The Christian Gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less.
– Timothy Keller –
What we have under consideration, is so much the more to be taken of; namely that a person so great, so high, so glorious, as this Jesus Christ was, should have love for us, that passes knowledge. It is common for equals to love, and for superiors to be beloved; but for the King of princes, for the Son of God, for Jesus Christ to love man thus: this is amazing, and that so much the more, for that man the object of this love, is so low, so mean, so vile, so undeserving, and so inconsiderable, as by the Scriptures, everywhere he is described to be.
– John Bunyan –
from All Loves Excelling, 1692
Get rid of this bunkum about the “carnal Christian.” Forget it! If you’re carnal, you’re not saved.
– Leonard Ravenhill –
Depend upon it, it is God’s Word, not our comment upon God’s Word, that saves souls.
– Robert Murray McCheyne –
A popular evangelist reaches your emotions. A true prophet
reaches your conscience.
– Leonard Ravenhill –
Most of God’s people are contented to be saved from the hell that is without; they are not so anxious to be saved from the hell that is within.
– Robert Murray McCheyne –
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36 KJV)
“What is it to believe on Christ?” It is, to feel your need of him; to believe that he is able and willing to save you, and to save you now; and to cast yourself unreservedly on his mercy, and trust in him alone for your salvation.
– JW Chickering –
1831-1913, from A Pastor’s Counsel: Wise Words for Weary, Wounded, and Wandering Sheep
Let this one great, gracious, glorious fact lie in your spirit until it permeates all your thoughts and makes you rejoice even though you are without strength. Rejoice that the Lord Jesus has become your strength and your song—He has become your salvation.
– Charles Spurgeon –
After grief for sin there should be joy for forgiveness.
– AW Pink –