Christian Bio LN-154-169

154. Louis Bourdaloue (1632-1704)

ABOUT LOUIS BOURDALOUE

Louis Bourdaloue (20 August 1632 – 13 May 1704) was a French Jesuit and preacher. He was born in Bourges. At the age of sixteen he entered the Society of Jesus, and was appointed successively professor of rhetoric, philosophy and moral theology, in various Jesuit colleges. His success as a preacher in the provinces led his superiors to call him to Paris in 1669 to occupy for a year the pulpit of the church of St. Louis. Owing to his eloquence he was speedily ranked in popular estimation with Corneille, Racine, and the other leading figures during the height of Louis XIV's reign. He preached at the court of Versailles during the Advent of 1670 and the Lent of 1672, and was subsequently called again to deliver the Lenten course of sermons in 1674, 1675, 1680 and 1682, and the Advent sermons of 1684, 1689 and 1693. This was all the more noteworthy as it was the custom never to call the same preacher more than three times to court.

On the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes he was sent to Languedoc to confirm the new converts in the Catholic faith, and he had much success in this delicate mission. Catholics and Protestants were unanimous in praising his fiery eloquence in the Lent sermons which he preached at Montpellier in 1686. Towards the close of his life he confined his ministry to charitable institutions, hospitals and prisons. He died in Paris on 13 May 1704.

His strength lay in his power of adapting himself to audiences of every kind. His influence was reportedly due as much to his character and his manners as to the force of his reasoning. Voltaire said that his sermons surpassed those of Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (whose retirement in 1669, however, practically coincided with Bourdaloue's early pulpit utterances), and it is said that their simplicity and coherence as well as the direct appeal that they made to hearers of all classes gave them a superiority over the more profound sermons of Bossuet. Many of them have been adopted as textbooks in schools.

His sermons were revised and edited by François de Paule Bretonneau. Eight of his sermons were translated and published as Eight Sermons for Holy Week and Easter by George Francis Crowther in 1884.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Bourdaloue

QUOTES BY LOUIS BOURDALOUE

DETATCH YOUR SOULS FROM EVERYTHING

"You ask for a practical direction to teach you to die well. Detach your souls from everything that you love, separate from God. This, in a few words, is the science of dying."

- Louis Bourdaloue (1632-1704) French Jesuit and Preacher.

PRACTICAL DIRECTION TO TEACH YOU TO DIE WELL

"You ask for a practical direction to teach you to die well. Detach your souls from everything that you love, separate from God. This, in a few words, is the science of dying."

- Louis Bourdaloue (1632–1704) French Jesuit and Preacher

LOUIS BOURDALOUE BOOKS AND SERMONS

Retraite spirituelle à l'usage des communautés religieuses by Louis Bourdaloue

Sermons du père Bourdalouë, de la Compagnie de Jesus. Pour l'Avent by Louis Bourdaloue

Sermons of John Baptist Massillon and Lewis Bourdaloue, two celebrated French preachers : also, a spiritual paraphrase of some of the Psalms in the form of devout meditations and prayers by Jean-Baptiste Massillon

Exhortations et instructions chrétiennes by Louis Bourdaloue

Pensées du Père Bourdaloue, de la Compagnie de Jésus, sur divers sujets de religion et de morale by Louis Bourdaloue

Sermons du pere Bourdalouë, de la Compagnie de Jesus, pour les dimanches by Louis Bourdaloue

Practical theology : in a regular series of sermons by Louis Bourdaloue

Sermon du P. Bourdaloue sur le jubilé by Bourdaloue

Sermons du père Bourdaloue sur les mystères by Louis Bourdaloue

Sermons: sur l'impurete, sur la conversion de Madeleine, et sur le retardement de la penitence by Louis Bourdaloue

Photo Credit: britannica.com/biography/Louis-Bourdaloue

Words to Think About...

THE SCIENCE OF DYING

"You ask for a practical direction to teach you to die well. Detach your souls from everything that you love, separate from God. This, in a few words, is the science of dying."

- Louis Bourdaloue (1632–1704) French Jesuit and Preacher

FROM THE MOMENT IT IS TOUCHED

"From the moment it is touched, the heart cannot dry up."

- Louis Bourdaloue (1632–1704) French Jesuit and Preacher

IF A MAN IS DEVOUT

If a man is devout, we accuse him of hypocrisy; if he is not, of impiety; if he is humble, we look on his humility as a weakness; if he is generous, we call his courage pride."

- Louis Bourdaloue (1632–1704) French Jesuit and Preacher

THE VICES OF GREAT SOULS

"At court, far from regarding ambition as a sin, people regard it as a virtue, or if it passes for a vice, then it is regarded as the vice of great souls, and the vices of great souls are preferred to the virtues of the simple and the small."

- Louis Bourdaloue (1632–1704) French Jesuit and Preacher

155. Lucius Caelius Lactantius (c.250–c.325)

Lucius Caelius Lactantius (c.250–c.325) Early Christian Author

ABOUT LUCIUS CAELIUS LACTANTIUS

Lucius Caecilius Firmianus signo Lactantius (c. 250 – c. 325) was an early Christian author who became an advisor to Roman emperor, Constantine I, guiding his Christian religious policy in its initial stages of emergence, and a tutor to his son Crispus. His most important work is the Institutiones Divinae ("The Divine Institutes"), an apologetic treatise intended to establish the reasonableness and truth of Christianity to pagan critics.

He is best known for his apologetic works, widely read during the Renaissance by humanists who called Lactantius the "Christian Cicero". Also often attributed to Lactantius is the poem The Phoenix, which is based on the myth of the phoenix from Egypt and Arabia. Though the poem is not clearly Christian in its motifs, modern scholars have found some literary evidence in the text to suggest the author had a Christian interpretation of the eastern myth as a symbol of resurrection.

Lactantius was of Punic or Berberorigin, born into a pagan family. He was a pupil of Arnobius who taught at Sicca Veneria, an important city in Numidia (corresponding to today's city of El Kef in Tunisia). In his early life, he taught rhetoric in his native town, which may have been Cirta in Numidia, where an inscription mentions a certain "L. Caecilius Firmianus".

Lactantius had a successful public career at first. At the request of the Roman emperor Diocletian, he became an official professor of rhetoric in Nicomedia; the voyage from Africa is described in his poem Hodoeporicum (now lost. There, he associated in the imperial circle with the administrator and polemicist Sossianus Hierocles and the pagan philosopher Porphyry; he first met Constantine, and Galerius, whom he cast as villain in the persecutions. Having converted to Christianity, he resigned his post[10] before Diocletian's purging of Christians from his immediate staff and before the publication of Diocletian's first "Edict against the Christians" (February 24, 303)

As a Latin rhetor in a Greek city, he subsequently lived in poverty according to Saint Jerome and eked out a living by writing until Constantine I became his patron. The persecution forced him to leave Nicomedia, perhaps re-locating to North Africa. The emperor Constantine appointed the elderly Lactantius Latin tutor to his son Crispus in 309-310 who was probably 10-15 years old at the time. Lactantius followed Crispus to Trier in 317, when Crispus was made Caesar (lesser co-emperor) and sent to the city. Crispus was put to death by order of his father Constantine I in 326, but when Lactantius died and under what circumstances are unknown.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactantius

QUOTES BY LUCIUS CAELIUS LACTANTIUS

MEMORY CONTROLS YOUTH AND DELIGHTS OLD AGE

"Memory tempers prosperity, mitigates adversity, controls youth, and delights old age."

- Lucius Caelius Lactantius (c.250–c.325) Early Christian Author

MAN ONLY IS ENDOWED WITH WISDOM SO AS TO UNDERSTAND RELIGION

"Man only is endowed with wisdom so as to understand religion, and this is the principal if not the only difference betwixt him and dumb animals; for other things that seem peculiar to him, though they are not the same in them, yet they appear to be alike … What is there more peculiar to man than reason, and foresight? Yet there are animals which make several different ways of retiring from their dens; that when in danger they may escape; which without understanding and forethought they could not do. Others make provision for the future."

- Lucius Caelius Lactantius (c.250–c.325) Early Christian Author

BUT GOD, WHO IS THE ETERNAL MIND

"But God, who is the Eternal Mind, is undoubtedly of excellence, complete and perfect in every part."

- Lucius Caelius Lactantius (c.250–c.325) Early Christian Author

THE SAME ENERGY BY WHICH HE HE CREATED

"There is no one, who possesses intelligence and uses reflection, who does not understand that it is one Being who both created all things and governs them with the same energy by which He created them."

- Lucius Caelius Lactantius (c.250–c.325) Early Christian Author

LUCIUS CAELIUS LACTANTIUS BOOKS AND SERMONS

31 editions published between 1900 and 2014 in English and held by 2,311 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Intro -- Contents -- General Introduction -- The Divine Institutes -- Introduction -- Book I: On False Religion -- Book II: The Origin of Error -- Book III: On False Philosophy -- Book IV: True Wisdom and Religion -- Book V: Concerning Justice -- Book VI: On True Worship -- Book VII: On the Blessed Life -- Indices Minor works by Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius( )

28 editions published between 1900 and 2017 in English and held by 2,258 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

A collection of jokes, puns, gags, quips, and riddles answering such questions as "Why are you ironing that four-leaf clover?" "Why did the brilliant scientist disconnect his doorbell?"

Divinarum institutionum libri septem : Appendix. Indices by Lactantius

22 editions published in 2011 in 3 languages and held by 1,560 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Theseven books of the Diuinae institutiones , the most important work by Lactantius, the Christian author and contemporary of Constantine the Great, are an apologetic treatise that includes a defense of Christianity and a criticism of pagan religion, philosophy and morals. The fourth fascicle, consisting of book VII (Christian eschatology), an appendix (Latin translations of Greek quotations) and indexes,continues the critical edition of this work, of whichfascicle 1, containing books I and II as well as a praefatio, was published in 2005,fascicle 2 with books III and IV in 2007 and fascicle 3

De mortibus persecutorum by Lucius Caelius Firmianus Lactantius

144 editions published between 1680 and 2010 in 10 languages and held by 1,481 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Lactantius : Divine institutes by Lactance

99 editions published between 1401 and 2011 in 10 languages and held by 890 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

"Lactantius enjoyed a high reputation in late antiquity and in the Renaissance, as apologist, rhetorician and stylist. He earned his living as a teacher of rhetorical Latin, and Ciceronian Latin lived again through his pen, enabling his wit and empowering his argument." "This edition of Divine Institutes has been prepared with students and scholars of intellectual history in mind, but it will also appeal to those concerned with ecclesiastical history and patristics, and to anyone interested in tracing the impact of Classical philosophy and literature on an early Christian thinker."-- Publisher description

A relation of the death of the primitive persecutors. Written originally in Latin, by L.C.F. Lactantius. Made English by Gilbert Burnet, D.D. (now lord bishop of Sarum.) to which is added a large preface, concerning persecution by Lactantius

30 editions published between 1687 and 1766 in English and held by 439 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Lucii Coelii Lactantii Firmiani opera : quæ extant omnia : ad fidem codicum tam impressorum, quam manu scriptorum recensita by Lactantius

30 editions published between 1685 and 1979 in 3 languages and held by 360 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Lucii coelii Lactantii firmiani opera quæ extant by Lucius Caelius Firmianus Lactantius

22 editions published between 1660 and 1976 in Latin and Undetermined and held by 326 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

L'ouvrage du Dieu créateur by Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactance

26 editions published between 1973 and 1974 in 5 languages and held by 313 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

L. Caeli Firmiani Lactanti Epitome Divinarum institutionum by L. Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius

22 editions published between 1992 and 2012 in 3 languages and held by 311 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Source: worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n50041328/

Photo Credit: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Lucius_Caecilius_Firmianus_Lactantius

Words to Think About...

THEREFORE GOD IS ONE

"Therefore God is one, if that which admits of so great power can be nothing else: and yet those who deem that there are many gods, say that they have divided their functions among themselves; but we will discuss all these matters at their proper places."

- Lucius Caelius Lactantius (c.250–c.325) Early Christian Author

PROCLAIM AND DECLARE THE ONE GOD

"The prophets, who were very many, proclaim and declare the one God; for, being filled with the inspiration of the one God, they predicted things to come, with agreeing and harmonious voice."

- Lucius Caelius Lactantius (c.250–c.325) Early Christian Author

HE IS INCORRUPTIBLE AND ETERNAL

"But if destruction is far removed from God, because He is incorruptible and eternal, it follows that the divine power is incapable of division."

- Lucius Caelius Lactantius (c.250–c.325) Early Christian Author

FOR HE WHO RECKONS

"For he who reckons it a pleasure that a man, though justly condemned, should be slain in his sight, pollutes his conscience as much as if he should become a spectator and a sharer of a homicide which is secretly committed."

- Lucius Caelius Lactantius (c.250–c.325) Early Christian Author

NOBODY IS POOR

"Nobody is poor unless he stand in need of justice."

- Lucius Caelius Lactantius (c.250–c.325) Early Christian Author

WHERE FEAR IS PRESENT

"Where fear is present, wisdom cannot be."

- Lucius Caelius Lactantius (c.250–c.325) Early Christian Author

FOR IF GOD IS A TITLE

"For if God is a title of the highest power, He must be incorruptible, perfect, incapable of suffering, and subject to no other being; therefore they are not gods whom necessity compels to obey the one greatest God."

- Lucius Caelius Lactantius (c.250–c.325) Early Christian Author

156. M. R. DeHaan (1891–1965)

M. R. DeHaan (1891–1965) American Bible Teacher, Founder Radio Bible Class

ABOUT M. R. DEHAAN

Martin Ralph DeHaan (March 23, 1891 – December 13, 1965) was an American Bible teacher, the founder of Radio Bible Class, and the co-editor of the monthly devotional guide Our Daily Bread.

M. R. DeHaan was born in Zeeland, Michigan, to Reitze and Johanna Rozema DeHaan, emigrants from the Netherlands. After graduating from Zeeland High School in 1908, he attended Hope College in Holland, Michigan, for a year, before attending and graduating from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago in 1914.

DeHaan established a country practice in Byron Center, Michigan, about fourteen miles east of his home town. He enjoyed the work of a physician, especially when fast thinking allowed him to save or improve lives. He even diagnosed his own mother's diabetes by looking at her eyes and was able to prescribe insulin, only recently invented. The practice frequently pushed him near exhaustion, at no time more so than during the 1918 flu pandemic, when for five days he never took off his clothes.

Pastor

Although he had been reared in a devout home and was a regular churchgoer, DeHaan acquired "a rather stout appetite for alcohol" during his years of medical practice. In October 1921 he suffered a violent reaction to an injection of horse serum and hovered in critical condition at a Grand Rapids hospital, where he later wrote he "was born again of the Spirit". DeHaan said he had told God, "Spare my life and I'll serve You." Afterward, when a grateful patient presented DeHaan with a bottle of liquor, he emptied it down the drain. In the early spring of 1922, he returned home one day from house calls and told his wife, "I can't go on any longer. This is it!" He sold his medical practice, home, and office equipment and entered Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, practicing a bit of medicine on the side to pay the bills.

After graduating from seminary in 1925, DeHaan took his first pastorate at Calvary Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, where he attracted large audiences both at the church and on radio. Doctrinally he was Reformed but leaned toward premillennialism as expounded in the Scofield Reference Bible—even more so as he studied Scofield, William L. Pettingill, Harry Ironside, and James M. Gray. DeHaan's premillennialism shocked some of his Reformed brethren, but it was his refusal to perform infant baptism that caused the actual break with the Grand Rapids Classis of the Reformed Church in America.

In March 1929, DeHaan resigned from Calvary Reformed Church and founded the Calvary Undenominational Church in a nearby theater. By 1930 the congregation of 700 members had moved to a new auditorium, which seated 2000. Extra chairs were brought in to accommodate the overflow. However, in 1938, the church board fired the music director/youth minister without DeHaan's approval. DeHaan received approval of the congregation to rehire the minister and fire the board members. But when six men took legal action and obtained an injunction against DeHaan, he resigned. His health was also poor at the time; he had suffered his first heart attack in 1936 and another in 1938.

Bible Teacher

When he recovered, DeHaan began teaching Bible classes in weekday sessions, sometimes to a thousand listeners at a time. He also began broadcasting a half-hour program on the radio, at first in Detroit and then, by 1941, in Grand Rapids. Two national networks picked up the Radio Bible Class program, and its coverage grew to 600 stations around the world by the time of DeHaan's death. In 1956 DeHaan added the monthly Our Daily Bread devotional booklet to the sermons already being sent to listeners. DeHaan was not only an able Bible teacher but an astute businessman whom other broadcasters consulted to make their own operations more efficient. After Radio Bible Class dedicated a new building in 1958, DeHaan told an associate, "This thing is scaring me more than ever. I never envisioned this. I don't know why God ever picked me."

Personal life

In 1914, DeHaan married Priscilla Venhuizen, and they had four children, including Richard DeHaan, who succeeded his father as director of Radio Bible Class. It was a source of satisfaction to DeHaan that as a doctor he had delivered all four of his children and then as a clergyman had married all of them.

"Tact was not his strongest virtue." DeHaan was likely to crash his fist into his hand or his desk to emphasize a point to his staff and demand that things be done his way. However, he was not reluctant to apologize, and he also mellowed with the years.[ Once, he and his wife had a disagreement and said nothing to each other during breakfast. When it was time to read the devotional in Our Daily Bread, she pushed it under his nose and said, "Are you the man who wrote this?" It was an article on kindness and forbearance. "That did it," said DeHaan. "We had to make up right there."

DeHaan refused offers of honorary degrees, preferring to have only the M.D. after his name. He kept up with medical advances, offered medical advice in some of his messages and books, and once saved the life of a woman whose trachea had been blocked by a piece of chicken.

DeHaan reveled in simple hobbies such as vegetable gardening, fly fishing, beekeeping, and investigating abandoned houses. He disliked social engagements but enjoyed talking with radio listeners whom he met in his travels.

Death

In 1946, when DeHaan suffered a third heart attack and was sidelined for several months, his son Richard substituted for him. In February 1965, he experienced severe chest pains while preaching at Moody Bible Institute, and that proved to be his last public appearance. In July he was seriously injured in an automobile accident. Weakened by his heart condition, he died at home on December 13, 1965.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._R._DeHaan

QUOTES BY M. R. DEHAAN

BE ON GUARD AGAINST TAMPERING WITH THE WORD

"Be on guard against any tampering with the Word, whether disguised as a search for truth, or a scholarly attempt at apparently hidden meanings; and beware of the confusion created by the senseless rash of new versions, translations, editions, and improvements upon the tried and tested Bible of our fathers and grandfathers."

- M. R. DeHaan (1891–1965) American Bible Teacher, Radio Bible Class

THE SCRIPTURES WERE NOT GIVEN TO US TO CONFUSE US

"No, the Scriptures were not given to us to confuse us but rather to instruct us. Certainly God intends that we should believe His Word with all simplicity. A thousand years means a thousand years; a wolf means a wolf; a lion means a lion. If you read your Bible that way, a child can understand it."

- M. R. DeHaan (1891–1965) American Bible Teacher, Radio Bible Class

M. R. DEHAAN BOOKS AND SERMONS

DeHaan, M. R. (Martin Ralph), 1891-1965: Armageddon and the Day of the Lord: A Series of Bible Studies on the Coming Tribulation (ca. 1958) (multiple formats at archive.org)

DeHaan, M. R. (Martin Ralph), 1891-1965: Russia and the United Nations in Prophecy: What Saith the Scriptures? The Light of the Lamp of Prophecy on Recent World Events (Grand Rapids, MI: Radio Bible Class, ca. 1950) (multiple formats at archive.org)

DeHaan, M. R. (Martin Ralph), 1891-1965: Who Owns Palestine? (Grand Rapids, MI: Radio Bible Class, ca. 1950) (multiple formats at archive.org)

Simon Peter (1954)

The Tabernacle (1955)

Studies in First Corinthians (1956)

Jonah: Fact or Fiction? (1957)

”Hebrews: Twenty-Six Simple Studies In God’s Plan For Victorious Living” (1959)

Galatians: Twenty-Two Simple Studies in Paul's Teaching of Law and Grace (1960)

Law or Grace (1965)

The Days of Noah (1963)

Portraits of Christ in Genesis (1966)

Pentecost and After (1966)

508 Answers to Bible Questions

The Chemistry of the Blood (1943)

Broken Things

Adventures in Faith

The Jew and Palestine in Prophecy

Signs of the Times

The Second Coming of Jesus (1944)

Revelation

Daniel the Prophet

The Romance of Redemption

Genesis and Evolution

Coming Events in Prophecy

Dear Doctor, I Have a Problem

Our Daily Bread

Bread for Each Day

Photo Credit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._R._DeHaan

Words to Think About...

