Be warned, I'm about to include a *ton* of quotes from this book.
I was pretty bored for the first few chapters, but man did this book explode into goodness. It reminded me of the beauty of Jesus and the intimacy of relationship I share with him even when I don't feel it. And it challenged me to make my faith active, to actively believe what he has said. Some excellent quotes from chapter 8 alone:
"'All things are yours.' Why? Because 'ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's.' All this means that he is very concerned about us...we are the special object of his concern. We never need to feel lonely, forsaken, or forlorn. He has gone through all I have been trying to describe to you in order to become one who says that you are his brother or sister."
"He was tempted in all points just as we are, yet was without sin. Praise God for the sympathy of the blessed Savior for his brothers and sisters. But consider also the help he is able to give us: 'grace to help in time of need' (Heb 4:16). He has been through it all. He knows what it all means."
"Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of God's glory at this very minute, and he points at you and at me and as our great intercessor and advocate tells his Father and the hosts of heaven, 'These are my brethren.'...He presents your feeble prayers and mine to the Father, adding the incense of his own glory to them.
"Furthermore he will go on doing this until you and I have been taken through all our trials and troubles, even death itself, and he will 'present [us] faultless before the presence of [God's] glory with exceeding joy' (Jude 24). What a comfort!"
Chapter 9:
"He did not merely want to forgive us....Satan, our adversary and enemy, must be conquered....our failure to keep God's law must somehow be dealt with fully....we need a high priest to represent us, someone to plead on our behalf....we need One who can impart a new nature to us. We have no confidence in the presence of God until we know we have been reconciled to him, and before we can have that confidence, we must know that God is our Father and we are his children....I also need someone to help me face life and its temptations, someone who can sympathize with me, someone who can succour me in my need and helplessness....I need all the things mentioned above, and Christ, by coming and dying and by enduring all that he did, has accomplished all that."
"Until we believe in all that Jesus has done for us, our idea of the love of God is a flabby sentiment that is not worthy of the name love....The real measure of the love of God is in the distance from the eternity of glory to the depth of Calvary, and until you have measured it like that, don't talk about the love of God -- you do not know anything about it."
Wow.
Chapter 13 on coming to full maturity in Christ: "...through the church, through you and me and people like us, God is manifesting his wisdom and glory...So it follows of necessity that if you and I remain as undeveloped children, or if our condition is poor or undernourished, that is a reflection upon God."
He appears to speak harshly, here, but I love the point he makes about being children in the faith: "Children are victims of fears because of their ignorance; they imagine things." How true this is!! How many of my insecurities come from fear of the future or other people or things I imagine that haven't even happened. "...with regard to the spiritual child, nothing tests us as much as our reaction to circumstances." But as God's children, Lloyd Jones reminds us, we do not need to be afraid. We are loved, secure, and cared for by our Father. So "What are we like when we are taken ill? What are we like when our circumstances suddenly turn against us? What are we like when we are disappointed?...What is the point of our saying that...we are Christians and are different from people outside the faith if when the same trials come to us that come to them we do not react differently? What is the value of our Christianity then? Thus we not only fall short of living out the gospel -- we bring the very name of God and of Christ into disrepute." I don't know about you, but I need to hear these things, ask myself these questions.
I'll end with an encouraging paragraph from chapter 15. I love how Lloyd Jones reiterates God's promises so simply and so matter-of-factly. These things are true! Why not believe them??
"You need never be in doubt about his providential care for his people. As Christian people today we are reminded of this in the New Testament. 'The very hairs of your head are all numbered,' said our Lord (Matt. 10:30). If only we believed that God is infinitely more concerned about our welfare than we are ourselves! His eyes are wandering to and fro in the earth seeking whom he may bless. That is the God in whom we believe. He has promised to look after us, to provide for us, and to supply our every need.
"Let us remember God's infinite resources. There is no end to them, there is no limit to them....you have a God who loves you and will supply your every need. When you think you are about to die of hunger or thirst, the manna will be there, and the waters will gush out. He will never leave you or forsake you."