Christ Jesus lay in death’s strong bands,
For our offenses given;
But now at God’s right hand he stands
And brings us life from heaven;
Therefore let us joyful be
And sing to God right thankfully
Loud songs of hallelujah.
Hallelujah!
~Martin Luther~
Historical Theology (Grand Rapids, MI; Zondervan Books; 2011) Chapter 19: Resurrection & Ascension.
Let those, therefore, who are thus highly favored, consider more than ever yet they have done, how great that blessing is which God has bestowed upon them of his mere free love and sovereign grace, and not for any worthiness of theirs; and how great obligations they are under to glorify God: and to glorify Christ, who hath purchased this blessing with his own blood. What manner of persons ought you to be! pray consider it! Do you hope that God has thus highly advanced and exalted you? And will you not be careful indeed to live to his glory, and to exalt and magnify his name? Will you dishonor Christ, who has thus honored you? Will you regard him but a little, who has shown such infinite regard to your welfare? Shall the world have your heart, and Christ and his glory be neglected after all? Will you not rather watch against your corrupt, worldly, proud dispositions? Will you not seek opportunities to do something for God, who, as you think, has been thus kind to you? And for that Savior, who has purchased this, at the cost of such extreme sufferings?
~Jonathan Edwards~
Charity and Its Fruits: Living in the Light of God’s Love (Wheaton, IL; Crossway Books; 2012) p. 78
Any notion that Christianity is mainly the result of something that we do is always completely, fatally wrong. We must cast off any idea that the Christian church is the result of our action and that we are perpetuating some tradition. If that is our view of Christianity, it is false. That was the curse of the Jews who finally crucified the Lord Jesus Christ. They were traditional religionists, and such have always been-and are today-the greatest enemies of the true church and of the true Christian faith and message. But how much of so-called Christianity is just this!
~Martyn Lloyd-Jones~
Studies in the Book of Acts – Vol. 1: Authentic Christianity (Wheaton, IL; Crossway Books; 2000) p. 21-22
Recollect that thou art free to the throne of grace. It is the privilege of Englishmen, that they can always send a petition to Parliament; and it is the privilege of a believer, that he can always send a petition to the throne of God. I am free to God’s throne. If I want to talk to God tomorrow morning, I can. If tonight I wish to have conversation with my Master, I can go to him. I have a right to go to his throne. It matters not how much I may have sinned. I go and ask for pardon. It signifies nothing how poor I am– I go and plead his promise that he will provide all things needful. I have a right to go to his throne at all times– in midnight’s darkest hour, or in noontide’s heat. Where’er I am; if fate command me to the utmost verge of the wide earth, I have still constant admission to his throne. Use that right, beloved– use that right. There is not one of you that lives up to his privilege. Many a gentleman will live beyond his income, spending more than he has coming in; but there is not a Christian that does that– I mean that lives up to his spiritual income. Oh, no! you have an infinite income– an income of promises– an income of grace; and no Christian ever lived up to his income. Some people say, “If I had more money I should have a larger house, and horses, and carriage, and so on.” Very well and good; but I wish the Christian would do the same. I wish they would set up a larger house, and do greater things for God; look more happy, and take those tears away from their eyes.
“Religion never was designed
To make our pleasures less.”
With such stores in the bank, and so much in hand, that God gives you, you have no right to be poor. Up! rejoice! rejoice! The Christian ought to live up to his income, and not below it.
~Charles Spurgeon~
Spurgeon’s Sermons
Saving faith has as its object, not simply God’s words and deeds as such, but the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
~Herman Bavinck~
Reformed Dogmatics Vol. 1: Prolegomena (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker Academic; 2003) p. 561.
You are free to all that is in the Bible. Here is a never- failing treasure filled with boundless stores of grace. It is the bank of heaven: you may draw from it as much as you please without let or hindrance. Bring nothing with you, except faith. Bring as much faith as you can get, and you are welcome to all that is in the Bible. There is not a promise, not a word in it, that is not yours. In the depths of tribulation let it comfort you. Mid waves of distress let it cheer you. When sorrows surround thee, let it be thy helper. This is thy father’s love- token: let it never be shut up and covered with dust. Thou art free to it– use, then, thy freedom.
~Charles Spurgeon~
Spurgeon’s Sermons
The gospel is not to the liking of human nature, not a ready match for the needs of people as they themselves picture those needs. Outside of revelation human beings do not even know themselves.
~Herman Bavinck~
Reformed Dogmatics Vol. 1: Prolegomena (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker Academic; 2003) p. 552.
We see how much more abundantly he advanced his kingdom, how much greater power he displayed both in helping his people and in scattering his enemies. Carried up to heaven, therefore, he withdrew his bodily presence from our sight ( Acts 1:9 ), not to cease to be present with believers still on their earthly pilgrimage, but to rule heaven and earth with a more immediate power. But by his ascension he fulfilled what he had promised: that he would be with us even to the end of the world. As his body was raised up above all the heavens, so his power and energy were diffused and spread beyond all the bounds of heaven and earth.
~John Calvin~
The Institutes of the Christian Religion (Louisville, Kentucky; Westminster John Knox Press; 1974) 2.16.14.
Experience by itself is not sufficient. Scripture is the norm also for our emotional life and tells us what we ought to experience.
~Herman Bavinck~
Reformed Dogmatics Vol. 1: Prolegomena (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker Academic; 2003) p. 534.
For the herald of the gospel to be spiritually out of order in his own proper person is, both to himself and to his work, a most serious calamity; and yet, my brethren, how easily is such an evil produced, and with what watchfulness must it be guarded against!… It is a terrible thing when the healing balm loses its efficacy through the blunderer who admisters it. You all know the injurious effects frequently produced upon water through flowing along leaden pipes; even so the gospel itself in flowing through men who are spiritually unhealthy, may be debased until it grow injurious to their hearers… Moreover, when a preacher is poor in grace, any lasting good which may be the result of his ministry, will usually be feeble and utterly out of proportion with what might have been expected. Much sowing will be followed by little reaping; the interest upon the talents will be inappreciably small. In two or three of the battles which were lost in the late American war, the result is said to have been due to the bad gunpowder which was served out by certain “shoddy” contractors to the army, so that the due effect of a cannonade was not produced. So it may with us. We may miss our mark, lose our end and aim, and waste our time, through not possesing true vital force within ourselves, or not possesing it in such a degree that God could consitently bless us. Beware of being “shoddy” preachers.
~Charles Spurgeon~
Lectures to My Students (Pasadena, TX; Pilgrim; 1990) p. 2-3
The Old Guys 