Matthew Henry, Christ Bears

 "Christ bears with his people, whose hearts are upright with him, and admits them into communion with himself, notwithstanding their manifold infirmities." — 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐰 𝐇𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐲 on Zech. 3:3 [pictured: Jean Geoffroy, 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑟𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑙𝑒 (1893)]

The Lord's Supper Service

"Do not allow the weakness of your faith or your failures in the Christian life to keep you from this Table. For it is given to us because of our weakness and because of our failures, in order to increase our faith by feeding us with the body and blood of Jesus Christ." — URCNA Forms and Prayers

Celebration of the Lord’s Supper – Short Form 1

Preparation

To all of you who have with godly sorrow confessed your sins and who have affirmed true faith in Christ, the promise of Jesus is sure: “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink” (John 6:54–55). For “the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me’?” (1 Cor. 11:23–25).

While remaining bread and wine, these sacred elements nevertheless become so united to the reality they signify that we do not doubt, but joyfully believe, that we receive in this meal by the Spirit through faith nothing less than the crucified body and shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For all who live in rebellion against God and in unbelief, this holy food and drink will bring you only further condemnation. If you do not yet confess Jesus Christ and seek to live under his gracious reign, we admonish you to abstain. But all who repent and believe are invited to this sacred meal, not because you are worthy in yourself, but because you are clothed in Christ’s perfect righteousness. Do not allow the weakness of your faith or your failures in the Christian life to keep you from this Table. For it is given to us because of our weakness and because of our failures, in order to increase our faith by feeding us with the body and blood of Jesus Christ. As the Word has promised us God’s favor, so also our heavenly Father has added this confirmation of His unchangeable promise. So come, believing sinners, for the Table is ready. “Taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Ps. 34:8).

The Consecration

Let us pray:
Almighty and everlasting God, who by the blood of Your only begotten Son has secured for us a new and living way into the Holy of Holies, cleanse our minds and hearts by Your Word and Spirit that we, Your redeemed people, drawing close to You through this holy sacrament, may enjoy fellowship with the Holy Trinity through the body and blood of Christ our Savior. We know that our ascended Savior does not live in temples made by hands, but is in heaven, where He continues to intercede on our behalf. Through this sacrament, by Your own Word and Spirit, may these common elements now be set apart from ordinary use and consecrated by You, so that, just as truly as we eat and drink these elements by which our bodily life is sustained, so truly we receive into our souls, for our spiritual life, the true body and true blood of Christ. We receive these gifts by faith, which is the hand and mouth of our souls. Amen.

Apostles’ Creed (optional)

As we draw near to the Table of our Lord, let us confess our Christian faith:

Congregation:

I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there he shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit; the holy catholic church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.

The minister then says:

Let us now go to our heavenly Table and receive the gift of God for our souls. By the promise of God, this bread and wine are for us the body and blood of Christ.

Minister: Lift up your hearts!

Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord.

Communion

The elements are distributed, and the minister may use the formula:

The bread which we break is a communion of the body of Christ. Take, eat, remember, and believe that the body of our Lord Jesus Christ was broken for the complete forgiveness of all our sins.

The cup of blessing which we bless is a communion of the blood of Christ. Take, drink, remember, and believe that the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ was shed for the complete forgiveness of all our sins.

Thanksgiving Prayer

Our gracious heavenly Father, we thank You for the blessing of this holy feast. Although we are unworthy to share this meal with You, it is by Your invitation and dressed in Christ’s righteousness that we have come boldly into the Holy of Holies. Instead of wrath, we have received Your pardon; in the place of fear, we have been given hope. Our High Priest and Mediator of the new covenant has reconciled us to You and even now intercedes for us at Your right hand. Please strengthen us by these gifts, so that, relying only on Your promise to save sinners who call on Jesus’ name, we may, by Your Spirit, honor You with our souls and bodies, to the honor and glory of Your holy name. Amen.

Blind

 “We are naturally blind; and the Word cannot penetrate our mind unless the Spirit, that eternal Teacher, by His enlightening

power, makes an entrance for it.” -John Calvin

Perfect Jesus

 “We are living in a world of sin, and the fearful havoc it has wrought is evident on every side. How refreshing, then, to fix our gaze upon One who is immaculately holy, and who passed through this scene unspoiled by its evil. Such was the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnate. For thirty-three years, He was in immediate contact with sin — yet He was never, to the slightest degree, contaminated.”

~ Arthur Pink, “The Impeccability of Christ”

Glory in Ourselves

"I will not say, that every one that denies election is a bad man, yet I will say, it is a very bad sign. For if we deny election, we must, partly at least, glory in ourselves."

Nominal Christianity

 “There is a great difference between nominal Christianity and real Christianity, and this is generally seen in the failure of the one and the continuance of the other. The truly righteous man shall hold on his way: he shall not go back, he shall not leap the hedges and wander to the right hand or the left, he shall not lie down in idleness, neither shall he faint and cease to go upon his journey; but he ‘shall hold on his way.’ It will frequently be very difficult for him to do so, but he will have such resolution, such power of inward grace given him, that he will hold on his way’ with stern determination, as though he held on by his teeth, resolving never to let go. Perhaps he may not always travel with equal speed; it is not said that he shall hold on his pace, but he shall hold on his way. There are times when we run and are not weary, and another when we walk and are thankful that we do not faint; ay, and there are periods when we are glad to go on all fours and creep upwards with pain; but still we prove that ‘the righteous shall hold on his way.’ Under all difficulties the face of the man whom God has justified is steadfastly set towards Jerusalem, nor will he turn aside till his eyes shall see the King in his beauty."

~ Charles Spurgeon 1834-1892, "The Final Perseverance of the Saints"

Made for God

 "This life is not to be valued but as it yields opportunities to glorify God. We are not sent into the world to live for ourselves, but for God. If we could make ourselves, then we could live for ourselves....But God made us for himself, and sent us into the world for himself. It is not our duty to glorify God in heaven only, but also here on earth in the midst of difficulties and temptations. No one is sent into the world to be idle, or to bring forth fruit to themselves, but God's glory must be our chief work and aim while we are here upon earth."

~ Thomas Manton 1620-1677

A Love in God

 There is a love in God towards sinners which is unspeakable and unsearchable--but it is for those who "hear Christ's voice and follow Him." Seek to have an interest in that love. Break off every known sin; come out boldly from the world; cry mightily to God in prayer; cast yourself wholly and unreservedly on the Lord Jesus for time and eternity; lay aside every weight. Cling to nothing, however dear, which interferes with your soul's salvation; give up everything, however precious, which comes between you and heaven. This old shipwrecked world is fast sinking beneath your feet: the one thing needful is to have a place in the lifeboat and get safe to shore.

Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots

J. C. Ryle

1816 –1900

Pool of Quotes

“The Bible without the Holy Spirit is as a sundial by moonlight.” -C.H. Spurgeon

“God works powerfully, but for the most part gently and gradually.” -John Newton

“When God bids a man to Repent and Believe, He commands him to do what he ought to do - not what he can do.” -Thomas Watson

“If I admit that God’s will regulates the great movements of the universe, I must admit that it equally regulates the small. It must do this, for the great depend upon the small. The minutest movement of my will is regulated by the will of God. And in this I rejoice. Woe is me if it be not so.” -Horatius Bonar

”To suppose that whatever God requires of us that we have power of ourselves to do, is to make the cross and grace of Jesus Christ of none effect.” -John Owen

“What shall we say of those who think that conversion is wrought by the free will of man, and is due to his own betterness of disposition? When we shall see the dead man rise from the grave by his own power, then we may expect to see ungodly sinners of their own free will turning to Christ.” -C.H. Spurgeon

“For if we believe it to be true that God foreknows and foreordains all things, that He can neither be deceived nor hindered in His prescience and predestination, and that nothing can take place but according to His will, there can be no free will in man, in angel, or in any creature.” -Martin Luther

“The best men are often molded out of faults.” -William Shakespeare

“More than half a century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of older people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: ‘Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.’ Since then I have spent well-nigh 50 years working on the history of our Revolution; in the process, I have read hundreds of books, collected hundreds of personal testimonies, and have already contributed eight volumes of my own toward the effort of clearing away the rubble left by that upheaval. But if I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible the main cause of the ruinous Revolution that swallowed up some 60 million of our people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat: ‘Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.’” -Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

“It is a bad world, Donatus, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and good people who have learned the great secret of life. They have found a joy and a wisdom which is a thousand times better than any of the pleasures of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people, Donatus, are Christians…and I am one of them.” -Cyprian

“Hammer away, ye hostile bands. Your hammers break; God’s anvil stands.” -seen on a monument to the French Huguenots

“Quietude, which some cannot abide because it reveals their inward poverty, is as a palace of cedar to the wise, for along its hallowed courts the King in His beauty deigns to walk.” -C.H. Spurgeon

“He is your friend who pushes you nearer to God.” -Abraham Kuyper

“You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.” -Jonathan Edwards

“To most people in the world, sin is a very light thing.” -Jeremiah Burroughs

“Let us not be deceived by the vain show in which men are walking. In spite of all fancied progress, that word is still true, ‘We are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.’ No amount of culture can change a man. ‘That which is born of the flesh is flesh…’(John 3:6) and the progress of the flesh, however goodly it seems, must be ever downward.” -Horatius Bonar

“Men are often so loathe to be under any Christian government. Far be it for them to be instructed how to live well, and rebuked if they do not do well. But, men, generally, will have none of it.” -John Dod

"Carnal men have carnal minds, and are for carnal things, and have in them an enmity to God, Christ, and all spiritual services." -John Wilson

“Pride is a person having too high an opinion of himself. Pride is the first sin that ever entered into the universe, and the last sin that is rooted out. Pride is the worst sin. It is the most secret of all sins. There is no other matter in which the heart is more deceitful and unsearchable. Alas, how much pride the best have in their hearts! Pride is God’s most stubborn enemy! There is no sin so much like the devil as pride. It is a secret and subtle sin, and appears in a great many shapes which are undetected and unsuspected.” -Jonathan Edwards

“Humility was never a loser.” -Thomas Watson

“Those which are afflicted by God in trials should pray to be bettered before they are delivered.” -Thomas Valentine

“False repentance, this devil’s faith, may produce a Judas’ repentance.” -Zachary Crofton

“Nothing is more hateful to God than a secure frame in perilous days.” -John Owen

“The life of a Christian is nothing else but a meditation of death.” -William Perkins

“Even the best of men are men, at best.” -C.H. Spurgeon

“No man was ever kept out of heaven for his confessed badness, but many are for their supposed goodness.” -Richard Capel

“Many a preacher is now in Hell, who has a hundred times called on his hearers to use the utmost care and diligence to escape it!” -Richard Baxter

“Daily bread may make us live comfortably, but forgiveness of sins will make us die comfortably.” -Thomas Watson

“True worship is supernatural. It is cross to a corrupt nature. Men’s inventions in worship are suited to their nature. Unconverted men see no beauty in God’s worship. They will do no more in it than what they may keep up to the credit their false profession.” -James Allen

“Many people do not forsake their sins, but grow more cunning in concealing them.” -Thomas Watson

“Why do people often hate the preaching of ministers and the ministry of the Word? Answer. Commonly from the matter which he delivers, by which the errors of their judgment, and corruptions of their hearts and lives, are laid open, and reproved.” -Stephen Egerton

“God's punishment to a wicked man on earth, is his wicked mind.” -Hannibal Gammon

“You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” -Augustine

“No man should think himself a Christian, if he does not hate sin.” -William Plumer

“There is a common, worldly kind of Christianity in this day, which many have, and think they have enough - a cheap Christianity which offends nobody, and requires no sacrifice - which costs nothing, and is worth nothing.” -J.C. Ryle

“He that rides to be crowned, will not think much of a rainy day.” -John Trapp

“Learn the art of self-reflection, which is the way to self-reformation.” -Thomas Gouge

“It is not properly our unworthiness, but our pride and haughtiness that hinder us from coming to Christ; for we would have something from ourselves, and not all from him.” -Thomas Hooker

“None are more unjust in their judgments of others than those who have a high opinion of themselves.” -C.H. Spurgeon

“When people are right with God, they are apt to be hard on themselves and easy on other people. But when they are not right with God, they are easy on themselves and hard on others.” -John Newton

“The lost continue in sin, deceiving themselves with vain hope of God's mercy in the end.” -George Gifford

“A man must not expect to be justified by his own works, or accepted because of his own goodness, or be saved by his own merits.” -Simeon Ashe

“The great controversy that men have against Christ is his government; they will not have him rule over them.” -William Williams

“No man rejects the principles of Christianity because his reason runs counter to them, but because his lusts control his reason and corrupt his judgment.” -Jonathan Dickinson

“God gives us everything in the name of Christ. Hence we need no other intercessors.” -Huldrych Zwingli

“Peace is not to be purchased by the sacrifice of truth.” -John Calvin

“Roman Catholic doctrine and the Pope’s teaching is an abomination which brings desolation.” -Simeon Ashe

“It is dangerous to be the world's favorite.” -Simeon Ashe

“We can constantly observe that there has been the least of the power of godliness, where there has been the greatest attachment to human inventions, to external pomp and ceremony in the worship of God.” -Jonathan Dickinson

“It is enough to render all our worship vain, if it can be said of it as of Jeroboam’s feast, that it was devised out of our own hearts.” -Joshua Moodey

“Ceremonial worship and that of human invention are both abominations to the Lord. The former, once lawful, is now unlawful; the latter never were lawful, nor ever will be lawful. We should desire to keep ourselves pure and utterly renounce and disclaim them.” -John Wilson

“New figures, or any shadows introduced into the worship of the church is wicked audaciousness, as we affirm it is prohibited of the Word of God, who expressly condemns all ‘will-worship’, and in times past prohibited the bringing of strange fire to his altar.” -Theodore Beza

“The world despises the true worship of the saints. This presses the church to invent what they suppose is a more glorious and beautiful worship, though God abhors such inventions.” -John Owen

“Tradition has drawn men from the revealed will of God. Men are more willing to imitate the outward actions of their famous ancestors, than conform themselves to the revealed will of their Creator in worship.” -Stephen Charnock

“All worshipping, honoring, or service invented by the brain of man in the religion of God, without his own express commandment, is idolatry.” -John Knox

“Men do not come to Christ, for negligence, cannot come to Christ, for impotence, and will not come to Christ, for wickedness.” -Thomas Valentine

“Many have passed for saints on earth, whose souls are now in Hell.” -Martin Luther

“God will condemn those by his Word, who will not judge themselves by it.” -Daniel Burgess

“Prosperity inebriates men, so that they take delights in their own merits.” -John Calvin

“The saint's peace is a peace with God, but not with sin. The sinner's peace is a peace with sin, but not with God.” -Matthew Mead

“You may not be outwardly bad — and yet not inwardly good.” -Thomas Watson

“Sin is never our master — until we consent to have it so.” -Daniel Burgess

"The most damnable heresy that ever plagued the mind of man was that he could make himself good enough to deserve to live with a holy God." -Martin Luther

“It is hard to mortify sin--but will it not be harder to be damned for it?" -Thomas Gouge

“God takes a safe course with His children, that they may not be condemned with the world, He permits the world to condemn them, that they may not love the world, the world hates them….” -Richard Sibbes

“This is a singular comfort, that all things come to pass not according to wicked men’s counsels, but according to what God determines.” -George Gifford

“If you would ever reign with Christ when you die, He must reign in you while you live." -Edmund Calamy

“No man can die in the Lord who does not live to the Lord.” -William Spurstowe

“Beware, I pray thee, of presuming that thou art saved. If thy heart be renewed, if thou shalt hate the things that thou didst once love, and love the things that thou didst once hate; if thou hast really repented; if there be a thorough change of mind in thee; if thou be born again, then hast thou reason to rejoice: but if there be no vital change, no inward godliness; if there be no love to God, no prayer, no work of the Holy Spirit, then thy saying “I am saved” is but thine own assertion, and it may delude, but it will not deliver thee.” -C.H. Spurgeon

“We all profess that we are bound for heaven, immortality, and glory: but is it any evidence that we really design it if all our thoughts are consumed about the trifles of this world, which we must leave behind us, and have only occasional thoughts of things above?” -John Owen

“He who does not care to be like Christ, certainly has no love to Him, nor any saving interest in His love.” -Nathaniel Vincent

“All the men in the world are either vessels of mercy or vessels of wrath — according to the will of God.” -Thomas Hooker

“This is the reason that some love Him, and others do not — because He reveals Himself to some and not to others.” -John Preston

“Where one thousand are destroyed by the world's frowns — ten thousand are destroyed by the world's smiles.” -Thomas Brooks

“It is in many places a lost labor to seek for Christianity among 'Christians', and the degeneracy seems to be increasing every day.” -John Owen

“I do not pray not for the world." (John 17:9). "If Christ would not spend his breath to pray for them, then surely he would not spend his precious blood to purchase Heaven for them.” -Christopher Love

“You say, 'If I had a little more, I should be very satisfied.' You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled.” -C.H. Spurgeon

“It is a wonder to see what power petty, vain toys have over a person.” -Henry Smith

“There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every person and it can never be filled by any created thing. It can only be filled by God, made known through Jesus Christ.” -Blaise Pascal

Alas, though I know in theory what a Christian should be, I am still sadly deficient. In practice, I am a poor creature and see much to be ashamed of every day, and in every circumstance. Yet, though sin will distress, it cannot condemn those who believe in Jesus.” -John Newton

