Repentance: Its Nature and Importance # 1
More and more it becomes evident that ours is, as Carlyle expressed it, an "age of sham." Unreality and specious pretense abound in all departments of life. In the domestic, commercial, social, and ecclesiastical spheres hypocrisy is not only openly condoned, but recognized as almost a necessity for advancement and success in attaining recognition among one's fellows.
Nor is this true only where heterodox religious views are held. Orthodoxy has its shallow dogmatists who are ready to battle savagely for sound doctrine, but who manage to ignore sound living with little or no apparent compunction of conscience.
God desires truth in the inward parts. The blessed man is still the one "in whose spirit there is no guile." It is forever true that "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." It can never be out of place to proclaim salvation by free, unmerited favor to all who put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. But it needs ever to be insisted on that the faith that justifies is not a mere intellectual process - not simply crediting certain historical facts or doctrinal statements; but it is a faith that springs from a divinely wrought conviction of sin which produces a repentance that is sincere and genuine.
Our Lord's solemn words, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish," are as important today as when first uttered. No dispensational distinctions, important as these are in understanding and interpreting God's ways with man, can alter this truth.
No one was ever saved in any dispensation excepting by grace. Neither sacrificial observances, nor ritual service, nor works of law never had any part in justifying the ungodly. Nor where any sinners ever saved by grace until they repented. Repentance is not opposed to grace; it is the recognition of the need of grace. "They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." "I came not," said our blessed Lord, "to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."
One great trouble in this shallow age is that we have lost the meaning of words. We bandy them about until one can seldom be certain just how terms are being used. Two ministers were passing an open grocery and dairy store where, in three large baskets, eggs were displayed. On one basket was a sign reading, "Fresh eggs, 24 cents a dozen." The second sign read, "Strictly fresh eggs, 29 cents a dozen." While a third read, "Guaranteed strictly fresh eggs, 34 cents a dozen." One of the pastors exclaimed in amazement, "What does that grocer understand "fresh" to mean? It is true with many Scriptural terms that our forefathers had an unvarying meaning, but like debased coins today lost their values.
Grace is God's unmerited favor to those who have merited the very opposite. Repentance is the sinner's recognition of and acknowledgment of his lost estate and, thus, of his need for grace. Yet there are not wanting professed preachers of grace who, like the antinomians of old, decry the necessity of repentance lest it seem to invalidate the freedom of grace. As well might one object to a man's acknowledgment of illness when seeking help and healing from a physician, on the ground that all he needed was a doctor's prescription.
Shallow preaching that does not grapple with the terrible fact of man's sinfulness and guilt, calling on "all men everywhere to repent," results in shallow conversions; and so we have a myriad of glib-tongued professors today who give no evidence of regeneration whatever. Prating of salvation by grace, they manifest no grace in their lives. Loudly declaring they are justified by faith alone, they fail to remember that "faith without works is dead," and that justification by works before men is not to be ignored as though it were in contradiction to justification by faith before God. We need to reread James 3 and let its serious message sink deep into our hearts, that it may control our lives. "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." No man can truly believe in Christ, who does not first repent. Nor will his repentance end when he has saving faith, but the more he knows God as he goes on through the years, the deeper will that repentance become. A servant of Christ said: "I repented before I knew the meaning of the word. I have repented far more since then I did then."
Undoubtedly one great reason why some earnest Gospel preachers are almost afraid of, and generally ignore, the terms "repent" and "repentance" in their evangelizing is that they fear lest their hearers misunderstand these terms and think of them as implying something meritorious on the part of the sinner. But nothing could be wider of the mark. There is no saving merit in owning my true condition. There is no healing in acknowledging the nature of my illness. And repentance, as we have seen, is just this very thing.
But in order to clarify the subject, it may be well to observe carefully what repentance is not and then to notice briefly what it is.
~Harry A. Ironside~
(continued with # 2)
Saturday, April 13, 2019
The Pattern of Pentecost # 2
The Pattern of Pentecost # 2
As you know, I read Spurgeon all of the time. I copied this from one of his messages:
"Let the preacher always confess before he preaches that he relies upon the Holy Spirit. Let him burn his manuscript and depend upon the Holy Spirit. It the Spirit does not come to help him, let him be still. And let the people go home and pray that the Spirit will help him next Sunday."
I have often thought about that. What if the preacher in the pulpit found that his heart was dead and his message had not the presence of God in it, and the people all went home and prayed? I don't know what would happen next Sunday. God is capable of being moved. God hears His people when they pray. And if we pray in faith and expectation for the presence of the saving, converting, convicting Spirit of God, O Lord, what could happen?
I have stood in Jerusalem where Simon Peter presented his sermon at Pentecost (Acts 2:14-40), and I have cried in this heart, O God, do it again! Do it again!" I have stood in Samaria where Phillip preached the gospel to the Samaritans, and there was a great turning to Jesus (Acts 8:5-12). And I prayed in my soul, "O God, do it again!" I have stood in Ephesus in the theater there where Paul preached the gospel of Christ (Acts 19;1-20), and I prayed, "O God, Thy Holy Spirit, send Him again." I have stood in St. Sophia in Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul, where Chrysostom preached to thousands and thousands, and I have cried in my soul, "O God, do it again!" I have stood in the Duomo in Florence, Italy, where Savonarola like a flame from God Himself preached the gospel of Christ and turned Italy to the Lord, and I prayed, "O God, do it again!" I have stood in Aldersgate Chapel where as he says, was strangely warmed and I prayed, "O God, do it again! Do it again!. A few weeks ago, I stood in the pulpit preaching in the Moody Church in Chicago, and prayed in my heart, "O God, do it again!"
And every time Sunday comes and I prepare to stand in this sacred place where George Truett preached for forty-seven years, and I pray, "O God, come down, come down. May every soul, in divine presence, feel Thy nearness, Thy dearness, Thy preciousness, Thy saving and abounding grace. O God, do it again! Do it again! Do it again!
