Tag Archives: Bible

The Secret of Christian Joy

Posted on by under Warren Wiersbe

The secret of Christian joy is to believe what God says in His Word and act upon it.  Faith that isn’t based on the Word is not faith at all; it is presumption or superstition.  Joy that isn’t the result of faith is not joy at all; it is only a ‘good feeling’ that will soon disappear.  Faith based on the Word will produce joy that will weather the storms of life.

Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Determined (Colorado Springs, CO: ChariotVictor Publishing, 1992), 101.

Our Will vs. God’s Will

Posted on by under Alexander Maclaren

He who does not intend to obey does not wish to know the law.  If we have no longing to know what the will of the Lord is, we may be very sure that we prefer our own to His.  If we desire to know it, we shall desire to understand the book which contains so much of it.  Any true religion in the heart will make us eager to perceive, and willing to be guided by the will of God, revealed mainly in the Scripture, in the person, works, and words of Jesus, and also in waiting hearts by the Spirit, and in those things which the world calls ‘circumstances’ and faith names ‘providences’.

Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture: Second Kings, Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1977), 374.

The Ultimate Purpose of the Bible

Posted on by under Paul Tripp

The ultimate purpose of the Word of God is not theological information but heart and life transformation. Biblical literacy and theological expertise are not, therefore, the end of the Word of God but a God-ordained means to an end, and the end is a radically transformed life because the worship at the center of that life has been reclaimed. This means that it is dangerous to teach, discuss, and exegete the Word without this goal in view.

Paul David Tripp, Dangerous Calling (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), 51.

The Details of the Christian Life

Posted on by under Robert Johnstone

The wise Christian will bring his Christianity into all the details of his life. Observe also that such a Christian will not ‘pick and choose’ among the aspects and elements of godliness; but ‘whatsoever things’ his conscience and his Bible tell him to be accordant with the divine will, these all and always he will do, — ‘esteeming all God’s commandments concerning all things to be right, and hating every false way.’

Robert Johnstone, The Epistle of Paul to the Philippians, p. 375

Click the link on the biblio info above to download Johnstone’s commentary on Philippians for free.

Beholding the Glory of Christ

Posted on by under John Owen

We cannot behold the glory of Christ by conjuring up pictures of him in the mind and by trying to form the shape of a person in heaven in our imaginations. The way to behold the glory of Christ is by the steady exercise of faith on the revelation of this glory of Christ given to us in Scripture. It is our duty, therefore, constantly to meditate on the glory of Christ. This will fill us with joy which will, in turn, move us to meditate on his glory more and more.

John Owen, The Glory of Christ (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1994) 67. emphasis mine

HT:The Oak Log