God does not give us everything we want, but He does fulfill His promises.

The preaching of grace can only be protected by the preaching of repentance.

Jesus himself did not try to convert the two thieves on the cross; he waited until one of them turned to him.

Just as our love for God begins with listening to God's Word, the beginning of love for other Christians is learning to listen to them.

The beginning of love for the brethren is learning to listen to them.

So the Christian, too, belongs not in the seclusion of a cloistered life but in the thick of foes. There is his commission, his work.

There is not a place to which the Christian can withdraw from the world, whether it be outwardly or in the sphere of the inner life. Any attempt to escape from the world must sooner or later be paid for with a sinful surrender to the world.