Two unequivocal signs of grace; a desire to be thoroughly washed and cleansed,—”Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin,” (Psalm 51:2)—and a willingness to appear before God for that end, without concealment and without guile,—”I acknowledge my transgressions; and my sin is ever before me” (Psalms 51:3).
– Robert Candlish –
from The Prayer of a Broken Heart: Expository Discourses on Psalm 51, 1873
Faith is the very shaping out of a man’s heart according to God’s device of salvation by Christ Jesus.
– William Guthrie –
from The Christians Great Interest, 1658
When God breaks into a life or a community, nothing else matters save the person of Jesus, the glory of Jesus, the name of Jesus.
– Stephen Olford –
As I was walking in the fields, the thought came over me with almost overwhelming power, that every one of my flock must soon be in heaven or hell. Oh how I wished that I had a tongue like thunder, that I might make all hear; or that I had a frame like iron, that I might visit every one and say, “Escape for thy life! Ah sinner! You little know how I fear that you will lay the blame of your damnation at my door.”
– Robert Murray M’Cheyne –
The man whose little sermon is “repent” sets himself against his age, and will for the time being be battered mercilessly by the age whose moral tone he challenges. There is but one end for such a man—”off with his head!” You had better not try to preach repentance until you have pledged your head to heaven.
– Joseph Parker –
Preaching is the flexanima*, the allurer of the soul, by which our self-willed minds are subdued and changed from an ungodly and pagan lifestyle to a life of Christian faith and repentance.
– William Perkins –
from The Art of Prophesying, 1592
*(Flexanima is Latin for: moving, affecting, touching)
I believe that a ship will carry me across the ocean, because I have tried it. But, this will not help another man who wants to go, unless he acts on my knowledge. So knowledge of Christ does not help us unless we act on it. That is what it is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is to act on what we believe.
As a man steps on board ship to cross the Atlantic, so we must take Christ and make a commitment of our souls to Him. He has promised to keep all who put their trust in Him. To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is simply to take Him at His word.
– DL Moody –
from The Way to God
Oh that you might have such a strong love for perishing sinners that you will put up with their rebuffs and rebukes, and say to them, “Strike me if you will, but hear me; ridicule me, but still I will plead with you; cast me under your feet as though I were the offscouring of all things, but at any rate, I will not let you perish, if it be in my power to warn you of your danger.”
– Charles Spurgeon –
from Council for Christian Workers
It was wonderful love that Christ should die for such as we are. What are we? Not only vanity, but enmity. When we were fighting, he was dying; when we had the weapons in our hands, then he had the spear in his side (Romans 5:8).
– Thomas Watson –
from The Lords Supper, 1665