And to you who have listened to the message, with what infinite
would it be to our hearts to know that you had opened your heart and your house and your home to the presence of the Holy Spirit of God, to the blessed Lord Jesus our Saviour? If you do not know how to accept Him as your Lord, call us. You will find the telephone number on the screen. There will be a dedicated somebody who knows the Lord Jesus who will lead you into that wonderful experience of accepting Him as your Saviour. Call us and God bless you as you find the greatest answer to all of the problems of life in Christ Jesus our Lord. And I will meet you in heaven some glorious and triumphant day.
And to the throng in the sanctuary, in the balcony round, in the press of people on the lower floor, down one of these aisles, "Pastor, today God has called me. I feel His presence in my own heart and this is my family, we are all coming." Or just a couple of you, you come. Or just a one somebody you, accepting the Lord as your Saviour, or putting your life with us in this ministry of Christ, a thousand times welcome and the angels attend you in the way as you answer with your life, while we stand and while we sing.
~Dr. W. A. Criswell~
(The End)
As you know, I read Spurgeon all of the time. I copied this from one of his messages:
"Let the preacher always confess before he preaches that he relies upon the Holy Spirit. Let him burn his manuscript and depend upon the Holy Spirit. It the Spirit does not come to help him, let him be still. And let the people go home and pray that the Spirit will help him next Sunday."
I have often thought about that. What if the preacher in the pulpit found that his heart was dead and his message had not the presence of God in it, and the people all went home and prayed? I don't know what would happen next Sunday. God is capable of being moved. God hears His people when they pray. And if we pray in faith and expectation for the presence of the saving, converting, convicting Spirit of God, O Lord, what could happen?
I have stood in Jerusalem where Simon Peter presented his sermon at Pentecost (Acts 2:14-40), and I have cried in this heart, O God, do it again! Do it again!" I have stood in Samaria where Phillip preached the gospel to the Samaritans, and there was a great turning to Jesus (Acts 8:5-12). And I prayed in my soul, "O God, do it again!" I have stood in Ephesus in the theater there where Paul preached the gospel of Christ (Acts 19;1-20), and I prayed, "O God, Thy Holy Spirit, send Him again." I have stood in St. Sophia in Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul, where Chrysostom preached to thousands and thousands, and I have cried in my soul, "O God, do it again!" I have stood in the Duomo in Florence, Italy, where Savonarola like a flame from God Himself preached the gospel of Christ and turned Italy to the Lord, and I prayed, "O God, do it again!" I have stood in Aldersgate Chapel where as he says, was strangely warmed and I prayed, "O God, do it again! Do it again!. A few weeks ago, I stood in the pulpit preaching in the Moody Church in Chicago, and prayed in my heart, "O God, do it again!"
And every time Sunday comes and I prepare to stand in this sacred place where George Truett preached for forty-seven years, and I pray, "O God, come down, come down. May every soul, in divine presence, feel Thy nearness, Thy dearness, Thy preciousness, Thy saving and abounding grace. O God, do it again! Do it again! Do it again!
And to you who have listened to the message, with what infinite
would it be to our hearts to know that you had opened your heart and your house and your home to the presence of the Holy Spirit of God, to the blessed Lord Jesus our Saviour? If you do not know how to accept Him as your Lord, call us. You will find the telephone number on the screen. There will be a dedicated somebody who knows the Lord Jesus who will lead you into that wonderful experience of accepting Him as your Saviour. Call us and God bless you as you find the greatest answer to all of the problems of life in Christ Jesus our Lord. And I will meet you in heaven some glorious and triumphant day.
And to the throng in the sanctuary, in the balcony round, in the press of people on the lower floor, down one of these aisles, "Pastor, today God has called me. I feel His presence in my own heart and this is my family, we are all coming." Or just a couple of you, you come. Or just a one somebody you, accepting the Lord as your Saviour, or putting your life with us in this ministry of Christ, a thousand times welcome and the angels attend you in the way as you answer with your life, while we stand and while we sing.
~Dr. W. A. Criswell~
(The End)
Saturday, April 6, 2019
Classic Quotes From Classic Ministers
Classic Quotes From Classic Ministers
The Word of God
"His delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night." Psalm 1:2
"Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors." Psalm 119:24
"I delight in Your commands because I love them." Psalm 119:47
"The law from Your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold." Psalm 119:72
The Word of God is:
a light to our path,
the key of the kingdom of Heaven,
our comfort in affliction,
our shield and sword against Satan,
the school of all wisdom,
the mirror in which we behold God's face, and
the only food and nourishment for our souls!
(Preface to the Geneva Bible)
"Oh, how I love Your law! I meditate on it all day long." Psalm 119:97
"Truly, I love Your commands more than gold, even the finest gold." Psalm 119:127
"I obey Your statutes, for I love them greatly." Psalm 119:167
The Word of God
"His delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night." Psalm 1:2
"Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors." Psalm 119:24
"I delight in Your commands because I love them." Psalm 119:47
"The law from Your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold." Psalm 119:72
The Word of God is:
a light to our path,
the key of the kingdom of Heaven,
our comfort in affliction,
our shield and sword against Satan,
the school of all wisdom,
the mirror in which we behold God's face, and
the only food and nourishment for our souls!
(Preface to the Geneva Bible)
"Oh, how I love Your law! I meditate on it all day long." Psalm 119:97
"Truly, I love Your commands more than gold, even the finest gold." Psalm 119:127
"I obey Your statutes, for I love them greatly." Psalm 119:167
Let us then be eager to know this rest for ourselves, and let us beware that no one misses it through falling into the same kind of unbelief as those we have mentioned. (Hebrews 4:11 Phillips)
Those who failed to go in failed, it says, to enter into His rest. Those to whom the Gospel was afore preached failed to enter in. That is remarkable! The Gospel was preached to them. These are they to whom the Gospel was afore preached. What is the Gospel? To answer the inquiry in that connection, it is Christ as our Rest. That is the Gospel: and the Gospel of Christ as our Rest was preached to them in type, and they to whom the Gospel was afore preached failed to enter in. Then, says the Apostle, "Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, that no man fall after the same example of disobedience." They failed! God set forth another day, saying, "Today if ye shall hear His voice, harden not your hearts...." The Gospel is preached to believers to enter into His Rest. The Lord Jesus put this in the germ form of truth when He said: "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Christ in heaven is our spiritual Rest, heart rest.