EVERY BORN-AGAIN BELEIVER

"Every born-again believer is a member of that body and lives the common life of every other member by the one thing which unites them and makes them "relatives and brothers," even the blood of Christ."

- M. R. DeHaan (1891–1965) American Bible Teacher, Founder of Radio Bible Class

BEFORE AN INDIVIDUAL CAN BE SAVED

"Before an individual can be saved, he must first learn that he cannot save himself."

- M. R. DeHaan (1891–1965) American Bible Teacher, Radio Bible Class

HUMILITY IS SOMETHING

"Humility is something we should constantly pray for, yet never thank God that we have."

- M. R. DeHaan (1891–1965) American Bible Teacher, Radio Bible Class

LET ME REPEAT THAT

"Let me repeat that no greater curse has ever afflicted the Church of Jesus Christ than the curse of spiritualizing Scripture, that is, making Scripture mean something other than its literal meaning... Instead of spiritualizing, it is 'demonizing' of the Scriptures, for if any 'spirit' has anything to do with that school of Scripture interpretation it must be an 'evil spirit.'"

- M. R. DeHaan (1891–1965) American Bible Teacher, Radio Bible Class

THE BIBLE CLAIMS FOR ITSELF

"The Bible claims for itself that it is a "living" Book and the only living Book in the world and is able to impart life to those who will believe with their hearts what it teaches."

- M. R. DeHaan (1891–1965) American Bible Teacher, Radio Bible Class

EVERY BORN-AGAIN BELIEVER

- M. R. DeHaan (1891–1965) American Bible Teacher, Radio Bible Class

WE NEED NOT ALL AGREE

"We need not all agree, but if we disagree, let us not be disagreeable in our disagreements."

- M. R. DeHaan (1891–1965) American Bible Teacher, Radio Bible Class

TO BECOME THE SONS OF GOD

"Why God should choose the meanest, basest, most unworthy individuals with absolutely nothing to commend them at all to God, except their miserable, lost condition, and then exalt them to become the sons of God, members of the divine family, and use them for His glory, is beyond all reason and human understanding. Yet that is grace."

- M. R. DeHaan (1891–1965) American Bible Teacher, Radio Bible Class

WHEN WE ARE ACCUSED OF PREACHING

"When we are accused of preaching a Gospel of blood we proudly plead guilty to the charge for the only thing that gives life to our teaching and power to the Word of God is the fact that it is the blood which is the very life and power of the Gospel."

- M. R. DeHaan (1891–1965) American Bible Teacher, Radio Bible Class

THE TRUE CHURCH PREACHES

"The true Church preaches REGENERATION; not reformation, not education, not legislation, but regeneration."

- M. R. DeHaan (1891–1965) American Bible Teacher, Radio Bible Class

157. MadamE Jeanne Guyon (1648 -1717)

Madam Jeanne Guyon (1648 -1717) French Christian

ABOUT MADAME GUYON

Madame Jeanne Guyon was one of the main leaders and writers of the seventeenth century movement known as Quietism, which downplayed the importance of works in religion and emphasized a total surrender to God.

Soon after her marriage as a teenager to a wealthy middle-aged nobleman, Jeanne came to realize that true happiness could only be found in devotion to God. She turned her back on high society life and spent her time reading devotional books and doing charitable works. She became influential in the French courts, where she helped many women live a pure life. Her teachings were in sharp contrast to the lavish and sexually immoral culture of the day.

After the death of her husband, Jeanne dedicated herself entirely to Christian ministry. She traveled through the towns of France and Switzerland, reaching out to all segments of society, sharing her insights on how to live a holy life. Hers was not a public ministry, but mainly one of personal evangelism, challenging people to live a holy life by placing their faith in Christ.

While respected by many, Madam Guyon was often despised by the Church and spent several years in prison for her teachings on the possibility of knowing God on a personal level. Though her church leaders often despised her, she remained true to her Catholic roots until death. Despite the controversy she causes, her writings were embraced by both Catholics and Protestants in France, Germany, Holland, and England, sparking personal revival as her follows were drawn into a more personal relationship with God with a deeper devotion to Him.

Source: historyswomen.com/women-of-faith/madame-jeanne-guyon/

GREAT SAINT OF THE 17TH CENTURY

That great saint of the 17th Century, Madam Jeanne Guyon, encouraged people to "pray the Scriptures." She said that "praying the Scriptures" was not judged by how much was read, but by the way it was read. She said that reading quickly was like "a bee skimming the surface of a flower, but praying the Scriptures" was like the bee penetrating into the depths of the flower to remove the deepest nectar.

QUOTES BY MADAME GUYON

WHEN THOU CANST NOT FIND THYSELF

"When thou canst not find thyself, nor any good, then rejoice that all things are rendered unto God."

– Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) French Noblewoman, Christian Leader

BE THE FRIEND OF GOD

"Be so much the enemy of self as you desire to be the friend of God."

– Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) French Noblewoman, Christian Leader

GOD CAUSES US TO PROMISE

"God causes us to promise in time of peace what He exacts from us in time of war; He enables us to make our abandonments in joy, but He requires the fulfilment of them in the midst of much bitterness."

– Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) French Noblewoman, Christian Leader

WHICH OF THE TWO WOULD THE PERFECT SOUL CHOOSE?

"Which of the two would the perfect soul choose, if the choice were presented, to love God, or to be loved by Him?"

– Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) French Noblewoman, Christian Leader

THE HOLY SPIRIT ALONE CAN TEACH

"It is in vain for man to endeavor to instruct man in those things which the Holy Spirit alone can teach."

– Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) French Noblewoman, Christian Leader

FAITH AND THE CROSS ARE INDESPARABLE

"Faith and the cross are inseparable: the cross is the shrine of faith, and faith is the light of the cross."

– Madam Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) French Noblewoman, Christian Leader

BE DELIVERED FROM THE LIFE OF SELF

"How can they be delivered from the life of self, who are not willing to abandon all their possessions? How can they believe themselves despoiled of all, who possess the greatest treasure under heaven? Do not oblige me to name it, but judge, if you are enlightened; there is one of them which is less than the other, which is lost before it, but which those who must lose everything have the greatest trouble in parting with."

– Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) French Noblewoman, Christian Leader

I HAVE NEVER FOUND ANY WHO PRAYED SO WELL

"I have never found any who prayed so well as those who had never been taught how. They who have no master in man, have one in the Holy Spirit."

– Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) French Noblewoman, Christian Leader

A SOUL IN AN ABSOLUTE ABANDONMENT

"How rare is it to behold a soul in an absolute abandonment of selfish interests, that it may devote itself to the interests of God!"

– Madam Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) French Noblewoman, Christian Leader

HOW ARE WE DIRECTED TO LOVE OURSELVES?

"How are we directed in the law to love ourselves? In God with the same love that we bear to God; because as our true selves are in Him, our love must be there also."

– Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) French Noblewoman, Christian Leader

MADAME GUYON BOOKS AND SERMONS

Life and Religious Opinions and Experience by Madam De La Mothe Guyon - PDF Book

Autobiography of Madame Guyon - PDF Book

Concise View Of The Way To God; And Of The State Of Union (18 pages)

A Short And Easy Method Of Prayer (57 pages)

Poems By Madame Guyon (Translated By Cowper) (65 pages)

Spiritual Progress: Or Instructions In The Divine Life Of The Soul

(206 pages)

Experiencing God Through Prayer by Madame Jeanne Guyon

Letters of Jeanne Guyon by Madame Jeanne Guyon

Song of the Bride by Madame Jeanne Guyon

Photo Credit: testimoniesawakening.com/the-awakening-of-madame-guyon//

Words to Think About...

GOD'S DESIGNS REGARDING YOU

"God’s designs regarding you, and His methods of bringing about these designs, are infinitely wise."

– Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) French Noblewoman, Christian Leader

COMMENCEMENT OF SPIRITUAL LIFE

"In the commencement of the spiritual life, our hardest task is to bear with our neighbor; in its progress, with ourselves, and in its end, with God."

– Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) French Noblewoman, Christian Leader

SELF-SEEKING IS THE GATE

"Self-seeking is the gate by which a soul departs from peace; and total abandonment to the will of God, that by which it returns."

– Madam Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) French Noblewoman, Christian Leader

NOTHING BUT THE WILL OF GOD

"He who has learned to seek nothing but the will of God, shall always find what he seeks."

– Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) French Noblewoman, Christian Leader

NO COMFORT BUT IN GOD ONLY

"All consolation that does not come from God is but desolation; when the soul has learned to receive no comfort but in God only, it has passed beyond the reach of desolation."

– Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) French Noblewoman, Christian Leader

WHY SHOULD WE COMPLAIN

"Why should we complain that we have been stripped of the divine virtues, if we had not hidden them away as our own? Why should we complain of a loss, if we had no property in the thing lost? or why does deprivation give us so much pain, except because of the appropriation we had made of that which was taken away?"

– Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) French Noblewoman, Christian Leader

GOD GIVES US GIFTS

"God gives us gifts, graces, and natural talents, not for our own use, but that we may render them to Him. He takes pleasure in giving and in taking them away, or in so disposing of us, that we cannot enjoy them; but their grand use is to be offered in a continual sacrifice to Him; and by this He is most glorified."

– Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) French Noblewoman, Christian Leader

LOSING ALL THINGS FOR HIS GLORY

"God is infinitely more honored by the sacrifices of death than by those of life; by the latter we honor Him as a great Sovereign, but by the former, as God, losing all things for his glory."

– Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) French Noblewoman, Christian Leader

TO ROB GOD OF NOTHING

"To rob God of nothing; to refuse Him nothing; to require of Him nothing; this is great perfection."

– Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) French Noblewoman, Christian Leader

SOME SAINTS HAVE BEEN SANCTIFIED

"Some saints have been sanctified by the easy and determined practice of all the virtues, but there are others who owe their sanctification to having endured with perfect resignation the privation of every virtue."

– Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) French Noblewoman, Christian Leader

BE THE FRIEND OF GOD

"Be so much the enemy of self as you desire to be the friend of God."

– Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) French Noblewoman, Christian Leader

PRAYER IS THE KEY TO PERFECTION

"Prayer is the key of perfection and of sovereign happiness; it is the efficacious means of getting rid of all vices and of acquiring all virtues; for the way to become perfect is to live in the presence of God."

– Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) French Noblewoman, Christian Leader

158. Martin Luther (1483-1546)

Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest and Theology Professor

ABOUT MARTIN LUTHER

How do you introduce the great Protestant reformer Martin Luther in under 1,000 words—plus a picture or two? His life, his works, his doctrines, his impact? One standard biography (Brecht) runs 1,300 pages. I might omit a few things, but here goes.

Martin LutherMartin Luther was born in the small central-German town of Eisleben on November 10, 1483; there he also died, February 18, 1546. At Luther’s birth, the spiritual state of the western church was at one of its lowest ebbs in history. At Luther’s death, the political fortunes of his movement of spiritual renewal were at their lowest ebb. In 1546, the combined forces of pope and emperor threatened to eradicate from Germany the reform Luther had begun. In April, less than two months after Luther’s death, the Roman Catholic Council of Trent officially decreed that the only valid interpretation of the Bible—was theirs! Then in July, forces of Emperor Charles V clashed with those of the “Schmalkaldic League” of Protestant territories, routing them completely by the following year. Even Luther’s city of Wittenberg was captured and its prince deposed. An outside observer might reasonably have seen the events of the year 1546 as marking the end of the Protestant Reformation—at least in Germany.

Who was the man behind this constantly imperiled movement of reform? Luther began what might have remained a typical late-medieval academic career. Luther was educated and then began teaching in Erfurt (1501-11). Soon after earning his master of arts degree (1505), however, he abandoned a career in law and entered the Augustinian monastery there in Erfurt. Ecclesiastical affairs made for a memorable trip to Rome early in 1511. 1511 also brought Luther’s transfer (permanently, as it turns out) to a teaching post at the University of Wittenberg, secured by the completion of his doctorate in theology the following year (1512).

The ‘typical’ Luther ends on October 31, 1517—what has come to be known as Reformation Day—when he posted his ninety-five theses on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg. These theses condemned the Roman Catholic Church’s sale of indulgences and much of its penitential system. Luther engaged his theological opponents in debate in Heidelberg in 1518, but it took until June of 1520 before Pope Leo X issued his bull Exsurge Domine, giving Luther sixty days to recant or face excommunication. Luther missed his deadline, however, in part because he was busy with three remarkable treatises: his address To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (August), appealing to the Protestant political leaders to take responsibility for the Reformation; The Babylonian Captivity of the Church (October), exposing the biblical and theological problems with Catholic teaching on the sacraments; and The Freedom of a Christian (November), brilliantly explaining the doctrine of justification by faith alone and the role of good works in a believer’s life. Thus by 1520 Luther had acquired an international profile and so was summoned to appear at the annual assembly of the governmental leaders of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1521, this imperial “diet” was held in Worms—hence the unsavory English designation “the Diet of Worms.” Yuck! It was at this diet that Luther gave his famous “Here I stand!” speech, after which a staged kidnapping whisked him away into nine months of safekeeping at the Wartburg Castle in Eisenach.

When the threat of assassination subsided in 1522, Luther returned to Wittenberg and took up again his university and pastoral duties. Luther’s remaining years were occupied less with deconstructing Catholic errors and abuses, and more with constructing Protestant doctrine and practice. 1522 saw the publication of his German New Testament (complete German Bible in 1534). 1524 saw the first Protestant hymnbook (eight songs, four by Luther). Betrothal to Katherine von Bora came rather unexpectedly in 1525, yet Martin and Katie enjoyed a wonderful marriage, which included six natural and four adopted children. Luther composed his much-beloved Small Catechism in 1529.

In 1530, the spread of Protestantism within and beyond Germany once again dominated the agenda of the imperial diet, held this year in Augsburg. Luther could not risk an appearance this time, however, and so was preemptively barricaded in the mighty fortress in Coburg. (While Luther may already have written his most famous hymn, it only appeared in print in 1531.) At the diet, the German Protestants, led by Luther’s friend and University of Wittenberg colleague Philipp Melanchthon, presented the Augsburg Confession of their faith to Emperor Charles V. Charles gave them one year to recant or face military action. In response, Protestant territories formed the Schmalkaldic League (1531), but it was another fifteen years before war actually broke out.

During these final fifteen years, Luther devoted himself to lecturing through books of the Bible (he gave his famous Galatians lectures in 1531; the remarkable Genesis lectures ran from 1535-45!), to preaching, and to the pastoral training of the many Protestants who flocked to Wittenberg to study under him.

Sadly, over half of the Reformation’s initial converts eventually went back to Rome. But by God’s grace Luther had succeeded in making the Bible itself, and its teaching of justification by faith alone, too widely available for the Reformation simply to have gone the way of the various medieval reform movements that Rome had eventually brushed aside.

Source: biola.edu/blogs/good-book-blog/2011/martin-luther-1483-1546

QUOTES BY MARTIN LUTHER

EVERY MAN MUST DO TWO THINGS ALONE

"Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

I STUDY MY BIBLE LIKE I GATHER APPLES

“I study my Bible like I gather apples. First, I shake the whole tree that the ripest may fall. Then I shake each limb, and when I have shaken each limb, I shake each branch and every twig. Then I look under every leaf. I search the Bible as a whole like shaking the whole tree. Then I shake every limb–study book after book. Then I shake every branch, giving attention to the chapters. Then I shake every twig, or a careful study of the paragraphs and sentences and words and their meanings.”

– Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

IF YOU YOUNG FELLOWS WERE WISE

"If you young fellows were wise, the devil couldn't do anything to you, but since you aren't wise, you need us who are old."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

THE CALLING WHICH GOD HAS PLACED YOU

"Next to faith this is the highest art - to be content with the calling in which God has placed you."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

WHOSO HEARKENS NOT TO THE VOICE OF GOD

"Whoso hearkens not to God's voice, is an idolator, though he perform the highest and most heavy service of God."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

GOD WRITES THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS

"God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

NOT BY OUR OWN EXTRANEOUS RIGHTEOUSNESS

"For God does not want to save us by our own but by an extraneous righteousness, one that does not originate in ourselves but comes to us from beyond ourselves, which does not arise on earth but comes from heaven."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

IF WE DO NOT USE THE RESOURCES AVAILABLE

"If we don't use the resources available to us but instead want other resources we don't have, then we're testing God. This is what Satan wanted Christ to do."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

MUSIC MAKES PEOPLE MILDER AND GENTLER

"Music is a discipline, and a mistress of order and good manners, she makes the people milder and gentler, more moral and more reasonable."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

MEN TOIL FOR THEM DAY AND NIGHT

"Riches are the pettiest and least worthy gifts which God can give a man. What are they to God's Word, to bodily gifts, such as beauty and health; or to the gifts of the mind, such as understanding, skill, wisdom! Yet men toil for them day and night, and take no rest. Therefore God commonly gives riches to foolish people to whom he gives nothing else."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

LET THE WIFE MAKE THE HUSBAND GLAD TO COME HOME

"Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

IN OUR SAD CONDITION

"In our sad condition our only consolation is the expectancy of another life."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

JUSTICE IS A TEMPROARY THING

"Justice is a temporary thing that must at last come to an end; but the conscience is eternal and will never die."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

A CROWN OF THORNS

"They gave our Master a crown of thorns. Why do we hope for a crown of roses?"

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

FAITH IS A LIVING UNSHAKABLE CONFIDENCE

"Faith is a living and unshakable confidence, a belief in the grace of God so assured that a man would die a thousand deaths for its sake."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

ABBA (FATHER) IS ONLY A LITTLE WORD

"'Abba' is only a little word, and yet contains everything. It is not the mouth but the heart’s affection which speaks like this. Even if I am oppressed with anguish and terror on every side, and seem to be forsaken and utterly cast away from your presence, yet am I Your child, and You are my Father. For Christ’s sake: I am loved because of the Beloved. So this little word, “Abba,” Father, deeply felt in the heart, surpasses all the eloquence of Demosthenes, Cicero, and the most eloquent speakers that ever lived. This matter is not expressed with words, but with groanings, and these groanings cannot be uttered with any words of eloquence, for no tongue can express them"

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Religious Reformer

MARTIN LUTHER SAID ONCE

Martin Luther said once, 'If I were God, I'd kick the world to pieces.' But Martin Luther wasn't God. God is God, and God has never kicked the world to pieces. He keeps re-entering the world. He keeps offering himself to the world by grace, keeps somehow blessing the world, making possible a kind of life which we all, in our deepest being, hunger for.

- Frederick Buechner (1926-2022) American Minister and Writer

MARTIN LUTHER, WHEN HE WALKED IN THE WOODS

Martin Luther, when he walked in the woods, used to raise his hat to the birds and say, ‘Good morning, theologians—you wake and sing, but I, old fool, know less than you and worry over everything, instead of simply trusting in the heavenly Father’s care."

