The Scriptures are the circumference of faith, the round of which it walks, and every point of which compass it toucheth; yet the center of it is Christ. That is the pole star, on which it resteth.
Studiously and conscientiously apply yourselves to this heavenly skill of spiritual preaching. So convince of sin - the guilt, the stain, the pollution of it, the curse and malediction whereunto the soul is exposed by it, that your hearers may be awakened and humbled and effectually forewarned "to flee from the wrath to come."
So convince of
the all-sufficient righteousness and unsearchable riches of Christ,
the excellency of His knowledge,
the immeasurableness of His love,
the preciousness of His promises,
"the fellowship of His sufferings,
the power of His resurrection,"
the beauties of His holiness,
the easiness of His yoke,
the sweetness of His peace,
the joy of His salvation,
the hope of His glory,
that the hearts of your hearers may burn within them, and they may "fly, like doves unto their windows," for shelter and sanctuary into the arms of such a Redeemer, who "is able" and willing "to save to the uttermost those that come unto God by Him," that they may with all ready obedience, and by the constraining power of the love of Christ, yield up themselves to the government of this Prince of Peace, by whom "the Prince of this world is judged and cast out," his "works destroyed," and we for this end "bought with a price," that we should "not be our own," but His that bought us, nor "live any longer unto ourselves," but unto him that loved us, and died for us, and rose again.
"Preach Christ Jesus the Lord." "Determine to know nothing among your people but Christ crucified." Let His name and grace, His Spirit and love, triumph in the midst of all your sermons.
Let your great end be
to glorify Him in the heart,
to render Him amiable and precious in the eyes of His people,
to lead them to Him,
as a sanctuary to protect them,
a propitiation to reconcile them,
a treasure to enrich them,
a physician to heal them,
an advocate to present them and their services to God,
as wisdom to counsel them,
as righteousness to justify,
as sanctification to renew,
as redemption to save.
Let Christ be the diamond to shine in the bosom of all your sermons.
"Simplicity, and godly sincerity" - not talent or eloquence - are the principles of our agency. One short sentence describes our system - "Christ is all, and in all." He is not only exhibited in the picture, but in the foreground - as the principal figure - where every part of the picture is subordinated, to give Him that prominence and effect, which attract the eye and the heart exclusively to Him.
The best preaching is, “We preach Christ crucified.”
The best living is, “We are crucified with Christ.”
The best man is a crucified man.
The more we live beholding our Lord’s unutterable griefs, and understanding how he has fully put away our sin, the more holiness shall we produce.
The more we dwell where the cries of Calvary can be heard, where we can view heaven, and earth, and hell, all moved by his wondrous passion—the more noble will our lives become.
Nothing puts life into men like a dying Savior.
Get close to Christ, and carry the remembrance of him about you from day to day, and you will do right royal deeds.
Come, let us slay sin, for Christ was slain.
Come, let us bury all our pride, for Christ was buried.
Come, let us rise to newness of life, for Christ has risen.
Let us be united with our crucified Lord in his one great object — let us live and die with him, and then every action of our lives will be very beautiful.
When anything intercepts our view of Christ, may we feel what loneliness is.
WHEN Christ uttered, in the judgment hall of Pilate, the remarkable words? "I am a king," he pronounced a sentiment fraught with unspeakable dignity and power. His enemies might deride his pretensions and express their mockery of his claim, by presenting him with a crown of thorns, a reed and a purple robe, and nailing him to the cross; but in the eyes of unfallen intelligences, he was a king. A higher power presided over that derisive ceremony, and converted it into a real coronation. That crown of thorns was indeed the diadem of empire; that purple robe was the badge of royalty; that fragile reed was the symbol of unbounded power; and that cross the throne of dominion which shall never end.
If a man has Christ, then what does he want else? If a man has Christ, he has everything. If I want perfection, and I have Christ, I have absolute perfection in him. If I want righteousness, I shall find in him my beauty and my glorious dress. I want pardon, and if I have Christ, I am pardoned. I want heaven, and if I have Christ, I have the Prince of heaven, and shall be there by-and-bye, to live with Christ, and to dwell in his blessed embrace for ever. If you have Christ, you have all. Do not be desponding, do not give ear to the whisperings of Satan that you are not the children of God; for if you have Christ, you are his people, and other things will come by-and-bye. Christ makes you complete in himself; as the apostle says, "Ye are complete in him."
Ye blind, ye lame, who are far from Christ, come to him, and receive your sight, and obtain strength! He is made your all; you need bring nothing in your hand to come to him.
O Great God from lb on Vimeo.
Christ in the circle of His disciples would make them so happy that none would remark upon the [lack] of John or Peter. Christ as "Lamb in the midst of the throne" is able to give intense joy to millions upon millions, His look, voice, smile, presence. Oh to see "the King in His beauty!" We shall be sick of love, and yet find all health in that love. "All my springs are in Thee."
It will be ecstasy to have made this attainment, to love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and strength and mind . . . Those who have real love to Christ always wish they had more.
Of all things beware of a cold heart.
Christ will not let anything interfere with your love for Him. He says, "I am all for you, and you must be all for Me."
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