FORGIVENESS-J.C RYLE (1816-1900)

We are all great sinners before God; sinners by nature and sinners by practice, and therefore, we are in desperate need of a radical change and divine forgiveness]. We ought all to cease from proud thoughts about ourselves. We ought to lay our hands upon our mouths, and say with Abraham, I am "dust and ashes"; and with Job, "I am vile"; and with [the apostle] John, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Where is the man or woman in the whole catalogue of the Book of Life that will ever be able to say more than this, "I obtained mercy"? What is the glorious company of the apostles, the goodly fellowship of the prophets, the noble army of the martyrs: what are they all but pardoned sinners? Surely there is but one conclusion to be arrived at: we are all great sinners, and we all need a great forgiveness.

Sin is a burden, and must be taken off. Sin is a defilement, and must be cleansed away. Sin is a mighty debt, and must be paid. Sin is a mountain standing between us and heaven, and must be removed. The first step towards heaven is to see clearly that we deserve hell. There are but two alternatives before us: we must either be forgiven, or be miserable forever. ~ JC. Ryle

Read the entire booklet at the following link: http://www.chapellibrary.org/files/archive/pdf-english/forg.pdf

MERCY SWEETENS GOD'S ATTRIBUTES- THOMAS WATSON

                                                                                         (1620-1686)

Mercy sweetens all God’s other attributes. God’s holiness without mercy and his justice without mercy were terrible. When the water was bitter, and Israel could not drink, Moses cast a tree into the waters, and then they were made sweet. How bitter and dreadful were the other attributes of God, did not mercy sweeten them! Mercy sets God’s power on work to help us; it makes his justice become our friend; it shall avenge our quarrels. God’s mercy is one of the most orient pearls of his crown; it makes his Godhead appear amiable and lovely. When Moses said to God, ‘I beseech thee shew me thy glory;’ the Lord answered him, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will shew thee mercy.’ Exodus 33: I9. God’s mercy is his glory. His holiness makes him illustrious; his mercy makes him propitious. ~ “A Body of Divinity”

JACOB'S TROUBLE-J.C. PHILPOT (1802-1869)

(I find Philpot's view on Jacob's Trouble very interesting, don't you?)

"Alas!  for that day is great, so that none is like it; it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it" (Jeremiah 30:7).

THIS "day of trouble" is when sin is laid as a heavy burden upon a man's conscience; when guilt presses him down into the dust of death, when his iniquities stare him in the face, and seem more in number than the hairs of his head; when he fears he shall be cast for ever into the bottomless pit of hell, and have his portion with the hypocrites.   This "day of trouble" is not literally a day, a portion of time meted out by the rising or setting sun, a space of twenty-four hours.  The hands of a clock, or the shadow of a dial, cannot regulate spiritual troubles.  A day here means a season, be it long or short; be it a day, week, month or year.  And as the season cannot be measured in length, so the trouble cannot be measured in depth.

The only wise God deals out various measures of affliction to his people.  All do not sink to the same depth, as all do not rise to the same height.  All do not drink equally deep of the cup; yet all, each in their measure, pass through this day of trouble, wherein their fleshly religion is pulled to pieces, their self-righteousness marred, their presumptuous hopes crushed, and they brought into the state of the leper, to cry, "Unclean, unclean."   Until a man has passed through this day of trouble, until he has experienced more or less of these exercises of soul, and known guilt and condemnation in his conscience; until he has struggled in this narrow pass, and had his rags of creature righteousness torn away from him, he can know nothing experimentally of the efficacy of Jesus' atoning blood, nor feel the power of Christ's resurrection.

AFFLICTIONS BEFALL US OUT OF LOVE

THOMAS MANTON (1620-1677)

The afflictions he brings on his people come from love: “For whom the Lord love, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he recieiveth” (Hebrew 12:6) “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten” (Rev 3:19). It is good to see whence our evil cometh. Afflictions upon God’s own children mostly come from God’s paternal love, out of mere love, for the increase and trial of grace. God may punish others, but he chasteneth none but sons. 

That is an affect of his fatherly love, or else from mere anger, “an evil, an only evil.” (Ezek 7:5) In a design of vengeance, God does not fan or purge but destroys. So, upon the reprobate, all their troubles are the beginning of sorrow, the suburbs of hell. Or else from anger mixed with love, or fatherly displeasure; as the corrections that follow sin. David’s child was taken away (2 Sam 12:10-12). Anger beginneth but love tempereth the dispensation. Or else from love mixed with anger: as Job out of love was put upon trial, that his patience and faith maybe manifested. But Job mingleth his own corruption, and his murmurings, and then God puts in a measure of anger, and speaketh to him out of the whirlwind.
 

The Life of Faith–Thomas Manton

TRUE USE OF TEN COMMANDMENTS-J.C. RYLE

Let us, for another thing, beware of despising the Law of the Ten Commandments. Let us not suppose for a moment that it is set aside by the Gospel, or that Christians have nothing to do with it. The coming of Christ did not alter the position of the Ten Commandments one hair's breadth. If anything, it exalted and raised their authority (Rom 3:31).

The Law of the Ten Commandments is God's eternal measure of right and wrong. By it is the knowledge of sin. By it, the Spirit shows men their need of Christ, and drives them to Him. To it, Christ refers His people as their rule and guide for holy living. In its right place it is just as important as the glorious Gospel. It cannot save us. We cannot be justified by it. But never, never let us despise it. It is a symptom of an ignorant and unhealthy state of religion, when the Law is lightly esteemed. The true Christian delights in the Law of God.

~ J. C. Ryle (Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of Matthew)