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No Task Will Be So Sordid And Base, Provided You Obey Your Calling In It, That It Will Not Shine And Be Reckoned Very Precious In God's Sight.
-John Calvin
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No Task Will Be

John Calvin
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No Task Will Be So Sordid And Base, Provided You Obey Your Calling In It, That It Will Not Shine And Be Reckoned Very Precious In God's Sight.

Understanding the Quote: "no task will be so sordid and base, provided you obey your..."

This quote by John Calvin reflects deeply on the theme of sight. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Sight, Shining, Tasks, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how John Calvin interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About John Calvin

John Calvin is celebrated for insightful thoughts on sight and shining. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Sight
Shining
Tasks
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There Is No Golden Mean Between These Two Extremes; Either This Early Life Must Become Low In Our Estimation, Or It Will Have Our Inordinate Love.
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There Are Sons Of God Who Do Not Yet Appear So To Us, But Now Do So To God; And There Are Those Who, On Account Of Some Arrogated Or Temporal Grace, Are Called So By Us, But Are Not So To God.
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It Is Only The Goodness Of God Sensibly Experienced By Us Which Opens Our Mouth To Celebrate His Praise.
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Joy Is A Quiet Gladness Of Heart As One Contemplates The Goodness Of God's Saving Grace In Christ Jesus.
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The First Part Of A Good Work Is The Will, The Second Is Vigorous Effort In The Doing Of It. God Is The Author Of Both. It Is, Therefore, Robbery From God To Arrogate Anything To Ourselves, Either In The Will Or The Act.
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Every One Of Us Is, Even From His Mother's Womb, A Master Craftsman Of Idols.
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If The Gospel Be Not Preached, Jesus Christ Is, As It Were, Buried.
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Because The Will Renewed Is The Lord's Work, It Is Wrongly Attributed To Man That He Obeys Prevenient Grace With His Will As Attendant.
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The Gospel Is Not A Doctrine Of The Tongue, But Of Life. It Cannot Be Grasped By Reason And Memory Only, But It Is Fully Understood When It Possesses The Whole Soul And Penetrates To The Inner Recesses Of The Heart.
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I Consider Looseness With Words No Less Of A Defect Than Looseness Of The Bowels.
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No One Can Travel So Far That He Does Not Make Some Progess Each Day. So Let Us Never Give Up. Then We Shall Move Forward Daily In The Lord's Way. And Let Us Never Despair Because Of Our Limited Success. Even Though It Is So Much Less Than We Would Like, Our Labour Is Not Wasted When Today Is Better Than Yesterday!
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It Is A Very Important Consideration That We Are Consecrated And Dedicated To God; It Means That We May Think, Speak, Meditate, Or Do Anything Only With A View To His Glory.
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Since We Are All Naturally Prone To Hypocrisy, Any Empty Semblance Of Righteousness Is Quite Enough To Satisfy Us Instead Of Righteousness Itself.
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Our True And Genuine Wisdom Can Be Summed Up As The Knowledge Of God And The Knowledge Of Ourselves.
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Doubtful Prayer Is No Prayer At All.
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Whenever The Lord Holds Us In Suspense, And Delays His Aid, He Is Not Therefore Asleep, But, On The Contrary, Regulates All His Works In Such A Manner That He Does Nothing But At The Proper Time.
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Thus The Woman, Who Had Perversely Exceeded Her Proper Bounds, Is Forced Back To Her Own Position. She Had, Indeed, Previously Been Subject To Her Husband, But That Was A Liberal And Gentle Subjection; Now, However, She Is Cast Into Servitude.
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Let Us Fall Before The Majesty Of Our Great God, Acknowledging Our Faults, And Praying That He Will Make Us Ever More Conscious Of Them.
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There Is No Group Or Type Of People Anywhere In The World That Is Excluded From Salvation, Because God Desires That The Gospel Be Proclaimed To All Without Exception.
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When God Wants To Judge A Nation, He Gives Them Wicked Rulers.
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Prayer Is The Chief Exercise Of Faith.
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Peace And Friendship Are An Amiable Thing Among Men. They Be So Indeed, And We Ought To Seek Them To The Uttermost Of Our Power. But Yet For All That, We Must Set Such Store By God's Truth, That If All The World Should Be Set On Fire For The Maintenance Thereof, We Should Not Stick At It.