– Richard Wurmbrand (1909-2001) – Romanian Pastor, Spent 14 Years in Communist Prisons

MARTIN LUTHER BOOKS AND SERMONS

Luther, Martin, 1483-1546: The Bondage of the Will, trans. by Henry Cole (HTML at graciouscall.org)
Luther, Martin, 1483-1546: A Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (abridged translation), trans. by Theodore Graebner
- HTML at Project Wittenberg
- Gutenberg text
Luther, Martin, 1483-1546: Concerning Christian Liberty (see also On the Freedom of a Christian) (Gutenberg text)
Luther, Martin, 1483-1546, trans.: Die Bibel, oder Die ganze Heilige Schrift des Alten und Neuen Testaments nach der deutschen Uebersetzung Dr. Martin Luthers. (in German; Leipzig: P. Reclam, 1847) (page images at HathiTrust)
Luther, Martin, 1483-1546: Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences (also known as the 95 theses)
- HTML at Project Wittenberg
- HTML at Bartleby
Luther, Martin, 1483-1546: An Exhortation to the Diligent Studye of Scripture, Made by Erasmus Roterodamus, And Traslated in to Inglissh; An Exposition in to the Seventh Chaptre of the First Pistle to the Corinthians (Erasmus's work in this volume is also known as the Paraclesis; Antwerp, 1529), also by Desiderius Erasmus, trans. by William Roy (HTML at EEBO TCP)
Luther, Martin, 1483-1546, contrib.: An Explanation of Luther's Small Catechism: A Handbook for the Catechetical Class (1910), by Joseph Stump (Gutenberg text)
Luther, Martin, 1483-1546, contrib.: An Explanation of Luther's Small Catechism: A Handbook for the Catechetical Class (revised edition, 1935), by Joseph Stump (HTML and PDF at ctsfw.edu)
Luther, Martin, 1483-1546: The Jews and Their Lies (Los Angeles: Christian Nationalist Crusade, 1948) (multiple formats at archive.org)
Luther, Martin, 1483-1546: The Jews and Their Lies (based on 1948 translation of portions of "Von dem Juden und Iren Lugen" with commentary; Boring, OR: CPA Book Publisher, n.d.) (multiple formats at archive.org)
Luther, Martin, 1483-1546: Large Catechism, trans. by F. Bente and W. H. T. Dau
- text files at Project Wittenberg
- Gutenberg text
Luther, Martin, 1483-1546: On the Freedom of a Christian (see also Address to the German Nobility Concerning Christian Liberty) (HTML at Fordham)
Luther, Martin, 1483-1546: An Open Letter on Translating, trans. by Gary Mann (Gutenberg text)
Luther, Martin, 1483-1546, contrib.: The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli; Utopia, by Sir Thomas More; Ninety-Five Theses, Address to the German Nobility, Concerning Christian Liberty, by Martin Luther; With Introductions and Notes (Harvard Classics v36; New York: P. F. Collier and Son, c1910), ed. by Charles William Eliot and William Allan Neilson, trans. by Ninian Hill Thomson, Ralph Robinson, R. S. Grignon, and C. A. Buchheim, also contrib. by Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas More, and William Roper
Luther, Martin, 1483-1546, trans.: Ruth (German translation of the Book of Ruth; Leipzig: im Insel-Verlag, ca. 1914) (page images at HathiTrust; US access only)
Luther, Martin, 1483-1546: Selections From the Table Talk of Martin Luther, ed. by Henry Morley, trans. by Henry Bell (Gutenberg text)
Luther, Martin, 1483-1546: Small Catechism, trans. by Robert E. Smith (Gutenberg text)
Luther, Martin, 1483-1546: The Table Talk of Martin Luther, trans. by William Hazlitt (multiple formats at CCEL)
Luther, Martin, 1483-1546: A Treatise Concerning the Blessed Sacrament of the Holy and True Body of Christ, and Concerning the Brotherhoods, 1519 (extract from volume II of Works of Martin Luther; Philadelphia: A. J. Holman Co., 1916), contrib. by J. J. Schindel
- page images at HathiTrust; US access only
- as part of the Works volume: page images at archive.org
Luther, Martin, 1483-1546: Von den Jüden und Iren Lügen (in German; Wittenberg: H. Lufft, 1543) (page images in Germany)

Source: onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Luther%2C%20Martin%2C%201483%2D1546

Photo Credit: biography.com/religious-figure/martin-luther

Words to Think About...

I KNOW NOT THE WAY

"I know not the way God leads me, but well do I know my Guide."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Religious Reformer

I HAVE HELD MANY THINGS

"I have held many things in my hands, and have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

LORD GOD, I THANK THEE

"Lord God, I thank thee that thou hast been pleased to make me a poor and indigent man upon earth. I have neither house nor land nor money to leave behind me."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Religious Reformer

DELAYED PRAYER

"None can believe how powerful prayer is, and what it is able to effect, but those who have learned it by experience. It is a great matter when in extreme need to take hold on prayer. I know whenever I have prayed earnestly that I have been amply heard, and have obtained more than I prayed for. God indeed sometimes delayed, but at last He came."

- Martin Luther 1483-1546) German Theologian

A TRUE CHRISTIAN

“A true Christian lives and labors on earth not for himself but for his neighbor. Therefore the whole spirit of his life impels him to do even that which he needs not do, but which is profitable and necessary for his neighbor.”

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

WHEN I AM INSPIRED

"I never work better than when I am inspired by anger; for when I am angry, I can write, pray, and preach well, for then my whole temperament is quickened, my understanding sharpened, and all mundane vexations and temptations depart."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

FAITH FROM THE HEART

"All who call on God in true faith, earnestly from the heart, will certainly be heard, and will receive what they have asked and desired."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Religious Reformer

YOUR THOUGHTS OF GOD

"Your thoughts of God are too human."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

NEITHER SAFE NOR PRUDENT

"It is neither safe nor prudent to do anything against conscience."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

WHEN EVE WAS BROUGHT TO ADAM

"When Eve was brought unto Adam, he became filled with the Holy Spirit, and gave her the most sanctified, the most glorious of appellations. He called her Eva, that is to say, the Mother of All. He did not style her wife, but simply mother, mother of all living creatures. In this consists the glory and the most precious ornament of woman."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

FORGIVENESS IS GOD'S COMMAND

"Forgiveness is God's command."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Religious Reformer

THE DUTY OF EVERY CHRISTIAN

"It is the duty of every Christian to be Christ to his neighbor."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

FAITH CANNOT BE INHERITED

“Faith cannot be inherited or gained by being baptized into a Church. Faith is a matter between the individual and God.”

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Religious Reformer

IN THE BONDS OF DEATH

"In the bonds of Death He lay Who for our offense was slain; But the Lord is risen today, Christ hath brought us life again, Wherefore let us all rejoice, Singing loud, with cheerful voice, Hallelujah!"

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

EVERYTHING THAT IS DONE

"Everything that is done in the world is done by hope."

– Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Theologian

RECONCILED TO GOD

"Christ took our sins and the sins of the whole world as well as the Father's wrath on his shoulders, and he has drowned them both in himself so that we are thereby reconciled to God and become completely righteous."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

THE TRUEST REPENTANCE

"To do so no more is the truest repentance."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

THE HEART OF A GIVER

"The heart of the giver makes the gift dear and precious."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

GRACE WORKS HOPE AND MERCY

"The law works fear and wrath; grace works hope and mercy."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

PLEASURE AND PRIDE

"The God of this world is riches, pleasure and pride."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

THERE IS NO MORE LOVELY

"There is no more lovely, friendly or charming relationship, communion or company, than a good marriage."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

UNDERSTANDING IS A GIFT FROM GOD

"Riches, understanding, beauty, are fair gifts of God."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

WIFE MAKES THE HUSBAND GLAD

"Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

LAUGH IN HEAVEN

“If you’re not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don’t want to go there.”

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

EVERY WEEK I PREACH JUSTIFICATION

"Every week I preach justification by faith to my people, because every week they forget it."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

TO GATHER WITH GOD'S PEOPLE

"To gather with God's people in united adoration of the Father is as necessary to the Christian life as prayer."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Religious Reformer

THE LAW WORKS FEAR AND WRATH

"The law works fear and wrath; grace works hope and mercy."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

A LIE IS LIKE A SNOWBALL

"A lie is like a snowball: the further you roll it the bigger it becomes."

- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest, Theologian

IF THOU ART WISE

"If thou art wise thou knowest thine own ignorance; and thou art ignorant if thou knowest not thyself."

159. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891)

Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891) British War Hero, Minister

ABOUT MARTYN LLOYD-JONES

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (20 December 1899 – 1 March 1981) was a Welsh Protestant minister, preacher and medical doctor who was influential in the Reformed wing of the British evangelical movement in the 20th century. For almost 30 years, he was the minister of Westminster Chapel in London.

Early Life and ministry

Lloyd-Jones was born in Cardiff and raised in Llangeitho, Ceredigion. His father was a grocer, and he had two brothers: Harold died during the 1918 flu pandemic, while Vincent went on to become a High Court judge. Llangeitho is associated with the Welsh Methodist revival, as it was the location of Daniel Rowland's ministry. Attending a London grammar school between 1914 and 1917 and then St Bartholomew's Hospital as a medical student, in 1921 he started work as assistant to the Royal Physician, Sir Thomas Horder. Lloyd-Jones obtained an MD from London University, and became a Member of the Royal College of Physicians. After struggling for two years over what he sensed was a calling to preach, in 1927 Lloyd-Jones returned to Wales, having married Bethan Phillips (with whom he later had two children, Elizabeth and Ann), accepting an invitation to minister at a church in Aberavon (Port Talbot).

Westminster Chapel

After a decade ministering in Aberavon, in 1939 he went back to London, where he had been appointed as associate pastor of Westminster Chapel, working alongside G. Campbell Morgan. The day before he was officially to be accepted into his new position, World War II broke out in Europe. During the same year, he became the president of the Inter-Varsity Fellowship of Students (known today as the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship (UK)). During the war he and his family moved to Haslemere, Surrey. In 1943 Morgan retired, leaving Lloyd-Jones as the sole Pastor of Westminster Chapel.

Lloyd-Jones was well known for his style of expository preaching, and the Sunday morning and evening meetings at which he officiated drew crowds of several thousand, as did the Friday evening Bible studies, which were, in effect, sermons in the same style. He would take many months, even years, to expound a chapter of the Bible verse by verse. His sermons would often be around fifty minutes to an hour in length, attracting many students from universities and colleges in London. His sermons were also transcribed and printed (virtually verbatim) in the weekly Westminster Record, which was read avidly by those who enjoyed his preaching.

Later life

Lloyd-Jones retired from his ministry at Westminster Chapel in 1968, following a major operation. For the rest of his life, he concentrated on editing his sermons to be published, counselling other ministers, answering letters and attending conferences. Perhaps his most famous publication is a 14 volume series of commentaries on the Epistle to the Romans, the first volume of which was published in 1970.

Despite spending most of his life living and ministering in England, Lloyd-Jones was proud of his roots in Wales. He best expressed his concern for his home country through his support of the Evangelical Movement of Wales: he was a regular speaker at their conferences, preaching in both English and Welsh. Since his death, the movement has published various books, in English and Welsh, bringing together selections of his sermons and articles.

Lloyd-Jones preached for the last time on 8 June 1980 at Barcombe Baptist Chapel. After a lifetime of work, he died peacefully in his sleep at Ealing on 1 March 1981, St David's Day. He was buried at Newcastle Emlyn, near Cardigan, west Wales. A well-attended thanksgiving service was held at Westminster Chapel on 6 April.

Since his death, there have been various publications regarding Lloyd-Jones and his work, most popularly a biography in two volumes by Iain Murray

QUOTES BY MARTYN LLOYD-JONES

AS CHRISTIANS WE SHOULD NEVER FEEL SORRY FOR OURSELVES

"As Christians we should never feel sorry for ourselves. The moment we do so, we lose our energy, we lose the will to fight and the will to live, and are paralyzed."

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891) Welsh Protestant Minister, Doctor

HOW DO WE KNOW IF A MAN IS A CHRISTIAN?

"How do you know whether a man is a Christian? The answer is that his mouth is “shut”. I like this forthrightness of the Gospel. People need to have their mouths shut, “stopped”. They are forever talking about God, and criticizing God, and pontificating about what God should or should not do, and asking, “Why does God allow this and that?” You do not begin to be a Christian until your mouth is shut, is stopped, and you are speechless and have nothing to say."

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891) Welsh Protestant Minister, Doctor

READY TO FORGIVE ANYBODY ANYTHING

"Whenever I see myself before God and realize something of what my blessed Lord has done for me at Calvary, I am ready to forgive anybody anything. I cannot withhold it. I do not even want to withhold it."

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891) Welsh Protestant Minister, Doctor

Source: mljtrust.org/meet-mlj/

SOME DIM GLIMPSE OF THE MAJESTY

"I can forgive a man for a bad sermon, I can forgive the preacher almost anything if he gives me a sense of God, if he gives me something for my soul, if he gives me the sense that, though he is inadequate himself, he is handling something which is very great and very glorious, if he gives me some dim glimpse of the majesty and the glory of God, the love of Christ my Saviour, and the magnificence of the Gospel. If he does that I am his debtor, and I am profoundly grateful to him."

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891) Welsh Protestant Minister, Doctor

YOUR TEMPORARY TROUBLES AND ILLS OF THIS LIFE

"The main trouble with the Christian Church today is that she is too much like a clinic, too much like a hospital; that is why the great world is going to hell outside! Look at the great campaign, look at it objectively, look at it from God's standpoint. Forget yourself and your temporary troubles and ills for the moment; fight in the army. It is not a clinic you need; you must realize that we are in a barracks, and that we are involved in a mighty campaign."

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891) Welsh Protestant Minister, Doctor

SO THE CROSS DOES NOT MERELY TELL US THAT GOD FORGIVES

"So the Cross does not merely tell us that God forgives, it tells us that that is God’s way of making forgiveness possible. It is the way in which we understand how God forgives. I will go further: How can God forgive and still remain God? – That is the question. The Cross is the vindication of God. The Cross is the vindication of the character of God. The Cross not only shows the love of God more gloriously than anything else, it shows His righteousness, His justice, His holiness, and all the glory of His eternal attributes. They are all to be seen shining together there. If you do not see them all you have not seen the Cross."

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891) Welsh Protestant Minister, Doctor

THIS IS SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS TO YOU

"This is something that happens to you: it is God dealing with you, and God acting upon you by His Spirit; it is something you become aware of rather than what you do. It is thrust upon you; it is presented to you and almost forced upon you constantly in this way."

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891) Welsh Protestant Minister, Doctor

WE MUST NOT CONCENTRATE ON OUR FEELINGS

"We must not concentrate overmuch upon our feelings. Do not spend too much time feeling your own pulse taking your own spiritual temperature, do not spend too much time analyzing your feelings. That is the high road to morbidity."

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891) Welsh Protestant Minister, Doctor

WHEN MAN TRUELY BELIEVES WHAT HE IS MEANT TO BE UNDER GOD

"When man truly becomes what he is meant to be under God he then begins to realize what faculties and propensities he has, and he begins to use them. And so you will find that the greatest periods and epochs in the history of countries have always been those eras that have followed in the wake of great religious reformation and revivals."

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891) Welsh Protestant Minister, Doctor

MARTYN LLOYD-JONES BOOKS AND SERMONS

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones and Twentieth Century Evangelicalism - John Frederick Brencher - PDF Book

Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled - by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Revival - by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Life in Christ - by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

The Assurance of Our Salvation - by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Great Doctrines of the Bible - by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

The Gospel in Genesis - by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

A Merciful and Faithful High Priest - by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Seeking the Face of God - by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

The Cross - by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Setting Our Affections upon Glory - by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Living Water - by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Out of the Depths - by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Acts - by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

The Christ-Centered Preaching of Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Experiencing the New Birth - by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

True Happiness - by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Why Does God Allow War? - by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Truth Unchanged, Unchanging - by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Articles:

Photo Credit: yinkahdinay.wordpress.com/2014/12/16/martyn-lloyd-jones-on-apostasy-and-taking-a-stand/

Words to Think About...

THE GOSPEL IS OPEN TO ALL

"The gospel is open to all; the most respectable sinner has no more claim on it than the worst."

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891) Welsh Protestant Minister, Doctor

TO BE A CHRISTIAN

"To be a Christian is not only to believe the teaching of Christ, and to practice it; it is not only to try to follow the pattern and example of Christ; it is to be so vitally related to Christ that His life and His power are working in us. It is to be “in Christ,” it is for Christ to be in us."

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891) Welsh Protestant Minister, Doctor

THE MAJESTY AND THE GLORY

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891) Welsh Protestant Minister, Doctor

CONVICTION OF SIN

"What gives us conviction of sin is not the number of sins we have committed; it is the sight of the holiness of God.”

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891) Welsh Protestant Minister, Doctor

CONVICTION IS NOT REPENTANCE

“Conviction is not repentance; conviction leads to repentance. But you can be convicted without repentance.”

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891) Welsh Protestant Minister, Doctor

IT WAS GOD'S HAND

"It was God’s hand that laid hold of me, and drew me out, and separated me to this work."

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891) Welsh Protestant Minister, Doctor

TEST OF OUR SPIRITUALITY

"The ultimate test of our spirituality is the measure of our amazement at the grace of God."

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891) Welsh Protestant Minister, Doctor

A DEPRESSED CHRISTIAN

"A depressed Christian is a contradiction in terms, and he is a very poor recommendation for the gospel. Nothing is more important, therefore, than that we should be delivered from a condition which gives other people, looking at us, the impression that to be a Christian means to be unhappy, to be sad, to be morbid, and that the Christian is one who "scorns delights and lives laborious days."

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891) Welsh Protestant Minister, Doctor

THE GLORY AND THE GREATNESS

"Be natural; forget yourself; be so absorbed in what you are doing and in the realisation of the presence of God, and in the glory and the greatness of the Truth that you are preaching, and the occasion that brings you together, that you forget yourself completely. That is the right condition; that is the only place of safety; that is the only way in which you can honour God. Self is the greatest enemy of the preacher, more so than in the case of any other man in society. And the only way to deal with self is to be so taken up with, and so enraptured by, the glory of what you are doing, that you forget yourself altogether."

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891) Welsh Protestant Minister, Doctor

GLORY OF THE GOSPEL

"The glory of the gospel is that when the church is absolutely different from the world, she invariably attracts it."

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891) Welsh Protestant Minister, Doctor

THE WORK OF PREACHING

"The work of preaching is the highest and greatest and most glorious calling to which anyone can ever be called."

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891) Welsh Protestant Minister, Doctor

ALL THE PAST IS GONE

“Why believe the devil instead of believing God? Rise up and realize the truth about yourself – that all the past has gone, and you are one with Christ, and all your sins have been blotted out once and for ever. O let us remember that it is sin to doubt God’s Word. It is sin to allow the past, which God has dealt with, to rob us of our joy and our usefulness in the present and in the future.”

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891) Welsh Protestant Minister, Doctor

DO THEY PRESS FORWARD?

"The most vital question to ask about all who claim to be Christian is this: Have they a soul thirst for God? Do they long for this? Is there something about them that tells you that they are always waiting for His next manifestation of Himself? Is their life centred on Him? Can they say with Paul that they forget everything in the past? Do they press forward more and more that they might know Him and that the knowledge might increase, until eventually beyond death and the grave they may bask eternally in 'the sunshine of His face?' That I might know him!"

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891) Welsh Protestant Minister, Doctor

160. Mary Slessor (1848-1915)

Mary Slessor (1848-1915) Scottish Missionary to Nigeria

ABOUT MARY SLESSOR

Mary Slessor 1848-1915 “Mother of All the Peoples”

Mary Slessor was born on 2nd December 1848 in Gilcomston, a suburb of Aberdeen, the second of seven children, only four of whom survived childhood. Her father, Robert Slessor, originally from Buchan, was a shoemaker to trade. Her mother, from Oldmeldrum, was a deeply religious woman of sweet disposition, who had a keen interest in missionary work in the Calabar region of Nigeria.

In 1859, the family moved to Dundee in search of work. Mrs. Slessor became a member of the Wishart Church, named after the nearby Wishart Arch from which Protestant martyr George Wishart had reputedly preached to plague victims during the epidemic of 1544.

Mary’s father became an alcoholic and was unable to continue his shoemaking work. He finally took a job as a mill labourer. Mrs. Slessor was determined to see her children properly educated, and the young Mary not only attended Church but, at the age of eleven, began work as a “half timer” in the Baxter Brothers’ Mill. Mary spent half of her arduous day at a school provided by the mill owners, and the other half in productive employment for the company. Thus began a harsh introduction to the work ethic which was to dominate her life.

By the age of fourteen, Mary had become a skilled jute worker. The life of a weaver, no longer with the benefit of company schooling, was daunting by modern standards. Up before 5 a.m. to do the housework, Mary worked from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. with just an hour for breakfast and lunch.

Fortunately, Mary had benefited significantly from her rudimentary education. More importantly, she developed an intense interest in religion and, when a mission was instituted in Quarry Pend (close by the Wishart Church), Mary volunteered to become a teacher. Later, the mission moved to Wishart Pend, where the Church still stands, and so began a formative period in Mary’s life during which she learned to cope with both physical and mental hardship.

