“H.G. Wells was a fairly outspoken atheist. He said, 'I am a historian, not a believer. But, this penniless preacher from Galilee is irresistibly the center of history.' You can't evade Him. You may fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God, you may spit in His eye and say that He is a demon from hell or something worse. But, let me tell you what you cannot say, is the [very] thing you always say when people ask you about Jesus. You cannot come to Him with any patronizing nonsense about His having been a great moral teacher. He has not left that option open to us. He never intended to -- Choose.” --From a messege given by Alistair Begg

"It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of good will. The latter do so in love.... [and] the former preach Christ out of selfish ambition [and] not sincerely....But what does that matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice." --Philippians 1:15-18

"What is your only comfort, in life and in death? That I belong -- body and soul, in life and in death -- not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him. How many things must you know that you may live and die in the blessedness of this comfort? Three. First, the greatness of my sin and wretchedness. Second, how I am freed from all my sins and their wretched consequences. Third, what gratitude I owe to God for such redemption. What do you believe when you say, I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth? That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth and everything in them, who still upholds and rules them by his eternal counsel and providence, is my God and Father because of Christ his Son. I trust him so much that I do not doubt he will provide whatever I need for body and soul, and he will turn to my good whatever adversity he sends me in this sad world. He is able to do this because he is almighty God; he desires to do this because he is a faithful Father" --Question & Answer 1,2 & 26, The Heidelberg Catechism

“Do not be ignorant, brethren. [But, rather] understand [that] Christianity does not begin with Jesus and the cross. Christianity does not begin with Jesus and the empty tomb. Christianity, as a faith, as a religion, as a way of life, as a trust in God begins at the beginning. Jesus did not come to introduce something exclusively alien or something absolutely new. Jesus came, died on the cross, raised again from the dead, ascended to the Father in order to restore all things. To restore us to a right relationship with our Creator. To restore our dignity as image bearers of God. To restore our desire to love and fellowship and commune and enjoy our God, forever.” --Pastor Bill Kessler, Grace Presbyterian Church, from The Genesis Series, 3/28/04

"Christianity, says Bishop Wilson, inscribes on the portal of her dominion 'Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall in nowise enter therein.' Christianity does not profess to convince the perverse and headstrong, to bring irresistible evidence to the daring and profane, to vanquish the proud scorner, and afford evidences from which the careless and perverse cannot possibly escape. This might go to destroy man's responsibility. All that Christianity professes, is to propose such evidences as may satisfy the meek, the tractable, the candid, the serious inquirer." --Simon Greenleaf, The Testimony of the Evangelists

"God of our fathers, known of old, Lord of our far-flung battle line, Beneath whose awful hand we hold Dominion over palm and pine: Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, Lest we forget, lest we forget!" --Rudyard Kipling 1897

"The Bible must be the invention either of good men or angels, bad men or devils, or of God. It could not be the invention of good men or angels, for they neither would nor could make a book and tell lies all the time they were writing it, saying 'Thus saith the Lord' when it was their own invention. It could not be the invention of bad men or devils, for they could not make a book that commands all duty, forbids all sin, and condemns their souls to Hell for all eternity. Therefore, I draw this conclusion, that the Bible must be given by Divine inspiration." --Charles Wesley

"There has been a remarkable change that has taken place in my life and things are different now. Something happened to me since I gave my life to Jesus. Things are different now, there's a change, it must be, since I gave my heart to Him. All those things I loved before have passed away. And, things I love far more have come to stay. Things are different, now, something happened to me, when I gave my life to Christ." --From a message given by Alistair Begg

"For who did Christ die? The Father imposed His wrath due unto, and the Son underwent punishment for, either all the sins of all men, all the sins of some men, or some of the sins of all men. In which case it may be said that if the last be true, all men have some sins to answer for, and so, none are saved. That if the second be true, then Christ, in their stead suffered for all the sins of all the elect in the whole world, and this is the truth. But if the first be the case, why are not all men free from the punishment due unto their sins? You answer, "Because of unbelief." I ask, is this unbelief a sin, or is it not? If it be, then Christ suffered the punishment due unto it, or He did not. If He did, why must that hinder them more than their other sins for which He died? If He did not, He did not die for all their sins!" --John Owen

"There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God." -- By the mere pleasure of God, I mean his sovereign pleasure, his arbitrary will, restrained by no obligation, hindered by no manner of difficulty, any more than if nothing else but God's mere will had in the least degree, or in any respect whatsoever, any hand in the preservation of wicked men one moment.....You probably are not sensible of this; you find you are kept out of hell, but do not see the hand of God in it; but look at other things, as the good state of your bodily constitution, your care of your own life, and the means you use for your own preservation. But indeed these things are nothing; if God should withdraw his hand, they would avail no more to keep you from falling, than the thin air to hold up a person that is suspended in it." --Jonathan Edwards, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

"No matter what changes God has performed in you, never rely on them. Build only on a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ, and on the Spirit He gives." --Oswald Chambers

