Flyleaf favorites

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My alarm clock didn’t go off Sunday afternoon, so I woke up from my nap about an hour later than usual, about 20 minutes before church was due to start. Needless to say, I was late. Jim and the boys went on ahead while I finished getting ready. He had my Bible, but I grabbed another, older one because sometimes if I am very late I stay in the lounge in the ladies’ room, where there are some chairs and couches, or on a bench in the lobby so as not to distract from the preaching.

This older Bible was on the verge of falling apart, but it was a treasured friend for several years. I began looking at notes I had jotted on the front and back flyleaf pages — in fact there were several blank pages in the back for just that purpose. It was a blessing to go over some of those quotes and notes I hadn’t thought about for years.

One near the front is Jonathan Goforth’s Seven Rules for Daily Living, which, according to this note, he wrote in the flyleaf of his Bible in 1894.

1. Seek to give much — expect nothing.
2. Put the very best construction on the actions of others.
3. Never let a day pass without at least a quarter of an hour spent in the study of the Bible.
4. Never omit daily morning and evening private prayer and devotion.
5. In all things seek to know God’s Will and when known obey at any cost.
6. Seek to cultivate a quiet prayerful spirit.
7. Seek each day to do or say something to further Christianity among the heathen.

All worth remembering!

Here is something from a beloved former pastor, Jesse Boyd, now with the Lord, for whom our Jesse was named:

Worship without service is a hollow farce.
Service without worship is a hectic fervor.
But worship which issues in service is a holy force.

That says so much so succinctly.

There are places in the back where I put a topic heading and then added pertinent verses as I found them. There are verses to help when afraid, verses that showed the Trinity, verses about the Deity of Christ, and verses that refute hyper-Calvinism. There are sermon notes about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, confession of sin (this one is really enlightening: I might make it a separate post one day), what kind of healing is meant in Isa. 53 when it says, “By His stripes we are healed,” and why baptism does not save. The last one was really helpful to me because there are a couple of verses that almost make it sound like baptism saves. I am debating with myself as to whether to make that a separate post or to include it here. I don’t want it to get lost down here, so I think I will post it separately one day this week.

There are multitudes of little notes and quotes from sermons or from study throughout this Bible, too, but many are squished into teeny spaces and margins with not the best handwriting in the first place. But the ones on the flyleaves have been standout for many years and I have referred to them often. Jesse even told me that when he used this Bible for a while, Jonathan Goforth’s rules spoke to him.

The only note I have on the flyleaf of my current Bible is a list of verses dealing with assurance of salvation from a sermon or a study of I John.

How about you? Any inspirational quotes or sermon notes on your Bible flyleaves?

13 thoughts on “Flyleaf favorites”

  3. Charles, I have been thinking about doing a post about why I am not a Calvinist, and if I do so, I may list them then. I see by your site that you are a Calvinist. One reason I am hesitant to post on this is that I don’t want to be “attacked” by people I have never heard from before on the other side of the fence.

  4. I had a Bible several years ago that was like that. All kinds of notes everywhere. When it started falling apart, I got a new one. And then another new one, and another one. It’s been SEVERAL years and several Bibles later and I think I finally found a new Bible to call “home”, but it doesn’t have any notes in it… yet. 🙂 I’m interested in seeing some of your future posts about some of the things you found written there.

  5. Barbara

    My request was serious however I know what you mean by “attacked” by the other side of the fence. These attacks serve a purpose to sharpen our Bible knowledge. I would love to read your post on why you are not a Calvinist and when I respond just know that it is not an attack.

    My mother (80 yo) is a Wesleyan Arminian and I would never think to attack her and I do try to explain my views to her. She replies understandingly: ” I know, you are Catholic.” She has a difficult hearing and I say: “Mom, I’m a Calvinist!”

    Charles

  6. I love Goforth’s rules for living… It’s that “obey at any cost” in number 5 that gives me trouble though! … *sigh*… someday… someday I’ll get it!

    I think it’s always hard to put views on religion or politics out there – because both can become so heated! I don’t blame you for having reservations…

  7. There is a difference in a Calvinist and a hyper-Calvinist. I think many times when Baptists react against Calvinism, what they are objecting to is hyper-Calvinism. I know a number of Calvinists and have found them to be remarkably balanced about Christianity.

  8. True, Ann. I’ve known many Calvinists with whom I get along great, and I love reading Spurgeon though I disagree with him on a couple of Calvinistic points.

    Melli, I agree that is the hardest part of the whole list.

  9. I used to write a lot of stuff on the flyleaves of my Bible, but now I find myself either not in the service (teaching Sunday school, which is going on during our preaching service) or Wes does a handout, so I have my notes there. I have some sermon notes from our former pastor on things like Bible reading and study, making the new year a success, benefits of adversity, slothfulness, how to grow strong in spirit, how to conquer discouragement, beware of false prophets, and principles of Christian dress. I also have a list of things that are symbols of the Bible used in the Bible, such as a mirror, a seed, a lamp, etc.

    I also have a couple of my mother’s Bibles. She was big on writing things in the flyleaves, and since she died in 1981, it’s a treat for me to go back and read her thoughts and things she felt were important in her own handwriting.

    Ok, you’ve given me a bunch of fodder for blog entries! LOL I never even thought to look in the flyleaves of Bibles!

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  12. What a treasure!

    My old and tattered Bible is my favorite too… The underlinings and notes, the front matter, everything. It doesn’t matter that each note is written only at one stage of life. They still speak to me.

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