The story is told of how she stood her ground against a local gang, who swung a metal weight on a string closer and closer to her face. This stalwart young woman defied the gang by obtaining their agreement that, should she not flinch, then all her tormentors would join the Sunday School class. Mary triumphed, and gained experience which she would later exploit in her contacts with even more threatening tribes in a distant land.
Strangely, although entranced by the accounts of work in Nigeria outlined in the “Missionary Record”, this courageous woman doubted her own ability to perform similar deeds, describing herself as “wee and thin and not very strong”. Eventually, however, she applied to the Foreign Mission Board of the United Presbyterian Church, effectively offering her life to the people of the Calabar region. After a brief period of training in Edinburgh, Mary set sail in the S.S. Ethiopia on 5th August 1876, and arrived at her destination in West Africa just over a month later. She was 28 years of age, red haired with bright blue eyes shining in enthusiasm for the daunting task ahead. Some of the old hands in Calabar might have been excused for questioning whether she would last her first full year.
Portuguese mariners first visited the present day Nigeria in the 15th century to pursue trade with the kingdom of Benin, which straddled the land between Lagos and the Niger delta. By the year 1811, Wilberforce’s great anti-slavery reforms started to take effect, and so the slave trade, which had disrupted society and government, finally began to crumble. In 1861, Britain seized Lagos in order to preserve her trading interests, the first of a series of colonial initiatives which led to the establishment of the Nigerian Protectorate in 1914. When Mary Slessor arrived, she was to witness one of the most turbulent periods in the history of this process.
The culture and customs of her new flock are well described in Charles Partridge’s book, “Cross River Natives”. Witchcraft and superstition were prevalent in a country whose traditional society had been torn apart by the slave trade. Human sacrifice routinely followed the death of a village dignitary, and the ritual murder of twins was viewed by the new missionary with particular abhorrence. Her dedicated efforts to forestall this irrational superstition were to prove a resounding success, as photographs of Mary with her beloved children testify.
In this primitive society, women were treated as lower than cattle, and Mary was so successful in raising their standing in society that she may be considered as one of the pioneers of women’s rights in Africa. She also became fluent in the Efik language, so that she might use humour and sarcasm to reinforce her arguments. Unlike most missionaries, she lived in native style and became thoroughly conversant with the language, the culture and customs, and the day-to-day lives of those she served so well.
Unfortunately it was dangers other than those from aggressive natives and wild animals that faced missionaries from a relatively healthy Western European environment. It was not until 1902 that Sir Ronald Ross was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on the Anopheles mosquito and its role as a host for the deadly malarial parasite. This knowledge was too late for Mary Slessor and her colleagues. Like lambs to the slaughter, they came to a country with its river mists and overpowering heat, where diseases and infections were legion, and they succumbed in their hundreds to the very fevers from which the modern traveller is mercifully spared.
Their average life expectancy was just a few years, and those who survived and returned home often endured recurring fevers and ill-health for the rest of their lives. In letters reproduced here, Mary bravely makes light of her experiences, but the horrors of forty years of debilitating suffering may be clearly discerned through the surface humour and stoicism. In the early years of the 20th century, some remedies and precautions were becoming available, and Mary provided vaccination against the dreaded smallpox, and set up mission hospitals for treating illnesses and injuries suffered by the native peoples.
Mary’s dedicated work with the people and her almost total integration with them culminated in an official request by the Governor that she combine her missionary activities with an administrative position as a Member of the Itu Court. Her letters to Charles Partridge chronicle this period of colonial expansion. Roads were being driven into the interior, and military expeditions were starting to make use of motor vehicles.
Untold dangers faced all those involved in these hazardous enterprises, and Mary Slessor, though ever keen to discount her own perilous situation, retained a pragmatic attitude to the dangers facing lesser mortals. In one letter she urges that the expedition should include a “Maxim” [machine gun].

She was constantly urging the Foreign Mission Board in Edinburgh to finance extensions of her work in the interior. The trading markets which she had enthusiastically encouraged attracted people from far afield, and her attempts to reach out to them were the natural consequences of these contacts. Gradually the money was forthcoming and, as new missionaries took over responsibility for the posts vacated by Mary, she was able to move ever further into the heartland. Her courage in braving the hostility provoked by these incursions is legendary.

The recurring illnesses and general hardships which she faced as a matter of course all took their toll on this redoubtable woman. By 1915, her physical strength had greatly declined, and the woman who had once thought nothing of all-night treks through the rain forest was finally reduced to travelling in a hand-cart propelled by one of her assistants. On the 13th January 1915, after an excruciating and prolonged bout of fever, Mary Slessor died. In his biography of 1980, James Buchan described her as the “Expendable Mary Slessor”. Expendable she may have been, but few have given so much of themselves to so many, and under such appalling conditions.
The grave of Mary Slessor, marked by an imposing cross of Scottish granite, is in the heart of the country she served so well. She was accorded a state funeral and, in 1953, the new head of the Commonwealth, Elizabeth II, made her own pilgrimage to the graveside. Mary Slessor is still remembered in Dundee, as in her adopted homeland, and there is a growing world-wide interest in her work.

The finest tribute was from those of her own who knew her best. To them she was “Mother of All The Peoples” or, more simply, “Ma”.
The collection of Books and Letters and Slessor Source Material in Dundee Central Library’s Local Studies Department and in the City Archives may be viewed during the normal opening hours of the Department.

The Mary Slessor Foundation aims to continue the work of Mary Slessor, albeit in modern form.

- Source: womenofchristianity.com/hymn-writers/mary-slessor-1848-1915/

QUOTES BY MARY SLESSOR

WHEN YOU THINK OF A WOMANS POWER

When you think of the woman's power, you forget the power of the woman's God. I shall go on."

- Mary Slessor (1848-1915), Scottish Missionary to Nigeria

MY LIFE IS ONE LONG, DAILY, HOURLY RECORD

"My life is one long, daily, hourly record of answered prayer for physical health, for mental overstrain, for guidance given marvelously, for errors and dangers averted, for enmity to the Gospel subdued, for food provided at the exact hour needed, for everything that goes to make up life and my poor service. I can testify with a full and often wonder-stricken awe that I believe God answers prayer. I know God answers prayer!"

- Mary Slessor (1848-1915), Scottish Missionary to Nigeria

THE TASK IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME BUT NOT FOR THEE

"Lord, the task is impossible for me but not for Thee. Lead the way and I will follow."

- Mary Slessor (1848-1915) Scottish Missionary to Nigeria

MARY SLESSOR BOOKS AND SERMONS

Photo Credit: historyswomen.com/women-of-faith/mary-slessor/

Words to Think About...

CHRIST WAS NEVER IN A HURRY

"Christ never was in a hurry. There was no rushing forward, no anticipating, no fretting over what might be. Each day's duties were done as each day brought them, and the rest was left with God."

- Mary Slessor (1848-1915) Scottish Missionary to Nigeria

WHY SHOULD I FEAR?

"Why should I fear? I am on a Royal Mission. I am in the service of the King of kings."

- Mary Slessor (1848-1915) Scottish Missionary to Nigeria

PRAY FOR A MISSIONARY

"If you are ever inclined to pray for a missionary, do it at once, wherever you are."

- Mary Slessor (1848-1915) Scottish Missionary to Nigeria

CHRIST SENT ME TO PREACH

"Christ sent me to preach the gospel and he will look after the results."

- Mary Slessor (1848-1915) Scottish Missionary to Nigeria

IF YOU PLAY TEMPTATION

"If you play with temptation do not expect God will deliver you."

- Mary Slessor (1848-1915) Scottish Missionary to Nigeria

WE HAVE BECOME NEW CREATURES

"In Christ, we become new creatures. His life becomes ours. Take that word 'life' and turn it over and over and press it and try to measure it, and see what it will yield. Eternal life is a magnificent idea which comprises everything the heart can yearn after. Do not your hearts yearn for this life, this blessed and eternal life, which the Son of God so freely offers?"

- Mary Slessor (1848-1915) Scottish Missionary to Nigeria

O LORD, I THANK THEE

"Oh Lord, I thank Thee that I can bring these people Thy Word. But Lord, there are other villages back in the jungle where no white man has gone. They need Jesus, too. Help me reach them!"

- Mary Slessor (1848-1915) Scottish Missionary to Nigeria

THE SECRET OF ALL FAILURE

"The secret of all failure is disobedience."

- Mary Slessor (1848-1915) Scottish Missionary to Nigeria

PRAY ON, DEAR ONE

"Pray on, dear one- the power lies that way."

- Mary Slessor (1848-1915) Scottish Missionary to Nigeria

A SOUL COULD BE BORN AGAIN

"It were worthwhile to die, if thereby a soul could be born again."

Mary Slessor 1848-1915) Scottish Missionary to Nigeria

IT WERE WORTHWHILE TO DIE

"It were worthwhile to die, if thereby a soul could be born again."

- Mary Slessor (1848-1915) Scottish Missionary to Nigeria

CAST THEM AT HIS FEET

"What would I do with starry crowns except to cast them at His feet?"

- Mary Slessor (1848-1915) Scottish Missionary to Nigeria

161. Matthew Henry (1662-1714)

Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

ABOUT MATTHEW HENRY

Matthew Henry was born at Broad Oak, Flintshire, in October 1662, into the godly home of Philip and Katharine Henry, less than two months after his father was ejected under the Act of Uniformity from ministry in the Church of England. He had one brother, John who died at the age of six, and four sisters, Sarah (the oldest), Katharine, Eleanor, and Ann (the youngest). When three years old it is said that he could read the Bible distinctly, and he early showed a strong passion for books. He was educated primarily by his father, with the assistance of tutors.

In 1680 his father took him, aged 18, to the academy of Thomas Doolittle at Hackney, where he studied for two years under Doolittle and Thomas Vincent, until persecution forced the academy to relocate. Henry moved to the estate of Bronington, Flintshire, which he inherited from his maternal grandfather, Daniel Matthews. The next time he returned to London it was to study law, and he was admitted to Gray’s Inn in 1685.

He continued his theological study in private, and began to preach in his father’s neighbourhood in 1686. He moved to Chester the following year, and was asked to become the local minister. The penalties against dissent having been somewhat relaxed, he was privately ordained a minister in London in 1687. Returning to Chester, he began his twenty-five-year ministry of the Presbyterian congregation there. That same year, he married Katherine Hardware of Bromborough, Cheshire; she died in childbirth (James Hamilton in his Life of Matthew Henry, 1847, says it was smallpox) in February 1689, at the age of 25.

The following year, Henry married Mary Warburton, with whom he had one son, Philip, and eight daughters, three of whom died in infancy. Henry saw much success in his Chester ministry – the number of communicants was eventually 350, and a meetinghouse was built for him in Crook Lane, opened in 1700, with a gallery added in 1706. As well as his congregational work, Henry held monthly services in surrounding villages and preached to prisoners in the castle.

He began work on his famous Commentary on the Whole Bible in 1704, completing it from Genesis to Acts by his death ten years later. Several of his fellow ministers compiled the remainder of the Commentary (Romans to Revelation) primarily from Henry’s own notes and writings. While still at Chester, Henry also completed his A Method for Prayer with Scripture Expressions proper to be used under each head (an edition of which, edited by O Palmer Robertson, is published by the Trust as A Way to Pray).

As his Commentary began to be published, Henry became increasingly well-known, and was eventually prevailed upon to move to Mare Street, Hackney in London in 1712. This gave him opportunities of preaching almost every day of the week, and sometimes two or three time on the same day. It was probably in this way that he accomplished most, for his Hackney congregation was not large. He found only a hundred communicants. It was not a lively period in the history of religion anywhere, and the London churches widely shared the spiritual torpor which soon after his decease transformed the Presbyterian chapel at Chester into a Unitarian meeting-house.

Revisiting Cheshire in 1714, on Monday, June 21, Henry set out on his return to London. He was engaged to preach at Nantwich on the way. At Tarporley, his horse threw him, but he denied that he had sustained any injury. Accordingly, he preached on Proverbs 31:18; but everyone noticed that he was not so lively as usual. He was short, and afterwards very heavy and sleepy; he was soon seized with apoplexy, and at eight on the following morning he fell asleep in the Lord. He was buried in the chancel of Trinity Church, Chester.

Sourc: banneroftruth.org/us/about/banner-authors/matthew-henry/

QUOTES BY MATTHEW HENRY

THAT WHICH DOES NOT COME IN YOUR TIME

"Cast not away your confidence because God defers his performances. That which does not come in your time, will be hastened in his time, which is always the more convenient season. God will work when he pleases, how he pleases, and by what means he pleases. He is not bound to keep our time, but he will perform his word, honour our faith, and reward them that diligently seek him."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

CAST NOT AWAY YOUR CONFIDENCE

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

THOSE WHO DISOBEY THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD

"Those that disobey the commandments of God do so foolishly for themselves. Sin is folly, and sinners are the greatest fools."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

WE SHALL FOR THAT REASON LOVE HOME

"If therefore our houses be houses of the Lord, we shall for that reason love home, reckoning our daily devotion the sweetest of our daily delights; and our family-worship the most valuable of our family-comforts... A church in the house will be a good legacy, nay, it will be a good inheritance, to be left to your children after you."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

IT IS A GREAT DELUSION TO IMAGINE

"We are too apt to rest in a bare profession of faith, and to think that this will save us; it is a cheap and easy religion to say, "We believe in the articles of the Christian faith;" but it is a great delusion to imagine that this is enough to bring us to heaven."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

SOME PEOPLE DO NOT LIKE TO HEAR

"Some people do not like to hear much of repentance; but I think it is so necessary that if I should die in the pulpit, I would desire to die preaching repentance, and if out of the pulpit I would desire to die practicing it."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

GRACE IS THE FREE UNDESERVED FAVOR OF GOD

"Grace is the free, undeserved goodness and favor of God to mankind."

RESULTING IN GOOD TO US IN THE END

"What we count the ills of life are often blessings in disguise, resulting in good to us in the end. Though for the present not joyous but grievous, yet, if received in a right spirit, they work out fruits of righteousness for us at last."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

THOSE THAT ARE FARTHEST FROM GOD

"It is common for those that are farthest from God, to boast themselves most of their being near to the Church."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

THEY WORK OUT FRUITS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

COME, AND SEE THE VICTORIES OF THE CROSS

"Come, and see the victories of the cross. Christ's wounds are thy healings, His agonies thy repose, His conflicts thy conquests, His groans thy songs, His pains thine ease, His shame thy glory, His death thy life, His sufferings thy salvation."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

UNLESS WE CONSENT TO HIM AS OUR LORD

"All the grace contained in [the Bible] is owing to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior; and, unless we consent to Him as our Lord we cannot expect any benefit by Him as our Savior."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

THAT WHICH IS WON ILLM WILL NEVER WEAR WELL

"That which is won ill, will never wear well, for there is a curse attends it which will waste it. The same corrupt dispositions which incline men to sinful ways of getting, will incline them to the like sinful ways of spending."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

CHRIST'S WOUNDS ARE THEY HEALINGS

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

IF I SHOULD DIE IN THE PULPIT

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

FRUITS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR US TO LAST

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

THE ANGER OF A MEEK MAN

"The anger of a meek man is like fire struck out of steel, hard to be got out, and when it is, soon gone."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

HIS SHAME THY GLORY

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

TO WAIT ON GOD IS TO LIVE

"To wait on God is to live a life of desire toward Him, delight in Him, dependence on Him, and devotedness to Him."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

THE JOY OF THE LORD

"The joy of the Lord will arm us against the assaults of our spiritual enemies and put our mouths out of taste for those pleasures with which the tempter baits his hooks."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

YOU MAY AS SOON FIND

"You may as soon find a living man who does not breathe, as a living Christian who does not pray."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

THE SOLEMNITIES OUR FASTING

"If the solemnities of our fasting, though frequent, long, and severe, do not serve to put an edge upon devout affections, to quicken prayer, to increase Godly sorrow, and to alter the temper of our minds, and the course of our lives, for the better, they do not at all answer the intention, and God will not accept them as performed to Him."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

THE BURDEN OF RICHES

"There is a burden of care in getting riches; fear in keeping them; temptation in using them; guilt in abusing them; sorrow in losing them; and a burden of account at last to be given concerning them."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

CHRIST DIED AND LEFT A WILL

"Christ died He left a will in which He gave His soul to His Father, His body to Joseph of Arimathea, His clothes to the soldiers, and His mother to John. But to His disciples, who had left all to follow Him, He left not silver or gold, but something far better - His PEACE!"

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

GOD INTENDS GREAT MERCY

"When God intends great mercy for His people, the first thing He does is set them a-praying."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

WHATEVER WE HAVE IN OUR HANDS

“Whatever we have in our hands, our care must be to keep it out of our hearts, lest it come between us and Christ.” The world puts little stock in prayer and is filled with promises to make you rich and prosperous if you put yourself first. Mary Slessor knew that “the present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Rom 8:18).

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

HE WILL KEEP COVENANT WITH THEM

"Those that set God always before them and walk before him with all their hearts, shall find him as good as his word and better; he will both keep covenant with them and show mercy to them."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

MATTHEW HENRY BOOKS BAND SERMONS

Matthew Henry Sermon List - PDF Books

Henry, Matthew, 1662-1714: Commentary on the Whole Bible (HTML at apostolic-churches.net)
Henry, Matthew, 1662-1714: Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (multiple formats at CCEL)
Henry, Matthew, 1662-1714: A Method for Prayer (based on 1710 edition, with modernized spelling, glossary, and added prayers; c2013), ed. by Steve Kindorf (multiple formats with commentary at mrmatthewhenry.com)
Henry, Matthew, 1662-1714: A Method For Prayer: With Scripture Expressions, Proper to be Us'd Under Each Head (second edition, with additions; London: Printed for N. Cliff and D. Jackson, 1710)
- multiple formats at Google
- page images at HathiTrust
Henry, Matthew, 1662-1714: A Method For Prayer: With Scripture Expressions, Proper to be Used Under Each Head; With Directions for Daily Communion With God; Showing How to Begin, How to Spend, and How to Close Every Day with God; To Which is Now Added A Discourse Concerning Meekness and Quietness of Spirit (Glasgow: D. McKenzie, 1834) (multiple formats at archive.org)

Source: onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Henry%2C%20Matthew%2C%201662%2D1714

Photo Credit: reatchristianlibrary.blogspot.com/2009/04/matthew-henry-1662-1714-matthew-henry.html

Words to Think About...

ADVICE FROM A DYING MAN

"You have been used to take notice of the sayings of dying men. This is mine: that a life spent in the service of God, and communion with Him, is the most comfortable and pleasant life that anyone can live in this world."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) English Nonconformist Minister

WHOSE HEAD IS IN HEAVEN

"He whose head is in heaven need not fear to put his feet into the grave."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister

CONCERNING FUTURE EVENTS

"God has wisely kept us in the dark concerning future events and reserved for himself the knowledge of them, that he may train us up in a dependence upon himself and a continued readiness for every event."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

FOR ALL WHO ARE CHOSEN

"None can know their election but by their conformity to Christ; for all who are chosen are chosen to sanctification."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

THE SCRIPTURES WERE WRITTEN

"The Scriptures were written, not to make us astronomers, but to make us saints."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

CAST NOT AWAY YOUR CONFIDENCE

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

CHOSEN TO SANCTIFICATION

"None can know their election but by their conformity to Christ; for all who are chosen are chosen to sanctification."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

PEACE IS A JEWEL

"Peace is such a precious jewel that I would give anything for it but truth."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714)

HIS FAVOR TOWARDS US

"When we are calling to God to turn the eye of His favor towards us He is calling to us to turn the eye of our obedience towards Him."