"In His approximately 42 months of public ministry, there are 33 recorded instances of Jesus speaking about hell. No doubt He warned of hell thousands of times. The Bible refers to hell a total of 167 times. I wonder with what frequency this eternal subject is found in today's pulpits. I confess I have failed in my ministry to declare the reality of hell as often as I have the love of God and the benefits of a personal relationship with Christ. But Jesus spent more of His time warning His listeners of the impending judgment of hell than speaking of the joys of heaven . . . I have never felt the need to focus on telling people about hell. However, as a result of a steady decline in morals and spiritual vitality in today's culture and growing indifference to the afterlife, I have come to realize the need for greater discussion of hell . . . I have thus come to see that silence, or even benign neglect on these subjects, is disobedience on my part. To be silent on the eternal destinations of souls is to be like a sentry failing to warn his fellow soldiers of impending attack" --Bill Bright, founder, Campus Crusade For Christ, Heaven or Hell, NewLife Publications, page 32, 36, 48

"As Charles Spurgeon used to put it: 'The truth is like a lion. Whoever heard of defending a lion? Just turn it loose and it will defend itself.' This is the way the word of God is. If we begin to proclaim it, it will defend itself." --Ray Stedman

[Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God and fully to enjoy Him forever.] "Is your speech saturated with expressions about the Lord?....If you are the chosen of God you will begin to speak of His Glory and His Excellency. You will not be able to stop yourself, like the grandparent talking about the grandchildren. You will not be able to stop yourself, if you experience the Glory of God - you will not! Do you know God that way? Do you speak of Him in this way? This is the Christian Religion. This is the Biblical Faith." --Pastor Bill Kessler, Grace Presbyterian Church

[Saving faith does not depend on the enticing words of man’s wisdom. It does not rest on clever philosophical proofs, or on the latest archeological and historical evidences, but on the inward testimony of the Holy Spirit.] “The testimony of God is given through the Spirit, whose office it is to take of the things of Christ and show them unto us.” --Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, 3:71

"My dear Wormwood, The real trouble about the set your patient is living in is that it is merely Christian. They all have individual interests, of course, but the bond remains mere Christianity. What we want, if men become Christians at all, is to keep them in the state of mind I call "Christianity And." You know -- Christianity and the Crisis, Christianity and the New Psychology, Christianity and the New Order, Christianity and Faith Healing, Christianity and Psychical Research, Christianity and Vegetarianism, Christianity and Spelling Reform. If they must be Christians, let them at least be Christians with a difference. Substitute for the faith itself some Fashion with a Christian colouring. Work on their horror of the Same Old Thing." --C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

"Thank Him for a little Grace and then ask Him for great Grace. After He has given thee Hope then ask for Faith. After He has given thee Faith, then ask Him for Assurance. After He has given thee Assurance ask Him for full Assurance. After He has given thee full Assurance then ask Him for Enjoyment. And after you have that, ask for Glory, itself and surely He will give it in His appointed season." --Martyn Lloyd-Jones

The apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, "May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." --Rom 15:5-6

"As we study our Bibles daily, remember, that the Main Things are the Plain Things and the Plain Things are the Main Things. [And] where the Bible is not explicitly, categorically clear, beware of dogmatism!" --Alistair Begg

"Resolved, not only to refrain from an air of dislike, fretfulness, and anger in conversation, but to exhibit an air of love, cheerfulness and benignity. May 27, and July 13, 1723." --Resolution 58, Jonathan Edwards, 70 Resolutions

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." --Matt 5:11-12

"Did not the Lord also consider how he should sustain his servant under his trial? Beloved, you do not know how blessedly our God poured the secret oil upon Job's fire of grace while the devil was throwing buckets of water on it. He saith to himself, "If Satan shall do much, I will do more; if he takes away much, I will give more; if he tempts the man to curse, I will fill him so full of love to me that he shall bless me. I will help him; I will strengthen him; yea, I will uphold him with the right hand of my righteousness." Christian, take those two thoughts and put them under your tongue as a wafer made with honey - you will never be tempted without express license from the throne where Jesus pleads, and, on the other hand, when he permits it, he will with the temptation make a way of escape, or give you grace to stand under it." --Charles Spurgeon

"Christian, what hast thou to do with sin? Hath it not cost thee enough already? Burnt child, wilt thou play with the fire? What! when thou hast already been between the jaws of the lion, wilt thou step a second time into his den? Hast thou not had enough of the old serpent? Did he not poison all thy veins once, and wilt thou play upon the hole of the asp, and put thy hand upon the cockatrice's den a second time? Oh, be not so mad! so foolish! Did sin ever yield thee real pleasure? Didst thou find solid satisfaction in it? If so, go back to thine old drudgery, and wear the chain again, if it delight thee. But inasmuch as sin did never give thee what it promised to bestow, but deluded thee with lies, be not a second time snared by the old fowler--be free, and let the remembrance of thy ancient bondage forbid thee to enter the net again! It is contrary to the designs of eternal love, which all have an eye to thy purity and holiness; therefore run not counter to the purposes of thy Lord. Another thought should restrain thee from sin. Christians can never sin cheaply; they pay a heavy price for iniquity. Transgression destroys peace of mind, obscures fellowship with Jesus, hinders prayer, brings darkness over the soul; therefore be not the serf and bondman of sin. There is yet a higher argument: each time you "serve sin" you have "Crucified the Lord afresh, and put Him to an open shame." Can you bear that thought? Oh! if you have fallen into any special sin during this day, it may be my Master has sent this admonition this evening, to bring you back before you have backslidden very far. Turn thee to Jesus anew; He has not forgotten His love to thee; His grace is still the same. With weeping and repentance, come thou to His footstool, and thou shalt be once more received into His heart; thou shalt be set upon a rock again, and thy goings shall be established." --Charles Spurgeon