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Faith And Hope...are The Wings By Which Our Souls, Rising Above The World, Are Lifted Up To God.
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We Must Make The Invisible Kingdom Visible In Our Midst.
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We Have Been Adopted As Sons By The Lord With This One Condition; That Our Life Expresses Christ, The Bond Of Our Adoption. Accordingly, Unless We Give And Devote Ourselves To Righteousness, We Not Only Revolt From Our Creator With Wicked Perfidy, But We Also Abjure Our Savior Himself.
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Where Is Our Acknowledgement Of God If Our Thoughts Are Fixed On The Glamour Of Our Garments?
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Men Will Never Worship God With A Sincere Heart, Or Be Roused To Fear And Obey Him With Sufficient Zeal, Until They Properly Understand How Much They Are Indebted To His Mercy.
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The Lord Has Given Us A Table At Which To Feast, Not An Altar On Which A Victim Is To Be Offered; He Has Not Consecrated Priests To Make Sacrifice, But Servants To Distribute The Sacred Feast.
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The Door Is Closed To Prayer Unless It Is Opened With The Key Of Trust.
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Then Let Every One Of Us, Being Warned By This Sentence Of The Angel, Acknowledge That He As Yet Cleaves To First Principles, Or, At Least, Does Not Comprehend All Those Things Which Are Necessary To Be Known; And That Therefore Progress Is To Be Made To The Very End Of Life: For This Is Our Wisdom, To Be Learners To The End.
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The Word "hope" I Take For Faith; And Indeed Hope Is Nothing Else But The Constancy Of Faith.
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I Exhort All, Who Reverence The Word Of The Lord, To Read It, And Diligently Imprint It On Their Memory.
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Whether Each Of The Faithful Has A Particular Angel Assigned Him For His Defence, I Cannot Venture Certainly To Affirm... Not One Angel Only Has The Care Of Every One Of Us, But That They All With One Consent Watch For Our Salvation.
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The Creation Is Quite Like A Spacious And Splendid House, Provided And Filled With The Most Exquisite, And At The Same Time, The Most Abundant Furnishings. Everything In It Tells Of God.
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Splendid
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Let This Point Therefore Stand: That Those Whom The Holy Spirit Has Inwardly Taught Truly Rest Upon Scripture, And That Scripture Itself Is Self-authenticated. . . . Therefore, Illumined By His Power, We Believe Neither By Our Own Nor By Any One Else's Judgment That Scripture Is From God; But Above Human Judgment We Affirm With Utter Certainty (just As If We Were Gazing Upon The Majesty Of God Himself) That It Has Flowed To Us From The Very Mouth Of God By The Ministry Of Men.
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To Be Christians Under The Law Of Grace Does Not Mean To Wander Unbridled Outside The Law, But To Be Engrafted In Christ, By Whose Grace We Are Free From The Curse Of The Law, And By Whose Spirit We Have The Law Engraved Upon Our Hearts.
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Mean
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Can True Repentance Exist Without Faith? By No Means. But Although They Cannot Be Separated, They Ought To Be Distinguished.
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It Is Certain That Man Never Achieves A Clear Knowledge Of Himself Unless He Has First Looked Upon God's Face, And Then Descends From Contemplating Him To Scrutinize Himself.
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The True Wisdom Of Man Consists In The Knowledge Of God The Creator And Redeemer.
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Because I Know That I Am Not My Own Master, I Offer My Heart As A True Sacrifice To The Lord.
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Mingled Vanity And Pride Appear In This, That When Miserable Men Do Seek After God, Instead Of Ascending Higher Than Themselves As They Ought To Do, They Measure Him By Their Own Carnal Stupidity, And Neglecting Solid Inquiry, Fly Off To Indulge Their Curiosity In Vain Speculation.
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Surely In Judas' Betrayal It Will Be No More Right, Because God Both Willed That His Son Be Delivered Up, And Delivered Him Up To Death, To Ascribe The Guilt Of The Crime To God Than To Transfer The Credit For Redemption To Judas.
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The One Condition For Spiritual Progress Is That We Remain Sincere And Humble.
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God Does Not Bestow His Spirit On His People In Order To Set Aside The Use Of His Word, But Rather To Render It Fruitful.
