"As Christians we should not ask, ‘How did you become infected with HIV?’ but rather our question should be, ‘How can we help and support you to live with the virus?’".

Nicky Welsh - "HIV/AIDS Focusing On The Positive" - Newfrontiers Magazine - Vol 3 Issue 9 - October - December 2008.

Terry Virgo on the Victory of Jesus Christ

"Jesus has ushered in a new age. His resurrection, ascension and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit have inaugurated the promised kingdom. We are invited to enjoy our resurrection life in the power of the Holy Spirit and celebrate our part in being new creation".

Terry Virgo - "Firstline" - Newfrontiers Magazine - Vol 3 Issue 9 - October - December 2008,

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Demon Possession

"You say; "But I have never seen a case of devil possession". Well - the fact that you have not recognised it, does not mean it does not exist, my friend".

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones - "Authentic Christianity - Volume 5" - Banner of Truth, Edinburgh (2006) - p58.

Rob Rufus on Why the Devil Attacks Grace

"The devil is not attacking us for the grace message - he's attacking us for where the grace message will take us. He understands that the revelation of grace is the access into the 10/10 glory. Out of the control spirit. Out of guilt. Out of condemnation, fear, rejection and into a constant sense of God is for us, no matter what".

Rob Rufus - "Restoring The Key To Knowledge Part III" - City Church International, Hong Kong - Mid-Week Prayer Meeting - 13th November 2008.

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Imputed Righteousness

"Christians are people who have been declared righteous by God, who know that justification is by faith only, and that God 'justifieth the ungodly' (Romans 4:5). They believe all Paul's arguments in the first five chapters of Romans. This is how Christians think of righteousness; not little details here and there but this whole matter of their standing before God and the declaration of God that He "accounts" them as righteous.

Not only that, Christians believe that they have been clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ, that God has put this "robe of righteousness upon them" (Isaiah 61:10). They know they have been born again, 'born of the Spirit'. They now belong to the realm of righteousness, whereas before they did not.

Here is a man who has a conception of righteousness; he wants to be rid of everything that is wrong; he wants to be wholly right, he is interested in holiness.

Do you see the point? The righteous are unconcious of their righteousness. That is the glory of their whole position. I trust I am making this clear to you. Christians are righteous in themselves because they have been brought into the kingdom of God and the realm of righteousness".

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones - "Romans: Exposition of Chapter 14:1-17 - Liberty and Conscience" - Banner of Truth, Edinburgh (2007) - (pp257-265).

John Stott on Acts 9:17 - Laying on of Hands

Acts 9:17 - Ananias laying hands on Saul: "I suspect that this laying-on of hands was a gesture of love to a blind man".

John Stott - "The Message of Acts" - IVP, Leicester (1990) - p175.

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Humour

"The man who tries to be humorous is an abomination and should never be allowed to enter a pulpit".

Iain Murray - "Lloyd-Jones - Messenger of Grace" - Banner of Truth, Edinburgh (2008) - p121.

Iain Murray on Dr Lloyd-Jones and Word and Spirit

"There should be an awareness that Christianity is both a body of truth and doctrine - and a life to be experienced. If balance is lost between these things, either in direction of the over-intellectual or the over-experimental, a departure from the New Testament will follow".

Iain Murray - "Lloyd-Jones - Messenger of Grace" - Banner of Truth, Edinburgh (2008) - p50.

Iain Murray on Lloyd-Jones and the Unction of the Spirit

"Dr Lloyd-Jones believed that neglect of the work of the Spirit in relation to preaching was often connected with mistaken belief. Some held that the indwelling of the Spirit in all Christians leaves no need for believers to seek His Presence; others seemed to believe that the Spirit rests equally on all orthodox ministry.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones regarded this as contrary to Scripture. Why was the commands "to be filled with the Spirit" if His indwelling which takes place at regeneration is sufficient? What sense could there be in the apostolic direction to appoint men "full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom" if His fullness marks all Christians?

While there is mystery in the mode of the Spirit's Presence, it is surely clear that His work is not static but ongoing and repeated".

Iain Murray - "Lloyd-Jones - Messenger of Grace" - Banner of Truth, Edinburgh (2008) - p47.

Iain Murray on Humour in Sermons

"The pulpit is no place for light-heartedness. For a preacher to launch his sermon with humour, was for Martyn Lloyd-Jones, a strange contradiction of his message".

Iain Murray - "Lloyd-Jones - Messenger of Grace" - Banner of Truth, Edinburgh (2008) - p41.

Iain Murray on the Misuse of Truth

"Because a truth can be misused, it is no argument that it must be wrong".

Iain Murray - "Lloyd-Jones - Messenger of Grace" - Banner of Truth, Edinburgh (2008) - (p39).

Dr Lloyd-Jones on Paraphrasing 1 Corinthians 4:19

1 Corinthians 4:19-20: "But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power".

Paraphrase: "I am coming to see you and I am going to test you. And let me make it clear to you - I am not interested in your words but in power. Any fool can get up and speak. The question is, is there power in the man's speech? What does it accomplish? What does it lead to?".

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones - "Romans: The Gospel of God (1:1-32)" - Banner of Truth, Edinburgh (1985) - p222.

C J Mahaney on "Being a Man's Man"

"Like any man's man - I relish being out of style".

C J Mahaney (editor) in "Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World" - Crossway Books (2008) - p117.

Dr Stanley Jebb on the Resurrection of Christ

"He was declared to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead! ... The resurrection set the seal upon the Cross - it proved Him to be who He claimed to be! The resurrection spurred the disciples into action!".

Dr Stanley Jebb - "I Believe" - Last Semon preached at New Covenant Church Dunstable - 1999.

Dudley Daniel on Transitioning Leadership

"It shouldn't be a shock to the people that this is the man that will lead us into the future".

Dudley Daniel - "Dudley Daniel - The Transition" - NCMI TV "Equipping All Nations".

John Hosier on 2 Corinthians 5:21

"This is arguably one of the most important verses in the Bible ... It tells us what God did - He sent his Son ... It tells us who Jesus is - He is sinless ... It tells us what Jesus did - He was made sin ... It tells us who we are - the righteousness of God ... It tells us where we are - in Him".

John Hosier - "2 Corinthians 5:21" - Church of Christ the King blog - 25th November 2008

John Piper on the Baptism with the Holy Spirit

"It seems to me that the term is a broad, overarching one that includes the whole great saving, sanctifying, and empowering work of the Spirit in this age. I don’t think it is a technical term that refers to one part of the Christian life—say conversion, or speaking in tongues, or a bold act of witness. It is the continual, and sometimes extraordinary, outpouring of the Holy Spirit on God’s people. It immerses them not just in one or two, but in hundreds of his powerful influences.

In other words, if you are not born again, one way to describe your need is that you need to be baptized with the Spirit. That is, you need to be plunged into God’s Spirit with the effect that you will be born again and come to faith in Christ. If you are born again, but you are languishing in a season of weakness and fear and defeat, one way to describe what you need is to be baptized in the Spirit. That is, you need a fresh outpouring of his Christ-revealing, heart-awakening, sin-defeating, boldness-producing power. Every spiritual need that we have before and after conversion is supplied by Christ immersing us in greater and lesser degrees in the Holy Spirit".

John Piper - "This Is He Who Baptizes with the Holy Spirit" - Bethlehem Baptist Church, Illinois - November 23, 2008

Thomas Schriener on Faith

"Faith glorifies God because it looks to Him for every good gift and blessing, acknowledging that all comes from Him. This helps explain why Paul can say that "whatever does not proceed from faith is sin" (Romans 14:23)".

Thomas Schriener - "New Testament Theology - Magnifying God in Christ" - Apollo (2008) - (p578).

John Piper on Defining a Spiritual Gift

"A spiritual gift is a skill that the Spirit anoints to be effective. The effect is not always just conversions. It's the pricking of consciences. It's the deepening of love for the Lord. It's the correcting of behaviour in others".

John Piper in Justin Taylor and John Piper (editors) - "Stand: A Call for the Endurance of the Saints" - Crossway Books (2008) - (p140).

David Carr on the Word of God

"God's Word is the record of all the thoughts, commands, revelations and prophetic utterances that flow from the throne of God. God visited different ones of His servants and inspired them to write His words down under the flow of the Holy Spirit".

David Carr - "The Five Attributes of a Church in Revival" - New Wine Ministries (2006) - (p74).

David Carr on Revival and Angels

"It is fascinating to me that any church that experiences a glimpse of revival will often become aware of the presence of angels. Where the glory of God is manifest and where Jesus is truly worshipped - angels will gather. Angels are, in essence, the protectors of God's glory".

David Carr - "The Five Attributes of a Church in Revival" - New Wine Ministries (2006) - (p39).

David Carr on the Problem in Christian Worship

"We have become skilled at not allowing God to infiltrate the parts of our lives we don't want Him to interfere with".

David Carr - "The Five Attributes of a Church in Revival" - New Wine Ministries (2006) - (p30).

David Carr on the Purpose of Revival

"An outpouring of the Spirit is not for any peripheral purpose other than the perfecting and equipping of His Church".