“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” -C.S. Lewis

“Instead of complaining at his lot, a contented man is thankful that his condition and circumstances are no worse than they are. Instead of greedily desiring something more than the supply of his present need, he rejoices that God still cares for him. Such an one is “content” with such as he has (Heb. 13:5).” -Arthur W. Pink

“A godly man prefers grace before goods, and wisdom before the world.” -Richard Bernard

“Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your god.” -Martin Luther

“Whatsoever a man values above God, He will make it a bane and a ruin unto him.” -Richard Sibbes

“Prosperity is the nurse of atheism.” -Thomas Case

“I was in the robe chamber, adjoining the House of Lords, when the King put on his robes. His brow was much furrowed with age and quite clouded with care. And is this all the world can give…even to a king? All the grandeur it can afford? A blanket of ermine round his shoulders, so heavy and cumbersome he can scarcely move under it! A huge heap of borrowed hair, with a few plates of gold and glittering stones upon his head! Alas, what a bauble is human greatness! And even this will not endure.” -John Wesley

“Nothing teaches us the preciousness of the Creator as much as when we learn the emptiness of all else.” -C.H. Spurgeon

“Ignorant men raise questions that wise men answered a thousand years ago.” -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“When I was young, I was sure of many things. Now, there are only two things of which I am sure. One is, that I am a miserable sinner, and the other, that Christ is an all-sufficient Saviour. He is well-taught who learns these two lessons.” -John Newton

“I know now, Lord, why You utter no answer. You are Yourself the answer. Before Your face questions die away. What other answer would suffice?” -C.S. Lewis

“Christ is not truly prized at all — unless He is prized above all.” -Nathaniel Vincent

“Men secretly imagine that God knows not, or soon forgets - and then make bold to sin against Him.” -Stephen Charnock

“Lovers of the world are much more afraid of losing their earthly substance, than they are of losing their immortal souls.” -Nathaniel Vincent

“Believers are wise to admire nothing in this world. Jesus did not care for it when Satan offered him all the kingdoms of the world.” -Nathaniel Vincent

“You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” -Augustine of Hippo

“Every one of us is, even from his mother’s womb, a master craftsman of idols.” -John Calvin

“If I had never joined a Church till I had found one that was perfect, I should never have joined one at all! And the moment I did join it, if I had found one, I should have spoiled it, for it would not have been a perfect Church after I had become a member of it. Still, imperfect as it is, it is the dearest place on earth to us.” -C.H. Spurgeon

“They that know God will be humble, and they that know themselves, cannot be proud.” -John Flavel

“Humility is to make a right estimate of oneself.” -C.H. Spurgeon

“A truly humble man is sensible of his natural distance from God; of his dependence on Him; of the insufficiency of his own power and wisdom; and that it is by God’s power that he is upheld and provided for, and that he needs God’s wisdom to lead and guide him, and His might to enable him to do what he ought to do for Him.” -Jonathan Edwards

“I cannot but look upon all the glory and dignity of this world, lands and lordships, crowns and kingdoms, even as on some brain-sick, beggarly fellow, that borrows fine clothes, and plays, the part of a king or lord for an hour on a stage, and then comes down, and the sport is ended, and they are beggars again.” -Richard Baxter

“A godly man preferreth grace before goods, and wisdom before the world.” -Richard Bernard

“The world by wisdom knew not God, but took a great deal of pains to lose him.” -Matthew Henry

“The real secret of an unsatisfied life lies too often in an unsurrendered will.” -Hudson Taylor

“To the people of God there is no doctrine so comfortable as the doctrine of Christ's coming to judge the world.” -Christopher Love

“If the Lord brings a wicked man to Heaven, it would be Hell to him; for he who does not love grace on earth, will never love it in Heaven.” -Christopher Love

“Poverty and affliction take away the fuel that feeds pride.” -Richard Sibbes

“It is just with God to punish us in that thing we idolize.” -Thomas Valentine

“A Christian is not poor, who is rich in grace; a man is not miserable, who has Christ for his portion.” -William Gearing

“The difference between an unconverted and a converted man is not that the one has sins and the other has none; but that the one takes part with his cherished sins against a dreaded God and the other takes part with a reconciled God against his hated sins.” -William Arnot

“We fear men so much — because we fear God so little. One fear cures another. When man's terror scares you — turn your thoughts to the wrath of God." -William Gurnall

“This is a singular comfort, that all things come to pass not according to wicked men's counsels, but according to what God determines.” -George Gifford

“I do not know myself, and God forbid that I should.” -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

A story is told of The London Times once sending out an inquiry to many famous authors, asking the question, “What’s wrong with the world today?”, to which G.K. Chesterton simply responded, “Dear Sir, I am. Yours, G.K. Chesterton.”

