Do you admire Christ? - Horatius Bonar

“And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.” - John 21:25

“The sentiment like this comes well from the pen of John. It is the utterance of his admiration for His Lord. He writes as one lost in exulting amazement at the matchless glories of Him whose love he had so richly tasted, & whose Divine perfections he had so fully seen. He is closing the wondrous history of the “Word made flesh”; & in looking back upon that record, he feels that the half has not been told, nay, cannot be told. It is too long, too large, too marvelous, too glorious a story for earth. And this thought, pressing upon his soul, calls up the deepest feelings of his nature, so that, in summing up the Divine record, he cannot but give vent to these feelings in one solemn burst of triumphant admiration! (John 21:25)

Ah! Is this intense, this absorbing, this rapturous admiration, ours? Do we not greatly lack it in these days? Is there not a most unaccountable failure here? It is not love I speak of, it is not reverence, it is admiration —admiration for the Person & works of Jesus! We confess Christ, but do we admire Him? We make use of Him, we draw on Him, we honor Him, we love Him,—but do we admire Him? Where is there in us the Apostle's admiration for His glorious Person and marvelous works?

It is from the unwritten wonders of the Lord that the Apostle's admiration springs. On the written wonders of His life, faith rests itself; as we read, "These are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God" (John. 20:31); but it is at the thought of the unwritten wonders of His life that admiration rises to such a height. The recorded wonders are but a specimen, a sample, no more. They are but one beam of the marvelous radiance that streamed from this "day-star," when here below; and if one gleam be so bright, what must the full effulgence be, —what must be the orb from which the effulgence comes? They are but one leaf of the wondrous tree, "the Plant of Renown"; and if one leaf be so fair and excellent, what must that tree be from which it has been plucked ?

Even were that which is recorded all He did and spoke, He would be marvelous and loveable indeed. How much more when these are but specimens of His exceeding wisdom, and power, and glory! Perfect, beyond all our ideas of perfection; good, beyond all our ideas of goodness, must He have been!”

Horatius Bonar, The Unwritten Wonders of the Grace of Christ

“The Lord Jesus - a precious stone” – F.W. Krummacher

“The Lord Jesus resembles a precious stone which has various points of radiancy, & from which many different lights of consolation & joy proceed. According to the necessity of the circumstances in which we are placed, sometimes one side & sometimes another appears preeminently lovely; & there is no situation & no emergency in which we do not find Jesus efficacious in one of His aspects. For example, to the bruised heart we would represent Christ as the Friend of sinners; to the weak & timid soul we would show Him as a Hero ready to overcome all their enemies; to the sick & afflicted He is the unwearied Physician; to the maimed & crippled, the tender Nurse; & to those trembling ones, who know not how they are to stand at the judgment seat of God, we should exhibit Him as the Man who is our Righteousness. Thus, if I may so express it, the Heavenly Father turns Christ as a precious stone before the eyes of the people of Israel, according to their necessities; & in the mirror of His revelations makes His colours be reflected, & His lights beam forth, sometimes from one side, sometimes from another.”

– F.W. Krummacher, The Martyr Lamb,
sermon entitled “Moses Wish”

"Divine Illumination in Conversion” – Jodocus van Lodenstein (1620 – 1677)

“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” - 2 Corinthians 4:6

“First, observe the benefit of the light of the knowledge of God’s glory. This light has to do with the supernatural illumination of the heart, without which repentance cannot follow. It also has to do with the light whereby man is rendered fit to illuminate others by his instruction, for in the preceding verses Paul referred to himself as an apostle & teacher. He thus expounds the last part of the preceding verse.

He states further that this light was of the knowledge of the glory of God. Thus, it does not pertain to some earthly skills, but to God’s perfections. It pertains to the most glorious mysteries whereby the Lord is glorified. It pertains particularly to God’s counsel regarding man’s salvation & glory.

Therefore, the soul first beholds God’s glory, as well as the fact that everything exists for Him (Rev. 4:11). The soul then beholds God’s all-sufficiency (Gen. 17:1), & the more he reflects on this, the more he loses himself in wonder & awe. The beholding of God’s all-sufficiency & His infinite glory constitutes our felicity (John 17:3, Matt. 5:8).

The greater our knowledge of God’s glory & worthiness, the more we see that all creatures must exist for God, & that it is God alone of whom & to whom we live & have our being (Rom. 11:36). This understanding powerfully influences man daily to turn more & more from self – from his own profit, ease, pleasure, & advantage. By heavenly light, the soul learns to see that God alone is worthy. Hereby the soul perceives within himself as great an inclination toward God’s glory as to his own salvation – two things that are inseparable from each other. It is then that the illuminated soul is truly happy.

The soul does not behold God’s all-sufficiency only in Himself, but also for & to the benefit of His creatures – especially rational creatures. When a soul begins to know God in this fashion, he begins to know God as He is, and that constitutes the salvation of the soul…

We must be taught by the Lord (Isa. 54:13). The anointing of the Holy Spirit teaches us all things (1 John 2:27). ‘Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me,’ the Lord said (John 6:45). The Lord gives such illumination & instruction to whomever He wills according to His good pleasure. Without this illumination, one may speak of the letter that ‘kills’, though ‘the spirit gives life’ (2 Cor. 3:6). If someone were to possess great intellectual knowledge without love, he would be but ‘as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal’ (1 Cor. 13:1). All such intellectual knowledge will neither change nor sanctify his heart.”

– Jodocus van Lodenstein (1620 – 1677), A spiritual appeal to Christ’s bride,
sermon entitled “Divine Illumination in Conversion”

“Dead Hearts” – Jodocus van Lodenstein (1620 – 1677)

Sermon text is from Ezekiel 37:7-10

“…Added to this is the notion that, after the fall, man still possessed the ability to turn to the Lord of his own volition. We are of the opinion that we are capable of something and we do not consider that our doctrine teaches that we are dead in sins and trespasses (Eph. 2:1-3, 5) and are unable to make ourselves alive (John 15:4-5). If, by way of this sermon, I could help you to see your own inability toward any spiritual good in your soul so that you view yourself as being spiritually dead, I would judge that I have received much from God.

What then must we do? Shall we depart in despair? No, that is not my intent in saying this. What then?
First, we must give God the honor of all the good that is found in us or may yet be found in us. Second, we must humbly wait until it pleases the Lord to come in order to give us the Spirit of life – just as Ezekiel had to wait until it pleased the Lord to blow His Spirit into the dead bodies so that they might live (Ezekiel 37:9-10).

This waiting on the Lord is lacking among us. We rely too much on our own strength, thereby burrowing ourselves to death and accomplishing nothing.

The Lord Jesus did everything in His power to show in the gospel that man is not capable of anything. He expressed this in John 9:41: “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.” On another occasion, He preached about those who hunger and thirst, and those who are poor in spirit (Matt. 5:3, 6). Oh, if only we were to recognize that we are dead indeed! If only I could bring you to the point that you would see how wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked you are (Rev. 3:17); then together we would cry out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Luke 18:38). The Lord would surely come and give us sight.

Oh, that this would be the day ordained of God to give life to the dead and that the Babylon of this sinful walk would fall! Amen.”

– Jodocus van Lodenstein (1620 – 1677), A spiritual appeal to Christ’s bride (classics of Reformed Spirituality),
sermon entitled “Dead Hearts”

renew your faith daily in point of justification - Jeremiah Burroughs

“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” - 1 Corinthians 15:56-57

“The strength of sin is the Law. God’s justice in the Law giving men up unto sin, there lies the strength of sin. But now God through Christ, coming to men in the grace of the Gospel, gives deliverance from the strength of sin. Perhaps some of you have lain under the burden and power of sin, and you have thought the only way to get victory has been to resolve and strive against it. And you have done so, and yet you cannot get power over your sins. I remember one wrote to Luther, telling him that he had vowed and covenanted against his sin, and yet his sin prevailed against him until he understood the grace of the Gospel. And so maybe have you done, and yet your sin prevails because you take not this course.
Try the work of faith in point of justification. Renew your faith in God for the forgiveness of your sin through Jesus Christ. That’s the ready way; try that course. You who have tired of laboring against corruption, you have resolved and prayed and shed tears, and yet that will not do. Try this way: Renew your faith daily in point of justification by laying hold of the infinite riches of the grace of Christ in the gospel for pardon, for healing power to come in to help you against that which holds you, and this will not hinder your duties. You may pray, resolve, and fast as much as before, but be sure your great care is to renew your faith in point of justification, and there will come more healing in your souls by that than by anything else. Once you can touch Christ, the bloody issues of your sins that ran before come to be dried up, which you could not dry up, though you spent your time and pains and did all you could do. Here is a great difference between God’s forgiveness and man’s: a king may forgive but he cannot change and heal. But when God forgives, He heals and takes away that evil disposition from you that so weakened you for all good. When Christ comes, He comes with healing in His wings. Now blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven, for there follows deliverance from the power of sin and a healing of the soul.”

- Jeremiah Burroughs, Gospel Remission

http://www.ligonier.org/store/gospel-remission-hardcover/

“life cannot separate us from the love of God” - Robert Murray M’Cheyne

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?...For I am sure that neither death nor life…nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” - (Romans 8:35,38-39)

“The age in which this epistle (to the Romans) was penned, was fruitful of suffering to the church of God. And if any period, or any circumstances of her history threatened a severance of the bond which united her to Christ, that was the period, & those were the circumstances. But, with a confidence based upon the glorious truth on which he has been descanting, the security of the church of God in Christ, & with a persuasion inspired be the closer realization of the glory about to burst upon her view, and with the most dauntless courage, he exclaims, ‘For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Rom. 8:38-39). Let us briefly glance at each of these things which may threaten, but which cannot succeed in separating us from the love of God, & from our union with Christ…

Life cannot. I remember reading of one of Brainerd’s converts, who, when brought to a full sense of the love of God, cried out, ‘Oh, blessed Lord, take me away; do let me die, & go to Jesus Christ. I am afraid if I live I shall sin again.’ She feared that life would separate her from the love of God. But no, life cannot, ‘neither death nor life’. The hope of life is meant. The apostle wrote, as we have remarked, in a peculiarly suffering era of the church, an age of fiery persecution for the gospel’s sake. Under these circumstances, life was not infrequently offered on condition of renouncing the gospel & denying the Saviour. This was a strong temptation to apostasy.

When, in suffering times, in full view of the rack, the cross or the stake, life, precious life, with all its sweet attraction & fond ties, was offered, & when a simple renunciation of the cross, & a single embrace of the crucifix, would purchase it back – to some who were weak in faith, such a temptation might be well-nigh irresistible. But it shall not succeed in separating the suffering Christian from the love of Christ.

Nor shall anything connected with life, its trials, its vicissitudes, or its temptations, sever us from God’s affection. Thus both life & death shall but confirm us in the assurance of our inalienable interest in the love of God, ‘For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s’ (Romans 14:8). Are you in Christ? Do not fear to live. The love of God will still be poured into your heart, & the Spirit of God will be given to you. ‘I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one’ (John 17:15). Neither death, nor life, can separate us from the love of God.”

- Robert Murray M’Cheyne, New Testament Sermons

http://www.heritagebooks.org/products/New-Testament-Sermons.html

http://www.solid-ground-books.com/search.asp?searchtext=THE+SERMONS+OF+ROBERT+MURRAY+M%27CHEYNE