GRACE IS FREE

"Grace is the free, undeserved goodness and favor of God to mankind."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

BUT BY THEIR CONFRMITY TO CHRIST

"None can know their election but by their conformity to Christ; for all who are chosen are chosen to sanctification."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

OUR PRAYERS GIVE HIM HONOR

"Though we cannot by our prayers give God any information, yet we must by our prayers give him honor."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

APPEAR IN WORKS OF CHARITY

"Wherever the fear of God rules in the heart, it will appear both in works of charity and piety, and neither will excuse us from the other."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

THE FLOWER OF YOUTH

"The flower of youth never appears more beautiful than when it bends toward the sun of righteousness."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

EVERY TEAR OF SORROW

"Every tear of sorrow sown by the righteous springs up a pearl."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

THE LESS WE INDULGE

"The more we accommodate ourselves to plain things, and the less we indulge in those artificial delights which gratify pride and luxury, the nearer we approach to a state of innoceny."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

OUR WISHES AND GOD'S PROVIDENCE

"Inordinate desires commonly produce irregular endeavors. If our wishes be not kept in submission to God's providence, our pursuits will scarcely be kept under the restraints of his precepts."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

TO MAKE ATONEMENT FOR YOU

"Take Jesus for your king, and by baptism swear allegiance to him; take him for your prophet, and hear him; take him for your priest, to make atonement for you."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

STIR UP OURSELVES TO RESIST

"We have no sufficient strength of our own. All our sufficiency is of God. We should stir up ourselves to resist temptations in a reliance upon God's all-sufficiency and the omnipotence of his might."

IF GOD'S GRACE DOES NOT RULE

"If God and his grace do not rule us, sin and Satan will have possession of us."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

INTO SO DREADFUL DELUSION

"While we are zealous for good works, let us be careful not to put them in the place of Christ's righteousness, and not to advance anything which may betray others into so dreadful a delusion."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

BY FAITH TO OVERCOME THE WORLD

"It is more to the honor of a Christian by faith to overcome the world, than by monastical vows to retreat from it; more for the honor of Christ to serve him in the city, than to serve him in the cell."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

LEAVE ALL TO FOLLOW HIM

"Those who have a saving interest in Christ must be willing to part with all for Him, leave all to follow Him. Whatever stands in opposition to Christ, or in completion with Him for our love and service, we must cheerfully quit it, though ever so dear to us."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

CHRIST IS OUR TEMPLE

"Christ is our temple, in whom by faith all believers meet."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

OUGHT TO BE GATHERED UP

"The remains of great and good men, like Elijah's mantle, ought to be gathered up and preserved by their survivors; that as their works follow them in the reward of them, they may stay behind in their benefit."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

BLESSSING IN DISQUISE

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

WHEN I CANNOT ENJOY THE FAITH

"When I cannot enjoy the faith of assurance, I live by the faith of adherence."

- Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

162. Maximus the Confessor (c.580-662)

Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

ABOUT MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR

Maximus the Confessor (580–662) was one of the fathers of the Eastern Church. He didn’t start out as a theologian, though; he started out as an aide to the Byzantine emperor. That’s a cool job. But he left that and entered the monastery to begin studying philosophy and theology. He became a gifted philosopher and theologian. He is known as Maximus the Confessor. In the Greek Orthodox Church, a confessor is someone who was persecuted and who suffered for the faith but was not martyred. He is also known as Maximus the Theologian. It was his theology and his defense of Orthodox theology that led to his suffering.

In the 600s, ricocheting through the church was the Monothelite controversy. Now, there is a word you don’t hear every day. Monothelite means “one will.” It’s two Greek words: mono, meaning “one” and thelos, meaning “the will.” Monothelites held a false view that Jesus had one will—not a separate divine will, not a separate and distinct human will, but one will. The Monothelite controversy was weakening the creed that came down to the church from Chalcedon, which stated that Jesus was truly human and truly divine. He was those two true natures conjoined in one person. The Monothelites affirmed that He was two natures in one person, but they quickly said He had one will. And of course, that is a weakening of the doctrine of the person of Christ. Maximus jumped right in to defend the Dyothelite view, that is, Jesus had two wills.

The problem was that Constantinople, the emperor and the patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church, had adopted the Monothelite position. So Maximus the Confessor was on the outs. He was tried at a council and found to be a heretic, even though he was defending orthodoxy. And to keep him from writing and speaking his so-called heretical views, they damaged his right hand and his tongue. So he is known as Maximus the Confessor. Eventually, a council vindicated Maximus’s position, and the church pulled back from the heresy of the Monothelites and affirmed once again fully and truly the Chalcedonian creed.

Another big word associated with Maximus the Confessor is apophatic. The apophatic tradition comes to us from the early church fathers. It means that the only things we can say about God are negative statements, because God is so immense that He is beyond measure. So we can’t say anything positive about Him. We can only say what God is not. He dwells in light inaccessible, and so how can we fully understand Him?

But what Maximus wants us to realize is that we can know God through what He has created and how He has revealed Himself in this world—and especially in Christ. At one point, Maximus says that as we gaze upon the universe, which is God’s handiwork, we receive from God “comprehensive knowledge of his providence and judgment.” So as we understand God working in this world, we can understand who God is. And as we see Christ, we can understand God.

- Source: ligonier.org/podcasts/5-minutes-in-church-history-with-stephen-nichols/maximus-the-confessor

QUOTES BY MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR

A CHRISTIAN RECEIVES DIVINE WISDOM THREE WAYS

"A Christian receives divine wisdom in three ways: by the commandments, teachings, and faith. The commandments free the mind from passions. Teachings lead it to true knowledge of nature. Faith leads to the contemplation of the Holy Trinity."

Maximus the Confessor

- Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

HE WHO BUSIES HIMSELF WITHTHE SIN OF OTHERS

"He who busies himself with the sins of others, or judges his brother on suspicion, has not yet even begun to repent or to examine himself so as to discover his own sins."

EARLY IN THE MORNING

"We must not only put bodily passions to death but also destroy the soul's impassioned thoughts. Hence the Psalmist says, 'Early in the morning I destroyed all the wicked of the earth, that I might cut off all evil-doers from the city of the Lord' (Ps. 101:8) - that is, the passions of the body and the soul's godless thoughts."

- Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

IF YOU ARE REMEMBERING EVIL AGAINST SOMEONE

"If you are remembering evil against someone, then pray for him; and as you remove through prayer the pain of the remembrance of the evil he has done, you will stop the advance of the passion. And when you have attained brotherly love and love for mankind, you will completely cast this passion out of your soul. Then when someone else does evil to you, be affectionate and humble toward him, and treat him kindly, and you will deliver him from this passion."

- Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

JUST AS THE THOUGHT OF FIRE DOES NOT WARM TEHE BODY

"Just as the thought of fire does not warm the body, so faith without love does not actualize the light of spiritual knowledge in the soul."

- Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

EVERY GENUINE CONFESSION HUMBLES THE SOUL

"Every genuine confession humbles the soul. When it takes the form of thanksgiving, it teaches the soul that it has been delivered by the grace of God."

- Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

AVOID RENDERING EVIL FOR EVIL

"To harbor no envy, no anger, no resentment against an offender is still not to have charity for him. It is possible, without any charity, to avoid rendering evil for evil. But to render, spontaneously, good for evil - such belongs to a perfect spiritual love."

- Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

WHEN WE THINK OF THE HEIGHT OF GOD'S INFINITY

"When we think of the height of God's infinity we should not despair of His compassion reaching us from such a height; and when we recall the infinite depth of our fall through sin we should not refuse to believe that the virtue which has been killed in us will rise again. For God can accomplish both these things: He can come down and illumine our intellect with spiritual knowledge, and He can raise up the virtue within us and exalt it with Himself through works of righteousness."

- Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

IF GOD SUFFERES IN THE FLESH WHEN HE IS MADE MAN

"If God suffers in the flesh when He is made man, should we not rejoice when we suffer, for we have God to share our sufferings? This shared suffering confers the kingdom on us. For he spoke truly who said, 'If we suffer with Him, then we shall also be glorified with Him' (Rom. 8:17).

- Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

MAKE OF OUR LIFE A TRAINING FOR DEATH

"In conformity with the philosophy of Christ, let us make of our life a training for death."

- Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

AS WE HAVE BORNE THE IMAGE OF THE EARTHLY

"As we have borne the image of the earthy, let us also bear the image of the heavenly."

- Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR BOOKS AND SERMONS

He left many writings (some of which are collected in the Philokalia) that are still widely read today; some are doctrinal, but many more describe the contemplative life and offer spiritual advice. He also wrote widely on liturgical and exegetical subjects. His theological work was later continued by St. Simeon the New Theologian and by St. Gregory Palamas.

Quaestiones ad Thalassium—65 questions and answers on difficult passages of Holy Scripture

Ambigua—an exegetical work on St. Gregory the Theologian

Paraphrases of the works of Dionysius the Areopagite (though many of the works that have come down under Maximus' name are now held to be the work of John of Scythopolis, who wrote in the first half of the 6th century, some 100 years before Maximus)

Several dogmatic treatises against the Monothelites

Liber Asceticus

Capita de Caritate

Mystagogia—a mystical interpretation of the Divine Liturgy

HYMNS

Troparion (Tone 8) [1]

Champion of Orthodoxy, teacher of purity and of true worship,

Enlightener of the universe and adornment of hierarchs:

All-wise father Maximus, your teachings have gleamed with light upon all things.

Intercede before Christ God to save our souls.

- Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

Kontakion (Tone 8)

Let us the faithful fittingly praise the lover of the Trinity,

The great Maximus who taught the God-inspired faith,

That Christ is to be glorified in His two natures, wills, and energies;

And let us cry to him: "Rejoice, herald of the faith."

- Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

Source: orthodoxwiki.org/Maximus_the_Confessorhttps://orthodoxwiki.org/Maximus_the_Confessor

Photo Credit: classicalchristianity.com/category/bysaint/stmaximusconfessor/

Words to Think About...

CHRISTIANITY IS AN ENIRELY NEW WAY

"Christianity is an entirely new way of being human."

- Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

GOD LOOKS AT THE INTENTION

"In all of our deeds God looks at the intention, whether we do it for His sake, or for the sake of some other intention.

- Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

THOSE WHO SEEK THE LORD

"Those who seek the Lord should not look for Him outside themselves; on the contrary, they must seek Him within themselves through faith made manifest in action. For He is near you: 'The word is... in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the word of faith' (Rom. 10:8) - Christ being Himself the word that is sought."

- Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

INCARNATION FOR MY SAKE

“For our sake loosing within Himself the bonds of bodily birth, He granted us through spiritual birth, according to our own volition, power to become children of God instead of children of flesh and blood if we have faith in His Name (cf. Jn. 1:12-13). For the Savior the sequence was, first of all, incarnation and bodily birth for my sake; and so thereupon the birth in the Spirit through baptism, originally spurned by Adam, for the sake of my salvation and restoration by grace, or, to describe it even more vividly, my very remaking.”

- Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

WHAT SUSTAINS OUR PRESENT LIFE

"Let us be satisfied simply with what sustains our present life, not with what pampers it. Let us pray to God for this, as we have been taught, so that we may keep our souls unenslaved and absolutely free from domination by any of the visible things loved for the sake of the body. Let us show that we eat for the sake of living, and not be guilty of living for the sake of eating. The first is a sign of intelligence, the second proof of its absence."

- Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

THE PERSON WHO LOVES GOD

"The person who loves God cannot help loving every man as himself, even though he is grieved by the passions of those who are not yet purified. But when they amend their lives, his delight is indescribable and knows no bounds."

- Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

A MAN OF DISCERNMENT

"A man of discernment, meditating on the healing Divine Providence, bears with thanksgiving the misfortunes that come to him. He sees their causes in his own sins, and not in anyone else. But a mindless man, when he sins and receives the punishment for it, considers the cause of his misfortune to be God, or people, not understanding God's care for him."

- Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

IF AN UNEXPECTED TEMPTATION COMES

"If an unexpected temptation comes, don't blame the one through whom it came, but seek out the reason. Thus you will find correction for your soul."

- Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

THE LONG-SUFFERING MAN

"'The long-suffering man abounds in understanding' (Prov. 14:29), because he endures everything to the end and, while awaiting that end, patiently bears his distress. The end, as St. Paul says, is everlasting life (cf. Rom. 6:22). 'And this is eternal life, that they might know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent' (Jn. 17:3)."

- Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

WHY DID HE COMMAND THESE THINGS?

"But I say to you, the Lord says, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who persecute you. Why did he command these things? So that he might free you from hatred, sadness, anger and grudges, and might grant you the greatest possession of all, perfect love, which is impossible to possess except by the one who loves all equally in imitation of God."

- Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

TEMPTATIONS COME ON SOME PEOPLE

"Temptations come on some people for the cleansing of previous sins, on other for the beautification of their current perfection, and on yet others, as preparation for things to come, except temptations, which are for the increase of a man's faith and virtue, as it was with Job."

- Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

WHATEVER A MAN LOVES

"Whatever a man loves he inevitably clings to, and in order not to lose it he rejects everything that keeps him from it. So he who loves God cultivates pure prayer, driving out every passion that keeps him from it. He who drives out self-love, the mother of the passions, will with God's help easily rid himself of the rest, such as anger, irritation, rancor and so on. But he who is dominated by self-love is overpowered by the other passions, even against his will. Self-love is the passion of attachment to the body."

- Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

DIVINE GIFTS FOLLOW SUFFERING

"...the Lord said as He drew near His passion, 'Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself; and He will glorify Him at once' (Jn. 13:31-32). From This it is clear that divine gifts follow sufferings endured for the sake of virtue."

- Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

163. Miguel De Molinos (1628-1696)

Miguel De Molinos (1628-1696) Spanish Priest

ABOUT MIGUEL DE MOLINOS

Born of noble parents in Muniesa, Spain, Molinos studied at Valencia, where he was ordained and received a doctorate in theology. In 1663 he settled in Rome where he became a well-known priest and confessor. In 1675 he published A Spiritual Guide, which was immediately popular and translated into several languages.

According to Molinos, contemplation distinguishes the perfect from the imperfect Christian. The imperfect Christian lives an active life and uses the prayer of meditation. The contemplation of the perfect Christian consists in a total abandonment of the self to the will and operation of God in the soul. The soul has to rid itself of all efforts to act virtuously, to form thoughts and desires, or even to repel temptations. Hence, his view is sometime called Quietist.

The Jesuits attacked Molinos's work claiming it to be Jansenist in character, because it undercuts the role of the church. At first Molinos defended himself successfully and the books of his opponents were placed on the Index in 1681. However, in 1685 he was suddenly arrested and investigated by the Holy Office. In 1687 Molinos retracted a number of errors attributed to him and pleaded guilty to charges of moral misconduct. The Guide was susceptible to dangerous and even heretical interpretations; but this hardly seems reason enough for the sudden and drastic action taken against so respected a person. Non-Catholics have tended to think that political considerations caused Molinos's downfall, but Roman Catholic sources tend to attribute it to the charges of moral misconduct. Molinos's conviction caused a great stir. He was sentenced to a life of penitential imprisonment and died after living nine years of pious and exemplary behavior.

Source: ccel.org/ccel/molinos

QUOTES BY MIGUEL DE MOLINOS

BECAUSE GOD HIMSELF FIGHTS FOR THE SOUL

"In time of trouble go not out of yourself to seek for aid; for the whole benefit of trial consists in silence, patience, rest, and resignation. In this condition divine strength is found for the hard warfare, because God Himself fights for the soul."

- Miguel de Molinos (1628-1696) Spanish Priest

CALMING THE MIND IN THAT DIVINE PRESENCE

"As often as the end is obtained, the means cease, and when the Ship arrives in the Harbour the voyage is over. So if the Soul after it hath been toiled and carried by means of meditation, arrives at the stillness, tranquility, and rest of Contemplation, it ought then to cut off all reasonings, and rest quiet with an amorous attention, and simple Vision of God; seeing and loving him, sweetly rejecting all the imaginations that present themselves, calming the Mind in that Divine Presence, recollecting the Memory, and fixing it wholly on God, being contented with a general and confused knowledge, which is had by the Mediation of Faith, applying the whole Will to love him, wherein consists all their fruit of enjoyment."

- Miguel de Molinos (1628-1696) Spanish Priest

FINALLY, BE OF HOPE, suffer, be silent

"Finally, be of hope, suffer, be silent, and patient: let nothing affright thee: all of it will have an time to end: God only is he that is unchangeable: patience brings a man in every thing. He that hath God, hath all things; and he that hath him not, hath nothing."

- Miguel De Molinos (1628-1696) Spanish Priest

LOSE NO TIME, GET UP

"Lose no time, get up and take the course again, for he who rises quickly and continues his race makes it as if he had never fallen."

- Miguel de Molinos (1628-1696) Spanish Priest

THERE MUST BE TRIBULATION TO MAKE A MAN'S LIFE

"There must be tribulation to make a man’s life acceptable to God; without it, ‘tis like the Body without the Soul, the Soul without Grace, the Earth without the Sun."

- Miguel De Molinos (1628-1696) Spanish Priest

IF YOU DO NOT FIND GOD IN EVERYTHING

You will find yourself far from Perfection, if you do not find God in everything."

- Miguel De Molinos (1628-1696) Spanish Priest

THE SPIRITUAL MAN LIVES BY GOD

"The spiritual man that lives by God, and in him, is inwardly contented in the midst of his adversities; because the Cross and Affliction are his Life and Delight."

- Miguel De Molinos (1628-1696) Spanish Priest

KEEP CONSTANT, O BLESSED SOUL

"Keep constant, O blessed Soul, keep constant; for it will not be as thou imaginest, nor art thou at any time nearer to God, than in such cases of desertion; for although the Sun is hid in the Clouds, yet it changes not its place, nor a jot the more loses its brightness. The Lord permits this painful desertion in thy Soul, to purge and polish thee, to cleanse thee and dis-robe thee of thy self; and that thou mayest in this manner be all his, and give thy self wholly up to him, as his infinite Bounty is intirely given to thee, that thou mayest be his delight; for although thou dost groan, and lament, and weep, yet he is joyful and glad in the most secret and hidden place of thy Soul."

- Miguel de Molinos (1628-1696) Spanish Priest

MIGUEL DE MOLINOS BOOKS AND SERMONS

Molinos, Miguel de, 1628-1696: The Spiritual Guide Which Disentangles the Soul and Brings It by the Inward Way to the Getting of Perfect Contemplation and the Rich Treasure of Internal Peace (PDF with commentary at adamford.com)
Molinos, Miguel de, 1628-1696: Golden thoughts from The spiritual guide of Miguel Molinos, the quietist / (New York : C. Scribner, 1883), also by J. H. Shorthouse (page images at HathiTrust)
Molinos, Miguel de, 1628-1696: Guía espiritual : que desembaraza el alma, y la conduce por el interior camino, para alcanzar la perfecta contemplación, y el rico tesoro de la interior paz / (Barcelona, España : Biblioteca Orientalista, [1906]), also by Rafael Urbano (page images at HathiTrust; US access only)
Molinos, Miguel de, 1628-1696: Guida spirituale : che disinvolge l' anima e la conduce per l' interior cammino all' acquisto della perfetta contemplazione e del ricco tesoro della pace interior / (Napoli : F. Perrella, 1908), also by Giovanni Amendola (page images at HathiTrust; US access only)
Molinos, Miguel de, 1628-1696: A Guide to true peace, or, A method of attaining to inward and spiritual prayer / (Philadelphia : Henry Longstreth, 1846), also by James Janson, William Backhouse, Jeanne Marie Bouvier de La Motte Guyon, and François de Salignac de La Mothe- Fénelon (page images at HathiTrust)
Molinos, Miguel de, 1628-1696: The spiritual guide which disentangles the soul and brings it by the inward way to the getting of perfect contemplation and the rich creature of internal peace / (London : Hodder and Stoughton, [1928])
Molinos, Miguel de, 1628-1696: The spiritual guide, which disintangles the soul, and brings it by the inward way, to the getting of perfect contemplation, and the rich treasure of internal peace. ([London?], Printed in the year, 1689) (page images at HathiTrust)
Molinos, Miguel de, 1628-1696: The spiritual guide which disintangles the soul, and brings it by the inward way, to the getting of perfect contemplation, and the rich treasure of internal peace. / Written by Dr. Michael de Molinos, priest : with a short treatise concerning daily communion, by the same author. Translated from the Italian copy, printed at Venice, 1685. (London : Printed for Tho. Fabian ..., 1688) (HTML at EEBO TCP)

Source: onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book//lookupname?key=Molinos%2C%20Miguel%20de%2C%201628%2D1696

Photo Credit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_de_Molinos

Words to Think About...