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We Must Observe That The Knowledge Of God Which We Are Invited To Cultivate Is Not That Which, Resting Satisfied With Empty Speculation, Only Flutters In The Brain, But A Knowledge Which Will Prove Substantial And Fruitful Whenever It Is Duly Perceived And Rooted In The Heart.
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Brain
Knowledge Of God
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Grief
Saint
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Human Will Does Not By Liberty Obtain Grace, But By Grace Obtains Liberty.
Grace
Liberty
Doe
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Hence That Dread And Amazement With Which As Scripture Uniformly Relates Holy Men Were Struck And Overwhelmed Whenever They Beheld The Presence Of God. Men Are Never Duly Touched And Impressed With A Conviction Of Their Insignificance Until They Have.
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Overwhelmed
Bien Que Les étoiles Ne Parlent Pas, Même En étant Silencieux, Ils Crient. Although The Stars Do Not Speak, Even In Being Silent They Cry Out.
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Cry
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Nothing Is More Dangerous Than To Be Blinded By Prosperity.
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It Cannot Be Denied That God In Choosing And Destining Mary To Be The Mother Of His Son, Granted Her The Highest Honor.
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We Can Experience Joy In Adverse Circumstances By Holding God's Benefits In Such Esteem That The Recognition Of Them And Meditation Upon Them Shall Overcome All Sorrow.
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The Glory Of God Shines, Indeed, In All Creatures On High And Below, But Never More Brightly Than In The Cross.
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Crosses
Without Knowledge Of Self There Is No Knowledge Of God Our Wisdom, In So Far As It Ought To Be Deemed True And Solid Wisdom, Consists Almost Entirely Of Two Parts: The Knowledge Of God And Of Ourselves. But As These Are Connected Together By Many Ties, It Is Not Easy To Determine Which Of The Two Precedes And Gives Birth To The Other.
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This Is What Entertainment Is All About- Idiots, Explosives And Falling Anvils.
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Entertainment
There Is Also An Old Proverb, That They Who Pay Much Attention To The Body Generally Neglect The Soul.
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Body
We Unjustly Defraud God Of His Right, Unless Each Of Us Lives And Dies In Dependence On His Sovereign Pleasure.
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Whatever A Person May Be Like, We Must Still Love Them Because We Love God.
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In Knowing God, Each Of Us Also Knows Himself.
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It Is A Most Blessed Thing To Be Subject To The Sovereignty Of God.
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Sovereignty
Sovereignty Of God
Where Riches Hold The Dominion Of The Heart, God Has Lost His Authority.
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The Whole Life Of Christians Ought To Be An Exercise Of Piety, Since They Are Called To Sanctification. It Is The Office Of The Law To Remind Them Of Their Duty And Thereby To Excite Them To The Pursuit Of Holiness And Integrity. But When Their Consciences Are Solicitous How God May Be Propitiated, What Answer They Shall Make, And On What They Shall Rest Their Confidence, If Called To His Tribunal, There Must Then Be No Consideration Of The Requisitions Of The Law, But Christ Alone Must Be Proposed For Righteousness, Who Exceeds All The Perfection Of The Law.
Christian
Integrity
Exercise
The Unborn Baby, Though Enclosed In The Womb Of Its Mother, Is Already A Human Being, And Should Not Be Robbed Of The Life Which It Has Not Yet Begun To Enjoy.
Mother
Baby
Should
The Only Skills I Have The Patience To Learn Are Those That Have No Real Application In Life.
Real
Skills
Application
If We Believe Heaven To Be Our Country, It Is Better For Us To Transmit Our Wealth Thither, Than To Retain It Here, Where We May Lose It By A Sudden Removal.
Country
Believe
Heaven
For Even If The Word In His Immeasurable Essence United With The Nature Of Man Into One Person, We Do Not Imagine That He Was Confined Therein. Here Is Something Marvellous: The Son Of God Descended From Heaven In Such A Way That, Without Leaving Heaven, He Willed To Be Borne In The Virgin's Womb, To Go About The Earth, And To Hang Upon The Cross; Yet He Continuously Filled The World Even As He Had Done From The Beginning.
Son
Men
Essence
A Man That Extols Himself Is A Fool And An Idiot
Men
Fool
Idiot
The Answer Of Our Prayers Is Secured By The Fact That In Rejecting Them God Would In A Certain Sense Deny His Own Nature.
