"The book, the Bible, contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, and the doom of sinners. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts binding, its histories true, and its decisions immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be saved, and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer your soul. It's the traveler's map, the pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword, and the Christian charter. Here paradise is restored, heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand object, our good its design, the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully. It's a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. It's given in life, will be open at the judgment, and will be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, rewards the least labor, and condemns all who trifle with its holy contents."
-Author Unknown
"Secondly, people have adopted fragments of St. Paul's method and have tried to incorporate them into alien systems, and the failure which resulted has been used as "The man who never reads will never be read; he who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves that he has no brains of his own." - C. H. Spurgeon "But is there no danger even in leading public prayer during "There are doubtless many people who do not see the need of introducing grammatical points in a devotional study of the Bible. Grammar, they would say, is tedious and uninteresting. Cannot we simply read the Bible, and, apart from all grammatical considerations, let its message flow into our hearts to bless us? The answer to questions such as these, however, is that the message of the Bible cannot bring blessings to us, unless we first understand what the message of the Bible is. And to understand what the message of the Bible is, we must study grammar. This applies not only to the theologian, but to all who would study the Bible. If we are to understand God's Holy Word, we must be prepared to work; we must read with care, and we must carefully consider what God has so graciously revealed to us. We must, in other words, study just as we studied when we were in school." Yesterday I (Nathan Battey) overheard a denominational preacher telling a story about his son. His son apparently asked him, "why was that man talking about God while drinking beer?" recognizing the two don't go together. I don't know what the father's reply to his son was, but in telling the story he laughed and said, "bless his little heart, but my son is a bit of a legalist. " A sad commentary on the state of religion. The following quote is from an old Presbyterian preacher from the early twentieth century named John Gresham Machen: "The absence of doctrinal teaching and preaching is certainly one of the causes for the present lamentable ignorance in the church. But a still more influential cause is found in the failure of the most important of all Christian educational institutions. The most important Christian educational institution is not the pulpit or the school, important as these institutions are; but it is the Christian family. And that institution has to a very large extent ceased to do its work. Where did those of us who have reached middle life really get our knowledge of the Bible? I suppose my experience is the same as that of a good many of us. I did not get my knowledge of the Bible for Sunday School or from any other school, but I got it on Sunday afternoons with my mother at home. And I will venture to say that although my mental ability was certainly of no extraordinary kind I had a better knowledge of the Bible at fourteen years of age than is possessed by many students in the in the theological Seminaries of the present day. Theological students come for the most part from Christian homes; indeed in very considerable proportion they are children of the manse. Yet when they have finished college and enter the theological Seminary many of them are quite ignorant of the simple contents of the English Bible." "Let the end sought be truth, and the Spirit shown be Christian" - Moses Lard "We often seem to think that if we can arbitrarily dismiss a man as worldly or "liberal" (or conservatively radical -my thoughts-N.B.), then we are not required to take his opinions seriously and consider his arguments. For those who are fundamentally insecure in their opinions to start with, this is a convenient way of avoiding the inconsistencies in their arguments. Discredit the man and silence his voice. Then we are not forced to heed the voices in our head. But if we are right in what we believe, we should be willing to cheerfully and courteously discuss our views with those that see things differently. If we are right, then maybe we cane win our brother. And if they are right, then maybe we can be corrected by our brother. However, that sort of balance requires a confident honesty that many simply do not have." |
Nathan Battey
We would like to share some worth-while quotes from various authors to make you pause and consider different aspects of what God's Word teaches. Archives
January 2022
Categories
All
|