BE NOT AFRAID OF TRIALS

"Be not afraid of those trials which God may see fit to send upon thee. It is with the wind and storm of tribulation that God separates the true wheat from the chaff. Always remember, therefore, that God comes to thee in thy sorrows, as really as in thy joys. he lays low, and He build up. Thou wilt find thyself far from perfection, if thou dost not find God in everything."

- Miguel De Molinos (1628-1696) Spanish Priest

THE BOTTOM OF YOUR SOUL

"The bottom of our soul, you will know, is the place of our happiness. There the Lord shews us wonders: there we ingulf and lose our selves in the immense ocean of his infinite goodness, in which we keep fixt and unmoveable. There, there resides the incomparable fruition of our Soul and that eminent and sweet rest of it. An humble and resign’d Soul, which is come to this bottom, seeks no more than meerly to please God, and the holy and loving spirit teaches it every thing with his sweet and enlivening unction."

- Miguel de Molinos (1628-1696) Spanish Priest

NEVER ANYTIME NEARER TO GOD

"Thou art never at any time nearer to God than when under tribulation; which He permits for the purification and beautifying of thy soul."

- Miguel De Molinos (1628-1696) Spanish Priest

TRUE LOVE IS KNOWN

"True love is known, with its effects, when the Soul is profoundly humbled."

- Miguel De Molinos (1628-1696) Spanish Priest

GOD HATH NO REGARD

"God hath no regard to the multitude of words, but to the purity of the intent."

- Miguel De Molinos (1628-1696) Spanish Priest

HE THAT HATH GOD

"He that hath God, hath all things; and he that hath him not, hath nothing."

- Miguel De Molinos (1628-1696) Spanish Priest

IT IS A MAXIM THAT WILL ENDURE

"It is a maxim that will endure: To truly know the living God, this begets humility."

- Miguel De Molinos (1628-1696) Spanish Priest

RESIGNED TO THE WILL OF GOD

"You will never be fully resigned to the will of God if you are troubled by human opinion of you, or if you make for yourself a little idol of what people say."

- Miguel De Molinos (1628-1696) Spanish Priest

UNDECEIVE THYSELF, AND BELIEVE

"Undeceive thy self, and believe, that in order to thy Soul’s being totally transformed with God, it is necessary for it to be lost and be denied in its life, sense, knowledge, and power; and to die living, and not living; dying, and not dying; suffering, and not suffering; resigning up, and not resigning up it self, without reflecting upon any thing."

- Miguel De Molinos (1628-1696) Spanish Priest

GOD'S GREATEST CONTENT AND GLORY

"God's greatest content and glory is to see the Soul in silence, desirous, humble, quiet, and resigned."

- Miguel De Molinos (1628-1696) Spanish Priest

THE FIRE OF OBEDIENCE

"Your directions, your judgment, your disposition to rebel must be subjected and reduced to ashes. How? In the fire of obedience, for it is there that you will find out if you are truly a follower of Divine love or self love."

- Miguel De Molinos (1628-1696) Spanish Priest

DIE TO SELF

"How happy wilt thou be, if thou hast no other thought, but to die in thy self! thou wilt then become not only victorious over thine enemies, but also over thy self: in which victory thou wilt certainly find pure love, perfect peace, and divine wisdom."

- Miguel De Molinos (1628-1696) Spanish Priest

164. Mordecai Ham (1877–1961)

Mordecai Ham (1877–1961) American Baptist Evangelist

ABOUT MORDECAI HAM

Imagine the honor of leading a notable evangelist like Billy Graham to Christ. Mordecai Ham did just that. However, he was in a position to do so only after he had wrestled with his own preferences and yielded to God.

Born on this day, April 2, 1877, in Allen County, Kentucky, he resisted God's call to become an evangelist because he wanted to be a salesman. His grandfather and father, both preachers, had lived in poverty and Ham did not want that. But eventually the Lord prevailed. Six months after Ham married Bessie Simmons, he quit his business to enter the ministry as a fundamentalist Baptist.

Early in his ministry, he claimed to have had an encounter with the Holy Spirit so intense that he pleaded for the Lord to back off or he felt he would die. Thereafter, he evidenced spiritual power throughout his life, continually confronting sin and sinners. In one notable early instance, he confronted an infidel who was hiding in a cornfield to avoid the preacher.

"What are you going to do?" asked this opponent of the gospel.

"Ask God to kill you," replied Ham. The infidel protested. Ham said that since the man claimed to believe there was no God, such a prayer shouldn't bother him in the least. Nonetheless the unbeliever begged Ham not to pray for his death, so Ham agreed to pray for his salvation instead, and the man was converted on the spot.

Ham would write that there are three reasons men run from Christ: love of gain, love of sins that make them shun the light, and fear of what others will say. "The best way on earth to study human nature is to hold up Christ to your crowd and note how He affects them. Each man or woman can be judged by his or her attitude toward Christ. If their deeds are evil, they will shun His light."

In 1905, four years after Ham entered the ministry, Bessie died suddenly of cerebral meningitis. At first Ham thought he would remain single like the apostle Paul. However, a couple years later, he fell in love with a fourteen-year-old girl. They were wed the following year and had a happy marriage that lasted for over fifty years and produced three daughters. Ham considered Annie Laurie the greatest of God's blessings to him.

Ham continued to win souls. In over thirty years of preaching, he won at least 300,000 converts (his estimate was close to 1,000,000). Billy Graham, perhaps the most notable of those converts, made his declaration of faith at a 1934 Ham meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Ham was a fierce opponent of alcohol and many other social evils. He blasted whatever he considered to be wrong and his preaching helped create the climate for prohibition. Today, memory of him is largely swept under the carpet as an embarrassment because he was also virulently anti-semetic and anti-catholic. The outspoken evangelist ran a radio program for many years. He died in 1961. His life's motto had been "Love all men, fear no man."

Source: christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/mordecai-ham-outspoken-evangelist-11630588.html

HAM WAS AN EVANGELISTIC PREACHER

From this time until his death, Ham was an evangelistic preacher. As Ham’s style of preaching grew to be more popular, he was invited to preach in different places throughout the United States. He especially preached in meetings in Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, and North Carolina. It was in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1934, that Ham preached to and converted his most famous convert, Billy Graham.

"God chooses us by His will as He gives grace. We are not always Christians. We are not born Christians. God gives grace in the midst of the preaching of the one true gospel. How can a man say he does not know when he first believed. Could Paul who is a pattern of the long suffering of God say these things? Paul who was chosen as child of grace and an apostolos, could he not tell of his conversion? Beloved there is a time in every believer’s life when in one moment they were in unbelief, and in the next moment they are found to accept what they just could not: the one true gospel. And the one true gospel is the Mashiach died for our sins, and according to the Tanach, He was buried and He rose again, and according to the Tanach. Yeshua of “Nazareth” is the Mashiach of God. I find what is written of Mordecai Hamm is unreliable and is not worthy to be committed to the saints of God in our day. It is the same with many writings of men. I find the writings of the apostolos, what is called the New Testament, to be reliable because by the grace given to me I have judged them by the one true gospel, and they are in agreement with the Mashiach. All other writings of men I am not sure of, and thus I do not commit them to the brethren. We have the writings of the prophets which are accepted by grace, and the writings of the apostolos which are not accepted, but judged by the one true gospel and they are in agreement with the Mashiach."

- Mordecai Ham (1877-1961) American Baptist Minister

Source: habasar.wordpress.com/2009/12/28/moredecai-ham-1877/

QUOTES BY MORDECAI HAM

THE NEARNESS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

"I had an overwhelming experience of the Lord's presence. I felt so powerfully overcome by the nearness of the Holy Spirit that I had to ask the Lord to draw back lest He kill me. It was so glorious that I couldn't stand more than a small portion of it."

- Mordecai Ham (1877-1961) American Baptist Minister

MORDECAI HAM BOOKS BAND SERMONS

The Second Coming of Christ and Revelation

Believing a Lie

Light on the Dance

The Jews

The Need of the Anglo – Israel Truth

The Sabbath Question

Photo Credit: completely-kentucky.fandom.com/wiki/Mordecai_Ham

Words to Think About...

ONE OF OUR TROUBLES

"One of our troubles is we are not willing to humble ourselves. We are not willing to give up our opinions as to how things should be done. We want a revival to come just in our way. You never saw two revivals come just alike. We must let them come in God's way. People are ashamed to admit they need a revival. If you are not willing to take the shame on yourself, you then let it remain on Jesus Christ. You must bear the reproach of your sinful state of indifference, or the cause of our Master must bear it."

- Mordecai Ham (1877-1961) American Baptist Minister

I GET A SINNER IN

"Now they always accuse me of carrying around a sledge hammer with which to pound the church members. Yes sir, I do pound them, every time I come down, I knock one of the halfway fellows out of the doorway, and every time I knock one out I get a sinner in."

- Mordecai Ham (1877-1961) American Baptist Minister

PEOPLE ARE ASHAMED TO ADMIT

"People are ashamed to admit they need a revival."

- Mordecai Ham (1877-1961) American Baptist Minister

A LOT OF HALFWAY FELLOWS

"There are a lot of Christians who are halfway fellows. They stand in the door, holding on to the Church with one hand while they play with the toys of the world with the other. They are in the doorway and we can't bring sinners in. And, until we get some of God's people right, we cannot hope to get sinners regenerated. Now they always accuse me of carrying around a sledge hammer with which to pound the church members. Yes sir, I do pound them, every time I come down, I knock one of the halfway fellows out of the doorway, and every time I knock one out I get a sinner in."

- Mordecai Ham (1877-1961) American Baptist Minister

165. Nathanael Saint (1923–1956)

Nathanael Saint (1923–1956) Christian Missionary Pilot Killed in Ecuador

ABOUT NATHANAEL SAINT

Nathanael Saint (30 August 1923 – 8 January 1956) was an evangelical Christian missionary pilot who, along with four others, was killed in Ecuador while attempting to evangelize the Huaorani people through efforts known as Operation Auca.

Early life

Saint was born in 1923. When he was seven he took his first plane ride with his brother Sam, who would eventually become a commercial pilot for American Airlines. While in the airplane he discovered a love of flying. His family was somewhat unusual. His brothers made a sleeping patio on the roof of their home, and his father built a roller coaster in the backyard. When he joined the army he was stationed in Las Vegas, NV, but was transferred to several other locations over the years. A leg injury caused him some problems while he was in the army. About a year before he was discharged, he nearly died while climbing a mountain in Yosemite National Park.

Becoming a missionary

When Saint was asked by a friend to fix a plane somewhere in Mexico, he agreed. After he repaired the plane, he discovered a need for his skill in the field of mission work and also a new awareness of the value of missions. After going to Wheaton College, Saint married Marjorie Farris (commonly called Marj) in 1948 and eventually moved to Shell, Ecuador. Here, Saint built his family a house which would also serve as a guesthouse and a radio center with the other missionaries.

Operation Auca

In September 1955, Saint was joined by his teammates, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Pete Fleming, and Roger Youderian. Saint finally found a Huaorani (also known as Auca) settlement while searching by air. To reach the tribe, Saint and the team lowered gifts to the Huaorani in a bucket tied to the plane. The team decided to try to meet the Huaorani on the ground; and, on January 3, 1956, using the beach as a landing strip, they set up camp four miles from the Huaorani settlement. Their initial contact was encouraging; however, on Sunday, January 8, 1956, the entire team was killed on the beach (known as "Palm Beach") when armed Huaorani met and speared them. Saint was the third of the five missionaries to be speared to death.

Saint and the other four men became famous worldwide as a result. Life magazine published a 10-page photo essay on the story, which was also covered in Reader's Digest and many other publications. A small school for missionary children in Shell, Ecuador, bore Saint's name for 51 years until the school closed in 2017 due to falling enrollment.

Rachel, Saint's sister, continued the mission efforts to the Huaorani. This resulted in many of these natives becoming Christians, including those who had killed Saint.

In 1966, Marjorie (Marj) Farris Saint married Abe Van Der Puy, president of HCJB World Radio. Van Der Puy died in 2003, and Marj died in 2004, from cancer. She is buried in Highland Memorial Park, south of Ocala, Florida.

Saint's older son, Steve, spent time as a child visiting his missionary family members and friends and getting to know the Huaorani. Steve was baptized by Mincaye, who was the very man who killed his father but later converted. As of 2006, Steve Saint works with the Huaorani people and travels around the world, preaching the gospel, often accompanied by Mincaye. A documentary based on the story, Beyond Gates of Splendor, was released in 2005. The following year, a feature film, End of the Spear, was released on January 20, a week and a half after the 50-year anniversary of the killings. Steve Saint also helped write Jungle Pilot, based on his father's diary about his time in Ecuador and work with the Huaorani Indians. Steven Curtis Chapman wrote the song "No Greater Love" from his album Declaration as a tribute to Saint and his fellow missionaries.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nate_Saint

Death of Nathanael Saint

"Why did the Huaorani suddenly turn hostile? Much later, one of the Huaorani who had helped to kill the five martyrs explained that the tribe, who had had almost no contact with outsiders that did not involve killing or attempted killing on one side or another, wondered why the whites wanted to make contact with them; and while they wanted to believe that their visitors were friendly, they feared a trap. After the killings, they realized their mistake. When they were attacked, one of the missionaries fired two shots as warnings, and one shot grazed a Huaorani who was hiding in the brush, unknown to the missionaries. It was therefore clear that the visitors had weapons, were capable of killing, and had chosen not to do so. Thus, the Huaorani realized that the visitors were indeed their friends, willing to die for them if necessary. When in subsequent months they heard the message that the Son of God had come down from heaven to reconcile men with God, and to die in order to bring about that reconciliation, they recognized that the message of the missionaries was the basis of what they had seen enacted in the lives of the missionaries. They believed the Gospel preached because they had seen the Gospel lived.

Source: justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/74.html

QUOTES BY NATHANAEL SAINT

NOTHING OF ETERNAL SIGNIFICANCE TO SHOW FOR THE YEARS

"People who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives, and when the bubble has burst, they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted."

- Nate Saint (August 30, 1923 – January 8,1956, evangelical Christian missionary pilot to Ecuador who, with four others, was killed while attempting to evangelize the Huaorani)

NATHANAEL SAINT BOOKS AND SERMONS

Jungle Pilot: The Story of Nate Saint, Martyred Missionary to Ecuador by Russell Hitt

Nate Saint: On a Wing and a Prayer by Janet and George Benge (1998 - Christian Heroes: Then & Now)

The Fate of the Yellow Woodbee by Dave & Neta Jackson (2016 - Kids Book)

Nate Saint: Operation Auca by Nancy Drummond (2012 - Torchbearers)

Nate Saint: Heavenbound by Renee Meloche (2001 - Heroes for Young Readers)‍

Gentle Savage Still Seeking the End of the Spear by Menkaye Aenkaedi

Movies

End of the Spear (2006)

Jungle Pilot: The Story of Nate Saint, Martyred Missionary to Ecuador by Russell Hitt

Nate Saint: On a Wing and a Prayer by Janet and George Benge (1998 - Christian Heroes: Then & Now)

Nate Saint Movies

End of the Spear (2006)

Through Gates of Splendor (2004)

Steve Saint: The Jungle Missionary (2007)

Photo Credit: christiantoday.com/article/tragedy-and-transformation-nate-saints-grandson-jamie-now-calls-the-tribe-who-killed-his-grandfather-family/105709.htm

Words to Think About...

WHEN LIFE'S FLIGHT IS OVER

"When life's flight is over, and we unload our cargo at the other end, the fellow who got rid of unnecessary weight will have the most valuable cargo to present the Lord."

- Nathanael Saint (1923–1956) Christian Missionary Pilot Killed in Ecuador

I WOULD RATHER DIE NOW

"I would rather die now than to live a life of oblivious ease in so sick a world."

- Nathanael Saint (1923–1956) Christian Missionary Pilot Killed in Ecuador

GOD GRANT US THE VISION

"If God would grant us the vision, the word sacrifice would disappear from our lips and thoughts; we would hate the things that seem now so dear to us; our lives would suddenly be too short, we would despise time-robbing distractions and charge the enemy with all our energies in the name of Christ. May God help us ourselves by the eternities that separate the Aucas from a Comprehension of Christmas and Him, who, though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor so that we might, through his poverty, be made rich.

- Nathanael Saint (1923–1956) Christian Missionary Pilot Killed in Ecuador

SHED TEARS OF REPENTANCE

"As we have a high old time this Christmas may we who know Christ hear the cry of the damned as they hurtle headlong into the Christless night without ever a chance. May we be moved with compassion as our Lord was. May we shed tears of repentance for these we have failed to bring out of darkness. Beyond the smiling scenes of Bethlehem may we see the crushing agony of Golgotha."

- Nathanael Saint (1923–1956) Christian Missionary Pilot Killed in Ecuador

TRAUMATIC BUT EXHILARATING

"It was traumatic but exhilarating to feel what my father felt. I remember the ache of the separation from the people I loved. I would never go back to that time. Yet the things I learned benefited my life."

- Nathanael Saint (1923–1956) Christian Missionary Pilot Killed in Ecuador

166. Nehemiah Adams (1806–1878)

Nehemiah Adams (1806–1878) American Clergyman and Writer

ABOUT NEHEMIAH ADAMS

Reverend Nehemiah Adams (February 19, 1806 – October 6, 1878) was an American clergyman and writer. He was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1806 to Nehemiah Adams and Mehitabel Torrey Adams. He graduated from Harvard University in 1826, and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1829. That same year, he was ordained as co-pastor, with Abiel Holmes, of the First Congregational Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1832, he married Martha Hooper.

In 1834, he became pastor of Union Congregational Church in Boston, Massachusetts. He would remain in that position until his death in 1878. In 1850, he married again, to Sarah Brackett.

In 1854, he took a trip to the American South, and wrote a book entitled A South-Side View of Slavery (Boston, 1854). In the book, he lauded slavery as beneficial to the Negroes' religious character. This book was one of several polemic works he wrote. It caused a great sensation, and he received much hostile criticism. The book was attacked by abolitionists for its perceived moderation; the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator called it "as vile a work as was ever written, in apology and defence of 'the sum of all villanies'".

In 1861, Adams wrote a successor volume, The Sable Cloud, a Southern tale with Northern Comments, to answer his attackers, and it was met with a similar response.

He also wrote The Cross in the Cell, Scriptural Argument for Endless Punishment, Broadcast, At Eventide, and a Life of John Eliot. He was a member of the American Tract Society and the American Board for Foreign Missions.

In 1869, in consequence of his failing health, his people procured an associate pastor and gave Adams a long leave of absence. He made a voyage round the world and described it in Under the Mizzenmast (1871). Adams died in 1878, aged 72. He left nine children.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nehemiah_Adams

QUOTES BY NEHEMIAH ADAMS

THEREFORE, LET US COME BOLDLY TO THE THRONE OF GRACE

"A certain joyful, though humble, confidence becomes us when we pray in the Mediator's name. It is due to Him; when we pray in His name it should be without wavering. Remember His merits, and how prevalent they must be. "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace."

- Nehemiah Adams (1806–1878) American Clergyman and Writer

IN DEBATING WITH REGARD TO THEORIES

"Though, in debating with regard to theories, it be lawful to say whether this or that is consistent with the Divine attributes, yet, when we find that God has actually done any thing, all question about its justice, wisdom, and benevolence, is forever out of place."

