God (234)
To fear man is natural; to fear God is wholly supernatural.
John Flavel
Triumphing over Sinful Fear, 2010K
To the extent that our souls are empty of faith, they are filled with fear. We read of people who have died by no other cause than their fear. But we never read of anyone, once brought to life by faith, dying because of fear.Triumphing over Sinful Fear, 35
The majesty of God is too high to be scaled up to by mortals, who creep like worms on the earth.
It will take all of eternity to fathom God's love, and those who are saved will never plumb the depths of it.
I saw the other day in an Italian grotto a little fern, which grew where its leaves continually glistened and danced in the spray of a fountain. It was always green, and neither summer's drought nor winter's cold affected it. So let us for ever abide under the sweet influence of Jesus' love.
Lectures to my Students
Here then is the design of prayer: not that God's will may be altered, but that it may be accomplished in His own good time and way. It is because God has promised certain things that we can ask for them with the full assurance of faith.https://www.monergism.com/sovereignty-god-unabridged
God is not at a distance from history, uninvolved and on the periphery, an interested spectator or distant 'first cause;' rather he is governing all things by his providence and wisdom.
People treat God's sovereignty as a matter of controversy, but in Scripture it is a matter of worship.
He shows mercy in restraining us from sin. Lusts within are worse than lions without. The greatest sign of God's anger is to give men up to their sins. 'So I gave them up to their own hearts' lust.' Psa lxxxi 12.The Ten Commandments, 70
how richly does he supply us with the means of contemplating his mercy when, as frequently happens, he continues to visit miserable sinners with unwearied kindness, until he subdues their depravity, and woos them back with more than a parent's fondnessInstitutes, Book 1 Chapter 6
All the martyrdoms were blessed and noble, and they took place according to the will of God. For it befits those who profess reater piety than others to ascribe to God the authority over all things.Martyrdom of Polycarp, 2
The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and what became of him after his resurrection, shows the greatness of God's power toward us now in this life.
The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.
No sooner do I conceive of the One than I am illumined by the Splendor of the Three; no sooner do I distinguish Them than I am carried back to the One. When I think of any One of the Three I think of Him as the Whole, and my eyes are filled, and the greater part of what I am thinking of escapes me. I cannot grasp the greatness of that One so as to attribute a greater greatness to the Rest. When I contemplate the Three together, I see but one torch, and cannot divide or measure out the Undivided Light.
Everything about God is great, vast, incomparable. He never forgets, never fails, never falters, never forfeits His word.
If you do not love God, you will love something else, either the world or sin; and are those worthy of your love? Is it not better to love God than these?https://www.ccel.org/ccel/watson/cordial.ix.html
It is only the fear of God that can deliver us from the fear of man.
As the embankment keeps out the water, so the fear of the Lord keeps out uncleanness.
If we fear God, we dare not ignore what He commands. If His fear is exalted in our hearts, it will enable us to obey Him in duties accompanied with deep self-denial.Triumphing over Sinful Fear, 20
There is but one good; that is God. Everything else is good when it looks to Him and bad when it turns from Him.
We are more concerned about looking stupid (a fear of people) than we are about acting sinfully (a fear of God).When people are big and God is small
The Kingdom of God is primarily an eschatological concept. The fundamental idea of the Kingdom in Scripture is not that of a restored theocratic kingdom of God in Christ - which is essentially a kingdom of Israel-, as the Premillenarians claim; neither is it a new social condition - the primary idea of the Kingdom of God in Scripture is that of the rule of God established and acknowledged in the hearts of sinners by the powerful regenerating influence of the Holy Spirit - a rule that is realized in principle on earth, but will not reach its culmination until the visible and glorious return of Jesus Christ.Systematic Theology, 568
The Christian accepts the truth of the existence of God by faith. But this faith is not a blind faith, but a faith that is based on evidence, and the evidence is found primarily in Scripture as the inspired Word of God, and secondarily in God's revelation in nature.Systematic Theology (21)
In goodness and sovereignty God permits evil, punishes evil with evil, brings good from evil and redeems from evil.
Love facilitates religion. It oils the wheels of the affections, and makes them more lively and cheerful in God's service. Love takes off the tediousness of duty. Jacob thought seven years but little, for the love he bore to Rachel. Love makes duty a pleasure.https://www.ccel.org/ccel/watson/cordial.ix.html
The devil seeks to weaken our opinion of God's goodness.
The Christian, like a net, must have both the lead of a godly fear and the cork of a lively faith.
True piety is never separate from the fear of God.
The essential ingredients of the fear of God are correct concepts of the character of God, a pervasive sense of the presence of God and a constant awareness of our obligation to God.
the Fatherhood of God is the source of all familial relationships, whether they be human, earthly, relationships, or nonhuman, heavenly ones. And He is the loving and powerful cosmic Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is namedPillar Commentary
Cling to Christ I say: and make use of His atoning blood every day. Go to Him every morning as your morning sacrifice, and confess your need of His salvation. Go to Him every night, after the bustle of the day, and plead for fresh absolution. Wash in the great Fountain every evening, after all the defilement of contact with the worldOld Paths, Ch 6
The true fear of God can cause a spiritual earthquake in a man's heart, able to overthrow all the Devil's strongest holds or bosom sins.God’s Striking to Correct or Revenge
God is love. But the supreme object of that love is himself. And because he loves himself supremely he cannot suffer what belongs to the integrity of his character and glory to be compromised or curtailed. That is the reason for the propitiation.Redemption Accomplished and Applied, 28
While the adulterer feeds on strange flesh, the sword of God's justice hangs over his head. Causinus speaks of a tree growing in Spain, that is of a sweet smell, and pleasant to the taste, but the juice of it is poisonous.Ten Commandments, 157
Either God exists or he does not. There is no middle ground. Both cannot be true. No amount of philosophical trickery can hide from the greatest antithesis of them all ... We cannot leave this question for the intellectuals, scientists, philosophers and theologians alone ... We must answer it for ourselves.
Be still, and know that I am God'. We must not interpret that 'Be still' in a sentimental manner. Some regard it as a kind of exhortation to us to be silent; but it is nothing of the sort. It means, 'Give up (or 'Give in') and admit I am God. God is addressing people who are opposed to Him
Power is God's hand or arm, omniscience His eye, mercy His bowels, eternity His duration, but holiness is His beauty
If friends will not walk in the narrow way with us, we must not walk in the broad way to please them. Health is not infectious but disease is.
If you don't feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great.
If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God's child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all.
For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New Testament new, and better than the Old, everything that is distinctively Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God. 'Father' is the Christian name for God. Our understanding of Christianity cannot be better than our grasp of adoption.Knowing God (??)
the charge [that God decrees sin] is not true; the decree merely makes God the author of free moral beings, who are themselves the authors of sin.Systematic Theology, 108
Today, however, Christians in the West are found to be on the whole passionless, passive and one fears, prayerless. Cultivating an ethos that encloses personal piety in a pietistic cocoon, they leave public affairs to go their own way and neither expect nor, for the most part, seek influence beyond their own Christian circle... [but] the Puritans labored for a holy England and New England -sensing that where privilege is neglected and unfaithfulness reigns, national judgement threatens.
The petition is "let this cup pass away from me." In the Old Testament the "cup" has associations of suffering and of the wrath of God (e.g., Ps. 11:6; Isa. 51:17; Ezek. 23:33), and we should observe the same kind of symbolism here (GNB reads "this cup of suffering"). Jesus' death meant suffering, and because it was a death for sin, there are associations of the wrath of God connected to it. We are not to think of Jesus facing death with the passionate longing for martyrdom that has characterized fanatics throughout history. The death he faced was a horrible death, and he experienced the natural human shrinking from undergoing such an ordeal. So he prayed that if it were possible it might be avoided.Pillar, Matthew,
You who have love to God, labour to preserve it; let not this love die, and be quenched.
What is the cause of all God's purposes towards us? Himself. There is no other cause.
Love to God will never let sin thrive in the heart.
Come to the Lord Jesus Christ, if you would have life. He will not cast you out. He has gifts, even for the rebellious. The moment the dead man touched the body of Elisha, he revived and stood upon his feet. (2 Kings xiii. 21.) - The moment you touch the Lord Jesus with the hand of faith, you are alive unto God, as well as forgiven all trespasses. Come, and your soul shall live.Old Paths, Ch. 5
Always fear to offend God, and you need not fear any other peril.
propitiation does not detract from the love and mercy of God; it rather enhances the marvel of his love. For it shows the cost that redemptive love entails.Redemption Accomplished and Applied, 28
propitiation is not a turning of the wrath of God into love. The propitiation of the divine wrath, effected in the expiatory work of Christ, is the provision of God's eternal and unchangeable love, so that through the propitiation of his own wrath that love may realize its purpose in a way that is consonant with and to the glory of the dictates of his holiness.Redemption Accomplished & Applied, 27
Who for a cup of pleasure would drink a sea of wrath?Ten Commandments, 157
An ineffably holy God, who has the utmost abhorrence of all sin, was never invented by any of Adam's fallen descendants!
To know that God knows everything about me and yet loves me is indeed my ultimate consolation.
God loves all in some ways, and God loves some in all ways.
In the New Testament, grace means God's love in action toward people who merited the opposite of love. Grace means God moving heaven and earth to save sinners who could not lift a finger to save themselves. Grace means God sending his only Son to the cross to descend into hell so that we guilty ones might be reconciled to God and received into heaven.
If you ask, 'Why is this happening?' no light may come, but if you ask, 'How am I to glorify God now?' there will always be an answer.
There is tremendous relief in knowing his love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery can disillusion him about me.
It is the love of Christ, i. e. his love to us which passes knowledge. It is infinite; not only because it inheres in an infinite subject, but because the condescension and sufferings to which it led, and the blessings which it secures for its objects, are beyond our comprehension. This love of Christ, though it surpasses the power of our understanding to comprehend, is still a subject of experimental knowledge. We may know how excellent, how wonderful, how free, how disinterested, how long-suffering, how manifold and constant, it is, and that it is infinite. And this is the highest and most sanctifying of all knowledge. Those who thus know the love of Christ towards them, purify themselves even as he is pure.
he who loves God, hates that which would separate between him and God, and that is sin.The Ten Commandments, 8
The Father is unbegotten, uncreated, and incomprehensible. The Son is begotten, but he is also uncreated and incomprehensible. The Holy Spirit is not begotten or created. He is not the Son's twin brother, nor his uncle, nor his grandfather nor his grandsonAncoratus 7
In so far as our nature is created after the image of God in original righteousness, this excellency could be lost and our nature become depraved; but not our creation after God's image so far as it pertains to its essence (quod ad substantiam).Sacred Theology, 507
Since God is an incorporeal and unchangeable living nature, remaining in eternal stability in his own self, he is entirely present in all things, and entirely in each of them. But those in whom he dwells receive him according to the diversity of their capacity, some more, some less, whom he builds into a temple most beloved to himself by the grace of his goodness.Epistola 187, c6 n19
When we speak of God's presence, we are not, of course, speaking of a physical presence, for God is incorporeal. What we mean, rather, is that he is able to act on and in the creation and to evaluate authoritatively all that is happening in the creation. Since God controls and evaluates all things, he is therefore present everywhere, as present as an incorporeal being can be. But in this chapter, we are interested in something more than mere presence. For God is not only present in the world; he is covenantally present. He is with his creatures to bless and to judge in terms of the standards of his covenant.Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief (Kindle Locations 1778-1783). P&R Publishing. Kindle Edition.
