AND SOLELY AS THE RESULT OF THE GRACE OF GOD . Let us remind ourselves once more that grace means “unmerited, undeserved favor.” It is an action that arises entirely from the gracious character of God. So the fundamental proposition is that salvation is something that comes to us entirely from God’s side. What is still more important is this: it not only comes from God’s side, it comes to us in spite of ourselves—“unmerited” favor. 


Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Charles Spurgeon on Good Works

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Wednesday, October 26, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“The children of God are a holy people. For this very purpose were they born and brought into the world: that they should be holy. For this, they were redeemed with blood and made a peculiar5 people. God’s end in election, the end of all His purposes, is not answered until they become a people zealous of good works.” 


Charles Spurgeon


Archibald Alexander on Faith and Prayer

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , , | Posted On Tuesday, October 25, 2016 at 5:30 AM

“Faith and prayer are our chief resources under all the various and heavy afflictions of this life. When all other refuges fail, God will hide His people who seek Him in His secret pavilion and shelter them under the shadow of His wings. Prayer is essential to the existence and growth of the spiritual life. It is the breath of the new man. By this means, he obtains quick relief from innumerable evils and draws down from heaven blessings of the richest and sweetest kind. “


Archibald Alexander 


T.S. Arthur on True Religion

Posted by Bluegrass Endurance | Labels: , | Posted On Monday, October 24, 2016 at 5:30 AM


"True religion is more than a correct set of doctrines. It includes a life of good deeds in the world. Unless such a life is led, no matter what a man's faith may be — his religion is vain. Piety, which means devotion to God; and Charity, which consists in acting justly among men — make, when united, the true Christian. Charity is essential; for, if a man does not love his brother whom he has seen — then how can he love God whom he has not seen? Worship, therefore, in the absence of charity, is vain; and the prayers of one who does not deal justly and humanely with his fellow-men, can never ascend into Heaven."

T.S. Arthur