“As the wicked are hurt by the best things — so the godly are bettered by the worst.” -William Jenkyn

“The humble Christian looks with one eye upon God's grace, to keep his heart cheerful; and with the other eye upon his sin, to keep it humble.” -Thomas Watson

“God's wrath is a calm and quiet appointment of just punishment.” -Stephen Marshall

“Pray that thy last days, and last works may be the best; and that when thou comest to die, thou mayest have nothing else to do but die.” -Vavasor Powell

“In death, I shall but change my place, I shall not change my company.” -John Preston

When James Calvert went out as a missionary to the cannibals of the Fiji Islands, the ship captain tried to turn him back, saying, “You will lose your life and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages.” To that, Calvert replied, ”We died before we came here.”

“In acceptance…lieth peace.” - Amy Carmichael

“Pray. Let God worry.” -Martin Luther

“Death is only a grim porter to let the Christian into a stately palace.” -Richard Sibbes

"I am not tired of my work, neither am I tired of the world; yet, when Christ calls me home, I shall go with the gladness of a boy bounding away from his school." -Adoniram Judson

“A man’s greatest care should be for that place where he lives longest; therefore eternity should be his scope.” -Thomas Watson

“Death is never sudden to a saint; no guest comes unawares to him who keeps a constant table.” -George Swinnock

“The elect should think their death bed to be the very suburbs of Heaven.” -Christopher Love

“God can draw the worst sinners to Christ.” -Simeon Ashe

“Look not how the Christian begins — but how he ends.” -William Gurnall

“I am not what I ought to be — ah, how imperfect and deficient! I am not what I wish to be — I abhor what is evil, and I would cleave to what is good! I am not what I hope to be — soon, soon shall I put off mortality, and with mortality all sin and imperfection. Yet, though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor what I hope to be, I can truly say, I am not what I once was; a slave to sin and Satan; and I can heartily join with the apostle, and acknowledge, ‘By the grace of God I am what I am.’” -John Newton

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The Believer's Comfort

 “The believer’s comfort in trouble is that everything they endure is ordained and commanded by God and that they are in His hands. Everything that could harm them is under His control, even Satan, with all his malevolence, is on a tight rein and no danger can threaten a believer unless God wills it. This is the only way in which wild and faithless fears aroused by the dangers which surround us can be quietened.”

~ John Calvin 1509-1564

Grace based Holiness

 Does Gospel Clarity Lead to Antinomianism?

The answer really depends on what we mean by “lead.” Can gospel clarity be abused by sinful men? Of course. Paul himself anticipated this question when he wrote, “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” (Rom. 6:1). The flesh can twist anything. It can turn law into self-righteousness and liberty into lawlessness. But that is not the real question. The real question is whether gospel clarity, rightly understood, logically produces antinomianism. Does the clear preaching of free justification in Christ tend, by its own nature, to make men careless about holiness? The answer is no. The fact that sinners can weaponize the gospel does not mean the gospel has a lawless tendency; it means sinners have a lawless tendency. The abuse of grace is not the logic of grace. The gospel does not need to be made less gracious to produce holiness. It is not too free to sanctify; rather, as Paul argues, it is the very power of God unto salvation (Rom. 1:16), and that salvation includes the whole work of God from justification to glorification (Rom. 8:29-30) The reason gospel clarity does not produce lawlessness is that the gospel does not give us justification apart from Christ himself. By faith, we are united to the whole Christ, and in Christ, we receive both righteousness and life. The justified believer is not merely declared righteous while left unchanged. He is united to Christ, indwelt by the Spirit, adopted by the Father, and brought under the gracious dominion of Christ. Therefore, free justification does not make holiness optional; it makes it inevitable and gives holiness its only true foundation. This is where the law must be put in its proper place. The law commands holiness, and it defines obedience, but the law, in itself, cannot create what it commands. It can show us the shape of obedience, but it cannot give us the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry, “Abba, Father.” It can tell us to love God and our neighbor, but it cannot make us love them. So the answer to antinomianism is not less gospel. The answer to antinomianism is the whole Christ. Legalism says, “Obey so that you may be accepted.” License says, “You are accepted, so obedience does not matter.” But gospel clarity says something better: “You are accepted in Christ, and now, in Christ, you are free to obey as a son and not as a slave.” To answer the original question, gospel clarity does not lead to antinomianism. Gospel confusion does.