Christ and salvation are freely given, and yet the most of men go without them because they can not enjoy the world and them together. They are called but to part with that which would hinder them Christ, and they will not do it. They are called but to give God his own, and to resign all to His will, and let go the profits and pleasures of this world, when they must let go either Christ or them, and they will not.
– Richard Baxter –
. . . let not your heart go after the things of this world, as your chief good. Indulge not yourself in the possession of earthly things as though they were to satisfy your soul. This is the reverse of seeking heaven; it is to go in a way contrary to that which leads to the world of love. If you would seek heaven, your affections must be taken off from the pleasures of the world. You must not allow yourself in sensuality, or worldliness, or the pursuit of the enjoyments or honors of the world, or occupy your thoughts or time in heaping up the dust of the earth. You must mortify the desires of vain-glory, and become poor in spirit and lowly in heart.
– Jonathan Edwards –
That which was in the heart on earth as but a grain of mustard-seed, shall be as a great tree in heaven. The soul that in this world had only a little spark of divine love in it, in heaven shall be, as it were, turned into a bright and ardent flame, like the sun in its fullest brightness, when it has no spot upon it. In heaven there shall be no remaining enmity, or distaste, or coldness, or deadness of heart towards God and Christ.
– Jonathan Edwards –
. . . God is the fountain of love, as the sun is the fountain of light. And therefore the glorious presence of God in heaven, fills heaven with love, as the sun, placed in the midst of the visible heavens in a clear day, fills the world with light. The apostle tells us that “God is love;” and therefore, seeing he is an infinite being, it follows that he is an infinite fountain of love. Seeing he is an all sufficient being, it follows that he is a full and over-flowing, and inexhaustible fountain of love. And in that he is an unchangeable and eternal being, he is an unchangeable and eternal fountain of love.
– Jonathan Edwards –
. . . this philosophical postulate that the end of all being is the happiness of man has been sort of covered over with evangelical terms and Biblical doctrine until God reigns in heaven for the happiness of man, Jesus Christ was incarnate for the happiness of man, all the angels exist for the happiness of man, everything is for the happiness of man! And I submit to you that this is unchristian! Isn’t man happy? Didn’t God intend to make man happy? Yes. But as a by-product and not a prime-product.
– Paris Reidhead –
O, Christian, instead of disputing, let me tell thee how to prove your religion. Live it out! Live it out! Give the external as well as the internal evidence; give the external evidence of your own life.
– Charles Spurgeon –
So, then, poor Christian, thou needest not to go pumping up thy poor heart to make it glad. Go to thy Maker, and ask him to give thee a song in the night. Thou art a poor dry well: thou hast heard it said, that when a pump is dry, you must pour water down it first of all, and then you will get some up; and so, Christian, when thou art dry, go to God, ask him to pour some joy down thee, and then you will find them Job’s comforters, after all; but go thou first and foremost to thy Maker, for he is the great composer of songs and teacher of music; he it is who can teach thee how to sing: “God, my Maker, who giveth me songs in the night.”
– Charles Spurgeon –
Eternal Light! eternal Light!
How pure the soul must be
When, placed within Thy searching sight,
It shrinks not, but with calm delight
Can live, and look on Thee!
The spirits that surround Thy throne
May bear the burning bliss;
But that is surely theirs alone,
Since they have never, never known
A fallen world like this.
O how shall I, whose native sphere
Is dark, whose mind is dim,
Before the Ineffable appear,
And on my naked spirit bear
That uncreated beam?
There is a way for man to rise
To that sublime abode:
An offering and a sacrifice,
A Holy Spirit’s energies,
An Advocate with God.
These, these prepare us for the sight
Of holiness above;
The sons of ignorance and night,
May dwell in the eternal Light,
Through the eternal Love.
– Thomas Binney –
There are people in the presence of God [who are there] only by a technical redemption. You see, what I worry about in this hour is that we are technically Christians, and we can prove that we are Christians. We are Christians, technically. And anybody can flip open a Greek lexicon and show you that you are a saint. But I am afraid of that kind of Christianity, because if I haven’t felt a sense of vileness by contrast with that sense of unapproachable and indescribable holiness, I wonder if I had ever been hit hard enough to really repent. And if I don’t repent, I wonder if I can believe. We are told, “Just believe it, brother. Just believe it. Now, come on, let me take your name and address. Yes, what church would you like to go to?” We have it all fixed up, my brethren. But I’m afraid our fathers knew God in a different manner than that.
– AW Tozer –