What is the essence of rest? It is satisfaction and assurance. If you are satisfied, you are at rest, no matter how much work you have to do. And if you are quite sure that your work is going to be successful, you have assurance, and you are in rest. Everything for us is based upon Christ having entered as the Forerunner, and having become our Rest. We shall labor: we shall pour ourselves out; we shall spend; we shall be spent; but in it all there can be real heart rest. We shall be assailed: we shall be pressed on every side; we shall be cast down; we shall be tried; but Christ can still remain our Rest: for in the first place, we know that these things are not going to be to our destruction, since He has destroyed the power of destruction; and, in the second place, that our labors are not in vain, because He has swallowed up death victoriously. He is our Rest.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
The Pattern of Pentecost # 2
The Pattern of Pentecost # 2
After Pentecost the Spirit of God was poured out without measure (John 3:34). The breath became a mighty wind. And the energizing presence of God became incarnate in human personality. And Pentecost is a pattern, a model to be reproduced again and again and again.
I one time read of a mission in Africa, and the Spirit of the Lord died in the hearts of the missionaries and of the converts. And even the tribal chief stood up and said, "When I worshiped my heathen gods, I was happy. But now having become a Christian, I am miserable and I renounce my Christian faith." The mission stopped. The missionaries in despair, in hurt, began to cry aloud unto the Lord. And the same thing as at Pentecost happened: the Spirit of the Lord was poured out upon the missionaries. The Spirit of God was poured out upon the tribe. Even the tribal chief was preaching once again. And in their language they had a saying "Joy is killing us!"
I have seen that in my own ministry. In one of the meetings I held in one of the great cities of America, the meetings were wooden. They were dull. They were disappointing. And on Saturday night the congregation spontaneously met in intercession, in appeal in prayer, in asking God with fervent soul and heart. And the next morning, Sunday morning, you would have thought you were in Jerusalem when Simon Peter delivered his message at Pentecost! (Acts 2:14-40).
It is repeated again and again and again. In the twentieth chapter of the Book of John, our Lord said to His apostles as He breathed upon them, He said, "Labete." Lambono is to receive is to take labete is the imperative form of it, labete. "Take the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22). God has poured out His presence upon us without measure. And it is just for us to receive Him, to open our hearts to Him, to give the issue of our lives to Him. And God answers powerfully and dynamically, gloriously from heaven.
Pentecost is repeated again and again and again - in the second chapter of the Book of Acts, Pentecost (Acts 2:1-47). In the fourth chapter of the Book of Acts, after having prayed before God, there is another Jerusalem Pentecost (Acts 4:31-35). I turn to the eighth chapter of Acts, there is a Samaritan Pentecost (Acts 8:5-25). I turn to the tenth chapter of Acts, there is a Caesarean, there is a Gentile Pentecost (Acts 20:34-48). And it continues through the centuries. There is no generation but that somewhere there is an outpouring of the Spirit of God. There may be darkness and doubt and death in one place, but in the same time there will be light and the glory and the presence of God in another place. There is no exception to it in the history of the Christian age!
For example, when the church at Jerusalem became deadened by legalism, the Spirit of God was poured out upon the church at Antioch and at Ephesus. And when the church in Thessalonica and Philippi waned in their love for the Lord the church at Milan was alive with the presence of Jesus. When the churches of Carthage and of Alexandria became bogged down in theological minutiae, the churches of Gaul were aflame with the power of Christ. When that pontifical court at Avignon became corrupt, the churches in Germany became aflame with the presence of God. When the churches of France were darkened in superstition, at that same time the stars of the Reformation were rising in Switzerland and Germany and in England. And when the fields of Italy became worthless stubble, a great revival was taking place in Bohemia under John Huss and under our great Baptist preacher Hubmaier. There is no time, there is no age but that somewhere there is a mighty outpouring of the Spirit of God.
And in this present moment when liberalism and doubt denying the Word of God has emptied the churches of the western world, look around you today, here in the First Baptist church of Dallas, under Dr. Truett for forty-seven years, and now under my ministry, fill this sanctuary at an 8:25 service, fill it again at a 10:30 service. The presence and power of God! There is Pentecost always. It is a pattern to be duplicated, to be repeated, to be modeled again and again and again.
The heart of it lies in the preacher. It lies in the ambassador from heaven, in the emissary from the courts of the Lord. Oh, what a tradition in which the preacher stands: Peter and Paul and Ignatius and Chrysostom and Savonardola and Huss and Hubmaier and Wycliffe and Wesley and Jonathan Edwards and - down to the generation just before us - a Scarborough and a Truett and to our day! O Lord, what a tradition!
Oh dear, what could be more thrilling than the memory of these great men of God who have preceded us? And I think of this own pulpit here in which the inimitable George Truett stood behind this very desk for forty seven years preaching the gospel of the Son of God. In the power of the Holy Spirit, John Wesley said in his diary: "I went to America to convert the American Indian, but who will convert this heart of mine?" And in Aldersgate Chapel listening to an exposition of the Book of Romans, he writes in his diary: "My heart was strangely warmed." And John Wesley rose in the power of the Spirit, and that was the birth of the Methodist Church.
Dwight L. Moody, praying and pleading with the power of God to fall upon him, walking down Wall Street, in New York City, ran into the shelter of a neighboring office and there prayed God to stay His hand lest he die - the power of the Lord God was upon him.l Charles G. Finney, those who listened to him said his words were like barbed arrows, they were like a hammer that would break the hardest heart to pieces, they were like a sword that would cut to the soul. In the town at that time of Rochester, 50,000 population, Charles G. Finney in his meeting had 100,000 conversions. The whole of upper New York found the Lord.
~W. A. Criswell~
(continued with # 3)
After Pentecost the Spirit of God was poured out without measure (John 3:34). The breath became a mighty wind. And the energizing presence of God became incarnate in human personality. And Pentecost is a pattern, a model to be reproduced again and again and again.
