The Work of Christ

From John Calvin's Preface to the French Bible (1539):

"All good which could be thought or desired is to be found in Jesus Christ alone.

For he was humbled to exalt us, he became a slave to free us,
he became poor to enrich us, he was sold to redeem us,
made captive for our deliverance, condemned for our absolution;
he was made a curse for our blessing, an offering for sin for our righteousness,
he was marred that we might be restored, he died for our life.

So that by him harshness is softened, anger appeased, darkness made light,
injustice justified, weakness made strong, dejection consoled,
sin prevented, scorn despised, fear made sure,
debt canceled, toil made light, sadness rejoiced,
misfortune made blessed, difficulty eased, disorder ordered,
division united, disgrace made noble, rebellion quelled,
threats threatened, ambushes uncovered, assaults assailed,
effort weakened, combat combatted, war warred against,
vengeance avenged, torment tormented, damnation damned,
hell held prisoner, death done to death and immortality made immortal."

Shining Bridge to Glory

Charles Spurgeon said the following:

"Ah! the bridge of grace will bear your weight, brother. Thousands of big sinners have gone across that bridge, yea, tens of thousands have gone over it. I can hear their trampings now as they traverse the great arches of the bridge of salvation. They come by their thousands, by their myriads; e'er since the day when Christ first entered into His glory, they come, and yet never a stone has sprung in that mighty bridge. Some have been the chief of sinners, and some have come at the very last days, but the arch has never yielded beneath their weight. I will go with them trusting to the same support; it will bear me over as it has borne them."

Works Righteousness

"No more soul-destroying doctrine could well be devised than the doctrine that sinners can regenerate themselves, and repent and believe just when they please . . . As it is a truth both of Scripture and of experience that the unrenewed man can do nothing of himself to secure his salvation, it is essential that he should be brought to a practical conviction of that truth. When thus convinced, and not before, he seeks help from the only source whence it can be obtained."
Charles Hodge

Amazing Prayer

In the year 1826, the preacher John Smith was leading a service in the city of Nottingham. He led the people in prayer and ended it by reciting the Lord's Prayer. We read that the people:

"responded with peculiar fervour to each petition as it was pronounced, till he came to the doxology, at each clause of which he raised his voice and ascribed to the Almighty 'the kingdom and the power and the glory, for ever and ever' in a tone and with an unction which fell on the congregation with irresistable force" . . . and the people were gripped . . . "A glow of heavenly feeling pervaded the whole assembly; many gave vent to their emotions by bursts of tears and some with irrepressible shouts of praise. Others laid hold of the words, repeating them again and again even after he had ceased; and whispers of 'for ever and ever' mingled with sobs passed from one to another . . . In fact, it was some time before the regular business of the meeting could be resumed." (Paul Cook)

The Gospel

John Newton spent a lot of time writing to Thomas Scott in matters regarding conversion . . . after a number of years Scott was converted. Following is one presentation that Newton made to Scott of the gospel:

"The gospel, my dear sir, is a salvation appointed for those who are ready to perish, and is not designed to put them in a way to save themselves by their own works. It speaks to us as condemned already, and calls upon us to believe in a crucified Savior, that we may receive redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of our sins. And the Spirit of God, by the gospel, first convinces us of unbelief, sin, and misery; and then by revealing the things of Jesus to our minds, enables us, as helpless sinners, to come to Christ, to receive him, to behold him, or in other words, to believe in him; and expect pardon, life, and grace from him; renouncing every hope and aim in which we once rested, 'and accounting all things loss and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ.'"

Revival at Mousehole

William Carvosso, an evangelist in 18th-19th century England, describes the beginning of a revival at the town of Mousehole in Cornwall in 1818:

"I proceeded to Mousehole where I rejoiced to see the mighty works of God displayed in convincing and converting sinners . . . In my usual way, I went preaching from house to house, and I believe God never blessed my feeble effort more than at that time. In one house I found a poor penitent to whose broken heart the Lord revealed his pardoning mercy. We fell on our knees, to give glory to God for what he had done. And now a brother of her who had been subject of the happy change, being present, fell on the floor, and cried for mercy in an astonishing manner; and, before I left the house, the Lord also set his soul at liberty. In another house, while relating this circumstance, the arrow of truth reached the heart of a poor backslider, and she trembled as in the presence of God. The next morning I found her weeping for her ingratitude and now made willing to return to her offended God . . . There was a gracious work among the children in the Sunday School. None but those who have witnessed such a revival can form any idea of it. Some of them seemed as deeply convinced of sin as if they had been forty years of age; and after they had found peace, could give as clear an account of the work of grace in their minds as if they had been in the good way seven years."

Our God Reigns

John Newton wrote the following to a Mrs. Place in 1776:

"I will tell you then, though you know it, that the Lord reigns. He who once bore our sins, and carried our sorrows, is seated upon a throne of glory, and exercises all power in heaven and on earth. Thrones, principalities, and powers, bow before him. Every event in the kingdoms of providence and of grace is under his rule. His providence pervades and manages the whole, and is as minutely attentive to every part, as if there were only that single object in his view. From the tallest archangel to the meanest ant or fly, all depend on him for their being, their preservation, and their powers. He directs the sparrows where to build their nests, and to find their food. He overrules the rise and fall of nations, and bends, with an invincible energy and unerring wisdom , all events; so that, while many intend nothing less, in the issue, their designs all concur and coincide in the accomplishment of his holy will. He restrains with a mighty hand the still more formidable efforts of the powers of darkness; and Satan, with all his hosts, cannot exert their malice a hair's breadth beyond the limits of his permission. This is He who is the head and husband of his believing people."

Losing One's Way

"The church has lost the wider audience because it gave up much of what it should know and in the past was good at: the light shed on human reality from the Word of God in love, encouragement, moral clarity, and compassion . . . when the church abandons her singular calling, she is usually not even very good in the attempt to compete with the street and the market." Udo Middelmann

Long for Jesus

"This Lord, our God, the Word of God, the Word made flesh, the Son of the Father, the Son of God, the Son of man, exalted that He might create us, humbled that He might recreate us, walking among men, suffering what is human, concealing what is divine. Let every sigh be a panting after Christ, let that most beautiful One, who loved even the ugly that He might make them beautiful, let Him be longed for. Hurry to Him alone, sigh for Him."
--Saint Augustine

Value of the Weather-Beaten Christian

John Newton wrote the following to Captain Scott (January 4, 1768):

"Innumerable are the trials, fears, complaints and temptations which the Lord's people are beset with; some in one way, and some in another; the minister must, as it were, have a taste of all, or it might happen a case might come before him to which he had nothing to say. And we need them likewise to bring our hard hearts into a feeling disposition and sympathy with those who suffer: other wise we should be too busy or too happy to attend unto their moans. Surely much of that hasty and censorious spirit, too often observable in young converts, arises from their having, as yet, a very imperfect acquaintance with the deceitfulness of their own hearts. But, the old weather-beaten Christian, who has learnt by sorrowful experience how weak he is in himself, and what powerful subtle enemies he has to grapple with, acquires a tenderness in dealing with bruises and broken bones, which greatly conduces to his acceptance and usefulness."

Drifting

D.A. Carson on holiness:

"People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith and delight in the Lord. We drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated."