#john gerstner

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Christ Himself did not say so much about His death. He was making the sacrifice; He left to others the privilege of explaining it. For two thousand years now the church has been glorying in His cross and exploring its wondrous meaning.

John Gerstner

[woodsandhearth]

Happy are they, who in the matter of marriage observe three rules. The first is to marry only in the Lord, and after prayer for God’s approval and blessing. The second is not to expect too much from their partners, and to remember that marriage is, after all, the union of two sinners, and not of two angels. The third rule is to strive first and foremost for one another’s sanctification. The more holy married people are, the happier they are. - J.C. Ryle

Questions to ask yourself before posting to social media: 1. Is it profitable? 2. Does it edify? 3. How does it disciple others? 4. Am I exalting self or Christ? 5. Is it clear? 6. Do I have an argumentative spirit? 7. Does it promote sound doctrine? 8. Does it glorify God? - Dustin Benge

Following Christ will lead us into the storms of life, but better to be in raging tempests with Him than in false peace without Him. - Steven Lawson

Although the believer will battle with sin, and at times suffer loss, it does not diminish the fact that both his heart and affections have been transformed. His sin is no longer a cause for delight and boasting, but of mourning and confession. - Paul Washer

Sin always hides the price tag. - Garrett Kell

If you want a happy life, it will be filled with brokenness, conviction, and repentance over sin with teary eyes that are fixed on Christ. - Burk Parsons

To know that nothing happens in God's world apart from God's will may frighten the godless, but it stabilizes the saints. - J.I. Packer

This truth of God must be loved, must be embraced, and must be yielded to if the person who has saving knowledge is to be saved by it. One theologian has written that it is not enough to “understand” but you must also “stand under.” - John Gerstner

Give me the grace to do as You command, and command me to do what You will! When Your commands are obeyed, it is from You that we receive the power to obey them. - Augustine

Knowing doctrines of the Bible, by itself, means very little...especially without a relationship with Jesus. Satan knows the Scriptures better than I ever will, and yet he's the greatest enemy of God. Knowing about God isn't enough: you must know God. - Trevor Sheatz

When's the last time you prayed for someone you dislike from a heart of genuine love, sincerely desiring their best? Don't get caught up in the American culture of dumping people who hurt you; get caught up in the biblical command to love those who hate you. - Trevor Sheatz

[reformedontheweb]

Eternal life depends on Christ alone — nothing, but nothing, else. Predestination will not bring it. Providence cannot produce it. It does not rest on foreknowledge, divine decrees, or even the atonement itself. Eternal life is Christ dwelling in His righteousness in the soul of the justified person. So eternal life is union with Jesus Christ. And the word for that union with Jesus Christ is faith. The sinner comes to Him, rests in Him, trusts in Him, is one with Him, abides in Him; and this is life because it never, ever, ends. The united soul abides in the Vine eternally. Weakness, sin, proneness to sin never brings separation, but only the Father’s pruning, which cements the union even and ever tighter.

This is the heart of the Bible. This is the heart of the gospel. This is the heart of Christianity. This is the heart of the saint. This is the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those are the reasons it was the heart of the Reformation; and this is the reason the contemporary attempt of some Protestants to unite with those who do not even claim this heart of the life of Jesus Christ is to commit spiritual suicide. No lover of Jesus Christ can consent to this apostasy.

John Gerstner- Justification by Faith Alone: Affirming the Doctrine By Which the Church and the Individual Stands or Falls, Chapter 4- The Nature of Justifying Faith, published by Soli Deo Gloria Publications; Morgan PA, 1995

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

When Christ gave His cheek to the betrayer’s kiss He knew that He was putting the cup of wrath to His lips, the full dregs of which He would not taste until the morrow when He would cry out, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” [That is,] “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?”

John Gerstner

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Mercy even with us is an optional virtue; we do not have to be merciful. We usually admire people who are, but we do not say that people must be so. We say everybody must be just. We say, for example, an employer, if he agrees to pay a certain wage, must pay that particular wage. If he does not pay it, then he is unjust and is liable to a lawsuit. All our contracts are based on the integrity and honesty and justice of people with whom we do business. They are actually subject to trials and imprisonment and even execution if they violate their duty of man to man. What about mercy among men? We love it. We admire it. We encourage it. We sometimes practice it. But we do not say mercy is obligatory… If this is true even of human affairs, we can see immediately that God does not have to be merciful. He gave us life and conscience. He gave us intelligence to meet our obligations, and He has a right to hold us responsible for using them. He has no further obligation to forgive us if we do not. We say that the Judge of all the earth cannot do wrong, but we cannot say that the Judge of all the earth must be merciful.

John Gerstner

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

"We are outlaws; we are violators of God’s will; we are spurners of the light of nature and natural revelation which we do have. We are entitled to nothing but Hell. If God leaves us to that to which we are entitled, who will call Him unjust?" - John Gerstner

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

God really loves us and wants us to turn away from our sins. If He passed final judgment now, we would have no such opportunity; that would be the end of time for us. He has sufficient provocation to do so; that we recognize. We have sinned enough to deserve His infinite wrath at any moment, but we do not receive it. We have an opportunity, therefore, to turn away from our sin and to turn to God. Instead of continuing to offend Him, we can plead for forgiveness and seek to please Him. While there is yet life, that is possible.

John Gerstner

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

When pain is present it is difficult to bear; but when a Christian, even in anguish, realizes that this is the heavy hand of a loving God upon him, he blesses God in his sufferings and for His suffering, which he knows is for his own good and for his everlasting blessedness.

John Gerstner