I one time read of a mission in Africa, and the Spirit of the Lord died in the hearts of the missionaries and of the converts. And even the tribal chief stood up and said, "When I worshiped my heathen gods, I was happy. But now having become a Christian, I am miserable and I renounce my Christian faith." The mission stopped. The missionaries in despair, in hurt, began to cry aloud unto the Lord. And the same thing as at Pentecost happened: the Spirit of the Lord was poured out upon the missionaries. The Spirit of God was poured out upon the tribe. Even the tribal chief was preaching once again. And in their language they had a saying "Joy is killing us!"
I have seen that in my own ministry. In one of the meetings I held in one of the great cities of America, the meetings were wooden. They were dull. They were disappointing. And on Saturday night the congregation spontaneously met in intercession, in appeal in prayer, in asking God with fervent soul and heart. And the next morning, Sunday morning, you would have thought you were in Jerusalem when Simon Peter delivered his message at Pentecost! (Acts 2:14-40).
It is repeated again and again and again. In the twentieth chapter of the Book of John, our Lord said to His apostles as He breathed upon them, He said, "Labete." Lambono is to receive is to take labete is the imperative form of it, labete. "Take the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22). God has poured out His presence upon us without measure. And it is just for us to receive Him, to open our hearts to Him, to give the issue of our lives to Him. And God answers powerfully and dynamically, gloriously from heaven.
Pentecost is repeated again and again and again - in the second chapter of the Book of Acts, Pentecost (Acts 2:1-47). In the fourth chapter of the Book of Acts, after having prayed before God, there is another Jerusalem Pentecost (Acts 4:31-35). I turn to the eighth chapter of Acts, there is a Samaritan Pentecost (Acts 8:5-25). I turn to the tenth chapter of Acts, there is a Caesarean, there is a Gentile Pentecost (Acts 20:34-48). And it continues through the centuries. There is no generation but that somewhere there is an outpouring of the Spirit of God. There may be darkness and doubt and death in one place, but in the same time there will be light and the glory and the presence of God in another place. There is no exception to it in the history of the Christian age!
For example, when the church at Jerusalem became deadened by legalism, the Spirit of God was poured out upon the church at Antioch and at Ephesus. And when the church in Thessalonica and Philippi waned in their love for the Lord the church at Milan was alive with the presence of Jesus. When the churches of Carthage and of Alexandria became bogged down in theological minutiae, the churches of Gaul were aflame with the power of Christ. When that pontifical court at Avignon became corrupt, the churches in Germany became aflame with the presence of God. When the churches of France were darkened in superstition, at that same time the stars of the Reformation were rising in Switzerland and Germany and in England. And when the fields of Italy became worthless stubble, a great revival was taking place in Bohemia under John Huss and under our great Baptist preacher Hubmaier. There is no time, there is no age but that somewhere there is a mighty outpouring of the Spirit of God.
And in this present moment when liberalism and doubt denying the Word of God has emptied the churches of the western world, look around you today, here in the First Baptist church of Dallas, under Dr. Truett for forty-seven years, and now under my ministry, fill this sanctuary at an 8:25 service, fill it again at a 10:30 service. The presence and power of God! There is Pentecost always. It is a pattern to be duplicated, to be repeated, to be modeled again and again and again.
The heart of it lies in the preacher. It lies in the ambassador from heaven, in the emissary from the courts of the Lord. Oh, what a tradition in which the preacher stands: Peter and Paul and Ignatius and Chrysostom and Savonardola and Huss and Hubmaier and Wycliffe and Wesley and Jonathan Edwards and - down to the generation just before us - a Scarborough and a Truett and to our day! O Lord, what a tradition!
Oh dear, what could be more thrilling than the memory of these great men of God who have preceded us? And I think of this own pulpit here in which the inimitable George Truett stood behind this very desk for forty seven years preaching the gospel of the Son of God. In the power of the Holy Spirit, John Wesley said in his diary: "I went to America to convert the American Indian, but who will convert this heart of mine?" And in Aldersgate Chapel listening to an exposition of the Book of Romans, he writes in his diary: "My heart was strangely warmed." And John Wesley rose in the power of the Spirit, and that was the birth of the Methodist Church.
Dwight L. Moody, praying and pleading with the power of God to fall upon him, walking down Wall Street, in New York City, ran into the shelter of a neighboring office and there prayed God to stay His hand lest he die - the power of the Lord God was upon him.l Charles G. Finney, those who listened to him said his words were like barbed arrows, they were like a hammer that would break the hardest heart to pieces, they were like a sword that would cut to the soul. In the town at that time of Rochester, 50,000 population, Charles G. Finney in his meeting had 100,000 conversions. The whole of upper New York found the Lord.
~W. A. Criswell~
(continued with # 3)
Saturday, March 30, 2019
The Pattern of Pentecost # 1
The Pattern of Pentecost # 1
Acts 2:1-8
"When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind. It filled all of the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven parting tongues like as of a fire, and as a flame. It arose on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there was in Jerusalem devout men out of every nation under heaven. And they were all amazed and marveled and said "How hear we every man in his own tongue wherein we were born? The glorious good news of the saving of our souls from damnation and hell?
There's no one of us but that prays for a life experience, a like outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God upon us. We sang just a moment ago:
"Lord, send the old-time power.
The Pentecostal power!
Thy floodgates of blessing,
On us throw open wide!
Lord, send the old- time power,
The Pentecostal power!
That sinners be converted,
And Thy Name glorified!
Whatever the cheap veneer of so-called culture and however cold and insensitive our hearts may appear to be toward God, there is always underneath in every human soul a longing and a thirsting and a hungering after the Almighty. It is universal.
I one time read of an evangelist who was invited to fill the pulpit of an aristocratic, formal, cold liturgical congregation. And being warm-hearted and Spirit-filled, he concluded his message with an invitation. And when he did so, down the aisle came a ragged, dirty, filthy, street woman. And when she came forward, the quartet in the choir, back of the preacher, stood up and left. They walked out the back door of the choir. The preacher thought that he had offended that elite congregation. But instead, the quartet came back and around and put their arms around that dirty street woman with many tears and welcomed her back into the kingdom of God.