If, in the name of 'love for the poor', I transgress God's law by supporting legal plunder of my rich neighbour to fund a poverty program, I am not really loving, regardless of my profession; for love is always concerned to fulfil the law of God.
there have been changes in administration since the Promised Land of the Israelites, but not changes in substance.Mission of God, 207
The reliance on special signs from God is the mark of an immature person -someone who cannot simply believe the truth as presented, but must have a special, miraculous sign as the symbol of authority from God.Finding God\'s Will, 12
God is not a magic genie. The use of promise boxes, or flipping open your Bible and pointing your finger, or relying on the first thought to enter your mind after a prayer are unwarranted forms of Christian divination.Finding God\'s Will, 12
Most of our texts from the ancient Near East pertain to divination. The king would never act in something as important as going into battle until he had the mind of the god as to whether he should or should not go to war. Many Christians follow this same path in seeking the divine mind in decisions.Finding God\'s Will, 11
When we talk of "finding God's will" we generally want divine guidance on specific choices, but it should be noted that this specific term is never used after the Holy Spirit came upon the church at Pentecost. The apostles, upon whom the church is founded, did not teach that we are to seek God's will in this way. Instead, the New Testament offers us a program of the Father's guidance that is based upon having a close relationship with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.Finding God\'s Will, 10-11
Sometimes God's will is simply His acts of providence: Whatever comes of our circumstances is God's will.Finding God\'s Will, 10
The will of God refers to His eternal, sovereign rulership over the world that, according to Habakkuk 2:3, "hastens toward the goal, and it will not fail" (NASB).Finding the Will of God, 8
Obedience must be sincere. We must aim at God's glory in it. The object of our obedience is not just to stop the mouth of conscience, or to gain applause, but that we might grow more like God.
Missiology is the study of the salvation activities of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit throughout the world geared toward bringing the kingdom of God into existence. Seen in this perspective missiology is the study of the worldwide church's divine mandate to be ready to serve this God who is aiming his saving acts toward the world. In dependence on the Holy Spirit and by word and deed the church is to communicate the total gospel and the total divine law to all mankind.
None walk so evenly with God as they who are assured of the love of God.
It is not what enemies will, nor what they are resolved upon, but what God will, and what God appoints; that shall be done.... No enemy can bring suffering upon a man when the will of God is otherwise, so no man can save himself out of their hands when God will deliver him up for his glory.
In the OT, the plural form of the word righteousness (sidqot) designates God's saving righteousness, his deliverance of his people. The singular noun (sedaqa) is often used with parallel terms like "faithful love," "truth," and "salvation." Still, God's righteousness shouldn't be collapsed into these other terms, as if they all mean exactly the same thing. There is still the notion of "rightness" and "righteousness" in the term, even when it describes God's saving righteousness.Faith Alone by Thomas Schreiner Copyright ©2015 by Schreiner. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com, 152
Let us now amplify our definition of prayer. What is prayer? Prayer is not so much an act as it is an attitude-an attitude of dependency, dependency upon God. Prayer is a confession of creature weakness, yea, of helplessness. Prayer is the acknowledgment of our need and the spreading of it before God. We do not say that this is all there is in prayer, it is not: but it is the essential, the primary element in prayerhttps://www.monergism.com/sovereignty-god-unabridged
God has decreed that certain events shall come to pass through the means He has appointed for their accomplishment. God has elected certain ones to be saved, but He has also decreed that these shall be saved through the preaching the Gospel. The Gospel, then, is one of the appointed means for the working out of the eternal counsel of the Lord; and prayer is another. God has decreed the means as well as the end, and among the means is prayer. Even the prayers of His people are included in His eternal decrees. Therefore, instead of prayers being in vain they are among the means through which God exercises His decrees.https://www.monergism.com/sovereignty-god-unabridged
God's manner of creating, and also of governing, is such that by his word alone he produced all sorts of things without any instruments, means, assistance, or motion.https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/perkins/A%20Golden%20Chain%20-%20William%20Perkins.pdf
The same decree of God, is the first and principal working cause of all things; it is also before all other causes, in order and time. For with God's decree, his will is always annexed, by which he can willingly effect what he has decreed. And it would be a sign of impotence to decree anything which he could not willingly compass. And with God's will is conjoined an effectual power, by which the Lord can bring to pass whatever he has freely decreed.
https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/perkins/A%20Golden%20Chain%20-%20William%20Perkins.pdf
God's foreknowledge in itself is not a cause why things are, except as it is conjoined with his decree. For things do not therefore come to pass because God foreknew them; but because He decreed and willed them, therefore they come to pass.
https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/perkins/A%20Golden%20Chain%20-%20William%20Perkins.pdf
the Lord, according to his good pleasure, has most certainly
decreed both every thing and action — whether past, present, or to come — together with their circumstances of place, time, means, and end.
God wills that which is good, by approving it; that which is evil — in as much as it is evil — by disallowing and forsaking it. And yet, He voluntarily permits evil, because it is good that there should be evil.
The Divine Nature is especially in perpetual operation by three attributes
which manifest the operation of God towards his creatures. These are his
WISDOM, WILL, and OMNIPOTENCE
O how deplorable a thing is it, that even this fear usually lasts not long when plague, sword, famine, or the like judgements come first amongst us!A Glimpse of God\'s Glory
Tis a sad case my brethren, that nothing but blows will make us fear; when God falls a plague, then usually men [do fear].A Glimpse of God\'s Glory
Indeed we talk much of fearing God, but where is the man that lifts up God on high in his heart, by making him his dread? That acknowledges so his eminency with reverence, as to stand in awe of him above all creatures?A Glimpse of God\'s Glory
We see indeed, the eye of our body may be fill'd with the sun's brightness, but it is impossible that so narrow a receptacle should perfectly contain such a large glory: So, although the Angels understandings now are, and the Saints hereafter shall be fil'd brimfull with the clear manifestations of Gods eminency and glory, yet that they can fully reach, or perfectly contain the exact, and precise knowledge of it, is an error so gross, that it much more deserveth pity then confutation.A Glimpse of God\'s Glory
He is so high that he surmounts all created capacities to comprehend him.A Glimpse of God\'s Glory
Who may endure in his indignation? alas, none may behold him, his wrath is so high, ore-topping the creatures weakness, that it is all one whether it be against a man or against a Nation.A Glimpse of God\'s Glory
as all things flow from him, so they depend upon him; which likewise declares his Highness.A Glimpse of God\'s Glory
Look upon his works, and he is high in them too; there is none amongst the gods, whose works are like hisA Glimpse of God\'s Glory
In his great condescension; though he be so high, yet for the preservation, and gubernation of his poor creatures, he abaseth himself; i.e. rather then they shall want governing and sustaining, he will take charge of them himself, and so far veil his glory, as to imploy his wisdom, power, and other attributes for their advantage.