David Carr - "The Five Attributes of a Church in Revival" - New Wine Ministries (2006) - (p16).

Terry Virgo on New Testament Exhortations

"Believers can keep what is commanded only through the work of the Spirit. We can’t say, ‘I’m under grace and don’t need commands and exhortations’. The Spirit-filled life isn’t quenched by commands; it’s compatible with them. There will come a time when all that defiles – the world, the flesh and the devil – will be destroyed. Then there will be no need for exhortation. But until perfection comes we’ll need it and mustn’t fear it or view it as legalism".

Terry Virgo - "Perfection – not yet" - Terry Virgo's Blog - October 28th, 2008.

Terry Virgo on New Testament Exhortations

"Exhortations and appeals always follow on from declarations of truth about our new identity in Christ. We respond wholeheartedly to them because of what God has done in us by his Spirit. Evidently Paul didn’t believe that exhorting believers contradicted the reality of the Spirit in their lives or put them back under law".

Terry Virgo - "Perfection – not yet" - Terry Virgo's Blog - October 28th, 2008.

John Piper on Unforgiveness

"What gives so much force to the impulse of anger in such cases is the overwhelming sense that the offender does not deserve forgiveness. That is, the grievance is so deep and so justifiable that not only does self-righteousness strengthen our indignation but so does a legitimate sense of moral outrage. It's the deep sense of legitimancy that gives our bitterness its unbending compulsion. We feel that a great crime would be committed if the magnitude of the evil we've experienced were just dropped and we let bygones by bygones. We are torn; our moral sense says this evil cannot be ignored and the Word of God says we must forgive".

John Piper - "Future Grace" - IVP, Leicester (1995) - (p265).

John Piper on God's Justice in Forgiveness

"The promise that frees us from an unforgiving, bitter, vengeful spirit is the promise that God will settle our accounts. He will do it more justly and more thoroughly than we ever could. Therefore we can back off and "leave room for God" to work".

John Piper - "Future Grace" - IVP, Leicester (1995) - (p264).

John Piper on God's Future Vengance

"This future grace of God's judgement is promised to us as a means of helping us overcome a spirit of revenge and bitterness ... Paul's argument is that we should not take vengeance because vengeance belongs to the Lord. And to motivate us to lay down our vengeful desires, He gives us a promise - which we now know is a promise of future grace - "I will repay" says the Lord".

John Piper - "Future Grace" - IVP, Leicester (1995) - (p264).

John Piper on Forgiveness as Future Grace

"Living by faith in future grace involves overcoming vengeance and bitterness by trusting God to settle all our accounts justly".

John Piper - "Future Grace" - IVP, Leicester (1995) - (p261).

John Piper on Forgiveness

"What I find in the New Testament is that one powerful way of overcoming bitterness and revenge is to have faith in the promise that God will settle accounts with our offenders so that we don't have to".

John Piper - "Future Grace" - IVP, Leicester (1995) - (p261).

Rob Rufus on True Christianity

"We need to be supernaturally natural and naturally supernatural".

Rob Rufus - "The Joy of God" - City Church International, Hong Kong - Sunday 14th July 2004.

Rob Rufus on Encountering God

"The depth of the touch will determine the depth of the response".

Rob Rufus - "Sunday Morning Session" - "Miracle Weekend in Hong Kong" - Sunday 22nd June 2008.

Rob Rufus on the Law

"What is the Law? It is an awareness of good and evil".

Rob Rufus - "Session 1" - "Grace and Glory Conference - Hong Kong" - 23rd October 2007.

Ryan Rufus on "Falling from Grace"

"To fall from grace is not a positional thing but a conditional thing - going back under law".

Ryan Rufus - "Keys To Understanding Romans 5,6, 7 & 8" - City Church International, Hong Kong - Sunday 24th August 2008.

Rob Rufus on Carrying the Presence of God

"I have carried His manifest tangible Presence every day for 30 years. There has not been one single day where I haven't felt the Presence of God. I am so concerned when some people are impressed by that. I am SO worried about that! Because it is a normal Book of Acts inheritance - to walk in His Presence!"

Rob Rufus - "The Blood - Substance or Shadow?" - City Church International, Hong Kong -

George Warnock -Ongoing illumination of the Spirit into vaster expanses of Truth and Glory

"May God, therefore, give us guidance by His Spirit to see and understand and contemplate wondrous things out of His Word--the entrance of which giveth light to such as are in darkness, and the appropriation of which giveth understanding to the simple, wisdom to the foolish, and illumination to the blind. We care not for established creeds or doctrines or theological disputes, nor for the marginal notes we find in our various expository and reference Bibles.

God has spoken, and that is sufficient. If Christians are content to abide by the revelation they have received at the hands of great men of the past--let them be content. But God is now leading His people onward and upward to higher heights, to greater depths, to vaster expanses of Truth and Glory than the saints have ever enjoyed or appropriated in the past. Therefore we fix our hopes and our eyes upon the God of increasing revelation, even on Him who is ...Able to ...Exceedingly ...Abundantly ...Above all ...That we ask ...Or Think ...According to the power ...That worketh in us."


George Warnock, "The Feast of the Tabernacles."

Bill Johnson on the Purpose of Miracles

"One of the major functions of miracles and supernatural living is to offer immediate, irrefutable proof of what God wants to happen on earth. It demonstrates who God is by showing what His reality looks like".

Bill Johnson - "The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind" - Destiny Image, Shippensburg (2005) - (p34).

Bill Johnson on the Normal Christian Life

"I have come to see that the normal Christian life means miracles, spiritual intervention and revelation. It means peace, joy, love, a sense of well-being and purpose - all these traits that ellude so many Christians. Written into the spiritual DNA of every believer is an appetite for the impossible that cannot be ignored or wished away. The Holy Spirit, the very Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us, making it impossible for us to be content with what we can only see, hear, touch, taste and smell. Our hearts know there is much more to life than what we perceive with our senses; we are spiritually agitated by the lack of connection with the realm of the supernatural".

Bill Johnson - "The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind" - Destiny Image, Shippensburg (2005) - (p31).

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Word and Spirit

"These two; "the Holy Spirit"; "the Word of God". We must never seperate them and if we ever do we shall go astray. Some people put their emphasis only on the word. These are the intellectuals. "Ah" they say, "nothing matters but the ties on theology and doctrine". As a rsult they may become proud of their own great knowledge. They may get the admiration of others who join in with them, but this is nothing but a little mutual admiration society. Nobody is converted, nobody is convicted. Heads packed with knowledge and understanding - useless! "Word only" you see".

Dr Lloyd-Jones - "Authentic Christianity - Volume 2 (Acts 4-5)" - Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh (2001) - (p84).

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Unction in Preaching

"Preaching is in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. And a man has to realise after he has prepared his sermons, that however perfectly he may have done so, that it is all waste and useless unless the power of the Spirit comes upon it and upon him. He must pray for that".

Dr Lloyd-Jones - "Revival" - Crossway Books, Wheaton (1987) - (p124).

Bill Johson Clarifying the Difference b/t the Indwelling Presence of the Spirit and the Outpouring of the Spirit

"Scripture teaches that every believer receives the Spirit as the seal and down payment of our full inheritance, which is God Himself. (Eph. 1:13-14; Rom. 8:11,15 ) We are heirs of God and have the wonderful privilege and joy of being His dwelling place. The indwelling presence of the Spirit comes about at our conversion, when the Spirit of resurrection brings our spirits to life, just as He breathed into Adam's nostrils in the garden and he became a living being. In the lives of Christ's disciples, we see this take place in John 20:22, when Jesus met with them, "breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'" But at His ascension, Jesus told these same people that the Holy Spirit was going to come upon them. The Holy Spirit was already in them, but He was going to come upon them with power in order to make them witnesses. As the word outpouring suggests, this promise is fulfilled as the Spirit of God comes upon His people like rain. In such seasons God permeates all we are and do with deluges of Himself. This heavenly invasion of God into our lives is God's first answer to the prayer Jesus taught us to pray: "Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). Paul taught us that the "kingdom of God is .....righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17). That is, the kingdom of God is in the Holy Spirit. When He is poured out on us, the King's domain becomes manifested in our lives. This kingdom first creates heaven on earth in the "earth" of our lives, which enables us to mature as co-laborers with heaven in order to bring transformation to the earth around us. Thus, the outpouring of the Spirit deals directly with God's destiny for humanity. The purpose for which Christ accomplished salvation for mankind was just this, to put us right with God so that He could rest upon us, creating a people who could co-labor with Him to bring heaven on earth."


Bill Johnson - "Face to Face with God. The Ultimate Quest to Experience His Presence."

Rob Rufus on Ephesians 4 Ministries

"As soon as a pastor/teacher culture begins to control the church, then the apostolic and prophetic is lost".

Rob Rufus - "Session 2" - 'Word and Spirit Conference with Dr Michael Eaton' - 8 July - 11 July 2008, Cape Town South Africa - hosted by Joshua Generation Church

RJW on not being defined by the flesh..........

"I am not who I used to be, not because of what I do or what someone thinks about me, but because of what Jesus did 2000 years ago. I will not be defined by my flesh. I am not a physical being having a spiritual experience; I am a spiritual being having a physical experience. The cross will have its way in me and I'm resting in that."