And the preacher learned afterward that she, that dirty woman, had once been a member and sang in the quartet, had fallen into sin and into disease and into poverty. But that day, on the Lord's Day, undoubtedly, clandestinely, secretly had come back into the church, just in memory of the days gone by. Under the power of the Holy Spirit, she had answered the appeal of the pastor and was there at the front, coming back into the arms of our Saviour. That is universal: the heart hunger for God.
Down in the human heart (crushed by the tempter),
Feelings be buried but grace can restore.
Touched by a human hand, warmed by kindness,
Cords that are broken will vibrate once more.
(Fanny Crosby)
O God for a revival! There are no problems in national life or human life that cannot be solved by a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God. All of the things we face in the dissolution of the life of our people - drugs and crime and violence and diseases - all of them are solved and are made to disappear in a great outpouring of the Spirit of the Lord.
I have read many times of the tremendous revival in Wales under Even Roberts. And in those days and in those years, the jails were empty - not one in a jail! And the whole creation in which those people lived was filled with the love and the presence of the Lord God.
The need of our land is for revival,
A freshet of grace from above,
Repentance toward God and forgiveness,
More trusting in God and His love,
The need of the church is for revival,
A blessing from above.
Fullness of Spirit and witnessing,
More trusting in Christ and His love.
(William Leslie)
A great outpouring of the Spirit of God!
This passage in the second chapter of the Book of Acts introduces us to a new dispensation, a new era, a new age - the church age in which we live. It was prepared on a certain date, at a certain time, in a certain place from the beginning of God's creation. It was foretold by the prophets; for example, Joel 2:28-32 prophesies of this outpouring of the Spirit of the Lord. And he lived eight hundred years before Christ. It was a marvelous gift of the ascended Lord in His intercessions in heaven. In John 16:7 He said to His disciples, "it is expedient for you that I go away. If I go not away He that comforts, the Holy Spirit, will not come, but if I go away, I will send Him unto you that He may abide with you forever."
The outpouring of the Holy Spirit of the presence of God, heretofore in all of the revelation of the presence and work of the Lord God heretofore before Pentecost, the working of the Spirit of God was always intermittent. It was here. It was there. It was now, it was then. Sometimes upon matter; the Book begins: "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the deep". Sometimes upon men: the first judge was Othniel, the nephew of Caleb, and the Spirit of God fell upon him. Intermittently the Bible says of Samson that at times the Spirit of God fell upon him. Intermittently the Bible says of Samson that at times the Spirit of God moved Samson in the camp of Dan. Sometimes the Spirit of God would fall upon David, sometimes upon Saul even, sometimes upon Elisha "The spirit of Elijah doth rest upon Elisha', but always intermittently.
~W. A. Criswell~
(continued with # 2)
Acts 2:1-8
"When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind. It filled all of the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven parting tongues like as of a fire, and as a flame. It arose on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there was in Jerusalem devout men out of every nation under heaven. And they were all amazed and marveled and said "How hear we every man in his own tongue wherein we were born? The glorious good news of the saving of our souls from damnation and hell?
There's no one of us but that prays for a life experience, a like outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God upon us. We sang just a moment ago:
"Lord, send the old-time power.
The Pentecostal power!
Thy floodgates of blessing,
On us throw open wide!
Lord, send the old- time power,
The Pentecostal power!
That sinners be converted,
And Thy Name glorified!
Whatever the cheap veneer of so-called culture and however cold and insensitive our hearts may appear to be toward God, there is always underneath in every human soul a longing and a thirsting and a hungering after the Almighty. It is universal.
I one time read of an evangelist who was invited to fill the pulpit of an aristocratic, formal, cold liturgical congregation. And being warm-hearted and Spirit-filled, he concluded his message with an invitation. And when he did so, down the aisle came a ragged, dirty, filthy, street woman. And when she came forward, the quartet in the choir, back of the preacher, stood up and left. They walked out the back door of the choir. The preacher thought that he had offended that elite congregation. But instead, the quartet came back and around and put their arms around that dirty street woman with many tears and welcomed her back into the kingdom of God.
And the preacher learned afterward that she, that dirty woman, had once been a member and sang in the quartet, had fallen into sin and into disease and into poverty. But that day, on the Lord's Day, undoubtedly, clandestinely, secretly had come back into the church, just in memory of the days gone by. Under the power of the Holy Spirit, she had answered the appeal of the pastor and was there at the front, coming back into the arms of our Saviour. That is universal: the heart hunger for God.
Down in the human heart (crushed by the tempter),
Feelings be buried but grace can restore.
Touched by a human hand, warmed by kindness,
Cords that are broken will vibrate once more.
(Fanny Crosby)
O God for a revival! There are no problems in national life or human life that cannot be solved by a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God. All of the things we face in the dissolution of the life of our people - drugs and crime and violence and diseases - all of them are solved and are made to disappear in a great outpouring of the Spirit of the Lord.
I have read many times of the tremendous revival in Wales under Even Roberts. And in those days and in those years, the jails were empty - not one in a jail! And the whole creation in which those people lived was filled with the love and the presence of the Lord God.
The need of our land is for revival,
A freshet of grace from above,
Repentance toward God and forgiveness,
More trusting in God and His love,
The need of the church is for revival,
A blessing from above.
Fullness of Spirit and witnessing,
More trusting in Christ and His love.
(William Leslie)
A great outpouring of the Spirit of God!
This passage in the second chapter of the Book of Acts introduces us to a new dispensation, a new era, a new age - the church age in which we live. It was prepared on a certain date, at a certain time, in a certain place from the beginning of God's creation. It was foretold by the prophets; for example, Joel 2:28-32 prophesies of this outpouring of the Spirit of the Lord. And he lived eight hundred years before Christ. It was a marvelous gift of the ascended Lord in His intercessions in heaven. In John 16:7 He said to His disciples, "it is expedient for you that I go away. If I go not away He that comforts, the Holy Spirit, will not come, but if I go away, I will send Him unto you that He may abide with you forever."
