GREAT QUOTES

By Ryan Hicks

"Except by special grace, man seems incapable of bearing the slightest weight of power upon his shoulders without losing his balance." (1)


"He that committeth sin is of the devil. Hear this, you who cannot bear the thought of that doctrine that states believers are to be saved from all sin in this life! He that committeth sin is a child of the devil, and shows that he has still the nature of the devil in him; for the devil sinneth from the beginning--he was the father of sin, brought sin into the world, and maintains sin in the world by living in the hearts of his own children, and thus leading them to transgression; and persuading others that they cannot be saved from their sins in this life, that he may secure a continual residence in their hearts. He knows that if he has a place there throughout life, he will probably have it at death; and, if so, throughout eternity. For this purpose. For "this very end," with this very design, was Jesus manifested in the flesh, that he might destroy, "that He might loose," the bonds of sin, and dissolve the power, influence, and connection of sin." (2)


"Every man who teaches that healing is not for all who need it today, as it was in the past, is virtually teaching that Christ's compassion toward the sick has been at least modified since His exaltation. Worse yet, others teach that His compassion in healing the sick has been entirely withdrawn. To me, it is a mystery how any minister can take a position that veils and interferes with the manifestation of the greatest attribute of deity, God's compassion which is Divine Love in action. When Paul would make the strongest possible appeal for consecration, he said, "I beseech you by the mercies of God," which is the manifestation of His greatest attribute." (3)


"The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men and women." (4)


"If ye love me, keep my commandments." (5)


"...sometimes I think hell is better than we deserve anyway." (6)


"Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (7)


"Dishonesty and handling the Word of God deceitfully will destroy more faith in one day than can be built up in a lifetime." (8)


"The Bible is more than a Book; it is a living being with an action, a power which invades everything that opposes its extension." (9)


"Persecution doesn't come upon Christians to make them obey God, but because they are obeying God." (10)


"The fastest way to learn about America is by immersion in our history as a people and our emergence as a nation. From the Jamestown Colony and the Pilgrims to the very founding of the nation, the centrality of God and religion is unmistakable. All of our rights come from our Creator. Even today this is a very radical idea." (11)


"For all those who think that the original KJV bible is "too difficult" to understand - might I suggest that you just might be a tad bit "mentally lazy?" I've used the KJV since I became saved and I don't have any trouble understanding it! Besides, if you really want to understand it, all you gotta do is ask the Holy Spirit and exert a wee bit of effort on your own part!" (12)


"Pray or be PREY (Luke 21:36)!" (13)


"Then, since God wrote it [the King James Bible], mark its truthfulness. If I had written it, there would be worms of critics who would at once swarm upon it, and would cover it with their evil spawn; Had I written it, there would be men who would pull it to pieces at once, and perhaps quite right too. But this is the Word of God; come, search, ye critics, and find a flaw; examine it, from its Genesis to its Revelation, and find an error. This is a vein of pure gold, unalloyed by quartz, or any earthly substance. This is a star without a speck; a sun without a blot; a light without darkness; a moon without its paleness; a glory without a dimness. O Bible! it cannot be said of any other book, that it is perfect and pure; but of thee we can declare all wisdom is gathered up in thee, without a particle of folly. This is the judge that ends the strife, where wit and reason fail. This is the book untainted by any error; but is pure, unalloyed, perfect truth. Why? Because God wrote it. Ah! charge God with error if ye please; tell him that his book is not what it ought to be. I have heard men, with prudish and mock-modesty, who would like to alter the Bible; and (I almost blush to say it) I have heard ministers alter God's Bible, because they were afraid of it. Have you never heard a man say, "He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not"—what does the Bible say?—"Shall be damned." But that does not happen to be polite enough, so they say, "Shall be condemned." Gentlemen, pull the velvet out of your mouths; speak God's word; we want none of your alterations. I have heard men in prayer instead of saying, "Make your calling and election sure," say "Make your calling and salvation sure." Pity they were not born when God lived far—far back that they might have taught God how to write. Oh, impudence beyond all bounds! Oh full-blown self-conceit! To attempt to dictate to the All-wise—to teach the Omniscient and instruct the Eternal. Strange that there should be men so vile as to use the penknife of Jehoiakim to cut passages out of the word, because they are unpalatable. O ye who dislike certain portions of Holy Writ, rest assured that your taste is corrupt, and that God will not stay for you little opinion. Your dislike is the very reason why God wrote it, because you out not to be suited; you have no right to be pleased. God wrote what you do not like; he wrote the truth. Oh! let us bend in reverence before it, for God inspired it. It is pure truth. Here from this fountain gushes aqua vitae—the water of life—without a single particle of earth; here from this sun cometh forth rays of radiance, without the mixture of darkness. Blessed Bible! thou art all truth." (14)


"I had rather have a rattle snake in my back pocket than to contend with a liar." (15)


"But most of them have an ungrounded trust in Christ, hoping that He will pardon, justify and save them, while the world hath their hearts, and they live to the flesh. And this they take for justifying faith.” (16)


1. G.H. Pember (Earth's Earliest Ages, p.33)
2. Adam Clarke (Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible, Note on 1 John 3:8)
3. F.F. Bosworth (Christ The Healer, p.74)
4. E.M. Bounds
5. Jesus of Nazareth (John 14:15)
6. Rich Mullens (Twenty The Countdown Magazine's Tribute To Rich Mullens, January 10, 1998)
7. Joshua the Son of Nun (Joshua 24:14-15)
8. Anonymous
9. Napoleon Bonaparte
10. Hilton Sutton ("Point of View" radio broadcast, January 20, 1998)
11. Newt Gingrich (To Renew America)
12. Anonymous (From the Internet)
13. Anonymous
14. Charles Spurgen (Sermon given on Sunday evening March 18, 1855).
15. Jay Justice (in instant message to Brother Hicks, December 29, 1999, 1:07 a.m.)
16. Richard Baxter, 1615-1691, (book The Reformed Pastor). Speaking of most professing Christians.


* [Disclaimer: The use of quotes from the people above should in no way be taken as an endorsement for anything else they have ever said or done, nor should it be taken as an endorsement of their teachings. The only One that I stand for 100% is the Lord Jesus Christ and anything that He says, does, or teaches.]