June Quotes

Expecting perfection from ourselves or others is not what holiness is about.

-Kevin DeYoung

Where reason can only wade, faith swims.

-Thomas Watson

No creature that deserved redemption would need to be redeemed. 

-C. S. Lewis

If we know but little of the excellences of Jesus, what he has done for us, and what he is doing now, we cannot love him much; but the more we know him, the more we shall love him.

 -Spurgeon

Those who are born again are as secure as God is faithful. 

-John Piper

The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. . . . [These] are but shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams; but God is the sun. These are but streams; but God is the ocean.

-Jonathan Edwards

As in paradise, God walks in the Holy Scriptures, seeking man. 

-Ambrose

If you are more distressed over the sin of the people near you than you are of the sin that is inside you, you won't cry out for grace.

-Paul Tripp

Oral or written testimony of human observers, no matter how trustworthy they may be, is still subject to human error and not “inerrant” in the same way as Scripture. Christians must always remember that the written Word of God is more certain than personal memories or impressions. The experiences we have must never be viewed as validating God’s Word. Rather, God’s Word validates our experiences.

-John D. Morris

The great basis of Christian assurance is not how much our hearts are set on God, but how unshakably his heart is set on us.

-Tim Keller

Two Messages, Two Men, and One Savior

I read through Acts earlier this month, and as I was reading I noted some similarities in Peter's sermon and Stephen's defense (before he was killed). However, after a bit more study, I realized that, while they indeed had several similarities, they had more differences--not in theological content, but in the setting, content, and response of the message.

Setting
Acts 2 is known for the incredible experience of the Holy Spirit. The disciples are gathered in Jerusalem after the resurrection of Christ, and as the Lord promised, He sends the Comforter to remain with them always. Peter gives this sermon by the power of the Spirit with the other eleven disciples around him along with "devout men from every nation under heaven" (Acts 2:5, ESV). In response to the overflowing living Spirit in him, Peter stands and proclaims

Stephen's defense in Acts 7 falls under much difference circumstances. These are literally Stephen's last words, as he will be stoned after this message. He stands amond the people, elders, scribes, his false accusers, and the Jewish council. This message is his defense against those who claimed that he spoke against the holy place and the Jewish law. Those who behold Stephen's face marvel that it appears like an angel's.

Content
In response to the overflowing living Spirit in him, Peter boldly stands and proclaims the words of Joel, calling the Jews back to their heritage, and ancient promises given to them by the God of Israel. Basing his message on the fact that "everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved", Peter gives a short summary of Jesus' life, beginning with David's testimony. He points out that his hearers are the ones who crucified the Messiah, but though they rejected the One that David proclaimed would rise from the dead, there was hope for them in that Savior still.

Stephen's defense is much longer than Peter's sermon, but he gives a similar message. He begins at the very beginning when God first called Abraham to seek out a land that would be his descendants inheritance. Moving along into the patriarchal history, Stephen recalls the story of Joseph and his brothers and the Egyptian famine. Then comes Moses, the child found beautiful in God's sight, who was to be called of I AM to lead the Israelites to the land promised to Abraham's descendants. Stephen recounts how Moses was directed to create a tent in the wilderness in which to worship God. Then David took up the call and desire to fund the building project for a temple. Though he did not see the project begin or end, he paved the way for his Solomon who was designated to build the temple during a time of peace. Stephen, like Peter also quotes one of the Old Testament prophets, however, he quotes Isaiah, not Joel. Concluding with the quote from Isaiah stating that "heaven is [God's] throng, and the earth is [His] footstool", Stephen places a strong rebuke on the Jewish leaders for their continued rejection of Christ. As their forefathers did, these Jews were stiff-necked, uncircumcised, murderers, and betrayers. They slew the One who gave them their law.

Response
Perhaps the biggest contrast between Stephen and Peter's messages is the response. While they have many differences, both quote prophets, both recount the Jewish history, both describe the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, both offer salvation, and both are spoken to large groups of people through the power of the Spirit.

