“The emphasis on LABOR [in 1 Corinthians 15:10] reminds us that difficulty and cost in Christian work, far from suggesting an absence of GOD’S GRACE, presupposes the gift of such grace to prosecute the work through all obstacles.”
—Anthony Thiselton
“The pastor’s task is to guide the believer into a full and complete awareness of these infinite riches that have been bestowed on him by sheer grace, and to present that believer to God in full maturity. It is quite an ambitious spiritual mission, but it should be the mission of every pastor.”
—Douglas Wilson on pastoral care
First, this ought to be a great encouragement to the church:
“Losing does not disturb us; it does not unsettle our faith. This is something the Church generally does really well. Speaking frankly, we frequently lose successfully far more often than we succeed successfully. Losing is our secret weapon.”
Same Sex Mirage, pp. 258-259
Second, this was written by a postmillennialist, but doesn’t it do a much better job of explaining how a dispensational premillennialist can be optimistic about the progress of the gospel and the “success” of the church while still thinking the world is going to hell?
On Rilian’s return home and how the Narnians recognized him, and Jill’s joyful perspective on their previous difficulties:
Pale though he was from long imprisonment in the Deep Lands, dressed in black, dusty, disheveled, and weary, there was something in his face and air which no one could mistake. That look is in the face of all true Kings of Narnia, who rule by the will of Aslan and sit at Cair Paravel on the throne of Peter the High King. Instantly every head was bared and every knee was bent; a moment later such cheering and shouting, such jumps and reels of joy, such hand-shakings and kissings and embracings of everybody by everybody else broke out that the tears came into Jill’s eyes. Their quest had been worth all the pains it cost.
—C. S. Lewis, The Silver Chair
We will soon see the face of our true King, and our joy will be worth all the pains it cost.
Two kinds of pleasing worship to God:
“in active obedience we worship God by doing what pleases God, but by passive obedience we do as well worship God by being pleased with what God does.”
—Jeremiah Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, 120
“Just as no one can be a scholar unless he learn his ABC, so you must learn the lesson of self-denial or you can never become a scholar in Christ’s school, and be learned in this mystery of contentment.”
—Jeremiah Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
“And the truth is, I know nothing more effective for quieting a Christian soul and getting contentment than this, setting your heart to work in the duties of the immediate circumstances that you are now in, and taking heed of your thoughts about other conditions as a mere temptation.”
—Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, 52
“The Lord knows how to order things better than I. The Lord sees further than I do; I only see things at present but the Lord sees a great while from now. And how do I know but that had it not been for this affliction, I should have been undone.”
—Jeremiah Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, 36
“Weariness pervaded every sense, including common sense.”
—Norman Borlaug, Our Daily Bread
Great distinction between generals and shepherds:
“Rupert Greeves was no general. Generals spend men. Generals expect sacrifice from those who stand with them. Shepherds do not lead their sheep into battle with wolves. They fight alone.”
—N. D. Wilson in Empire of Bones