Inspirational Quotes by Sinclair B. Ferguson
“Believe me, you will find it no easy matter to turn to God whenever you please. It is a true saying of the godly Leighton, "The way of sin is down hill; a man cannot stop when he wants too." Holy desires and serious convictions are not like the servants of the Centurion, ready to come and go at your desire; rather they are like the unicorn in Job, they will not obey your voice, nor attend at your bidding. It was said of the famous general Hannibal of old, when he could have taken the city he warred against, he would not, and in time when he would, he could not. Beware lest the same kind of thing happens to you in the matter of eternal life.”
“Habits of good or evil are daily strengthening in your hearts. Every day you are either getting nearer to God, or further off. Every year that you continue unrepentant, the wall of division between you and heaven becomes higher and thicker, and the gulf to be crossed deeper and broader. Oh, dread the hardening effect of constant lingering in sin! Now is the accepted time. See that your decision not be put off until the winter of your days. If you do not seek the Lord when young, the strength of habit is such that you will probably never seek Him at all.”
“Bien describió Jeremy Taylor el progreso del pecado en el hombre: “Primero lo asusta, después le resulta placentero, después fácil, y luego deleitoso, luego frecuente, después habitual, y finalmente ¡confirmado! Después el hombre es impenitente, después obstinado, luego resuelve nunca arrepentirse, y finalmente es condenado.”
“Herod was afraid of what his guests would think of him: so he did that which made him "greatly distressed," he beheaded John the Baptist. Pilate feared offending the Jews: so he did that which he knew in his conscience was unjust--he delivered up Jesus to be crucified. If this is not slavery, what is?”
“Créeme que este mundo no es un mundo en el cual podremos hacer el bien si no reflexionamos, y mucho menos hacer el bien en los asuntos del alma. “No reflexiones” susurra Satán. Él sabe que el corazón inconverso es como un libro de cuentas de un comerciante deshonesto: no aguanta una inspección a fondo. “Considera tus caminos” dice la Palabra de Dios, haz una pausa y piensa, reflexiona y sé sabio. Muy bien dice el proverbio español: “La prisa viene del diablo.” Así como los hombres se casan de prisa y al tiempo se arrepienten, también cometen errores con respecto a su alma en un minuto, y luego sufren por años. Así como un mal siervo hace algo malo y luego dice, “Nunca lo pensé,” también los jóvenes corren al pecado y dicen: “¡No parecía pecado!” ¿Qué te crees? El pecado no se te va a acercar y decir: “Yo soy el pecado.”
“When preaching, the Reformer writes, "The pastor ought to have two voices: one, for gathering the sheep; and another, for warding off ... wolves.”
“Calvin presents a systematic exposition of his doctrine of providence in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, especially in book 1, chapters 16 and 17.”
“While urgently pressing the importance of our diligent pursuit of holiness, Calvin is realistic about our meager attainments. He acknowledges that the vast majority of Christians make only slight progress. But this is not to excuse us. Rather, he writes, "Let us not cease to do the utmost; that we may incessantly go forward in the way of the Lord; and let us not despair because of the smallness of our accomplishment."9”
“But Calvin recognized that our hearts will never seriously wish for and meditate on the future life unless we have first determined to forsake the vanities of this present life. He writes, "There is no golden mean between these two extremes; either this earthly life must become low in our estimation, or it will have our inordinate love."21”
“It is entirely the work of grace and a benefit conferred by it that our heart is changed from a stony one to one of flesh, that our will is made new, and that we, created anew in heart and mind, at length will what we ought to will. i -John Calvin”
“According to Calvin, "faith is a singular gift of God, both in that the mind of man is purged so as to be able to taste the truth of God and in that his heart is established therein. For the Spirit is not only the initiator of faith, but increases it by degrees, until by it he leads us to the Kingdom of Heaven.”
“Since we do not know who belongs to the number of the predestined, and who does not, it befits us so to feel as to wish that all be saved. So it will come about that, whoever we come across, we shall study to make him a sharer of peace.”
“Did the Father in sending Christ, and did Christ in coming into the world, to make atonement for sin, do this with the design or for the purpose of saving only the elect or all men? That is the question, and that only is the question.”
“Definite atonement refers not only to the intended target of the atonement—namely, the elect—but also to its efficacy: the atonement achieves its purpose, full and final salvation for the elect.”
“Christ died as a public man, not a private man. That is, Christ died as King for his people, as Husband for his bride, as Head for his body, as Shepherd for his sheep, as Master for his friends, as Firstborn for his brothers and sisters, as the Second and Last Adam for a new humanity.”
“sacrifice is permanently effective, since he intercedes for believers on the basis of his death as the one who lives and reigns forever (7:24–25). The relationship between Jesus’s death and his intercession is crucial. Clearly, Jesus’s intercession as the Risen One is invariably effective since he intercedes on the basis of his death (cf. Rom. 8:31–34). But it would be illegitimate to posit a separation between his death and intercession. In other words, Jesus intercedes specially and exclusively for those for whom he died. Just as he does not intercede for all, so in the same way he died in a unique sense for those whom he came to save, pleading on the basis of his death for their salvation.”
“God’s glory accompanies his acts of predestining, applying, and consummating salvation. God saves people—really and truly—for the praise of his own glory. And herein lies the final obstacle, perhaps the biggest obstacle, for advocates of a universal atonement: a salvation intended but never realized can bring God no praise.”
“has been completely and decisively forgiven at the cross of Christ (10:14).”
“The second argument concerns Calvin’s understanding of what I shall call the “language of aspiration.” The following seems to be a regular feature of his thought: that a person may properly hope for something, irrespective of whether or not what is wished for or aspired to is decreed by God, and even if it could be known not to be decreed by God. Not knowing whether or not it is decreed by God does not make the wish or aspiration immoral or unspiritual or in any other way defective.”
“The atonement does not make possible the spiritual quickening of all people; it makes certain and effective the spiritual quickening of the elect. That is the conclusion of Paul’s teaching on grace in Ephesians 1:4–6 and 2:4–5.”
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Sinclair Ferguson is a Scottish theologian known in Reformed Christian circles for his teaching, writing, and editorial work. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Aberdeen and was a minister in the Church of Scotland from 1971 to 2005, when he transferred to the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, serving as the Senior Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Columbia, South Carolina. He has served as an editor with the Banner of Truth Trust, worked as a minister at St George's-Tron Church, Glasgow, and a Council member of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.
Ferguson is the Senior Minister of the First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina. He is also a Professor of Systematic Theology at Redeemer Seminary in Dallas, prior to which he held the Charles Krahe Chair for Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary. He is also a council member of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.
Ferguson speaks at numerous conferences worldwide, and has written many books.