A glimpse of God\'s glory
We think of God as too much like what we are. Learn to acknowledge the full majesty of your incomparable God and Savior.
Thus, in their efforts to be like God, believers ought to focus on God's nature as Father and our nature as his children. Instead of asking, "What would Jesus do?" we should ask, "Who is God our Father, and what does it mean to be his child?"Pillar Commentary, Ephesians
we cannot fashion our own identities in a vacuum according to our own self-determination. Our identity is inextricably grounded in the fatherhood of God.
Love to God is the best self-love. It is self-love to get the soul saved; by loving God, we forward our own salvation. "He that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him" (I John iv. 16). And he is sure to dwell with God in heaven, that has God dwelling in his heart. So that to love God is the truest self-love; he that does not love God, does not love himself.https://www.ccel.org/ccel/watson/cordial.ix.html
Why are the angels so swift and winged in God's service? It is because they love Him. Love is never weary. He that loves God, is never weary of telling it. He that loves God, is never weary of serving Him.https://www.ccel.org/ccel/watson/cordial.ix.html
There are but few that love God: many give Him hypocritical kisses, but few love Him. It is not so easy to love God as most imagine. The affection of love is natural, but the grace is not. Men are by nature haters of God (Rom. i. 30). The wicked would flee from God; they would neither be under His rules, nor within His reach. They fear God, but do not love Him. All the strength in men or angels cannot make the heart love God. Ordinances will not do it of themselves, nor judgments; it is only the almighty and invincible power of the Spirit of God can infuse love into the soul. This being so hard a work, it calls upon us for the more earnest prayer and endeavour after this angelic grace of love.https://www.ccel.org/ccel/watson/cordial.ix.html
The difficulties we feel with regard to Predestination are not derived from the Word. The Word is full of it, because it is full of God, and when we say God and mean God - God in all that God is - we have said Predestination.Selected Shorter Writings - I
Theology labors to prove the existence of God not from a primary and proper intention, but, as it were, incidentally from an adventitious necessity (viz., for the purpose of confuting the profane and atheists who without shame and with seared consciences deny it). (2) The axiom —'"science does not prove its subject, but takes it for granted"—is true in human and inferior sciences, but not in theology. Theology is of a higher order for it extends itself to the proof of all things which can be proved by the means peculiar to itself (viz., by divine revelation). It does this, not instrumentally, but authoritatively.Institutes of Elenctic Theology
The goodness of God, and his readiness to be gracious to every one that cometh to him, is the fountain of the saint's hope, strength and consolation.
There are three stages in the work of God: impossible, difficult, done.
The English word "God" is derived from a root meaning to call, and indicates simply the object of worship, one whom men call upon or invoke. The Greek word which it translates in the pages of the New Testament, however, describes this objection of worship as Spirit; and the Old Testament Hebrew word, which this word in turn represents, conveys, as its primary meaning, the idea of power. On Christian lips, therefore, the word "God" designates fundamentally the almighty Spirit who is worshiped and whose aid is invoked by men.
According to the Scriptures, therefore, special revelation is a historic process, an organic system, a continuous divine activity directed to destroying the power of sin, to the building up of the kingdom of God, to the restoration of the Cosmos, to the summing up of all things in Christ.
Our times are in God's hand. Whether they be prosperous times or calamitous times, it is He who has determined them.
God is a perfectly happy Being, in the most absolute and highest sense possible; in strict propriety of speech, there is no such thing as any pain, grief or trouble in God.
No man acts with true wisdom till he fears God and hopes in his mercy.
The fear of God promotes spiritual joy; it is the morning star that ushers in the sunlight of comfort.
Luther relates a story of two cardinals riding to the council at Constance, how by the way they heard a shepherd weeping and crying out sadly, upon which they turned aside to know what was the matter, and found the shepherd looking upon an ugly toad. They asked him the ground of his lamentation. He answered, I cannot but weep to consider the goodness of God, that he did not make much such a loathsome creature, and my own unthankfulness, that I should be no more sensible of it. At which one of the cardinals was so affected, that he fell from his horse in a swoon, and coming again afterwards to himself, told his brother : Well said St Augustine, Indocti rapiunt coelum, & c. The unlearned take heaven by violence, whilst we, with all our parts and learning, wallow in the mire of the earth and flesh.
If thou wouldst exercise thyself to godliness in solitude, labour to spirtualise earthly things. I must say this is one of the most excellent and enriching arts in Christianity... He hath better than Midas's wish; he turns all he toucheth into better than gold.
A true lover delights most to visit his friend alone, when he can enjoy privacy with him.
Naturalists tell us of the Gnomon, commonly called the mariner's needle, that it always will turn to the north star; though it be closed and shut up in a coffer of wood or gold, yet it loseth not its nature. So the true Christian is always looking to the star of Jacob; whether he be shut up in a prison, or shut himself up in his closet, he is ever longing after Jesus Christ.
He grieves truly, that weeps without a witness; so it may be said of godliness, He is sincere in his godliness, who is godly in secret.
The more a man delighteth in God, and in the ways of God, the more he cleaveth to Him, and resolveth to go on in this course, and temptations to sensual delights do less prevail.
If the profession of godliness be lightly taken up, it will be as lightly left.
If you have a good hope be zealous and watchful over it. Beware that Satan does not steal it away for a season, as he did from David and Peter. Beware that you do not lose sight of it by giving way to inconsistencies, and by conformity to the world. Examine it often, and make sure that it is not becoming dimOld Paths, Chapter 4
New Quotes
When the fear of God is laid aside, and all respect for his word, there is nothing to be expected but the worst of evils.