Jamie Weeks (aka RJW)  "Better than we know. Sharing our identity in Christ."

Rob Rufus on Suffering and the Glory

"Only those who are willing to suffer persecution, rejection and being misunderstood will carry the higher level of the glory".

Rob Rufus - "Attitudes That Attract The Empowering Grace Of God - Part 4" - City Church International, Hong Kong - 10th August 208.

Rob Rufus on Bible Colleges and Pastors

"Some Bible colleges actually train pastors to keep distance between them and the people!".

Rob Rufus - "Attitudes That Attract The Empowering Grace Of God - Part 1" -

Rob Rufus on True Christian Fellowship

"True fellowship is talking to one another out of the realms of the glory".

Rob Rufus - "Attitudes That Attract The Empowering Grace Of God - Part 4" - City Church, Hong Kong - 10th August 2008.

Rob Rufus on the Summary of Salvation

"Let me sum up what being saved is, what redemption is in one word - identification".

Rob Rufus - "Attitudes That Attract The Empowering Grace Of God - Part 4" - City Church, Hong Kong - 10th August 2008.

Bill Johnson on Perfect Theology

"Jesus Christ is perfect theology. For anyone who wants to know the will of God, look at Jesus. He is the will of God. Some pray, "If it be Thy will," as though God's will is unclear. You would have to ignore the life of Christ to come to such a conclusion.
How many people came to Jesus for healing and left sick? None. How many came to Him for deliverance and left His presence still under torment? None. How many life threatening storms did Jesus bless? None. How many times did Jesus withhold a miracle because the person who came to Him had too little faith? Never. He often addressed their small faith or unbelief, but He always left them with a miracle as a way to greater faith. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, perfectly illustrates the will of God the Father. To think otherwise is to put the Father and the Son at odds. And a house divided will fall."

"Our theology is not to be built on what God hasn't done. It is defined by what He does and is doing. The will of God is perfectly seen in the person of Jesus Christ. No one who ever came to Him was turned away."

Bill Johnson, "Face to Face with God. The ultimate quest to experience His presence."

Bill Johnson on doing the works of the Father

"True believers are being positioned to display the wonders of the almighty God to the world around us. The Bible actually calls us a new creation, a new race of people that had never existed before. Many of the prophecies that Jesus made concerning His church have never been fulfilled. The "greater works" of John 14:12 are yet to come upon an entire generation. But this is the hour all the prophets spoke of. Kings and prophets longed to see what we have seen. It is important that we say yes to all that has been provided for us through the blood of Jesus. It is time for the people of God to rise as one and display the power and glory of God.
Jesus once told a crowd of people, "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me" (John 10:37). Angels, the prophets, nature, and Scripture all testified about who Jesus was. Yet He was willing to hang the credibility of all those witnesses on one thing - the works of the Father. Without question, the works of the Father that Jesus is referring to are the miracles recorded throughout the Gospel of John. If Jesus didn't do miracles, people were not required to believe. I look for the day when the church, His body, makes the same statement to the world around us: if we don't do the works of our Father, do not believe us."

Bill Johnson, "Face to Face with God. The ultimate quest to experience His presence."

Rob Rufus on Christianity in China

"The philosophy of the underground church in China for the past 45 years has been that everyday is a Sunday, every Christian is a preacher, and everywhere is a meeting".

Rob Rufus - "Prophetic Promises to Empower Prayer for China" - Let's Talk Magazine - NCMI - Issue 80 - (p28).

Bill Johnson on the Kingdom of Joy

"Jesus taught His disciples to seek the face of His Father. Those who do so get the affirming realization that we are the "sparkle in His eyes." From this place of intimacy with God we find answers and solutions. Concerning this, Jesus said, "Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full" (John 16:24). Once again we see that joy is the expected result of a right relationship with God. It is normal. Everything below that is not. Some teach of the balanced Christian life as though we needed equal measures of joy and depression. Foolishness! The kingdom is one of joy. And I don't ever have to leave."

Bill Johnson, "Face to Face with God. The Ultimate Quest to Experience His Presence."

Bill Johnson on the Joy of His Face

"Joy is an important part of the Father's nature. We experience His joy, and now we inherit His joy as our own. "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; lovingkindness and truth go before You. How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! O LORD, they walk in the light of your countenance. In Your name they rejoice all the day, and by Your righteousness they are exalted" (Psalm 89:14-16, emphasis added).
Our joy is a direct result of being before the face of God. A countenance filled with joy is the reflection of the Father's delight in us. Those who live before the face of God know the sound of darkness in heaven, not even a shadow, because the light of His face is everywhere. In the same way, there is no discouragement or depression in heaven, because the sound of joy radiates from the face of God. Praying for the kingdom of God to come now "on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10) is in essence a prayer for the atmosphere of heaven to permeate Earth - the atmosphere of joy."


Bill Johnson, "Face to Face with God. The ultimate quest to experience His presence."

Terry Virgo on Defining Prejudice

"Prejudice is judging something before you have heard the facts".

Terry Virgo - "Stephen" - Main Session 3 - "Together on a Mission 2008" - Brighton.

Terry Virgo on the Supernatural in Church Today

"I do believe in this post-Christian era that there needs to be a breakout of the supernatural because we are back to Bible days! ... Sometimes we are saddened and shocked and not happy with the teaching that goes hand in hand with those who emphasise signs and wonders. The best answer is to preach it like it is and believe and trust God for it!".

Terry Virgo - "Stephen" - Main Session 3 - "Together on a Mission 2008" - Brighton.

Rob Rufus on the Devil's Plan of Distraction

"The devil wants to rob you of your peace because agitated people rarely hear the Voice of God. In a time of opportunity, the word is "distraction" on the devil's agenda. whereas God's agenda is laser-like focus - I was born and raised for this time!".

Rob Rufus - "Attitudes That Attract The Empowering Grace Of God - Part 2" - City Church International, Hong Kong - Sunday 27th July 2008.

Rob Rufus on Destiny and Circumstances

"God won't talk to you about your circumstances although He cares about it - He will talk to you about your destiny. God is after destiny for you and me - when you obey your destiny, your circumstances will improve".

Rob Rufus - "Attitudes That Attract The Empowering Grace Of God - Part 2" - City Church International, Hong Kong - Sunday 27th July 2008.

Rob Rufus on Delays!

"Every red traffic light, I feel is a demonic conspiracy to hold me up!".

Rob Rufus - "Attitudes That Attract The Empowering Grace Of God - Part 2" - City Church International, Hong Kong - Sunday 27th July 2008.

Rob Rufus on Destiny Governing Circumstances

"When you obey destiny, your circumstances will improve! But if you focus on your self-pity and rejections and your problems and say "God why aren't You helping me?" - He will not talk to you about your circumstances when you complain. He wants to talk to you about why you are in the earth - your destiny - what He has equipped you for".

Rob Rufus - "Attitudes That Attract The Empowering Grace Of God - Part 2" - City Church International, Hong Kong - Sunday 27th July 2008.

Rob Rufus on Sonship

"Out of my security as a son, I can minister as a servant".

Rob Rufus - "Attitudes That Attract The Empowering Grace Of God - Part 3" - City Church International, Hong Kong - Sunday 3rd August 2008.

Rob Rufus on Right Attitudes and Motives

"The question is not what are you doing but why you are doing it".

Rob Rufus - "Attitudes That Attract The Empowering Grace Of God - Part 3" - City Church International, Hong Kong - Sunday 3rd August 2008.

Rob Rufus on Newfrontiers

"It is unique to find a family of people who so fully celebrate the wonder of the New Covenant - who embrace the freedom of grace - embrace the truth of the truth of the Word of God and are not nervous or unafraid of the supernatural power of God".

Rob Rufus - "Being Obedient to Faith" - Newfrontiers Europe Conference - 11th May 2008.

Tom Schreiner on the Prophet Agabus

"Some (Wayne Grudem for example) have suggested that Agabus was mistaken for the Jews did not literally bind Paul and hand him over to the Romans. Such a judgement demands too literal a fulfillment of prophetic words. In the Lukan perspective the prophecy is fulfilled for Paul used some of the words of Agabus in describing his own arrest".

Thomas R Schreiner - "New Testament Theology - Magnifying God in Christ" - Apollos, Nottingham (2008) - (p447).

Tom Schreiner on the Spirit's Hindering Mission Advance

"On two occasions the Spirit hindered the speaking of the gospel ... even the Spirit's hindering work ultimately therefore becomes the means by which the Spirit directs His messangers to specific localities".

Thomas R Schreiner - "New Testament Theology - Magnifying God in Christ" - Apollos, Nottingham (2008) - (p446).

Tom Schreiner on the Spirit and Peter's Trance

"The Spirit's speaking to Peter should not be construed as a private existential experience. The Spirit directed Peter because he was the means to which the Gentiles would hear the Gospel. The point of the story is not the Spirit's private revelation to Peter. The Spirit speaks to Peter so that he will bring the gospel to the nations".

Thomas R Schreiner - "New Testament Theology - Magnifying God in Christ" - Apollos, Nottingham (2008) - (p445-6).

