Good quotes to munch on
- How glorious the Lord Jesus Christ is in the eyes of believers! When Adam sinned, he stood ashamed, afraid, trembling, as one ready to perish for ever under the severe displeasure of God. Death was what he deserved, and he fully expected the sentence to be immediately carried out. In this state, the Lord Christ in the promise comes to him, and says, ‘Poor Creature! How terrible is your condition! How deformed you are now! What has become of the beauty, the glory of that image of God in which you were created? See how you have taken upon yourself the monstrous shape and image of Satan? And yet your present sorrow, your physical return to dust and darkness, is in no way to be compared with what is to follow. Eternal distress lies before you. But now, look up and behold me, and you will have a glimpse of what infinite wisdom, love and grace have purposed for you. Do not continue to hide from me. I will take your place. I will bear your guilt and suffer that punishment which would sink you eternally into the hideous depths of hell. I will pay for what I never took. I will be made a curse for you so that you may be eternally blessed.’ In the same vein the Lord Christ speaks to all convicted sinners when he invites them to come to him.
This is how the Lord Christ is presented in the gospel as ‘evidently crucified’ before our eyes (Gal 3.1). This is how the glory of his sufferings shines forth (John Owen)
- Always the true disciple is becoming more fully a disciple (Leon Morris).
- God has an ultimate objective and purpse for [His people] and that is that they might spend eternity with Him in glory. Much that happens to us in this world is to be understood and explained in the light of that fact; an it is as definite as this, according to this man’s argument [Hebrews 12], that God will bring us to that condition, and nothing shall prevent our coming into that condition. Now God has several ways of doing this. One is to give us instruction through the great doctrines and principles that are taught in the Bible. He has given us His Word. He caused men to write these words by the Holy Spirit for our instruction in order that we might be prepared and perfected. But if we become recalcitrant, if we will not learn the lessons that are presented to us positively in the Word, then God, as our Father, with the great end and object in view of perfecting us and preparing us for glory, will adopt other methods. And one of the other methods which He uses is this method of chastisement (Martin Lloyd-Jones, On Spiritual Depression, 236)
- What is the Christian? This is his description (verse 18). ‘But we all’—every one of us as Christians—‘we all with open face (the veil has gone), beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory.’ That is the Christian. He spends his time in looking at Christ, in gazing upon Him. He is so enraptured by the sight of Him that he has forgotten himself. If you were to feel more interest in Christ you would be less interested in yourself. Begin to look at Him, gaze upon Him with this open, unveiled face. And then go on to learn that in His Kingdom what matters is not the length of service but your attitude towards Him, your desire to please Him. On Spiritual Depression, 88
- Read the story of any revival that has ever taken place and you will find that the beginning of it is always the same. One man, or sometimes a number of people, suddenly become alive to the true Christian life, and others begin to pay attention to them. The world outside is stirred and begins to pay attention(Lloyd-Jones, On Spiritual Depression, 108).
Here’s another quote I came across on Garrett Starr’s blog http://thelifeinterior.blogspot.com/
“A selfish person is unable to enjoy the Gospel; a Christian is someone who has begun to deny himself, and is in the continuous process of denying himself. Jesus said, ‘If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.’ Self denial is not limited to one particular kind of giving; it embraces all personal disciplines . . . it is Gospel liberty that encourages us to deny ourselves.”
David R. Smith, Fasting: A Neglected Discipline, Ft Washington, Pa., Christian Liberty Crusade, 1954, p. 17
Calvin on understanding what a text means- No one will ever understand what is said, nor judge wisely of words, except he who keeps in view the design of the writer (The Epistle of James, 314).