The outpouring of the Holy Spirit of the presence of God, heretofore in all of the revelation of the presence and work of the Lord God heretofore before Pentecost, the working of the Spirit of God was always intermittent. It was here. It was there. It was now, it was then. Sometimes upon matter; the Book begins: "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the deep". Sometimes upon men: the first judge was Othniel, the nephew of Caleb, and the Spirit of God fell upon him. Intermittently the Bible says of Samson that at times the Spirit of God fell upon him. Intermittently the Bible says of Samson that at times the Spirit of God moved Samson in the camp of Dan. Sometimes the Spirit of God would fall upon David, sometimes upon Saul even, sometimes upon Elisha "The spirit of Elijah doth rest upon Elisha', but always intermittently.
~W. A. Criswell~
(continued with # 2)
Christ As The Gardener
Christ As The Gardener
"She turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou Whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto Him, Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master." (John 20:14-16).
In the days immediately after the resurrection Jesus appeared to his disciples in many forms. And that is what He is always doing to men and women in our own time. He appears in a different form to every one of us. To some He comes as He came to the disciples in the storm at night, when they thought he was a spirit and cried out with fright. There are many people to whom Christ now appears to be only a ghost to haunt them on the stormy voyage of life. If they would but listen to Him, however, they would hear Him saying as of old, "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid."
To some Christ comes as a deliverer. Their sense of bondage to sin is so keen that the supreme cry of their hearts is for some one strong enough to unlock the prison doors and spring back the great iron bolts that hold fast the dungeon walls of their prison. To such Christ comes as the liberator to set them free, and they ever think of Him as a heroic Saviour. Others there are, whose souls have long been hungry and starved for hope and sympathy and love, to whom Christ comes as does the harvest after an Indian famine, with abundance of bread. Jesus to them is the bread of life; they feed upon the bread sent down from heaven. Still others, like Paul, are smitten down by the light at noonday; by the glory of that Light which is greater than the brightness of the sun, and ever after, looking backward to the old days of blindness and darkness, Christ seems to them to be the light-bringer.
Christ comes to many in childhood with the tenderness of a shepherd who carries the lambs in his bosom. A little boy who had been accustomed to seeing every day in his play room a picture of the Good Shepherd carrying a little lamb in His arms was confronted with the picture of the Madonna and her Child. He looked up into my face and asked, "Is that the Good Shepherd when He was a baby?" There are many to whom Christ comes as naturally as that, and who are led on through all the days of childhood by His gentle spirit, who never know what it is to stray away from the Shepherd's side. There ought to be many more than there are of that class. I doubt if Christianity, or rather the Christian church, is acting with so little wisdom at any other point as it is in relation to children. Our children should be consecrated to Christ in infancy and be given over to His care and training with never a thought of a period for sowing of wild oats which must be uprooted again in penitence and sorrow. Isaiah says, "Peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near," and if we do our full duty by childhood the overwhelming majority of our children reared in Christian homes will be kept ever near to the side of the Shepherd Christ.
But I wish especially to call you attention to the form in which Christ appeared to Mary at the sepulcher. Joseph's tomb, where Christ had been buried, was in the midst of a garden; and when Mary turned about and saw Jesus clothed in the ordinary garb of a gardener - she thought He was the gardener. What purpose Christ had in thus appearing to her we do not know, and yet we surely do not in any way distort Scripture meaning by studying this figure as Him. In one of His parables He especially sets Himself forth as a gardener. He tells the story of a certain man who had a fig tree in his vineyard; and this man came and sought fruit year after year, but the tree was always barren and fruitless. So there came a day when he said to the gardener, "I have been coming here for three years to taste the figs on this tree and have never found any. Cut it down!" But the gardener had sympathy for the tree and pleaded for it. I think we can take that parable as illustrating Christ's gardening in human hearts. There is a sense in which we are all trees in the vineyard. Some of us are barren trees; but sends His rain upon the just and the unjust, and the sinful man receives the blessings of God, giving opportunity and privilege for every good thing to come into his life, the same as does the righteous. Not one of us is so poor and barren in moral and spiritual inheritance but that it is possible for us to bear fruit unto God if we yield ourselves completely to the Heavenly Gardener.
Just think of some of the human plants that grew in Christ's garden when he was here on earth; a man who had a whole legion of devils; and Mary Magdalene, who had seven; and fretful and peevish Martha; an old beggar, Bartimaeus, blind since he was born; Zacchaeus, the tax-collector; a handful of fishermen without education or standing. Jesus picked up people like that, and how they blossomed under His hands! They have grown into the heart of the world for eighteen hundred years, and the sweet fragrance of their Christian graces bless humanity in every land.
What Christ did for these people He can do with us. In soul-gardening it is possible for the gardener to impart His own nature to the sensitive human plant under His care. Our lives receive the gracious influences of His own life divine spirit. We become like Him. We lose the characteristics of the lower life and begin to show the indications of the nobler and sweeter life of Him. How can any intelligent man or woman refuse to yield the heart to this Divine Gardener?
There is something very touching in the parable of the unfruitful fig tree, where Christ pictures Himself as interceding in behalf of the unfruitful soul. How many years has God been coming to your life seeking in vain for the fruit of conduct which He had a right to expect. Bring this home to your own heart, and think of that barren tree as yourself. Hear God saying, "Cut down the unfruitful tree. Cut down this useless life. And then hear Jesus as He pleads for you: "Let him alone one year more; let Me fertilize his soul with the preaching of the gospel, and the pleading of the Holy Spirit; perhaps he will turn and repent, and all will be well; but if he does not, than shall he be cut down." You may be in that period now. Possibly it is already drawing near to a close. It is a solemn thought. But, thank God, the probation has not yet ended, and this very hour you may by the divine grace and the forgiving mercy of Christ be transformed in your inmost nature so that you will begin to bear fruit unto righteousness.
~Louis Albert Banks~
(The End)
"She turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou Whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto Him, Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master." (John 20:14-16).
In the days immediately after the resurrection Jesus appeared to his disciples in many forms. And that is what He is always doing to men and women in our own time. He appears in a different form to every one of us. To some He comes as He came to the disciples in the storm at night, when they thought he was a spirit and cried out with fright. There are many people to whom Christ now appears to be only a ghost to haunt them on the stormy voyage of life. If they would but listen to Him, however, they would hear Him saying as of old, "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid."
To some Christ comes as a deliverer. Their sense of bondage to sin is so keen that the supreme cry of their hearts is for some one strong enough to unlock the prison doors and spring back the great iron bolts that hold fast the dungeon walls of their prison. To such Christ comes as the liberator to set them free, and they ever think of Him as a heroic Saviour. Others there are, whose souls have long been hungry and starved for hope and sympathy and love, to whom Christ comes as does the harvest after an Indian famine, with abundance of bread. Jesus to them is the bread of life; they feed upon the bread sent down from heaven. Still others, like Paul, are smitten down by the light at noonday; by the glory of that Light which is greater than the brightness of the sun, and ever after, looking backward to the old days of blindness and darkness, Christ seems to them to be the light-bringer.
Christ comes to many in childhood with the tenderness of a shepherd who carries the lambs in his bosom. A little boy who had been accustomed to seeing every day in his play room a picture of the Good Shepherd carrying a little lamb in His arms was confronted with the picture of the Madonna and her Child. He looked up into my face and asked, "Is that the Good Shepherd when He was a baby?" There are many to whom Christ comes as naturally as that, and who are led on through all the days of childhood by His gentle spirit, who never know what it is to stray away from the Shepherd's side. There ought to be many more than there are of that class. I doubt if Christianity, or rather the Christian church, is acting with so little wisdom at any other point as it is in relation to children. Our children should be consecrated to Christ in infancy and be given over to His care and training with never a thought of a period for sowing of wild oats which must be uprooted again in penitence and sorrow. Isaiah says, "Peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near," and if we do our full duty by childhood the overwhelming majority of our children reared in Christian homes will be kept ever near to the side of the Shepherd Christ.
But I wish especially to call you attention to the form in which Christ appeared to Mary at the sepulcher. Joseph's tomb, where Christ had been buried, was in the midst of a garden; and when Mary turned about and saw Jesus clothed in the ordinary garb of a gardener - she thought He was the gardener. What purpose Christ had in thus appearing to her we do not know, and yet we surely do not in any way distort Scripture meaning by studying this figure as Him. In one of His parables He especially sets Himself forth as a gardener. He tells the story of a certain man who had a fig tree in his vineyard; and this man came and sought fruit year after year, but the tree was always barren and fruitless. So there came a day when he said to the gardener, "I have been coming here for three years to taste the figs on this tree and have never found any. Cut it down!" But the gardener had sympathy for the tree and pleaded for it. I think we can take that parable as illustrating Christ's gardening in human hearts. There is a sense in which we are all trees in the vineyard. Some of us are barren trees; but sends His rain upon the just and the unjust, and the sinful man receives the blessings of God, giving opportunity and privilege for every good thing to come into his life, the same as does the righteous. Not one of us is so poor and barren in moral and spiritual inheritance but that it is possible for us to bear fruit unto God if we yield ourselves completely to the Heavenly Gardener.
Just think of some of the human plants that grew in Christ's garden when he was here on earth; a man who had a whole legion of devils; and Mary Magdalene, who had seven; and fretful and peevish Martha; an old beggar, Bartimaeus, blind since he was born; Zacchaeus, the tax-collector; a handful of fishermen without education or standing. Jesus picked up people like that, and how they blossomed under His hands! They have grown into the heart of the world for eighteen hundred years, and the sweet fragrance of their Christian graces bless humanity in every land.
What Christ did for these people He can do with us. In soul-gardening it is possible for the gardener to impart His own nature to the sensitive human plant under His care. Our lives receive the gracious influences of His own life divine spirit. We become like Him. We lose the characteristics of the lower life and begin to show the indications of the nobler and sweeter life of Him. How can any intelligent man or woman refuse to yield the heart to this Divine Gardener?
There is something very touching in the parable of the unfruitful fig tree, where Christ pictures Himself as interceding in behalf of the unfruitful soul. How many years has God been coming to your life seeking in vain for the fruit of conduct which He had a right to expect. Bring this home to your own heart, and think of that barren tree as yourself. Hear God saying, "Cut down the unfruitful tree. Cut down this useless life. And then hear Jesus as He pleads for you: "Let him alone one year more; let Me fertilize his soul with the preaching of the gospel, and the pleading of the Holy Spirit; perhaps he will turn and repent, and all will be well; but if he does not, than shall he be cut down." You may be in that period now. Possibly it is already drawing near to a close. It is a solemn thought. But, thank God, the probation has not yet ended, and this very hour you may by the divine grace and the forgiving mercy of Christ be transformed in your inmost nature so that you will begin to bear fruit unto righteousness.
~Louis Albert Banks~
(The End)
Saturday, March 23, 2019
At Peace With God # 2 (and others)
At Peace With God # 2 (and others)
It leads to a fuller and firmer hope. One who has thus found God to be a very present help in trouble, is strengthened to hope that He will be so in all trouble that may yet come. God's Word is one source of hope to us; as the Psalmist says, "I hope in Your Word." Our own experience of His goodness is another: "Because You have been my help - therefore in the shadow of Your wings will I rejoice." It is one of the greatest helps against despondency, to remember what God has done for us in past troubles. Thus experience works hope.
And this hope is a sure hope, one that will never make us ashamed or disappoint us. For it is built upon the love of God to us in Christ; and that love, or a sense of it, is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who is given unto us. We believe it - we feel it - God has taught us to do so.
Well may we believe in that love! It brought the blessed Son of God from Heaven to die for sinners. "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because God sent His only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him." "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." And we were not even friends when Jesus gave His life for us. "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." It would be much that one should be willing to die for the best and kindest of men - for one who was not merely righteous and good but also kind, affectionate, unselfish, and engaging; yet we can just conceive such a thing possible. But "God commends His love towards us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Yes! Before we love Him, before we believed in Him, before we even had any desire toward Him - while we were yet in our sins, Christ died for us! Even "when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son."
