John Calvin Quotes
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Satan, who is a wonderful contriver of delusions, is constantly laying snares to entrap ignorant and heedless people.
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Men are indeed to be taught that the favour of God is offered, without exception, to all who ask it; but since those only begin to ask whom heaven by grace inspires, even this minute portion of praise must not be withheld from Him. It is the privilege of the elect to be regenerated by the Spirit of God, and then placed under His guidance and government.
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The Lord has not redeemed you so you might enjoy pleasures and luxuries or so that you might abandon yourself to ease and indolence, but rather so you should be prepared to endure all sorts of evils.
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All things being at God’s disposal, and the decision of salvation or death belonging to him, he orders all things by his counsel and decree in such a manner, that some men are born devoted from the womb to certain death, that his name may be glorified in their destruction.
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But the present life should never be hated, except insofar as it subjects us to sin, although even that hatred should not properly be applied to life itself.
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Holiness is not a merit by which we can attain communion with God, but a gift of Christ, which enables us to cling to him, and to follow him.
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For though we very truly hear that the kingdom of God will be filled with splendor, joy, happiness and glory, yet when these things are spoken of, they remain utterly remote from our perception, and as it were, wrapped in obscurities, until that day.
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The principle exercise which the children of god have is to pray. For in this way they give true proof of their faith.
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Now among the other things proper to recreate man and give him pleasure, music is either the first or one of the principal;and we must think that it is a gift of God deputed for that purpose'.
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When we see that the whole sum of our salvation, and every single part of it, are comprehended in Christ, we must beware of deriving even the minutest portion of it from any other quarter.
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Those little children have not yet any understanding to desire His blessing; but when they are presented to Him, He gently and kindly receives them, and dedicates them to the Father by a solemn act of blessing.
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Nothing, including human suffering, happens by chance.
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Warned by such evidences of their spiritual illness, believers profit by their humiliations. Robbed of their foolish confidence in the flesh, they take refuge in the grace of God. And when they have done so, they experience the nearness of the divine protection which is to them a strong fortress (Ps 30:6-7).
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Repentance is the true turning of our life to God, a turning that arises from a pure and earnest fear of Him; and it consists in the mortification of the flesh and the renewing of the Spirit.
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Three things are necessary for the salvation of man: to know what he ought to believe; to know what he ought to desire; and to know what he ought to do.
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Can true repentance exist without faith? By no means. But although they cannot be separated, they ought to be distinguished.
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Angels are the dispensers and administrators of the divine beneficence toward us.
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We are not to look to what men in themselves deserve but to attend to the image of God which exists in all and to which we owe all honor and love.
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God works in his elect in two ways: inwardly, by his Spirit; outwardly, by his Word.
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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.
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If the gospel be not preached, Jesus Christ is, as it were, buried.
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The Scriptures obtain full authority among believers only when men regard them as having sprung from heaven, as if there the living words of God were heard.
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Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.
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God does not bestow his spirit on his people in order to set aside the use of his word, but rather to render it fruitful.