Tom Schreiner on the Spirit carrying Philip Away

"We note again that the Spirit's carrying Philip away is the means by which the gospel is proclaimed in new areas".

Thomas R Schreiner - "New Testament Theology - Magnifying God in Christ" - Apollos, Nottingham (2008) - (p445).

Tom Schreiner on Word and Spirit

"The Holy Spirit's role in the writing of Scripture is one example of the alliance between the Spirit and the Word. The Spirit speaks through the written word of Scripture and the human authors of Scripture spoke their words under the aegis of the Holy Spirit".

Thomas R Schreiner - "New Testament Theology - Magnifying God in Christ" - Apollos, Nottingham (2008) - (p445).

Tom Schreiner on the Filling of the Spirit and Mission

"The filling of the Spirit immediately leads to an oracle of the Lord. In every instance the filling of the Spirit is related to bearing witness and speaking out the prophetic word. The prophetic work of the Spirit is not limited to the verb "fill".

Thomas R Schreiner - "New Testament Theology - Magnifying God in Christ" - Apollos, Nottingham (2008) - (p445).

Tom Schreiner on the Filling of the Holy Spirit

"The filling of the Spirit leads to the proclamation of God's word, to testifying about what God has done in Christ".

Thomas R Schreiner - "New Testament Theology - Magnifying God in Christ" - Apollos, Nottingham (2008) - (p444).

Tom Schreiner on the Spirit and Prophecy

"If we take stock of the foregoing texts, we observe a close connection between the "filling" of the Spirit and prophecy. John the Baptist was a prophet of the Lord and filled with the Spirit from his mother's womb ... Both Elizabeth and Zechariah were filled with the Spirit and prophesied ... the same pattern continues in Acts. When the 120 believers on the Day of Pentecost were filled with the Spirit, they spoke in tongues ... they proclaimed the "mighty acts of God" ... perhaps it is significant that the verb "fill" is not used on any other occasion when people speak in tongues in Acts. This is the only occasion in Acts in which those who speak in tongues are understood by the hearers so that God's word is proclaimed in a comprehensible manner".

Thomas R Schreiner - "New Testament Theology - Magnifying God in Christ" - Apollos, Nottingham (2008) - (p444).

Tom Schreiner on What Happens When the Spirit Comes

"When the Spirit comes, people speak forth God's Word. When Mary visited Elizabeth, the latter was suddenly filled with the Spirit and spoke loudly an oracle from God ... under the inspiration of the Spirit Elizabeth recognised that Mary was carrying the Lord in her womb and that Mary was the object of the Lord's special favour".

Thomas R Schreiner - "New Testament Theology - Magnifying God in Christ" - Apollos, Nottingham (2008) - (p443).

Greg Haslam on the Gift of Prophecy

"Prophecy is the living voice of the Spirit of Christ to living people right now ... prophecy is the supernatural ability to speak the mind of God on a given subject at any time by the prompting of the Holy Spirit".

Greg Haslam - "Prophetic Preaching - Part 1" Seminar - Together on a Mission 2008 Brighton

David Holden on New Testament Reality and Experience

"All that God has for us is to be experienced but it will only become a reality when we mix what we hear with faith. In other words it is possible to hear a lot of things but not experience them because when we hear them - we are not combining them with faith in our hearts".

Dave Holden - "Mixing It With Faith" - Newfrontiers Europe Conference - 10th May 2008.

Tom Schreiner on Luke 4:18

"The text proceeds to say that Jesus was sent to free the imprisoned, to grant sight to the blind, to free the oppressed and to herald the grace of God. Such a gracious ministry is due to the work of the Spirit in Jesus' life. It flows from the Spirit's anointing. We should also observe that Jesus described the whole of His ministry here, so that every dimension of His work depended on the anointing power of the Spirit. Every good work detailed in Luke stems from the Spirit Himself. Jesus truly was the bearer of the Spirit, the Man marked out by the Spirit, the Man was uniquely strengthened by the Spirit".

Thomas R Schreiner - "New Testament Theology - Magnifying God in Christ" - Apollos, Nottingham (2008) - (p442).

Tom Schreiner on the Power Behind Jesus Ministry

"Such healing and exorcisms occured because "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power" (Acts 10:38). We note again the close association of the Spirit and power, as in Luke 4:14. The effectiveness of Jesus' ministry, His miracles and healings flowed not from Himself but from the power of the Spirit".

Thomas R Schreiner - "New Testament Theology - Magnifying God in Christ" - Apollos, Nottingham (2008) - (p442).

Tom Schreiner on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit

"When human beings receive the baptism of the Spirit, a new reality will intervene. Jesus will immerse them with the Spirit so that the hearts of His people will be purified".

Thomas R Schreiner - "New Testament Theology - Magnifying God in Christ" - Apollos, Nottingham (2008) - (p439).

Tom Schreiner on the Word "Baptism"

"The word "baptism" signifies a great immersion into the Spirit".

Thomas R Schreiner - "New Testament Theology - Magnifying God in Christ" - Apollos, Nottingham (2008) - (p431).

Tom Schreiner on the Purpose of the Gift of the Spirit

"The Spirit was given to Jesus to accomplish salvation not judgement".

Thomas R Schreiner - "New Testament Theology - Magnifying God in Christ" - Apollos, Nottingham (2008) - (p438).

Tom Schreiner on the Descent of the Spirit

"The descent of the Spirit then must signify Jesus' anointing for ministry. His public ministry will now commence and God clothed Him with the Spirit to empower Him to carry out His task. The Spirit descended on Him as a dove".

Thomas R Schreiner - "New Testament Theology - Magnifying God in Christ" - Apollos, Nottingham (2008) - (p437).

Tom Schreiner on Jesus and the Holy Spirit

"Broadly speaking Jesus' relation to the Spirit can be designated as one of anointing in that the Spirit anointed Jesus for ministry".

Thomas R Schreiner - "New Testament Theology - Magnifying God in Christ" - Apollos, Nottingham (2008) - (p436).

Tom Schreiner on the Coming of the Holy Spirit

"The coming of the Spirit is the hope of the Lord's people, for when the Spirit is sent, God's people will keep His law and reside in the land (Ezekiel 39:29)".

Thomas R Schreiner - "New Testament Theology - Magnifying God in Christ" - Apollos, Nottingham (2008) - (p431).

Tom Schreiner on the Holy Spirit and the Book of Ezekiel

"Ezekiel could almost be called the "prophet of the Spirit".

Thomas R Schreiner - "New Testament Theology - Magnifying God in Christ" - Apollos, Nottingham (2008) - (p434).

Tom Schreiner on the Holy Spirit and Prophecy

"The Spirit of God enabled people to prophesy and speak forth His word".

Thomas R Schreiner - "New Testament Theology - Magnifying God in Christ" - Apollos, Nottingham (2008) - (p432).

Tom Schreiner on the Holy Spirit as a Sign

"The Spirit is the eschatological sign that the new age has arrived, that the new creation has become a reality".

Thomas R Schreiner - "New Testament Theology - Magnifying God in Christ" - Apollos, Nottingham (2008) - (p431).

Cal Pierce on Unbelief

"Unbelief isn't not believing the truth. It's believing the lie." 

Cal Pierce, Director of the Healing Rooms Ministries

Rob Rufus on the Anointing and the Glory

"You work hard in the anointing but when you get into the glory it is effortless. The anointing is empowering man to do ministry but the glory is God turning up - the glory realm is the realm of the supernatural - it's the realm of healing".

Rob Rufus - "A Covenant of Grace" - Newfrontiers Europe Conference - Session 1 - 10 May 2008.

Todd Bentley on Open Heaven!

"When the heavens are open, we have free access to everything in the heavenly realms, a free flow of God's abundant graces and ministry power".

Todd Bentley - "The Reality of the Supernatural World" - Destiny Image Publications (2008) - (p169).

Rob Rufus on the Gospel - Belief and Living

"The Gospel is not right living - it's right believing. When you believe right you will also begin to live right. But if you aspire to live right without believing the wonder of this Gospel you will come under law and you will see the glory of God begin to fade".

Rob Rufus - "A Covenant of Grace" - Newfrontiers Europe Conference - Session 1 - 10 May 2008.

Rob Rufus on Sin vs the New Covenant

"If your sin could stop the favour of God on your life then your sin is more powerful than God's New Covenant".

Rob Rufus - "A Covenant of Grace" - Newfrontiers Europe Conference - Session 1 - 10 May 2008.

Todd Bentley and C J Mahaney on Different Views on Humility

When asked how he is doing, C J Mahaney replies; "Better than I deserve".

When asked how he is doing, Todd Bentley replies; "Truly blessed and highly favoured of the Lord!".

Todd Bentley - "The Reality of the Supernatural Word" - Destiny Image Publications (2008) - p167

Bill Johnson on Christians tolerating suffering and sickness

"The sufferings of Jesus were realized in the persecution He endured and in the burden He carried for people. He did not suffer with disease. That must be removed from our idea of Christian suffering. It is vain to carry something under the guise of the will of God when it is something that He purchased that He might destroy its power over us. An additional concept to remember is that He suffered that we might not have to suffer. For example, He bore stripes on His body applied by a Roman soldier so that they could become His payment for our healing. 