Prayer
Answers
Facts
It Is Not Lawful For You To Make A Compromise With God: To Try To Fulfill Part Of Your Duties And To Omit Others At Your Own Pleasure.
Trying
Compromise
Pleasure
It Behooves Us To Accomplish What God Requires Of Us, Even When We Are In The Greatest Despair Respecting The Results.
Despair
Results
Accomplish
The More We Are Oppressed By The Cross, The Fuller Will Be Our Spiritual Joy.
Spiritual
Joy
Crosses
If God Were Not To Test Us, There Would Be No Patience.
Faith
Religious
Would Be
Angels Are The Dispensers And Administrators Of The Divine Beneficence Toward Us.
Angel
Divine
Solicitude
So Great And Boundless Is God's Wisdom That He Knows Right Well How To Use Evil Instruments To Do Good.
Evil
Use
Instruments
To Crave Wealth And Honor, To Demand Power, To Pile Up Riches, To Gather All Those Vanities Which Seem To Make For Pomp And Empty Display, That Is Our Furious Passion And Our Unbounded Desire.on The Other Hand, We Fear And Abhor Poverty, Obscurity, And Humility, And We Seek To Avoid Them By All Possible Means.
Mean
Humility
Passion
We May Rest Assured That God Would Never Have Suffered Any Infants To Be Slain Except Those Who Were Already Damned And Predestined For Eternal Death.
May
Infant
Eternal
Seeing That A Pilot Steers The Ship In Which We Sail, Who Will Never Allow Us To Perish Even In The Midst Of Shipwrecks, There Is No Reason Why Our Minds Should Be Overwhelmed With Fear And Overcome With Weariness.
Fear
Sailing
Mind
For Though We Very Truly Hear That The Kingdom Of God Will Be Filled With Splendor, Joy, Happiness And Glory, Yet When These Things Are Spoken Of, They Remain Utterly Remote From Our Perception, And As It Were, Wrapped In Obscurities, Until That Day.
Joy
Perception
Obscurity
If Everything Proceeded According To Their Wishes, They Would Not Understand What It Means To Follow God.
Mean
Wish
Ifs
The Poor Yield To The Rich, The Common People To The Upper Ten, The Servants To Their Masters, The Ignorant To The Scholars; But There Is Nobody Who Does Not Imagine That He Is Really Better Than Others.
Yield
People
Ignorant
To Will Is Human, To Will The Bad Is Of Fallen Nature, But To Will The Good Is Of Grace.
Grace
Fallen
Humans
God Is Undoubtedly Ready To Pardon Whenever The Sinner Turns. Therefore, He Does Not Will His Death, In So Far As He Wills Repentance. But Experience Shows That This Will, For The Repentance Of Those Whom He Invites To Himself, Is Not Such As To Make Him Touch All Their Hearts. Still, It Cannot Be Said That He Acts Deceitfully; For Though The External Word Only Renders, Those Who Hear It, And Do Not Obey It, Inexcusable, It Is Still Truly Regarded As An Evidence Of The Grace By Which He Reconciles Men To Himself.
Heart
Men
Grace
Integrity Is The Best Of All Protectors...we Cannot Be More Secure Than When Fortified By A Good Conscience.
Integrity
Secure
Conscience
For So Great Is The Difference Between Just And Unjust, That It Is Visible Even In The Lifeless Image Of It. For What Order Will Be Left In The World, If These Opposites Be Confounded Together? Such A Distinction As This, Therefore, Between Virtuous And Vicious Actions, Has Not Only Been Engraven By The Lord In The Heart Of Every Man, But Has Also Been Frequently Confirmed By His Providential Dispensations.
Heart
Men
Action
In A Way, The Futile Excuses Many People Use To Cover Their Superstitions Are Demolished. They Think It Is Enough To Have Some Sort Of Religious Fervor, However Ridiculous, Not Realizing That True Religion Must Be According To God's Will As The Perfect Measure; That He Can Never Deny Himself And Is No Mere Spirit Form To Be Changed Around According To Individual Preference.
Religious
Thinking
People
Only Those Who Have Learned Well To Be Earnestly Dissatisfied With Themselves, And To Be Confounded With Shame At Their Wretchedness Truly Understand The Christian Gospel.
