the sheep and the quotes

I preach the Word of God because it is understandable.  God revealed his Word in such a way that it can be comprehended with clarity (cf. Psalm 119:105, 130).  If he had not done so, the Bible would no longer serve as an objective standard for life, since it could not be understood in a straightforward sense.  Yet, because he has revealed his Word in a way that is universally comprehensible, all men are accountable to it.

If the clarity of Scripture is denied, the certainty of any biblical doctrine must also be rejected, since we can no longer be sure that the Bible actually means what it says.  Once doctrinal certainty grounded in biblical authority is dismissed, personal convictions must also be discarded, since they no longer have any firm foundation.  And if personal convictions disappear, spiritual community will also vanish, since true fellowship necessarily begins with shared doctrines and convictions.

A healthy church is one that is motivated by a common affection for God and his Word and really knows what it is to love one another.  That affection, both for God and for others, arises out of the confidence that the Bible is true, that it is absolute, and that it can be understood. 

Scripture is clear.  Deny that simple fact and you forfeit all confidence and conviction.  No wonder evangelicals who have drifted away from the centrality of Scripture seem to lack certainty and clarity about anything. 

- John Macarthur, ‘Why I Still Preach The Bible After Forty Years Of Ministry’, in Preaching the Cross

If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point that the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages fiercely is where the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides is merely flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point. 

- Martin Luther

Jesus loves the weak! It may sound strange to put it like that! “Come to me”, he said, “all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” Well now, that doesn’t sound like someone who would crush the weak and hold them to contempt. It sounds like someone who would rather cherish them and seek to give them confidence in themselves as they rest in him. 

- William Still

Saviour, if of Zion’s city

I, through grace, a member am,

Let the world deride or pity,

I will glory in Thy name.

Fading is the worldlings pleasure,

All his boasted pomp and show,

Solid joys and lasting treasure

None but Zion’s children know.

- John Newton, ‘Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken’

The 13th century Spanish courtier, Raymond Lull (a missionary to Muslims in North Africa), wrote that ‘he who loves not, lives not’.  For living is loving, and without love the human personality disintegrates.  That is why everybody is looking for the authentic relationships of love. 

Everybody knows that love is the greatest thing in the world, and Christians know why.  It is because God is love.

- John Stott, ‘The Radical Disciple’

One day as I was passing in the field, and that too with some dashes on my conscience, fearing lest all was still not right, suddenly this sentence fell upon my soul, Your righteousness is in heaven. And I thought as well that I saw, with the eyes of my soul, Jesus Christ at God’s right hand. There, I say, is my righteousness, so that wherever I was or whatever I was doing, God could not say of me, [John Bunyan] lacks my righteousness, for that righteousness is right before Him. I also saw that it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better, nor my bad frame that made my righteousness worse, for my righteousness was Jesus Christ Himself, the same yesterday and today and forever.  Now did my chains fall off my legs indeed. I went home rejoicing for the grace and love of God. Here I lived for some time, sweetly at peace with God through Christ. Oh, I thought, Christ! Christ! There was nothing but Christ before my eyes

- John Bunyan

“In a sermon Dick Lucas once preached, he recounted an imaginary conversation between an early Christian and her neighbour in Rome.

“Ah,” the neighbor says. “I hear you are religious! Great! Religion is a good thing. Where is your temple or holy place?”

“We don’t have a temple,” replies the Christian. “Jesus is our temple.”

“No temple? But where do your priests work and do their ritual?”

“We don’t have priests to mediate the presence of God,” replies the Christian. “Jesus is our priest.”

“No priests? But where do you offer your sacrifices to acquire the favor of your God?”

“We don’t need a sacrifice,” replies the Christian. “Jesus is our sacrifice.”

“What kind of religion is this?” sputters the pagan neighbour.

And the answer is, it’s no kind of religion at all.”

—Tim Keller, King’s Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus, p. 48.