If this suffering of His was insufficient, then what did it accomplish? This error, if carried through, brings the whole issue of conversion and forgiveness of sins into question. It's true that the sufferings of Jesus are not yet complete, but they have to do with our call to righteous living in an unrighteous world. This brings pressure upon our lives that range from the realm of persecution for living for Christ to the burdens we bear as intercessors before our heavenly Father where we plead the case of the lost. 

There are few prophetic declarations that are more appropriate for this hour than this word from Hosea: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." -Hosea 4:6 

Ignorance that exalts itself with a false sense of accomplishment for meeting religious requirements is one of our greatest enemies. For ignorance creates tolerance. And what we tolerate dominates.

When we allow sickness, torment, and poverty to be thought of as the God-ordained tools He uses to make us more like Jesus, we have participated in a very shameful act. There is no doubt He can use them, as He is also known to be able to use the devil himself for His purposes. (He can win with a pair of twos.) But to think these things are released into our lives through His design, or that He approved such things, is to undermine the work at Calvary. To do so one must completely disregard the life of Christ and the purpose of the cross. None of us would say that He died for my sins but still intends that I should be bound by sin habits. Neither did He pay for my healing and deliverance so I could continue in torment and disease. His provision for such things is not figurative: it is actual. 

Furthermore, it dishonors the Lord to disregard His work in order to justify our difficulty to believe for the impossible. It is time to own up to the nature of the gospel and preach it for what it is. It is the answer for every dilemma, conflict, and affliction on the planet. Declare it with boldness, and watch Him invade Earth once again."

(scriptures referred to; Isaiah 53:4-5, Colossians 1:24-the word for affliction in this verse is not sickness. It means to put under pressure, as when grapes are crushed for wine or olives for olive oil. Righteous living put us under pressures that bring out the inward anointing and joy of the Holy Spirit., Acts 4:28-29)

Bill Johnson on God is looking for those He can trust

"God has combined the ultimate quest with the promised outpouring of the Spirit because the ones He intends to clothe with the same anointing that rested upon His Son are those who have the same heart for the face of God that Jesus possessed. Only those with His heart can be trusted to use His power for its intended purpose - to represent Him in all His glory and goodness. This is our challenge - and our destiny."

Bill Johnson, "Face to face with God. The ultimate quest to experience His presence."

Bill Johnson on responding to God's face in the outpouring of His Spirit

"Not all can recognize God's face in the outpouring of His Spirit. When the rain of the Spirit comes, most people fixate on the effects of the storm and miss the One revealed in the cloud. The extreme joy, the weeping, the shaking and trembling, the visions and dreams, the healing, the deliverance, and the manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit, including tongues and prophecy, all are revelations of His face. Some people love these manifestations, and some people reject them. But the sobering thing to realize is that our response to the move of the Spirit is not a response to manifestations. Rather, it is a response to the face of God. To reject the move of the Spirit of God is to reject the face of God." 

Bill Johnson, "Face to Face with God. The ultimate quest to experience His Presence."

Bill Johnson on God's face revealed in the outpouring of His Spirit

"God made a promise that combined two of the greatest experiences for the believer contained in the whole Bible - the outpouring of the Spirit and the encounter with His face. As we will see, they are in essence one and the same. He put it this way, "I will not hide My face from them any  longer, for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,' declares the Lord God" (Ezekiel 39:29). In this declaration, this extraordinary promise has been linked together with fulfillment of the ultimate quest. 

This is stunning news - God's face is revealed in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit! When the Holy Spirit comes in power to transform lives, churches, and cities, the face of God is within reach. His face expresses the heart of who He is and what He is like." 

Bill Johnson - "Face to Face with God. The ultimate quest to experience His Presence." 

Sam Storms on the Balance in Visions and Dreams

"This is obviously a delicate and important balance for us to maintain. On the one hand, we should not dismiss or diminish the importance of the supernatural and revelatory encounters that God provides for certain of his saints. On the other hand, neither should we elevate them to supreme importance or treat them as if they alone, more so than character and conduct, authenticate the legitimacy of one's calling and ministry from God".

Sam Storms - "Of Visions and Revelations - 2 Corinthians 12:1" - Enjoying God Ministries website - Email - Wednesday, July 23, 2008.

Sam Storms on Visions Edifying the Church

"It simply isn't possible to read Peter and Paul and fail to notice that they believed revelatory gifts and other miraculous phenomena were of great benefit in edifying the body of Christ. It's true, of course, that Paul didn't speak often of his supernatural experiences. However, we should always be careful in drawing unwarranted conclusions about the normative character of an event based on the frequency with which it is mentioned. There is only one occasion where Paul mentions that he himself speaks in tongues (1 Cor. 14:18), yet he obviously spoke in tongues regularly, perhaps on a daily basis in his private devotions (1 Cor. 14:19). In other words, "lack of frequent reference does not necessarily mean lack of frequent experience".

Sam Storms - "Of Visions and Revelations - (2 Corinthians 12:1)" - Enjoying God Ministries website - Email - Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Sam Storms on Visions and Revelations

"Visions and revelations are related but not synonymous. The word "revelation" is the broader term, "visions" being but one of many ways that a revelation might be given to a person. A vision is always seen whereas a revelation might come in the form of an audible voice, an internal impression, an angelic encounter of some sort, a dream, a trance state, or a word or image disclosed to the mind of a believer. Thus whereas all visions are revelations, not all revelations are visions.

Some have actually argued that "visions" and "revelations" are unimportant, perhaps even dangerous, and that they lack the capacity to build up the church or to encourage believers. May I simply remind you that Peter declared on the day of Pentecost, citing Joel's prophecy, that the seeing of "visions" was to be a characteristic feature of the outpouring of the Spirit in the last days, i.e., in the present church age".

Sam Storms - "Of Visions and Revelations - (2 Corinthians 12:1)" - Enjoying God Ministries - Email - Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Rob Rufus on the Gift of Tongues

"I believe tongues is the entrance into the spirit realm. Paul says that when he prays in other tongues he does not speak to men but speaks mysteries unto God. 1 Corinthians 14: 4: “He that prays in other tongues edifies or charges his spirit up.” You know how I feel after one hour of praying in tongues? I feel ready to take on the world. My Spirit can get so run down and do you know that if your Spirit is run down it will affect your soul and your body? Do you know that your immune system is affected by the vitality in your Spirit? The Book of James says that when your Spirit leaves your body, your body dies. As soon as your Spirit leaves your earth suit, your earth suit has no energy to keep it alive.

It is your Spirit that is the mysterious power that is keeping your body alive? If your Spirit runs down; its batteries get low, your energy levels within your Spirit become so depleted that it affects your immune system, your emotions, your soul, your intellect, and your perspective on life.

So, when you pray in unknown tongues, the Bible says you edify your Spirit. I know that most times when I get ‘flu it isn’t because I was out in the cold, it is because my Spirit’s energy is run down by giving out, giving out, giving out until I don’t have inner strength to help my body and my soul maintain life. That is often why sickness and disease comes on people. I believe that if our Spirit was full of the anointing every day and we prayed in tongues regularly, we would avoid most illness. Paul said, “I pray in tongues more than all of you” “I wish you would all pray in tongues” he said to the Corinthians.

There is no formula attached to this. Sometimes I pray two to three hours and nothing happens. Sometimes I have prayed for five minutes and everything has happened. So there is not formula to this but I as a regular lifestyle I think it is wise to pray regularly in tongues. Just build your Spirit up".

Rob Rufus - "A Lion Anointing" - City Church International, Hong Kong - Sunday 20th October 2004

Rob Rufus on the Signs of an Apostle

"One of the signs of an apostle is signs, wonders and miracles. Not someone who talks about them or runs around the world trying to teach other people how to plant churches. Not someone who is a conference speaker or a co-ordinator but someone who actually goes into the frontline pioneering zone where the Gospel hasn't been and breaks in with signs, wonders and miracles! Another sign of an apostle is someone who speaks boldly the message of grace. It is not a title - it has substance behind it".

Rob Rufus - "Session 3 - Sydney Glory and Grace Conference" - 26th March 2008.

Rob Rufus on the Florida Outpouring Critics

"I don't want to listen to people criticising the Florida Outpouring if they are not seeing the same amount of healings. If you are against that then show me what you are doing! If all you can give me is head knowledge from the Bible then don't come near me - I don't want to be associated with you. You have a form of godliness but you deny the power".

Rob Rufus - "Sunday Morning - Miracle Healing Weekend" - City Church International, Hong Kong - Sunday 22nd June 2008.

Mark Driscoll on Newfrontiers

"The Newfrontiers folks are a very healthy mix of Word and Spirit. They love the Bible and the leading of God the Holy Spirit. Sometimes in the States those who are charismatic are negatively influenced by health and wealth teachers who say that, in essence, if you have enough faith you do not need to be like Jesus and endure pain or poverty.

In contrast, somehow the folks I am meeting from around the world who are connected to Newfrontiers have a healthy biblical reformed theology complemented with an active and biblical view of the person and work of the Holy Spirit and exercise of all spiritual gifts. I have always believed in the perpetuity of all the spiritual gifts (including such things as tongues and prophecy) but have not had much experience in seeing them exercised biblically, so being in circles like this is very insightful and instructive".

