The Test

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…let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him… _ Matthew 27:43

Such a test will come to all believers. It may come as a taunt from enemies; it will certainly come as a trial of your faith. The archenemy will assuredly hiss out, “Let Him deliver him, seeing he delighted in Him.” This taunt has about it the appearance of being very logical, and indeed in a measure so it is. If God has promised to deliver us, and we have openly professed to believe the promise, it is only natural that others should say, “Let us see whether He does deliver him. This man believes that the Lord will help him; and He must help him, or else the man’s faith is a delusion.” This is the sort of test to which we ourselves would have put others before our conversion, and we cannot object to be proved in the same manner ourselves. Perhaps we incline to run away from the ordeal, but this very shrinking should be a solemn call to us to question the genuineness of that faith which we are afraid to test. “He trusted on the Lord,” says the enemy, “that He would deliver him: let Him deliver him”; and surely, however malicious the design, there is no escaping from the logic of the challenge.

It is peculiarly painful to have this stern inference driven home to you in the hour of sorrow. Because one cannot deny the fairness of the appeal, it is all the more trying. In the time of depression of spirit, it is hard to have one’s faith questioned, or the ground on which it stands made a matter of dispute. Either to be mistaken in one’s belief, or to have no real faith, or to find the ground of one’s faith fail is an exceedingly grievous thing. Yet as our Lord was not spared this painful ordeal, we must not expect to be kept clear of it, and Satan knows well how to work these questions, till the poison of them sets the blood on fire. “He trusted on the Lord that He would deliver him; let Him deliver him;” he hurls this fiery dart into the soul, till the man is sorely wounded, and can scarcely hold his ground.

Brethren, the test is fair. God will be true to every believer. If any one child of God could be lost, it would be quite enough to enable the devil to spoil all the glory of God for ever. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

Let Him Deliver Him Now

Have Confidence in God

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“He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” – Matthew 27:43

It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. – Psalm 118:8

If you trust in men, the best of men, you are likely to be lowered by your trust. We are apt to cringe before these who patronize us. If your prosperity depends upon a person’s smile, you are tempted to pay homage even when it is undeserved. The old saying mentions a certain person as “knowing on which side his bread is buttered.” Thousands are practically degraded by their trusting in men. But when our reliance is upon the living God, we are raised by it, and elevated both morally and spiritually. You may bow in deepest reverence before God, and yet there will be no fawning. You may lie in the dust before the Majesty of heaven, and yet not be dishonoured by your humility; in fact, it is our greatness to be nothing in the presence of the Most High.

This confidence in God makes men strong. I should advise the enemy not to oppose the man who trusts in God…When a believer stands out against evil, he may be sure that the Lord of hosts will not be far away. The enemy shall hear the dash of His horse-hoof and the blast of His trumpet and shall flee before Him. Wherefore be of good courage, and compel the world to say of you, “He trusted in the Lord that He would deliver him.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

Let Him Deliver Him Now

A Most Reasonable Thing

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, Sovereignty of God, The Father Leave a comment

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding… – Proverbs 3:5

It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. – Psalm 118:8

Let a man trust in God; not in fiction but in fact, and he will find that he has solid rock under his feet. Let him trust about his own daily needs and trials, and rest assured that the Lord will actually appear for him, and he will not be disappointed. Such a trust in God is a very reasonable thing; its absence is most unreasonable. If there be a God, He knows all about my case. If He made my ear He can hear me; if He made my eye He can see me; and therefore, He perceives my condition. If He be my Father, as He says He is, He will certainly care for me and will help me in my hour of need if He can. We are sure that He can, for He is omnipotent. Is there anything unreasonable, then, in trusting in God that He will deliver us? I venture to say that if all the forces in the universe were put together, and all the kindly intents of all who are our friends were put together, and we were then to rely upon those united forces and intents, we should not have a thousandth part so much justification for our confidence as when we depend upon God, whose intents and forces are infinitely greater than those of all the world beside. “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man; it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.” If you view things in the white light of pure reason, it is infinitely more reasonable to trust in the living God than in all His creatures put together.

Certainly, dear friends, it is extremely comfortable to trust in God. I find it so and therefore speak. To roll your burden upon the Lord, since He will sustain you, is a blessed way of being quit of care. We know Him to be faithful, and as powerful as He is faithful; and our dependence upon Him is the solid foundation of a profound peace. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

Let Him Deliver Him Now

 This Practical Faith

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Holy Spirit Leave a comment

He trusted on the LORD that He would deliver (Him): let Him deliver (Him), seeing He delighted in (Him). – Psalm 22:8

David, in the twenty-second Psalm, represents the enemies as saying of our Lord-“He trusted on the Lord that He would deliver Him.” This practical faith is sure to be known wherever it is in operation, because it is exceedingly rare. Multitudes of people have a kind of faith in God, but it does not come to the practical point of trusting that God will deliver them. I see upon the newspaper placards, “Startling New! People in the Planets!” Not a very practical discovery. For many a day there has been a tendency to refer God’s promises and our faith to the planets, or somewhere beyond this present every-day life. We say to ourselves, “Oh yes, God delivers His people.” We mean that He did so in the days of Moses, and possibly He may be doing so now in some obscure island of the sea. Ah me! The glory of faith lies it its being fit for every-day wear. Can it be said of you, “He trusted in God, that He would deliver him”? Have you faith of the kind which will make you lean upon the Lord in poverty, in sickness, in bereavement, in persecution, in slander, in contempt? Have you a trust in God to bear you up in holy living at all costs, and in active service even beyond your strength? Can you trust in God definitely about this and that? Can you trust about food, and raiment, and home? Can you trust God even about your shoes, that they shall be iron and brass, and about the hairs of your head that they are all numbered? What we need is less theory and more actual trust it God.

Come, beloved, have you such a faith in the living God? Do you trust in God through Christ Jesus that He will save you? Yes, you poor, unworthy one, the Lord will deliver you if you trust Him. Yes, poor woman, or unknown man, the Lord can help you in your present trouble, and in every other, and He will do so if you trust Him to that end. May the Holy Spirit lead you to first trust the Lord Jesus for the pardon of sin, and then to trust in God for all things. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

Let Him Deliver Him Now

Divine Interpositions 

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You who are King of kings and Lord of lords, we worship You. Before Jehovah’s awful throne we bow with sacred joy.

Sermon Text

Let Us Trust in God and Own It

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises Leave a comment

He trusted in God… – Matthew 27:43

But You are He who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts. – Psalm 22:9

It is evident that the Lord Jesus trusted in God openly since even yonder gibing crowd proclaimed it. Some good people try to exercise faith on the sly: they practise it in snug corners, and in lonely hours, but they are afraid to say much before others, for fear their faith should not see the promise fulfilled. They dare not say, with David, “My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof and be glad.” This secrecy robs God of His honour. Brethren, we do not glorify our God as He ought to be glorified. Let us trust in Him and own it. Wherefore should we be ashamed? Let us throw down the gauge of battle to earth and hell. God, the true and faithful, deserves to be trusted without limit. Trust your all with Him and be not ashamed of having done so. Our Saviour was not ashamed of trusting in His God. On the cross He cried, “Thou didst make (Me) hope when I was upon (My) mother’s breast.” Jesus lived by faith. We are sure that He did, for in the Epistle to the Hebrews He is quoted as saying, “I will put My trust in Him.” If so glorious a personage as the only begotten Son of God lived here by faith in God, how are you and I to live except by trust in God? If we live unto God, this is the absolute necessity of our spiritual life “the just shall live by faith.” Shall we be ashamed of that which brings life to us? The cruel ones who saw Jesus die did not say, “He now and then trusted in God”; nor “He trusted in the Lord years ago”; but they admitted that faith in God was the constant tenor of His life: they could not deny it. Even though, with malicious cruelty, they turned it into a taunt, yet they did not cast a question upon the fact that “He trusted in God” Oh, I want you so to live that those who dislike you most may, nevertheless, know that you do trust in God…If nobody else trusts in God, let us do so; and thus, may we uplift a testimony to the honour of His faithfulness. When we die, may this be our epitaph-“He trusted in God.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

Let Him Deliver Him Now

What a soul-ruler faith is!

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He trusted in God… – Matthew 27:43

Whenever Jesus spoke it was always godly talk; and if it was not always distinctly about God, it was always about things that related to God, that came from God, that led to God, that magnified God. A man may be fairly judged by that which he makes most of. The ruling passion is a fair gauge of the heart. What a soul-ruler faith is! It sways the man as the rudder guides the ship. When a man once gets to live by faith in God, it tinctures his thoughts, it masters his purposes, it flavours his words, it puts a tone into his actions, and it comes out in everything by ways and means most natural and unconstrained, till men perceive that they have to do with a man who makes much of God. The unbelieving world says outright that there is no God, and the less impudent, who admit His existence, put Him down at a very low figure, so low that it does not affect their calculations; but to the true Christian, God is not only much, but all. To our Lord Jesus, God was all in all; and when you come to estimate God as He did, then the most careless onlooker will soon begin to say of you, “He trusted in God.”

In addition to observing that Jesus made much of God, men came to note that he was a trusting man, and not self-confident. Certain persons are very proud because they are self-made men. I will do them the credit to admit that they heartily worship their maker. Self made them, and they worship self…Jesus was a truster in God, not a boaster in self. Brethren and sisters, I desire that you and I may be just of that order. Self-confidence is the death of confidence in God; reliance upon talent, tact, experience, and things of that kind, kills faith. Oh, that we may know what faith means and so look out of ourselves and quit the evil confidence which looks within! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

Let Him Deliver Him Now