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Thomas Chalmers – Come Over Entirely to the Ground of a Redeemer’s Blood

22 Sep

The foundation of your trust before God, must be either your own righteousness out and out, or the righteousness of Christ out and out. . . If you are to lean upon your own merit, lean upon it wholly — if you are to lean upon Christ, lean upon him wholly. The two will not amalgamate together, and it is the attempt to do so, which keeps many a weary and heavy-laden inquirer at a distance from rest, and at a distance from the truth of the gospel. Maintain a clear and consistent posture. Stand not before God with one foot upon a rock and the other upon a treacherous quicksand…We call upon you not to lean so much as the weight of one grain or scruple of your confidence upon your own doings — to leave this ground entirely, and to come over entirely to the ground of a Redeemer’s blood and a Redeemer’s righteousness.

~Thomas Chalmers~



Lectures on Romans (http://newble.co.uk/chalmers) Excerpted from Lecture XI on Romans 3:20-26 [Also found cited by the editor in a footnote in Calvin’s Commentaries on Romans 3:21]

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John Flavel – The Aim of Paul’s Ministry

21 Sep

“I determined to know nothing,” that is, to study nothing myself, to teach nothing to you, but “Jesus Christ.” Christ shall be the center to which all the lines of my ministry shall be drawn. I have spoken and written of many other subjects in my sermons and epistles, but it is all reductively the preaching and discovery of Jesus Christ: of all the subjects in the world, this is the sweetest; if there be any thing on this side heaven, worthy our time and studies, this is it. Thus he magnifies his doctrine, from the excellency of its subject-matter, accounting all other doctrines but airy things, compared with this.

~John Flavel~



The Fountain of Life Opened Up (Portland, Oregon; MonergismBooks.com; 2010) eBook. Sermon 1: The Excellency of the Subject.

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Geerhardus Vos – The Aim of Revelation

20 Sep

God’s self-revelation to us was not made for a primarily intellectual purpose. It is not to be overlooked, of course, that the truly pious mind may through an intellectual contemplation of the divine perfections glorify God. This would be just as truly religious as the intensest occupation of the will in the service of God. But it would not be the full-orbed religion at which, as a whole, revelation aims. It is true, the Gospel teaches that to know God is life eternal. But the concept of ‘knowledge’ here is not to be understood in its Hellenic sense, but in the Shemitic sense. According to the former, ‘to know’ means to mirror the reality of a thing in one’s consciousness. The Shemitic and Biblical idea is to have the reality of something practically interwoven with the inner experience of life. Hence ‘to know’ can stand in the Biblical idiom for ‘to love’, ‘to single out in love.’ Because God desires to be known after this fashion, He has caused His revelation to take place in the milieu of the historical life of a people. The circle of revelation is not a school, but a ‘covenant’.

~Geerhardus Vos~

Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments (Edinburgh, Scotland; The Banner of Truth Trust; 1975), p. 8.

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Martin Luther – Free… to Serve

19 Sep

A Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none; a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to every one.

~Martin Luther~








Concerning Christian Liberty as found in Christian Apologetics Past and Present Vol. 2 (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Books; 2011) p. 24

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Charles Spurgeon – Life Proved by Love

17 Sep

So, Brothers and Sisters, if we can say that we love God’s people, as God’s people, because they are God’s people, that is a mark that we have passed from death unto life! Do you love them for Christ’s sake? Do you say to yourself, “That is one of Christ’s people. That is one who bears Christ’s Cross. That is one of the children of God and, therefore, I love him and take delight in his company”? Then that is an evidence that you are not of the world. If you were, you would love the world, but, belonging to Christ, you love those who are Christ’s and you love them for Christ’s sake.

~Charles Spurgeon~


Spurgeon’s Sermons (Spokane, Washington; Olive Tree Bible Software; 2010) eBook. Vol. 44, Sermon No. 2556; Titled: Life Proved by Love; Delivered on Thursday Evening, January 18, 1883.

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Herman Bavinck – The Local Church

16 Sep

Every local church is the people of God, the body of Christ, built upon the foundation of Christ (1 Cor. 3:11, 16; 12:27), because in that location it is the same as what the church is in its entirety, and Christ is for that local church what he is for the universal church.

In the various local gatherings of believers, it is the one church of Christ that comes to expression.

~Herman Bavinck~


Reformed Dogmatics Vol. 4: Prolegomena (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker Academic; 2008) p. 281.

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Charles Spurgeon – Reading the Scriptures

15 Sep

You are retired for your private devotions; you have opened the Bible, and you begin to read.

Now, do not be satisfied with merely reading through a chapter. Some people thoughtlessly read through two or three chapters—stupid people for doing such a thing!

It is always better to read a little and digest it, than it is to read much and then think you have done a good thing by merely reading the letter of the word.

For you might as well read the alphabet backwards and forwards, as read a chapter of Scripture, unless you meditate upon it, and seek to comprehend its meaning.

Merely to read words is nothing: the letter kills.

The business of the believer with his Bible open is to pray, “Lord, give me the meaning and spirit of your word, while it lies open before me; apply your word with power to my soul, threatening or promise, doctrine or precept, whatever it may be; lead me into the soul and marrow of your word.”

Also, it is not the form of prayer, but the spirit of prayer that shall truly benefit your souls.

That prayer has not benefited you, which is not the prayer of the soul.

You have need to say, “Lord, give me the spirit of prayer; now help me to feel my need deeply, to perceive your promises clearly, and to exercise faith upon them.”

In your private devotions, strive after vital godliness, real soul-work, the life-giving operation of the Spirit of God in your hearts.

~Charles Spurgeon~


Spurgeon’s Sermons (eBook. http://www.spurgeongems.org) Vol. 13, Sermon No. 776; Titled: A Song at the Well-head; Delivered on Thursday Evening, October 10, 1867. (HT:JT)

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Jeremiah Burroughs – Seeing the Glory of Heaven

14 Sep

When you sailors see the haven before you, though you were mightily troubled before you could see any land, yet when you come near the shore and can see a certain land-mark, that contents you greatly. A godly man in the midst of the waves and storms that he meets with can see the glory of heaven before him and so contents himself. One drop of the sweetness of heaven is enough to take away all the sourness and bitterness of all the afflictions in the world.


~Jeremiah Burroughs~






The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment (Edinburgh, Scotland; The Banner of Truth Trust; 2009) p. 84.

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J.C. Ryle – We Need Daily to Wash Our Feet

13 Sep

[Commenting on The Lord’s Prayer in Luke 11:1-4:]

Daily bread and daily mercy are by far the most important things mortal man needs. It is the life of true faith to apply daily for fresh supplies of all our needs. Though washed, we need daily to wash our feet (John 13:10).

~J.C. Ryle~


The Crossway Classic Commentaries – Luke (Wheaton, Illinois, Crossway Books; 1997) eBook. Commentary on Luke 11:4

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Thomas Watson – Fear God Not Man

11 Sep

2) To fear God is to have such a holy awe of God upon our hearts, that we dare not sin. “Stand in awe and sin not.” Psalm 4:4. The wicked sin and fear not; the godly fear and sin not. “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” Gen 39:9… He who fears God will not sin, though it be ever so secret. “You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling-block before the blind—but shall fear your God.” Lev 19:14. Suppose you should curse a deaf man, he could not hear you; or suppose you were to lay a stumbling-block in a blind man’s way, and cause him to fall, he could not see you do it. But the fear of God will make you forsake sins which can neither be heard nor seen by men! The fear of God destroys the fear of man. The three Hebrew children feared God, therefore they feared not the king’s wrath. Dan 3:16. The greater noise, drowns the less; the noise of thunder, drowns the noise of a river. Just so, when the fear of God is supreme in the soul, it drowns all other carnal fear. It makes God to be God to us, when we have a holy filial fear of him.

~Thomas Watson~


The Ten Commandments (Portland, Oregan; MonergismBooks.com; 2010) eBook. Excerpted from “The Works of Thomas Watson” – The Ten Commandments; Part 2 – The Ten Commandments; Section 1 – The First Commandment; Part 5 – To have God to be God to us, is to FEAR him.

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