Against the persecution of a tyrant the godly have no remedy but prayer.
John CalvinRead
A soul, therefore, when deprived of the Word of God, is given up unarmed to the devil for destruction
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of spiritual guidance and the dangers of being without it.
John Calvin suggests that a person's soul is vulnerable and defenseless against evil when it lacks the divine wisdom and guidance provided by the Word of God. This idea implies that spiritual teachings are essential in protecting individuals from moral and spiritual downfall.
In practice
In a sermon discussing the significance of faith, one might use this quote to highlight the need for spiritual strength.
Against the persecution of a tyrant the godly have no remedy but prayer.
The pastor ought to have two voices: one, for gathering the sheep; and another, for warding off and driving away wolves and thieves. The Scripture supplies him with the means of doing both.
Man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of his lowly state until he has compared himself with God's majesty.
Whomever the Lord has adopted and deemed worthy of His fellowship ought to prepare themselves for a hard, toilsome, and unquiet life, crammed with very many and various kinds of evil.
For as the aged, or those whose sight is defective, when any book, however fair, is set before them, though they perceive that there is something written, are scarcely able to make out two consecutive words, but, when aided by glasses, begin to read distinctly, so Scripture, gathering together the impressions of Deity, which, till then, lay confused in our minds, dissipates the darkness, and shows us the true God clearly.
When God wants to judge a nation, He gives them wicked rulers.
Critics have done the wine industry a lot of good overall.
Sport in the sense of a mass-spectacle, with death to add to the underlying excitement, comes into existence when a population has been drilled and regimented and depressed to such an extent that it needs at least a vicarious participation in difficult feats of strength or skill or heroism in order to sustain its waning life-sense.
When a war is over I think it's a cowardly thing to leave the war behind you in minefields that hit women and children and the most vulnerable. Imagine the war is finished and you go to work and there are snipers shooting at you. Imagine taking your kids to the beach and you find that the beach is blowing up beneath you. Like there's nowhere safe.
Five mysteries hold the keys to the unseen: the act of love, and the birth of a baby, and the contemplation of great art, and being in the presence of death or disaster, and hearing the human voice lifted in song.
Thus we build on the ice, thus we write on the waves of the sea; the waves roaring pass away, the ice melts, and away goes our palace, like our thoughts.
You can have an interesting story about a person living an interesting life. And if it's done well, that is just as engaging as the end of the world. A million people dying - we can't process. One person, we can process.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.