SALVATION-GRATITUDE
I must feel the truth that
once I was as close to hell as I am to the chair I am sitting on—even closer.
Its darkness, like vapor, had entered my soul and was luring me down. Its views
were my views. I was a son of hell (Matt. 23:15), a child of the Devil (John
8:44) and of wrath (Eph. 2:3). I belonged to the viper’s brood (Matt. 3:7),
without hope and without God (Eph. 2:12). I must believe that just as a rock
climber, having slipped, hangs over the deadly cliff by his fingertips, so I
once hung over hell and was a heartbeat away from eternal torment. I say it
slowly, eternal torment!
Brothers, We Are Not Professionals, Bethlehem Baptist
Church, 2002, p. 114.
It more pleaseth the saints
that they enjoy God, than that they enjoy salvation. False and carnal spirits will express a great deal of desire
after salvation, for they like salvation, heaven, and glory well; but they never
express any longing desire after God and Jesus Christ. They love salvation, but they care not for a
Saviour. Now that which faith pitcheth
most upon is God Himself; He shall be my salvation, let me have Him, and that
is salvation enough.
Joseph Caryl
A Puritan Golden Treasury, compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by
permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 2000, p. 253.
Pause, then, and
contemplate. The eternal Son of God,
Creator of the universe, worshiped and adored by angels and archangels, has offered
Himself in your place. He has offered
Himself freely, willingly, and gladly, to endure the judgment that your sin
deserves, and to endure it in a holy way – saying the perfect “yea and Amen!”
to the holiness of the judgment, which your corrupt heart could never have
said. As far as atoning for your sins
is concerned, the only thing you owe God is endless gratitude.
Nick Needham
Obedience Unto Death, Tabletalk, April 2004, p. 14, Used by
Permission.