Joy

Indeed the saints rejoice in their interest in God, and that Christ is theirs, and so they have great reason; but this is not the first spring of their joy. They first rejoice in God as glorious and excellent in himself , and then secondarily rejoice in it that so glorious a God is theirs. They First have their hearts filled with sweetness from the view of Christ's excellency, and the excellency of his grace, and the beauty of the way of salvation by him; and then they have a secondary joy, in that so excellent a Savior and such excellent grace is theirs."

Sam Storms, Signs of the Spirit: An Interpretation of Jonathan Edwards' Religious Affections,
p. 91

Joy

This is, in fact, what differentiates between the joy of the hypocrite and the joy of the true child of God. The former "rejoices in himself. Self is the first foundation of his joy. The latter rejoices in God. The hypocrite has his mind pleased and delighted, in the first place, with his own privilege and the happiness which he supposes he has attained or shall attain. True saints have their minds, in the first place, inexpressibly pleased and delighted with the sweet ideas of the glorious and amiable nature of the things of God. And this is the spring of all their delights, and the cream of all their pleasures. 'Tis the joy of their joy. This sweet and ravishing entertainment they have in the view of the beautiful and delightful nature of divine things is the foundation of the joy that they have afterwards, in the consideration of [those divine things] being theirs. But the dependence of the affections of hypocrites is in a contrary order: they first rejoice, and are elevated with it, that they are made so much of by God; and then on that ground, he seems in a sort, lovely to them."

Sam Storms, Signs of the Spirit: An Interpretation of Jonathan Edwards' Religious Affections, p. 91

Kindness

"The saint having seen the glory of God, and his heart being overcome by it, and captivated into a supreme love to him on that account, his heart hereby becomes tender, and easily affected with kindnesses received."

Sam Storms, Signs of the Spirit: An Interpretation of Jonathan Edwards' Religious Affections,
p. 90

Love

Thus their affection for God is because of what they see in God himself. Love for self and what happiness they may attain in this glorious God is secondary and consequential to their recognition of his intrinsic beauty.

Sam Storms, Signs of the Spirit: An interpretation of Jonathan Edwards' Religious Affections, p. 90

Love

...the experience of love in true Christians comes about in a different way. "They don't first see that God loves them and then see that he is lovely; but they first see that God is lovely and that Christ is excellent and glorious, and their hearts are first captivated with this view, and the exercises of their love are wont from time to time to begin here, and to arise primarily from these views; and then, consequentially, they see God's love and great favor to them."

Sam Storms, Signs of the Spirit: An Interpretation of Jonathan Edwards Religious Affections, p.90

Power in Preaching

Our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. 1 Thessalonians 1:5

"Paul knew he was clothed with power and authority. How does one know it? It gives clarity of thought, clarity of speech, ease of utterance, a great sense of authority and confidence as you are preaching, an awareness of a power not your own thrilling through the whole of your being, and an indescribable sense of joy. . . .

What about the people? They sense it at once; they can tell the difference immediately. They are gripped, they become serious, they are convicted, they are moved, they are humbled. Some are convicted of sin, others are lifted up to the heavens, anything may happen to any one of them. They know at once that something quite unusual and exceptional is happening. . . .

What then are we to do about this? There is only one obvious conclusion. Seek Him! Seek Him! What can we do without Him? Seek Him! Seek Him always. But go beyond seeking Him; expect Him. Do you expect anything to happen when you get up to preach in a pulpit? Or do you just say to yourself, 'Well, I have prepared my address, I am going to give them this address; some of them will appreciate it and some will not'? Are you expecting it to be the turning point in someone's life? Are you expecting anyone to have a climactic experience? That is what preaching is meant to do. That is what you find in the Bible and in the subsequent history of the church. Seek this power, expect this power, yearn for this power; and when the power comes, yield to Him. Do not resist. Forget all about your sermon if necessary. Let Him loose you, let Him manifest His power in you and through you."

- D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers, pages 324-325.

Discernment Regarding Media

If I set myself to think of couples in marriages that I think would be greatly helped by watching this movie, I would run out of fingers inside of a minute. I can also think of Christians who would be offended by the schlock, but many of them would be those who know more about how a movie ought to be made than about how a woman ought to be treated. And they would rather watch a movie about a woman being abused so long as the movie was made right than to have the woman treated right in a movie that offended their refined sensibilities. So which is the altar and which is the sacrifice?

- Doug Wilson commenting on the movie Fireproof