Mark Driscoll - "London Calling - Part 1" - The Resurgence blog - 7th July 2008.

Rob Rufus on Responding to the Touch of God

"The depth of the touch will determine the depth of the response and evidentially many Christians haven't been touched by His response because they are sitting in pews Sunday after Sunday and hindering the flow of the Spirit with their religious attitudes!".

Rob Rufus - "Sunday Morning - Miracle Healing Weekend" - City Church International, Hong Kong - Sunday 22nd June 2008.

Terry Virgo on Miracles Today!

"There are some who argue that signs and wonders ceased when the Scriptures were closed. But we believe God wants to do things to confirm and affirm his Word. Some are saying that it is not for today. Jesus told us that we would do the same things he did. He has received the Holy Spirit and all authority, and he now sends the Spirit and says, “Go and do the things that I do!”

Terry Virgo - "Main Session 1" - "Together on a Mission 2008" - Wednesday 8th July 2008 (HT: Adrian Warnock).

John MacArthur on Demonic Counterfeit

"People do not counterfeit what is not valuable. Satan counterfeits the Spirit's gifts because he knows they are so valuable in God's plan".

John MacArthur - "The MacArthur New Testament Commentary - 1 Corinthians" - Moody Bible Institute (1984) - (p281).

John MacArthur on No Trances in Scripture

"God does not bypass men's minds either to reveal or to teach His Word. There were no ecstatic, bizarre, trancelike experiences related to divine action or the prophet, such as occured and occurs with demonic revelation".

John MacArthur - "The MacArthur New Testament Commentary - 1 Corinthians" - Moody Bible Institute, Chicago (1984) - (p391).

John MacArthur on Desiring Spiritual Gifts

"The Corinthians were to stop seeking gifts because to do so is both persumptious and purposeless".

John MacArthur - "The MacArthur New Testament Commentary - 1 Corinthians" - Moody Bible Institute, Chicago (1984) - (p326).

Lydia on the Effects of Confessing Sin in the Christian's Life

"Confessing our sins all the time, will only make us more sin-conscious.....but knowing we are constantly being cleansed forever alll the time.....will keep us forgiveness conscious and knowing we are forgiven will give us great faith and empower us and we can reign in life over all our bad habits and struggles and have victory!!"

Lydia - "Comment left on 'Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones and Rob Rufus!!'" - "Life on Wings" blog - Thursday, June 19, 2008.

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Defining the Law

"The law always works wrath. Now this is a most important statement. He says that what the Law does is to produce wrath; and wrath is the very opposite of the promise of blessing. Wrath means punishment. The promise offers an inheritance and life and joy and glory. Wrath means punishment and suffering ... how does the law work wrath? Law always leads, as he has shown so abundantly to condemnation; and it does that because of our sinfulness. What the Law does is to show us of our weakness and sins.

That was the effect of the giving of the Law. God never gave the law that mean might be saved by it. The business of the Law was to bring out the character of sin that it might show the "exceeding sinfulness of sin" ... The law pin-points sin and therefore aggravates it and thereby works wrath".

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones - "Romans 3:20 - 4:25: Atonement and Justification" - Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh (1971) - (p194).

Dr Lloyd-Jones on Imputed Righteousness

"We become Christians immediately because it is this giving to us, this reckoning to us of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Our iniquities are pardoned, our sins are covered. All this sin will never again be imputed to us and positively and gloriously, we are clothed with a "righteousness divine ... Jesus Thy robe of righteousness, my beauty is, my glorious dress. Bold shall I stand in Thy great day, for who aught to my charge shall lay? Fully through Thee absolved I am, from sin and fear and from guilt and shame".

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones - "Romans 3:20 - 4:25: Atonement and Justification" - Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh (1971) - (p174).

Dr Lloyd-Jones on Justification Being ALL of God

"That is what is meant by justification. It is all God's action. We do nothing at all - we cannot do anything at all. We have no works, our righteousness is as "filthy rags", it is "dung", "refuse". We love nothing at all. We are ungodly. We are helpless. We are hopeless. God does it all. It is entirely God's action. It is what He does with these sins of ours which He puts on Christ and punishes them in Him. It is what He does with Christ's righteousness which He puts on us. It is all done to us and we receive it passively from God".

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones - "Romans 3:20 - 4:25: Atonement and Justification" - Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh (1971) - (p174).

Dr Lloyd-Jones on Our FREEDOM from Sin!

"So let me once again state this great and most blessed doctrine; God does not reckon our sins to us. But you may say how can He do that and still be God? We have committed these sins, how is it possible or God not to reckon them to us though we have committed them and are guilty of them? The answer is that He has reckoned them to His only, begotten Son".

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones - "Romans 3:20 - 4:25: Atonement and Justification" - Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh (1971) - (p177).

Dr Lloyd-Jones on the True Nature of Justification

"Let me put it like this: the man who is truly blessed is the man whose sin is forgiven as debt, whose sin is covered up so that God will never look at it again. He is one to whom it is never going to be imputed as a crime. There is the negative aspect. But it goes beyond that; he is also one to whom God reckons this righteousness of Jesus Christ. That is the doctrine of justification by faith. Here are we - all of us sinners in the sight of God. What does this doctrine tell me?

It tells me that as I stand there on trial my debt is cancelled, my sin is covered. God has cast my sin behind His back. He will never look at it again. He will never see it again. It is blotted out - out of His sight for all eternity. And I shall never be charged with it as a crime. I am completely delivered from it. But over and above that God puts this to my account and reckons to me, this righteousness of Jesus Christ His Son".

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones - "Romans 3:20 - 4:25: Atonement and Justification" - Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh (1971) - (p176).

Dr Lloyd-Jones on the Positivity of Redemption!

"God never leaves us in a negative position. God does not merely forgive us our sins. It is possible for somebody to forgive you and yet to feel rather distant towards you ... Forgiveness is only the negative aspect and God never stops at that. God always goes on. God is never satisfied with anything less than reconciliation".

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones - "Romans 3:20 - 4:25: Atonement and Justification" - Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh (1971) - (p175).

Dr Lloyd-Jones on Imputed Righteousness

"Notice this other interesting statement: "he is a man to whom the Lord will not impute sin, he will not reckon sin to him". What does that mean?". The man has committed sin, how then can he be a blessed man? The answer is that though he has sinned and is guilty of many sins, God will not put down sins to this man's account in His heavenly ledgers. He might do so, He has a perfect right to do so. He does not put them down in the account. He leaves them out. He has sent them away - He has covered them up. He has forgiven them!".

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones - "Romans 3:20 - 4:25: Atonement and Justification" - Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh (1971) - (p175).

Dr Lloyd-Jones on Clothed with His Righteousness

"Let me use the kind of illustration that was obviously in the mind of Count Zindendorf when he composed his great hymn on this theme ... "Jesus Thy robe of righteousness, my beauty is, my glorious dress". This is the picture. There is a man standing in his rags, in his filth. There is the condemned, guilty sinner before God, the prisoner in the dock.

What happens? Well God puts on him this robe of righteousness - He puts on him the white robe of Christ's perfection and now He sees that and nothing else. That is the doctrine of justification. He puts that to our account".

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones - "Romans 3:20 - 4:25: Atonement and Justification" - Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh (1971) - (p174).

Al Mohler on Loving Homosexuals as PEOPLE

"Christians must be the people who refuse to put the period at the end of the sexual sentence. We cannot allow homosexuals to be isolated as a class of people who are beyond the grace of God and exist in some special category of human sinfulness. We must be the people who say to homosexuals; "I am going to love you even more than you love your sin because in this same way, I was loved until I came to kno9w the Lord Jesus Christ. Someone loved me more than I love my sin and this is how I came to know my Saviour".

Al Mohler - "Homosexual Marriage as a Challenge to the Church: Biblical and Cultural Reflections" in "Sex and the Supremacy of Christ" - Justin Taylor and John Piper (editors) - Crossway Books, Illinois (2005) - (pp126-127).

Al Mohler on Rejecting "Labels"

"We cannot allow a homosexual to reduce his identity to being a homosexual. We live in an age of identity politics where people say; "What I do in my sex life is who I am - period". We are the people who know this is nonsense. Sex is a part of who we are - a vitally important and powerful part - but it is only a part of the total human being. Our sexual desires and sexual practices are genuine pointers to our inner reality and our relationship to God, but sexuality is not the end of the story".

Al Mohler - "Homosexual Marriage as a Challenge to the Church: Biblical and Cultural Reflections" in "Sex and the Supremacy of Christ" - Justin Taylor and John Piper (editors) - Crossway Books, Illinois (2005) - (p126).

Al Mohler on Loving Those with Same-Sex Struggles

"This is a tough challenge. We have to be the people who, because we are possessed by a passion to see God's glory in His creation, love homosexuals more than they love their sin. This means that our love has to be tenacious. This will also require that we come to know and establish relationships with those struggling with homosexuality. Armed with an awareness of both the problem and God's provision, we have no right to believe that homosexuals are beyond the grace of God or that any individual is beyond the hope of redemption and transformation".

