Henry Allen Ironside

22 quotes

• one who gives himself/herself preeminently to the Word, neglecting prayer, will become heady and doctrinal-likely to quarrel about "points", and occupied with theoretical Christianity to the hurt of his soul and irritation of his brethren. On the other hand, one who gives himself/herself much prayer while neglecting the Word is likely to become introspective, mystical, and sometimes fanatical. But he/she who reads the Word of God reverently and humbling seeking to know the will of God, and then gives himself/herself to prayer, confessing and judging what the scriptures have condemned in his ways and words, and thoughts, will have his/her soul drawn out in worship also, and thus grow both in grace and in knowledge, becoming a well rounded follower of Christ. Apart from a knowledge of the Word, prayer will lack exceedingly in intelligence ; for the objective must never precede the subjective, and must not be divorced there from

• God’s servants would preach better if you prayed for them more; there would be more response to the preaching if they were more upheld in the secret closet by the people of God.

• The present is no time for temporizing. He who has saved us, and is Lord of all, looks for clear-cut separation from all spiritual or ecclesiastical as well as carnal or fleshly evil, in sanctification to Himself. To Christendom as a whole, as to Judah then, there is little use to make appeals, nor does the Lord do it. "Their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the lord is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it" (Jeremiah 6:10). So it has often been noted that after the days of Pergamos, in Rev. 2 and 3, the call is alone to the overcomer-- not to the mass.

• God never seeks to gratify mere curiosity.

• The hardest thing in the world to do is to attempt to live a Christian life and meet the obligations of a Christian, when you have no Christian life to live.

• Exposing error is most unpopular work. But from every true standpoint, it is worthwhile work. To our Saviour, it means that He receives from us, His blood-bought ones, the loyalty that is His due. To ourselves, if we consider "the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt," it insures future reward, a thousandfold. And to souls "caught in the snare of the fowler"- how many of them God only knows- it may mean light and life, abundant and everlasting.

• Do not be afraid that you will ever lose by obedience to the Book.

• Not saved are we by trying; From self can come no aid; ’Tis on the blood relying, Once for our ransom paid. ’Tis looking unto Jesus, The Holy One and Just; ’Tis His great work that saves us— It is not “try” but “trust”! No deeds of ours are needed To make Christ’s merit more: No frames of mind or feelings Can add to His great store; ’Tis simply to receive Him, The Holy One and Just; ’Tis only to believe Him— It is not “try” but “trust”!

• It has pleased God to honor our faith, because faith is that which honors Him. Faith takes Him at His Word, and counts the things which are not as though they were (Rom. 4:17). But it is not faith that does the work. It is but the means which God uses to unloose His unlimited power. Faith is the hand which lays hold of Omnipotence.

• To prophesy is not only to be able to foretell coming events, but to give the mind of God in relation to the present or future.

• God does not put a premium upon ignorance.

• While faith is in exercise, all is bright. When self is looked to, all becomes dark.

• I am sure that at the judgment-seat of Christ, when our blessed Lord is giving a reward to the Apostle Paul, He will call up many of the saints of whom we have never heard and have them stand with Paul, for they were his fellow-helpers in his ministry, and He will say, "You held up his hands in prayer, and you must share in the reward.

• But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.” Here He, the holy One, is in contrast to every good man in all past ages. It was never known that God forsook a righteous man. There He is on that Cross, the absolutely righteous One, dying, forsaken of God. Oh, He says, I have gone down lower than any man ever went before, “I am a worm, and no man.” The word He used for worm is the word “tola,” and the tola of the orient is a little worm something like the cochineal of Mexico which feeds on a certain kind of cactus. The people beat these plants until the cochineal fall into a basin and then they crush those little insects and the blood is that brilliant crimson dye that makes those bright Mexican garments. In Palestine and Syria they use the tola in the same way and it makes the beautiful permanent scarlet dye of the orient It was very expensive and was worn only by the great and the rich and the noble. It is referred to again and again in Scripture. Solomon is said to have clothed the maidens of Israel in scarlet. Daniel was to be clothed in scarlet by Belshazzar. And that word “scarlet” is literally “the splendor of a worm.” “They shall be clothed in the splendor of a worm.” Now the Lord Jesus Christ says, “I am a worm; I am the tola,” and He had to be crushed in death that you and I might be clothed in glory. The glorious garments of our salvation are the garments that have been procured as a result of His death and His suffering.

• No one who really wants to count for God can afford to play at Christianity.

• They thought they had gotten rid of Him. They said, “We have no king but Caesar”; they cried, “Crucify Him, crucify Him,” and their will was carried out and His precious dead body sealed up in Joseph’s tomb; but God had not changed His mind. He is to reign in Zion yet. He is going to have the throne just as surely as He had the cross.

• The very first evidence of awakening grace is dissatisfaction with one’s self and self-effort and a longing for deliverance from chains of sin that have bound the soul. To own frankly that I am lost and guilty is the prelude to life and peace. It is not a question of a certain depth of grief and sorrow, but simply the recognition and acknowledgment of need that lead one to turn to Christ for refuge. None can perish who put their trust in Him. His grace superabounds above all our sin, and His expiatory work on the cross is so infinitely precious to God that it fully meets all our uncleanness and guilt.

• The flame of testimony burns brightly when fed with the oil of grace.

• We would worry less if we praised more. Thanksgiving is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction.

• It is, generally speaking, a far more pleasant task to preach the gospel to lost poor sinners than to minister to the needs of wayward saints.

• Men of this world are happy when things go well with them outwardly. We have often pointed out that there is a great difference between peace and happiness. Happiness depends upon the “haps.” The old English word “hap” means a chance, and with the world if the “haps” are agreeable, if the chance events of life are satisfactory, then the worldling is happy, and if the “haps” are not satisfactory, he is un-happy. But with the Christian, whatever the “haps” are, if everything he has counted on goes to pieces, it does not make any difference. God is not going to pieces. God is there just the same, and so the soul can rest in Him.

• ...Christ Himself reigns, but we are to reign with Him from the heavenly Jerusalem above. This, of course, is the New Jerusalem, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife of Rev. 19 and 21. It embraces all the heavenly saints, that is, all those who have died in faith throughout the centuries, all who in every dispensation believed God and were therefore quickened by His Spirit. The heavenly Jerusalem is preeminently the Home of the Church and therefore is designated as the bridal city; but saints of all other dispensations who have passed through death and entered into resurrection life will, as one has expressed it, be upon its "Burgess roll.”