So when I wonder about which job offer to take, I don't go through a divination process to discover the hidden message of God. Instead I examine how God has called me to live my life, what my motives are, what He has given me a heart for, where I am in my walk with Christ, and what God is saying to me through His word and His people.God\'s Will, 16
When God is absent from ruling one's passions and controlling corrupt affections, only fire remains, and it is a fire that can quickly consume a household.Sarah and Hagar, Puritan Publications, 2024
I do confess myself one of the old-fashion professors, that covet 'to fear God, and honour the king.' I also am for blessing of them that curse me, for doing good to them that hate me, and for praying for them that despitefully use me , and persecute me.
o how great a task is it, for a poor soul that becomes sensible of sin, and the wrath of God, to say in Faith, but this one word, Father! I tell you, however hypocrites think, yet the Christian, that is so indeed, finds all the difficulty in this very thing, it cannot say, God is its Father.
The early Christians understood the scope for misunderstanding on this point and were uncomfortable about identifying God too closely with the supreme being of the philosophers. A small (but telling) difference shows us what the root of their problem was and how they reacted to it. The philosophers spoke of their supreme being as to on (the thing that is) but Christians changed the neuter participle to the masculine ho ōn, which to them was the equivalent of Yahweh ("he who is").3 By doing this, they made it clear that the supreme being is a person who relates to us in personal ways, not an abstract deity—a vital difference that distinguished and still distinguishes Christianity from any kind of philosophy.God is Love, 136
The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.
"I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Heb 13:5). The Greek text of this verse contains five negative particles, cumbersome to render into English, but soul-enriching nevertheless: "Never will I leave you—no, never—no! Nor forsake you."Preaching as Reminding, 20
Propitiation presupposed the wrath and displeasure of God, and the purpose of propitiation is the removal of this displeasure.Redemption Accomplished & Applied, 26
If God be not enough for you, you will never have enough. Turn to him more, and know him better, if you would have a satisfied mind.
The love of Christ is insatiable. The more you experience His redeeming love, the more you desire it. The more you desire it, the more you want to dwell on it. The more you dwell on it, the more you cherish it and are satisfied by it. You can never 'mind' Christ's love too often, since his love knows no bounds.
No revolving world, no shining of star, no storm, no creature moves, no actions of men, no errands of angels, no deeds of Devil—nothing in all the vast universe can come to pass otherwise than God has eternally purposed.
A spiritual and saving knowledge of God is the greatest need of every human creature.
The apprehension of God's infinite knowledge should fill the Christian with adoration. The whole of my life stood open to His view from the beginning. He foresaw my every fall, my every sin, my every backsliding; yet, nevertheless, fixed His heart upon me. Oh, how the realization of this should bow me in wonder and worship before Him!
God is only truly known in the soul as we yield ourselves to Him, submit to His authority, and regulate all the details of our lives by His holy precepts and commandments.
But now the question arises, Why has God demanded of man that which he is incapable of performing? The first answer is, Because God refuses to lower His standard to the level of our sinful infirmities.
You will never glory in God till first of all God has killed your glorying in yourself.
Death reminds us that we are creatures. Yet as fearsome as death is, it is nothing compared with meeting a holy God. When we encounter him, the totality of our creatureliness breaks upon us and shatters the myth that we have believed about ourselves, the myth that we are demigods, junior-grade deities who will try to live forever.
If we despise the justice of God, we are not Christians.
As soon as we think God owes us mercy, we're not thinking about mercy any more.
If God is not sovereign, then God is not God.
All Christians believe in divine sovereignty. On our feet we may have arguments about it, but on our knees we are all agreed.
To know that nothing happens in God's world apart from God's will may frighten the godless, but it stabilizes the saints.
Knowing God is a relationship calculated to thrill a man's heart.
The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie.
It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for
heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not
the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we
drink in every night.
God created us for this: to live our lives in a way that makes him look more like the greatness and the beauty and the infinite worth that he really is. This is what it means to be created in the image of God.
Do you feel loved by God because you believe he makes much of you, or because you believe he frees you and empowers you to enjoy making much of him?
divine love, by contrast, is not reactive but creative: God does not find that which is lovely and then move out in love toward it; something is made lovely by the fact that God first sets his love upon it. He does not look at sinful human beings and see among the mass of people some who are intrinsically more righteous or holy than others and thus find himself attracted to them. Rather, the lesson of the cross is that God chooses that which is unlovely and repulsive, unrighteous and with no redeeming quality, and lavishes his saving love in Christ upon it.
Every decision and direction must come under this overarching goal of bringing glory to God.
If you please God, it does not matter whom you displease. And if you displease Him, it does not matter whom you please.
Even when God is coming towards his people in ways of mercy, he sometimes takes such methods as that they may think themselves but ill treated.
The way to forget our miseries, is to remember the God of our mercies.
We must believe that He is able to do what He will, wise to do what is best, and good, according to His promise, to do what is best for us, if we love Him, and serve Him.
The fear of God reigning in the heart is the beauty of the soul.
We might be wise to follow the insight of the enraptured heart rather than the more cautious reasoning of the theological mind.
The man who would truly know God must give time to Him.
O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need for further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, so that I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, 'Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away.' Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long.
God never hurries. There are no deadlines against which He must work. Only to know this is to quiet our spirits and relax our nerves.
The Bible isn't about people trying to discover God, but about God reaching out to find us.
Many people visualize a God who sits comfortably on a distant throne, remote, aloof, uninterested, and indifferent to the needs of mortals, until, it may be, they can badger him into taking action on their behalf. Such a view is wholly false. The Bible reveals a God who, long before it even occurs to man to turn to him, while man is still lost in darkness and sunk in sin, takes the initiative, rises from his throne, lays aside his glory, and stoops to seek until he finds him.
I used to tell young preachers, in order to preach you've got to have the power of God on your life. Now I tell them, in order to tie your shoes you've got to have the power of God on your life.
The cross is proof of both the immense love of God and the profound wickedness of sin.
The greatest sorrow and burden you can lay on the Father, the greatest unkindness you can do to him is not to believe that he loves you.
On Christ's glory I would fix all my thoughts and desires, and the more I see of the glory of Christ, the more the painted beauties of this world will wither in my eyes and I will be more and more crucified to this world. It will become to me like something dead and putrid, impossible for me to enjoy.
But why should we not place implicit confidence in God and rely upon His word of promise? Is anything too hard for the Lord? Has His word of promise ever failed? Then let us not entertain any unbelieving suspicions of His future care of us. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but not so His promises.