Peter's message, though shorter than Stephen's, falls on ready ears, and about three thousand believers were added to the church. There was fellowshipping and praying and communion among these people and they gave to the needy and praised the Lord inthe temple together every day. The Lord added to their numbers and they continued to grow.

Stephen's message produced a response of rage in resistant hearts and actions. He was cast out of the city and stoned. Yet in the midst of the physical and spiritual pain, there was glory. Stephen was given a vision of Christ seated at the right hand of God, and though he died for this bold message and rebuke, his words were not in vain. Two chapters later, the man who permitted and condoned Stephen's death would also see the glory of God and become one of the leading writers and spiritual figures in our New Testament--the apostle Paul.

Two men with two messages, yet each pointed to the same Savior.

May Quotes

In prayer, it is better to have a heart without words - than words without a heart.

-John Bunyan

What wings are to a bird, what fruit is to the tree, what the rose is to the thorn, that is praise to a child of God.

-Spurgeon

In true Christianity, there are no short-term commitments and no escape clauses. 

-John Blanchard

In order to receive grace, you must accept Jesus. Not the idea of Jesus, but the actual Jesus; the One who calls you to leave everything behind. The One who says that you must carry your cross, the One who spoke truth in the face of deceit. The Christ who clung unto a world that had let go long ago, Jesus who calls us beloved. If grace is an ocean, you must jump in! 

-T.B. LaBerge

A great white throne: Great, because of the causes that will be decided there ... white, because of its immaculate purity ... a throne, because a King will sit there. 

-F. B. Meyer

Take up the Bible, ask the Holy Spirit for help, lay the promises up in your heart, and fight the good fight — to live by faith in future grace. 

-John Piper

Circumstances don't create character; they reveal character. 

-David Jeremiah

Only men who ken their weakness, find their strength in Christ alone. 

-John Knox

God's plans reach from an eternity past to an eternity to come. Let Him take His own time.

-William S. Plumer

The burden God places on each of us is to become who we are meant to be. We are most fully ourselves when Christ most fully lives in us and through us. The mother shines brightest with her child in her arms, the father when he forgives his wandering son, and the artist when he or she is drawing attention to grace, by showing the pinprick of light overcoming the darkness in the painting, or the story, or the song. The world knows darkness. Christ came into the world to show us light. I have seen it, have been blinded by it, invaded by it. I will tell its story.

-Andrew Peterson

Ezekiel: You Shall Know....

...that I am the LORD when...

"the slain shall fall in your midst" (Ez.6:7)

"some among the nations...escape the sword, and when you are scattered through the countries" (Ez.6:8)

"all the evil abominations of the house of Israel...shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence" (Ez.6:11

"my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. I will punish you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst" (Ez.7:9)

"the inhabited cities shall be laid waste, and the land shall become a desolation" (Ez.12:20)

"my hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel" (Ez.13:9)

"I break down the wall that you have smeared with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be laid bar. When it falls, you shall perish in the midst of it" (Ez.13:14)

"I...deliver my people out of your [false prophets] hand" (Ez.13:23)

"I...establish my covenant with you...that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done" (Ez.16:63)

"I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish" (Ez.17:24)

"I...purge out the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against me. I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they shall not enter the land of Israel" (Ez.20:38)

"I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that I swore to give to your fathers" (Ez.20:42)

"I deal with you for my name's sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel" (Ez.20:44)

"your [Ezekiel's] mouth will be opened to the fugitive and you shall speak and be longer mute. So you will be a sign to them" (Ez.24:27)

"I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and manifest my holiness in them...they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards...when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt" (Ez.28:25-26)

"I break the bars of their yoke, and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them" (Ez.34:27)

"like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be fillee with flocks of people" (Ez.36:38)

"I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land." (Ez.37:14)

"the name of the city from that time on shall be 'The LORD Is There'." (Ez.48:35)

I am the LORD. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; I will not spare; I will not relent; according to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the LORD GOD.

Ezekiel 24:14

I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.

Ezekiel 34:16