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d712008
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"Sin is cosmic treason. Sin is treason against a perfectly pure Sovereign. It is an act of supreme ingratitude toward the One to whom we owe everything, to the One who has given us life itself. Have you ever considered the deeper implications of the slightest sin, of the most minute peccadillo? What are we saying to our Creator when we disobey Him at the slightest point? We are saying no to the righteousness of God. We are saying, "God, Your law is not good. My judgement is better than Yours. Your authority does not apply to me. I am above and beyond Your jurisdiction. I have the right to do what I want to do, not what You command me to do."
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sovereignty-of-god
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R.C. Sproul |
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677fa19
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When we understand the character of God, when we grasp something of His holiness, then we begin to understand the radical character of our sin and hopelessness. Helpless sinners can survive only by grace. Our strength is futile in itself; we are spiritually impotent without the assistance of a merciful God. We may dislike giving our attention to God's wrath and justice, but until we incline ourselves to these aspects of God's nature, we will never appreciate what has been wrought for us by grace. Even Edwards's sermon on sinners in God's hands was not designed to stress the flames of hell. The resounding accent falls not on the fiery pit but on the hands of the God who holds us and rescues us from it. The hands of God are gracious hands. They alone have the power to rescue us from certain destruction.
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sovereignty-of-god
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R.C. Sproul |
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16bab7e
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Every sin is an act of cosmic treason, a futile attempt to dethrone God in His sovereign authority.
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cosmic-ordering
cosmic
sovereignty-of-god
treason
jack-goldenberg
authority
|
R.C. Sproul |
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6c06469
|
If there is one single molecule in this universe running around loose, totally free of God's sovereignty, then we have no guarantee that a single promise of God will ever be fulfilled.
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sovereignty-of-god
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R.C. Sproul |
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cef4edb
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"The clearest sensation that a human being has when he experiences the holy is an overpowering and overwhelming sense of creatureliness. That is, when we are in the presence of God, we are humbled and become most aware of ourselves as creatures. This is the opposite of Satan's original temptation, "You shall be as gods."
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sovereignty-of-god
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R.C. Sproul |
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be611df
|
"If grass grows and withers, it can only mean that it is part of a greater thing, which is even more real; not that the grass is less real than it looks. St. Thomas (Aquinas) has a really logical right to say, in the words of the modern mystic, A. E.: "I begin by the grass to be bound again to the Lord."
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sovereignty-of-god
mysticism
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G.K. Chesterton |
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c6ea26a
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There is no health in those who are displeased by an element in Your creation, just as there was none in me when I was displeased by many things You had made. Because my soul didn't dare to say that my God displeased me, it refused to attribute to You whatever was displeasing.
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sovereignty-of-god
contentment
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St. Augustine of Hippo |
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6b5d744
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What happens when we acknowledge the sovereignty and power of God without trusting in His goodness and faithfulness? A pitcher who saw God's power behind his extremely unlikely rise to the big leagues wondered if, at any difficulty he encountered there, God might be taking his ability away.
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love-of-god
sovereignty-of-god
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Michael Lewis |
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0bde7f3
|
Fundamental belief consoled him for superficial irony.
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faith
sovereignty-of-god
disillusionment
disappointment
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Thomas Hardy |
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36d45b4
|
Not even generals can stop the rain.
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influence
sovereignty-of-god
|
Jeff Shaara |
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f434964
|
Those who understand God's sovereignty have joy even in the midst of suffering, a joy reflected on their very faces, for they see that their suffering is not without purpose.
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suffering
providence-of-god
sovereignty-of-god
|
R.C. Sproul |
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af79978
|
In our instinctive rebellion against pain, we are children again, and demand an active will to wreak our vengeance on.
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pain
sovereignty-of-god
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George Eliot |
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1af74a6
|
You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.
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sovereignty-of-god
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Thomas L. Friedman |
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5d16a55
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We think in terms of apostolic journeys. God dares to put His greatest ambassadors in chains.
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limitation
sovereignty-of-god
ministry
weakness
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Watchman Nee |
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8684d54
|
No one dies halfway through the last act. - Heinrich Ibsen
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sovereignty-of-god
grace-of-god
pessimism
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Harold Bloom |
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4536d45
|
A weak and dying Messiah is the very antithesis of a man-made cure.
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sovereignty-of-god
evangelism
vulnerability
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Norman L. Geisler |
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aa62839
|
I understood that I was being shown the future: shards of what would come to be. Often, I cried out for the pain of it. But other times, I was comforted, because I saw, for an instant, the pattern of the whole.
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prayer
sovereignty-of-god
word-of-god
perspective
prophecy
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Geraldine Brooks |
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4ca22b2
|
We are all theologians, either good ones or bad ones. I'd rather be a good one. Wouldn't you?
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nature-of-god
character-of-god
sovereignty-of-god
theology
|
Randy Alcorn |