You who are so apt to abuse God's mercy, consider this, that in the gospel days, the plagues that God inflicts upon the despisers and abusers of mercy are usually spiritual plagues; as blindness of mind, hardness of heart, benumbedness of conscience, which are ten thousand times worse than the worst of outward plagues which can befall you.
There is no broader way to apostasy than to reject God's sovereignty in all things concerning the revelation of himself and our obedience
On Christ's glory I would fix all my thoughts and desires, and the more I see of the glory of Christ, the more the painted beauties of this world will wither in my eyes and I will be more and more crucified to this world. It will become to me like something dead and putrid, impossible for me to enjoy.
It is not said, God shows mercy to thousands that know his commandments, but that keep them.The Ten Commandments, 79
The son that loves his father will obey him. Obedience pleases God. 'To obey is better than sacrifice.' 1 Sam xv 22. In sacrifice, a dead beast only is offered; in obedience, a living soul; in sacrifice, only a part of the fruit is offered; in obedience, fruit and tree and all; man offers himself up to God.The Ten Commandments, 79
God shows mercy in guiding and directing us. Is it not a mercy for one that is out of the way to have a guide? [I] There is a providential guidance. God guides our affairs for us; chalks out the way he would have us to walk in. He resolves our doubts, unties our knots, and appoints the bounds of our habitation.The Ten Commandments, 70-71
God has mercy of all dimensions. He has depth of mercy, it reaches as low as sinners; and height of mercy, it reaches above the clouds.The Ten Commandments, 69
An infinite God can give all of Himself to each of His children. He does not distribute Himself that each may have a part, but to each one He gives all of Himself as fully as if there were no others.
Our loving him is from his loving us. If the glass burn, it is because the sun has shone on it; so if our hearts burn in love, it is a sign that the Sun of Righteousness has shone upon us.The Ten Commandments, 11
Love is the only grace that shall live with us in heaven. In heaven we shall need no repentance, because we shall have no sin; no faith, because we shall see God face to face; but love to God shall abide for ever.The Ten Commandments, 11
It is hell to be without God. The philosopher says there can be no gold without the influence of the sun; certainly there can be no golden joy in the soul without God's sweet presence and influence.The Ten Commandments, 8
he who loves God cannot find contentment in any thing without him. Give a hypocrite who pretends to love God corn and wine, and he can be content without God; but a soul fired with love to God, cannot be without him. Lovers faint away if they have not a sight of the object loved. A gracious soul can do without health, but cannot do without God, who is the health of his countenance.The Ten Commandments, 8
We fear men so much, because we fear God so little. One fear cures another. When man's terror scares you, turn your thoughts to the wrath of God.
Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriad's of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many and how great soever.https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-resolutions-of-jonathan-edwards
God's purpose for my life was that I have a passion for God's glory and that I have a passion for my joy in that glory, and that these two are one passion.
God is the highest good of the reasonable creature. The enjoyment of him is our proper; and is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Better than fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of any, or all earthly friends. These are but shadows; but the enjoyment of God is the substance. These are but scattered beams; but God is the sun. These are but streams; but God is the fountain. These are but drops, but God is the ocean.Works of Jonathan Edwards Volume 17 Sermons and Discourses
"Fear God" and you will have nothing else to fear.
Don't fear what the next day may bring. Don't fear other people. Don't fear violence and power, even when it comes to you personally and can rob you of your life. Don't fear the high and mighty in the world. Don't fear yourself. Don't fear your sins. All these fears will die. From all these fears you will be set free. For they are no longer there. But fear God and him alone. For he has the power over all the powers of this world. The whole world is in fear of God. He has power to give us life or to destroy us. All other powers are a mere game.Remembrance Sunday: Who and What is Babylon? in Dietrich Bonhoeffer Christmas Sermons (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005), 111
[the] love of God expresses itself in love of neighbor (1 John 4:20). Jesus' answer avoids the danger of mysticism, which results in a detached and disembodied love of God; as well as the danger of humanism, which acts toward humanity without reference to God and without the understanding that human beings are inviolable creatures of God.Pillar Commentary
The fact that man is in the image of God means that man is like God and represents GodSystematic Theology, Ch 21
God's holiness means that he is separated from sin and devoted to seeking his own honor."Systematic Theology, 202
Scripture speaks often of the wrath of God as his response to sin. Wrath differs from jealousy and hatred, in that (1)Â jealousy is more focused on the specific sin of idolatry; wrath opposes our sin in general; (2)Â jealousy and hatred are motives for wrath; wrath actually executes punishments.Systematic Theology
The fact that he judges all things in heaven and earth implies that his standards are the highest standards of righteousness.Systematic Theology
The older theologians made a number of distinctions within God's righteousness that can be presented in a Ramist outline: 1. Internal (God's moral excellence) 2. External (the rectitude of his conduct) a. rectoral or legislative (promulgating just laws for his creatures) b. distributive (administering rewards and punishments) i. remunerative (distribution of reward) ii. retributive (distribution of punishment)"Systematic Theology
Peace comes from God alone, since the fall has made us prone to wars and fightings (James 4:1-3). Peace, as all other blessings of salvation, makes us like God. So like all other blessings of salvation and Christian virtues, peace among men is the reflection of God's own nature; it is a divine attribute. God is completely at peace with himself.Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief (Kindle Locations 7386-7389). P&R Publishing. Kindle Edition.
A practical denial of God is worse than a verbal, because deeds have usually more of deliberation than words; words may be the fruit of a passion, but a set of evil actions are the fruit and evidence of a predominant evil principle in the heart. [...] Those, therefore, are more deservedly termed atheists, who acknowledge a God and walk as if there were none, than those that deny a God, and walk as if there were one.
Whatever God is, he is infinitely so... Conceive of him as excellent, without any imperfection; a Spirit without parts; great without quantity; perfect without quality; everywhere without place; powerful without members; understanding without ignorance; wise without reasoning; light without darkness; infinitely more excelling the beauty of all creatures... And when you have risen to the highest, conceive him yet infinitely above all you can conceive of spirit, and acknowledge the infirmity of your own minds. And whatsoever conception comes into your minds, say, "This is not God; God is more than this."