Al Mohler - "Homosexual Marriage as a Challenge to the Church: Biblical and Cultural Reflections" in "Sex and the Supremacy of Christ" - Justin Taylor and John Piper (editors) - Crossway Books, Illinois (2005) - (p126).

Al Mohler on a Challenge to Heterosexual Men

"No man, not even the most committed heterosexual husband, will be able to say on the Day of Judgement, "My sexual affections, my sexual arousal, was always from the very beginning, only directly towards that which was holy - the covenant of marriage and the wife that I was given". EVERY man struggles with a corrupted affection, and that corrupted affection, given the reality of the male sex drive is often directed towards a desire for fulfillment entirely at odds with the glory of God. Every man bears a different struggle, but every man is engaged in a sexual struggle, and this should give us an attitude of sympathy as we address homosexuals with the truth".

Al Mohler - "Homosexual Marriage as a Challenge to the Church: Biblical and Cultural Reflections" in "Sex and the Supremacy of Christ" - Justin Taylor and John Piper (editors) - Crossway Books, Illinois (2005) - (p122).

Gary Grieg on Functional Atheism

"We, the Body of Christ, need to repent of our being functional atheists - acting as if the supernatural realm, that Scripture clearly portrays, is really not functionally real for us. Meanwhile God is waiting for us to come fully into our inheritance in Christ, so that He can use us to fully preach the Gospel with power to the lost unreached nations and people groups on earth which will then usher in the second coming of His Son".

Dr Gary Grieg - "A Theological Response to Criticism of the Lakeland Outpouring and Todd Bentley" - (p45).

Sam Storms on being In Christ

On "...in Christ at Colossae" (Col 1v2): "Remember... whatever geographical location you call home that you are in Christ. They are true simultaneously. You do not live in Christ only while you are at church, on your knees, or in a home group, then return to being simply in your city when you leave that more holy atmosphere. Your 'in-Christness' is not simply a heavenly reality that obtains only somewhere up there. You are in Christ even when you are in sin, although the reality of the former ought to progressively diminish your experience of the later."

Sam Storms - "The Hope of Glory" - Crossway Books, 2007 - p22

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Justification by Faith

" ... The whole essence of this matter of justification by faith only. It puts that to our account. When we have nothing at all; God puts in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. He imputes it to us; He reckons it to us. He just takes it and puts it there as if it were in our account, and thereby clears our guilt and debt. He does not make us righteous in doing so ... we are left, in this matter of justification, exactly where we were; but God puts this to our account and thereby clears our debt. He pronounces that all His claims against us are satisfied. Let us never forget that justification is forensic, is legal. It does not make us righteous; it declares us to be righteous. And we are declared righteous because the righteousness of God is put to our account".

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones - "Romans 3:20-4:25: Atonement and Justification" - Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh (1971) - (p167).

Rob Rufus on Law and Grace

"The law took the disobedience of Adam and condemned us all - grace took the obedience of Jesus and declared us all to be perfectly righteous in the Father's eyes".

Rob Rufus - "Do Christians Need To Confess Their Sins To God?" - City Church International, Hong Kong - Sunday 8th June 2008.

John Stott Quoting Handley Moule

"In the words of Bishop Handley Moule; "We sinned therefore He suffered, we were justified therefore He rose".

John R W Stott - "BST Series - The Message of Romans" - IVP, Leicester (1994) - (p135).

John Stott on Abraham's Experience of Faith

"Abraham was not unique in his experience of being justified by faith. For this is God's way of salvation for everybody".

John R W Stott - "BST Series - The Message of Romans" - IVP, Leicester (1994) - (p135).

John Stott on Abraham's Faith

"Faith always looks at problems in the light of the promises ... He knew that God could keep His promises (because of His power) and He knew that He would do so (because of His faithfulness). He was fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised. This is why, Paul adds, namely because He belived God's promise; "It was credited to him as righteousness".

John R W Stott - "BST Series - The Message of Romans" - IVP, Leicester (1994) - (pp134-135).

John Stott on the Manifestation of God's Power

"The Creation and the Resurrection were and remain the two manifestations of the power of God".

John R W Stott - "BST Series - The Message of Romans" - IVP, Leicester (1994) - (p133).

John Stott on the Gospel and Abraham

"The promise in mind must still be Genesis 15:5 that Abraham's posterity would be as numerous as the stars. It was a promise without any conditions or requirements attached to it. God's Word came to Abraham as a gratitutious promise - not as law. He simply believed God and was justified".

John R W Stott - "BST Series - The Message of Romans" - IVP, Leicester (1994) - (p130).

John Stott on C H Hodge and the Gospel

"(C H Hodge) To impute sin is to lay sin to the charge of anyone and to treat him accordingly ... similarly to impute righteousness is to set righteousness to one's account and treat Him accordingly"

John R W Stott - "BST Series - The Message of Romans" - IVP, Leicester (1994) - (p127).

John Stott on the Terms of Justification

"The imagery of counting and crediting is financial but that of imputation is legal. Both mean "to reckon something as belonging to someone" but in the former case, this is money, in the latter, innocence or guilt".

John R W Stott - "BST Series - The Message of Romans" - IVP, Leicester (1994) - (p127).

John Stott on the Legal Effects of Justification

"Justification involves a double counting, crediting or reckoning. On the one hand negatively God will never count our sins against us. On the other hand, positively God credits our account with righteousness as a free gift, by faith, altogether apart from our works".

John R W Stott - "BST Series - The Message of Romans" - IVP, Leicester (1994) - (p127).

John Stott on the Gospel in Abraham

"Abraham was not justified by works ... Genesis 15:6; "Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness" ... David says the same thing when he describes the blessedness of the men to whom God credits righteousness apart from works".

John R W Stott - "BST Series - The Message of Romans" - IVP, Leicester (1994) - (p126).

John Stott on the Gospel and Condemnation

"In (Paul's) scheme of salvation the function of the law is to expose and condemn sin and so to keep sinners locked up in their guilt until Christ comes to liberate them through faith. In this way the gospel and the law dovetail with each other since the gospel justifies those whom the law condemns".

John R W Stott - "BST Series - The Message of Romans" - IVP, Leicester (1994) - (p121).

John Stott on the Gospel and No Boasting

"Boasting is the language of our fallen self-centredness. But in those who have been justified by faith, boasting is altogether excluded ... our Christian conviction is that a sinner is justified by faith, indeed by faith alone apart from observing the law. Whether those "works of the law" which Paul had in mind are ceremonial (observing rules for diet and the Sabbath) or moral (obeying God's commandments) they cannot gain the favour or forgiveness of God. For salvation is "not by works so that no-one can boast". It is only by faith in Christ which is why we should boast in Him and not in ourselves".

John R W Stott - "BST Series - The Message of Romans" - IVP, Leicester (1994) - (p119).

John Stott on the Antithesis of Grace

"The antithesis between grace and law, mercy and merit, faith and works, God's salvation and self-salvation is absolute. No compromising mish-mash is possible. We are obliged to choose".

John R W Stott - "BST Series - The Message of Romans" - IVP, Leicester (1994) - (p118).

John Stott on What Christianity Is

"Christianity is not in it's essence a religion at all; it is a gospel, the gospel, the good news that God's grace has turned away His wrath, that God's Son has died our death and bourne our judgement, that God has mercy on the undeserving and there is nothing left for us to do or to contribute.

Faith's only function is to receive what grace offers".

John R W Stott - "BST Series - The Message of Romans" - IVP, Leicester (1994) - (p110).

John Stott on the Place of Faith and Righteousness

"It is vital to affirm that there is nothing meritorious about faith and that when we say salvation is "by faith not by works" - we are not substituting one kind of merit (faith) for another (works). Nor is salvation a sort of co-operative enterprise between God and us in which He contributes to the Cross and we contribute faith.

No, grace is non-contributory and faith is the opposite of self-regarding. The value of faith is not to be found in itself but entirely and exclusively in it's object - namely Jesus Christ and Him crucified. To say "justification by faith alone" is another way of saying; "Justification by Christ alone".

John R W Stott - "BST Series - The Message of Romans" - IVP, Leicester (1994) - (p117).

John Stott on Propitation

"Who undertakes to do the propitiating? The pagan answer is that we do. We have offended the gods so we must appease them. The Christian answer by contrast is that we cannot placate the the righteous anger of God. We have no means whatever by which to do so. But God in His undeserved love has done for us what we could never do by ourselves. God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement ... the love, the idea, the purpose, the initiative, the action and the gifts were all God's".

John R W Stott - "BST Series - The Message of Romans" - IVP, Leicester (1994) - (p115).

John Stott on the Outrage of Grace

"How on earth can Paul affirm that God does what He forbids others to do; that He does what He says He will Himself never do; that He does it habitually and that He even designates Himself, 'the God who justifies the wicked' or (we might say) "who righteous's the unrighteous"? It is preposterous! How can the righteous God act unrighteously and so overthrow the moral order, turning it upside down? It is unbelievable!