- Nehemiah Adams (1806–1878) American Clergyman and Writer

NEHEMIAH ADAMS BOOKS BAND SERMONS

Adams, Nehemiah, 1806-1878: The Great Concern: or, Man's Relation to God and a Future State (Boston: Gould and Lincoln, 1859) (page images at HathiTrust)
Adams, Nehemiah, 1806-1878: The Great Concern: or, Man's Relation to God and a Future State (second edition; Boston: Gould and Lincoln, 1860)
Adams, Nehemiah, 1806-1878: [Christian pamphlets. ([United States : s.n., 1851-1864]), also by C. A. Bartol, William A. Stearns, Andrew P. Peabody, Joseph Albree Gilmore, Asa D. Smith, Mark Hopkins, Richard S. Storrs, Thomas Starr King, Henry Boynton Smith, William Adams, William R. Williams, Theodore Parker, and Massachusetts Bible Society. Annual report. 1852. 1852 (page images at HathiTrust)
Adams, Nehemiah, 1806-1878: Agnes and the little key: (Boston, Ticknor and Fields, 1863) (page images at HathiTrust)
Adams, Nehemiah, 1806-1878: Agnes and the little key, or Bereaved parents instructed and comforted. (Boston, Congregational Publishing Society, [cop. 1869])
Adams, Nehemiah, 1806-1878: Agnes and the little key, or, Bereaved parents instructed and comforted / (Boston : Ticknor and Fields, 1864) (page images at HathiTrust)
Adams, Nehemiah, 1806-1878: Agnes and the little key, or, Bereaved parents, instructed and comforted / (Boston : S.K. Whipple, 1857) (page images at HathiTrust)
Adams, Nehemiah, 1806-1878: Agnes and the little key: or, Bereaved parents instructed and comforted / (Boston : J.E. Tilton and Co., 1859) (page images at HathiTrust)
Adams, Nehemiah, 1806-1878: The autobiography of Thomas Shepard the celebrated minister of Cambridge, N. E. (Boston, Pierce and Parker, 1832), also by Thomas Shepard
Adams, Nehemiah, 1806-1878: The baptized child. (Boston : Massachusetts Sabbath School Society, 1837) (page images at HathiTrust)
Adams, Nehemiah, 1806-1878: The baptized child / (Boston : W. Peirce, 1836)

Source: onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Adams%2C%20Nehemiah%2C%201806%2D1878

Photo Credit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nehemiah_Adams

Words to Think About...

A BEING WHO HAD NO BEGINNING

"If we can keep our minds calm on the subject of the "Eternity of God," if reason does not totter on her seat at the contemplation of underived existence, it will be strange if any other mystery relating to God should disturb us. He who can bring his reason to bow reverently at the idea of a Being who had no beginning, is well prepared to receive any communication of His will."

- Nehemiah Adams (1806–1878) American Clergyman and Writer

WITH THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES

- Nehemiah Adams (1806–1878) American Clergyman and Writer

CONFIDENCE BECOMES US

- Nehemiah Adams (1806–1878) American Clergyman and Writer

IF WE CAN KEEP OUR MINDS CALM

If we can keep our minds calm on the subject of the "Eternity of God," if reason does not totter on her seat at the contemplation of underived existence, it will be strange if any other mystery relating to God should disturb us. He who can bring his reason to bow reverently at the idea of a Being who had no beginning, is well prepared to receive any communication of His will.

- Nehemiah Adams (1806–1878) American Clergyman and Writer

167. Ole Hallesby (1879-1961)

Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

ABOUT OLE HALLESBY

Ole Kristian Hallesby (5 August 1879 – 22 November 1961) was a conservative, Norwegian Lutheran theologian, author and educator.

Ole Kristian Hallesby was born in Aremark, in Østfold, Norway. Hallesby grew up as the sixth of eight siblings on a family farm with a father also served as an assistant pastor. His family was from the Lutheran piety of the Haugean heritage. He graduated with a degree in theology in 1903 and was awarded his doctorate in 1909.

Ole Kristian Hallesby taught at the Free Faculty of Theology from 1909 to 1952. He was chairman of the Norwegian Santal Mission 1902-1906 and chairman of the Norwegian Lutheran Inner Mission Society (Det norske lutherske Indremisjonsselskap) from 1923 to 1956. He was also central to the founding of Norwegian Christian Student and School Association in 1924.

Nazi Occupation of Norway

An outspoken opponent of the Nazi occupation of Norway, he was arrested and detained at Grini concentration camp for two years (until the end of the war). During a razzia in November 1948 it was revealed that the already-imprisoned Nazi agents, Gard Holtskog, Sten Blom Westberg and Hans Johann Krijom, were about to fabricate a document which probably was supposed to tie Hallesby to the Nazis.

Hell Debate

In 1953, a radio speech by Hallesby caused a major debate in Norway on the existence of hell. In the speech, Hallesby spoke to the non-religious that if you fell dead to the floor this moment, you fall at the same time into hell, and how can you who is unconverted lie down calmly to sleep at night, you who don't know if you'll wake up in your bed or in hell?

The speech was condemned on the front page of Dagbladet the following day, and criticisms were raised against NRK for hosting Hallesby's speech. NRK responded that since there was a state church, they had to accept it as it was. Within the church, the debate ignited a conflict between liberal and literal interpretations of the Bible. The bishop of Hamar Kristian Schjelderup was the main spokesperson for the liberal side who argued that the damnation of hell was incompatible with a religion of love. Most of the church supported Hallesby's view of hell, though some did not support the wording in his speech. The debate also brought up questions whether there ought to be a state church. The debate may also have catalyzed the formation of the Norwegian Humanist Association.

Hallesby wrote 67 books, mostly on theology and ethics, but is known for devotional writings.

Source: wikiwand.com/en/Ole_Hallesby

QUOTES BY OLE HALLES

JESUS WILLS OF HIS OWN ACCORD TO COME INTO US

"Jesus wills of His own accord to come into us and, in His own power, to deal with our needs. It is not necessary for us to constrain Him by our prayers to take an interest in us. "

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

WHEN WE GO TO OUR MEETING WITH GOD

"When we go to our meeting with God, we should go like a patient to his doctor, first to be thoroughly examined and afterwards to be treated for our ailment. Then something will happen when you pray."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

NOTHING MEANS SO MUCH TO OUR DAILY PRAYER LIFE

"Nothing means so much to our daily prayer life as to pray in the name of Jesus. If we fail to do this, our prayer life will either die from discouragement and despair or become simply a duty which we feel we must perform."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

DO NOT FORGET THAT PRAYER IS ORDAINED FOR THE PURPOSE

"Do not forget that prayer is ordained for the purpose of glorifying the name of God. Therefore, whether you pray for big things or for little things, say to God, “If it will glorify Thy name, then grant my prayer and help me”.

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

IT IS GOD'S WILL NOT ONLY TO HEAR OUR PRAYER

"It is God’s will not only to hear our prayer, but to give us the best and the richest answer which He, the almighty and omniscient God, can devise. He will send us the answer when it will benefit us and His cause the most."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

PRAYER BRINGS A GOOD SPIRIT IN OUR HOMES

"Prayer brings a good spirit in our homes. For God hears prayer. Heaven itself would come down to our homes. And even though we who constitute the home all have our imperfections and our failings, our home would, through God’s answer to prayer, become a little paradise."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

IF WE PRAY FOR ANYTHING ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD

"If we pray for anything according to the will of God, we already have what we pray for the moment we ask it. We do not know exactly when it will arrive; but we have learned to know God through the Spirit of God, and have learned to leave this in His hands, and to live just as happily whether the answer arrives immediately or later."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

PRAISE LIES UPON A HIGHER PLAN THAN THANKSGIVING

"Praise lies upon a higher plain than thanksgiving. When I give thanks, my thoughts still circle around myself to some extent. But in praise my soul ascends to self-forgetting adoration, seeing and praising only the majesty and power of God, His grace and redemption."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

HOW WE SHOULD LOOK AT PAINFUL EXPERIENCES

"I do not think that we should look upon painful experiences too pessimistically. Surely they are more profitable than we think at the time we are going through the anguish connected with them. But if they are to be of any benefit to us, we must, in the first place, be truthful and not begin to practice deception, that is, excuse and defend our slovenly prayer life. We must admit our weakness in prayer; admit that we are faced with a problem which cannot be solved by our own efforts."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

AS IMPOSSIBLE AS IT IS FOR US TAKE A BREATH

"As impossible as it is for us to take a breath in the morning large enough to last us until noon, so impossible is it to pray in the morning in such a way as to last us until noon. Let your prayers ascend to Him constantly, audibly or silently, as circumstances throughout the day permit."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

NO BETTER ADVANTAGE THAN TO PRAY

"You can use your time to no better advantage than to pray whenever you have a moment, either alone, or with others, while at work, at rest, or walking down the street! Anywhere!"

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

PRAYER CAN ASSUME VERY DIFFERENT FORMS

"Prayer can assume very different forms, from quiet, blessed contemplation of God, in which eye meets eye in restful meditation, to deep sighs or sudden exclamations of wonder, joy, gratitude or adoration"

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

WHEN YOU ENTER THAT SECRET CHAMBER

"When you enter your secret chamber, take plenty of time before you begin to speak. Let quietude wield its influence upon you. Let the fact that you are alone assert itself. Give your soul time to get released from the many outward things. Give God time to play the prelude to prayer for the benefit of your distracted soul. "

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

ALL WE NEED TO DO IS OPEN OUR HEARTS

"The air which our body requires envelops us on every hand. The air which our souls need also envelops all of us at all times and on all sides. God is round about us in Christ on every hand, with his many sided and all-sufficient grace. All we need to do is to open our hearts."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

MUST ADMIT OUR WEAKNESS IN PRAYER

"I do not think that we should look upon painful experiences too pessimistically. Surely they are more profitable than we think at the time we are going through the anguish connected with them. But if they are to be of any benefit to us, we must, in the first place, be truthful and not begin to practice deception, that is, excuse and defend our slovenly prayer life. We must admit our weakness in prayer, admit that we are faced with a problem which cannot be solved by our own efforts."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

PRAYER IS THE RISEN JESUS COMING

"Prayer is the risen Jesus coming in with His resurrection power, given free rein in our lives, and then using His authority to enter any situation and change things."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

THAT YOU PRAY FOR YOUR CHILDREN

"See to it, night and day, that you pray for your children. Then you will leave them a great legacy of answers to prayer, which will follow them all the days of their life. Then you may calmly and with a good conscience depart from them, even though you may not leave them a great deal of material wealth."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

OLE HALLESBY BOOKS AND SERMONS

Prayer by Ole Hallesby

82 editions published between 1931 and 2018 in 5 languages and held by 661 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Why I am a Christian by Ole Hallesby

49 editions published between 1930 and 2020 in 6 languages and held by 305 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Drawing on his own journey from religious skepticism to faith, the author offers practical advice for those pondering a similar dilemma

Conscience by Ole Hallesby

41 editions published between 1933 and 1995 in 4 languages and held by 277 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Religious or Christian by Ole Hallesby

12 editions published between 1929 and 1955 in 3 languages and held by 196 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Under His Wings by Ole Hallesby

26 editions published between 1932 and 2010 in 4 languages and held by 189 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Temperament and the Christian faith by Ole Hallesby

4 editions published between 1962 and 1978 in English and Undetermined and held by 161 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

The purpose of this book is to help the reader to see, in the light of God's Word, the special possibilities and dangers in his own personality, using the classic four-fold division of temperaments: sanguine, melancholic, choleric, and phlegmatic. - Foreword to the American edition

The Christian life in the light of the cross by Ole Hallesby

21 editions published between 1934 and 1965 in English and Undetermined and held by 143 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Infant baptism and adult conversion; an exposition of the relation between regeneration in infant baptism and awakening and conversion by Ole Hallesby

8 editions published between 1924 and 1964 in English and held by 115 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Johannes Volkelts erkenntnistheorie eine Darstellung und Kritik by Ole Hallesby

15 editions published in 1909 in German and Undetermined and held by 110 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Wie ich Christ wurde by Ole Hallesby

24 editions published between 1952 and 2010 in German and Undetermined and held by 62 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Source: worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n88039453/

Photo Credit: klassekampen.no/utgave/2021-05-04/ole-hallesby-og-nazismen

Words to Think About...

NOTICE CAREFULLY EVERY WORD HERE

"Notice carefully every word here. It is not our prayer which draws Jesus into our hearts. Nor is it our prayer which moves Jesus to come in to us. All He needs is access. He enters in of His own accord, because He desires to come in. To pray is nothing more involved than to let Jesus into our needs, and permitting Him to exercise His own power in dealing with them. And that requires no strength. It is only a question of our wills. Will we give Jesus access to our needs?"

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

THE QUIET HOURS OF PRAYER

"The quiet hour of prayer is one of the most favorable opportunities He has in which to speak to us seriously. In quietude and solitude before the face of God our souls can hear better than at any other time.

BE SURE TO REMEMBER

"Be sure to remember that nothing in your daily life is so insignificant and so inconsequential that the Lord will not help you by answering your prayer."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

THIS IS TO BE BELIEVE

"There come times when I have nothing more to tell God. If I were to continue to pray in words, I would have to repeat what I have already said. At such times it is wonderful to say to God, “May I be in Thy presence, Lord? I have nothing more to say to Thee, but I do love to be in Thy presence”.

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

DEEPER THAN WORDS

Prayer is something deeper than words. It is present in the soul before it has been formulated in words. And it abides in the soul after the last words of prayer have passed over our lips.

USING HIS AUTHORITY

"Prayer is the risen Jesus coming in with His resurrection power, given free rein in our lives, and then using His authority to enter any situation and change things."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

EVEN TO YOUR DYING DAY

"As white snowflakes fall quietly and thickly on a winter day, answers to prayer will settle down upon you at every step you take, even to your dying day. The story of your life will be the story of prayer and answers to prayer."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

PRAYER IN QUIET THINKING

"Prayer is a condition of mind, an attitude of heart, which God recognizes as prayer whether it manifests itself in quiet thinking, in sighing or in audible words."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

THE SENSE OF THE LORD'S NEARNESS

"Nothing is so blessed as quiet, unbroken communication with our Lord. The sense of the Lord’s nearness, which then fills our souls, is greater than any other peace, joy, inner satisfaction, or security which we have known."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

TO STRIVE IN PRAYER MEANS

"To strive in prayer means to struggle through those hindrances which would restrain or even prevent us entirely from continuing in persevering prayer. It means to be so watchful at all times that we can notice when we become slothful in prayer and that we go to the Spirit of prayer to have this remedied. In this struggle, too, the decisive factor is the Spirit of prayer."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

WE SHOULD NOT BE AFRAID

"We should not be afraid, when praying to God, to give expression to a definite desire, even though we are in doubt at the time we are praying whether it is really the right thing to pray for or not. "

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

IT IS NECESSARY FOR US TO WITHDRAW

"It is necessary for us to withdraw at regular intervals and enable our souls to attain that quietude and inward composure which are essential if we would hear the voice of God."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

TO OPEN THE DOOR

"To pray is nothing more involved than to open the door, giving Jesus access to our needs and permitting Him to exercise His own power in dealing with them."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

INDICATION OF A PRAYING HEART

"Helplessness is unquestionably the first and the surest indication of a praying heart. .. Prayer and helplessness are inseparable. Only he who is helpless can truly pray."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

YOUR DAILY STRUGGLES

"To pray is to let God into our lives. He knocks and seeks admittance, not only in the solemn hours of secret prayer. He knocks in the midst of your daily work, your daily struggles, your daily grind. That is when you need Him most."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

HE SEES THAT YOU APPRECIATE

"Jesus is moved to happiness every time He sees that you appreciate what He has done for you. Grip His pierced hand and say to Him, "I thank Thee, Saviour, because Thou has died for me." Thank Him likewise for all the other blessings He has showered upon you from day to day. It brings joy to Jesus."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

REAL SECRET TO IMPELLIMNG PRAYER

"Helplessness is the real secret and the impelling power of prayer."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

CONTINUING IN PERESEVERING PRAYER

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

REST OUR WEARY SOULS

"It is not necessary to maintain a conversation when we are in the presence of God. We can come into His presence and rest our weary souls in quiet contemplation of Him. Our groanings, which cannot be uttered, rise to Him and tell Him better than words how dependent we are upon Him."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

THE PURPOSE OF FASTING

"The purpose of fasting is to loosen to some degree the ties which bind us to the world of material things and our surroundings as a whole, in order that we may concentrate all our spiritual powers upon the unseen and eternal things."

- Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

168. Origen (c. 185–c. 253)

Origen (c. 185–c. 253) Early Christian Scholar and Theologian

ABOUT ORIGEN

Born in Alexandria, Egypt, Origen may well have been the most influential Christian intellectual between St. Paul and Augustine. He received an outstanding education in Greek and Christian literature. His father, Leonidas, was executed as a Christian martyr in 202. Origen subsequently supported his remaining family by teaching grammar and literature. During this early period, Origen acquired expertise in classical philosophy and taught Christianity in a catechetical school in Alexandria. In addition to his teaching, he was a prodigious writer. One of his early works, De principiis (On First Principles) is nothing less than the first systematically articulated Christian hermeneutics analytically relating fundamental theological and philosophical commitments to a coherent reading of the whole Christian Bible. In this work, the basic contours of his intellectually daring spirituality are already present with its emphases on existential freedom, moral rigor, and a personally transformative spiritual reading of the Bible. Origen is without peer in shaping the Christian reading of Old Testament books. Finding profound wisdom in such ancient Jewish texts, Origen's thought would prove to be a steady, comprehensive, thoroughly intellectual rejection of both Gnostic and simplistic forms of Christianity.

Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9780470670606.wbecc1023

QUOTES BY ORIGEN

HE MAKES HIMSELF KNOWN TO THOSE WHO

"He makes Himself known to those who, after doing all that their powers will allow, confess that they need help from Him."

- Origen (c. 185–c. 253) Early Christian Scholar and Theologian

THE PHYSICAL VOICE WE USE INPRAYER

"The physical voice we use in prayer need not be great nor startling; even should we not lift up any great cry or shout, God will yet hear us."

- Origen (c. 185–c. 253) Early Christian Scholar and Theologian

MYSTERY CONCEALED THROUGH PROPHETIC WRITING

"For if the mystery concealed of old is made manifest to the Apostles through the prophetic writings, and if the prophets, being wise men, understood what proceeded from their own mouths, then the prophets knew what was made manifest to the Apostles."

- Origen (c. 185–c. 253) Early Christian Scholar and Theologian

THIS IS ALSO PART OF THE CHURCH'S TEACHING

"This also is a part of the Church's teaching, that the world was made and took its beginning at a certain time, and is to be destroyed on account of its wickedness."

- Origen (c. 185–c. 253) Early Christian Scholar and Theologian

BUT GOD, WHO IS THE BEGINNING OF ALL THINGS

"But God, who is the beginning of all things, is not to be regarded as a composite being, lest perchance there should be found to exist elements prior to the beginning itself, out of which everything is composed, whatever that be which is called composite."

- Origen (c. 185–c. 253) Early Christian Scholar and Theologian

ORIGEN BOOKS BAND SERMONS

Homilies on Numbers - Origen, Thomas P. Scheck (Translator),

Christopher A. Hall (Editor)

The Development of the Canon of the New Testament -

Origen (Origenes Adamantius) (b. ~185 in Egypt, d. 253/254 at Tyre)

Epiphanius, circa 374, Ancoratus and Panarion, ed. K. Holl, 3 vols, Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1915–1933.
Eusebius, circa 320, Ecclesiastical History (Church History), ed. & trans. K. Lake, 2 vols, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1926.
Gregory Thaumaturgus, Remerciement à Origène (Panegyric), ed. H. Crouzel, Paris: Cerf, 1969.
Irenaeus of Lyons, Contre les Heresies, ed. J. Rouseeau and H. Doutrelaeau, 10 vols., Paris: Cerf, 1972–1982.
Methodius, circa 300, Werke, ed. N. Bonwetsch, Leipzig: Böhme, 1899.
Origen, De Principiis (First Principles; Princ.), ed. P. Koetschau, Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1913; translation G.W. Buttwerworth, London: SPCK 1936; reprinted Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith, 1973.
Origen, Entretien avec Héraclide (Dialogue with Heraclides), ed. J. Scherer, Paris: Cerf, 1960; translation, R.J. Daly, Westminster: Paulist Press, 1982.
Origen, Gegen Celsus (Against Celsus), with Von Gebet (On Prayer) and Ermahunung zum Martyrium (Exhortation to Martyrdom), ed. P. Koetschau, 2 vols, Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1899; translation of Against Celsus, Henry Chadwick, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1953; translations of Exhortation to the Martyrs and On Prayer, R. Greer, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1988.
Origen, Homilien zum Buch Genesis (Genesis Homilies), ed. P. Habermehl, Berlin: De Gruyter, 2012; translation, R. Heine, Washington: Catholic University of America, 1982.
Origen, Die Kommentierung des Buches Genesis, ed. K. Metzler, Berlin: De Gruyter 2010.
Origen, Homilien/Kommentar zum Hohelied (Homilies on the Song of Songs), ed. W. Baehrens, Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1925; translation, J. Lawson, Westminster: Paulist Press, 1957.
Origen, Johanneskommentar (Commentary on John) [CommJohn], ed. E. Preuschen, Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1903; translation, R. Heine, 2 vols., Washington: Catholic University of America, 1993.
Origen, Philocalie (Philokalia), 2 vols, ed. E. Junod and M. Harl, Paris: Cerf, 1976 and 1983; translation, G. Lewis, London: T. and T. Clark, 1911.
Origen, Römerbriefkommentar (Commentary on Romans), ed. C. Hammond Bammel, 3 vols, Freiburg: Herder, 1996, reprinted Paris: Cerf, 2009–2012; translation, T.P. Scheck, 2 vols., Washington: Catholic University of America, 2001–2.
Pamphilus/Eusebius, circa 305, Apologia pro Origene (Apology), ed. G. Röwekamp, Turhout: Brepols, 2005.
Philo of Alexandria, ed. and trans. by various hands, 14 vols., Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

Photo Credit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origen

Words to Think About...

