Dwelling in unapproachable light, the Daystar who scatters all of the night. Our Alpha, Omega; No beginning, no end, Oh Righteous King, the sinner's best Friend. Ransom, Refiner, Refuge and Rock, Great Shepherd You are, to Thee must we flock. Promised before, as Abraham's Seed, Fulfilled in Thy Word, You satisfy our need. Fountain of Love and Chief Cornerstone, Sacrificial Lamb cries out death's groan. Prophet, Redeemer, Son Most High, Let us flee to Thee Savior, lest we all die.
~apl
Come with me, poor soul, and you and I will stand together while the tempest gathers, for we are not afraid. How sharp that lightning flash! But yet we tremble not. How terrible that peal of thunder! And yet we are not alarmed, and why? Is there anything in us why we should escape? No, but we are standing beneath the cross – that precious cross, which like some noble lightning-conductor in the storm, takes itself all the death from the lightning, and all the fury from the tempest. We are safe. Loud mayest thou roar, O thundering law, and terribly mayest thou flash, O avenging justice! We can look up with calm delight to all the tumult of the elements, for we are safe beneath the cross.
~ Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
In [Christ] also we have obtained an inheritance…
~ Ephesians 1:11 (NKJV)
Those who are “in Christ”, that is, those who repent, believe and embrace Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior have had promised to them a great and glorious inheritance. Though this anticipated inheritance contains many countless benefits and blessings, the greatest of them all is the eternal communion and fellowship we will enjoy with the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
But let us not forget the very nature of an inheritance; it is only received after someone dies. First, Christ died for us (the Surety of our inheritance), and then, as we live and die in Him, we obtain that true treasure. It is an inheritance. It is not something we fully realize here and now. The blessedness of the Christian’s reward may never be completely realized this side of glory. Yet as an inheritance, promised by a loving God, it is waiting for the Faithful who die in Christ in this world, only to be raised with Him in the next.
~ apl
A Christian is one who recognizes Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, as God manifested in the flesh, loving us and dying for our redemption; and who is so affected by a sense of the love of this incarnate God as to be constrained to make the will of Christ the rule of his obedience, and the glory of Christ the great end for which He lives.
~ Charles Hodge (1797-1878)
The love and mercy,
that was shown,
when Christ our God,
left His thrown.
For me to come,
donned in flesh,
that I through Him,
‘scape second death.
Worship the babe,
praise the King,
now through eternity,
forever I sing!
I wonder how long a man ought to thank God for forgiving his sins? Is life long enough? Is time long enough? Is eternity too long? How long ought a man to thank God for saving him from going down to hell? Would 50 years suffice? Oh no, that would never do, the blessing is too great to be all sung of in a millennium. Suppose you and I never had a single mercy except this one, that we were made the children of God and co-heirs with Christ Jesus – suppose we had nothing else to enjoy! We ought to sing about that alone forever and ever.
~ Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
A Prayer Life 