Or rather it would be, if it were not for the Cross of Christ. Without the Cross, the justification of the unjust would be unjustified, immoral and therefore impossible. The only reason God "justifies the wicked" (Romans 4:5) is that "Christ died for the wicked" (Romans 5:6). Because He shed His blood in a sacrifical death for us sinners, God is able to justify the unjust".

John R W Stott - "BST Series - The Message of Romans" - IVP, Leicester (1994) - (p112-3).

John Stott on the Paradox of Grace

"If God justifies sinners freely by His grace, on what grounds does He do so? How is it possible for the righteous God to declare the unrighteous to be righteous without either compromising His righteousness or condoning their unrighteousness? This is our question. God's answer is the Cross".

John R W Stott - "BST Series - The Message of Romans" - IVP, Leicester (1994) - (p112).

John Stott on Grace

"Grace is God loving, God stooping, God coming to the rescue, God giving Himself generously in and through Jesus Christ".

John R W Stott - "BST Series - The Message of Romans" - IVP, Leicester (1994) - (p112).

John Stott on the Impact of Justification

"Sir Marcus Loane has written; "The voice that spells forgiveness will say; "You may go, you have been let off the penalty which your sin deserves". But the verdict which means acceptance (sc. justification) will say; "You may come; you are welcome to all My love and My Presence".

John R W Stott - "BST Series - The Message of Romans" - IVP, Leicester (1994) - (p110).

John Stott on Pardon and Justification - the Terms

"Pardon and justification are therefore essentially distinct. The one is the remission of punishment. The other is a declaration that no ground for the infliction of punishment exists".

John R W Stott - "BST Series - The Message of Romans" - IVP, Leicester (1994) - (p110).

John Stott on Justification and Pardon Terminology

"Some scholars maintain that 'justification' and 'pardon' are synonymous ... But surely this cannot be so. Pardon is negative, the remission of a penalty or debt; justification is positive, the bestowal of a righteous status, the sinner's reinstatement in the favour and fellowship of God".

John R W Stott - "BST Series - The Message of Romans" - IVP, Leicester (1994) - (p110).

John Stott on Defining Justification

"Justification is a legal or forensic term belonging to the law courts. It's opposite is condemnation. Both are the pronouncements of a judge. In a Christian context they are the alternative eschatological verdicts which God the Judge may pass on Judgement Day. So when God justifies sinners today, He anticipates His own final judgement by bringing into the present what properly belongs to the last day".

John R W Stott - "BST Series - The Message of Romans" - IVP, Leicester (1994) - (p110).

John Piper on the ULTIMATE Benefit of the Gospel!

"Would it not be better to say that the ultimate benefit of the Gospel, which makes all its other parts good news, is neither being nor seeing but delighting and displaying - that is delighting in and displaying "the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ"? In other words, is it not the case that we behold and thus become ... and that we become and thus behold (Matthew 5:8, 2 Cor 4:6) in order that ultimately we might delight in and display God? Becoming and beholding are a means to the end of delighting and displaying".

John Piper - "God is the Gospel" - Crossway Books, Illnois (2005) - (p160).

John Piper on the Glory of God and Us

"The better we see Him, the better we will reflect Him - to all eternity".

John Piper - "God is the Gospel" - Crossway Books, Illnois (2005) - (p158).

John Piper on the True Meaning of Love

"Love is doing whatever you need to do to help people see and savour the glory of God in Christ forever and ever".

John Piper - "God is the Gospel" - Crossway Books, Illnois (2005) - (p153).

John Piper on the Gospel and Glory

"The gospel of God and the love of God are expressed finally and fully in God's gift of Himself for our everlasting pleasure".

John Piper - "God is the Gospel" - Crossway Books, Illnois (2005) - (p147).

Ryan Rufus on Demons Manifesting

"I know this that demons hate the anointing and often are agitated and begin to surface when they come into contact with anointing and glory. Numbers of times in our meeting demons have manifested just because of the atmosphere of God in the place- they can't handle it!"

Ryan Rufus - "Personal Email" - May 24th 2008 - 04:09

Bill Johnson on Theology and Experience

"In the absence of experience, bad theology is formed".

Bill Johnson - "Face to Face with God - The Ultimate Quest to Experience His Presence" - Charisma House Publishing (2007) - (p185).

Bill Johnson on the Grounds of our Theology

"Our theology is not to be built on what God hasn't done. It is defined by what He does and is doing. The will of God is perfectly seen in the Person of Jesus Christ. No one who came to Him was turned away".

Bill Johnson - "Face to Face with God - The Ultimate Quest to Experience His Presence" - Charisma House Publishing (2007) - (p185).

Bill Johnson on Jesus Healing Ministry

"How many people came to Jesus for healing and left sick? None. How many came to Him for deliverance and left His Presence still under torment? None. How many life-threatening storms did Jesus bless? None. How many times did Jesus withhold a miracle because the person came to Him had too little faith? Never. He often addressed their small faith or unbelief but He always left them with a miracle as a way to greater faith. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, perfectly illustrated the will of God the Father. To think otherwise is to put the Father and the Son at odds".

Bill Johnson - "Face to Face with God - The Ultimate Quest to Experience His Presence" - Charisma House Publishing (2007) - (pp184-185).

Rob Rufus on Sin Conciousness

"You do not carry a sin conciousness from sinning - you carry a sin conciousness because of unbelief in who you are in Christ Jesus".

Rob Rufus - "Fully Free from Guilt in Order To Be Fully Covered By the Glory" - City Church International, Hong Kong - Sunday 27th April 2008.

Jonathan Edwards on God doing a "New Work"

"Some make their rule to judge of this work by, instead of the Holy Scriptures, is history or former observation ... if there be anything extraordinary in the circumstances of this work, which was not observed in former times, theirs is a rule to reject this work which God has not given them, and they limit God, where He has not limited Himself.

And this is especially unreasonable in this case; for whosever has well weighed the wonderful and mysterious methods of divine wisdom in the carrying on the work of the new creation ... may easily observe that it has all along been God's manner to open new scenes and to bring forth to view things new and wonderful - such as eye has not seen, nor ear heard nor entered into the heart of man or angels - to the astonishment of heaven and earth not only in the revelation he makes of his mind and will, but also in the works of His hand.

As the old creation was carried on through six days and appeared all complete, settled in a state of rest on the seventh; so the new creation which is immensely the greatest and most glorious work, is carried on in a gradual process from the fall of man to the consummation of all things. And as in the progress of the old creation, there were still new things accomplished; new wonders every day in the sight of the angels, the spectators of that work, new scenes were opened, till the whole was finished - so it is in the progress of the new creation.

And we who live in those latter days where in we may be especially warranted to expect that things will be accomplished which it will be said, who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen such things?".

Jonathan Edwards - "The Works of Jonathan Edwards - Volume 1" - Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh - (pp369-370).

Jonathan Edwards on Manifestations of the Spirit

"It is a stumbling to some, that religious affections should seem to be so powerful, or that they should be so violent (as they express it) in some persons. They are therefore ready to doubt whether it can be the Spirit of God; or whether this vehemence be not rather a sign of the operation of an evil spirit. But why should such a doubt arise? What is represented in Scripture as more powerful in it's effects than the Spirit of God? Which is called the "power of the Highest" (Luke 1:35) ... So we read of the "demonstration of the Spirit and of power" (1 Corinthians 2:4) ... So the Spirit is represented by a mighty wind, and by fire, things most powerful in their operation".

Jonathan Edwards - "The Works of Jonathan Edwards - Volume 1" - Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh (1974) - (p368).

Ern Baxter on Jesus as our Great High Priest

"As our High Priest having entered God's Presence He is called the "forerunner" (Hebrews 6:20) ... Jesus is there to establish our right to be with Him in the Presence of God now in the Spirit and be "forever" with Him after the resurrection. See Him then as the forerunner "for us" and rejoice that He is the guarantee of permament access to the Father".

Ern Baxter - "Christ's Ministry Today" - New Wine Magazine - July/August 1977 - CGM Publications - (p10).

Ern Baxter on Jesus Christ Supreme Authority

"Jesus Christ has supreme authority over all powers. The evil forces cannot keep from us from Him and the good powers are not needed to mediate our approach to Him. We have direct access to Him unhindered by evil powers and unmediated by good powers".

Ern Baxter - "Christ's Ministry" - New Wine Magazine - July/August 1977 - CGM Publications - (p7).

Ern Baxter on Jesus as Lord

"In being "joined to the Lord" we are joined to God. This is not just a matter of names and titles but a matter that has continued vital meaning to those who are "joined" ... our relationship with the enthroned Jesus makes available to us the incomputable resources of the triune God".

Ern Baxter - "Christ's Ministry" - New Wine Magazine - July/August 1977 - CGM Publications - (p7).

Ern Baxter on the King of Kings

"He is the King of Kings now! Many Christians are unaware or uninstructed that Jesus is now reigning. As a result they live in relative indifference to the present sovereign rights of King Jesus over the world ... such indifference reduces their redemptive and remedial activity as the delegated authorities that God has ordained them to be as His Kingdom community in the out-working of His divine government on and over the earth".

Ern Baxter - "Christ's Ministry Today" - New Wine Magazine - July/August 1977 - CGM Publications - (p6).