ONE WHO PRAYS

"One who prays ceaselessly is one who combines prayer with work and work with prayer."

- Origen (c. 185–c. 253) Early Christian Scholar and Theologian

THE WORD OF GOD

"The Word of God is like a lamp to guide us."

CHAMBER OF JUSTICE

"Conscience is the chamber of justice."

- Origen (c. 185–c. 253) Early Christian Scholar and Theologian

WHEN ANYONE PRAYS

" When anyone prays, the angels that minister to God and watch over mankind gather round about him and join with him in prayer."

- Origen (c. 185–c. 253) Early Christian Scholar and Theologian

THE AUTHOR OF SCRIPTURE

"Those who believe the Author of Nature to be also the Author of Scripture must expect to find in Scripture the same sorts of difficulties that they find in Nature."

- Origen (c. 185–c. 253) Early Christian Scholar and Theologian

ALTHOUGH CHRIST WAS GOD

"Although Christ was God, he took flesh; and having been made man, he remained what he was, God."

- Origen (c. 185–c. 253) Early Christian Scholar and Theologian

THE DISCUSSION OF PRAYER

"The discussion of prayer is so great that it requires the Father to reveal it, His firstborn Word to teach it, and the Spirit to enable us to think and speak rightly of so great a subject."

- Origen (c. 185–c. 253) Early Christian Scholar and Theologian

FOR WHATEVER BE KNOWLEDGE

"For whatever be the knowledge which we are able to obtain of God, either by perception or reflection, we must of necessity believe that He is by many degrees far better than what we perceive Him to be."

- Origen (c. 185–c. 253) Early Christian Scholar and Theologian

THE TRUE SOLDIERS OF CHRIST

"Now the true soldiers of Christ must always be prepared to do battle for the truth, and must never, so far as lies with them, allow false convictions to creep in."

- Origen (c. 185–c. 253) Early Christian Scholar and Theologian

SO MUST THE SPENDID REVELATIONS

"If all things were made through Him, clearly so must the splendid revelations have been which were made to the fathers and prophets, and became to them the symbols of the sacred mysteries of religion."

- Origen (c. 185–c. 253) Early Christian Scholar and Theologian

169. Oswald Chambers (1874–1917)

Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

ABOUT OSWALD CHAMBERS

"I feel I shall be buried for a time, hidden away in obscurity; then suddenly I shall flame out, do my work, and be gone." So wrote 22-year-old Oswald Chambers as he began his long preparation in a remote Scottish town before being thrust into the world as a preacher. He was partially right; after 15 years of public ministry, Chambers died suddenly at age 43. But he remains far from gone—his devotional My Utmost for His Highest (sermons published posthumously, like nearly 50 other devotionals bearing his name) remains one of the most popular devotional guides ever printed.

Portrait of an Artist

Born as a Baptist preacher's son in Aberdeen, Scotland, Chambers converted under the preaching of Charles Spurgeon. In his twenties, he sought to portray the message of God's redemption in art, studying technique in London and Edinburgh.

Gradually Chambers began to believe God wanted him not to pursue the arts for God's sake, but God for the sake of his will alone. As he later wrote, "It takes me a long while to realize that God has no respect for anything I bring him. All he wants from me is unconditional surrender."

His decision led him to Dunoon College, a small, interdenominational theological school. It wasn't long before Chambers himself began to believe, like family members and his artist colleagues, he was foolish—or insane. During those "four years of hell on earth," Chambers continued his work but inside felt overcome by an acute vision of his own depravity and the powerlessness of his faith.

The experience brought Chambers to the brink of spiritual desperation. He threw himself completely on Jesus' promise that God would give his Spirit to those who ask. The struggle was instantly over. Chambers later described the result: "Glory be to God, the last aching abyss of the human heart is filled to overflowing with the love of God."

A brief, Shining Light

Soon after his "spiritual emancipation," Chambers became much in demand as an itinerant speaker and teacher through the revivalistic League of Prayer.

Because Chambers believed that spiritual mediocrity was often the result of mental lethargy, he opened the Bible Training College with the League in 1911. When World War I interrupted academic life, Chambers enlisted as a chaplain to the armed forces. In October 1915, he proceeded to Zeitoun, Egypt, where he and his wife evangelized soldiers.

Whether speaking to soldiers or students, Chambers called his listeners to live aggressively for God. God's will, he said, can be found in any circumstance of life, so long as individuals are willing to have a personal relationship with Christ and completely abandon themselves to him. "The great word of Jesus to his disciples is abandon," he wrote. "When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on his word; trust entirely to him and watch that when he brings us to the venture, we take it."

His Utmost

A ruptured appendix and consequent complications cut Chambers' life short in late 1917. It seemed an unbelievably tragic end to a life of promise. But it wasn't the end. His wife, whose ambition to become secretary to England's prime minister prompted her to acquire an astonishing skill at shorthand, transcribed and published Chambers' lectures. She sent them in pamphlet form to many soldiers to whom Chambers had ministered, as well as to past students. Soon she gathered the material into book form and, in 1927, she first published My Utmost for His Highest.

Source: https: christianitytoday.com/history/people/innertravelers/oswald-chambers.html

QUOTES BY OSWALD CHAMBERS

GOD DOES NOT EXIST TO ANSWER OUR PRAYERS

"God does not exist to answer our prayers, but by our prayers we come to discern the mind of God."

- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

INTERCESSORY PRAYER FOR ONE WHO IS SINNING

"Intercessory prayer for one who is sinning prevails. God says so! The will of the man prayed for does not come into question at all, he is connected with God by prayer, and prayer on the basis of the Redemption sets the connection working and God gives life."

- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

A GREAT MANY PEOPLE DO NOT PRAY

"A great many people do not pray because they do not feel any sense of need. The sign that the Holy Spirit is in us is that we realize that we are empty, not that we are full. We have a sense of absolute need. We come across people who try us, circumstances that are difficult, conditions that are perplexing, and all these things awaken a dumb sense of need, which is a sign that the Holy Spirit is there. If we are ever free from the sense of need, it is not because the Holy Spirit has satisfied us, but because we have been satisfied with as much as we have. ‘A man's reach should exceed his grasp.’ A sense of need is one of the greatest benedictions because it keeps our life rightly related to Jesus Christ."

- Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) Scottish Evangelist

DISPLAY THE GLORY OF GOD IN HUMAN LIFE

"We tend to set up success in Christian work as our purpose, but our purpose should be to display the glory of God in human life, to live a life "hidden with Christ in God" in our everyday human conditions."

- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

HIS PURPOSES TO PASS IN THE WORLD

“If through a broken heart God can bring His purposes to pass in the world, then thank Him for breaking your heart.”

- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

INTERESTED IN THE CROSS OF CHRIST

"All heaven is interested in the cross of Christ, all hell terribly afraid of it, while men are the only beings who more or less ignore its meaning."

- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

THE PRAYER OF THE FEEBLEST SAINTS

"The prayer of the feeblest saint who lives in the Spirit and keeps right with God is a terror to Satan. The very powers of darkness are paralyzed by prayer; no spiritualistic seance can succeed in the presence of a humble praying saint. No wonder Satan tries to keep our minds fussy in active work till we cannot think in prayer."

- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

HE WILL PRESS FORWARD IN FRONT

"Is the Son of God praying in me, or am I dictating to Him?... Prayer is not simply getting things from God, that is a most initial form of prayer; prayer is getting into perfect communion with God. If the Son of God is formed in us by regeneration, He will press forward in front of our common sense and change our attitude to the things about which we pray."

- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

CONTINUAL TESTING IN THE LIFE OF FAITH

"Believe steadfastly on Him and everything that challenges you will strengthen your faith. There is continual testing in the life of faith up to the point of our physical death, which is the last great test. Faith is absolute trust in God-trust that could never imagine that He would forsake us."

- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

IF YOU ARE GOING THROUGH DISCOURAGEMENT

"If you are going through a time of discouragement, there is a time or great personal growth ahead."

- Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) Scottish Baptist Evangelist

WHEN WE PRAY IN THE NAME OF JESUS

When we pray "in the Name of Jesus" the answers are in accordance with His nature, and if we think our prayers are unanswered it is because we are not interpreting the answer along this line."

- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

MEN WHO DO NOT PREACH CHRIST

"If men come among you who do NOT preach all the counsel of God, who do NOT preach of Christ, sin, holiness, of ruin, redemption, and regeneration, and do NOT preach of these things in a Scriptural way, you ought to cease to hear them."

- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

CHARACTER IN A SAINT MEANS

"Character in a saint means the disposition of Jesus Christ persistently manifested."

- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

PERFECT UNDERSTANDING WITH GOD

"The greatest answer to prayer is that I am brought into a perfect understanding with God, and that alters my view of actual things."

- Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) Scottish Baptists Evangelist

STAMPED WITH PRESENCE OF GOD

"Get into the habit of dealing with God about everything. Unless in the first waking moment of the day you learn to fling the door wide back and let God in, you will work on a wrong level all day; but swing the door wide open and pray to your Father in secret, and every public thing will be stamped with the presence of God."

- Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) Scottish Baptist Evangelist

THE MORE YOU FULFILL YOURSELF

"The more you fulfill yourself, the less you will seek God."

- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

THE PURPOSE OF PRAYER

"The purpose of prayer is to reveal the presence of God equally present, all the time, in every condition."

- Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)

GOD CAME AS A BABY

"God came as a baby, giving and entrusting Himself to me. He expects my personal life to be a “Bethlehem.” Am I allowing my natural life to be slowly transformed by the indwelling life of the Son of God? God’s ultimate purpose is that His Son might be exhibited in me."

- Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) Scottish Baptists Evangelist

OBEY GOD'S WORD

"Beware of reasoning about God's Word - obey It."

- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

GOD'S WILL IN SUFFERING

"To choose to suffer means that there is something wrong; to choose God's will even if it means suffering is a very different thing. No healthy saint ever chooses suffering; he chooses God's will, as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not."

- Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) Scottish Minister and Teacher

OR BY THWARTED FRIENDSHIP

"When God gets us alone through suffering, heartbreak, temptation, disappointment, sickness, or by thwarted friendship – when He gets us absolutely alone, and we are totally speechless, unable to ask even one question, then He begins to teach us."

- Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) Scottish Baptist Evangelist

PRAYERS FOLLOWED BY SILENCE

“Some prayers are followed by silence because they are wrong, others because they are bigger than we can understand.”

- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

OSWALD CHAMBERS BOOKS AND SERMONS

Chambers, Oswald, 1874-1917: My Utmost for His Highest: Selections for the Year (HTML with commentary at utmost.org)
Chambers, Oswald, 1874-1917: Studies in the Sermon on the Mount (multiple formats at archive.org)

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount by Oswald Chambers

A Daily Companion to My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers

Complete Works of Oswald Chambers by Oswald Chambers

My Utmost for His Highest: Classic Language Gift Edition by Oswald Chambers

Photo Credit: westernfrontassociation.com/on-this-day/15-november-1917-oswald-chambers-christian-minister-and-teacher/

Words to Think About...

REMEMBER WHOSE YOU ARE

"Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright."

- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

IN THE FIRST WAKING MOMENT

- Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) Scottish Baptist Evangelist

IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

"In our natural life our ambitions are our own. In the Christian life we have no aim of our own, and God’s aim looks like missing the mark because we are too shortsighted to see what he is aiming at."

- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

LIFE OF DELIGHT

"When you have a right-standing relationship with God, you have a life of freedom, liberty, and delight; you are God’s will."

- Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) Scottish Baptist Evangelist

KEEP YOURSELF BEFORE GOD

“Shut out every other consideration and keep yourself before God for this one thing only—My Utmost for His Highest. I am determined to be absolutely and entirely for Him and for Him alone.”

- Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) Scottish Baptist Evangelist

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS STAMPED

"The Christian life is stamped all through with impossibility. Human nature cannot come anywhere near what Jesus Christ demands, and any rational being facing his demands honestly, says, “It can’t be done, apart from a miracle.”

- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

WALK IN THE LIGHT

"When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible."

- Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) Scottish Baptist Evangelist

FAITH NEVER KNOWS WHERE

"Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading."

- Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) Scottish Baptists Evangelist

THE WORD OF GOD

"The 'words' of God and the 'Word' of God stand together; to separate them is to render both powerless. Any expounder of the words of God is liable to go off on a tangent if he or she does not remember this stern, undeviating standard of exposition, namely, that no individual experience is of the remotest value unless it is up to the standard of the Word of God. The Bible not only tests experience, it tests truth. The Bible tests all experience, all truth, all authority by our Lord Himself and our relationship to Him personally."

- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

THE SPIRIT OF GOD

"Complete weakness and dependence will always be the occasion for the Spirit of God to manifest His power."

- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

PRAYER IS NOT LOGICAL

"Prayer is not logical; it is a mysterious moral working of the Holy Spirit."

- Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) Scottish Baptist Teacher

TAKE TIME MEDITATE BEFORE GOD

"Worship is giving God the best that He has given you. Be careful what you do with the best you have. Whenever you get a blessing from God, give it back to Him as a love gift. Take time to meditate before God and offer the blessing back to Him in a deliberate act of worship. If you hoard a thing for yourself, it will turn into spiritual dry rot, as the manna did when it was hoarded. God will never let you hold a spiritual thing for yourself; it has to be given back to Him that He may make it a blessing to others."

- Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) Scottish Baptist Evangelist

WAIT ON GOD AND HE WILL WORK

"Wait on God and He will work, but don't wait in spiritual sulks because you cannot see an inch in front of you! Are we detached enough from our spiritual hysterics to wait on God? To wait is not to sit with folded hands, but to learn to do what we are told."

- Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) Scottish Baptists Evangelist

INVINCIBLE FUTURE WITH HIM

"Leave the broken, irreversible past in God's hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him."

- Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) Scottish Baptists Evangelist

HOLINESS, NOT HAPPINESS

"Holiness, not happiness, is the chief end of man."

- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

RED-HANDED REBELLION AGAINST GOD

"Sin is not weakness, it is a disease; it is red-handed rebellion against God and the magnitude of that rebellion is expressed by Calvary's cross."

- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

YESTERDAYS DESTRUCTIVE ANXIETY

"Our yesterdays present irreparable things to us; it is true that we have lost opportunities which will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past sleep, but let it sleep on the bosom of Christ. Leave the Irreparable Past in His hands, and step out into the Irresistible Future with Him."

- Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) Scottish Evangelist and Writer

HIS SILENCE IS THE ANSWER

You say, "But He has not answered." He has, He is so near to you that His silence is the answer. His silence is big with terrific meaning that you cannot understand yet, but presently you will.

- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

INTERECESSION FOR US IN HEAVEN

"Jesus Christ carries on intercession for us in heaven; the Holy Ghost carries on intercession in us on earth; and we the saints have to carry on intercession for all men."

- Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) Scottish Baptist Evangelist

THE BATTLE OF PRAYER

"The battle of prayer is against two things in the earthlies: wandering thoughts and lack of intimacy with God's character as revealed in His word. Neither can be cured at once, but they can be cured by discipline."

- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

THE BATTLE FOR THE LOST

"The battle is lost or won in the secret places of the will before God, never first in the external world."

- Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) Scottish Baptist Evangelist

TO BE IN THE WILL OF GOD

"To be 'in the will of God' is not a matter of intellectual discernment, but a state of heart."

- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

Prophecy News daily Links

Praying For the Nations

366 Daily Devotionals - Morning

Information on How to Pray for the 195 Nations. - "For lack of guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisers." - Proverbs 11:14

366 Daily Devotionals - Morning

366 Daily Devotionals on How Should We Live in these Times

People in The Last Days

366 Daily Devotionals - Morning

People in The Last Days

Bible Prophecy Articles on How People Would Be in the Days Before Jesus Returned.

Church Signs

Famous Last Words

People in The Last Days

Read What Churches are Posting on Their Signs Throughout the World

Famous Last Words

Famous Last Words of Dying Christians Who Overcame This World.

Bible in the News

Famous Last Words

Read Bible-Related News Stories From Today's Headlines

How Can I Be Saved?

You’ve probably seen John 3:16 posted somewhere on a sign, written on a freeway overpass, at a concert, at a sporting event, or even read to you as a little child. This verse is a simple one. There are 20 monosyllables (single words) in the verse. The Gospel is meant to be simple for everyone!

Be sure of your Salvation. Right now, and pray this simple prayer with a sincere heart...
“Lord, forgive me for my sins. I confess that I am a sinner. Come into my heart and make me the person you created me to be. I receive your gift of pardon through Jesus dying for me on the cross to save me. – Amen”

It was once determined in a court of law that a pardon is only a pardon when it is accepted. There is a true story about a man that refused his pardon. A judge ruled that a pardon is only a pardon when it is accepted. When you prayed that prayer and accepted God’s pardon for your sins, you became a new creation in Christ.

The Bible teaches that you are saved by faith through Jesus. Grow in the Grace that was just given to you, seek God in His word (The Bible) and go out tell somebody!

CHRISTIAN BIOGRAPHIES L-N

Christians From the Past on Living the Deeper Life

Words to Think About

Subscribe

154. Louis Bourdaloue (1632-1704)

Words to Think About...

155. Lucius Caelius Lactantius (c.250–c.325)

Lucius Caelius Lactantius (c.250–c.325) Early Christian Author

Words to Think About...

156. M. R. DeHaan (1891–1965)

M. R. DeHaan (1891–1965) American Bible Teacher, Founder Radio Bible Class

Words to Think About...

157. MadamE Jeanne Guyon (1648 -1717)

Madam Jeanne Guyon (1648 -1717) French Christian

Words to Think About...

158. Martin Luther (1483-1546)

Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Priest and Theology Professor

Words to Think About...

159. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891)

Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1891) British War Hero, Minister

Words to Think About...

160. Mary Slessor (1848-1915)

Mary Slessor (1848-1915) Scottish Missionary to Nigeria

Words to Think About...

161. Matthew Henry (1662-1714)

Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Nonconformist Minister, Writer

Words to Think About...

162. Maximus the Confessor (c.580-662)

Maximus the Confessor (c580-662) Orthodox Christian Monk

Words to Think About...

163. Miguel De Molinos (1628-1696)

Miguel De Molinos (1628-1696) Spanish Priest

Words to Think About...

164. Mordecai Ham (1877–1961)

Mordecai Ham (1877–1961) American Baptist Evangelist

Words to Think About...

165. Nathanael Saint (1923–1956)

Nathanael Saint (1923–1956) Christian Missionary Pilot Killed in Ecuador

Words to Think About...

166. Nehemiah Adams (1806–1878)

Nehemiah Adams (1806–1878) American Clergyman and Writer

Words to Think About...

167. Ole Hallesby (1879-1961)

Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian

Words to Think About...

168. Origen (c. 185–c. 253)

Origen (c. 185–c. 253) Early Christian Scholar and Theologian

Words to Think About...

169. Oswald Chambers (1874–1917)

Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) Scottish Evangelist and Teacher

Words to Think About...

Prophecy News daily Links

Praying For the Nations

366 Daily Devotionals - Morning

366 Daily Devotionals - Morning

366 Daily Devotionals - Morning

366 Daily Devotionals - Morning

366 Daily Devotionals - Morning

People in The Last Days

366 Daily Devotionals - Morning

People in The Last Days

Church Signs

Famous Last Words

People in The Last Days

Famous Last Words

Famous Last Words

Famous Last Words

Bible in the News

Famous Last Words

Famous Last Words

This website uses cookies.