Every science, actually, has to take account of the demands of life. Similarly, theology does not occupy a position high above real life but is situated in its midst, in the life of the Christian community. The distorted relation that everywhere exists today between the church and theology is a disaster for both.
~Herman Bavinck~
Reformed Dogmatics Vol. 1: Prolegomena (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker Academic; 2003) p. 616.
1 Blessed be the Lord my strength,
which teacheth my hands to war,
and my fingers to fight:
2 My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer;
my shield, and he in whom I trust;
who subdueth my people under me. – Psalm 144:1-2 (KJV)
The word for goodness signifies mercy. Whoever we may be, and wherever we may be, we need mercy such as can only be found in the infinite God. It is all of mercy that he is any of the other good things to us, so that this is a highly comprehensive title. O how truly has the Lord been mercy to many of us in a thousand ways! He is goodness itself, and he has been unbounded goodness to us. We have no goodness of our own, but the Lord has become goodness to us.
~Charles Spurgeon~
The Treasury of David Vol. 3 (Peabody, Maryland; The Hendrikson Publisher; 1988) p. 355 – Commentary on Psalm 144:2.
Set faith at work on Christ for the killing of your sin. His blood is the great sovereign remedy for sin-sick souls. Live in this, and you will die a conqueror; yea, you will, through the good providence of God, live to see your lust dead at your feet.
~John Owen~
Overcoming Sin & Temptation (Wheaton, IL; Crossway; 2006) p. 131.
Our Lord tells us, that “every idle word that men speak, they will give account of in the day of judgment.” And He adds, “By your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
There are few of our Lord’s sayings which are so heart-searching as this. There is nothing, perhaps, to which most men pay less attention than their words. They go through their daily work, speaking and talking without thought or reflection, and seem to imagine that if they do what is right, it matters but little what they say.
But is it so? Are our words so utterly trifling and unimportant? We dare not say so, with such a passage of Scripture as this before our eyes. Our words are the evidence of the state of our hearts, as surely as the taste of the water is an evidence of the state of the spring. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” The lips only utter what the mind conceives. Our words will form one subject of inquiry at the day of judgment. We shall have to give account of our sayings, as well as our doings. Truly these are very solemn considerations. If there were no other text in the Bible, this passage ought to convince us, that we are all “guilty before God,” and need a righteousness better than our own, even the righteousness of Christ. (Phil. 3:9.)
~J.C. Ryle~
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels – Matthew (Edinburgh, Scotland; Banner of Truth; 1992) Commenting on Matthew 12:22-37. p. 132-133
There are some people who seem to think that the message of the Bible is one which tells us what we have to do in order to please this God whom we have offended. That again is quite wrong. The Bible tells us about what God has done in order to reconcile us to Himself. I want to put that very strongly. Not only is God not unwilling to receive us, it is He who goes out of His way to seek us. So if we want to grasp the biblical doctrine of redemption we must once and for ever get rid of that notion which has been instilled into the human mind and heart by the devil, who is God’s adversary and our adversary, and who tries to make us believe that God is against us. But the Bible’s message is that `God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son. . .’ (John 3:16).
~Martyn Lloyd-Jones~
The Great Doctrines of the Bible (Wheaton, IL; Crossway Books; 2003) Chapter 19: Redemption: The Eternal Plan of God
Although our mind cannot apprehend God without rendering some honor to him, it will not suffice simply to hold that there is One whom all ought to honor and adore, unless we are also persuaded that he is the fountain of every good, and that we must seek nothing elsewhere than in him. This I take to mean that not only does he sustain this universe (as he once founded it) by his boundless might, regulate it by his wisdom, preserve it by his goodness, and especially rule mankind by his righteousness and judgment, bear with it in his mercy, watch over it by his protection; but also that no drop will be found either of wisdom and light, or of righteousness or power or rectitude, or of genuine truth, which does not flow from him, and of which he is not the cause.
~John Calvin~
The Institutes of the Christian Religion (Louisville, KY; Westminster John Knox Press; 1974) Vol. 1.2.1. p. 40-41
Faith, on the part of Rome, is assent to an assortment of revealed truths, which can be counted, article by article, and which in the course of time increased in number. Faith on the side of the Reformation, however, is special (fides specialis) with a particular central object: the grace of God in Christ. Here an arithmetic addition of articles, the knowledge of which and the assent to which is necessary for salvation, was no longer an option. Faith is a personal relation to Christ; it is organic and has put aside quantitative addition.
~Herman Bavinck~
Reformed Dogmatics Vol. 1: Prolegomena (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker Academic; 2003) p. 614.
It is concerning this blessed book, the Bible, that I mean to speak tonight. Here lies my text– this Word of God. Here is the theme of my discourse, a theme which demands more eloquence than I possess; a subject upon which a thousand orators might speak at once; a mighty, vast, and comprehensive theme, which might engross all eloquence throughout eternity, and still it would remain unexhausted.
~Charles Spurgeon~
Spurgeon’s Sermons
The enemies, the greatest enemies a young convert meets with, my dear brethren, are those of his own house. They that will be godly, must suffer persecution. So it was in Christ’s time and so it was in the Apostles’ time too, for our Lord came not to send peace but a sword. Our relations would not have us sit in the scorner’s chair.
They would not have us be prodigals, consuming our substance upon harlots. Neither would they have us rakes or libertines, but they would have us be contented with an ‘almost Christianity.’ To keep up our reputation by going to church and adhering to the outward forms of religion, saying our prayers, reading the word of God and taking the sacraments. This, they imagine, is all that is necessary for to be Christians indeed and when we go one step farther than this their mouths are open against us, as Peter’s was to Christ: ‘Spare thyself, do thyself no harm.’
~George Whitefield~
The Sermons of George Whitefield edited by Lee Gatiss (Wheaton, IL; Crossway Books; 2012) Sermon 9: The Folly and Danger of Not Being Righteous Enough
The Old Guys 
Matthew Henry – Gird Up Your Loins
11 JanTherefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober- minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. – 1 Peter 1:13
1. Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, etc., v. 13. As if he had said, “Wherefore, since you are so honoured and distinguished, as above, Gird up the loins of your mind. You have a journey to go, a race to run, a warfare to accomplish, and a great work to do; as the traveller, the racer, the warrior, and the labourer, gather in, and gird up, their long and loose garments, that they may be more ready, prompt, and expeditious in their business, so do you by your minds, your inner man, and affections seated there: gird them, gather them in, let them not hang loose and neglected about you; restrain their extravagances, and let the loins or strength and vigour of your minds be exerted in your duty; disengage yourselves from all that would hinder you, and go on resolutely in your obedience.
~Matthew Henry~
Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible (Spokane, WA; Olive Tree Bible Software) Commentary on 1 Peter 1:13
Books by Matthew Henry
Kindle Books
Other Matthew Henry Quotes at The Old Guys
Tags: Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible