Doing While Depending on Divine Direction

“It is true, religion [by which he means Christianity only] in the souls of men is the immediate work of God, and all our natural endeavours can neither produce it alone, nor merit those supernatural aids by which it must be wrought: the Holy Ghost must come upon us, and the power of the Highest must overshadow us, before that holy thing can be begotten, and Christ be formed in us: but yet we must not expect that this whole work should be done without any concurring endeavours of our own: we must not lie loitering in the ditch, and wait till Omnipotence pull us from thence; no, no! we must bestir ourselves, and actuate those powers which we have already received: we must put forth ourselves to our utmost capacities, and then we may hope that, ‘our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord’ (1 Corinthians 15.58)” (Scougal, The Life of God in the Soul of Man, 95).

If God Has Built the Leadership, It Shall Stand

“When a movement develops around a dominant personality, the real test of the quality of his leadership is the manner in which that work survives the crisis of his removal. This fact was tacitly recognized by Gamaliel when he counseled his fellow Pharisees: “Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel of this work be of men, it will come to nought: but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it” (Acts 5.38-39). A work originated by God and conducted on spiritual principles will surmount the shock of a change of leadership and indeed will probably thrive better as a result” (Sanders, Spiritual Leadership, 132).

Greatness Is Found in Your Decreasing and Christ Increasing

“In the early days of his ministry, one might have concluded that the greatness of John the Baptist lay in his fierce denunciation of the evils of his day, in the burning eloquence and blistering words which pierced and exposed the hearts of his contemporaries. But the secret that made him the greatest of those born of woman is to be found in his unconscious but infinitely revealing affirmation: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3.30). In this one sentence his spiritual stature is revealed” (J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership, 57).

No Rank in True Greatness

"The final estimate of men shows that history cares not an iota for the rank or title a man has borne, or the office he has held, but only the quality of his deeds and the character of his mind and heart" (Hall, Samuel Logan Brengle, 274).

O How the Mighty Are Human!

“I sit here at ease, hardened and unfeeling—alas! praying little, grieving little for the Church of God, burning rather in the fierce fires of my untamed flesh. It comes to this: I should be afire in the spirit; in reality I am afire in the flesh, with lust, laziness, idleness, sleepiness. It is perhaps because you have all ceased praying for me that God has turned away from me…For the last eight days I have written nothing, nor prayed nor studied, partly from self-indulgence, partly from another vexatious handicap [constipation and piles]…I really cannot stand it any longer…Pray for me, I beg you, for in my seclusion here I am submerged in sins” (E.G. Rupp and Benjamin Drewery, eds., Martin Luther: Documents of Modern History, 72-73).

Love for the Gift or the Giver?

“Suppose, brethren, a man should make a ring for his betrothed, and she should love the ring more wholeheartedly than the betrothed who made it for her…Certainly, let her love his gift: but, if she should say, ‘The ring is enough. I do not want to see his face again’ what would we say of her?...The pledge is given her by the betrothed just that, in his pledge, he himself may be loved. God, then, has given you all these things. Love Him who made them” (Brown, Augustine of Hippo, p. 326).