Inspirational Quotes by William Wilberforce

“Measure your progress by your experience of the love of God and its exercise before men... In contrast, servile, base, and mercenary is the notion of Christian practice among the bulk of nominal Christians. They give no more than they dare not withhold. They abstain from nothing but what they dare not practice. When you state to them the doubtful quality of any action, and the consequent obligation to refrain from it, they reply to you in the very spirit of Shylock, " they cannot find it in the bond." In short, they know Christianity only as a system of restraints. It is robbed of every liberal and generous principle. It is rendered almost unfit for the social relationships of life, and only suited to the gloomy walls of a cloister, in which they would confine it. But true Christians would consider themselves as not satisfying some rigorous creditor, but as discharging a debt of gratitude. Accordingly, theirs is not the stinted return of a constrained obedience, but the large and liberal measure of voluntary service."-William Wilberforce, Real Christianity”

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14). How can you measure the value of the good news of Christ? It is spoken of in the Bible as light in the darkness, freedom from slavery and life from death.”

“The result is that in the Christian world in the West, we settle for a cultural version of Christianity that is far from the real thing.”

“If we seek and keep on seeking, we will find; if we ask and keep on asking, we will receive; if we knock and keep on knocking, the door to truth will be opened. How can we refuse an offer like this?”

“It teaches that man is an apostate creature, fallen from his original innocence, degraded in his nature, depraved in his thinking, prone toward evil, not good, and impacted by sin to the very core of his being.”

“Nor is it only in prophane history that instances like these are to be found, of persons committing the greatest crimes with a sincere conviction of the rectitude of their conduct. Scripture will afford us parallels; and it was surely to guard us against the very error which we have been now exposing, that our blessed Saviour forewarned his disciples: “The time cometh, that whosoever [Pg 13] killeth you will think that he doeth God service.”

“I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out” (Rom. 7:18). As someone has said, even the spirituality we do possess is corrupted by our nature. We have nothing to brag about. On the contrary, God must always give us grace to bear with our faults and mercy to forgive our sins.”

“Some are obviously living in bondage. Others give the appearance that they have overcome such problems. But the fact remains that even if it is not apparent in a person’s outward behavior, this is the true state of all our hearts.”

“When we come to grips with the true state of our condition, we are ready to fully appreciate what God has done to rescue us from ourselves. It is imperative that we take seriously our true condition as fallen human beings.”

“If we don’t understand how seriously ill we are, we don’t pursue the remedy with the required diligence. If we are slightly ill, we take an aspirin. If we are dying, we passionately pursue a cure. The cure is not forced on us; it is offered to us.4”

“Only an unwillingness to be open and honest can keep us from the conclusion that both reason and experience tell us that what the Bible says about us is true. We are without excuse if we remain in denial.”

“When we see around us the tragedy of not taking this truth seriously and when we experience within ourselves the veracity of the truth, we will be positioned to move forward in our spiritual progress. We also will have a different attitude toward those who more obviously struggle in areas where we might only secretly have a problem. Day by day, an awareness of our condition will help us grow spiritually.”

“The Bible specifically states that sin cannot be blamed on how God made us. “When tempted, no one should say ‘God is tempting me’ ” (Jas. 1:13). God wants us to come to terms with our sin and embrace the solution He has provided that can save us from judgment.”

“We are too young to realise that certain things are impossible.”

“When you put it together, it looks like this: Our natural condition is weak and fallen and our temptations are numerous; God is infinitely holy, yet He offers forgiveness, grace and enabling power to those who get honest with Him and are willing to repent.”

“We are all accountable: Our fallen nature is no excuse. We are responsible: God is not to blame. We stand guilty and deserving judgment. Any other teaching dilutes and refutes the true significance of the cross of Christ.”

“Christianity itself has been too often disgraced. It has been turned into an engine of cruelty, and amidst the bitterness of persecution, every trace has disappeared of the mild and beneficent spirit of the religion of Jesus.”

“Some things God has revealed; others remain mysteries.”

“The holy Scriptures speak of us as fallen creatures: in almost every page we shall find something that is calculated to abate the loftiness and silence the pretensions of man. “The imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” “What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous[5].” “How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water[6]?” “The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside; they are altogether become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no not one[7].” “Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin[8]?” “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it.” “Behold, I was shapen in wickedness, and in sin hath my mother conceived me.” “We were by nature the children of wrath, even as others, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.” “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death!”—Passages might be multiplied upon passages, which speak the same language, and these again might be illustrated and confirmed at large by various other considerations, drawn from the same sacred source; such as those which represent a thorough change, a renovation of our nature, as being necessary to our becoming true Christians; or as those also which are suggested by observing that holy men refer their good dispositions and affections to the immediate agency of the Supreme Being.”

“we know that our Sovereign is “Long suffering, and easy to be entreated;” more ready to grant, than we to ask, forgiveness.”