When the Devil Accuses Us

“When the devil accuses us and says, ‘You are a sinner and therefore damned,’ we should answer, ‘Because you say I am a sinner, I will be righteous and saved.’ ‘No,’ says the devil, ‘you will be damned.’ And I reply, ‘No, for I fly to Christ, who gave himself for my sins. Satan, you …

“But Now…” by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

"When the devil attacks you and suggests to you that you are not a Christian, and that you have never been a Christian because of what is still in your heart, or because of what you are still doing, or because of something you once did – when he comes and thus accuses you, what …

Under the Power of a Legal Spirit

"Ignorance of the difference between the law and the gospel promotes, in a great degree, the strength and influence of a self-righteous temper. When a man is driven to acts of obedience by the dread of God's wrath revealed in the law, and not drawn to them, by the belief in his love revealed in …

Ours is the Care of Service—His is the Care of Success

“Our plain and cheering duty is to go forward—to scatter the seed—to believe and wait. Yet must there be expectancy as well as patience. The warrant of success is assured—not only as regards an outward reformation—but a spiritual change of progressive and universal influence. The fruit of ministerial labor is not indeed always visible in …

Self-Righteousness Can Feed Upon Doctrines, As Well As Upon Works

“There is a principle of self, which disposes us to despise those who differ from us; and we are often under its influence, when we think we are only shewing a becoming zeal in the cause of God. I readily believe that the leading points of Arminianism spring from, and are nourished by, the pride …

Affliction is a Bag of Gold

"Affliction is a bag of gold given unto the people of God; though it seem a leathern bag without, yet there is gold within. So long as they stand poring upon the leathern bag, or attend unto the smart of their affliction, they are not thankful, they do not praise the Lord, but are much …

May We Omit Church Assemblies on the Lord’s Day if the Magistrate Forbid Them?

The following is an excerpt from The Practical Works of Richard Baxter, the fifth volume, in his Christian Ecclesiastics, where he details answers to nearly 200 questions dealing with Christians and matters of conscience. "Question 109: May we omit church assemblies on the Lord's day if the magistrate forbid them? Answer 1. It is one …

God, the Author of Affliction

"Men that see not God in an affliction are easily cast into a feverish fit, they will quickly be in a flame, and when their passions are up, and their hearts on fire, they will begin to be saucy, and make no bones of telling God to his teeth, that they do well to be …

What is Biblicism?

Dr. James Renihan: "What is biblicism? D.B. Riker provides a helpful definition: 'Biblicism is the rejection of everything not explicitly stated in the Bible, and the concomitant dismissal of all non-biblical witnesses (Fathers, Creeds, Medieval Doctors, Councils, etc.)’ What are the results? Effectively, they are idiosyncratic interpretations of Scripture. The strange reality of all of …

God Does Not Exist for Us but We Exist for Him

"Once we have received the principle of eternal life in our hearts we cannot but long always to know more of Him who granted us that life. More and more we come to look up to Him who is the fountain of our salvation. From the comfort which we enjoy in our hearts, and from …