What They Said

"Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.' His high esteem of every precept raised up in him a holy indignation against every evil way. A holy man knows that all sin strikes at the holiness of God, the glory of God, the nature of God, the being of God, and the law of God; and therefore his heart rises against all; he looks upon every sin, as the Scribes and Pharisees that accused Christ; and as that Judas that betrayed Christ; and that Pilate that condemned Christ; and those soldiers that scourged Christ; and as those spears that pierced Christ; and therefore his heart cries out for justice upon all. He looks upon every sin as having a hand in the death of his Saviour, and therefore he cries out, Crucify them all, crucify them all; he looks upon every sin as a grieving of the Spirit, as a vexing of the Spirit, and as a quenching of the Spirit; and so nothing will satisfy him but the ruin of them all."

Thomas Brooks

“Consider that the trials and troubles, the calamities and miseries, the crosses and losses that you meet with in this world, are all the hell that ever you shall have.”

Thomas Brooks

“Men have thought themselves more prudent than the All-wise. The Law has been lowered lest sinners should call it hard; the way has been hedged up, lest the blind, and the halt, and the lame, should find it too easy; the Church has been barricaded with walls of ceremony, and garrisoned with ranks of officials, lest some of its riches should be pilfered by dissent; and the blessed Gospel, free as the air of Paradise, has been laden with conditions and restrictions, lest faith should be too simple. In every one of these, and in a thousand like ways, men show their distrust of divine revelation.”

James W. Alexander

(1804-1859)

"If we would make it evident that our conversion is sound, we must loathe and hate sin from the heart.  Now, a man shall know his hatred of evil to be true, first, if it be universal; he that hates sin truly hates all sin.  

Secondly, where there is true hatred it is unappeasable; there is no appeasing of it but by abolishing the thing it hates. 

Thirdly, hatred is a more rooted affection than anger; anger may be appeased, but hatred is against the whole kind. 

Fourthly, if our hatred be true, it hates all ill in ourselves first, and then in others; he that hates a toad, hates it most in his own bosom. Many, like Judah, are severe in censuring of others, but are partial to themselves. 

Fifthly, he that hates sin truly, hates the greatest sin in the greatest measure; he hates it in a just proportion. 

Sixthly, our hatred is right if we can endure admonition and reproof for sin, and not be in rage with him that tells us of it; therefore those that swell against reproof hate not sin; only with this caution, it may be done with such indiscretion and self-love, that a man may hate the proud manner. 

Therefore in discovering our hatred of sin in others, we must consider, our calling. It must be done in a sweet temper, with reserving due respect of those to whom we show our dislike, that it may be done out of true zeal, and not out of wild-fire.""

Richard Sibbes

"There is a necessary commerce with men in buying and selling, or, as the apostle says, we must go out of the world—but do not voluntarily choose the company of the wicked. 1 Cor 5:10. "I have written unto you not to keep company." 1 Cor 5:11. Do not incorporate into the society of the wicked, or be too much familiar with them. The wicked are God-haters. "Should you love those who hate the Lord?" 2 Chron 19:2. A Christian is bound, by virtue of his oath of allegiance to God in baptism, not to have intimate converse with such as are God's sworn enemies. What company can Christ's doves have—among birds of prey? What company can virgins have—among harlots? The company of the wicked is very defiling, it is like going among those who have the plague.

"They mingled among the pagans and adopted their evil customs." Psalm 106:35. If you mingle bright armor with rusty, the bright armor will not brighten the rusty—but the rusty armor will spoil the bright. By mixing with the wicked—you are apt to receive hurt. The bad will sooner corrupt the good, than the good will convert the bad. Pharaoh taught Joseph to swear—but Joseph did not teach Pharaoh to pray. There is a strange attractive power in evil company to corrupt and poison the best dispositions; they damp good affections. Throw a fire-ball into the snow—and it is soon quenched. Among the wicked, the heat of zealous affections is lost. By holding familiar correspondence with the wicked, they will dissuade us from strict godliness, and debar us our liberty and pleasure. "This sect everywhere is spoken against." Acts 28:22."

Thomas Watson

"In truth, there is nothing due from God to you but that he should let you perish in your sin; that is all he owes you." 

Charles Spurgeon

"As to the Will of God, it falls under a twofold consideration, to wit of his secret, and revealed Will.  This distinction is found in that Scripture, Deut. xxix. 29.  "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God, but those things -which are revealed belong unto us, &c."  The first is the Rule of his own Actions; the latter, of ours:  ………..

This revealed Will of God is either manifested to us in his Word, or in his Works.  The former is his commanding Will, the latter his effecting or permitting Will; the one versant about Good, the other about Evil."

John Flavel

“Entertainment is the devil’s substitute for joy”

Leonard Ravenhill

"The Word travels with life or death, salvation or damnation; and brings forth one or another in every soul that hears it."

Matthew Mead

"When (man) cannot any longer deny that he is guilty of sin, he says that it was only a very little one; and it is long before you can get him to admit that sin is exceedingly sinful; indeed, no human power can ever produce genuine conviction in the heart of a single sinner; it must be the work of the Holy Spirit."

Charles H. Spurgeon

“Expound the Law truly, and open the veil of Moses, to condemn all flesh, and prove all men sinners, and all deeds under the Law, before mercy has taken away the condemnation thereof, to be sin, and damnable; and then as a faithful minister, set abroach the mercy of our Lord Jesus, and let the wounded consciences drink of the water of Him. And then shall your preaching be with power, and not as the hypocrites. And the Spirit of God shall work with you; and all consciences shall bear record unto you, and feel that it is so. And all doctrine that casts a mist on these two to shadow and hide them, I mean the Law of God and mercy of Christ, that resist you with all your power."

William Tyndale

‎"Today the impotence and confusion of humanism is marked. It is wallowing in failure all over the world, in failure, but not in defeat, because there is no consistent Christian force to challenge and overthrow it."

R. J. Rushdoony

"…, why is it that so many professing Christians do not make progress, and indeed make no efforts to obtain it? Why, because they care nothing about it.  To take up a profession is all they desire; but to proceed from one degree of piety to another; to grow in grace, to go on unto perfection, is no part of their ambition.  How many are there to whom if we were to say, "Well now you call yourself a Christian, and wish others to consider you as such, and you are of course eager desirous of making continual advances in knowledge, faith, and holiness;  and we shall see you evidently becoming more and more like Christ" - who, I say, if we should thus address them, would look wonderingly in our face, as if they did not comprehend our meaning;  or reproachfully, as if we questioned their sincerity;  or contemptuously, as if we were indulging in enthusiasm or mysticism, and wished them to be as visionary as ourselves.  Of course such a frame of mind, and such views as these are adverse to all progress.  There must then be concern about the matter.  And shall there be none?  What, no solicitude to have more of the knowledge of truth, of faith in Christ, of likeness to God, of meetness for heaven?  No desire to advance in such things?  Is it possible to be a Christian and yet destitute of this? No, it is not.  I tell you, it is not.  If you have no concern to grow, there is no grace in you.   You are a piece of dead wood,  and not a living branch - a spiritual corpse, and not a living man.  In this state there can be no growth, for dead things never grow; while on the other hand, the very desire will insure the possession of its object."

John Angell James

(from: Christian Progress)

“Don’t tell me of your happiness if it daily depends on the uncertainties of the earth. Your home may be rich in comforts; your family may be all you could desire; your income may be amply sufficient to meet all your wants. But oh, remember, if you have nothing more than this to look to, that you are standing on the edge of a cliff! Your joy may be deep and earnest, but it is fearfully short-lived. It has no root. It is not true happiness.”

J.C. Ryle