Quotes from the Cloud #25

This year, I hope share weekly posts of quotes. These quotes are from authors I'm reading and enjoying from the Clouds of Witnesses Reading Challenge. 

For fellow participants, what I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to see is for people to share quotes from what they're reading. I'd love for you to share quotes occasionally with your readers and let me know about it. If you don't have a blog, you could always leave quotes in the comments here.

If you do not know the road to hell and the road to heaven from the Bible itself, you would never know it at all. No book could be more clear, no revelation more distinct, no testimony more plain. And since without the agency of the Spirit, these testimonies are insufficient for salvation, it follows that no further declaration would avail. ~ Charles Spurgeon, "A Preacher From The Dead," 1857

If it were possible to see into a person’s heart, nothing would be more ridiculous than seeing the thoughts of a cold, undevoted heart in prayer. When someone forgets what they just said, they aren’t praying a good prayer. Praise God that I now understand this clearly. In true prayer, one remembers all the words and thoughts from the beginning to the end of the prayer. ~ Martin Luther, Faith Alone, June 16

Our sin is covered by the purity and innocence of Christ, which we receive when we hear and believe God’s Word. We should keep in mind, though, that this purity comes completely from outside ourselves. In other words, Christ clothes us with his own perfection. If we look at Christians apart from Christ and see them as they really are, we would notice how much they are contaminated by sin. Even if they were fine people, we would see not only that they’re thoroughly contaminated, but also that they’re covered over with a thick, dark film of sin. If someone tried to separate us from Christ and take away our baptism and God’s promises, we would no longer have Christ’s purity. We would be left with nothing but sin. So when someone asks you, “If sin always sticks to people, how can they be washed so clean that they are whiter than snow?”you can answer, “We should view people, not as they are on their own, but as they are in Christ.” ~ Martin Luther, June 19

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible