Thus Saith...

...Steven J. Lawson during his "Is the Bible Just Another Book?" lecture at the 2010 Ligonier Natl. conf.,

"I've read other books, this book [the Bible] reads me!"

Thus Saith...

...D.A. Carson

"When it comes to knowing God, we are a culture of the spiritually stunted. So much of our religion is packaged to address our felt needs--and those are almost uniformly anchored in our pursuit of our own happiness and fulfillment. God simply becomes the Great Being who, potentially at least, meets our needs and fulfills our aspirations. We think rather little of what he is like, what he expects of us, what he seeks in us. We are not captured by his holiness and his love: his thoughts and words capture too little of our imagination, too little of our discourse, too few of our priorities."

A Call to Spiritual Reformation ~ Priorities from Paul and His Prayers

Thus Saith...

John Newton,

“I am not what I ought to be. How imperfect and deficient I am! I am not what I wish to be, although I abhor that which is evil and would cleave to what is good. I am not what I hope to be, but soon I shall put off mortality, and with it all sin. Though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor yet what I hope to be, I can truly say I am not what I once was: a slave to sin and Satan. I can heartily join with the apostle and acknowledge that by the grace of God I am what I am!”

~ former slave trader changed by the grace of God, English clergyman, abolitionist, and composer of the Christian hymn, "Amazing Grace".

Thus saith Augustine...

"I count myself one of the number of those who write as they learn and learn as they write."

Augustine quoted by Calvin in his Institutes ~ "John Calvin to the Reader"

Thus Saith...

... J.I. Packer on the topic of Joy ~

The knowledge of one's saving relationship to Christ can bring unquenchable joy into believing hearts, and this is something that only Christians can ever understand. 'Rejoice in the Lord' means rejoice in being Christ's, in having Christ's Father as your Father, in being right with God the Father and an heir of his glory through Christ's mediation, and in possessing salvation and eternal life as Christ's gift. We are to let joy flow from this source. How will that happen? Through the fulfilling of a four-source formula.

The first source of joy is the awareness that one is loved...

The second source of joy is the acceptance of one's situation as good...

Joy's third source is possession of something worth possessing...

The fourth source of joy is to give something worth giving...

From: Great Joy - A 31-Day Devotional

Thus Saith...

"God is no gainer even from our worship. He was in no need of that external glory of His grace which arises from His redeemed, for He is glorious enough in Himself without that...What was it that moved Him to predestinate His elect to the praise of the glory of His grace? It was, as Eph. 1:5 tells us, 'according to the good pleasure of His will.' "

A. W. Pink ~ The Attributes of God

Thus Saith...

~ an unnamed Puritan preacher quoted by Jerry Bridges in, "The Discipline of Grace"

"Even our tears of repentance need to be washed in the blood of the Lamb."


This is 'where' I am today--crying, repenting, and being washed--thanks to His unending mercy.

Thus Saith...

~ John MacArthur

"...There is no event and there are no circumstances in life that should diminish the Christian's joy. Let me say that again. There is no event and there are no circumstances in life that should diminish the Christian's joy.

In fact, let me go further than that. If there are circumstances or events that do diminish your joy, you have sinned...you have sinned..."

Thus Saith...

...J.I. Packer in Hot Tub Religion (emphasis mine) ~

"The heart of true religion is to glorify God by patient endurance and to praise him for his gracious deliverances. It is to live one's life, through smooth and rough places alike, in sustained obedience and thanksgiving for mercy received. It is to seek and find one's deepest joy, not in spiritual lotus-eating, but in discovering through each successive storm and conflict the mighty adequacy of Christ to save. It is the sure knowledge that God's way is best, both for our own welfare and for his glory. No problems of providence will shake the faith of the one who has truly learned this."

Thus Saith...

"But evangelicals have invested far too much hope in the political process. No government can make people good, transform humanity, or eliminate sin. The political sphere is important, but never ultimate. Jesus Christ is Lord -- and He will be Lord regardless of who sits in the Oval Office.

This presidential race offers evangelical Christians an opportunity to mature and rethink our model of political engagement. We are likely to confront developments and choices that will require significant intellectual effort among American Christians." (emphasis mine)

~ Al Mohler

Thus Saith...

"Sin is what you do when you're not satisfied with God. And if you're not satisfied with God it's because you don't know Him."

~ John MacArthur

Thus Saith...

Jerry Bridges:

"Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace."

The Discipline of Grace - God's Role and Our Role in the Pursuit of Holiness

Thus Saith...

Paul Tripp in "Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands ~ People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change"

"We are more impressed with our righteousness than we are horrified at our sin."

To which I say, "Ouch".

Thus saith...

Jay E. Adams ~

"Those who grasp at something less than the gospel to solve life's problems soon find that they have hold of a straw; frequently their disappointment is bitter."

Thus Saith...

Elyse Fitzpatrick ~

"God's intent for each one of His children is that they be sanctified. Sanctification is "the process of God's grace by which the believer is separated from sin and becomes dedicated to God's righteousness.""

Women Helping Women, General Editors: Elyse Fitzpatrick & Carol Cornish

Thus Saith...

Martin Luther (1483 - 1546)

In one of his letters to Erasmus, Luther said,

"Your thoughts of God are too human."