Christian
Shame
Wells
Everyone Flatters Himself And Carries A Kingdom In His Breast.
Kingdoms
Breasts
Carrie
Whensoever God's Truth Is Defaced Or When Any Man Turns Away From The Pure Simplicity Of The Gospel, We Must Not In Any Wise Spare Him, But Although The Whole World Should Set Itself Against Us, Yet Must We Maintain The Case With Invincible Constancy, Without Bending For Any Creature.
Wise
Men
Simplicity
Those Little Children Have Not Yet Any Understanding To Desire His Blessing; But When They Are Presented To Him, He Gently And Kindly Receives Them, And Dedicates Them To The Father By A Solemn Act Of Blessing.
Christian
Jesus
Children
He Who Has Learned To Look To God In Everything He Does Is At The Same Time Diverted From All Vain Thoughts.
Doe
Looks
Vain
We Shall Never Be Fit For The Service Of God, If We Look Not Beyond This Fleeting Life.
Fleeting Life
Looks
Fit
Scripture Points Out This Difference Between Believers And Unbelievers; The Latter, As Old Slaves Of Their Incurable Perversity, Cannot Endure The Rod; But The Former, Like Children Of Noble Birth, Profit By Repentance And Correction.
Children
Differences
Noble
Without Knowledge Of Self There Is No Knowledge Of God.
Self
Knowledge Of God
Self Knowledge
God Tolerates Even Our Stammering, And Pardons Our Ignorance Whenever Something Inadvertently Escapes Us - As, Indeed, Without This Mercy There Would Be No Freedom To Pray.
Prayer
Ignorance
Would Be
We Are Surrounded By God’s Benefits. The Best Use Of These Benefits Is An Unceasing Expression Of Gratitude.
Gratitude
Expression
Use
Unless We Ardently And Prayerfully Devote Ourselves To Christ's Righteousness We Do Not Only Faithlessly Revolt From Our Creator, But We Also Abjure Him As Our Savior.
Christ
Righteousness
Savior
God Is Not Limited To Any Person, But Calls Freely Whomsoever He Pleases, And Bestows On Those Who Are Called Whatever Rewards He Thinks Fit.
Thinking
Rewards
Fit
To Be Pure In Heart Is To Take No Delight In Cunning, But Converse Sincerely With Men, And Express Nothing, By Word Or Look, Which Is Not Felt In The Heart.
Heart
Men
Looks
The World Was No Doubt Made, That It Might Be A Theatre Of The Divine Glory.
Doubt
Theatre
World
We Say, Then, That Scripture Clearly Proves This Much, That God By His Eternal And Immutable Counsel Determined Once For All Those Whom It Was His Pleasure One Day To Admit To Salvation, And Those Whom, On The Other Hand, It Was His Pleasure To Doom To Destruction. We Maintain That This Counsel, As Regards The Elect, Is Founded On His Free Mercy, Without Any Respect To Human Worth, While Those Whom He Dooms To Destruction Are Excluded From Access To Life By A Just And Blameless, But At The Same Time Incomprehensible Judgment
Hands
One Day
Scripture
Prayers Belong Strictly To The Worship Of God. Fasting Is A Subordinate Aid, Which Is Pleasing To God No Farther Than As It Aids The Earnestness And Fervency Of Prayer.
Prayer
Fasting
Worship
For The Fetus, Though Enclosed In The Womb Of Its Mother, Is Already A Human Being, And It Is A Monstrous Crime To Rob It Of The Life Which It Has Not Yet Begun To Enjoy. If It Seems More Horrible To Kill A Man In His Own House Than In A Field, Because A Man's House Is His Place Of Most Secure Refuge, It Ought Surely To Be Deemed More Atrocious To Destroy A Fetus In The Womb Before It Has Come To Light.
Mother
Men
Light
Faith Is Tossed About By Various Doubts, So That The Minds Of The Godly Are Rarely At Peace.
Godly
Doubt
Mind
Unless We Fix Certain Hours In The Day For Prayer, It Easily Slips From Our Memory.
Prayer
Memories
Hours In The Day
Doctrine Is Not An Affair Of The Tongue But Of The Life.
Doctrine
Tongue
Affair
Faith Alone Saves, But The Faith That Saves Is Not Alone.
