The religion of Christ is the religion of joy. Christ came to take away our sins, to roll off our curse, to unbind our chains, to open our prison house, to cancel our debt; in a word, to give us the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Is not this joy? Where can we find a joy so real, so deep, so pure, so lasting? There is every element of joy – deep, ecstatic, satisfying, sanctifying joy – in the gospel of Christ. The believer in Jesus is essentially a happy man. The child of God is, from necessity, a joyful man. His sins are forgiven, his soul is justified, his person is adopted, his trials are blessings, his conflicts are victories, his death is immortality, his future is a heaven of inconceivable, unthought-of, untold, and endless blessedness. With such a God, such a Savior, and such a hope, is he not, ought he not, to be a joyful man?
— Octavius Winslow (1808–1878), Prediger
Related Bible passage: ISA.61.3
Topics: Joy & Gratitude, Grace & Redemption, Hope & Confidence
Occasions: Encouragement
Octavius Winslow
Octavius Winslow war ein englisch-US-amerikanischer Prediger und Autor des 19. Jahrhunderts, der als Geistlicher bei den Baptisten sowie später in der Church of England unter anderem in Bath und Brighton wirkte. Er steht für eine an den Puritanern orientierte, seelsorgerliche Frömmigkeit mit starkem Schwerpunkt auf dem Wirken des Heiligen Geistes und der Hinwendung zu Christus. Heutigen Bibellesern begegnet er durch Andachtsbücher und Schriften, die theologische Lehren mit persönlicher Glaubenserfahrung und Zuspruch verknüpfen.
All quotes by Octavius Winslow (16)
When you see a child, you catch God in the act.
Martin Luther
Gertrud von le Fort
Man is unhappy because he doesn't know he's happy. It's only that.
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Paul Gerhardt
Augustine of Hippo
For all that has been - Thanks. For all that will be - Yes.
Dag Hammarskjöld
The world is more than its burden, and life is more than the sum of its gray days.
Alfred Delp
Frederick Buechner