Favorite Pastor Quotes

Favorite Pastor Quotes

His mercy is a boundless, fathomless, endless ocean!

(James Smith, "The Evening Sacrifice; Or, A Help to Devotion")

"You, O Lord, are good, and ready to forgive--and abundant in mercy to all who call upon You." Psalm 86:5 

What a beautiful representation of God is this! How comforting, at the close of another day's cares and troubles, sorrows and sins--to be reminded that our "God is good," and especially that He is "ready to forgive"--ready to pardon all the faults and follies of this day--ready to pass them by, and still treat me as His beloved child!

He only requires me to confess and be sorry for my sins--and in a moment, all is forgiven, all is forgotten, and forgotten forever! 

Then He is "abundant in mercy." The fountain of His mercy has not yet run dry. Run dry! It is not in the least diminished! His mercy is a boundless, fathomless, endless ocean!

God has plenty of mercy for miserable sinners . . .
  mercy to pardon them,
  mercy to purify them,
  mercy to comfort them,
  mercy to save them--
mercy for all who call upon Him!

O my soul, take home tonight this lovely representation of your God, and believing that He is good, ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy--go to Him, call upon Him, and plead with Him. Then you may obtain mercy, and find grace to help you in every time of need. 

Good and gracious God, I adore You for Your goodness; I bless You that You are ready to forgive; I rejoice that You are abundant in mercy. And now, O Lord, glorify Your mercy in me--show Your readiness to forgive, in me! Let my heart be eased of every sorrow--and let my conscience be cleansed from every sin! Let me lie down to rest tonight guiltless--rejoicing in the glorious fact that You have blotted out my sins as a cloud, and my transgressions as a thick cloud, and are now at eternal peace with me!
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That miracle of Divine grace wrought in the soul

(Arthur Pink)

Regeneration is that miracle of Divine grace wrought in the soul . . .
  which enlists the affections Godward, 
  which brings the human will into subjection to the Divine,
  and which produces a real and radical change in the life. 
That change is from worldliness--to godliness; from disobedience--to obedience. 

At the new birth, the love of God is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit, and that love is manifested in a dominating longing and sincere purpose to please in all things, the One who has plucked me as a brand from the burning. There is a greater difference between the genuine Christian and the deceived professing Christian--than there is between a living man and a corpse. None need remain in doubt, if they will honestly measure themselves by the Holy Word of God.

Ah, dear readers, the test is fruit! Not knowledge, not boastings, not orthodoxy, not joy--but fruit; and such "fruit" as mere nature cannot produce. It is the fruit of the Vine--namely, likeness to Christ, being conformed to His image. May the Holy Spirit search each one of us.
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Five Short Rules for Christians

(Brownlow North)

1. Never neglect daily private prayer; and when you pray, remember that God is present, and that He hears your prayers.

2. Never neglect daily private Bible reading; and when you read, remember that God is speaking to you, and that you are to believe and act upon all that He says.

3. Never let a day pass without trying to do something for Jesus. Every day reflect on what Jesus has done for you--and then ask yourself, "What am I doing for Him?"
4. If you are in doubt as to a thing being right or wrong--then go to your room and kneel down and ask God's blessing on it. If you cannot do this, then it is wrong.

5. Never take your standard of Christianity from other Christians--or argue that because such and such people do so and so--therefore, you may. You are to ask yourself, "How would Jesus act in my place?"--and strive to follow Him alone.
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If we were what we profess to be, and what we should be

(Charles Spurgeon)

"When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men--they were astonished and theytook note that these men had been with Jesus!" Acts 4:13 
 
A Christian should be a striking likeness of Jesus Christ. You have read "Lives of Christ"--beautifully and eloquently written. But the best life of Christ is His living biography, written out in the words and actions of His people. 

If we were what we profess to be, and what we should be--we would be pictures of Christ! Yes, such striking likenesses of Him that the world would, when they once beheld us, exclaim, "He has been with Jesus! He has been taught of Him! He is like Him! He has caught the very idea of the holy Man of Nazareth, and he works it out in his life and everyday actions!"

"He who says he abides in Him--ought himself also to walk just as He walked." 1 John 2:6
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The lock-smith's great bunch of keys!

(Charles Spurgeon)

"He has given us His very great and precious promises!" 2 Peter 1:4
 
God's promises are precious, because they tell of exceedingly great and precious things. We have promises in the Bible which time would fail us to repeat, which for breadth and length are immeasurable. They deal with every great thing which the soul can need: 
  promises of pardoned sin, 
  promises of sanctification, 
  promises of teaching, 
  promises of guidance, 
  promises of upholding, 
  promises of ennobling, 
  promises of progress, 
  promises of consolation, 
  promises of perfection.

In this blessed book you have . . . 
  promises for time--and promises for eternity; 
  promises for every condition every believer!

I sometimes liken God's promises to the lock-smith's great bunch of keys which he brings when you have lost the key of your chest, and cannot unlock it. He feels pretty sure that out of all the keys upon his ring, some one or another will fit, and he tries them with patient industry. At last--yes--that is it--he has loosened the bolt, and now you can get at your treasures! 

In the same way, there is always a promise in the volume of inspiration, suitable to your present case.

The promises are precious in themselves . . .
  from their suitability to us,
  from their coming from God,
  from their being immutable,
  from their being sure of performance, and
  from their containing wrapped up within themselves, all that every child of God can ever need!

"He has given us His very great and precious promises!"