Not Alone
When A Certain Shameless Fellow Mockingly Asked A Pious Old Man What God Had Done Before The Creation Of The World The Latter Aptly Countered That He Had Been Building Hell For The Curious.
Men
Done
World
There Cannot Be A Surer Rule, Nor A Stronger Exhortation To The Observance Of It, Than When We Are Taught That All The Endowments Which We Possess Are Divine Deposits Entrusted To Us For The Very Purpose Of Being Distributed For The Good Of Our Neighbour.
Stronger
Purpose
Taught
Whoever Shall Now Contend That It Is Unjust To Put Heretics And Blasphemers To Death Will Knowingly And Willingly Incur Their Very Guilt.
Guilt
Unjust
Heretic
Faith Consists Not In Ignorance, But In Knowledge - Knowledge Not Of God Merely...but When We Recognize God As A Propitious Father Through The Reconciliation Made By Christ, And Christ As Given To Us For Righteousness, Sanctification, And Life.
Father
Ignorance
Christ
I Have Never Seen Either A Drop Of Piety Or A Grain Of Truth Or Ingenuousness - Nay, I Have Never Found Common Sense In Any Jew.
Common Sense
Found
Grain
How Can It Be Said That The Weakness Of The Human Will Is Aided So As To Enable It To Aspire Effectually To The Choice Of Good, When The Fact Is, That It Must Be Wholly Transformed And Renewed?
Choices
Weakness
Facts
Scripture Is Like A Pair Of Spectacles Which Dispels The Darkness And Gives Us A Clear View Of God.
Views
Giving
Darkness
Wherever We Find The Word Of God Surely Preached And Heard, And The Sacraments Administered According To The Institution Of Christ, There, It Is Not To Be Doubted, Is A Church Of God.
Church
Christianity
Institutions
It Is A Promise Which Eminently Deserves Our Observation That All Who Are United To Christ And Acknowledge Him To Be Christ And Mediator Will Remain To The End Safe From All Danger, For What Is Said Of The Body Of The Church Belongs To Each Of Its Members Since They Are One In Christ.
Acknowledge Him
Promise
Church
Satan Is An Astute Theologian.
Satan
Astute
Theologian
We Should Never Insult Others On Account Of Their Faults, For It Is Our Duty To Show Charity And Respect To Everyone.
Charity
Faults
Insult
Man's Nature, So To Speak, Is A Perpetual Factory Of Idols.
Men
Idols
Speak
They Who Prematurely Put Themselves Forward To Root Out Whatever Is Displeasing To Them Overthrow The Judgment Of God And Rashly Intrude Upon The Office Of Angels.
Angel
Godly
Roots
But A Most Pernicious Error Widely Prevails That Scripture Has Only So Much Weight As Is Conceded To It By The Consent Of The Church. As If The Eternal And Inviolable Truth Of God Depended Upon The Decision Of Men!
Men
Errors
Decision
For, To My Mind, This Is A Certain Principle, That Nothing Is Here Treated Of But The Visible Form Of The World. He Who Would Learn Astronomy, And Other Recondite Arts, Let Him Go Elsewhere. (on Commenting The Text Of Genesis 1:6)
Art
Mind
Principles
There Is No Erratic Power Or Action Or Motion In Creatures But They Are Governed By God's Secret Plan In Such A Way That Nothing Happens Except What Is Knowingly And Willingly Decreed By Him.
Secret
Erratic
Way
Now We Must Remark, That There Are Two Parts In The Commandment-the First Forbids The Erection Of A Graven Image, Or Any Likeness; The Second Prohibits The Transferring Of The Worship Which God Claims For Himself Alone, To Any Of These Phantoms Or Delusive Shows.
Two
Phantoms
Firsts
Nor, In Truth, Is It Of Little Importance To Prevent The Suspicion Of Any Difference Having Arisen Between Us From Being Handed Down In Any Way To Our Posterity; For It Is Worse Than Absurd That Parties Should Be Found Disagreeing On The Very Principles, After We Have Been Compelled To Make Our Departure From The World.
Party
Differences
Departure
The Principle Exercise Which The Children Of God Have Is To Pray. For In This Way They Give True Proof Of Their Faith.
Children
Exercise
Giving
... Let Everyone Regard Himself As The Steward Of God In All Things Which He Possesses.
Stewardship
Stewards
All Things
Things That Are Seen Are Temporal; Things That Are Unseen Are Eternal.
Faith
Religious
Unseen
We Cannot Rely On God's Promises Without Obeying His Commandments.
Promise
Rely
Obeying
Let That Ethical Philosophy Therefore Of Free-will Be Far From A Christian Mind.
Christian
Philosophy
Mind
While Sin Is Overflowing, [grace] Pours Itself Forth So Exuberantly, That It Not Only Overcomes The Flood Of Sin, But Wholly Absorbs It.
Grace
Overcoming
Sin
I Gave Up All For Christ, And What Have I Found? Everything In Christ.
Christ
Found
Gave Up
If God Contains The Fullness Of All Good Things In Himself Like An Inexhaustible Fountain, Nothing Beyond Him Is To Be Sought By Those Who Strike After The Highest Good And All The Elements Of Happiness.
Elements
Fountain
Good Things
They Babble And Talk Absurdly Who, In The Place Of God's Providence, Substitute Bare Permission - As If God Sat In A Watchtower Awaiting Chance Events , And His Judgments Thus Depended Upon Human Will.
Events
Chance
Judgment
But Those Who Wish To Prove To Unbelievers That Scripture Is The Word Of God Are Acting Foolishly, For Only By Faith Can This Be Known.
Wish
Acting
Scripture
There Is No Work, However Vile Or Sordid, That Does Not Glisten Before God.
God
Doe
Glisten
No Man Is Excluded From Calling Upon God, The Gate Of Salvation Is Set Open Unto All Men: Neither Is There Any Other Thing Which Keepeth Us Back From Entering In, Save Only Our Own Unbelief.
Godly
Men
Entering
All True Knowledge Of God Is Born Out Of Obedience.
Knowledge Of God
Obedience
Born
In The Maxims Of The Law, God Is Seen As The Rewarder Of Perfect Righteousness And The Avenger Of Sin. But In Christ, His Face Shines Out, Full Of Grace And Gentleness To Poor, Unworthy Sinners.
Law
Perfect
Shining
As Far As Sacred Scripture Is Concerned, However Much Froward Men Try To Gnaw At It, Nevertheless It Clearly Is Crammed With Thoughts That Could Not Be Humanly Conceived. Let Each Of The Prophets Be Looked Into: None Will Be Found Who Does Not Far Exceed Human Measure. Consequently, Those For Whom Prophetic Doctrine Is Tasteless Ought To Be Thought Of As Lacking Taste Buds.
Men
Trying
Sacred
Whenever Our Sins Press Hard Against Us, Whenever Satan Would Drive Us To Despair, We Must Hold Up This Shield, That God Does Not Want Us To Be Overwhelmed In Everlasting Destruction, For He Has Ordained His Son To Be The Salvation Of The World.
Son
Despair
Doe
Without Christ, Sciences In Every Department Are Vain....the Man Who Knows Not God Is Vain, Though He Should Be Conversant With Every Branch Of Learning. Nay More, We May Affirm This Too With Truth, That These Choice Gifts Of God -- Expertness Of Mind, Acuteness Of Judgment, Liberal Sciences, And Acquaintance With Languages, Are In A Manner Profaned In Every Instance In Which They Fall To The Lot Of Wicked Men.
Wisdom
Art
Truth
No One Will Calmly And Quietly Submit To Bear The Cross Except Those Who Have Learned To Seek Their Happiness Beyond This World.
Joy
Suffering
World
We Are Nowhere Forbidden To Laugh.
Christian
Laughing
Christian Inspirational
He Makes This Favor Common To All, Because It Is Propounded To All, And Not Because It Is In Reality Extended To All; For Though Christ Suffered For The Sins Of The Whole World, And Is Offered Through God’s Benignity Indiscriminately To All, Yet All Do Not Receive Him.
Reality
World
Favors
Repentance Is The True Turning Of Our Life To God, A Turning That Arises From A Pure And Earnest Fear Of Him; And It Consists In The Mortification Of The Flesh And The Renewing Of The Spirit.
Flesh
Spirit
Repentance
God Works In His Elect In Two Ways: Inwardly, By His Spirit; Outwardly, By His Word.
Two
Way
Spirit
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