*Prayer: Prayer is the supreme instance of the hidden character of the Christian life. it is the antithesis of self-display. When men pray, they have ceased to know themselves, and know only God whom they call upon. Prayer does not aim at any direct effect on the world; it is addressed to God alone.
*Matthew 6:1-4 : There are of course proper grounds for insisting on the visible nature of Christian discipleship, but the visibility is never an end itself; and if it become so we have lost sight of our primary aim, which is to follow Jesus. Our activity must be visible, but never be done for the sake of making it visible. The awareness on which Jesus insists is intended to prevent us from reflecting on our extraordinary position. We have to take heed that we do not take heed of our own righteousness, otherwise the"extraordinary" which we achieve will not be that which comes from following Christ, but that which springs from our own will and desire.
*Pray for those who persecute us: Through the medium of prayer we go to our enemy, stand by his side, and plead for him to God. Jesus does not promise that when we bless our enemies and do good to them they will not despitefully use and persecute us. They certainly will. But not even that can hurt or overcome us, so long as we pray for them. For if we pray for them, we are takign their distress and poverty, their guilt and perdition upon ourselves, and pleading to God for them. We are doing vicariously for them what they cannot do for themselves. Every insult they utter only serves to bind us more closely to God and them. Their persecution of us only serves to bring them nearer to reconciliation with God and to further the triumphs of love.
*Faith: When all is said and done, the life of faith is nothing if not an unending struggle of the spirit with every available weapon against the flesh. How is it possible to live a life of faith when we grow weary of prayer, when we lose our taste for reading the Bible, and when sleep, food and sensuality deprive us the joy of communion with God?
*The follower of Christ is in the light only so long as he looks simply to Christ and at nothing else in the world. Thus the heart of the disciple must be set upon Christ alone. If the eye sees an object which is not there, the whole body is deceived. if the heart is devoted to the mirage of the world, to the creature instead of the creator, the disciple is lost.
*The community of the Saints is not an "ideal" community consisting of perfect and sinless men and women, where there is no need of further repentance. No. It is a community which proves that it is worthy of the gospel of forgiveness by constantly and sincerely proclaiming God's forgiveness. it is a community of men and women who have genuinely encountered the precious grace of God, and who walk worthily of the gospel by not casting that grace recklessly away.
*Cheap grace and costly grace
Cheap grace - is the preaching of forgiveness without repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. It is the grace without discipleship, without the cross, without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. it is the grace we bestow on ourselves
Costly grace - is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciples leaves his nets and follow him. it is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and t is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. it is costly because it condemns sins, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his son, and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the incarnation of God.
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