To be spiritually dead is to be diabolically alive
R. C. SproulRead
When God issues a call to us, it is always a holy call. The vocation of dying is a sacred vocation. To understand that is one of the most important lessons a Christian can ever learn. When the summons comes, we can respond in many ways. We can become angry, bitter or terrified. But if we see it as a call from God and not a threat from Satan, we are far more prepared to cope with its difficulties.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the sacred nature of life's challenges, including death, and encourages a faithful response to such calls from God.
R. C. Sproul's quote reflects on the profound nature of life's transitions, particularly death, as a divine calling rather than a mere misfortune. It suggests that recognizing these moments as holy summonses from God enables individuals to face them with faith and grace, rather than succumbing to negative emotions like anger or fear. This perspective transforms our approach to life's most daunting experiences, instilling a sense of purpose and acceptance.
Themes
CallingFaithDeathVocationSacredChristian
In practice
Example use cases
This quote would be fitting in a sermon on the importance of facing life's trials with faith.
More from R. C. Sproul
All quotes →I’ve often wondered where Jesus would apply His hastily made whip if He were to visit our culture. My guess is that it would not be money-changing tables in the temple that would feel His wrath, but the display racks in Christian bookstores.
R. C. SproulRead
The real crisis of worship today is not that the preaching is paltry or that it's too drafty in church. It is that people have no sense of the presence of God, and if they have no sense of His presence, how can they be moved to express the deepest feelings of their souls to honor, revere, worship, and glorify God?
R. C. SproulRead
We talk about predestination because the Bible talks about predestination. If we desire to build our theology on the Bible, we run head on into this concept. We soon discover that John Calvin did not invent it.
R. C. SproulRead
Without God man has no reference point to define himself.
R. C. SproulRead
I do not want to drive across a bridge designed by an engineer who believed the numbers in structural stress models are relative truths.
R. C. SproulRead
Similar quotes
Our biggest threat is not an asteroid about to crash into us, something we can do nothing about. Instead, all the major threats facing us today are problems entirely of our own making. And since we made the problems, we can also solve the problems.
Jared DiamondRead
Life on a small farm might seem primitive, but by living such a life we become able to discover the Great Path. I believe that one who deeply respects his neighborhood and everyday world in which he lives will be shown the greatest of all worlds.
Masanobu FukuokaRead
We all have at least two sides. The world we live in is a world of opposites. And the trick is to reconcile those opposing things. I've always liked both sides. In order to appreciate one you have to know the other. The more darkness you can gather up, the more light you can see too.
David LynchRead
There's nothing harder than defining oneself.
Yitzhak RabinRead
When I consider life, it is all a cheat. Yet fooled with hope, people favor this deceit.
John DrydenRead
When we believe that we should be satisfied rather than God glorified in our worship, then we put God below ourselves as though He had been made for us rather than that we had been made for Him.
Stephen CharnockRead