If we are no longer enemies, if through grace we have repented and sought mercy through Christ, if we have come unto God by Him and have thus become reconciled, justified, and at peace - then we may well hope in His love. If He sought us when we were afar off - then will He not receive us now that we have come near? If He had compassion on us while we were yet in our sins - then well may we think with comfort of His mercy and love when we have turned to Him and sought Him in Christ Jesus. "If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son - then much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."
For He is a living Saviour. "He ever lives to make intercession for us." There is no blessing which we may not seek through Him. There is nothing really for our good, which God will withhold. "If He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all - then how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" All things. More than safety, more than pardon, more than the blotting out of our sins. He will give us all things in Christ.
Already we have received the atonement, already we have become reconciled to God - and now we are able to rejoice in Him through our Lord Jesus Christ. Not merely to look forward to rejoicing hereafter, but to rejoice now. To rejoice in God, to feel happy in thinking of Him and praying to Him, to take pleasure in realizing His presence and in holding communion with Him in secret. This is what every true believer may do. This is what God would have him do. "Rejoice in the Lord always," says the apostle, "and again I say, rejoice!"
~Francis Bourdillon~
(The End)
_______________________
The More Christ Has Suffered For Us
The more Christ has suffered for us - the dearer Christ should be unto us. The greater and the bitterer Christ's sufferings have been for us - the greater and the sweeter should our love be to Him. O my friends! there is no love but a superlative love, which is any way suitable to the transcendent sufferings of dear Jesus. Oh, love Him above your lusts, love Him above your relations, love Him above the world, love Him above all your contentments and enjoyments; yes, love Him above your very lives!
Certainly the more Christ has suffered for us, the more dear Christ should be unto us. The more bitter His sufferings have been for us, the more eminent should be our love to Him. Oh, let a suffering Christ lie nearest your hearts!
Christ is that golden pipe through which the golden oil of salvation runs! Oh, how should this inflame our love to Christ! Oh, that our hearts were more affected with the sufferings of Christ! Who can tread upon these hot coals, and his heart not burn in love to Christ?
Oh, infinite love of Christ - that He should leave His Father's bosom, and come down from heaven - that He might carry you up to heaven; that He who was the Son should take upon Him the form of a servant; that you slaves should be made sons; that you enemies should be made friends, that you heirs of wrath should be made heirs of God; that to save us from everlasting ruin, Christ should be willing to be made flesh, to lie in a manger, to be tempted, deserted, persecuted, and to die upon a Cross! Oh what flames of love to Christ, should these things kindle in all our hearts!
~Thomas Brooks~
It leads to a fuller and firmer hope. One who has thus found God to be a very present help in trouble, is strengthened to hope that He will be so in all trouble that may yet come. God's Word is one source of hope to us; as the Psalmist says, "I hope in Your Word." Our own experience of His goodness is another: "Because You have been my help - therefore in the shadow of Your wings will I rejoice." It is one of the greatest helps against despondency, to remember what God has done for us in past troubles. Thus experience works hope.
And this hope is a sure hope, one that will never make us ashamed or disappoint us. For it is built upon the love of God to us in Christ; and that love, or a sense of it, is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who is given unto us. We believe it - we feel it - God has taught us to do so.
Well may we believe in that love! It brought the blessed Son of God from Heaven to die for sinners. "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because God sent His only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him." "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." And we were not even friends when Jesus gave His life for us. "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." It would be much that one should be willing to die for the best and kindest of men - for one who was not merely righteous and good but also kind, affectionate, unselfish, and engaging; yet we can just conceive such a thing possible. But "God commends His love towards us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Yes! Before we love Him, before we believed in Him, before we even had any desire toward Him - while we were yet in our sins, Christ died for us! Even "when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son."
If we are no longer enemies, if through grace we have repented and sought mercy through Christ, if we have come unto God by Him and have thus become reconciled, justified, and at peace - then we may well hope in His love. If He sought us when we were afar off - then will He not receive us now that we have come near? If He had compassion on us while we were yet in our sins - then well may we think with comfort of His mercy and love when we have turned to Him and sought Him in Christ Jesus. "If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son - then much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."
For He is a living Saviour. "He ever lives to make intercession for us." There is no blessing which we may not seek through Him. There is nothing really for our good, which God will withhold. "If He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all - then how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" All things. More than safety, more than pardon, more than the blotting out of our sins. He will give us all things in Christ.
Already we have received the atonement, already we have become reconciled to God - and now we are able to rejoice in Him through our Lord Jesus Christ. Not merely to look forward to rejoicing hereafter, but to rejoice now. To rejoice in God, to feel happy in thinking of Him and praying to Him, to take pleasure in realizing His presence and in holding communion with Him in secret. This is what every true believer may do. This is what God would have him do. "Rejoice in the Lord always," says the apostle, "and again I say, rejoice!"
~Francis Bourdillon~
(The End)
_______________________
The More Christ Has Suffered For Us
The more Christ has suffered for us - the dearer Christ should be unto us. The greater and the bitterer Christ's sufferings have been for us - the greater and the sweeter should our love be to Him. O my friends! there is no love but a superlative love, which is any way suitable to the transcendent sufferings of dear Jesus. Oh, love Him above your lusts, love Him above your relations, love Him above the world, love Him above all your contentments and enjoyments; yes, love Him above your very lives!
Certainly the more Christ has suffered for us, the more dear Christ should be unto us. The more bitter His sufferings have been for us, the more eminent should be our love to Him. Oh, let a suffering Christ lie nearest your hearts!
Christ is that golden pipe through which the golden oil of salvation runs! Oh, how should this inflame our love to Christ! Oh, that our hearts were more affected with the sufferings of Christ! Who can tread upon these hot coals, and his heart not burn in love to Christ?
Oh, infinite love of Christ - that He should leave His Father's bosom, and come down from heaven - that He might carry you up to heaven; that He who was the Son should take upon Him the form of a servant; that you slaves should be made sons; that you enemies should be made friends, that you heirs of wrath should be made heirs of God; that to save us from everlasting ruin, Christ should be willing to be made flesh, to lie in a manger, to be tempted, deserted, persecuted, and to die upon a Cross! Oh what flames of love to Christ, should these things kindle in all our hearts!
~Thomas Brooks~
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