Tried With Fire

We must make a great difference between God's word and the word of man. A man's word is a little sound which flieth into the air, and soon vanisheth; but the word of God is greater than heaven and earth, yea, it is greater than death and hell, for it is the power of God, and remaineth everlastingly.  Therefore we ought diligently to learn God's word, and we must know certainly and believe that God Himself speaketh with us. Martin Luther, Words Old & New, Banner of Truth, page 70.

Say you, "I cannot trust myself"?  But can you not trust Christ?  If there is a danger that you will prove faithless, is there any danger that He will?   It is because you are not to be trusted that you should trust Him , who is able to keep that which is committed to Him.  If you trust Him for strength, you are sure of being supplied, as of being pardoned, if you trust Him for that. William Nevins (1797-1835), from Words Old and New , Banner of Truth, page 343 (emphasis mine).

Let others be wise to their own destruction; let them establish their own imaginations for the word of God, and rule of their faith; hold you fast what you have received, and contend earnestly for it; add nothing, and diminish nothing.  Let this lamp shine till the day dawn, till the morning of the resurrection, and walk ye in the light of it, and do not kindle any other sparkles, else ye shall lie down in the grave in sorrow, and rise in sorrow. Hugh Binning (1627-1653) from Words Old and New , Banner of Truth, page 206. His dying words: "One line of the Bible is worth more than all human learning."

"I have been acquainted somewhat with men and books, and have long experience in learning and in the world; there is no book like the Bible for excellence, learning, wisdom, and use; and it is want of understanding in them that think or speak otherwise." Sir Matthew Hale (1600-1675) from Words Old & New , pg. 160, Banner of Truth.

Believing the gospel and absolute despair of salvation are plainly incompatible states of mind. A man may believe what men falsely call the gospel and what he mistakenly thinks the gospel, and yet remain a stranger to the hope of eternal life. A man may think that he believes what is really the gospel, while he only speculates about it, and remain a stranger to the hope of eternal life. But the real gospel cannot be really believed without, in the degree in which it is believed, producing hope. Dr. John Brown (1785-1858), Words Old and New ~ Horatius Bonar, Banner of Truth, page 330.

Often we read history as atheists or deists, rather than as Christians. To read of events, without observing God in them, is to read as atheists; to read, and not observe how all events conduce to carry on the work of redemption, is to read as deists. John Brown of Haddington (1722-1787) From Words Old and New ~ Horatius Bonar, Banner of Truth Trust, page 288.

Let not the troubled heart say, Where is my perfect repenting? Where is my perfect obedience? but rather ask, Where is God's forgiving? Where is God's not imputing? How hardly is the soul drawn off from resting in itself! It is not thy doing, but God's doing. Thou must consider not what do I, but what God doth. Do not, then, look for Christ in the grave, when He is risen. Do not pore into thyself for this treasure, when it is to be looked for from heaven. Anthony Burgess (? - 1664) From Words Old and New ~ Horatius Bonar, Banner of Truth Trust, page 237.

I have been greatly blessed by Words Old and New by Horatius Bonar. I may be posting many gems from this book which have encouraged and challenged me. I hope these quotes will encourage you as well. Today's quote is from Charles Wolfe (1791-1823), an Irish poet and curate. His words are very applicable given the trend to throw out the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement. How has God's mercy been shewn? By visiting the sentence on sin to the uttermost. He did not fling us His mercy indolently from His throne; but He executed sentence to the uttermost upon His only-begotten Son. His mercy does not consist in extinguishing His justice, but in executing it upon the head of the Son in whom He was well-pleased. Awful mercy! Terrible forgiveness! Mercy that we must not dare trifle with!

What are all thy sorrows, thy cares, and thy losses, viewed in the light of this happy condition? Tell me of thy poverty and many privations, I will reply, "Yes; but then think of thy justification!' Tell me of thy disappointed hopes and blasted schemes; 'Yes, but thy justification!' Tell me of thy change of circumstances and the painful contrast of the present with the past; 'Yes, but thy justification!' Tell me of thy friends departed and thy now desolate condition; Yes, but thy justification!' Thus, to every tale of want or woe, when that tale comes from the lips of a believer in Christ, I will bring up that one sweet, soothing melody for the troubled spirit, - justification by faith. John Angell James (1785-1859) from Words Old and New ~ Horatius Bonar, Banner of Truth Trust, page 333.

Another quote by Dr. John Brown: The ground of the sinner's hope is in God alone. That ground is sometimes represented to be the sovereign self-moved benignity of God; at other times the obedience to death of His incarnate only-begotten Son; and, at other times, the untrammelled revelation of mercy in 'the word of the truth of the gospel.' From Words Old and New ~ Horatius Bonar, Banner of Truth Trust, page 330.