We love God and live obediently because of the Spirit who lives in us, enabling us to be not just loving or kind but loving, kind, joyful, peaceful, patient, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled. The Spirit-filled life represents an analogy of how God is all that he is in his simple, undivided essence.God Is, 36
Again, the glory of one attribute is more seen in one work than in another: in some things there is more of His goodness, in other things more of His wisdom is seen, and in others more of His power. But in the work of redemption all His perfections and excellencies shine forth in their greatest glory.
As a simple being, God is graciousness is mercy is patience is love is goodness. He is all these things all the time with all attributes in perfect harmony. All the attributes of God must harmonize with one another in our conception of God, or else the God in our minds is not the true God.God Is, 33
He is a simple, uncompounded Being, without diverse members, and altogether like, and equal to himself, since He is wholly understanding, and wholly spirit, and wholly thought, and wholly intelligence, and wholly reason, and wholly hearing, and wholly seeing, and wholly light, and the whole source of all that is good.
The most excellent study for expanding the soul, is the science of Christ, and him crucified, and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the Deity.Immutability of God
He who begins by seeking God within himself may end by confusing himself with God.
That your mind depends more on the agency of God than the freedom of your own choice, daily experience teaches. Your judgement often fails, and in matters of no great difficulty, your courage flags; at other times, in matters of the greatest obscurity, the mode of explicating them at once suggests itself, while in matters of moment and danger, your mind rises superior to every difficulty. In this way, I interpret the words of Solomon, "The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them" (Prov 20:12). For they seem to me to refer not to their creation, but to peculiar grace in the use of themInstitutes, Book 2, Chapter 4
That men sin, is attributable to themselves: that in sinning they produce this or that result, is owing to the mighty power of God, who divides the darkness as he pleasesDe praedest. sanct.
When his light is taken away, nothing remains but blindness and darkness: when his Spirit is taken away, our hearts become hard as stones: when his guidance is withdrawn, we immediately turn from the right path: and hence he is properly said to incline, harden, and blind those whom he deprives of the faculty of seeing, obeying, and rightly executing.Institutes, Book 2, Chapter 4
Richard Baxter called being known by God 'the full and final comfort of a believer' and J. I. Packer claims that there is 'unspeakable comfort' in it. According to C. K. Barrett, to be known by God 'is the all-important truth, for when God knows - [a] man, he acts on his behalf'.
Making Jesus' knowledge of a person the decisive
criterion of judgement is particularly disturbing: 'I never knew you.'
The verdict is highly personal, shatteringly brief, yet comprehensive,
and it places the decision fully out of the condemned's reach. What can
they do about not being known? Any appeal against this judgement
would be futile.
Whereas not being known by God (1) adds severity to dire warnings, being known by God (2) promotes humility and (3) supplies comfort and security.
Verse
15 responds with a rhetorical question that sets up a stunning assertion:
'Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget, I will not forget you!'
Isaiah 49:15 compares God's relationship with his people to that of a
mother and her child, and it characterises the bond in question as that
of a mother not forgetting, or remembering, her child. The figurative
nature of the language cautions against reading too much into this
verse. Nonetheless, it is worth noting that since 'to remember' here a
synonym of relational knowing, the verse may be read as affirming
God's gracious attention in a context of parental commitment and
affection, supplying more evidence for being known by God being
employed in a filial context.Known By God (Article)
the apostle affirms in Romans 8:29 that 'those
God foreknew he also predestined'. As a synonym for
election in this verse, God's foreknowledge refers to the setting of his
love upon the elect in advance. Knowledge here carries the sense of
intimate relationship, as in the famous euphemism for sexual
intercourse in Genesis 4:1, 'Adam knew Eve.'Known By God (Article)
Contextual clues support linking our understanding
of being known by God to three related notions: (1) belonging to God;
(2) being loved or chosen by God; and (3) being a child or son of God.Known By God (Article)
Whereas at most points in the Bible God's factual and relational
knowledge are clearly distinguished, Psalm 139 is a rare case where the
two overlap. Verse 1 affirms both types of knowledge with the prayer,
'you have searched me (factual knowledge) and you know me
(relational knowledge).'Known By God (Article)
The subtle danger here should be obvious: if we speak of the cross of Christ as the cause of the love of the Father, we imply that behind the cross and apart from it he may not actually love us at all. He needs to be "paid" a ransom price in order to love us.The Whole Christ: Legalism, Antinomianism, and Gospel Assurance Why the Marrow Controversy Still Matters (p. 68). Crossway.
Atheists claim that the laws [of nature] exist reasonlessly and that the universe is ultimately absurd. As a scientist, I find this hard to accept. There must be an unchanging rational ground in which the logical, orderly nature of the universe is rooted.
I'm not an atheist, and I don't think I can call myself a pantheist. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books.
Science spotlights three dimensions of nature that point to God. The first is the fact that nature obeys laws. The second is the dimension of life, of intelligently organized and purpose-driven beings, which arose from matter. The third is the very existence of nature.There is a God (88)
the Kingdom of God is the redemptive reign of God dynamically active to establish his rule among men, and that this Kingdom, which will appear as an apocalyptic act at the end of the age, has already come into human history in the person and mission of Jesus to overcome evil, to deliver men from its power, and to bring them into the blessings of God's reign.
