The Infinite Riches Of Christ

Richard Sibbes wrote:

. . . the church (and so every Christian) . . . hath evermore springing up in them an insatiable desire for a further taste and assurance of [Christ's] love [because of] Christ's infinite riches, infinite in his glory, in his power, in his beauty, in his pleasures, and joys, and the like. He hath all things, 'All power is given him in heaven and in earth,' Mat. xxvii. 18; every way infinite in himself; and hence it is, that the spouse hath an infinite desire to have a further taste of his love, and a nearer communion with him.

Richard Sibbes, "The Spouse, Her Earnest Desire After Christ," in The Works Of Richard Sibbes, Vol. 2 (Carlisle: Banner Of Truth, 1983), 204.

Lacking No Good Thing In Christ!

Richard Sibbes said:

Christ condescended so far unto us, to such a near league, as to take us to be his spouse, who hath all things. What then can we [lack] when we are at the fountain of all things? We can [lack] no protection, for that is the covering of this well. We can [lack] no good thing but he will supply it. We have free access unto him, as the wife hath to her husband . . .

Richard Sibbes, "The Spouse, Her Earnest Desire After Christ," in The Works Of Richard Sibbes, Vol. 2 (Carlisle: Banner Of Truth, 1983), 201.

Panting For Christ!

John Owen wrote:

This I know: that in the immediate beholding of the person of Christ we shall see a glory in it a thousand times above what here we can conceive. The excellencies of infinite wisdom, love, and power therein, will be continually before us.

And all the glories of the person of Christ which we have before weakly and faintly inquired into, will be in our sight forevermore. Hence the ground and cause of our blessedness is that 'we shall ever be with the Lord,' (1 Thess. 4:17), as He Himself prays, 'that we may be with Him where He is, to behold His glory' (John 17:24).

We cannot perfectly behold it until we are with Him where He is. There our sight of Him will be direct, intuitive, and constant. There is a glory, there will be so, subjectively in us in the beholding of this glory of Christ, which is at present incomprehensible.

For it doth not yet appear what we ourselves shall be (cf. 1 John 3:2). Who can declare what a glory it will be in us to behold this glory of Christ? And how excellent, then, is that glory of Christ itself? This immediate sight of Christ is that which all the saints of God in this life do breathe and pant after.

John Owen, "Meditations and Discourses on the Glory of Christ," in The Works of John Owen, ed. William Goold, 24 vols. (Edinburgh: Johnson & Hunter; 1850-1855; reprint by Banner of Truth, 1965), Vol. 1:379.

HT: Tolle Lege

Christ: The Delight Of All Believers!

John Owen wrote:

The saints' delight is in Christ: He is their joy, their crown, their rejoicing, their life, food, health, strength, desire, righteousness, salvation, blessedness: without Him they have nothing; in Him they shall find all things. 'God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ' (Gal. 6:14). He has, from the foundation of the world, been the hope, expectation, desire, and delight of all believers.

John Owen, Communion With The Triune God, Eds. Kelly Kapic and Justin Taylor (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1657/2007), 236.

HT: Tolle Lege

Super-Marital Intimacy With Christ

Raymond Ortlund writes:

. . . the believer is even more intimate with the Lord than with his or her spouse, for this is a union of spirit, and spirit always leads one more deeply into reality than does flesh . . . No more profound communion exists than that between the believer and the Lord, and Paul's logic encourages the view that this communion is, as it were, super-marital in nature and already joined.

Raymond C. Ortlund Jr., Whoredom: God's Unfaithful Wife In Biblical Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996), 146.

Infinite Riches In Christ!

John Calvin wrote:

Without the gospel everything is useless and vain;

Without the gospel we are not Christians;

Without the gospel all riches is poverty,
all wisdom folly before God;
strength is weakness, and all the justice of man is under the condemnation of God.

But by the knowledge of the gospel we are made
children of God,
brothers of Jesus Christ,
fellow townsmen with the saints,
citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven,
heirs of God with Jesus Christ, by whom

the poor are made rich,
the weak strong,
the fools wise,
the sinner justified,
the desolate comforted,
the doubting sure,
and slaves free.

It is the power of God for the salvation of all those who believe.

It follows that every good thing we could think or desire is to be found in this same Jesus Christ alone.

For, He was sold, to buy us back;
captive, to deliver us;
condemned, to absolve us;

He was made a curse for our blessing,
[a] sin offering for our righteousness;
marred that we may be made fair;

He died for our life; so that by him fury is made gentle,
wrath appeased,
darkness turned into light,
fear reassured,
despisal despised,
debt canceled,
labor lightened,
sadness made merry,
misfortune made fortunate,
difficulty easy,
disorder ordered,
division united,
ignominy ennobled,
rebellion subjected,
intimidation intimidated,
ambush uncovered,
assaults assailed,
force forced back,
combat combated,
war warred against,
vengeance avenged,
torment tormented,
damnation damned,
the abyss sunk into the abyss,
hell transfixed,
death dead,
mortality made immortal.

In short, mercy has swallowed up all misery, and goodness all misfortune.

For all these things which were to be the weapons of the devil in his battle against us, and the sting of death to pierce us, are turned for us into exercises which we can turn to our profit.

If we are able to boast with the apostle, saying, O hell, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? it is because by the Spirit of Christ promised to the elect, we live no longer, but Christ lives in us; and we are by the same Spirit seated among those who are in heaven, so that for us the world is no more, even while our conversation is in it; but we are content in all things, whether country, place, condition, clothing, meat, and all such things.

And we are comforted in tribulation,
joyful in sorrow,
glorying under vituperation,
abounding in poverty,
warmed in our nakedness,
patient amongst evils,
living in death.

This is what we should in short seek in the whole of Scripture: truly to know Jesus Christ, and the infinite riches that are comprised in him and are offered to us by him from God the Father.

From John Calvin's preface to Pierre Robert Olivétan's French translation of the New Testament (1534).

HT: Justin Taylor

The Highest Of All God's Commands - Look To Christ!

Martin Luther wrote to a struggling Christian:

The highest of all God’s commands is this, that we hold up before our eyes the image of his dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Every day he should be our excellent mirror wherein we behold how much God loves us and how well, in his infinite goodness, he has cared for us in that he gave his dear Son for us . . . Contemplate Christ given for us. Then, God willing, you will feel better.

From Timothy George, Theology Of The Reformers (Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 1988), 78-79.

Christ Is All, Not Luther!

Martin Luther commented on the absurdity of Christians calling themselves "Lutherans:"

The first thing I ask is that people should not make use of my name, and should not call themselves Lutherans but Christians. What is Luther? The teaching is not mine. Nor was I crucified for anyone . . . How did I, poor stinking bag of maggots that I am, come to the point where people call the children of Christ by my evil name?

Cited from Timothy George, Theology Of The Reformers (Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 1988), 53.

Treasuring Christ Above All Else

Jesus Is Heaven

Spurgeon writes:

... strengthened and consoled by Jesus, the believer is not afraid to die; no he is even willing to depart, for since he has seen Jesus as the morning star, he longs to gaze upon Him as the sun in his strength. Truly, the presence of Jesus is all the heaven we desire. Jesus is at once: The glory of our brightest days; the comfort of our nights.

Charles Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, July 2.