Some quotes.
The devil has driven the pendulum far beyond its proper point of rest; and when he has carried it to the utmost length that he can, and it begins by its own weight to swing back, he probably will set in, and drive it with the utmost fury the other way; and so give us no rest; and if possible prevent our settling in a proper medium. What a poor, blind, weak and miserable creature is man, at his best estate! We are like poor helpless sheep; the devil is too subtle for us. What is our strength! What is our wisdom! How ready are we to go astray! How easily are we drawn aside into innumerable snares, while in the mean time we are bold and confident, and doubt not but we are right and safe! We are foolish sheep in the midst of subtle serpents and cruel wolves, and do not know it. Oh how unfit are we to be left to ourselves! And how much do we stand in need of the wisdom, the power, the condescension, patience, forgiveness, and gentleness of our good Shepherd!
— Jonathan Edwards, as quoted in Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography, p.246
The Word of God promises that the suffering Servant will come to see of the travail of His soul, and He will be satisfied.
We too often draw the wrong conclusions from the doctrines of depravity, or from our distress over the current conditions of the Church. We are fallen, and the Church is in a dreadful way. We have sin to confess, and we have confessed it.
But we miss the whole point of Scripture if we do not see the promises. One of the promises is that after the passion of the Lord Jesus, and after His resurrection, He will look at the fruit of His cross, and He will be satisfied.
He is not ashamed to sit down at table with us. He is not ashamed to call us brothers. He is not ashamed of our table manners.
As we learn this — as we grasp what free grace really means — this sets us free to learn our table manners.
This table, this communion, is not a reward that we get for being worthy. It is a means of grace, it is one of the means God has ordained to make us worthy. We eat and are nourished. We are not to strive to grow healthy and strong, and then seek food as a reward. We are weak, trembling, and in need of what He gives.
But please know that He is not ashamed to give it. He is satisfied with the table He has set, and, because He is satisfied, it is possible for us to eat and be satisfied.
— Doug Wilson, BLOG and MABLOG