though the divine glory is displayed in man's outward appearance, it cannot be doubted that the proper seat of the image is in the soul.Institutes, Book 1 Chapter 15
the image of God which is beheld or made conspicuous by these external marks, is spiritualInstitutes, Book 1 Chapter 15
Wherever the soul of man turns, unless towards God, it cleaves to sorrow, even though the things outside God and outside itself to which it cleaves may be things of beauty.Confessions 4.10.15
Without Jesus Christ, talk about the "depth of God's love" would be simply an abstraction. Without Jesus Christ, God could send you sixty volumes, with every page saying, "I love you deeply, I love you deeply, I love you deeply," but it would still be an abstract concept, not a life-changing reality. To genuinely understand the depths of God's love you must know the depths to which Jesus Christ went in order to love you.Prayer, 174
If God's words are his personal, active presence, then to put your trust in God's words is to put your trust in God.Prayer, 53
With respect to fishes, birds, and beasts we read that God created them after their kind, that is, on a typical form of their own. Man, however, was not so created and much less after the type of an inferior creature. With respect to him God said, "Let us make man in our image"... the creation of man stands out as something distinctive.Systematic Theology, 183
(a) sinful acts are under divine control and occur according to God's pre-determination and purpose, but only by divine permission, so that He does not efficiently cause men to sin - (b) that God often restrains the sinful works of the sinner - (c) that God in behalf of His own purpose overrules evil for goodSystematic Theology, 174
John of Damascus was talking about the objective being (ousia) of God, not about the way he relates to us in moral and spiritual terms, and this is how his impassibility must be understood. God could not be made to suffer because of some inherent weakness in his constitution that an external force might discover and manipulate, nor could he be influenced by human sacrifices on his behalf, as Elijah had long ago demonstrated to the prophets of Baal.God Has Spoken, 315
We do not speak of two gods, we do not think of the unity of the Son with the Father in terms of the similarity of their teaching, but in terms of being (ousia) and reality. So we speak...of one God who exists as one form of divinity, like the relationship of light to its ray.De synodis, 52.1
I ought to begin with the most important point, which is that God the Creator made heaven and earth and everything in them... and demonstrate that there is nothing above him or behind him, as well as that he made everything of his own free will, uninfluenced by anyone else. He is the only God, the only Lord, the only Creator, the only Father, the only one who contains all things and who commanded everything else to come into existence. How can there be any other fullness, principle, power, or god above him, since it is necessary for God, who is the fullness of all these things, to contain them in his immensity without being himself contained by anyone?Adversus omnes haereses 2.1.1-2
To the Father of all, who is unbegotten, there is no name given. For anyone who is called by a name is dependent on the person who gives him that name. These words-Father, God, Creator, Lord, and Master-are not names, but titles derived from his good deeds and functions.Apologia II 6
It is no exaggeration to say that Christian theology began when Jesus called God his Father and taught his disciples to do the same. That was something previously unknown in Israel, and the Jews who heard Jesus say this reacted against him because of it.God Has Spoken (99)
God is not involuntarily good, the way a fire is involuntarily hot. In him, goodness is voluntary... he does not do good by necessity, but by his own free choice.Stromateis 7.7
Not a single thing that has been made, or that will be made, escapes the knowledge of God. Through his providence, every thing has received its nature, rank, number, and uniqueness. Nothing has come about by accident or for no purpose. Everything has been made with exact appropriateness and by the exercise of transcendent knowledge.Adversus omnes haereses 5.22.2
A distinction is generally made between the absolute and the relative justice of God. The former is that rectitude of the divine nature, in virtue of which God is infinitely righteous in Himself, while the latter is that perfection of God by which He maintains Himself over against every violation of His holiness, and shows in every respect that He is the Holy One.Systematic Theology, 74-75
This ethical holiness of God may be defined as that perfection of God, in virtue of which He eternally wills and maintains His own moral excellence, abhors sin, and demands purity in his moral creatures.Systematic Theology, 74
that perfection of the Divine Being by which He transcends all spatial limitations, and yet is present in every point of space with His whole Being.Systematic Theology, 60
God is indeed, a God afar off; but He approaches you by and in the Scripture; unveils His presence to you; and speaks to you as though you were standing right by Him, and He drew you close beneath His wings.Principles of Sacred Theology, 364
man was made in the image and likeness of God in respect to his mind, by which he excels irrational creatures; in his image, however, according to memory, intelligence, and love; in his likeness according to innocence and justice, which are naturally in the rational mind.The Sentences, Book 2, Dist 16, Ch3
make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign, and has the right to do as He pleases with His own, and he may not explain to you a thousand things which may puzzle your reason in His dealings with you.A Camaraderie of Confidence, p. 31
The question becomes more pressing when we note that much of the best work on classical theism and Trinitarianism of the last thirty years has been done by Roman Catholic theologians. One thinks, for example, of the work of Brian Davies, Khaled Anatolios, Lewis Ayres, Gilles Emery, Thomas Weinandy and Matthew Levering. Evangelical work in the same field has tended to be less rigorous or, worse still, to deviate from classical orthodox notions of God and Trinity. Immutability, impassibility, and doctrines such as the eternal generation of the Son have been abandoned or reduced in importance by large sections of the evangelical world.http://reformedanglicans.blogspot.ca/2015/03/17-march-2015-ad-ecttale-of-two.html
[the Father] would have the most excellent person, one next in order to himself, and equal to him in all the glorious perfections of his nature, die on a disgraceful cross, and be exposed to the flames of Divine wrath, rather than sin should live, and his holiness remain for ever disparaged by the violations of his law - God seems to lay aside the bowels of a father, and put on the garb of an irreconcilable enemy
It is not freedom that is canceled out by sovereignty; it is autonomy that cannot coexist with sovereignty (see James 4:12).Chosen by God (29)
What a vain pretense it is to profess to honor God by a doctrine that makes salvation depend on the will of man! If it were true, you might say to God, "We thank thee, O Lord, for what thou hast done; thou hast given us a great many things, and we offer thee they meed of praise, which is justly due to thy name; but we think we deserve more, for the deciding point was in our free will." Beloved, do not any of you swerve from the free grace of God, for the babblings about man's free agency are neither more nor less than lies, right contrary to the truth of Christ, and the teachings of the Spirit. How certain, then, is the salvation of every elect soul! It does not depend on the will of man; he is "made willing" in the day of God's power. He shall be called at the set time, and his heart shall be effectually changed, that he may become a trophy of the Redeemer's power. That he was unwilling before, is no hindrance; for God giveth him the will, so that he is then of a willing mind. Sermon:
God's love is an exercise of His goodness towards individual sinners whereby, having identified Himself with their welfare, He has given His Son to be their Saviour, and now brings them to know and enjoy Him in a covenant relation Knowing God (The Love of God, 136)
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